Taarin Leighson

Taarin Leighson is a character in Dissidia Calamitas Infinita. In Twilight Crystal, while most of the Drakenaer lead harsh lives due to their lack of technology and strategy, Taarin - one of the few optimists of this violent race - tries to make the most of the situation. In reality, however, he has sought his opportunity to run away from the environment he had endured for so long by traveling around the world with his Outcaste friend Jendor, who has disappeared sometime later. As Taarin searched far and wide, he soon found himself in the midst of a century old war between two countries who sought the Twilight Crystal to use for their own purposes. This all started with him rescuing a young girl named Cynthia from the clutches of a hungry Malboro.

Appearance
Taarin's complexion is rather bright compared to the other dark-scaled Drakenaer such as Kaiser and Seto. His own scales are a mixture of bright hues of yellow and blue (including his tail and wings), his eyes a piercing bright blue and his slightly spiked hair that goes down to his shoulders a platinum blond. His default attire leaves him shirtless with green-yellow bandages around his wrists and a pair of dark blue baggy pants with red tribal dragon designs on them. A silver chain with a dragon devouring an aquamarine gem he wears around his neck, a silver dragon earring on his left earlobe and pieces of green armor on his bare feet complete the assemble.

Taarin's first alternate costume Wild Hunter has a more tribal feel. It consists of torn black shorts with a loose blue-green loincloth hanging over it, a dark gray torn shirt, a pair of dark red metal over-sized gauntlets, steel wrist-cuffs, along with his earring and chain necklace as well as longer hair. His second alternate costume Dream Eon is a palette swap of Bahamut who appeared to Cynthia in her last dream in Twilight Crystal, with silver hair, red eyes, darker scales, jet black pants, red armored feet, and pale pink bandages. As with all his costumes, though, his earring and necklace remain the same.

His DLC outfit Cloudy Drake is loosely based on the outfit Cloud Strife wears in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Notable differences include torn black pants, a pullover sleeveless shirt that is unzipped, a dragon insignia instead of a wolf on his pauldron, similar dragon earring on his left earlobe, and black armor on his feet. His sword also loosely resembles Cloud's First Tsurugi, while his thrown weapon looks similar to Yuffie Kisaragi's 4-Point Shuriken.

The 3rd Cycle
Taarin is one of the newly summoned Warriors of Twilight to be summoned in this cycle. Upon hearing that Samael and Francis are in this war fighting as Warriors of Madness, Taarin is more than eager to face off with them. Sometime later, he resorts to becoming a full dragon during his duel with Samael, when he is overwhelmed by his powers and overcomes them by transforming, but the fight ends in a draw. Though afraid of what he may become, Taarin retains his outgoing and friendly demeanor towards his comrades. Taarin eventually shares a kindred with Liam Draconys, who is also plagued by his inner darkness but it's mostly due to his Deus of the dark element, Odin. He is also one of the first to comfort Rose when she loses her mother.

The 4th Cycle
At some point during this cycle, Taarin confronts Weslei Vetmos about the latter's hatred for Neydro Caim.

The 7th Cycle
In this cycle, he becomes part of the Storm Division that is involved in the war with the Calamity Wolves as well as a small number of the remaining Warriors of Madness. He briefly battles Sanna Rekan, but their fight ends in a draw. He then jumps in to save Vergil and Zak from the surrounding Manikins.

The 13th Cycle
During this cycle, Taarin is traveling companions with Vergil Igaki and also fights General Bunyan at some point.

Battle
 Taarin Leighson  Flight Frenzy – Glides freely while unleashing powerful combos to overwhelm opponents.

A Flight Frenzy, Taarin has a large pool of aerial attacks but a few ground ones as well. But he also excels in executing Combo Attacks linked to a variety of Bravery Attacks, many of which can also cause Wall Rush. Having a few long-range attacks, Taarin is better off dealing damage in melee combat.

EX Mode
Taarin's EX Mode is his Dawn of the Dragon. While in EX Mode, Taarin is transformed into more like a dragon (like Ridley) and his weapons are replaced with his ultimate weapons which boost Bravery damage Taarin does depending on how many times he has dodged while in midair. "Dodge Jump" makes Taarin invincible to some attacks while jumping, while "Mirror Dash" increases his movement speed and reflects minor projectiles while flying.

Taarin's EX Burst is Flare Rampage. The player must rapidly press the button to fill up a power gauge as Taarin dashes past the opponent from multiple angles to attack. Taarin ends the EX Burst by throwing his chakram to trap his opponent in the ring before finishing off with a powerful energy-fueled blast. Failing to press the button quickly enough will result in Taarin skipping to the end of the attack, minimizing the Bravery damage done.

Equipment
Taarin's Weapons: Swords, daggers, spears, thrown weapons, and grappling weapons.

Taarin's Armor: Shields, bangles, gauntlets, hats, helms, headbands, clothing, light armor, chestplates, and chainmail.

Musical Themes

 * Main Theme: A Hunter's Determination
 * World Map Theme: A Hunter's Precipice
 * Normal Battle: Dragon's Fang
 * Boss Battle: A Hero Rises

Poses
Intro: Walks forward catching his chakram that has flown past the camera, then draws out his sword so he points both weapons at his opponent.

Victory: Twirls about in the air using his transparent wings before descending only halfway to the ground.

Defeat: Falls onto his back with his legs up in the air, then sits up with his head down.

Attacks
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Encounter

 * "Out of my way!"
 * "I'm gonna make you squeal!"
 * "You wanna piece of me?"
 * "Don't get so cocky!"
 * "Ooh, you're going down!"
 * "This is just not my day!"&mdash; If HP is low
 * "There's no way I'm running!"&mdash; If HP is low
 * "Wanna take me on? Fine by me!"&mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "Boy oh boy! The price of freedom is steep."&mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "Mock me and I'll scratch your eyes out!"&mdash; If opponent is weaker
 * "You'll be sorry!"&mdash; If opponent is weaker
 * "Time to clean up!"&mdash; When fighting an opponent in a tournament battle.
 * "Okay! Next prey!"&mdash; When fighting a second straight opponent in a tournament battle
 * "We go all out!"&mdash; When fighting an opponent in a round-robin party battle
 * "Just leave the rest to me!"&mdash; When last to fight in a round-robin battle
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Victory

 * "Ha! In your face!"
 * "Another one bites the dust!"
 * "Oh yeah!"
 * "Yes!"
 * "That...was bad..." &mdash; If HP is low
 * "You don't look so tough!" &mdash; If HP is low
 * "Ooh...that had to hurt." &mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "Not so tough, huh?" &mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "Is that the best you got?" &mdash; If opponent is weaker
 * "Better luck next time, buddy." &mdash; If opponent is weaker

Defeat

 * "Aw man!"
 * "What the hell are you looking at?"
 * "This can't be it."
 * "Yeah yeah, laugh while you can!"
 * "I knew I didn't stand a chance!" &mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "Sorry, guys..." &mdash; If opponent is stronger
 * "You've had your fun." &mdash; If opponent is weaker
 * "Come on! Just one more chance!" &mdash; If opponent is weaker
 * }

3rd Cycle
Taarin: "You think I'm that naive, huh? Then you're about to find your mistake in underestimating me!"

Taarin: "Neydro, would you stop showing off? You're giving me a headache!"

Taarin: "Hey, Guthmir! It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Taarin: "Is it just me or do I smell more than just a friendly fluff?" Liam: "Now what's that supposed to mean?" Zak: "Yeah, you kidding us? Liam and I go way back!" Taarin: "You guys don't have to hide it, you know. I'm not one to judge."

4th Cycle
Taarin: "No one's losing on this side... not on my watch!"

Taarin: "You've nowhere else to go, Guthmir! I have the high ground!"

5th Cycle
Samael: "As you can see, my fighting prowess is far superior to yours. Now step down." Taarin: "I don't think so."

Vergil: "So, what do you think of this Ike?" Taarin: "I don't know, but I already find his attitude annoying. Thinks he can bad-mouth anyone whatever he pleases." Vergil: "Oh, come on. At least he deserves some credit. He did help us defeat those Manikins, didn't he?" Taarin: "Yeah, I suppose..."

6th Cycle
Zak: "I can't believe Jesilyn has such a poor sense of humor!" Taarin: "It won't get any better with you berating her for taking it the wrong way! Enough already!"

7th Cycle
Sanna: "Hmm. A delusional beast. Never thought I'd see one among the honorable types." Taarin: "So basically you're saying I'm the first one. That's some weak statement coming from you. But really... less talk and more fight!"

Vergil: "Sounds like this drake never learns when to quit. But we do owe you one." Zak: "But somehow, a thanks doesn't seem like enough." Taarin: "Can we save the thanks for later? There's still a battle here going on."

Taarin: "Francis Castiglione. Never thought you'd still have some old tricks up your sleeve. I see you got yourself a new pet."

13th Cycle
Taarin: "Tell me where Vergil is, or I'll force it out of you!"

Bunyan: "Savages need to learn their place!" Taarin: "Hey! Who are you calling savage!?"

Trivia

 * One of Taarin's general encounter quotes, "Mock me and I'll scratch your eyes out!", alludes to the first two sentences recited by a group of British soldiers in Monty Python's Flying Circus marching to 'Military Fairy': I got your number ducky. You couldn't afford me dear. 2, 3... I'll scratch your eyes out.
 * Two of Taarin's Bravery attacks, Aerospark and Spinfreeze, reference two of his Eons, Ixion and Shiva, respectively. Aerospark was Ixion's special attacks in Final Fantasy X, while Spinfreeze was one of the moves used by Shiva as part of her Gestalt Mode in Final Fantasy XIII.
 * In SoulCalibur V, Taarin was one of the created characters using Z.W.E.I.'s fighting style. This may allude to the fact Taarin can summon and was friends with two wolf-like humanoids - Caim the Skyhound and Yala the Canidine.
 * One of Taarin's opening quotes against a stronger opponent is a line said by Zack Fair when he meets his fate in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.