Cindy Aurum

Cindy Aurum is the head mechanic of the Hammerhead garage in Final Fantasy XV. She services the player's car, the Regalia, and can customize and upgrade it. She is the granddaughter of Cid Sophiar, who owns the Hammerhead service station. Cid is a recurring name in the Final Fantasy series for an older man who often has an engineering background or something to do with airships. Cindy's Japanese name is "Cidney", reflecting the connection.
==Dossiers==
:Belle of the body shop at the Hammerhead Service Station. Having lost her parents at a young age, Cindy grew up under her grizzled grandfather Cid's tutelage. She inherited his avid love for automobiles and quickly proved herself to be a more-than-capable mechanic. Her stellar reputation draws customers from all across the continent. No matter how terrible their automobile troubles, drivers come in for a tune-up and leave with a smile.
:Melba Aurum was born into a prominent family in the old town of Keycatrich. She fell in love with Cid's son Mid Sophiar some thirty years ago, and the two were wed before long. Though she lost her home in the Great War, she gained something even greater through her marriage: a lovely daughter, Cindy. Sadly, however, time with her baby girl was cut short by a horde of daemons. The wicked creatures ambushed her car one night, claiming the lives her and her husband and leaving Cindy an orphan.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Cindy is a slender woman with short, curly blond hair and olive green eyes. She wears a red cap with yellow outlines and a logo with the words "HAMMER HEAD" and "FULL SERVICE STATION" and black goggles which she hangs around her neck when not using them. Cindy wears a cropped yellow jacket that reveals her toned stomach, zipped a few inches under her breasts, and an orange bikini top with deep décolletage. She wears jeans shorts with a brown belt loosely hanging around her hips, thigh-high black stockings, white high boots on heels, and brown gloves.
In the English localization, she speaks with a Southern American English dialect.
===Personality===
Cindy is upbeat, driven, and always enthusiastic about her work. She is passionate about cars and fascinated with technology that originates from the Crown City, which has been isolated from the rest of Lucis for thirty years. Despite having had a rough childhood, she is optimistic and friendly to everyone. Despite having many admirers, she is not interested in dating, and is noted to being "married to her work". She derives her work ethic from being raised by Cid, and from her long friendship with Holly Teulle, whom Cindy views as a role model. Holly and Cid inspired Cindy's "git-'er-done" attitude and are the two most important persons in her life.
==Story==
Cindy was born in M.E. 730 in the town of Keycatrich to Melba Aurum, the daughter of an affluent family, and Mid Sophiar. When she was a child she was orphaned, an event that greatly affected her. Since then she has been raised by her grandfather Cid. At one point she recounts a tale of witnessing people killed by daemons on the outlands back when she was six, because they did not have Insomnian-made daemon-staving headlights in their car. Whether the people she witnessed killed were actually her parents is unknown, but Cid also recounts the event of Cindy's parents deaths as being by daemons while they were on the road. While life on the outlands of Lucis has not been easy with the ongoing war with Niflheim, Cindy remains in high spirits. She wishes technology from the Crown City would be more widespread to help those who live on the outlands. When she was young, she met Holly Teulle, who regards Cindy as a baby sister.
Prince Noctis's party encounters Cindy when their car breaks down in Leide. Cindy is instantly taken with the Regalia, a custom made vehicle of Crown City-make. The car is left in her care for the repairs, and after the work is done Noctis continues to Galdin Quay, happy to deliver something for Cindy along the way as thanks. Noctis's friend Prompto has a crush on Cindy, and asks Noctis to help him take a picture of her from a hill overlooking Hammerhead. He vows to propose to her once the adventure is over.
Cindy's true passion is helping service the Regalia, however. She will tow the car for the party if they are in need, and finds various ways to upgrade it if Noctis comes up with the required materials.
After the party loses the Regalia at the Disc of Cauthess, Cindy tries to track it down. Days later, she calls Noctis to let them know the car has been taken to an imperial base. Noctis and his friends infiltrate it to reclaim their vehicle. Cindy has friends in Lestallum who work as engineers, and asks Noctis to retrieve mythril ore for them so Cindy and Cid can repair the royal vessel for Noctis's use. Her friend Holly, who befriends the party, helps treat the ore free of charge, saying that Cindy promised to take her out later.
Cindy comes to meet Holly during the Assassin's Festival in Lestallum, and bumps into Noctis's party. Holly is impressed Cindy knows her best hunters, and Cindy tells Holly Noctis's party are her best customers at Hammerhead. When the imperial general Loqi Tummelt comes to town however, he takes over the power plant and takes Holly captive. Cindy begs Noctis's party to save her, insisting to help despite them telling her it would be dangerous, as Noctis can't use his power of kings as long as the Wallbreaker Wave is in effect.
After Noctis collects enough key cards to gain access to the power plant, Cindy and one of Noctis's party members head inside. Cindy dismantles the Wallbreaker Wave generator, granting Noctis the power to drive Loqi and his infantry out of Lestallum. Cindy and Holly meet with Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto in town, and Cindy is relieved everything worked out for the best.
As the long night fell Cindy was forced to leave Hammerhead and takes refuge in Lestallum. She keeps busy by moving precious cargo as missions demand. Hammerhead is secured as an outpost for hunters, and Cindy still runs the garage ten years after the Starscourge plunged the world into darkness. Hammerhead became a pit stop for many hunters stopping by her garage, and Prompto still harbors a crush on her and tries to impress her, though Talcott says she is too focused on her work to notice. Though she is tough enough to handle the road by herself, when she needs a bit of extra muscle, she gives a call to Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto for help. (When Talcott and Noctis drive to Hammerhead in Chapter 14, Talcott talks about Prompto hanging around her but Cindy being "married to her work". This line is not in the Pocket Edition though the rest of the conversation remains the same.)
While the royal retinue is in Insomnia, Cindy calls Noctis and she mentions that she misses him and she was trying to create a machine that produces more light without using a lot of energy. At the Kingsglaive's base Noctis asks Prompto how things are going with "you know who", and Prompto replies that a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, implying he may have gotten together with Cindy after all.
==Gameplay==
===Regalia's mechanic===
If the player refuels the Regalia at Hammerhead, Cindy will fill up the tank and also wipe down the Regalia to clean it. If the player needs to have the car towed or have the car delivered to them while in the open world, Cindy will do it.
Talking to her at Hammerhead lets the player service or customize their car. The car can only be serviced if it is damaged. If the car is damaged when driven by Ignis (not supposed to happen, but still possible), the option to service it may not be available; the player can purposefully bump the car when driving manually and then return to Cindy to get it fixed. The customize option lets the player choose a new color for the car exterior, interior, and wheels, apply decals (the game even has a special Cindy skin for the car), and to add modifications to the car to, for example, improve its fuel efficiency.
Cindy can modify the Regalia to Type-D in Chapter 8, and Type-F in Chapter 15, if the player finds the required parts for them. In Chapter 8 the player can inspect the blue prints at the Hammerhead body shop and Cindy will send the party out to the Norduscaen Blockade to find tires. Afterward, she remodels the Regalia to Type-D for off-the-road travel, and the player can even participate in races with it in in the Royal and Windows versions. Cindy will remodel the Regalia to a flying model in Chapter 15 if the player has found the parts needed for it.
===Quests===
Cindy sends the party out to various quests for items that can be used on the Regalia.
===Recipe===
Cindy cooks Keycatrich Salad in Final Fantasy XV: Comrades. After she has cooked for the player, the recipe also appears in the main game. It boosts HP, HP regeneration and EXP accumulation. It is Prompto's favorite. It is named Keycatrich Salad as Cindy was born in Keycatrich.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae===
The scenario presented in the demo is not in the final game, but is loosely based on the Chapter 5 where the party has temporarily lost its car. Cindy is found at Coernix Station - Alstor where she will repair the Regalia that Prompto crashed. She requires 25,000 gil for the service, and the demo ends after the player returns to her with the money.
The interactions with the party and Cindy are depicted in a somewhat different tone than in the final game. Gladiolus and Prompto both act flirty toward her, but she deflects their advances. In the final game, only Prompto appears attracted to her, and never makes it overtly known to her, only desiring to help her. A lot of feedback from Europe on the Episode Duscae demo was that Cindy was "too sexy."
===Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire===
Cindy appears as a guide to the player.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
===Blue Reflection===
Cindy's outfit is downloadable content for Kaori Mitsui.
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===Tekken 7===
Cindy appears as part of the Noctis DLC package. She, along with Cid, Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ignis, appears in the background of the Hammerhead Service Station stage.
===Minecraft===
Cindy has a downloadable skin.
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==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
==Behind the scenes==
Cindy was designed by Roberto Ferrari. Cindy's first version had her breasts jiggle so much director Hajime Tabata wanted to tone it down. A lot of feedback from Europe on the Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae demo was that Cindy was "too sexy." Director Hajime Tabata responded that Cindy was not meant to be an erotic character, but energetic and outgoing, and he didn't want to change the current concept. He talked about moderating the way she's presented, rather than covering her up.
There is a drawing of Cindy with Takka and Cid in Takka's diner drawn by the Caricaturist. If the player lodges at the caravan at Hammerhead, Cindy sometimes joins the party when they sit outside. Cindy gives Noctis and his retinue a map of Lucis when they meet her. However, if one observes the texture of the map as it appears in-game, it looks very little like the actual map of the world.
Cindy's iconic vehicle is the yellow Hammerhead tow truck she uses to move the player's car if needed. She has a moogle toy in the cabin. Cindy could be seen sitting in her tow truck in the Final Fantasy XV: Comrades beta. Cindy's tow truck has also been spotted in Cartanica via an out of bounds glitch.
Cindy may be considered the first female Cid in the series, given her original Japanese name of Cidney. She would also be the youngest Cid whose age is known.
===Voice===
Cindy is voiced by Yu Shimamura in the Japanese version.
She is voiced by Erin Matthews in the English version, who voices her with a thick southern states accent.
==Merchandise==
Cindy's Play Arts -Kai- released August 2017. It comes with the Cindy figure and a toolbox. Figure includes display stand and interchangeable hand parts. Figure Size (inches): W 4.6" x D 2.3" x H 11"
==Gallery==
==Etymology==
Cindy is a feminine given name, the shortened version of Cynthia. 
Her Japanese name is Cidney. 
==External links==
*Official cosplay reference guide
==Citations==
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pt-br:Cindy Aurum
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