Cecil Harvey/Dissidia (PSP)

Cecil is one of the Warriors of Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. He relies on his experience as both a Dark Knight and a Paladin, and may freely switch between either during battle. Aerial combat is his forte, combining fast movement with expert swordplay. As he travels alongside Firion, Cloud and Tidus, he must deal with his feelings for his brother Golbez, torn between fighting Golbez as an enemy and trusting him as a brother.

Crystal and Attire
Cecil's outfits are based on Amano's designs. For his alternate form, his outfits are palette swaps that match Amano's other artwork's colors: plain white armor with red details for Paladin and black and red armor for Dark Knight. Cecil's Manikin version, Delusory Knight, is dark blue when in Dark Knight form and silver on Paladin form.

Cecil's crystal is a reference to Final Fantasy IV's Crystals, the one present in Dissidia being shadowed which could mean it is a Dark Crystal.

Destiny Odyssey
Cecil is allied with Firion, Cloud, and Tidus. When asked by Cloud about why he is fighting, Cecil responds that he has not thought that way about the subject before. Cloud later confides in Cecil about Firion's reason for fighting and Cecil says that to Firion, the Wild Rose symbolizes peace.

Throughout Cecil's story, Golbez appears to give his younger brother what seems to be advice on seeking the Crystals. Although Golbez is the enemy, Cecil still wonders if he can be trusted as his brother. He eventually leaves with encouragement from Tidus and meets with Golbez, when they are interrupted by Exdeath. Believing Golbez a traitor, Exdeath attacks him, but Cecil defends his brother and engages Exdeath. Although he prevails, Golbez tells Cecil he lent him his power during the battle, and finding the Crystals requires him to use his own strength. Cecil asks Golbez to come with him, but Golbez refuses as he has been stained by darkness and cannot be redeemed. Cecil eventually meets Cosmos, who confirms that a strong will and strength is the key to finding the Crystals; Golbez was telling Cecil the truth. Cecil confronts Golbez again, and Golbez demands Cecil fight him. Cecil awakens his light powers and uses both light and darkness to defeat Golbez. After the battle, Cecil's Crystal appears, and although Cecil claims they made it shine together, Golbez replies that Cecil did it alone, which was the point Golbez was attempting to convey.

Shade Impulse
After Cosmos' death, the heroes continue to travel in order to defeat Chaos and honor Cosmos' sacrifice. Along the way, Cecil is suddenly attacked by Golbez who claims that in a world full of disorder his wish can be fufilled. Cecil battles his brother once again and wins. After the battle he asks his brother for an explanation, to which Golbez responds that he only wanted to test Cecil's bonds to his friends because if he failed he wouldn't stand a chance against Chaos. After claiming that the bonds are incredibly strong and that he believes the warriors of Cosmos are capable of anything, Golbez attempts to leave while saying that he doesn't have the right to be near Cecil. However, Cecil's stops him and asks him to join them, telling his brother that if it is all about "bonds" the two of them also have one, so they should be comrades. Golbez tells Cecil that he is far too kind to be a knight but, once the light shines on him as well, they might fight side by side. Cecil soon gathered with the rest of the Warriors of Cosmos to strike down Chaos, then as the tyrant fell, so did his power over the worlds. After peace was restored, Cecil watched everyone fade back to their home worlds, then he went back to his home in Baron.

Battle
Cecil's fighting style is called "Split Soul", due to his ability to change between Paladin and Dark Knight forms. His Dark Knight form is skilled in brute, slow attacks on the ground, while his Paladin form uses swift aerial combos. Both forms also have access to magic. Cecil automatically changes form whenever he uses a certain HP attack - using a ground attack makes him change into his Dark Knight form, while aerial HP attacks turn him into a Paladin. One drawback with Cecil is that together with Cloud and Terra, he is one of the slowest-moving heroes in the game in terms of grounded speed while in Dark Knight form; however, in Paladin form, his speed is similar to that of Tidus' and Shantotto's, with the drawback of limited range. Like Cloud and Squall, Cecil has slow HP attacks that leave him open to punishment if he misses.

Boss
Cecil is fought in Distant Glory: Heroes and Inward Chaos.

EX Mode
-I know my course! For his EX Mode, Job Augment, Cecil will swap in his trademark weapons: the Deathbringer in his Dark Knight form, and the Mythgraven Blade in his Paladin form. He will also be able to deal 1.5 times the normal Brave damage, and can freely change forms without attacking by pressing R and.

For his EX Burst, Soul Shift, the player must input three combination of two buttons; depending on how many successful combination he has pressed, he may use his Dark Knight's Darkness or will chain that with a powerful combo followed by his Paladin's Cross Slash.

Equipment
Cecil can equip Helmets, Shields, Gloves, Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Axes, Swords, and Giant Swords.

Allusions

 * In Destiny Odyssey IV-5, when Cecil sends a surge of darkness out of his sword, he assumes the same pose he does while performing Darkness in the original Final Fantasy IV. He assumes the same pose when performing Darkness during his Soul Shift EX Burst and Dark Cannon, one of his brave attacks.
 * His EX mode "Job Augment" is a reference to the Augment System introduced in Final Fantasy IV DS.
 * Cecil's line when fighting against himself is the same as the line he speaks at Mount Ordeals before he does battle with his Dark Knight self: "This is a fight for me and me alone.".
 * Cecil's victory quote, "All that matters is what's inside." is a reference to a line spoken by Rydia during the ending of Final Fantasy IV; "All that matters is what’s inside us. Isn’t that right, Cecil?".
 * Cecil's defeat quote, "I'm a coward." is a reference to a scene early in Final Fantasy IV, in which he tells Rosa Joanna Farrell, "I'm a coward. A coward who cannot even defy orders he knows he ought not follow.".
 * Cecil's exclusive weapons are all from Final Fantasy IV. The Dark Sword is Cecil's initially equipped weapon as a Dark Knight and the Mythgraven Blade is the weapon Cecil is equipped with after becoming a Paladin. The Light Sword can be obtained from the Sealed Cave, and the Lightbringer is Cecil's strongest weapon in the Advance edition. The Cimmerian Edge is Golbez's initially equipped weapon in the flashback scenes from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, where it was translated as "Ebony Blade" in the English version.
 * Cecil's moveset contains several references to his friend and rival, Kain Highwind. Saint's Fall, otherwise known as Saint Dive is one of Kain's Band Abilities in Final Fantasy IV the After, performed by combining his Jump command with Rosa's White Magic, and the "Dark Fall" attack heavily resembles the classic Dragoon Jump attack. It is also worth noting that until Golbez was included, Kain was originally considered to appear in Dissidia as the villain opposing Cecil.
 * During EX Mode, Cecil's weapon switches between Deathbringer and the Mythgraven blade when he changes jobs. This is the same as in Final Fantasy IV, where the Deathbringer was changed into (or replaced by) the Mythgraven Blade when Cecil became a Paladin.
 * Cecil's finishing pose for his Soul Shift EX Burst is the same as his pose at the end of the intro for the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV, when he thrusts his sword at Golbez.

Trivia

 * When Cecil goes back to his world, a moon appears and cycles through an entire sequence of phases as he vanishes.
 * When confronting Onion Knight in a story battle, Cecil will comment on how they have similar powers (job changing).
 * Unlike Final Fantasy IV, where Cecil only forgives Golbez at the very end of the story, he seems not only to have completely forgiven his brother by the start of Dissidia, but also shows a great concern over him, often asking him to join Cosmos' side and even protects him from Exdeath. Cecil calls Golbez "brother" (Nii-san in the Japanese version which is a respectful way to say "older brother") nearly every time he talks or refers to him throughout the game, an indication of their closer relationship.
 * Cecil is the fifth to obtain his crystal according to Destiny Odyssey 78.
 * Cecil has the most number of different Brave attacks, as well as the most number of exclusive weapons in the game, having a total of five, whereas the other characters have only three. This is due to his two different forms
 * Cecil is the only Warrior of Cosmos to have a plain, unchanging face in his Dark Knight form (like Garland, Golbez, and Exdeath).
 * It appears that not all Warriors of Cosmos are aware of Cecil's relationship with Golbez. The only confirmed characters that know this are Tidus, Warrior of Light and Firion (who Cecil actually informs).
 * Both Cecil and Squall are the only heroes to have no chainable HP attacks, though Searchlight increases the range of Paladin Force to create a pseudo-chain attack.
 * When fighting Gabranth, Cecil will say "We've suffered the same pain", which may reference the fact they are at conflict with both of their brothers.
 * When the player wins a battle and Cecil is in his Paladin form, he appears to slighty levitate before hitting the floor, similar to Golbez. That may be a reference to their relationship as siblings and his legacy as a Lunarian.
 * Despite Dissidia having references mainly from the original titles, some of Cecil's attacks are from The After Years, such as the Saint's Fall. The other exception to this is Terra, who can use Flood from the GBA remake.