Forum Thread

Heyo, random reader! This is an unique kind of diary, as I only use it to count down to the New Year. Each year I do a countdown of characters in a specific order that fits the theme that I've chosen. Here's a list of the countdowns:

2019- FINAL FANTASY VILLAINS FROM X TO I

X- Jecht
IX- Kuja
VIII- Ultimecia
VII- Sephiroth
VI- Kefka
V- Exdeath
IV- Golbez
III- Cloud of Darkness
II- Emperor Mateus
I-

---

FINAL FANTASY VILLAINS FROM X TO I:

Hello, random reader! Account here! As we all know, the year 2020 is approaching! This type of countdown is something I do every year with my friends, but I thought I might just do it here! This year we're counting ten of the many nefarious villains that have plagued the lands of...

*off screen*
Me: What is the Final Fantasy world called?
*muffled speaking*
Me: More of them?! Why didn't you put that in the script?!
*back on screen*

Sorry about that... Ahem, as I was saying, this year we're counting ten of the many nefarious villains that have plagued the worlds of the Final Fantasy series! Each day until the 31st I'm talking about the villain of the day and giving my opininon on them. Here we go!

Next up: A soccer player on steroids

*The Final Countdown by Europe plays*

---

X: Jecht

So today, we're doing our first villain- but first, we're going out to play some soccer! *random sounds off screen* Wait a minute, I'll be right back.

*off-screen*
Me: What do you mean it's not soccer?
*muffled speaking*
Me: Then what IS it?
*muffled speaking*
Me: Blitzball? Against whom?
*muffled speaking*
Me: Jecht?! How the heck do you think I'm beating Jecht at this?! And what do you mean after the review?! You wrote before in the script!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Well at least you're admitting your mistake!
*back on-screen*

Sorry, it seems we're NOT playing soccer now- it's after the review, also it's called blitzball! By the way, how about we talk about one of the greatest blitzball players of all time? That's right- Jecht! Here's a little backstory on him:

Backstory:

Jecht used to be a famous blitzball player in Zanarkand, but his career pretty much died due to him being an alchoholic. At one point he met a woman, fell in love with her and had a son named Tidus. One day he went to train at sea. That was the last time he was ever seen in Zanarkand. He was sent to Spira, where he joined up with Auron and Braska to defeat the whale Sin. Jecht gave his life to become Braska's Final Aeon, defeating Sin, but the evil spirit Yu Yevon possessed him. Later, his son Tidus came in conflict with Sin, pitting him against his own father. Jecht clashed with Tidus and his allies as Braska's Final Aeon, but he fell in battle, reconciling with his son in his final moments.

Appearance:

Jecht is a dark-skinned, muscular man with long, unruly black hair and red eyes. He wears a pair of black shorts with an orange and red sash covering his right leg, a red headband, a metal gauntlet and pauldron covering his left arm and is barefoot. He wields the Iconic Sword, which is black and has markings resembling dolphins on it.

Personality:

While a bully sometimes, Jecht is a good man at heart and genuinely cares about his son deep inside. He criticizes Tidus in hope of encouraging him to prove Jecht's claims wrong.

Opinion on Jecht:

Honestly? If I was ranking the villains, he'd be last place. Why? He's not really a villain! He's just a hero that was forced by circumstances to be the villain. I really like Jecht as a character, though. I like that they didn't just pull a Vader on us with him- for the majority of the game he's just this legend that makes it clear that Tidus has big shoes to fill. When we do see eye to eye with him, it's not this big "redemption through love" twist- Jecht's too far gone and we have to kill him. Only in his last moments we get to talk to the real Jecht. His battle theme, Otherworld, is also quite the awesome rock song! The only thing I hate about him? HIS. GODDAMN. ACCENT! I swear, listening to him speak in Dissidia killed me! But, overall, Jecht is a good character, and I would give him a 10, if only it wasn't for his horrible accent.

RATING: 9/10

Next up: A narcissistic Dragon Ball parody

---

IX: Kuja

Sorry for the delay! I just haven't had time for anything! Not even for combing my hair! In fact, let's do that now! Wait... Where's my mirror? Wait for just one second, guys!

*off-screen*
Me: Give me that mirror!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Stolen? By whom?
*muffled speaking*
Me: Looked like a Saiyan? Wait a minute... KUJA!
*back on screen*

Yes, today we're talking about that damn NARCISSIST. Here's his freaking backstory:

Backstory:

Kuja is a Genome created by the ruler of the dead planet of Terra, Garland, in 1776. Garland's ultimate plan is for Terra to assimilate the planet of Gaia via replacing the Gaian souls with Terran ones. To accelerate the process Garland created Kuja and sent him to Gaia to incite war so Gaian souls would be replaced faster. However, Garland initially deemed Kuja a failure. While Garland never told him, Kuja was only a temporary Angel of Death meant to kill people on Gaia until Garland could perfect the true Angel of Death: Zidane. Zidane became a simple petty thief, but later found out about his past and eventually fought Kuja alongside his friends. Kuja killed them with Ultima, but they came back to life by defeating Necron. Kuja died next to Zidane in the Tree of Life, full of self-loath and regret.

Appearance:
Kuja is a 24-year-old man with silver hair that falls halfway down his back. He wears a large feather in his hair, has light-blue eyes and pale complexion, and is of medium height and light build. He wears white sleeves with a violet mantle around his shoulders. A white robe covers the back of his legs down to his ankles held up by four straps that act as a codpiece. He wears armored, dark purple boots, with golden buckles.

Personality:
Kuja is narcissistic in contrast to Zidane's humility. Kuja has an ego to match his power, and he lets his pride rule his head. Kuja once chose to let Zidane live even if he had a chance to kill him to prove himself superior. However, Kuja uses his elegance to hide his insecurities, and deep down is conflicted over his existence. After losing his fight he comes to see at least some of the repercussions of his actions and to regret them.

Opinion on Kuja:

Well... What can I say about him? I greatly prefer Jecht over him. He's narcissistic, his costume doesn't really fit him and his only likable moment is his death, when he realizes what he did wrong. Overall? Not a fan of this guy, and would have prefered Necron to be the overall villain of the game. His theme though? That's awesome. It sounds like a perfect combination of multiple songs, including even We Will Rock You by Queen, and that's what gives him most of his points.

Rating: 5/10

Next up: A witch obsessed with time

---

VIII- Ultimecia

Okay, we're going 2-in-1 today with our second villain for the day- wait, why is it still day outside?! It's like time stopped! I'll be right back!

*off-screen*
Me: What the heck happened?!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Ultimecia?! I thought we were doing Seifer!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Yeah, of course she's the main villain, but Seifer is much more annoying!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Okay, okay, I'm doing Ultimecia! Happy?!
*back on screen*

Okay, so we're gonna talk about a witch today! Prepare the stake! Here's Ultimecia's backstory:

Backstory:

Ultimecia's castle dominated the landscape in the era where she lived. Ultimecia was aware of her destined encounter with the "Legendary SeeD" and desired to bring about time compression to absorb all time, space and existence, becoming a living god. To this end, she possessed Edea Kramer, making President Delling appoint her ambassador of Galbadia. Seifer Almasy, a rogue SeeD cadet, kidnaps President Delling and then Squall Leonhart and his team attack her. She paralyzes them with her magic, then leaves with Seifer. During the final fight against her, she manages to send her sorceress power into Edea, dying at her orphanage and ultimately ensuring her own fall in the future.

Appearance:

Ultimecia wears a skin-tight red gown with a plunging neckline. A black collar extends down the neckline to her waist; the collar rests over her shoulders and covers the junction of her black feathered wings. In Final Fantasy VIII the collar appears to be made of feathers, but in Dissidia Final Fantasy it is made of fur. The dress has a short train, which drags along the floor, trimmed either similarly to the collar, or torn and frayed and made dirty. Long red sleeves with prominent shoulder pads join with her purple taloned hands. Ultimecia's skin is tattooed or body-painted with lined patterns. She wears a gold necklace, earrings and hair jewelry among a headdress designed to pull her hair up to resemble horns; silver bangs are left to frame her face. Ultimecia has yellow eyes surrounded by purple eyeshadow and she wears deep red lipstick. She has no eyebrows, instead having tattoos. She doesn't wear shoes, walking (or perhaps flying) barefoot, and although Ultimecia has a human appearance, her toenails resemble a beast's claws and are accentuated in her Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance.

Personality:

Acting through the bodies of other sorceresses, Ultimecia is malevolent and manipulative and filled with anger and hate. Her background and motives are alluded to indirectly, the most significant being her inauguration speech in Deling City where she implies she had been persecuted due to being a sorceress, and the events surrounding the final battle. Ultimecia demonstrates a strategic and diplomatic mind, such as convincing the president of Galbadia to employ her as the nation's diplomat, as well as enticing Seifer Almasy, normally a hostile youth, to devote himself to her. In Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimecia manipulates Kuja into performing for her ends and tries to get Sephiroth to join her and Emperor Mateus in their quest of taking over the world, though they end up failing. In Dissidia, if defeated by someone other than Squall in Shade Impulse, Ultimecia is painted in a more tragic light where she implies that she tried to use time compression to return to her childhood.

Opinion on Ultimecia:

She's better than Kuja, though that's not saying much considering Kuja might just be the second worst villain this series has ever brought us. She's not as good as Jecht, but that's biased, as Jecht is one of my favorite characters in the whole series. Her theme song, "The Extreme", sounds like a horror soundtrack, which would fit for example Exdeath or Necron, but not her. But overall, I like this character, even though it could be done better.

Rating: 7/10.

Next up: Every fangirl's favorite one-winged angel.

---

VII- Sephiroth

Merry Christmas, random reader! Today we're talking about every single fangirl's favorite villain! The One-Winged Angel! The Spawn of Jenova! The Legendary SOLDIER! The one! The only! SEPHIROTH! *Dancing Mad starts playing* Wait a minute...

*off-screen*
Me: That's Kefka's theme! We're doing Sephiroth today!
*muffled speaking*
Me: I like Kefka too, but we have to do Sephiroth! And why is that attack written as Sin Harvest? I thought it was obviously called Descend Heartless Angel!
*muffled speaking*
Me: You're gonna end up fired soon enough, God damn it!
*back on screen*

Okay, so back to our favorite silver-haired slasher. Here's his entire story:

Backstory:

Born to Hojo and Lucrecia, Sephiroth was built since he was little to become the greatest SOLDIER, having Jenova cells injected into him when he was yet unborn. He quickly became a SOLDIER First Class, being hailed as a war hero due to his involvement in the Wutai War. He was friends with Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley. At one point Genesis deserted, followed quickly by Angeal. Zack Fair, a young SOLDIER First Class, killed Angeal, but Genesis survived. Sephiroth was misled into thinking that he is the last Cetra, that humanity had betrayed him, which made him destroy the town of Nibelheim. He fell into the Lifestream, placing his body in Mako. He attempted to summon Meteor to destroy the world, killing Aerith Gainsborough in the process, but got defeated by Cloud Strife. He returned later, but got permanently killed, declaring with his dying words that he will never become a memory.

Appearance:

Sephiroth is a tall man with a muscular build. He wears a long black coat with silver pauldrons, black boots and black trousers. The top of his coat is open to reveal his chest, with his leather SOLDIER suspenders crossed over it. Sephiroth's long silver hair has bangs parted to either side of his face. In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, the bangs are shorter. Sephiroth has green cat-like eyes and wields the Masamune, a seven-foot long katana he is rarely seen without. His battle stance with the sword is to hold it over his left shoulder with the blade curving downward, known in the Japanese sword stance as Te Ura Gasumi No Kamae, which is primarily used in Ninjitsu and Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, the latter of which is one of the oldest extant martial arts.
Sephiroth usually wields the Masamune two-handed, in later appearances a single black wing emerges from his right shoulder. Sephiroth is left-handed, but has been depicted wielding his sword in his right hand in many pieces of art and merchandise.

Personality:

Prior to his madness, as shown in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Sephiroth maintains an outwardly professional demeanor during his time at Shinra. While his cold exterior and professional attitude turn people away, he is not anti-social, as he values his friendship with his only friends Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos and willingly tells Zack and Tifa about Mako and Materia on Mt. Nibel. He can act more humane and caring than his reputation would suggest, disobeying orders due to conflict of interest if it would impact his friends, and offering his blood for a transfusion to help Genesis when he was injured.
Sephiroth is intelligent and respects those he deems worthy—he considers Professor Gast Faremis a great scientist, but scorns Professor Hojo. Well-spoken and graceful, Sephiroth is calm, collected, and in control, and has a dry sense of humor. Rarely, he can be frustrated and caught off-guard. As the strongest SOLDIER alive, Sephiroth is confident to the point of arrogance, yet has no interest in personal glory, as he tells Genesis, who envies Sephiroth's reputation, that he can have it.
Following his fall into insanity, Sephiroth retains most of his personality traits, but becomes murderous, ruthless and vengeful. He develops a messiah complex, proclaiming to be "the chosen one" destined to lead the Planet. He becomes sadistic and enjoys mentally torturing Cloud. Sephiroth is devoted to Jenova and its cause, even though its body serves as little more than his avatar. He has become an agent carrying out Jenova's will.

Opinion on Sephiroth:

I'm gonna stand up and shout it, and the fangirls better stay away: I LIKE JECHT BETTER THAN SEPHIROTH! Yep, I like Jecht better than Sephiroth. Sephiroth just comes too out of nowhere during the game, and then he goes insane in the membrane for almost no reason! His theme song, however? I like One-Winged Angel as much as the next person! And Sephiroth is still the President of the Cool Department, he just appears too out of left field to be as good as Jecht.

Rating: 8.5/10

Next up: A nihilistic jester with godlike magic powers.

---

VI: Kefka

Welcome back to our little review- AARGH! There's sand on my boots! Who brought SAND into the studio!

*off-screen*
Me: Are you at blame for this?!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Stop reciting calm down mantras! You sound like a chapter from a self-help booklet!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Son of a submariner! I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE YOU!
*back on-screen*

If you didn't understand that from our little skit, well... Anyway, here's Kefka.

Backstory:

Kefka used to be a normal man like any other until the Magitek experiments. While they granted him incredible magic powers, they also drove him insane, making him dress up like a clown, complete with makeup. He was sent by Emperor Gestahl to the desert kingdom of Figaro, where King Edgar ruled, to capture the half-Esper Terra Branford. Edgar didn't tell him anything, so he set the castle on fire. He later poisoned the water supply of Doma, killing all residents except for samurai Cyan. Kefka attacked Narshe, but was defeated by Terra and swore revenge. Later, he killed General Leo and Emperor Gestahl, absorbed the power of the Warring Triad and became the God of Magic. He used his power to bring about the apocalypse. One year later, the heroes caught up with Kefka, climbed up his tower and after an awe-inspiring battle killed him, putting an end to magic worldwide.

Appearance:

Kefka resembles a jester or clown. In his original concept artworks, and in Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kefka wears an outfit composed of primarily red and yellow fabrics, a mismatched jumble of stripes and polka dots. He wears a red and white striped ruffle around his neck and a red cloak with a yellow and red inner lining. In his field sprite in the original Final Fantasy VI, as well as alternate artworks and, to a lesser extent, an alternate costume in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Kefka wears green robes with gold linings and red clothing. In his field sprite for the mobile and Steam rereleases, he has a white and red ruffle, purple boots, red clothing, and a brown robe with green fabrics and gold linings. Kefka's face and hands are covered with white make-up, and he has red eye shadow. However, due to graphic limitations, his field sprite in both the SNES/PSX/GBA releases and the iOS/PC releases has his face and hands having the same skin color as most of the other human characters, save for red splotches below his eyes. His blond hair is tied into a tight ponytail, accentuated by an extending feather. In Dissidia Final Fantasy, his appearance is altered slightly, with Kefka gaining a wide grin resembling a Glasgow smile accentuated in purple make-up as well as having pointed ears. His height was listed as 5'4" for Final Fantasy VI, but he appears taller in Dissidia. In the original Final Fantasy VI, Kefka's sprite gave him slightly gray hair, presumably in an attempt to make him look dirty blonde. In the iOS/Steam rereleases, however, his hair color was explicitly depicted as blonde in the field sprite.

Personality:

Although initially Kefka seems lighthearted and silly, his true nature is maniacal, short-tempered, flamboyant, destructive, and cruel. This is a result of him having been made into a Magitek Knight before the process was perfected. He is a psychopath with no regard for human life nor remorse for the atrocities he commits, and revels in the suffering of others. He cracks dark jokes, breaks out into hysterical laughter upon causing mayhem, and his only joy is causing senseless destruction, death and chaos. Kefka doesn't even consider destruction fun unless lives are lost in the process. He lacks the capacity to feel empathy, implied by his line "We needn't show mercy to those who side with the Returners. ...which is good, because I never seem to have any of the stuff." His bio in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy states he lacks self-control. He is ruthless, as evidenced by his briefing to his soldiers during their march to Narshe. Despite his insanity he is high-functioning enough to plot to access the Warring Triad and to betray his liege. He has no qualms with murdering many of his own men even for trivial reasons. It is implied Kefka is hated and feared by many Imperial soldiers for this reason.

Opinion on Kefka:

Okay, this one could be seen from a mile. Kefka is my favorite Final Fantasy villain. He's like the freaking Joker! What places Kefka over other villains, except for his over-the-top laugh and memorable quotes, is the fact that his plan actually works! We have geniuses like Lex Luthor failing to take down one man (okay, alien), but an insane clown manages to take over the world! His theme song sounds exactly like I would imagine a killer clown tormenting his victims would sound in musical form. Dancing Mad, his boss theme, is in my opinion better even than the One-Winged Angel. Why? Simple- Dancing Mad is actually 4 songs in one. One-Winged Angel has the Latin chanting, sure, but what can beat FOUR boss themes in one, each with a different feel? Overall, Kefka is my favorite FF villain, and gets an easy 10.

Rating: 10/10

Next up: The tree that tried to bring the Void.

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V: Exdeath

This is it. The pinnacle of insanity. A FREAKING TREE.

*off-screen*
Me: What do you mean he's a possessed armor?!
*muffled speaking*
Me: No, Exdeath's a tree!
*muffled speaking*
Me: He's a freaking TREE! Have you even played the game or did you just look at Exdeath once?!
*muffled speaking*
Me: No, the tree's not external power, it's his true form! God damn it...
*back on-screen*

My assistant, everyone... This is Exdeath's backstory:

Backstory:

After the malicious warlock-king Enuo was defeated and the Void was sealed away, humans turned to an alternative solution to purge their land of corruption and terror. The Great Forest of Moore provided a solitary prison for these malevolent souls, and they were sealed within a tree. Many other monsters were drawn to the forest, making it the most dangerous place on the second world. The various souls residing within the tree made it self-aware and it assumed a humanoid form, a being as evil as the many souls that had spawned him, and Exdeath was born. Exdeath had a castle built upon one of the continents and laid siege upon the kingdoms of the world. The Warriors of Dawn—Galuf, Xezat, Kelger and Dorgann—followed Exdeath to an alternate dimension where Exdeath was defeated and sealed using the power of the crystals. Dorgann feared the seal wouldn't last and stayed behind while the other three warriors returned to their world. Dorgann fell in love with a woman named Stella, and the two married and had a son named Bartz. Five years later Stella died, and not long after Dorgann passed away as well. Dorgann's dying wish was for his son to lead a normal life, and so he asked Bartz to travel the world. Keeping his promise, Bartz became a wanderer, along with his best friend Boko, his pet chocobo. When the four crystals shattered, Exdeath was freed and escaped. He went back into Galuf's world, followed by Galuf himself and his granddaughter Krile, and soon after Bartz. To open the way to Exdeath's castle, Xezat, the second Dawn Warrior, sacrificed his life. Galuf was soon after killed by Exdeath, but Krile picked up the mantle as a Light Warrior. The last Dawn Warrior, Kelger, gave his life to dispel an illusion. Exdeath united the two worlds, but was pursued into the Void and killed by Bartz.

Appearance:

Exdeath wears a sky blue suit of armor about seven feet tall with a horned helmet, spiked shoulders and a long blue cloak. His helmet is topped with a two-ended plume and has a thin opening that would normally be used for sight. His armor is decorated with jewels, gold linings and beads, and though he is a warlock, Exdeath carries a sword he can use in battle as proficiently as his magic. The only part of his body not covered by the armor are his hands, which are ash gray with black pointy nails. His appearance under the suit of armor is revealed in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy by purchasing the second alternate costume for Exdeath.

Personality:

Exdeath is a selfish, maniacal, loud-mouthed, and blasphemous being of pure evil. He treats Bartz Klauser and his party as mere pests in the way of his goal, and swats them away without killing them, seeing no reason to dispose of such a mild threat. He may seem cocky, but his power is practically unmatched.

Opinion on Exdeath:

I really, really dislike him. Remember when I said Kuja's the second worst? Here's numero uno. I also don't like his battle theme too much, and he's such a boring villain. And that's not to mention what he is- a tree. A. Goddamn. TREE! His name and appearance are his saving graces, as Exdeath sounds extremely cool and has armor that any villain would envy. Shame they wasted that name on THIS guy.

Rating: 3/10

Next up: Vader of the Moon except when he says I AM YOUR FATHER he's actually your brother

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IV- Golbez

Hey, you may have noticed we skipped a day. That's because III has too few to talk about, so we're doing her in the same day as II. So today we're talking about the main character's eeeevil brother!

*off-screen*
Me: No, I don't mean father!
*muffled speaking*
Me: NO! IT'S NOT DAMN VADER! WE'RE DOING GOLBEZ TODAY! WHO'S FORCING YOU TO COME HERE ANYWAY?!
*muffled speaking*
Me: Two years contract?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME!
*back on-screen*

I'mma go insane... Here's our friend Golbez...

Backstory:

Theodore Harvey, son of Kluya and brother of Cecil, was separated from his family and manipulated by the evil Lunarian Zemus. Changing his name to Golbez, he joined forces with the Red Wings of Baron after Cecil decided to part ways with them. Controlling the fearsome Four Elemental Fiends and taking over the mind of Kain, Cecil's best friend, he clashed with his brother a few times before he came to his senses and helped his brother Cecil and uncle FuSoYa to destroy the evil Zemus and his hate reincarnated Zeromus. After Ceodore, Cecil's son was born, Golbez tried to protect him as much as he could, only to sacrifice his life and get killed by the Dark Knight right before his nephew could arrive and save him.

Appearance:

In Final Fantasy IV, Golbez is a tall imposing man in dark blue and black armor with gold trimmings and a helmet with tall horns. The lining of his cape has been both red and blue, sometimes even in the same game—the 3D remake shows Golbez's official render with a blue lining, but his in-game appearance has a red lining. The exact color of his suit of armor has also varied from light to dark blue to black. In The After Years, Golbez wears a black cloak and kilt with black prayer beads on his arms and legs. He has prayer bead bracelets (black on the right wrist and red on the left). He has a large, muscular figure, a long silver hair and pale tanned skin. His concept art depicts him carrying a large black sword on his back, possibly the Ebony Blade, an exclusive weapon for Golbez that can be acquired at the start of his tale.

Personality:
Through the majority of Final Fantasy IV, Golbez is a cruel and heartless man who will stop at nothing to obtain the Crystals, destroying anyone and anything that stands in his way. He is a cunning manipulator, tricking Cecil and his allies into retrieving two Crystals for him, and otherwise luring them into traps. As Fusoya later reveals, Golbez is being manipulated by a powerful Lunarian named Zemus by bonding Golbez's thoughts with his. Awakened, Golbez's personality returns to his true self; Golbez is horrified by his actions and feelings of hatred. Golbez's true personality is that of a caring, self-sacrificing and empathetic individual. Hints at this nature are shown in the aftermath of the first battle against Golbez, where he hesitates killing Cecil (implied to be due to Zemus's control over Golbez weakening due to Tellah's use of Meteor). During The After Years, Golbez is stoic and silent. He investigates the Mysterious Girl's actions and seeks entry to Baron to ensure Cecil is safe, and only speaks on matters relevant to these goals. He occasionally demonstrates a dry, sardonic wit. While the other party members react to the bosses on the True Moon, Golbez keeps his thoughts to himself, and shows compassion and sympathy towards the Archfiends, wishing them peaceful rest. The Dark Knight accuses Golbez of wanting to die at Cecil's hand to atone for both his actions under Zemus and abandoning Cecil as a child—Golbez neither confirms nor denies this.

Opinion on Golbez:

What can I say about Golbez? Vader-ish? Of course. Cliched? Absolutely. Awesome? That too. I like how Golbez doesn't just go "Oh, I'm good now, i'mma die right now.". He turns good and remains as such, only dying a few years later in the sequel. Of course, you can save him if you do have Ceodore and Rosa in your party, but I always choose to let him die to make the impact of the game feel more permanent. His armor also looks awesome. His theme... I like it. I like it, that's all.

Rating: 8/10

Next up: A literal cloud.

---

III: Cloud of Darkness and II: Emperor Mateus

Surprise, surprise, two for one today! We're talking about two persons- Cloud of Darkness, the giant space flea from nowhere from the third game, and Emperor Mateus, the David Bowie lookalike villain from Final Fantasy II. My assistant won't ruin anything this time, having to remain home to spend time with family, thank God! Anyway, here's the two villains.

Backstory:

Cloud of Darkness:

The Cloud of Darkness manipulated Xande to destroy the world's Crystals. Xande believed this will stop time and allow him to prolong his mortal life, but in reality this was the catalyst needed for the Cloud of Darkness to manifest. The Cloud of Darkness revealed itself after Xande's death, due to the imbalance between light and dark caused by him, and revealed its intention of returning the world to a state of nothingness. A battle ensued in which the Cloud of Darkness defeated the Warriors of Light, seemingly ending any resistance to its plan. The Warriors of the Light were revived by their former allies and returned to the World of Darkness to confront the Cloud of Darkness. The Cloud of Darkness sent out its Guardians of the Dark Crystals to guard the Dark Crystal and kill the Warriors of Light. One by one the guardians fell and the Warriors of the Dark appeared to help Warriors of the Light to weaken it. At first the Cloud of Darkness was too powerful for the Warriors of the Light, but the Warriors of the Dark sacrificed themselves to weaken it, making it vulnerable. The Cloud of Darkness unleashed its full power onto the Warriors of the Light, but in the end, it was defeated and its plan to extinguish all life went unfulfilled.

Mateus:

The Emperor begins his campaign for world domination by summoning an army of creatures from Hell. Several kingdoms, like Fynn, Kashuan and Deist, resist, but are subdued. In the case of Deist, the militarily-powerful homeland of the Dragoons, the Emperor orders the poisoning of their wyverns' water supplies, leaving the Dragoons powerless. The royalty of Kashuan, which survived the Palamecian Empire's attack, founded the Wild Rose Rebellion alongside the kingdom of Fynn. The Empire attacks Fynn to destroy the resistance and after capturing it, the Emperor begins the construction of the fearsome Dreadnought. After Firion and his friends gather the Sunfire and Princess Hilda is captured by the Dreadnought while traveling to Kashuan on Cid's airship, the Emperor replaces the captive Hilda with a Lamia Queen. After the Dreadnought is destroyed, the Imperial Lamia is taken to Altair, and later felled. The Emperor announces a tournament at the Palamecian Coliseum, and makes Hilda the prize. Firion and his comrades attempt to rescue her alongside Prince Gordon of Kashuan. After the Liberation of Fynn, the Wild Rose Rebellion acquires the Ultima Tome, but by that time the Emperor has summoned a giant Cyclone and crushed the towns of Paloom, Altair, Gatrea and Poft, and is approaching Fynn. The Emperor resides inside the Cyclone to personally oversee the destruction of Fynn and the party makes their way inside by summoning a wyvern. The Emperor initially assumes they are not important enough for him to fight despite acknowledging that they revived the Wyverns of Deist he had wiped out earlier, and thus deploys several of his royal guard against them. After two units are wiped out, the Emperor concludes he may have underestimated Firion's group, and decides to dispose of them personally, claiming such is to be considered an honor. The Emperor is killed in the fight, and the Dark Knight Leon proclaims himself the Emperor of Palamecia and takes over the army. After breaking into Castle Palamecia, Firion's party confronts the Dark Knight and the Emperor appears in a new demonic form. He had arrived in Hell and defeated Satan before claiming the throne of Pandemonium. After Leon protests that he has no intention of relinquishing the title, Mateus reveals he no longer cares about ruling the empire, but intends to destroy the world with his new powers, starting with the surviving members of the Wild Rose Rebellion. Ricard summons the wyvern to get the party out of Palamecia while he confronts the revived Emperor, who slaughters him with ease. While it is unknown if the Emperor intentionally allowed to be killed to arrive in Hell, as he already had power over Hell-spawn, it is likely it was his true intention all along. After killing Ricard, Mateus summons Pandaemonium to the mountains where Palamecia once stood and resumes his world-domination campaign. The party travels through the Jade Passage and breaks into Castle Pandemonium, and after defeating the Emperor's hellish generals, Firion and his friends confront the Emperor. The Emperor is defeated, and fades away, although not before expressing disbelief that he could lose against the same group twice.

Appearance:

Cloud of Darkness:

In Final Fantasy III, the Cloud of Darkness appears as a green-skinned female humanoid that emerges from a portal of darkness at its waist, though its form appears ghostly and ethereal. It has a red heart-shaped mark on its forehead, and several mouthed tentacles around it. Its field sprite is a glowing green orb, and in the 3D remakes, several multiple green orbs exit and enter the main orb in an arc.

Mateus:

The Emperor wears golden armor with purple and rose-colored robes that have four portions: two connected on each side, and a raised collar and extended striped "shoulders". His hair is blond (although the exact shade varies from golden blond to platinum) and spiked, with an extra-long ponytail, and purple ombre at the tip of the side bangs. His head is adorned with tiny colored jewels. He has four long golden purple-tipped spikes atop his head implied in the Dissidia series to be part of his crown (they have a metallic luster in Dissidia NT). Black and white stripes trace his ribs on his chestplate, and demonic looking faces embellish his waist and back. His gauntlets sport extended claws. The Emperor wears purple makeup on his eyes and lips, and a purple and gold crown depicting a serpent. His boots' heels resemble stiletto heels. He wears a transparent quartz-colored cloth belt around his waist.

Personality:

Cloud of Darkness:

The Cloud of Darkness's personality is not explored in Final Fantasy III, as it is more of a monster rather than a character. Dissidia Final Fantasy characterizes it as cruel and condescending, having a disregard for human life. In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy it dislikes the arrival of the manikins in the cycle, feeling they are a foreign presence that disrupts the order of the cycle. It tells Laguna where the manikins are coming from to see how he handles the information, and is intrigued when he and his allies choose to track it down and close the portal knowing it will cost them their lives.

Mateus:

The Emperor of Palamecia is cunning, subtle, rude and arrogant. He calls Firion by name after he defeats the Emperor's Behemoth, but other times calls them insects or worms when Firion's party foils his plans. Owing to his arrogant nature, the Emperor never fights unless he has to, and has his minions do the work for him. His actions are tyrannical and he abhors humanity. He acts as mankind's judge, declaring humanity to have a flawed sense of justice and having forsaken love, and being inherently violent. As the Emperor views humans as interchangeable, he sees himself as superior to them and thus views himself as the only one capable of ruling.

Opinion on Cloud of Darkness:

This character appears just too out of nowhere to be able to give an actual rating, so I've got nothing to rate on.

Rating: ?/10

Opinion on Mateus:

Dance, magic, dance... This character is awesome. He's awesome. He's the perfect evil schemer, his suit looks awesome and he just reminds you of Jareth from Labyrinth. Overall, pretty nice character.

Rating: 9/10

Next up: The dark knight that started it all.

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