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Lloyd is quite average looking and, while attractive, doesn’t put a lot of thought into his everyday physical appearance. He sports short brown hair that spikes up away from his face, save for a few strands that seem to cowlick down toward his ear. As he’s trained with swords nearly his whole life, Lloyd is somewhat toned, though his attraction to sweets keeps him from being a complete muscleman.

One thing to know about Lloyd Irving is that he is compassionate, the type of person who can’t stand to see someone suffering right in front of him without doing something about it. This is the case both with his long-term companions, the others he meets along the way, as well as complete and total strangers – and he is all too happy to help out without expecting a single thing in return. It doesn’t even occur to him to see it that way, that he should be “rewarded” or any such thing, and often he turns down repayment unless the person absolutely insists. Lloyd is very loyal to the people he cares about and believes in them to the fullest – even when they might not believe in themselves – and is quick to remind them of everything that makes them a good person, that they have value just by being alive. And if that’s not a good enough reason, he’s happy to remind each one that they have value just by being his friend – not in an egotistical “aren’t you glad you know me,” sort of way, but in the sense that true friendships are an amazing and powerful thing, and not something everyone is fortunate to have. Not to mention, it works both ways, of course; he’s proud to know the people he does, and would do anything for them.

Lloyd is very quick to trust people. Similarly to him not looking for favors when he helps people, it also does not occur to Lloyd to be suspicious of anyone he meets – unless, of course, someone is obviously threatening his friends and altogether Not Good. Even those who wind up betraying Lloyd – which does happen a fair bit – are not written off entirely and, in most cases, he is able to forgive them for their transgressions, obviously unless someone shows absolutely no remorse for their actions. This belief in people to the very end is the saving grace of quite a few of Lloyd’s companions and allies, and even the main antagonist, the person to blame for the twisted back-and-forth struggle for resources between the two worlds, is forgiven by Lloyd in the end.

That is not to say that Lloyd is a perfect saint. Especially in the beginning of his journey, Lloyd can be very brash, not always sparing a moment to think his actions through before they (more often than not) blow up in his face. He’s very quick to anger when he believes himself or his friends to be wronged, and in many cases, it’s only a matter of time before there’s a fight, whether it’s all but a screaming match or an actual, all out brawl. There are also occasions where his own companions have riled him up, sometimes on purpose for a joke (because it’s very easy) and other times when they might disagree with how he’s handling someone. It’s a sort of knee-jerk reaction of his, and in a lot of cases once things are explained and/or settle down, not only does he calm down but a lot of times, he comes to understand their point of view. Lloyd can also be self righteous at times, and occasionally needs to be reminded that not everyone is necessarily in a position where they can fight back, that not everyone is quite as strong or have the same opportunities as him.

And he does take these criticisms to heart, because one great thing about Lloyd Irving is that he is very aware that he is able to make mistakes. He doesn’t try to make excuses for his behavior nor does he try to force the blame onto anyone else. In fact, the very reason he embarked on this journey in the first place was due to his naivety and recklessness, something that cost the village of Iselia, where his closest friends were raised, a great deal. Lloyd had not intended for anything of the sort to happen, obviously, but he does not fight back against the village’s accusations, nor his being exiled from it, and from that moment on he’s sworn never to forget the people who lost their lives because of his impulsiveness, no matter what his intentions may have been in the beginning. His focus has always been how to better himself, how to change so that he won’t make the same mistakes over and over again.

He can be pretty stubborn, however. That’s the one thing that sticks with him from Day One and beyond, and while sometimes it can be a hindrance, in the end it’s his determination that sets the two worlds back on the path they ought to be, combined and whole once more, flourishing. He refuses to be satisfied with any options that require sacrifices, that require anyone to suffer, and he will always look for another way, even if it seems impossible. The wonderful thing is, most of the time, he and his companions are even able to pull it off. Lloyd has been described as an idealist, and that’s true, but he also has the strength and will to pursue his ideals and make them reality, along, of course, with his friends who accompany him every step of the way.

Not only does he have the will, but Lloyd is able to inspire such strength in others with a mix of enthusiasm and some very strong belief. He’s able to convince a large amount of people, each with their own agendas and opinions, to support his causes, and in a lot of ways the friends he travels with go against their own nature in order to do the same. So not only is Lloyd capable of growing and changing himself, but he acts as a bit of a catalyst for others to change themselves for the better, and that makes him a pretty valuable person to have on your side.

That enthusiasm is a fickle thing, however, and when it comes to certain things, Lloyd can get very bored, very easily. Often at the beginning of a quest, he’s excited to explore a new area with new puzzles and monsters hooray— only to eventually get tired of it, finding even something as magical and ever-changing as the Sorcerer’s Ring to be downright boring if he plays with it too much. For all he matures, this is definitely a Lloydism that cannot quite be tamed, although he doesn’t lose interest in the truly important things, like, for example, saving the world. He does take things very seriously, he just… needs something shiny to play with every now and again to keep him occupied.

Lloyd’s also not incredibly bright. He’s not a total imbecile, sure, but sleeping (while standing!) in class never helps a person retain a whole lot of knowledge about the world, and as a result he asks a lot of questions, some that his companions aren’t afraid to tell him point blank that if he paid attention in school, he’d know the answer already. Sometimes it’s a matter of mixing up facts, such as which magical elements oppose which, and other times he’s just… incredibly slow on the uptake and requires a few explanations before he understands. In fact, he’s so notoriously bad with his schoolwork that it’s a shock to everyone when he uses a large word properly – and, him being Lloyd, he takes the “praise” as a compliment rather than the insult it’s supposed to be. Lloyd is more observant than anything else – he does catch on pretty quickly to what is happening to Colette in the beginning of the journey (the loss of her appetite, that she doesn’t need sleep, and that she can no longer feel anything because of the angel transformation brought on by being the Chosen) despite her trying her best to hide it. Not to mention, every single location they go to involves some kind of puzzle – he has to have some decent problem solving skills in order to deal with them (ignoring, of course, that there’s player beyond that good old fourth wall shh).

When you get right down to it, Lloyd is not a complicated person: what you see is what you get. He doesn’t hide things very often – at least, he’s not able to for very long because that boy cannot lie – and he’s very open with what’s on his mind, nor is he ever really afraid to show how he’s feeling. He doesn’t hold grudges, and even with all the problems they run into, the betrayals and losses they endure, Lloyd never lets go of his determination to make things right, to make a world where everyone can live freely.

Lloyd was found nearby his dying mother by a dwarven man named Dirk, who, feeling a sense of pity and guilt for the woman, took up the task of raising the human child as his own. Lloyd grew up close to but apart from a small village named Iselia, learning valuable and numerous Dwarven Vows, befriending the Chosen of Regeneration, Colette Brunel, and copying the homework of young Genis Sage (and quite naturally befriending him, too).

At first, a lot of the things that happen to Lloyd in the beginning are not brought on by his own actions. He merely tags along the day Colette is to start her journey as the Chosen and believes the attackers at the temple to be Desians, along with meeting the less-than-pleasant mercenary Kratos, and likewise follows Genis to a Desian owned ranch filled with human prisoners. Despite it being forbidden by law and despite the risk of consequence, Lloyd and Genis approach the ranch to speak with an elderly woman named Marble, who’s looking worse for wear.

By getting involved with the prisoner, whom needed proper protection for a (normally) enhancing jewel called an Exsphere, Lloyd learns of the reason behind his mother’s demise: that Desians killed her in hopes of retrieving the very Exsphere she left in Lloyd’s care. Fueled with a (brief) desire for vengeance, it is no surprise that Lloyd held no remorse for fighting back against the Desians when they attacked Iselia, searching for Lloyd himself for being caught near the human ranch. Although Lloyd and Genis both manage to break through to the leader of the Desian raid, they do not engage in combat, for the leader instead sends out a horrific looking monster to fight in his place.

It is here that Lloyd first learns that there is the possibility of consequences for every action, for the monster attacking Genis and him turns out to be Marble from the ranch, mutated because of her defective Exsphere. Not only does she perish due to the transformation, but the town of Iselia itself suffered immeasurable damage and casualties, and Lloyd understood that it was his actions at the ranch, although packed with good intentions, were the cause of all of it. Exiled from the town, along with Genis, Lloyd instead decides to travel with Colette on her journey of regeneration.

Through most of the first half of Lloyd’s adventure, his concern rests mostly with Colette’s safety and wellbeing, which seems to be quickly deteriorating. It is during this time also that he learns of Exspheres’ true origin: they are made up of the essence of human lives, the very humans that Desians cultivate in their ranches. Lloyd’s mother’s life is therefore within his Exsphere, and Marble’s life within Genis’. Lloyd and the group also learn of a world opposite of their own Sylvarant, and that through saving their world, they put the other, Tethe’alla, in danger.

At the end of Colette’s journey as the Chosen, it is revealed that in order to save Sylvarant by regenerating the world and complete her transformation into an angel, she must give up her human life. It is also revealed that there is a much more sinister operation going on, for rather than the Chosen’s sacrifice actually having anything to do with the regenerating of the world - in fact, the religious entity known as Cruxis couldn't actually care less about saving either Sylvarant or Tethe'alla, and are instead only interested in using the body of the Chosen for something completely irrelevant. Lloyd would have none of it. Taking Colette’s soulless body, Lloyd and the rest of the group escape to the parallel world of Tethe’alla to see what can be done to reverse the effects of the Chosen’s ritual.

In Tethe’alla, Lloyd is introduced to a myriad of problems. Although Exsphere production takes place in Sylvarant, it is within Tethe’alla that they are used for running machines, experiments, and for sinister trading between sinister individuals, each of which things that the essence of a human life trapped in a gemstone, undying, should not have to suffer through. Through a minor disaster involving the capture of Genis and his sister Raine on the lone basis that they are half-elves, Lloyd is made aware that discrimination is prominent throughout this new world. Not to mention the issue with the parallel worlds that survive off of the decline of the other. Upon not being able to properly separate the worlds, the only option left is to reunite them, and a very persistent individual stands in Lloyd’s way of completing that goal…

Thus, it is Lloyd’s aim to once and for all save Colette (who also goes through her own multitude of problems), put an end to Exsphere misuse and find a way to keep the souls inside from suffering any longer, to disallow discrimination to enter his heart, even though it was Desian half-elves who caused his mother’s death and the work of one lone half-elf who has brought upon the majority of the worlds’ suffering, and finally, to reunite the two worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe’alla to cease the endless race for mana and the sacrifice of the Chosen for the sake of either world.

Truly, what Lloyd desires, is a world without meaningless suffering.

There is a jewel attached to the back of his left hand called an Exsphere, which brings out hidden potential in anybody who uses one, and Lloyd is no exception. Lloyd’s Exsphere is particularly special, evolving and growing stronger just as much as Lloyd himself is. At the end of the game, he is able to use his Exsphere to bring forth wings, but whether or not he is still able to do this is unknown. It is likely that his Exsphere evolved into a higher power gem known as a Cruxis Crystal, which holds the power to turn half-elves – or humans, in Lloyd’s and a few others’ cases – into angels.

More on Exspheres/Cruxis Crystals/angels at the bottom of this post right here~