Ramirez

Character Biography

Fina reveals that Ramirez is a Silvite like her. She also explains that Ramirez was the best warrior of the Silvite Civilization, he could channel the power of the Silver Moon through his sword, making it sharp enough to cut through light. She tells Vyse, Aika, and Enrique about how they grew up together and were best friends. He was like an older brother to her. When they heard how the Valuans were trying to awaken the gigas, Ramirez was the one who volunteered to stop them, and he left her to search for the moon crystals on his own. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Ramirez would join the Valuan Armada, the very people he was sent there to stop. She wonders what changed him this way and hopes that the old Ramirez isn't gone forever.

If the player decides to complete the Moonfish/ Piastol side quests, then they can reveal more of Ramirez's back story and what had changed. After some progression in the side quests, Doc will reveal that he used to be close friends with Ramirez, and that they both worked for Lord Admiral Mendosa. When they found Ramirez, he was wearing strange clothes, and he was piloting a strange ship. They managed to rescue him when his ship crashed. He reveals that Ramirez was pretty naive and didn't understand a lot of things in Arcadia (much like Fina when she first arrived in this world) but he was a kind person and a strong warrior. Mendosa even praised Doc and Ramirez one time, saying that he wished he had two sons like them (to which Doc replies that Mendosa already has two daughters, why would he need sons?) which made Ramirez happy.

After more progression in the side quests, Doc also explains how Ramirez met Galcian for the first time. They went to Ixa'taka, the continent that Admiral Galcian had conquered Mendosa monitored. Ramirez had expressed concern over how the Ixa'takans were being treated like slaves and forced to do hard labor in the mines, so Mendosa promised him that he would consult Empress Teodora on the matter. Afterwards, Ramirez confronts Galcian for treating the Ixa'takans this way in rage, so Doc has to restrain him. Galcian mocks Ramirez for being naive and putting so much trust in one person. He tells him that people will only betray you, however, power will not and advises Ramirez to find him when he realizes it. Before he leaves, he asks Ramirez why the Ixa'takans are still treated like slaves and suggests he talk to Mendosa, who Ramirez naively trusts so much. Doc then explains to Fina that maybe if he had stopped Ramirez from meeting Galcian, then maybe he wouldn't have changed the way he did, so he regrets it.

More progression in the side quests, Doc then explains what changed Ramirez. After meeting Galcian, Ramirez investigates the matter of the slavery and asks Mendosa if he was the one who was truly treating the Ixa'takans this way and didn't tell Empress Teodora of their treatment. Mendosa says that he can't lie to Ramirez, so he explains that, yes, he hadn't told Empress Teodora about how the Ixa'takans are treated. He had been making the Ixa'takans work longer hours in the Moonstone Mountains, so that he could pocket the extra profit for himself. Now that Ramirez knows this, Mendosa calls in the guards to execute the Silvite. Ramirez, betrayed and experiencing his world falling apart, kills every single one of them, including Mendosa. Doc ran into the room and saw everything in flames as they surrounded Ramirez. He tells Ramirez that they should leave, but Ramirez tells him that the Ramirez he knew is now dead, and he was dead once he drew his sword. Doc grabs Maria and hurries to a lifeboat to save her as Ramirez presumably left to find Galcian.

Near the end of the game, Ramirez will tell Fina how he changed. He says that when the Silvite Elders briefed him on the mission they were on, they were supposed to find all the moon crystals, yes, but that's because the Elders were going to call down the Rains of Destruction to destroy Arcadia. In fact, they were the ones who called down the Rains of Destruction all those years ago. Fina believes that he's lying, but he tells her that while he was told the truth, she was the one who was told lies. Ramirez then continues further that he did not want to call down the Rains of Destruction, but when he served Lord Galcian, he got a look at how the people of Arcadia really are. Since his time in Upper Valua (a city bathed in corruption), he draws the conclusion that the people of this world are shallow and petty and greedy, so they deserved to be wiped out of existence.

Ramirez then shows Fina further proof that the Elders lied to her when he reveals that all Silvites are born with a little piece of the Silver Moon Crystal inside of them and shows where his is located. Fina, of course, was never told that. He then tells them that if the moon crystal is taken out, then the person will die because that crystal is their very life force. He then tries to kill Fina to take her moon crystal, but he is foiled by Gilder and Clara who shoot at him with a cannon. Ramirez then leaves with the other five moon crystals that he had already taken from Vyse and company.

Ramirez is later seen killing one of the Silvite Elders and takes his Moon Crystal, bringing it to Galcian, who says that he could never kill Ramirez to take his Moon Crystal as he is too valuable to him. The two then escape, and later raise Soltis. After Galcian calls down the Rains of Destruction on Valua, he goes to the other countries to negotiate their surrenders, and Ramirez asks if he could accompany him. Galcian tells him to stay in Soltis to call down the Rains of Destruction when needed, and then leaves. After Galcian dies, Ramirez mourns for a moment before flying into a rage and attempts to call down the Rains of Destruction on all of Arcadia. He is stopped by the Silvite Elders who drop the Silver Shrine on Soltis and shatter both the shield and instrument for activating the Rains of Destruction.

Vyse and company must now defeat Ramirez. Ramirez is still in mourning, and he questions why they killed Lord Galcian. To him, they killed the only person in the world who could have saved this pitiful world, so they should die too. After fighting him, Fina tells him that she doesn't want to fight him anymore. Ramirez tells her that the Ramirez she knew is dead. He then commits suicide by offering his moon crystal to Zelos, both awakening and merging with it to Fina's horror. After Fina and Vyse defeat Zelos, they find something had crashed onto the deck of the Delphinus. That something is half Zelos and half Ramirez. After Fina and company defeat this form as well, Ramirez dies and leaves behind his Silver Moon Crystal. Vyse states that Ramirez was born in the sky and died in the sky, and it is Air Pirate custom to return a body where it belongs. With Fina's consent, Vyse tells Ramirez to rest in peace and throws the Silvite's Moon Crystal into the sky.

How He Meets Vyse and Company

Ramirez is first seen by Admiral Galcian's side, both of them talking. Since then, he is always seen near Galcian, and addresses him as "Lord Galcian". After some progression in the storyline, Galcian had fired Alfonso and promoted Ramirez to be the Sixth Admiral of the Armada. Fina also mentions his name from time to time, but whatever Ramirez says usually revolves around giving orders or asking Galcian if anything is needed of him. Later, Ramirez is in his flagship, The Monoceros, and he tries to kill Vyse and company by circling behind them when they have used the harpoon cannon on Rhaknam and fires at them. He continues firing at the Little Jack as Drachma helps everyone else escape, but Drachma ultimately stays on the ship even though it's on flames. He then fires at the lifeboats that Vyse, Aika, and Fina escape on.

Much later, he is seen talking with his Vice Captain who tells him that Nasrad is defenseless, so they can take it without any violence. Ramirez contemplates that, but he says that wants to see Nasrad burned to the ground, so he orders all of them to attack the capital. When Vyse and company return to Nasrad after a disappointing treasure hunt on Daccat's Island, they see someone attacking the Nasultan's palace and have to escape the city before they're burned as well. Ramirez then steps out of the flames, says Fina's name, and says that he was looking for her. He then draws his sword and demands that they hand over the red moon crystal and the green moon crystal.

As an opponent

The player gets to fight this character at least two times, the first time being optional... The first two fights are impossible to win, and the last one is very difficult (unless the player happens to be very over-leveled). The last time the player fights Ramirez is at the end of the game, and Ramirez will be the final boss.

The first time the player can fight Ramirez is after the admiral burns down Nasrad. Vyse, Aika, Fina, and Gilder are in the prosperous merchant city at the time and run out of it to get to the ship before they all burn to death. Ramirez then steps out of the flames and demands that they surrender the red moon crystal and the green moon crystal to him. Fina shakes her head at Vyse and tells him to surrender because Ramirez is too strong now. The player then has a choice of "Surrender" or "Fight...even though you know it is futile." It is recommended to choose the first choice to increase Vyse's Swashbuckler rating, but choosing the second choice allows the player to fight Ramirez. There is no incentive to fighting Ramirez at this moment, but some players like Ramirez's battle theme and the battle animation for his S-move, Silver Eclipse, which may be the only move he uses in addition to attacking regularly. It's impossible to win against Ramirez at this point. His health never changes to yellow.

The second time the player can fight Ramirez (or first if the optional battle was not done) is after the admiral burns down Vyse's base, Crescent Isle. Vyse, Aika, and Fina run out to see their home away from home in flames. As they wonder how the Armada found their base, Ramirez steps out of the flames yet again and demands that they surrender all of their moon crystals. The player can then choose "You'll have to kill us!" so that Vyse can increase his Swashbuckler rating, and the player will fight Ramirez. This time, Ramirez will come with two shadows to accompany him after the player has already defeated two other shadows that "greet" Vyse and company. The shadows can be defeated. It is impossible to win against Ramirez, though. Ramirez will also use magic like Drilnos or Eternum in addition to his S-move, "Silver Eclipse".

The third (or second if the optional battle was not done) and final time the player can fight Ramirez is at the end of the game after Galcian's death when he mourns and becomes completely mentally unhinged. Since Lord Galcian is dead, he decides that Vyse and company should die as well. He brings some new S-moves with him, Silver Tundra, Destruction, and Lunar Blessing. This is just the first form.

The second form is an airship battle. After defeating Ramirez, he decides to forfeit his life and merges with the silver gigas, Zelos. However, the gigas is still only forming, so Fina advises her group to attack Zelos before it fully develops or it will become invincible. For whatever reason, Zelos will drop a Captain's Stripe when defeated, but the player never gets a chance to use it because there is no save point at the end of the game.

The third and final form is a battle on the deck of the Delphinus. Zelos' shell peels off and breaks, revealing a "core" that is half-Ramirez and half-Zelos. This is the only real time the player defeats Ramirez. He gets some new S-moves in this battle as well, Silver Binds and Silver Nightmare.

S-moves

*it is only assumed that these are S-moves because they are not magic, otherwise Aika's "Delta Shield" would block them.

• Silver Eclipse - Darkness falls around him as he drags his hand down his face saying, "Where there is light..." he opens his eyes and continues "...there is darkness." He then walks into a black water-like portal of sorts as though he were going into another realm. He then concludes, "Sword of the Dark Moon!" as he races back and forth within this black space where Vyse's party is seemingly frozen, leaving a trail of silver wherever his blade has passed. After he has covered the entire field in this silver color, it shatters with the last slash, and he returns through the black water-like portal of sorts. He raises his sword and swings it, black circles then slicing each party member and displaying the damage done. This is Ramirez's signature move, as he uses it frequently.
• Silver Tundra - Ramirez uses this move in his first form of the last battle. He won't use it in the first two fights. Ramirez will raise his sword as a hazy red color surrounds him. He'll look down as ice forms around the blade. Ramirez will open his eyes after looking up as the ice shatters, a tear of blood escaping his eye. He states, "Repent your sins through death..." while ice forms around him and concludes "Sword of the Eclipse!" before he swings his sword. The ice shatters and forms toward the target. The target is encased within a sharp glacier before it shatters as well and throws the target around with the translucent shards before falling on a newly formed icicle and getting impaled.
• Lunar Blessing - Ramirez uses this move in his first form of the last battle, and will not use it in the first two fights. He will appear in a crater with the moon shining behind him. He holds his hand out and beseeches, "Moons, give me your blessing." The moon lets a trickle of sparkles fall into his open hand. He then holds it to his chest as he's lifted into the air shining before he lands back on the ground, a shining ring appears where he steps, with his sword ready. Fina will also say "Moons, give us your blessing" when she performs this move, but she says, "us" instead of "me", the way Ramirez says it. It also has the same effect as Fina's "Lunar Blessing", the regenerative properties, but Fina's only heals two hundred HP every turn while Ramirez's heals three times as much HP every turn (six hundred).
• Destruction - Ramirez uses this move in his first form of the last battle, and will not use it in the first two fights. Ramirez crosses his arms over his chest as frosty air dances around him. He moves his arms outwards as he growls, ice forming on the ground. The ice shatters, their shards damaging all members of the party. This is similar to Galcian's "Neglora" in both the animation and the effect. Ramirez's has a higher damage output, though.
• Silver Binds - Ramirez uses this move in his third form of the last battle, and will not use it in the first two fights or in his first form. Huge red eyes show up behind Ramirez, most likely, the eyes of Zelos, and red strands wrap around the selected target. Ramirez moves up to face the target and commands them to "Die." He grabs them with Zelos' arm, as silver hair appears, stabbing the character all at once before one strand lifts the character up. Ramirez concludes "Kill him." before Zelos opens its mouth and fires a blue energy beam to finish off the target.
• Silver Nightmare - Ramirez uses this move in his third form of the last battle, and will not use it in the first two fights or in his first form. Ramirez gathers some sort of dark energy and throws it toward the selected target, making him/her fall through a vortex-like space before he pulls them back out with purple strings. They reappear by falling out of the vortex in the ceiling the purple strands attached to them as they look up at Ramirez with misty eyes. He orders them to "Fight!", and they will use an S-move against members of the party and not use the command selected by the player. It takes away the turn of the member targeted and depending on what S-move was used, will target one to all members of the party. This move has higher priority than everything that is not "Prophecy" or "Blue Rogues." For some reason, Ramirez will primarily target one of the secondary playable characters (Enrique, Gilder, or Drachma). Also, he uses this move as often as he would "Silver Eclipse."

Trivial Information/Personality/Interests

Ramirez is twenty-four years old, the youngest officer and most recent addition to Valua's military. His flagship is the Monoceros, and it is one of the few Valuan battleships that are not fought against. Not surprisingly, light speed swordsmanship is Ramirez's strength, he has no hobbies, and the most important thing to him is loyalty to Lord Galcian, whom he trusts more than anyone.

In Ramirez's room in the Great Silver Shrine, Fina explains that Ramirez looked at maps of Arcadia and shows Vyse and company a small detailed model of a ship that Ramirez crafted when he was younger. He also told her how maps can make a world look so much smaller. Ramirez always studied maps of Arcadia when he was younger and wanted a chance to explore it. He may have turned out differently if he had the fortune to encounter less corrupt people first the way Fina had.

Before fighting the party, Ramirez draws his sword and usually says, "Die." In the final battle, in his first form, his line changes to "I will kill you, all of you." However, when Ramirez fights in the final battle in his final form, he will say "Die" before fighting the party again. When Ramirez performs "Lunar Blessing", the moon's sparkles fall into the hand where his Silver Moon Crystal piece is located, thus why it starts shining brighter when he holds it to his chest.

English Localization Changes

Ramirez's near-religious obsession with Galcian was toned down in the English Localization. Before he fights the party in his final form, Galcian's death upsets him so much that he mentions Galcian's name almost every other sentence. In the English Localization, he says that they will feel the wrath of Zelos, and Zelos will feast on their souls. As Ramirez dies, he says Galcian's name in the original Japanese. In the English Localization, Ramirez simply says that this can't be happening.

There was also some censorship. Before Ramirez fights Vyse and company in his first form, he grips his sword so hard that he bleeds, then he swings the sword and makes the blood fly off. In the English Localization, Ramirez grips the sword lightly and doesn't bleed. Strangely, when Ramirez performs "Silver Tundra", the tear of blood is shown in both versions of game remaining unedited.