Top 10 FF Character Themes #4, Cyan

Number 4 on our list is the faithful retainer of Doma, a man with the courage and strength of a thousand men. I do of course mean Mr. Thou! ...and by that I mean Cyan Garamonde, of Final Fantasy VI. I would also like to take the opportunity to say FFVI has two representatives in this list, simply because of how astounding the songs are to me. I think this piece is truly underrated among Final Fantasy fans and it saddens me. Let's listen.


It's amazing how this song can convey so many emotions at once. The initial flute and the steady drum beat convey to me a sense of regality. It makes me think of a castle, of Cyan's service to his liege. In comes strings, in a brief transition to the next part, giving you time to pause, and then bam. Out comes the main melody and it hits you. I get such conflicting feelings, that of nobility and honour, but also of loneliness. Then if you listen, you can hear a flute in the background as well, and this short burst is so full of hope.

I know I'm sounding a bit pretentious with this but I truly love this song and it really speaks to me. Cyan perhaps was never one of the major players in VI when compared to Locke, Terra, Celes, Edgar and so on, but this song really makes him stand out.


Take a listen to sekushidesu's guitar cover of the piece. It translates really well to the guitar.

I think when you play the game, and see Cyan's entire kingdom and family wiped out, you gloss over it. Us video gamers, especially RPG players, we've seen plenty of towns destroyed and families killed. The response may have been "Oh, Cyan's gonna be pissed now!", rather than, "This poor man has lost everything. The kingdom he stood to defend all his life, his king, his wife, his daughter, everyone he knows. He's seen them all die in such a horrible manner." The sheer raw and terrible grief that character must be feeling is overlooked by fans, I think.

Cyan's efforts in the World of Ruin, writing to the girl pretending to be her love, were so touching. Once the initial rage has subsided in him, and through the saying goodbye on the Phantom Train, the grief begins to fade too, we're left with a genuinely lonely man. How do you start again when you've lost everything? Anyway, this is a slight tangent but it's through this song that I've realised these things, and as a piece of music designed to be Cyan, I think it captures the essence so beautifully.


To finish, this acoustic version of Cyan's song is from aycomusic and has a great simplistic and very celtic feel to it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this piece and Cyan as a character, so please comment and let me know! Here's the list, and we're moving into the top 3 next time!

10. Bartz
9. Snow
8. Beatrix
7. Hilda
6. Rydia
5. Auron
4. Cyan