Strago Magus
Sprite(s)
Japanese name	Stragos Magus
Kana	ストラゴス・マゴス
Romaji	Sutoragosu Magosu
Job	Blue Mage
Skill	Lore
Desperation Attack	Sabre Soul
Age	70
Birthday	June 12
Height	4' 11" (151 cm)
Weight	95 lbs. (43 kg)
Blood Type	O
Birthplace	Thamasa
Treasure	Collection of Monster Costumes
Loves	Monsters
Hates
Hobby
Ultimate Weapon	Stardust Rod
Final Fantasy VI Character

"An elderly gentleman, pure of heart, and learned in the ways of monsters..."

—SNES description

"An elderly gentleman who has spent his whole life pursuing the secrets of monsters..."

—GBA description

Strago Magus is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. He is from the remote town of Thamasa, and lives with his adoptive granddaughter, Relm Arrowny. He is a Blue Mage, and is a Mage, one of the descendants of the humans who fought during the War of the Magi. His Japanese name is Stragos.^[1]

Appearance and PersonalityEdit

Strago is a small, elderly man from Thamasa. He wears loose fitting clothes and a bright, red cape. His white hair is styled in a sort of mohawk, and he has large bushy eyebrows, a white mustache and beard.

Strago is overprotective of Relm, not letting her join the party when she asks to. Undeterred by his old age, Strago is energetic and spirited. He is also seen making many mistakes, which Relm scolds him for constantly. Despite this, he is a brave old man, and is not willing to back down from an enemy.

StoryEdit

Strago grew up in Thamasa with his friend Gungho. Together, they would hunt a beast known as Hidon, but would always fail. He was overprotective of Relm, whom some townspeople believe to be his adopted granddaughter; it is never confirmed either way.

When Terra Branford, Locke Cole, and Shadow visit Thamasa and ask Strago about the Espers, Strago denies their existence, but invites them to stay at the inn for a low price of 1 gil. During the night Relm is caught in a burning building and Strago tries using Ice spells to put the fire out, but to no avail. The Mayor of Thamasa reveals that Magic is forbidden. Strago asks Terra and Locke to help him and the three go inside the burning building and rescue Relm, but are cornered by flames and Shadow and Interceptor save them.

Afterward, Strago explains his abilities to Terra and Locke, and agrees to help them find the Espers. Relm asks if she could go as well, but Strago would not let her. She follows anyway, and catches up with them during a fight with Ultros. Together they find the Espers and Terra speaks to their leader, Yura, and convinces them to negotiate peace with General Leo and the Gestahlian Empire. The peace treaty is revealed to be a trap set up so Kefka Palazzo could get more magicite and Strago and Relm join the others in the fight against him.

One year after the end of the world, Strago joins the Cult of Kefka due to having thought Relm had perished, but upon reuniting with Relm he snaps back to his senses. Together, they go back to Thamasa to find the injured Gungho, who tells them he has found Hidon. Strago goes to fight it one last time, and eventually defeats it leading to a celebration with Gungho.

In the ending, Strago and Relm have several arguments as they escape Kefka's Tower.

BattleEdit

Strago is a Blue Mage learning spells from enemies. He has low Strength, the lowest Defense, and Speed, but high Magic Power and MP. His equipment draw is limited to daggers, rods, maces, universal shields, and mage robes. Strago also shares a unique subset of equipment with Relm called "creature suits", suits based on animals. Strago's ability is Lore, which allows him to use magical attacks learned from enemies.

When Strago sees an enemy use an attack he can learn as a Lore; he will learn it at the end of the battle, unless he was Blind or is KOed or petrified at the time the attack was used. Strago may then use the attack at the cost of MP. Strago can also learn Lores used by Gau or Gogo during a Rage.

StatsEdit

Equipment ListsEdit

WeaponsEdit

See also: List of Final Fantasy VI Weapons.

ArmorEdit

See also: List of Final Fantasy VI Armor.

Creation and DevelopmentEdit

During development, Strago had a 65-year-old wife named Lara. They often had amusing arguments, with each other claiming the other will die first. She was eventually cut from the game.^[2] In the game's original strategy guide, Strago and Relm are said to fight with stuffed toys. This might be another idea that was tossed around during development, but in the end was never implemented. The idea wasn't used until Final Fantasy X where Lulu uses stuffed toys as weapons.

Shadow and Relm's relationship as father and daughter was officially confirmed in developers' interviews in 1995. The developers initially considered having a scene in a bar (presumably in Thamasa) where Strago asks Shadow to reveal his identity. The dialogue was supposed to be as follows:

Strago: I have one request... Show me your face. Even if you are him, I have no intention of wasting time trying to talk you into staying. I just want to know... for Relm's sake...

Shadow: ...... (He takes off his mask and shows Strago his face. However, his back is turned so that the player can't see.)

Strago: Thank you... Shadow. ...Come, let's have a drink.^[2]

Musical ThemesEdit

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"Strago"
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Strago's theme is named after him, and is the main theme played in the town of Thamasa. The theme is mixed into the ending.

A piano version of Strago's theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VI album.

Other AppearancesEdit

Final Fantasy Trading Card GameEdit

Strago appears in the Trading Card Game.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game card.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game card.

Non-Final Fantasy AppearancesEdit

Secret of EvermoreEdit

In Secret of Evermore, Strago appears among the crowd of spectators that includes other Final Fantasy VI characters at the gladiator battle of Antiqua. He appears alongside Terra, Locke, Mog, Relm, and Umaro.

GalleryEdit

Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Chibi artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Yoshitaka Amano artwork of Strago with the rest of the cast for the Advance version of Final Fantasy VI.

Sketch by Yoshitaka Amano.

Sketch by Yoshitaka Amano.

EtymologyEdit

Strago may have some relation to the Italian word for "wizard", stregone.

Strago's name was originally romanized as Stragos in Japan, and likely would have been this in English if not for the game's six-letter name limit. (The katakana form, ストラゴス, is only five characters long and did not reach the six-character name limit.) The name has also been variously rendered as Stragus or Straggus. It may actually derive from Ancient Greek στραγγός, strangós, which means "twisted", alluding to Strago's highly eccentric personality. Ancient Greek did not have a true gg sound, and two consecutive gammas (γγ) were always used to render a ng sound instead; as such, στραγγός may have been misread as straggós. (More confusingly, in modern Greek, γγ is romanized ng but often pronounced simply [ɡ] especially in the modern dialect of Athens, while γ alone is romanized g and pronounced [ɣ] instead. But the modern Greek meaning of στραγγός has changed since ancient times; it now means "drained".)

Magus is the Latin word for "wizard". Its plural, Magi, is the term used to describe the humans that were infused with Esper magic during the War of the Magi. The Japanese katakana form マゴス, Magosu, alludes to Ancient Greek Μάγος, Mágos, from which the Latin form Magus originally derived. The word is not native to Greek either; it is ultimately of obscure ancient Iranian origin.

If an Ancient Greek origin of both Strago and Magus holds true, then Strago Magus can be rendered in Ancient Greek as Στραγγὸς Μάγος, which literally means "Twisted Wizard".

TriviaEdit

• Strago is among the oldest human playable characters in the series. In the World of Ruin he is 71, an age shared with Cid Pollendina in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
• Though he is shown using magic along with the other residents of Thamasa to try and quench the flames of the burning house, when he joins the party, Strago knows no esper magic, but it could be that he was using the Blue Magic 'Aqua Rake', which he knows upon joining.

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• Strago at Caves of Narshe