Nyx Ulric

Nyx Ulric is the main protagonist of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV and a member of the eponymous Kingsglaive. Hailing from Galahd, he is tasked with protecting Princess Lunafreya of Tenebrae when Niflheim invades Lucis.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Nyx is a young man with dark gray hair and blue eyes. He wears the black uniform typical of his fellow Glaives, but his is customized with a silver antler or horn on its hood, purple ribbons on its back, and pelts of blue-gray fur on its left sleeve. According to the The Art & Design of Final Fantasy XV book, the ornament indicates his heritage as a member of an ancient lineage of hunters, and posits that it adds credibility to his role as a royal guard.
Nyx's signature weapon is his pair of kukris, one originating from Galahd and the other having been forged in Insomnia, symbolizing both of his homelands.
Nyx has small and subtle tattoos. He has a "crow's foot" on his right cheek, and a line and a dot under his left eye. He has markings on his ears, intersecting lines down his neck, one around his right shin and another around his left forearm. He also has a line down his middle finger of his left hand, and another down his forefinger on his right hand. Although they can't be seen in the movie, a video showing a rotating 3D model of how his hair was rendered shows the tops of two tattoos on his back; two sets of intersecting lines, one over each shoulderblade.
Nyx appears with a large feline in some illustrations. It is a Galahd-native coeurl and Nyx's image-motif. Horns and fur on his gear symbolize him being wild and also foreign, as he is an immigrant from Galahd, thus from a different culture compared to Insomnia. His theme color is blue to complement Regis, whose purple theme reflects his nobility and maturity. To show Nyx's youth and to make it in line with Regis's purple, blue was chosen to be Nyx's color.
===Personality===
Nyx is a heroic individual who feels indebted to King Regis. He is confident in his abilities, but is haunted by the memory of his sister's death, which can cause him to have flashbacks during battles whenever his friends are in danger of not being able to save her. This is why he does all in his power to save his comrades, who call him by the moniker "hero" from his exploits. When his comrades betray him, Nyx remains loyal to the Lucian royal family, as well as his best friend Libertus and Lady Lunafreya; when Insomnia falls, he hangs onto hope and resolves to fight for the future thanks to Lunafreya's encouragement about Nyx's sister wanting him to see a brighter future. 
Nyx is selfless, as he refuses to choose between Libertus or Lunafreya when requesting the power from the Ring of the Lucii. Nyx elects to instead sacrifice his own life to the past Lucian kings' spirits, who grant the ring's power to those they deem worthy. Nyx bargains with them knowing that the price for using the ring's powers for those not of the Lucian royal blood is a life. Unlike his former mentor and superior, Titus Drautos, who was also General Glauca, Nyx can move on from his past to fight to help give the world a future, something that would not happen if Niflheim claimed the Ring of the Lucii instead of Prince Noctis. As a result, he was no longer fighting to protect Insomnia and did not care what happened to the city as long as he kept the Ring of Lucii away from the empire's hands.
Although he is selfless, it can be interpreted as arrogance, which leads to the old kings initially judging him as unworthy. Even when he proves his worth, Nyx gloats, saying the kings would lose their "precious ring" if they burn him.
===Abilities===
Nyx is a skilled wielder of the Lucian royal family's powers. He favors his ability to warp, which he does by throwing his kukris, as even though he is adept in close-range combat, the kukris offer him more range when thrown. As his powers are on loan from the king, he can lose them. Nyx uses various other types of magic, such as projecting fire and lightning from the palm of his hand, and projecting magical shields. When deemed worthy of the Ring of the Lucii, he becomes even more powerful and gains the ability to control the Old Wall. 
==Story==
===Early life===
Nyx grew up alongside Libertus Ostium in Galahd where they used to play as children in the Galahd River. Nyx and Libertus later ran a small bar in their hometown. The area used to be protected by the Wall, but thirty years ago war overtook the lands and the Wall crumbled, allowing Niflheim to claim Galahd. Nyx fought in the local Resistance against imperial oppression, but his sister was killed, and he was saved by King Regis of Lucis. Seeking to repay his debt to the monarch, Nyx joined the Kingsglaive after moving to the Crown City, an elite unit of soldiers whose members are chosen for their aptitude for magic. He received training from Titus Drautos, who became the captain of the Kingsglaive. Due to a many great exploits together, Nyx came to view Drautos as a mentor.
===Treaty-signing conflict===
Alongside his fellow Glaives, Nyx defends the borders of Lucis from Niflheim and Tenebrae's forces. When the enemy forces gain the upper hand by the use of Diamond Weapons, Nyx disobeys Captain Drautos's order to retreat, and instead chooses to save Libertus, his childhood friend, from a Cerberus, a powerful three-headed beast. As punishment, Nyx is placed on guard duty upon his return to Insomnia, the crown city of Lucis. While on temporary duty, Nyx is bullied by royal guard Petra Fortis.
Three days before a peace treaty is to be signed between King Regis of Lucis and Emperor Aldercapt of Niflheim, Nyx is relocated to the Citadel by Drautos. As mentioned in Final Fantasy XV Prologue Parting Ways, Drautos has Nyx drop Noctis off to his place as thanks for using his car. The men discuss the death of Kingslaive infiltrator and friend Crowe Altius. The next day, Nyx gets into a heated argument with Libertus after seeing Crowe's corpse, which results in Libertus deserting the Kingslaive. That evening, Nyx attends a party celebrating the treaty-signing at Caelum Via and meets Princess Lunafreya. He passes a hairpin onto her he had received among Crowe's possessions, knowing giving it to Lunafreya had been part of Crowe's mission.
On the day the peace treaty is to be signed, Nyx discovers Lunafreya has been kidnapped and Drautos has mysteriously disappeared. Nyx demands King Regis deploy the Kingsglaive and leads his comrades on a mission aboard a Niflheim airship to rescue the princess after realizing Crowe's watch, now in his possession, tracks the hairpin. Nyx is betrayed by a majority of his fellow Glaives who disagree with the peace treaty terms and deem that the king has abandoned them. Nyx frees Lunafreya and uses the airship to fly back to the Citadel with her. They witness the Wall fall as Niflheim begins its invasion, deploying daemons and magitek infantry to annihilate the city. Nyx and Lunafreya help a wounded King Regis escape Imperial General Glauca, who seeks the Ring of the Lucii, a ring that gives special powers to the past kings' chosen.
At the end of a secret passageway, Nyx questions King Regis's decision to sacrifice Insomnia for Prince Noctis's continued safety. 
Nyx agrees to protect Lunafreya, whom Regis bequeaths the Ring of the Lucii to deliver to Noctis. Nyx flees with her while Regis stays behind to buy them time. He duels General Glauca, the commander of the Niflheim forces, and is impaled by Glauca's blade.
As he and Lunafreya drive away from the Citadel, Captain Drautos contacts Nyx and orders to rendezvous in Section D of Insomnia. In the city plaza, fellow Glaive Luche Lazarus wounds Nyx. He is saved when Lunafreya kills Luche by inviting him to put on the Ring of the Lucii, which deems him unworthy and burns him alive. Drautos arrives, assisting Nyx and Luna, but he is suddenly crushed by Libertus's armored car. The two realize through Libertus's intervention that Drautos is actually General Glauca. The General summons his suit of armor and prepares to kill everyone. Nyx puts on the Ring of the Lucii and is granted its power in exchange for his life when the sun rises. After ordering Libertus to get Lunafreya somewhere safe, he gives her the ring to deliver it to Noctis. Nyx engages Glauca in an epic battle while wielding the power of the old kings. In the clash's aftermath, Nyx manages to stab Glauca, and dies peacefully as he wishes Noctis a healthy rule, his body turning to ash.
===Posthumous===
As depicted in Final Fantasy XV: Comrades, Libertus still holds onto hope he will meet Nyx again. After the power of kings returns to the Glaives, Libertus migrates to Lestallum and leads the remains of the Kinsglaive in protecting the world in the king's absence. He writes a letter to Nyx about how daemons have done a number on Galahd, but he hopes they can route electricity there one day.
Ten years after the world is plunged into darkness with the Starscourge, an illusory version of Nyx's corpse hangs in chains from the ceiling of the Citadel's throne room. Ardyn Izunia uses it to discourage Noctis. The corpse has white crystalline scarring, showing the damage Nyx sustained by using the Ring of the Lucii. A psychomancer in the city holds Nyx's weapons, and yields them to Noctis if defeated.
==Gameplay==
As an Easter egg, Nyx's weapons can be obtained in Insomnia in Final Fantasy XV. If the player returns to the opening area of Insomnia and defeats a level 85 psychomancer, they get Ulric's Kukris. They are dagger-type weapons that Noctis and Ignis can use. Some players have found the kukris simply lying on the ground without the psychomancer spawning, as recently as Royal Edition version 1.24 with an end-game save rather than Chapter Select.
== Musical themes==
"Nyx" is a theme on the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV: Original Soundtrack. It plays in the end of Kingsglaive.
== Other appearances ==
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
Nyx appears as a summonable vision and optional playable character. A 5-7★ Rare Summon available since the event Battle at the Borders, Nyx's job is listed as Kingsglaive, and his role is Physical Damage. His Trust Master reward is the passive ability materia Guard of the Future, and his Super Trust Master reward is one of his daggers, simply called Nyx's Dagger and which has an Attack power of 158.
Ulric's Kukri was available as a mission reward to the challenge event The Wicked Beast Cerberus.
==Behind the scenes==
Nyx's theme color is blue to complement Regis's more mature and noble purple. He has animalistic elements to his character design. He is 32 because the development team wanted him to be 20 years old 12 years ago (when the 8-year-old Noctis visited Tenebrae). Kingsglaive was established 15 years ago, so Nyx is a veteran. Kingsglaive members were designed to be older than the player party from Final Fantasy XV to show the world of Eos from the eyes of experienced people who have learned the world.
The likeness of Johan Akan (born and credited as Johan Picard), a French model, is used to portray Nyx.http://www.instagram.com/p/BDnMIhFrlCi/ Neil Newbon is the character's motion capture artist.http://www.instagram.com/p/BF4GFRUSJCl/
The scene where Nyx talks with Luna on the eve of the signing ceremony is adapted from the original opening for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, complete with the painting of the goddess Etro on the background.
===Ulric's Kukris ===
As an Easter egg, Nyx's daggers can be obtained in Chapter 14 in Final Fantasy XV. Noctis also uses them in Omen when he fights Niflheim troops on a bridge. Artwork of one of the Nyx's daggers also appears in a loading screen for Final Fantasy XV: Comrades. 
===Voice===
In the Japanese version of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Nyx is voiced by Gō Ayano. In the film's English version, he is voiced by Aaron Paul.
=== Tech demo===
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Square Enix showed a tech demo of Nyx at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference in May 2017. With top-of-line PC hardware from Nvidia (the server-grade Tesla V100), Square Enix pulled character models and textures from the Kingsglaive film and displayed them in real time using Luminous Studio Pro, the engine that powers Final Fantasy XV. Kingsglaive features modeling of hair, skin, leather, fur, and lighting that no PC on the market in 2017 can display (at least in 4K).
==Merchandise==
Nyx has a Play Arts -Kai- action figure.
==Gallery==
Nyx Kingsglaive.jpg|A full-body, CG render.
Nyx Kingsglaive.png|
Nyx-CG-World-Kingsglaive.png|Nyx on the cover of CG World.
Nyx Concept Art.png|Concept artwork.
Nyx Concept Art 3.png|Concept artwork.
Nyx Concept Art 4.png|Concept artwork.
Nyx Head KFFXV.jpg|A render.
Rendering-Nyx-KGFFXV.png|A render.
Nyx and Noctis.png|A promotional image of Nyx and Noctis.
Nyx warping to kill a behemoth in Kingsglaive FFXV.png|Nyx warping.
Crowe-Nyx-and-Libertus-KGFFXV.png|Concept art of Crowe, Nyx and Libertus at a bar.
Nyx VS Glauca Art.png|Concept artwork of Nyx's fight with Glauca.
Nyx and Statue VS Glauca and Diamond Weapon Art.png|Concept artwork of Nyx's fight with Glauca.
Nyx-Ulric-Character-Model-KGFFXV.png|Character model.
Nyx-Ulric-KGFFXV-Character-Model.png|Character model with the "cape".
Nyx-Ulric-Tattoos-KGFFXV.png|Tattoos.
Nyx-Ulric-Mask-KGFFXV.png|Masked hood.
Nyx-Ulric-Boots-KGFFXV.png|Boots.
Nyx-Ulric-Communicator-KGFFXV.png|Communicator.
Nyx-Ulric-Uniform-KGFFXV.png|Uniform.
Nyx-Ulric-Daggers-FFXV.png|Daggers.
Nyx-Glauca-KGFFXV-Artwork.png|Artwork of Nyx and Glauca fightig in Duscae.
Kenji-Niki-FFXV-Kingsglaive-art.jpg|Artwork of Regis, Nyx, and Lunafreya by Kenji Niki that commemorates the Final Fantasy XV release day countdown on social media.
Kingsglaive FFXV anniversary 3.jpg|Artwork released to commemorate the movie's first anniversary.
Nyx-Ulric-Cafe-Coaster-KGFFXV.png|Artwork for promotional coasters in Square Enix Cafe.
Nyx-Libertus-Crowe-KGFFXV.png|Placemat at Square Enix Cafe.
Nyx's room artwork for Kingsglaive FFXV.jpg|Nyx's room concept art.
==Etymology ==
 
==External links==
*Official cosplay guide (pdf)
==References==
pt-br:Nyx Ulric
ru:Никс Ульрик
Category:Characters in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Category:Main characters