Farsight

Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr, who, like all Tau, has the longest name in the freaking world, is the closest thing the Tau have to a stone-cold grimdark badass.

That's why he broke away from the Empire and became an exile.

Once upon a time, there lived a Tau who had the word "hot-blooded" in his very name...

He used to be the greatest general of the Tau race, killing orks out on the frontier, and earning the name O'Shovah or Commander Farsight for his tactical genius. However, he also began to become embittered as the Etherials failed again and again to back up his assertions that the Tau, armed as they were with plasma-coilgun sniper rifle-machine guns, must also figure out how to fight in close combat.

In short, Farsight knew what universe they were living in, even if his rulers didn't.

During this time, he came across the Dawn Blade.

The Dawn Blade

Okay, how best to put this...Nobody knows what the fuck this thing is. He found it on the burned out husk of an artefact world that had once been cleansed of Chaotic influence by the Spehss Mehrines. However, it had been covered in alien ruins before humanity even got there to corrupt it.

So, it could be anything. Everybody's got a different opinion:

Is it a Daemon Weapon, keeping him alive even as it perverts his will? Then again, the Tau are immune to the influences of the warp, so it's unlikely.

Is it a C'tan Phase Blade, further reinforcing any connections the Tau have to the Necrons?

Is it Anaris, the Sword of Dawnlight that Vaul once forged for Khaine, and has been lost since ol' Bloody Handed went all to pieces?

Is it a master-crafted sword made by a either a Space Marine chapter, the Inquisition, or a long-forgotten alien race?

Who knows? Farsight doesn't. All he knows is that the thing glows like a lightsaber, is about as long as he is tall, and cuts through tank armor like butter. Rather than try to figure out what it was, he just thought that it was a good idea to bolt it to the arm of his Crisis suit and use it to rip the shit out of anything that opposes him. Fuck yeah.

Gotta Go Your Own Way

Shortly after going into retirement in disgust over being abandoned to hold the line against an ork horde with no support, the Imperium of Man began the Damocles Crusade to wipe the Tau out. He was called out of retirement to aid the defense, then sent off on the humiliatingly un-badass assignment of reclaiming lost colonies for the greater good while other, less awesome men... I mean space minotaurs were sent to deal with Hive Fleet Behemoth.

After all their Ethereals died in an accident (which may or may not have also been an "accident"... look, it's the Tau, get used to ambiguity), Farsight had had enough. Giving the entire Tau Empire the old ten gun salute, he set up his own set of heavily-fortified worlds on the edges of Tau space, and works to remove his people from Ethereal control.

Occupation

Nobody knows. (Getting tired of hearing that yet?)

Seriously, everything about him's a mystery these days.

He's supposedly still alive after three-hundred years when the average Tau is lucky to hit fifty-five. How's he do it? New technology? Daemonic possession? Necron/C'tan influence? Have there been many Farsights, with a new one taking up the old's mantle and title like communist Batmen? Does he just eat right and exercise?

Is he still fighting for the greater good? Has he uncovered some sort of dark, shameful secret the Etherials are hiding from the Tau at large, and rebelling against them over that? Is he an agent of Chaos? Is he trying to develop a system of personal choice apart from Ethereal Ambiguous Mind Control™? Or is he just mad at them for refusing to see that the only path to dominance is a grimdark one?

Does anyone know? Do the fluff-illiterate even care?

Quotes

"Learn to shorten your reach! If your foe can come close enough to negate your striking power, all stratagem is lost and when all stratagem is lost, the battle is lost." --Codex: Tau (3rd Edition)

“Each must find their own way. If those in our heartland had witnessed the savageries of the void as have we they would know this. The hand of each of the great starfarers is turned against the other, none will join their strength together just to see their ancient enemies prosper. Neither should we." --Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition)

Cranky old man voice much?

That's the Fluff, here's the Crunch

While popular fluff-wise even among non-Tau players for his badassery, Commander Farsight isn't actually all that useful on the tabletop.

Sure, he lets you flood the field with lots of warm bodies and battlesuits, with free bonding knives even, and his actual stats are pretty good. The Dawn Blade alone is pure rape-sauce.

On the other hand, you basically get nothing else. Ethereals and vespids are no great loss, but without kroot you've lost your best utility unit. Plus, his renegade Tau ain't got no fancy tech, so you can't bring more than one of any non-Fire Warrior or non-Battlesuit model.

A Tau player without markerlights and railguns is a sad, sad Tau player, especially when you consider that he can't be taken in a match with less than 1500 points.