A brief history of dragoons in the Final Fantasy series
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"All those who challenge me will fall." - Kain Highwind, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Dragoon. Dragon Knight. Lancer. Whatever you choose to call them, the dragoon class is a force to be reckoned with in the Final Fantasy series. As can be guessed by their name, they are heavily associated with dragons, often befriending them or owning them as pets. Dragoons are known for having high physical stats and low magical stats, being a physically oriented class. They are also known for their "Jump" ability, which allows the dragoon to leap into the air for one turn, before streaking down to strike some unfortunate enemy the next turn.
Another popular move is the "Lancet" ability which allows a dragoon to steal a small amount of Hit Points from an enemy to restore their own. Usually sporting a pointed dragon helmet along with other dragon themed armor and a lance, the dragoons have been making an appearance in the series since Final Fantasy 2. Let's take a look at the dragoon who started it all, as well as a few of the more popular dragoons in the series.
Our introduction to dragoons in the series is in the form of Ricard Highwind (or Gareth, if you played the PlayStation version). Ricard, as the last surviving dragoon, and with the help of the last surviving wyvern, flies the main party into the Cyclone where they defeat the Emperor for the first time. Later on, the malicious Emperor returns from the depths of Hell and Ricard sacrifices himself in an attempt to create a diversion so the party can escape him. Quite an impressive class introduction into the series, indeed.
Final Fantasy 4 introduces us to arguably the most popular dragoon in the series, Kain Highwind (seen at the top of the page). A dragoon in the service of the Kingdom of Baron, he is a long time friend and adoptive brother of Cecil. He vies for the affection of Rosa, but keeps it to himself knowing how strong Cecil and Rosa feel about each other. Kain is one complex character, often considered by gamers to fit the archetype of "Cool best friend who outshines the main character". His mind gets controlled by Golbez (or rather Zemus) several times during the game, but he ultimately breaks free of this and joins the main party to take down Zemus in their final confrontation.
In Final Fantasy 7 we are introduced to Cid Highwind, the smart mouthed airship pilot widely considered to be the most-known and best Cid in the series. Even our very own forum creator used Cid Highwind as his avatar and namesake. Cid, while not dressed in usual dragoon attire, has all the makings of a dragoon. He wields a spear, has several jump techniques and a dragon in his limit breaks. He is a member of the main party and helps take down Sephiroth at the end of the game.
Final Fantasy 9 gives us the first anthropomorphic dragoon of the main series. Freya Crescent is a Dragon Knight in search of her lost love, Sir Fratley. On her never ending search she runs into Zidane right before the Festival of the Hunt, at which point she joins the party and continues to search for Fratley while helping the group out. It is later on discovered after Freya finally finds her lover that he has amnesia, but by the end of the game he ends up being quite fond of her, despite not remembering who she is, and they both help to rebuild their homeland of Burmecia.
Honorable mentions in other games in the series:
-Final Fantasy 3, 5, 11, 14 and the Tactics games all have the dragoon as an available class in one form or another
-You can acquire Dragoon Boots in Final Fantasy 6 which changes the "Fight" command into "Jump"
-Ward in Final Fantasy 8 uses a Harpoon and has a Jump attack limit break
-Kimahri in Final Fantasy 10 appears to have the characteristics of both a dragoon and a blue mage. His first Overdrive is Jump and he has the Lancet ability (which helps him learn other overdrives)
-In Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings, Llyud can use the Jump and Lancet abilities
-In Final Fantasy Type-0, the character Nine of Class Zero makes use of spears and the Jump ability
-Final Fantasy Versus 13 appears to have a female dragoon antagonist
-Dragoons have shown up in various Square games as enemies, such as the PSICOM dragoon in Final Fantasy 13 and the dangerous looking dragoons in the Kingdom Hearts series.
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As far as I can recall, I believe this is the first thread I've made that could be considered article worthy. I don't consider myself a great writer yet but it is something I'm actively working towards. I'm proud of myself for putting my nose to the grindstone and writing this article which I've put off for too long. Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged. With that being said, I hope you've enjoyed my research, or at the very least, I hope it gave you a moment to appreciate dragoons like I do. Thank you for reading.
