"Once you are gone, eternal life will be mine!"

—Xande, when the Warriors of Light confront him.

Xande (ザンデ, Zande^?) is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy III. He is a powerful wizard and student of the Great Magus Noah. When his master gives him the gift of mortality, the thought of dying sends Xande over the edge. Before the DS remake, his name was originally fan translated as Zande. Although he is mentioned several times in the course of the game, he appears in person only once, when the Warriors of Light battle him.

Appearance and PersonalityEdit

Not much is stated about Xande's personality, but it could be implied that he is misguided and may have no care for anything but his own survival. Xande has white hair and dark blue skin with bright yellow eyes. He appears with great muscle mass shown by his exposed upper body, he wears a white cape (blue in the NES version), orange pants, an orange and blue sash wrapped around his waist with what appears to be a cat shaped buckle at the top-center of it, and brown boots.

StoryEdit

Master Xande was originally one of Great Magus Noah's students, along with Master Doga and Master Unei. Both Master Doga and Master Unei were given great magical powers. Master Xande was given a much stranger gift, the gift of mortality. Unable to appreciate his gift, Master Xande was driven mad by the thought of dying. In a blind rage, Master Xande sought to disrupt the balance of light and darkness, by draining the crystals of their power. By doing so, the world would be flooded in darkness, and time would freeze. Thus, he would no longer have to fear death.

He set up base in the Crystal Tower, and successfully drained the Earth and Water Crystals. This created an imbalance of power, summoning a tide of darkness to cover the world. A portion of the world was ripped from the planet and sent into the sky above the tide, as time froze on the surface world. The two remaining crystals were on this new floating continent, but it mattered not to Xande: the surface was frozen, and immortality was his again. However, he became wary of the prospect that the floating continent's residents might some day return to the surface, and began sending monsters there to try and destroy the continent.

When the Warriors of Light manage to dispel the tide of darkness, they confront Master Xande in the Crystal Tower. He has managed to drain all the crystals now, but the tide of darkness has not returned. Though Xande catches them with the Curse of the Five Wyrms, the Warriors are rescued by the appearances of five pure souls. Without any more tricks to use, Xande fights the Warriors of Light and is killed, but his actions have had an unknown side effect. By creating such a huge imbalance in light and darkness, the Cloud of Darkness appears, revealing that it was commanding Xande all along wanting to return everything to nothingness.

Xande is mentioned by a Gulgan in Replito when it is stated that someone is attempting to create an imbalance of light and darkness, not knowing that this will destroy the world.

BattleEdit

Main article: Xande (Boss)

Xande is fought as a boss on the top of the Crystal Tower. Recolored versions called Xande's Clones appear as enemies in the World of Darkness.

Other AppearancesEdit

Theatrhythm Final FantasyEdit

"From Great Magus Noah did Xande receive the gift of a mortal life, a gift which was most unwelcome. Desiring immortality and power, Xande trespassed into darkness, never realizing the true value of his gift..."

—Theatrhythm Final Fantasy CollectaCard description.

Xande appears as an enemy in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Airborne BrigadeEdit

Xande appears in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as an enemy during an event called "Shattered World". In battle, Xande uses Meteor.

Enemy Icon.

EX Boss Xande sighted inside a Gate Crystal.

Meteor.

Final Fantasy Trading Card GameEdit

Xande appears as a card in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. His cards are of the Fire set.

Trading card with Xande's Yoshitaka Amano artwork.

Trading card with Xande from Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

GalleryEdit

Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Xande (NES).

Xande's battle sprite (NES).

Xande's battle render (DS).

EtymologyEdit

Xande is possibly a shortened form of Xander, which in turn is derived from the Latin Alexander and Ancient Greek Aléxandros, meaning "defender of men". Since humans are naturally mortal, Noah's gift could be seen as appointing Xande to protect the innocent to their natural death.

TriviaEdit

• Xande has the distinction of being the first villain in the Final Fantasy franchise to try and stop time to escape his fate of mortality, an act that would be repeated by Ultimecia in Final Fantasy VIII with Time Compression.
• There is a battlegen called "Xande's Hatred" found in the Crystal Tower in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.