Cloud of Darkness/Dissidia
From Final Fantasy Wiki
| Cloud of Darkness | |
| |
| Kana | 暗闇の雲 |
| Romaji | Kurayami no Kumo |
| Japanese Name | Cloud of Darkness |
| Original Game | Final Fantasy III |
| Story Difficulty | |
| EX Mode | Flood of Darkness |
| EX Burst | Ultra Particle Beam |
| Japanese Voice Actor | Masako Ikeda |
| English Voice Actor | Laura Bailey |
| Dissidia Final Fantasy Character | |
- "The Void fascinates us. Unlike the world and its tiresome conspiracies, it is eternal."
- —Cloud of Darkness
The Cloud of Darkness is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. She is an entity that appears when the balance between light and darkness is disturbed, and tries to pull the world into the void. She hovers like a cloud, and attacks with the tentacles wrapped around her body. Cloud of Darkness allies herself with Kefka, Exdeath and Kuja in her attempts to destroy everything and return the world to darkness. Her rival is the young Onion Knight who wishes to protect his friends from her.
Contents |
[edit] Attire
Cloud of Darkness's original outfit is based on her Amano artwork, while her alternate outfit features a blue cape instead of a red one and makes her EX-Mode a darker shade of green.
Her Manikin version, Counterfeit Wraith, is green.
[edit] Story
[edit] Destiny Odyssey
Working with Kefka, the Cloud of Darkness targets Terra, putting the girl under her spell in order to unlease her full power. After the girl's fight with the Onion, the Cloud of Darkness spirits Terra away while insulting the Knight verbally by telling he is to blame for her hardships and that he is too weak save her. They meet again later in the World of Darkness, where the Cloud of Darkness is standing over an unconscious Terra, proclaiming that the girl is useless in their plan. The Knight arrives and offers to take Terra's place, only to fool the Cloud and fight her head on. The Knight then fights the Cloud of Darkness, saying that, even though it's his policy to not fight someone stronger then him, he will fight. The Cloud of Darkness lost, and fades away, never knowing that it was Golbez who guided the young knight to making the decision to fight.
Recovering from the fight with Onion Knight, the Cloud of Darkness is seen talking to Kefka, attempting to kill off Terra from a distance before Kefka stops her as he still wants Terra to fight for him. The Cloud of Darkness later appears when Kefka realizes he can't have Terra, cornering the girl and Cloud Strife when Onion Knight comes to their aid and helps Cloud double team the villian while Terra fights Kefka one-on-one.
[edit] Shade Impulse
After Cosmos is killed, the Cloud of Darkness states that she will put everything to sleep with her hand. However, the Onion Knight appears, saying that all is not over yet. She asks him why he still opposes her, now Cosmos is gone and that there nothing for him to protect, to which the Knight replies that Cosmos is still in his heart. They engage in battle, and the Onion Knight wins. After she lost the battle, the Cloud of Darkness tells the Knight that it's too late, claiming that they cannot stop the current of change. The Knight replies that he's listening to his heart and won't run away, because the determination of his friends encourage him to move forward. The Cloud of Darkness then comments that living creatures are fascinating and that she will be waiting in the rifts of the Void. She then disappears into the darkness, going back to sleep.
[edit] Battle
- See also: Cloud of Darkness/Dissidia/Quotes.
In battle, Cloud of Darkness' fighting style is that of a "Bane of Life," as she uses a wide array of powerful energy beam attacks to drain the opponent's HP, and has the most HP attacks of any character. Her Brave attacks are limited to attacks of her tentacles, which can attack in one of three ways according to the number of the times the circle button is pressed, and although limited, most of her Brave Attacks are very powerful. A drawback is that she moves a bit slowly.
[edit] Boss
- Main article: Cloud of Darkness (Dissidia Boss)
Cloud of Darkness is fought in Destiny Odyssey III, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.
[edit] Brave Attacks
| Move | Type | CP (Mastery) | AP for Mastery | Obtained | Description | Image |
| Tentacle of Pain | Ground | 45 (25) | 140 | Initial | Cloud of Darkness uses her tentacles to attack. Depending on the timing (timing can be determined by a "whipping" sound effect) that the player presses the circle button, she can follow up with one of three different attacks:
|   
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tentacle of Suffering | Aerial | 45 (25) | 120 | Initial | Cloud of Darkness uses her tentacles to attack. Depending on the timing (timing can be determined by a "whipping" sound effect) that the player presses the circle button she can follow up with one of three different attacks:
|   
|
[edit] HP Attacks
| Move | Type | CP (Mastery) | AP for Mastery | Obtained | Description | Image |
| [Anti-air] Particle Beam | Ground | 40 (20) | 180 | Initial | Summon four energy orbs around you that fire beams of energy into the air. | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Long-range] Particle Beam | Ground | 40 (20) | 180 | Initial | Sends out a line of energy beams that pursue the opponent. | 
|
| [Wide Angle] Particle Beam | Ground | 40 (20) | 180 | Level 6 | Sends out a wall of energy to attack the opponent. Additional Effect: Wall Rush | 
|
| [Wrath] Particle Beam (ground) | Ground | 40 (20) | 180 | Level 12 | Guard and summon an energy orb below opponent that fires a beam of energy upwards. Additional Effect: Block | 
|
| [Feint] Particle Beam | Ground | 40(20) | 180 | Level 24 | Disappears underground and then pops up to fire a blast of energy. Additional Effects: Wall Rush, Evasion | 
|
| Aura Ball | Aerial | 40 (20) | 180 | Initial | Sends out a large orb of energy, can send out up to five by holding down the square button. Release to make the orbs explode. | 
|
| [Wrath] Particle Beam (midair) | Aerial | 40 (20) | 180 | Initial | Guard and summon an energy orb below opponent that fires a beam of energy upwards. Additional Effect: Block |
|
| [Fusillade] Particle Beam | Aerial | 40 (20) | 180 | level 17 | Sends balls of energy out to bombard the opponent from multiple directions | 
|
| [0-form] Particle Beam | Aerial | 40 (20) | 180 | Level 38 | Uses a large, but short ranged, beam of energy to attack. Additional Effect: Wall Rush | 
|
[edit] EX Mode
Cloud of Darkness's EX Mode Flood of Darkness features her in-game appearance from Final Fantasy III. When in EX Mode, Cloud of Darkness gains the "[Null] Particle Beam" effect, which removes the cool down from her attacks by attacking with an HP attack. Her EX Burst, Ultra Particle Beam, requires the player to hold down 
to charge a bar up to 120% in order to severely damage the enemy with her signature attack, Particle Beam. Releasing the button too late will result in the bar dropping to 80% and a weaker attack.
[edit] Equipment
Cloud of Darkness is able to equip Rods, Staves, Bangles, Hats, Hairpins, Clothing, and Robes.
[edit] Exclusive Weapons
| Name | Level | Stats (JP Version) | Stats (US Version) | Effects (JP Version) | Effects (US Version) |
| いましめの杖 Calcite Staff | 50 | BRV +26 ATK +34 | BRV +26 ATK +35 | EX Mode Duration +20%. Magic Damage +5%. | BRV Recovery +50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| あやかしの杖 Bizarre Staff | 92 | BRV +38 ATK +61 | BRV +38 ATK +62 | EX Mode Duration +30%. Magic Damage +10%. | BRV Recovery +75% |
| 永遠の闇 Everdark | 100 | BRV +40 ATK +67 | EX Mode Duration +40%. Magic Damage +15%. | BRV Recovery +100% Major Gambler's Spirit Effect. | |
[edit] Gallery
 CG Render |
[edit] Allusions
- When the Cloud of Darkness uses Aura Ball, she'll laugh: "Hwahwahwa!" which references the Cloud of Darkness’s characteristic laugh from Final Fantasy III.
- In Shade Impulse II-3, when fighting the Cloud of Darkness with a character other than Onion Knight, one of her pre-battle quotes is “We have had an eternity in the Void to prepare. We will flood this world with darkness---and return all to the Void,” This is roughly the same as the dialogue in Final Fantasy III when facing the Cloud of Darkness. In Final Fantasy III, she was revived due to the flood of darkness, and tried to return both the worlds of light and darkness to the Void.
- The name of the Cloud of Darkness' HP Attacks and her EX Burst refer to her signature attack in Final Fantasy III, "Particle Beam" ("Wave Cannon" in the Japanese version). Her EX Burst, and to a lesser extent "[0-Form] Particle Beam," are also directly based on this attack.
[edit] Trivia
- Tetsuya Nomura has stated that for the Cloud of Darkness, he saw a drawing of her original concept art by Yoshitaka Amano when he joined the company, and decided to use the design in a future game once he got the chance.
- The Cloud of Darkness could be the oldest of the Warriors of Chaos (with the possible exception of Garland), since she is at least a thousand years old.
- In the Dissidia Ultimania guide, Cloud of Darkness is described as being genderless. The game, however, use female pronouns in reference to the Cloud of Darkness. This genderless bit is played up in Zidane's opening line, "Well, she is a lady...I guess?"
- When the Cloud of Darkness charges her EX-Burst, she takes on a pose which is similar to her battle sprite from the final battle. The same applies to the Onion Knight if he is using his EX-Burst on her.
- The Cloud of Darkness has the dubious distinction of having the smallest role in the game of the villains. Not counting the final storyline Shade Impulse (where all ten villains are fought) and the bonus storylines, the Cloud of Darkness is fought only once while all other villains are fought at least twice. Outside of the Onion Knight's storyline, the Cloud of Darkness only appears in three cut-scenes and in a single scene in Shade Impulse speaking with Ultimecia. Besides this scene, the only villain she is shown interacting with is Kefka.
- Of all the twenty-two characters, the Cloud of Darkness has the most number of different HP attacks— she has seven different HP attacks, and a pair of the same HP attack, "[Wrath] Particle Beam." However, she also has the least number of Brave attacks, only two.
- Though she normally refers to herself as "we," she uses "me" in the opening quote when fighting against Cloud (Strife), Squall, and the Warrior of Light. Her use of plural pronouns is explained in her character file as being due to her two tentacles each having minds of their own.
- The only time that the Cloud of Darkness uses her legs to walk instead of floating is during the cutscene before her and Onion Knight's battle in the latter's storyline. She also uses them to pick herself back up from a fall/hit to the ground.
- Even though she and Exdeath both support the idea of sealing the world in the void, they are never seen interacting with each other. Before battle, Exdeath will even say to Cloud of Darkness, "The Void you desire is false."
- Based on their EX Bursts, she and Exdeath have two opposite views of the Void, his being an all-consuming nothingness (which is why you must reduce his gauge to 0%) and hers being an all-destroying energy (which is why you must charge her gauge to 120 %).
