Final Fantasy XIV - Hildibrand Allies / Characters

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The good inspector Hildibrand Heliodor Maxmillian Manderville is one for social niceties and makes friends far and wide as part of his endless crusade for truth and justice. While they may tolerate Hildibrand's humorous (and often humilitating) antics to varying degrees, there's no doubt that he meets a cast of characters as colorful as himself as pursues his latest case.

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Main Characters

In General

Good Is Dumb: Nashu moreso than Hildibrand (who's more of a Cloud Cuckoolander), but both of them have a... unique way of seeing the world.
Reality Warper: Not consciously, but it's a fact noticed by a few different characters, some of whom comment that the laws of the universe seem to bend around Nashu and (especially) Hildibrand to let them survive what should otherwise kill them. In patch 6.55, Julyan suggests that they're all tapping into Dynamis.
True Companions: Hildy and Nashu both consider the Warrior to be one, especially as the plots advance into Ishgard and beyond and the Warrior proves to be a steadfast (if sassy) ally to the duo. The Warrior, even at their snarkiest, reciprocates the feeling, going above and beyond to protect and help the two. Nashu, who's sweeter than honey and not prone to tempers, notably gets angry at a Conspiracy Theorist who starts slandering the Warrior and the Scions, just because of her dedication to said Warrior.

Hildibrand Manderville

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hildibrand.png

Race: Highlander Hyur
Epithet: Agent of Enquiry, Inspector Extraordinaire

When the people of Eorzea mention the "gentleman inspector", Hildibrand Helidor Maximillian Manderville is the man they refer to. A gentleman without compare and a detective of surpassing skill...at least, so he claims.

Accidental Misnaming: While not all of his acquaintances are subjected to this, there is usually at least one person, title, or place per questline whose name he manages to mangle. Notable examples include referring to Urianger as "Yearly-anchor" or Gilgamesh as "Greg".
- Averted with Daigoro, whose name he manages to get perfectly every time. Gilgamesh is particularly annoyed by this.
Affectionate Nickname: He eventually comes to refer to the Warrior of Light as "my ever-faithful associate" after enough time has passed. Likewise, he always refers to Nashu as "my number-one assistant".
Affectionate Parody: Of the Great Detective archetype, as embodied by characters like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. Like Holmes and Poirot, Hildibrand is a Private Detective, a first-class gentleman, and a legitimately brave, heroic person. Unfortunately, he's about as likely to solve a mystery on his own as the average monkey is likely to type out the complete works of Shakespeare by accident.
All-Loving Hero: Provided they are not intent on harming others, he is willing to befriend anyone and everyone. This includes a horde of zombies, whom he is able to change from being a violent mob of flesh-eaters to would-be gentlemen eager to help others.
- Explored even further during Heavensward, where it's revealed that Hildibrand's kindness to goblins despite their race is what inspired the town of Idyllshire to be built.
Ambiguous Situation: While he is called by a variant of the title, is Hildibrand officially a Warrior of Light chosen by Hydaelyn? There is certainly a lot of evidence to suggest as much, the strongest being that he is summoned to The First by Elidibus alongside various Warriors of Light from other worlds, as well as his immunity to the Sil'dihn zombie powder. On the other hand, he seems incapable of understanding "Master PuPu" while on his own and is wary of the prospect of battling against Asura due to the possibility of being Tempered, suggesting that he lacks (or is simply unaware he has) both the Echo and the Blessing of Light.
- The Endwalker Hildibrand quests reveal that Hildibrand's family's unnatural strength and resilience come from the fact that Godbrand, the first of their line, was infected by a parasite that made him extremely strong and durable. However, the alien lineage is revealed to be a Red Herring in the questline's finale, as it was eventually extinguished, and Godbert and Hildibrand are not Godbrand's biological descendants. The true source of the Mandervilles' extreme strength and durability remains a mystery, though Godbert offers a Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane guess.
Amusing Injuries: He is made to suffer, for our greatest pleasure. Even his own father is rather fond of dealing atrocious punishments to the poor boy. At least Once an Episode, he'll end up buried upside-down to the waist in the earth, often from a result of having been launched into the air. He's been punched, shot, stabbed, thrown, clothes-lined, burned, frozen, blown up, and Buried Alive. Yet none of it slows him down for very long.
Attractive Bent-Gender: Played with. He disguises himself as a geisha during the Stormblood questline, but while several characters consider him quite fetching, and Yojimbo does completely believe the disguise, the majority assumption is that he's a handsome male prostitute.
Back from the Dead:
- Was presumed, and possibly killed during his attempt to solve the riddle behind Dalamud. In 2.1 he pulled himself out of his own grave and as one might expect from a Hildibrand quest chain no effort whatsoever is made to try to explain it. Though, given Eorzea's medical state, it's more implied that he was in a coma, woke up after his burial, dug himself and thanks to his amnesia, and presumed undeathly state, taken in by the zombies. Your character initially uses the Echo to try to glean the answers from Hildibrand's memories...and it provides ZERO information.
- In Encyclopedia Eorzea, it is heavily suggested that he was trapped inside an Allagan device that kept him in stasis.
Boss Subtitles: Gets one as part of a gag in his Endwalker questline: Lightwarden, The Forgiven Gentleman. It doesn't last very long, though.
The Bus Came Back: The beginning of all his questlines write him back into the story. In addition, Hildibrand returns in Endwalker after being absent for an entire expansion.
Butt-Monkey: When something goes wrong Hildibrand is always the one that suffers, he’s even paralysed for most of the beginning of the Stormblood Hildibrand quests.
Brainless Beauty: He's a handsome, dapper Hunk, and it helps a lot with first impressions... until he opens his mouth and everyone realises he's spectacularly stupid.
Character Tic: The famous Hildibrand pose, which players can perform after completing the quest line.
Clothing Damage: Hildibrand's suit will get torn and mangled at least Once an Episode.
Clueless Detective: So very much. He is always dead wrong in his assumptions, and his rival from Ishgard considers him a sham. However, he is not always wrong. Sometimes, he happens to be on the right track... more often than not by sheer luck. He is prone to be right for the wrong reasons.
Comedic Hero: He's a (mostly) lucky buffoon and an idiot whose sidekicks and the Warrior of Light are the ones that do most of the more smart work. Regardless, he always does the right thing and always means well.
Determinator: It doesn't matter how many setbacks, missteps, or errors that are made when Hildibrand is on the case. He will always catch the criminal, one way or another. Even being pummeled by zombies, buried underground, injected with a zombie curse, and being launched from one continent to another will not stop this man from his pursuit of the criminals which he pursues. Besides that, the prospect of fighting his own father or his adopted son turning on him, both at the worst possible moments also prove that Hildibrand is mentally determined as well.
Doting Parent: Hildibrand is ecstatic to be a father the instant Count Edmont brings up the idea of adopting Gigi as a ward of the Mandervilles to keep the inquisition off Gigi's back. It isn't long after that Hildibrand begins teaching Gigi the Manderville ways while proudly proclaiming Gigi his son. Be he man or mammet, Hildibrand considers Gigi a Manderville man and showers him with affection.
Dumb, but Diligent: While Hildibrand is frequently mocked for his lack of intelligence, his sheer determination to do right by others tends to have him resolving conflicts for others regardless, leading to most who know him having a fairly positive opinion of him by the end of their interactions.
Easy Amnesia:
- When he's first found after his unexplained rise from the grave. Nashu decides the best way to fix it would be to blow him up with her homemade bombs. He seems to remember right before she throws them and tries to stop her. All it does is delight her that he suddenly remembers her and throws them anyway.
- As he says to Gigi "I've lost my memory more times than I can remember."
The Fool: Manages to blunder his way through cases successfully, somehow. Despite being a Clueless Detective and an all-around moron, his kindness, relentless pursuit of justice, and crusade to the protect the innocent make Eorzea a better place. He even inadvertently inspired the creation of Idyllshire when he saved Slowfix from a bunch of Thanalan bandits in the past and restored the goblin's faith in humanity.
Freudian Slip: When confronting the Grand Sers for the first time, Hildibrand first refers to them as "Grandsires (as in grandparents)" before quickly correcting himself.
Gentleman Detective: In his own bumbling way. He certainly has the "gentleman" part down, in that he always tries to be respectful and cordial to people. But, if he's ever right, then he's Right for the Wrong Reasons. More often than not, he's a Clueless Detective who ends up with Amusing Injuries and perhaps stumbling onto the right answer through sheer dumb luck.
Glad I Thought of It: Hildibrand has a bad habit of taking credit for other people's deductive reasoning or good fortune. Often, he'll claim he had made the same deduction and was just about to say it out loud before whomever had the right answer.
Goblin Face: He has unnaturally cartoonish facial expressions from time to time, unlike most other NPCs in the game.
Good Is Dumb: By the Twelve, is it ever when it comes to him. If he's ever right, then he's Right for the Wrong Reasons. Quite often, someone else will solve the case while Hildibrand thinks he was responsible, or he'll just happen to stumble on the answer through his bumbling.
Good Parents: For all of his bumbling, he tries to be a Doting Parent to Gigi. With how much Gigi takes to being a Manderville man and helping the inspector with his cases, it's clear that Gigi appreciates it. Gigi even gives an I Am X, Son of Y speech at one point with "Papa Hildi" as his dad, showing that Hildibrand's lessons (while bizarre) are sticking.
Hidden Depths: The man may not be interested in life in his family business, but his pedigree as the son of wealthy businessman like Godbert shows from time to time. For example he reminiscences on his days learning to ride chocobos quite fondly. Or when visiting Ishgardian markets he muses to himself that the products and trade goods there would fetch lucrative prices in the markets of Ul'dah, a place known for fierce competition between businesses.
High-Class Glass: Which is part of his Gentlemanly image. It also hints at his relationship with expert Goldsmith Godbert.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Implied. Godbert describes the impactful wrestling moves he uses on Hildibrand as him showing his love and implies he developed some of the moves as a way to wake Hildibrand up when he was younger. When the two meet out in the world, Hildi will typically react with horror and try to flee the inevitable beating, though these are never treated as anything more than Amusing Injuries and once they're out of the way the two are quite amicable with one another.
Human Aliens: In patch 6.45, a recorded message from very first Manderville, Godbrand, reveals that the Manderville line originates from the Mandervillians, a parasitic alien race. The Mandervillians can only survive by bonding with other life forms, which greatly enhances their strength and durability. Godbrand was the first Mandervillian to bind with a hyur, wed a wife, and have a child, continuing the Manderville line down to the present day. However, a small wrench is thrown in that Godville notices that according to his family tree, there should probably be a blood disconnect between him and his son and Godbrand, but he shrugs it off as unimportant. In patch 6.55, however, Godbert discovers that there is a disconnect as a heirless member of the Manderville family passed the title to an orphan who went on to continue the line.
Hunk: He's such a ridiculous goofball that it can be quite hard to remember that he's actually a very handsome man - tall, muscular, and impeccably groomed. Several characters do notice, though.
Idiot Hero: He's constantly getting himself into trouble through his own antics. Back in 1.0, he sent him self flying off to Dalamud (and falling just a little bit short of his target)) when he tried to unjam a loaded Gunhalberd in the middle of a field that just had freshly laid and highly explosive bomb ash, being used as a pest repellant.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Despite being stricken by a zombie curse, Hildibrand displays complete immunity to it simply by virtue of being himself.
Iron Butt Monkey: Gets subjected to a lot of physical abuse over the course of his story.
- Such as getting blown up by Nashu's homemade bombs, getting suplexed by his father, or getting beaten down off-screen by Gilgamesh, always leaving him buried upside-down up to his chest. It never seems to do any kind of lasting damage to him, though his wardrobe isn't so fortunate.
- And while Inspector Briardien hasn't achieved that above Running Gag yet, he has introduced us to another, by being so annoyed at seeing Hildibrand appear at investigations that his first response is to punch the "Gentleman Inspector" so hard, that Hildibrand ends up faceplanting, with smoke emanating from his head.
Jaw Drop: Hildibrand does that when he begins to panic during the White Mask questline, as Briardien is dangerously close to set ablaze some bombs following numerous events of misfortune.
Knightly Sword and Shield: He may be a buffoonish Clueless Detective, but he wields a sword and shield in battle as a Gladiator and is devoted to helping the innocent. He's also a gentleman to the core, stopping to help a crying girl when her mother throws her out in disgust for losing a priceless vase while fleeing for her life.
Large Ham: The man can not make a statement without making some absolutely ridiculous pose or making some loud declaration.
Leitmotif: Agent of Enquiry, a jaunty and upbeat tune that's heavy on the horns to emphasize his mysterious but buffoonish nature.
Locked Out of the Loop: During the 3.5 Hildibrand quests, he's unaware that the Warrior of Light has at this point helped kill Nidhogg, putting an end to the Dragonsong War.
Long Bus Trip: Save for a random dungeon cameo, Hildibrand is completely absent in Shadowbringers and doesn't have a questline.
Lost in Translation: One of his fans claims that he is not a Warrior of Light but a Gentleman of Light. This is a pun that was lost as Warrior translates to senshi (戦士) while Gentleman translates to shinshi (紳士). This particular instance of this trope actually ruins the big punchline of the ARR Hildibrand story.
Made of Iron: Be it explosions, going through a roof, crawling his way out of dirt or being catapulted to Dalamud, Hildibrand will somehow survive, with only his clothes destroyed. It's often played for Amusing Injuries, but credit where it's due — this man can take seven hells of a beating and keep going. But eventually, this also makes him a target of Dr. Lugae, who takes a personal interest in Hildibrand's ability to survive anything. And it turns out there's a reason he's that durable...
Beq Lugg: I get the distinct impression the gods themselves couldn't kill him if they tried. And they have.
Martial Pacifist: More often than not, Hildibrand prefers not to settle incidents with violence. He makes an exception for when Godbert is mind-controlled at the end of the Stormblood quests, though it backfires in typical comedic fashion.
- He also briefly makes an exception when Vanhudi summons Asura, being willing to battle the Primal alongside the Warrior of Light until talked out of it by his father.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Well, by the standards of Etheirys, at least, the idea that he and his family are just putting out huge volumes of dynamis is a much more mundane explanation for their Nigh-Invulnerability than the idea that their powers come from an alien lineage that, per Godbert's observations, doesn't actually connect to them.
Me's a Crowd: Hildibrand is accidentally cloned a dozen times over by a matter replication machine after he's abducted by PuPu. These clones are identical to him in every way and all believe they're the original Hildibrand until Pupu vaporizes all of them.
Negated Moment of Awesome: As part of his "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight with the brainwashed Godbert at the conclusion of Stormblood's story, Hildibrand nearly unleashes a Manderville pile-driver on his own father, showing that he truly does have the strength to be a Manderville Man. Un(?)fortunately, the attempt as well as singing the song of the Manderville Men snaps Godbert out of it, and he proceeds to reflexively reverse the pile driver on him and he ends up eating the dirt yet again. Close, but so far.
Nice Guy: The entire reason he's an inspector. He genuinely wants to help people because it's the right thing to do, even if it takes him far out of his way. It's also his biggest asset (other than his freakish strength and durability) - he may be completely inept at detective work in every conventional sense, but he's very good at bringing out the best in people.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Hildibrand cannot be harmed long-term. The most he might end up with is Amusing Injuries. Although this is mainly due to Rule of Funny, it also makes him a target of Dr. Lugae, who takes a personal interest in Hildibrand's ability to survive anything. And it turns out there's a reason he's that durable...
Non-Idle Rich: Well, he tries. Hildibrand is the scion of the wealthy, prestigious Manderville family, but he spends most of his time investigating crimes and attempting to right wrongdoing. He just isn't very good at it.
Overly Long Name: Hildibrand Helidor Maximillian Manderville.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Hildibrand is either dead serious or manages to get something right through deduction alone, it's a sign that the stakes have been raised.
- He's rather somber at the end of his questline of A Realm Reborn when he realizes that Ellie was the Phantom Thief, and that she's planning on turning all of Ul'dah into zombies. Not only that, but his deduction is genuinely correct, which is a bit out-of-character for him in the first place.
- He seems completely lucid and without any of his usual Cloud Cuckoo Lander tendencies during the end of the 3.5 arc's final showdown, showing genuine love and wise words to help convince Vivi to come back to him, and showing the proper amount of horror and gravity at what the Grand Sers' full plans were. He even seems to almost realize what Nashu says when she talks about Vivi "going away", but chooses to take the optimistic view before snapping back to his usual self.
- The finale of the Hildibrand story in Stormblood has him putting on a serious face when his brainwashed father is attacking everyone. He attempts to use the same skyward suplex his father uses on him against him to wake him up. It works a bit too well since not only does Godbert come to his senses, he does a reverse suplex on his son with predictable results.
- In a more comedic moment, when he sees that Pupu's initial solution to "get rid" of the Hildibrand clones is to kill them with a bomb instead of just dematerializing them, he's so horrified he drops all of his speech mannerisms to give a horrified "Oh gods, not like that!".
- When Vanhudi summons Asura in an attempt to try and murder the Warrior of Light, Hildibrand drops his Martial Pacifist tendencies and is willing to battle alongside them until Godbert talks him out of it, gently reminding him that the risk of enthrallment might make his help a potential hindrance.
Platonic Life-Partners: He and Nashu are as thick as thieves, and trust each other completely. If there's any romantic element to their relationship, we never see it, though. Hildibrand even admits to the Warrior that he'll always view Nashu as his closest friend, even after befriending the former.
Plucky Comic Relief: He is the focus of a series of comedic quests that opens up following the defeat of the Ultima Weapon.
The Chosen One: Rather than one of the Warriors of Light, he is one of the four Gentlemen of Light, a joke that is Lost in Translation^note. Later, it is revealed that he is also possibly considered a Warrior of Light given that he is summoned to The First alongside multiple others.
The Pollyanna: According to the man himself, no self-respecting Manderville man would let sadness and self-pity mar their features. This makes it easy to distinguish between the original Hildibrand and his last surviving clone, who suffers severe Survivor Guilt from fleeing the vaporization beam that wiped out his fellow clones.
The Protagonist: Hildibrand is the main character of his questlines, while The Warrior of Light is his Hyper-Competent Sidekick. This paints an interesting relationship between the Warrior of Light and Hildibrand, as the latter will usually take upon the burden of handling whatever situation is ongoing himself unless fighting is involved.
Put on a Bus: What happens to him in the finale of all his questlines.
- At the end of the Chronicles of a New Era story we're left with a simple "Hildibrand will return?" at the very end where the montage where the next episode preview usually went as Hildibrand blasted off to the sky on the Treaty Blade (which it turned out -did- have some hidden powers besides just being a trinket).
- At the end of the Heavensward storyline, Hildibrand makes a comment about his mother's age and only finds out too late she was within earshot. She proceeds to frying pan him off with a Twinkle in the Sky to Othard for the Stormblood quest chain.
- At the end of Stormblood, a poor choice of words from the Thavnarian Alchemist villain who had brainwashed Gilgamesh leaves both of them, as well as Hildibrand and Nashu drawn into the interdimensional rift.
- He doesn't appear at all in Shadowbringers, and is barely mentioned at all outside of a few seasonal dialogues that explicitly mention his absence. He does have a small cameo in the 5.3 dungeon Heroes' Gauntlet, appearing as one of the glowing “hero” spirits summoned by Elidibus. Unlike the others, he doesn’t attack you, instead being hidden down a short, dead end path and he is unable to be interacted with, though he does voice his confusion as to where he is and how he got there.
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Said word-for-word to an acquaintance of his upon his return to Ul'dah.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: He frequently comes to the correct conclusion about things, but usually through completely illogical and wrong reasoning.
- He's constantly Mondegreening Briardien's title of "Consulting Inspector", but the specific misnomer of "condescending inspector" is arguably more appropriate than Briardien's actual title is.
- In the case of the Lapis Maiden, he correctly deduces that the groom was the thief, but his reasoning is completely off — the groom had never seen the bride before the wedding, so Hildibrand decides to appear as the bride. And when the groom is clearly shocked that a buff man is walking where his bride should be, it's taken as evidence against him. In Hildibrand's mind, since the groom had never met the bride, he shouldn't realize anything is amiss. This is ignoring the fact that the groom had already met Hildibrand before, and would thus know what he looks like. As the thief says shortly after, Hildibrand IS a fool, but they should have listened to him.
- In the final part of the 2.x Hildibrand quest, he believes the culprit to be a ghost from Sil'dih's past wanting revenge. The ghost is metaphorical, actually being someone of Sil'dihn descent out for revenge on all of Ul'dah by means of ancient Ul'dahn zombie drugs, but Hildy isn't far off the mark.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears a more tuxedo-like version of the coatee crafters' gear. The player gets rewarded with a copy of the same outfit after completing the final Hildibrand quest of 2.5. For female charcters, it looks like Nashu's version instead.
Spoiled Sweet: Born into the fabulously wealthy Manderville family, and is no less altruistic and good-natured for it.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Hildibrand is this to the Warrior of Light in his questlines. The Warrior of Light is his Hyper-Competent Sidekick, and the muscle of the group when the situation calls for it. That being said, Hildibrand's at least gentlemanly and appreciative enough to consistently praise the Warrior of Light both for their battle prowess and their heroism.
Super-Speed: Comes with the territory of being a Manderville Man, where Hildibrand can sprint incredible distances before anyone can react. That said, he mostly tends to reserve it for fleeing from his father, who unfortunately for him is much, much faster than he is.
Taking the Bullet: Near the climax of the final Hildibrand episode for 2.5, the sister of the shadow thief attempts to attack someone by throwing zombie powder on them. Hildibrand, who is a gentleman to the end, dives in front of the victim to take the attack in her place. Don't worry, he gets better.
Thinking Tic: When pondering, Hildibrand twists his hips and flexes his arms while pointing to his head.
Throw the Dog a Bone: Despite all the abuse and shenanigans that gets thrown his way, Hidlibrand is ultimately able to recover the Treaty Blade in his first story arc.
Took a Level in Badass: While Hildibrand's moments of competence tend to vary between accidental and purposeful, his questline in Stormblood has him perform four moments of intentional planning^note that go off with only minor hitches.
Twinkle Smile: He is really fond of giving these, especially to ladies. Players later get this as an emote, where they strike his favorite pose, complete with the twinkle at the end.
What the Hell, Hero?: In the Ruby Sea where he and the Wolf Burglar are both dangling from a ledge, you have a choice between pulling up either Hildibrand or the thief. If you choose to save Hildibrand, Nashu will tell you to let him take care of himself while you go after the thief. Either way, the Wolf Burglar proceeds to let go anyway and gets away on a falcon, while Hildibrand dives head first into the ground and survives. He comes back later and calls out the Warrior of Light for acting so cold for deciding not to save him.
Wrestler in All of Us Leaps high into the air and very nearly pulls off a Godbert-tier spinning piledriver on his brainwashed father. Godbert snaps out of it before he's able to finish, but the capacity's there, anyway.
Younger Than They Look: Would you believe he's only 23 years old? Because that's not the outrageous part, he was kept in stasis when he was 18 in 1.0.

Nashu Mhakaracca

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nashu.png

Race: Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te

Hildibrand's faithful sidekick and partner-in-solving-crime, Nashu is a sweet but ditzy Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te who's prone to fits of narcolepsy and has a strange love of explosives.

Advertised Extra: Her version of the Manderville "inspector" outfit. She starts of wearing it in the first quest of the A Realm Reborn questline, and it consistently appears in the "Hildibrand Will Return" previews, but in the quests themselves, Nashu stops wearing it as soon as you find Hildibrand alive.
Brainless Beauty: Nashu is pretty enough to pass for a geisha based on her looks alone simply by borrowing a kimono and removing her glasses. But she's an air-headed idiot who makes Hildibrand look comparatively brilliant.
Bumbling Sidekick: Hildibrand at least has processes (oddball as they are) for reaching the conclusions he does; Nashu just kind of blurts things out. She's even less intelligent than he is.
But Thou Must!: In the Kugane-based missions, when she asks if you know of any crimes, you can tell her about the creepy Lalafell stalking her, but she doesn't believe you. You have to tell her about the mysterious thief to continue the mission.
Character Tics: She claps enthusiastically whenever something happens.
Cloudcuckoolander: Nashu has a very unusual grasp on the world around her. She believes explosives to be a viable method of memory restoration and thinks a gazebo to be some kind of living dangerous creature. Additionally, she is completely bemused (confused?) while watching the surf come in and go out, and her reaction to her poorly-taken notes getting blown away is not to attempt to recover them, but "whee, it's flying!"
Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly, she has a moment of this during the Hildibrand's Endwalker questline, blithely commenting on Delion's irritating mannerisms.
Nashu: He thinks he's a friend to the people, but I don't think any people are his friends.
Girly Run: She can be seen doing this in outro cutscenes and is somehow more exaggerated than the female Midlander's running animation.
Hammerspace: One of her early scenes in ARR involves her producing two cartoon-style bombs apparently out of Hammerspace. Also serves as an Establishing Character Moment.
Horrible Judge of Character: She buys pretty much anything anybody tells her without so much as a question. In the Endwalker questline, some random person tells Nashu that Hildibrand was kidnapped by aliens, and she buys it hook, line, and sinker. The Warrior can tell Nashu that the guy is clearly bad news, but Nashu will not be convinced otherwise until she sees the inspector with her own eyes.
Mad Bomber: More like "stupid" bomber. During Hildibrand's five-year absence, she got into making explosives as a means of coping with her grief, and tends to carry full crates of them around with her wherever they go. By the time of Stormblood, her homemade bombs are given the name "Nashu's Delight" and are pretty much accepted by everyone as the best way possible to fix Hildibrand's Easy Amnesia to the point the Warrior of Light won't think twice before blowing him up, much to his displeasure.
Nice Girl: She might be about as bright as a bag of popotoes, but she's also very sweet - fitting as the Number Two of Nice Guy Hildibrand.
Noodle Incident: She claims she has been to Garlemald. This is something we didn't actually get to see after the Warrior of Light reunited with Hildibrand and Nashu which implies that they've been there off-screen.
Number Two: No matter what the Warrior of Light does to get in Hildibrand's good graces, Nashu will forever be his number-one assistant. Hildibrand even admits as much to the Warrior.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sweet and goofy as she may be, she does have limits. After Delion's conspiracy theories accuse the Scions as being cohorts to evil aliens planning global domination, she loses her temper and chews him out over assuming the worst of a group of people that very publicly travelled to the end of existence to stop a godlike threat to reality itself. Notably, this angry outburst shocks Delion enough that he drops this theory despite how deep in it he is.
Platonic Life-Partners: She and Hildibrand are almost inseperable, but there's never any indication that their relationship is romantic.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Normally she's below notice due to her nerdy-looking glasses, air-headedness, and plain pink robes. But once she removes the glasses and puts on a luxurious kimono, everyone is surprised by what a beauty she is, allowing her to pass for a geiko based on her looks alone.
Sleepy Head: Almost to the point you have to wonder if she's narcoleptic. Though her habit of dozing off has managed to save her from injury once or twice. This happens to her so often she doesn't even think there's anything suspicious about waking up in the middle of an alley.
Sneeze of Doom: After a series of terrible ideas and mistakes from Nashu puts Inspector Briardien's life in danger thanks to her bringing along her explosives, Hildibrand manages to somehow cause a flaming torch Briardien dropped in panic after reading Nashu's poorly taken notes to balance perfectly atop his head, just mere inches away from the bombs. The heroic music starts playing, everyone's breathing a sigh of relief at what good fortune has just happened...and then the music stops as Nashu sneezes, causing the torch to fall over and ignite the bombs anyway.
Suddenly Bilingual: Come Heavensward, it's revealed that Nashu somehow speaks fluent goblin.
Undying Loyalty: Even after Hildibrand supposedly died, she never stopped hoping he was going to come back. In any case, no matter what Hildibrand does or how many leaps in logic he makes, Nashu never stops being the inspector's biggest fangirl. The Colisseum storyline has an impostor who is impersonating Nashu reveal themselves by insulting Hildibrand, which is something that the real Nashu would never do.
Yes-Man: Played for laughs. Whatever bizarre leaps in logic Hildibrand comes up with, Nashu is behind, one hundred percent. Hildibrand could suggest that the moon is made of cheese, and Nashu would be suggesting coating their dinners with it moments later.

Hildibrand Adventures

Godbert Manderville

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/godbert.jpg

Race: Highlander Hyur
Discipline: Goldsmith, Gladiator
Epithets: The Hammer

Godbert Manderville is many things to many people. He's Hildibrand's father, a member of the Syndicate, a truly peerless Goldsmith, the esteemed founder of the Manderville Gold Saucer and a ridiculously-invincible superhuman.

Arbitrarily Large Bank Account:
- Godbrand has ludicrous amounts of money from his work as the head of Manderville & Manderville and his wildly successful casino, the Gold Saucer. Entire palaces are about as large as one of his vacation homes and he earned his seat on the Syndicate as one of the wealthiest men in Ul'dah. As a result, doing everything from chartering personal airships to buying rare Meteoric Iron for passion projects is well within his means.
- This is subverted near the end of the Manderville Weapons questline, as Julyan, his wife and business partner, rakes him over the coals for funneling so much money into the project with nothing to show for it financially. This puts pressure on him to not only finish the project but make it salable.
Artistic License – Economics:
- The Gold Saucer is a land of Gameplay and Story Segregation, since its business model couldn't possibly keep it open if it were a real business. Godbert is richer than the Twelve, but the Gold Saucer has to be hemorrhaging gil to keep up. While the limit of buying MGP makes sense so everyone is on even playing ground, it's akin to a real-life casino telling their resident High Rollers that they can only buy so many chips. Most minigames are super easy; the only way to really lose money is a bad Triple Triad streak with NPCs, a long chain of bad mini cactpots, or trading your last MGP for prizes. All of this means little actual gil is flowing into the Saucer. Where the prizes come from and how they're made is a mystery too. One can safely assume they're made by crafters in the Saucer's employ (or maybe Godbert himself, given that he's a goldsmith strong enough to kill a chimera), but where the materials come from and what they are is a mystery that isn't elaborated upon, beyond the assumption that they're under Godbert's ownership. Keep in mind that all of this is just considering the players alone; the upper-class in Ul'Dah are also playing the Saucer. And that doesn't even factor in the costs of paying numerous people to act as hosts, servers, instructors, and general customer service reps. In short, there is simply no way that the Gold Saucer should be turning a profit, and yet it remains a very stable business.
- Subverting this is his whole goal with Nanamo in 4.1. Godbert tells the sultana straight to her face she shouldn't go forward with her proposed plan of just giving the Ala Mhigan refugees money. It's not that Godbert is against the idea of helping Ala Mhigan refugees — Godbert himself has done so in the past — it's that he's against the idea of just giving away money and expecting nothing in return. Godbert reminds Nanamo that she has a responsiblity to help her own people first and others second as the ruler of Ul'dah. He's also quick to point out that Nanamo's continued attention to refugees will only breed resentment towards the refugees and her. While Godbert is a generous soul, he doesn't give out charity constantly, but rather employs anyone who needs work so they can support themselves while generating revenue for him at the same time. Afterwards, Nanamo takes this advice to heart; she's inspired to create a plan that not only encourages Ala Mhigan growth but Ul'dahn investment as well.
Ascended Extra: He was only mentioned in the background of Hildibrand's 1.0 questline, and probably wasn't quite as intended to be as much of a show stealer as he is if you compare his proper introduction in 2.2 and how little he spends with the group, and his absence in 2.3 entirely, to how he's almost as much a main character as Hildy and Nashu in 3.0-.5's Hildibrand story. And moreso, while he was mentioned to be a head of the syndicate, his eccentric nature and general character writing would make you think he would just stay to the more lighthearted filler stories, thus it came as a huge shock to anyone familiar with his antics when Nanamo directly seeks him out for counsel in 4.1's main story, and he makes himself an entity in the main storyline by being very reasonable, savvy, and helping solve what could have been a gigantic issue for Ul'dah and Ala Mhigo.
Badass Santa: In the Starlight Celebration events, he often appears dressed as the Saint of Nymeia, Eorzea's version of Santa Claus.
Battle Strip: If you ever encounter Godbert wearing clothes and he strips down to his small clothes, it is time to give him as much room as humanly possible, because it's about to get real.
Brainwashed and Crazy: He gets mind controlled at the end of the Hildibrand storyline in Stormblood and easily lays waste to several characters with his super strength. An attempted suplex by his son manages to snap him out of it.
Brains and Brawn: The Encyclopedia Eorzea says this is the relationship between Godbert and Julyan as co-owners of Manderville and Manderville. Godbert is the Brawn, bringing the goldsmithing expertise and acting as the face of the company.
Brutal Honesty: He lays out the plain and blunt truth to Nanamo's idea to help the Ala Mhigan refugees in 4.1 by telling her straight to her face she shouldn't go forward with her current plan. Godbert reminds her that she's the leader of Ul'dah, and that she has a responsiblity to help her people first (which a good portion already suffer in poverty) and others second. He's also quick to point out that her continued attention to refugees will only breed resentment towards them and her. While Godbert is a generous soul, he doesn't give out charity constantly, but rather employs anyone who needs work so they can support themselves while also generating revenue for him at the same time. Thankfully, Nanamo takes this advice to heart, and thanks to Godbert, she's inspired to create a plan that not only encourages Ala Mhigan growth but Ul'dahn investment as well.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: While his personal tastes in aesthetics aren't shared by others, no one in Eorzea can deny the truly masterful craftsmanship. And while he seems like a bit of a space case (such as his penchant for sripping down to his skivvies), he's a Syndicate member for a reason, and when it comes to matters of business he shows himself to be just as cunning (though much more benevolent) as Lolorito.
The Cameo: He is present, though atypically clothed and hooded, during the Syndicate meeting when Yugiri asks for asylum for the Doman refugees.
Charles Atlas Superpower: This man can run so fast as to Flash Step and can throw around giant monsters with his bare hands.
Cool Shades: Always sports red-shaded pince-nez spectacles, they're one of the few articles of clothing Godbert will never remove when he strips down.
Cutscene Power to the Max: When he's Promoted to Playable in 6.35, he gets a Limit Break during the fight with Dr. Lugae. Using it triggers a cutscene where he completely demolishes the boss.
The Dreaded: Played for Laughs. The Hildibrand quests quickly establish that Godbert is a nigh-unstoppable One-Man Army who can kill enormous beasts with a single blow. Everyone aware of his power knows to clear out as soon as he takes his clothes off while the poor saps who don't are quickly buried in the pavement as a side effect of his rampage.
Early-Bird Cameo:
- Zigzagged - many early players would have met Godbert during the release of the first Hildibrand mission, but players today can meet him as early as Level 15 and entering the Manderville Gold Saucer.
- You can also meet him before unlocking the Hildibrand quests at Bronze Lake in a missable sidequest where you must oil him up (yes, really). This actually serves as a Brick Joke in the Hildibrand questline.
Expy: To Dio. Almost naked wrestler who built the Gold Saucer on top of a desert. Dio also translates to God.
Family Business: The Mandervilles have been artisans ever since the days of Godbrand, the founder of House Manderville and a legendary artisan who produced weapons of purportedly peerless power. The Manderville Weapon quests begin with Godbert recovering his family's manual of secret smithing techniques and striking a deal with Gerolt to get these weapons remade.
Flash Step: Demonstrated first-hand during his introductory cutscene in Hildibrand Adventures, where he seemingly teleports long distances to catch up to his (already sprinting at superhuman speeds) son for some familial walloping. When he's Promoted to Playable during a 6.35 trial, he sidesteps so quickly that he soaks an entire row of missiles fit for a full party all by himself.
Good Parents: Unorthodox though the Mandervilles are, there's no doubt that Hildy was raised to be a good man by his parents who dearly love him. Hildy loves his parents back, though is understandably averse to getting planted in the ground by his father.
Henpecked Husband: As soon as you meet his wife, it's clear who wears the pants in the relationship (both figuratively and literally in his case).
Honest Corporate Executive: In stark contrast to the other members of the Syndicate, he is an equal-opportunity employer who pays his workers well and is focused on the welfare and happiness of all of the Gold Saucers' visitors. He's remarkably kind and generous, even gifting the extremely expensive Sabotender Horn to Pipimaya after seeing the lengths to which he and his brother went to steal it for their terminally ill younger brother, only asking that they perform community service as recompense. For this reason, all of his employees have Undying Loyalty to him. He opposes the sultana's move to accommodate the refugees of Doma because of the strain the Ala Mhigan refugees are already putting on Ul'dah's coffers. But rather than callous pursuit of profit, he does so because he knows that constant charity will only fuel resentment toward the refugees and that they would need jobs to carve out a position in Ul'dah's money-obssessed society. Make it Rain 2023 also reveals that he built the Gold Saucer to fulfill two roles: stimulate Ul'dah's economy, and give patrons leisure to escape the trying times of the Seventh Umbral Calamity's fallout.
Human Aliens: Subverted. During the Endwalker Hildibrand quests, the heroes learn that House Manderville's founder, Godbrand Manderville, was an alien parasite who took a willing human host, granting him and his progeny his superhuman Lightning Bruiser physique. However, upon review, Godbert learned that there was a break in the family tree where a lord without heirs passed the family name to an adoptive child, meaning that Godbert and Hildy are not direct descendants of the Mandervillians.
Humongous-Headed Hammer: Godbert has the inexplicable ability to make his ordinary goldsmith's hammer grow to enormous proportions, making the haft and the head longer than he is tall. He uses this reach to batter his foes in mid-air before sending them careening down to earth.
Improbable Weapon User: If he needs to do armed combat, he whips out a goldsmithing hammer. Any sort of crafting tools aren't made for combat, mind you, but Godbert being Godbert, he makes it work.
Inexplicably Awesome: While he certainly has a Heroic Build, that doesn't explain how he can leap several hundred yalms in one jump, throw people around like they were weightless, and run faster than a chocobo on its best day. And how is he able to make a goldsmith's hammer grow to enormous size, and use his sweat as the final ingredient for a secret Manderville weapon? There's no explanation for any of it, he's just that good, and that's all there is to it. The Endwalker Hildibrand Quests reveal that the Manderville line was descended from the last of the Mandervillians, an alien race who merged with a dying Hyuran man, granting their bloodline surpassing physical attributes. However, Godbert states that there was a break in the Manderville bloodline some years past, and claims the Manderville strength is due to nothing more than their rigor and discipline. Julyan also suggests they might be unconsciously tapping into dynamis to perform their superhuman feats.
In the Hood: Wears a cloak during Syndicate meetings.
Lightning Bruiser: He's even faster, stronger, and tougher than his son Hildibrand. When they meet, Hildibrand takes off in a Looney Tunes-style chase scene where he desperately flees his father, who is outright Flash Stepping after him. Godbert soon catches up to perform a Suplex Finisher that buries Hildibrand in the ground and creates a giant dust cloud.
Like Father, Unlike Son: Godbert is a brilliant, world-renowned goldsmith and an Honest Corporate Executive who runs one of the most beloved attractions in Eorzea. His son Hildibrand is a Brainless Beauty Clueless Detective who bumbles his way through cases.
Limit Break: He hilariously pulls out one to fight zombies, making his hammer gigantic before beating a horde of them to death. He also knows Meteor Drive, though he learned that one for other reasons...
Know When to Fold Them: He might be strong enough to fight off entire armies with ease, but even he knows that fighting a Primal without protection is suicide.
Manly Facial Hair: Godbert rocks a full beard as the manliest Manderville man in the story, boasting nearly unrivaled martial might as well as impeccable skills as a goldsmith.
Minored in Ass-Kicking: Godbert Manderville: Esteemed goldsmith. Business magnate. Fabulously wealthy. Can Flash Step and beat the crap out of almost anyone.
Mundane Utility: Why does Godbert know several powerful Limit Breaks? Turns out that he and Julyan learned or pioneered them as a means of waking up their son. Apparently, Hildibrand has always been a bit of a Heavy Sleeper according to Godbert.
My Greatest Failure: Being in Thavnair when the Final Days hit, he tried to save as many people as possible, but he couldn't get everyone safe and even witnessed many people dying or turning into Blasphemies. This is what spurred him to start working on the Manderville Weapons.
Never Gets Drunk: To mend fences with an irate Gerolt, Godbert offers to treat him to the finest, most expensive booze money can buy at Merhyde's Meyhane, the most popular tavern in Radz-at-Han. The Warrior of Light watches with awe as both men knock back bottle after bottle of wine and liquor. But while Gerolt is thoroughly inebriated by the experience, Godbert remains completely sober even as his entire table is filled with bottles. Then it's subverted when Godbert reveals that he had the spirits swapped out for carrot juice a few rounds in for the sake of their health. Gerolt's drunkenness is entirely in his head.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Like his son, Godbert is virtually immune to serious harm. In the Endwalker Hildibrand quests, Godbert buries himself in the earth by accident, leaving an Impact Silhouette in the ground but gets back up none the worse for wear. While fighting Lugae in Garlemald, all of Lugae's attacks do Scratch Damage to Godbert that quickly heals up due to his Regenerating Health passive. He even considers getting hit by the attacks on purpose just to see if he can derive some artistic inspiration from them.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: He was present in Radz-at-Han during the events of Endwalker and defended the city when the Final Days hit the region. Given what he's capable of, it was probably quite the spectacle though Godbert himself feels ashamed and guilty that he wasn't able to protect everyone and some people still died.
One-Man Army: He can kill huge monsters with a single strike each, including monsters that are the bosses of some dungeons, like the chimera identical to the one fought as the final boss of Cutter's Cry. In his Promoted to Playable solo duty in Endwalker, he clears away all of Lugae's goons with ease. Dealing with a few dozen armed men and Lugae's magitek weaponry is naught more than a fun workout for Godbert rather than a life-or-death battle.
Open-Minded Parent: Er, grandparent. When Hildibrand decides to adopt Gigi as his ward, Godbert is delighted to be "Grandpapa Godbert" and even briefly makes Gigi a real boy at his request. Julyan on the other hand, isn't happy to be called "Grandmama".
Power Glows: When Godbert really tries, his goldsmith hammer glows a blinding light, and nothing can stand against him^noteexcept his wife Julyan.
Promoted to Playable: The Patch 6.35 questline for Hildibrand sees you fighting Supra-Lugae as Godbert. You get to use his Super-Strength, Super-Speed, and Super-Toughness to take out a small platoon of warmachina and hired goons with just Godbert and his trusty hammer. The entire fight is so easy, you're pretty much incapable of losing unless you go out of your way to lose, as Godbert's health regenerates naturally, and the enemies do Scratch Damage at that.
Purposely Overpowered: He's so ridiculously overpowered when he's Promoted to Playable in 6.35, that he can flat out ignore boss mechanics. Which, of course, is completely on brand for him.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Within Ul'dah's Syndicate, he's easily much less ruthless than folks like Lolorito and especially Adeleji, and he advises Nanamo in matters of diplomacy and economy gently and shrewdly. It's through his aid that Nanamo and the Warrior are able to come up with an aid plan to economically help the growing Ala Mhigan nation that everyone — including Lolorito — is happy with.
Red Baron: The quest journal refers to him as "The Hammer" for his devastating displays of martial might with a simple goldsmith's hammer.
Shared Family Quirks: The gestures of the Manderville men appear to be passed down for generations, as Godbert strikes many of the same poses as his son, Hildibrand. Even the family servants are happy to strip down their smallclothes like Godbert and flex their muscles the same way.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Occasionally, although he amusingly continues to wear shorts with his tuxedo. Otherwise...
Signature Laugh: "Ohoho!" of varying lengths, which he liberally peppers his dialogue with.
Silver Fox: He may be getting on in the years, but his physique is impeccable and he sports impressive Manly Facial Hair.
Stripperific: Most of the time he's seen in a pair of briefs and not much else.
Strong Family Resemblance: He's basically Hildibrand with gray hair and beard.
Sucks at Dancing: While he has all the coordination for it, Godbert's signature Manderville Dance is a bizarre series of movements that he views as "gyrating one's hips like a gentleman". It's so embarrassing to perform that Hildibrand considers using it to summon Godbert a Dangerous Forbidden Technique and Hildibrand soon pulls his leg while trying to perform it, forcing the Warrior of Light to learn it and perform it in his place.
Super-Speed: It comes with being a Manderville man, apparently. He can run faster than a chocobo in flight, several malms, without breaking a sweat. When he's Promoted to Playable during a 6.35 trial, he has an ability that lets him sprint at high speed for fifteen seconds, and sidesteps so quickly that he blocks an entire row of meteors all by himself.
Super-Strength: This man can pull his son out of a snowbank (who is not a small man himself by any means), jump hundreds of feet into the air with him, and meteor-slam him back down into the earth with nothing but his bare hands.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Well, goldsmith. Godbert's skill as a goldsmith is legendary, capable of rebuilding anything broken within seconds. Many have claimed him to be blessed or even the incarnation of Byregot the Builder. He can even smith objects into gold that weren't gold in the first place. To quote one of his works:
"If every component of an object were to be replaced, would the resulting object be fundamentally the same? Philosophers are unsure; Godbert does not care."
Walking Shirtless Scene: He strips down to his skivvies whenever it's time for action. Even the statue of him at the Gold Saucer is him in nothing but his underwear, with a nearby bartender you can talk to openly wondering if his placement there, thus being forced to watch "the battle of the bulge" underneath the statue's smallclothes, is intended as some sort of punishment.
Weapons of Their Trade: He can kill chimeras with a single strike of his goldsmith's hammer as well as enlarge it to the size of a construction beam to use like a staff. Needless to say, trying to do this yourself is not at all recommended.
The Worf Effect: He's introduced having killed a Chimera with a goldsmith's hammer. Yes, that's the same Chimera that takes a full four-man party to slay in Cutter's Cry.
White Sheep: Compared to the other Syndicate leaders that have been given narrative focus (Lolorito and Teledji), Godbert's shown to be a very kind-hearted soul, willing to fix broken items out of the goodness of his heart. He's even been keeping the legend of the Saint of Nymeia, Eorzea's Santa Claus Expy, alive by dressing up every year and performing miracles. And when the phantom thief's Freudian Excuse is revealed, he goes out of his way to apologize on the Syndicate's behalf for it.
- In Patch 2.51, it's revealed that Godbert went ahead and built the Manderville Goldsaucer specifically to bring a great economic boon to all of Ul'dah. Refugees and the poor would find gainful employment, and lodging working there, while the rich would be willing to spend money for entertainment purposes.
- This has actually led to some confusion and cries of "plot hole", as his overall attitude and philosophy seems much more in tune with Nanamo's populism and pro-equality stances than it does with the "eff-you-got-mine" attitude of the Monetarists... and yet, despite this, in general he is counted as a Monetarist when he makes appearances or is referenced in the main plot. He even votes against giving the Doman refugees shelter, though it's possible he did this because he saw through Teledji's plot and wanted to keep them out of the hands of the rest of the Syndicate.
- Winds up getting revisited in Patch 4.1, where Sultana Nanamo arranges a meeting with him for advice on the repatriation of Ala Mhigan refugees, now that their homeland has been freed. She is at first shocked when he gives his honest opinion that her initial plan of simply paying the way for their relocation is a terrible idea. He is then allowed to demonstrate his keen and practical business sense, pointing out that simple charity for the Ala Mhigan's could both create a dependency on Ul'dah's wealth and resentment among the city's own native poor. He instead urges her to look for a way to help the refugees return home that would also present a return for her nation.
Wrestler in All of Us: After catching up with his fleeing son, he places him in a German Suplex. He's also put him in an giant swing, camel clutch and abdominal stretch.

Briardien de Manseauguel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/briardien.jpg

Race: Wildwood Elezen
Epithet: Consulting Inspector

A Wildwood Elezen from Ishgard, Briardien is a famous detective from a noble house, and comes to Thanalan to solve the phantom thief case.

Amateur Sleuth: He solves crimes as a "consulting inspector" purely as a hobby of his, not charging a single gil for his services despite his prized reputation. Unlike his Clueless Detective rival Hildibrand, Briarden is extremely good at his job and lays multiple contigency plans in advance to catch culprits (not that they always do any good, given that he tries to apprehend people like Gilgamesh).
Arbitrary Skepticism: He falls into this during the last stretch of the ARR Hildibrand Adventures, writing off stories of zombies and spirits as absurdity. This would be a dense enough opinion in any fantasy world, nevermind that most adventurers in Eorzea deal with undead on the first page of their Hunting Logs, and a necropolis is the second dungeon the Warrior of Light ever went through.
Berserk Button: The only time he really loses his cool are when he's dealing with idiots. Unfortunately for him, Hildibrand considers him a worthy partner in solving the case, to his eternal frustration.
Blue Means Smart One: Briardien is a silver-haired Elezen dressed in blue and a skilled Amateur Sleuth. This contrasts him against Hildibrand, a Clueless Detective dressed in a black and white tuxedo. Briardien frequently performs Sherlock Scans to make logical deductions while setting elaborate traps for the Thief of Many Faces.
Butt-Monkey: While his humiliations are nowhere near as frequent as Hildibrand's, their severity tends to be much worse, like getting blown up. He's also significantly less stoic when he becomes the victim of the "calling card stuck in the head" Running Gag, falling to the ground and rolling around as he screams in pain while Hildibrand just kind of cringed and then pulled it out of his forehead like it was nothing.
Character Tic: Pushing up his glasses by the bridge. According to Briardien, it's a meditative gesture that helps him concentrate and come up with deductions. He even teaches the Warrior how to do it (in the form of an emote) during the Scholasticate questline.
Defrosting Ice King: He initially treats the Warrior of Light with the same level of icy contempt that he does with most people, not helped by the Warrior's choice of company. But as they run into each other repeatedly on cases, Briarden comes to respect the Warrior's battle prowess and deductive abilities, treating them with significantly more respect (if still keeping them at arm's length). Briarden openly praises the Warrior's integrity, strength, and intelligence to his uncle while recommending the Warrior be allowed to aid in his investigation during the Scholasticate questline. While he refers to the Warrior as an "associate", he's grateful for their counsel and support while treating them as an equal.
Double Take: Both he and the Warrior of Light have a simultaneous one upon reuniting in Ishgard.
Establishing Character Moment: He's introduced identifying a man as a killer with a Sherlock Scan, and then complains when his initial guess about the killing being for money was proven false.
Foil: He's the complete opposite of Hildibrand. Where as the inspector of inquiry is a buffoonish but wellmeaning man who makes wild leaps in logic and took on his role as his calling in life, Briarden is aloof but extremely competent Amateur Sleuth who took up the job as a hobby. Both of them are of noble pedigree, with Hildibrand being the son of one of the richest men alive while Briarden is a member of a noble house of Ishgard. But Hildibrand eschews his family's goldsmithing and gambling business and prides himself as a gentleman, which highlights Briarden's noble snobbery and tendency to act as though he's Surrounded by Idiots.
Giving Up on Logic: When he learns that Hildibrand had built up a resistance to zombie powder, he wearily gives up on things making sense around the Gentleman detective. He has a similar reaction to learning Gilgamesh managed to summon a pseudo-primal just by wanting Enkidu back really hard.
Hero of Another Story: He works together with the Warrior of Light in the Scholasticate quest chain in Heavensward, investigating rumors of corruption within Saint Endalim's Scholasticate in Ishgard.
Hidden Depths: His re-appearance in the more serious Scholasticate quest chain shows that there's more to him than an Insufferable Genius. Beneath his holier-than-thou exterior, he truly is a man with a powerful sense of justice. It's made clear that the revelations of the truth behind the Dragonsong War have him truly contemplating his place in Ishgardian society, especially coming from a noble house, and he's resolved to stop those who would rather hide the truth of the war because they don't want to lose their place at "the top" if their social standings are re-examined.
Insufferable Genius: He makes it no secret that he considers everyone who isn't him dumber and beneath him. Even the player character he gives the bare minimum of respect, though he at least appreciates your and Ellie's attempts to help. He implies he'd be more open of considering you a friend if you didn't hang around Hildibrand so much, but later takes it as it is and asks you to just keep him distracted while he does the actual work. In the Saint Endalim's Scholasticate questline, the students dismissively compare him to a peacock behind his back.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be an aloof jerk who looks down on those he deems his intellectual inferiors, but he's completely sincere about bringing wrongdoers to justice, never charging for his services. After helping to rescue a kidnapped girl, he tells the Warrior that while it's tempting to try and get information out of her immediately, she's terrified and insists she get some rest before he questions her.
Mirror Character: Of Hildibrand, both he and Briardien share a similar background of being born into wealth and prestige but would rather help solve mysteries; and even though their methods and intelligence are different, they often more or less come to the same conclusions. Briardien also has a bad habit of acting just as foolish as Hildibrand, especially when he's angry at him. Finally, both of them have a Character Tic for thinking, with Hildibrand doing a flex and pointing his forehead, and Briardien doing a bow with his right arm back and to the side while he adjusts his glasses.
The Nose Knows: He identifies Hildibrand and Nashu before they can introduce themselves by the lingering scents of rotting flesh (Hildibrand's time with the zombies) and saltpeter (Nashu's explosives).
Not So Stoic: When he gets the playing card stuck in his head he screams and starts flailing around in pain. When he thinks that Nashu's poorly written notes were letters from the thief planning to assassinate, he flips out. And the most dramatic one, when he deduces that Ellie either is or is complicit with the Thief of Many Faces, you can tell he's crushed and betrayed, this one is distinctly non-comedic.
Only Sane Man: He and the Warrior of Light split this role between them for the majority of the Hildibrand questline.
Preacher's Kid: His uncle is the acting head of Saint Endalim's Scholasticate when the actual headmaster is busy. This was part of the reason he was called in to aid in the Scholasticate's reform.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Hildibrand's Red Oni.
Rescue Romance: He has fallen for Ellie after she saved him from an explosion, at least that's what he believes.
Shared Family Quirks: One of the first hints as to who his uncle and sister are in the Scholasticate questline is that they share his tendency to adjust their glasses.
Sherlock Scan: When we first see Briardien, he is accusing a man of murder. The merchant denies it, claiming that it was an Amalj'aa who killed the victim because it was one of their arrows. Briardien quickly dismantles the claim, pointing out that Amalj'aa capture and temper fleeing merchants rather than kill them. And the "merchant" he's accusing has the telltale calluses of a veteran archer.
Ship Tease: With Ellie, after she does a Diving Save to keep him from being exploded by Nashu's bombs... even though it doesn't work, the thought counts. It gets upgraded to Official Couple, but sadly circumstances means they'll have to wait until she's released from prison.
Smart People Wear Glasses: Briarden is one of the few Ishgardians to always be wearing glasses and is famous for his deductive skills.
Strong Family Resemblance: His sister and uncle wear the same style of glasses that he does. They also share a hair color and the same high cheekbones, the main differences being Blasies' rounder, younger face and his uncle's shorter hair and more gaunt, older-looking face.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: His interactions with the Warrior of Light in the Saint Endalim's Scholasticate questline are significantly friendlier than in Hildibrand's questline. This may be attributed to his people skills improving, or simply that this is the only time you encounter him without tagging along with Hildibrand.

Ellie Ryse

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ellie_30.png

Race: Midlander Hyur

A reporter from the Mythril Eye, Ellie took interest in the Phantom Thief case and wound up tagging along with Hildibrand's group.

Deadpan Snarker: Always has a quip regarding Hildibrand's idiocy.
Intrepid Reporter: Even the risk of death doesn't keep her away from a scoop.
Only Sane Man: At the start of the chain, she balances out Nashu and Hildibrand by being more reasonable. After Briardien shows up she still plays this role when he proves to be Not So Stoic or Not So Above It All.
Ship Tease: She falls for Briardien over the course of the story. They wind up together, but their love will have to wait.

Arabella

Race: Midlander Hyur
Epithet: The Lapis Maiden

The adoptive daughter of Guguremu, a prominent Ul'dahn trade mogul. Her beauty is renowned far and wide despite nobody actually knowing what she looks like.

Arranged Marriage: Her betrothal to the son of a Lominsan trade mogul is the centerpiece of the 2.3 Hildibrand quests.
Happily Adopted: Guguremu picked her off the streets when she was a baby, and Arabella herself holds nothing but love for her father despite her misgivings about the arranged marriage.
Informed Attractiveness: Repeatedly so throughout the questline, which is notable since her father is quite insistant on keeping her from making public appearances until the marriage. This gives Hildibrand the opportunity to disguise himself as Arabella in order to capture the Phantom Thief during the wedding since very few people actually know what she looks like.
Nice Girl: She is an unfailingly kind woman and is very polite to all those who meet her. She also happens to be one of the few people to treat Hildibrand with genuine respect, and helps you get one of the ingredients to save Hildibrand from zombification when she hears he's on the brink of death.

Julyan Manderville

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/julyan_frying_pan_small.png

Race: Midlander Hyur
Discipline: Culinarian, Warrior

A mysterious figure was often seen near the end of each episode of Hildibrand's story, appearing simply as the base model design of a Hyur, with no real defining features, watching, and observing Hildibrand's investigation results.

It's revealed in patch 2.5's Hildibrand quests, that the figure is none other than Hildibrand's own mother and Godbert's wife, Julyan — a culinarian who's been following her son and husband around to make sure her recently found son is alright, and that no one tries to harm him. Woe to any who do, as Julyan is just as superhumanly powerful as her husband.

Absurdly Youthful Mother: Inexplicably, Julyan looks just as young as her son (if not younger), due to her using the same youthful female Midlander face as the player and many other NPCs. As revealed in one of Godbert's flashbacks in Even Further Hildibrand Adventures, she had been looking exactly like that since Hildibrand was an infant. Twenty-three years ago. Of course, this also means that she has insecurities about her age. Reminding her about her age or just simply implying that she is old in any capacity is an easy way to an early grave.
Almighty Mom: As Briarden puts it, it's clear who wears the pants in the Manderville family. Everyone, even the Warrior of Light, is beholden to her, lest they suffer her frying pan.
Ambiguous Situation: When it's revealed that that Godbert and Hildibrand might be descendants of aliens, Godbert muses as to why Julyan has superhuman strength as well. When Godbert reveals that there was a break in the bloodline and that they may not be aliens, Julyan suggests that they're all just using a lot of Dynamis.
Berserk Button: While she is prone to attack things with lethal force for annoying her slightly, even those with a death wish will regret making her feel old by calling her a grandmother.
Brains and Brawn: The Encyclopedia Eorzea says this is the relationship between Godbert and Julyan as co-owners of Manderville and Manderville. Julyan is the Brains as his most important economic advisor and manager.
Chef of Iron: Wields a frying pan as a weapon, with enough force to knock out her own husband, Godbert Manderville, in one hit, and in about 5 hits, hits Gilgamesh with enough force to send him flying head first, and lodging him from his head, down to his waist into a solid stone wall! During appearances in Heavensward, she eventually pulls out a person sized frying pan, and uses it alongside various Warrior skills when angered.
The Dreaded: She terrifies everyone, even the normally unflappable Warrior of Light. When Julyan demands the Warrior of Light do something to help her son, the Warrior — a slayer of primals and the biggest badass in the history of Eorzea — gives rapid-fire nods to Julyan out of terror.
Early-Bird Cameo: During the quest where Ultros flirts with a bunch of women, one of said women is Julyan, who appears much later down the road before she's properly introduced.
Expy: She draws a lot of parallels with Yang's wife in Final Fantasy IV. Both use a Frying Pan of Doom, both are married to men with a Bare-Fisted Monk style of fighting, and both clearly kowtow their powerful husbands in terror.
Frying Pan of Doom: Her weapon, much like Yang's wife in Final Fantasy IV. She's startlingly effective with it, as she's able to knock out Gilgamesh with just a few hits of it. Even Godbert goes down from a single hit to the noggin with her frying pan.
Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in two long pigtails, adding to her youthful looks.
Honest Corporate Executive: Much like her husband, she is a full partner in the Manderville business and maintains the same moral standards. Her involvement in the Endwalker Relic Quest is due to her concern that the weapons are not worth their prohibitious expense and she makes it clear she won't let her partners, even her husband, waste the company's money on a vanity project.
Inexplicably Awesome: Despite being ostensibly a Hyuran accountant with no experience fighting as a soldier, Julyan is even more powerful than her monstrously strong husband. She suggests the Mandervilles might be tapping into dynamis, which Godbert agrees would definitely apply to her as well.
Lethal Chef: She's described as arguably the worst cook in Eorzea and she tries to cook an antidote to zombie powder. It somehow works, though it likely has more to do with her son being an Iron Butt Monkey than her own cooking.
Lightning Bruiser: Julyan puts both her husband and her son to shame in speed and power. Godbert can only watch in horror as she Flash Steps behind him and whacks him over the head with her pan.
Ma'am Shock: Zig-zagged. While she hates being reminded of her age, and addressing her in such a manner that implies any degree of seniority is likely to elicit a murderous response from her, it's also made quite apparent as the substory goes along that she's nowhere near as youthful as she likes to present herself as.
My Beloved Smother: She endlessly coddles her son, and shows no mercy to anyone or anything that would threaten her precious Hildy.
Not So Above It All: She absolutely hates it, but push comes to shove, she will do the Manderville Dance.
One-Woman Army: While walking to Idyllshire in Heavensward, Julyan single-handedly beats back a horde of dragons, a band of belligerent Gnath, and a number of bomb-throwing goblins with nothing but her frying pan off-screen. In fact, save for the Warrior of Light, she complains that she was doing all of the fighting and that her son's friends would all be dead without her.
Sophisticated as Hell: Compared to much of the characters here, very much so. She's part of the Syndicate, but says things such as "Pleased ta meet ya" and "Thal, ye bloody bugger, guide my skillet!" when invoking the god of the underworld.
Summon Bigger Fish: Even Godbert is terrified when Julyan is angered. Hell, even the Warrior of Light, who at this point, has likely faced off against most of the current list of antagonist here, when being politely asked if they'll help with the current situation, has a wide-eyed, fearful look before quickly nodding their head yes repeatedly without a second thought.
What the Hell Are You?: After the reveal of why the Manderville men are the physics defying superhumans they are, Nashu notes that Julyan married into the family, meaning she wouldn't have that reason, and wonders how she's able to do the things she does.

Gentle Dead Man / Autgar Hammil

All There in the Manual: He was given a biography in the lorebook. He was a former Sil'dihn mercenary who was struck by Trader's Spurn and remained a zombie for centuries.
Big Damn Heroes: He and his fellow zombie gentlemen save the heroes.
Chekhov's Gun: He's introduced to the Stormblood questline in a wolf costume, leading Nashu and Shigure to mistake him for the Kugane Wolf Burglar at first. When he rejoins them a couple patches later, while pursuing Yojimbo, Shigure points out the resemblance and suggests he change, prompting him to put his chainmail back on. A few inquiries later, he puts the wolf costume back on to take the Wolf Burglar's place in his cell, allowing the Lupin to wear his chain mail, which enables him to help Shigure and co. with pursuing Yojimbo.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only referred to as a Gentle Dead Man in-game, but the lorebook gives his real name as Autgar Hammil.
Friendly Zombie: He's an unfailingly polite and gentlemanly zombie who has never shown even the slightest inclination to attack someone for their brains.
Running Gag: He unexpectedly appears in areas you are currently exploring in search of other zombies to befriend only to find out you killed them earlier much to his disappointment. Then he helps you find the missing Hildibrand because he could feel his presence.

Further Hildibrand Adventures

Cyr Blyme

Race: Midland Hyur
Discipline: Arcanist

An inquisitor from Ishgard trying to prove the worth of his division in the relatively peaceful times which followed Thordan's actions. Constantly on the trail of alleged heretics.

The Cameo: Appears briefly in the "What Remains of a Knight" short story as First Inquisitor Charibert's "most incompetent apprentice," though he goes unnamed.
Character Catchphrase: "The unmistakable scent of heresy!"
The Exile: Thanks to another member of the Inquisition stupidly accusing him of being a heretic, Cyr realizes that he'd be killed on sight if he returns to Ishgard. He doesn't take this too badly since he eventually grew to hate his job and found a new home in Idyllshire as the caretaker of Hildibrand's house/gazebo. He's also happily working as a inspector.
Foil: To Inspector Briardien. Briardien starts off as an insufferable, but competent inspector who crosses paths with Hildibrand and his adventures, pointedly avoids having any direct interaction with the gentleman inspector, refuses to ever consider that Hildibrand's involvement might have value... and doesn't really change throughout the questline, to the point that a perfectly lore-compliant primal summoning has him Giving Up on Logic. Cyr starts off as an arrogant inquisitor jumping at every possible heretic, but constantly getting involved with Hildibrand changes him; by the third case he's actively seeking out Hildibrand for assistance, and he eventually quits the inquisition entirely for a new life in Idyllshire specifically to help Hildibrand.
Giving Up on Logic: Less than a minute after meeting Hildibrand, Cyr becomes convinced that he was teleported to a new realm where logic no longer applies.
Hanging Judge: He's hells-bent on finding and sentencing a heretic in order to prove that the Inquisition is still necessary and prevent any budget cuts.
- Despite this, he is quite fair and will not actively persecute someone he genuinely believes is innocent. Made apparent when he actually argues in Hildibrand's favor to the Inquisition when he realizes Hildibrand might be strange, but he isn't a heretic.
- Parodied and justified however, as it's mentioned in side stories and late in the quest line itself, that his mentor was none other than the infamous "SICKNESS MUST BE PURGED" shouting Charibert of the Heavens' Ward. Charibert made Cyr's training a living hell, and even made Cyr "permanent janitor" of the Inquisition's vault of forbidden tomes.
Got Me Doing It: He constantly tries to refer to Gigi a mammet, but Hildibrand constantly calling him a boy starts rubbing off on Cyr, much to his annoyance.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all of his quickness to judge everyone a heretic, Inspector Cyr genuinely wants to do the right thing. This comes out during his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to another member of the Inquisition during the 3.5 Hildibrand questline, where Cyr rails against having to "guess the secret sins of everyone I meet" and constantly "looking for heretics in every bloody shadow". Once Cyr becomes The Exile, he's not too broken up about it, as time with Hildibrand and his allies made Cyr realize that he actually hated his job and wanted to get away from it.
Know When to Fold 'Em: He's not yet renounced his single-minded inquisitory ways when he sees Julyan pull out a giant frying pan and exhibit a Warrior's "inner beast" eyes... but that doesn't mean he's stupid enough to go after an angry woman with a giant frying pan who's just been reminded she's old enough to have grandchildren.
Cyr: I think it was something far worse. Heretical, like as not, but rules be damned - I'm not risking my life to find out.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- After arguing in Hildibrand's favor to the Inquisition, they task him with keeping an eye on Hildibrand anyway to keep him from causing any trouble. Cyr is less than thrilled with this assignment.
- During the 3.5 questline, To aid in the investigation of Gigi and the Grand Sers, Cyr looks through various tomes on Allagan Time Mages and Sharlayan Archmagus Quan. However, since these tomes are considered taboo by the Inquisition, even though it was for research on saving a life and locating wanted criminals, Cyr gets branded as a heretic for using them for research.
Oh, Crap!: After mistaking Godbert for a heretic, he learns that Godbert was there on official business for House Fortemps and that he would likely have to back his claim in combat like the player did earlier for Tataru. He quickly backs down even before he learned about Godbert's superhuman strength. He also sports a hilariously terrified expression when he sees Julyan's Berserk Button being pressed.
Only Sane Man: Although he might be a little trigger-happy with his job as an inquisitor, he very quickly established himself as this after finally meeting Hildibrand.
Punny Name: A rather obvious one based on the word "sublime".
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: In "The Proud and the Pointy-Eyed", the first Hildibrand quest for 3.5, he snaps and gives one to a stuttering inquisitor for accusing him of heresy for researching the forbidden tomes in between 3.4 and 3.5 to gather info on Vivi's time magic.
Cyr: You... you stupid, ignorant... Are you all so desperate to keep your godsdamned jobs that you'll go around accusing all the world and his wife of heresy!? Is that what we've been reduced to!? I'm sick and tired of looking for heretics in every bloody shadow — of trying to guess the secret sins of everyone I meet! It's stupid and pointless and we're better than that, dammit! We're better than that!
Seen It All: His opinion of the Warrior of Light after seeing them not being fazed by Hildibrand's antics.
When He Smiles: The man's default expression may as well be a scowl or annoyance. However, once he quits his job as an Inquisitor, he realizes traveling with Hildibrand to uncover the truth for the sake of helping others allows him to be a better man and can actually help people who need it rather than condemning people to death over supposed heresy. He even stays in Hildibrand's gazebo as a fellow inspector.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: His time with the Mandervilles definitely changed him for the better. By the end of the questline he's significantly more cheerful than when the player first meets him.

Gigi Manderville / Vivi Quan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gigi_9.jpg

Race: Mammet
Discipline: Time Mage/ Reality Warper

An amnesiac Mammet which Hildibrand found buried in the frozen wastes of Coerthas. Hildibrand invites him to join his group to help him restore his memories. Hildibrand later ends up adopting Gigi as his son.

Ambiguous Gender: Hildibrand and Nashu argue about whether Gigi is a boy or a girl, but eventually settle on calling him a boy.
Become a Real Boy: Believing he can't be Hildibrand's son as a mammet, Gigi seeks out Godbert in the hopes he can be made into a real boy by him, having heard of his "Grandpapa's" talents as "wielding the powers of life and death". Godbert agrees and briefly makes him a man with the body of a grown Roegadyn (with his head unchanged on top), but Gigi's magic quickly reverts him back to his original mammet body.
Happily Adopted: To deter the Inquisition from targeting Gigi, Count Edmont suggests that Hildibrand adopt Gigi as a ward of House Manderville. Both parties are elated by this, with Gigi dubbing Hildibrand "Papa Hildi".
Heroic Sacrifice: When the Grand Sers detonate the explosives meant to kill Hraesvelgr with the intention of getting rid of Hildibrand and the player's group, Vivi uses his reality warping magic to save them by undoing the collapsing pillars at the cost of shorting out his core. However, it ends up subverted because while everyone is mourning his "death" Godbert points out that as a mammet, the rules of losing all his aether is different than a mortal (which is fatal), and as long as his core is undamaged, it will naturally recharge.
I Am Not Weasel: Hildibrand and Nashu think he's a Lalafell.
I Am X, Son of Y: At the climax of the Hildibrand questline in Heavensward, Gigi gives one of these that is nothing short of pure awesome.
Gigi: I aM vIvI, gRaNdSoN oF aRcHmAgUs QuAn, AnD gIgI, sOn Of HiLdIbRaNd HeLiDoR mAxImIlIaN mAnDeRvIlLe! AnD tHiS iS mY sToRy!
Insistent Terminology: Thanks to their usual meeting place in Ishgard as well as Nashu's obsession with the word, Gigi insists on referring to any type of building as a gazebo.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Upon being dug up from the snow and repaired by Godbert, Gigi has no memory of who he is. Hildibrand offers to help restore Gigi's memory, but both parties seem to no longer care as they prefer to spend time together as father and son. This turns out to be intentional as Archmagus Quan removed the memories in order to protect him from anyone who may try to abuse his ability to manipulate reality.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. Gigi shares his name with a mammet that appears in the A Realm Reborn Goldsmith quests, though it both cases it isn't their original name—this Gigi's actual name is Vivi, while the Goldsmith Gigi is actually Mnejing.
Reality Warper: This is his true power, his can freely alter reality in an area around him to be what he "thinks" it should be, rather than any kind of time magic. This is why Hildibrand's clothes aren't repaired because that's a "natural" state to Vivi, and the reason he could make the Grand Sers young again is because they had talked about nothing but the past glories of their youth, allowing him to make them not just young, but also powerful, since they talked about themselves as stronger than they likely were.
Shout-Out:
- He's very clearly based on Vivi from Final Fantasy IX in name, appearance, and backstory. Made even more blatant in the 3rd chapter of the Heavensward Hildibrand quests when his true identity is revealed. His name actually is Vivi and he was created and taught by an archmagus named Quan whom he would affectionately refer to as "Grandpapa Quan".
- During his I Am X, Son of Y speech, Gigi says "tHiS iS mY sToRy!", a shout-out to the Arc Words of Final Fantasy X.
Sleep-Mode Size: After he drains himself saving everyone by rewriting reality, Godbert puts his core into a smaller, less detailed Mammet while he naturally recharges his aether, in this form he seems to be completely powerless and only somewhat sentient, with both returning in time (likely for the next Hildibrand arc in Stormblood).
Story-Breaker Power: Gigi's Reality Warper powers would make him an enormous boon for the heroes thanks to his ability to make things as they "should be", which would logically include everything from restoring Allagan relics to reviving the recently dead. But he spends all of his remaining energy saving the heroes from the Grand Sers' attempt to bring all of Zenith down upon them, rendering him inert and unable to use his powers until he fully recharges.
Time Master: His strange healing/repairing magic is revealed to be a form of Time Magic which restores the target to how they were at some point in the past. Subverted as his actual power is about changing the reality to what he thinks it should be.
Verbal Tic Name: Hildibrand names him after the "Gigigigigigi" sound Gigi made when he woke up, thinking it had some significance to his past. As Cyr tries to point out, that is a sound that every mammet makes. They mostly ignore this when Gigi admits that he likes the name, and they can't really think of anything else at the time, so "Gigi" it is.

Even Further Hildibrand Adventures

Shigure

Race: Eastern Hyur
Discipline: Samurai

A Samurai who wishes to join the Hingan Sekiseigumi. To this end, he assists Nashu and the Warrior of Light in tracking down the Kugane Wolf Burglar.

Foil: To Cyr Blyme from the Heavensward quests. Both are law-enforcement figures in the major city for their respective expansions (Cyr being a Halonic inquisitor and Shigure being in the Sekiseigumi), but Cyr's position has been rendered obsolete by the end of the Dragonsong War, and he spends much of the questline desperately trying to prove he still has relevance. In contrast, the Sekiseigumi are and remain relevant in Kugane (even if the Samurai questline reveals they have some Internal Reformist struggles), and Shigure is simply a prospect-turned-new-recruit making an effort to do his part as one of them.
Friend on the Force: After joining the Sekiseigumi, he becomes the only one among the protagonists with actual law enforcement authority in Kugane.
Gag Haircut: Ends up receiving a haircut meant for Hildibrand that leaves him shaved completely bald.
Only Sane Man: Much like Briardien and Cyr before him, Shigure ends up taking this role alongside the Warrior of Light.
Rōnin: He starts off as one, hoping to be employed in the Sekiseigumi but not yet meeting their standards. He soon promotes to a samurai proper when the Sekiseigumi accept him as one of their recruits.
Seppuku: After losing the Wolf Burglar, he is thrown in prison and, to atone, prepares to do this. However, Hildibrand's antics are able to delay it long enough to save him.
Throw the Dog a Bone: After all the crap he's been put through, at the end of 4.3's storyline, he is eventually given an offer to join the Sekiseigumi, which he happily accepts.
To Be Lawful or Good: At the end of the story, he enlists the help of the Wolf Burglar to track down the antagonist. After all is said and done, the Wolf Burglar is ready to be put back into prison, but Shigure decides to do the right thing by letting him go free so that he can put the sword at his father's grave.
Yank the Dog's Chain: In 4.4, right after having joined the Sekiseigumi he secretly frees the Kugane Wolf Burglar to get help finding Yojimbo. The Wolf Burglar wastes no time in fleeing after reclaiming his sword from Yojimbo, getting Shigure stripped of his job and thrown in prison.

Conspicuously Inconspicuous Man / Excitable Youth

Race: Dunesfolk Lalafell

A young man who observes Nashu from afar wherever she goes. He has been following her for the past several years unbeknownst to her.

Butt-Monkey: By Stormblood and Endwalker, he's subjected to quite a bit of slapstick and misfortune. He gets sucked into the void by a brainwashed Gilgamesh, gets sucked into PuPu's UFO and later spat out on the moon, suffers teleportation sickness when he follows Nashu from Thavnair to Sharlayan, and then is prevented by a Sharlayan Forum (armed with a sword no less) member from accessing Labyrinthos so he can't stalk Nashu further. Despite the setbacks, he doesn't give up in stalking Nashu.
Determinator: No matter what is thrown his way, he doesn't ever give up in stalking Nashu. In the one instance when he is physically stopped from stalking her due to not having access to a restricted area, he's content with just waiting for Nashu to come back so he can resume following her.
Early-Bird Cameo: He appears in the Hildibrand story as far back as A Realm Reborn, but he's a background character that can't be interacted with and can be difficult to spot. He doesn't get a bigger role until Stormblood.
Limited Wardrobe: He's never seen without a pink tunic or other similarly colored clothing and straw hat. It's implied that he stinks because of his limited collection of clothes.
No Name Given: He's only known as "Conspicuously Inconspicuous Man" in Stormblood and "Excitable Youth" in Endwalker according to the name tag in the chat box.
The Pig-Pen: Is implied to "smell like cheese" according to the Warrior of Light.
Recurring Extra: He can be seen hiding in the background whenever Nashu is around in A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. It isn't until Stormblood where he gets an actual speaking role and interacts with the cast of the Hildibrand story.
Stalker with a Crush: He seems to be more content with stalking Nashu rather than going up to her directly and professing his love to her. Because he's been stalking her since A Realm Reborn, he kept up the act for five years by the time you get to talk to him in Stormblood. (Said five years was the actual real time of his appearances from A Realm Reborn to Stormblood)
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In Endwalker where Hildibrand and the rest of the group use the experimental teleport to go from Thavnair to Sharylan, the young man manages to follow them through the teleportation and can be found nearby puking his guts out as he suffers from Teleportation Sickness.

Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures

Delion

Race: Hyur

The writer of the Thavnairian Truth, a newspaper detailing the rumors about the impending threat of aliens.

Accidental Misnaming: Nashu keeps calling him "Dorian", and no amount of corrections can change that.
Breaking Old Trends:
- Delion fills the same role as Briardien, Cyr, and Shigure as a newcomer character introduced to the insanity of Hildibrand's antics. But unlike them, he doesn't serve as the Only Sane Man. Instead, he makes Hildibrand and Nashu seem sane and intelligent by comparison. His tendency to assume the worst as a Conspiracy Theorist about aliens (and people in general) makes him come across as an annoying, self-righteous jerk.
- Also while the other three end up in much better places by the end thanks to Hildibrand and co warming their hearts and helping them out (Briardien getting a girlfriend and lightening up, Cyr moving to live happily in Idyllshire as an inspector himself, and Shigure getting to join the Sekisegumi like he always dreamed), Delion ends off the questline more or less how he started it. Though he does get better about being a doomsaying cynic (and comes to admit that Sharlayan is fine and not every alien out there is hostile), he still intends to be a conspiracy theorist chasing ghosts, cryptids and aliens, just that he's now doing it so that people can know what's out there in case it's dangerous so they can know to be ready instead of immediately preaching the end of the world and chasing 'I told you so''s.
Conspiracy Theorist: He initially comes off as a journalist, but once he begins talking about his articles, it's clear he's neck deep in alien conspiracies, even accusing the Loporrits for being aliens trying to take over the world. The twist is that there are aliens, but he lacks any apparent credibility to prove it. The Warrior of Light can even play along with this just to provoke him, with the option of saying that the Loporrits are caused by "reflections in swamp gas" and other such nonsense that Delion buys wholesale.
The Cuckoolander Was Right:
- Downplayed. He's been running the Hydaelyn equivalent of a tabloid magazine, each issue constantly claiming that there are aliens. As it turns out, he is correct — there really are aliens. However, they're entirely benevolent, and they're adorable. Most of the trouble centered around them is miscommunication, at worst. And the Loporrits and PuPu are entirely friendly.
- He ends up even closer to the truth during the 6.45 quests, assuming that Hildibrand's inhuman durability is due to being an alien. A short while later it's confirmed that the Mandervilles are descendants of a dying Hyur man who had willingly fused with a parasitic Mandervillian alien to save its life... Only for it to later be revealed by Godbert that at some point in the family tree, the Manderville name was paased down through adoption rather than blood, leaving the true explanation once again a mystery.
The Cynic: He assumes the worst about aliens, the Loporrits, and people in general. His constant off the wall ideas from being a Conspiracy Theorist show that he assumes that everybody and everything is hiding a shady secret, that people are deceitful, and that the world is doomed due to forces beyond any one person's understanding. By the end of the questline, he's shaken this tendency and thanks the Warrior of Light for sticking with him even when his presumptions were entirely off-base.
Dramatic Irony: Nashu finally has enough of his wild theorizing and calls him out for slandering the Warrior of Light when Delion claims the Scions were only pretending to disband and in reality went underground to avoid attention, but that's actually true.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Though he does tag along, no one believes he's right for a second; not even the Warrior of Light wants any association with him. As Nashu puts it...
Nashu: He thinks he's a friend to the people, but I don't think any people are his friends.
Goggles Do Nothing: He's always wearing goggles that hide his eyes but there's no real reason for him to be wearing them. He's not a craftsman, doesn't regularly go into dangerous areas full of pointy implements, and isn't armed in a way that warrants it.
Moral Myopia: He insists that Sharlayan is conspiring with aliens to take over the world and enslave mankind... right up until a Gleaner mentions as an aside that they enjoy reading the Thavnarian Truth. Delion's tone changes instantly, because if he has a readership there who likes his magazine, there's no way they could possibly have any ill intentions or dastardly schemes (nevermind the fact we've foiled several morally dubious plots in other storylines headed by a Sharlayan).
Naïve Newcomer: He plays this role for the Endwalker Hildibrand questline. A good example is when Godbert launches himself into the air, everyone else books it while Delion stares in amazement, then gets sent flying from the impact of Godbert's landing.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: He has a habit of getting the facts right, but his hyperfocus on "evil alien invaders" botches his understanding of them to the point of Circular Reasoning.
- He (correctly) reaches the conclusion that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are only "disbanded" on paper and went underground to avoid the public eye. But he thinks it's because they're alien mind-slaves/willing cohorts manipulating the world from the shadows.
- He's also correct that the moon is a gigantic ship created by the ancients, but he assumes it's an invading mothership rather than an escape vessel.
- He's also correct that the Sharlayans were conspiring with the Loporrits to abduct the whole population of the planet. Unfortunately, the keyword is "were"; he's missing the couple chapters of context where the Warrior of Light threw a wrench into that, or that it wasn't so much an "abduction" as a "come with us if you want to live".
- Even his "evil alien invaders" spiel would be true if only he accused the right target. If he had any foreknowledge whatsosever of Omega or the Endsinger, he'd know that the invasion already happened and failed.
- He ultimately ends up being correct that Pupu's species does present some degree of threat. When they finally rescue Pupu's missing companion, it immediately tries to launch a violent invasion and genocidal conquest of Hydaelyn. However while Delion's entire basis on this was just thinking Aliens Are Bastards, it's more that the poor alien had been driven into a Final Days level Despair Event Horizon after Vanhudi abused its trust and mistreated it, once the misunderstanding is cleared up and it's calmed down, it proves to be perfectly kind and reasonable and apologizes profusely for how it acted.

PuPu

A tiny blue alien and Hildibrand's abductor. He comes in peace from a distant star, searching for a friend that he lost communication with.

Aliens Speaking English: A notable aversion in a game where this is the case, PuPu has no idea what anyone its saying and its own words translate as Pokémon Speak. This is why the initial insanity regarding Hildibrand's abduction and cloning happens because of miscommunication, though thankfully the Warrior of Light is able to act as an interpreter after catching up to them. This is later played straight in the 6.3 Hildibrand quests, as PuPu spent the intervening time between quests mastering the common tongue, calling its syntax and grammar easy to learn.
Flying Saucer: PuPu rides in a classic example of one, complete with Tractor Beam, a matter replicator/cloning machine, and a Death Ray.
Mythology Gag: Is a deadringer for the PuPu enemy in Final Fantasy VIII, UFO included. And just like his predecessor, he means no harm.
Puny Earthlings: PuPu repeatedly asks if numerous animals around Thavnair are types of people. When informed otherwise, PuPu says he can't tell one semi-intelligent species (lemurs) from another (mankind), implying that he looks down on human intelligence given their vastly inferior technology.
Pokémon Speak: PuPuPuPuPuPuPuPu! Thankfully, the Warrior of Light's Echo can translate it, but even then some PuPu's slip through the cracks until 6.3.

"Inspector Brandihild"

A failed(?) clone of the good Inspector himself, with an unusually blocky appearance and unassuming personality, crafted by PuPu by means of a worn-out and failing duplication device. Despite his inability to properly replicate the famed Manderville Man poses, this version of Hildibrand brings his own skills to the group.

Awesomeness by Analysis: Brandihild is capable of taking basic information and extrapolating a result from it with ludicrous speed and precision, such as "where to find a shot-down craft" or "how to redirect a laser".
Bullet Time: An imperfect clone he may be, Brandihild still possesses the famed Manderville speed. When Dr. Lugae fires a magitek beam at the Warrior, Brandihild is able to calculate the exact angle and type of metal needed to reflect it, sift through nearby wreckage, throw away a coblyn, before finding a useful piece of metal. He then rushes back into the fray and holds up the piece of metal to reflect the beam before it scarcely has time to reach the Warrior.
Clone Degeneration: A zigzagged case; while Brandihild's physical appearance is very clearly a terrible copy of Hildibrand's, Brandihild's intellect is staggering; he's shown to be able to solve mathematical problems quickly and accurately, and despite a few hiccups at the start, is polite, erudite, and thoughtful.
Clones Are People, Too: Despite his appearance, the group is quite welcoming of him, and thrilled to have his assistance. Even Hildibrand, who becomes notably unsettled about his copy stealing his thunder, is fairly welcoming of him.
Good with Numbers: Brandihild is a mathematical whiz, being able to determine the approximate crash location of PuPu's friend's ship solely based on an artillerist's anecdote and firing specifications of the cannon used to shoot the starship down.
Leitmotif: Brandihild has this silly little number, a remix of Hildibrand's theme using synthesized, retro-sounding instruments, much like how Brandihild himself is a synthesized, retro-looking version of Hildibrand.
Never Found the Body: He's last seen at the center of a massive explosion that would have supposedly atomized everyone nearby. While Nashu worries that he's been killed, Hildibrand is confident Brandihild was tough enough to survive. Sure enough, the epilogue scene of the quest shows him crashing back down to earth, alive and well.
Shrinking Violet: Compared to his originator, Brandihild is nowhere near as bombastic or a Large Ham, and seems to honestly prefer being out of the spotlight, apologizing each time he shows up Hildibrand.
Shy Finger-Twiddling: He frequently does this when apologizing or getting praised.
Stylistic Suck: He's an imperfect clone of Hildibrand and has a heavily polygonal and unfinished appearance as a result. This makes it easy to tell him apart from the original while emphasizing that there are a myriad of differences between them. He's also very unsteady when he tries to strike his versions of the classic Hildibrand poses.
Super-Intelligence: Because he is a degraded clone, Brandihild's mind was incomplete. PuPu's ship filled in the blanks of information with its own databanks, so Brandihild literally has a brain like a supercomputer. He can make advanced physics calculations in an instant and can properly deduce what local ingredients on Hydaelyn can be used to safely make medicine for an alien organism.
Tea Is Classy: While performing some high-speed calculations, Brandihild mimes sitting on a chair and sipping a cup of tea.
Thinking Tic: Brandihild has a habit of miming sitting on a chair and drinking tea while performing calculations extremely quickly to accomplish a task.

Godbrand Manderville (Unmarked Spoilers!)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/godbrand_manderville.png

Race: Hyur-Mandervillian Hybrid
Discipline: Blacksmith

The progenitor of the illustrious bloodline of House Manderville. In truth, he was the last of an alien parasitic race known as the Mandervillians whose planet was besieged by the Final Days. He fled the destruction in a spaceship before crash-landing on Etheirys, where Godbrand was saved by a sickly man who offered his body to the dying alien. Touched by this man's kindness, Godbrand applied his knowledge of advanced alien technology as a blacksmith to help others before settling down with a Hyuran woman, leading to the founding of the now-famous family.

Ambiguous Situation: The end of the Somewhat Even Further Adventures storyline reveals that Godbrand's bloodline had a break where a heirless descendant passed the name to a child they adopted, suggesting that Godbert and Hildibrand hail from this break. However, it's left ambiguous if Godbrand's alien bloodline has come to an end or if there are still Mandervilles out there from that bloodline.
Body Snatcher: Benevolent example. The Mandervillians were parasites who took over the minds of their hosts and dramatically increased their strength and durability. Mandervillians in compatible host bodies would then procreate to produce offspring who would take on new hosts to proliferate across the stars. While they made of point of never taking on a sapient host, the Hyur who came to investigate the crash site of Godbrand's ship was already sickly and dying. Instead of letting himself die pointlessly, this man offered his body to Godbrand to save the Mandervillian's life.
Emergency Transformation: While he was still an alien, Godbrand was fatally wounded in the crash. At the same time, the Hyuran man who discovered his crash site was deathly ill. Mandervillians don't usually take over sapient life forms since it means a Death of Personality for the host, but with both of them already near death, the Hyuran decided to make the gamble of offering up his life for the alien's to take over. It worked.
Going Native: After taking on a Hyur host, Godbrand lived as any man would on Etheirys and even sired at least one child. His origins as a spacefaring alien were lost to history, resulting in his descendants believing that they're all purely Hyur.
Good Counterpart: To Emet-Selch as Solus zos Galvus. Both are survivors of a race wiped out by the Meteia who possess a man on Etheirys and found a family that grows to immense power and pass on parts of their power to their otherwise normal descendants. Whereas Emet-Selch possessed Solus by force and planned to destroy the current state of the world to bring back his people, Godbrand obtained permission from his host first and fell in love with his new home, doing what he could to protect it even if it meant his race would die with him.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The man who offered Godbrand his body presumably had the same golden hair that Godbrand has at the time of his recording. Godbrand himself would spend the rest of his days trying to live up to that man's example, asking all of his descendants to extend the same helping hand that he was given.
Happily Married: Judging by the joyful expressions of his wife and son in the recording left for the future Mandervilles, Godbrand was a loving family man with a happy marriage to his wife. They were even aware of his alien heritage, given that they took part in the recording to begin with.
I Owe You My Life: Godbrand was touched by the generosity of the sickly man who offered his body as a host so that Godbrand may live. Moved by the man's kindness, Godbrand wishes for all of his descendants to help others as he was helped and to use his armory of weapons for the benefit of the people who showed "surpassing love and generosity" to him in his darkest hour.
Posthumous Character: He's the founder of the Manderville family and is long gone by the events of the story.
Puny Earthlings: Downplayed. By Mandervillian standards, the people of Etheirys are incredibly fragile. But Godbrand is convinced of humanity's capacity for love and generosity, asking all of his descendants to act for the benefit of the same people who saved him and brought so much joy into his life.
Shared Family Quirks: Godbrand's recording begins with him posing as his descendants, Godbert and Hildibrand, would decades or centuries later. Godbrand's wife and son also shared his mannerisms. Even his wife resembles Julyan in the present, implying that he and Godbert both have the same taste in women.
Sole Survivor: He and a companion were the only two known Mandervillians to escape the havoc that the Final Days wreaked on their homeworld. But when they crash-landed on Etheirys, only Godbrand managed to cling to life.
Strong Family Resemblance: Save for his High-Class Glass, the color of his outfit, and minor differences in facial hair, Godbrand is identical to a younger version of his descendant, Godbert. He also uses the same poses that Godbert and Hildibrand use throughout the Hildibrand questline.
Superpowerful Genetics: Upon taking a host, the Mandervillians dramatically increased the physical strength, dexterity, and durability of their hosts. When Godbrand settled down with a Hyuran woman, their son possessed the same superhuman physical prowess despite being otherwise completely Hyuran.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Thanks to his advanced knowledge of metallurgy from his past as a starfaring alien, Godbrand was able to forge the Manderville weapons, armaments of purportedly peerless power. When fully upgraded, these weapons serve as the most powerful weapons acquirable in Endwalker.
Walking Spoiler: Godbrand's history directly involves the main conflict of Endwalker and blows the history of the Mandervilles wide open, making it impossible to talk about him without revealing that the Mandervilles are of alien descent.
You Are Not Ready: At the end of the Manderville Weapons storyline, it's revealed that the original weapons were destroyed because, at the time, Etherys had no one around with the kindness and drive to bring about peace, thus he destroyed the original weapons, locked away the blueprints and hid the techniques that allowed them to be made until such a person would come about.

Characters / Final Fantasy XIV - Hildibrand Allies

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