Noctis Lucis Caelum

Noctis Lucis Caelum
Final Fantasy character
First appearance	Final Fantasy Versus XIII (Cancelled)
First game	Final Fantasy XV (2016)
Created by	Tetsuya Nomura
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura Hiromu Takahara
Voiced by	Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Noctis Lucis Caelum (ノクティス・ルシス・チェラム, Nokutisu Rushisu Cheramu), "Noct" (ノクト, Nokuto) for short, is a fictional character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. He is the sole playable character and main protagonist of Final Fantasy XV, originally a spin-off titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The crown prince of Lucis and wielder of a magical power bestowed on him during a near-death incident in his youth, Noctis and his allies must defend their country when the empire of Niflheim attacks Lucis and the other countries of the world to take control of the world's surviving crystal.

Nomura created Noctis as a type of protagonist not featured in a leading role in the Final Fantasy series before. He also wanted his personality to be unique in the series, being unlike protagonists like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, instead focusing more on realism. Noctis' clothes were designed by Hiromu Takahara, lead designer for Japanese fashion house Roen. His clothing was created to be both asymmetric, mirroring the fashion house's trademark style, and indicative of the game's themes and atmosphere. Takahara also designed a temporary outfit used for Noctis in early trailers before his design was finalized.

Appearances

Final Fantasy XV

Noctis Lucis Caelum is the only son and heir of King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII of Lucis, the last kingdom in the world to possess a crystal, as those belonging to other countries have been lost through a protracted cold war. A near-death incident in Noctis' youth gifted him with the power to foresee the deaths of others.

Related media

Noctis is one of the main characters in Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, an anime following his early journey and how his companions came to travel with him. A Play Arts Kai figurine of him has also been developed.

Character design

Noctis as he appears in the first trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, showing his placeholder design.

Noctis was created and designed by Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Final Fantasy XV (originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII). In creating the character, Nomura did not want him to be an overly strong-looking character, instead being used more to communicate the darkness in the story, which caused some difficulties for the team. His hairstyle was meant to give two impressions to the player: from the front it was ordered, while from the rear it looked wild. In order to make his hair movements realistic, the team worked with a professional hairstylist to create the design using a mannequin's wig, then used the Luminous Studio engine to render it in real-time. The technique was originally used for the characters in the engine's 2012 tech demo Agni's Philosophy. His full name loosely translates from Latin into "Night of Light Sky". His nickname, Noct, translates as "of the Night". Nomura originally wanted to have his name not based on the sky or weather, as with previous protagonists designed by him, but after Lightning, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, was given a weather-based name, Nomura gave Noctis his current name. This name was also a reference to Sora, the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series: "Sora" and "Caelum" both stand for sky in their respective languages, and Nomura considered Noctis to be his latest "son". While the game changed names, platforms and eventually directors, Nomura worked with new director Hajime Tabata to ensure that Noctis remained as unchanged as possible in the final product.

The character's clothing was created and designed by Hiromu Takahara, the main designer at Japanese fashion house Roen. Takahara's key inspiration for the style and coloring of the clothing was "jet black", which were meant to exemplify and be representative of the game's dark atmosphere. In addition, Takahara designed the outfit along the same lines as the asymmetric designs common to Roen's clothing lines. His outfit was designed to make Noctis look like someone who went to a high-class pub. Unlike previous protagonists, a real set of Noctis' clothes was created by Roen and kept in the office for reference by the development staff: this was due to previous experiences when Nomura had been constantly asked what materials his characters' outfits were made of by the graphics teams. An aspect of his design central to the story was a ring he wore on his right hand, while the gloves he wore were simply for "design purposes". Noctis' original design when the game was first revealed was a temporary one used while his final look was being created. It was based on the game's script to give a visual impression in trailers. Takahara also designed a formal suit worn by the character in the opening section of the game.

Attributes

While originally one of four controllable characters in Versus XIII, Noctis is the sole playable character in XV. He is also the only character who can use summoned monsters, recurring elements in the Final Fantasy series. As shown in the conceptual trailer from the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo and the final game, Noctis has the power to manipulate multiple weapons at once; his Limit Break "Armiger Arsenal" further enables him to summon crystalline melee weapons known as "Phantom Swords" into battle. In the story, these powers are passed down through the royal line of Lucis.

During an earlier stage of development, Noctis was to have been the only character in the world of XV that could use magic for story-related reasons. As this would not have worked from a gameplay standpoint, the team engineered it so Noctis' companions could share Noctis' magic abilities. During certain points during both story scenes and gameplay, Noctis' eyes turn from their natural blue color to red. This feature was present in both Versus XIII and XV.

Personality

Nomura did not want Noctis to have a personality like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, the respective protagonists of Final Fantasy VIII and VII, defining their personality type as that of "a silent, gloomy little boy". Instead, Nomura wanted to create a realistic character type not seen in the Final Fantasy series before. Because of this, he was wary about him as he was so new to the series that he might fall "out of bounds" of the series. Whereas previous protagonists did not have strong personalities to avoid interfering with player empathy, Nomura wanted Noctis to have "an overabundance of idiosyncrasy", which was one of the ways he would leave an impression on the player. Tabata described Noctis as a young person trying to look "cool" with an example being a coffee he drinks despite not liking it. Nomura also wanted the character to have traits and perform actions that bore both heroic and villainous traits, creating someone akin to an anti-hero. He thought that these qualities would match the game's themes very well. While naturally shy, Noctis hides this under a cold exterior, though his close friends can see through this. A key scene that demonstrated his personality in Versus XIII was his first meeting with Stella. During an interview with Game Informer, comparing the personalities of Noctis and Lunafreya, Tabata referred to Noctis as the weaker of the two, remarking that he might need protecting instead of her. A key part of his narrative is Noctis' transition from prince to king during his journey.

Noctis is voiced in Japanese by Tatsuhisa Suzuki. English voice work was included for Episode Duscae, but it was cut close in terms of production scheduling. During the ROM checking stage, Tabata saw that the performance was wrong for the character, a feeling reflected in player feedback after the demo's release. As it was too late to re-record, the performance was carried into the demo. Tabata commented that the original performance made the character sound too old, comparing it to Batman. After release, the voice work was redone to show the character's youth and charm, along with his "sense of ennui".

Reception

Video games publications have commented on Noctis' character. Once Final Fantasy XV was revealed to the audience, Todd Ciolek from Anime News Network said that Noctis was "your standard-issue brash anime kid in demeanor." Daniella Lucas from GamesRadar compared him with Final Fantasy VIII's main character, Squall Leonhart, based on his rebellious attitude as he lives "by own rules" in contrast of the strict code of conduct set by his royal overseers. In an early preview of the game's demo Episode Duscae, GameSpot's Alexa Ray Corriae praised the interactions between Noctis and his companions, citing them as a good example of deep platonic love between men. In a review of Brotherhood's first episode, Meghan Sullivan from IGN also praised the interactions between the main characters, particularly finding comical how Noctis removed parts from his hamburger and this being discussed by his friends as whether or not they were spoiling him. A fragrance was created in the character's image. There has been an internet meme focused on Noctis and his friends in the Regalia looking at photoshopped images. Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto found it comical and motivated fans to produce more in order to increase people's interest in Final Fantasy XV.