Post by Cid Raines on Jul 1, 2012 7:03:44 GMT -5
Cid Raines
"With these hands, we shape the future."
Custom Title:
[size=4][font=westminster][color=9966FF]Fallen Seraph[/color][/font][/size]
Age: 29 (as of FFXIII)
Gender: Male
Family: Unknown; likely estranged or deceased
Race: Hume
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Home World: Cocoon
Alignment: Good/the Academy government
Job: Recently unemployed
Items: None of note.
Accessories: None of note.
Appearance Cid stands a towering six feet six inches tall, which is not completely abnormal for Cocoon citizens but still fairly rare. He's well-built, as well. He possesses nearly jet-black hair with several strands kept longer than his ears and than his eyebrows, giving it a somewhat spiky, descending look. Additionally, he has pale, green eyes (best I can tell, anyway) that go along with rather sharp, professional features, not the least of which are some rather determined looking eyebrows and a strong jaw. He's not the kind of guy to enter an angry staring contest with, as it were.
Cid's former military uniform as a Brigadier General of the Cavalry consisted of a robe or coat-like base uniform with a very ornate cape (complete with his officer's shoulder pads), plus his white gloves and boots. But considering there is no Cavalry anymore...Cid would likely choose a similar, if less noticeable outfit in Academy colors.
Personality: There would be no doubt in anyone's mind even to this day that Cid Raines was once a highly responsible officer of the military. He's still a straight-edge kind of person who has a mannered and disciplined way about him. He tends to speak in a rather practiced, methodical manner, making one wonder if he wasn't already from quite an influential family even before he became the commander of an entire wing of the military. Even in the midst of a battle, he has a calm way about him even when issuing orders briskly or trying to control a problematic situation. In the scheme of things, though, this may just be a facade that Cid has taken on as a key part of his job...former job, as it were.
Underneath the surface, Cid seems to possess much more passion than he lets on. He certainly doesn't slouch on long-winded rants when he needs to make a point, though he delivers them in his paced and consistent way. He also has a side that could label him as a "Determinator" rather like Lightning or Snow (since determinator is a nicer term than stubborn stick-in-the-mud), as shown when he was willing to kill a group of people he considered friends in order to free them all from their fates and save the people of Cocoon. Cid might not reveal it, but there's a burning idealist under the surface. He simply manages to primarily keep that side of him concealed underneath the professional Cid, along with the more personal Cid who likely cared quite a bit for the other l'Cie as well as his troops, but could not let onto that fact either.
History: [FF wiki]
After Snow is captured in Lake Bresha by Oerba Yun Fang and members of the Wide-area Response Brigade, he is taken aboard the Lindblum where he is introduced to Cid, who unlike most Sanctum officers up until that point, greets Snow with a friendly handshake. Cid explains to Snow that the Sanctum intends to hold a public execution of the l'Cie in order to suppress the public's fear. He then reveals he plans to overthrow the Sanctum's rule so he can hand control of Cocoon over to the people.
Snow, believing that his Focus is to save Cocoon as Serah asked, agrees to help him track down the rest of the party. Cid drops Snow and Fang off in Palumpolum, where they manage to rescue Lightning and Hope from a PSICOM assault. He then helps the party infiltrate the Sanctum Skyfleet's airship base, the Palamecia, after learning that Vanille and Sazh are being held captive on board.
Later on in the Fifth Ark, the party finds Cid waiting for them, who reveals the horrible truth - the fal'Cie wish to use them to destroy Cocoon and kill millions of innocent people. By doing so the Maker will be called back and the world will be reconstructed. He explains that the fal'Cie have been watching over the party the whole time, guiding their every step and slowly turning them into the instruments of Cocoon's demise.
Cid reveals that he had been planning to overthrow the fal'Cie, but he was transformed into a l'Cie by Barthandelus before his plans could be put into action. His Focus was to guide the party along the path to Cocoon's destruction as part of the fal'Cie's grand scheme. However, in an attempt to challenge his fate as a l'Cie, Cid regains the will he once had to free Cocoon and uses all of his remaining power to transform into a Cie'th hybrid. He then attempts to kill Lightning and her companions, so that he can "set them free" of their Focus and save Cocoon from destruction.
After the party eventually defeats him, Cid offers words of encouragement and advises them to choose their own fate as he did before turning into a crystal and disappearing. Later on, it is revealed that he was teleported back to Galenth Dysley to be revived in order to become the new Primarch. As Eden is overrun with Pulsian creatures, Rygdea and the Cavalry capture their former leader, who requests death as Rygdea reluctantly shoots his former superior to free him of the fal'Cie.
[End FF wiki]
Cid Raines would not remain dead, however. Sometime after the fall of Cocoon, likely a few years after Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille were freed from their crystalstasis, Cid was brought back into existence by some unknown power. Seeing a new world being built around him, Cid initially sought out his answers from the former l'Cie, but eventually settled on a quiet life that would not involve him in the games government and fal'Cie played with human lives. He settled in Oerba for some time to this end, his newly granted vitality unrevealed to most.
The plight of the former l'Cie, though, would come to Cid's doorstep in the form of Hope Estheim, now head of the Academy. Hearing of issues with the timeline and the situations of other l'Cie such as Lightning, trapped in Valhalla, and Snow, caught in time in search of her, Cid would agree to assist Hope in his endeavor to recover his friends, and has thus begun work with the Academy.
Abilities:
- Command and Tactics: Cid Raines, in another life (rather literally), was considered a top-tier military officer and tactician, especially in the realm of the Sanctum's air fleet. He also possessed a charismatic nature and the ability to gather men and women of talent within his ranks. Cid is much the same man he was then, if out of practice, and has continued his fond reading of books of military strategy and similar subjects. His sharp military mind and ability to lead have not been lost with the passage of time, nor after his death and resurrection.
- Martial Prowess: Cid clearly has quite extensive martial training, as he is one of the few people who is shown during the course of Final Fantasy XIII as being at least an even match with Lightning in a fight, capably disabling her even without wielding a blade of his own. He seems to prefer defending himself primarily with his hands if it can be helped, being seemingly versed in some advanced form of self-defense, but surely military training brought Cid in contact with blades, as well, making him a highly dangerous individual. He is likely out of practice in this manner, though. It should be mentioned that, though he is no longer a l'Cie, Cid still likely makes quite a strong sentinel, allowing him to fight with his hands and little else.
- Magic Casting: As a l'Cie, Cid proved to be extremely adept with magic, especially in the realm of boosting and healing magic. Though he is no longer a l'Cie by any means, he has retained quite a large portion of his magical powers and likely has not forgotten how to cast the spells he once used.
Summons: None.
Magic:
- Ruin
- Esuna
- Cure
- Protect
- Shell
- Vigilance
- Haste
- Poisonga
- Deprotectga
- Deshellga
- Dazega
- Guard
Strengths:
- Mature and calm
- Persistent
- Honest-seeming
Weaknesses:
- Discourageable (I made up a word, yay me!)
- Seems unfeeling to most
- Self-depreciating
Weapon Gloves: Though not really able to be called a weapon, per se, Raines' gloves are clearly his first choice in a scenario in which he's forced to defend himself. They appear to be reinforced in some way, allowing him to block blows from a blade or even grip an opponents blade without having to wield one of his own.
Crushes: I quote - "..."
How did you find us? All I want to do is eat your brains.
Role Play Sample: See audition!
Password: LOOK AT MY WALRUS, MY WALRUS AMAZIN'