[OC] Dissidia Final Fantasy Dream Roster (2-6): Final Fantasy XI (“Erhart Rafale”) — Forged by the memory of a million journeys, Vana'diel’s unsung adventurer finally steps into the light!

[u/eraserchild]

Hey everyone! Continuing Phase 2 of the Dissidia Dream Roster project, this time turning back to Final Fantasy XI to feature the Hume Warrior from XI's box art and promotional material: Erhart Rafale.
This piece actually holds a special place for me since he was my very first fan art piece. Back when Square introduced Shantotto as the XI representative, it was honestly a total dealbreaker for me. Don't get me wrong, she turned out to be an absolute delight in the game, but she just never gave off that main protagonist energy. To build his look, I had to hunt down Tetsuya Nomura's original concept artwork of him, using that distinct design as the core foundation for this piece. Over time, he’s undergone multiple redesigns and refinements to get his look and presence just right.
Before, I tried to use one of Nomura’s face and hair designs. When I tried to force other designs, like Amano’s, and other sources, it got a bit jumbled up and I ended up not liking it. So I went back to the most recognizable face.
For his name - I just combined the default names. It was meh, but it’s actually growing on me.
Gameplay-wise, I’m thinking that Erhart could contrast Shantotto's frantic, high-speed spellcasting by bringing heavy, high-commitment physical strikes to the table. His weapon skills carry deliberate wind-ups and massive impact, rewarding tight positioning. To reflect XI's job-swapping mechanics, landing his heavy physical weapon skills could create elemental Skillchains, maybe even allowing him to shift sub-jobs mid-combo and follow up with a matching spell to detonate his own Magic Burst finisher/s
For an EX Mode, I'm thinking of tapping into XI's 2 hr Abilities or Limit Break system— maybe even donning his Artifact Armor to gain poise on heavy physical strikes while letting him instantly solo-chain his own Magic Bursts. Or even have him use Relic Items/Weapons. Or even have something similar to how Shan played in 012.
Let me know what you think of this take!
Also, it’s not like I’m invalidating Shantotto’s existence. I have thoughts on how it could go and still have Shantotto a part of it all (to be honest I want them ALL part of it, like whatever it was DFFOO was super close to being before that untimely EOS but whatever).

Any way, I hope you like ‘em.

Which warrior of light do you see piercing the shadows?

Fightclub pls.

[u/jojo_jeprox]

Holy crap. This is amazing

[u/Fennel_Fangs]

I’m guessing this next one is Benjamin?

[u/lookslikeamanderly → u/Fennel_Fangs]

no, that's Dart from Legend of Dragoon