Ghis Judge Ghis is a character in " Final Fantasy XII " . An antagonist , he is a Judge Magister , the highest rank possible in the Archadian Empire . An older Judge , he leads the Imperial 8th Fleet , a detachment of the Western Armada , aboard his flagship , the Dreadnought " Leviathan " . Ghis is best described as a careerist and a schemer . Profile . Appearance . Ghis is an older man , with curled gray hair , a lock of it curling over his forehead . Ghis ' s Judge Magister armor is more distinctive than the other Judges ' , being gold , white and red instead of black and silver , and his armor is lighter with his arms and legs being comparatively unarmored . As with the other Judges , Ghis wields two individual weapons that can be joined at the ends of their handles to form a dual - weapon . His primary weapon is a sword while his off - hand weapon is a large crescent - shaped weapon with spikes . The two are colored gold to match his armor . Personality . Ghis is arrogant and condescending , frequently taunting the party with the Empire ' s plans and his own knowledge of their actions to show how powerless they are . He goads Ashe about her desire to restore Dalmasca , declaring her royal bloodline of no value against the power of deifacted nethicite that could prove her lineage . In the " Final Fantasy XII " manga , Ghis looks down on Gabranth as well , for his youth and foreign heritage . When fighting Balthier and Fran , he pauses to explain what he has ascertained about their attack patterns , and how his power and experience are superior . However , Ghis reigns in his contempt for the party with devotion to Archadian law , following it by restraining the party until circumstances demand he kill them for attempting to escape , and in the manga he personally wishes to kill Fran for nearly defeating him , but instead chooses to imprison her in Nalbina Dungeons to await a proper sentence . Ghis makes telling comments that imply his ambitious nature extends to even Vayne . He uses pretense of " testing " to ensure the Dawn Shard is deifacted nethicite to gauge its power for himself , and muses using it to show Vayne that blood alone does not make an emperor . Story . Ghis visits the Lhusu Mines in Bhujerba with Marquis Ondore , as Lhusu Mines is where the Empire gets its magicite for use in Draklor Laboratory . Ghis taunts Ondore in his position as Archadia ' s lapdog . They bump into Penelo and Larsa , and Ghis becomes outraged at having found her in the mines in the company of the Emperor ' s potential heir , but Larsa interferes and takes her to safety . Responsible for capturing Princess Ashe , Ghis ' s men found her in the Garamsythe Waterway , and she was taken aboard the " Leviathan " where Ghis keeps a close eye on her . When Vaan and the party are sent aboard the " Leviathan " they encounter Ghis on the bridge . He tells everyone the woman they thought was Amalia is the Princess Ashe . He takes the Dusk Shard from the party , and sends them to the brig with the intention of executing them . The party escapes , but Ghis cuts them off at the hangar where he witnesses the power of nethicite first - hand , when one of his spells is absorbed by Penelo ' s piece of manufacted nethicite . Ghis fights the party , but is defeated , letting the party escape on an " Atomos " . Ghis captures the party again at the Tomb of Raithwall . This time , he takes the Dawn Shard off them . Wanting to test its power for himself , he places the Dawn Shard in the " Leviathan ' s " engine . At first , the results look good , giving Judge Ghis delusions of grandeur . As he begins to contemplate taking the crown for himself , the shard reacts violently , causing the engine to malfunction . Ghis , along with his entire fleet , is destroyed in the resulting explosion , though Ashe and her party escape . In the " Final Fantasy XII " manga , Ghis serves a prominent role earlier in the story , taking charge of the Imperial forces from Gabranth during the attack on the Royal Palace of Rabanastre , and leads a force of soldiers into the Garamsythe Waterway , where Ghis single - handedly destroys a Firemane . He battles Balthier and Fran and overpowers them until he is distracted by Vaan , allowing Fran to get in close to freeze his sword and attack him . Ghis ' s men take Balthier captive , and Fran and Vaan stand down , the three being sent to the Nalbina Dungeons . After the party is captured with the Dawn Shard his role is much the same , when the party escapes , he is defeated in single combat by Basch , causing him to lament that he was " beaten by a mere Landisian . " In the aftermath of Belias ' s defeat and the retrieval of the Dawn Shard , the party is captured by Ghis . On the Dreadnought " Leviathan " Vossler hands the Dawn Shard to Ghis and reveals Vayne has agreed that Dalmasca shall be restored with Ashe as ruler in exchange for it . Ghis orders the shard tested while Vossler takes the party away . The Dawn Shard ' s reaction causes a chain of explosions through the airship and a wounded Ghis tries to deactivate the Dawn Shard ' s reactor , but Vossler stabs Ghis ' s hand , telling him they will die together . The airship explodes and obliterates the rest of the fleet as Ashe and her friends flee in an airship back to Dalmasca . Because the manga was cancelled , this serves as the ending to the adaptation . Creation and development . Voice . In the English version , Ghis voiced by Mark Wing - Davey . voices him in the Japanese release . Gameplay . The party fights Ghis while trying to escape the " Leviathan " after rescuing Princess Ashe . While he is defeated , he survives the battle , but is not battled again . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Judge Ghis appears on promotional card depicting his official render .