Noctis Lucis Caelum

Noctis Lucis Caelum (ノクティス・ルシス・チェラム, Nokutisu Rushisu Cheramu), "Noct" (ノクト, Nokuto) for short, is a fictional character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. He is the sole playable character and main protagonist of Final Fantasy XV, originally a spin-off titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The crown prince of Lucis and wielder of a magical power bestowed on him during a near-death incident in his youth, Noctis and his allies must defend their country when the empire of Niflheim attacks Lucis and the other countries of the world to take control of the world's surviving crystal.

Noctis was created and co-designed by Tetsuya Nomura, with later design revisions being handled by Yusuke Naora. Nomura created Noctis as a type of protagonist not featured in a leading role in the Final Fantasy series before. He also wanted his personality to be unique in the series, being unlike protagonists like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, instead focusing more on realism. Noctis' clothes were designed by Hiromu Takahara, lead designer for Japanese fashion house Roen. His clothing was created to be both asymmetric, mirroring the fashion house's trademark style, and indicative of the game's themes and atmosphere. Takahara also designed a temporary outfit used for Noctis in early trailers before his design was finalized.

Ever since his reveal, Noctis has been compared with other anti-social characters seen in other series based on his traits. However, the way he becomes friends with his companions in the anime series Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV has earned praise to the point it encouraged them to play the upcoming video game, Final Fantasy XV.

Appearances

Final Fantasy XV

Noctis Lucis Caelum is the only son and heir of King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII of Lucis, the last kingdom in the world to possess a crystal, as those belonging to other countries have been lost through a protracted cold war.^[2] A near-death incident in Noctis' youth gifted him with the power to foresee the deaths of others.

Related media

Noctis is one of the main characters in Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, an anime following his early journey and how his companions came to travel with him.^[3] The Square Enix staff said it was worth watching in order to see how Noctis became friends with his allies.^[4] A Play Arts Kai figurine of him has also been developed.^[5] Additionally, Koei Tecmo director Takeo Kujiraoka hinted at the possibility of adding Noctis to the crossover fighting game Dissdia: Final Fantasy once Final Fantasy XV is released.^[6] Noctis was featured in a collaboration with Puzzle & Dragons.^[7]

Character design

Noctis as he appears in the first trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, showing his placeholder design.

Noctis was created and designed by Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Final Fantasy XV (originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII). In creating the character, Nomura did not want him to be an overly strong-looking character, instead being used more to communicate the darkness in the story, which caused some difficulties for the team.^[8] His full name loosely translates from Latin into "Light of [the] Night Sky";^[9][10] his nickname, Noct, translates as "of the Night".^[11] Nomura originally wanted to have his name not based on the sky or weather, as with previous protagonists designed by him. After Lightning, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, was given a weather-based name, Nomura gave Noctis his current name.^[12] This name was also a reference to Sora, the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series: Sora and Caelum both stand for "sky" in their respective languages, and Nomura considered Noctis to be his latest "son".^[10] His hairstyle was meant to give two impressions to the player: from the front it was ordered, while from the rear it looked wild.^[12] Noctis' adult appearance was designed by art co-director Yusuke Naora.^[13][14]

While the game changed names, platforms and eventually directors, Nomura worked with new director Hajime Tabata to ensure that Noctis remained as unchanged as possible in the final product.^[15] Alterations and adjustments made to his character model were supervised by Naora. The main goal was to make Noctis appear more realistic: his skin texture was enhanced and subtleties added to its depiction and the effect of different lighting on it, in addition to adding elements such as subtle birthmarks and skin blotches. One of the major goals was keeping the same character impression while making adjustments and hancements, as series fans already had a concept of who the character was. His hair's shadow effects needed to be adjusted after the upgrade in technology so they did not cast too much shade on his face, but the hairstyle itself was kept consistent.^[14] In order to make his hair movements realistic, the team worked with a professional hairstylist to create the design using a mannequin's wig, then used the Luminous Studio engine to render it in real-time. The technique was originally used for the characters in the engine's 2012 tech demo Agni's Philosophy.^[16]

The character's clothing was created and designed by Hiromu Takahara, the main designer at Japanese fashion house Roen.^[17] Takahara's key inspiration for the style and coloring of the clothing was "jet black", which were meant to exemplify and be representative of the game's dark atmosphere. In addition, Takahara designed the outfit along the same lines as the asymmetric designs common to Roen's clothing lines.^[18] His outfit was designed to make Noctis look like someone who went to a high-class pub.^[19] Unlike previous protagonists, a real set of Noctis' clothes was created by Roen and kept in the office for reference by the development staff: this was due to previous experiences when Nomura had been constantly asked what materials his characters' outfits were made of by the graphics teams.^[10] An aspect of his design central to the story was a ring he wore on his right hand, while the gloves he wore were simply for "design purposes".^[18] Noctis' original design when the game was first revealed was a temporary one used while his final look was being created.^[12] It was based on the game's script to give a visual impression in trailers.^[19] Takahara also designed a formal suit worn by the character in the opening section of the game.^[20]

Attributes

While originally one of four controllable characters in Versus XIII, Noctis is the sole playable character in XV.^[21][22] He is also the only character who can use summoned monsters, recurring elements in the Final Fantasy series.^[23] As shown in the conceptual trailer from the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo and the final game, Noctis has the power to manipulate multiple weapons at once; his Limit Break "Armiger Arsenal" further enables him to summon crystalline melee weapons known as "Phantom Swords" into battle.^[22][24] In the story, these powers are passed down through the royal line of Lucis.^[18][25]

During an earlier stage of development, Noctis was to have been the only character in the world of XV that could use magic for story-related reasons. As this would not have worked from a gameplay standpoint, the team engineered it so Noctis' companions could share Noctis' magic abilities.^[26] During certain points during both story scenes and gameplay, Noctis' eyes turn from their natural blue color to red. This feature was present in both Versus XIII and XV.^[18][27]

Personality

Nomura did not want Noctis to have a personality like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, the respective protagonists of Final Fantasy VIII and VII, defining their personality type as that of "a silent, gloomy little boy". Instead, Nomura wanted to create a realistic character type not seen in the Final Fantasy series before. Because of this, he was wary about him as he was so new to the series that he might fall "out of bounds" of the series. Whereas previous protagonists did not have strong personalities to avoid interfering with player empathy, Nomura wanted Noctis to have "an overabundance of idiosyncrasy", which was one of the ways he would leave an impression on the player.^[12] Tabata described Noctis as a young person trying to look "cool", citing his drinking coffee despite disliking it.^[28] Nomura also wanted the character to have traits and perform actions that bore both heroic and villainous traits, creating someone akin to an anti-hero. He thought that these qualities would match the game's themes very well.^[29] While naturally shy, Noctis hides this under a cold exterior, though his close friends can see through this.^[9] A key scene that demonstrated his personality in Versus XIII was his first meeting with Stella Nox Fleuret, the original heroine of Final Fantasy Versus XIII.^[30] During an interview with Game Informer, comparing the personalities of Noctis and Lunafreya, Tabata referred to Noctis as the weaker of the two, remarking that he is the one who needs protection instead of her.^[31] A key part of his narrative is Noctis' transition from prince to king during his journey.^[32]

Noctis is voiced in Japanese by Tatsuhisa Suzuki as an adult, and by Miyuki Satō as a child; in English, he is voiced by Ray Chase as an adult, and by Hyrum Hansen as a child.^[1] English voice work was included for Episode Duscae, but it was cut close in terms of production scheduling. During the ROM checking stage, Tabata saw that the performance was wrong for the character, a feeling reflected in player feedback after the demo's release. As it was too late to re-record, the performance was carried into the demo. Tabata commented that the original performance made the character sound too old, comparing it to Batman. After release, the voice work was redone to show the character's youth and charm, along with his "sense of ennui".^[33]

Reception

Video games publications have commented on Noctis' character. Once Final Fantasy XV was revealed to the audience, Todd Ciolek from Anime News Network said that Noctis was "your standard-issue brash anime kid in demeanor."^[34] Daniella Lucas from GamesRadar compared him with Final Fantasy VIII's main character, Squall Leonhart, based on his rebellious attitude as he lives "by his own rules" in contrast to the strict code of conduct set by his royal overseers.^[35] Similarly, Michelle Nguyen from Geek initially noted physical and mental similarities between Noctis and Naruto's anti-hero and antisocial character, Sasuke Uchiha. However, she found Noctis was nicer but had a heavy burden that made him look cold. Nguyen praised the way Noctis became friends with the other characters.^[36] Like Nguyen, David Roberts from GamesRadar enojyed Noctis' role in Brotherhood due to the way he develops to his relationships with his friends.^[37] Andrew Webster from The Verse noted while the characters appear to be cliche, the way Noctis became friends with them gave him a wish to play Final Fantasy XV and see how more do they develop.^[38]

In an early preview of the game's demo Episode Duscae, GameSpot's Alexa Ray Corriae praised the interactions between Noctis and his companions, citing them as a good example of deep platonic love between men.^[39] In a review of Brotherhood's first episode, Meghan Sullivan from IGN also praised the interactions between the main characters, particularly finding comical how Noctis removed parts from his hamburger and this being discussed by his friends as whether or not they were spoiling him.^[40] Similarly, Destructoid became attached to Noctis and his friends ever since the Brotherhood series and expects more from the video game.^[41] A fragrance was created in the character's image.^[42] There has been an internet meme focused on Noctis and his friends in the Regalia looking at photoshopped images. Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto found it comical and motivated fans to produce more in order to increase people's interest in Final Fantasy XV.^[43]

References