Ramza Beoulve

Ramza Beoulve is the main protagonist from Final Fantasy Tactics. He is a member of House Beoulve, which is well respected due to the actions of his father Barbaneth Beoulve, a Heavenly Knight of the Fifty Years' War. He has one sister, named Alma, whom he loves dearly and is very close to. He has two half-brothers as well, General Zalbaag of the Order of the Northern Sky, and Dycedarg who serves directly under Duke Larg.

Fighting the Corpse Brigade
Ramza desires to be a great hero and uphold the honorable name of his family, therefore he is enrolled at the Akademy located in the Magick City of Gariland. His best friend Delita, a commoner, is also enrolled into the Akademy at the request of Barbaneth. While still a squire, Ramza becomes caught up in a struggle with the Corpse Brigade, a group of former knights who were abandoned at the conclusion of the Fifty Years' War. First, Ramza saves Argath Thadalfus, a servant of Marquis Elmdore from a Brigade attack. At Argath's request, Ramza defies his brother's orders in an attempt to rescue Elmdore from the Brigade. This succeeds, and while Dycedarg is furious, Duke Larg commends Ramza. Ramza is then assigned to attack a band of Corpse Brigade led by Milleuda Folles. During the battle, Ramza comes to realize the reasons behind their actions. This as well as the response of the Knights of the Order of the Northern Sky, leads both Ramza and Delita to doubt the morality of their country's actions. Ramza spares Milleuda's life, creating a rift between him and Argath.

The Incident at Ziekden Fortress
Ramza and Delita then return to Eagrose Castle only to learn that Delita's sister, Tietra, has been kidnapped by the Corpse Brigade. A frontal assault on the Brigade positions is planned, but Delita wants to sneak around behind them and rescue Tietra. Argath's contempt for people of lower classes leads to a quarrel between him and Delita, which Ramza breaks up by kicking Argath out of his unit. Ramza and Delita then launch their attempt to rescue Tietra, but kill Milleuda in the process, thereby invoking the rage of her brother Wiegraf Folles, the leader of the Corpse Brigade. This culminates in a struggle at Ziekden Fortress, in which Delita's sister is killed by the very people that were supposed to rescue her. Ramza realizes that the treatment of commoners by the Northern Sky and the Beoulves is unacceptable, and joins Delita in his retaliatory attack on Argath, who was leading the Northern Sky force attacking Ziekden Fortress. The fort then explodes, and Ramza flees, deserting the Order and his family.

The Kidnapping of Ovelia
As seen in the image to the right, he changes his appearance wearing dark-violet clad armor over his arms and torso and silver armor over his legs over orange pants. Ramza then adopts his mother's last name Lugria, to avoid association with the Beoulves, and joins a group of mercenaries led by the Fell Knight Goffard Gaffgarion. This group is eventually hired by Agrias Oaks to guard Princess Ovelia. The princess is then kidnapped by Delita, sent by the Knights Templar to keep Ovelia away from both Larg and Goltanna. Ramza, Agrias, and Gaffgarion chase after Delita and catch him at Zeirchele Falls. However, Gaffgarion betrays Ramza and Agrias, as he had been hired to get rid of Ovelia. Ramza, who refuses to tolerate injustice, fights against Gaffgarion for the sake of the princess, and Delita, who wants Ovelia alive, also fights Gaffgarion. They successfully rescue Ovelia. Delita then leaves Ovelia in Ramza's care for the time being.

The Lucavi Plot
By the suggestion of Agrias, Ramza then decides to go visit Cardinal Delacroix in Lionel. On the way, they rescue Mustadio, who was being hunted by a group of mercenaries of the Baert Trading Company who want the auracite he has in his possession. They reach Lionel Castle, and Delacroix tells them more about the auracite, also called the Holy Stones, and the Zodiac Braves are first mentioned. Leaving Ovelia and Agrias at Lionel, Ramza accompanies Mustadio to his home, where they discovers that Baert Trading Company is actually working for the Cardinal himself. Realizing that Agrias and Ovelia are in danger, they make their way back toward Lionel by an alternate route. They successfully rescue Agrias after she escapes, but they are tricked into thinking that Ovelia is to be executed, only to find that it was a trap set by Gaffgarion. This allows enough time for Ovelia to be taken from Lionel. However, Ramza does learn the truth about the Holy Stones: they are connected to the Lucavi demons, one of which, Cúchulainn, possesses Delacroix.

Ramza defeats Cúchulainn, and later ventures to the Royal City of Lesalia to warn Zalbaag to stop the war. On the way to Lesalia, Ramza rescues Orran Durai, the stepson of Cidolfus Orlandeau. At Lesalia, Ramza is confronted by Zalmour Lucianada, a Heresy Examiner for the Church of Glabados, and branded as a heretic. With the help of his sister Alma, Ramza thwarts Zalmour's attempt to detain him.

Alma's Capture
Ramza and Alma then travel back to the Orbonne Monastery, as Alma remembers that the Virgo Stone is there. This results in a complete disaster: not only do the Knights Templar reach the stone first, but they capture Alma, and Wiegraf, now a Knight Templar, becomes possessed by the Lucavi demon Belias. Desperate not to let Alma suffer the same fate as Tietra, Ramza sets out for Riovanes Castle after learning that she is being held there. En route, he helps Rapha Galthena, a Skyseer in the service of Grand Duke Gerrith Barrington of Riovanes, escape from his service. Ramza then launches his attack on Riovanes Castle. Although he manages to destroy Belias and drive away a now possessed Marquis Elmdore, his efforts to save Alma prove unsuccessful, as the girl ends up in the hands of Folmarv Tengille, who is really Hashmal, the second-in-command of the Lucavi.

Further Trouble
At this point Ramza would change his appearance once more to what would appear to be greenish-blue armor plating on his arms and legs with a black shirt and white pants. Ramza then attempts to warn Cidolfus Orlandeau of what the Lucavi are up to. In the process, he gains a new enemy, Folmarv's daughter Meliadoul Tengille, and helps Delita get rid of Zalmour once and for all. He reaches the Fort Besselat right after mosfungus poison has been dispersed amongst the Order of the Northern Sky. Fortunately, he is able to open the Besselat sluice, which prevents a large-scale battle from happening. He is subsequently able to recruit Orlandeau to his cause, and then sets out for Limberry Castle, the stronghold of Marquis Elmdore, in the belief that Alma is there. This proves false, and Ramza only finds a battle with Zalera, the Lucavi that possessed Elmdore. Meliadoul defects to his cause, helping him to defeat Zalera, and she reveals that Dycedarg has also received a Holy Stone. Ramza races home just in time to discover Zalbaag and Dycedarg fighting. Zalbaag has just learned that Dycedarg killed their father. At first, Zalbaag is able to defeat Dycedarg, but when Dycedarg transforms into Adrammelech, he overwhelms Zalbaag and then attacks Ramza. Adrammalech poses a serious threat, but Ramza emerges victorious.

The Battle with Ultima
Ramza next journeys to the St. Mullonde Temple, where he runs into Folmarv. Folmarv escapes by forcing Ramza to fight an undead Zalbaag, but Ramza is able to learn from the dying High Confessor Marcel Funebris, that Folmarv is taking Alma to the Orbonne Monastery where there is a portal to the Necrohol of Mullonde, where he plans to resurrect Ultima using Alma's body as a vessel. Ramza battles his way past Folmarv's minions, intercepting him at the Airship Graveyard just before he can perform the ceremony. He transforms into Hashmal and a battle ensues with Ramza victorious. However, Hashmal sacrifices himself in order to revive Ultima, and his attempt is successful. Even though Ultima does resurrect, Alma is able to somehow resist it, and she reappears in her original body. It is revealed in the last battle that Ramza is a descendant of the man who defeated the High Seraph in the past and sealed the Lucavi. Ramza defeats two forms of the High Seraph, and the airship explodes, leaving the fate of Ramza and his friends in question.

Although widely believed to have died in the battle with Ultima, Ramza was last seen 'alive' by Orran Durai in a graveyard. Speculation might assume that the appearance of Ramza and Alma in the graveyard was more symbolic than literal and Orran was to hold the knowledge that Ramza would always live on in history through his heroic deeds in turning the tide of war. This, however, is proven false as Ramza and Alma are seen riding their mounts across Ivalice, stopping to drink at a stream before travelling away, forever.

Orran showed his appreciation for Ramza's memory by passing down the written history of the War of the Lions to various descendents that would later be called the Durai Papers. Although Alma was buried, the church refused to hold a ceremony for Ramza as he was branded as a heretic. The official records in history fail to even mention Ramza's name; his identity and the truth behind the War of the Lions were discovered when Arazlam Durai found Orran's writings, which the church had tried so hard to keep from the people.

Ramza's Special Squire Job Class
Ramza's base job class is a Squire. Unlike other Squires, Ramza has the abilty to equip most of the weapons and armor used by Knights. This enables Ramza to have the HP of a Knight, but the mobility and class abilities of a Squire. He also has additional moves not possessed by other Squires, such as the abilities Scream and Ultima. Ultima, however, must be learned Blue Mage style, and to make things more complicated, he cannot learn Ultima before the start of Chapter 4 because his special squire job class actually gains new abilities as he progresses further through the game. Three different sprites are used for Ramza throughout the game; when his sprite changes, he has gained access to new squire abilities. Acquiring Ultima is usually accomplished during the two battles immediately preceding Zalera, in which Ramza must face two Ultima Demons disguised as humans: Celia and Lettie. It can also be learned from the Ultima Demon present while fighting Zalbaag. Ramza is also effective as a monk due to his high Brave level.

Ramza and Delita
At the beginning of Final Fantasy Tactics, Ramza is concerned only with upholding the name of the Beoulve family, however as the story progresses, he learns that a name means nothing if injustice must be used to uphold it. Although Ramza's heroic actions will never be known to the public in Ivalice, the point of his character is to show the true reasons behind virtue. People who do "good" by manipulation of others aren't really doing any "good" at all, and Final Fantasy Tactics tries to express this through its characters. For example, true "good", expressed through justice, is shown by Ramza; false "good", expressed through manipulation with good intentions, are expressed by Delita Heiral. Likewise, true heroic actions are rarely recognized or commended, but are necessary regardless of the lack of rewards, or in some cases, the persecution associated with misunderstood heroes, received by the hero himself.