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Tellah

Tellah is a playable character in Final Fantasy IV. He is the Great Sage of Mysidia, and a master of both White and Black Magic, but due to his old age, he can only remember a few of his spells. He has a short temper, and will not hesitate to spring into action when something happens to someone or something he is close to.

In the English localization of the 3D version, Tellah is pronounced [ˈtɛ.lə].

Profile

Appearance

Tellah has a long white beard and white hair. His in-game sprite and SD artwork depict him wearing round glasses, a high collared, long purple coat and purple trousers. His Yoshitaka Amano artwork expands on this by giving the inside lining of his coat a striped pattern, stars on his shirt, blue and red patterns on his trousers, and a fringe trimming on his coat.

Personality

Tellah is passionate but quick to anger. He loves his daughter Anna and only wishes to protect her from what he thinks will harm her. He is crass and sometimes downright rude, but determined, and can work alone as well as working alongside others.

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Final Fantasy IV

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Tellah tells his story

Tellah telling Cecil his story inside the Underground Waterway.

After his wife died, Tellah became overprotective of their daughter, Anna, who eloped with Edward Chris von Muir, the prince of Damcyan, disguised as a Bard. Tellah was furious and pursued them but had grown slow in his old age and lost track of them in the passages leading to the Underground Waterway. A weakened Tellah was unable to defeat the Octomammoth, a powerful monster guarding the exit from the Underground Waterway, and was trapped deep underground. When Cecil Harvey and Rydia travel through the Underground Waterway searching for the Sand Pearl, they come across Tellah and offer their help. The three defeat Octomammoth and head to Damcyan.

Anna Death IV iOS

Tellah and the others witnessing Anna's death.

When Tellah arrives in Damcyan, the Red Wings raid the city and steal the Crystal of Fire. The Red Wings destroy most of the city, killing or injuring most of the populace. Anna suffers grave injuries and when Tellah finds his daughter near death, he turns on Edward in rage. Anna stops the fight, explaining she loves Edward and that a dark man named Golbez had led the attack on Damcyan. Anna dies moments later and Tellah swears revenge on Golbez and leaves alone.

When Cecil, Palom, and Porom climb Mount Ordeals on Cecil's quest to become a Paladin, they encounter Tellah on the mountain, searching for Meteor, a spell of incredible power. Tellah helps his them reach the summit and along the way they twice fight and defeat Scarmiglione of Earth, one of Golbez's Elemental Archfiends. At the summit they discover a room full of mirrors where a mysterious light appears, calling Cecil "my son", and assists Cecil in his transformation into a Paladin. As the light departs, Tellah rediscovers his missing spells, including "Meteor".

Tellah rejoins the party ffiv ios

Tellah in Mt. Ordeals.

Cecil, Tellah, Palom, and Porom return to Mysidia, where the Elder of Mysidia congratulates them. Tellah tells the Elder of his plans to defeat Golbez using Meteor, but the Elder reminds Tellah he should never fight with a vengeance, and that Tellah would die if he were to cast Meteor, due to his old age. Tellah is not swayed.

The party heads for Baron Castle and discover the king of Baron has been secretly succeeded by the Archfiend Cagnazzo. Cagnazzo makes the walls crumble on the party and Palom and Porom petrify themselves to hold the walls back and save the party. Tellah tries to heal them, it does not work because the twins petrified themselves willingly.

Cecil's former friend who is now working for Golbez, Kain, issues an ultimatum: Cecil must either get Kain the Crystal of Earth or his childhood friend and love interest Rosa would die. They retrieve the Crystal from the Dark Elf in Lodestone Cavern, but before departing to hand over the Crystal to Kain, the party visits Edward who is recuperating in the Troia inn. Tellah tells Edward, Anna was happy to be loved by a man like Edward and Edward asks Tellah to avenge Anna for his sake too.

Tellah Death DS

The party mourns Tellah's death.

Kain guides Cecil's party to the Tower of Zot, where they meet Golbez, who takes the Crystal but would not free Rosa. Tellah attacks Golbez and casts spells on him, but finds they have no effect. He cast Meteor severely wounding Golbez. Cecil rushes to strike him, but Golbez knocks him down, and escapes. Golbez's control of Kain is broken, and he goes back to being Cecil's friend. Everyone surrounds Tellah, who is dying due to casting Meteor. He asks the others to avenge Anna for him, and dies.

When Cecil and his friends travel to the Red Moon to battle Zemus, the being who manipulated Golbez to steal the Earth's Crystals, they fight the incarnation of Zemus's hatred: Zeromus. The spirits of Tellah and Anna appear during the battle and grant the party their power to help overcome the evil.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

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FFIV TAY iOS Anna & Tellah's Spirits

Tellah and Anna's spirits.

Tellah's spirit appears before Edward along with Anna's, telling him Anna wants Edward to find happiness. Palom is also seeking to become a great sage and follow in Tellah's footsteps.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

Tellah's battle sprite (PSP).

Tellah has some of the worst stats in Final Fantasy IV, both physically and magically. His MP does not increase above 90, to ensure the player will never be able to cast Meteor with him (Meteor costs 99 MP). This can be circumvented by using a Soma Drop (giving Tellah 100 MP). He equips rods and staves, as well as mage equipment. Unlike other characters, Tellah's physical stats (save for his HP) actually decrease when he levels up, implying his age is catching up with him, preventing him from gaining strength.

Abilities

FFIV Recall DS

Tellah using Recall.

Tellah can cast both White and Black Magic. When he first joins, he only knows a handful of spells: the Black Magic spells Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Stop, and Osmose, and the White Magic spells Cura, Life, Blink, Esuna, Confuse, and Teleport. He has access to the Recall ability, which allows him to cast a random Black Magic spell. This ability was removed in the North American SNES release. The spells Tellah can use with Recall are:

2D*(SNES, PS, GBA, PSP)
Spell Chance
Failure*(Not a spell) 20%
Fire 15%
Blizzard 15%
Thunder 15%
Toad 15%
Break 5%
Bio 5%
Tornado 5%
Death 5%


3D*(DS, iOS, Android)
Spell Chance
Toad 31%
Fire 10%
Blizzard 10%
Thunder 10%
Fira 6%
Blizzara 6%
Thundara 6%
Firaga 4%
Blizzaga 4%
Thundaga 4%
Bubble 3%
Faith 3%
Bravery 3%

Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, Tellah gains access to all spells except Holy, Quake, Death, and Flare. At this point he loses Recall, however.

In the 3D versions, Tellah has two more spells initially, the spells Poison and Silence. Once he remembers all his spells he also learns Arise, may use Meteor provided a Soma Drop is used on him, and keeps the ability to use Recall, which may cast a spell he does not normally have access to.

Equipment List

Weapons
Rods Staves
  • Rod
  • Ice Rod
  • Flame Rod
  • Thunder Rod
  • Polymorph Rod
  • Faerie Rod
  • Lilith Rod
  • Stardust Rod
  • Staff
  • Healing Staff
  • Mythril Staff
  • Power Staff
  • Aura Staff
  • Rune Staff
  • Sage's Staff
Armor
Head Body Arms
  • Leather Cap
  • Headband
  • Feathered Cap
  • Green Beret
  • Wizard's Hat
  • Black Cowl
  • Sage's Miter
  • Gold Hairpin
  • Ribbon
  • Clothing
  • Prison Garb
  • Leather Clothing
  • Bard's Tunic
  • Gaia Gear
  • Kenpogi
  • Sage's Surplice
  • Black Belt Gi
  • Power Sash
  • Black Robe
  • Luminous Robe
  • White Robe
  • Iron Armlet
  • Ruby Ring
  • Silver Armlet
  • Rune Armlet
  • Power Armlet
  • Diamond Armlet
  • Protect Ring
  • Crystal Ring

Other appearances

Pictlogica Final Fantasy

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade

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Final Fantasy Artniks

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper

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FFRK Tellah

A great magician known as Tellah the Sage for his mastery of the magic arts. In his old age, Tellah has forgotten many of the spells he once knew, but he is no less a sage now than ever he was.

Official description.

Tellah is a recruitable character who first appeared during the Challenge Event Man in Black where he was the First Time Reward for completing the event's Underground Waterway in Part 1. As of January 7, 2016, he can be recruited via the Bonus Quest, "Complete Underground Waterway Elite (IV)".

Assessment

Tellah's combat role is Master of Magic.

Stats
Level HP Attack Defense Magic Resistance Mind Accuracy Evasion Speed
1 170 6 6 11 11 12 20 20 92
10 661 15 13 34 27 30 20 20 96
20 1,208 25 21 56 46 51 20 21 101
30 1,754 35 31 76 65 72 21 21 106
Rank (Max: 5) 2 1 1 5 4 5 3 3 3
Abilities

Tellah can use Black Magic spells up to rarity rank 5 and White Magic spells up to rarity rank 4.

His initial Soul Break is Recall which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment results in casting either Fira, Blizzara, or Thundara. The rod Polymorph Rod (IV) allows Tellah to use Font of Wisdom which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment restores one ability use to each ally.

Equipment

Tellah can equip the following weapon types: daggers, rods, and staffs. The rod Polymorph Rod (IV) allows Tellah to use Font of Wisdom.

He can equip the following armor types: hats, robes, and bracers.

He can equip accessories.

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Template:Sideicon Tellah is depicted on two cards. He is depicted with his SD artwork and his Yoshitaka Amano artwork. His Amano art card can use the Recall ability. As a reference to his sacrifice to cast Meteor to defeat Golbez, both his cards can move to the Break Zone to deal heavy damage to an opponent's Forward.

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Gallery

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Etymology

Tellah may derive from Terah. Terah (Hebrew תֶּרַח Téraḥ), the Biblical patriarch who was father of Abraham and grandfather of Lot. In Hebrew, the name is slang for "old man".

Tellah's Japanese name, (テラ, Tera?) is also the Japanese name for Terah.

Trivia

  • The original Japanese Finest Fantasy for Advance remake and the North American GBA port have a bug where the scripted battle between Tellah and Edward is longer than intended, because Tellah keeps missing Edward, which stops the story from progressing. The bug was fixed in the second Japanese Advance release and the European port.
  • Tellah is the first playable character in the series to wear glasses.
  • Tellah, Cid, and Fusoya are the only playable characters in Final Fantasy IV not to receive CG models or appear in FMVs in the 3D remake.
  • Despite not having much interaction with each other in the game, the Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Hen guide's character relationship chart identifies Tellah and Rydia's relationship as that akin to teacher and pupil.[1]
  • With the bypass event glitch it is possible to avoid visiting Mist when Cecil and Kain are meant to deliver a package there at the beginning of the game. By skipping Mist Kain does not leave the party and Cecil never meets Rydia. The whole game cannot be played without triggering the scene where Mist burns, however, as Tellah will never join the party at the Underground Waterway unless the scene at Mist has been triggered, which freezes the game at the set battle where Tellah is meant to battle Edward.

References

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