Rydia

Rydia (リディア Ridia), sometimes referred to as Rydia of Mist, is a playable character in Final Fantasy IV. She is a Summoner from the village of Mist, and her role in the story, from her introduction as a young child to her sudden change to an adult, has made her one of the most prominent characters in the game.

Final Fantasy IV


Rydia was born to one of the few remaining pure-blood Summoner families in Mist. Her mother was known to protect the remote village with the Eidolon Mist Dragon, isolated from the outside world but for the Mist Cave. However, one day, the Dark Knight Cecil Harvey and his best friend, Kain Highwind, are ordered by the King of Baron to deliver a ring to the Mist Village and slay the Mist Dragon barring their way. As a rule, whenever an Eidolon dies, its respective Summoner dies as well and thus, Rydia's mother dies. The Carnelian Signet Cecil and Kain are to deliver releases Bombs all over the village, setting it on fire. Cecil and Kain find out the bad news about Rydia's mother and offer to take her to safety. However, Rydia overhears Cecil and Kain killed the Mist Dragon, and would not accept help. Instead, she summons Titan to cause a massive earthquake which causes a landslide in the eastern mountains, separating herself and Cecil from Kain.

Rydia is wounded in the earthquake, and Cecil takes her to the desert oasis of Kaipo to let her rest. Cecil tries to ask her for her name, but Rydia refuses to speak to him. That night, soldiers from Baron come to Kaipo in search of Cecil, and Cecil learns the King of Baron wants all Summoners eliminated, saying they are too dangerous to be left alive. Cecil fights off the soldiers and Rydia acknowledges Cecil's sincerity, and tells him her name.

The next day, the two discover Cecil's childhood friend, Rosa Joanna Farrell, resting in Kaipo with Desert Fever, which can only be cured with a Sand Pearl. Along the way, Cecil and Rydia meet the Sage Tellah, who leads them to Damcyan. However, before their arrival, the Red Wings attacked Damcyan Castle and stole their Fire Crystal, the only survivor of the attack being Prince Edward Chris von Muir. After Tellah departs, Rydia and Cecil convince Edward to help find a Sand Pearl, for only members of Damcyan's royalty can enter the Antlion's Cave. Notably, Rydia boldly orders the cowardly prince to stop crying, for she has done the same. After Rosa recovers, she joins the party for their next destination, Fabul.

In order to reach the castle, the party must first climb Mt. Hobs, which is guarded by a wall of ice. Only Rydia would be able to melt it with Fire, but due to the trauma of witnessing fire burn down Mist, she refuses. It takes Rosa and Edward's encouragement, and the realization that more lives would be lost if they don't act fast, that Rydia is able to overcome her fear. At the summit, they help Yang Fang Leiden, a monk from Fabul, fight off incoming monsters, and the party manages to reach Fabul Castle and warn the King that Golbez and the Red Wings will come for the Wind Crystal. During the Siege of Fabul, Rydia and Rosa assist the healers, until Cecil, Edward, and Yang are finally cornered in the Crystal Room by Kain. The women rush to the scene, but Golbez promptly arrives, injuring the men, kidnapping Rosa, and ordering Kain to take the Wind Crystal with them. Rydia comes out of hiding to heal her allies, and the party plans their next course of action.

The party boards a ship provided by the King of Fabul and set sail towards Baron. But en route, the ship is attacked by Leviathan, the Lord of All Waters and the King of the Eidolons. Rydia is blown off the ship and falls into the ocean, and Yang dives in to save her. The attack separates the four, and the fates of Rydia, Edward, and Yang remain unknown. When Cecil reunites with Yang, Yang says Rydia was swallowed by Leviathan, and the group assumes she perished. As it would turn out, Leviathan took Rydia to the Feymarch, the home of all Eidolons. Time moves faster in the Feymarch, so while Cecil and his allies were separated from Rydia for only a short period of time, years went past in the Feymarch, and, under Leviathan's watchful eye, Rydia grows into a young woman at an accelerated rate. She hones her skills as a Summoner and develops her powers with Black Magic, although at the cost of no longer casting White Magic. The Queen of the Eidolons, Asura, tells Rydia about the danger Golbez is placing the world in, and eventually Rydia decides to leave the Feymarch and return to Cecil to help him.

At this point, Cecil's party has traveled down to the Underworld in search of the Dark Crystals. When one is kept in the Dwarven Castle, Golbez arrives and proves to be much stronger than the party, especially when he summons a Shadow Dragon to defeat them. But before Cecil can be attacked, a Mist Dragon is summoned and defeats the Shadow Dragon. Rydia heals Cecil and rejoins the party in battle. After Golbez is seemingly defeated, Rydia explains her history and changed appearance, much to the relief of her friends. When Cecil questions why Rydia would still want to help him after his actions at Mist, she is quick not to dwell on the past, for as Asura told her, the danger put on the world is slowly rising, and that everyone must stand against it together. However, as they leave, Golbez had just feigned his defeat to steal the Dwarves' Dark Crystal. King Giott then decides for the party to infiltrate the Tower of Babil and reclaim the seven Crystals in Golbez's possession. The plan is interrupted by constant enemy attacks, and Cecil, Kain, Rosa, and Rydia escape the Underworld through the sacrifices of Yang and Cid Pollendina.

Back on the Overworld, the Enterprise is upgraded by Cid's assistants, which allows the party to explore Eblan Cave, where the refugees of the land currently remain. However, further into the passage, the party encounters Edge, Eblan's prince, attempting to battle Rubicante. Edge fails miserably, and after the Archfiend departs, meets with the party. Edge is asked to fight alongside them, but the ninja stubbornly refuses, insisting he can work alone. Rydia then cries, frustrated that Tellah, Yang, and Cid have all fallen and does not want to lose another ally. Due to not wanting to see such a pretty girl cry, and after Rosa heals him, Edge quickly declares that they are all fast friends and joins the party. They find their way back into the Tower of Babil beyond Eblan Cave's end, but though they reach the Chamber holding the seven Crystals, they fall through a trapdoor and escape when a second airship, the Falcon, is discovered. Arriving back in the Underworld, the party reports to King Giott, who allows them to secure the last Dark Crystal in the Sealed Cave before Golbez can have a chance. While in the Underworld again, the party can choose to visit the Feymarch and challenge Asura and Leviathan to gain their help as summons for Rydia.

The eighth Crystal is obtained, but Kain slips back under Golbez's mind control and steals the Crystal and runs off. After an upgrade to the Falcon, the party is able to return to the Overworld and to Mysidia, where the Elder prays for something to help the party. Help comes in the form of the Lunar Whale, a magical ship providing transport between Earth and the Red Moon. Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge travel to the Moon and obtain the assistance of Fusoya, a Lunarian, when it is realized that the eight Crystals have summoned the Giant of Babil back on Earth. The Lair of the Father is also on the Moon, and there, the party may challenge Bahamut, the Hallowed Father of the Eidolons, and gain his power. The other characters' thoughts in the Nintendo DS release indicate Rydia is the first human ever to earn Bahamut's help.

Following the attack and destruction of the Giant of Babil, Fusoya reveals Cecil and Golbez's history, and that the true mastermind of this conflict is Zemus, a wicked Lunarian desiring Earth's destruction. Fusoya and Golbez depart to the Moon, and Kain returns to the party. Regrouped onboard the Lunar Whale, Cecil, Kain, and Edge resolve to defeat Zemus, but Cecil orders Rosa and Rydia to stay behind, for their own safety. Edge especially tells Rydia, "This is work for grown-ups," to which she storms off, offended. However, when the Lunar Whale arrives at the Moon, the women reveal that they managed to stay onboard, stating that they are just as important in battle. Rydia believes they are all fighting for a common cause, and that she is the only Summoner left. The party travels through the Lunar Subterrane and fight the final battle, resulting in the defeat of Zeromus.

After peace is brought to the world, Rydia returns to the Feymarch, where she is more comfortable as her home, and is one of many who attended Cecil and Rosa's wedding and coronation. When comforting a young Eidolon, she states what she had learned from Cecil, that it is one's inner character that matters the most.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years


Feeling that Rydia should be with her kind, Asura has Rydia be unable to return to their domain and remain with her human friends. Seventeen years later, Rydia is busy helping rebuild the village of Mist, having been assisted by Cecil, Edward, Yang, and Edge on behalf of their kingdoms. A gravestone has been placed for her mother, which reads "Here lies the motherly summoner who protected our village." Rydia pays a visit to the Feymarch one day, only to find that all the Eidolons have been petrified. Upon returning, she finds one of the Dark Crystals has been stolen and sets out with Luca into a cave to protect the remaining Crystal from the Mysterious Girl, who easily defeats them using Titan. The Mysterious Girl is later defeated by a man cloaked in black who rescues Rydia and Luca, taking them to the Tower of Babil and telling them the events are being repeated. On board the Falcon, Edge and the Eblan Four land on the ship and tell Rydia of the events that have happened recently, and Edge instantly recognizes the Man in Black as Golbez. Together they round up other party members to confront the Mysterious Girl.

It is later revealed that there are more than one Mysterious Girl, and even later revealed that they are called Maenads, mass produced by the true antagonist, the Creator. While traveling through the True Moon, the party encounters a harmless child Maenad who responded to Rydia, waiting for her command. After the Creator was defeated, the party tries to escape from the True Moon with the Creator in pursuit. In the end, all the Maenads, except the child, sacrifice themselves to destroy the creator. Back on Earth, Rydia cares for the child Maenad, naming her Cuore and training her as a Summoner.

Equipment and Stats
Rydia is a Summoner, and thus her stats are heavily weighted in the magic department. As a child, she can equip rods, staves, bows and knives. As an adult she loses the ability to equip staves and instead equips whips. In the Nintendo DS version, she cannot equip bows anymore. Her armor is limited to universal equips and mage equips. In the Advance version of Final Fantasy IV, equipping Rydia with the Mist Ring allows summoning the Mist Dragon to grant a Blink effect on the entire party.

Final Fantasy IV
As a Summoner, Rydia naturally has the ability to summon monsters. However, she can also use Black Magic. She learns every spell, up to and including Meteor, but she learns them later than Palom because of her emphasis on Summon Magic. As a child, she can also cast some basic White Magic. When she returns to the party as an adult, she has forgotten these spells. In the Nintendo DS version, Rydia is able to learn more White Magic as a child, and learns her later Black Magic at different levels. Rydia also joins the party at Level 7, while she joins at only Level 1 in all other releases, and thus knows several spells already. When she is transformed back into a child during her Lunar Trial in the Advance release, she is able to cast her White Magic while retaining all her Black Magic. In all releases, Rydia learns her summons the same way.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Rydia can still use Black Magic and summon Eidolons, but at the beginning of her chapter Rydia's summon abilities are lost with the exception of four summons she can learn from enemy drops. In The Gathering, the player must defeat the Eidolons in battle around the world, re-acquiring them for Rydia to the summon with the exceptions of Leviathan, Asura and Bahamut. These three appear as bosses on the True Moon and will be made available for Rydia to summon if they are defeated while she is in the party. After defeating Leviathan and Asura, Rydia will also gain the Mystic Whip and Minerva Bustier from them respectively.

Rydia can use the following Band abilities:
 * Lightning Brain Buster: Rydia (Black Magic) + Luca (Fight)
 * Thunderstorm: Rydia (Black Magic or Summon) + Palom (Black Magic)
 * Broken Heart: Rydia (Attack, Bow) + Edge (Attack)
 * Inferno: Rydia + Edge (Event)
 * Thunder Wave: Rydia (Black Magic) + Ceodore (Attack)
 * Iron Flash: Rydia (Summon) + Cecil (Attack)
 * Holy Burst: Rydia (Black Magic) + Rosa (White Magic)
 * Mirage Song: Rydia (Summon) + Edward (Bardsong)
 * Sylph Protection: Rydia (Summon) + Yang (Attack)
 * Tri-disaster: Rydia (Black Magic) + Palom (Black Magic) + Leonora (Black Magic)
 * Flare Tornado: Rydia (Black Magic) + Edge (Ninjutsu) + Luca (Big Throw)
 * Wild Whip: Rydia (Attack, Whip) + Harley (Attack, Whip) + Izayoi (Attack, Whip)
 * Call Me Queen: Rydia (Attack, Whip) + Leonora (Attack, Whip) + Harley (Attack, Whip) + Izayoi (Attack, Whip)
 * Final Fantasy: Cecil (Fight) + Rosa (White Magic) + Kain (Jump) + Rydia (Black Magic) + Edge (Throw)
 * Infinity: Rydia (Black Magic) + Palom (Black Magic) + Porom (White Magic) + Rosa (White Magic) + Leonora (White Magic)

Musical Themes
Rydia's theme is simply called "Rydia."

Etymology
"Rydia" could be an "Engrish" translation of Lydia, a much more common western name. Lydia refers to a region in western Anatolia, from which the common name is derived.

In the English localization of the Nintendo DS version, Rydia is [ˈɹɪ.di.ə.]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
A downloadable costume for the main character, Mira, is based directly upon Rydia's appearance from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, including green hair and outfit. It is listed as "Mystic" in the game itself, though.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Rydia makes a small cameo in her child form in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals. She exchanges information on Summoning and Summonstones with Edward.

Lord of Vermilion II
Rydia appears as a card and summonable creature in the sequel to Lord of Vermilion, along with other characters from Final Fantasy IV as part of a special cross promotion. Her card is marked as Super Rare, and has an Attack and Defense of 35.

Virtual World
Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Rydia.

Trivia

 * Rydia is one of a small handful of characters to undergo a permanent physical change during their respective game, with her sprite and unit portrait changing as well. Others who have done this are Cecil Harvey and Garnet til Alexandros XVII.
 * Rydia is the only Summoner to focus on Black Magic other than her summons, as the Summoners after her (Princess Garnet and Eiko Carol of Final Fantasy IX and Yuna of Final Fantasy X) focus on White Magic.
 * The in Square's  series (directed by Takashi Tokita) features parodies of Final Fantasy IV characters, where some of the playable generals are named after them. Character names include Rydia, Kain and Edge.
 * There are some ambiguities regarding Rydia's age. In all versions of Final Fantasy IV it is specified that in the Feymarch, time moves faster. Rydia's ageing is also made apparent in her change of speech and thought patterns, shown most clearly in the Nintendo DS release. Thus, chronologically only seven real years have passed since Rydia was born, but due to the advanced passage of time in the Feymarch, she is physically and mentally an adult. Much ado has been made of her nearly identical appearance 17 years later in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, but as other characters of similar age are largely unchanged save for their clothing, it is unlikely there is a deep reason behind her appearance. However, it is possible that the reason for Rydia's apparent lack of ageing in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is because she was away from the Feymarch, helping rebuild Mist for a large part of the time between Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
 * Young Rydia is depicted in the icon for Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS when the player opens the game on their menu. A tiny Bomb is seen beside her.
 * Rydia had a different menu portrait in the mobile phone release of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which seems to be based directly on her official artwork.
 * Rydia has a grand total of six different menu portraits across all the releases of Final Fantasy IV and a seventh in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, tying her with Cecil for the largest number in the series.
 * When Cecil and Kain inadvertently destroy the village of Mist, Rydia summons Titan even though when the player gains her as a playable character, she can only summon Chocobo and Whyt (in the Nintendo DS remake). However, this may be due to her anger over Cecil and Kain's actions.
 * Many pieces of artwork featuring Rydia were altered to be less revealing in the American version, as was done with Porom and Ursula.

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