Paladin (job)

The Paladin , sometimes abbreviated as PAL or PLD , is a unique job that appears in several games in the series. Originally appearing as a story oriented job for Cecil Harvey in Final Fantasy IV, it has since become a recurring job in titles that feature the job system as a core gameplay mechanic. Paladins are holy knights that utilize their skills to defend and support their allies in combat.
Similar jobs include the likes of the recurring Knight and Holy Knight, with the former sometimes being localized as Paladin in several installments. Dragoons also have a parallel to the Paladin known as the Holy Dragoon.
==Profile==
The Paladin is a holy knight, often wearing either white or silver armor. The job serves as a counterbalance to the Dark Knight job. Like the Knight, Paladins equip heavy swords and armor and can use special holy swords that have been imbued with sacred power. As Dark Knights wield the Deathbringer, the holy sword Excalibur is sometimes associated with Paladins. Other common Paladin weapons include the Defender, Save the Queen, and Ragnarok.
At the job's introduction in Final Fantasy IV, the Paladin could only utilize basic White Magic spells and could cover allies whose HP are low, the latter being a skill available to the Paladin in most appearances.
Starting from Final Fantasy XI, later installments would expand on the Paladin's defensive capabilities, granting the job new abilities such as Sentinel and Rampart. In addition, Paladins also have gained access to unique skillsets that allow the user to strike enemies with light-themed attacks, notable examples include Seiken from Final Fantasy IX and Chivalry from the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy IV===
Cecil Harvey transforms into a Paladin on Mount Ordeals. He has access to low-level White Magic and can use Cover to take hits in an ally's place; he will use Cover to protect weakened allies automatically. As a Paladin, Cecil gains access to many Holy-Elemental weapons, such as the Lustrous Sword and his ultimate weapon, the Ragnarok, allowing him to do massive damage against undead monsters.
====Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-====
Cecil is a Paladin and retains all of his skills as a Paladin from the previous game.
====Final Fantasy IV: The After Years====
Cecil is a Paladin once again, retaining his White Magic skills from Final Fantasy IV. In addition, he has access to unique holy-elemental Bands such as Holy Blade and Holy Cross.
===Final Fantasy IX===
Beatrix is a Paladin and is temporarily playable, as well as being fought as a boss. She has her own skillset, Seiken, which consists of some Sword Arts attacks, and can cast White Magic. 
===Final Fantasy XI===
The Paladin (PLD) is an advance job that can be obtained from completing the "A Knight's Test" quest. The job serves a tank role in combat, having access to several defensive skills and strong heavy armor. In addition, Paladins can also utilize a moderate pool of White Magic spells.
Notable Paladins in the game include Curilla V Mecru, Trion I d'Oraguille, and Valaineral.
===Final Fantasy XIII-2===
The Paladin is a unique role for Lightning in her downloadable scenario, "Lightning's Story: Requiem of the Goddess". It is a 'mythic' themed variant of the game's Commando role.
====Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII====
Paladin is a garb available for Lightning. Its locked ability is Heavy Guard and its auto-abilities are Soul of the Holy Knight, which boosts Magic Resistance by 10% and status ailment resistance by 20%, and Ruinga Guard, which deals magic damage when Lightning guards for a certain length of time. It is obtained by completing the sidequest "The Saint's Stone" in Luxerion.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
The Paladin (PLD) is the job upgrade of the Gladiator class, being available after obtaining the Soul of the Paladin soul crystal from completing the "Paladin's Pledge" quest at level 30. Paladins retain all of the Gladiator weaponskills and abilities, and also gain support skills like Cover, as well as powerful restorative and offensive magic (albeit at a high MP cost).
===Final Fantasy Tactics Advance===
Paladin (PAL) is a job class available only to humes. Paladins wield knightswords and greatswords in battle. Their action ability involves the aiding of fellow clan members in battle. They have decent stat growth in everything but Speed, and are quite useful in combat. With the correct support abilities, the Paladin can be one of the most powerful classes due to them having access to the most powerful weapons.
====Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift====
Paladin is a job class exclusive to humes. Paladins are tanks, with high HP and Defense stats, but they have low Speed, Evade and Strength. They are well-balanced attacking and supporting units, with their Nurse ability as an effective debuff remover, and their Cover ability invaluable in missions involving protecting a specific unit. Frimelda Lotice is a Paladin.
===Final Fantasy Tactics S===
The Paladin was the job of several obtainable hume units. Notable Paladins included Lord Saint Conrad and Holy Servant Elliot, with their abilities being Dominion Shield and Cover respectively.
===Crystal Defenders: Vanguard Storm===
===Final Fantasy Dimensions II===
The Paladin is a light-elemental Eidolon for the Deathlord. Its signet artwork are all based on different forms of Cecil Harvey. The Paladin teaches him the Holy Blade I - III abilities and can be obtained by completing the "First Magic Corps" character episode.
In addition, Paladin-themed costumes for Morrow, Wrieg, Parai, and the Deathlord can be obtained from the Babil Tower exchange shops.
===Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy===
Cecil appears as both a Dark Knight and a Paladin in both entries. He is able to shift between his two forms when attacking, with his Paladin form specializing in swift aerial sword combos and light-based magic attacks.
Cecil often appears in his Paladin form in cutscenes outside of battle.
====Dissidia Final Fantasy NT====
The Paladin once again appears as one of Cecil's forms. His Paladin form specializes in performing swift aerial combos that focus on dealing damage to the Brave Points of enemies. 
====Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia====
Cecil's Paladin form appears as a separate character alongside his Dark Knight form. They cannot be in the same party (with the exception of friend summons and co-op).
Beatrix and Ceodore Harvey also appear as playable characters.
===Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin===
Paladin is an Expert Job available after unlocking the corresponding nodes in the White Mage and Knight Job Trees. In addition, it is available to Neon after clearing the "Scarlet Memories: The Fallen" side mission. Paladin is a high-maintenance defensive job that excels at maintaining high HP and defense and transforming it into a powerful offense. It acts as an evolution of the Knight job with its defensive capabilities combined with the White Mage's healing and holy damage traits.
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
The Paladin was an advance job unlocked by achieving White Mage level 10 and Monk level 5. The job focused on utilizing STR and INT abilities, with its primary weapons being greatswords and staves. Its appearance was based on Cecil Harvey's design from Kingdom Hearts Mobile.
===Final Fantasy Artniks===
The Paladin from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance appears as an obtainable card.
===Final Fantasy Explorers===
Paladin is a job unlocked by crafting 15% of all equipment. The Paladin is a high defense tank capable of protecting teammates from all damage.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
The Paladin is the job for Cecil (Paladin) and Beatrix. The two Paladin characters serve as Physical/Magic Hybrid units, having access to high level Knight and White Magic abilities. However, Cecil has a stronger emphasis on using White Magic with his higher mind stat.
While having different job titles, Curilla, Haurchefant, and Marche Radiuju's Soul Breaks are based on the Paladin skillsets from their respective titles. Unlike Cecil and Beatrix, these characters lack the usage of high leveled White Magic abilities. 
===Mobius Final Fantasy===
The Paladin was a job card available for Wol to summon. It was an advanced Warrior job, serving the Defender role, having high HP and defensive power. Its Ultimate was Runic Saber, an attack that would deal damage to all enemies on the field. The upgraded forms of the Paladin were the Crusader and the Knight of Avalon, which could be unlocked through the fourth and eighth job panel boards respectively.
The job's appearance is based on the recurring Knights of the Round summon, with the Japanese name of the job's final evolution being Knight of the Round . 
When equipped with the Paladin jobs, Wol's battle theme would change to the "Rune Saber" track.
===War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
The Paladin appears as the primary job of Engelbert, Nasha, Raviesse, and Tyytas Groms. The Paladin's command set includes physical attack skills that gain enemy hate, while also having support abilities to aid their allies.
Characters with access to the Paladin as a secondary job include Agrias, Baelo, Dario Hourn, Delita, Elsirelle (Summer), Kain Highwind, Lucio, Miranda, Mont Leonis, Muraga Fennes, Rhaldor, Rairyuu (Halloween), Serjes, Tidus, Tifa, Viktora (Winter), and Zazan the Unkillable.
Cecil has a unique version of the job known as the "Lunar Paladin", which has heavy hitting light-elemental attacks and group-wide support abilities.
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
The Paladin job appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Water- and Lightning-elemental Forward cards.
===Final Fantasy Portal App===
The Paladin from Final Fantasy XI appears as a Triple Triad card.
==Allusions in series entries==
Several titles have featured references to the Paladin job.
===Final Fantasy VI===
Leo Cristophe is officially classified as a General. However, he equips heavy equipment, and bears the Shock ability, all attributes associated with Paladins.
===Final Fantasy XIII===
Snow Villiers is theoretically the best Sentinel, which acts a bit like "cover", as Sentinels provoke the enemy and defend using guard abilities. Snow also has trademark names for his heavy coats, such as Save the Queen, and even a coat that is named after the job class, Paladin.
Snow's prowess in the Sentinel role would carry over into his guest appearances in sequel and spin-off titles.
==Related jobs==
===Red Wing===
The Red Wing , also known as Prince , is the unique job of Ceodore Harvey from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Like the Paladin, Ceodore can use holy swords and White Magic in combat, but lacks the ability to use Cover. However, the White Magic prowess of the Red Wing is superior to Cecil's Paladin job, allowing Ceodore to learn stronger spells, such as Curaga and Haste.
The Red Wing is also Ceodore's job in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. It serves as a Physical Support role in combat, having access to high level Knight and White Magic abilities. 
===Gladiator===
The Gladiator is the base form of the Paladin from Final Fantasy XIV, being one of the initial tank classes available from the game's start. The class is a Discipline of War, focusing on the use of shields and swords to perform melee weaponskills in order to gain enmity from enemies. It can be upgraded to the Paladin job at level 30.
The Gladiator class from Final Fantasy XIV has no relation to the recurring job of the same name, often known as in Japanese.
==Non-Final Fantasy appearances==
The Templar is a job in both and . The Templar is proficient in swords and heavy armor. The job's abilities temporarily raise their stats, while also having abilities that revolve around Defaulting and gathering BP. The Templar also has a variety of light-elemental physical attacks.
The Paladin was a class in the now defunct browser game, Knights of the Crystals, with both male and female versions appearing. Like its Final Fantasy counterpart, it offered a minor boost to attack and a major boost to defense. It appears on a bronze card.
Cecil's Paladin armor also appeared as a limited time costume in the defunct mobile game, Glorious Blaze: The Princess of Destiny and the 8 Soldiers. The costume was a collaboration item with Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
BS Tiz Templar.png|Tiz as a Templar in Bravely Second.
BS Edea Templar.png|Edea as a Templar in Bravely Second.
Knightsofthecrystals-PaladinMale.png|Paladin (male) in Knights of the Crystals.
Knightsofthecrystals-PaladinFemale.png|Paladin (female) in Knights of the Crystals.
GF Paladin Collaboration.png|The Paladin costume from Glorious Blaze: The Princess of Destiny and the 8 Soldiers.
==Behind the scenes==
===Paladin in online entries===
In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, the Paladin jobs are known as Knight.
The different names between both versions of Final Fantasy XI was due to the name Paladin not being comprehensible to Japanese audiences not familiar with the word. The name Knight was chosen due to it already being the name of a recurring job in the series. The development team would use the name Paladin for the localizations due to the term knight already being a title for several characters within the game’s narrative. 
The name differences in Final Fantasy XIV was due to the game reusing job names from Final Fantasy XI. Despite the name differences, the development team have acknowledged the Knight job as a Paladin with the recent Endwalker expansion, which has the CGI Midlander Hyur character transforming from his Dark Knight form into a Paladin in the game's cinematic opening. In addition, the aforementioned character is seen mimicking Paladin Cecil’s pose from the Darkness and the Light artwork by Yoshitaka Amano in the expansion's promotional artwork.
===Alternate naming in Japanese===
Several entries and extended works have used the alternate Japanese name of for characters who utilize the Paladin job, these include Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX and Cecil Harvey from the official game novels of Final Fantasy IV. The term “Sei Kishi” is often used in Japanese media for the word Paladin. This name would also be used as the Japanese name for the Templar job from the Bravely series, which is heavily based on the Paladin from the Final Fantasy online entries.
===Scrapped appearances===
The original Famicom version of Final Fantasy III was planned to include upgraded jobs like the first entry, with the Paladin originally serving as the final upgrade to the Warrior-type jobs. Design documents mention that it would have been obtained with the final set of jobs at the Earth Crystal and its unique characteristic would have been the ability to equip Excalibur. The job was ultimately dropped from the final product and the Knight job would use the Paladin’s original design.
The early scenario had Steiner lead a group of paladins, which became the Knights of Pluto in the final game.
==Gallery==
FFXI-Elvaan-Paladin.jpg|An Elvaan Paladin in Final Fantasy XI.
LRFFXIII Paladin.png|Lightning as a Paladin in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
Paladin FXIV.png|Roegadyn Paladin in Final Fantasy XIV.
Ffta-h-paladin.jpg|Human Paladin in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
TA2-HumePaladin.jpg|Hume Paladin in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.
FFTS Paladin SR Portrait.png|Hume Paladin portrait in Final Fantasy Tactics S.
FFTS Paladin SR Icon.png|Hume Paladin icon in Final Fantasy Tactics S.
FFE Paladin.png|A Paladin in Final Fantasy Explorers.
==Etymology==
==Notes==
==Citations==
de:Paladin
it:Paladino
 
Category:Recurring jobs