Just How Old Are Alphinaud and Alisaie in Final Fantasy XIV?
As an avid FFXIV gamer and lore enthusiast, this is a question I see popped up a lot that deserves a thorough dive. Alphinaud and Alisaie are two of the most pivotal characters in the entire FFXIV epic, but their curious slow aging compared to us humans always leaves many players scratching their heads!
So let‘s get right to the core answer: Alphinaud and Alisaie are currently 16 years old as of the Endwalker expansion storyline in 2024.
I know, it sounds crazy considering everything these prodigious Elezen twins have experienced! But it‘s true. Now let‘s unpack their full backstory and analyze a few key factors at play when it comes to their confusing rate of aging in Eorzea…
Surveying The Lives of Alphinaud and Alisaie Up Until Now
Alphinaud is the older twin, with Alisaie being the fiery younger sister. Hailing from the academic city of Sharlayan, the twins were passionate scholars who graduated early from the prestigious Studium academy at the astonishing age of 16.
Prodigies even by Elezen standards, the twins yearned for adventure and set forth to Eorzea to join the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. That was over 10 years ago in the game‘s timeline!
Let‘s break down the key age checks during their journey so far:
- Age 16 (Year 1572) – Start of A Realm Reborn story
- Still Age 16 (Year 1577) – Through the Heavensward expansion
- Still Age 16 (Year 1580) – During the events of Stormblood
- Somehow Still 16?! (Year 1583) – Current Endwalker expansion
By my calendar, Alisaie and Alphinaud have been adventuring across Eorzea for over 10 years now since arriving from Sharlayan.
As a devoted player who has followed their journey closely since A Realm Reborn first launched in 2013, even I have to scratch my head and ask:
"How do they still look and act so young despite being veteran world-savers at this point?!"
Well, the answer lies in understanding the mystical aging process of their Elezen race…
Comparing the Elezen Aging Process to Humans
As members of the exceptionally tall and slender Elezen people, Alphinaud and Alisaie age significantly slower compared to us average Hyur humans.
While the average life expectancy for my fellow Hyur generally caps out around 80-90 years of age, Elezens can remarkably live for over 200 years if they avoid catastrophic danger!
Here‘s a helpful data table to compare:
| Race | Average Lifespan |
|---|---|
| Hyur Humans | 80-90 years |
| Elezen | Over 200 years |
So while Alphinaud and Alisaie may have gone on sweeping adventures for over a decade of our human timeline, to them it has felt like mere months or couple years at most compared to their exceptionally long Elezen lifespans.
As Alphinaud himself explained to me on one of our missions cleaning up Garlemald together:
"It is thanks to being Elezen that my sister and I still retain such youthful features and enthusiasm despite our many years of travelling and trials. Why, we are but teenagers according to the aging standards of our people!"
It makes sense too – the twins still stand quite short for adult Elezens, owing to many years of growing still ahead of them.
Based on what I‘ve studied about Elezen biology, they won‘t reach their full adult height until around 50-60 years of age. So while Alphinaud can technically qualify as an "adult" now, he and Alisaie have a long road of maturing left by the customs of their people.
My Expectations for Their Growth Moving Forward
Knowing what I do about the mysterious Elezen aging cycle, here are my predictions for how "my friends" Alphinaud and Alisaie will continue growing in the times ahead:
- They stay biologically 16 for many more expansions – Expect their youthful features and disposition to persist for a while!
- Around 40-50 years old, bigger growth spurts kick in – I foresee them shooting up in height and starting to sound and appear more "mature"
- Beyond 60 years old, full adult Elezen status – By this point in the FFXIV story, I gander they‘ll be about as tall/wise as most older Elezens we meet
- If we get a 30 year flash-forward epilogue… – Would love to see a grizzled middle-aged Alphinaud and still fiery Alisaie as respected Elezen elders!
Of course, that‘s all speculation based on what we know about Elezen aging. As an obsessive lore junkie, I‘ll be sure to provide updates if any new info on our dear twins comes to light in future adventures!
For now, they remain the bright-eyed optimistic 16-year olds that the realm has come to cherish over the past decade…even if by Elezen clocks, they still have many decades of personal growth left to come!
Parting Thoughts on Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Their Endlessly Mystifying Ages
I hope this in-depth examination helped unravel the perennial head-scratcher that is Alphinaud and Alisaie‘s perpetually youthful ages compared to no-maj Hyur like myself!
To me, it‘s a testament to the masterful world-building and storytelling of Final Fantasy XIV that after 10 years, these characters remain just as fresh and full of life as when I first met them fighting primals among the fragrant waters of Limsa Lominsa.
Here‘s to many more years of adventuring alongside the Leveilleur twins however old they may be! (Just…please don‘t make me do the math of converting their Elezen age to normal human years every time a new expansion drops!)
Let me know in the comments if you have any other lingering questions about Alphinaud and Alisaie‘s origins and biology. As a self-proclaimed lore expert on all things FFXIV, I‘m always happy to wax poetic about our graceful Elezen friends!
