Cecil Harvey's Origins Explained ► Final Fantasy IV Lore + The After Years 

It is worth mentioning that the writer of the game was originally going to have Cecil attempt suicide during the Mysidia sequence... and anyone who has played FFVI knows where they later chose to use that plot point. Cecil's story is revolves around four primary concepts, those being love, not blindly capitulating to authority, redemption, and forgiveness- don't do things you know will hurt others just because you're ordered to, but if you do, it's not too late to change and be forgiven, and you aren't unworthy of affection because of your wrongdoings... provided you don't double down on them instead. Cecil (and other characters from FFIV) are, imo, early examples of video games coming into their own as art forms.

You should do a franchise-wide Cid Origins video. Every Cid, every story, one video.

Cecil is honestly probably my favorite FF protagonist, give his reserved and kind nature. His arc is really great and his relationships with the rest of the cast are interesting and relatable. I've been waiting on this video for a while and it was totally worth it, thank you so much for it!

Kain Highwind, his story is just as compelling as Cecil. He makes a great foil, rival and ultimately a mentor to Cecil's Son

Growing up, I felt a kinship with Cecil. When I played the game, a lot of his character was similar to how I felt with my problems. I would hide in Final Fantasy 4, avoiding things and pushing my feelings to the back until I was forced to show them. I felt like I knew how he felt, what his reasons were and how things went. Each time I play the game, I feel like I'm reliving my life and discovering a new aspect. So, for me, this game is a total symbol of my childhood and my own growth. My own brother has been a rival since we were children, and he saw himself as Kain did. Always in the shadows, so to speak. I really appreciate the time you took to go though this origins video, it literally tells how much this game and others aren't just entertainment for some, but connections.

I’m so happy that Cecil’s origins is out. I find his story the best out of the final fantasy protagonists. His ups and downs, the amount of emotions in just the beginning of the story, and to only be followed by back and fourth tugging on thoughts and emotion.

Cecil is an important character in FF lore, because his problems are very difficult, but relatable and he fixes them. He starts out as a depressed, angry, unhappy man and is able to overcome this by letting go of all his fear, hate, and doubt. He heals his wounded soul early on in the game because he knows that he will never defeat Golbez as long as he lives as a dark knight. The dude did his own pushups. My favorite FF hero.

Cecil's been my Final Fantasy bestboi ever since I played IV on GBA emulator as a teenager. I was *so* happy when they made the DS remake with new models and voice acting and especially how they kept his slightly alien looks from Amano art. I once thought Noctis might overthrow him as my favourite FF protagonist, but in the end, Cecil kept his seat as #1. I highly doubt anybody will ever take his place for me. (Also, I love playing as him in Dissidia NT and playing as a dark knight in XIV.)

I always loved hearing Yuri's voice for Cecil in the DS/PC version of FFIV. Nice job.

Ah yes 4. My first FF, I still remember when Cecil became Paladin and left his dark path behind. It was pretty amazing for me back then. Even though, these days I prefer 7 & 12 more, I have a soft spot for this game and characters.

Please do kain highwind, after the after years addition his story grew so much but is a little hard to keep up with

Cecil awakening as a paladin is such a great moment in ff4.

I love Cecil. He is not created over obsession with beautification and protagonists being good looking. I mean he's good looking but he doesn't follow the protagonist norms nowadays

1:25 Please Do Rydia! Thumbs up if you want to see her! Her story is similar to Cecil's as she is the only character in FF4 other than Cecil who goes through a transformation in the game. She is also almost exclusively featured in the FF4 Interlude on PSP, and has a major role that she plays in the second half of FF4 The After Years with the summons becoming possessed. One thing interesting is that her artwork for the game to be released initially in the USA was censored because they thought she was just too sexy for the American audience and also had to adhere to Nintendo's guidelines similar to how the Baron dancer girl did not strip off her dress before diving into the water. Minor details of what types of training she went through to obtain all her summons are included in her Postgame content of the GBA or PSP versions. She even gets a mini-game in the DS version as well as an exclusive Summon, Whyt. She is also the first uniquely named summoner and the first girl with green hair in all Final Fantasy signifying she is of a different race entirely of summoners lost to the world after Mist Village got burnt down at the beginning of FF4. Her best summons in the game basically take the player into 3 different optional areas in FF4: The Feymarch, The Sylph Cave, and Bahamut's Cave. These areas don't need to be visited in the main game, but there are a lot of hints telling you to go to at least the Feymarch by Rydia herself or Odin in Baron's Basement. Outside of FF4, Rydia has also appeared in FF14, FF Record Keeper, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, and is made reference to in many different games such as Terraria getting patch 1.4.0.1 for their Summoner class to wield whips, but "without the green hair included."

Final Fantasy IV (or Final Fantasy II as it was known back then) was my favorite video game growing up. It was the first game that really had a real plot with story and back stabbing and surprises. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, but I felt like Cecil Harvey was my friend.

For those of you who want an easter egg for a different game, Cecil is in Secret of Evermore. Really fun game for those of you who want to try it.

Would be amazing a Kuja (FFIX) origins video, he's a such mysterious and interesting character to the main plot of the game.

Great video, but you left out Cecil's greatest trial of all: the Magnet Cave! I hated that place. Lol

This is an insane amount of awesome content and history on Cecil. 15 minutes in and STILL not a paladin yet. FF4 is my favorite in the series and this stuff is just fantastic. Bringing in so much more life and history to a game I play at least twice yearly for the last 20 years.

Please do more FFIV character origins! Kain and Golbez specifically would be fantastic!

FF IV is one of my first JRPG (and game in general). I have played through most of the versions of it. And I still got a better appreciation of Cecil here. It's great to realise I don't love that game only because of nostalgia, but because it was also genuinely good. What strikes me here is how important his companions were to his development, and how important he was for them.

Ff4 is my first, and favorite final fantasy. Thank you for doing this video. Another person in the comments suggested Kain, Ramza, and Sabin. I second that.

Hopefully Ramza is next

This was such a great video! Cecil and Cloud are my favorite protagonists in the Final Fantasy franchise and I’m glad Cecil finally had his chance to shine. For your next origins video, maybe do Kain Highwind or Laguna Loire, both are interesting characters with interesting stories.

What do you mean he didn't realize that Rosa cared for him more than as just a friend? They are quite clearly already lovers when the game begins

Love to have Kain Highwing's Origins he also cool character from this game.

Finally my boy gets his spotlight!!!!!

We STILL need Shadow Origins!

So you asked us to tell you what Cecil means to us as a character. Oh boy. Here we go. During 2017, I was in a dark place. My family seemed disappointed in me due to having failed Biology and therefore needing to go to a summer class for a long period during the summer. Their disappointment was due to expecting that I wouldn't take the class seriously, and would end up using the whole summer for it, the very same summer they'd planned we all go to see our relatives from the other side of the country. After barely passing the extra biology class, I had a newfound sense of hope to temporarily stifle my sense of loneliness at 17 due to having few friends and being mostly ignored by my family due to their need to help the other siblings, one of which I and my elder brother were the higher functioning two of the four. Before I joined my family in the van for an entire month of August driving, my grandmother had purchased me a Nintendo DS Lite, as well as a copy of Final Fantasy IV Advance, as I knew the long trip would be difficult and I'd had an interest in the series as a whole, even if Final Fantasy VI wasn't available at that store. I do think I enjoyed Final Fantasy IV more overall, and about an hour or so into Day 1 of the packed van, I booted up a new adventure to coincide with my own. I saw many qualities of Cecil that reminded me of myself; notably he too had inner demons that troubled him, and when he'd done something regrettable, he'd always want to fix it regardless of his capabilities. This character seemed to already have a love life and a couple of close friends as well, and was sent off on an interesting journey, only for a lot more to happen. Eventually I saw a lot of myself and how I could grow as a person, especially during Cecil's transition from a Dark Knight into a Paladin, which, honestly, took a lot of courage to do, and I can definitely say I too have taken a similar road. In November of 2017, after returning from the summer trip, I had asked my current girlfriend out, and much to my surprise, she accepted my request, and things have only progressed from there. I've made it my life goal to protect her, as well as to just be a good person in the long run. It's definitely more of a goal than "just get by and try not to feel sad", I'll say that! But Cecil's transformation of ways in that regard felt like he had purpose, a purpose I had a similarity with in protecting her from any harm, and I too tend to go a little overboard sometimes. Even stranger; during the August 2017 trip my family and I took, we were driving back home, and on that last day of driving, we were directly under an eclipse. The moon was already a central theme of Final Fantasy IV, but now these things felt even more symbolic. It's as if me having played the game and the moon aligning helped shape my life for the better. And sure, I'm still struggling to grind my way up to the final boss despite having reached the moon in the game, I'm not so sure I want to finish the story, and I worry it'll create a void within me. Regardless, it's the only other Final Fantasy game since clearing the first that I've gotten so far in, and I'm sure doing that will clear an emotional roadblock in my life and give me a newfound sense of reality. I personally believe Final Fantasy IV is what got me incredibly attached to the entire franchise, and I feel as if though Cecil may be an odd sort of conduit for myself, I'm definitely the main character of my story, and I'll do everything I can to be a hero in it. Boy, it's a good thing I can't cast Meteo with my keyboard, or we'd be in deep trouble!

Great video on Cecil! He's probably my favorite main protagonist in the series :D . I'd love to see one of these videos featuring Kain!

Fantastic video as always! These videos point out things I missed or didn’t piece together in the story on my own. These are very helpful so please continue to make more! My hopeful picks for next would be either Kain or Firion.

He is See-Sill to me.

This final fantasy was my 3rd SNES game back when they were the new release. Cecil has been one of my favorite protagonists ever since then. Being an introvert and timid most times myself, i can relate to Cecil as the reluctant hero.

Thanks for this breakdown. Cecil has always been one of my favorite ff characters in, what is probably, my favorite ff story. I think I've always resonated with it because of the simplicity of such a complex story. It's also very similar to star wars, my favorite movie franchise. I had never played the after years or any other version of ff4 besides the GBA version. Really enjoyed this breakdown

Garnet Origins, please!

In Dissidia, Cecil and Golbez’s interactions are some of my favorite.

Love it! One of my favorite characters growing up. Keep up the awesome work!

This has always been my favorite Final Fantasy! It was also the first I played so I’m sure that has something to do with it.

The Cid idea is a class one, I'd also be interested in FF9 Garnet or Freya origins, or actually FF12s Fran!❤ OR Moogles 😄 Just wonderful Moogles ❤

One of my favorite characters in one of my favorite games. Great work as always, you guys! Cheers!

This is a weird one but Paine origins? Ramza or Agrias would be cool too

Might as well do Kain or Golbez next

I learned how to read by making my grandmother explain the text in Final Fantasy II on SNES because *the story looked so good*

Thank you for your work. Now we want ramza please.

I love your origin videos so much.

Laguna Loire next please!

I think it's really cool for you to mention about him waiting for others to input. In someway, one thing that can make a leader is to know what others feel or think, and the characters make those very clear for him. Being naive or not, it helps him. Not only that, but his sense of justice, I believe, is what gives him this aura, which goes too well with the Paladin job. That's his call, and doing what's best for everyone needs some reluctance, so he won't arbitrarily do stuff.. it has to be just, his heart and mind needs this! And, also, his pals help him be the best leader he can be!

I would hope Garland over the years, take your time... May have to be a 2 part.

Ramza, Kain or Sabin!

FFIV was the first Final Fantasy that I ever played (it was FFII at the time). Watching your video brought back so many memories, and made me realize how influential this game was to me. Thank you for that. I still consider it my favorite of the series, from a story perspective. And Cecil Harvey will likely always be my favorite FF protagonist.

Great trip down memory lane... one of my top faves of all time

Outstanding video. Thanks guys.

I express my thanks for the videos you create for the Final Fantasy series, as while playing Dissidia Opera Omnia I desire to learn more of the characters that I did not know during my child years.

Griffith looking fellow

That was a great one thanks guys

Imo Squall and Cecil are very similar, they're both internal monologuers and go through massive character development arcs before having something set them back. And it's a love interest that sets them on the right path for Squall it was Rinoa, and for Cecil it was Rosa and Rydia.. (also the love interests seem to start with R)

Thanks for talking about Cecil

Ah man another one of my fave characters! Great video, especially delving into the After Years since I haven't played that yet. There was recently a storyline for Cecil in DFFOO, I'd highly recommend it!

Your history background is based on one of the translations. In some of the versions, Cecil already knew Rosa liked him, he liked her, and they were already romantically involved. Also fun fact, if you slept in your bed right after rescuing Rosa from the tower, she would appear at the stairs of your room and hop in bed with you.

Great video!!!! Been waiting for Cecil! What do you guys think of an evolution on the paladin or dark Knight? Kain would be awesome origins

What an amazing character design. I wish someone would make a movie out of the ff stairs but this was just as good. Well done 👍🏾

Ramza Beoulve

Kain Highwind next! Great video!

I hope that you guys do videos for Kain, Rosa, Rydia, Yang, and Edge sometime in the future.

I’m currently playing each final fantasy in order, I’m half-way done with 5 so the story of 4 is still fresh in my mind. This video was absolutely wonderful! And perfectly timed too

Thank you!!! Thank you for directing me this way... Have you done a video for Kain from FF IV?

Cecil is probably my favorite of the final fantasy protagonists. I know everyone tends to like Kain more and I do like him too but I always liked Cecil a bit more. Also seeing this reminded me that Zeromus was still running around on the moon at the end of After Years and I don't think that was resolved in the end.

After seeing the ffxiv end walker reveal trailer there I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of references to iv in the new story. Going to the moon and changing from dark Knight to paladin being strong links between them.

Thank You

To this Day I consider Cecil the best written Final Fantasy Protagonist

Final Fantasy has never really topped Cecil's visual and metaphorical character development when it comes to the main character. The very conceptual development from a Dark Knight to Paladin is so under utilized. It isn't just a mental and physical change, but also has gameplay weight to it. No other Main protagonist ever had such a drastic change ever since.

Oh, Thank you for this! Final Fantasy IV ( Originally for me, Final Fantasy II) was the first one I every play wwwaaayyy back in the day lol. And for me, out of all the protagonists (heroes), Cecil is by far my favorite!

Nice! FF4 was one of my first FF games. Ramza next please?

Cecil was my first introduction in to the final fantasy series, snes ff2

Very good video! Has there been an Aerith Gainsborough Origins video yet? I feel that would be a great lead up to the FF7 remake?

awesome video thank you. Cecil is my favorite ff hero.

One of my favorite Characters and the one that got me hooked on the series.

This was my first and one of my favorite FF games.

You all definitely need more character profiles from characters of the Golden Age of Final Fantasy (SNES era) I think I found the (Cecil, Terra, and Kefka). There are so many other great characters that need some love. From Kain and Rosa to Tellah and the twins to Locke and Celes and the Figaro brothers and Shadow and Cyan and even Gau.

Gosh I love these. It just makes me love the games, their characters and their stories that much more. Time for another FF4 playthrough, Cecil gameplay in Dissidia NT, and some PLD/DRK in FF14 farming!

Laan and Reynn origins from the world of final fantasy.

how about warrior of light, i was really interested in his past when i played Final Fantasy: Dissidia

I played the original FF4 on an emulator a couple years ago so this is all so new to me. I had no idea the remake added and expanded upon the original game's story.

Great video (all of your channels videos are)if you haven’t already I looked,but could you do an origins on firion ff2,bartz ff5 And also kain as well?Final fantasy IV ( although it was called 2 on the snes at the time became my favorite and also what got me deeper into final fantasy and jpg and rpg games in general.And to think at the time I was angry at my best friend for choosing final fantasy 2 for his birthday present for a game I thought RPG’s where dumb because of the turn based mechanics lol.But found out you could name the characters and it just grew on me the more I played them! Again nice channel! Btw do you guys play final fantasy OO game?If so who’s your go to characters in the game?

I want FFIV Universe to have a REMAKE!

Can you please do either Golbez or kain next

I so want a proper ground up Final Fantasy IV remake for todays hardware. The game and story is one of the best in the entire series. I think this could be better than the Final Fantasy VII remake series if done right.

Cecil is a pretty big inspiration behind the origin story of my own original character. While my character isn't reserved, laid back or waiting for others to make decisions, he still does right by those around him, and sometimes it pays off, it costs him as well. And Cecil is one of the reasons why I like paladins so much as a whole. Well, in particular, paladins able to use their holy might to augment their attacks, as well as heal themselves in the process.

If you're able, I would love you can do Prompto from FFXV 😊

Since you’re already in FFIV territory, you’ve gotta do Kain!

I wanna see you cover Ignis

Awesome!!

I never clicked sooo fast!😂😂😂😂

Cecil Harvey. The original Zuko.

First final fantasy game I played. Back in the early 90s

Do Ramza if you haven’t already or Agrias from FF Tactics!

Hii!! I love your origins videos and would like to see Vaan there. I will be cosplaying Vaan soon and I would like to know more about him, playing the game just does seem to be enough.

Red XIII

Best origins video ever

The way I say it is sea-sil low sound. Or at least when people ask me my name that's how I tell it to them.