Ultimecia.
Time.. It will not wait... No matter... how hard you hold on. It escapes you... And...
Ultimecia
Ultimecia (アルティミシア, Arutimishia?) is the main antagonist in Final Fantasy VIII. A powerful sorceress from a future many generations ahead of the game's time, her ultimate goal is to compress all time and space to become "a living god."
Ultimecia's exact age and time-frame in the future are kept ambiguous; the only hint given is that Ultimecia is stated to exist "many generations in the future."
Profile
Appearance
Ultimecia wears a skin-tight red gown with a plunging neckline that exposes her neck, chest, stomach and abdomen, and only partially obscures her breasts. A black collar extends down the neckline to her waist; the collar rests over her shoulders and covers the junction of her black feathered wings. In Final Fantasy VIII the collar appears to be made of feathers, but in Dissidia Final Fantasy it is made of fur. The dress has a short train, which drags along the floor, trimmed either similarly to the collar, or torn and frayed and made dirty. Long red sleeves with prominent shoulder pads join with her purple taloned hands.
Ultimecia's skin is tattooed with lined patterns. She wears a gold necklace, earrings and hair jewelry among a headdress designed to pull her hair up to resemble horns; silver bangs are left to frame her face. Ultimecia has yellow eyes surrounded by purple eyeshadow and she wears deep red lipstick. She has no eyebrows, instead having tattoos. She doesn't wear shoes, walking (or perhaps flying) barefoot, and although Ultimecia has a human appearance, her toenails resemble a beast's claws and are accentuated in her Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance.
Personality
In the English version of Final Fantasy VIII, Ultimecia emphasizes the letter 'c' pronouncing it as a harder sound than normal. This is shown through the game text as replacing 'c' with the letter 'k', as seen in the line, "Kurse all SeeDs. Swarming like lokusts akross generations". However, during and after she evolves into her final form she loses this emphasis. She also doesn't speak this way in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, or while possessing Edea. Ultimecia also has no accent in Japanese, and arrogantly uses omae to refer to the party, this usually being associated with male speech. Overall, she uses few feminine speech markers, which makes her sound rather like a male villain.
Ultimecia has a definitive sense of style: the interior of her castle is filled with faux-Victorian opulence. In Deling City, her waiting room is draped with sheer curtains, and while in Galbadia Garden, she reclines on a throne designed like a translucent flower with lights similar to the fronds of luminescent sea kelp.
The crucible of Ultimecia's plight.
Having acted through the bodies of other sorceresses, Ultimecia has been described as a malevolent and manipulative sorceress filled with anger and hate. Ultimecia's background and motives are alluded to indirectly, the most significant being her inauguration speech in Deling City and the events surrounding the final battle. Ultimecia demonstrates a strategic and diplomatic mind, such as convincing the president of Galbadia to employ her as the nation's diplomat, as well as enticing Seifer Almasy, normally a hostile youth, to devote himself to her. In Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimecia manipulates Kuja into performing for her ends and tries to get Sephiroth to join her and Emperor Mateus in their quest of taking over the world, though they end up failing.
Abilities
I am Ultimecia. Time shall compress... All existence denied.
Ultimecia
Ultimecia, in the process of becoming omnipotent.
Ultimecia is an immensely powerful sorceress who focuses on time and space manipulation. In the final battle she casts spells such as Bio, Quake, and Meteor, or absorbs fallen party members into time. She has a devastating magical attack called Hell's Judgement that reduces HP to one point for the entire the party, and she employs it often in the final battle.
Ultimecia can manifest and give life to subconscious thoughts and inanimate objects. This includes giving life to Griever; Ultimecia manifests Griever from Squall's subconscious mind, having found Griever to be Squall's conception of the most powerful force that could exist, and brings him to life for battle against Squall himself.
Ultimecia uses her ability to compress time to become omnipotent through the absorption of all time, space, and existence. She can invade and control an individual's body and mind both internally and externally, and through the use of Junction Machine Ellone utilize this ability throughout different eras. Ultimecia can reach into a person's mind to steal or give life to thoughts, knowledge, and magic. Her ability to manipulate objects and matter has also led to some interesting junction forms.
Despite being a sorceress of time, Ultimecia rarely uses time-based spells, such as Haste, Slow or Stop in battle. It is unknown to what extent the magic used is from Ultimecia or from the host when possessing other sorceresses, but as Edea Ultimecia can teleport and phase through solid matter, create a barrier to repel a bullet, use the powers of telekinesis and cast fascination spells.
Story
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This is reality. No one can help you. Sit back and enjoy the show.
Ultimecia
Edea, possessed by Ultimecia.
Ultimecia's castle dominates the landscape and it is implied Ultimecia is the sole ruler of her world, although besides fallen White SeeD no other inhabitants of her world are introduced, their fate unknown. According to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, Ultimecia's actions are driven by a means to escape her destined defeat at the hands of the "Legendary SeeD". Ultimecia's knowledge of this fate could be the main instigation for her desire of bringing about time compression, by which Ultimecia could absorb all time, space and existence, and become "a living god", omnipotent and able to control time, space and existence and thus escape her fate.
With the use of Junction Machine Ellone Ultimecia sends her consciousness back in time to take possession of Edea Kramer. Ultimecia's plan is to send her mind far enough back in time to cast the time compression spell, but the Junction Machine has a limit; to get even further back in time, she needs to find a girl called Ellone with a natural gift to send people's consciousnesses through time. Ultimecia uses Edea's body to infiltrate the government of Galbadia, and is appointed ambassador of Galbadia by President Vinzer Deling.
Ultimecia manipulates Seifer.
President Deling announces her appointment in the first worldwide televised broadcast in 17 years. The broadcast is interrupted when Deling is taken hostage on-air by Seifer Almasy, a renegade SeeD cadet. Ultimecia (within Edea's body) surfaces from a teleportation spell and offers to save him from his "predicament". When the SeeD approach her they are paralyzed by her magic and Seifer allows Ultimecia to teleport him away to Galbadia.
Although Seifer is announced executed, Ultimecia turns Seifer into her Sorceress Knight and makes him her personal guardian. Nonetheless, Deling continues to publicize his new ambassador and plans a parade in Deling City to honor her appointment. Unbeknown to Ultimecia, General Caraway and SeeD mercenaries formulate a plan to assassinate her at the parade to prevent her from usurping power across the world. General Caraway's daughter, Rinoa Heartilly, attempts to trick Ultimecia into taking a bangle created by Dr. Odine to seal away her sorceress power. Ultimecia recognizes the bangle and telekinetically disables Rinoa and takes control of her body, leading her to the balcony of the Presidential Palace. Ultimecia ascends the podium to give her acceptance speech to the people of Galbadia with Rinoa in tow, but it is a speech of hatred.
Ultimecia's parade in Deling City.
According to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania guide, Ultimecia casts a fascination spell that drives the crowd into a frenzy of reverence. Ultimecia impales President Deling through his chest with her hand in front of the city and throws his corpse aside. Ultimecia declares herself the ruler of Galbadia, assuring the beginning of a "new reign of terror", and brings two Iguion statues on the side of the Arch of Triumph to life and orders them to devour Rinoa as a sacrifice. Leaving Rinoa to her fate, Ultimecia boards her float which glides out into the street parade.
As Ultimecia passes underneath the Arch of Triumph the gates trap her inside. The sniper Irvine Kinneas takes a shot at her from atop the clock tower, but she blocks the bullet with a protection spell. Ultimecia is confronted by Squall, Irvine, and Rinoa (who had been rescued from the Iguions), and is disgusted upon discovering they are the SeeD. Ultimecia uses Edea's Ice Strike Limit Break to stab Squall through the shoulder.
Instead of killing Squall and his friends Ultimecia has them imprisoned in D-District Prison and orders Seifer to extract information from them via torture, namely, the reason SeeD persecute sorceresses. The interrogation yields no results as the SeeD themselves have not been informed of their organization's true goal. As Galbadia's new dictator, she declares Garden to be her enemy and orders missiles aimed at both Balamb and Trabia Gardens. Balamb Garden avoids the missile attacks thanks to Squall and the others (who had escaped from prison), but Trabia Garden is annihilated.
Ultimecia's true form seen for the first time.
Ultimecia takes control of the remaining Galbadia Garden and sets out to find Ellone. Galbadia occupies the towns of Balamb and Fishermans Horizon at her order to search every house but comes up unsuccessful. Ultimecia attacks Balamb Garden directly, but the Battle of the Gardens ends with Squall leading his allies into Galbadia Garden where she is confronted in the Garden Auditorium.
Ultimecia orders Seifer to dispatch the SeeD, and when he fails Ultimecia is forced to do battle. The encounter ends with Ultimecia being bested inside Edea's body and Edea relinquishes her powers to Rinoa, which in turn transfers Ultimecia from within Edea to Rinoa's body. Ultimecia uses Rinoa to revive Seifer and orders him to salvage the Lunatic Pandora from beneath the ocean, and Rinoa falls into a coma; whether Ultimecia forces this upon Rinoa, or if she collapses due to strain of having received Edea's sorceress power, is unknown.
Searching for a means to awaken Rinoa, Squall takes her to the Lunar Base to see Ellone, hoping she could cure Rinoa. Seemingly unaware of Ellone's proximity, Ultimecia seizes the opportunity and uses Rinoa to unlock Sorceress Adel's tomb, which was kept in space orbiting the planet. Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in space to die.
Meanwhile, Seifer has taken control of the Lunatic Pandora and triggered the Lunar Cry which brings monsters down to the planet from the Moon. Adel's unlocked tomb comes down with the monsters and Seifer captures Ellone who had escaped the Lunar Base on an escape pod, and brings her to the Lunatic Pandora for Ultimecia's use. Squall and his comrades have saved the now recovered Rinoa from space, and figured out Ultimecia's goal. They concoct a plan to halt Ultimecia's scheme with the Esthar scientist Dr. Odine: their plan is to defeat Adel, leaving Rinoa the only sorceress in the present era whom Ultimecia could control, and after she would take over Rinoa, Ellone would send both of their consciousnesses into the past, allowing Ultimecia to initiate time compression. Ellone would then send both of their minds back to their original bodies. To survive the time compression Squall and his friends would have to keep their bonds strong and wade through the compressing timelines and reach Ultimecia's era.
Ultimecia is confronted in her Master Room.
Ultimecia possesses Adel as she awakes from the frozen state she had been kept in the tomb, and orders Seifer to capture Rinoa. Ultimecia junctions Rinoa to Adel's body but after engaging Squall and his friends in battle, Adel is defeated and passes on her powers to Rinoa. Ultimecia possesses Rinoa, allowing Ellone to send both of their minds to the past, where Ultimecia casts time compression only to have it temporarily halted when Ellone sends their consciousnesses back to their respective eras. Squall uses the partial time compression to enter Ultimecia's future.
Squall and his allies enter Ultimecia Castle and after getting past the various traps and puzzles, confront Ultimecia in the Master Room. The SeeD battle Ultimecia who reaches into Squall's mind to find a power he values most. Using this information she summons Griever, the strongest Guardian Force in Squall's mind. In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII, Ultimecia unveils the party's fears of memory loss but claims it is not what they should fear, but the power of Griever, and orders the GF to unleash its ultimate attack, Shockwave Pulsar. After Griever's defeat, Ultimecia junctions herself to him, amplifying her power.
After Griever's body is destroyed, Ultimecia transforms and begins absorbing time, space and existence into her new body. She speaks of the futility of fighting against time and her final speech is distinctly different from her pre-battle lines, and she seems to be warning the party of something.
Ultimecia at Edea's Orphanage.
Despite her extensive powers, Ultimecia is unable to overcome her fate as the links that bind Squall and his friends protect them from time compression, and she falls in a massive explosion as time begins to decompress. As the fatally wounded Ultimecia cannot die until she passes on her sorceress power, she ends up in Edea's Orphanage of the past where she passes on her power to the Edea Kramer of that time. In doing so Ultimecia ultimately perpetuates her predestined defeat, while fading away in a cloud of purple smoke.
Gameplay
Template:See Also Ultimecia is fought a total of six times throughout Final Fantasy VIII. Twice within Edea, once within Adel, twice in her own body, and once when junctioned onto Griever. There are four boss battles at the climax of Final Fantasy VIII. The first phase is against normal Ultimecia. The second phase is against her newly created Guardian Force, Griever. She junctions herself to Griever during the third phase and the fourth and final phase is fought against Ultimecia in her existence-absorbing final form.
The video game website, 1up, ranked the final battle with Ultimecia #15 on their list of the 25 best final boss battles in video game history.
Musical Themes
Template:Listen Ultimecia has a variety of musical themes that accompany her presence throughout Final Fantasy VIII. Ultimecia's themes often contain the words, "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec", which are first heard in the game's opening, "Liberi Fatali". All of her themes tend to invoke feelings of melancholy and terror.
"Succession of Witches" is the song most connected with Ultimecia's presence throughout the story. It is accompanied by a chorus chanting the words, "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec". This song is usually heard when Ultimecia appears to Squall and his comrades within the body of a sorceress she has possessed.
"Premonition" plays during the times Ultimecia is fought within the body of Edea and also plays during the first phase of the final battle with Ultimecia in her real body, and during the battle with Griever, until Ultimecia orders him to use Shockwave Pulsar. The song then transitions into "The Legendary Beast".
"Compression of Time" is an ambient song played when Squall and his party enter the future through time compression. It features a synth saxophone accompanied intermittently by a chorus.
"The Castle" is the dungeon music for Ultimecia Castle that features a baroque organ, and is separated into three sections of varying emotions. The styles of these three sections vary from lighthearted, dark and sinister, and playful intimidation.
"The Extreme" is the game's final battle theme played during the confrontation with Ultimecia's ultimate form. This song is likely Ultimecia's most recognizable theme. A version of the song by the Black Mages is included on the The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight album. It is also used at various times during battles with her in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
Other Appearances
Dissidia Final Fantasy
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Ultimecia appears as a Chaos and stands as the antagonist representing Final Fantasy VIII, opposing Squall Leonhart.
Ultimecia is mostly seen allying with the Emperor in an effort to rein in the more destructive members of Chaos's warriors and break the cycle of war. She appears to manipulate Squall's chosen path towards his Crystal, and test his resolve to fight her. Her overall goal is to create a compressed world where everything could exist eternally.
Her alternate outfit is a beige palette swap with red claws.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon Ultimecia reappears as a Warrior of Chaos in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy alongside the other characters. She acts as Tifa's enemy, appearing to mock her about her friendship with the other Warriors of Cosmos. She notifies Tifa of Kain's treachery, pointing out he has attacked and incapacitated Zidane. Ultimecia acts as one of the final opponents of Scenario 012, fighting Tifa.
Her second alternate outfit is Edea's attire while under Ultimecia's possession, a black and purple dress with an elaborate headpiece.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon Ultimecia appears in the Event Music Sequence "Waltz for the Moon", but only as a possessed Edea.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
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Ultimecia appears as a boss-type enemy during Battle Music Sequence (BMS).
This section about a character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.
Pictlogica Final Fantasy
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Ultimecia appears in Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a boss.
This section about a character in Pictlogica Final Fantasy is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Template:Sideicon Ultimecia is an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
Final Fantasy Artniks
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This section in Final Fantasy Artniks is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Template:Sideicon Ultimecia features in cards in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game in her Dissidia Final Fantasy artwork and EX Mode render, as well as an artwork of her in her "god" form and her Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtail Call artwork. Her cards are water-elemental.
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Gallery
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Etymology
Ultimecia's name differs depending on the translation. Developer notes in the game's background files reveal the original intended spelling was Ultimisia which is somewhat of a cross between the name's commonly assumed origins of the adjective "ultimate" and the name "Artemisia."
The English and French translations' addition of "Ulti" to the name could be derived from the word, "ultimate." A definition of "ultimate" is to be the furthest away or the best of a kind; Ultimecia was assumed to, once time was compressed, possess every sorceress power bestowed upon humanity by the Great Hyne effectively becoming "the ultimate sorceress." Another theory is that her name derives from the spell Ultima. "Ultimate" comes from ultimare, which in Latin means "to be final, come to an end," befitting of Ultimecia since she may be the last sorceress.
The Spanish translation's take on the name (Artemisa) could be derived from Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt (also the Goddess of Childbirth, Virginity, Forests, and the Moon), and Zeus and the nymph Leto's controversial child who never married and remained chaste for all her days. Another possible origin is the spell Ultima which is called "Artema" in Spanish language versions.
The Italian and German translation's take on the name (Artemisia) calls back to at least three prominent historical women:
- Artemisia I of Caria (About 480 BC)
- Known as the "Tyrant of Halicarnassus", she fought alongside the Persians in the Battle of Salamis, but survived the battle using an unorthodox tactic; by sinking a friendly Persian vessel which made the Greeks think she was fighting for their side and backed off.
- Artemisia II of Caria (About 350 BC)
- The wife (and sister) of King Mausolus; she is known in history for her bizarre way of grieving from her husband's death and to memorialize him she had the Mausoleum of Mausolus built, that is known today as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World".
- Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1653)
- A female painter, whose theme in many of her paintings is female strength and sometimes even dominance over men.
In Italian culture "Artemisia" is a typical sorceress name.
Trivia
- As a sorceress, Ultimecia is almost the mirror opposite of Rinoa: Ultimecia is an evil sorceress with black wings, while Rinoa is pure and has white wings; Rinoa has black hair and Ultimecia has white-silver hair; Ultimecia wears a red dress, while Rinoa's sweeper is light-blue; Rinoa uses Angelo in battle and Ultimecia uses Griever; Griever is based on a lion, while Angelo is a dog.
- Design elements from Ultimecia's final form are seen in Anima from Final Fantasy X, most notably the inverted "lower body" which in both cases is crucial to their respective strongest attacks.
- The speech Ultimecia holds in Deling City was almost completely different in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII. She even mentions the words "final fantasy". The original speech can be read here.
- Ultimecia's plight is similar to several Greek tragedies involving self-fulfilling prophesies, such as Oedipus and Perseus. Both involve relatives of protagonists sentencing their infantile kin to die upon learning that they would die by their hand; the child is invariably saved and unknowingly fulfills his destiny. In a similar fashion, Ultimecia tried to eliminate SeeD, the children who would rise up to defeat her, but in so doing created the very circumstances that allowed herself to be defeated.
- Although not credited, Ultimecia is one of the few characters whose voice is heard during the game: her laugh is heard at the beginning of the final battle.
- Ultimecia is the first identifiably primary female antagonist in the series; although the Cloud of Darkness has a distinctly female appearance, and is referred to as 'she' in both Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, it is in fact genderless.
- Given the likelihood that Ultimecia was the only living sorceress of her time, as well as the fact she passed her powers on to Edea (a sorceress of the past) upon death, it is possible that Ultimecia is the last sorceress, unless another existed undiscovered in her time.
- She was listed in denofgeek.com's website as the 3rd most difficult boss in video gaming history.
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