Ignis Scientia

a character from a game

Ignis Scientia, previously known as Ignis Stupeo Scientia, is a companion of Noctis and a party member in Final Fantasy XV. Although not directly playable, he can co-opt moves with Noctis and be issued orders. Ignis's nickname is "Iggy". His name was originally given as Ignis Stupeo Scientia, but the middle name is no longer used in his official biographies.

He is Noctis's close childhood friend alongside Gladiolus and Prompto, acting as a strategist for the royal family. He is the group's driver and chef, taking the wheel of the party's car unless the player wants to drive manually as Noctis.

Appearance
Ignis wears a purple and black patterned dress shirt with his black suit and black shiny red-soled shoes with sequenced crystals at the tip. He wears shimmery silver driving gloves. He wears glasses and has short, light brown hair swept up at the front of his hairline and green eyes. Like all party members, he has some skull-motifs to his outfit, although more subdued than his comrades'. He has a skull on his belt buckle.

Personality
Ignis has a composed, serious, and cool personality to contrast Gladiolus and Prompto. Ignis has been friends with Noctis since early childhood. He received a special education for gifted children to work as a staff officer for Noctis and acts as the understanding consultant for him. He is from a different region than the others, and thus has a different accent.

A more serious and nurturing character, Ignis can be seen as Noctis's right-hand man and the brains of the party. Ignis is loyal to his prince and would do anything for him, such as staying near him in battle. Because Noctis lost his mother when he was young, Ignis has filled some of those duties for him, such as trying to make Noctis eat a healthy diet. Though austere and intelligent, Ignis struggles reading people's intentions, especially when something is a joke. He is a perfectionist and tends to lose his composure when things don't go his way.

Story
Ignis accompanies Noctis and his friends on a road trip to Altissia where they are to meet a woman named Luna, Noctis's fiancée. En route they receive news that the royal capital Lucis has been invaded by the Empire of Niflheim. Ignis drives the car through the Duscae region when they spot a giant Adamantoise as well as an astral shard.

While stopping in Duscae to make the gil to repair the car that was wrecked by Prompto, Ignis asks Noctis to go stargazing as they have a view of the night sky without the city's light pollution. When they corner Deadeye, a fierce behemoth that the locals have put a bounty on, Ignis concocts a plan to surprise it in its lair by having Noctis distract it with his warping techniques and have Prompto detonate a fuel tank on the beast.

Gameplay
Ignis wields a pair of knives that he can switch comfortably from a standard grip and a reverse grip for variable attacks. He can also toss one into the air and kick it at the foe he is fighting. In the Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae demo Ignis is the only one able to use magic with his Cure spell. He uses it automatically on allies that are on low health. He can use Venom Strike on enemies, which poisons them.

Creation and development
Ignis, like the other party members, went through a design overhaul. The original footage of him had him wearing a white dress shirt under a jacket, jeans and a dogtag pendant. This outfit was changed to a purple and black animal print dress shirt worn with a suit. He's also donned a pair of uniquely styled blue gloves. In a early gameplay trailer of the game when it was known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII he was playable and used a katana to attack and fired magic.

Ignis was redesigned by Yusuke Naora, the art director of Final Fantasy XV. Ignis had competitively few alterations despite improvement in technology. To emphasize he has protected Noctis since a young age, he was made more toned, especially enhancing the musculature around his neck. Care was taken to ensure to retain his intellectual image, so he appears slender under his clothes.

Director Hajime Tabata has explained that black has historically been treated as a special color in Lucis. Thus the attire of the royal family, and those in occupations closely tied to it, wear black.

Voice
Ignis's Japanese voice actor is Mamoru Miyano, who also voices from the  series. In the English localization he speaks with an English accent in comparison to the other party members, who speak with American accents. This is because Ignis is from a different region of the world. In the English localization he mainly refers to Noctis as "Highness", whereas he calls him "Noct" in the Japanese version. This has been criticized by some as too drastic a change of his characterization between the versions, but director Hajime Tabata has answered on the official forums to assure he is aware of the concerns and strives to ensure that Ignis's character is portrayed as intended in the localized versions.

Merchandise
Ignis will be available as a Play Arts -Kai- figure that includes a pair of daggers.

Gallery

 * Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV

Etymology
Ignis's name was composed of three Latin words.

The three words form the full meaning of Ignis's original name: "I stun with fiery knowledge." This is not a literal translation, as ignis is the noun "fire," not the adjective "fiery," and it is not in the ablative [instrumental] case. A variation of it is possible, however: "I, Fire, stun/amaze with knowledge."

Ignis's middle name was later dropped.

Trivia

 * During gameplay, Noctis refers to him as Count, possibly indicating his Lucian title and class.
 * Early development of Final Fantasy XV saw Ignis use a katana as his main weapon, while daggers were used as sub/ability weapons. Due to this, and many design traits, he was affectionately called "Glasses Touchdown" due to similarities to No More Heroes series protagonist Travis Touchdown.