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The Majesty of Dancers and Bards
Song and dance are powerful tools. They can be used to express oneself, used to protest, used as a social activity and used as a career. And, where Final Fantasy is concerned, can be very versatile and valuable weapons. Today we look at the power of song and dance, tools used by Bards and Dancers to combat foes, enhance their allies’ strength and ultimately have a cracking good time while doing so. Let’s take a look at these underrated classes, and some of the characters who embody the power and passion of a performance. Let’s start with the humble bard, shall we?
Sing Me A Song, Piano Man
Bards are probably best known as the folk who sing tales of heroes and dragons and all sorts of fantastic legends. That’s true enough, but the bards of Final Fantasy do more than just tell tales; they live them. We have a broad line-up, so let’s jump straight into it!
The Onion Kids (III)
The original bards, the Onion Kids of Final Fantasy III receive the bard job from the Water Crystal. In the NES version of the game, the bard class is used purely to provide buffs to the party. However, in the DS remake, the bards can also damage enemies by using their Sing command, which changes depending on the harp equipped. In addition to harps, bards can also equip knives, though this limits the effectiveness of their Sing command.
Edward Chris von Muir (IV)
While the origins of the bard class lie with the Onion Kids of Final Fantasy III, this is perhaps the first sight that western audiences received of the bard class. Edward, also known as Gilbert and Gilbart in some lands, is the crown prince of Damcyan. As such, he is expected to know a fair bit about politics. However, Edward’s passion lies with music, and so he disguises himself as a bard and traverses the countryside, seeing the world and sharing his music.
One cannot argue that seeing more of the world will increase his political clout, but it might be worth noting that Edward begins as a very fragile and weak man. Bards are not well known for their physical prowess, and Edward’s personality reflects this as well. He grows stronger though, mirroring his positive change in personality, and become quite a useful party member, both in battle and plot-wise.
Warriors of Light (V)
Much like the Onion Kids of Final Fantasy III, the Warriors of Light gain access to the bard class through a crystal shard. This time, however, it is the Fire Crystal and not the Water Crystal that gives them the power. The bards of Final Fantasy V have access to a wide range of abilities through song, including buffs to strength and speed, replenishment of health and debuffs like stop and confusion. A change to the bard mechanic in Final Fantasy V is that many of the buffs are continuous, meaning the bard will continue to sing until they are attacked, killed or silenced.
Bard Class (XI)
After a lengthy departure from the series, the humble bard appears as a playable class in Final Fantasy XI, the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. Just in case you were one of the few people who had their head buried in the sand and thought Square Enix skipped XI for some reason. Bards predominately play a supporting role, using their wind instruments, string instruments and their voiceto perform a variety of songs. Their strengths lie in buffing their party members, as they have very limited abilities to damage or harm enemies. The class is available to be unlocked once a player reaches level 30. Get out there and sing up a storm, folks!
Other Band Members
Bards exist in a few other games as well. Final Fantasy XIV will have bards as a playable class after patch 1.21, and will be an offshoot of the archer class. Final Fantasy Type-0, as part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy collection features a character named Deuce. Her abilities are very similar to that of a bard, using her flute to provide support to party members.
Bards are also a playable class in Final Fantasy Tactics as a male only class, though in Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift the class is unique only to Hurdy the moogle. In Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light the bard class appears alongside the musician class. They are incredibly similar in nature, with the musician being a slightly more advanced version.
There’s the brief overview of bards throughout the series. Their musical talents are very useful and quite underrated, with only one unique bard present in the series in the form of Prince Edward. Their counterparts, the dancers, don’t fare much better either though. That, my friends, is a story for another time. We'll take a look at the dancers next week!
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Originally Posted by Jiro on Edward
He was a pretty decent hitter when I played last, after he stopped falling over that is.
After having do deal with him sucking so bad for so long one gets excited to when he just goes to regular sucking.
