Edward Chris von Muir

Edward Chris von Muir, also known as Gilbart and Gilbert, is a playable character from Final Fantasy IV. He is the crown prince of Damcyan, and is in line to become the seventh king. Although he is required to be educated in politics, he shows much more interest in music. Thus, he often leaves the kingdom disguised as a Bard, and travels the land with his harp.

Final Fantasy IV
Edward was born and raised in Damcyan; however, he did not like the idea of playing politics, and preferred his music. He thus traveled the land as a Bard, singing to many people. He fell in love with a girl named Anna, and when Tellah, Anna's father, did not approve of their union, they ran away. This made Tellah furious, and he followed them looking to take Anna back.

Edward and Anna went back to Damcyan. However, the kingdom was attacked by Golbez and the Red Wings of Baron, who stole the Crystal of Fire in Damcyan. As a result of the attack, Anna was mortally wounded when she shielded Edward from harm before Tellah arrived, along with Cecil Harvey and Rydia. Tellah blamed Edward for what happened to Anna, and began to attack him (this is the moment where Tellah delivers his famous line, "You spoony Bard!"). However, Anna broke up the fight, and told Tellah that she was in love with Edward, and there was nothing Tellah could do about it. Edward then explained to Tellah that it was Golbez who attacked Damcyan, and Tellah swore to avenge his daughter.

Anna then died, and Edward began to cry until Cecil smacked him out of it, and reminded him that there were others who were in danger. Edward then offered to help them find the Sand Pearl so that Cecil could cure Rosa Farrell's Desert Fever. Edward then agreed to take them to the Antlion's Den, where the Sand Pearl was. They used the Hovercraft to reach the cave. Inside the cave, they found out that the usually tame Antlion had become aggressive, and the three had to fight the Antlion for the Sand Pearl. They went back to Kaipo and used the Sand Pearl to cure Rosa. There, they decided that they needed to defend the remaining Crystals, and that the Crystal of Air in Fabul was the next target.

That night, Edward heard noises, and sneaked out of the inn where the party was staying to investigate. He began to play his harp by the oasis, and a Sahagin attacked him. During the fight, Anna's ghost appeared and told Edward to believe in himself and to be strong for her. Edward agreed to do so, and he went back to sleep.

In order to reach Fabul, Edward, Cecil, Rydia, and Rosa had to cross Mt. Hobs, a mountain blocked by a thick sheet of ice. Rydia was the only one who could melt the ice by casting the Fire spell. However, she could not do so, as she was afraid of fire due to her memory of Mist being burned. However, with persuasion from Rosa, Rydia eventually mustered up the courage to cast the Fire spell and open the way. Rydia could now use Fire magic at this point. On top of the mountain, the party met a Monk named Yang Fang Leiden who was fighting off Golbez's troops. With help from Cecil and his friends, Yang was able to defeat them. Cecil warned Yang of the danger ahead, and joined Yang in the journey back to Fabul.

In Fabul, Yang warned the king of Baron's incoming attack, and Cecil and Edward helped back him up. The king was initially skeptical because he could not trust the Dark Knight Cecil. However, Edward, an old friend of the king, stepped in to tell him that Cecil was right because Golbez already stole the Crystal of Fire. Yang also helped to convince the king of Cecil's loyalty, and Cecil, Yang, and Edward helped defend the castle. Rosa and Rydia were put on relief. However, after the fight against the Baronian army, Cecil was cornered by Kain, who had now turned against Cecil, in the Crystal room. The two dueled, and Cecil lost. Golbez then defeated Edward and Yang, and took Rosa as hostage. Kain took the Crystal and left. Rydia then cured the party. Cecil then decided to sneak into Baron by ship and get an airship from Cid Pollendina, who was also skeptical of what Baron was up to these days. The party boarded a ship provided by the king of Fabul and set sail towards Baron. However, on the way, the ship was attacked by Leviathan, the Terror of the Sea. Cecil, Rydia, Edward, and Yang were all blown off the ship. Edward was eventually recovered near the nation of Troia. He was wounded, and thus was put in a hospital to be healed. Cecil, Tellah, Yang, and Cid came to visit him while searching for the Crystal of Earth, and they told him that they were going to fight the Dark Elf. Edward then gave Cecil his Whisperweed or Twin Harp which had the power to echo whatever Edward played on his harp. When Cecil and his friends were fighting the Dark Elf, Edward sensed that they were in danger, and struggled out of bed in order to get to his harp, despite the doctors telling him not to. Edward was able to play his harp, making the Whisperweed react. The Dark Elf then lost control of himself, enabaling Cecil and company to use magnetic weapons and they were able to defeat it. Cecil and his friends came back to visit Edward one more time, and Tellah told him that Anna was happy to be loved by a man like Edward. Edward then told Tellah to avenge Anna for his sake, too, and Tellah promised him that he would.

Edward is fully recovered for the battle with the Giant of Babil, and commandeers an airship along with the Epopts of Troia. He then goes to the Tower of Wishes in Mysidia to help pray for Cecil's victory against Zeromus, and in the Game Boy Advance version of the game, he is playable again at this point.

In the ending, Edward is approached by young children who beg him to tell the story of Cecil through the song of his lyre. Edward told them that he would do so providing they help with the reconstruction of Damcyan. Once they leave, he looks up and prays that Anna and Tellah are doing fine in the afterlife.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Seventeen years later, Edward continues to rule Damcyan, and has gained a personal secretary named Harley, who turns up missing. Edward and three soldiers go out and try to find her, and when they did, she joins the team and they travel back to Damcyan. When the party returns, Damcyan is surrounded by the Red Wings. After the event, Edward and Harley go through the cave to Kaipo, but Harley falls ill to the Desert Fever. Edward goes through the Antlion cave to retrieve a ruby. With Harley recovered, they board a ship towards Baron and talk to Cecil. Edward notices something is strange with him. After the meeting they head back towards Damcyan, and witness Yang and his ship getting swallowed by Leviathan. Edward then joins Cecil's son Ceodore Harvey on his journey back to Baron. After reaching Baron, they meet Rosa and Cid, and they meet with the Kain in the castle. Upon confronting him, they discern that he is actually Kain's dark half, who defeated his light half (the Mysterious Man) on Mt. Ordeals. The Mysterious Man (Kain) regains his Jump ability, equips his lance, and fights his dark half. After defeating him, Kain becomes a Holy Dragoon, and together the whole group goes on to confront Cecil and the Maiden, and are forced to fight him as well as Odin, who then comes to his senses and knocks Cecil out of his possession. Edward then joined the others to the Crater where they have to fight a boss from each Crystal before facing off with the Maiden as well as Bahamut. However, Bahamut, too, comes to his senses and pushed her back. After helping to defeat the Creator, Edward and Harley observe the crystal in Damcyan. Although pulled away by an elder for discussion about Harley's plan to amass the material needed to rebuild all the damage caused to the Blue Planet since the moon meteors nearly destroyed it, Edward sees the spirits of Tellah and Anna, and thanks both of them. This end is very similar to the end that Edward has in Final Fantasy IV, where he talks to Tellah and Anna.

Equipment and Stats
Edward's stats are very low, both physically and magically, and his weapon arsenal is limited to Harps, daggers, and bows and arrows, depending on the version of the game. However, after Level 70, his stats tend to skyrocket, giving him the potential to attain the highest raw stats in the game. He can also only equip hats, tunics, and rings. In The After Years, Edward is relatively stronger than he was in Final Fantasy IV, but is still one of the weakest possible party members. He has only a couple of Bands, but the King's Quad allows him, Cecil, Edge, and Yang to break the damage limit of 9,999.

Final Fantasy IV
Edward is a Bard, and is able to use Bardsong, also known as Sing, and has the abilities Salve and Hide, the former also known as Heal. Sing randomly inflicts a status ailment on an opponent, Salve allows Edward to split a Potion among the party, and his third ability Hide removes him from battle until his next turn, allowing him to avoid attacks. Edward automatically hides when low on HP. In the DS release, Bardsong allows Edward to pick and choose the effect of his song, and learns more songs as he levels up. Salve also functions differently, allowing Edward to use healing items on all party members at once - for example, rather than use a single Potion split among a party of five, Edward will use a Potion on each of them and consume five from the inventory. In the Game Boy Advance release, the Harmonious Ring changes Sing to Chant, which casts Protect and Shell on the party.

The After Years
In The After Years, Edward retains his Bardsong and Salve abilities, and has the ability Escape which functions identically to Hide. Salve functions identically to how it did in the DS release of Final Fantasy IV, while Bardsong's effect is chosen randomly when the command is issued. There is also a chance Bardsong will do nothing. Edward is able to perform the following Band abilities:


 * Feast of the Land: Edward (Bardsong) + Harley (Gil Toss)
 * Fist Dance: Edward (Bardsong) + Yang (Attack)
 * Sword Dance: Edward (Bardsong) + Cecil (Attack)
 * Mirage Song: Edward (Bardsong) + Rydia (Summon)
 * Mystic Waltz: Edward (Bardsong) + Calca (Jive) + Brina (Dance)
 * King's Quad: Edward (Bardsong) + Edge (Attack) + Yang (Attack) + Cecil (Attack)

Battle
Edward appears as the Bard in the scripted battle with Tellah in Final Fantasy IV at Damcyan Castle.

Edward appears as a boss in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years in Kain's Tale. It is a storyline related fight that is rather impossible to lose unless the player lets Edward kill them, and is thus not of that much significance.

Musical Themes
Edward's theme is called "Edward's Harp". Edward claims this was Anna's favorite song.

The Spoony Bard


One of the most infamous lines in Final Fantasy history originated from the first release of Final Fantasy IV. When Tellah attacks Edward in Damcyan, he shouts out various insults, including "you spoony bard!". While it was indeed a fluke in the localization, the line has become a sort of running gag within the community, being even referenced in some of the later installments of the series, and in popular culture. The line is so famous, while later remakes of Final Fantasy IV have re-translated the entire script, "you spoony bard" has remained across all translations and ports of the game.

Other Appearances

 * Users in Square-Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Edward.
 * A Proposition in Final Fantasy Tactics involves sending the bard Edward's love letter to Anna, the golden voice of Warjilis.
 * Edward makes a small cameo in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals. Rydia and Edward exchange information on Summoning and Summonstones. He references Anna and his Hide ability.

Non-Final Fantasy appearances

 * Edward made an appearance in Legend of Mana, as a character named Gilbart, which is Edward's Japanese name.

Etymology
Edward is a common English given name, with meanings such as "rich" and "prosperous". The name was also shared by many kings and nobles.

A possible theory is that "Gilbart" comes from, a highly influential writer of books about banking who shaped most of the joint stock banks in the 1800s. Given that Edward's family introduced the concept of currency and is known for being one of the richest kingdoms, it is a possibility.

"Muir" is the Scots word for "moorland", which is characterized by low growing vegetation on acidic soils. This is befitting of Damcyan's barren desert, but both are not the same.

Trivia

 * Edward's character has similar traits to the character of Gordon from Final Fantasy II. They are both royalty, and both of these characters have been seen as miserable, cowardly and weak in their respective games but later rise up and become strong and brave.
 * Edward is the only playable character in the game to not face an Archfiend.