Cidolfus Orlandeau

Count Cidolfus Orlandeau, also known as Cidolfas Orlandu, is a well respected leader in the Kingdom of Ivalice. He is a Sword Saint, giving him access to the combined powers of Agrias Oaks, Goffard Gaffgarion, and Meliadoul Tengille, making him a phenomenally strong character. He is given the moniker Thunder God Cid, abbreviated to T.G. Cid. His birthday is November 10.

Story
Cidolfus is initially a general in the Order of the Southern Sky, serving valiantly in the Fifty Years' War. But as the War of the Lions begins, he begins to fall out of favor with Duke Goltanna. At about the same time, Ramza Beoulve saves his stepson Orran Durai from a gang of thieves, and later helps Orran destroy a group of defectors. After defeating Belias at Riovanes Castle, Ramza decides to search for Orlandeau.

He learns that the Order of the Northern Sky are marching on the Southern Sky's stronghold of Fort Besselat, and sets out to stop the battle. Meanwhile, agents of the Church of Glabados falsely inform Goltanna that Orlandeau is a traitor, and Orlandeau is arrested. However, Ramza manages to fight his way inside Besselat, and springs Orlandeau from prison.

Meanwhile, Goltanna is killed by Delita Heiral, who allows Orlandeau to escape so that he can help Ramza in his quest to destroy the Lucavi. Delita then kills a decoy Orlandeau. Orlandeau joins forces with Ramza to battle the Lucavi (in the Japanese version, the decoy is addressed as a Glabados follower disguised Cid). His ultimate fate is unknown; Orran presumes his death prior to witnessing the apparent survival of Ramza and Alma.Yasumi Matsuno hinted on his Twitter that Cid, alongside the others members of Ramza's party, escaped safely after the defeat of Ultima.

While the real T.G. Cid is still a hero for battling the Lucavi, Delita's plot framed him as Goltana's killer. To turn himself into Goltana's avenger, Delita kills a decoy of Cid, a devout of the Glabados Church, destroying Orlandeau's name and reputation. Orran however knew of the truth, but was imprisoned by Delita until Ramza and Alma's funeral. It can be assumed that Orlandeau's name is cleared because of the Durai Papers made public many years later by Arazlam Durai.

Ramza actually first met Count Orlandeau as a toddler, accompanied by his late father Lord Barbaneth. During that time, little Ramza accidentally picked up and handled the Count's sword, scaring everyone and causing Barbaneth to harshly scold Ramza, who burst into tears. The Count recounts this to Ramza when the Beoulve rescues him from Fort Besselat, which Cid finds ironic.

In an additional event in the War of the Lions remake, Cid will comment during a confrontation with a former knight of the Order of the Northern Sky turned bandit at the Brigands' Den, but only if the player places him in the party. He does not approve of their actions.

Gameplay and Statistics
He joins the party with 77 Bravery, 65 Faith, and his level dependent on the party's levels. He comes equipped with a full set of Crystal Equipment as well as the powerful Excalibur weapon and the Bracer accessory.

His special job class is "Sword Saint", and has a combination of abilities from Agrias's, Gaffgarion's, and Meliadoul's special job classes.

His sword techniques are so powerful that they can defeat most standard enemies in one or two hits. The only downside is that his techniques require that he have a sword or knight's sword equipped, and thus if he is in any job that does not support these weapons, he must have the "Equip Swords" support ability (though he cannot equip knight's swords with this ability).

When fought in Rendezvous Missions #11: All-Star Melee, he is 2 levels higher than the highest level deployed character, and starts with 77 Bravery and 65 Faith. He is in his default Sword Saint class, and is equipped with the Excalibur, a full set of Crystal Equipment, and a Japa Mala. He has access to the Swordplay and Iaido commands, as well as to the abilities Safeguard, Manafont, and Mana Shield.

When fought in Rendezvous Missions #14: Brave Story, he is level 99 and starts with 77 Bravery and 65 Faith. He comes equipped with the Excalibur, Crystal Helm, Crystal Mail, and his other equipment is randomized. He has access to Swordplay, Iaido, Bonecrusher, Doublehand, and Move +2.

Musical Theme
Orlandeau has his own theme, "Theme of Thunder God Cid". It employs bell chimes, strings, horns and percussion to give it a majestic, honorable tune. It also incorporates leitmotifs from the track "Brave Story" and "Epilogue". The track is 21st in the original soundtrack and composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Cid's motif also reprised in the unreleased track played during the High Confessor Marcel Funebris' last moment.

Trivia

 * Orlandeau can be compared to Haborym Van Rams from Tactics Ogre, the spiritual predecessor of Final Fantasy Tactics by the same director. The job class they possess are similar, Sword Saint for Orlandeau and Sword Master for Haborym. They also don in brown outfits and their glory and nobility are stripped for someone's ambition. A "Count Orlandeau" is mentioned in the Warren Reports of the PSP remake, naming this figure as the ancestor to Leundar Balbatos' puppet lord and figurehead leader of the Galgastani.
 * When he joins Ramza's party, Cid brings the Libra Zodiac Stone with him. Alongside Meliadoul Tengille and Beowulf Cadmus, Cid is one of three characters to bring a Zodiac Stone into the party upon joining.
 * Orlandeau is the first "Cid" in Final Fantasy history who is not an engineer, a pilot or a captain of an airship.
 * In Vagrant Story, fragments of his skeleton, at least, were said to be contained in the Orlandu gem held in the city of Leá Monde.
 * "Orlandeau" is listed as an answer to a Brain Blast question in Final Fantasy XIII-2.