Krile Mayer Baldesion

Krile Mayer Baldesion, also known as Cara or Kururu, is a protagonist from Final Fantasy V. She is the adopted granddaughter of the king, Galuf Halm Baldesion, thus can be considered as the princess of Bal Castle. She can talk to moogles and chocobos and tame and befriend wind drakes. She even keeps a pet moogle in her room and a wind drake on her balcony. When she first appears, she is known as Girl.

Appearance and Personality
Krile is a bright and optimistic young girl. Like Galuf, the driving force behind her is hope. She is knowledgeable about Exdeath and the Interdimensional Rift. Krile's optimism and cheery outlook allow her to make light of an otherwise grave situation, or even the responsibilities of royalty, and she sometimes teases the other party members. Krile has something of a sixth sense about her grandfather and his friends, and when things are going wrong somewhere else.

Krile's in-game sprite depicts her with blue eyes, long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail with a ribbon, and wearing a blue dress. Her Shibuya art adds a yellow cardigan over the dress.

Her Yoshitaka Amano artwork depicts her in a red leotard with a sash around her waist; fingerless gloves that extend to her elbows; blue thigh-high boots and matching cloak. The Final Fantasy Anthology render changes the color of her leotard and cloak to brown, and she has a sparse fringe over her brow. Her hair is held back with a red band rather than a ribbon, and she wears red earrings. She is wearing peach eyeshadow.

Story
When Krile was young her parents left on an expedition to the Gloceana Desert to save a wind drake, but all that returned was the dragon. She formed a close bond with it, and presumably was raised by Galuf, whom she considers her grandfather. She was close to him throughout her childhood, and was concerned when he disappeared on his way to protect the Wind Crystal in the First World. Krile is first seen briefly in the Ship Graveyard, where Siren attempts to ensnare Galuf and the new friends he's made in the First World with hallucinations of their loved ones. Galuf barely recognizes her due to suffering from amnesia and he is unaffected by the spell.

Krile is next seen in two quick flashbacks aboard the Fire-Powered Ship, when Galuf's memory starts to return. When the party embarks go save the final Crystal, she arrives in a meteor at the Ronka Ruins, using her magic to disable a possessed King Tycoon and helps Galuf recover from his amnesia, but is too late to stop the Earth Crystal from shattering. With Exdeath reawakening, she and her grandfather return to their world to combat him.

When the other Light Warriors follow them Krile aids them several times before eventually joining them. She retrieves them from the Moogle Village on her wind drake, and gives Lenna an Elixir after she is poisoned after eating Dragon Grass. The rush of activity drains her and she is forced to remain in bed a short time while she recovers her strength. During this time Galuf's party confronts Exdeath in the Great Forest of Moore after accidentally breaking the seals on the world's Crystals, and are defeated as he turns the Crystals' power on them. Krile, sensing something is wrong, rushes off on her wind drake to save them. She tries to contain Exdeath, but he traps her in a ring of fire. Galuf rises and shatters the crystal binding him and assaults Exdeath until the warlock is forced to flee with the crystals, freeing the others, but at the cost of his life. Krile is grief-stricken by his death, but Galuf's ghost appears to her and reassures she is not alone, leaving behind a memento that grants her his abilities.

Krile decides to take up her grandfather's role as a Warrior of Light, and none of the others object. Galuf's spirit imbues her with all his knowledge and skills in battle and with her impressive knowledge of Exdeath, Krile is a great help to the party. The party seemingly defeat Exdeath at his castle, but the remaining three Crystals shatter immediately afterward.

When they are mysteriously transported to Castle Tycoon, Krile senses something is wrong. She feels Galuf wants her to hurry somewhere, so she and Bartz slip away from the coronation ceremony at the castle. They soon fall into an Antlion's pit, but are rescued by Faris after promising not to leave her behind again. Krile begins complaining of a painful splinter. At Ghido's Cave, after he reveals the two worlds have just been merged, the "splinter" in Krile's hand turns out to be a disguised Exdeath who emerges and reveals his true goal, the Void, which emerges over Castle Tycoon. After obtaining the Sealed Weapons, Krile and the others enter the Interdimensional Rift to defeat him. Krile acts as a guide and the warriors fight and defeat Exdeath and Neo Exdeath. She is the first to be lifted by the power of the Crystals after the battle.

After Exdeath's defeat, it is indicated that Galuf had no heir to the throne, to which Krile jokingly mused to claim the throne. She writes a long letter to Mid about what the other warriors are up to and visits the Guardian Tree where Galuf died. She is joined by Bartz, Faris, and Lenna, who cheer her up and together they promise to stay friends forever and protect the Crystals.

If Krile falls during the final battle with Neo Exdeath and has not been resurrected by the time the battle ends, the letter she normally writes to Cid and Mid is written by one of the other main characters - this alternate ending varies depending on who was left alive.

Abilities
Although Krile's job class skills are not different from the other party members', she has a few abilities unique to her. Krile is able to sense the illusion that covers Castle Exdeath, although she needs the help of her grandfather's spirit and the warriors in Quelb to break it. She can see ghosts and speak to them when the other party members cannot, such as when Syldra's spirit appears. Krile also has the ability to speak to wind drakes and moogles.

At one point Ghido also communicates with her telepathically, although it is unclear if he has a special reason for choosing her. There is no canon explanation given for why Krile has these abilities.

Musical Themes
Krile's theme is considered to be "The Castle of Dawn", which plays during most of her early appearances, and later on, in the Castle of Bal, her home.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Krile appears as a Legend character. She uses the ability Thundaga Sword to assist the player.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Krile appears in numerous trading cards.

Etymology
Krile is usually a family name believed to be of Norman origin brought to England when its forebearers conquered the country in the 11th century, though a clear meaning remains unknown. Her Japanese name, Kururu, could be derived from kuru kuru, the Japanese onomatopoeia for spinning or twirling.

Her middle name, Mayer, is an alternate spelling of the German name Meyer or Meier, which in turn comes from the Hebrew me'ír, or "illuminating". Baldesion is likely a nomenclature formed from the name of her home, Bal.

Cara was an arbitrary renaming of the character for the RPGe fan translation. The name was selected by Adam Rippon, who was a member of RPGe at the time.

Trivia

 * Krile makes a cameo in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals.
 * Krile is the only playable character in Final Fantasy V to not be shown from the left side in her battle stance. She instead is shown somewhat to the front. She is, however, shown from the left side in her battle stance as a DLC character for Final Fantasy All the Bravest.