Cid Sophiar

Cid Sophiar is a non-player character in Final Fantasy XV. He is the owner and operator of the Hammerhead garage, as well as Cindy Aurum's grandfather. Cid is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy series, usually appearing as an older man with engineering aptitude. The Final Fantasy XV incarnation of Cid can help the player by upgrading their weapons.

Appearance
Cid is an elderly man with silver hair and hazel eyes. He wears a red leather jacket, a blue shirt, black gloves, jeans, and a red baseball cap that bears the Hammerhead logo.

Personality
Cid presents himself as bad-tempered and unfriendly, but this is a ruse. He is truly a kind, caring individual. His biography in Final Fantasy XV: Comrades describes him as "surly, crotchety curmudgeon" who yet holds Noctis, "Reggie's boy", in a special place in his heart.

Story
Cid was a close friend with Regis Lucis Caelum before the latter became king and worked as a mechanic for the royal house. He had a son, but no futher details of his family are known. In M.E. 725, Regis fought alongside Cid, Clarus Amicitia, Cor Leonis and Weskham Armaugh on their trip to Accordo. Due to the defeat of the Lucian-Accordian allied forces, the Niflheim army had invaded the three regions of Leide, Duscae, and Cleigne, where they began establishing bases followed by a period of peace. Lucis challenged the empire, but were pushed back. Regis, as the Lucian prince, had traveled to Accordo with a select few to seek the restoration of an allied force, but was forced to withdraw to the Crown City due to the Lucian army's defeat. The range of the magical Wall that protects the Crown City was pulled back to its ramparts to maintain the strength to resist the empire's invasion efforts.

Cid and Regis fell out sometime before Regis's coronation, which Cid was not invited to attend. Although they never saw each other again as Insomnia became isolated from the rest of Eos behind the magic Wall to be upheld by Regis, they did reconcile afterward and reestablished contact. They corresponded in written letters but never met face-to-face again.

Cid established the Hammerhead service station and garage to the Leide region, Lucian outlands. He got a man named Takka to turn over a new leaf from marauding outlaw into outstanding chef, who now operates Takka's Pit Stop restaurant at Hammerhead. At some point Cid's son Mid and daughter-in-law Melba died in an accident, leaving him to raise Cindy alone in the mechanic trade.

The war with the Niflheim Empire drags on. After Regis's son and the heir apparent to the throne, Noctis Lucis Caelum, turns twenty, Lucis begins peace negotiations with Niflheim as upholding the Wall is draining Regis's life-force and he has become frail. Knowing the negotiations to be a ruse, Regis plans to send Noctis away from Insomnia. As depicted in Final Fantasy XV Prologue Parting Ways, the day before Noctis's departure, Regis had called Cid, who had demanded to see Regis face-to-face. Regis had declined, knowing it would be the last time they would talk. Afterward, he had talked with Clarus Amicitia, his bodyguard and close friend, on how he had been unable to tell Cid and Noctis the truth and wondered how his legacy will be remembered.

Noctis departs Insomnia with his retinue of friends. Regis's car they are using breaks down and they push it to Hammerhead. Noctis meets Cid who recognizes Noctis as Regis's son. He doesn't act respectful toward him, implying he doesn't think Noctis is ready for the position of king. Cid directs Noctis and his friends to become hunters to earn money for their journey, and after the Regalia is fixed, Noctis continues on his journey.

After Niflheim attacks Insomnia and Regis is killed, Noctis returns to Hammerhead. Cid assures Noctis that Regis orchestrated the turn of events to save Noctis's life, but Noctis remains upset about how selfish he feels Regis's actions were. Noctis begins his quest to collect the royal arms of his forebears and forge covenants with the Astral gods of Eos to gain the power to restore his kingdom. As he needs passage to Altissia, Cid and Cindy go to Cape Caem to make preparations for Noctis's trip. Though the ferry from Galdin Quay doesn't run under the current conditions, King Regis has a ship known as the Royal Vessel in a secret harbor at Caem. Cid meets Talcott Hester at Caem, a young boy who has lost his family who is seeking refuge at the abandoned outpost. Cid gives Talcott his Hammerhead cap, and Talcott keeps it as a memento, coming to view Cid as a grandfather-figure.

Noctis goes out to collect mythril to fix King Regis's ship. As they are ready to depart, Cid reminds Noctis that his friends—Gladiolus Amicitia, Ignis Scientia and Prompto Argentum—are more than mere bodyguards, and asks Noctis to always depend on them. Noctis's journey mirrors that of the one Regis did in his youth with Cid and their other friends, and Cid recognizes the parallel. Cid steers the ship to Altissia and shows his old travel documents to the border control to have them let through. He stays behind with Regis's ship as Noctis continues onward. Cid survives the town's annihilation by Niflheim forces and Leviathan, and returns to Hammerhead.

When Noctis disappears, Cid is initially ready to die and be buried under Hammerhead as the world plunges into darkness. Cindy brings him to Lestallum, mankind's last defense against daemons, where Cid's engineering ability makes him a valuable asset. He begins aiding the former members of Kingsglaive, who have taken it upon themselves to protect the populace in the king's absence, by upgrading their weapons.

After Noctis awakes from his ten-year slumber after receiving enlightenment from Bahamut, he returns a decimated Galdin Quay with Regis's ship. He meets the boy Talcott who has grown into an adult, who drives Noctis back to Cid's garage. After Noctis disappeared the sun gradually disappeared from the world, which has been overtaken by daemons. Hammerhead has been liberated from daemons and been set up as a daemon-hunter stronghold. Almost all in Eos has taken refuge in the city of Lestallum, whose light provided by the power plant can keep the daemons out of the city. Cid, who is about 87 at this time, didn't want to leave his garage behind, and so had turned it into a hunters' stronghold and checkpoint which he co-manages with Cindy. Though still alive and well, he is not as active as he once was. Ignis, in Noctis's absence, acted as his caretaker.

Final Fantasy XV


Cid acts as a mechanic who upgrades the player's weapons designated by a "+" symbol. This includes the Engine Blade, Drain Lance, and various machine weapons, so long as he is provided with the corresponding material. Upgradable weapons were made sellable in patch 1.03, but if the player sells them they can't complete Cid's quests.

Once Cid upgrades the player's Engine Blade III to the Ultima Weapon, he will give Noctis his Old Hammer, which King Regis carved with "Property of Mr.Hammerproof Thickskull." This was the weapon Cid used during his adventure with the king, but it is not usable in battle, and instead is a key item.

After giving Cid the weapon and the material he needs for an upgrade, the player needs to wait for the upgrade to be completed. The first two upgrades for Engine Blade and Drain Lance are immediate, but for the following quests the player will need to pass time and wait for Cid's call. What can cause confusion is that the quest log asks the player to pass time while Cid upgrades the weapon as soon the quest is unlocked, and not when the player actually hands the weapon over to Cid to be upgraded. Initially Cid only upgraded one weapon at a time and did not accept a new weapon until giving back the weapon he was currently upgrading. This has since been changed, and Cid accepts numerous weapons at once and can return them at the same time as well.

The time passes by doing quests, hunts always being a good option as they can be undertaken at any time and can be repeated. The next time the player rests at a camp or caravan after the requirements have been met, Cid will call Noctis when he wakes up in the morning to come pick the upgraded weapon up. The amount of time it takes for Cid to upgrade a weapon is different for each one. Cid will not call the player to let Noctis know the upgrade is ready when they have Iris as guest party member, and when Gladiolus is not in the party. Thus, the player may need to wait until the end of the power plant segment in Chapter 8 to get Cid to call. If he doesn't already have a weapon at this time, the player can still give him one to upgrade, but he will not return it until after the first mission of Chapter 8 is complete. Cid will also not call when the player stays at a hotel, or if someone else calls Noctis instead as part of another quest.

Many players have found the Cid quest-line to glitch, causing him not to give the quests for upgradeable weapons. The change of Cid accepting more than one weapon at a time for an upgrade may be part of the fix for this.

Final Fantasy XV: Comrades
Cid again upgrades the player's weapons.

A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV
Cid is an assist character whom Regis can call on. When summoned, Cid leaps onto the scene and slams down his hammer that sends out a ground-traveling energy wave. When summoned in Armiger, Cid makes several powerful strikes with his spear on one opponent, and is the second character to strike before Regis.

Creation and development
Cid was designed by Roberto Ferrari.

Voice
He is voiced by Nobuyuki Katsube in Japanese and Jack Angel in English.

Etymology
"Sophiar" is derived from sophia, which means "wisdom" in Greek.

Trivia

 * There is a drawing of Cid with Takka and Cindy in Takka's diner. It was drawn by the Caricaturist.
 * Some of Cid's characteristics allude to Cids of past installments. Sophiar's use of hammers and spears may allude to the two playable Cids from the main series: Cid Pollendina from Final Fantasy IV who wields hammers, and Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII who wields spears. They are also all mechanics. According to Talcott, Cid's favorite dishes are seafood prepared by Ignis. This may allude to Cid Del Norte Marquez of Final Fantasy VI, as there is a sequence that involves feeding him fish.
 * The description for Magitek Exosuit says it was recovered and repurposed by Cid.
 * NPCs in the Hammerhead diner talk about Cid's son dying. However, Cid's last name is Sophiar while Cindy's last name is Aurum. It is possible Cid also had a daughter who died as well, though it's not completely uncommon in Japan for men to take their wife's last name. It is also possible Cid was not married to the mother of his children who thus did not share his surname.