Cid Raines



Brigadier General Cid Raines (シド・レインズ Shido Reinzu) is a character in Final Fantasy XIII. Cid works for the Guardian Corps and is the commander of the Wide-area Response Brigade, a military unit otherwise known as the 'Cavalry'. He is voiced by in the Japanese version, and by Erik Davies in the English version.

Story
After Snow is captured in Lake Bresha by Oerba Yun Fang and members of the Wide-area Response Brigade, he is taken aboard the Lindblum where he is introduced to Cid, who unlike most Sanctum officers up until that point, greets Snow with a friendly handshake. Cid explains to Snow that the Sanctum intends to hold a public execution of the l'Cie in order to suppress the fear of the public. He then reveals that he plans to overthrow the Sanctum's rule so that he can hand control of Cocoon over to the people. Snow, believing that his Focus is to save Cocoon as Serah asked, agrees to help him track down the rest of the party. Cid drops Snow and Fang off in Palumpolum, where they manage to rescue Lightning and Hope from the PSICOM assault. He then helps the party infiltrate the Sanctum Skyfleet's airship base, the Palamecia, after learning that Vanille and Sazh are being held captive on board.

Later on in the Fifth Ark, the party finds Cid waiting for them, who reveals the horrible truth - the fal'Cie wish to use them to destroy Cocoon and kill millions of innocent people. By doing so the Maker will be called back and the world will be reconstructed. He explains that the fal'Cie have been watching over the party the whole time, guiding their every step and slowly turning them into the instruments of Cocoon's demise. Cid reveals that he had been planning to overthrow the fal'Cie, but he was transformed into a l'Cie by Barthandelus before his plans could be put into action. His Focus was to guide the party along the path to Cocoon's destruction as part of the fal'Cie's grand scheme. However, in an attempt to challenge his fate as a l'Cie, Cid regains the will he once had to free Cocoon and uses all of his remaining power to transform into a Cie'th hybrid. He then attempts to kill Lightning and her companions, so that he can "set them free" of their Focus and save Cocoon from destruction.

After the party eventually defeats him, Cid offers words of encouragement and advises them to choose their own fate as well before turning into a crystal and disappearing. Later on, it is revealed that he was teleported back to Galenth Dysley to be revived in order to become the new Primarch. As Eden is overrun with Pulsian creatures, Rygdea and the Calvary capture their former leader, requesting death as Rygdea relucantly shot his former superior to free him of the fal'Cie.

Battle
Cid Raines is fought as a boss in the Fifth Ark. He is notably the only l'Cie fought in the game.

Trivia

 * Although his age is unknown, Cid Raines looks among the youngest Cids to ever appear in the Final Fantasy series, unless one counts Cid from Final Fantasy: Unlimited, who appears to be younger.
 * Raines is 199 cm tall according to the Ultimania guide. He is the tallest known human in the game after Snow.
 * Raines is one of the few Cids aligned with the antagonist forces, along with Cid Del Norte Marquez, Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, and Cid Randell.
 * Raines's airship is named after the city in Final Fantasy IX.
 * As Regent Cid Fabool IX was the leader of Lindblum, Cid Raines is the commander of the Lindblum Airship.
 * Raines's surname is similar to that of the Final Fantasy VIII character Raine's given name. Raine is believed to be the mother of Squall Leonhart, the protagonist of the same game.
 * Developers have stated that Raines has doubts about the government like Yaag Rosch, and believes that Cocoon should be run by its people instead of the fal'Cie. It has also been said that because of his views of the Sanctum, Raines can be compared to the members of NORA, except he handles things in a mature manner while NORA tends to act rashly.
 * Raines' l'Cie mark is on his right hand, hidden beneath his glove.
 * Though Cid's character becomes hostile to the heroes, his role is more of a friendly anti-hero, even at one time appointing them in his squad to infiltrate the Palamecia.
 * Cid's fighting form (pictured above), bears a somewhat decent resemblance to the many forms of Seymour Guado from Final Fantasy X, used in boss battles against the party.
 * The song that plays during the fight with Cid is "Desperate Struggle".