A Field Guide to Final Fantasy's Creatures and Monsters

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This wikibook covers the various creatures and monsters that are encountered in the Final Fantasy franchise. They are derived from the now-redirected Final Fantasy bestiary articles on Wikipedia. At the moment, many of the creatures are in lists, and need to be split alphabetically.

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Editor's note: The wikibook is currently at 25% because the lists have been moved over, but need to split into their own sub-pages, listed in alphabetical order. The lists can be found below:

• First list (A-E)
• Second list (F-M)
• Third list (N-Z)

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Creatures

• Chocobo
• Moogle

Monsters

A

• Adamantoise
• Ahriman

B

• Behemoth
• Bomb

To move

Cactuar

The Cactuar are creatures that resemble cacti and are typically depicted in a distinct running pose with stiff arms and legs, three black dots on their faces for eyes and the mouth and three quills at the top of their heads. They have high evasion values, making them difficult to attack physically, and they flee after a few turns. To offset the difficult kill value, Cactuar usually give high Experience Points, Ability/Magic Points, or rare items.

According to an article in the 15 February 1997 issue of V-Jump, Cactuar was designed by Tetsuya Nomura based on a doodle he drew on a notebook when he was a highschool student. They bear a resemblance to Japanese clay figures called "Haniwa", a type of clay figures made for ritual and funerary uses.

The Cactuar is known for its characteristic "1,000 Needles" attack, which is able to bypass an opponent's defense stat and deal exactly 1,000 points of damage.

There is a larger type of Cactuar, for example, the 'Jumbo Cactuar' of Final Fantsy VIII, that has a "10,000 Needles" attack. One variant of this attack effectively kills a character instantly, as the maxiumum number of Hit Points a character has is 9,999. Another variant of the attack is using "1000 Needles" ten times consecutively, to several targets.

Cactuars first appeared as a summon in FFVIII, where its damaged leveled up with it, and in the Advance remake of VI. Cactuars appeared as a dolls (Lulu's weapons) in Final Fantasy X and also in Final Fantasy X-2 .

Cactuars appear in Final Fantasy VI and after, and also Crystal Chronicles, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and Chocobo's Dungeon 2. Spinoffs with Cactuars include Chocobo Racing, Chocobo World, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Itadaki Street Special, Itadaki Street Portable and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. In The Bouncer, Volt Krueger has a Cactuar on the back of his jacket with a red line through it along with the text "No Escaping!". "Cactuar" is a featured Gummi Ship model in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. When the cactus opponent in Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime gets run over by a cart, it resembles a Cactuar. It features the eyes, mouth and the position the Cactuar usually has. The Ironclaw April Fools' Day supplement "Time of Monsters" includes a monster named 'Millaghi Moltogrande, the Mysterious Merchant.' The character is physically identical to a Cactuar, although he dresses in a period-appropriate outfit with a hat impaled on his head-quills and a mustache. He has his "1,000 Needles" attack, and his motivations are listed as "1. Survive; 2. Make money." The listing for the character appears reprinted in the supplement "Onandon," along with the rest of the "Time of Monsters" material.

Cactuars may also be called Cactoids, Cactrots or Qactuars.

The name Cactuar is the western localization of the original Japanese Sabotender, a portmanteau of "Saboten Pretender", "saboten" meaning "cactus" in Japanese.

Square Enix markets plush Cactuars.

Flan

The Flan, also called Pudding, is a small, magical creature, with a shape and motion reminiscent of the Spanish dessert of the same name (unlockable text in Final Fantasy XII reveals that in their fictional world, the dessert is named after the monster).

They usually possess an affinity to a certain element, making them vulnerable to opposing elemental magic. Physical attacks seem almost worthless in breaking the Flan's squishy defense. In Final Fantasy X, a special flan called the Jumbo Flan could be created via the Monster Arena. In Final Fantasy X-2, the Flan's names are accompanied with a Spanish name relating to its color and element. They are Amarillo (yellow), Azabache (jet [black]), Azul (blue), Blanco (white), Palido (pale; "pearl" in the Japanese version), and Rojo (red). They bear the same appearance as their respective counterparts in Final Fantasy X based on color. In Final Fantasy XI flan are named after various puddings and custards. In the remake Final Fantasy IV Advance for Game Boy Advance, an optional boss has been added named Master Flan who will summon other Flans to her aid in battle. On the whole, Flans have appeared in all numbered Final Fantasy installments, as well as in Tactics Advance, Tactics A2, Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo World, and Chocobo's Dungeon 2.

Variations include Jelly, Cream, Mousse, Slime, Ochre Jelly, Bavarois, Pudding, Tofu, Flan, etc.

Four Fiends

The Four Fiends are a set of four stock demons used in several Final Fantasy installments. They represent the negative aspects of the classical elements and are usually summoned by the main villain as part of an attempt to destroy the world. They are associated with the Four Crystals that appear in some Final Fantasy games and the Fiends either guard them or attempt to destroy them.

In Final Fantasy, the Four Fiends are the Lich, Kary (Marilith in all remakes), Kraken, and Tiamat of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, respectively. The Warriors of Light must seek out each of the Fiends and destroy them so balance can be restored. Variants of these Fiends reappear in Final Fantasy IX as the Chaos Guardians who protect the gate to Terra, and the actual Fiends appear in Memoria. They also appear in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, as the "Falgabirds". Tiamat also appears in Final Fantasy II as a boss in Castle Pandemonium, and in Final Fantasy VIII as a corrupt Guardian Force serving the final villain, but the other fiends are absent. Tiamat makes another appearance in Final Fantasy XII as an early boss. Kraken is also a boss in Final Fantasy III. In Final Fantasy XI Tiamat is one of Bahamut's minions, while the kraken and lich are regular monsters. Marilith appeared as a Mark in the bounty-hunting sidequests in Final Fantasy XII, looking like a large red snake.

Final Fantasy IV includes a new set of Four Fiends called the Archfiends who serve Golbez. They are Rubicante of Fire, Barbariccia of Wind, Cagnazzo of Water, and Scarmiglione of Earth. However, unlike the original Four Fiends, they are given more characterization and are not depicted as demonic creatures craving for chaos. They are named after demons in The Divine Comedy. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest introduces another set of Four Fiends called the Vile Evils, who serve the Dark King. They are the Flamerous Rex of Earth, Ice Golem of Water, Duelhead Hydra of Fire, and Pazuzu of Wind. Like the original Four Fiends, they lay waste to the planet by draining the energy of the crystals. In Doom Castle, their doubles—Skullerus Rex, Stone Golem, Twinhead Wyvern, and Zuh—make an appearance.

In the FF parody webcomic 8-Bit Theater, all of the Fiends have appeared as primary antagonists. Marilith appears in her original North American name, Kary, Kraken is mostly known as Ur (short for Jnn'efur), and Tiamat is mostly known as Muffin.

Iron Giant

The Iron Giant appears as a towering, oversized armor who often possesses an equally oversized sword. In Final Fantasy Tactics, Iron Giant makes its appearance under the name Steel Giant, sharing the same appearance with the characters Worker 8 and Worker 7 - New whose character class is Iron Giant. There is also Wolfmeister who is a red-plated version of Iron Giant. A boss variation of this form was used in Final Fantasy VIII, under the name Red Giant. The iron giant was a secret last boss in FFIII DS, accessible through the wifi email. Another variation of the Iron Giant, called Gemini, appeared in Final Fantasy X. The Iron Giant has appeared in Final Fantasy II, III (DS), IV, V, VII, VIII,IX, X, X-2, Crystal Chronicles, Tactics, Chocobo Tales and Itadaki Street Portable.

Malboro

The Malboro (Japanese モルボル Moruboru; rarely also localized Molbol) is a mutanous form of plant that feeds on other creatures to survive. The Malboro is a fearsome foe most despised due to its horrible "Bad Breath" attack which inflicts a vast amount of status effects, capable of obliterating an entire party in a matter of seconds. The Malboro as seen in the various Final Fantasy titles developed by Square Enix is a powerful enemy often encountered in middle to late parts of the game. (The name 'Malboro' may be a joke within the Final Fantasy series, naming it after the cigarette brand Marlboro as it uses the ability 'Bad Breath'. It is also possible it was comprised from Latin Mal, meaning bad, and Greek Boros, meaning breath.)

Malboros have appeared in Final Fantasy II, III(DS), IV, VI through XII, Tactics, Tactics Advance, Tactics A2, and Crystal Chronicles. They also appear in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, in Chocobo Racing, in Dice de Chocobo, in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, in Legend of Mana, Itadaki Street Portable, in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 during the Malboro Garden stage, and as a "Marboro Stew" in episode Eight of Final Fantasy Unlimited. Malboro also appears in the GBA remake of Final Fantasy VI, as an optional boss in a hidden dungeon.

Tonberry

A Tonberry (トンベリ, Tonberi), originally called a "Pug" in its first video game appearance of Final Fantasy V, is usually no larger than two or three feet (sixty to ninety centimeters) tall. It has green skin and a rounded head with barely visible nostrils and round yellow eyes. Tonberries walk on two legs and resemble, a bipedal lizard wearing a hooded brown cloak. A horizontal tail peeks out from beneath the hem. They carry two trademark items, a lantern and a small knife. Several games depict the creatures as intelligent, having a hierarchical society and a language of their own.

While a Tonberry's foes are attacking it, it will walk slowly towards them. Once the Tonberry has come close enough to its enemy, it will then viciously attack with its knife. Most Tonberries in the series and spin offs can deal massive damage, or death, to one or all members of the player's party. Their trademark spell is "Karma", or "Everyone's Grudge", which deals direct damage equal to enemies slain in game by the target, or party as a whole.

Tonberries are often found in caves or ruins and drop little to massive gil, experience, and/or rare items.

Stronger versions of the Tonberry include Master Tonberry (FFVI, VII, X) and Don Tonberry (X). Also, if an aeon is summoned against a Master or Don Tonberry in Final Fantasy X, it will use a "Voodoo" counter-attack to instantly kill the aeon. Tonberry King and Mega Tonberry are much larger versions which are capable of more devastating attacks. Final Fantasy X-2 introduced the Mega Tonberry, who was uncommonly visible outside of a random encounter and coming into contact with it would initiate the battle, it has the Break Damage Limit innate skill and consistently deals over 10,000 damage per attack killing any character instantly.

Tonberry was misnamed Dangleberry in the U.S. Playstation release of Final Fantasy V.

Tonberries have appeared in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales and Itadaki Street Portable. In the Satellaview-exclusive game DynamiTracer, a Tonberry is featured as one of the playable characters. Finally, ships are named after the beings in "Kingdom Hearts" and "FFXII".

Weapons

The Weapon (ウェポン, Wepon), usually named Ultima and Omega (although many other ones exist), may be either biomechanical or entirely organic. They have been a main feature in the series since Final Fantasy VI. They are generally very powerful and have massive amounts of hit points, sometimes numbering in the millions, and are usually presented as powerful optional super bosses. In most games, they are even more powerful and harder to beat than the main antagonists.

Weapons are often side quests that can be followed late into the games. Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII break this rule, as both games feature Weapons early on.

Weapons generally drop character weapons, or other rare side items.

Other distinctive Weapons besides Ultima and Omega can be found in Final Fantasy VII. Another Weapon-type enemy called Nemesis appears as the final monster available to produce at the Calm Lands Coliseum being a massive upscaled version of Omega Weapon... yet another one, called Paragon, appears on the 100th floor of the Via Infinito optional dungeon in Final Fantasy X-2, and is known for being disgustingly difficult due to its HP-regeneration through its physical attack.

Weapons have appeared in the first Final Fantasy of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.

References

• Ong, Alicia. The Religions Behind Final Fantasy. March 22, 2001.
• Spoors, Glen. Meaning and Emotion in Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy X: Re-Theorising “Realism” and “Identification” in Video Games. Page 96. January, 2005.
• Boyce, Mary (1975). History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I. Leiden: Brill.
• Schmidt, Ken (2006). Final Fantasy III Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. ISBN 0744008484.
• Cassady, David (1997). Official FINAL FANTASY VII Strategy Guide. Brady Publishing. ISBN 1-56686-714-2.
• Cassady, David (1999). Official FINAL FANTASY VIII Strategy Guide. Brady Publishing. ISBN 1-56686-903-X.
• Birlew, Dan (2000). FINAL FANTASY IX Official Strategy Guide. Brady Publishing. ISBN 0744000416.
• Birlew, Dan (2001). Final Fantasy X Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. ISBN 0744001404.
• Birlew, Dan (2003). Final Fantasy X-2 Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. ISBN 0744002850.

External links

• Final Fantasy X Bestiary
• Final Fantasy XI Vault Bestiary
• Final Fantasy enemies category at Final Fantasy Wiki