Regis Lucis Caelum

a character from a game

Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII is the king of Lucis and the crystal's current guardian in Final Fantasy XV. He is the father of Noctis Lucis Caelum and the 113th king of the royal family, and one of the central characters in the CG movie Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

Appearance
Regis has appeared in two outfits: an armored battle attire, and a suit. The battle attire is new for Final Fantasy XV, but the suit was already designed for Final Fantasy Versus XIII and he continues to appear in it in his redesigned appearance.

Personality
As a member of the Caelum family, Regis believes that being of the royal bloodline makes one strong of heart and will. Though knowing he needed to prepare Noctis once he comes of age, Regis expresses a profound sadness for the fate his son must endure. Noctis seeks the love of his father, but also understands his fate and duty as prince and the upcoming king. Regis wants to protect his son from the dangers of the world, but also shows him how to be a good and loving king. King Regis has been by far the most impactful person on Noctis's life.

Story
In his youth he fought beside Cid and General Cor Leonis. Regis is around 50 years old, but has aged well beyond that due to maintaining the magic barrier around Lucis. The rapid aging is the fate of the king, and because Noctis could also meet this fate if he inherits the throne, Regis is torn on whether or not he should let Noctis become the next king.

When a king of Lucis dies, their wisdom gets passed to the next generation and thus the royal line lives on. Regis possess a valuable ring that contains both the wisdom and power of the previous king of Lucis. Regis is able to summon swords to his side, the summoned swords also inherited from each previous king.

Niflheim's army seeks to conquer Lucis, take its crystal, and end the reign of the Caelum family. Regis is reported dead in the invasion, but his actual status remains unknown.

Creation and development
In the Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer revealed at the "Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere" in January 2011, Regis is sitting on his throne, pondering and talking to himself. He is also seen facing off against Iedolas Aldercapt. Regis wields a falchion with an engine attached to its hilt and has the power to manipulate weapons, sending a horde to point towards Aldercapt.

Regis went through a redesign since he was first unveiled for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a game that was eventually reworked into Final Fantasy XV. He has been made older, with graying shaggier hair and a beard, as opposed to his more refined look in earlier material. Director Hajime Tabata has said there is "one good reason" for the change but that it would be a spoiler. He elaborated that the issue wasn't the old design not suiting the game. At Tokyo Game Show in September 2015 it was revealed maintaining the shield that protects Lucis ages Regis. Tabata later stated that Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV would reveal more on Regis's aging.

Regis's redesign is based on the likeness of British actor Jon Campling. Campling confirmed that his likeness and performance would be used for Regis. Regis's design was changed because of the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV film, and that change carried over to the game to continue the immersion.

When being shown Kingsglaive, the series' creator Hironobu Sakaguchi pointed out that Regis's eyes were too immaculate, clear and child-like, not the eyes of someone with a lifetime's worth of experiences. In his opinion Regis's eyes took away from the immersion; the visuals were high-quality enough to convey the illusion of watching human actors, but the eyes betrayed the characters as CGI. The director of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Takeshi Nozue, took this feedback to the team who decided to do a polishing pass.

The player party's car, Regalia, is Regis's car and represents the party traveling with him. How the bond between Noctis and his father and the focus on the car is going to be represented in the story was personally important to Tabata. He explained that in Japan kids are proud of their father's car, it being a big thing to go on a ride and to get the car's functionalities explained by one's father. He described this as a wonderful experience from his childhood that he wanted to present within the game.

Etymology
Regis Lucis Caelum is a Latin phrase that may mean "Sky of the King's Light" or "Sky of the Light's King". Regis and Noctis's naming follows thus a similar theme pertaining light and sky.

Trivia

 * Regis is director Hajime Tabata's favorite character from the game.