Aranea Highwind

Aranea Highwind is a boss and a guest party member in Final Fantasy XV. She is captain of the Niflheim Empire's Third Army Corps 86th Airborne Unit, and her skill in aerial combat and wielding of a lance makes her akin to a Dragoon, a traditional job class from the Final Fantasy series.

Appearance
Aranea has shoulder-length, silver-blond hair. She wears red and black armor and a long black cape. She wields a lance.

Personality
Aranea has been described by her English voice actress, Kari Wahlgren, as "edgy" and "street smart", though her loyalty remains ambiguous due to her status as a mercenary. Though she holds the rank of commodore, she prefers people speak to her in a casual manner. She does not agree with immoral practices, such as the Empire using daemons in their war efforts. As a free-spirited woman, she encourages Prince Noctis to not let anyone tell him how to walk his path in life. She displays a mischievous side when she flirts with Noctis in battle. She claims to not like working after hours when she withdraws from her fight with Noctis. She is implied to be a strong leader, as her subordinates Biggs and Wedge follow her loyally no matter which side of the war she wants to support.

Despite being a mercenary, she is perfectly capable of thinking for herself. This was shown when she started doubting the Empire and eventually defected to save innocent people.

Story
Aranea was a mercenary who was hired by Niflheim due to her unique fighting abilities. She was given rank and soldiers to see her missions through, including her two subordinates Biggs and Wedge. She attacks Noctis when his party infiltrates a Niflheim base, but leaves since she does not get paid after a certain time.

When Noctis is looking for mythril in Vesperpool he gets help from the Chancellor of Niflheim, Ardyn Izunia, who has Aranea join Noctis's party as they raid a temple to "train them". Aranea is suspicious of the Empire's recent activities, and reveals the Empire is harvesting "specimens" to make into daemons for warfare. Examples of this include the magitek troopers, which are made from the parts of Iron Giants in specialized laboratories. She disagrees with this practice and is considering leaving the army and hunting the daemons down as a mercenary again. She does not approve of the Emperor and his new high commanders, and especially detests Ardyn.

They fight through legions of daemons and defeat Quetzalcoatl, the temple guardian, and retrieve the ore it protected. Afterward, she promises to train the party more if their paths cross again and gives them a ride to the industrial town of Lestallum on an imperial airship.

When the party arrives in Tenebrae, they encounter Aranea. She had nothing to do with the attacks on Tenebrae, as she has left the Empire with her soldiers under her command joining her. She is now helping the displaced citizens in a relief effort. Aranea lends her aid to Noctis once more by arranging for Biggs and Wedge to take the party to the Imperial capital of Gralea.

In the decade following the beginning of the Starscourge when light disappears from the world, Aranea made a name for herself by hunting daemons and saving people in danger. The former Lucian marshal Cor Leonis reveals to Talcott that she was once feared far and wide as a warrior dragoon, but is now revered by the people of Lucis.

Boss


Aranea is fought during Imperial Infiltration. She employs Highwind during battle to damage the party heavily. The best way to damage her is by blocking and parrying this attack.

Party member
Aranea will join the party as a guest in A Party of Three. The player cannot customize her equipment. Her primary arm is the Stoss Spear. Her accessories are Electric Actuator, A-1 Class Powershield and Inertia Controller. Her attire is Dragon Mail.

Aranea is a mid-range fighter, using her lance to create some distance between her and enemies. She will occasionally use Jump attacks on enemies. Like Cor, she has higher parameters than the main party.

Her party Technique is called Highwind, which has Aranea jump into the air before diving and slamming her lance into the ground, creating shockwaves around its area. The attack deals massive damage at the cost of three Tech Bars. She will perform link-strikes with Noctis.

Whenever she rescues someone who is Danger condition, she slaps them across the face.

After the party's first encounter with her in Chapter 7, there is a rare chance Aranea will temporarily join them during battles on the open world. Her drop ship will appear near the battle and she'll jump into the fray, serving as a guest party member for the duration of combat. Once the battle is over, she says some parting words and jumps into the air, vanishing from the scene. Aranea's drop ship is red as opposed to the ships that drop enemies.

While in the party, Aranea participates in camps and photos. She can't be targeted by items (save items that target the whole party), has no chocobo, doesn't ride in the Regalia, blocks Tour quests, and the player can't fish when she is around.

Glitch to get Aranea as a party member
There is a glitch in the game to get Aranea stick in the player's party after the mission to the temple in Chapter 7. The player must camp at Cotisse Haven north of Hammerhead, then wait till midnight and save. The game must be saved at midnight or Aranea will not appear. The player can pick up a nighttime bounty to fast-forward to night.

After midnight the drop ships will stop appearing and Iron Giants will spawn. Heading north towards the mountains and the red fence, the player can use the monster whistle to spawn an Iron Giant. If Imperial ships appear instead, the player should wait until the ship flies away, then fast-travel to the car, then back to camp. If the player keeps getting Imperial airships they should take out all soldiers.

As soon as the Iron Giant attacks, Aranea should arrive. The player can exit the combat radius, bring up the map, and Return to rest point. To get her in the party the player must open the camp menu before her animation starts, and she joins. If the player waits too long, the user interface will be locked. While the menu is open, the player can look around for Aranea. Once she jumps down and appears near the camp, the player can camp. In the morning, the player should reload the auto-save from the camping.

Aranea will leave the party when the game resets at certain story events or quests. During the endgame the player can remove her by repeating the final battles and reloading the new clear file. The player can also remove her by going to Pitioss Secret Dungeon, or by summoning a second Aranea as usual. When the battle is finished both Araneas will disappear.

Creation and development
Before Final Fantasy Versus XIII became Final Fantasy XV, Aranea was known only as the "female Dragoon." She was seen in early trailers for the game facing off against Noctis Lucis Caelum in Insomnia. Aranea was designed by Roberto Ferrari around the end of June, 2010. Ferrari has commented on her design thusly:

Voice
In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XV, Aranea is voiced by. She shares her Japanese voice actress with Raffaello from the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, Sice from Final Fantasy Type-0, Quistis Trepe from World of Final Fantasy, and Minfilia from Final Fantasy XIV.

In the English version of Final Fantasy XV, Aranea is voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She shares her English voice actress with Shelke Rui from Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and World of Final Fantasy, Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca from Final Fantasy XII, and Ovelia Atkascha from Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.