-Edward is meant to also be a Prince. He's ran from much of his life, though Rydia would not know this. It's a double standard but the point ultimately is that Edward turns out to be an annoying, whiny character for almost all his stay with the party, while Rydia simply faces her troubles. Edward only "redeems" himself later on. You can't even be sexist and say he runs away like a girl all the time because THERE IS AN ACTUAL GIRL THERE NOT RUNNING AWAY.

I rest my case.

Cute female character. Fanservicey clothing. Main attack mage of your party.

But still. Edward survived a massacre and just lost his parents I'm assuming since it's never clear whether his parents even existed or not, and his girlfriend. And Rydia slapped him in the face, for not being tough enough to handle it. Not being tough enough to handle a massacre and loosing his girlfriend ?, What ?
I'm surprised that Edward wasn't going Kefka -psycho and being rushed to a mental hospital from seeing and living through something like that. It just makes me want to grab Rydia and slap her in face in return.

"

The point is, though Rydia's actions are perhaps unfair, the guy's first scenes set him up as a coward when you think about it. He does get better, yes, but by and large, that cowardly image he has does not fade. Rydia never gives the image of a coward. When frightened and thinking two men want to kill her like they killed her whole village and her mother, what does she do? She kicks their asses. What did Edward do? Hide.

I've also always wanted veangance on edward for being such a coward.

Grrr you spoony bard

I also think Edward had more reason to be torn over Anna than Rydia over her mother. Rydia's mother guarded the cave between Baron and the Mist Village, she was there to ensure that an invasion from Baron didn't occur, and she should have been prepared for the possibility that she would be killed because of that.

Not to mention the fact that Edward had eloped with her there. He was the reason she was at Damcyan, and he was the reason she was dragged into the fray. That had to account for a lot of personal guilt and anguish. Not only that, but his entire kingdom was in shambles, the very kingdom that he was put in charge of. His people depended upon him, and he failed them.

Rydia was never responsible for what happened to her village. No one lost their life to protect hers, except for her mother, who was arguably doing it for the sake of the village, and not just her daughter.

Aside from all this, some people are tougher than others. Rydia's a tough little girl, and maybe Edward isn't. Does it make him annoying to work with in battle? Yes, it does. Does it mean he's utterly useless? No way. He was able to help get the Sand Ruby to help cure Rosa's fever, stood with Cecil, and Yang during the invasion of Fabul, helped defeat the Dark Elf, and stood with Troian forces against the Giant of Babil. That's a lot of combat-related help for someone who isn't of a combat-oriented profession.

The death of your village and your only family is very traumatic.

I think if my mom died and my whole village at 8 years old,it would traumatize me.

It was sad what happened to edward,but its worse to happen to a child.

Remember her getting over fire? i think maybe that would have been exaggerated of her getting over it so fast.

If my whole family were to die in a fire at that age,i think it would traumatize me that i'd be deathly afraid of it.

]I'm not saying what she didn't go through was tragic and deeply traumatizing, I'm saying that she didn't have to deal with the soul-crushing guilt that Edward had to deal with. Instead she was filled with hatred for those who were responsible for the destruction of her family and village. Edward had a duty to protect his people and was responsible for Anna getting killed and he failed. It's no wonder his spirit was broken.

Fanservice, as was previously stated. She's not a bad character, but if she was an ugly old man nobody would be paying attention to her.

That may br true, but when the game first came out, she was just a small sprite. Maybe people like her because in her character was one of Square's first attempts at achieving depth with a character. That's the reason I like her.

I just find it rude and selfish, like she's allowed to be sad about loosing her mother, but when somebody else is suffering she tells them to get over it and you're not a man if your upset about loosing somebody close to you, but she can be upset about it ?

But, in terms of why I liked her when I first played the game? She's your party's first magic user! With black magic, white magic, and summons to boot! Even looking back now and realizing that her early summons are often not worth the time nor mp, when I was a kid they impressed on me that she's this child prodigy magician able to fight alongside a dark knight.

When she's out of the party, you feel like you've lost a valuable party member. Then, when she reappears, she's supercharged with a whole boatload of new spells and creatures. And she's all grown up with class and the air of having lived in an another dimension. Freakin' awesome. Of course she's going to be popular!

the best way to make a player care about something or someone in a game is to make that thing or person useful to gameplay, something which Rydia is

if she was an ugly old man nobody would be paying attention to her.

but if she was an ugly old man nobody would be paying attention to her.

I'm a bit squicked out by the fanservice though. Didn't she only age physically and not mentally? That would make her a 7 (?) year old girl in a grown-up woman's body.

I don't believe it's ever even suggested that she aged in only one way. I don't think it's necessarily said that she DOES age in every way, but I think the context of the scenes in the Land of Summoned Monsters indicates that she does - for instance, I don't see any reason to think that Leviathan and Asura would be willing to work with her had she not become mentally strong enough to handle them.

I love Rydia for alot of reasons.She has Bahamut,She can use Black Magic,She has Warp,She has The Ga's,she has Flare,she has Meteor,Shes hot,Shes sexy,She barly ever leaves you,She can equip Ribbon,She is an Epic of Epicness of Epic Purporrsion,She is a Summoner,and She Awsome.Those are my reasons.Some may be the same but Idc.

Are these psp graphics?

TBH; I found her (grown up form) even attracting in the PSX version, lol.

I'm pretty sure that's from the DS version. Here's her look all grown up.

When Kain disappears, Cecil takes on Rydia as his ward. (I dunno if there's a female version of the word or not)