, for short, is a character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy video game series. Noctis is a playable character and the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XV, which was originally a spin-off titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The crown prince and protector of Lucis, Noctis must reclaim his country's Crystal from the empire of Niflheim, going on a journey to become the True King of legend and save his world from darkness. Noctis has also appeared in the game's expanded media, Final Fantasy crossover titles and other games, including Puzzle & Dragons and Tekken 7.
Noctis was created and co-designed by Tetsuya Nomura, with later revisions by Yusuke Naora. Nomura initially created Noctis based on Versus XIII planned tragic story, wanting a leading character unlike others in the Final Fantasy series. Hiromu Takahara, lead designer for Japanese fashion house Roen, designed Noctis' clothes to be asymmetric, mirroring the fashion house's trademark style, and indicative of the game's themes and atmosphere. Before his design was finalized, Noctis was given a story-inspired, temporary outfit that was used in early trailers. His portrayal in the final game was influenced by his two voice actors, Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese) and Ray Chase (English).
Early comments on Noctis generally compared him to earlier Final Fantasy protagonists. His portrayal in the final game met with positive responses, with many journalists noting his growth during the story and contrasted him with other Final Fantasy protagonists. His appearances in the expanded media of Final Fantasy XV and other games have prompted varied responses.
Creation and development
Noctis Lucis Caelum was created and designed by Tetsuya Nomura, the original director of Final Fantasy XV, which was originally titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII and set within the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy project. Nomura created Noctis both as a vessel for communicating the planned tragic tone of Versus XIII, and a traditional fantasy sword user in an otherwise-modern world. His full name loosely translates from Latin into "Light of [the] Night Sky"; his nickname Noct translates as "of the Night". Nomura had not wanted to use a weather or sky based name, but opted for it after Lightning, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, was given a weather-based name. The name also referenced Sora, the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series; Sora and Caelum both mean "sky" in Japanese and Latin respectively
The character's clothing was designed by Hiromu Takahara, the main designer at Japanese fashion house Roen. Takahara's key inspiration for the clothing's style and coloring was "jet black", representing the game's atmosphere. Takahara used an asymmetrical style common to Roen's clothing lines. His outfit was designed to make Noctis look as though he went to a high-class public house. Roen created a set of real clothes and kept them in the office for reference by the developers; Nomura had been constantly asked by graphic artists which materials his characters' outfits were made from. When the game was first revealed, Noctis wore a temporary outfit while his final look was being created. The character's temporary clothing was based on the game's script to give a visual impression in trailers. Takahara also designed a formal suit for Noctis, which he wears in the original opening section of the game. All Roen designs, including Noctis' suit, were retained when Versus XIII was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV because the team felt the looks should not be changed.
While the game changed names, platforms and eventually directors, Nomura worked with Hajime Tabata to ensure Noctis remained as unchanged as possible in the final product. Art co-director Yusuke Naora supervised changes to his character model. The main goal was to make Noctis appear realistic, with blemishes on his face. Another major goal was keeping the same character impression while making adjustments and enhancements because series fans already had a concept of the character. His hair shadow effects needed to be adjusted after an upgrade in technology so they did not cast too much shade on his face, while the hairstyle was kept consistent. His hairstyle was meant to look ordered from the front, but wild from the rear. To make his hair movements realistic, the team worked with a professional hairstylist to create the design using a mannequin's wig, then used Luminous Engine to render it in real-time—a technique that was first used in the 2012 tech demo Agni's Philosophy.
Noctis's aging during the course of Final Fantasy XV was a major departure from typical Japanese role-playing game protagonists. The developers made the change despite fearing a poor reception from fans; Tabata said it "felt that it was important in communicating [the party's] development and wanting to express it in a way that we only can with the current generation of consoles". Designing Noctis' older facial features, the team used photographs of war veterans and actors to add fine details and mature the character's expressions. His features were designed to be similar to his father Regis Lucis Caelum, reflecting the game's theme of the father-son relationship. Noctis' older appearance was designed by Naora. A version of Noctis was incorporated into a new post-game version of the Yoshitaka Amano-designed logo. The logo was included based on a request by Noctis's Japanese voice actor to include the character. This combined logo was described as representing both the beginning of a new journey, and the game's development history.
Speaking after the reveal of Versus XIII, Nomura said the team focused on developing the then-unnamed protagonist's weaponry, later dubbed the . The trailer portrayed Noctis in an "overpowered" state, with Nomura's draft for Versus XIII having a weakened Noctis collecting weapons. Noctis was originally one of four controllable characters in Versus XIII, and was reworked as the sole playable character in Final Fantasy XV. Early in the game's development, Noctis was the only character in Eos who could use magic, which would not have worked from a gameplay standpoint. The team then reworked the gameplay so that Noctis' companions could also use magic.
Gameplay elements carried over from Versus XIII to XV included Noctis's ability to warp across battlefields, and his "Armiger" power to summon multiple weapons into battle. Another feature carried over was Noctis's eyes changing colour from blue to red during some story and gameplay scenes related to magic. His powers were originally associated with Etro, a goddess in the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. After changing to a mainline entry, the game dropped the subseries's deities and terminology while maintaining thematic elements. A ring later known as the was established early on and became central to the game's story; his gloves were described as being for "design purposes".
Personality Nomura did not want Noctis to have a personality like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, the respective protagonists of Final Fantasy VIII and VII, defining their personality type as that of "a silent, gloomy little boy". Nomura wanted to create a realistic character type that had not yet been seen in the Final Fantasy. Nomura was wary of this approach because Noctis was a new character that might fall "out of bounds". Nomura wanted Noctis to have "an overabundance of idiosyncrasy" so he would leave an impression on the player. Nomura also wanted the character to perform actions that bore both heroic and villainous traits, feeling that an anti-hero protagonist would fit the game's themes. Noctis initially hid his shyness under a cold exterior, through which his close friends can see. A key scene in Versus XIII that demonstrated his personality was his first meeting with Stella Nox Fleuret, the game's original female lead.
Describing his wishes for the character in an interview, Tabata said he wanted players to immerse themselves in Noctis' character by learning about the world and story from his point of view. The choice of the game's theme song, a cover of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" by Florence and the Machine, was meant as a message of gratitude from Noctis, which he is unable to express in words. According to Tabata, Noctis' cool mannerisms and reserved exterior stem from his lonely childhood and a fear of losing those closest to him. His words and actions stem from a fear of disappointing those around him, causing him to work to fulfill expectations and bring people happiness.
As Noctis and Regis do not interact much in-game, their connection is represented by the Regalia, a car Noctis uses to travel Eos. Tabata drew on childhood memories of drives with his father. When comparing the personalities of Noctis and the game's heroine Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Tabata called Noctis the weaker of the two. Noctis' transition from prince to king is a key part of the narrative. According to scenario writer Saori Itamuro, Noctis was meant to face his future with both dread and acceptance, having been raised to expect such an event. This part of his story influenced aspects of his appearance. According to the developers, the rivalry between Noctis and Ardyn Izunia is unusual in the franchise because the two initially are on friendly terms despite the development of their hatred for each other.
Voice actors and localization
Tatsuhisa Suzuki voiced Noctis, with Miyuki Satō portraying him as a child. Suzuki was cast in 2009, seven years before the game's final release, when the project still had the Versus XIII name. During early recording sessions, Suzuki portrayed Noctis as an introvert, speaking with a gruff manner and showing little sympathy for those beyond his immediate circle. When the project was retitled Final Fantasy XV, Suzuki worked with the production team to create a new persona for Noctis, who became more outgoing and emotional. Suzuki recorded his lines for the game with the rest of the main cast. Suzuki modeled Noctis' persona on the stage mannerisms of singer Kurt Cobain. While he did not do continuous work on the game due to the production's "twists and turns", he found himself constantly keeping Noctis in mind so he could easily portray him in recording sessions. According to Suzuki, some of the recordings he made for Versus XIII were used in XV. When voicing Noctis in the anime Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Suzuki talked with the main cast about their combined performances, establishing a good rapport with them.
Noctis is voiced in English by Ray Chase, with Hyrum Hansen voicing him as a child. Speaking about his role, Chase was told to make a performance that would resonate with Western audiences rather than create an English version of the Japanese performance, resulting in Noctis' English version being noticeably different from the Japanese one. Noctis was Chase's first Final Fantasy character and his first lead role in a video game project. He was initially shocked when he was told what character he would be voicing. While there were efforts to have group recording sessions for the cast, these were dropped due to technical and financial difficulties. The game's opening scene, in which Noctis sets out on his journey, is the only one that was recorded with the lead voice actors in a group session. Localization director Dan Inoue's English-language interpretation of the character is based by Suzuki's influence. Inoue avoided what he called the "emo" role-playing stereotype for the character. To keep the main group's dialogue natural, Inoue created a character relationship chart to maintain stylistic consistency.