- See Diablos' summon sequences here.
Diabolos (ディアボロス, Diaborosu?), also known as Diablos, is a recurring creature in the Final Fantasy series that has most often appeared as a summoned monster. He first appeared in Final Fantasy VIII and his trademark ability is Dark Messenger, which usually deals fractional damage based on the target's HP. Even though his nature and backstory change, Diabolos's appearance throughout the series is consistent.
Appearances
Final Fantasy VI
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Diabolos appears in the Game Boy Advance and subsequent versions. His magicite is obtained by defeating the Kaiser Dragon in the Dragons' Den. Dark Messenger deals non-elemental fractional damage reducing opponents' HP to 1/16, ignoring protection to Death, and also inflicts Sap. He costs 100 MP to summon. Diabolos teaches Graviga (x5), Gravija (x3). At level up, Diabolos provides a +100% boost to HP.
Final Fantasy VIII
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Diablos is an optional boss who becomes a Guardian Force upon defeat. He can be obtained when the party receives the Magical Lamp from Headmaster Cid. Upon using the lamp in the menu the screen will dissolve and the player will fight Diablos.
Diablos learns HP-J, Mag-J and Hit-J junctions, HP and Magic boosting support abilities, and Mug, which lets one steal items from opponents with the Attack command. Its unique abilities are ones that reduce the frequency of random encounters and refine abilities that let the player make time magic and status magic from items. Because Diablos's attack power is determined differently from most GFs', it doesn't learn SumMag+ abilities or Boost.
Diablos's summon attack is Dark Messenger that deals damage in relation to the enemies' maximum HP count via a percentage equal to Diablos's level range (with a damage cap of 9,999).
Its compatibility item is Steel Orb and it also gains compatibility when the person junctioning it uses Demi and forbidden magic. Diablos doesn't have an "opposite" GF whose summoning would deplete its compatibility the most. Its Triple Triad card is dropped by its boss form.
Final Fantasy XI
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Diabolos is one of the five terrestrial Avatars, alongside Carbuncle, Fenrir, Phoenix, and Bahamut. He is the ruler and creator of the dreamworld known as Dynamis, and appears as a character and boss in the Chains of Promathia storyline.
Players who have defeated Diabolos can optionally face a far more powerful version of him in the quest "Waking Dreams" to forge a pact with Diabolos, gaining the ability to summon him. As a summon associated with dreams and sleep, many of Diabolos's moves are magic-based and some gain bonuses from being used when it is nighttime or when the enemy is asleep.
Diabolos also names a server in this game.
Blood Pact abilities
Name | Level | Pact Type | MP | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ruinous Omen | 1 | Rage | All | Deals damage equal to a random percentage of HP to enemies within area of effect. Only available during Astral Flow. |
Camisado | 1 | Rage | 20 | Deals minor physical blunt damage and knocks back the target. |
Somnolence | 20 | Ward | 30 | Deals minor dark magic damage and weighs the target down. |
Nightmare | 29 | Ward | 42 | Gradually deals dark damage, weakens attacks, and inflicts sleep on enemies within area of effect. This special sleep status prevents gradual damage from waking the afflicted targets. |
Ultimate Terror | 37 | Ward | 27 | Decreases attributes of enemies within Area of Effect. |
Noctoshield | 49 | Ward | 92 | Gives all Party members in area of effect the effect of Phalanx. |
Diabolos's Favor | 55 | Avatar's Favor | 0 | Causes MP to Refresh for all party members near Diabolos, but weakens Diabolos's offensive power. |
Dream Shroud | 56 | Ward | 121 | Enhances magic attack and magic defense for party members within area of effect. |
Nether Blast | 65 | Rage | 109 | Delivers a ranged magical attack dealing moderate dark damage. Damage is fairly consistent, ignoring many defensive stats. |
Night Terror | 80 | Rage | 177 | Deals powerful dark magic damage to a target. Damage receives a significant bonus when used on a sleeping target. |
Pavor Nocturnus | 98 | Ward | 246 | Inflicts Instant Death on the target. Target will be Dispelled if Death fails. Chance to inflict Death increases if target was already slept with Nightmare. |
Final Fantasy XII
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Diabolos is a Mark and an otherworldly demonic gargoyle with a spear and fiery wings. It is fought at the Lhusu Mines.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
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Demon who bends gravity to his will.
In-Game Description
Diabolos appears as a rank 2 Non-Elemental Flying summon. His regular attack is called Nightmare, while his special attack, Gravity, causes the Sap status.
Final Fantasy XIII
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Concept art for a Diabolos fal'Cie exists, but it never appears in the game. Many different forms and styles were considered from an organic-looking creature to a mechanical one.
Final Fantasy XIV
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To face me is to face thy deepest, darkest nightmares!
Diabolos
Diabolos appears as the final boss in the level 50 dungeon, Lost City of Amdapor. He uses both gravity magic and the skills of the Final Fantasy XI incarnation. To evade his Ruinous Omen attack, the party must memorize and open the correct door to the void which will protect the party while traveling through it.
Though defeated, Diabolos managed to escape the lost city. He later appears in Heavensward as the one responsible for awakening the voidsent trapped in the Void Ark, and carried off the coffin containing the Shadow Queen Scathach into a voidgate.
Final Fantasy Type-0
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Diabolos is a Vermilion Bird Eidolon obtained by completing the Chapter 7 Expert Trial "Operation Dragon Slayer". His attacks are drain-based as his movement involves him dispersing into a cloud of bats and striking anything that he passes through while healing him. One of Diabolos's attacks is a combo ending with him dispersing into a mass of bats which regenerate his health upon hitting Dark Strike.
His signature technique is Gravitation Ball (Graviton in his Astaroth variation) where Diabolos drains the health of anything within the area into a large sphere which, upon release, drifts towards its target and explodes on contact. He comes in three variations; Diabolos, Baalberith and Astaroth.
Bravely Default
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Diabolos is a demonkind enemy that appears in the Dark Aurora.
Bravely Archive: D's Report
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Final Fantasy Dimensions
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Pitiful creature, why dost thou call my name? I am both darkness eternal and the deep sin of the light.
Diabolos
Diabolos is gained during Chapter 4: The Darkness section, when the Warriors of Darkness traverse the Lufenian Ruins where they find a dark orb floating in the Demon Corridor.
After touching the orb, Diabolos engages the party in battle. Upon defeat, Diabolos allows the Warriors of Darkness to summon him, costing 64 MP to summon. Diabolos's attack Dark Messenger hits all enemies and deals Darkness-element damage.
Diabolos and the Monk ability Vacuum Wave are the necessary components to unlock the Dark Judgement Fusion Ability. Dark Judgement removes 1/4 of all enemies' HP, reducing them to 3/4 of their current HP.
Final Fantasy Legends II
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Pictlogica Final Fantasy
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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
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Final Fantasy Record Keeper
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Final Fantasy Explorers
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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
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Mobius Final Fantasy
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World of Final Fantasy
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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Template:Sideicon Diabolos is represented by a card of the aqua element portraying his appearance in Final Fantasy Type-0. Another card depicts Diabolos from Final Fantasy XI with a dark-elemental card, and a wind-elemental card for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.
Triple Triad
Diabolos from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius appears on Triple Triad cards in the version available via Final Fantasy Portal App.
Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances
Lord of Vermilion
Crystal Conquest
Diabolos is one of three summons in this Japan-only, free-to-play browser game. Its ability deals massive damage to other characters.
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As part of a Collaboration between Capcom and Square Enix, Tetsuya Nomura was asked to design various new Armor types for the playable characters, and their feline companions.
For Male Hunters Nomura created the Template:Wikia set, which is based off of Diabolos.
Etymology
Diabolos is the Greek word for "devil". It has entered many languages to mean devil, such as Diabolus (Latin), Diavolo (Italian), Diablo (Spanish), Diable (French), and Diabo (Portuguese). Diabolos actually means "accuser" or "slanderer" and could also be connected to the Greek word diabolous, which means "divider" (which befits Diabolos's affinity with the gravity element in the Final Fantasy series), but eventually the general word Diabolos became the specific name of the entity. In the original Greek rendering, it was used to refer to the Christian Devil (The New Testament was written in Greek). Devil is the English translation of Diabolos and in Christian belief, this being is the embodiment of evil.
The concept of the Devil is believed to originate in Zoroastrianism with Angra Mainyu (also known as Ahriman) as well as from the Judaic Satan in the Book of Job in the Old Testament. Their Satan was merely the "devil's advocate", an angel who acted as a skeptic and whom God allowed to afflict Job with suffering. Satan is Hebrew for "prosecutor/accuser" or "adversary".
The concept of the summon Diabolos in Final Fantasy may be connected to the Jinn in Islamic mythology, similar to Ifrit. The djinn were the origins of genie myths and were spirits or ghosts made of fire or smoke. They were said to grant wishes.
Diablos emerging from a magic lamp in Final Fantasy VIII may be a reference to the djinn.
The French localization of Final Fantasy VIII renamed Diabolos to "Nosferatu", a Romanian term meaning "Unclean One" that is sometimes synonymous with the Devil or vampires. In the Spanish localization it is called Diablo.
Trivia
- The recurring summon from Ivalice, Adrammelech, resembles Diabolos, even having a promotional image with a similar pose to Diabolos's Final Fantasy VIII appearance.
- Some concept art of Diabolos (Top right; central second row; central bottom) in Final Fantasy XIII look like the design has been subsequently modified to create the creatures Faeryl and Aeronite in the sequels.
- In World of Final Fantasy, Diabolos's English voice actor is Robin Atkin Downes, who also voiced Genesis Rhapsodos in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
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