*********************************************************************** Final Fantasy IV: Plot Analysis GameBoy Advance, Super Nintendo, Sony PlayStation, WonderSwan Color Written by CVXFREAK Version 3.0 January 3, 2006 E-mail: fireemblempride@gmail.com *********************************************************************** ======================================================================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================================================================= 1. INTRODUCTION 2. FINAL FANTASY IV: Names, Types and Texts 3. A SUMMARY OF THE PLOT OF FINAL FANTASY IV A. Cecil Returns to Baron B. A Talk with King Baron C. Exploring Mist Cave D. Kaipo and the Water Cavern E. The Fall of Damcyan and the Sea Ruby F. Journeying to Fabul G. Cecil Defends Fabul H. Lost at Sea I. Mysidian Elder's Quest J. Sneaking into Baron K. Magnetic Cave L. The Tower of Zot M. Journey into the Underworld N. Meeting with Dwarven O. The Tower of Babel- Underground P. Airship Solutions Q. The Tower of Babel- Surface R. Sylvan Cave, Summon Cave and Sealed Cave S. Mysidian Prayer T. FuSoYa and the Moon U. Stopping the Giant of Babel V. Journeying to the Core of the Moon W. Battle with Zeromus X. Aftermath of Zeromus Y. The Wedding Z. CONCLUSIONS ABOUT FINAL FANTASY IV 4. CHARACTERS A. Cecil Harvey B. Kain Highwind C. Rosa Farrell D. Rydia E. Sage Tellah F. Edward Chris von Muir (Gilbert) G. Yang Feng-Leiden H. Palom I. Porom J. Edge (Edward Geraldine) K. FuSoYa L. Cid Pollendina M. Elder N. Golbez O. Zeromus 5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 6. INTERESTING POINTS 7. THEORIES 8. VERSION UPDATES 9. CONCLUSION ======================================================================= 1. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================= Final Fantasy IV is the only Final Fantasy game I've finished, and that's for a reason. It's easy to play, fun to watch and has an absorbing storyline. It's probably true that Final Fantasy VI and VII are more popular to some players, but FFIV always holds a special place in my gaming collection. Before I begin, I would like to state that I own nothing related to the rights of Final Fantasy IV, or the U.S. SNES version of Final Fantasy II, and that goes for each Final Fantasy game in existence right now. The only thing I own are the actual games themselves and the media in which they've been put onto, whether it be CD-ROM or SNES cartridge. There are a few Final Fantasy-based websites out there that may want to host this document. If that's the case, just send me an e-mail and I'll more than be happy to let you. But if you assume that you can use it whenever you want and in the event you do post it on your website without my permission, consider yourself the victim of an impending lawsuit (well maybe not a lawsuit, but a piece of my mind). ======================================================================= 2. FINAL FANTASY IV: Names, Types and Texts ======================================================================= Well, the original version of this document had a description that was what I felt way too long for a plot guide. So, in the interest of saving time, I'm just going to run down every version that exists in the U.S. and Japan for your viewing pleasure. ----- Japan ----- 1. Final Fantasy IV Platform: Super Famicom Release Date: July 19, 1991 Note: This is the original version of FFIV and the first one ever released. It contains every spell, an uncensored plotline and a harder difficulty. Many Japanese gamers thought the game was too hard, but FFIV is the second FF game to sell over a million copies in Japan (I'm not sure if that's when combined with the Easytype, though). 2. Final Fantasy IV Easy Type Platform: Super Famicom Release Date: October 29, 1991 A version of FFIV that's even easier than the original. Some spells were removed, enemies needed less damage and leveling up was easier. This is the version Final Fantasy II was based off of, with the exception of the Zeromus sprite used at the end of the game, which is exclusive to this version and Final Fantasy IV Advance. 3. Final Fantasy IV Platform: PSone Release Date: March 21, 1997; March 11, 1999 (Final Fantasy Collection) Note: A port of the Super Famicom FFIV for PlayStation owners that was released right after Final Fantasy VII in Japan. As far as I know, this release contains everything from the Super Famicom version and wasn't the Easy Type edition. The PSone edition adds FMV videos retelling certain sequences from the game, such as the unveiling of the airship, and Palom and Porom's sacrifice. 4. Final Fantasy IV Platform: WonderSwan Color / Swan Crystal Release Date: March 27, 2002 Note: The first portable SFC FF game available for Japanese gamers. I own this one personally, and thought it was vastly inferior due to the SC's limited sound speakers and lack of a backlit screen. It seems to be largely the same as the Super Famicom version with some graphical tweaks to work around the WSC system. 5. Final Fantasy IV Advance Platform: Game Boy Advance / Game Boy Advance SP / Game Boy micro Release Date: December 15, 2005 Note: I believe the port is based on the WonderSwan Color edition but has a lot of extras. For one, this is the first of the Square Enix project, 'Finest Fantasy for Advance' which brings the three Super Famicom Final Fantasy titles to the GBA with an "Advance" subtitle. The GBA edition in Japan was released alongside a Game Boy micro bundle with a unique faceplate featuring Cecil's Paladin and Dark Knight artworks. This is also the first and probably only version of FFIV in Japan to feature Kanji text as well as added face profiles for when a character speaks. It brings back the Easy Type Zeromus sprite as an extra feature for the Lunar Ruins, a dungeon of special trials for each of the characters. Other extras include the Cave of Trials in Mt. Ordeals, which grants weapons to Edward, Palom, Porom, Yang and Cid, who in this version are able to rejoin the party after the destruction of the Giant of Babel. The GBA edition also features a new introduction video that introduces the world of FFIV to gamers. ------------- United States ------------- 1. Final Fantasy II Platform: Super Nintendo Release Date: 1991 Note: The first version of Final Fantasy IV to hit the U.S. It's called Final Fantasy II because in Japan, there were three Final Fantasy games released for the Famicom (Japanese NES). And since the Famicom versions of Final Fantasy II and III never made it to the US (until the PSone release of Final Fantasy Origins and later the GBA release of Final Fantasy I & II Advance/Dawn of Souls), Final Fantasy IV was the second FF game brought to the U.S., and hence has the name Final Fantasy II. This version contains many of the same alterations as the Japanese Easy Type in terms of difficulty, but uses the original FFIV Zeromus sprite. It's translation is also laughably bad. 2. Final Fantasy IV Platform: PSone Release Date: July 21, 2001 (Final Fantasy Chronicles) Note: This was released for the PSone in 1991. It's based on the Japanese PSone version, which was the original, non-easy type FFIV. So the US release restores the difficulty and spells removed from the SNES version, and features a new translation that fixes or rewrites parts of the plot that were significantly altered in the SNES release. It contains the FMV from the Japanese edition as well. 3. Final Fantasy IV Advance Platform: Game Boy Advance / Game Boy Advance SP / Game Boy micro Release Date: December 12, 2005 Note: I believe the port is based on the WonderSwan Color edition but has a lot of extras. The script for the US edition, which interestingly enough was released before the Japanese one, was redone yet again, fixing up a few errors still present in the US version and renaming spells and some characters to match their Japanese counterparts. It brings back the Easy Type Zeromus sprite as an extra feature for the Lunar Ruins, a dungeon of special trials for each of the characters. Other extras include the Cave of Trials in Mt. Ordeals, which grants weapons to Edward, Palom, Porom, Yang and Cid, who in this version are able to rejoin the party after the destruction of the Giant of Babel. The GBA edition also features a new introduction video that introduces the world of FFIV to gamers. ======================================================================= 3. A SUMMARY OF THE PLOT OF FINAL FANTASY IV ======================================================================= This is a summary of Final Fantasy IV's basic plot. I've tried to be as specific as possible without going overboard on the details. After all, you should really play the game to see the storyline for yourself. I'm basing most of this on the GBA version of FFIV as it's the most recent and probably closest, plot wise, to the original Japanese version. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Cecil Returns to Baron ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Airships fly over the landmasses and vast ocean below. Commanding the ship is Dark Knight Cecil, leader of the Red Wings. Cecil is thinking about what he just did to the Mysidian Kingdom not long ago. Cecil marched onto the army-less, thus defenseless, Mysidia, home to the mages, people or creatures that have command over the elements. Cecil walks in on the Town Elder and steals his Water Crystal, a crystal that seemingly contains a lot of special power and properties. Cecil's men immediately murder those who put up opposition. Cecil isn't the type to do this, but he's doing it as an order from the king of the most powerful kingdom, Baron, King Baron. As Cecil leaves the crystal room with the crystal in hand, he looks down on the ground, wondering what he just did. After shaking the thought out, some monsters attack Cecil's ship. But Cecil, being the powerful knight he is, quickly disposes of them with his sword. Cecil then wonders why there are so many monsters around these days. Pretty soon after, the airship makes its landing outside the castle-city of Baron. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- B. A Talk with King Baron ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside, Baigan, the king's advisor, greets Cecil. When Cecil meets the king, he gives King Baron the Water Crystal, and tells him that the Mysidians didn't put up much of a fight. King Baron dismisses Cecil, now that his work is done. Walking out of the room, Cecil turns around all of a sudden, the king wondering why. Cecil then asks why the king wanted Cecil to capture the crystal at all costs. The king is sourly offended. Baigan notices suspicion in Cecil. King Baron then tells Cecil that he was the one who raised him into what he is now, and is still offended in a sense that King Baron feels defied. The king then revokes Cecil's position as commander of the Red Wings, his military fleet. Instead, Cecil is thrown down into a Delivery Boy, and his first package is to deliver a box to the Village of Mist, a land with people who are summoners. Summoners are people who can summon mythical creatures in battle. Suddenly, Kain, Cecil's best friend, a Dragoon, tries to make the king change his mind. Unfortunately, this only agitates the king and the king makes Kain deliver the package with Cecil. [Note: In Final Fantasy IV Advance, the package's anonymity is completely removed by calling it a Bomb Ring from the get go. I choose not to do it this way because the plot makes much more sense if it's an anonymous package.] Leaving the king's throne room, Kain leaves Cecil to prepare for the journey the next day. Cecil tries to head to his room but his girlfriend, Rosa, interrupts him. Rosa seems worried about Cecil, and wants to see Cecil later that day. Cecil walks to his room, but is interrupted by Cid. Cid is really annoyed by the way Cecil has been using his (Cid's) airships. Cid also warns Cecil that if he makes Rosa cry, Cid won't let Cecil use his airships. Cid then runs home to his daughter. Cecil reaches his bedroom after the maid cleans it. Cecil lies in bed, and then Rosa comes in. They talk about what Cecil did to the Mysidians, and how Cecil regrets what he did. After a long conversation, Cecil finally goes to sleep and Rosa leaves. The next day, Cecil and Kain leave the castle to deliver the package to the Village of Mist nearby. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Exploring Mist Cave ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside the castle, Cecil and Kain wander through the deserts to get to Mist Cave, the cavernous area blocking the path to Mist. Unfortunately, with Cecil's Red Wings position revoked, he cannot just fly an airship there, which would take him there in mere seconds. Because of that, it will take them a little bit of time on foot. Through the desert are monsters, though they aren't very powerful; Cecil and Kain use their weakest attacks to defeat them. They finally reach the Mist Cave. Inside, the name is not deceiving at all. The cave is full of mist which somewhat impairs their line of sight, and as they wander, more monsters confront them. Disposing of them, they gain more experience as warriors. As they wander, an ominous voice tells them to go away. Ignoring it, they proceed to the near end of the cave. The voice again asks if Cecil and Kain will get out. Refusing, a Mist Dragon suddenly attacks Cecil and Kain. Tougher than any monster Cecil and Kain have ever faced, the dragon launches power mist attacks at them, hurting Cecil. Luckily, Kain is able to use his dragoon jump tactics to avoid the attacks and damage the Mist Dragon greatly. On the ground, Cecil uses his sword attacks. As tough as the dragon is, it cannot compete with what Cecil and Kain dish out, and despite launching super-powerful mist attacks, Cecil and Kain slay the Mist Dragon, but they're fairly injured. Outside the cave is the small Village of Mist. When they reach the place, the package the king gave them releases several bombs!!! The bombs, live ones, circle the town, and explode, causing the entire city to catch fire. Cecil and Kain are outraged at what the king wanted to do; the king wanted to eliminate the summons, the people of Mist, because he thought they were a threat to Baron's security. Nearby, they hear a little girl crying. She is next to her dead mother. Cecil and Kain wonder how the woman's mother died. The little girl explains that her mom's summon dragon was murdered, so the woman in charge of the Mist Dragon, the little girl's mom, ends up dying, too. Shocked, Cecil and Kain tell the girl that they were the ones who slain the Mist Dragon and apologize. With the city about to fall to the ground, Cecil volunteers to take the little girl away to save her. Kain objects, noting that they must kill the little girl as an order from Baron. Cecil objects. After an argument, Kain agrees with Cecil, reluctantly, and that they're essentially betraying Baron. Cecil thanks Kain for going with him, but Kain tells Cecil to save it, Kain doing what he's going to do not for Cecil's sake. As they mark their leave, the little girl gets very angry and summons a creature called Titan, which injures Kain and Cecil by causing an earthquake. The creature is out of the little girl's control, and causes the entire village to explode. Cecil suddenly blacks out. Some time later, Cecil and the little girl are found in a field outside the Village of Mist. The little girl is unconscious. Unfortunately, the earthquake caused by Titan causes a landslide, thus Cecil cannot return to the Village of Mist, or the ruins of it. Kain is also nowhere to be found. The situation cannot be helped, so Cecil decides to head somewhere where the little girl can be safe. He's sure Baron will be on their way to find the little girl. Cecil wanders the desert in front of him, but runs away from monsters as he passes. In the distance is the small lakeside town of Kaipo. He enters town, hoping to find a place where the little girl can rest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Kaipo and the Water Cavern ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The town of Kaipo luckily has an inn. As he approaches the place, the townsfolk speak of a Sage Tellah, and how his daughter ran off to marry a bard. Not caring, Cecil runs to the inn, and the owner gladly lets Cecil stay for the night once he sees the little girl's condition. Once they settle into their beds, Cecil tries to tell the little girl thathe is only trying to protect her, and that he's really sorry for killing her mom's Mist Dragon. Suddenly, a few Baronian soldiers come to take the little girl away. Cecil protests, and a battle ensues. Cecil fights every soldier off, until the general is all that's left. The soldier runs away before Cecil can finish him off. The little girl is happy that Cecil protected her, and the little girl finally trusts Cecil's protection. The little girl introduces herself as Rydia, a summoner. The next day, Cecil and Rydia leave the inn with gratitude. The townsfolk talk about a Prince Edward and how wimpy he is, but, like earlier gossips about the old sage, Cecil doesn't seem to care. Words from a townsfolk meets his eye, saying that a white mage is somewhere in town, sick. In the house where the white mage is, Cecil is shocked to discover that it's Rosa! Cecil asks the house owner how he can cure Rosa's desert fever, and the owner tells him that the Sand Ruby from the Antlion in Antlion's Cave will cure her. Cecil purchases some supplies and decides to journey to Antlion's Cave to find the Sand Ruby. Leaving Kaipo, Cecil and Rydia head for the Water Cavern. To get to the Antlion's Cave, which is east of Damcyan Castle, Cecil must pass through Water Cavern. Inside the Water Cavern, Cecil and Rydia battle a few monsters. Rydia's black spells prove useful, as her Thunder attacks dispose of the water- based creatures easily. Wandering around, they meet an old man. He says that a bard deceived his daughter and now he has to get to Damcyan Castle to find and rescue her. Remembering what the people in Kaipo said, Cecil thinks this man is Sage Tellah. Tellah is a famous sage, which is basically a combination of a black mage and white mage. Tellah was really famous, but he forgot his spells over the years, so he's really only as powerful as a new mage. Still, he thinks Cecil and Rydia can help him defeat a monster called Octomamm. Octomamm is the creature blocking the cave's exit to Damcyan. The trio wander through the caves fighting off a couple of monsters. Luckily, with the added power of Tellah, they get through them very easily. In a room sealed off from the monsters, they stay in Tellah's tent. As they rest for the night, Rydia immediately falls asleep. Rydia reminds Tellah of Anna, his daughter. Tellah also knows that Rydia will become a powerful summoner one day. Tellah wonders why Cecil is heading to Damcyan Castle, and Cecil explains Rosa's situation. Tellah explains what Cecil already knows, that Cecil must go to Antlion's Cave to find the Sand Ruby. The next day, Cecil and co. wander through the cave. They battle monsters endlessly, gaining combat experience as they travel. After walking through lakes, jumping down waterfalls and battling even more monsters, they're rewarded with treasure: Cecil finds new armor. They eventually reach the exit of the cave and Octomamm is guarding it. The trio attack Octomamm, and like the Mist Dragon, it doesn't put up much of a fight Cecil, Rydia and Tellah can't handle. Luckily, Rydia and Tellah's Thunder attacks are powerful against the water based creature, so the creature eventually dies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- E. The Fall of Damcyan and the Sea Ruby ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eager to reach Damcyan, the trio runs out of the water cavern. As they approach Damcyan Castle, Baronian ships fly over the castle and drop bombs!!! The attack is somewhat short, and when it's over, all that remains is the ruin of Damycan Castle. They all enter the castle and see dead people all over the castle. In the throne room, Tellah is outraged to see the body of her daughter on the ground, wounded. Tellah knows Anna is about to die and his fury erupts when he sees a bard come out of hiding. This bard was the bard Anna eloped. Tellah is outraged and blames the bard for Anna's condition. Tellah gets into a fight with the bard, and after the bard screams in pain, Anna, still conscious, tells her father to stop. Anna explains that the bard, Edward, is the prince of Damcyan. Anna tells Tellah that she loves Edward, and that she protected Edward from dying by blocking him from arrows. Afterwards, Anna dies. Tellah is furious, and Edward, as a sensitive prince, is crying. Tellah tells Edward that crying won't bring her back. Edward explains that Golbez, the new leader of the Red Wings, was responsible for the attack that not only killed Anna, but Edward's parents as well. Golbez also took the kingdom's Fire Crystal, like how Cecil took Mysidia's Water Crystal. Tellah vows to kill Golbez and have his revenge. Cecil tries to stop Tellah, noting that they should fight Golbez together, but Tellah pushes Cecil back, saying that he needs no one. Cecil and Rydia talk to a crying Edward. Rydia tells him the story of her mother, surprising Cecil. After Rydia tells Edward not to cry anymore, Cecil approaches the new King of Damcyan. Cecil tells of Rosa's sickness and that he and Rydia need his help. Edward understands, comparing Cecil's love for Rosa to his love with Anna, and decides to help out Cecil and Rydia. Joining them, Edward offers them a hovercraft which can transport them to places faster than on foot, and that they can return to Kaipo without having to pass through the Water Cavern again. They leave the throne room, Anna's body still on the ground. Edward runs back and and looks at her one last time, before her body vanishes. After they leave Damcyan, they drive the hovercraft east of Damcyan. Crossing over shallow water and searocks, they reach a forked path. One leads to Antlion's Cave and the other leads to Mt. Hobs. The entrance to Mt. Hobs is blocked by ice, but they don't need to go up that path. They take the path to Antlion's Cave instead, and enter the cave. The cave, like the Water Cavern, is swarmed with monsters. Unfortunately, Edward's contributions as a warrior are fairly limited: he barely damages the monsters but luckily he can give them status ailments. He runs away from battle whenever his vitality is low, so Rydia and Cecil make it a habit to heal him every so often. The cave is similar in structure to the Water Cavern. Luckily in the cave they find a new harp for Edward, which increases his power. The cave is nowhere near as long as the Water Cavern. At the bottom, they find Antlion. Edward is educated about Antlions, and knows that they don't hurt people. He tries to get the Sand Ruby from it, but Antlion suddenly claps its pincers, nearly killing Edward. For Rosa's sake, without any other choice, Cecil, Rydia and Edward decide to attack it. The creature launches powerful attacks when physically hit. To counteract this, Cecil and Edward go into a defensive position while Rydia uses her summon, chocobo. Because it isn't a physical attack, Antlion's can't launch any powerful counterattacks. After using Chocobo so many times, Rydia runs out of MP (magic points), but Edward uses an Ether to restore her MP. After a few more chocobos, Antlion finally dies. Following the battle, they pick the Sand Ruby up. Edward is surprised that the Antlion attacked him, noting how monsters have changed from gentle creatures to creatures more vicious. Using an Escape Rope, the trio gets back to the entrance of the cave instantly. Using the hovercraft, they ride back across the desert, passed Damcyan Castle. Using shallow water rocks, they manage to bypass the Water Cavern to the lower area of the desert. They finally return to the oasis, Kaipo. Inside the house Rosa is resting in, Cecil uses the Sand Ruby on her to heal her. Rosa wakes up, feeling better and recovering from her sickness. Cecil introduces Rydia and Edward to Rosa. After getting acquainted, Rosa explains why she went to Kaipo. She followed Cecil to the Village of Mist because she found about Golbez and his plan to steal the crystals. Rosa says that Golbez is out to get the crystals, and she warns that Damcyan Castle is next after Mysidia's crystal was captured. Edward notes that Damcyan Castle has already fallen victim to Golbez and that the Fire Crystal was taken. Rosa then notes that Fabul and Troia are next. Thinking Fabul is the next target, Rosa asks Cecil to go to Fabul to warn them. Edward remembers that Mt. Hobs was blocked by ice, and since Tellah left the party, Rydia is the only one with a fire attack good enough to melt the ice. Rydia, however, doesn't know a fire attack. Rosa asks Rydia to learn it, but Rydia's afraid because fire is what destroyed her town, the Village of Mist. Cecil decides to rest for the night. During the night, Edward wanders to the lake to play his harp. Suddenly, a monster appears and attacks Edward! Edward is too afraid to battle, but Anna's spirit comes and guides him. Edward battles the monster and, miraculously, kills it. Anna tells Edward to watch over his people and give them the love Edward shared with Anna. After Anna's spirit vanishes, Edward promises to fight for Damcyan. The next day, Cecil, Rydia, Edward and Rosa leave Kaipo and get on the hovercraft. They ride around the Water Cavern once again and pass Damcyan Castle to the fork in the road again. This time, they take the path to Mt. Hobs instead of Antlion's Cave. They park the hovercraft at the entrance. At the base of Mt. Hobs, Rydia, with help from Edward and Rosa, overcomes her fear of fire and melts the ice, and learns a new attack! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- F. Journeying to Fabul ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The path up Mt. Hobs isn't too long, but it's full of creatures. Monsters attack them, but they are all more than strong enough to battle them. Rosa's white mage contribution is that she can heal the party whenever someone is seriously injured, a vital key to surviving the scaling of the mountain. She can also accurately aim with a bow and arrow, making her physical attacks stronger and more reliable than Rydia and Edward's. Rydia's newly learned Fire attack also proves to be a devastating alternative to her summons. At the summit, they see a showdown going on. Apparently, a lone monk is fighting off a squad of bombs, similar to those that destroyed the Village of Mist. Cecil and the others are only eager to help the monk and join the battle on his side. The battle is explosive, no pun intended. All five of the warriors attack the bombs endlessly, the bombs putting up a very, very strong fight before they morph into one bomb. The battle is so intense that the heroes are injured, while some faint. The monk, however, is a strong warrior and, after meditating a short while, launches one hell of a claw punch. Edward, as usual, is hiding from the battle and launches shots with his harp whenever he can. Rydia is using her chocobo summon, which proves effective and Cecil is using his sword, while Rosa is busy curing everyone. In the end, after a long and fierce battle, Cecil and the monk triumph over the bomb. After the battle, the monk from Fabul, who introduces himself as Yang, is grateful for the help. Cecil fills Yang in on Golbez's quest for the crystals, Edward noting that Damcyan has already been attacked. Cecil also tells Yang that the bombs were probably sent by Golbez to wipe out Fabul's monks, who were all the best when it came to defending Fabul from an attack. They had been at Mt. Hobs training. Cecil offers to help Yang out by going to Fabul, informing its king of Golbez and then properly defending it. Yang refuses on the basis that it's really his problem alone, but Cecil convinces him otherwise because Rydia and Edward too are enemies of Golbez. With Yang in the party, the party is strong and balanced, with two powerful warriors, a summoner, a healing white mage and a bard who can cause status ailments. Before they continue down the other side of the mountain, Rosa cures everyone's injuries. Proceeding down the mountain, they go through an ominous forest until the seaside castle and seaport of Fabul comes into view. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- G. Cecil Defends Fabul ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Entering the castle, Yang leads the team into the throne room where the king of Fabul greets them. Cecil, Rosa, Edward and Yang fill the king of Fabul in on Golbez's quest for the crystals, the attack on Damcyan and the need to defend Fabul before Golbez attacks. Edward has obviously met the king of Fabul before, and his presence substantiates Cecil's claims in his eyes. Cecil is more than happy to help out the defense of Fabul, along with Edward and Yang. After a kind request from the king, Rydia and Rosa decide to assist Fabul's nurses. Sometime later, Golbez's forces, creatures who our team have been running into, attack the castle. The attack is almost blitzkrieg-like, with aerial support from above bombing the castle and foot soldiers swooping in on the ground. Some Fabulian soldiers are wounded in the initial onslaught. After finishing off a few monsters, Cecil, Edward and Yang eventually get retreated into the throne room. Along with a few guards, they lock the throne room with hopes of keeping them out. But suddenly, a monster disguised as a soldier unlocks the door and attacks the trio. They easily defeat the imposter, but with more enemy troops coming, they retreat into the throne room. There, a familiar face shows up: Kain. Cecil is flattered to see Kain, and asks him to fight alongside Yang and Edward. Kain asks if it's three on one or one on one, stunning Cecil. Kain suddenly attacks Cecil, stunning him. Ever since they last met, Kain for whatever reason became stronger than Cecil. Kain uses jump in order to avoid Cecil's sword, causing him to faint. Cecil is in shock and disbelief as he is defeated. Kain is just about to finish Cecil off permanently when Yang rushes forward and attacks Kain, stunning him momentarily, saving Cecil from death. Golbez then enters the room, stunned that Kain couldn't kill Cecil. Golbez attacks Yang and Edward, knocking them out. Rydia and Rosa show up, disgusted at Kain's betrayal. After Kain takes the crystal, he vows to kill Cecil. Golbez then kidnaps Rosa, with plans to use her for bait and switch in the near future. After Kain and Golbez run off with Fabul's Wind Crystal and Rosa, Rydia uses her white magic to heal Cecil, Yang and Edward. Once everyone is up again, they are devastated by the losses endured. The situation can't be helped, and thus Yang suggests everyone rest to completely heal their wounds. At a nearby inn, they have a discussion on how to get Rosa back. Cecil tells everyone of Baron's engineer, Cid and his airships. To defeat Golbez, they're going to need an airship to travel between places faster than the pace they've been going at. Unfortunately, Baron is the only kingdom with command of airships, and with the landslide blocking the path to the Village of Mist, the only way back to Baron, they have to get there by ship, especially since Baron's navy is weak. Yang wonders who that dragoon was, and Cecil tells everyone that the dragoon, Kain, used to be his best friend and a good warrior, but now... They all rest for the night and see King Fabul the next day, informing him of their plan to sneak into Baron and seize an airship. King Fabul grants Yang permission to use the water ship in Fabul Bay, and the king gives Cecil a Deathbringer sword, to help increase his combat strength and damage capablities (couldn't you have given that to him *before* the attack, King Fabul?). King Fabul notes that it is still a weapon of darkness, a title Cecil must one day overcome and eradicate from his inner self. Thankful, the party stocks up on supplies and leaves Fabul Castle. At the bay, they all get on the ship, Yang's Wife offering encouragement to the team as they part for Baron. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- H. Lost At Sea ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As the ship sails through the vast ocean, Edward gets a chilling feeling, but Rydia comforts him, keeping him warm against the sea breeze. As the ship sails, an earthquake suddenly begins to rock the ocean and the ship. Suddenly, from a whirlpool in the sea, a Leviathan sea creature emerges from the depths below, causing rough waves that rock the boat tremendously. Near the edge of the ship, Rydia falls off the boat into the sea, and Yang frantically jumps off to save her! Cecil screams Yang and Rydia's names, wondering what's happening to them. The ship continues to shake, Cecil trying to get to Edward. Edward falls on the floor flat on his face, knocking him unconscious. Suddenly, the shaking becomes too much for Cecil to bear, and he blacks out... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Mysidian Elder's Request ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil wakes up on a beach, not knowing where he is. He calls out to Rydia, Edward and Yang, but they're nowhere to be found. Cecil sees a familiar town nearby, a town that is all too familiar to him: Mysidia. Cecil has no choice but to enter the city, so he heads in that direction. Outside the city, he is attacked by monsters but his new Deathbringer that King Fabul gave him proves to be a powerful sword, instant killing aerial monsters coming his way. Inside Mysidia, he is stared at by the town folk. One Mysidian turns him into a pig, while another turns him into a frog. Luckily speaking to them again reverses the spells. Scared, Cecil runs to the Tower of Prayer where the Elder of Mysidia resides. Cecil reluctantly speaks to the Elder, and apologizes for stealing his crystal and killing innocent Mysidians. He fills the Elder in on what happened to Rydia, Edward and Yang, but even then, the Elder still doesn't seem to believe in Cecil's cause or trust his sincerity. As a result of his suspicions, he makes Cecil journey on a mission to Mt. Ordeals to the east to become a Paladin, a warrior of light that no other has been able to acquire. Elder knows that monsters inhabiting the mountain will be invincible against Cecil's dark powers, so Elder calls in two twin mages to assist him: Palom (the boy) and Porom (the girl). Porom enters at the call of Elder, respectfuly greeting herself to Cecil, while Palom enters by teleporting in, a run upsetting Porom and the Elder. Cecil is surprised that they're so young, but the Elder knows they'll be of some assistance. Sending them on their way, the twins accompany Cecil outside Mysidia. As they journey, Palom and Porom help Cecil in defeating the monsters with their bow and arrows. Palom also proves useful with his black spells, like Rydia and Tellah, and Porom proves useful with her white spell capabilities, like Rosa did. Despite being very young, they're clearly powerful and Cecil is glad to have them along. They eventually cut through a forest and battle more creatures, but the three easily defeat them. At the base of the Mt. Ordeals, a wall of flames is blocking the trail, just like how Mt. Hobs was blocked by ice before Rydia melted it. Without any traumatic experiences to retard his development of magic spells, Palom puts out the wall of fire blocking the path with a well-placed ice attack. Palom is happy of how well he executed the attack. Meanwhile, at the Tower of Zot, Golbez discovers that Cecil is at Mt. Ordeals. Golbez sends one of the infamous, and powerful Four Elemental Lords, Scarmiglione (Milon in the SNES and PSone versions), after Cecil. Scarmiglione is more than happy to kill Cecil, knowing that Cecil wouldn't stand a chance with his dark power. Unfortunately, they don't seem to know that two mages are accompanying Cecil and that another powerful magic wielder inhabits the mountain, about to run into Cecil. Cecil and the twins continue up the mountain. It is similar to Mt. Hobs in structure; in fact, it provides a little deja vu. Undead monsters and zombies attack the party, making Cecil basically useless against them. Since he's a dark knight, he can't do much against zombie-type monsters. Palom and Porom pick up the slack, however, and easily dispose of them with black magic and healing spells. As they battle more enemies, the twins learn new spells that prove to be valuable to the cause. As they wander up the mountain, they see a familiar face: Sage Tellah. Cecil is glad to meet Tellah, and so are Palom and Porom. Palom and Porom greet Tellah and introduce themselves as kids from Mysidia, noting how great and famous Tellah is, which even Palom finds to be impressive. Tellah is intrigued by the fact they're from Mysidia. Tellah speaks to Cecil, wondering where Rydia and Edward are. Cecil tells Tellah about the Leviathan at sea, and that he thinks they're dead. Tellah finds it unfortunate, and asks why Cecil has come to Mt. Ordeals. Cecil tells Tellah that he came to Mt. Ordeals to become a Paladin. Tellah notes that he came here to learn Meteor (Meteo in the SNES and PSone versions), since his normal spells wouldn't do much of anything against the likes of Golbez. Meteor is a powerful attack that unleashes a flurry or meteors onto a target, inflicting the highest amount of damage any black magic summoner can conjure up. Tellah is still after Golbez for killing his daughter, Anna, at Damcyan Castle. Porom notes that a man of of Tellah's age wouldn't have the vitality to live through summoning something such as Meteor, but Tellah tells the twins that he must avenge his daughter. Palom only criticizes Tellah, generalizing his stubbornness as something all adults do, but Porom tells Palom to hush, since Palom, as a kid, wouldn't know how adults think. Not convinced otherwise, Tellah decides to accompany Cecil and the twins as they have the same goals in mind. They continue to the summit of the mountain, getting close to where Cecil needs to be in order to become a Paladin. On their way, on the ground they see the bones of some who have tried to become a Paladin and failed. On their way to the top, Porom expresses irritation with her brother because apparently he poked or pinched her. Palom tells Porom that he didn't do anything to her. This happens a few more times. At the top, a monsters stops them from proceeding! Apparently this monster was the one who had bothered Porom earlier. The monster is Scarmiglione, a hooded undead Lord and a gang of zombies is accompanying him. Scarmiglione attacks our four heroes, but Tellah and Palom retaliate by using their fire attacks to drive the zombies away rather quickly. Cecil concentrates on Scarmiglione himself, while Porom cures any injuries with her white magic. When Scarmiglione is the only one left, he easily cannot compete with the assault being inflicted on him. Palom and Tellah's well-placed fire attacks eventually put the creature down. With that threat gone, the party rests in a tent in a nearby pure zone to cure their wounds. The next day, they cross the bridge toward the highest point, when, suddenly, Scarmiglione returns and attacks the party once again. However, having gotten some rest, and having learned newer spells, Palom is able to unleash more powerful Fira fire spells on Scarmiglione, while Tellah continues to use Fire. Eventually, Scarmiglione is finally overwhelmed and dies. Before he dies, however, Scarmiglione notes that the other Elemental Lords are still alive. Cecil is sure to run into them in the future. They reach the mirrored tomb at last, and suddenly a light shines on Cecil, turning him into a Paladin, with a new suit and Sword of Light! An image of the older version of Cecil suddenly attacks the transformed Paladin Cecil! Cecil has learned a lot on his travels with his friends, and doesn't bother attacking aggressively. The mirror image tells Cecil that Paladins fight for law and justice. The mirror image of the older Cecil vanishes, giving Cecil full control of Paladin powers. Before it disappears, it calls Cecil its son, something that puzzles Cecil. Palom and Porom are amazed and proud of Cecil's achievement. In the corner, Tellah seems to have been stunned. He reveals that the light caused him to learn all of the spells he forgot over the years, as well as the key to defeating Golbez: the Meteor spell! After all their fortune, they rush down the mountain. The monsters that attack them are no use against Cecil's new Paladin powers! Nearly invincible, the crew develops their strengths and abilities by wiping the floor with every creature that comes their way. By the time they leave Mt. Ordeals, they are more than a match for the challenges that have yet to come. At the base of Mt. Ordeals, they see a Chocobo forest nearby and go there. They ride a Chocobo back to Mysidia and get there in only a few seconds. Once they enter, the Mysidians are amazed that Cecil has become a Paladin. Some have found it in their hearts to forgive Cecil, while one Mysidian is unable to. At the Tower of Prayer, the Elder is stunned at what Cecil has found, and is stunned by the presence of Sage Tellah as well. Apparently old friends, the Elder and Tellah exchange friendly criticism and then let Elder know of their next plans. Tellah tells the Elder about what happened to his daughter, and how he plans to avenge her, but the Elder tells Tellah that he shouldn't be filled with hatred and vengeance. Cecil decides to return to the goal he outlined in Fabul: to return to Baron and acquire an airship to gain an advantage against Golbez. After hearing them out, the Elder tells Palom and Porom to return to their studies, but Porom and Palom ask if they can go with Cecil. Cecil is surprised and doesn't know what to say, but Tellah agrees that they can be helpful. The Elder tells them to the use Devil's Road (or Serpent Road in Final Fantasy II) to return to Baron. They do just that, and they use the Devil's Road, which morphs them to Baron. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- J. Sneaking into Baron ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Devil's Road takes them to a building in the town of Baron. When our heroes approach the castle doors, the guards don't let them in, so they have to use a roundabout way to get inside the castle. That roundabout way a series of tunnels beneath Baron that take them to the moat of the castle. Unfortunately, the door to the tunnels is locked. They check the inn out, and to their surprise, they find Yang, who seems uninjured by the shipwreck. Cecil attempts to speak to Yang but Yang, oddly, sends his guards to attack the party. Is Golbez now controlling Yang, too? The guards, like the ones that attacked Cecil and Rydia in Kaipo, try to assault Cecil and his team, but they overcome then rather easily. Yang is stunned and annoyed by his guards dying, so he attacks the party. Yang has gotten more powerful since the shipwreck, and seriously injures Tellah and the twins with his fierce claws. Not wanting to kill him, Cecil attacks Yang with his swords moderately. After a few hits, Yang regains his memory and is surprised to see Cecil. Apparently the shipwreck caused him to have amnesia, and Baron took advantage of that. The party heads to a hotel room, where they stay for free because the innkeeper is grateful that Cecil killed the guards that were bothering the owner. When they converse, Yang lets Cecil know that Rydia was swallowed by Leviathan, but he doesn't know what happened to Prince Edward. Cecil introduces Tellah, Palom and Porom to Yang. Cecil tells Yang that Tellah is the father of Anna, Edward's wife. Tellah informs Yang of his plans to revenge, and Yang apologizes for his loss. Lying down in one of the beds during the whole conversation, Palom expresses his displeasure with Yang's attack on them, and while Porom tries to get Palom to apologize for saying that, Yang says that Palom is right and apologizes to everyone and rejoins the team. They go over the plan they made in Fabul which is to find Cid and gain control of an airship. Cid is probably holed up in the castle somewhere. Yang suddenly finds a key on his person, wondering what it's used for. Apparently Baron gave it to him when he was working with them. It unlocks the armor and weapon shops, and the door in the northwest corner of the town, which leads to the tunnels that connect to the castle moat. They rest for the night and then set out to continue their mission. Entering the subterranean tunnels, the team runs through them, eager to reach the castle. In structure it is a lot like the Water Cavern between Damcyan and Kaipo. Palom and Tellah's electric attacks defeat any monster that attacks them. Yang also finds a set of Thunder claws that with very little effort take out aquatic monsters. After a bit of walking, they end up in the castle's moat. They decide to get a little rest in Cecil's bedroom, to recharge themselves. Sneaking into the actual castle itself, they proceed to the throne room to confront the king. On their way, Cecil's friend, Baigan, joins the party. Palom and Porom immediately notice something peculiar about Baigan, which gives Baigan a nervous breakdown. Baigan is really a monster and attacks the party. The monster Baigan isn't very tough at all; its only advantage is its wall attack, which deflects magic attacks Tellah and Palom try to throw at it. Cecil's newfound power proves to be powerful, and after well placed physical attacks from all the members of the team, they manage to destroy Baigan's arms. A few more hits to the body finally destroy all of Baigan. Following the battle, Cecil feels a little stressed in the fact that Baigan was a monster the entire time, but Palom and Porom cheer him up and note that Baigan was a terrible imposter either way. They continue through an empty room to the throne room. Immediately Cecil confronts the king. The king is amazed and angered that Cecil is not a Dark Knight anymore and has become a warrior of light. Cecil defies the king even more, criticizing him of his zeal to acquire the crystals and spread evil and hatred. Suddenly the king lets the cat out of the bag. The king is really a creature, and the real king was killed sometime back. The creature turns out to be Cagnazzo (Kainazzo in the SNES version), the second of the Four Elemental Lords. Cagnazzo talks about the Four Elemental Lords, criticizing the one they ran into at Mt. Ordeals, Scarmiglione. Cagnazzo feels that Scarmiglione was a weakling who didn't deserve to be an Elemental Lord. Cagnazzo decides to finish Cecil off, and attacks his team. Luckily, Cagnazzo is extremely easy to defeat. Ironically he's easier to defeat than Scarmiglione, who Cagnazzo had just criticizes. As a a water creature, he is extremely weak against Palom's Thundara attack, and especially against Tellah's Thandaga attack. A few well placed bolt shots from Tellah and Palom, as well as Yang's thunder claws kill the Cagnazzo before it is able to unleash a devastating tsunami attack on the team. Caganazzo dies, leaving a warning to the team that the other Lords are still around, and that it's not the end of Cagnazzo himself either. Cid comes into the room, ready to pretty much kick Cagnazzo's ass for imprisoning him. Luckily for him, the team has already killed Cagnazzo. Cid reunites with Cecil, and introduces the rest of the party to him. Tellah and Cid nearly get into a fight, with Cid amusingly saying that Tellah is probably twice his age, but Porom settles the confrontation before it breaks out. Palom makes fun of his sister's positive attitude. Cid decides to take the team to the airship, passing through that empty room. Suddenly, the spirit of Cagnazzo seems to still be in contact with the real world. Cagnazzo causes the walls to cave in, just moments away from smashing the team (think Star Wars: A New Hope). Palom and Porom, who are closest to both sides of the walls respectively, start thanking everyone for all the adventures they have been through.No one understands what they mean, however, until the twins press themselves against the wall and turn themselves into stone!!! The tactic works, and the stone twins are strong enough to hold the walls back so it doesn't crush the party, thwarting Cagnazzo's plan. Everyone is extremely sad about the twin's sacrifice. Tellah tries to undo their petrification with a white spell called Esuna, which cures all status ailments. However, because the twins became stone at their own will, Esuna is useless. Tellah is frustrated, saying that as an old man he should have sacrificed himself instead. Yang, Cid and Cecil apologize to Palom and Porom, thanking them for their sacrifice. Unfortunately the mission has to go on without the twins, as Rosa is still in Golbez's hands... At the Tower of Zot, the team learns of Cagnazzo's defeat. They decide to use Cecil to get the Earth Crystal, which remains a problem for them to get. They decide to use Rosa as a pawn... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K. Magnetic Cave ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cid fiddles with a wall in a room of the Baron castle. It leads to a small tunnel that takes them to an amazing ship. Cecil, Tellah, Yang and Cid board the ship, which Cid calls the Enterprise, and launches it in the airspace above Baron. Before they can proceed at their leisure, another ship with an enemy flag greets them. It's Kain, and he proposes to Cecil a plan to get Rosa back. Tellah, Yang and Cid mock Kain as he tells Cecil that to get Rosa back, he must acquire Troia's Earth Crystal for Golbez. Cecil tries to convince Kain to stop, but Kain ignores the suggestion. Kain's ship flies off, leaving Cecil extremely discomforted. Cecil decides to set course for Troia. Before heading for Troia, Cecil decides to get a feel for the skies around the world map. He flies south of Baron, and encounters a mountainous island with a small town. East of that is Mysidia. Cecil lands the Enterprise near Mysidia, and informs the Elder of Palom and Porom's sacrifice. The Elder says that he is very proud of them. They fly east of Mysidia, and see the Tower of Babel, a tall tower that seems to poke out from underground into the sky. Near it is Elban Castle, but since Elban doesn't possess a crystal, they decide not to stop by. They fly the Enterprise northwest of Baron. Overhead they see the Village of Mist. It's been rebuilt, but it's really empty, since all the summoners have died. Northeast of the Village of Mist is Kaipo, where Rosa was when she got sick. To the north are the ruins of Damcyan Castle where Tellah's daughter, Anna died and where Cecil met Edward. The fly east over Mt. Hobs where Cecil first met Yang and at the base, see the Hovercraft they left it. Passed Mt. Hobs is Fabul and across the ocean of Fabul is Troia. It's relatively difficult to land in the forested area of Troia, but they manage to land on a small plot of land in front of the castle. Like Baron, the town resides just beside the castle. Inside the castle, they are greeted. They speak to some folks, and they say that a Damcyan man was washed up on sea. Who could be it be? They see the eight clerics who run Troia. Unlike the other three big kingdoms, eight clerical sisters govern Troia. They ask each of them if they can use the Earth Crystal, but unfortunately, some elf creature took it and is now hiding out in Magnetic Cave. If Cecil gets it back, he's free to use it. Looking around the castle, they see Edward, resting in bed, wounded with a fever. According to the caretakers, he's naturally frail, so he takes quite a while to recover. Edward comments about Cecil's new powers. Edward attempts to get up to rejoin the party, but unfortunately he isn't fit for battling yet. Tellah is only reluctant to see Edward. Edward asks Tellah for his forgiveness. Tellah doesn't grant it. Once he sees Yang, Edward believes that everyone survived the shipwreck, but he doesn't see Rydia around. Yang tells Edward that Leviathan swallowed her. Cecil lets them know of their mission to go after the Dark Elf and the Earth Crystal, and the word Elf strikes Edward's mind. He gives him a copy of his harp, saying that they'll need it. The party wishes Edward farewell. In the city of Troia, they stock up on ammo that isn't metallic. Apparently, no one is willing to go after the Dark Elf, including Golbez himself, because anyone with metallic armor is instantly killed upon entry to the Magnetic Cave. Arming the strongest leather armor and the strongest non-metallic weapons, the party sets out for the isolated Magnet Cave. Unfortunately, the Enterprise is too big to land anywhere near the Magnetic Cave, so they opt to take a Chocobo instead. Using a Chocobo from a nearby Chocobo forest, they fly to the cave. They enter, and the magnets hold them down, but Tellah says that his magic can defeat any creatures. Yang says that his claws are unaffected, so he'll remain powerful for the duration of the journey. The cave is eerie and haunting, but the party keeps progressing. The cave is somewhat long, and the creatures that keep appearing give them trouble. Luckily Tellah was right about his magic; Tellah's special attacks easily dispose of any of the monsters that come their way. At last they reach the crystal room where the Dark Elf resides. The Dark Elf has some speech problems, but regardless the party challenges it to a fight. They all attack the creature but their non-metallic weapons are useless and do very little damage. Tellah manages to land a powerful spell but afterwards he is attacked and faints. After a few fire attacks, the team is down. Back in Troia, Edward somehow knows that Cecil is in trouble, so he gets up. His body is still too weak and he's about to fall down, but he keeps going. He plays his harp, playing the melody that he always plays, the music that attracted that Water Hag in Kaipo. Back in the Magnetic Cave, the Dark Elf is agitated by the music and his control of the cave's magnetism is broken. The party is also cured by the melody! The party equips their stronger, metallic arsenal and attacks the creature. Their weapons and Tellah's spells are too powerful for the Dark Elf to handle. Pretty soon, the Dark Elf morphs into another creature, but still, it is no match for what Cecil, Tellah, Yang and Cid dish out. Eventually the creature dies, with the party victorious, thanks to Edward's help. The Earth Crystal is nearby and they are more than eager to get it, and get out of the ominous place. Tellah morphs them out of the cave, and they ride the Chocobo back to the forest. Using another Chocobo, they quickly fly back to Troia. Proceeding to Troia's clerics, they tell them of their success in obtaining the Earth Crystal. The clerics grant Cecil permission to use the Earth Crystal. Suddenly, they hear Kain's voice somewhere. He tells them to board the Enterprise and follow Kain's ship to the Tower of Zot, where Rosa is waiting. Before going to the Tower of Zot, they pay Edward a visit. Cecil, Cid and Yang give thanks to Edward for helping them. Edward explains that the song he learned when he was traveling as a minstrel apparently neutralizes elves. He's flattered that it worked. Tellah finally steps forward and gains some respect for Edward, and sees the love and courage Anna saw in him. Tellah tells Edward to rest, and that he'll avenge Anna for the both of them. Edward thanks Tellah for his understanding and vows to one day fight by Cecil's side again. Outside, they board the Enterprise and follow Kain's ship to the Tower of Zot. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- L. The Tower of Zot ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Our heroes arrive in a blue-tiled tower. There are neon lights everywhere and monsters that resemble a lot from Greek mythology. There are only a few floors in the tower, but the tough monsters are difficult to get through, and the tunnels are labyrinthine. Luckily there is a supply of weapons lying around for just about everyone, making everyone more powerful than before. Before they can reach the top, three weird creatures block their path. They are the Magus Sisters. They're three tough creatures who work under an Elemental Lord named Barbariccia (Valvalis in the SNES and PSone versions), and Cecil and co. battle them. The Magus Sisters use the same trick as Baigan did: the Wall spell. If Tellah attacks one creature, the Wall defense repels the attack to someone else. After a long battle, the healer of the Magus Sisters is destroyed, making them vulnerable to defeat. After Cecil and Yang launch a few more strong attacks, Tellah finishes Mindy, the little sister. The tall sister, Sandy, is all that's left and Cid launches a hammer attack which finishes her off too. . Tired and wounded, the team finds a shelter area where they rest in a tent for the night, recovering all their wounds. The next day, they continue for the top and through a door, they see Golbez at last. Cecil immediately forfeits the Earth Crystal to Golbez. Golbez then says that Rosa isn't around, angering everyone. Tellah is the first to react. He challenges Golbez to a battle, and Tellah takes the first moves by using his Bio (Virus in Final Fantasy II), Firaga, Thundaga and Blizzaga attacks against Golbez, but they barely scratch him, let alone damage him. Tellah then realizes that he has no choice but to summon Meteor. Cecil, Yang and Cid try to get Tellah to reconsider, but Tellah refuses, bent on avenging his daughter and Edward. Trying his absolute best, Tellah launches a flurry of meteorites at Golbez, defeating him in battle. Despite being defeated, Golbez has managed to survive Meteor, but he's still shocked that Tellah was able to use it. Golbez shakes the effects off, but Tellah collapses. Golbez, with Troia's Earth Crystal in hand, is about to leave the room. Cecil goes after him but Golbez attacks Cecil with that same lightning he used on Edward and Yang in Fabul. This hurts Cecil and causes him to collapse. Golbez is about to finish him, but some thought rushes his mind and it almost causes Golbez to go mad. Hesitant, he decides to kill Cecil another day. Golbez is close to leaving but then he calls Kain. Kain is in the corner, unconscious. Golbez realizes that Tellah's Meteor removed his spell over Kain. Having all the crystals, Golbez doesn't seem to care and leaves. Cecil recovers from Golbez's blow and rushes over to Tellah's body, Yang and Cid standing over him. Tellah's dying, but Yang and Cid tell him to hold on. Tellah talks to Cecil, saying that he failed to avenge his daughter (as well as everyone else he's promised to avenge, mainly Edward, Palom and Porom). Tellah asks Cecil to avenge his daughter for him. Tellah loses consciousness. After a few moments, Tellah's body vanishes. Cecil vows to follow Tellah's wish and avenge him and Anna. After his vow, the party regroups, sad about their loss. They see a slumped Kain in the corner and try talk to him. Kain regains consciousness and then is ashamed to see Cecil. He regrets betraying the team, noting that while Golbez controlled him, his inside self knew what he was doing was wrong and did nothing to stop himself. But, he knows where Rosa is and everyone follows him. Taking the team through a door, Kain leads them to Rosa. Cecil frees Rosa from captivity seconds before a big guillotine falls down onto the spot where she was being held. After hugging and kissing each other, Cecil and the others decide to escape the tower. Suddenly, the tower starts shaking and someone speaks to the team. It's Barbariccia, the third of the Four Elemental Lords. With Tellah and his Meteor gone, she's confident that she can defeat the team with her aerial capabilities, but Kain says that he can attack in the air as well. The team starts attacking Barbariccia, who starts off by wrapping herself in a tornado, which makes the party's attacks ineffective. Kain reverses this by using his powerful jump attack. Once she's defenseless, the party attacks her. Barbariccia is the strongest Elemental Lord they've encountered so far, launching wind-based attacks, which weaken the party. Rosa luckily uses white magic to cure the wounds of the party, which makes Tellah's departure less destructive to the team's power. Every few attacks, Barbariccia defends herself with the tornado, but Kain keeps jumping on her, removing her from her defense. Eventually, the party becomes too strong for her to handle, and Barbariccia finally dies. After the party defeats her, Barbariccia lets the team know that the last of the Elemental Lords is still alive, and performs some afterlife torture on the team like the other two Lords. Barbariccia starts shaking the tower and is about a few seconds to destroying it. Unable to get back to Enterprise, Rosa decides to teleport everyone out. She aims for Baron and warps everyone out before the tower is finally destroyed... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Journey into the Underworld ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil, Kain, Yang, Cid and Rosa end up in Cecil's bedroom in Baron, ready to discuss their current situation. With Troia's Earth Crystal in Golbez's hands, they think his plans for the world are about to come into fruition. Luckily, Kain reveals some information about another set of crystals in the "underworld." Kain says that there are actually eight crystals instead of only four; the other four are underground. Kain realizes that he has a Magma Rock in his hand, but doesn't know what it's for. The team decides to travel around to find the Underworld, but the Enterprise was lost with the Tower of Zot. Cid fills them in, stating that the Enterprise was remote controlled back to Baron. Outside the castle, that statement is true. The team boards the Enterprise and travels around to see how they can get into the Underworld. They stop in basically every town they've been to; Baron, Mist, Kaipo, Damcyan, Mysidia, Fabul and Troia, but they can't seem to find any Underworld. They tell Mysidia's Elder about what happened to Tellah, and the Elder expresses his disappointment, noting that Tellah was indeed filled with hatred after all. When they stop in Troia, they inform the clerics that the Earth Crystal was taken. They tell Cecil to get it back at all costs. Visiting Edward once again, they let him know of Tellah's death, which saddens Edward. Unfortunately, he's still ill and is still unable to rejoin the team. They decide to visit the city on the island south of Baron, at the base of a mountain range, called Agart. The citizens speak of an underworld, which piques Cecil's interest. They see a bottomless well in the center of town. Cecil drops the Magma Rock into the well. This causes uproar in the mountains nearby. Boarding the Enterprise, they see a huge hole in the mountains, which clearly leads into the Underworld. Deciding to explore it, they ride the Enterprise down the hole... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N. Meeting with Dwarven ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The crater brings them into the Underworld. As the ship travels over the solid ground, they see a few tanks and airships fighting each other. Golbez has already somehow gotten into the Underworld. Unfortunately, the Enterprise is caught between the attacks and is hit several times. After being hit enough times, the Enterprise crashes onto the ground. Cecil, Yang, Cid, Kain and Rosa manage to survive. They crash onto a nearby castle, where the team goes afterwards. Inside, the weird looking people greet them. "Lali-ho!" (In the PSone version, it's "Rally-ho.") They go to meet King Dwarven and his daughter, Luca. They fill King Dwarven in on Golbez and the crystals_ and King Dwarven lets the team know that two of the four Dark Crystals_ were stolen. However, one is behind the throne room of Dwarven Castle, and another locked away safe from Golbez's reach. Cid leaves the party to repair the Enterprise and to put some new armor on it, while Yang notices something weird going on behind the throne room. The team goes into the crystal room behind the king's throne chair to see what's going on. There, they see a few dancing dolls making threats on the four team members, and mentioning Golbez. Suddenly the dolls attack the team. They initially start out as three dolls: three Cal, and three Brena. The team manages to destroy four of them with their powerful attacks, but the two remaining form to create a new, gigantic doll, Calbrena. Calbrena is tough to fight but a few jump attacks from Kain and a few Power attacks from Yang destroy the creature easily. Just as they celebrate their victory, Golbez arrives! He tries to take the crystal when the team battles him. Kain jumps into the air as they other three try to attack. Suddenly Golbez immobilizes them, making them unable to see or move. Then, Golbez summons a Shadow Dragon creature, which uses an attack that knocks both Yang and Rosa out. Kain completes his jump attack on Golbez but he misses. The Shadow Dragon focuses on Cecil and is about to finish him off when suddenly, the Mist Dragon that Cecil and Kain fought in the Cave of Mist arrives, launching an extremely powerful mist attack, which injures Golbez and defeats the Shadow Dragon! Cecil's immobilization is suddenly cured, and a voice Cecil recognizes, a woman's voice, tells him he can see now. A woman then shows up. Cecil, Kain and the mysterious woman then attack Golbez. Cecil revives Rosa, who in turns revives Yang with her white magic. Kain launches a jump attack while Cecil attacks Golbez with his sword. Golbez launches some Bio attacks, but Rosa knows some powerful spells, which cure them easily. Kain's jump attack connects, injuring Golbez. Yang then uses a power attack, which nearly finishes him off. Golbez is still up, ready to just about kill the entire team. Suddenly, the mysterious woman summons a very powerful summon, Titan, like the one Rydia had used on Kain and Cecil. Titan causes an earthquake and delivers a fatal punch to Golbez, knocking him to the ground! Golbez's been defeated! Rosa recognizes the mysterious woman as Rydia! Rydia says that Leviathan brought her to the Land of Summons via swallowing her (how? Nobody knows...). The Land of Summons is a place where time passes by much faster, which is why Rydia is an older girl now. While she can no longer use white spells, her strengths as a summoner have grown, and clearly if it weren't for her, Golbez would not have been defeated. Rydia says that she will help the team confront any enemies up ahead and joins the party. Golbez's body twitches and all but his hand survives. His hand quickly grabs the Dark Crystal before the team can stop it. It seems Golbez has survived, and has taken the third Dark Crystal... Back in Dwarven throne room, King Dwarven reassess the situation and decides to send the team on a mission to the Tower of Babel (Bab-il in the SNES version, Babil in the PSone version). Dwarven says that the crystals that were taken were to there and that the final Dark Crystal is safe in a cave somewhere. King Dwarven says that he will send his tanks to the Tower of Babel to destroy the guards guarding it. The team recovers from their injuries at the inn and then they leave Dwarven Castle through the underground exit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- O. The Tower of Babel- Underground ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The team travel for awhile northwest. On their way, pyro-like monsters attack them but with Rydia and her Mist Dragon on board, they're easily defeated. They eventually reach the Tower of Babel. Before they can enter, Dwarven's tanks attack the entrance, killing all the guards, leaving the tower open to trespassing. Taking advantage of this, the team enters. The tower is pretty much like the Tower of Zot (recurring theme among FFIV dungeons eh?). With that in mind, the hallways are as labyrinthine as ever. They travel up and see a lot of mythological monsters, like Flamesman. The ice-based weapons Cecil and Kain find throughout the tower easily defeat them. They traverse up the tower for quite awhile until they see an insane guy and Rubricante (Rubricant in the PSone version), the final Elemental Lord, and the most powerful one. The weird man, who is apparently a doctor, teleports Rubricant out of the tower using a special teleportation device. With the insane doctor alone, the team confronts him. He reveals himself as Dr. Lugae, who admits to being the genius behind Golbez's plans. He vows to destroy the team by using a machine creature named Barnabas against them. Luckily, Rydia uses her summons, which almost instantly kill Dr. Lugae. All that is left is Barnabas, and while destructive, the team destroys it in a matter of time. Just before Dr. Lugae dies, he mentions that a few cannons down below will target and destroy the Dwarves soon. After Dr. Lugae dies, the team runs to the cannons, which are being controlled by monsters. The team easily destroys them, but before they die, they manage to activate the cannons. Yang suddenly moves forward and decides to stop the cannons from firing. Despite heavy opposition from everyone else, Yang pushes Cecil away from the room, locking it. Seconds later, Cecil and his team hear an explosion in the room, and then there's silence everywhere... They try to go through the door but alas the explosion broke it. The team still has to complete King Dwarven's request, so in sorrow, they return to the area where Dr. Lugae was. Unfortunately, it leads them to a dead end and they can't get any further up. It looks like they have to continue scaling the Tower of Babel by entering it through the Surface via Cave Elban, so the team returns to the bottom of the tower. On their way out, Golbez rigs a trap, which causes them to fall off the Tower of Babel! Luckily a familiar airship catches them in time! It's Cid, and he's managed to repair the Enterprise as well as make it equipped to fly over magma. Unfortunately, Cid's repairs are going to be undone as enemy ships are chasing the Enterprise. He tries to dodge them, but apparently, Cid thinks the airships chasing them were upgraded and Cid can't outrun them. He then decides to sacrifice himself by attaching himself to a bomb near the hole to the Surface. The team opposes, but he does it anyway. Cid commands everyone to head for Baron when they get to the surface. Just as they reach the crate and rise, Cid jumps off and a bomb explodes as he falls. The ship makes it to the surface but the bomb causes a rockslide, closing the hole once again. However, Golbez's airships can't harass them anymore. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- P. Airship Solutions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The team emerges above the now closed hole over Agart. The team is sad that Cid sacrificed himself, with Kain noting that everyone seems to be choosing death very quickly. After what Yang, Tellah and now Cid did, his statement bears some truth. However, the team still has to complete the mission King Dwarven had assigned them: scale the Tower of Babel and recover all the crystals. Before he died, Cid told them to go to Baron immediately, and that's what they do. Flying there immediately, they meet up with one of Cid's assistants in the castle. There, the assistants install a hook onto the Enterprise, which in turn will be able to take Edward's hovercraft so it can be transferred to other locations on the world map. The team flies off to find the Hovercraft. They find it just where they had left it: the fork between Antlion's Cave and Mt. Hobs, east of Damcyan Castle. They hook it on effortlessly, and transport it south. They see the Tower of Babel poke out of the Underworld. Nearby is the ruined and deserted Elban Castle, in which the causes of destruction are unknown. Laying the Hovercraft down at the base of the overworld Tower of Babel, they drive the Hovercraft over some shallow water and rocks to Cave Elban, the entrance to the surface half of the Tower of Babel... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. The Tower of Babel- Surface ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the damp and murky caves are monsters, but they pass through them easily. Then, they see civilization: it's the Elban people! Someone tells Cecil that that Rubricante destroyed their castle and their King and Queen so the prince went after Rubricant. After a little bit of wandering further into the caves, they find that prince fighting Rubricante. The prince is a good fighter, but no match for Rubricante alone. The prince, Edge, loses the battle and Rubricant enters the Tower of Babel. Cecil, Kain, Rydia and Rosa look over Edge's fallen body. The team wants to help Edge but unfortunately, Edge wants to go at it alone. Cecil fills him in on Rubricante, and Rydia then starts to cry, remembering what happened to Tellah, Yang and Cid. She doesn't want anyone to die anymore. Edge feels pity for Rydia, not wanting her to cry anymore. Kain instructs Rosa to recharge Edge, and she does just that. Edge joins the party, flattered that there are two "babes" in the team (whom we all know). Suddenly Kain isn't so sure bringing Edge along is a good idea, but they decide to move forward anyway. The team follows Rubricante into the Tower of Babel's surface half. Inside, the Tower is just like the Underground portion. The same monsters reside, but the team is experienced enough to defeat them. More treasure chest monsters appear, as do those Greek-mythology monsters. After some time of traveling up and through the labyrinthine hallways, they eventually reach two people Edge are too familiar with: King and Queen Edge. They turn into monsters and attack the party. Edge cries out in sorrow for his parents, and his parents suddenly regain consciousness. The King and Queen Elban cry out to Edge, saying that Rubricante turned them into these two creatures. King and Queen Elban say that they love edge and must then depart the world. Edge tells them to stop and not go, but the two creatures leave, hurting Edge emotionally. Like Edward and Rydia, he too has lost his parents. Suddenly, Rubricante appears. He is the last of the Elemental Lords. Edge gets furious at Rubricante, but Rubricante says that he feels sorry for Edge's parents, since it was that freak, Dr. Lugae, who turned his parents into those monsters. Edge still finds Rubricante at fault for all that's happened, and suddenly learns two new Ninjitsu attacks out of his anger. Rubricant, for a fair fight, recharges the team. The team attacks Rubricante, and Rubricante puts up a strong fight. Luckily, Kain and Cecil have ice-based weapons and Rydia knows some Blizzaga attacks. Edge's new attack is a water-based attack, Flood, and it easily hurts the fire Lord. Rosa is busy healing everyone's injuries. Eventually, Rubricante becomes weakened and then loses the battle. Before he dies, Rubricante says that he was defeated because he was alone, but he will return one day for a quantitatively fair fight. What could that mean? The team is happy at their latest victory. Suddenly, Edge's grandfather and soldiers from Elban come in, ready to take on Rubricante. However, Rubricante's already been defeated. Edge tells his grandfather to go back to the caves and watch over the people, and Edge promises to be careful in his travels ahead. After Edge's grandfather leaves, Cecil's team proceeds into the crystal room. Inside, they see all the crystals that were taken and they move forward to seize them. Cecil's foot triggers a trapdoor on the floor which sends them back all the way down the tower. Golbez had been expecting them and properly prepared for their arrival. Unable to get back to the crystal room, the team wanders into a cool looking airship. It's red in color and Edge decides to steal it. Rydia objects to theft, but Edge ignores her statement and activates the ship, naming it the Falcon. Obviously a Red Wings ship, Edge starts the Falcon up and they end up in the airspace of the Underground, next to the Tower of Babel. Because Cid closed the hole between the underworld and Surface, they have_ nowhere else to go for now, except for Dwarven Castle. The Falcon is a lot like the Enterprise except that it cannot fly over magma yet (no wonder Golbez just left it there...). Since it has no armor, the magma will vaporize the ship. They fly and then land outside Dwarven and speak with the king. The team tells the King of their failure at the Tower of Babel, and so the king decides to send them on a mission to the Sealed Cave. Inside is the final Dark Crystal. The King gives Cecil the appropriate key, a necklace that belongs to Luca and sends the team on their way. Unfortunately, the Sealed Cave is beyond lava, and with the Enterprise stuck on the Surface, and the Falcon unable to fly over magma, the team seems unable to get there. They need to hurry too, because Golbez is attempting to seize the final crystal. In the basement, they see Cid in bed! Cid's survival surprises everyone, and Cid is surprised to see the team. After a bumpy introduction to Edge, Cid is told of the Falcon and the Enterprise being stuck on the Surface. Cid, commenting that the team can't live without him, decides to attach armor to the Falcon so it can fly over magma. Cid, after getting help from Edge, does just that. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- R. Sylvan Cave, Summon Cave and Sealed Cave ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The team flies the newly equipped Falcon from Dwarven Castle west of the Tower of Babel, where they see not one, not two, but three caves a fair distance from each other. Playing a pick and choose game, Cecil picks one cave first. Inside, there are traps on the floor. If Cecil sets his foot on one of them, he loses power. Luckily, Rosa equips everyone with the Float spell so they can float over the traps. The end of the cave leads them to a room! Inside are Sylph summons, and a familiar person: Yang! Yang is in bed, unconscious or dead, and the Sylphs inform them that he was found in the mouth of the cave and hasn't woken up since. The Sylphs won't let the team take Yang back, so the team leaves, hoping he'll wake up... They try the next cave, and Rydia recognizes it as Summon Cave, as she passed through the cave earlier. The traps from Sylvan Cave are also in this cave, so Rosa applies Float once again. They emerge in the Land of Summons and Rydia is immediately recognized. They meet King Leviathan and Queen Asura, who are glad to see Rydia again, proud of her achievements as a summoner. Queen Asura challenges the party of a battle. If Asura is defeated, she will become one of Rydia's summons. The team defeats Asura after using her own techniques against her. Asura can heal herself often,but Rosa casts a Wall spell on Asura, so she ends up healing the party instead. Asura is eventually defeated, and Rydia is able to use her to heal the party if necessary. Leviathan on the other hand is extremely tough for the team to fight, but thunder based attacks from Edge and Rydia defeat it after a long and harsh battle. With Leviathan on Rydia's summon arsenal, she's become a much more powerful summoner. They try the final cave, which turns out to be Sealed Cave. They unseal it with Luca's necklace. Inside the Sealed Cave are monsters and monsters that are disguised as doors, which lead virtually everywhere throughout the cave. After a while of guess and check, they finally find the Crystal Room and take the final Dark Crystal. On their way back, a very familiar event occurs. The walls are begin to cave in on the team, just like what happened in Baron! This time, however, the wall is alive and Palom and Porom aren't around to try and petrify themselves to stop it. The team attacks it relentlessly as the wall approaches. Attack after attack hit's the wall, but it keeps on moving toward them. Just when all look hopeless for them, Rydia uses her newly acquired Leviathan summon on the wall, weakening it greatly! The team continues to attack and just as it is about to smash the team, the wall dies! With the wall destroyed, the tired team rest in a tent for the night and continue out of the cave. At the entrance they unlocked with Luca's necklace, they hear Golbez's voice! He then takes control of Kain, and although Kain resists, he falls under Golbez's control once again, and steals the final Dark Crystal from Cecil! Kain walks out, with everyone saddened. With all the crystals taken, Cecil realizes that he needs to hurry back to Dwarven Castle. The team returns to the Falcon and flies it toward Dwarven Castle. As they pass the Tower of Babel, they see that the tower is now glowing brightly, and nothing can go near it. Apparently, Golbez has inserted the final crystal into its slot in the Crystal Room at the Tower of Babel. They arrive at Dwarven. The King is informed of their continued failure, but the King then remembers something. He recites the Mysidian legend and Cecil recognizes it as Mysidia's legend. Dwarven is amazed that Mysidia actually exists. King Dwarven tells the team to go to Mysidia. Unfortunately, Edge knows that the hole is blocked and that the Tower of Babel can't be approached. Cid appears and decides to attach a drill into the Falcon so they can unlock the crater. Edge and Cid attach the crane, and after working together for awhile, Edge and Cid gain respect for each other. Cid gets back to bed, and the team flies the Falcon to the hole. They drill a hole in it easily, and they reemerge onto the Surface. With no time to lose, Cecil, Rydia, Rosa and Edge fly for Mysidia immediately... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- S. Mysidian Prayer ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil and company lands the Falcon outside Mysidia. Upon entering Mysidia, Elder greets them as if he knew Cecil was coming back. In the Tower of Prayer, the Elder and his servants pray for a little while after the legend of Mysidia is told once again. Eventually, the ocean around Mysidia begins to shake and from the depths of the water comes a giant airship, called Lunar Whale. According to Elder, it was built on the moon. Elder instructs Cecil that the crystal can take them to the moon while the control panel will let them fly it across Earth. Cecil and his team enter the beautiful ship and fiddle with the crystal inside. Suddenly, the ship rises above Mysidia, leaves Earth and lands on the moon, near a Crystal Palace... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- T. FuSoYa and the Moon ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The team is in awe at the moon, and they get off to look around. After a bit of wandering through the crater-filled surface and two eerie caves, as well as a bunch of lunarian monsters that resemble tougher versions of creatures seen on earth, they find a place called the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace is made of, you guessed it, crystal and is shiny blue in decoration. Inside, a few steps in, something, or someone, rather, greets the team. An old man appears in the room and introduces himself as FuSoYa. Somehow he knows Cecil. FuSoYa tells of a planet between Mars and Jupiter that was on the brink of collapse. People from there got on a moon, this moon, and flew to Earth. Earthlings were still evolving so the more advanced civilization from the moon slept for some time. FuSoYa talks about Zemus, a Lunarian who only wanted to take over Earth. He mentions that a man named, his brother, KlUyA married a woman from Earth and had many children; Cecil is one of them. FuSoYa also notes that KlUyA introduced the concept of airships and Devil's Road (Serpent's Road in Final Fantasy II) to Earth. KlUyA was also responsible for creating the Lunar Whale. Cecil and the team are amazed at Zemus and all the facts presented before them. FuSoYa also says that Zemus is trying to capture all the crystals to reactivate the Tower of Babel so summon a creature, the Giant of Babel, to destroy Earth. Cecil notes that all the crystals have been taken already, so FuSoYa decides to join the party and directs the team to return to the Tower of Babel near Elban before it is too late. The team takes FuSoYa back to the Lunar Whale KlUyA built, where they fiddle with the crystal once more. They fly above the Crystal Palace to return to Earth... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- U. Stopping the Giant of Babel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lunar Whale flies across space back onto Earth, landing just outside of Elban Castle. The Enterprise and the Hovercraft are still parked nearby, but won't be for very long because suddenly the glowing Tower of Babel shakes until a gigantic creature emerges out of it. Its first target of destruction is definitely Elban Castle. In awe, Cecil, Edge, Rydia, Rosa and FuSoYa look out in disgust. Suddenly, an explosion hits the Giant of Babel. Nearby, a couple of Dwarven tanks approach the tower. Controlling them is King Dwarven and Luca, who vow to fight for Mother Earth! In another tank is Yang, who managed to recover from his injuries, and the Sylph summons! Yang vows to not rest until the crisis has passed. They continue to fire at the Giant of Babel, but their tanks aren't enough to stop it. However, to the east, a couple of airships arrive. The leader of the pack of airships is none other than Cid and his assistants! They decide to steal the show and start firing cannons at the Giant of Babel. In the second ship is Mysidia's Elder, and to everyone's surprise, Palom and Porom! Mysidia's Elder says that the battle is not theirs alone and that they will assist Cecil. Palom greets Cecil, asking if he missed him, while Porom explains that Elder reversed the petrify spell. In the third ship is Prince Edward of Damcyan, who managed to recover from his injuries. Along with the Troians, Edward decides to use the courage Cecil has taught him to fight the Giant of Babel. The tanks and the airships assault the Giant of Babel, stopping it momentarily. However, to fully destroy the thing, they must destroy its core. Cecil calls Cid who has our five heroes board the ship. After a bumpy conversation between Cid and FuSoYa, Cid flies to the mouth of the Giant of Babel and he, Rydia, Edge, Rosa and FuSoYa jump in. The Giant of Babel spans many body parts and monsters are everywhere. However, the heroes are eager to get to the core, so they run away from the monsters. As they approach closer and closer to the core, they are stopped suddenly by a voice. It's the four Elemental Lords! They surround Cecil and co. and tell them that Zemus has breathed new life into them. They will not let Cecil destroy the Giant of Babel. The team is weakened, but Rubricante recharges them, like their previous battle at the surface Tower of Babel, in order to have a fair fight. Our heroes battle Scarmiglione first. Luckily, like the battle atop Mt. Ordeals, he is still the weakest of the four; so, a few Firaga attacks from Edge and Rydia easily defeat him. Rubricante follows, and is much tougher, weakening most of the team with his fire attacks. Cecil and Edge use their ice-based weapons to weaken the creature, and FuSoYa launches and ultra powerful Blizzaga attacks. Rydia launches an Ice2 attack, which defeats Rubricante for good. Barabariccia returns, and uses her tornado defense again. Unfortunately, with Kain gone, no one can jump to remove the defense. Luckily, FuSoYa is around to use Blizzaga, and a couple of well-placed hits from Cecil and Edge finish her off. Caganzzo (Kainazzo) is the last to battle them. Like the previous battle at Baron, Caganzzo is weak against lighting elements, so Rydia uses her Blitz summon to defeat the creature easily, effectively avenging Palom and Porom's sacrifice. The four Elemental Lords are finally destroyed forever! Rosa quickly heals everyone and they proceed down the Giant of Babel to the core itself. As the heroes try to destroy the core, the core attacks them. They are really more annoyed than hurt. FuSoYa launches a few powerful Meteor attacks, which finish the entire core off. Without its core, the Giant of Babel is going to explode in a few minutes. Suddenly, a really pissed off Golbez runs into the room, ready to just about kill everyone. Suddenly, FuSoYa recognizes Golbez, runs up to him, and applies a spell onto the Golbez. Golbez, after a moment of thinking, realizes that he was being used by Zemus for evil purposes. It is then revealed that Golbez is Cecil's brother! Angered by what he was coerced into doing, Golbez decides to confront and destroy Zemus, but FuSoYa thinks that he must go with Golbez in order to help defeat Zemus. Bidding farewell to Cecil, Golbez and FuSoYa run off to confront Zemus. The team is in awe when the Giant of Babel starts breaking up, but they need to find a way out before they're caught in its explosion. Suddenly, Kain appears in the room. When FuSoYa removed Golbez's spell, he must've removed the spell over Kain as well. Everyone stares at Kain, obviously distressed from his second betrayal, but Kain decides to talk later, and leads everyone out of the Giant of Babel. Outside, the tanks and the airships watch as the Giant of Babel explodes... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Journeying to the Core of the Moon ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil, Edge, Rosa and Rydia talk with Kain about the current situation inside the Lunar Whale. FuSoYa and Golbez ran off to confront Zemus, and Cecil and Edge decide to follow. Kain decides to tag along, although not without opposition; Edge thinks that Kain will end up being controlled again. After things settle, Cecil decides that Rydia and Rosa must stay on Earth. Rosa and Rydia oppose, but Cecil insists that they stay on Earth. Rydia and Rosa have no choice but to get off the ship. They fly the Lunar Whale above Earth and onto the Moon. Just as Cecil, Kain and Edge exit the Whale, Rosa appears! She didn't exit the ship after all. Cecil says that they're going back to Earth, but Rosa says that she feels best when she is with Cecil. Cecil approves, reluctantly, and vows to protect Rosa with his life. Rydia appears too, glad that Cecil changed his mind. She wants to defeat Zemus as well. Cecil returns the Lunar Whale to Earth, and lands next to Mysidia. He visits Mysidia's Tower of Prayer where all of the allies on his adventure that survived, Edward, Palom, Porom, Yang and Cid, along with others, such as the Troian Clerics, Cid's assistants, King Dwarven and Luca, and Mysidia's elder, have convened. At this point, Edward, Palom, Porom, Yang and Cid are willing and able to go with Cecil to fight Zemus. However, only five of them can go and the other five must stay behind. Cecil decides to take Edward, Yang, Porom and Palom with him. Cecil feels that Edward should be able to exact revenge on Zemus in order to avenge Anna and Tellah, that Yang is the most powerful warrior that can come, and that Palom and Porom have learned more spells than Rydia and Rosa have at this point. (Okay, I made this part up just for the fun of it. Read the FAQ section on why I chose this particular party.) After Cecil gathers his new, but ill-equipped party, someone comes in to inform the elder that a new entrance has formed in Mt. Ordeals, called the Cave of Trials. Cecil boards the Falcon and flies over to Mt. Ordeals to see this new Cave of Trials. The Cave of Trials is a dungeon that, for some reason, contains armor and weapons to give Cecil's party the strength and defense it needs to journey to the moon. Although monsters guard Yang, Edward, Palom and Porom's ultimate weapons, they all manage to harness their powers and defeat the guardians. Yang earns the Hand of the Gods, Edward earns Apollo's Harp, Porom earns a Seraphim Mace and Palom earns Triton's Dagger. Returning to the Crystal Palace where Cecil met FuSoYa, the new party finds a room behind that area. Each of the 8 crystals lets the team know a little bit of information. The fall of the Tower of Babel has opened up the core to the moon. They also let them know that FuSoYa and KlUyA's son (Golbez of course) entered the core before them. Setting his foot onto the core, Cecil teleports everyone to the moon's core, where their journey to destroy Zemus begins... They appear in a cave-like area. There are monsters everywhere and as they travel, they fight off a lot of them. Many monsters are evil versions of Rydia's summons. They injure the team a lot, but luckily Porom has gained enough experience to heal the team of their wounds. They also gain much needed experience for the upcoming battle. For what seems like a long time, the team travel across long, monster filled hallways. In a small, secluded area, they find where they can rest in a cottage. After resting for a while, the team continues to look around for Zemus. Eventually, after traveling for a long time, they arrive in the room where Zemus is staying. FuSoYa and Golbez have gotten there before them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- W. Battle with Zeromus ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FuSoYa and Golbez charge in and battle Zemus. They use black magic to weaken him, and then they finish him off with a super powerful W. Meteor. Suspiciously easily, Zemus dies with a threat, saying the body dies but the mind lives. Zemus falls on his face to the ground, with Cecil happy about Zemus' defeat, and Porom celebrating with words of her own, complimenting Cecil. FuSoYa compliments Golbez on his power, wondering how Golbez could have been controlled. Suddenly, Zemus' body is engulfed in flames. Suddenly, a new creature arrives, Zeromus. He attacks and knocks Cecil, Yang, Edward, Palom and Porom out. FuSoYa notes that killing Zemus unleashed his own hatred, so he Golbez attacks Zeromus individually with Meteor, and when that actually *heals* Zeromus, Golbez tries using a crystal to stop him. Unfortunately, Golbez's hands of darkness aren't compatible with the crystal. Zeromus retaliates by using Meteor on FuSoYa and Golbez, knocking them out. Zeromus brags about evil taking over, as Cecil and co. lay unconscious... In Mysidia's Tower of Prayer, the Elder knows that something bad has happened. He decides to send everyone's prayers to Cecil. Kain, Edge, Rydia, Rosa, Cid and his assistants, 2 of the Troian Clerics, King Dwarven and Luca are there, and they send their prayers to Cecil. Back on the moon, Cecil manages to regain consciousness, and a hurt Golbez hands his crystal to Cecil. Cecil battles Zeromus. Rosa and Kain's spirits show up, putting everyone back on their feet. Rydia and Tellah's spirits arrive and revitalize Palom and Porom. Cid and Edge's spirits show up as well, giving power to Edward and Yang. FuSoYa and Golbez appear, and give what's left of their energy to Cecil. Cecil uses the crystal, causing Zeromus to reveal his true self. The team attacks Zeromus for a really long time, attack after attack. Zeromus uses attacks like Big Bang against the team, but luckily Porom is there to cure those wounds. Palom uses black magic spells such as Firaja, while Yang uses his hands to give Zeromus the beatdown. Cecil uses his powerful sword, and Edward uses Apollo's Harp to dish out a surprising amount of damage. When the party is healed, Porom surprisingly dishes the final blow, with a devastating white magic Holy attack, very effective against a creature of darkness like Zeromus. Zeromus has finally had enough suffering, and begins to collapse and die. He explodes in a big ball of flames, ready to return one day because hate still exists with everyone. FuSoYa and Golbez recover, glad to see Zeromus gone. FuSoYa notes that Zeromus probably will return one day, because there are always two sides to everything, like the Dark and Light Crystals of the Underworld and the Surface. Porom says that everyone's willpower defeated Golbez, while Yang, surprisingly, thinks that there is little hope for humanity and evil. Golbez decides to stay on the moon with FuSoYa to learn more about his people. FuSoYa notes that Golbez is half Lunarian, and tells him that it'll be a long slumber. Golbez does not object and says goodbye to Cecil. Cecil hesitates, but after encouragement from his team, he says goodbye back, acknowledging that Golbez is his brother. Golbez, thanking Cecil, and FuSoYa leave to sleep on the moon, while Cecil and the others decide to head back to Earth. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- X. Aftermath of Zeromus ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lunar Whale is brought back to the bottom of the sea. In Mysidia, Porom begins her next class with the Elder, but Palom isn't present. Porom finds her brother bragging about how he unleashed Blizzard on the undead creatures inhabiting Mt. Ordeals. Porom promptly hits Palom and takes him back to the Elder. The Elder, saying that Palom will never become a sage like Tellah without practice, punishes Palom by making him work twice the effort his sister does today. Palom says the punishment isn't fair, but Porom disagrees. Palom looks down in sadness. In Elban's throne room, Edge's grandfather lectures Edge about his new dutiesas a king. Very uninterested in what his grandfather is saying, Edge can only think about Rydia, whom he loves and feels that there is no other woman like her. His grandfather scolds him again, and Edge feigns interest as they both leave the throne room. In the Land of Summons, Rydia teaches a small summon how the differences of man and summon aren't really that important, that they are all living creatures that need to live in harmony. Queen Asura and King Leviathan compliment Rydia, amazed at her maturity, intelligence and compassion. After Rydia explains her lesson to the small summon, she, to herself, asks Cecil if he agrees. In Fabul, Yang's wife complains about the formalities of being a queen. Yang confesses that he hates being called hon, and runs off to train some new monk soldiers. The former king of Fabul speaks to Yang's Wife, drilling in the reality that he is now a king. In Damcyan Castle's throne room, Edward decides to rebuild the castle withthe assistance of both Troia's clerics and survivors of Damcyan. A few people from Damcyan ask Edward to play his paladin song to them, but Edward promises to only after the castle is rebuilt. He silently speaks to Anna, promising to take her advice and love the people of Damcyan. He prays that he and Tellah are enjoying the afterlife. In Dwarven, the king and Luca are fascinated that Cecil and Rosa will marry and rule Baron together. They're going to be at the wedding. They also talk about rebuilding Dwarven castle using scraps from the now unneeded tanks. A Dwarven scolds the king for not helping rebuild, but Giott says that he's the kind and can do whatever he pleases. Atop Mt. Ordeals, an unmasked Kain vows to train to become a Dragoon like his father, but he says he can't return to Cecil and Rosa until he's a powerful Dragoon, especially after all the trouble he'd caused. Meanwhile, in an observatory, a scientist named Corio and his assistant are observing the two moons of the Earth with their telescope. One of the moons flies away... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Y. The Wedding ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil and Rosa are in Cecil's bedroom, taking long to prepare for the wedding. An impatient Cid comes into the room nagging them about taking long. Rosa asks Cecil what's wrong, and then Cecil says that he heard his brother's voice call out to him. Cecil says that he probably just heard things, and Rosa leaves to start the ceremony. Cecil talks to himself, saying that he did hear his brother's voice, saying "So long." Later that day, The wedding begins in the throne room, with the aisle scheduled to be lined up with Cecil's allies. Edge is the first to walk in and glances a look at Rosa before Cid pulls him into the aisle. Yang and then Luca and King Giott come in, and greet Cecil and Rosa. Palom runs in with his twin sister, Porom right behind him. Palom and Porom greet Cecil and Rosa, before Palom decided to sit on the throne. Porom hits her brother once again, and pulls him off the throne before the Elder comes in and greets Cecil. Palom, Porom and the Elder take their side of the aisle after Palom decides to glance at Luca (because Luca isn't human, so Palom finds her interesting). Edward, in all is formality, walks in, greets Cecil and Rosa, walks down the middle of the aisle, bows to Cid and Edge and takes his place. Rydia is the last to join, and after greeting Cecil and Rosa, notices that Edge is turned away. Rydia tries to talk to Edge, but Edge can only flex his muscles before Rydia takes her place. Cecil and Rosa are officially married, and everyone celebrates by waving their arms. The credits roll, and the fourth installment of the Final Fantasy series comes to a close... well, sort of, if you're playing Final Fantasy IV Advance for the GBA. After the credits and the ending, a new place on the Moon opens up, called the Lunar Ruins, and presents a new challenge for every character to overcome. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Z. CONCLUSIONS ABOUT FINAL FANTASY IV ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -Cecil married Rosa and is now ruling as the King of Baron. -Kain is in Mt. Ordeals training to become a better dragoon. He regrets betraying Cecil and his friends and vows to return to Baron one day as a great dragoon like his father. -Edward is now the King of Damcyan and what looks like survivors of the Damcyan onslaught and Troia are helping rebuilt his kingdom. He still misses Anna and Tellah dearly, but promises to watch over his kingdom. He actually becomes a warrior that can easily destroy undead creatures. -Rydia is now living in the Land of Summons with Queen Asura and King Leviathan. She teaches many pupils about how differences among living things don't matter in life. -Palom and Porom are still training under Mysidian Elder's teachings. Palom, obnoxious as usual, aspires to be as powerful as Tellah, and Porom is as gentle, kind and compassionate as always. -Cid is still an engineer with a lot of energy. He's the only one who really doesn't change much throughout the whole story. -Yang and "Yang's Wife" are now ruling Fabul as King and Queen, respectively. Yang hates being called "hon" and trains his students to become powerful soldiers. -FuSoYa went back to sleep on the moon that flew away from Earth, waiting for the day his people can wake up again. -Sage Tellah and Anna are dead, and exist in spiritual form only. -Edge now rules Elban as King... with no one to be queen. Largely uninterested in his new role, he still has a crush on Rydia. Maybe she'll be the queen one day. -Zeromus's literal incarnation has been destroyed, but his spirit still lives on. He'll return one day because hatred still exists in everyone. When he'll return, however, is up for the creators to work with, but in all likelihood, Zeromus' return will be thousands of years after the time of Final Fantasy IV, when Cecil and co. are likely dead. ======================================================================= 4. CHARACTERS ======================================================================= This section analyzes the characters and their relation to the plot. It's basically a retelling of their contributions, fears and relationships to other characters and the changes they go through as the plot is carried out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Cecil Harvey ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil starts out in the game as a Dark Knight. The game implies that he has no goodness left in his heart, but Cecil himself says otherwise. Cecil is really the serious type and begins to question himself from the get go. Unlike Cid or Palom, he's never open to any joking around and doesn't seem to have a sense of humor. He's obviously a nice guy though; he's well respected by the kingdom of Baron. When a mission to Mysidia makes Cecil kill innocent people and steal their Water Crystal, Cecil then suspects his king is up to no good, and betraying the king leads Cecil on a quest to save the world. Eventually, confronting his dark side makes him a Paladin. While his personality is the same, his spirit is now in light instead of dark when he was a knight. He gains the powers of an intermediate white mage. With his Paladin powers, he then stands a chance to defeat Golbez. Cecil loves and is the boyfriend of Rosa, has a best friend named Kain and a close friend whom we all know as Cid. His relationship with Rosa gets him into feuds with his best friend Kain, be he and Kain get along pretty well. Cecil is half Earthling and half Lunarian. His mother was from Earth and his father was from the Moon. His brother is Golbez and uncle is FuSoYa. During his childhood, he somehow fell under the care of King Baron; what happened to his parents is still a mystery. Eventually he marries Rosa and rules Baron as king. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Kain Highwind ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kain is Cecil's best friend, and Kain is a dragoon knight. From what is presented in the game, Kain is the jealous type, especially toward's Cecil's crush on Rosa. He likes Rosa, too, and that love easily lets Golbez take control of him, twice. Kain is more powerful than the Dark Knight Cecil; he's probably one of the stronger warriors in the game. When Tellah kick's Golbez's ass in the Tower of Zot with Meteor, Golbez's control over Kain is gone. He helps the team out, valuably, by giving an item crucial to getting into the Underworld. When Golbez controls him, yet again, he snatches Cecil's final Dark Crystal in the Sealed Cave entrance. When FuSoYa removes Golbez's spell, Kain rejoins the team once again to aid Zeromus' defeat. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Kain, in some scenarios, stays behind in Mysidia and when Cecil is in trouble against Zeromus, he provides his energy to help revitalize the party. Although not really that relevant, Kain is known as Cain in Japan (pronounced KINE). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Rosa Farrell ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: I assume she's taken on Cecil's last name now that they're married. So, her name may now be Rosa Harvey or Rosa Farrell-Harvey. Rosa is a white mage. She's not very good in actual combat but in healing, she's invaluable. She becomes a nuisance throughout the entire game. Against Cecil's will, she follows him to Mist only to get sick, forcing Cecil to go on an extra journey into Antlion's Cave just to heal her. Then, she gets kidnapped, forcing Cecil to go an yet another extra journey through Magnet Cave, nearly getting killed by an elf, just to get Troia's Earth Crystal. She's a very calm person throughout the game, and loves to disobey Cecil whenever she gets the chance. However, without her, the team would never be able to recover from their wounds, making her a valuable ally. Once she's rescued, she sticks with Cecil for almost the entire time, and after Zeromus is defeated, she marries Cecil to rule Baron is queen. She's a very calm person throughout the game, and loves to disobey Cecil whenever she gets the chance. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Rosa, in some scenarios, stays behind in Mysidia and when Cecil is in trouble against Zeromus, she provides her energy to help revitalize the party. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Rydia ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginning of the game, Rydia starts out as a little girl who just lost her mommy because of an accidental monster murder committed by Cecil and Kain. When Cecil rescues her from a fire in her hometown of Mist, she hates him to death, but when Cecil saves her from Baronian guards, she gives her trust to Cecil. After Rosa gets kidnapped in Fabul, the team tries to head back to Baron to find Cid. The ship ride is a disaster, and Leviathan swallows Rydia. As Cecil becomes a Paladin, sneaks into Baron, captures the Earth Crystal and journeys into the underworld, during this time Rydia stays in the Land of Summons where she ages a lot faster than normal. When Cecil's in trouble in a battle with Golbez, she uses her new powers to virtually kick Golbez's ass. She then stays with the team the entire way. At first, Rydia was quite naive but she learned to mature more. When she made her return, she was quite knowledgeable and mature, but still had that touch of young in her, always weeping when something goes wrong, and always childishly objecting to things, like when Edge tries to steal the Falcon ship in the Tower of Babel. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Rydia, in some scenarios, stays behind in Mysidia and when Cecil is in trouble against Zeromus, she provides her energy to help revitalize the party. She's a summoner, and knows how to summon spells as well as summon black and white magic. When she starts out, she isn't too powerful. When she returns to the team much later, she is much stronger and much more valuable to the team, although she loses her ability to use white spells. After Zeromus' defeat, she retires to the Land of Summons to teach young summons. She probably has notice but hasn't said anything, but Prince Edge of Elban has a crush on her. Rydia probably likes him back, because she attempts to speak to him during Cecil's wedding. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- E. Sage Tellah ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tellah is the most stubborn character in the game. He joins Cecil early on when his daughter, Anna, ran away from home to marry a bard. Tellah got to Damcyan to take Anna back when Golbez attacked Damcyan, getting Anna killed in the process. After that, he despises Edward, who loved Anna and was married to, and ran off to Mt. Ordeals near Mysidia to learn Meteor, the only move that can destroy Golbez. He meets up with Cecil again during the mission, and aids in getting Cecil to become a Paladin. Tellah also finally learns Meteo and the spells he forgot during his travels, and uses them to aid the team in future encounters. Tellah is a Sage, and knows what both white and black mages know. When the team is about to get crushed by Cagnazzo (Kainazzo) Palom and Porom sacrifice themselves, which gives Tellah a sense of appreciation, and thus vows to avenge them. When Tellah sees an injured Edward in Troia, he scolds him, but when Edward assists in the capture of the Earth Crystal, he gains his respect for Edward. When he finally confronts Golbez, Tellah uses Meteor but isn't strong enough to kill Golbez. Tellah dies, unable to avenge Anna, Edward and Palom and Porom. He is last seen when Cecil is battling Zeromus. Tellah's spirit appears and recharges the characters in the back row. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- F. Edward Chris von Muir (Gilbert) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Edward started out as the prince of Damycan. He married Anna, Tellah's daughter. After Golbez kills Anna and his parents and his Fire Crystal is stolen, he helps Cecil cure Rosa, and helps Yang and Fabul during Golbez's raid. During the trip from Fabul to Baron, Edward is taken by the sea and washes up in Troia, where doctors treat him for his injuries. He becomes useful to Cecil's quest for the Earth Crystal by playing his harp to immobilize the Dark Elf. Later, after recovering from his injuries, he leads Troia's airship in fighting off the Giant of Babel. Edward lends a final hand when he gives his energy to Rydia and Rosa when they battle Zeromus. Edward becomes the King of Damcyan at last, starting the job by rebuilding the castle. Edward is one of those prince-types, who is so formal. He's a wimp, and that lack of courage got Anna killed. As he progresses through the game, Edward gains more and more courage, and unleashes it on the Giant of Babel. He gets Tellah's respect after immobilizing the Dark Elf. He vows to watch over his kingdom. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Edward returns to battle alongside Cecil as he promised, and in some scenarios, participates in the defeat of Zeromus. Though not too relevant, he is known as Gilbert in Japan. That's why it might seem odd that there are two Edwards in FFIV (Edge's real name is Edward Geraldine). Japanese gamers don't run into a doubling of names like this one. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- G. Yang Feng-Leiden ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yang is a monk from Fabul who trains his students to become powerful warriors. He has a wife who calls him 'hon' a lot, and he has a trademark battle cry, 'HYAH!' (It's 'ACHOOO' in the SNES version and 'KIAI' in the PSone and Japanese versions). Cecil saves Yang when Golbez's monsters ambush him. Yang also falls under Golbez's control much like Kain, but since he has no jealousy against anyone, Yang is reversed quickly. He becomes really useful when Dr. Lugae is about to destroy the Dwarves in the Tower of Babel. He sacrifices himself to save them. Somehow, he survives thanks to the Sylph summons and becomes useful again when the Giant of Babel attacks Earth, by piloting a Dwarven tank. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Yang returns to battle alongside Cecil and in some scenarios, participates in the defeat of Zeromus. In the end, Yang becomes king of Fabul and his wife becomes queen. Yang is a very strong type of person. He is also a very powerful warrior. He, like Cecil, doesn't seem to have a sense of humor, because he hates being called 'hon'. Yang also cares about others a lot, as he sacrifices himself to save the Dwarves, helps block Kain from killing Cecil and jumps off the ship to rescue Rydia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- H. Palom ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Palom is the boy twin of the Mysidian mages. He is a young boy, but shows a lot of potential in learning a lot about black magic. He has a sister, Porom, his twin sister, always nags him about being polite. Palom is very immature. Though Palom has a sketchy attitude, his battle skills are awesome for a young boy. Even though he's immature and rude, at heart, he's a good kid with tons of potential. He learns black magic faster than Rydia does. Palom joins Cecil after the shipwreck. Palom basically aids the team until the defeat of Caganzzo. Right when the wall is about to crush them, Palom and Porom stone themselves to stop the wall from moving. They don't return until much later, when Elder cures them for the good thing they did. They help stop the Giant of Babel. After Zeromus' defeat, he continues his studies under Mysidia's Elder. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Palom returns to battle alongside Cecil and in some scenarios, participates in the defeat of Zeromus. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Porom ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Porom is the girl twin of the Mysidian mages. She is a young girl, but shows a lot of potential in learning a lot about white magic, like Rosa. She has a brother, Palom, his twin brother, and she always nags him about being polite. Porom is very mature for her age. Though Porom has a polite, mature attitude, her battle skills are sketchy; however, like Rosa, she's better at healing wounds. She learns white magic faster than Rosa does. Porom joins Cecil after the shipwreck. Porom basically aids the team until the defeat of Caganzzo. Right when the wall is about to crush them, Porom and Palom stone themselves to stop the wall from moving. They don't return until much later, when Elder cures them for the good thing they did. They help stop the Giant of Babel. After Zeromus' defeat, he continues his studies under Mysidia's Elder. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Porom returns to battle alongside Cecil and in some scenarios, participates in the defeat of Zeromus. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- J. Edge (Edward Geraldine) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Edge whose full name is Edward Geraldine (Ed from Edward, Ge from Geraldine) is probably the most macho character in the game. Despite getting his ass kicked by Rubricante, he still acts tough like he won the battle. Edge loves his parents, and when they get killed by Rubricante, his rage teaches him new moves. He also has a crush on Rydia. Edge joins Cecil when he gets defeated by Rubricant. He follows the team afterwards to help defeat Golbez and Zeromus. He knows a lot about airships. In the end, Edge rules over Elban as king after the ordeal with Zeromus. Edge is a ninja who wields 2 weapons, has a throwing ability and can use ninja-fied (tm) versions of black spells. He's a pretty strong character in the game, and is one of the best overall characters to have in the game because of his spread out abilities. When he first meets Cid, they don't get along that well, but later on, they settle their differences and earn respect for each other. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Edge, in some scenarios, stays behind in Mysidia and when Cecil is in trouble against Zeromus, he provides his energy to help revitalize the party. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K. FuSoYa ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FuSoYa doesn't appear until late in the game. He presents his knowledge of Cecil's family, and the moon, as well as Zermous, Zemus and Golbez. FuSoYa aids in the destruction of the Giant of Babel. He also removes Zemus's spell over Golbez. He leaves Cecil with Golbez and goes to the moon. There, he destroys Zemus, but fails to destroy Zeromus. During Cecil's battle with Zeromus, he gives his energy to Cecil to fight. FuSoYa is an old Lunarian, and is similar to Tellah in ability. He knows black and white spells, but isn't very good at physical attacking. However, he knows a lot of spells, and unlike Tellah, he can summon Meteor at almost any time he wishes. FuSoYa eventually goes back to sleep with Golbez on the moon, wishing Earth well. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- L. Cid Pollendina ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cid is one hyper character. Cid excels in building airships for Baron, though he dislikes the use of them for Baron's purposes. He aids the team in getting them an airship, and joins them for awhile until he leaves to service the Enterprise. Cid makes returns later when he sacrifices himself to save Cecil from the Red Wings in the Underworld. He somehow survives the encounter and services the Falcon several times. When the Giant of Babel approaches Earth, he lends and leads a pack of airships that prevent the Giant of Babel from destroying Elban. Cid is a weird character, and very mature. He talks in somewhat slang, but he is still very intelligent. He treats Cecil and Kain like the son he never had. Whenever he meets people, like Tellah, Edge and FuSoYa, he starts off kind of choppy with them, but makes their friendship later on. He is way passed his prime. After the Giant of Babel is destroyed, Cid returns to battle alongside Cecil and in some scenarios, participates in the defeat of Zeromus. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Elder ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Elder of Mysidia has both knowledge and wisdom. He spends his time teaching Palom and Porom but also constantly praying. When Cecil returns to Mysidia, he offers Cecil a chance at reconciliation by becoming a Paladin, though he wasn't very trusting; he sent Palom and Porom to spy on Cecil. He is proud of Palom and Porom's sacrifice to save the team, and revives them. The Elder is also responsible for summoning the Lunar Whale ship. When Zeromus is battling Cecil, he sends everyone's prayer to the moon to help recharge them. After the battle, he continues to teach (and punish) Palom. He also continues to teach and praise Porom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N. Golbez ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Golbez's is KlUyA's son, Cecil and Rosa's brother and FuSoYa's nephew. Golbez easily gets controlled by Zemus to kill people, manipulate his brother's best friend and gets on Tellah's bad side. Golbez is a powerful warrior, a force to be reckoned with. When FuSoYa reverses his spell, Golbez aids in defeating Zemus. After Zeromus is destroyed, he goes with FuSoYa to live on the moon to learn more about his people. Interestingly enough, after his spell is reversed, he instantly develops a liking and respect for his brother Cecil, even though of the two Harvey sons, he is the one shrouded in darkness, while Cecil is a Paladin of light. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- O. Zeromus ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Zeromus is one evil Lunarian. He is so full of hatred that he went through all the trouble of building the Giant of Babel just to destroy earth. He is also such a powerful warrior. During the game, he controls Zemus' body and uses Zemus to manipulate good people like Golbez, to kill people and capture the crystals. How he ever became evil is unknown. ======================================================================= 5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ======================================================================= DISCLAIMER: Before e-mailing me, know that anything answered in this FAQ will be ignored. I welcome any theory, ready to be shot down or written down. Please e-mail me only about Final Fantasy IV, as I haven't written an analysis for any other Final Fantasy game yet. DOCUMENT QUESTIONS ------------------ QUESTION: Why did you write this document? ANSWER: I love Final Fantasy IV so much, and it's the only Final Fantasy title I've finished. It deserved a plot guide even if it's story is simplistic. QUESTION: Which version of Final Fantasy IV is this based on? ANSWER: It's a mixture of the PSone and GBA versions. I use the PSone version for some plot elements, while I use the GBA version for other plot elements, spell names and character names. QUESTION: Will you write a Plot Analysis for any other Final Fantasy games? ANSWER: I don't think so, because I haven't beaten any other Final Fantasy games. FINAL FANTASY IV QUESTIONS -------------------------- QUESTION: Where can I buy the original Final Fantasy II for SNES? ANSWER: That game, new or used, sells for a lot these days, but I found my copy of Final Fantasy II at GameStop for $39.99. Ebay is also an excellent option. QUESTION: Which version should I get? Should I get the SNES version, the PSone version, the GBA version or the WonderSwan Color version? ANSWER: The SNES version would be worth more, but then for a lower price (and sometimes cheaper) you can get the harder, but better version of the game along with Chrono Trigger for PlayStation as part of the "Final Fantasy Chronicles" package. The SNES version has no loading times but the PSX version has extra FMV and better translations. The WSC version is only in Japanese, and the system really isn't that great. The GBA version has slightly rearranged and inferior sound but contains swappable characters at the end and new dungeons. It's much easier, though. I'd go with the GBA version, really. QUESTION: Why all those versions? ANSWER: As far as I'm concerned, people in Japan thought that Final Fantasy IV for the Super Famicom was too hard, so they dummied it down. Squaresoft and Nintendo thought the game would be too hard to Americans so they only released the Easy Type in the U.S. Then, since Square Enix, with the popularity of Final Fantasy peaking with Final Fantasy VII, wants to introduce fans to the original roots of the series, they ported the Super Famicom Final Fantasy games to the PSX. And since Square Enix supports the GBA, it gets a version of FFIV as well. QUESTION: Does Yang have a cold? ANSWER: In Final Fantasy II, Yang always says "ACHOO!" And we all know that sneezing makes that sound, but as a reader below notes, it's a translation error as Japanese people do not say Kiai when they sneeze. In the PSone version of Final Fantasy IV (and all Japanese versions), Yang says "KIAI!" Perhaps "ACHOOO!" seemed too weird. In Final Fantasy IV Advance, Yang says "HYAH" instead. A reader named Jeffrey Ehlers writes in to note that, "the proper and correct term is "Kiai", which is generally yelled by a martial artist as they perform a strike (such as the typical "breaking bricks" you often see in martial arts movies), and is pronounced "Key-yai" or "Key-yah". "Hyah" is an Anglicized version of this battle cry (Kiai is how it's spelled in Japanese), but both are ultimately the same. "Achoo" is a mistranslation that was put into the US Final Fantasy 2 release... those are Yang's battle cries, which he uses to focus his "ki" (thus why he says "kiai" in Japanese - one meaning of "ai" is "shout")." QUESTION: Whatever happened to KlUyA? ANSWER: We know he's dead but we never actually find out what happens to him. He could have died trying to fight Zemus, died of old age, or something else. QUESTION: So how did Golbez get into the Underworld before Cecil did? ANSWER: My guess would be that they used the Tower of Babel. It, as you know, connects the Underworld with the Surface (although that pathway/door/teleport is locked up by the time Cecil reaches the top of the Underworld portion). QUESTION: Whatever happened to Cecil's mother, Rosa's father, Cid's wife, Edward's family and Tellah's wife? ANSWER: We don't know what happened to Cecil's mother, Rosa's father, or Cid's wife, but we know that Tellah's wife died at some point after Anna was born. The OFFICIAL FINAL FANTASY IV STRATEGY GUIDE, which I used to beat the game first, says that, so I'm inclined to believe it. Edward makes it clear that his parents were killed in Golbez's attack of Damcyan. QUESTION: Why does Edward mourn only for Anna and not his parents? ANSWER: Good question. You think he'd be a little sad about them as well. See Theories for more information. QUESTION: How were Golbez and Cecil separated? ANSWER: My theory is that the king had something to do with it. QUESTION: How long has Cagnazzo (Kainazzo in Final Fantasy II) been impersonating the king? ANSWER: I don't know, but it might be as far back as when Cecil started training to become a Dark knight. It was the king of Baron, after all, who convinced Cecil to become a Dark knight. We all know that Cagnazzo killed the king, since the king admits as much if Cecil embarks on an optional question to fight Odin, a summon with the soul of the king. QUESTION: What is a Chocobo? ANSWER: A Chocobo is a Final Fantasy-brand "animal" that does several things in Final Fantasy IV. It transports you faster, and sometimes overseas as well. Fat Chocobos also store your food. They seem to be mystical in the Final Fantasy world, as the Dwarves worship them. They have their own game on the PlayStation, called "Chocobo Racing" but I do not know if they have been released outside Japan, as I've never seen them. QUESTION: How did Golbez survive Tellah's Meteor? How did he survive against Zeromus? ANSWER: There isn't a concrete answer in the game, but Kefka Krazy came up with a better answer than me: "I theorize that the Crystals have nothing to do with Golbez surviving. I believe that it's merely his innate dark power, bolstered by Zemus, that allows him to survive these attacks. One other possible explanation is that the Golbez in the Underworld is merely a simulacrum-that Golbez, weakened from what may very well have been a near-death experience at the hands of Tellah, decided to send a magical copy of himself. That certainly explains why the copy's hand was able to drag itself to the Crystal and escape. "Also, we can explain Golbez's survival (both from Tellah and Zemus's Meteors) with the fact that he is, indeed, the son of KluYa. Lunarian blood flows within his veins, the same blood that empowers Cecil, and without knowing the limits of the power of lunarian blood, we can't dismiss the possibility that that blood allowed Golbez to survive, not one, but TWO Meteors." QUESTION: How did Yang survive that explosion? He was high up on a tower! ANSWER: This one bugs me. A lot. I honestly do not know. He might have been hit by the blast, but didn't get hurt much. He could have used a Potion! My theory is that he was conscious enough to give himself a small dose of Potion and then made his way down to the bottom of the tower where he fell unconscious and where he was found by the summons in Sylvan Cave. QUESTION: So how did Cid survive an exploding bomb while falling thousands of meters deep? ANSWER: He could have been wearing protective armor, mythril, which supposedly protects from lava/fire effects. He then could have had a parachute. He seems to have been _planning_ suicide. Maybe he planned ahead. QUESTION: Why would Leviathan swallow Rydia? ANSWER: My best guess is that Leviathan sensed Rydia's arrival, so he swallowed her to find out more about her. (Thanks for all the trouble you caused, Leviathan. You added a few hours' worth of extra game time, although I admit the Paladin quest is one of my favorites). QUESTION: What prevented Golbez from killing Cecil at the Tower of Zot? ANSWER: My best guess is that he had a flashback of his brotherhood with Cecil, and couldn't kill his own brother. QUESTION: How did all the other kingdoms get hold of ships to fight the Giant of Babel if Baron is the only one who has them? ANSWER: I assume that Cid provided them with the ships. QUESTION: How did the Dwarves' tanks get up to the surface? ANSWER: I don't know either. They could have been airlifted by one of the airships or they crawled up the side of the Tower of Babel, or the tanks have flying capabilities we don't know about. QUESTION: How old are Tellah, FuSoYa, etc? ANSWER: Tellah is actually 60, but we don't know FuSoYa's age. I doubt they're related. :p QUESTION: What's up with Cecil's battle with himself? ANSWER: Well, to see if Cecil qualifies for becoming a Paladin, he has to not attack his father's spirit and not be aggressive like he was when he was a Dark Knight. He also has to fight for law and justice. If you don't attack, then Cecil will earn his Paladin qualities. QUESTION: Who is the guy Cecil battles on top of Mt. Ordeals in the shrine? ANSWER: The spirit of his father. FuSoYa makes that clear when they meet him on the moon. QUESTION: What's the point of the whole crystal hunt if we can just use the Lunar Whale to get to the moon? ANSWER: Good question. Golbez might not have known about the Lunar Whale, and assumed that the Tower of Babel was the only way to the moon. Kefka Krazy has his/her own answer: "It certainly appears that the Whale is sealed away, and not only would Golbez not know about it (as you mention) he would likely not be able to get or use it... hmm." QUESTION: Why did you use Edward, Yang, Palom and Porom for the ending? ANSWER: The GBA version of FFIV allows the final party to be switched around. Well, because everyone knows how the ending with the original party of Kain, Edge, Rydia and Rosa goes. In my humble opinion, Edge and Cid have the least stake in the final battle because Edge kills Rubricante and avenges his parents that way, and Cid is just there to back the team up. I brought Edward along so he could actually avenge Anna and Tellah. I brought Palom and Porom in order for them to avenge their petrification thanks to Cagnazzo (Kainazzo). And Yang is tough and probably would want have his revenge on Zeromus for the raid on Fabul. However, there are several combinations you can use. You can use the original team consisting of Cecil, Kain, Edge Rydia and Rosa. You can replace Edge with Yang and Rydia with Cid. You can use Cecil, Edward, Yang, Rydia and Rosa as they've all met each other and were a team at one point during the game. Cecil, Palom, Porom, Yang and Cid also function as a team pretty well. For a challenge, place Cecil, Edward, Palom, Porom and Cid into a team. Or go for a powerhouse, no healing group with Cecil, Kain, Yang, Edge and Cid. Or go for a magic group with Cecil, Rydia, Rosa, Palom and Porom. It was hard to choose which one to go with, so I went with my favorite characters. QUESTION: Well, who are your favorite characters? ANSWER: I've always liked Edward, Palom, Porom, Tellah and Yang. If FuSoYa were able to join the final battle, I'd use him and pretend he were Tellah. :p QUESTION: What was added to the GBA version of the game? ANSWER: The GBA version contains two extra dungeons, the Cave of Trials in Mt. Ordeals and the Lunar Ruins on the moon. In my opinion, only the Cave of Trials counts towards the storyline because it takes place before the game ends. The Lunar Ruins are unlocked only after Zeromus is defeated. The Lunar Ruins has nine separate gates for each character who has participated in Zeromus' defeat. But, we have to remember that the Lunar Whale goes back into the ocean after Zeromus' defeat, whereas the Lunar Whale is needed to visit the Lunar Ruins. Hence I only count the Cave of Trials in the storyline. For more questions, feel free to e-mail me about them. ======================================================================= 6. INTERESTING POINTS ======================================================================= E-mail me if you have an interesting point you'd like to share.. -Final Fantasy IV might be the most head-spinning game when it comes to versions it's available in. -YOU SPOONY BARD!!! *dies* That line still gets me every time. -Although the Super NES and Super Famicom are less powerful than the PlayStation, the PlayStation port of the game, in game-wise, is a lot sloppier. This isn't the console's fault, but the people who handled the port in the first place. -The Magus Sisters appear in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X: International. -Final Fantasy IV is the third Final Fantasy game to feature a character named "Cid." Since then there have been Cids in future Final Fantasy games. -Golbez goes from being very big as an enemy to very small as a good guy. He can also survive extreme amounts of pain, from Meteor to Rydia's summons. -Edward is known as Gilbert in Japan. Gilbert, IMHO, is more "prince like." Why they would change the name is beyond me. -FuSoYa is known as Fuu-suu-ya (Fusuya) in Japan. For once, the U.S. gets the better name. -FuSoYa is Cecil's uncle, making him Rosa's uncle in law and Golbez's uncle, which makes Golbez Rosa's brother in law. Talk about family ties. -The game recycles so many sprites and overall aesthetics of certain areas that if you came back to the game a year after saving at Mt. Ordeals, you'd think you were in Mt. Hobs. -The FMV in the PlayStation version of the game doesn't really do much to the game at all. It's basically a retelling of events in the game in FMV format. It's definitely not a needed feature. -Palom and Porom are one of my favorite characters in the game. It's amusing to see their relationship unfold from when you meet them to when they sacrifice themselves. They're only _5_ years old, too, and they know a lot of magic. -When Rydia becomes an adult, the game implies that she's the young Rydia in an older body. Is she the young Rydia in an older body or is she completely grown up, emotionally and physically? Kefka Krazy, a reader, has his/her own theory: "I'm 90% certain she mentions time flowing differently in the Land of Summons, so I doubt that she is a child in a woman's body-from all the evidence I see, and considering her statement about time flow, I'd say that she actually lived those years of her life among the Summoned Monsters. Her childishness can be explained as well: while her mind and body matured during a relatively real-world time frame, she would have had no interaction with non- Summon Monsters, and this could explain her lingering childish nature." -The Tower of Babel in Final Fantasy II is spelled "Tower of Bab-il." How utterly pointless. The same goes for "Troia" in Final Fantasy IV and "Toroia" in Final Fantasy II. -The little scene where the earth spins makes it seem like two years has passed from when Cecil defeats Zeromus to the wedding. Is that true? -A Game Boy micro and Final Fantasy IV Advance bundle exists in Japan. The Game Boy micro comes with a special faceplate with Cecil's Paladin_ and Dark Knight artwork. -I think FFIV has very, very ugly artwork. With that in mind, the Japanese GB micro faceplate is still pretty cool. -Show your parents some love, Edward, sheesh. They died, too. Kefka Krazy has his/her own answer: "I don't read too much into Edward grieving more for Anna than for his parents. Not only was she his fiancee, but she died right in front of him. Not ONLY that, but she died INTERCEPTING the attack that would have killed Edward. His parents are a loss, to be sure, but to lose his beloved, and at the same time feel responsible for her death? Anna may very well have survived the Damcyan attack if she hadn't shielded Edward with her own body, and I'm certain Edward feels some guilt over that fact. In fact, I'm not surprised at all he seems to grieve for Anna far more than for his parents..." -The developers' room has a porn book in it. -The Four Elemental Lords all have Italian names as of the GBA version of the game. I believe they had Italian names since 1991, but were renamed due to character limits in the SNES and PSone US versions. I use their GBA names in this guide. -To elaborate on the fact, it takes a bit of knowledge of the Japanese language, Italian and creating their English equivalents. The change from Milon to Scarmiglione makes sense, since you can sort of see where Milon fits in there. -For Kainazzo to CagnazzoÉ well, I can't really explain why they changed it, but it reflects the original Japanese. -For Valvalis to Barbariccia, you have to note that the original Italian word was put into Japanese Katakana. Most of the time, the Japanese language uses their B sounds (BA, BI, BU, BE, BO) to pronounce the foreign V sound. For this case, an American looked at the Japanese script and thought the Japanese was spelling out a V. In Japanese, there is no difference between an L sound and an R sound for them, so the same American probably thought the Rs in Barbariccia was meant to be an L (as in VaLvaLis). To put in shortly, Valva = Barba, Lis = Ricc[ia]. -Rubricante, if I remember correctly, was actually Rubricante in the original FFII version, which is correct. It was changed to Rubricant in the PSone version, and back to Rubricante in the GBA version. Rubricante is definitely something Italian. ======================================================================= 7. THEORIES ======================================================================= Here are a few theories I've heard while visiting boards for Final Fantasy II/IV and here are some theories. -Golbez survives attacks because he has the crystals with him. -Tellah dies from Meteor because he drew his own HP to summon it. (UPDATE: This is true. After I looked at a copy of the SNES Final Fantasy II instruction booklet, it clearly says Tellah does turn his HP into MP to create the attack.) -Zemus murdered Cecil's father, KlUyA. -FuSoYa and Tellah are brothers. (Not really a serious theory) -The planet between Mars and Jupiter that was destroyed (where KlUyA and FuSoYa were from) is what we all know now as the Asteroid Belt. ======================================================================= 8. VERSION UPDATES ======================================================================= January 3, 2006 Thanks to the contributions Kefka Krazy and Jeffrey Ehlers, I added information about Yang's battle cry, Edward's mourning of his parents, Golbez's constant surviving of Meteor, and the Lunar Whale! Thanks you two! December 26, 2005 I lied about being done with the document. Made a few more additions and decided to do this in a word document. Happy holidays again! December 25, 2005 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! Today, I redid the Names, Types and Texts section since my initial revision done yesterday was way too long, and confusing. The new one just analyzes each FFIV version separately and is much more streamlined. And with that, I think I'm done with this update of the document. December 24, 2005 Wow, it's been over three years since I touched this document. A lot has changed since then, my love for FFIV not being one of them. Since the last update, I was able to acquire a WonderSwan Color and a copy of its version of FFIV as well as play through FFIV Advance. Since I last updated, my writing skills have developed five-fold. I never realized how relatively poorly written this document was, with tons of spelling errors, and confusing statements. I even left out a few details that I recollected by playing the GBA port. I've since restored this document to meet my writing standards of 2006. Think of the old version as FFII on the SNES and this as the GBA version of FFIV. ======================================================================= 9. CONCLUSION ======================================================================= This Plot Analysis was really enjoyable to make for my favorite Final Fantasy. And I have people to thank, of course. -CJayC for posting this at GameFAQS. -Peter Judson for posting this on NeoSeeker. -Steve McFadden for telling me that Cid first appears in the FC FF2. -Kefka Krazy for interesting opinions on Edward's grieving, Golbez's survival, Rydia's age and the Lunar Whale. -Jeffrey Ehlers for information about Yang's battle cries. CVXFREAK fireemblempride@gmail.com This Plot Analysis is copyright 2005 by CVXFREAK. All rights reserved.