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The Reins of History, back in the hands of Man.

Cidolfus Demen Bunansa

Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, or Dr. Cid (ドクター・シド, Dokutā Shido?) as he is better known, is one of the main characters of Final Fantasy XII, and the first Cid in the Final Fantasy series to be an antagonist. A genius scientist under the employ of the Archadian Empire, he is the mastermind behind manufacted nethicite and the various technological devices it fuels that make the Empire the superpower it has become. However, Cid's inventions are mere experiments made during the pursuit of greater power, and a greater end than mere world conquest.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Cid-Nethicite

Cid with a piece of manufacted nethicite.

Cid is 58 years old. He has silver hair, beard and mustache and wears silver, oval eyeglasses. He wears a typical Archadian nobleman's attire. He has silver shoe-leggings with gold designs, and a deep red and purple coat, also with gold ornaments, and white elbow-length gloves. He wields a pair of gold-colored guns in battle with circular blue ornamentation, and he wields several larger weapons with the same color scheme in his cinematic attacks. In artwork of Cid as a younger man, he resembles Balthier.

Personality[]

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

He was obsessed with nethicite. It was all he cared about. He'd babble nonsense, blind to aught but the Stone's power. He'd talk about some 'Eynah', or was it 'Venat'? No matter. Everything he did, he did to get closer to the nethicite, to understand it. He made airships, weapons... He even made me a Judge.

Balthier talking with Ashe about Cid.

Dr. Cid is a brilliant man and a well-learned researcher of ancient relics. Upon discovering nethicite, Cid devoted to furthering his knowledge of it and how to use its powers, creating airships, weapons, and becoming obsessed with achieving greater power with the stones. Cid's ultimate goal is to use the power of manufacted nethicite to defy the reign of the Occuria, giving mankind the freedom to choose its own path of development. Cid has forsaken all morals and distractions, and as a result many regard him as insane, partly due to his believed habit of carrying on conversations with himself, people being unaware that he is speaking to Venat, a rogue Occurian who can make themselves invisible and inaudible to others. He is cognizant of what he is doing and the end results he wishes to achieve.

At one point the party speculates Cid's plan is to grant the power of nethicite, deifacted or manufacted, to the nations of Ivalice and witness what happens when they clash. At Pharos at Ridorana, Cid implies he plans to use the power of nethicite to become a god-like being, and temporarily takes power from the Sun-Cryst to battle the party.

Despite their estrangement, Cid does still care for his son and alludes to having wished for Balthier to share in the power he was seeking, before the latter fled to become a sky pirate.

Abilities[]

Dr. Cid is considered a peerless scientist and the eminent expert on nethicite in Ivalice. He wields giant firearms in battle, likely powered by manufacted nethicite. He is the only character outside of the player party seen capable of summoning an Esper, and does so using a piece of nethicite rather than having the Esper's glyph bound to him.

Story[]

Dr

A younger Cid holding Balthier as a baby.

Cid fathered three sons, one named Ffamran mied Bunansa.[1] Six years ago, Dr. Cid traveled to the Jagd Difohr on an expedition into the Mist-covered waste. It is not known whether it was a primarily exploration-driven mission, or if he already had some idea of what he was looking for and what he would find there. Either way, he stumbled upon the ancient city of Giruvegan, where he met the rogue Occuria Venat, and discovered the nature of the stone of the gods: nethicite. Venat took Cid as their pupil and taught him how to synthesize artificial nethicite, which came to be known as manufacted nethicite. Nethicite is a type of magicite, a magickal stone used to power technology in Ivalice, but many times more potent.

Cid-with-Venat

Cid and Venat.

Over the next six years Cid would develop vast leaps in technology using the nethicite, experimenting on his stones in Draklor Laboratory in Archades. He became obsessed with the stone and ranted about putting "the reins of history back in the hands of man". Venat usually appeared only to Cid while remaining invisible to others, and the sight of Cid rambling seemingly to himself made others fear he was going mad. He promoted Ffamran to the rank of Judge, but Ffamran couldn't stand to watch his father's sanity deteriorate and fled Archades to become a sky pirate, taking the name "Balthier".

As Archadia began its conquest of neighboring kingdoms, Cid found the Midlight Shard in the Kingdom of Nabradia. Recognizing it as deifacted nethicite, a shard of the Sun-Cryst passed down the royal line, he ordered Judge Zecht to use the stone at Nabudis, eager to see its power. The resulting explosion sank Nabudis into a chasm, covered the ruins in Mist and drained the Midlight Shard of its power. The ruins came to be known as the Necrohol of Nabudis, a wasteland patrolled by monsters lurking in thick Mist.

With Vayne appointed the new consul to Dalmasca, he and Cid conspire to find the other two shards cut from the Sun-Cryst by Raithwall: the Dawn Shard and Dusk Shard. Judge Gabranth reports Cid and Vayne's likely hand in the destruction of Nabudis to Emperor Gramis, but the two cannot take action as Judge Zecht has vanished, and without his testimony the truth cannot be certain. A street thief named Vaan finds the Dusk Shard hidden in the royal palace at Rabanastre, and turns it over to Judge Ghis in exchange for his party not being executed when they are captured. The Dusk Shard soon after finds its way to Cid's hands.

Cid-and-Reddas-FFXII

Cid confronted by Reddas in Draklor Laboratory.

Raithwall's descendant Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca retrieves the Sword of Kings, an ancient sword that can cut nethicite, from the Stilshrine of Miriam. Her group (of which Cid's son Balthier has joined) heads to Archades to infiltrate Draklor and destroy the Dusk Shard; with the Dawn Shard she had already found having expelled its Mist destroying Ghis's fleet, the Dusk Shard is the last piece of deifacted nethicite that has not yet expended its power. In Draklor they meet Reddas, a sky pirate who has also infiltrated Draklor and is pursuing Cid. Cid battles the group, but before Reddas can finish him Venat appears and blocks his strike. Cid escapes, telling Ashe if she desires a piece of deifacted nethicite, to head to Giruvegan, where Cid himself plans to go.

Balthier is shocked at having witnessed Venat's intervention, realizing that Cid was not mad when he appeared to have been talking to thin air. The group heeds Cid's words, and at Giruvegan Ashe meets the Occuria, who bequeath her the Treaty-Blade as a sign they recognize her their choice of Dynast-King. They tell her to use it to cut new shards from the Sun-Cryst to destroy the Empire and Venat. Cid is nowhere to be found and they realize he lied about coming to trick them into seeing the Occuria and receiving their direction to go to the Sun-Cryst.

At the Pharos where the Sun-Cryst shines, Reddas reveals himself as Judge Zecht. He is pursuing Cid to atone for his hand in the fall of Nabudis, and confronts Gabranth who has been sent by Vayne to determine if Ashe intends to wield the Sun-Cryst's power. Cid arrives and dismisses Gabranth. Ashe drops the Dawn Shard as she decides to not use the nethicite to become a new Dynast-King. Cid picks it up, and Venat reintegrates the three shards of deifacted nethicite now in Cid's possession into the Sun-Cryst. The large quantities of Mist within the giant piece of nethicite spew and cover Ivalice, granting enough Mist to activate Cid's ultimate weapon, the Sky Fortress Bahamut, Vayne's massive command airship.

Cid-fades

Cid says his goodbyes to Balthier.

Behold the manufacted nethicite... the fruit of our power and knowledge! See what the Stone of Man is capable of! Witness its power with your own eyes! Famfrit! To me!

Cidolfus Demen Bunansa

Cid again battles the party, summoning the Esper Famfrit to his aid with a piece of manufacted nethicite, but he is defeated. Cid's body is consumed in Mist and begins to fade away. He brushes off Balthier's pity and tells him to flee, in his last words muttering "fool of a pirate".

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay[]

XII doctor cid render

Cid is fought twice, first in Draklor Laboratory, then at the top of the Pharos at Ridorana. In the first battle he is assisted by Rooks. During the second battle he summons Famfrit and becomes invincible to damage until Famfrit is defeated.

Musical themes[]

"Life and Death" from Final Fantasy XII

"Black of Night (Imperial Version)" plays during Cidolfus' first appearance. "Life and Death" plays during the boss battle against him.

Other appearances[]

Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]

PFF DoctorCid-boss

Cid's sprite is the same as in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Cid does not appear with his rooks. As in all Pictlogica battles, players must solve picross puzzles to defeat Cid. He is the final boss of the Final Fantasy XII section, and as in the original game, he summons Famfrit to aid him.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]

Airborne-brigade-dr-cid

Dr. Cid was featured in an event lasting from 6/18 to 6/25 in 2013 wherein various rewards such as medals could be earned for dealing damage to him during a time-constrained fight. [1] Cid later appeared in an event lasting from 11/11 to 11/17 in the same year, though the rewards offered were focused instead on the development of Balthier and Ashe for use in other battles. [2]

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Final Fantasy Artniks[]

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

FFRK Doctor Cid & Rook FFXII

Doctor Cid first appeared as the final regular boss in the Challenge Event Consorting with Sky Pirates. Defeating him awarded the player Basch's Hero Record together with Vaan's, though the latter had already been issued in two prior events. He is the boss of the Record of Draklor Laboratory, located in the FF XII Realm.

Strategy

As always, a lot depends on Dr. Cid's placement in the battle hierarchy. The two Rooks in front should be knocked out first, as they lay down a number of buffs on their creator, namely Protect, Shell, Haste, Regen, and Reflect, in addition to curing the Doctor through the wall they set up. The Rooks are somewhat resistant to elemental and break damage, but even so, break attacks are fighters' best bets. Until Cid is exposed, mages need to stick to non-elemental attacks.

Once Cid is exposed, the party can exploit his weakness to Holy, at which point Dispel and Banishing Strike are good bets to debuff Dr. Cid. Ashe's Heaven's Wrath is most useful, and should shave off a sizable chunk of his HP with each use.

Beware the S-27 Tokamak he fires; this attack can't be avoided as in the original game and causes big damage, so softening Cid up should be a priority after the Rooks fall. Fran's Mist Overload is very useful in this task.

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]

FFBE Doctor Cid FFXII Sprite

Cid and Famfrit were bosses for a Final Fantasy XII-themed event in the Japanese version.

Baknamy FFTA2This section about an enemy in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.


Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]

Cid appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Ice-elemental backup cards.

Behind the scenes[]

Balthier quotes Cid's "favorite line" as "History is built by our hands". Cid never says this line in the game, however, favoring the line "the reins of history back in the hands of man", instead.

In the book Final Fantasy XII: The War History of Ivalice, Cid's name is misspelled as Gidolfus.

Voice[]

Cid is voiced by Chikao Otsuka in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XII. Cid's Japanese voice actor had also provided the voice of Master Xehanort in the Kingdom Hearts series until 2015. Chikao's son, Akio Otsuka, voices Gabranth in all his appearances, as well as Xehanort and Xehanort's Heartless in Kingdom Hearts.

He was voiced by John Rafter Lee in the English version.

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

Cid is a recurring name in the Final Fantasy series. Cid is derived from the dialectal Arabic word سيد (sîdi or sayyid), which means "lord" or "master".

Cid's first and last names are taken from characters from Final Fantasy Tactics, Cidolfus Orlandeau and the father-son pair Besrudio and Mustadio Bunansa.

Demen, Cid's middle name, is a name of a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, although there is probably no connection between the two. Instead, his name may refer to the word deme from the ancient Greek demos, which in its broad sense, is the designation of the free population of the ancient Greek city-states, who had full rights as citizens (differentiated from slaves, metics, Perioeci, and other categories of dependents and others who were not fully enfranchised). This would be fitting, as Cid seeks to break mankind free from under Occuria's influence.

His middle name may also be a reference to dementia, a type of mental illness associated with memory loss, loss of reasoning and problem solving skills, and other impaired mental functions. This may be a reference to Cid's apparent insanity under Venat's influence and his growing obsession with nethicite.

Citations[]

  1. Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Omega
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