Doctor Cid

August 19, 2007, 10:26 PM

I've only just joined and I dunno what to post about, so I'll just post about Doctor Cid for the hell of it.

I think he is one of the best characters in the game, when Balthier was talking about him in the Phon Coast being a close friend, and the fact he used to be a judge, it just made me think that Doctor Cid was his father for some reason.. then when I finally see him in Draklor, they look sooo alike. And just now I've found out he is his father.

Did anyone else know that Cid was Balthier's father as soon as you saw him? They've even got the same haircut sort of.

Mod Edit - Please use spoiler tags like this in the future if you don't mention that the thread is a spoiler. thanks

Aerith.

August 19, 2007, 10:32 PM

I did notice that

hey, remember to put a spoiler warning in for these kinds of posts

August 19, 2007, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Getit

I did notice that

hey, remember to put a spoiler warning in for these kinds of posts

Ooops, I'll edit my post sorry.

August 19, 2007, 10:37 PM

Yeah i noticed that, i thought it was obvious right from the start, when Balthier mentioned him at the phon coast it was just crystal clear.

edit - don't worry i put spoiler tags in for you

August 19, 2007, 10:44 PM

Hmm, I thought I was like the only one who considered Balthier and Cid to be father and son. FF has some screwed up storylines though, Cid trying to kill his own son and vice versa.

August 19, 2007, 10:45 PM

Dr. Cid was an interesting character in this game. I liked the character for the most part but I hate his motivations. Unlike villains from other games, I didn't hate him for his motivations... I just hated his motivations. I thought they were lame, pointless, and impossible to relate with. As for the battles and way in which he held himself, they were always very interesting.

August 19, 2007, 10:49 PM

Ye same, the only reason he wants Ashe to use the nethicite is too 'see what happens when two great forces clash or something'. Pretty pointless. But I still think he's a great character, and that gattling gun attack he uses when you fight him in the Pharos is hilarious. Sadly I'm stuck on Famfrit so I dunno what happens next.

August 19, 2007, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aztec Triogal

Dr. Cid was an interesting character in this game. I liked the character for the most part but I hate his motivations. Unlike villains from other games, I didn't hate him for his motivations... I just hated his motivations. I thought they were lame, pointless, and impossible to relate with.

No more or less so than Sephiroth, Ultimecia or Kuja, I think. One wanted to become God. One wanted to compress past, present and future together to make a world where only she can exist. Another wanted to merge two worlds together. I don't think anyone can relate to any of these motivations xD

For XII, though, I do think it's at the other end of the extreme. It wasn't always clear, but every 'villain' in that game, right back to Venat, only wanted the best for the world. That's not to say their techniques and whatnot were totally unquestionable; quite the opposite. I'd say, though, that the motivations in XII were easier to relate to than the other games.

August 19, 2007, 10:55 PM

Well, I figured that they were somehow close, and I was edging toward a father/son possibility, but I didn't want to expect something that was totally wrong so I didn't dwell on it.

Actually, I thought this twist was one of the paradoxical downfalls of the plot - it could've been such an awesome backstory, but you don't hear anything about it. That pretty much sums up the one thing I really dislike about FFXII - it suggests something deep but never really pulls through with it to a deeper level.

For example, the scene at the Ridorana Cataract, at the top of the lighthouse, the interaction between Cid and his father seems to be two-dimensional - their feelings on what could have been vs. their feelings on what happened. There are hardly any layers hinted at and anything really deep seems to be based solely upon fanwank.

I would've liked to have heard some in-depth anecdotes or seen some snippets of the times that the two were on good terms, but we don't get any interesting or deep content - except that picture in the end credits. But that could have easily been missed.

August 19, 2007, 11:03 PM

I was expecting that too.. Balthier went on about them being close at the Phon Coast, I expected more of an interaction between the two at Draklor or at Pharos. But all that happens is a bit of chat and then a fight. They seem to have no feelings left for each other. I kept thinking they were father and son, but so far in the story I haven't had any proof, it was only when I wikipedia'd Doctor Cid that I found out. And Wikipedia knows all.