Gyaruru Gyaru

While Dalmasca is commonly thought to have a population composed of Hyur, Bangaa, Seeq, and Viera, the kingdom is home to its own myriad of colorful creatures that Eorzeans might refer to as “beastmen”. One of these creature-kin—with long, leporine ears, fluttering bat-like wings, and glowing poms—are believed to bear the same distant lineage as the moogles of Eorzea. Dubbed “Ivalician moogles” by Eorzean scholars (or, less commonly, “Dalmascan moogles”), these creatures lived among the other peoples of Dalmasca for centuries, often taking on jobs related to building and engineering. However, after the Garelean invasion of Dalmasca some thirty years ago, most Ivalician moogles fled from civilization, scattering themselves among secret societies deep in the Othardian wilds. With them went their technology, leaving Dalmasca vulnerable to Garlean magitek and ultimately contributing to the loss of the war.

In the decades during Garlemald’s occupation of Dalmasca, Garlean military units were sent to scout for moogle societies, as those moogles who did stay to fight were some of the most dangerous soldiers on the battlefield. The Garleans wanted to procure the moogle’s technology—known colloquially after the invasion as moogletek to contrast with magitek—and incorporate it into their own weaponry. Most moogles were able to escape the eye of the empire using their knowledge of the land and trickster tech, but some were not so lucky.

Enter: Garu.

Garu was born after the Garlemald occupation: she has never known a world at peace. Raised in one of these moogle societies far from Dalmascan civilization, Garu had always been fascinated by Dalmascan history. As soon as she was old enough to develop her own opinions, Garu spoke out against her family’s choice to abandon Rabanastre. She didn’t understand how, after centuries of living among the people, they could abandon Dalmasca in its time of need. Garu’s family scolded her, claiming that she didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. However, nothing they could say would persuade her.

As Garu aged, she began to cultivate passions for three major things: rebellion against the Gareleans, moogletek, and music. While her family’s lineage was talented in engineering, just as many of them were gifted with music. Their time in the wild allowed them ample opportunity to cultivate moogletek to enhance the instruments they brought with them. They invented synthesizers, theremins, keyboards, and more—and they regularly performed concerts featuring songs with happy-go-lucky lyrics… which annoyed Garu, given the gravity of what was happening in the wider country.

While Garu was outspoken in her criticism of her family’s concealment, she of course still loved and admired their creativity, and she regularly participated in musical merriment alongside the rest of her folk. She even assisted in the creation of some of these electronic instruments, especially in assisting her grandmother, Mapu. Mapu was a stubborn old soul who encouraged Garu to always speak her mind. She taught Garu that music could not only bring people together with merriment, but with ideals and beliefs—and if Garu wanted her voice to be heard, maybe she could use music to amplify it. She also spun Garu lyrical folktales of Ivalician history, fostering an even stronger rebellious spirit within her.

At age 18, Garu—ever the tinkerer—constructed a radio that could receive transmissions from Garlean stations. Most of the available channels were platforms for military propaganda, but a scant few played music. Traditional Garlean music, but music nonetheless. The radio transmissions gave Garu an idea: even if she couldn’t contribute in-person to the uprisings stirring across the country, maybe she could provide assistance in her own way—through music and moogletek.

Behind closed doors, Garu established her own independent radio station with the capacity to not only speak directly to listeners, but play recorded music. Garu broadcasted all sorts of upbeat, wacky tunes on her electronic moogletek instruments, composing her own songs with nonsensical, pseudo-rebellious lyrics inspired by both folksongs and moogle mayhem. In between songs, she’d speak directly to her listeners in a tongue-and-cheek tone: while she’d never overtly criticize the Empire, she’d poke fun at them with clever wordplay and jokes. She adopted a DJ persona: Gyaruru Gyaru, an airheaded Lalafell who’s way too dumb to put any real meaning into her lyrics, lol! She dubbed her radio show Gyaruru’s Gabbers, and she called her fans gal-pals.

Garu had no real way of knowing if her signals were reaching anyone. Unbeknownst to her, Gyaruru’s radio show was rapidly gaining popularity all across the country. Not only was it popular in Dalmascan revolutionary circles (those of which still had access to moogletek), but it gained favor with Garleans, too, as many didn’t pay enough attention to Gyaruru’s incendiary lyrics to understand her metaphors. They heard a cute girl and thought nothing of it—though her music had a way of worming its way into people’s heads… and if they suddenly found themselves with contradictory opinions to the general Empire’s, they could just blame it on the radio waves.

Gyaruru’s show eventually caught the attention of the IVth Imperial Legion itself, who were wise to the subtle revolutionary lingo her songs contained. After around a year of Gyaruru’s signals eluding them, the occupying Garleans were able to track the transmissions to the exact location of Garu’s family hideaway.

In the middle of the night, a IVth Legion platoon marched into the mountains and scoured the moogles’ village. Having expected this day would come, the village had set up moogletek measures to keep the magitek at bay—but the element of the ambush, combined with superior manpower from the Gareleans, meant that the moogles stood no chance. The IVth raged through the village, and many of Garu’s close family members—including her beloved grandmother—perished in the conflict.

It was easy for the Legion to deduce who Gyaruru was out of the village, given her bizarre radio set up. Rather than killing Garu, they captured her, hoping to take her back to civilization and have her formally renounce her revolutionary ways (as well as provide the Empire with enhanced moogletek). Garu was dragged away in chains, sobbing as she was forced to watch her family scatter to the winds yet again.

The leader of the specific battalion that captured Garu was Claudius quo Quinitus. He kept Garu in what amounted to a birdcage as they traveled back to the IVth’s home base in Valnain. Garu was certain she was done for, but, before they arrived in Valnain, Claudius took her aside for a private conversation. As it turned out, Claudius… was a huge gal-pal!

Despite his serious demeanor, Claudius had a soft spot for the cute and fluffy, and Gyaruru’s personality had really taken him. Her moe-moe moogle music had wormed its way into his brain and filled it with fuwa-fuwa anti-fascist sympathies. He couldn’t bear the thought of Gyaruru’s creativity being stifled under the Garlean regime, so he decided to do the unthinkable: he directly disobeyed his superior’s orders and let Garu go.

Garu was unbelievably touched. She had met her first fan—and he was a Garlean! That proved to her that her radio show was doing good for the world, despite her doubts… and even though so much blood had been spilled, maybe peace could be achieved after all.

Claudius told Garu that even though he planned to make it look like she escaped on her own, he’d still be punished—but he’d take it willingly, given the pain he had already caused to Garu and her family. Not only did he free Garu, but he arranged for her transport away from Dalmasca. He knew that it would be too dangerous to continue her operations on the continent—the IVth Legion would never stop hunting her. Pulling his strings as a Dalmascan sympathizer, Claudius was able to charter Garu a ship towards one of the only free continent left on Hydaelyn: Eorzea.

The trip to Eorzea was long and treacherous. Garu transferred boats in many different ports, including Othard and Thavnair. In every country, she stumbled upon countless unique and interesting people who shared her outlook on life and freedom. Finally, she was among Hyur again—though she was still too skittish to reveal herself as a moogle. Instead, she kept up her glamour as the spunky Lalafall Gyaruru, never letting it falter—especially among fans.

When she eventually arrived in Eorzea, Garu took up residence in La Noscea, far from the reaches of the Garlean Empire. She found sanctuary in an abandoned lighthouse on the coast and set to work rebuilding her moogletek radio station. Using the lighthouse as a basis for an antenna, Garu—now known only as Gyaruru Gyaru—began broadcasting her moe-moe mooglecore music all across Eorzea and beyond with the show Gyaruru’s Global Gabbers. She even makes public appearances for live concerts. Although her identity as an Ivalician moogle remains a secret, she maintains a moogle motif in her music. As she spends more time in Eorzea and forms connections, she may drop the glamour to reveal her true, fuzzy self—but only to her closest allies.

Garu hopes that, after the war, she can return to Dalmasca and reunite with her family. She occasionally flips through radio stations, hoping to someday hear a distant signal from a moogletek broadcast across the sea… but so far, the waves remain quiet. Someday, whether it be through peace or war, this terrible occupation will end—and when that day finally comes, Garu is certain that she and the rest of mooglekind can make up for their mistakes and help rebuild the streets of Rabanastre.

Hooks

Rebel Alliance. Garu is interested in hearing any news out of Dalmasca, and she will support any enemies of Garlemald. She always has her ear to the ground about moogles, too, in hopes of hearing news about her family.

Tinkerer by Trade. Garu is happy to offer her services as a tinkerer. Something minor bugging you in your life: toilet seat too cold, swords always slipping from your grasp? She’ll come up with a zany, mogtastic way to fix all of your woes! For a small price, of course.

Put Your Guns On. Garu dabbles in a bit of adventuring to make ends’ meet. She will pick up any type of job, provided that it doesn’t involve killing people; she will always attempt to work out a nonviolent solution.

Traveling Bard. As Gyaruru, Garu does her best to network with fellow musicians/activists, as well as radicalize fans at events. She prefers maintaining the Gyaruru sona, and she will only drop it during adventuring gigs. Otherwise, during her main methods of moneymaking—concerts, pop-ups, tavern performances, etc.—she is Gyaruru all of the time. She isn’t opposed to adventuring as Gyaruru, but she tends to maintain distance between her two personas.

Kill ’Em with Kindness. Above all else, Garu wants to help people. She will go out of her way to try to put a smile on someone’s face or support them, be it with words, actions, or gil. She will see the positives no matter what. In addition, she is a strict pacifist; her belief in nonviolence is central to her character, and it would take a great evil indeed for her to betray her values.

Personality

Garu is a spitfire. Smart as a whip and charming as a prince, Garu uses her personality as a weapon. As Gyaruru, she maintains a veneer of ditzy moe charm—she’s outgoing and genki while being a little flirty, a little vapid, and, of course, a little silly. It’s all just a character, though, able to be maintained due to Garu’s strong sense of charisma and self. She understands how to toe the line of censorship, dropping overt references to her true intelligence in her musical looping puns. Outside of Gyaru, though, Garu is a bit of a hermit-y homebody: she prefers to get lost in her creations rather than… y’know, go outside. If she’s not Gyaruru, she’s shy and awkward, and she doesn’t have any real friends. While she loves presenting herself as cute, she’s also a bit of a slob, and her workspace is very messy.

Garu is a savant in both music and moogletek. She composes her own music using instruments of her own creation, records them with her own devices, and then broadcasts them with her very own radio antenna. Her music sounds traditionally moogle—it’s silly, whimsical, and charming… while still being full of antifascist messaging. Garu believes that whimsy can be used as a tool to disenfranchise evil. Art is the direct antithesis to fascism. She also believes that whimsy can still be political—while her family would rather bury their heads in the sand about the horrors of modern Dalmascan politics, she instead uses the language she was taught to challenge and confront the difficult.

Garu does have to earn money to maintain her radio station. She picks up the occasional odd job, using her magic and moogletek to manifest as a makeshift adventurer. While adventuring, she drops her Gyaruru glamour and instead dons a cloak to hide her moogle features. Her main jobs are bard, machinist (flavored as moogletek), and dancer.

Trivia

Garu has six siblings in which she is the only sister. Her siblings are named Monty (23, yellow pom), Stellar (22, green pom), Holty (21, red pom), Nanono (20, orange pom), and Haru (19, blue pom, Garu’s twin). There is a year of difference between each sibling. Garu’s parents are named Pomu (mom, orange pom) and Bolten (dad, pink pom). Her maternal grandparents are Mapu (blue pom, grandma, Garu’s favorite) and Shalulu (blue pom, grandpa), while her paternal grandparents are Blitzy (yellow pom, female) and Lark (orange pom, male). Lark was the patriarch of the clan; Garu has lots of aunts/uncles and many, many cousins.

Ivalician moogles have very tight family units. Garu’s village was composed entirely of her own relatives. Despite this, they do not have last name, nor any clan distinction, though they named their village “Moghope”, in hopes of staying safe during the wartime.

Garu is trans. Ivalician moogles do not have strict gender roles, nor physical delineations between genders. Garu wanted to create a larger-than-life persona, and she felt that the best way to do this was through a feminine drag persona. She started off differentiating between sonas—Garu used he/him, Gyaruru used she/her—but as Gyaruru became more and more important to her, she started using feminine pronouns exclusively.

Garu absolutely loves fashion. She isn’t much of a weaver, though—most of her clothes were made and/or acquired by her brother Holty, who always had a way of finding what she needed. Her favorite color to wear is, of course, cherry pink.

Garu loves food a little too much, especially sweet treats. She’s a little on the pudgier side and finds it difficult to lose weight. Her favorite food is crepes with strawberry ice cream.

Garu has a way with chocobos. She didn’t know it until coming to Eorzea (red chocobos were best avoided in Dalmasca), but she has a talent for calming them down and training them. Perhaps, in a different life, she could’ve been a chocobo rancher! Her chocobo is named Glitter and is bright pink. She also incorporates chocobo motifs into her music.

It’s a bit of an open secret that Gyaruru is a moogle. Not only are there moogle motifs in her music, but on the cover art of her albums and in her lives, she is portrayed as a Lalafell cosplaying as a moogle. Her glamour doesn’t do much aside from obscure her fur as skin.

Gyaruru’s most popular album is titled Mogu Mogu MIA, released after the hiatus she took moving to Eorzea, and her most popular tracks include songs like Gabbering Gaaaao!!, LOVECHU ★ MILITARY LOADING ZONE, Glittering☆Garletek☆Gyaru~, Mog! Mog! Major General, and Yaho!! ★ Let’s Gabber to the Galvuses & Grace ’em with LOVELOVE-MOGBEAMS, Kupo!

In the scenario where Gyaruru is the Warrior of Light, Hydaelyn’s voice did not reach her until she stepped foot in Eorzea. She is the most public-facing member of the Scions, helping to maintain their so-called political neutrality thanks to her parody-like public performances. It took most of the Scions a while to like her, given that she doesn’t appear to take things that seriously—but her performance in the Praetorium proved that she had the world’s best interests at heart. She is canonically midway through Heavensward, having to abandon her radio tower as she’s on the run from the Eorzean Alliance…!

Gyaruru’s nameday is the 32nd Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon, or December 31st. Her elemental alignment is wind, and her patron deity is Menphina—although it’s worth noting that she doesn’t necessarily believe in the Twelve, given her origin in Dalmasca. (She didn’t even know who Hydaelyn was before coming to Eorzea!)