Ricard Highwind

Ricard Highwind, also known as Gareth in the Origins translation, and Edward in the Dark Shadow Over Palakia translation, is a character from Final Fantasy II. He is the last surviving dragoon from Deist. He is the first Dragoon in the series.

Appearance
Not much is known about Ricard's physical appearance besides his fair skin shown underneath his helmet. He wears dark blue and purple spiked armor and is seen carrying a long spear or staff in different pieces of artwork. His helmet is decorated with dragon wings on each side and has red eye slits in the PS/GBA versions. Ricard wears bronze and blue armor in NES battle sprite and his portrait shows him with a visored helmet. A modified version of Ricard's battle sprite would be used for the Dragoon class in Final Fantasy III. His sprites in the PlayStation Portable version look very similar in appearance to Kain Highwind.

Story
Ricard was ordered to find the Ultima tome, but his ship was swallowed up by the Leviathan. He meets Firion inside the Leviathan where he protests to the idea of dragoons being extinct since he's a dragoon himself. He joins forces with Firion, Maria and Guy who use his ship to get out of the Leviathan and sail to the Mysidian Tower. After climbing to the top they reach the sealed door leading to the Ultima tome. Minwu is already there and tells them to stand back while he focuses his remaining energy on opening the door and dies afterward as a result of over-exertion. Finally, one member of Firion's party learns the Ultima spell.

The group travels to Fynn where they are informed of the Emperor's Cyclone. They use a pendant found on another dragoon's corpse in front of a large mirror in Fynn Castle to summon the Wyvern whose egg they had protected by transporting it to Deist's cavern's spring. Ricard and the wyvern form a connection.

If the party travels to Deist, Ricard learns from Elina, the widow of his dragoon friend Phillip, and her son, Kain, that the dragoons and their wyverns were massacred by the Palamecian army, leaving them as the only survivors. Ricard promises to return after defeating the Emperor and they will be a family. Ricard, accompanied by Firion and his party, flies on the wyvern into the Cyclone and together they defeat the Emperor.

When Leon attempts to assume the throne of Palamecia, the heroes confront him. When the Emperor returns from the dead as the Dark Emperor, Ricard attacks him to create a diversion while the others, accompanied by Leon, are picked up by the wyvern and escape. Ricard is no match for the undead Emperor and is slain. If Firion returns to Deist to break the news to Ricard's adoptive family, they will tell him they are leaving Deist for the many painful memories there. In parting, they give Firion the Excalibur.

In the Dawn of Souls and later remakes, Ricard is in Heaven fighting a worm-like creature (similar to the one he fights with Firion's party inside the Leviathan) when Minwu and the others join him. After defeating it, they try to figure out where they are. They confront the Light Emperor who asks for their forgiveness, but images of Elina and Kain tell Ricard not to be fooled by the Light Emperor, because he is as evil as his dark side. Ricard summons the will to fight the Light Emperor and defeats him and finally rests in peace knowing the future of the world is in good hands.

Gameplay
Ricard is a Dragoon, and as such in the Dawn of Souls and later versions of the game, he starts with a high skill level with spears and swords and a moderate shield skill level. In the NES and Origins versions, he has no proficiency with spears.

Ricard has high Strength and mediocre Stamina, Spirit and Agility. He is most suited as an attacker, as he has low MP when he joins and his low Magic stat means his MP will be slow to level up. His ultimate weapon in the Arcane Labyrinth is Abel's Lance, which helps his HP grow faster by boosting his Stamina. In Soul of Rebirth, his ultimate weapon found in the Unknown Palace is the Wyvern Lance.

The player may wish to equip Ricard with the Blood Sword if planning to play through Soul of Rebirth, as he will retain it when recruited and the sword is powerful against Ultima Weapon and the Light Emperor. This means the Blood Sword will be unavailable in the main game for the final dungeons and bosses.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Ricard appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game.

Etymology
Ricard is the Catalan spelling of the name Richard.

Ricard is the first Dragoon in the series, and the first character to have the surname Highwind in a Final Fantasy title (and in fact is the first character to have a surname), followed by Kain Highwind in Final Fantasy IV and Cid Highwind in Final Fantasy VII, both Dragoons. Alexander Highwind Tycoon of Final Fantasy V also uses the name. Final Fantasy Dimensions has a dragoon called Richard, who is a friend of the deceased dragoon Abel.

In the Dawn of Souls and later remakes, the son of a fellow dragoon was named Kain. When Ricard returns to Deist, the boy and his mother are the only survivors, and Ricard's death prompts Kain to follow in the Dragoon legacy. This is referred to in Final Fantasy IV with the Dragoon named Kain Highwind. The 3D remake of Final Fantasy IV alludes to this Easter egg, as Kain states his father died while fighting an empire, and mentions his father's name was Richard.

Ricard's name in the Spanish version of Final Fantasy II is Arturo. However, the translation team did not change Kain's father's name in Final Fantasy IV.

His name has also been translated as "Edward".

Trivia

 * In Dissidia Final Fantasy, his Player Icons give his name as "Richard."
 * Ricard was cut from the novel Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū.

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