Egg Witch

Jingliu:

Unfair hatred and villainization that is not generally directed at her similarly characterised and morally complex male castmates; exclusion from, or only token appearances in, the vast majority of fan content focused on the group of characters to which she belongs (the High Cloud Quintet)

Jingliu is a fascinating character and a constantly overlooked core player in the interpersonal dynamics of the High Cloud Quintet and surrounding characters. She is both a victim and perpetuator of generational cycles of violence, and her story is a beautifully poignant exploration of the intersection of love and a self-concept built around this violence. Her homeland glorifies war and she was taught to deal with grief by becoming strong enough to enact revenge. After coming to care for new companions, she found a more fulfilling purpose in love and kinship, but was ultimately unable to avoid framing this within her ingrained role as a weapon. She expresses her devotion via promises of great feats of combat in the name of her loved ones, and when tragedy strikes, she resolutely turns her sword toward those same companions in an act of mercy, breaking herself in the process. Already this is a compelling arc, but it's not the end of her story. Jingliu has fought and apparently found a treatment for the debilitating condition that had plagued her after she lost everything a second time. She now strives to defeat the gods themselves in a defiant gesture of love for her friends and grief over the life and bonds they have all lost.

Vivienne de Fer:

Vivienne is the one of the only Black women companions across all 4 games. Her race and gender inform both her writing and the fanbase's reaction to her. She is disliked for not kissing the player's ass, and saying things she never outright says because so few people actually talk to her and if they do they do not listen. There's one particular white man who has said and done far worse and he is babied and beloved as the fandom's adorable awkward husband character despite the reason people claim to dislike Viv being tied to the exact bullshit he has said whereas she has a far more nuanced take. Her writing is tinged with misogynoir, its clear the writers wanted fans to mistrust her on the basis of her being a Black woman because she gets villain iconography in her design and quest titles, despite her being completely honest and there being THREE MEN WHO LIE TO YOUR FACE AND WHO WILL BETRAY YOU which Viv never ever does. She has an ending that makes people hate her even when the white girlboss character does the same thing BUT WORSE. Fandom does what it does and brutalizes her in fanfiction, outright ignores her or just posts hate instead of appreciating that she is a fascinating character. THEY DONT EVEN KNOW HER NAME. "de Fer" IS NOT HER LAST NAME, ITS A CRUEL NICKNAME SHE RECLAIMED.

Vivienne is my favorite companion in the game. She is a nuanced and multifaceted female character who dares to not kiss the player's ass. She literally froze a racist with magic. If you play as a man romancing another man, she will defend you and tell a homophobe to fuck off. She gives you a platonic friendship ring if you manage to achieve high friendship with her, something that is deeply rewarding and sweet. Discussing the politics of the series is a lot but tldr she can become a religious leader in a theocracy without actually being religious at all. She has awesome lines like "I never worry, darling! A leash can be pulled from either end." and other characters describe her as being unapologetic. But this front she puts on belies her compassionate heart, and she deserves to be beloved for that instead of scorned by a racist fanbase that never gets to know her and never dares to criticize her racist misogynistic writing.

Typical "how dare this woman have an attitude and be confident in her skills and not bend to my character's whim" misogyny combined with regrettably equally typical fandom racism. One of the only things worse than a woman is a woman of color.