I am Siegfried, the greatest swordsman in all the world!
Siegfried's boasting
Siegfried, also spelled as Ziegfried, is a non-player character in Final Fantasy VI. He is a famous swordsman who travels the world seeking treasure. He does not play an important role in the story, but appears sporadically throughout the party's adventure.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Siegfried wears blue armor with a long blue cape, a brown cowl, and brown boots and gloves. He carries a sword on his back and a gun in his left hand. Only one eye is visible under his cowl; it is unknown if he is missing an eye, or if the other is just not visible.
Personality[]
Siegfried comes off as an arrogant man when first encountered, calling himself as "the greatest swordsman in the world". However, when he fights the Returners aboard the Phantom Train, he is weak and easily defeated. A sore loser, he claims the treasure anyway, a far call from the respectable swordsman he touts himself to be. The encounter portrays him as a treasure hunter with a faux demeanor just so that he can snatch items of value.
When met at the Dragon's Neck Coliseum, Siegfried reveals that someone out there is impersonating him, telling the Returners not to be fooled by the impostor. It is hinted that the Siegfried in the coliseum is the real Siegfried, and that the treasure-hunting "Siegfried" the party ran into earlier is the impostor.
When Ultros tries to steal the statues of the Warring Triad from the Esper Caves, he mentions hoping the feat will get Siegfried's attention. It is unknown what relationship the two have, as neither mentions the other at any other point.
Story[]
The party meets Siegfried on the Phantom Train.
Siegfried first crossed paths with the party on the Phantom Train when Sabin, Shadow, and Cyan attempted to open a treasure chest containing something Siegfried wanted. Siegfried challenged them and attacked rapidly, but they easily defeated him. Upset at being defeated, Siegfried grabbed the treasure anyway and fled.
Celes and Seigfried spying on Gerad and the Crimson Robbers.
Siegfried later appeared in South Figaro Cave in the World of Ruin, following Gerad and the Crimson Robbers as they infiltrate Figaro Castle. Celes and Sabin spied him stealing treasure on the way, and he panicked and fled again.
The party's final (or first) encounter with Siegfried occurred at Dragon's Neck Coliseum. He revealed someone has been impersonating him as he idles in a room off of the lobby, and warns the party not to be fooled.
Gameplay[]
Siegfried's boss encounter in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum.
Siegfried is fought twice. The first instance is aboard the Phantom Train, and he will randomly attack eight times dealing low damage. With 100 HP, he is of no challenge for the player.
If the player bets a Megalixir at the Dragon's Neck Coliseum in the World of Ruin, Siegfried will be their opponent, wagering a Tintinnabulum. He is a much more formidable opponent here, with over 32,000 HP and the attacks Metal Cutter and Hyperdrive, either of which could KO the player's character in one hit.
Other appearances[]
Guest appearances[]
Siegfried in Final Fantasy XIV.
Siegfried has appeared in several titles in the Final Fantasy series, often appearing as a boss encounter.
Siegfried appears as a cameo encounter in the Omega: Sigmascape V1.0 raid in Final Fantasy XIV, having a small chance of appearing in place of a ghost inside the Phantom Train's train carts. Additionally, a Siegfried original to the world of Final Fantasy XIV also appears as a central character in the Blue Mage quest line, being the stage persona of Zirnberk when fighting in the Masked Carnivale.
Siegfried has also made appearances in mobile spin-offs, such as Pictlogica Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy All the Bravest, and Final Fantasy Record Keeper. All of these encounters reuse his original boss sprite from Final Fantasy VI, with the encounters heavily being inspired by his coliseum battle.
Mentions and cameos[]
A Ghost Card in Dissidia Final Fantasy is named Siegfried. The Siegfried ghost is a level 100 Kefka. A Cyan Gem and a Tintinnabulum can be won through Battlegen with the ghost, the latter a reference to the item the player can win from Siegfried in the Coliseum in Final Fantasy VI. The quote on the card "It seems that an impostor has been masquerading as me recently..." is what Siegfried says to the party in the Coliseum.
In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, the Ghost Card "Famed Moogle" uses Siegfried's icon. The description references Siegfried: "You know not my name? Everyone knows only the octopus..."
Behind the scenes[]
Siegfried has a Rage for his coliseum appearance within the game coding, but since enemies fought there do not count for appearing on the Veldt, Siegfried never appears on the Veldt and Gau can never learn his Rage. The Rage is functional if the player uses a cheating device to obtain it. Using the Siegfried Rage, Gau would cast Flare, become weak to all eight elements, be granted Protect status and be immune to Petrify, Death, and Doom statuses.
It is unknown what Siegfried means by warning the party of an impostor, though it is likely given the discrepancy in their powers that the Siegfried fought on the Phantom Train is the impostor and the Siegfried at Dragon's Neck Coliseum is the true Siegfried. It has been speculated that the "Ziegfried" spelling is used for the impostor, and "Siegfried" for the real swordsman. However, the "Ziegfried" spelling was an invention of the original Super NES translation, as was the third spelling "Sigfried", and both are used inconsistently in dialogue to refer to the character while the "Siegfried" spelling is only used in battle. In the original Japanese script, and in the re-translated Game Boy Advance script, the character is called "Siegfried" at all times. Originally, Gogo was planned to impersonate the player's party members as part of their recruitment quest.[1][2] Whether this is related to the "imposter" Siegfried warns the party of, is unknown.
Etymology[]
Siegfried (known as "Sigurd" in Norse mythology) is the dragon-slaying hero of the German epic poem, Song of Nibelungs. This is one of several names of epic heroes used in Final Fantasy, others being Gilgamesh and Beowulf.
References[]
- ↑ V Jump issue (in Japanese) (dead) (Accessed: September 25, 2009) at Infoseek
- ↑ Final Fantasy VI – 1994 Developer Interview (Accessed: December 09, 2018) at shmuplations