65. Parting Gifts (III)
'Spare yourselves the distress...our souls will still remain even if our bodies are lost'
Once upon a time in the world of Final Fantasy III there lived a wizard by the name of Noah, who had three disciples named Doga, Unei and Xande. Prior to his death, he gave all three apprentices a gift Doga was given vast magical knowledge, Unei was given control of world of dreams and Xande was given the gift of mortality. Xande struggled to understand his gift, being driven mad by the fear of death and freezing time as a result. His chronological tinkering is eventually reversed during the course of events by the player's party, who then come into contact with both Doga and Unei, the latter of whom is awoken from a thousand year stint in the dream world. Both magicians assist the party, but must be fought in battle when it transpires that the only way to open a path to the Crystal Tower where Xande resides (and can be physically fought) is to release their magical energy and power a key. The pair transform into monsters, but are beaten in battle. Though their bodies die in emotional fashion (Doga's passing is made even more touching should the player return to his residence, where his staff of Moogles are shown to be mourning deeply for his loss), their spirits live on, assisting the party one final time on their way to defeating Xande and removing the taint of darkness from the world for good.
64. Ramza And Alma's Survival? (T)
'Could it be-?'
The final few hours of Final Fantasy Tactics sees the villainous Folmarv Tengille attempt to use Alma, the captured sister of lead character Ramza, as a host for Saint Ajora, the human form of Lucavi leader Ultima that has been falsely worshipped by much of Ivalice as a Jesus-like figure for 1200 years. The resurrection would allow the Lucavi to exist in Ivalice without the need for Zodiac Stones or human vessels, and is successful after Folmarv sacrifices his own life after being defeated in battle to fulfil a necessary bloodshed quota, though the strength of Alma's will allows her to break free of Ajora's control. This allows her to join her brother's final fight against Ultima, which is successful but results in the defeated demon unleashing a massive burst of energy that destroys the battlefield. No bodies are found in the aftermath of the event and the fate of every character involved is left ambiguous as a result. Alma is given a funeral that is attended by Orran Durai, the adopted son of Count Orlandeau. He catches a brief glimpse of the funeral's subject, as well as her brother, riding past on Chocobos, though it has never been revealed whether the sighting was real or the result of his imagination. To this day, the enigmatic ending remains a subject of debate, living long in the memory as a result of its ambiguity.
63. Dyne's Insanity And Suicide (VII)
'What's left is a world of despair and emptiness'
Despite being the leader of an eco-terrorist group that violently opposes the Shinra Company at the start of Final Fantasy VII, Barret was once a staunch advocate of the organisation and their methods. Living in a mining town called Corel; he supported their construction of a Mako reactor and even succeeded in changing the opinion of his best friend Dyne, who was initially opposed to the idea. When the reactor was taken over by insurgents, however, Shinra destroyed both it and the town to defeat them, believing that the settlement's citizens had assisted the terrorists. Barret and Dyne were caught up in this, with the former dropping the latter to his (apparent) death after the two were both shot in the arm with a number of bullets. Swearing revenge on the Shinra, Barret replaced his now useless arm with a gun, took custody of Dyne's daughter Marlene (whose mother was killed in the incident, along with Barret's wife) and relocated to Midgar, forming an insurgent group of his own to oppose the company's methods, though he eventually joins Cloud's hunt for Sephiroth after hiring his mercenary services to destroy a reactor, which takes him to Corel once more. Here he is vilified because of his past and soon after, along with the rest of the party, finds himself arrested after a man with a gun-arm is implicated in a number of murders at a nearby amusement park. It appears that Barret is guilty, though his motivations are unclear, until it is revealed that Dyne is alive in the same prison, having acquired a gun arm of his own. Having developed a nihilistic view on life, he is indiscriminately murderous, wanting to kill both Marlene and himself to reunite his family in death when he learns from Barret that the former is still alive. Obviously unwilling to allow the death of the girl he now treats at his own daughter, Barret engages Dyne in combat before witnessing his onetime best friend throw himself off a cliff after he prevails, believing his continued existence to be pointless.
62. Seifer Cuts Odin In Two (VIII)
'I won't go down that easy. Show me what you got, Squall!'
The relationship dynamic between Squall and Seifer is one of the better parts of Final Fantasy VIII. The two begin as rivals and reluctant allies at a military academy, before Squall succeeds in his quest examination to become a SeeD mercenary and Seifer fails, instead becoming a guardian of Sorceress Edea, SeeD's sworn enemy. This results in Squall and Seifer having to square off in battle on three separate occasions at the end of discs one, two and three, despite the fact that Edea is no longer an enemy of the party at the time of the latter. The third battle begins in much the same way as a normal one would, until the words 'Zanetsuken' appear on the screen, signifying the random appearance of the Odin summon, which usually defeats all enemies in sight in an instant. It seems like a cheap way to end what should be an epic boss fight, until it is revealed that the event is scripted and Seifer refuses to be taken down so easily, effortlessly cutting Odin in two and signifying what a serious threat he poses to the party. This mark-out moment allows the battle to proceed as it should, before another summon by the name of Gilgamesh appears to end things in due course, though this anticlimactic resolution does nothing to lessen the sheer impact of Seifer's earlier bisection.
61. Birth Of An Icon (II)
''Wark!'
Given that Moogles, one of the most iconic fictional species that the Final Fantasy series has given the world, have featured in a number of entries on this list, it only seems fair that the one species that eclipses them in renown should have their moment in the spotlight Chocobos. Being a replacement for horses in the worlds of the Final Fantasy franchise, the big yellow birds have served not only as sources of transportation, but as pets, companions, racing mounts, treasure diggers and military assets to a vast array of individuals over the last twenty six years. Their first appearance in the series is very low-key, mind you, as it is quite easy to go all the way through Final Fantasy II without stepping foot in the one forest that the Chocobos call home. Because of their legacy, however, players who do make use of their services as mounts in the game get to bear witness to the dawn of a gaming icon that has served as a mascot for the series ever since.