Emperor Mateus The Emperor of Palamecia is the main antagonist of " Final Fantasy II " . He is the ruler of the Palamecian Empire and aims to conquer the world through demonic forces . Though known simply as the Emperor in " Final Fantasy II " , he is named Mateus in the game ' s Japan - exclusive novelization : " Final Fantasy II Nightmare ' s Labyrinth " by . His name , Mateus , is referred to in " Dissidia Final Fantasy " with his best weapon , Mateus ' s Malice . He is known as Empire in the " Dark Shadow Over Palakia " translation . Profile . Appearance . The Emperor wears golden armor with purple robes underneath . His hair is blond and spiked , with an extra - long ponytail , and purple ombre at the tip of the side bangs . His head is adorned with tiny sapphires , emeralds , opaques , and rubies . Four long spikes were also atop his head that were colored gold and possessing purple tips , which are heavily implied in the " Dissidia " series to be part of his crown ( even being given a metallic luster in the 2015 arcade version ) . Black and white stripes trace his ribs on his chestplate , and demonic looking faces embellish his waist and back . His gauntlets sport extended claws . The Emperor wears purple makeup on his eyes and lips , and a purple and gold crown depicting a serpent . He has at times worn a darker outfit , with a hairstyle that resembles a pair of demonic horns . This outfit exposes his hands , which have long fingernails painted black with golden lines , as well as rings on his middle and index fingers of his left hand . The pair of horns have golden ornaments as well as a crown with circular rubies . His " Dissidia " appearance gives him a scepter with a circular disc with curved spikes on top of the circles as well as two prongs at the center . With the exception of his Arubboth costume , the primary colors of the staff match with the color of his armor . Because his soul was split to dominate both sides of the afterlife , the Emperor carries on two appearances , each representing the spiritual element the form embodies . The first half ; Hell Emperor , Emperor of Hell , or simply Dark Emperor ; is almost bestial with a skull - like face and razor - sharp teeth , and snakes on his head similar to Medusa . He is covered with spines and wears a dark cape or cloak and has clawed hands . His battle sprite in the NES / DOS and mobile / Steam versions seems to lack a lower half , although in the " Dissidia " subseries , as well as the PlayStation / GBA versions , he is shown to have it . In the former , he overall has a similar build to his human self , with his lower half having the armor appear darker than in the original human form . At least in the case of Violet Robes , his skin also darkens in this form . The other half , the Light Emperor , has an otherworldly appearance and always has his eyes closed . He has six wings similar to a , and a golden gate on his back . He at times appears to be made of clouds and wears a light - colored robe . The design may be based on . The Light Emperor ' s portrait is based on Mateus ' s appearance from by Yoshitaka Amano . Personality . The Emperor of Palamecia is cunning , subtle , rude and arrogant . He calls Firion by name after he defeats the Emperor ' s Behemoth , but other times calls them insects or worms when Firion ' s party foils his plans . The Emperor usually never fights unless he has to , and has his minions do the work for him . The Emperor abhors humanity , and acts as their judge , declaring humanity to have a flawed sense of justice and having forsaken love , and being inherently violent . As the Emperor views humans as interchangeable , he sees himself as superior to them and thus views himself as the only one capable of ruling . The Emperor is implied to be skilled with developing advanced weaponry , as the " Dreadnought " airship was implied to have been developed by him . He is described as callous in his bio in " Dissidia Final Fantasy " . There are subtle personality differences between the Emperor ' s different incarnations in the mortal world and the afterlives . The Dark Half is arrogant and destructive to the point of no longer caring about merely ruling the Palamecian Empire , seeking to destroy the world with the powers he gained upon his return from Hell . The Light Half initially comes off as courteous and apologetic , but is revealed to be a hypocrite and a liar , containing the same misanthropic spirit as the Emperor . In the novel " Muma no Meikyū " it is stated Palamecia is cursed with demonic influences that corrupt its emperors . The demon , desiring to rule the world by human proxy , turns men into malicious masterminds by polluting their thoughts with its malice . This is the only insight into Emperor Mateus ' s backstory , though it ' s never been supported as canon in the game . Abilities . Even before he crowns himself the Emperor of Hell , Mateus is incredibly powerful , able to create cyclones destructive enough to devastate entire towns and lift one of his castles to use as a mobile fortress . He casts strong Lightning - elemental spells and uses a variety of protection spells , such as Protect , Wall , Shell , Haste and Blink . The opening FMV included in the PlayStation version of " Final Fantasy II " implies the Emperor can manipulate the tide of battle via energy from his fingertips , even when he isn ' t directly at the battlefield . He can teleport , or at least leave behind an illusion of himself , as evidenced by how he traps Firion and his party at the Coliseum . Upon his death , and eventual rebirth , the Emperor gains the ability to summon Pandaemonium to the surface world as well as a slew of new demonic powers . His physical attacks have a drain effect , allowing him to steal lifeforce from enemies to replenish himself and heal injuries . His physical strikes sometimes poison or stun whom they strike . He still uses his Thunder spell and has gained a high level Flare attack and the original Meteor spell , Starfall . The Emperor is nigh invincible to most physical attacks unless it ' s against the Blood Sword or the attacker is augmented by Haste or Temper . In the novelization of " Final Fantasy II " , Mateus is strong enough to defeat Satan in battle , and sold his soul to him for the power to summon demons from Hell . His light half is possibly more powerful than his Hell counterpart , as the Heaven Emperor ' s Flare and Starfall attacks are stronger and he can use two new equally dangerous attacks , Holy and Blaze . He can even return dead souls their bodies . Story . The Emperor begins his campaign for world domination by summoning an army of creatures from Hell . Several kingdoms , like Fynn , Kashuan and Deist , resist , but are subdued . In the case of the militarily - powerful homeland of the Dragoons , Deist , the Emperor orders the poisoning of their wyverns ' water supplies , leaving the Dragoons powerless . The novelization develops on the origin of his powers , attributing it to Satan , lord of Pandaemonium , with whom Mateus makes a pact to summon demonic forces into the mortal world . In the novel " Muma no Meikyū " the demon that corrupts the minds of Palamecian emperors originates from the beginning of the world when it became trapped within the indestructible " Stone of Iludia " and swore revenge . After ascending to the throne , Mateus exiled his mother , Airu , to the deserts of Palamecia , and yet she still spends her life trying to find a way to save him , although she never manages to do this . The royalty of Kashuan , which survived the Palamecian Empire ' s attack , founded the Wild Rose Rebellion alongside the kingdom of Fynn . The Empire attacks Fynn to destroy the resistance and after capturing it , the Emperor begins the construction of the fearsome " Dreadnought " . After Firion and the rest of the party gather the Sunfire and Princess Hilda is captured by the " Dreadnought " while traveling to Kashuan on Cid ' s airship , the Emperor replaces the captive Hilda with a Lamia Queen . After the " Dreadnought " is destroyed , the Imperial Lamia is taken to Altair , and later felled . The Emperor announces a tournament at the Palamecian Coliseum , and makes Hilda the prize . Firion and his comrades attempt to rescue her alongside Prince Gordon of Kashuan . At the Coliseum , the party meets the Emperor personally for the first time . After defeating a Behemoth pit against them , Firion and his friends attempt to kill the Emperor as they approach him to take the prize , but it is a trap , and the Emperor locks the party away . Meanwhile , the Emperor continues his assault on the land above . After the Liberation of Fynn , the Wild Rose Rebellion acquires the Ultima Tome , but by that time the Emperor has summoned a giant Cyclone and crushed the towns of Paloom , Altair , Gatrea and Poft , and is approaching Fynn . The Emperor also was present inside the Cyclone to personally oversee the intended destruction of Fynn . The party makes their way inside by summoning a wyvern , and makes another assassination attempt on the Emperor . The Emperor initially assumes they are not important enough for him to fight despite acknowledging that they revived the Wyverns of Deist he had wiped out earlier , and thus deploys several of his royal guard against them . After two units of his royal guard are wiped out , the Emperor decides he may have underestimated them , and decides to dispose of them personally . The Emperor is killed in the fight , and the Dark Knight Leon proclaims himself Emperor of Palamecia and takes over the Palamecian army . After breaking into Castle Palamecia , the party confront the Dark Knight and the Emperor appears in the hall in a new demonic form . Upon his death , Mateus had arrived in Hell and defeated Satan before proceeding to claim the throne of Pandemonium for himself . After Leon protests that he has no intention of relinquishing the title of Emperor , Mateus reveals he no longer cares about ruling the Empire , but intends to destroy the world with his new powers , starting with the surviving members of the Wild Rose Rebellion . Ricard summons the wyvern to get the party out of Palamecia while he confronts the revived Emperor , who slaughters him with ease . While it is unknown if the Emperor intentionally allowed for himself to be killed to arrive to Hell , as he already had power over Hell - spawn , it is likely it was his true intention all along . After killing Ricard , Mateus summons Pandaemonium to the mountains where Palamecia once stood , and resumes his world - domination campaign . The party travels through the Jade Passage and breaks into Castle Pandemonium and after defeating each and every one of the Emperor ' s hellish generals , Firion and his friends confront the Emperor head on . The Emperor is defeated , and fades away , although not before expressing disbelief that he could lose against the same group twice . Soul of Rebirth . In the " " , " 20th Anniversary " and mobile platform versions , something unforeseen happens when the Emperor is killed : his soul splits in two , one going to Hell becoming the lord of Pandemonium , the other going to Heaven and becoming the lord of Arubboth . With his new powers the second Emperor summons the fallen souls of Minwu , Josef , Scott and Ricard as representatives of those who fell in the wake of the Empire ' s conquests . As they reach his throne room within the walls of Arubboth , the Emperor asks for their forgiveness and offers them eternal life . They consider his offer , but the souls of the people they care about appear and tell them to look past the Emperor ' s charade . The party realize they are being tricked , and that this Emperor is no different from the other , and attack the Emperor ' s light side while Firion ' s group battle his dark counterpart . The Light Emperor vows to have them know eternal suffering due to their refusal to forgive him , and as he dies , tells them the struggles of violence and war will continue as long as humans exist . Minwu comments that if anyone can change man ' s violent legacy , it would be Firion and his friends . He then fades away just as his dark counterpart does so . Gameplay . The Emperor is fought three times in " Final Fantasy II " . He is first fought in human form in the Cyclone , where he fights in the company of two Royal Guard s and a Wood Golem . He uses buffing magic like Haste VIII and Blink VIII , with Thunder X as his only damaging spell . The Emperor of Hell is the game ' s final boss , fought in the throne room of Pandaemonium . He uses Flare XVI and Starfall X as his offensive spells , and powerful physical attacks that heal him . He uses high - level status magic like Curse XVI and Slow XVI . The Emperor of Hell is resistant to or absorbs all types of elemental damage . The Emperor of Heaven is the final boss of Soul of Rebirth . His powers are more offensively based , using Flare XVI , Holy XVI , Blaze XVI , and Starfall XVI . His only status spell is Dispel XVI , which serves to weaken the party ' s resistance to his other spells . Musical themes . As of the Wonderswan Color remakes , the original boss theme of " Final Fantasy II " , " Battle Scene 2 " , was used exclusively as the final boss theme , while arrangements of the game ' s two battle themes were used for every other boss battle . Thus , " Battle Scene 2 " became associated with the Emperor alone as it only plays in the final battle ( s ) since the aforementioned version of the game . Aside from this , the first fight with the Emperor utilized the boss theme Battle Theme B , which he shared with the Behemoth . A rearrangement by The Black Mages titled " Battle Scene II " appears on their first studio album . Another arrangement appears on the " Dissidia Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack " . Voice . In the " Dissidia " subseries , he is voiced in the Japanese versions by Kenyu Horiuchi and in the English versions by Christopher Corey Smith . In the latter , Smith voices him with a deep , vaguely British accent with a bit of a dramatic flair , similar to British singer and actor , in particular his role as from the Jim Henson film " " ( who the Emperor coincidentally has some slight resemblance to ) . Other appearances . Emperor Mateus has made appearances in the following games in the " Final Fantasy " series : Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . Emperor Mateus has made key guest appearances in the following non - " Final Fantasy " games :