Dragoon (job)

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Kain DS CG Render — Kain Highwind is a Dragoon from *Final Fantasy IV*.

Always return from the battlefield.
Dissidia Final Fantasy, Dragoon Lore

The Dragoon (竜騎士, Ryūkishi?, lit. Dragon Knight), also localized as Dragon Knight or Lancer, is a recurring job in the Final Fantasy series. First appearing in Final Fantasy II, they have become one of the most iconic job classes in the series.

Profile

Dragoons are powerful physical attackers who wield spears and lances. They wear special armor meant to invoke the imagery of dragons, including helmets shaped like a dragon's head, spikes, and wing and scale designs. Dragoons are sometimes more directly tied to dragons, such as owning them as pets or otherwise befriending them.

The trademark ability of Dragoons is Jump, which allows them to leap into the air, avoid attacks while airborne, and descend a moment later to impale enemies and deal heavy damage. Some Dragoons can upgrade Jump to Double Jump for increased damage. Another recurring Dragoon ability is Lancet, sometimes called Dragon Sword, which allows them to attack an opponent and drain their HP and MP to heal themselves. Sometimes, Dragoons use various breath abilities to either deal elemental damage or heal their allies, referring to dragons' typical ability of breathing fire.

Many Dragoons in the series possess the surname "Highwind", though it is not universal. To date, Alexander Highwind Tycoon has been the only "Highwind" to have not been a Dragoon, though he is still associated with dragons. Dragoons are often protectors of others. The town of Deist is usually depicted as a hometown of Dragoons. Kain's Lance is a recurring ultimate weapon for Dragoons as homage to Kain Highwind, the dragoon from Final Fantasy IV often seen as the quintessential Dragoon of the series.

Many games that don't have a job system still have characters that invoke the fighting style and look of Dragoons, often also with the association with Highwind as a surname or ability name.

Appearances

Final Fantasy II

Main article: Dragoon (Final Fantasy II)

In their first appearance, Dragoon was not a job, but they were a group of dragon riders who fought alongside wyverns. The Emperor killed off most of the group out of fear, leaving only Ricard Highwind and his adopted son, Kain.

Later releases give Ricard equal proficiency with spears, have him joined with a spear equipped, and provide spears as his ultimate weapons. Additionally his appearance was overwritten to be more similar to Kain's.

Final Fantasy III

Main article: Dragoon (Final Fantasy III)

The Dragoon is a job gained from the Water Crystal. Dragoons wield spears in battle and are highly skilled against aerial foes. They are renowned for their ability to launch deadly attacks from above.

Though the first Dragoon appeared in Final Fantasy II, it was not until Final Fantasy III that Dragoons were given their iconic Jump ability and wielded spears as their primary weapon, as Ricard Highwind originally wielded swords.

Final Fantasy IV

Kain Highwind is a Dragoon and the leader of a company of Dragoons in the service of Baron, following in the footsteps of his father, who had also commanded the Dragoons as one himself.

Kain is the only party member able to equip spears, although he can hold swords and axes too. He can use Jump if he equips a spear.

Two dragoon NPCs are found in Baron Castle. In the 3D remake, their model is similar to Kain's, only less detailed. In all other versions, they use the same sprite as other soldiers, though still refer to themselves as dragoons.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Kain's dark side is a Dragoon and is temporarily playable. Kain, having taken the alias of the "Hooded Man" while he seeks his dark side, is not specified as having a job class. After Kain defeats his dark side, he is transformed into a Holy Dragoon, a Paladin-like enhancement of the normal Dragoon class with improved stats and the ability to cast White Magic.

Due to the class being exclusive to Dark Kain, the Dragoon can equip many dark related weapons and armor used by Cecil's Dark Knight job in the previous game; however, most of these items cannot be obtained in the final game without the use of hacking.

Final Fantasy V

Main article: Dragoon (Final Fantasy V)

Dragoon is a job obtained from the shards of the Earth Crystal. They use the Jump attack, and in its first appearance in the series, the Lancet ability, though it is called "Lance" or "DragonSword".

Final Fantasy IX

Freya Crescent is identified as a Dragon Knight and wields spears. Her lost lover, Sir Fratley, is a legendary Burmecian Dragon Knight. Freya uses the Jump ability and has the Dragon skillset, which enables her to use magical attacks including Lancet, called "Lancer".

Early concept artwork reveals that two variants of the Dragoon job were perhaps planned to have a bigger role, with humans in these roles as well. These jobs appear in unused concept artwork, in which a male protagonist is listed as "BAHAMUT Dragoon (male)", and a female protagonist as "LEVIATHAN Dragoon (female)".

Final Fantasy XI

Main article: Dragoon (Final Fantasy XI)

Dragoon is an advanced job class that can summon pet wyverns to aid players in battle. They mainly equip light to medium armor and spears, and have abilities such as Jump and Super Jump. Also, the Absolute Virtue is a Dragoon.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Some enemy aegyl are Dragon Knights who can Jump and use several ranged Breath attacks, or Dragoons, who can Jump attack constantly and only appear in Midlight's Deep.

Llyud can also use the Jump and Lancet abilities among numerous others.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

One of the garbs available for Lightning is Dragoon. Its locked ability is Lancet.

Final Fantasy XIV

Dragoon is the job specialization derived from the Lancer class. They are a highly armored but nonetheless mobile force that specializes in the slaying of dragons that have waged war to the Holy City of Ishgard for centuries. Among those dragoons, one of them is chosen each generation by the eye of Nidhogg to directly wield the dragon's own power, thus becoming the Azure Dragoon. In the storyline, the Warrior of Light is an exception, having been chosen by the Eye despite the current Azure Dragoon, Estinien Wyrmblood, still being alive.

Final Fantasy Tactics

Main article: Dragoon (Tactics)

Dragoon is a physically-based job, that fears no heights since their Jump command lets them reach nearly anywhere on the map, provided they have learned enough Horizontal Jump abilities. Dragoons have access to the Ignore Elevation ability, which allows them to move to any tiles regardless of elevation.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Main article: Dragoon (Tactics Advance)

Dragoon job is available to bangaa after mastering two Warrior abilities. Along with Jump and Lancet, Dragoons can also use the elemental "breath" attacks used by dragons. Dragoons wield swords and spears in combat, but Jump's bonus damage only applies to spears.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Main article: Dragoon (Tactics A2)

Dragoon is a job exclusive to bangaa, and functions similarly to its appearance in the previous game. They are best at attacking enemies from a distance, using their signature Jump attack. Their Dragonheart reaction ability also ensures a long duration on the field (though once per battle).

Final Fantasy Tactics S

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Crystal Defenders

While slow, a Dragoon's attacks deal massive amount of damage to targets on both the ground and in the air.
Online description

Dragoon is a job class available for hire in the W2 and W3 stages, costing 50 gil. Though relatively slow compared to other units, they deal massive damage and can target both ground and aerial enemies.

Crystal Defenders: Vanguard Storm

While not powerful, a Dragoon's attacks can reach enemies on land or in the air, even from a distance.
Online description

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Final Fantasy Dimensions

Main article: Dragoon (Dimensions)

Barbara is a Dragoon in a tale that grants the Dragoon job to the Light Warriors. Dragoons use Breath abilities to deal elemental damage or heal allies. They retain the job's iconic Jump and Lancet abilities, but these are learned later in the job's level.

Final Fantasy Dimensions II

Wrieg gets an alternate costume based on the Dragoon job from the "Phantom Beast Great Decisive Battle!" event. The Dragoon costume is based on Kain's sprites from Final Fantasy IV. The costume can only be seen when Wrieg is equipped with the "Dragoon Equipment" accessory. Anyone who equips the accessory will gain a 20% boost to max speed, along with 30 attack & 1,000 HP.

Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)

The Dragoon Job Card, available to be selected in the Duel Colosseum, discards all cards from the selection area for a new set. The first card drawn in the new hand is also a Dragoon, allowing the player to freely cycle their hand as long as they wish. However, boss and Chaos cards cannot be discarded as usual, and the Red Mage card does not allow discarding either.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Kain Highwind represents the Dragoon job. The Dragoon job card appears in the new Labyrinth mode, and discards all cards except doors and goals. The first card drawn in the new hand is also a Dragoon, allowing the player to freely cycle their hand as long as they wish.

Dragoon is also a job that can be selected for a character in the player's party for Quick Battle, Friend Cards, or wireless matches. The Dragoon job grants the character the Jump Boost ability and 10% HP Drain, and is needed to unlock the Samurai job.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade

Main article: Dragoon (Airborne Brigade)

The Dragoon is a job available after obtaining a level 10 Warrior and a level 10 Thief. The preferred weapons for the job are spears and swords. The job specializes in both strength and agility abilities. This job is involved in the requirements to unlock the Samurai job.

Final Fantasy Artniks

The Dragoon appears as a character card.

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Final Fantasy All the Bravest

Many feel that these knights posing as dragons should simply be dubbed lunatics.
Description

The Dragoon is a character available to the party, he uses the Jump ability during battle. It unlocks at level 33.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Main article: Dragoon (Record Keeper character)

Descendants of a race who shared a special bond with the otherwise aloof wyverns. Dragoons practice their spear techniques from the backs of their wyvern mounts, and in battle they leap down from above to strike at their foes.
Official description

Dragoon is playable character recruited as the First Time Reward for completing Ronka Ruins, Part 2 on Classic difficulty of the Core Dungeons. Acquiring Dragoon this way alludes to Final Fantasy V where the Ronka Ruins store the Earth Crystal which grants Bartz's party access to the job class Dragoon.

Final Fantasy Explorers

Main article: Dragoon (Explorers)

Dragoon is a job 4★ Quest, "Aptitude Exam: Dragoon & Sage". The Dragoon is a high-damage somewhat tank-like class.

Final Fantasy Explorers-Force

This section about a job class in Final Fantasy Explorers-Force is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Mobius Final Fantasy

This section about a job class in Mobius Final Fantasy is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

There is no traditional job system, but Dragoons still make an appearance and are largely recognizable by their skills: their preference for spears, the ability to Jump, the passive High Jump (which increases jump damage) and some form of Dragon Killer. The strongest among them have 'timed jumps', which allow them to drop from the sky at the player's pressing of a button; they can cap chains for increased damage and are thus effective as 'finishers'.

There are several units whose job is listed as Dragoon: Skaha, Freya, Kain and his variant "Atoning Dragoon Kain", Duke, Ryunan, and Reberta. There are also units whose skill sets correspond to the job but are not listed as such: Nine, Fang, Aranea. One of the major characters is notably a Dragoon, Cid or Veritas of the Heavens (whose job is listed as either Sworn Eight or Veritas), and is perhaps the strongest Dragoon to date; his Limit Burst is called "Invincible Highwind".

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

Main article: Dragoon (Chocobo's Dungeon)

Chocobo unlocks the Dragoon class by restoring Meja's memories. In this class, Chocobo can jump to damage enemies a short distance away, and he also possesses elemental spear skills to allow him to harry his foes.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Dragoon appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Lightning-elemental Forward cards, while Lancer appears as Backups.

Triple Triad

Dragoon from Final Fantasy III appears on a card in the version available via Final Fantasy Portal App.

Allusions to the job in the series

Final Fantasy VI

Though there is no job system, the Dragoon Boots relic grants characters the Jump ability, which deals double damage when combined with spears and can be enhanced further with the Dragon Horn relic.

Final Fantasy VII

Though there is no job system, Cid Highwind bears many traits of a Dragoon. He equips spears and lances and can use Jump attacks as his Limit Breaks, including the "Dragon" attack that drains HP and MP from enemies. In earlier development stages, his job was listed as "Pilot (Dragoon)".

Final Fantasy VIII

Ward uses a Harpoon as a weapon and a Jump attack as his Limit Break, both signature skills of Dragoons.

Final Fantasy X

While there is no job system, Kimahri acts as a combination of a Dragoon and a Blue Mage. He equips spears, and his special ability is Lancet, which drains HP and MP from enemies and allows Kimahri to learn new Ronso Rages, his Overdrive and Blue Magic equivalent. His initial Overdrive is Jump.

Final Fantasy XIII

Fang wields spears that double as sansetsukon (three-part staves) in combat, and her full ATB skill is a jump attack called Highwind. Her ultimate weapon is Kain's Lance and her Eidolon is the dragon Bahamut, which she rides in a cutscene and during Gestalt Mode.

Final Fantasy XV

A female dragoon named Aranea Highwind working for the Niflheim invasion forces dives to attack Noctis with a massive, mechanized lance. In interviews in Dengeki PS and Famitsu, the original director, Tetsuya Nomura, indicated that she was a contemporary interpretation of a Dragoon, and a member of a special forces unit within the invading army that uses unique equipment and abilities based on the various jobs. As a party member, Aranea performs Techniques that invoke the style of the Dragoons' iconic jump attack.

When Noctis wields a lance for a weapon, he can airstep (fight while in midair), and when directly above a target, descend upon them like Dragoons and their trademark Jump ability.

Ignis's technique "High Jump", likewise launches him far into the air and impales a target with a lance as he falls, also dealing damage to surrounding enemies.

Final Fantasy Type-0

Though there is no job system, a member of Class Zero, Nine, makes use of spears, and can perform the job's iconic Jump ability. Class Second is a class specific to studying Dragoon abilities and includes Carla Ayatsugi as a student and Machina Kunagiri as a former student. The class moogle for Class Second represents the Dragoon job class.

Related jobs

Nightblade

Main article: Nightblade

Nightblade (ナイトブレード, Naitobureido?) is an enemy job class in Final Fantasy Tactics used by Isilud Tengille of the Knights Templar. It combines attributes of both the Knight and Dragoon jobs.

Holy Dragoon

Main article: Kain Highwind

In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Kain defeats his dark side and transforms into a Holy Dragoon (聖竜騎士, Seiryuukishi?, lit. Holy Dragon Knight). This variation of the typical Dragoon is similar to the Paladin class. Kain dons a blue draconic suit of armor, and he gains the ability to cast White Magic. Kain's Holy Dragoon form also appears as his EX Mode in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Uhlan

Main article: Uhlan (Final Fantasy XII)

In the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII, the job class Uhlan is the closest to Dragoons, as noted by Hiroyuki Ito, the game's director. The Uhlan uses spears and heavy armor, but cannot use the Jump ability, so the director researched a different name related to spears. The job was named Uhlan, after Polish soldiers who wield spears.

Lancer

Main article: Dragoon (Final Fantasy XIV)

The Lancer (槍術士, Soujutsushi?) is a Discipline of War in Final Fantasy XIV, specializing in the use of polearms and javelins. Though they cannot use Jump, they retain the Lancet ability in the form of Life Surge. Unlike previous uses of the term "Lancer" as a localization for "Dragon Knight", here it is a literal translation of a different class—in this case, a practitioner of sōjutsu, the "art of the spear".

Valkyrie

See also: Valkyrie (Bravely Default) or Valkyrie (Bravely Second)

The Valkyrie (ヴァルキリー, Varukirī?) is a job in Bravely Default and Bravely Second: End Layer that specializes in spears and has access to the Jump, High Jump, and Super Jump commands.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

LoV-Grendel — Grendel, Dragon Knight of the Terror Tempest.

Lord of Vermilion series

Grendel, the "Dragon Warrior of Chaos", is a summonable monster and the final boss designed by guest illustrator Tetsuya Nomura. Described as a legendary drakeman and a dragon slayer, he was cursed and sealed beneath a city of stone by the gods, who feared his valor. He wears draconic armor and has several draconic features, including wings, claws, and a tail.

In Lord of Vermilion Re:2 he reappears with an altered design as the "Wailing Dragon Emperor". He is named after Grendel, a descendant of the biblical Cain from the epic poem Beowulf, likely a nod to Kain Highwind.

Lord of Arcana series

Grendel appears as one of the boss monsters as the "Dragon Knight of the Terror Tempest". He is described as a dragon knight that roams forgotten battlefields, spreading chaos with his blade. One of his abilities is called Dragoon Jump. Two alternate forms of this monster, Grendel Banjax and Grendel Annihilate, also make appearances.

Grendel is featured in the logo for the Lord of Arcana sequel, Lord of Apocalypse, seemingly impaled by numerous spears.

Kingdom Hearts

In Kingdom Hearts II, the Dragoon Nobodies allude to the Dragoon job, and their battle stance mirrors Kain Highwind's iconic pose from the original logo art for Final Fantasy IV (). In battle, they fight with halberds and strong Jump attacks, which can be learned and used by Sora as a reaction command. The Organization XIII member who controls the Dragoon Nobodies is Xaldin, who also exhibits some traditional aspects of the Dragoon class himself, such as wielding spears as his signature weapons and specializing in aerial combat.

In Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross], a pixel Dragoon armor set appeared as an outfit for male Avatars as part of a collaboration with Final Fantasy Record Keeper.

In Kingdom Hearts III, the Wheel of Fate Keyblade has a transformation named "Highwind" which transforms the weapon into a spear and allows Sora to perform Jump attacks, a clear allusion to the Dragoon job.

Puzzle & Dragons

The Dragoon appears as part of the Crystal Defenders collaboration.

Knights of the Crystals

The Dragoon appears on a gold card.

Samurai Rising

The Dragoon appears as a job.

Legend of Mana

Larc and Sierra are both dragoons, Sierra has the Double-Jump ability. In the middle of a Double-Jump, she can drop down on the enemy similar to the Jump ability of the Final Fantasy Dragoon. Both of them serves dragons. Larc's weapon of choice is an axe while Sierra is a dagger, both of which the Final Fantasy dragoons can equip. Larc's synchro ability is to deal more damage to dragon monsters while Sierra's synchro ability is to lessen the damage taken from dragon monsters.

Monster Hunter: World

As part of collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV, the Dragoon armor and weapon become obtainable on August 2, 2018. The weapon is presented as an Insect Glaive, a huge and agile polearm with the ability to leap and extract buffs or health from monsters, which parallels the overall playstyle of Dragoon in Final Fantasy.

Minna to BIOHAZARD Clan Master

As a crossover collaboration with Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade, the character Leon S. Kennedy is depicted as a Dragoon. This is likely in correlation with Leon rather being a S.T.A.R.S. Team member, he is but of a more general duty officer of the Raccoon Police Department, and to how his first day of his career essentially sent him into the heart of Raccoon City's zombie outbreak. Arguably, this may also likely be an in-joke to how one of the threats encountered in his first mission was being chased by a giant mutated alligator.

Merchandise

Dragoon-Final-Fantasy-Variant-Play-Arts-Kai — Dragoon.

A re-imagined Dragoon Play Arts Kai action figure includes accessory a lance, a sword, a sheath, a clawed sheath clasp, exchangeable hands and a figure display stand.

Gallery

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]"Dragoon" is the traditional name for a special soldier type in classical European warfare. Unlike in Final Fantasy, the original dragoons did not fight with lances, that being the job of "lancers"—a different soldier class. Dragoons were infantry that rode on horseback, but fought on foot. Originally they fought with a hand-held blunderbuss called the "dragon", giving them the name. The dragoons' arsenal expanded to include guns, sabres, and axes. During the Napoleonic Wars they became medium cavalry and reached the height of their popularity.

After the Napoleonic Wars, to make better use of the number of men the European military had, the dragoons were trained to use lances and lancers became obsolete. Thanks to the advances of modern warfare, dragoons lost their niche and modern dragoon units exist only for ceremonial purposes.

The job's Japanese name is Dragon Knight (竜騎士, Ryuukishi?). Dragon knights are commonly found in Japanese editions of western fantasy novels as a translation for terms such as "dragon knight" or "dragon rider," referring to knights and warriors who ride on dragons.

The term was likely originally localized as "Dragoon" due to the job name length restrictions, and to avoid confusion with the Dark Knight class, which was localized as "D.Knight," though it may have also been confused with the Japanese term for the Dragoon (竜騎兵, Ryuukihei?, lit. Dragon Cavalry). Through the course of the series, it has been localized as Lancer and Dragon Knight, though Dragoon has become the generally accepted term.