Ricard Highwind

Ricard Highwind is a character from Final Fantasy II. He is a dragoon from Deist, and prefers wielding a spear in battle.

Story
Ricard joins forces with Firion for some time. He was ordered to find the ultimate magic, but his ship was swallowed up by the Leviathan. He first meets Firion inside the Leviathan where he finds out that the Dragoons were killed (depending on the player's choice). He then joins forces with Firion, Maria, and Guy. They use his ship to get out of the Leviathan and journey to find the ultimate magic.

After getting into the Mysidian tower they get through all the obstacles and find the door leading to the ultimate magic. But they find Minwu at the door telling them to stand back while he uses all his energy to open the door. As a result, Minwu dies. They then find the ultimate magic and travel to Fynn where they are informed of the Emperor's Cyclone. They go down to a part of Fynn's castle to rejuvenate the Wyvern.

Ricard then accompanies Firion and his party into the Cyclone to defeat the Emperor for the first time. When Leon attempts to assume the throne of Palamecia, the heroes travel there and confront him. When the Emperor suddenly returns from the dead as the Dark Emperor, Ricard attacks the Emperor to create a diversion while the other three heroes, accompanied by Leon, get picked up by the Wyvern and escape from the Dark Emperor. Ricard is no match for the undead Emperor and is easily slain.

In the Dawn of Souls remake, Ricard is seen in Heaven fighting a worm-like creature (similar to the one that him with Firion's party fights inside the Leviathan) when Minwu and the others join him. After they defeat it they travel to find out where they are. They later confront the Light Emperor who ask for their forgiveness but an image of Elina and Kain tell him not to be fooled by the Light Emperor, because in reality the Light Emperor is as evil as his dark side. Ricard then summons the will to fight the Light Emperor and defeat him. Upon his defeat, Ricard can finally rest in peace, knowing that the future of the world is now in good hands.

Stats and Traits
Ricard is a Dragoon, so he has a high level with spears. The player should level his stats insanely, give him high-level magic like Holy and Flare, and powerful weapons so he will have high HP, strong attacks and magic, since he is the last temporary character to be played, thus making him an invaluable asset for the party in Soul of Rebirth mode because most enemies are quite tough to handle even at the very beginning, but this is only for the Game Boy Advance and PSP versions, since the Soul of Rebirth is only in those two versions. He also has the normal traits of a Dragoon, having high Vitality and Defense. In the NES and PS1 versions, he has more levels with swords than spears.

Trivia

 * Ricard is a notable character: he is the first Dragoon in the series. He is also the first character to have the surname Highwind in a Final Fantasy title, followed by Kain Highwind in Final Fantasy IV and Cid Highwind in Final Fantasy VII, both dragoons in accordance to their respective games. Alexander Highwind Tycoon of Final Fantasy V also uses the name.
 * In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary Edition remakes, the son of a fellow dragoon was named Kain. When Ricard returned to Deist, the boy and his mother were the only ones left, and Ricard's eventual death prompts Kain to follow in the Dragoon legacy. This is referenced in Final Fantasy IV, where there is a Dragoon named Kain Highwind. The Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV also makes a reference to this Easter egg, as Kain states that his father died while fighting an empire, and even states that his father's name was Richard.
 * Ricard's initial statistics in the original Famicom and PlayStation versions gave him more weapon skill with swords, having only the first level for spears and starting him with a Wing Edge. The GBA and PSP remakes both increase his spear level to 8 to bring him more in line to the traditional Dragoons and start him with a Flame Lance instead.
 * In Dissidia Final Fantasy, his Player Icons give his name as "Richard".
 * Ricard, Kain and Cid, three Dragoons with "Highwind" as their surname, are all left handed.
 * Ricard's name in the Spanish version of Final Fantasy II is Arturo. Curiously, the translation team forgot that and they didn't change Kain's father's name.