SD) Cyan Garamonde (Final Fantasy VI)

Art by Indy K

"The world before the fall,

Lovely is the light of dawn,

Noble is the heart of man..."

While it might be considered cheating just a bit to include any of the cast of Final Fantasy VI, I feel as though Cyan is often overlooked as he's generally overshadowed by the more technically "good" characters in combat, and by characters whose growth is more directly seen over the course of the game. In the original version of the game, Cyan's special ability, Bushido, is incredibly frustrating and downright inefficient to use, and most of his character arc occurs when he's first introduced. Newer versions of the game have made his ability far more viable, and though his story is still front loaded, it's arguably one of the most powerful and impactful in the game.

Beginning development around December of 1992, the entire game came together in just one year. It marked the first time that series creator and director, Hironobu Sakaguchi, was less intimately involved in development as he was busy with other projects and his new duties as Executive Vice President of Squaresoft. He served as the producer, and split director responsibilities between Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito. The idea behind the story was that every character is the protagonist, and all members of the development team were invited to contribute ideas for characters and their "episodes". Cyan was created by Hiroyuki Ito, and is cited as Hironobu Sakaguchi's favorite character in the game. He was originally named Cayenne in Japan, but due to character limitations was renamed Cyan for Western localizations.

Cyan is introduced as an old-fashioned man of honor who dutifully serves the king of the Doma region. He's shown to be incredibly skilled, holding off Imperial soldiers on his own as the Empire lays siege to Doma castle. One of the Imperial generals, Leo, is shown to have a great respect for Cyan and outright refuses to resort to underhanded tactics presented by fellow general Kefka. As such, Kefka takes matters into his own hands, dumping poison into Doma castle's water supply, killing not only most of the people within, but specifically taking the lives of Elayne and Owain, Cyan's wife and son.

Driven to rage, Cyan recklessly assaults the Imperial forces on his own. By a stroke of luck, it's here that he first meets and teams up with Sabin and Shadow. The three commandeer suits of magitek armor, and eventually find themselves in the not forebodingly named Phantom Forest. Here, they opt to board the incredibly normal train that they find within. The train, filled with ghosts, turns out to be the Phantom Train, a spectral locomotive tasked with ferrying souls to the afterlife. The three fight their way through, attempting to stop the train, before escaping and having to fight the train in order to stay alive. After defeating it they are allowed to get off, and as the train leaves Cyan sees Elayne and Owain on board. As they depart, they give a heartfelt and loving farewell, ultimately leaving Cyan alone at the train station.

From here, Cyan begins to take on a fatherly role, first to Sabin, and then in larger part to Gau. When he's first introduced to the rest of the group, he is immediately hostile toward Celes, a well known general for the Imperial army. However, Cyan's level head along with Celes' words and actions bring them to a wary alliance that eventually becomes a tighter bond. From this point on, Cyan's true personality, and not just his rage and grief, get a chance to shine. He is a well spoken and noble man who is shown to be wary of change and innovation. While he's not particularly fond of or good with technology, he shows a capacity and willingness to learn more about it.

In the latter part of the game, after Kefka achieves his goal and thrusts the world into ruin, the party is split and Celes, taking the reigns after her own struggles, sets out to find them. Cyan is found residing on Mt. Zozo, where he has taken to writing letters to a woman he met in Mobliz. The woman, Lola, had been worried and wondering about the fate of her boyfriend. She shares her story with Cyan, who finds it very moving. Thus Cyan begins writing the letters pretending to be her lost boyfriend in an effort to bring the woman some peace, as well as crafting silk flowers that he sends as the real flowers don't grow any longer. Later, Lola admits to knowing that the letters were not from her boyfriend and that he was dead, but the letters helped her come to terms with her grief. Cyan encourages her to keep living, words she vows to keep in her heart.

Cyan is such an emotionally rich character that we get to see go through the various stages of grief. He's traumatized by the loss of his family, and carries with him a great guilt. He dedicated his life to protecting the people and kingdom that he loved only to have them ripped away by forces well beyond his control. While presented as the typical stoic knight archetype, he goes beyond this and shows he is not defined by it. It's especially telling that, while well versed in combat, he takes the time to learn how to craft silk flowers, showing a softer and more sensitive side. In addition, through his letters to Lola, he finds peace and closure within himself while also helping another wayward soul do the same.

While most of the cast of Final Fantasy VI can be argued to be the main character, Cyan is often left out of these discussions for a variety of reasons. His character arc is almost entirely wrapped up upon his initial appearance, with only a handful of moments to shine outside of it, usually in conjunction with another character. In addition, his signature ability and stat distribution make him less than optimal. He serves primarily as a tank, though other characters can serve this role better. His Bushido ability, while fitting, makes him more of a hindrance than an asset. In the original release, you'd select the ability, and then be presented with a timer that goes through a number of iterations, using a different move based on the amount of time you waited. With Final Fantasy VI's active time battle system, it meant that Cyan and the rest of the party would be left standing there, doing nothing, while you waited for the move you wanted to use. A few characters, such as Gau, are able to act independently at the cost of player agency. In later versions, using Bushido instead allows you to choose the move you want and Cyan waits out the timer on his own while you can still utilize other characters, making him more effective.

In our story, Cyan will serve a role similar to what he did for Sabin and Gau in his original appearance, acting as the de facto "group dad". His level head, strong convictions, and capacity for empathy will make him a voice of reason. His willingness to learn about things he's not good at and his bucking of conventional toxic masculinity make him an excellent role model, and his experience dealing with grief and guilt give him valuable insight into how best to help and motivate others. While he'll still serve primarily as a tank, I think it would be fitting to give him passive abilities that boost those around him, showing that his time as a leader and his experience in battle allows him to think and move tactically.