Ricard Highwind

Ricard Highwind is a character from Final Fantasy II. He is a dragoon from Deist, and prefers wielding a spear in battle.

Story
Ricard joins forces with Firion for some time. He was ordered to find the ultimate magic but his ship was swallowed up by the Levithian. He first meets Firion inside the Levithian where he finds out that Dragoon's were killed (depending on the player's choice). He then joins forces with Firion, Maria, and Guy. They use his ship to get out of the Levithian and journey to find the ultimate magic. After getting into the Mysidian tower they get through all the obstacles and find the door leading to the ultimate magic. But they find Minwu at the door telling them to stand back while he uses all his energy to open the door. As a result Minwu dies. They then find the ultimate magic and travel to Fynn where they're informed about the Emperor's Cyclone. They go down to a part of Fynn's castle to rejuvinate the Wyvern.

Ricard then accompanies Firion and his party into the Cyclone to defeat the Emperor for the first time. When Leon attempts to assume the throne of Palamecia, the heroes travel there and confront him. When the Emperor suddenly returns from the dead as the Dark Emperor, Ricard attacks the Emperor to create a diversion while the other three heroes, accompanied by Leon, get picked up by the Wyvern and escape from the Dark Emperor. Ricard is no match for the undead Emperor and is easily slain.

In the Dawn of Souls remake Ricard is seen in Heaven fighting a worm like creature (similar to the one that him with Firion's party fights inside the Leviathan) when Minwu and the others join him. After they defeat it they travel to find out where they are. They later confront the Light Emperor who ask for their forgiveness but an image of Ricard's wife and son tell him not to be fooled by the Light Empereor, because in reality the Light Emperor is evil as his dark side. Ricard then summons the will to fight the Light Emperor and defeat him. Upon his defeat, Ricard can finally rest in peace, knowing that the future of the world is now in good hands.

Stats and Traits
Ricard is a Dragoon, so he has a high level with spears. The player should give him high level magic like Holy and Flare, so he can be able to use strong magic for the Soul of Rebirth mode, but this is only for the Game Boy Advance and PSP versions, since the Soul of Rebirth is only in those two versions. He also has the normal traits of a Dragoon, having high vitality and defense. In the NES version he has more level with Swords than Spears.

Trivia

 * Ricard is a notable character: he is the first Dragoon in the series. He is also the first character to have the surname Highwind in a Final Fantasy title, followed by Kain Highwind in Final Fantasy IV and Cid Highwind in Final Fantasy VII, both dragoons in accordance to their respective games. Alexander Highwind Tycoon of Final Fantasy V also uses the name.


 * In the Dawn of Souls remake, the son of a fellow dragoon was named Kain. When Ricard returned to Deist, the boy and his mother were the only ones left, and Ricard's eventual death prompts Kain to follow in the Dragoon legacy. This is referenced in Final Fantasy IV, where there is a Dragoon named Kain Highwind. The Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV also makes a reference to this easter egg, as Kain states that his father died while fighting an empire, and even states that his father's name was Richard.


 * Ricard's initial statistics in the original Famicom and PlayStation versions gave him more weapon skill with swords, having only the first level for spears and he starts with a Wing Edge. Both GBA and PSP remakes increase his spear level to 8 to bring him more in line to the traditional Dragoons and start him with a Flame Lance instead.