One of the most iconic classes in the Final Fantasy series are the Dragoons, the dragon armor-wearing knights that can leap through the air. They’re sleek, badass, and elegant all at the same time.

Many classic Final Fantasy characters have tapped into the Dragoon class: Kain, Cid Highwind, Freya, Aranea, and many others. But did you know that dragoons actually existed in real life? They didn’t dress like dragons or leap into the air, but there were in fact dragoons leaping onto the battlefield.

Dragoons were a type of mounted infantry or cavalry that many armies employed during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. The word ‘dragoon’ was originally used to identify heavily armed mounted troops but would evolve to describe light cavalrymen.

The word dragoon itself is believed to come from the firearm used by French dragoons called a “dragon”. This was a lightweight version of a blunderbuss that could have been more easily used while the soldier was mounted on a horse.

Well, they’re a little different from Final Fantasy dragons but they do have the same inspiration.

Early models of the dragons were believed that have an actual carving of a dragon’s head around the muzzle of the gun, giving the blast the impression of a fire-breathing dragon. Even four centuries ago, the human race was enlightened with the knowledge that dragons were cool, and that modeling your weapons and soldiers after dragons would make them cool.

Use in battle

Going over entire centuries of military history with the Dragoons could probably keep us here all day so I’ll try to be brief.

As previously mentioned, dragoons were initially used in the 17th century as mounted infantry. Their main appeal was that they were trained infantry that could fight with swords and guns while also being able to efficiently ride a horse. They could act as either foot soldiers or calvary as well as quickly get to different parts of the battlefield.

This made them useful for a multitude of tasks like transport, communication, and protecting outposts. They were also cheaper to recruit than regular cavalry since they used more basic equipment and inferior horses.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, they gradually evolved into a lighter, less armored type of cavalry troops. Many armies at this time made use of dragoons including Napoleon, the British Army, and even the Japanese army.

We currently have no information if they were brainwashed by a knight in black, who in turn was brainwashed by an evil alien from the moon, but we’ll update you if we learn anything.

Modern Day Dragoons

With the advent of modern warfare in the early 20th century with World Wars One and Two, calvery units were mostly phased out of the military and the horse-reliant dragoons were mostly phased out with them.

The last reported use of real dragoons was in the 1960s Angolan War for Independence. Here the Portuguese Army made use of dragoons to fight against Angolan Communist guerillas.

There are still many modern cavalry regiments that make use of the word dragoon in their names. For example, The British Army has four regiments called Dragons: ‘1st The Queens Dragoon Guards’, ‘Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the ‘Royal Dragoon Guards’, and the ‘Light Dragoons’.

Their tasks range from reconnaissance to support activities. They don’t use horses anymore, nor are they fated to splat down and die on the floor of a dungeon, but they still manage to keep the dragoon name alive.

Dragoons and Final Fantasy

So what do the real-world dragoons have to do with the Final Fantasy dragoons? Well, not a lot really.

The original name for the class in Japan is ‘Dragon Knight’ and it is speculated that they were renamed to dragoon to fit with the job name limit in the older Final Fantasy games.

Perhaps it’s a stretch but I do think there are a couple of similarities between the two though. Dragoons throughout history are known for their flexibility and speed, often being the light cavalry. Likewise, the Dragoons in Final Fantasy tend to be fast with powerful jumps that allow them to dodge attacks. They also both have big fancy helmets I suppose. It’s not a lot but it’s something.

Part of the fun of Final Fantasy, in general, is how it takes real-world concepts and mythology and incorporates them into each game’s world and lore. The dragoons continue to be an important and beloved part of Final Fantasy and we’ll hopefully see more of them when Final Fantasy XVI drops in 2023.