Ultimecia Castle

Template:Sideicon Template:Location Ultimecia Castle is the final dungeon of Final Fantasy VIII. The monsters fought within the castle have random levels. Transport to and from Ultimecia's world and the normal world can be done via four portals outside the castle, which lead to various locations on the world map.

Story

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

Squall and his friends travel to Ultimecia Castle in the future when Sorceress Ultimecia compresses time into a world where only she can live. Time compression never fully completes—it is temporarily halted by Ellone when she severs Ultimecia's mental link to the past—and the party counteracts it by believing in each others' existence, becoming able to exist in Ultimecia's world by traveling through the partially compressed time.

The party emerges on the shore at the site where Edea's Orphanage used to be back in their own time. Bodies of the White SeeD lie on the shore, Squall mentally noting that the SeeD have been fighting sorceresses through generations. The party finds a massive chain anchored at the shoreline and walks it to find Ultimecia Castle floating in the middle of the world with portals to various places in the world outside.

Upon confronting Ultimecia in the clock tower she doesn't act surprised, as if she has been waiting for them to show up. She only comments laconically that the party must be the "Legendary SeeD" she must face. Ultimecia reaches into Squall's mind to discover the strongest force he can visualize, and creates Griever from Squall's impression of an ultimate Guardian Force, summoning it against him and his friends.

The party perseveres and Ultimecia begins to absorb all of time and space into her body to become a living god. The SeeDs destroy her and Ultimecia evaporates in a large explosion, sending her body along with Squall's back in time. The others find their way back to their world by believing in each other's existence and focusing their thoughts of a place they want to return to. As Ultimecia is felled the time compression spell breaks and the timeline reverts to normal.

Spoilers end here.

Quests

Unlocking sealed abilities

Ultimecia-Castle-Abilities-Locked-FFVIII — The party's abilities are locked.

The castle is a maze-like structure. Ultimecia's Chamber, where the final battle is staged, can be accessed right from the beginning, but when the party first enters they can only select the Attack command, as all their other commands have been sealed. To get the abilities back the player must locate and defeat Ultimecia's minions. After each defeat, the player can select one ability to unlock.

The following powers are sealed until the player unlocks them:

Draw (if the player wishes to draw missed Guardian Forces, this command should be unlocked first).
Save (Though save points will provide the normal dialogue, the Save command will be grayed out in the menu).
Resurrect (If a character is in KO status, they will remain so until the Resurrect ability is unlocked. Even Phoenix will miss).
GF (All GF abilities accessible in battle and from the menu, such as Card Mod, are sealed until this is unlocked).
Item (Disabled in both battle and from the field menu).
Command (in-battle commands, such as Devour).
Magic
Limit Break

If the player exits the castle, a message will say the seal has been temporarily broken. The seal is only in effect inside the castle.

There are eight minions in total. From each of the minions a Guardian Force, which may have been missed previously, can be drawn. Tiamat, for instance, holds Eden, and is an easier way to get it than from the Ultima Weapon. This feature is not included in the original Japanese version of the game.

See the bosses' individual articles for how to get to and defeat each of them. See layout section of this article to see where in the castle the bosses are.

Rosetta Stone

The castle's waterway is flooded, but the player can drain the waters to reveal a box containing a Rosetta Stone. The player can find the Armory Key from a bridge on the way to the top of the castle, but the key will fall if the player runs on the bridge; if the player walks they can pick it up from the bridge. If the player lets the key fall it can be picked up from the canal in the dungeon where water runs from the waterway. In the dungeon the player must use the lever to open the Floodgate and drain the waterway.

There is a way to the waterway through the Courtyard but fence bars deny access. Each of the fence bars corresponds to a key in the organ in the Chapel, and if all keys are pressed exactly the same time the bars will disappear; the player must do this perfectly -- if even one bar remains they can't get through.

Entering the waterway from the Courtyard when the water has been drained finds a box with the Rosetta Stone inside. There is a door the player can open nearby to get to the dungeon.

Omega Weapon

Main article: Omega Weapon (Final Fantasy VIII)

The optional superboss, Omega Weapon, is found within this castle and is labeled the strongest monster in the game. The Final Fantasy VIII Omega Weapon is among the strongest of its kind in all of the Final Fantasy series. To reveal Omega Weapon the player must ring the bell in the room right outside the Art Gallery and hurry to the Chapel where Omega Weapon has appeared out of the black cloud within a time limit.

Layout

Front Gate

On the outside of castle the party can find a save point and a hidden draw point.

Draw points: Flare (hidden, never refills)

Hall

The lobby that welcomes the SeeDs stepping into the castle. This area branches into four paths. The first one is to the left leading to the Grand Hall. Right of the staircase leads to the right Stairway Hall A. The door across it leads to the chandelier above the Grand Hall leading to the Terrace. Left of the staircase leads to the left Stairway Hall A. At the staircase, one of Ultimecia's minions, the Sphinxaur, awaits. There is also a party switch point.

Grand Hall

The Grand Hall Has two staircases leading to the Terrace, but both are broken. The door at the middle leads to the Courtyard. The trapdoor leads to the Wine Cellar. There is also a party switch point.

Terrace

The area where Ultimecia's minion, Krysta, lingers. Ultimecia's Tower can be seen in the distance.

Draw points:Meteor (hidden, never refills)
Guardian Forces: Carbuncle

Wine Cellar

The spiraling staircase leads to a minion Tri-Point.

Draw points: Aura (hidden, never refills)
Guardian Forces: Siren

Courtyard

The path diverges to the Waterway on the right and the Chapel at the middle. A party switch point is found here.

Items: Key to the Treasury (in the fountain after the Waterway is drained).
Draw points: Slow

Stairway Hall A (Left)

Entered from the Hall, this path leads to the Treasure Room and the Elevator Hall.

Stairway Hall A (Right)

Entered from the Hall, this path contains a party switch point. This path leads to the Art Gallery, and is where the player rings a bell to summon the Omega Weapon.

Treasure Room

Accessed from the left Stairway Hall A, in the path leading to the Elevator Hall. The player needs the Treasury Key to get in, found in front of the fountain on the Courtyard. Inside are four crates with a puzzle. Solving this puzzle summons Catoblepas, one of Ultimecia's eight minions.

Draw points: Holy (hidden, never refills)
Guardian Forces: Alexander

Art Gallery: Main article: Art Gallery (Final Fantasy VIII)

A picture gallery entered from the right Stairway Hall A, this path leads to the Stairway Hall B. The area contains a puzzle, that when solved, summons Trauma, one of Ultimecia's eight minions.

Draw points: Meltdown (hidden, never refills)
Guardian Forces: Leviathan

Stairway Hall B

This area diverges to two: the Passage Way on the left, and the Floodgate in the middle.

Passage Way.

Passage Way

Contains a hidden save point. This path leads to the Elevator Hall and must be used if the player wants to reach the Storage Room.

Draw points: Cura

Elevator Hall

The elevators contain party switch points. Party A accessing this area from the left Stairway Hall A awaits Party B coming in from the Passageway. Party B will go on the elevator to lift the elevator up for Party A (party B must be heavier than party A). The path above leads to the Storage Room.

Storage Room

A dead-end.

Items: Floodgate Key (used to access a hidden area in the Waterway).
Draw points: Curaga

Floodgate

The path diverges to two; the right door leads to the Armory, while the left door leads to the Prison. The lever before the left door controls the drainage in the Waterway, but the player must use the Floodgate Key to activate the lever; if the lever is pulled, the water is drained, making the Waterway accessible.

Prison

A dead-end. The door will be locked once the player enters. This room contains a corpse holding the Prison Key. Once the player retrieves it, Ultimecia's minion Red Giant will appear to stop the party from escaping. The door to the left leads to a ledge overlooking the Waterway.

Items: Prison Key
Draw points: Full-Life (hidden, never refills)
Guardian Forces: Pandemona

Armory

A dead-end. Accessed from the Floodgate via the Armory Key retrieved at the Bridge. Here, the player enters a fight with a Vysage, Lefty, and Righty which is revealed to be Ultimecia's minion Gargantua.

Draw points: Ultima (hidden never refills)
Guardian Force: Cerberus

Chapel

Accessed from the Courtyard, contains an organ and a strange, dark, purplish cloud that is actually the Omega Weapon that can be summoned out of the cloud via the bell in the right Stairway Hall A. The organ also has a function—striking all the keys on the organ at the same time will open the access to the Waterway from the Courtyard. Although the party leader has no animation for striking the organ keys, the sounds still plays and the bars will be lowered.

Draw points: Dispel

Waterway

Initially flooded, the waters can be drained using the lever in the Floodgate. Divided into the top level and the bottom level. The top accessed through the Bridge, the bottom through the Courtyard—a fence bars access until all the organ keys in the Chapel are struck.

Items: Rosetta Stone (after the waterway is drained of water).

Bridge

Accessed through the Chapel, a rickety wooden bridge connects the Clock Tower. There is an object, the Armory Key used to access the Armory, retrieved by walking slowly on the bridge. If the key falls, it can be found in the Floodgate room. Across the bridge, the path diverges: right goes to the Waterway, and left to the Clock Tower.

Items: Armory Key

Clock Tower

A spiraling staircase accessed from the Bridge. A hidden save point is at the base. Along the way, the player can reach the swinging pendulum, grab it and cross to the other side, where one of Ultimecia's eight minions, Tiamat, awaits. Incidentally, on the clockface on the Clock Tower, one of the hands points towards the number VIII.

Draw points: Triple (Tiamat's balcony, hidden, never refills), Stop (behind the clock's panel).
Guardian Forces: Eden

Master Room

Ultimecia awaits at the tower's Master Room. A save point can be found at the end of the path near the entrance to the Master Room.

Enemies

Main Hall

Anacondaur
Belhelmel
Blobra
Buel
Caterchipillar
Fastitocalon
Glacial Eye
Snow Lion
Sphinxaur (Sphinxara), (Jelleye, Forbidden, Tri-Face) (Boss)

Grand Hall

Balcony

Wine Cellar

Elevator Hall

Storage Room

Treasure Room

Passageway

Art Gallery

Courtyard

Waterway

Prison

Armory

Turtapod
Raldo
Gargantua (Boss)
Lefty (Boss)
Righty (Boss)
Vysage (Boss)

Chapel

Stairway Hall

Clock Tower

Clock Tower Balcony

Clock Tower's Gear Room

Master Room

Oilboyle
Tonberry
Ultimecia (Boss)
Griever (Boss)
Ultimecia - Griever (Boss)
Helix (Boss)
Ultimecia (Final Boss)

Musical themes

Template:Listen "The Castle" is the theme of Ultimecia Castle. A piano arrangement is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VIII album, and the theme is also downloadable for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Other appearances

Dissidia Final Fantasy

Template:Sideicon

File:Clocktower Dissidia.jpg

Ultimecia's Castle in Dissidia.

The Clock Tower arena is the representative arena of Final Fantasy VIII in Dissidia Final Fantasy under the name Ultimecia's Castle. It is here Squall and the Warrior of Light fight Ultimecia in their storylines, and Zidane battles Garland. It is also where the Warrior talks with Cosmos and where Cloud departs from Firion, Cecil, and Tidus.

Ultimecia castle concept art — Concept Art.

The arena features a large open central area with four tall pillars in the corners and a spiral wooden platform with railings. The wooden platforms are destructible, and also break if a character stands on them too long. The side of the area has a long alcove lined with gears, and the top has a small balcony that can be destroyed if a character is knocked into it. This stage is notably the only one to have a Banish Trap set in the ceiling as well as in the ground.

In the stage's Ω version, at times during a battle the screen will blur as time compression magic takes effect: any destroyed platforms will reverse and reform, the gears will begin to spin, damaging any character that touches them, and the Bravery pool rapidly randomizes. After a period of time the effects end and the stage returns to normal.

The Time Warp is the battlegen item obtained through stage destruction in Ultimecia's Castle. After clearing Inward Chaos, the Mallet becomes available as a rare battlegen item obtained through stage destruction.

Gallery

Trivia

Ultimecia castle armory — Castle Armory with red blood.

The Ultimecia Castle's armory originally had red blood on the wall, but in the localized versions it has turned green.
Ultimecia Castle has three clocks, but none of them move. One clock is in the entrance room, one in the art gallery's floor and the most notable of all, in the clock tower. Interestingly, while inside the clock tower, the player can observe the gears moving, yet, on the outside, the clock is stopped. It may be due to the Stop draw point inside the tower, or it could be due to the fact the castle exists in a state of compressing time.
Granaldo, Raldo and Oilboyle are the only previous bosses that appear as wild enemies in random encounters in this place.

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