Tarja Saarinen

The World: Rare individuals who host the immense power of elemental Eikons (like Phoenix, Shiva, or Bahamut), often used by nations as living weapons of mass destruction.
​Tarja’s Opinion: She doesn't revere Dominants as gods or fear them as weapons. To her, Clive, Jill, and Cid are simply patients and human beings who push their bodies way past their limits. She treats them with the exact same stern, no-nonsense reprimands as anyone else under her care.

​The World: A creeping, lifeless phenomenon that drains Aether from the land, leaving grey deadlands where nothing can grow and no magic can be cast.
​Tarja’s Opinion: To Tarja, the Blight is the natural consequence of humanity’s greed and over-reliance on magic. However, building a new infirmary in the Bennumere deadlands showed her pragmatic side: while others fear the Blight, she uses its magic-dampening nature to create a safe sanctuary where Bearers are hidden from the warring nations.

​The World: Massive crystalline mountains called Mothercrystals supply the realms with Aether, allowing everyday society to rely on magic for warmth, light, and basic tasks.
​Tarja’s Opinion: Tarja sees Valisthea's addiction to crystals as a systemic crutch that fuels war, greed, and the exploitation of Bearers. While others worship or wage war over the Mothercrystals, she sees them as the ultimate root of the continent's suffering.

​The World: Overusing magic eventually drains a Bearer’s or Dominant’s body, causing their flesh to turn to stone—a slow, painful condition known as the Crystal's Curse.
​Tarja’s Opinion: As head physician, treating the Curse is her daily reality and greatest burden. She views it as an inevitable tragedy caused by a world that milks Bearers dry. She treats it with strict medical discipline, routinely scolding people like Clive and Jill for reckless magic use because she refuses to sit back and watch them turn to ash and stone.

​The World: Bearers are humans born with the natural ability to cast magic without needing a crystal. Because of this, society views them as subhuman tools, marking them with a face brand made of poisonous ink and forcing them into hard labor or military service.
​Tarja’s Opinion: She views this system with deep anger and disgust. Having been born a Bearer enslaved by Sanbreque, she knows firsthand the cruelty of the realm. She dedicate her life to removing Bearer brands and giving them back their humanity and dignity, holding no tolerance for anyone who treats them like property.

Tarja is a real world name used in Finland, a version of the name "Daria".

Tarja takes her role as a healer seriously, chastising Clive and Jill when they do not heed her advice and use their power recklessly.

Tarja has a large scar on her left cheek, indicating she is a Bearer, but removed her own brand. She has long, auburn hair styled in a ponytail, and has pale blue eyes. In 873, she wears white surgical clothes, and five years after the Fall of the Hideaway, she has changed her attire to dark-colored surgical gear.

Tarja was born a Bearer, and was taken as a slave for the Holy Empire of Sanbreque. Made to be a healer for Sanbrequois troops, she learned medical techniques from an older Bearer who became her mentor, eventually becoming a skilled physician. At some point, she either escaped her captors herself or was liberated by Cidolfus Telamon. Regardless, she joined Cid in his efforts to aid Bearers by becoming his hideaway's head doctor, looking after the sick and injured, and offering the option for them to have their brands surgically removed.

After Cid returned from the Nysa Defile with Clive Rosfield and an unconscious Jill Warrick in tow, Tarja oversaw the latter's treatment. Clive would later inform Tarja of newly-arrived Bearers in need of medical aid at Otto's request. Later, after Clive and Cid returned from King's Fall, Tarja greeted Clive to inform him that Jill had woken up, and encouraged him to go see her in the infirmary. She provided Jill with a new set of clothes before seeing her and Clive off when they left for the ruins of Phoenix Gate.

During the Fall of the Hideaway, Tarja found Gav in Cid's quarters, injured and missing an eye after being attacked by one of Hugo Kupka's underlings, urging him to come with her to escape the slaughter. After escaping, she and Gav witnessed Titan destroy the hideaway.

After Cid perished at Drake's Head, Clive took on his name and became the new leader of the Cursebreakers, the Bearer-emancipation movement that Cid's group morphed into. They made a new hideaway in Bennumere deadlands and Tarja built a new physicker's office and infirmary from scratch where she continued to provide brand-removal for those requesting it, looking after the sick and injured—including Jill Warrick's advancing crystals' curse—and making medicine for the hideaway's residents.

Tarja was present to help deliver Edda's baby at the hideaway.

Tarja is a character in Final Fantasy XVI. She is a resident of Cid's Hideaway who works as the settlement's physician. She has developed a method of removing a Bearer's brand, a dangerous procedure as the Bearers are tattooed with poisonous ink.

Japanese voice actor
Serika Hiromatsu
English voice actor
Michelle Fox

Race
Human
Gender
Female
Hair color
Auburn

Biographical information
Home
Cid's Hideaway
Age
32
Occupation
Medic