Cid Raines



Brigadier General Cid Raines is an NPC in Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and one of the long line of characters named Cid in the series.

In Final Fantasy XIII, Cid works for the Guardian Corps and is the commander of the Wide-area Response Brigade, a military unit otherwise known as the "Cavalry".

In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, he acts as a representative for the souls of the dead.

Appearance and Personality
Raines is a young man with black hair hanging down to his neck line. His eyes are a light grey color. He stands 199 cm (6'6") tall . His clothing is virtually identical to that of Yaag Rosch, except that the color scheme is lighter and he wears a large cape and blue-to-silver pauldrons, with the left one more ornate than the right. Raines' l'Cie mark is on his right hand, hidden beneath his glove. He sports this outfit in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

Raines appears cultured and well-spoken, similar to the other leaders of Cocoon's military forces, but also possesses a friendly disposition, showing hospitality to Snow once he arrives on the Lindblum. He also feels a strong bond with the people of Cocoon, eventually trying to overthrow the fal'Cie and give its rule to the people. Even after becoming a servant of the fal'Cie, he retains this trait, managing to defy his Focus of helping Lightning and the others to try and protect Cocoon's people. He is also shown to be skilled in combat, as he easily parries Lightning's attacks and disarms her when the party encounters him in the Fifth Ark.

''Final Fantasy XIII-2
''During his failed attempt to overthrow fal'Cie rule, Cid Raines was cursed to become a pawn of Barthandelus. Concealing his l'Cie status as he continues to lead the Cavalry, Raines pursues his Focus of supporting and guiding Lightning and her companions along the path to Cocoon’s destruction.''

''After defying his Focus and falling in battle against the fugitive l'Cie, Raines turns to crystal. He is later revived by Barthandelus to serve as the new Primarch — a puppet with the sole purpose of inciting conflict among the people of Cocoon.''

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
''A man who once defied the orders of the gods and hoped to set mankind free. He died an unnatural death while working towards this goal. General Raines was a military man, working for Cocoon's Guardian Corps. He wished to defeat the fal'Cie, powerful servants of the gods, and return to humanity control of its own fate. He lost that fight, and in the cruel irony that gods so love, he was turned into a puppet for the fal'Cie. He faced Lightning as an enemy, when they should have been allies.''

''He may have met a tragic end, but his wish to see the people free lived on in those who followed after him. For Lightning, Raines was both a bitter enemy and a comrade in the great fight against the gods.''

Final Fantasy XIII


When Snow is captured in Lake Bresha by Oerba Yun Fang and members of the Wide-area Response Brigade, he is taken aboard the Lindblum where he is introduced to Cid, who - unlike most Sanctum officers up until that point - greets Snow with a friendly handshake. Cid explains to Snow the Sanctum intends to hold a public execution of the l'Cie to suppress the public's fear and reveals he plans to overthrow the Sanctum's rule so he can hand control of Cocoon over to the people.

Snow, believing his Focus is to save Cocoon as Serah asked, agrees to help him track down the rest of the party. Cid drops Snow and Fang off in Palumpolum, where they rescue Lightning and Hope from a PSICOM assault. He helps the party infiltrate the Sanctum Skyfleet's airship base, the Palamecia, after learning that Vanille and Sazh are being held captive on board.

Later in the Fifth Ark, the party finds Cid waiting for them. Cid reveals the truth behind their Focus; the fal'Cie plan to use them as tools to destroy Cocoon, in hopes that the deaths of the Cocoon citizens will summon the Maker to return and reconstruct the world. He explains the fal'Cie have been watching over the party the whole time, guiding their every step and slowly turning them into the instruments of Cocoon's demise.

Cid says he had been planning to overthrow the fal'Cie, but was transformed into a l'Cie by Barthandelus before his plans could be put into action. His Focus was to guide the party along the path to Cocoon's destruction as part of the fal'Cie's grand scheme. To challenge his fate as a l'Cie, Cid regains the will he once had to free Cocoon, and uses his remaining power to transform into a Cie'th hybrid. He attempts to kill Lightning and her companions, so that he can "set them free" of their Focus and save Cocoon from destruction.

After the party defeats him, Cid offers words of encouragement and advises them to choose their own fate as he did before turning into a crystal and disappearing. Later on, it is revealed he was teleported back to Galenth Dysley to be revived to become the new Primarch. As Eden is overrun with Pulsian creatures, Rygdea and the Cavalry capture their former leader, who requests death; Rygdea reluctantly shoots his former superior to free him of the fal'Cie.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
The souls trapped within the Sea of Chaos assume the physical form of Cid Raines in order to communicate with Lightning. Raines, whose soul remains in the Sea of Chaos as well, describes himself as the advocate for the souls of the dead. He tells Lightning that Vanille has the power to save the souls of the dead and help them achieve rebirth. He also states that the Order plans to use Vanille to destroy the dead. Cid reveals the truth about the nature of Chaos, and he warns Lightning that if she chooses to save the souls of the departed, she will be defying Bhunivelze. With a final message of hope for Lightning, Cid fades away.

Battle
Cid Raines is fought as a boss in the Fifth Ark and is the only non-Cie'th l'Cie fought in the game. His battle style revolves around shifting through stances, similarly to the paradigm system available to the playable characters. He has three stances and each stance relates to paradigm roles available to the party: Offensive stance which concentrates on Commando and Saboteur; Defensive stance which concentrates on Sentinel and Synergist; and Recovery stance which concentrates on Medic. He lacks a stance for executing elemental spells. Cid can use Seraphic Ray, which deals large amount of damage and removes all status enhancements from the party.

Voice
He is voiced by in the Japanese version, and by Erik Davies in the English version.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Cid appears in Trading Card Game depicted in his CG render.

Trivia

 * A model for Cid Raines in crystal stasis exists in the game disc of Final Fantasy XIII-2 as dummied content. It is unknown why Raines's crystal model exists in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * Raines's airship, the Lindblum, is named after the city of Lindblum in Final Fantasy IX. As Regent Cid Fabool IX was the leader of the nation of Lindblum, Cid Raines is the commander of the Lindblum airship.
 * Raines is one of few young Cid characters; usually a Cid is an older man. He is also the first Cid to play the role of an anti-hero - following Dr. Cid from Final Fantasy XII being the first Cid antagonist.
 * Cid shares his Japanese voice actor with Trey from Final Fantasy Type-0.
 * Cid's last name is misspelled as "Rains" in Famitsu's Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII review.