The Girl
Overview
NAME - Rydia
AGE - Seven at the start, Seventeen (?) at the end
CLASS - Black mage, Summoner
WEAPONS Rods, bows and whips.
HOME - Myst, The Land of Summoned Monsters
HAIR - Green
EYES - Green
BRIEF - Rydia is a young, talented summoner, living peacfully in the village of Myst. Life is good for her until Cecil and Kain destroy her home and family. She joins with Cecil to prevent others from being hurt, and in the process ages quite rapidly, and becomes stronger.
Story
Rydia was a young girl living with her mother, in the small village of Myst. Myst was a town known for having powerful callers, people with the abilitie to summon beasts from another realm to fight for them. Though Myst was peaceful the outside world was changing and Rydias life was about to change with it. A young dark Knight named Cecil and his best friend Kain approached Myst with a package from the Kng of Baron. On their way to Myst they encountered a strange creature, the Myst Dragon a summon called by Rydias mother. As they defeated it Rydias mother died with her summoned dragon. After arriving in Myst the package Cecil was carrying exploded, destroying the rest of the villagers of Myst. Except for one small girl.
As Cecil and Kain approached the frightened child she fought against the people who destroyed her entire village. Summoning Titan, Rydias beast swallowed Kain to heaven knows where. When Cecil came to the child was unconscious next to him. Cecil took her to the nearby town of Kaipo, where she was able to rest. Rydia instead of harboring bitterness towards the man who destroyed her village, and killed her mother, joined with Cecil because he did protect her when she needed him. In the town of Kaipo Rosa, Cecils girlfriend was lying wounded. When Cecil found her he vowed to find the Sand Ruby to save Rosas life. Rydia accompanied him because it seemed the thing to do at the time. On their way to face the Antilion for the ruby, Rydia and Cecil encountered Tellah, a sage. A very forgetful sage --; Tellah also joins you on your quest, in order to track down his daughter who eloped with a young bard named Edward(US) / Gilbert (JP) During the night, before you go to fight the Octomamm, who is blocking the exit of the cave, Tellah discusses with Cecil how Rydia reminds him of his young daughter Anna.
After making your way through a cave the party arrives in Damcyan, just in time to see Damcyan destroyed by the Red Wings. Inside the castle, Tellahs daughter, Anna, is dying. Tellah blames Edwards, Annas husband for her death. The two fight, though Anna intervenes trying to make them stop. After she dies Tellah leaves to go fight Golbez, leaving Rydia and Cecil with Edward. Who is crying. Like always. Rydia gets really fed up with him, telling Edward she has lost people she's cared for too, and calling him a pathetic weakling. (*_* I love her) Edward then joins your party! He even gives you a hovercraft, almost making him cool. You take the hovercraft, and defeat the Antlion, getting the Sand Ruby for Rosa. Edward also comments on how the monsters in the world have changed, becoming more violent and aggressive.
Upon returning to Kaipo, Rose is healed with the Sand Ruby. She explains that she came to Kaipo looking for Cecil to warn him about the Red Wings attack on Damcyan. Well she was a bit to late for that, however the next target on the Red Wings rampage is the Kingdom of Fabul. So the party, being good heros, decides to go to Fabul to warn the people there of the Red Wings. However there is one problem. The path to Fabul is closed off by a lot of ice. Being the only person in the party who can use black magic, Rosa asks Rydia to melt the ice with a Fire magic spell. However Rydia is now deathly afraid of Fire, because of the way her village was destroyed. However with some encouragement from Rosa and Edward, Rydia is able to learn the black magic spell Fire.
Relationships
Cecil is the person who both destroyed Rydias village, and then saved her life after it's destruction. I think Rydia cares for Cecil a great deal, as someone who saved her life. It means a great deal to her that Cecil protected Rydia while the village of Myst was being destroyed.
I think that the white wizard Rosa became something like a mother to young Rydia. You can see her always encouraging Rydia, especially when Rydia seemed to be scared or frustrated with something. This is shown most when Rosa helps Rydia to overcome her fear of fire. When Rydia comes back from the land of summoned monsters, Rosa seems shocked at the change in her, however they do remain friends. I think Rydia looks up to Rosa and cares for her a great deal.
Edward / Gilbert was one of Rydias earlier travel companions. However I don't think Rydia had much respect at all for him. I think Rydia viewed him as being kind of immature, and over emotional.
I think Rydia respects and cares for Cid as a valued companion. It was his 'death' that caused her to have a small breakdown.
Tellah is reminded of his daughter Anna when he interacts with Rydia. Rydia's strong magic makes him think of Anna, when she was that age, and he treats Rydia almost like another daughter. On her part Rydia looks up to, and respects Tellah both as a friend and as another strong magic user.
Ending
The end of Final Fantasy 4 is an extremely happy one. After defeating Zeromus you see what happens to the party after the victory. Edge is King of Eblana, Yang is somehow King of Fabul (don't ask me how o_O;), the twins are studying to be mages, the dwarves are rebuilding there kingdom, and Cecil and Rosa are getting married. As for Rydia, she chooses to return to the land of summoned monsters to live with them, and probably become a vastly improved summoner as well. This descision makes sense for Rydia, it seems as though she was truely happy during her time in the land of summoned monsters. The dialogue from the American version of the game is as follows -
Asura:I had not expected her to come back here.
Leviathan: Amazing girl!
Monster: Why don't you have any fangs like us, Rydia? Are we different?
Rydia:Come on! There's nothing different between us!
Asura:It sure will be fun around here.
Leviathan: Yes, and she's beautiful.
Rydia: The heart's what is important. Right, Cecil?
Rydia's return to the land of summoned monsters means that by the time of the regular world that she left, she will grow old and die within a matter of months (which really makes one wonder how she looks so young at Cecil and Rosas wedding, unless it was held before she left for the land of summoned beasts) However there is the possibility that Rydia will not remain in the land of summoned monsters long, as Edge appears to be pining away for her return.
Personality
As a character Rydia, while being very sweet and somewhat innocent, is also blunt with her opinions and very open with her emotions. When Edward/Gilbert is waffling over the death of Anna, it is Rydia who manages to pull him out of his depression and make him see reason. She is often blunt with people, expressing how she feels in an extremely honest way. She doesn't sugercoat things, it's a trait I find admirable! Rydia is strong, and able to face her fears, even though she needs to help of those she cares about she is able to face what frightens her for the good of her friends.
Though Rydia attempts to be brave and strong most of the time, sometimes what has happened to her in the course of her adventures becomes to much for her. Sometimes it is hard for her to deal with all of the people she has loved and lost. The deaths or near deaths and disapearance of a lot of people she has cared for weighs her down. During the time after Cids apparant death Rydia has a small breakdown, unable to deal with the death of her friends. However, she is able to pull herself out of it because Rydia is nothing if not a very strong person.
Sidequests
Most of the sidequests that involve Rydia in some way involve her learning new summons to stregnthen her calling magic and your partys attacks.
The Cave of Summoned Monsters After completing this sidequest, you will have obtained the Leviatan and Asura summons for Rydia to call. When your in the underground world, there is a small cave on an island, in the western area of the world map. Land the airship, and go into the cave. Make sure to cast float on all your party members as walking on the cave floor will lower your HP a good deal. As you descend in the cave, you will come across a small town. This area is the land of the summoned monsters, where Rydia spent around ten years. (2 or 3 weeks to the outside world however). If you go into the library you will find a portal to where Asura and Leviatan are. You can challenge Asura and then Leviatan to become summoned monsters for you to use in battle.
Asura -
HP - 23000
Strategy - Make sure you've had Rosa learn the reflect spell (wall) and cast it upon Asura as soon as the battle starts. This way she will cure you instead of herself. Then hit her with your strongest physical attacks until she dies. It's not a very difficult battle.
Leviatan -
HP - 35000
Strategy - Leviatan will use Big Wave, his major attack, at the beginning of the battle, and will cast it at various points during the fight. He can be tough, so make sure your party is well leveled. Have Rosa heal your party, while Rydia uses her more powerful black magics. If you choose to fight Leviatan while you have Kain with you, make good use of his Jump command, while Cecil and Edge hit him. After you've defeated him the Leviatan summons will be yours!
The Sylph Cave
The Sylph Cave, much like the Cave of Summoned Monsters, is located in the underground area of the FF4 world map. Upon entering the cave, you should once again cast Float, because the floor on this cave will damage you, much like the in the cave of Summoned Monsters. Heading down into the middle of the cave you will see Yang, who is much alive, though there had been reports of him being very very dead. The Sylphs who live in the cave had been taking care of him. Yang will not say anything to you, so you have to go back above ground to his wife in Fabul. She will give you a frying pan, so you can whack Yang back into reality (pleasant :x) Returning to the cave, approach Yang and select the Frying Pan from your items. After hitting him with the pan he will wake up, Though Yang can no longer adventure with your party the Sylphs agree to be used as one of Rydias summons, coming to your aid whenever you need them.
Odin is the former King of Baron who was killed by Golbez. If you go into the basement of Baron castle he will be there offering his aid to you on your quest if you can defeat him.
Odin -
HP - 20500
Strategy - Since you have a limited number of turns until Odin uses an attack to wipe out your entire party, hit him with everything you've got. Instead of having Rose heal, have her use white if she knows it, reviving your party when neccesary. I'd suggest not going back to fight Odin until you have Kain in your party for the last time, because not only is Kain extremely powerful, but it will be near the end of the game and you'll (hopefully) have gained some levels.
Twin
I made this observation back in 2002/2003 and I think it actually still stands, Emeralda and Rydia do have a lot in common in terms of their arcs and backstories. And the superficial details also serve to tie them together. It's striking, and remains here.
Xenogears and Final Fantasy 4 are very different, FF4 being a true adventure in a medieval setting, and Xenogears is a complex religous headtrip. However, besides being two of the greatest RPGs around the games have something else in common in the form of one of the secondary females. While talking to friends one night I realised how much Emeralda Kasim and Rydia of Myst have in common.
APPEARANCE: Both Rydia and Emeralda have slightly long green hair. While a good deal of RPG females have green hair this is just the first of many similarities.
ABILITIES: Rydia is by far the best black magic user in your party. She is also the most consistent black mage. As opposed to Tellah she can have over 90 points of MP, and unlike Palom you can use her for a good chunk of the game. Emeralda is (imho) the best magic user in Xenogears, far outshining Elly in that respect. She has a good deal of strong elemental attacks.
STORY: In Final Fantasy Four when you first encounter Rydia she is a small child, around 7 years old. However she leaves you after Leviathan attacks your ship. When you see her next a few weeks later she has aged rapidly. When you first encounter Emeralda she looks like a small child. However if you take her to the lighthouse on the second disc, a good deal of her past is revealed and then she ages rapidly. Both characters still act slightly more childish then there adult counterparts.
PAST: Both are part of a dead civilization. The callers of Myst have been destroyed by the king of Baron, while Emeraldas civilization has been dead for 1000+ years. Also neither have actual parents, Rydias being killed, Emeralda being created in a lab. So both characters look up to the main hero of your party as a father type figure.
QUOTES
Here are some or Rydias more memorable quotes. Some are taken from the fan translated FF4j, and some from the FF2 SNES release. :D
Joining your party
Cecil - You've come to
Rydia - ...
Cecil...I can't ask you to forgive me for killing your mother. What I did should not be forgotten
Rydia - But... you protected me...
Summoner Rydia joins you!
In Damacyan to Gilbert/Edward -
You pathetic weakling! You're a man aren't you? An adult! But still you cry like that! I've lost people I care about too....
In Kaipo
Rosa - Rydia, can you cast Fire?
Rydia - ...hmm...no...I can't
Rosa - If you're a summoner you should be able to cast a black magic spell like Fire.
At Mt. Hobbs
Rosa - Rydia, try to cast fire
Rydia - ....
Gilber - Rydia?
Rosa - You CAN do this
Rydia - ....No.
Rosa - What?
Rydia - I hate fire!
Cecil - I see...Because of fire, Mist burned down...
Rosa - Listen Rydia, you're the only one here with the power to melt this ice.
Rosa - If we can't get past this ice to Fabul,many more people will be in danger! Please try to be brave.
Gilbert - Brave...
Rydia learns fire!
On returning from The Phantom World
Cecil -How...Why...When...You grew up?
Rydia - When I was swallowed by Leviathan he took me to the Phantom World.
Rydia - Oh I can remember how terrified I was. Their world is so different.
Rydia - The Phantom Beasts befriended me and trained me in black magic. I can't use white magic anymore but my summoning power increased quite a bit.
Rydia- The time flow is different in the Phantom World.
Rosa - And thats why you've grown up this fast?
Kain - Who is she?
Cecil - It's Rydia, from the village of Mist.
Kain - Amazing!
Yang - From a child into a beautiful woman.
Cecil - But why?
Rydia - Cecil, if you only knew what I have learned since then...
The After Years
Coming ...someday?