|
| “ | The blood-smeared road might be the only way to lead us to the world we desire. Death gives birth to tears. And tears give birth to anger. When anger turns to rancor, it opens to war. | „ |
| ~ Lloyd to Lenus |
Lloyd is a major antagonist in the 1999 videogame The Legend Of Dragoon. First encountered as a mysterious swordsman roaming Endiness with little except to challenge the mightiest warriors in the land, he is eventually unveiled as the mastermind behind the events of the game's first disc; a scheming infiltrator and double-agent, Lloyd has been operating behind the scenes throughout the world of Endiness for a number of years and currently seeks the legendary Divine Moon Objects.
As is later revealed, Lloyd is actually one of the mysterious Winglies, but gifted with supernatural speed and magical talent unlike any other of his kind; he seeks a means of rejuvenating the world and establishing a utopia, and claims to serve Emperor Diaz - a legendary freedom fighter who died over 11,000 years before the start of the game.
He is voiced by Shô Hayami in the Japanese version, and by Jon Russel in the English version.
Personality[]
Quiet, controlled and rarely expressing strong emotions, Lloyd plays his cards very close to his chest for much of the game; a natural-born schemer, he is able to pose as an adviser to both King Albert and Emperor Doel while secretly hiding his true intentions from one and the full scope of his ambitions from the other, manipulating both for his own ends. Likewise, he shows few qualms about using Lenus' romantic infatuation with him in order to obtain her loyalty, nor does he have any problem with casually leaving her behind to cover his escape, knowing it will cost the love-struck Wingly her life. This ruthlessness ultimately extends to his battle tactics: when briefly caught red-handed by Lavitz, rather than running away or trying to engage him in a straightforward duel to the death, he simply impales him on the Dragon Buster, eliminating a troublesome opponent immediately rather than allowing him to follow him out of the prison in a fit of rage.
However, while a cunning strategist and a brilliant warrior, Lloyd's abilities are occasionally hampered by his arrogance: already risking exposure by participating in the Hero Competition, he spends much of his first battle with Dart indulging in shameless showboating, batting his opponent around at super-speed and only resorting to a showy finishing move if Dart has managed to remain conscious for a sufficient length of time. Also, though he is able to keep his ego in check in subsequent appearances, he can't resist taunting Dart over the course of their meeting in Tiberoa, nor can he resist his usual battlefield quips; even when encumbered by heavy armor, he can still occasionally dodge an attack from the Dragoons, usually while sneering "over here!" or "too slow!" His attempt to seize the power of the Divine Dragon is ultimately where his arrogance almost undoes him, nearly resulting in the death of the Moon Child and his only source of info on the Moon Mirror's location; in the end, his insistence on challenging Melbu Frahma alone results in him being fatally wounded, his one attempt to atone for his actions almost ruined by his pride and narcissism.
Despite his arrogance, his grand ambitions and cold-hearted dismissal of all the casualties his goal requires, Lloyd still has redeeming traits: though he did later exploit Wink's gratitude, he had no ulterior motive for saving her life, and expresses a surprising degree of tenderness towards her when she is injured while defending him. Also, though determined to see the power of the Wingly race rejuvenated, he shows no bias against humans, nor does he have any interest in seeing the atrocities of the past repeated; indeed, he shows particular disgust for the younger Bardel for attempting to enact a war of revenge on humanity, and expresses nothing but contempt for Melbu Frahma's ambitions; even his past self only agrees with "Diaz" when he observes how Winglies became stagnant and corrupt under Frahma's rule. As such, when he realizes the consequences of his actions have kickstarted the apocalypse, his first act is to stop Frahma by any means available to him - even if it means entrusting Dart and his former enemies with the duty of completing his work.
Powers and Abilities[]
From the moment he's formally introduced, Lloyd is quickly established as a swordsman of devastating strength and speed, capable of casually sidestepping every single attack aimed in his direction and dishing out combos at such an extraordinary speed that his opponents physically leave the ground over the course of the onslaught. Even magic items do no damage, being instantly absorbed by Lloyd's defenses - perhaps the only sign of his true magical powers he's willing to display at this point in the story.
Outside of the Hero Competition, Lloyd shows an even greater range of abilities, though he's still careful to avoid demonstrating the full scope of his powers: at first only retrieving the Moon Gem by phasing his hand through Albert's body and leaving the scene with a supernaturally-enhanced leap, in the second disc he repels members of the Gehrich Gang with blasts of kinetic energy, teleports from place to place, and even briefly pauses time. Having no further need to hide his true nature as a Wingly in the third disc, not only does Lloyd read Queen Therasa's thoughts and harmlessly wade through every single fireball flung as him by Bardel, he finally manifests his energy wings and launches a fireball of his own at Dart.
The penultimate boss battle of Disc 3 pushes Lloyd to reveal the full extent of his power: arming himself in the traditional Wingly heavy armor of his forebears, he proves capable of flying with ease, launching colossal spheres of energy, utilizing the technology of Flanvel against the intruders, and commanding spells through magical gestures in much the same way as other powerful Winglies in combat.
Gallery[]
