55. A Brotherly Goodbye (IV)
'Farewell...my brother'
Throughout Final Fantasy IV, the villain of the piece always appears to be Golbez, the enigmatic individual who conquers the planet in order to acquire Crystals and summon the Giant of Babil, an android-like creature that is capable of killing everybody in the world. Why he wishes to do this is unclear, until the player's party, led by Cecil, travel to the moon (the origin of the Giant) and learn that Golbez is being controlled by an entity known as Zemus. Both are members of an advanced (and homeless) race called the Lunarians, whose surviving numbers predominantly wait in stasis for the people of the world to evolve to a point where their two races can coexist peacefully. Unwilling to wait, Zemus seeks to kill all of the world's inhabitants so that his people can immediately have a new home, but is opposed by Golbez, who is freed from Zemus' control by another Lunarian named Fusoya. Together, Fusoya and Golbez defeat the latter's former controller, only to see his hatred reborn as an entity called Zeromus, which knocks them down and forces Cecil's party to step in and finish the job. In a somewhat rushed execution of the 'twist ending' formula (though still better than any of M. Night Shyamalan's recent efforts), it is revealed that Cecil is also a Lunarian, brought to the earth along with his brother Golbez (otherwise known as Theodor) by their father Kluya (Fusoya's brother), who taught mankind magic and a number of other advanced technologies in an attempt to accelerate their evolution before dying, after which Theodor came under Zemus' control and abandoned his brother outside the Kingdom of Baron. Knowing that he cannot return to the world after the atrocities he has committed, Golbez opts to enter stasis with his uncle Fusoya, but not before he is able to solicit Cecil's forgiveness and say goodbye.
54. Holding Back The Void (V)
'The only ones who can save the world from the power of darkness are the warriors of light! That's you! Now, go!'
Its easy to class Exdeath from Final Fantasy V as a somewhat lazy villanous creation, given that he is a being of pure evil (formed from a tree in a forest where the souls of corrupted individuals were sealed) with little to no motivation for wishing to turn both of the game's worlds into nothingness. The consequences of his malevolence, however, make him far more memorable than he arguably deserves to be. First defeated by four warriors named Dorgann, Galuf, Xezat and Kelger, Exdeath was sealed away, but manages to escape from his captivity during the course of the game, merging its two worlds into one and wreaking havoc upon it. He is opposed by the player's party, which includes Galuf (though he is eventually replaced by his granddaughter Krile), as well as Dorgann's son Bartz and two women named Lenna and Faris, who turn out to be sisters. Though initially regarding them as insignificant, Exdeath eventually realises the threat posed by the party and uses his power to destroy what they hold dear, cruelly sucking their homes and the homes of their allies into the void in an attempt to break their will and spirit. Undettered, they soldier on and continue the fight, aided by the spirits of Alexander (Lenna and Faris' father), Dorgann, Xezat and Kelger (the latter two of whom sacrifice their lives for the party during the game's events), who stall any further destructive consumption by the void long enough for the heroes to prevail and cause Exdeath's defeat, reversing the negative consequences of his actions in the process. Fallen characters also popped up to provide assistance at the end of Final Fantasies III and IV as well, though V's use of the plot device seems the most relevant and impactful.
53. Weapon Attacks (VII)
'Weapon's attacking! Run for your lives'
Final Fantasy VII was the first game in the franchise to be rendered in 3D and was the first to be released on the PS1, which was considered an extremely powerful system in the mid-nineties when the game was released. Owing to the console's capabilities, full motion video was used to depict a number of sequences, most of which fail to disappoint. About halfway through the game, five biomechanical engines of destruction known as Weapon are introduced, being awakened by Sephiroth's calling of Meteor. Though ostensibly designed by the ancient Cetra race to protect the planet from threats such as him, the machines fail to sense his presence and instead turn their attention to the world's two largest consumers of the planet's limited supply of Mako energy the cities of Junon and Midgar both of which are Shinra strongholds. Though Junon successfully fights off a head-on attack from Sapphire Weapon, Midgar is not so lucky, being on the receiving end of an attack from Diamond Weapon. This devastates the Shinra headquarters, the tallest building in the city, seemingly killing Rufus, the company's President, in the process when his office becomes engulfed in flames. All of this is shown in a cinematic that whilst dated now, was a phenomenal technological feat at its time and served to show just how dangerous that the Weapons could be, making players tremble in fear before they engage the green one (an optional superboss) that floats around under the sea...
52. The Garden Takes Off (VIII)
'Everybody hold onto something!'
Following their escape from a Galbadian prison at the beginning of Final Fantasy VIII's second disc, lead character Squall and his companions learn that their former homes, Balamb and Trabia Gardens, are to be the victims of missile attacks as retribution for their failed attempt on the life of Galbadia's new leader, Sorceress Edea. Splitting into two groups, Squall takes two people with him and heads for Balamb Garden to warn them of the impending attack whilst former Trabia resident Selphie leads a team to the base set to handle the launch of the missiles in an attempt to jeopardise proceedings. Disaster seems imminent when Squall and company arrive to find the garden embroiled in something akin to a civil war as individuals affiliated to either the institution's headmaster or its benefactor NORG battle it out in the corridors, particularly when Selphie's group fail to stop the missile launch (though they do tamper with it) and barely escape with their lives. Discovering, however, than the garden is an ancient structure that can be made mobile, Squall's team head into its innards as destruction looms, managing to make their home take flight in the nick of time. As a result, they narrowly avoid obliteration at the hands of the missiles, living to fight another day.
51. Cyan's Last Goodbyes (VI)
'This is not possible... This cannot be happening!'
Once you get over his bizarre status as a honourable samurai who inexplicably speaks in a Shakespearian style of old English (saying words like 'thou' a lot), Cyan Garamonde is one of the more engaging secondary characters found within Final Fantasy VI. He is first encountered when his homeland, Doma, comes under siege by Gestahlian forces led by General Leo, who is called away from the frontline and replaced by Kefka. Not quite as honourable as his fellow commander, Kefka is impatient and unwilling to prolong the siege, opting to poison Doma's water supply and kill everybody within it except for Cyan, who has snuck past the Empire's barricades to eliminate another commander. The deceased include Cyan's wife Elayne and his son Owain, prompting him to infiltrate the nearby Empire camp in search of revenge, despite being vastly outnumbered. Allying himself with the Narshe-bound Sabin and his ninja companion Shadow, who also find themselves in the camp, the three escape from the clutches of their enemies into a forest, boarding a train that turns out to be the vessel for transporting the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Disembarking from the train owing to his still-living status, Cyan is made to bear witness to his fallen wife and son boarding it, helpless to do anything to reverse their fate. It's one of the games saddest moments and is one of the only times that the series has broken the taboo of showing a child's death. Much later on in the game, Cyan's dreams can be entered (Inception style) and cleansed of the fear, rage and despair that he continues to feel for his loss, allowing him to focus his energies on the ongoing fight against Kefka's tyranny. Elayne and Owain make a final appearance, but due to the trippy nature of the scenario (as well as the appearance of expies of the three stooges, of all things), his defining moment remains the sombre forest scene.