Firion

Firion is the primary protagonist of Final Fantasy II, and as such, the leader of the player's party. He is the adopted brother of Maria and Leon and he is the best friend of Guy.

Appearance and Personality
Firion has white hair covered by a blue, black, and orange bandana. He also wears light blue shoulder pads and shin guards over white clothing, he also has a brown belt with a gold buckle tied around his waist and a red cape tied around his semi-chest area. Firion always tries to behave heroically and strives to protect his country and the people he holds dear. In his Japanese NES profile, it is stated that Firion has a weakness for women, which could explain why he was so easily seduced by the Lamia Queen.

Story
In the Japanese novelization, he was born in Salamand and was taken in by his adopted family after his parents' death. After his home is burned down and his adoptive parents murdered by the Palamecian Army, he is critically wounded by several black knights while fleeing Fynn. Upon awakening, he finds himself in the remote rebel stronghold of Altair, where he reunites with his close friends Maria and Guy. Upon realizing that Leon has been separated from them, Firion, Maria and Guy ask Princess Hilda if they could join the rebel army, since they have nothing left to return to.

Hilda refuses to let them in because of their young age, but allows them refuge from the empire so they can wait for Maria's brother, Leon, to find them if he survived. Instead of waiting, Firion, Maria and Guy go to Fynn to find Leon themselves. They find Scott, Hilda's groom to be, mortally wounded in the secret room of Fynn's tavern. He gives a ring to Firion to give to Hilda. Scott tells Firion to tell Hilda of his love for her and his regret that he will not see her again, then rethinks the request. Impressed by their accomplished infiltration of Fynn, Hilda lets Firion and his friends join the Wild Rose Rebellion against the empire.

Hilda gives the party their first mission, to locate mythril, a powerful metal needed to create weapons. The White Mage, Minwu, accompanies the party to Salamand. The town of Salamand is currently under the Empire's the control, and the men of town are forced to mine Mythril. A town native named Josef informs them of the townspeople's plight, but is unwilling to help, as his daughter Nelly is also a captive. The party heads to the mines, where they rescue the prisoners, along with Nelly after defeating the Imperial Officer. They return to Altair soon after with Mythril.

Firion leads a team to the town of Bafsk to stop the large airship, Dreadnought, from being completed. The party is too late and the Dreadnought is finished and attacks several towns. His party then retrieves the Goddess Bell needed to open the gates of Kashuan Keep, where Sunfire needed to stop the Dreadnought is located. Josef helps them get the bell by giving them his snowcraft and defeating the Adamantoise that guards it. After fighting Borghen, Josef sacrifices himself to rescue the party from a large boulder. After collecting the Sunfire, the party, along with Prince Gordon, witness Cid's airship being captured, where Hilda and Cid traveled to Kashuan. They rescue her from the Dreadnought and then destroy the engine, but not before Maria recognizes the Dark Knight of the empire is Leon.

Soon after the King of Fynn orders from his death bed that Firion's group contacts the Dragoons of Deist. Firion heads to Poft in search of a ship, along with Maria and Guy, and recruits a pirate named Leila, who offers to aid the party by bringing them to Deist so that she and her crew could rob them. Once at sea, her crew attacks the party and loses. Leila gives herself up and Firion allows her to join them.

At Deist, the party only find a mother and son in Deist, as everyone else has been wiped out, save for one Wyvern. The party places the last Wyvern's egg in a pool in the depths of Deist Cavern. After returning to Altair, they discover Hilda has been acting oddly and is eating mice. Firion enters her room alone, where she attempts to seduce him. The rest of the party bursts into the room just as she reveals her true form as a Lamia Queen.

After defeating the Lamia, Firion and his group head to the Palamecian Coliseum, where Hilda is being held captive. After rescuing Hilda, Firion, Maria, Leila and Guy participate in an attack upon Fynn, where they infiltrate the castle and kill the Imperial Commander, restoring the kingdom of Fynn.

Firion travels to Mysidia to locate Minwu. After finding he traveled to the Mysidian Tower, the resting place of the mighty Ultima Tome, Firion and his friends search for the Crystal Rod, a relic used as the key to the tower, which lies in the Mysidia Cave. However, in order to explore deep into the cavern, he needs a White and a Black Mask. After finding these artifacts on Fynn Castle and the distant Tropical Island, respectively, Firion heads to the Mysidia Cave and obtains the key to the Mysidian Tower.

However, when approaching the island where the Tower is located, Firion, Maria and Guy are swallowed by Leviathan. The party manages to escape from its bowels with the help of the last remaining Dragoon, Ricard Highwind. Finally, at the top of the Mysidian Tower, they witness Minwu sacrificing himself to acquire the Ultima Tome for the party.

After retuning to Fynn, they discover that a Cyclone that has been summoned by the Emperor is destroying towns. Firion leads a team into the Cyclone with the help of the newborn Wyvern and defeats the Emperor.

A celebration held for the Empire's defeat is halted by the announcement that the Dark Knight Leon has taken the throne after the Emperor's defeat. The party enters the castle using the recently deceased Cid's airship and confronts the power-hungry Leon.

In the middle of a confrontation with Leon, the Emperor returns from the dead, revealing his plan to destroy the world. Ricard holds him off while Firion, Leon, and the rest of the party escape. Upon arriving in Fynn, Hilda agrees to let Leon join the Rebel Army and tells Firion to keep an eye on him.

The last battle takes place in Pandaemonium at the end of the final dungeon, the Jade Passage. When the Emperor was killed the second time, Leon leaves the party because of what he did with the empire, but Firion tells him that when he is ready to come back, he will be happily welcomed back again.

In the novelization Firion and Maria end up together as a couple, although this is left ambiguous in the game.

Stats and Traits
Firion's starting equipment is a broadsword, a buckler and leather armor. He begins as the most balanced member of the team in that his attacks are on par with his magical ability, and his stats are almost perfectly balanced between Guy and Maria, who have stats specializing in physical/magical abilities while lacking in the other.

It is completely up to the player to decide what kind of warrior Firion becomes. In the battle with the Emperor shown in the Soul of Rebirth cutscene before the final battle, Firion is the party member who knows Ultima, but as with any spell, the player may teach it to whomever they wish.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate masters of evil. Cosmos, in an attempt to protect the Crystals, has summoned warriors to thwart their plans. Firion is one of these warriors and stands as the hero representing Final Fantasy II, opposing the Emperor.

Firion travels with Cloud, Cecil and Tidus. As the three each go their separate ways to fight their own personal battles, Firion begins to question his reason for fighting. His one true desire is to end the war and create a peaceful world free from tyranny and oppression. Firion carries a wild rose with him, his wish to see them bloom freely a symbol of the world he hopes to see. During the game, various other characters learn of Firion's dream and share his hope for a peaceful future, including Cosmos herself.

His alternate outfit is based on an alternate art by Yoshitaka Amano, giving him a different hairstyle and differently styled armor with a red cape.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Firion reappears as a Warrior of Cosmos in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy alongside all the other characters from the original. He travels with Kain but is struck down by him, unaware that Kain is incapacitating his comrades to save them from the Manikins. In a series of flashbacks viewed in the Reports, Firion discusses his Wild Rose with Lightning when she finds it, and the two tell the other it stirs memories in them. Lightning returns the rose to Firion, but requests he let her have it when he recovers all his memories so her own recollections will be easier.

Firion's second alternate is based on another Amano design, giving him different armor, longer hair, and a purple cape.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Firion is a playable character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and the default character from Final Fantasy II.

Final Fantasy Brigade
Firion appears as a Legend in Final Fantasy Brigade, and can use his Lord of Arms ability.

Kingdom Hearts Mobile
A costume of Firion in his Dissidia Final Fantasy attire appears in Kingdom Hearts Mobile.

Trivia

 * The sprite of Firion in the NES version is almost the same as the sprite of the Fighter in the original Final Fantasy.
 * Firion is the first main character in the series with a default name and an actual storyline, unlike the playable characters of the original Final Fantasy.
 * Firion is wearing a cape in prototype screenshots of the WonderSwan Color version of Final Fantasy II, as he did in his artwork by Amano. His sprite would not have one until the release of the PSP version.
 * Though never stated in the English versions of Final Fantasy II, in Japanese guides for the NES release, Firion's age is given as 18.

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