Cyan Garamonde

Cyan Garamonde /keɪˈɛn/, known in Japan as Cayenne Garamonde (カイエン・ガラモンド, Kaien Garamondo), is a fictional character introduced in the 1994 role-playing game Final Fantasy VI.

Appearances

Cyan Garamonde is a samurai in the 1994 Square Enix video game Final Fantasy VI. An old-fashioned and honorable man, he serves the king of the game's Doma region. During a conflict with a rival Empire, the game's antagonist Kefka poisons the water supply, killing not only most inside by Cyan's wife and child. Driven into rage he attacks the Empire on his own, later teaming up with the character Sabin.^[6] As they proceed, they accidentally board the Phantom Train, a spectral vehicle meant to transport dead spirits to the afterlife. Though they escape, Cyan is horrified to see the spirits of his loved ones board it. Despite his protests the train proceeds forward, and his wife and child bit him farewell.^[7][8]

Conception and design

Final Fantasy VI was developed with the mindset that none of the playable cast was the protagonist, and that each of them were equally the "main character". The cast of characters were selected from submissions from across the development team, with programmer Hiroyuki Ito contributing Cyan. Once the characters were selected, each individual would write their character's story, with Yoshinori Kitase balancing the plot as things developed.^[9][1] Cyan was series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's favorite character when developing the game, because he enjoyed the contrast between the masculinity of a samurai and the character's slender feel.^[10]

Cyan was meant to serve as a surrogate father to Gau and Sabin, each of them having lost their parents while Cyan had lost his family.^[11] His relationship with Gau was intended to be the closest, with the development team joking Cyan would routinely impart knowledge of the world upon Gau he learned only moments prior and he himself didn't fully understand.^[12] Originally in development a character named Angela would have acted as a stereotypical "big sister" to him and jokingly flirt with Cyan. He would have brushed off these affections, but when alone would pause and "flatter himself if it was all true". These moments were intended to show a private side to his character, though were never meant to lead to romantic feelings as Cyan was devoted to his deceased wife.^[11]

Standing 178 cm (5' 10") tall,^[6] an early draft of the character's appearance was designed by artist Tetsuya Nomura,^[2][13] while Yoshitaka Amano was commissioned to design the characters from the brief outlines provided. Given full creative freedom, Amano wanted to make "real" and "alive" characters, though with consideration for their representation in-game as small computer sprites.^[3] Said graphics were designed by Nomura, who drew the chibi artwork of the characters, and Kazuko Shibuya, who designed the in-game sprites.^[14][4] In his finalized design, Cyan appears as a tall older man with long balding hair pulled back into a ponytail, a thick mustache, and wearing black and brown armor.^[6]

Cyan's personality was meant to feel "serious and inflexible", though early in development he was to have a "strange" personality and give his sword attacks flashy names such as "Super Explosive Shouryuu Zan!"^[12] In the final he's stated to have an "old fashioned personality", with traits such as expecting modesty from women,^[6] though at the same time said personality was also intentionally vague to represent the cultural gap between him and the other characters.^[12] In the Japanese version this is further represented by his manner of speaking, with him ending sentences with "gozaru",^[15] an archaic manner of saying "to be". In English localizations, this was changed to him speaking in Early Modern English, with him frequently saying "thou".^[7][16]

Critical reception

Cyan was mostly well received upon debut, particularly for his character's journey. Michael Sollosi of RPGFan described it as "tragic, adorable, and dramatic at various points in Final Fantasy VI", and felt that the culmination in the battle with Wrexsoul was a particular high point of the game overall. He noted that while the conclusion of the fight offered its own rewards, he felt that witnessing "Cyan’s self-actualization after all of his suffering" was the true reward, and provided a memory of the game he'd never forget.^[17] While journalist Jason Schreier in an article for Kotaku praised all the characters in Final Fantasy VI, he particularly noted the impact of Cyan's story, and felt his journey with Sabin "could be spun out into a buddy comedy film" of its own, drawing comparison to the Rush Hour films.^[18] Comic Book Resources' Vladimir Olivares meanwhile felt the character's growth from one motivated by revenge to finding some peace in helping others made him one of the best characters in the title, and saw his series of letters to the Imperial soldier's widow as bringing some closure to his own grudge with the Empire.^[19]

The Phantom Train scene in particular drew response. Destructoid writer Chad Concelmo praised how Cyan's grief was portrayed, and stated that the act of seeing his dead wife and child allowed the player to better relate to him as a character than if told through exposition alone. As a result, the player's emotions are tied to the character, and the appearance of his wife and child boarding the Phantom Train triggers the same response it does in them as it does for Cyan, adding "to the drama exponentially". This coupled with the minimalist sound design of the scene to add to the somber atmosphere led it to be one of Concelmo's favorite moments in gaming.^[8] Aoife Wilson of Vice on the other hand stated that while she felt the character "a bit of an idiot" and "one of those party members people tend to gloss over" in favor of others in part due to his manner of speech, she shared similar sentiments to concelmo regarding the Phantom Train conclusion. Describing it as a "sobering, heart-wrenching moment", she added that it instilled a sense of empathy and respect in the player for a character they may have previously seen as "kind of a loser".^[7]

References