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Krile Mayer Baldesion[1] is a playable character from Final Fantasy V. She is the granddaughter of Galuf Halm Baldesion and a princess of Bal of Galuf's world. Krile has the unique special ability of being able to talk to animals, including moogles, chocobos, and wind drakes. To this end, she keeps a pet moogle in her room and a wind drake on her balcony.

Krile is initially involved in helping her grandfather in his quest to prevent Exdeath from returning. Exdeath's eventual return leads to her having a greater role in defeating him, and aiding her grandfather and his fellow Light Warriors along the way. Eventually, Krile becomes one of the Light Warriors herself, taking over from her grandfather.

History[]

Before Final Fantasy V[]

At some point, Krile's parents, shortly after she was born, left the castle in search of the last wind drake, but were lost in the Gloceana Desert.[3] Galuf and Krile became closer as a result.

Around the beginning of Final Fantasy V, Galuf sensed Exdeath's return and traveled to Bartz's world via meteorite,[4] with Krile set to follow shortly after.

Final Fantasy V[]

Galuf Krile Reunited

Krile and Galuf reunited.

Krile arrived at Ronka Ruins by her own meteorite to save the earth crystal, and used her magic to free a possessed King Alexander Highwind Tycoon. She reunited with her grandfather after and her presence restored his memory, but she and the others were unable to stop the earth crystal shattering, reawakening Exdeath. Krile and Galuf then returned to Galuf's world, with Galuf forbidding the other three Light Warriors from following them as it would be a one-way trip.[5]

Krile and her wind drake traveled joined Galuf and the Bal army siege of the Big Bridge. However, Galuf halted the siege when Exdeath projected an image of the three Light Warriors held hostage in Castle Exdeath, leading Galuf to fly on Krile's wind drake to rescue them alone. After Galuf rescued them, Exdeath's barriers activated and the Light Warriors were thrown to Gloceana. Krile, the wind drake, and the soldiers retreated to the Castle of Bal, unable to find them.

Later, Krile's moogle told her that the Light Warriors were in the Moogle Village. Her wind drake volunteered for the long return flight in spite of being injured and exhausted, allowing Krile to return the others to the castle.[6] However, the wind drake succumbed to its wounds, leading Lenna Charlotte Tycoon and Faris Scherwiz to suggest dragon grass, leading the Light Warriors to travel to Drakenvale.[7] After this, Sage Ghido contacted Krile telepathically with a message for the Light Warriors to visit him; this psychic call gave her a migraine, causing her to collapse. When the warriors returned with the dragon grass, Lenna ate the dragon grass herself to prove it was safe to Krile's wind drake, and Krile rushed to give Lenna an antidote to cure the poison that doing so inflicted on her.[8]

Krile Cries

Krile mourns Galuf's death.

Following Ghido's advice, the Light Warriors eventually found and confronted Exdeath in the Great Forest of Moore, but accidentally broke the seals on the world's crystals, allowing Exdeath to use them against them. Krile sensed something was wrong and rushed off with her wind drake to save them, trying to contain Exdeath with a spell, but he shrugged it off and trapped her in a ring of fire. In retaliation, Galuf shattered the crystal binding him and fought Exdeath, withstanding powerful attacks that should have killed him, causing Exdeath to flee in confusion. Galuf perished in spite of the warriors' efforts to heal him, leading her grief-stricken. However, Galuf's spirit appeared to her via the power of the Guardian Tree, and reassured her she was not alone, leaving behind a memento that grants her his abilities.[9]

Krile took up the mantle of Light Warrior, joining Bartz Klauser, Lenna, and Faris, becoming a great help due to her ability to talk to animals. When reaching Castle Exdeath, Krile sensed an apparent dead end was in fact an illusion. With the help of Galuf's spirit, as well as the werewolves of Quelb, she dispelled the illusion and the party traversed the castle's true form. Further in, the party encountered Gilgamesh, Exdeath's lackey, who noted Galuf's absence. The warriors confronted and appeared to defeat Exdeath at the top of the castle, but he mocked them for their ignorance and shattered the final three crystals.[10]

Galuf & Krile in Moore

Krile inherits Galuf's abilities.

The worlds merged, and the warriors found themselves by Castle Tycoon. Krile sensed that Galuf wanted her to hurry somewhere, so she and Bartz slipped away from the castle's coronation ceremony.[11] Krile followed Bartz to meet Boko, his chocobo companion, and was able to communicate with Boko and relay what he was saying to Bartz.[12] Traveling with Boko, the two then fell into an Antlion's pit and were rescued by Faris after she made them promise not to leave her behind again. Krile then complained of a painful splinter.[13]

Upon reaching Ghido's cave, Ghido explained that the two worlds had merged. While into his explanation, Krile's splinter was revealed to be Exdeath, who proclaimed he had disguised himself as a splinter to find Ghido, and was seeking the Void found in the Interdimensional Rift between worlds. Exdeath tried to defeat them all, but was held off by Ghido; nonetheless, he used the Void to consume Castle Tycoon with Lenna still instead and left.[14] Bartz, Faris, Krile, and Ghido hurried to the Library of the Ancients, where he and the scholars completed the Sealed Tome, describing the twelve legendary weapons found in the Sealed Castle of Kuza that could be opened with four tablets.[15]

On the way to the first tablet in the Pyramid of Moore, they found and stopped at the Guardian Tree, reminiscing over the losses they had suffered, with Krile vowing to stop Exdeath and protect all life in the world.[16] After retrieving it, they reunited with Lenna, who had been rescued by her wind drake Hiryuu, but first had to defeat the demon Melusine that had possessed her.[17]

The party then traveled the world to unlock the sealed weapons. On the way, they stopped at the pirates' hideout, where the spirit of Syldra appeared; only Faris and Krile could see Syldra's spirit, and Krile could understand Syldra, explaining to Faris that Syldra wished to help Faris still in death, describing her as a "kind soul" and obtaining her as a summon.[18] At the Phoenix Tower, the warriors found Hiryu again. There, Krile once again communicated with Hiryu, explaining to Lenna that Hiryu knew he did not have much longer to live and came to the Phoenix Tower to be reborn as the Phoenix and help the warriors.[19] When the warriors reunited with Cid and Mid Previa, Krile, relating Mid's relationship with his grandfather to her own relationship with hers, comforted Mid, and encouraged him to take good care of his grandfather.[20]

Guardian Tree Ending

Krile in the ending.

Eventually, the warriors traveled to the Interdimensional Rift to fight Exdeath and the demons of the Rift. Gilgamesh joined forces with the warriors, and paid tribute to Krile's grandfather before he seemingly sacrificed himself for them. When fighting Exdeath, the spirits of King Tycoon, Galuf, and the Dawn Warriors helped the ultimately win and then restore the power of the four crystals to the new merged world.[21]

After the world was restored, Krile wrote a long letter to Cid and Mid. In it, she joked about claiming the vacated throne of Bal and explained where the Light Warriors had been. When she visited the Guardian Tree where Galuf died, mourning him, she was joined by Bartz, Faris, and Lenna, who cheered her up. Together they promised to stay friends forever and protect the restored Crystals.[22][note 1]

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Krile Freelancer from FFV SD art

Krile's in-game sprite depicts her with blue eyes, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a ribbon, and wearing a blue dress. Her sprite 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 sparse bangs. Her hair is held back with a red band rather than a ribbon, and she wears red earrings and peach eyeshadow.

Krile is the only playable character to not be shown from the left side in her battle stance, instead shown somewhat to the front, similar to the child characters in Final Fantasy IV and the Onion Knights in Final Fantasy III. (However, she is shown from the left side in her battle stance as a DLC character for Final Fantasy All the Bravest.)

Personality[]

As with Galuf, Krile's crystal represents hope, the essence of earth.[23] Krile is a bright and optimistic girl who shares a few traits with her grandfather. In particular, she makes lighthearted teases at her companions,[11] downplays her royalty,[22] and is described as sharing his big heart.[3] This makes her the first in a long line of female playable characters in the Final Fantasy series to possess these qualities, as she would be succeeded by Relm, Yuffie, Selphie, Eiko, Rikku, Penelo, Vanille, and (though a guest character instead) Iris.

Krile is greatly affected by the devastation Exdeath unleashes on the world, and can be found deep in thought about the Light Warriors' place in the world.[16] She is defined by a sense of loneliness, likely stemming from her parents' death at a young age.[3] Krile mentions missing her grandfather when he left to Bartz's world,[5] and after Galuf's passing, goes onto long for his return, and become anxious without his guidance.[11][16] Following the defeat of Exdeath, Krile worries that the other Light Warriors have forgotten her, tearing up in delight when they reunite.[22] Her loneliness may also explain her connection to her animal companions, her moogle and wind drake, whom she can communicate with.

Krile and Galuf's relationship is similar to Relm and Strago's relationship in Final Fantasy VI; as with them, Krile seems to look out for Galuf as much as he does for her. Krile lives in the shadow of her grandfather, with Gilgamesh referencing her grandfather rather than her in his final words to the party.[21]

Abilities[]

As a Light Warrior, Krile has access to all the jobs, learned from the the crystal fragments which store powers of warriors of legend.[23] Access to these powers allows Lenna and the other Light Warriors to mix them to combinations that suit the current battle plan. Krile later acquired the twelve legendary weapons that had previously been used to defeat the warlock Enuo one thousand years ago.[14]

Krile's strongest ability is her ability to communicate with animals. She can communicate with chocobos,[12] moogles, wind drakes,[6] and the ghost of Syldra.[18] This allows her to communicate on behalf of her fellow warriors' animal companions, including Boko for Bartz, Hiryuu for Lenna,[19] and Syldra for Faris. Krile also has psychic abilities, able to sense the illusion that covers Castle Exdeath, although she needed the help of her grandfather's spirit and the warriors in Quelb to break it.[10]

Krile has something of a sixth sense about her, able to tell when her companions from far away are in danger.[9] At one point Ghido communicates with her telepathically,[8] although it is unclear if he has a special reason for choosing her.

Gameplay[]

Krile takes over from Galuf's role and inherits his abilities and job experience about halfway through the game. Where Galuf's highest stats were his Stamina and Strength (affecting his HP and physical damage respectively), Krile's highest are Agility and Magic (affecting turn rate and spellcasting/MP respectively), wherein Krile's Agility is the highest and her Magic is second only to Lenna.

In the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster version, Krile starts off with Galuf's job and equipment already equipped; in earlier versions of the game, she joins with nothing selected, and they must be re-equipped.

Krile has the innate element of earth, and therefore the Finisher ability, exclusive to the Gladiator job available in some versions of the game, will take this element.

Stats[]

Each playable character has slightly different base attributes. These differences will make characters perform slightly better at some jobs than others, although they are ultimately negligible, as jobs dramatically alter a character's stats and equipment and abilities are of higher importance. If choosing to base jobs on characters' innate stats, however, Krile may suit spellcasting jobs more due to her Magic, but her Agility is well-suited to many physical jobs too. Either way, it would mean the player would have to gear jobs as Galuf around Krile's stats instead.

Strength Agility Stamina Magic
Default 25 28 24 27
Highest[note 2] 51 44 50 60[note 3]

Musical themes[]

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

Other appearances[]

Krile has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

Krile is a surname found in Croatia. It also may have been brought to England by Norman conquerors in the 11th century. Her Japanese name is Kururu. Kuru kuru is the Japanese onomatopoeia for spinning or twirling.

Mayer is an alternate spelling of the German name Meyer or Meier, which in turn comes from the Middle High German mei(g)er, the manager of an estate, in turn derived from the Latin maior domus. It could also derive from the Hebrew me'ír, or "illuminating". Baldesion is likely a nomenclature formed from the name of her home, Bal.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

  1. 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 Light Warriors—this alternate ending varies depending on who was left alive. The fallen party member(s) are restored to life at the Guardian Tree where the Light Warriors reaffirm their conviction to keep protecting the world.
  2. The highest stats are obtained by mastering the job with the highest of that stat modifier. Monk has the highest Strength and Stamina modifier, Thief has the highest Agility modifier, and Summoner has the highest Magic modifier.
  3. In versions with the Oracle job, Oracle instead has a higher modifier, putting Krile's max Magic stat at 63.

Citations[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1, p. 220
  2. Final Fantasy Art Museum Trading Card Collection No.168 FFAM-02-Front-024
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Castle of Bal optional dialogue"
  4. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Fire-Powered Ship (after Library of the Ancients)"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Ronka Ruins"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Moogle Village"
  7. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Castle of Bal"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Castle of Bal (after Drakenvale)"
  9. 9.0 9.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Great Forest of Moore"
  10. 10.0 10.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Castle Exdeath (after Moore)"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Castle Tycoon"
  12. 12.0 12.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Pirates' Hideout 2"
  13. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Cave"
  14. 14.0 14.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Ghido's Cave 2"
  15. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Library of the Ancients 2"
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Guardian Tree"
  17. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Guardian Tree (after Pyramid of Moore)"
  18. 18.0 18.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Pirates' Hideout (return)"
  19. 19.0 19.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Phoenix Tower"
  20. Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Catapult 2"
  21. 21.0 21.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Interdimensional Rift"
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Final scene"
  23. 23.0 23.1 Final Fantasy V Advance script § "Wind Shrine"
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