Hildibrand Manderville



Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville is a non-playable character in Final Fantasy XIV. He is a male Highlander comic-relief character. He is often seen with his Miqo'te sidekick, Nashu Mhakaracca.

Appearance and Personality
Hildibrand sports a black and white coatee with a rose on his lapel, as well as a monocle. He likes to show off his muscular Highlander build with a flexing animation that is accompanied by cliché cartoon noises.

Hildibrand is a slapstick stooge whose idiocy is quickly realized by everyone he meets with the exception of his airheaded sidekick Nashu. In some cases he will offer his services when the case has already been solved. When investigating an open case, he shows a complete lack of competence, such as making his presence known when trying to shadow a suspect. For all of his buffoonery, Hildibrand's ideals are actually noble - he is a firm believer in the pursuit of justice, particularly in the service of those who have little other recourse or hope of finding it, and he became an "inspector" to help those less fortunate than himself - he being the son of an extraordinarily wealthy Ul'dahn family which now sits on the Syndicate.

Final Fantasy XIV
Hildibrand travels around Eorzea's inns to solve any trouble he could find, meeting the Adventurer who either solved the issue or helps him out. But some of Hildibrand's misadventures end up getting himself in trouble such as getting a beating from Yellow Jackets while posing as a bandit. Prior to the Seventh Umbral Era, Hildibrand searches for the hero foretold to face the threat of Dalamud in Ul'dah where he comes across an old farmer who was a warrior in his youth. Misunderstanding the prophecy of Urianger Augurelt while helping the farmer tend his pumpkin field with seeds and Bomb ash, Hildibrand believes he is the foretold hero as he decides to fight Dalamud.

However, Nashu finds the late Nael Van Darnus's gun-halberd Bradamante that ended up in the farmer's possession after buying it from a merchant in Coerthas. When the inspector tries to use what is believed to be a weapon no longer functioning, Hildebrand is sent flying towards Dalamud after the resulting explosion caused by a spark from Bradamante igniting the Bomb ash.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Presumed dead when he fell back to Eorzea after being sent flying at Dalamud, later revealed to have be in a death-like coma and thus buried alive, Hildebrand emerges from his coffin with no memory of who he is. With the surrounding Zombies befriending him on the mutual notion that he is an undead, Zombibrand led his followers for a few years before being found by Nashu who nearly killed him with bombs to restore his memory. Donning a change of attire, Hildebrand accepts a challenge from a mysterious figure who is after the Collector's blade: deduced to be the Treaty Blade.

Meeting the reporter Ellie and his arrogant rival, consulting inspector Briardien, Hildebrand goes to retrieve the Treaty Blade. During this, Hildebrand encounters not only Gilgamesh, the two fighting over ownership of a replica of Darnus's gunhalbred, but also his smithy father Godbert Manderville. However, the Treaty Blade ends up in the figure's possession when he disguised himself as the client whose letter introduces him as thousand faced phantom thief.

Some time later, Hildebrand's search for the phantom thief leads him to the wedding of Arabella, the daughter of the wealthy merchant Guguremu. After nearly getting himself killed in an explosion caused by the inspector's inability to realize the danger he was in, Hildibrand learns that phantom thief's hand was wounded and would make things easy to find him hidden among the wedding guests. Posing as the bride, with everyone seeing through it while mortified, Hildibrand unexpectedly reveals the thief of many faces to be posing as the groom Vannes while scaring off a group of Mandragoras helping the thief. But the thief escapes with Arella's necklance while leaving a note that he will get the victors' spoils.

Creation and Development
Hildibrand was created for the quests required to unlock private Inn rooms, which were released March 8th, 2012 as part of patch 1.21. Due to positive fan reception, he became a recurring character for Inn-related quests, and in A Realm Reborn became the focus character of his own, independent series of sidequests.

Twitter Pages have been made for both Hildibrand and Nashu Mhakaracca.

Musical Themes
In Final Fantasy XIV, "Agent of Inquiry" is a jazz tune used in Hildibrand's comedic misadventures.

Etymology
Hildibrand's name derives from "Hildebrand", the character from Germanic legend. The word hild means "battle" and brand means "sword".

Trivia

 * In one of Hildibrand's quests, it's revealed what happens to Nael Van Darnus's gun-halberd, Bradamante, after his death. The weapon was found in Coerthas by a merchant, who sold it to a farmer in Ul'dah, but is no longer functioning properly. When the inspector tries to use it, he is sent flying to the skies. This weapon also plays a large role in the Gilgamesh quest chain.