Palamecia ( Final Fantasy II ) Palamecia , also known as Palakia in the unreleased English version on the Nintendo Entertainment System , is a brutal and war - hungry empire from " Final Fantasy II " , ruled by the dictatorial Emperor Mateus . The Empire of Palamecia is located on a fertile haven surrounded by a mountainous , arid desert . The Castle Palamecia is located on the mountain ranges nearby , which makes it a natural , impenetrable fortress . Just south of the castle and mountains lies the Coliseum used for competitions of various soldiers against monsters , as well as a makeshift prison . A little ways away from Palamecia itself is a refueling station for the " Dreadnought " . Story . A story found in the Mysidian library in " " and later remakes , implies that Palamecia was a kingdom before becoming an empire . A previous king of Palamecia had challenged the world to see who could reach his daughter on a high floor of his castle . Many men tried but failed , until one man used a hot air balloon to reach her . The king was furious and attempted to seize him , but the man escaped into the skies with the king ' s daughter . The story is an adaptation of the traditional Rapunzel fairy tale . At the time of " Final Fantasy II " the Emperor builds an unstoppable army by raising demons from the depths of hell . Using this army he conquers the kingdoms of Deist and Kashuan . The army eventually reaches the kingdom of Fynn , but despite the people of Fynn ' s resistance , they are overrun due to Borghen ' s defection to the Empire . The conquering Fynn , however , comes with heavy casualties on the Empire ' s hand , preventing them from conquering Altair and Gatrea . The Emperor creates the weapons of his demise when taking over Fynn as four youths — Firion , Maria , Guy and Leon — are left for dead after being attacked by his Black Knights . While Firion , Maria and Guy are saved by the Wild Rose Rebellion and join it , Leon is captured and becomes the Emperor ' s right - hand - man as the Dark Knight . While the rebels build their forces , the Empire constructs a giant airship , the " Dreadnought " , and with it the Empire crushes every town that gets in their way . They capture Princess Hilda and strike Cid and his airship . The " Dreadnought " is downed by the rebels , and the Empire must rethink its plans , though it still has one trump . The Empire holds Princess Hilda as captive , and uses her as bait to lure the Wild Rose ' s attention to the Coliseum at Palamecia , where Hilda is the prize for the arena champion . The rebels rescue the princess nonetheless , with the help of Paul and Gordon . While the rebels ' key members seek out the ultimate magic spell , Ultima , the Emperor summons a Cyclone to attack the towns and kingdoms . The Emperor is killed by Firion ' s party and the last surviving Dragoon , Ricard Highwind . The Dark Knight assumes the position of Emperor and Firion , Maria , Guy and Ricard travel to Castle Palamecia to stop him . As the party confronts the Dark Knight , the Emperor returns from Hell to unleash Hell onto the world , as he is no longer interested in ruling the Palamecian Empire . Ricard stays behind to stall the Emperor while a wyvern saves the other four , but the Dragoon is killed by the Emperor ' s new powers . Destroying Castle Palamecia , the Emperor raises the castle of Hell , Pandaemonium , to earth , destroying the Palamecian Empire in the process . Territories . At the height of its rule the Palamecian Empire commands the entire southern portion of the continent , with their rule extending as far as the city of Fynn . For the most part their rule went unopposed , although the Wild Rose Rebellion is a formidable threat . The Imperial capital is Castle Palamecia , located at an impregnable mountain range , with a Colosseum in close proximity and surrounded by forests and deserts . Bafsk , Kashuan , and Fynn are occupied by Imperial soldiers with the former being used as the place to build the " Dreadnought " . The Empire ultimately destroys Gatrea , Altair , Poft , and Paloom with the Cyclone , while the Dragoons at Deist were wiped out in a genocidal act via poisoning the water source on the island . Structure . The Empire is ruled by Emperor Mateus , with Leon — upon being captured and brainwashed — presumably acting as the official next - in - line due to his attempting to rule the Empire after Mateus perished at the hands of the Wild Rose Rebellion . Leon leads the attack via the " Dreadnought " on Paloom , Altair , Poft , and Gatrea . It is unclear what particular role in the hierarchy Borghen plays after he defects from Kasuadan and ensures its capture , although he is involved in the Empire ' s attempt to secure the Goddess ' s Bell at the Snow Cave ( a mission implied to be a suicide mission ) , and officially plays a role in the development of the " Dreadnought " . Owing to the Palamecian Empire ' s militaristic views , it has a massive military , and is exceptionally brutal in its conquests . Various lesser - ranked officers lead the Empire ' s field skirmishes . Ground army . Various armored soldiers make up the largest wing of the Empire ' s army . There are six known ranks of soldiers . Armored soldiers comprise most of the Empire ' s forces , and come in several individual ranks of power , including Soldier , Sergeant , Captain , and General . Soldiers , wearing yellow / bronze armor , are the standard footsoldier of the Empire . The Sergeants , wearing blue / purple / dark blue armor , are assigned to various missions that have some importance , like guarding mythril armor from the Wild Rose Rebellion . The Captains , identified by green armor , do guard duty at Fynn and the " Dreadnought " , the former presumably to rout out any Wild Rose Rebel soldiers . Finally , the Generals , wearing gray / blue / purple armor , are considered the cream of the crop of the Imperial forces , and as such are assigned to guard the Cyclone . The fifth rank are the Black Knights , specialized soldiers who are nigh invincible in combat . The sixth rank is Mateus ' s personal guards , the Royal Guard s , seen in the Cyclone where they guard and aid the Emperor when he fights Firion and his party . Monsters . Because of the Emperor had sold his soul to summon hellspawn to aid in his campaign for world conquest , the Palamecian Empire has under its command various monsters and demons . Some of these , such as the Behemoth , are used to fight the Imperial soldiers in the Colosseum , while others , such as the Lamia Queen and Wood Golem , are used to directly aid the Empire ( the latter of whom is summoned by Mateus when fighting Firion ' s party in the Cyclone ) . " Dreadnought " . An immense armored airship , the " Dreadnought " is the ultimate weapon to the Empire , capable of severely damaging four cities before being required to refuel . It is weak to the Sunfire , which causes its engine to detonate . Cyclone . The other superweapon accessed by the Palamecian Empire is a castle situated within a cyclone created by the Emperor himself . It is used to obliterate four towns before the Emperor dies at the hands of the Wild Rose Rebellion . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy XIV " . One of the original server s was named Palamecia . It was merged into the Excalibur server along with the Karnak and Bodhum servers . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Palamecia is present as a room for customized characters of the game ' s Multiplayer Mode Online Lobby . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . Palamecia is featured in the background of the " Final Fantasy II " " Main Theme " Field Music Sequence .