:: Cecilia Adlehyde of Wild ARMs

AUTHOR: Adam Teles | PUBLISHED: Jan. 19, 2006 | COMMENTS (2)

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Overall (9/10): Cecilia never disappoints when she's doing whatever she's doing. Whether she's showing off her ability as the most competent spellcaster on the planet or she's finding out what love truly is, she is easy to accept and easy to relate to. Most importantly, despite existing in a totally fantastic environment, she feels like a natural character, and nothing she does feels "forced" by the programmers. The Look (10/10): The first thing to note about Cecilia's "look" is that in the original Wild ARMs, every character was super deformed with huge heads and looked rather silly. In Alter Code F, however, the characters have more normal proportions, though they are blatantly "anime" in appearance. She wears two different outfits over the course of the game. The first is a long, tan robe (white in Alter Code F) over a green dress. The outfit seems to resemble the classic idea of the mage's robes, and it does so quite well. Cecilia wears this only for the first portion of the game, and she changes her outfit entirely once she decides to go on an adventure. Her later outfit is a blue jacket, a matching skirt, and black tights, which is designed to allow for mobility and comfort, as the whole purpose of her outfit change is so that she can more easily adventure. Her features in the official art and in Alter Code F are quite realistic, and though she could be considered beautiful, she is designed to look "normal." Cecilia is not particularly busty, and is never displayed as a sex symbol. Though she spends most of the game in her skirt, most of the official art depicts her in her robes. Attitude (8/10): Cecilia is kind, loving, and an all around nice person. She never considers evil, and she always does what she believes to be "right." The dilemmas in her personality come not from her conflicts with others (though she does have interesting conversations with the party's swordsman), but from her troubles with her true personality. She often worries that nobody truly loves her for her, and that while they love "the princess" they do not love "Cecilia." Over the course of the game, she learns what it means to love others, and, in turn, she finds peace within her own heart.

Intelligence (9.9/10): Cecilia is the party's intellectual. While the other two main characters are wanderers, having spent much of their life on the road and learning to fight, Cecilia has spent most of her life at school. She has a firm grasp of magic, as well as knowledge of the world. Though kind, she is not naïve and the only tricks and traps that she falls for are the ones that everyone else falls for as well. Her one shortcoming is that she's still not as smart as the mouse.

Stance (8/10): In Alter Code F, Cecilia's stances seem quite natural, and she almost always manages to hold herself with the grace that a princess should have. In classic Wild ARMs, however, the super deformed nature of the characters makes her motions very clunky and her stance very inexpressive. The only stance truly worth noting is in the original Wild ARMs, at the end of a battle, Cecilia will occasionally dance (shaking her body and moving her arms back and forth) rather than go into her normal victory stance of holding her staff in the air. This dance is inherently silly, but also quite lovable. It's rarity and the seemingly random method of its appearance makes it all the more lovable.

Voice (N/A): Cecilia has no voice in the English Version of Wild ARMs: Alter Code F. Though there were in-battle voices in the Japanese version, this was cut for the American release.

Scripts: (9/10): The original Wild ARMs included a relatively good script with a fair amount of character development and many good lines. Wild ARMs: Alter Code F, however, completely revamped the script, fully fleshing out Cecilia's personality. Her lines feel natural and provide a great deal of development. Alter Code F also includes multiple scenes of her speaking with Jack (another of the main characters) that allow their personalities to bounce off each other.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women (10/10): Cecilia is in no way depicted in a manner that would alienate her as the female character, nor is she displayed as a sex symbol at any point. She is always given the same treatment as the two male characters in box art and promotion images. While she has two separate outfits, most of the promotional art (and the box art) depicts her in her mages robes, not her short skirt and tights.

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