Although its story may be a little underdeveloped,Final Fantasy XVdoes a fantastic job of fleshing out its main protagonist. Few stones are left unturned when it comes to Noctis, with both his background andthe relationships with those around himexplored in great depth. Despite this thorough character development, however, there are still plenty of facts about the young Prince that many fans aren’t aware of.
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Having originally started life as the main protagonist ofFinal Fantasy Versus XIII, Noctis went through many changes before being finalized inFinal Fantasy XV. As well as the changes made in development, many things happened after the game’s release that added further detail to his character.
10A Japanese Fashion Brand Designed His Outfit
Having successfully collaborated with Louis Vuitton to promoteFinal Fantasy XIII, Square Enix once again opted to team-up with a fashion brand when it came to designingFinal Fantasy XV’s outfits. Hiromu Takahara, the creative director of Japanese fashion brand Roen, was brought in to design all of the party members' clothing, with Noctis' Prince’s Fatigues outfit going on sale shortly after release.
Picking up the complete outfit wasn’t cheap, with the whole thingcoming in at more than $2,250. Even the socks, the cheapest item in the set, cost around $25. For those really eager to play the part of Noctis though, there was even a Noctis-themed perfume available. It was sold only in Japan and had a citrusy fragrance.
9Fans Came Up With The Name For His Signature Weapon
Many of the names for theweapons found throughout the Final Fantasy serieswere inspired by real life. In a way, the same could be said for Noctis' Engine Blade. The weapon first appeared in a trailer forFinal Fantasy Versus XIII, although its name remained a mystery to fans.
As a result, they dubbed the weapon “The Engine Blade” due to the hilt’s resemblance to a car engine. The developers seemingly found the name to be quite fitting, as it ended up being the official name for the sword. This was just one of many examples of how fans influenced the game’s development.
8His English Voice Actor Was Almost Recast After The Game’s First Demo
It’s rare to see developers taking fan feedback into consideration, but it’s something that the team behindFinal Fantasy XVdid regularly. One such example came after the release of the game’s first demo. After playing it, many Western fans expressed their disappointment with the quality of Noctis' voice acting. As a result, the voice actor responsible had to completely change Noctis' voice.
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Ray Chase had originally been given Christian Bale’s Batman as a point of reference for the role, but due to a tight turnaround, very little direction was actually provided when the initial recording took place. Director Hajime Tabata later addressed players' concerns, agreeing that Noctis needed to sound much younger. After settling on a higher-pitched voice, Chase successfully re-auditioned for the role and went on to deliver a stellar performance.
7He Has A Latin Name
It’s not uncommon for Final Fantasy characters' names to be inspired by linguistics and this was once again the case when it came toFinal Fantasy XV. Many of its core cast have Latin names, with Noctis Lucis Caelum translating to “Light of the Night Sky.” This seems quite fitting given his engagement to Lunafreya, whose shortened name, Luna, translates to “moon.”
On the subject of Noctis' name, he is also at times referred to as the King of Kings, which is a title often given to Jesus Christ. Some of the religious iconography found in the Hall of History further solidifies this connection, as does the prophecy which suggests that Noctis will banish darkness from the world. There are also similarities between the final campsite that Noctis and his friends visit and the last supper, although these are a little less blatant.
6There Are Strong Connections Between Noctis & The Kingdom Hearts Series
One of the promotional images forFinal Fantasy Versus XIIIis incredibly similar to the cover ofKingdom Hearts HD 1.5. This imagery also features in a trailer found inKingdom Hearts 3for a fictional game known as Verum Rex. Also in the trailer is a young man namedYozora who looks incredibly similar to Noctis, both in terms of his outfit and his physical features.
Verum Rex is Latin for “The True King,” a title often given to Noctis. Furthermore, the Japanese word Yozora translates to “Night Sky,” which shares meaning with Noctis' Latin name. Yozora also has one blue eye and one red eye, which reflects Noctis' eye color changing from blue to red when he summons inFinal Fantasy XV.
5He Appears In Titles Outside Of The Series
Despite Noctis' connections withKingdom Hearts, he has never made an appearance in that franchise. However, that doesn’t mean Noctis hasn’t appeared in other none-Final Fantasytitles. He has featured in numerous other games, with the most notable probably beingTekken 7.
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Noctis was the third DLC character for the game and was released in March 2018. He maintains many of his original combat moves and his Rage Art is based on the Armiger limit break. It’s referred to as “The Royal Arms” and summons all of his weapons to damage foes. Compared to other fighters, Noctis is fairly defensive, but his warp-strike attack can be pretty deadly if used well.
4He’s One Of The Few Final Fantasy Protagonists To Grow Up With A Father
The vast majority ofFinal Fantasy’s protagonists grew up as orphans and those whose fathers were alive had little to no relationship with them. Terra didn’t know her father as she was unaware of her Esper heritage while Tidus' relationship with Jecht was often abusive and had a negative impact on his childhood.
The only otherFinal Fantasycharacter to have hada healthy relationship with their fatherwas Bartz fromFinal Fantasy V. Like Noctis, however, Bartz' father died as the protagonist entered early adulthood, forcing him to grow up quickly as the events of the game unfolded around him. Furthermore, a meteor plays a big part in both characters' story arcs, as do crystals.
3He Was Going To Have His Own DLC Episode
Although Square Enix had originally planned to include DLC inFinal Fantasy XIII, it failed to ever materialize. As a result,Final Fantasy XVwas the first main offlineFinal Fantasygame to include paid DLC. This came mainly in the form of episodic content packs which focused on the stories of some of the game’s key characters.
Episodes Gladiolus, Ignus, and Prompto released in 2017, but plans for future episodes were put on hold after director Hajime Tabata parted ways with Square Enix. Episode Ardyn did eventually release in 2019 but planned episodes forNoctis, Lunafreya, and Aranea were canceledfollowing what Square Enix described as a “directional change” within the company. This seems to have coincided with development beginning onFinal Fantasy XVI. The story from the unreleased DLC was later released as a novel titledFinal Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future.
2He Used To Be A Lot More Violent
TheFinal Fantasyseries has typically avoided showing blood and extreme violence. Well, unless it comes at the hands of Sephiroth, that is. AlthoughFinal Fantasy XVadheres to this tradition, the same cannot be said for some of the earlier trailers for the game. LikeFinal Fantasy XVI’s debut trailer, they weren’t as family-friendly as some might have expected.
There was plenty of blood on display and, to top it off, Noctis was shown snapping the neck of an imperial soldier with his legs. It’s likely that the violence was toned back a little to avoid stricter censorship, but no official comment on the changes has ever been made.Whether or not the same changes will be made toFinal Fantasy XVIbetween now and its release remains to be seen.
1The Leap In Detail
When the series made the leap from 2D to 3D, polygon counts became a key consideration for developers. As well as issues with disc capacity, using too many polygons in a character model could lead to a slow or even unplayable experience due to hardware limitations. As more powerful consoles have been developed, however, character models have become much more detailed.
Cloud’s overworld model in the original release ofFinal Fantasy VIIconsists of around 1,000 polygons. In comparison, the character model for Noctis uses more than 100,000. The difference in quality is easy to see, butthe level of detail displayed is really quite impressive. It’s a great indicator of just how far technology has progressed over the past two decades and begs the question as to where the industry might find itself in two decades' time.
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