36 Facts About Ardyn Izunia

1.

Ardyn Izunia is a character from the Final Fantasy franchise.

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2.

Ardyn Izunia plays a significant role as the main antagonist of the video game Final Fantasy XV, where he is portrayed as a character driven by his hatred of the royal line of Lucis, a kingdom which is invaded and occupied by Niflheim.

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3.

Ardyn Izunia is presented as an unusual villain as he actively helps Noctis through his quest early in the game's story, even though it ultimately serves his desire for revenge.

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4.

Ardyn Izunia is voiced in Japanese by Keiji Fujiwara and in English by Darin De Paul.

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5.

Ardyn Izunia was originally created in 2010 after the developers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a Final Fantasy spin-off title which was canceled and repurposed into Final Fantasy XV, made the decision to cut Safay Roth, a villainous Niflheim officer present in the original story.

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6.

Ardyn Izunia was first unveiled in the E3 2013 trailer for Final Fantasy XV where he is on the steps of the rainy Citadel with Iedolas Aldercapt, holding an umbrella, although this scene is not included in the final game.

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7.

Ardyn Izunia was originally designed by Roberto Ferrari in December 2010, and the character's visual look remained nearly unchanged throughout development.

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8.

Ardyn Izunia is described by the staff as "an interesting and strange character", with a unique personality and using his attire to express it, comparing it to the outfit of Kefka Palazzo, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VI.

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9.

Ardyn Izunia is bent on destroying Noctis as king, and does not want him dead until then.

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10.

Ardyn Izunia appears as the main villain in Episode Ignis, but the developers refrained from giving him too much lore there so they can fully explain it in Episode Ardyn Izunia.

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11.

Ardyn Izunia received favorable response by the audience which resulted in him obtaining his own DLC chapter when the team decided to stop making other chapters centered on the leads.

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12.

Ardyn Izunia's reddish hair color is a reference to the fact that his Japanese voice actor, Keiji Fujiwara, had previously voiced red-haired characters Reno from Final Fantasy VII and Axel from the Kingdom Hearts series.

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13.

Ardyn Izunia did a single take for the voice, which landed him the role.

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14.

Paul said Ardyn Izunia was a departure from his previous roles.

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15.

Ardyn Izunia was particularly impressed with the game's writing and how it manages to humanize Ardyn in spite of his "sincere insincerity" and "oily" nature.

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16.

Ardyn Izunia was surprised when seeing him in the prologue and wanted the audience to have the same reaction as it adds new content not seen in the game.

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17.

Ardyn Izunia referred to Ardyn as "very wonderful complex character" while highlighting the confidence he displays alongside his "devilish" side.

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18.

Nevertheless, he felt that Ardyn Izunia was still enjoyable as a villain with his quirks that contrast his childish and serious tones helping him to be more appealing.

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19.

Ardyn Izunia is initially introduced as the Imperial Chancellor of Niflheim and regarded as both its main political force running the empire and benefactor of its advances in Magitek technology.

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20.

Ardyn Izunia's growing symptoms caused him to be ostracised by his brother Somnus and rejected by the Crystal, an event compounded by the death of his lover Aera Mirus Fleuret during his fight with Somnus.

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21.

Ardyn Izunia reveals his villainous nature by fatally wounding Lunafreya after she summons Leviathan, then harassing Noctis first by tricking him into attacking Prompto, and revealing the truth of their kinship when Noctis reaches the Crystal.

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22.

Ardyn Izunia had an extra scene added to the main game during the 1.

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23.

Episode Ardyn Izunia reveals that Ardyn Izunia was liberated by Niflheim forces about thirty years before the events of Final Fantasy XV, after being imprisoned for two millennia.

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24.

Ardyn Izunia agrees to join Niflheim and aids its Research Chief Verstael Besithia's efforts into weaponizing the dark magical energy generated by the Starscourge.

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25.

Episode Ignis reveals an alternate ending for the game's story where the title character successfully defeats Ardyn Izunia uses Noctis' Ring of The Lucii without being blinded.

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26.

Ardyn Izunia makes a brief appearance in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

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27.

Ardyn Izunia arrives in the Citadel and presents himself before Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII to discuss the terms of a truce, where he proposes the union by marriage between Noctis and Lunafreya as one of its key terms.

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28.

Ardyn Izunia arrives with Iedolas on an airship and watches on as several dignitaries during an event to celebrate the truce, which is revealed to be a ruse for Niflheim forces to invade Insomnia and defeat its defenders.

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29.

Ardyn Izunia makes a cameo appearance in Assassin's Creed: Origins as part of a franchise crossover between Square Enix and Ubisoft in 2017.

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30.

Ardyn Izunia was added as a playable character for the crossover mobile title Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia in 2019, and the fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy NT in 2018.

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31.

Ardyn Izunia has received a generally positive reception from critics and players.

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32.

Salvatore Pane, writing for Paste Magazine said Ardyn Izunia killing Lunafreya had a major impact in the narrative due the amount of grief the characters, specifically Noctics, suffer as a result for the first time in the entire game.

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33.

In regards to the DLCs featuring Ardyn Izunia, Triezenberg felt the alternate storyline featured in the DLC provided some good character development for Ignis, Noctis and Ardyn Izunia.

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34.

Destructoid stated that while Ardyn Izunia was kept as a mysterious and interesting villain in Final Fantasy XV, the DLC manages to properly explore his past especially how he destroys the Kingdom of Insomnia and found that his immortality is well translated to gameplay.

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35.

Ardyn Izunia was compared to the figure of an Antichrist due to how he was cursed despite being an immortal to the point of calling him "twisted" and noted it made the final fight between him and Noctis easier to understand.

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36.

Darin De Paul's performance as Ardyn Izunia was praised by RPGFan for properly portraying his suffering in the DLC which was noted by the site to have emotive scenes for the title character.

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