Edgar Roni Figaro

The young king of Figaro Castle, Imperial ally, and champion of the technological revolution...

Description

Edgar Roni Figaro is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. He is a master engineer, the king of Figaro Castle, and the elder^{[note 1]} twin brother of Sabin Rene Figaro.

As the ruler of Figaro, Edgar leads the most technologically advanced civilization in the world outside of the Gestahlian Empire. He is a master engineer, who creates odd and unusual weapons as a hobby.^[2] While Edgar feigns loyalty to the Empire, he is secretly backing the Returners, a resistance group. With the war between the Empire and the Returners intensifying with the discovery of a frozen esper in Narshe, Edgar turns on the Empire and openly works with the Returners to free the world from their control.

History[]

Ten years before the start of Final Fantasy VI, when Edgar was seventeen, the current king of Figaro took ill and passed away. His dying wish was that his two sons rule the kingdom together, but Sabin had a distaste for the politics of the kingdom and was furious over rumors that the Gestahlian Empire had poisoned their father and no one seemed to care. Sabin told Edgar he wanted to run away and live his own life, and invited Edgar to come with him, as Edgar had previously claimed he didn't want to be king. Edgar held up a coin their father had given him and offered to let a coin toss decide - heads, Sabin wins, tails, Edgar wins. The winner would be free to choose whichever path they wanted. Sabin agreed to the deal and Edgar tossed the coin. What Sabin didn't know was that Edgar flipped a two-headed coin, guaranteeing Sabin would be free to leave and Edgar would be obligated to remain and ascend the throne.

As king of Figaro, Edgar established an official alliance with the Empire, but secretly became a backer of the Returners, a resistance group. Locke became his primary contact with them.

One day Locke brought a girl named Terra to Figaro, apparently a former Imperial soldier that he had rescued from Narshe. The Returners believed Terra had been mind controlled by the Empire using a Slave Crown, and were interested in convincing her to join them because of her purported magical abilities. The Imperial court mage Kefka came to Figaro Castle looking for Terra, but Edgar feigned ignorance of her. Kefka saw through Edgar's lie and attacked the castle that night, setting it on fire. Edgar was prepared with an escape plan, and he, Locke, and Terra leapt off the castle onto chocobos and rode off as Figaro Castle submerged under the desert. Edgar came clean to Terra about his involvement with the Returners and desire to have her join them, and asked her to come with them to meet their leader, Banon.

On Mt. Kolts, the group ran about of Vargas, a student of the great martial arts master Duncan that had also trained Sabin. Sabin arrived and defeated Vargas, and the two brothers were reunited. Wanting to honor his master by helping save the world, Sabin joined Edgar and the Returners and accompanied them beyond Mt. Kolts to the Returner Hideout. The four met Banon and gave Terra the room to choose if she wanted to join them or not, Edgar feeling that they could not force her to help them or they would be no different from the Empire.

Meanwhile, the Empire conquered South Figaro and began making plans for further invasions in the north, including the Returner base. Locke went to South Figaro to sabotage their advance while Edgar, Sabin, Terra, and Banon, evacuated down the Lethe River to Narshe. On the river the group encountered Ultros, and Sabin leapt in the water to chase him off but was knocked back and washed down a separate branch of the river.

At Narshe the city guard recognized Terra as part of the Imperial force that raided the town and refused her entry, and didn't believe Edgar when he claims he's the king of Figaro. Using a secret passage into the mine Locke and Terra used when escaping the town, the three snuck into Narshe and met with Arvis, a member of the Returners. Together they tried to convince the Elder of Narshe to join the Returners, but the city is neutral and the Elder is unconvinced. Locke and Sabin arrived at Narshe with new allies - Cyan, Gau, and Celes - as Kefka prepared to attack the town with a larger Imperial force. The Returners defended Narshe in the Battle for the Frozen Esper, and after the battle Terra reacted with the frozen esper and turned into an esper herself, flying away. The Returners set out to find her.

At Figaro Castle, Sabin went off on his own to explore the castle as it was the first time being there in ten years. In the night as he reminisced in the throne room about the events that caused him to leave the castle. Edgar eavesdropped from behing a curtain and revealed himself, and the two brothers praised how the other had grown and reaffirmed their commitment to their family and kingdom.

The Returners found Terra in Zozo being cared for by the esper Ramuh. Because Terra could not control her powers due in part to her uncertainty over her identity, Ramuh asked them to infiltrate the Imperial capital Vector and free the espers being held in the Magitek Research Facility, and perhaps one of them could give her answers. The group made contact with Setzer, owner of the world's only airship, the Blackjack. Setzer was attracted to Celes and wanted her hand in marriage in exchange for allowing usage of his airship, and Celes proposed leaving it up to a coin toss - heads, he would help no string attached, tails, she would wed him. Celes used Edgar's two-headed coin for the decision, a trick that delighted Setzer and stunned Sabin as he realized his brother's deception ten years ago with the same coin.

The party recovered the magicite remains of the espers from the facility and brought them to Terra, where the magicite of her father Maduin revealed her past to her. Back at Narshe, Banon and Arvis had succeeded in convincing the town to join the Returners, and they had come up with a plan for an attack on the Empire that combined Narshe's resources and Figaro's weaponry, but they lacked the manpower. Terra and the Returners went to the Cave to the Sealed Gate to ask the espers for aid, and the espers broke free and attacked Vector, devastating the city. Edgar piloted the Falcon during the battle and lost control of the ship when the attacks of the espers damaged it, and they crash landed near Maranda.

Emperor Gestahl claimed he had seen the error of his ways and called a truce, and asked the Returners to allow Terra to aid the Empire in finding the espers and convincing them to come to peace negotiations. Locke volunteered to go with Terra but asked the others to stay at the Imperial Palace and investigate Gestahl's motives, a suspicion Edgar also held. While staying at Vector, Edgar "exchanged pleasantries" with the serving girl who brought them tea, and she admitted that Gestahl's true intent was to use Terra to find the espers and send Kefka to kill them and seize their magicite. So informed, the group was able to flee Vector on a repaired Blackjack before Gestahl could move against them.

Edgar and the others reconvened with Locke's party in Thamasa after their escape from Vector, informing them of the situation. As Edgar and the others departed the village on the airship, Kefka and Gestahl were able to find the Warring Triad, the remains of the gods of magic, and used their power to raise the Floating Continent. On the continent Kefka subsequently killed Gestahl, seized the power of the gods, and used their power to destroy the known world. As world deformed from the outpouring of magic, the Blackjack was torn apart, causing Edgar to be separated from the party.

On the day the world ended, Figaro Castle's burrowing was disrupted and the castle was lost beneath the desert. Edgar wanted to find the castle and save it and its people, but had no idea where it was located. He heard of a gang of thieves known as the Crimson Robbers that claimed to have escaped from the underground castle, and concocted a plan to use them to lead him to it. Edgar disguised himself as a thief named "Gerad" and became the boss of the robbers, and convinced them to sneak back into Figaro Castle to raid its treasure rooms. As the group prepared for the expedition in Nikeah, Edgar was intercepted in the market by Celes, who recognized him. Unwilling and unable to give up his ruse, Edgar maintained he was Gerad and left port with his men, unaware Celes had snuck aboard as well.

Edgar and the robbers stayed in South Figaro for a short time before continuing into the South Figaro Cave. It was here the robbers had escaped from Figaro Castle, using tunnels dug by sandworms that connected the castle's prison to the cave. Edgar and the robbers travelled through the cave into the submerged castle, still pursued by Celes. In the engine room, Edgar found the cause of the castle's inability to surface: tentacles had gotten entangled in the engines. Edgar sent the robbers ahead into the treasure room while he dealt with the tentacles, and Celes called out to him. Edgar revealed himself to her, helped her destroy the tentacles, and explained his plan to her. When they hid as the robbers returned, and with no sign of "Gerad", they assumed he had been eaten by the monster and left. With the tentacles gone Figaro Castle was able to surface.

The group used Figaro Castle's submersion to travel to Kohlingen and found Setzer in the pub there, despondent over the destruction of the Blackjack in the cataclysm. Celes motivated him to help again and the group traveled to Darill's Tomb where they acquired a new airship, the Falcon. The victory invigorated Edgar's hopes to defeat Kefka and restore the world, as the airship would let them enter Kefka's Tower from the air.

After Kefka was destroyed, his tower began to collapse and the party fled back to the Falcon to escape. Edgar nearly fell down a pit when a staircase collapsed under him and he had to convince Cyan to step on a switch and extend the staircase again, and later he used a crane arm to save Mog when the floor collapsed under them. When a locked door barred their way, Edgar began to work on getting it open, but a steel girder came down from the collapsing ceiling. Sabin caught the beam and held it from crushing the group as Edgar worked, and he got the door open before Sabin hurled the beam away and the party continued on.

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Edgar wears a light blue armored chestplate with gold detailing, matching shoulderpads and bracers, an attached collar and cape, and black sleeves. He has a white sash around his waist with a lavender belt, dark blue pants and white boots. In Edgar's in-game sprite in the SNES and GBA versions of Final Fantasy VI, he keeps this same basic design but with green accents on his chestplate and green boots. His iOS and Steam sprites retain a primarily blue with gold color scheme, but his boots are black and his cape is purple. In all versions and in concept art, Edgar has blond hair tied into a ponytail with two blue ribbons, and he has blue eyes.

Some of Edgar's concept art depict him with a dark brown chestpece and cape, a design feature retained in the Anthology release's FMV sequences. This may have been an influence on his disguise while operating under the alias "Gerad"; Edgar dons a palette swap of his usual clothes that turn his outfit dark blue, brown, and black.

Personality[]

Edgar:

I'll give you three reasons. First of all, your beauty has captivated me!
Second...I'm dying to know if I'm your type!
I guess your...abilities...would rank a distant third

Edgar attempting to flirt with Terra

Edgar's defining trait is that he fancies himself a ladies man. According to an attendant in Figaro Castle, he has even made passes at the castle's high priestess, and when first introduced to Terra and Celes, he flirts with them shortly after. He even promised a young girl in Figaro he'll marry her when she's older, and in some localizations of Final Fantasy VI he is implied to take an interest in Relm before learning her age. Edgar's flirtation rarely persists after initial meetings and he is otherwise chivalrous, lecturing other party members of acting "properly" around women. Locke and Sabin regularly mock Edgar for his antics or show exasperation over them.

Edgar is a courageous and patriotic man, devoutly loyal to Figaro and acting in its best interests. He can be manipulative and daring when required, most famously when he used a two-headed coin to rig a life-changing coin toss to result in Sabin's favor. After meeting with Kefka, Edgar had an escape plan ready should he attack Figaro, and he assumed the disguise "Gerad" to take command of a band of thieves that had escaped the buried Figaro Castle and convinced them to lead him back inside, a plot so he could repair the castle's engines and raise it to the surface again. In both instances, he shows no hesitation putting himself front and center of his plans.

While they have been estranged ten years, Edgar is still close to his brother Sabin, and is concerned for his safety. When the two take a moment to reflect on the time lost together since Sabin left Figaro, Edgar admires how strong Sabin has grown, and wonders if their late father would be proud of him.

Abilities[]

Through his usage of his special Tools, Edgar is able to wield a variety of high-tech weaponry; his arsenal encompasses an automatic-firing crossbow, a poison cloud emitter, a sonic weapon, a blinding flash, a drill, a chainsaw, a scanner that augments an enemy's elemental weaknesses, and a weapon that fires projectiles that cause enemies to self-destruct.

Edgar being a Machinist allows him to aid the party with his technical knowhow, which can be seen several times during the game's finale, having him operating and repairing the machinery within Kefka's Tower to help in the party's escape.

Gameplay[]

Edgar is a Machinist whose special ability is Tools, which allows him to wield one of many owned tools to various effects. He is focused on dealing heavy damage to enemies and inflicting status ailments on them, with most of his Tools doing either of these things save for the Debilitator, which inflicts an enemy with an elemental weakness.

Edgar can equip all swords, spears, shields, a few daggers and most heavy armor. He has high physical stats, in particular high Defense, but his evasion, magical and speed stats are low.

His Desperation Attack Royal Shock deals magical damage to one enemy.

Musical themes[]

Edgar shares his theme with Sabin, which is the background music for Figaro Castle. This leitmotif has a more sentimental reprise in "Coin Song", played during flashbacks of the two, and is reprised again in the "Ending Theme".

The original version of "Edgar & Sabin's Theme" is included on the music player in Final Fantasy XV. The Memories of FFVI album it is the ninth track of is bought for 100 gil from JM Market in Taelpar Rest Area.

Other appearances[]

Guest appearances[]

Edgar has appeared as a guest character or cameo in numerous titles throughout the Final Fantasy series.

He is often a physical unit who specializes in both debuffing and machinist oriented attacks. In most appearances, Edgar is most closely associated with his Tools, which simultaneously appear as both equipment and abilities for him in different titles.

Edgar has made appearances in the following games:

• Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival as a playable character.
• Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
• Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
• Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
• World of Final Fantasy as a non-player character.
• Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
• Triple Triad as a card.

Mentions and cameos[]

Edgar has been mentioned or has made cameo appearances in some form in several entries in the series. In the Dawn of Souls and subsequent remakes of the original Final Fantasy, Gerad is one of the automatic names for the Thief job. In the Confounding Quiz in Final Fantasy XIII-2, an actress named Terra Branford is mentioned as dating Jeff Roni, referring to Edgar's Japanese alias and middle name.

In the PSP entries of the Dissidia Final Fantasy sub-series, Edgar appears as a cameo.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]

In Xenogears, two royal siblings named Rene and Roni appear who closely resemble Sabin and Edgar (Rene being large and muscular, Roni being a handsome man with long hair who is talented with machines, and both having blue eyes and blond hair). Kaori Tanaka, the character designer who wrote much of Edgar and Sabin's backstories, was a writer on Xenogears.

Behind the scenes[]

Concept and design[]

Before Yoshitaka Amano drew the final artwork, Edgar, Sabin, and their backstory, were designed by Kaori Tanaka. In the beginning stages Edgar was planned as a stereotypical "sleazeball", but Tanaka thought this cliched and removed that aspect of his personality. In developer interviews Tanaka has gone into details of Edgar and Sabin's backstories that did not make it into Final Fantasy VI. Many of these ideas were adapted into the doujinshi Figaro no Kekkon: Tales from Desert, which explores the history and culture of Figaro and Edgar and Sabin. However, while she was their original designer, Tanaka included a disclaimer in the doujinshi that readers should not consider it canonical.

Tanaka has described Edgar's love for women stemming from having lost his mother as an infant and for his first love being an older woman—one of his father's cousins who had told Edgar to grow up to be a good man, and thus Edgar studied the art of chivalry. Ultimately, the older woman was killed in a political rivalry, and Edgar's feelings remained forever unrequited. Her spiritedness left a mark on Edgar that still influences his vision of the "ideal woman." Tanaka has described Edgar to be a little bit different from the typical "ladykiller" character because he was written by a woman.^[3]

According to Tanaka, Edgar wears blue ribbons in his hair because blue and yellow are sacred colors in Figaro as the colors of water and the sun, and his hobby is rearranging the furniture in his room as a way to de-stress and clear his mind; his current decor is safari-themed, including lion paw slippers. If he had not stayed in Figaro and ascended the throne, she thinks he would have ended up an airship mechanic due to his love for machines. In Figaro, only close friends and family are to know your middle name. The only person Edgar has told his middle name to is Relm: Relm explained to her companions that her ability to control monsters is based in her knowing their "secret name", and Edgar confided in her that he also has a secret name, and told her his middle name. She also thinks Edgar began to work out and become physically fit in response to Sabin, who was younger and more sickly than him, beginning his training with Duncan and growing stronger.^[3]

The original idea for the Tzen event in the World of Ruin was to have Sabin die if the player ran out of time while in the crumbling house. Were the player to return to Tzen with Edgar he would wander forlornly in the middle of the night, searching through the rubble in vain. However, the World of Ruin was seen as dark enough and the event was changed.^[3]

Edgar's alias "Gerad" is an anagram of Edgar. His alias in the Japanese version of the game is (ジェフ, Jefu?, lit. Jeff).

In the Japanese version, Edgar is established as the older twin and Sabin the younger, and the English Super NES script has Sabin refer to Edgar as "big brother" on several occasions. References to their respective ages are removed from the retranslation Gameboy Advance script; the reason is unclear.

Localization changes[]

In the Japanese version, Edgar's reaction to learning Relm is ten years old was a bit more explicit, with him saying to himself "don't even think about it, it would be criminal". In the original Super NES version of this line was changed to a remark that she's grown up too fast and should lighten up. The conversation would be altered in the GBA and the 2014 mobile/Steam localization to retain the original flirtatious intention of the scene from the Japanese release in some fashion, with Edgar remarking he hopes Relm is still around in eight years. While the localization of the Pixel Remaster retains a majority of the dialogue from the GBA localization, the final line of the conversation is altered once again to tone down the flirtatious intents towards Relm.

Voice[]

Edgar has been voiced by Shin-Ichiro Miki in Japanese since World of Final Fantasy, who reprises his role in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia. Shin-Ichiro Miki previously voiced Sephiroth in Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring, as well as also voiced Cid in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Edgar's English voice in World of Final Fantasy was provided by Ray Chase, sharing the same voice actor as Noctis Lucis Caelum from Final Fantasy XV. Edgar speaks in a royal British accent with a deeper pitch.

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]Edgar is an English name that means "great spearman". Edgar may also come from the Anglo-Saxon words ead gar, meaning "rich spear".

[view · edit · purge]Roni is the Finnish shortened form of the English name Ronnie, which may come from the Latin Hieronymus or "holy name".

[view · edit · purge]Figaro is a French and Italian word for "barber", as well as the name of the central character from Pierre Beaumarchais's 1775 play The Barber of Seville.

Gerad is a pseudonym used by Edgar, it is a Somali court title for a king or sultan. It etymologically signifies "wisdom", "mind" or "understanding". Gerad is also an anagram for Edgar. As it is hard-coded, even if the player renames Edgar, he will still use Gerad as his alias.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

Citations[]