Torgal

Another outcast from the Northern Territories taken in by House Rosfield, Torgal was found alone in a snowfield during one of Archduke Elwin's expeditions to the freezing north, and gifted to his sons upon his return. After somehow surviving the disaster that nearly ended the Rosfield line, he was reunited with Clive over a decade later, and now serves his master with the same fierce loyalty he did when he was but a pup.

Online description

Torgal is a frost wolf in Final Fantasy XVI, who is a pet and companion to Clive Rosfield.

History

Torgal's homeland is within the Northern Territories. He was found alone as a cub in the snow by Elwin Rosfield who took the lone cub home to Rosaria and gifted it to his sons. Torgal became a loyal hound to Clive and Joshua, but he was practically inseparable with Elwin's ward from the Northern Territories, Jill Warrick.

When Clive left Rosaria for Phoenix Gate, Torgal was left with Jill. After the massacre at Phoenix Gate, Rosaria was annexed to the Holy Empire of Sanbreque and raided by the Iron Kingdom. The Ironblood took Jill by force, separating her from Torgal. What happened to Torgal after this is unknown, but at some point he encountered Cidolfus Telamon. Even under Cid's care, he continued to search for his former owners.

Thirteen years later, Torgal found Clive and Jill again during a skirmish between the Iron Kingdom and the Dhalmekian Republic, when Clive was tasked by the Empire to kill the Dominant of Shiva. The Dominant was Jill herself. Clive refused to kill his childhood friend, and was nearly overwhelmed until Cid arrived with Torgal, and saved the two. From that moment on, Torgal remained on Clive's side, even managing to save Clive from being finished off by the Waloed spy Benedikta Harman at the Caer by biting her arm. At one point, while journeying through the Kingsfall, Torgal witnessed Clive (who by that time was struggling with guilt from the realization that he not only was the Dominant for Ifrit, but may have ended up killing Joshua during the Night of Flames as a result) considering throwing himself off a bridge; Torgal whimpered to get his attention, preventing him from going through with it.

Five years later, Hugo Kupka invaded Rosaria to lure Clive to him for revenge of the death of his lover, Benedikta Harman. He nearly succeeded in killing both Clive and Jill, even putting Jill on a chopping block. When Torgal saw Jill about to be executed, he transformed into mystical-like being with blue-white fur and unimaginable magic powers, stunning Clive and Jill. His intervention saved everyone.

Later, Gav decided to learn about Torgal. What he managed to find out was that Torgal was a rare breed of frost wolf from the Northern Territories, and that one particular wolf had served as a royal hound to the queen: Fenrir. The Queen was believed to be the Dominant of Shiva. Torgal is a descendant of Fenrir and awoke to his latent powers due to time spent with Clive and Jill, both Dominants.^[2]

Torgal continued to serve by Clive and Jill's side, and befriended everyone at the hideaway, especially Lady Charon who fed him frequently and took notice that Torgal would need a special diet of antelope meat to flourish due to his powers as a frost wolf having awoken.^[2] She eventually noticed Torgal feeling forlorn and ushered Clive to spend time with his pet; Clive took Torgal to their childhood treehouse where he discovered Torgal had stashed his childhood belongings, ever keen on finding his old master again when they got separated.^[3] After Ultima ambushed Clive and Joshua near Drake's Spine's gate and warped them into the Interdimensional Rift, Torgal jumped through the portal just before it closed so he could locate them.

When Clive, Joshua, and Dion Lesage departed for Origin, Torgal remained at the hideaway with Jill. He howled at the sky after Clive's triumph had the flying Mothercrystal dissipate into aether.

Characteristics

Appearance

Torgal resembles a gray wolf with massive body, gray fur, yellow eyes, and a long tail. He has a metal bangle on his left front paw.

When Torgal is revealed to being a frost wolf descended from Fenrir,^[4] his fur can change into blue and white.

Free DLC lets the player change Torgal's appearance to be more otherworldly: he gains a blue tinge to his fur and his eyes glow.

Personality

Torgal can be described like any other domesticated canine: a man's best friend. As a pup, Torgal is curious, lovable, playful, and oftentimes getting into mischief, having Clive, Jill, or Joshua calm him down whenever he almost causes a scene. Through it all, Torgal is fiercely loyal to his friends and allies.

Even as he grows up, much of his personality remains the same. When reunited with Clive, Torgal recognizes his master and runs back to his side as if the incident at Phoenix Gate never happened. Torgal can now hold his own on the battlefield. He shows himself to be a good judge of character. Torgal holds a respectful acknowledgement for Clive's faithful steed, Ambrosia, seeing the white chocobo as another loyal companion, as they immediately recognize each other after so many years. He opens up to his new friends and allies and lets out a warning growl or bark at any signs of danger.

In battle, Torgal follows Clive's orders without question and waits for his beckon. When he and Clive witness Jill being held at the mercy of Hugo's soldiers, Clive signals Torgal to rush in to save the day and awaken to his power as a frost wolf.

Most people understand Torgal just as much as he can understand others and the situation at hand, as he will bark as a hint of confirmation, pant whenever given love and attention, or whine when he is displeased or if something is bothering him. When Charon offers him some food and Torgal declines and whines, Clive asks Tomes for advice. Upon further investigation, it is revealed that because of Torgal's growth and awakening as a frost wolf, he has developed a surfeit of appetite and requires elder antelope bones, supplements of which can provide him double the nutrition he would have gotten as a puppy.

Torgal's most defining quality is his friendship with Clive. No matter the situation, Clive and Torgal are on the same wavelength. Clive understands when Torgal needs something. Torgal is loyal to Clive and follows his orders without question, but has his own free will. When Clive approaches Torgal to try and remove the bangle Cid placed on his front left leg, Torgal lets off a growl in refusal. According to Charon, Torgal had a habit of chewing on his left leg, which prompted Cid to cover it with the bangle to make him stop. Cid told Torgal that once he finds what he is looking for, he will be free to take it off. However, with time, Torgal grew fond of the bangle because it reminds him of Cid, whom he misses as much as Clive does.

Torgal spent the last 20+ years looking for his master. While doing so, he sniffed out and gathered Clive's keepsakes and piled them up in their secret treehouse in the rookery off the coast of Port Isolde. Among the keepsakes, Torgal had recovered Clive's wooden sparring sword from his time under Murdoch's teachings. Despite being separated from his master after the incident at Phoenix Gate, Torgal never gave up on Clive.

Outside of battle, Torgal enjoys spending time relaxing near Charon's shop, interacting with the dwellers of Cid's hideaway, playing with the children, and hanging out with Clive or Jill or Joshua. He likes to go out for walks with Clive and enjoys getting pets, rubs, and treats. At the end of the day, Torgal is a loyal, unwavering frost wolf who will do anything for his friends and is ready to answer any call to action when everyone needs him most.

Abilities

Torgal at first appears as a regular canine, but his true nature is as a frost wolf able to "imprint" on Dominants, and gain some powers by being imbued by their aether.^[4] Sure enough, Torgal grows close to Clive, Jill, Joshua, and Cid. When he activates his frost wolf powers, he appears similar to a Dominant semi-priming, his very flesh transforming into a more fantastical creature with glowing blue fur. Unlike a Dominant, Torgal is believed to not suffer the effects of the crystals' curse in doing this, as he is said to be drawing upon his Dominant companions' aether rather than on his own.^[4]

Even when not priming, Torgal is a fierce creature in battle, able to lunge upon foes and ravage them, and also able to bestow a healing effect onto his companions.

Torgal may have some association with the moon, as his title at max level is "Fenrir of the Full Moon", and his last spell, Banish, "concentrates the moon's light on an enemy, forcing them to the ground."

Thanks to his strong sense of smell and ability to examine any areas of interest, Torgal can also help his friends find hidden paths or track down scents for clues.

Gameplay

Torgal functions as an AI-controlled party member who attacks enemies upon encounter. What makes him unique to other AI-controlled members is Clive's ability to issue commands to him through a special command menu through which the player can order him to Sic, Heal, or Ravage.

Sic makes Torgal bite his enemies. Heal makes Torgal howl and create a restoration field that can help Clive regain any recoverable HP from enemy attacks. Ravage makes Torgal either launch enemies into the air or send them crashing back down to the ground. Ravage is unique to all other skills in that it can provide Clive with aerial combo opportunities.

As time passes and the player uses Torgal's command menu as often as possible, Torgal's Pedigree level increases, as well as his Sic, Heal, and Ravage command levels, making them more potent in battle.

Using Torgal at the end of a combo or a basic sword ability (Lunge) triggers a Precision Sic/Ravage, dealing more damage.

Torgal does not do much damage, but is useful as a combo extender and to keep enemies airborne, or launching enemies or downing them when needed.

Outside of battle, the player can pet Torgal; doing this enough times earns a trophy. Version 1.31 made adjustments to when Torgal can be petted and lowered time before re-petting.

Musical themes

"Fenris Kindir" is a short track that plays in the cutscene where Torgal transforms and protects Jill, composed and arranged by Daiki Ishikawa. It is track 24 of disc 4 on the Final Fantasy XVI Original Soundtrack. The title of the track is in Old Norse and can be translated to English as "Kind/Children of Fenrir".

Behind the scenes

Established from the start that Clive would be the only playable character, the development team thought players would like to have a companion and an accompanying animal character was decided on fairly early. After some initial talk of a feline character, from the standpoint of the companion animal fighting alongside the player the team settled on a canine character. The cutscenes were crafted with attention to presenting him as a dependable partner in battle, as well as a calm and lovable companion when outside of battle. Adult Torgal is older than Clive in terms of mental age.^[1]

The designers went through several options for Torgal's fur patterns. Adult Torgal is larger than a real world gray wolf, and his overall form is also different in terms of limb size and neck length. Preliminary designs for Torgal included him looking like a normal dog or more fantasy oriented. Not counting the color variations, the team went through about three different designs before setting the final look. After the modeling was complete, animators worked on Torgal's movements to make him stand out yet still behave believably. The initial movements were considered too clingy towards Clive, so the team asked to have that toned down.^[1]

Torgal would be approximately eighteen years old following the second timeskip, which is several years older than a real wolf's lifespan.

When recording lines directed at Torgal, Clive's English voice actor Ben Starr would have his own dog Milton, a Yorkshire Terrier, stand in for Torgal.^[5]

Other appearances

Final Fantasy XIV

Torgal appears in the Final Fantasy XIV collaboration event with Final Fantasy XVI titled "The Path Infernal". He appears to lead Clive back home to Valisthea. He is received as mount and pup of him as a minion as rewards, when completing the event.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

Tekken 8

Torgal appears to serve as Clive's stead to attack his opponents in some of Clive's special moves when Clive became the last playable DLC character in Tekken 8 within its Season 1 Pass.

Other media

Torgal, or a generic frost wolf, appears on the cover on single for "Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing", the song that plays during the end credits of the game. In the Japanese version, it plays during the ending scene instead, and "My Star" plays during the end credits.

Etymology

Torgal may be named after a character with the same name from Last Remnant, another game directed by Hiroshi Takai.

Citations