Celes Chere General Celes Chere , also spelled as Celes Chère , is a playable character in " Final Fantasy VI " . A genetically enhanced Magitek Knight initially serving as a general of the Gestahlian Empire , she becomes disillusioned with the empire and turns her back on them to join the Returners . Celes is Locke Cole ' s love interest , and works as a foil to Terra Branford , their character development and abilities paralleling each other . Profile . Appearance . Celes is eighteen years old and has long blond hair , blue eyes , and pale skin . In concept art and renders in the " Final Fantasy Anthology " release , she wears yellow and purple armor with high boots and a sword as her weapon . In - game , Celes ' s sprite wears a long white cloak over a green leotard with white boots . When disguised as the opera singer Maria , Celes wears an elaborate white and beige gown , and keeps her hair tied back in a ribbon . Personality . Initially , Celes is aloof and independent . She refuses Locke ' s assistance , preferring to remain imprisoned to face her execution with pride . Celes ' s bond with the other party members forms slowly , and outside of Terra and Locke , few of them take kindly to her when they first meet . She tells them to judge her based on her actions rather than trying to convince them by words . Despite her upbringing in the Empire and having committed atrocities herself in the past , Celes ' s morals don ' t allow her to support their more egregious acts , and she accepts the mantle of traitor to try to stop them . Although she protests the notion of being " love - starved " or suited to perform an opera , her actions don ' t support her statements . As she becomes attached to Locke , she worries he sees her as a replacement for Rachel and is hurt when he questions her loyalty . She has difficulty connecting with the other members of the group even after they begin to trust her ; when she tries to talk to Terra , for instance , she misunderstands Terra ' s questions about love and takes it as mockery . Celes is adaptable , capable of deceit and sabotage as well as martial skills . Even after cutting ties with the Empire , Celes retains a degree of pride in her rank and skills in battle . Her time with the Returners gives her a different perspective and outlook on life , and she forms a strong bond to the group becoming a driving force to bring them together . Celes finds genuine companionship preferable to the power and status the Empire gave her . Story . Cid has known Celes since she was a child and doted on her like a daughter , but she was forced to become a Magitek Knight . Celes became one of the Empire ' s top generals , but retained a good and honorable spirit . As a general Celes led an Imperial attack on Maranda , subjugating the town to Imperial rule , and met Terra but their first meeting is not elaborated on . Two years into the Third Gestahlian Campaign Celes became disillusioned with the Empire ' s conquest and was imprisoned in South Figaro to be executed while the Empire occupied the town to push north into Narshe . The specific reason for her arrest is never mentioned , although it is implied she spoke out against Kefka ' s plan of poisoning Doma . During Locke ' s campaign to stall the Empire ' s advance he finds Celes in chains and releases her , helping her to safety . Celes accompanies Locke to Narshe and joins the Returners to defend the town from Kefka and his troops . Celes meets Terra , and recognizes her as a former imperial . In the battle ' s aftermath Terra transforms into an esper and flies to the southwest . Finding her in Zozo , Ramuh advises the Returners to infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility and free the espers there in the hopes one of them can help her . Celes volunteers to lead a team to Vector to infiltrate the facility , and Locke accompanies her . In Jidoor , the group discovers Celes bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous opera star Maria . With the knowledge that the owner of the airship " Blackjack " , Setzer Gabbiani , intends to kidnap and marry Maria , the Returners set a trap for him at the Opera House . Though initially hesitant , Celes impersonates Maria and takes her place in the opera , the plan being that Setzer will kidnap her and Celes can sneak Locke and the others aboard his airship . Despite interference from Ultros at the climax of Act I , the plan succeeds and the group boards the " Blackjack " . Using a two - headed coin borrowed from Edgar , Celes bets her hand in marriage against Setzer ' s airship and wins , earning his allegiance . Though aware he was cheated , Setzer is delighted by the trickery and agrees to her terms , ferrying them to Albrook on the southern continent . Infiltrating the Magitek Research Facility , the group frees several espers from captivity but the espers are too weak and transform into magicite , entrusting their power to the Returners . Cid approaches Celes and asks her about the rumors that she had feigned treachery to infiltrate the Returners as a spy . Kefka appears and taunts the group , claiming Celes had deceived them and was loyal to the Empire . Locke grows hesitant and Kefka has his soldiers attack them . Celes spirits Kefka and his soldiers away along with herself , buying the others time to escape the facility to the " Blackjack " and flee Vector . With their new magicite powers and Terra ' s true heritage as a half - esper revealed , the Returners open the sealed gate to the Esper World . The espers decimate the Empire and Emperor Gestahl calls a truce , asking the Returners to join him in locating the espers before they cause further chaos . Terra and Locke are dispatched to Thamasa under the command of General Leo Christophe . The ninja mercenary Shadow and Celes are part of the Imperial force accompanying them , Celes retaking her rank as general . Locke attempts to approach her but she refuses to speak to him . The Empire - Returner alliance turns out to be a trap — when Terra and Locke locate the espers with Strago ' s help , Kefka arrives with a force of Imperial soldiers and kills the espers , claiming their magicite , and incapacitates the Returners and Leo ' s men alike . When Leo attempts to stop Kefka , Kefka slays him . Leo is laid to rest in Thamasa and Celes rejoins the Returners . Gestahl and Kefka enter the Esper World and raise the Floating Continent , the Warring Triad at its summit . The Returners storm the continent to confront the pair and Celes attempts to reason with the emperor . Gestahl paralyzes Celes ' s allies and offers her the chance to rule the world with him and Kefka . Kefka hands Celes a sword and tells her to kill them , but Celes stabs Kefka instead . He flies into a rage , and demands the Triad give him their power . Kefka kills Gestahl when he intervenes and knocks Celes aside , moving the Warring Triad out of alignment . Shadow buys time for Celes and the others to escape , but the damage is done : Kefka has disrupted the balance of power between the gods and drastically shifted the face of the planet . A year later Celes awakes from a coma on a Solitary Island in Cid ' s care who tells her the world has been sliding further into ruin and whatever survivors remained on the island with them have perished or killed themselves . Celes repays his kindness by caring for him while he is ill and depending on the quality of food she feeds him Cid will either live or die . If he dies , Celes travels to the northern part of the island and leaps into the sea to kill herself . She survives and washes ashore where she finds a wounded bird , its wound wrapped in a bandana . Celes takes this as a sign Locke is alive and finds a letter from Cid , directing her to a raft hidden in the basement of their home . If Cid is saved he shows Celes the raft himself . Celes leaves the island to return to the mainland and find her friends . Celes lands near Albrook and continues north to Tzen , reuniting with Sabin . His safety convinces Celes the other Returners are still alive . The two travel east to Mobliz and find Terra caring for its orphaned children since Kefka ' s Light of Judgment destroyed the town . Though they help defend the village from the demon Humbaba , Terra is struggling to understand her budding love for the children and remains in the village . In Nikeah , the leader of the Crimson Robbers bears a suspicious resemblance to Edgar . Following the robbers on their ferry to South Figaro and through a cave into Figaro Castle ' s engine room , Edgar drops the charade and rejoins the two . The three use Figaro Castle to burrow east to Kohlingen where they find Setzer in a drunken stupor since losing the " Blackjack " in the apocalypse . Celes convinces him to rejoin the fight , and Setzer proclaims they ' ll retrieve another airship , the " Falcon " , formerly belonging to his friend Darill . At the depths of Darill ' s Tomb Setzer raises the " Falcon " and the four take to the skies , the new airship filling them with hope that they have a chance to set things right . The former Returners are reunited , and the group land atop Kefka ' s Tower and confront him as the God of Magic since he has drained the Warring Triad on their strength . At the tower ' s summit the group finds Kefka basking in his power , declaring the lives of mortals meaningless and insignificant . The group rejects Kefka ' s claims , telling him they ' ve each found meaning in their lives even in the ruined world — Celes cites her ability to find acceptance from Locke . The group engages Kefka and his servants in a final battle . With Kefka ' s death the tower begins to collapse and magic vanishes from the world . Terra uses the last of her powers to lead the group to safety . On the way out , Celes drops the bandana she found on the Solitary Island and rushes back for it . The floor collapses under her but Locke dives to take her hand and pulls her to safety , berating her for risking her life for it . If Locke has not joined the Returners for the final battle , Setzer instead dives to save Celes , reminding her she promised to perform the Maria scene from the opera for him . Celes comments how the bandana is her good - luck - charm and mentions how she hopes Locke will be there to look out for her in the future . As the group escapes in the " Falcon " Terra ' s powers give out and she falls through the air . Setzer dives forward to catch her , Celes pulling her to safety . Gameplay . Celes is a Rune Knight , has very balanced stats and a wide range of equipment , making her useful in both physical damage roles and magical damage roles . Her equipment includes all female - exclusive equipment , swords ( including Ultima Weapon and Lightbringer ) , maces , some daggers , heavy armor , some hats and robes , and all shields . She is one of the two characters to learn Magic abilities naturally by levelling up . Her ability is Runic , which negates the next magical ability used and heals Celes an MP amount equal to the MP cost of the ability . Her Desperation Attack is Spinning Edge , which deals magical damage to one enemy . Creation and development . After it was decided " Final Fantasy VI " would feature an ensemble cast with no clear main protagonist , everyone in the development team was encouraged to provide ideas for characters and their episodes . Celes ' s character and story were colored by influence from Yoshinori Kitase . Celes was originally meant to be a " conflicted spy " archetype — a spy working for the antagonists , but swayed by the benevolence of the people she was supposed to be spying on and how nice Locke was to her . She was to be psychologically unstable , like Kefka , due to a similar magic infusion process . Although the " conflicted spy " idea was not used in the final game , the archetype was used for Cait Sith in " Final Fantasy VII " . Celes was Yoshinori Kitase ' s favorite " Final Fantasy VI " character from a developer ' s point of view . Kitase has stated that Celes did not have as much of a role at first , but this changed later in development . Kitase has later commented him having taken a liking to Celes ended up making her a more important character in the game than originally envisioned : The scene where Celes is being tortured by the Empire was removed for the Game Boy Advance release of " Final Fantasy VI " . This is because the original " Final Fantasy VI " was created before the Japanese ratings board , CERO , existed . Violence is rated strictly in Japan , and Square wanted a CERO A rating for the Game Boy Advance version , which would have been impossible if a game depicts violence against a restrained human . Musical themes . Celes is the only character other than Terra introduced without her theme music ; instead , the song " Under Martial Law " is playing . It is not until after her performance in the opera that Celes ' s theme makes an appearance . On the " Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version " , Celes ' s theme is simply called " Celes " — disc 1 , track 22 . The theme shares the central melody with the Aria di Mezzo Carattere . A piano arrangement of her theme is found on the " " album . This version is also included on the " " album . The original version of " Celes " is included on the fourth disc of the " Final Fantasy Vinyls " collector ' s edition set . Other appearances . Celes has made appearances in the following games in the " Final Fantasy " series : Merchandise . In 1994 , Square released pencil toppers and key chains featuring the cast from " Final Fantasy VI " in their super - deformed forms , Celes included . The pencil toppers and key chains were available in vending machines . At least two different versions of the Celes key chain exist : one in her in - game sprite outfit and one dressed as Maria . The " Final Fantasy Cold Cast Collection " is a limited edition collectible series featuring cold cast statues that display notable scenes from " Final Fantasy " series . Only 3 , 000 Celes and opera house cold casts were made , each coming with a card and card stand that had the statue ' s limited number and description . The series has been out of production since 1999 . Etymology . Celes is possibly derived from Latin " caeles " , which means " celestial " or " heavenly " . It could be related to Celeste , a female given name in Italian , French and Spanish that also means " celestial " or " heavenly " ( or , additionally , " sky - blue " in Spanish and Italian ) . This would provide a contrast to the English name of her foil protagonist Terra , " terra " being the Latin word for " land " or " earth " . However , Terra was chosen for Tina ' s localization name by Ted Woolsey , meaning Celes ' s name wasn ' t originally meant to parallel Terra ' s . An alternative theory is that her name is , after the Roman goddess of fertility . Both of these etymologies are problematic because Celes ' s Japanese name is , and Japanese tends to adapt Classical Latin " c " as a sound in all positions ; for instance , the usual Japanese name for Ceres is or . But Japanese has also been used to adapt other names like Celice , Celis and Cerise , none of which are from Classical Latin . Celes was the romanization prescribed for the name upon the original release of " Final Fantasy VI " in Japan . " Battle - hardened magitek knight , product of genetic engineering , with a spirit as pure as snow . "