Nomura did not want Noctis to have a personality like Squall Leonhart or Cloud Strife, the respective protagonists of Final Fantasy VIII and VII, defining their personality type as that of "a silent, gloomy little boy". Instead, Nomura wanted to create a realistic character type not seen in the Final Fantasy series before. Because of this, he was wary about him as he was so new to the series that he might fall "out of bounds" of the series. Whereas previous protagonists did not have strong personalities to avoid interfering with player empathy, Nomura wanted Noctis to have "an overabundance of idiosyncrasy", which was one of the ways he would leave an impression on the player.[12] Tabata described Noctis as a young person trying to look "cool", citing his drinking coffee despite disliking it.[28] Nomura also wanted the character to have traits and perform actions that bore both heroic and villainous traits, creating someone akin to an anti-hero. He thought that these qualities would match the game's themes very well.[29] While naturally shy, Noctis hides this under a cold exterior, though his close friends can see through this.[9] A key scene that demonstrated his personality in Versus XIII was his first meeting with Stella Nox Fleuret, the original heroine of Final Fantasy Versus XIII.[30] During an interview with Game Informer, comparing the personalities of Noctis and Lunafreya, Tabata referred to Noctis as the weaker of the two, remarking that he is the one who needs protection instead of her.[31] A key part of his narrative is Noctis' transition from prince to king during his journey.[32]
Noctis is voiced in Japanese by Tatsuhisa Suzuki as an adult, and by Miyuki Satō as a child; in English, he is voiced by Ray Chase as an adult, and by Hyrum Hansen as a child.[1] English voice work was included for Episode Duscae, but it was cut close in terms of production scheduling. During the ROM checking stage, Tabata saw that the performance was wrong for the character, a feeling reflected in player feedback after the demo's release. As it was too late to re-record, the performance was carried into the demo. Tabata commented that the original performance made the character sound too old, comparing it to Batman. After release, the voice work was redone to show the character's youth and charm, along with his "sense of ennui".[33][27]