Noctis Lucis Caelum

a character from a game

Noctis Lucis Caelum is the playable character and main protagonist of Final Fantasy XV. He is the Crown Prince and heir to the kingdom of Lucis, the last kingdom to have control over a crystal. Noctis defends his kingdom from marauders and barbarians who seek to conquer the city and claim the crystal by force. Due to an accident in his childhood, Noctis can see the "light," and has the power to foresee a person's death.

Appearance
Noctis is a young man with spiky black hair and blue eyes that can glow red. He wears a black jacket with skull-motif buttons and sequenced details on pockets. He keeps it unzipped and the tag on the zipper also has a small skull. Underneath he wears a steel gray shirt with skull prints. Noctis wears black cropped trousers and black buckled boots with red soles. He wears a black motorcycle glove on his left hand.

Personality
Noctis is a shy person who tries to hide it by "acting cool". According to former director Tetsuya Nomura, Noctis will not have the "Cloud-like" personality, but he will be a new type of character for the series, one which Nomura had wanted to try out for a long time. Nomura said Noctis will have a strong and distinctive personality, rather than being silent and gloomy. In a Dengeki interview, Nomura explained Noctis is an ordinary young man who acts tough because he feels it is his duty to protect his kingdom and its citizens. As a result, he sometimes acts rashly or overestimates his strength.

In the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier trailer, Noctis was heard speaking for the first time. In the trailer, Noctis fights off an invading military force along with his companions. He suggests they launch an immediate assault to recapture the crystal, and that he will use his strength to defeat their enemies. His allies caution Noctis against it, saying he is not strong enough and that, as a result, he will only endanger the civilians.

Noctis is said to have a rebellious attitude, disliking the strict rules of his kingdom and acting as he pleases, sometimes getting his friends into trouble. Despite this, Noctis is protective of his friends. Three young men accompany Noctis: Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto; their relationship resembles that of the kyodai (brothers) and shatei (little brothers) in the Yakuza hierarchy. The four are later joined by the Captain of the Royal Guard, Cor Leonis, who has little patience for their antics. Nevertheless, his royal upbringing is said to shine through regardless, as reflected in his body language, poise, and posture amongst basic actions and movements throughout the game in contrast to his team, such as his etiquette through drinking coffee.

Story
Noctis's mother died when he was still an infant. Noctis, heir to the Lucian throne, sets forth from his homeland to formalize the union of states through his marriage to Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret of the imperial province of Tenebrae. When Niflheim attacks Insomnia both Noctis and his father, King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, are pronounced dead alongside Lunafreya. In truth, Noctis and his friends—Ignis, his royal advisor; Gladiolus, his bodyguard; and Prompto, his childhood friend—had escaped the city before the attack, and set out on a road trip to Altissia to meet with Luna. On their way across Duscae their car breaks down and they must raise the funds to have Cindy fix it. They pass by numerous monsters and an astral shard.

Gameplay
Noctis wields a variety of weapons including swords, greatswords, and spears, though his primary weapon that appears is a falchion fashioned with a motorcycle engine at the hilt. His other weapons include Avenger, Blood Sword, Partisan, Wyvern Lance, and Zweihander. Noctis can summon his weapons into the air around him and wield them by hand or telekinesis. These powers can only be used by members of the royal family and the Royal Council, and his eyes change from blue to red when he invokes them. In the 1st Production Department Premier trailer, his father is also seen calling upon these powers.

Noctis can use any weapon type in the game, and can wield multiple different weapons in a single battle thanks to his special ability. In the 1st Production Department Premier trailer he primarily attacks using his sword, but is also seen thrusting a spear through multiple opponents before calling his sword back to his hand and continuing his attack; he also performs a variety of rolls and flips to avoid enemy attacks. In the Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer Noctis continues to mainly wield a sword and performs coordinated attacks with his party members. When not equipping a weapon, he is able to evade enemy attacks.

While in the story Noctis is the only character to use magic, the gameplay is adjusted so the supporting party members can also use it. Noctis's spells appear to home in on his current target and can be used to attack from a distance; he launches Fire as a fast-moving projectile and Thunder will cause lightning to strike his opponent. Additionally, Noctis can use his weapons in teleporting him to the location where the weapon landed. This can be used to dodge an attack or to execute one. This ability was first hinted at in earlier cinematic trailers when Noctis was shown throwing one of his weapons a great distance, then reappearing where it landed seconds later, weapon in hand. Noctis can also use Armiger Arsenal, which summons a barrier of weapons surrounding him. Noctis will be the only party member with the ability to warp. Noctis can also use teleportation to dodge his enemies' attacks. With the Knightsguard ability (obtained after obtaining a certain "phantom sword"), by pressing the guard button at the right time after taking a hit, Noctis will immediately recover from the attack, and regain all the HP he lost from the hit. It can be used while in the middle of executing attacks.

Noctis has a special ability called "Spiral Thrust". The Spiral Thrust is one of the abilities the spear weapon will carry as its main attack. It is triggered by pressing a specific button. Parries can be executed by correct timing, although there is a risk if it fails. Noctis can also use Drain Blade with his Blood Sword, Full Thrust with the Partisan, Dragoon Jump with the Wyvern Lance, and Tempest with the Zweihander.

Creation and Development
As with other characters in Final Fantasy XV, Noctis's clothing is designed by Hiromu Takahara, creative director of the Japanese designer clothing label Roen. The suit is worn by Noctis during a deleted Final Fantasy Versus XIII scene in which he talks to Stella Nox Fleuret, and it was the first of Takahara's designs to appear in the game.

Noctis's initial clothing design by Tetsuya Nomura was a placeholder, to be replaced with an ensemble by Roen. Test gameplay footage screened privately at TGS 2009 unveiled Noctis's finalized design, which featured a slightly shorter haircut and clothes designed by Takahara, including a ring worn on his right hand and a motorcycle glove on his left. The ring was stated to play a role in the game, yet it was not confirmed whether it is an heirloom or not. Noctis's Roen-designed outfit was unveiled to the public at Jump Festa 2010 and was seen again in a Famitsu magazine in June 2010.

A physical set of Noctis's clothes are kept in the Square Enix office so the CG team can see them to create the same image in the game. Tetsuya Nomura has commented that this is easier, because previously when he created the characters, the CG team would ask him questions of the clothes' material and other detailed questions that were difficult to define precisely.

The contract Square Enix made with Roen when they first started making Final Fantasy Versus XIII contained a number of designs for the game. The designs contracted during that point are still being used for Final Fantasy XV. There are no additional ones, but the ones from before are still in the game.

With the change of name and platform and Tabata taking the reins the game was no longer going to be "the exact same game," as some things had to be re-evaluated to fit the change of circumstances. But Tabata has assured the game did not lose its core, and he had sat down with Tetsuya Nomura about the direction of the title to ensure that characters, like Noctis, would be maintained in the best possible way.

In old Tokyo Game Show footage depicting the envisioned opening for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Noctis conversed with Stella about the two of them seeing the "light". Stella explained the legend of Tenebrae, which stated that when a person is able to see the light they receive the powers of the dead from the Goddess Etro. The footage was shown to give people a brief idea of what the characters' personalities are going to be like. This scene did not make it to Final Fantasy XV with the removing of Stella and the change of opening events.

Voice
After the release of the Episode Duscae demo, many western players had complained about Noctis's voice. Director Hajime Tabata responded the team had cut the recording close in terms of the schedule, and after recording the voices were implemented before going straight into testing, so by the time Tabata realized Noctis's voice direction wasn't quite right, it was too late to make changes. Tabata said the team was aware he sounded strange and that his "charm" wasn't coming through and that he sounded too old. He said they had done more takes to make him sound younger, while also bringing out his sense of ennui.

Merchandise
Like Lightning, Sephiroth and Cloud Strife, Noctis also has his own eau de toilette scent sold by Square Enix Japan, called Final Fantasy ~Noctis~ eau de toilette. It was announced on February 18th, 2013. and released on June 18th, 2013. The bottle is a clear glass bottle filled with pale yellow eau de toilette imprinted with a silver silhouette of Noctis's face. The scent is described to be citrus-oriented with layers. Top: Grapefruit, lemon, orange. Middle: Lavender, pine, rose, lily of the valley. Last: woody, musk.

Etymology
Noctis Lucis Caelum is a Latin phrase that may mean either "Sky of the Night's Light" or "Sky of the Light's Night". Noctis and his father, King Regis, thus share a similar naming theme pertaining light and sky.

Tetsuya Nomura has commented on why he named Noctis as such, juxtaposing him to another one of his favorites, Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series:

Trivia

 * Noctis appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a set of two player icons to represent then-titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII, along with Lightning for Final Fantasy XIII and Ace for Final Fantasy Type-0, though these icons can only be obtained through passwords.
 * A promotional image of Noctis sitting on his throne mimics a pose of a promotional image of Sora from Kingdom Hearts that is later used on the cover of the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX re-release.