Rydia

[Jinx]

Now, we all know that she falls off of the ship and is swallowed by Leviathan. She lives with the eidolons for what seems like maybe weeks in human times--but when she returns she's aged 10 years!

Do you really think she thinks like an adult now? Do you think she's emotionally ready to fall in love? Does she have the experience to be the leader?

Or because she didn't live in the same time, her experiences are less? That she's still a kid in a woman's body?

[theundeadhero]

I've always considered her to be more of a kid in an adult's body. It's a weird situation and brings about a lot of interesting things to think about.

[Gamblet]

This feels like Narnia, in the closet the time goes fast, but outside the closet the time is goes slow. You get my point? So I think Rydia managed to mature a bit.

[Formalhaut]

Bear in mind eidolons are very knowledgeable and wise beings, Rydia would have matured quite well. However, she spent TEN years with no human contact, do you think Rydia would be ready to leap into action so easily?

[jenovajunkie]

Bear in mind eidolons are very knowledgeable and wise beings, Rydia would have matured quite well. However, she spent TEN years with no human contact, do you think Rydia would be ready to leap into action so easily?

I think so, I mean she could have been non stop thinking about her next battle. Eidolons are very wise and know tons, perhaps being with them and learning/growing is exactly what a leader needs. As to fall in love, I think this time away from everything and everyone made her "mentally tough", and if she falls for someone, then it would have to be strong. Thinking like an adult, that can be sped up from loss, then a lot of being alone; or just generally change.

In neuropsychological research, this has been called Post-Traumatic Growth. Well that's a bit of a stretch, but not really.

[Edge7]

I always figured Rydia was an adult. She spent ten whole years in the world of Eidolons, rather than ten "Eidolon years" on the planet. Basically, what I mean by that is time flows differently in the land of summons, so it's likely she spent all that time maturing, rather than aging at an accelerated rate in the couple days/weeks she's been out of the party.

As for if she's ready for human relationships, I'd say she's better off than someone actually raised by monsters, like Gau. I feel like Rydia's a reasonably smart girl, having spent 10 years to become a wizard powerful enough to rival Tellah (assuming being able to cast magic requires a high amount of actual Wisdom) so something tells me she'll make wise decisions.

[Depression Moon]

She should be. She spent ten years in a place with beings that are just as smart if not smarter than human beings and because of such I don't think she would have any trouble interacting with humans. I don't think she's leader material though.

[Edge7]

I figured she could be a leader, I mean I always assumed she looked to Asura and Leviathan as parents, she must've learned SOMETHING from them. And she seems popular in the Land of Summons anyway.

[drotato]

Aw, poor Rydia. Gone so long without human emotions or contact.
I think she's just as much an adult as any of the others, she just learned from different beings how to be who she is later. I don't think she should have any issues 'falling in love' either. :love:

[Evastio]

I find Rydia stills acts quite childish as an adult (like how she immaturely turns down Edge constantly and the way she reacts after Cecil tells her and Rosa to get off the Lunar Whale). Ready to fall in love, no for the same reason as my previous sentence. Leader material, definitely not. She's too emotional and she wouldn't have the strength to push forward and stand by her decisions when things fall apart.

[Jowy]

the important question is why everyone didn't come out of the cave of the eidolons with AARP cards. i can't be the only one who had to grind the monsters there for hours to pick up Float and Reflect for Rosa.

[Roogle]

Rydia does not appear to age from Final Fantasy IV to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. She looks almost identical and it appears that her body does not develop while she spends time in the Overworld during those 16 years in between games.

[Sephex]

I think all the hardship the character went through forced her to grow up, regardless how the time difference works in Leviathan's crib.

[Heath]

Living with the summoned beasts might have given her intellectual maturity, but not emotional maturity. I think it's an interesting question, and one that I must admit that I've not really considered until now. I've always taken it as read that she grew up into a reasonably normal teenager when you meet her again, when thinking about it, I find that unlikely to be the case.

Do I think she thinks like an adult now? No, probably not. Do I think she's emotionally ready to fall in love? Probably a more philosophical question. Do I think she is capable of love? Yes. Is she emotionally ready for it? No. Does she have the experience to be the leader? No.

[Yar]

When Rydia is a child she is seven years old. Ten more years and she would be seventeen.

I don't know about you but I wouldn't consider seventeen a "mature" age...

[Edge7]

I assume we're talking relatively.