Retsarra, known also by his ring name Howling Blade, is character in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail. He is the reigning cruiserweight champion of Ascension Arcadia Championship.

History

Retsarra was born after Alexandria fused with the Source. At some point he met the President of Ascension Arcadia and was offered a chance to become a fighter. While he accepted the offer, he decided to use a soul regulator only for the purpose of fighting in the Arcadion with the feral soul of the legendary wolf, Fenrir. During his early career, he formed a tag team with Hector, the Brute Bomber, whom he developed a close friendship with. They barely drew any interest, causing management to disband their team. Eventually, he rose up to become the champion of the cruiserweight division, while Hector became the champion of the light-heavyweight division.

During his time in the Arcadion, Retsarra met a fellow Hhetsarro fighter from the heavyweight division, Eutrope, the Wicked Thunder, and they fell in love. From this, Retsarra also became friends with Eutrope's sisters, Yaana and Neyuni. It seemed his life was as perfect as it could be, but a shadow fell on it when he and Eutrope discovered that they both had contracted psychonekrosis from utilizing feral souls. Having dedicated himself into fighting in the Arcadion, Retsarra decided to keep on fighting until the disease eventually claims him. Eutrope, however, disagreed with his decision and sought to find a cure for the disease and she left to find it without saying word to anyone. Retsarra assumed Eutrope simply left him. However, Retsarra was surprised when Eutrope suddenly appeared to challenge the new light-heavyweight champion, the Warrior of Light, wanting their soul. The Warrior eventually won the fight.

Eutrope revealed the truth about psychonekrosis to the Warrior, Yaana and Neyuni and they decided to find the cure for it. They decided to warn every fighter about this danger. When they came to warn Hector about it, Retsarra was there. Retsarra greeted the Warrior and looked forward to meet them in the field, before he took his leave. However, he stayed outside Hector's apartment and heard every word about their warning, which ended in Hector disbelieving their claim about psychonekrosis. Retsarra left in silence.

Hector eventually succumbed to psychonekrosis after utilizing multiple unsanctioned feral souls for a grudge match against the Warrior. Retsarra saved one of Hector's cats from falling debris. Seeing his friend dead made him feel somewhat somber, as he didn't expect Hector would be the first to go. Yaana, who was also there, realized that Retsarra is also suffering from psychonekrosis, and he admitted it. Yaana urged him to retire, but he refused due to his loyalty to the president and the fact that fighting in the Arcadion was all he had. He was still going to face the Warrior before leaving with the cat.

Retsarra's admission made Yaana realize that Eutrope didn't desire to use Warrior's soul as a cure for psychonekrosis for herself, but for Retsarra, and she received confirmation from Eutrope herself after defeating her, albeit with the cost of contracting psychonekrosis herself. Despite this, Yaana decided to get Retsarra to retire for Eutrope's sake and came up with an idea. By having the Warrior issue him a challenge that he must retire if he loses in a live broadcast would make it so that he could ill afford to deny the challenge. She asked Honey B. Lovely to help with the broadcast. With the help of Honey and her fans, Retsarra was forced to accept the challenge in exchange that if the Warrior loses, they must give up adventuring.

The match between the Warrior and Retsarra eventually ended in Warrior's victory. Retsarra promised to keep his word and retired, yet he didn't know what he was going to do now. The Warrior suggested that he join them and Yaana against the President. He initially refused to go against him, and also because of his belief that Eutrope left him. Yaana lashed at him, and revealed Eutrope never left him, she went to find a cure for him. This revelation left him speechless, as the woman he loves went on to such lengths for him. He came realize that the President is ultimately responsible for his and Eutrope's condition as well as Hector's death, and agreed to join the Warrior and Yaana. He was going to meet them later at Yaana's gym.

Retsarra went to get Hector's cats and brought them to the gym, as pets were not allowed, where he lived. He asked Yaana if she could take care of them for the time being, and Yaana said it's no problem as Neyuni had wanted to adopt a cat for a while. Yaana then took Retsarra to see Eutrope in the upstairs, only to find she and Neyuni were both gone. Before they could fathom why, the screen in the gym came to life and through it the President himself addressed the Warrior, praising his accomplishments in the tournament, but also being upset that they and Yaana had interfered with his script. As a result of that, he had kidnapped Eutrope and Neyuni to use as a leverage to coerce the Warrior to continue the tournament in the heavyweight division. Should the Warrior win, he will release them, grant the Warrior access to the soul repository and also provide the cure for psychonekrosis. Retsarra was appalled, that the President would resort to kidnapping, renouncing any loyalty he had for the President.

Characteristics

Appearance

When not using his feral soul, Retsarra is a tan-skinned Hhetsarro with blond hair and he carries a Vanguard Greatsword.

As the Howling Blade, Retsarra adopts lupine features such as ears, fangs, fur, and tail. He wears a mechanical suit of armor and wields an energy saber, and is surrounded by drones that assist him in combat. In the Savage-exclusive phase of his encounter, he unleashes Fenrir's full power, causing him to become gigantic and his lower torso to gain additional features including a left arm resembling the Final Fantasy IX incarnation of Fenrir, and an extra right arm wielding a massive energy saber. The drones he uses in his first form have also grown to match his increased size.

Personality

Retsarra feels that fighting is the only thing he has, especially after believing the love of his life, Eutrope, had left him. Beyond this, he is a caring individual, as demonstrated by his friendship with Hector. He craves attention, as he is disappointed when Hector's cats did not pay any towards him. Eutrope leaving has driven him to a depression, as he is willing to keep fighting in the Arcadion until psychonecrosis will claim his life.

After the Warrior of Light defeats him and Yaana reveals the truth about Eutrope to him, he breaks free from his depression and his true personality returns: a man, who wants to live and cares about his loved ones and friends. He has no tolerance for injustice, as when the President kidnaps Eutrope and Neyuni, he renounces his loyalties towards him and joins the Warrior and Yaana against him.

Gameplay

Retsarra as the Howling Blade serves as the boss in AAC Cruiserweight M4 and its Savage encounter, the latter having an additional exclusive phase as with all final floor Savage tier bosses from Stormblood onwards.

Citations