Cyan is basically like the Samurai Job of Final Fantasy 6. Players will first meet him as part of Sabin’s journey once he gets separated from the pack. Sabin and Shadow encounter Cyan who is fleeing from his kingdom, Doma, after everyone gets poisoned at the castle. Cyan swears revenge upon the Empire for doing what they did to his kingdom and family and the rest is history.
As a samurai, Cyan’s special commands revolve around sword techniques called Bushido. In the original version of Final Fantasy 6, players could unleash these techniques based on a charging meter in battle. In subsequent re-releases, like Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, players just need to choose which technique they want and that’s it. Cyan can learn eight Bushido techniques in the game, so let’s rank them from least to most useful.
8 Fang
Fang is Cyan’s starting Bushido move that he learns at level one. It’s a pretty simple attack that has him randomly thrust his sword upon an enemy on the battlefield. It does more damage than a normal attack with his sword, so it should be used as an alternate every chance players get.
However, as is the case with most starting abilities, Fang becomes forgettable the further players get into the game. The biggest exception is Sabin in Final Fantasy 6 who has a killer combo for his first special command.
7 Sky
Sky is this game’s version of a counter move and he will learn it at level six. When activated, Cyan will counterattack an enemy for a greater amount of damage. It’s a nice secret weapon to have but it does come at a cost. Players will basically waste a turn which is sometimes a good thing in an RPG.
There are boss battles wherein waiting or defending are the best options like that mollusk monster at the start with Terra. In moments like these, using Sky to set up a killer counterattack is great.
6 Tiger
Tiger is a lot like the spell Gravity which is a spell that can be learned by equipping the Phantom Esper. This spell can reduce the enemy’s HP by half and the same is true for Tiger. However, Cyan’s special Bushido attack comes with an added bonus of unleashing Sap on enemies.
Sap behaves a lot like the Poison ailment in most RPGs but it is more potent in Final Fantasy 6. Tiger is a great attack to use to deal a good amount of damage on random enemies and to set them up with one of the better status effects in the game. This Bushido move can be learned at level twelve.
5 Dragon
Dragon is a good move to use when Cyan is low on HP and MP. The attack drains both HP and MP from enemies and heals Cyan for a small amount once he reaches level twenty-four. It’s not as good as using a Cure spell for HP, or an Ether item for MP.
However, in a pinch, this is a good way for Cyan in particular to recover especially MP. Ethers are expensive and reducing how many players consume is a good idea to save money. Although the remaster does add boosts that act like assist features, making acquiring money a non-issue.
4 Eclipse
Eclipse is one of Cyan’s more ethereal Bushido moves. Most of his attacks are based on sword techniques, but Eclipse sends down razor-like rain to hit all enemies on the battlefield. It is non-elemental based and has the chance to inflict Stop on enemies. When Stop works, it’s a great move to get the advantage even for minor encounters.
Unfortunately, getting Stop to work can be rare especially the further players get in the game. Cyan has far better attacks that target everyone in battle and he learns most before this at level thirty-four.
3 Oblivion
Oblivion is Cyan’s final technique in the game. He can learn it in one of two ways. The easiest way is to get to the second half of Final Fantasy 6 in the World of Ruin. Once Cyan is in the party again after a funny scene involving love letters, head to Doma Castle.
Players who go to sleep in the guest beds will activate a dream dungeon wherein they must rescue Cyan from three chaotic triplets. Players can alternatively grind until they reach level seventy. Acquisition aside, Oblivion is a lot like the Esper/Summon Odin’s move, Zantetsuken, which inflicts instant death on enemies. If Oblivion worked on bosses, this would be Cyan’s best skill, but it, unfortunately, doesn’t.
2 Flurry
Flurry, like Fang, targets all enemies on the battlefield. The biggest difference here is that Flurry will attack at random four times instead of once. Sometimes those four strikes will hit the same enemy and sometimes they will get spread around.
For boss battles, it will be obvious where the strikes land unless the boss has minions or multiple parts to its body. Cyan will learn this Bushido move at level fifteen, so there is a good chance he will know it when Sabin and Shadow encounter him in the Empire’s encampment by Doma.
1 Tempest
Tempest is the second to last move Cyan will learn at level forty-four. It is essentially a stronger version of Flurry. Cyan will strike four times with his sword and all four strikes will be randomized. There’s no reason to go back to Flurry once this is in Cyan’s knowledge base.
There’s not a lot more to say about it other than to urge players to keep Cyan in the party. He is one of the strongest members of the team in Final Fantasy 6 which is saying something since there are over a dozen.
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster was re-released for consoles on April 19, 2023, and is available on PS4 and Switch.