Benedikta Harman - Lady of the Wind | Final Fantasy 16

Benedikta Harman is a spy from Waloed, leading the Royal Intelligencers, and Dominant of the Eikon Garuda. She loyally follows her king, King Barnabas, but is ruthless and vindictive toward most other people.

Benedikta is a young woman with a curvaceous build. She has blonde hair styled in a long bob, and wears a black leather jumpsuit with a v-shaped neckline adorned with long white feathers or fur. She has hazel eyes. She keeps her sword in a holster on her belt that also wraps around her left thigh. Her fingernails are painted yellow. Benedikta is often seen with her rapier and a long pipe with which she smokes.

Benedikta is initially cold, seductive, domineering, and ruthless, showing little to no mercy towards her enemies. She values the loyalty and skill of her soldiers, but should they display incompetence, Benedikta does not hesitate to execute them. She believes in absolute loyalty; a prisoner who once tried selling out his comrades was executed because, from Benedikta's point of view, the prisoner showed a willingness to betray others and could not be trusted to stay loyal to the kingdom. She herself displays a great deal of loyalty in her king, Barnabas Tharmr, and supports his dream of making a new world. She thought highly of Cidolfus Telamon when they served together under Barnabas, but developed a grudge against him after he had a falling out with the king and deserted Waloed. When meeting again years later, Benedikta tried to convince Cid to return to Waloed, only to be disappointed and angry when he refused and began to speak ill of Barnabas. Cid notes that Benedikta was not the person he once knew after being influenced by Barnabas.

Benedikta has many lovers, including Hugo Kupka, an ally of Waloed, and the Dominant of Titan, who dreamed of one day ruling over the world with Benedikta at his side. She also graced the bed of her king, but it does not appear Barnabas was in love with her. Whether she was in denial about it due to him deserting Waloed, Benedikta's true love may have been Cid, who once rescued her from captivity. However, any love she may have harbored for Cid was not enough to overcome her insecurities.

Benedikta is arrogant and sure of her abilities as Dominant of Garuda, which leads her to scorn her opponents. This leads her to underestimate her opponents at times, and whenever losing, Benedikta loses her composure and focus, leading to a temper tantrum, ranting how it is "impossible" a lesser being could defeat her. She uses coarse language when pressured.

Benedikta is implied to be skilled in espionage, being the leader of Waloed's intelligencers. Her true power is the callousness toward human life, which allows her to quickly and emotionlessly discard any person she considers to be in her way. She is skilled in swordsmanship, though in her work as a spy usually avoids direct confrontation, and when she does, she fights using magic.

Having awakened as the Dominant of Garuda, the Warden of Wind, Benedikta can use wind magicks and become her Eikon, both partially in a semi-prime, and fully when she primes her entire flesh. Benedikta considers her Egis her sisters, feathered humanoid monsters that she can call upon to help her. She can light her cigarette with a press of her fingertip, so not all magic she wields is wind-aspected.

Benedikta is a dominant of Garuda. Dominants are people with the ability of "priming" Eikons, and use their abilities to cast powerful magics, and even turn their bodies into the Eikon when needing more power, yet this consumes more aether. Benediktas Eikon is Garuda, a harpy-like Eikon that can control the wind, cause powerful tornados and has immense agility. Benedikta can even "semi-prime", only turning parts of her body into Geruda, which reduces the amount of aether she needs to use. Dominants, while usually worshipped for their abilities, are used in war mainly as powerful tools for warfare. Benedikta herself is afraid that if she'd ever lose her abilities, she'd be worthless and cast aside.

Benedikta looks down upon many people, but most prominantly "bearers". Bearers are marked by a sigil on their cheek, they have the ability to use magic without the use if crystals. Bearers are treated like slaves in the world, often treated like lesser humans and systematically persecuted.

Currently, the world is at high tensions with many kingdoms at war with one another due to the "Blight", a magical corruption which robs lands of their plant life and fertility, slowly taking over the northern lands. Due to this, countries are fighting one another for land, most prominantly regions which are blessed by the mother crystal, hoping it would safe them from destruction.

Benedikta was born into poverty in 845 in rural Waloed and sold into servitude at age six. At fifteen, after being falsely accused of theft and nearly killed, she awakened as the Dominant of Garuda and escaped. She was rescued by Cidolfus Telamon and later served under King Barnabas of Waloed, with Cid as lord commander and Benedikta as a soldier. She was given the surname "Harman."

At eighteen, Benedikta joined Waloed’s covert ops and was assigned to make contact with Hugo Kupka, Dominant of Titan. Within two years, she began a relationship with Hugo and rose to lead the Royal Intelligencers. When Cid left Waloed, she held a grudge against him despite still having feelings for him and keeping a pendant he gave her.

Thirteen years after the Night of Flames, she joined Barnabas in a mission to Dhalmekia, witnessed key battles, and began hunting Dominants—initially targeting Shiva, then the rumored Dominant of Fire seen in Sanbreque.