Lahabrea

Lahabrea , also known by his true name Hephaistos, is a character from Final Fantasy XIV, serving as the main antagonist of A Realm Reborn, an antagonist in Heavensward, and the central focus of the Pandæmonium questline in Endwalker. He is a powerful Ascian Paragon who underestimates the might of the Warrior of Light and the members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
==History==
===Early life===
The Ancient known as Hephaistos held the seat of "Lahabrea" in the Convocation of Fourteen. He was cousins with Igeyorhm, another member of the Convocation.Tales from the Dawn: Days Gone By, Days Yet to Come He was an accomplished scholar unmatched in the field of phantom creation in Amaurot's Akadaemia Anyder, with a particular knack for fire-aspected creations, such as Ifrita. Athena, his wife, oversaw Pandæmonium, a facility under Elpis where valuable yet extremely dangerous creatures made by creation magicks were kept for research. While he loved Athena and supported her, Hephaistos was horrified of her intentions of defying natural order when he found her experimenting on their son, Erichthonios. After allowing Athena's consciousness to merge within his body to truly understand her, Hephaistos had no other recourse but to kill her upon learning her intentions and take the Heart of Sabik from her lab to hide away. Hephaistos later split the part of his soul that was affected by his fusion with Athena, along with his memories and feelings for her, while fully embracing his title as his new identity. This cut Lahabrea's very soul, creating a splintered fragment of him that was fully tainted by Athena's desire and who received his true name. This "Hephaistos" was intolerable to Lahabrea, who sealed him away in a crystal and banished him within Pandæmonium. Lahabrea took over Athena's position as the chief keyward of Pandæmonium, hiding the truth of her death, while his lack of grief caused tension with his son, Erichthonios. 
Among Pandæmonium's denizens was a prototype of one of Lahabrea's finest creations, an immortal bird called the Phoinix. While the finished concept boasted potent healing powers, this creation sought only to reduce the world to ash, and was therefore confined to Pandæmonium. At least one instance of the finalized concept merged with a soul and was destroyed by Emet-Selch, another Convocation member. 
Hephaistos was eventually liberated from his prison by an unknown force and sought to resurrect Athena. Lahabrea aided the Warrior of Light, Themis, and Erichthonios in pursuing his counterpart, but Erichthonios grew increasingly frustrated at Lahabrea's refusal to explain Athena's death. After subduing two of the beasts and the corrupted keyward of Pandæmonium's second layer, Erichthonios was overcome by his fervent desire to see his mother once more and was enthralled by Hephaistos. The Warrior defeated Hephaistos, whom Lahabrea sealed away once more. Lahabrea admitted the truth about Athena's death and made amends with his son. Soon after, Lahabrea reached the conclusion that Hephaistos's release was arranged by Athena through an enthralled Hegemone and freed her by absorbing Hephaistos back into his body with a new resolution to no longer be haunted by the past.
When the Final Days befell their world of Etheirys, Lahabrea joined his fellow Convocation members in summoning the primal Zodiark to halt the calamity. Lahabrea supported the Convocation's intent to restore their world and people through a series of sacrifices; this resulted in Venat becoming Hydaelyn, a primal opposed to Zodiark with the intent of sundering the world and its inhabitants. Hydaelyn sought to spare Emet-Selch, and Lahabrea and Elidibus, who happened to be near him, also survived the sundering intact.
Everything else he knew and loved was either sacrificed to Zodiark, or fragmented into what the unsundered consider flawed parodies. Gradually corrupted by memories of Athena engraved within the Heart of Sabik, Lahabrea worked with the other Paragons and their Ascian followers to orchestrate Umbral Calamities to restore Zodiark and their home world. He is indicated to be the one who oversaw the teaching of the primal summoning process to the beastmen and other persecuted peoples in the Source. Lahabrea's fanatical devotion to this Rejoining led to him continuously possess new bodies, a process that drained him and made him weaker than his unsundered colleagues.
===Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn===
During the advent of the Seventh Umbral Era, Kan-E-Senna sensed Lahabrea from a distance and warned the other Scions of the Seventh Dawn members that they were being watched. The Warrior of Light had a vision of the events of the Battle of Carteneau via the Echo while speaking to one of the leaders of the three Grand Companies. In this vision, Lahabrea had watched the events of Carteneau unfold, remarking how the Archons, the Grand Companies, and their Warriors of Light were powerless to stop Bahamut's fury, which would inevitably usher in the Seventh Umbral Calamity and further progress the Rejoining.
The Warrior of Light first encountered Lahabrea in a vision from Hydaelyn. After the Warrior of Light was powered up by an orange sun-like entity, Lahabrea appeared from a void and counter-attacked them just as the vision ended. Attributing it to aether sickness, the Warrior of Light's peddler companion thought little of it. Lahabrea himself took charge of the minutiae preparations for the Eighth Umbral Calamity and eyed the Heart of Sabik, a relic which held a spell called Ultima. The Heart had become the power core for the Ultima Weapon, which itself been taken by Legatus Gaius van Baelsar of the XIVth Imperial Legion on his campaign for Eorzean domination. Lahabrea established an alliance between the Ascians and the XIVth Legion, secretly intending to betray Gaius by using Ultima to usher in the Eighth Umbral Calamity.
Lahabrea kidnapped Frixio, the elder of the Sylphs, and took him to the Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak, intending to feed him to the banemite Graffias. The Warrior of Light ventured in to rescue Frixio, meeting Lahabrea. The Ascian Overlord offered cryptic hints about his goal to destroy Hydaelyn and minor compliments to the Warrior before empowering Graffias to kill them and leaving. The Warrior slew the vilekin and freed Frixio.
Y'shtola Rhul spied on Nero tol Scaeva and Rhitahtyn sas Arvina caught in a dispute after witnessing the Warrior of Light's triumph over the primal Titan. She discovered Lahabrea was working alongside the Garlean Empire. Lahabrea ridiculed them for doubting the Ascians and left. Later, inside the Stone Vigil, the Warrior of Light went after Cid nan Garlond's airship, intending to use it to defeat the primal Garuda. Knowing the Warrior could be strong enough to fell the Ixal primal, Lahabrea awakened the sleeping dragon Isgebind in another attempt to kill the Warrior. He left, but the Warrior was victorious and went on to face Garuda.
After Garuda's defeat, Lahabrea stood on an imperial juggernaut, remarking how much of a marvel the Ultima Weapon was as it consumed Ifrit, Titan, and then Garuda herself. When the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn members were escaping from Castrum Centri, Lahabrea revealed to the group he had been possessing the body of their friend, Thancred Waters. Later, when the Warrior of Light mounted an assault on the Praetorium and overpowered the Ultima Weapon, which used the Heart of Sabik as a power source, Lahabrea intervened and admitted his true goals to awaken Zodiark by using Ultima to wreak unrivaled devastation, much to Gaius's horror.
Despite using the Heart of Sabik to cast the spell Ultima, weakening Hydaelyn's protection over the Warrior of Light, the Ultima Weapon was still destroyed. As Gaius lay fallen after ejecting from the warmachine, Lahabrea chastised him for his defeat. Turning his attention to the Warrior of Light, Lahabrea ranted how the planet was in a state of imbalance and how Hydaelyn was the root of the corruption, describing her as a parasite that "must be burned out if the planet is to recover". Only the return of the Zodiark could ensure this.
thumb|left|185px|Lahabrea unleashing his full might against the Warrior of Light.
A battle ensued where Lahabrea used his dark and fire magicks to outmatch the Warrior, binding them in chains and striking them with a massive darkness attack. Just as Lahabrea began to leave, Hydaelyn intervened and empowered the Warrior, enabling them to continue the fight. Lahabrea was defeated and purged from Thancred's body with a blade of light.
Though the Scions presumed him dead, spiriting the Heart of Sabik away, Lahabrea survived and met with his fellow Ascians to prepare for Zodiark's resurrection. The Scions later learned of Lahabrea's survival from Zodiark's emissary, Elidibus, who deemed Lahabrea's actions reckless, yet could not condemn him, as his actions had enabled the discovery of one strong in the Echo. Following his defeat, Lahabrea took a step back from directly carrying out his schemes. He flanked Archbishop Thordan VII's throne alongside Elidibus, and learned of Nabriales's demise from the latter. Though Lahabrea blamed Nabriales's demise as their own doing, he was still shocked that it had occurred to his own kind.
===Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward===
Lahabrea was in the presence of Archbishop Thordan VII and the Heavens' Ward as they began commencing their plans, smugly commenting that the "Bringer of Light" would die without Hydaelyn's Blessing of Light, unaware that the archbishop was only using him. Lahabrea himself remained inactive in the archbishop's schemes, with Igeyorhm handling actions against the Warrior of Light until the Warrior followed Thordan into Azys Lla.
There, Lahabrea joined Igeyorhm in confronting the Warrior at the Aetherochemical Research Facility. When they were outmatched due to the Warrior's drastically increased strength from their trials across Ishgard, as well as their newly regained Blessing of Light from Hydaelyn, Lahabrea and Igeyorhm resorted to showing their ancient powers and fused into Ascian Prime. Despite being on more even terms, the Ascian Prime was defeated and the two Ascians were separated. The Warrior trapped Igeyorhm in white auracite and shattered her essence with the left eye of the dragon Nidhogg, killing her.
The Warrior was left without the means to strike down Lahabrea. Just as he began to gloat, Thordan VII and the Heavens' Ward arrived and revealed the right eye of Nidhogg had been entombed within Haldrath's body. Using it, the archbishop transformed into the primal King Thordan, forged by the faith of Ishgard, and informed Lahabrea that he was merely a means to an end. Intent on ending the Dragonsong War and eliminating all sources of strife in the world, King Thordan sentenced Lahabrea to death: the first of the unsundered was struck down and destroyed by King Thordan's sword, Ascalon, which absorbed his aetheric energy. The Heart of Sabik which Lahabrea carried on person, lay abandoned in Azys Lla.
===Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker===
Sometime after the second coming of the Final Days were averted, professor Claudien of Sharlayan discovered a memory crystal in the aetherial sea, which borne an urgent message to come to Pandæmonium. Puzzled, he sent after the Warrior of Light to help investigate the crystal's origin. Athena used Claudien via her memories inside the Heart of Sabik to possess her son's shard reincarnation, giving her the means to use her creation magick and recreate Pandæmonium from a part of Azys Lla that she had teleported to the aetherial sea. When confronted with the Warrior, she used memories stored inside the crystal to create a facsimile of her Lahabrea and Erichthonios to aid the Warrior in understanding her. This Lahabrea would later learn of his future as an Ascian while discussing the Heart of Sabik with Nemjiji. He would confront the Warrior after their battle with Athena, accepting his fate before dissolving back into the aetherial sea.
==Characteristics==
In Amaurot's Convocation of Fourteen, the position of "Lahabrea" was given to the one most specialized in creation magicks. Lahabrea brought forth phantom beings of the highest complexity.
===Appearance===
Lahabrea dresses in the standard uniform of an Ascian Overlord. He wears a black leather hooded coat with purple markings and adornments and a red half mask over the top portion of his face. At times, a glowing red emblem appears in front of his face.
In his original Amaroutine form, Lahabrea was an elderly man with dark skin and short red-tipped graying hair. He wore a custom version of the Ancients' robes featuring a collared shirt underneath. Like the rest of the Convocation, he wore his personal red mask on his robes. In his younger years, his hair was longer, wilder, and reddish.
===Personality===
Lahabrea is condescending and hostile, not hesitating to use dark magick to trap the Warrior of Light during confrontations. He at times breaks into malevolent laughter. He has a low opinion of his associates in Eorzea, at one point even dismissing the Garleans as "fools". He cares little about his fellow Ascians. Elidibus demonstrates a cordial relationship with his fellow Paragon, and while Emet-Selch seems to speak ill of him to the Crystal Exarch, a hint of melancholy is visible in both his words and mien. According to Emet-Selch, Lahabrea habitually discarded host bodies when they were no longer useful, weakening himself and allowing King Thordan to absorb his essence. His shortsightedness had contributed to his demise, as he did not anticipate Thordan's betrayal. Despite being an unsundered Ascian, his colleagues do not view him favorably.
Lahabrea was greatly respected in the ancient world. As a master of creating Concepts, Lahabrea was responsible for the creation of Phoinix, Ifrita, Bombs, and several other fire-aspected Concepts. Writings in Akadaemia Anyder near Phantomology indicate a research hoping to impress Lahabrea, and in the recreation of Amaurot, the Akademia Researcher envies Lahabrea for his creation abilities, "and a renowned orator". The nearby Akadaemia Academic states that "esteemed Lahabrea" would help the scholars take control of facility after someone set the beasts within free. Lahabrea took pride in being a member of the Convocation and would not do anything to sully its image, such as using another member's born name rather than title. Lahabrea defers to the judgment of Elidibus even when disagreeing with the ruling, as it is Elidibus's duty to resolve disputes involving the Convocation. Likewise, Lahabrea is mature enough to acknowledge the successes of methods that he otherwise disagrees with or thought implausible.
Following the death of his wife Athena, having separated the part of himself that loved her, Lahabrea became emotionally detached. He came off uncaring to Erichthonios as he left his son's education to the Words of Lahabrea after instructing him in the use of aetherial shackles. Lahabrea's emotional detachment extends even to his work and subordinates, Erichthonios having described Lahabrea invent a seemingly immortal life form and instructing his staff to contain the beast and continue working rather than take a moment to celebrate. Lahabrea's emotional detachment was also driven by a desire to protect his son. Lahabrea would rather have Erichthonios hate his father than live with the knowledge his beloved mother saw him as no more than an experimental subject, as Lahabrea believed this would let Erichthonios live free from his parents' shadows. He would later absorb Hephaistos, regaining much of his original personality while resolute in his ideas to safeguard his world.
The sundering and the many millennia of the Ascians' work to restore their world took a toll on Lahabrea's mental state, which is influenced by the Heart of Sabik, his demeanor having turned from emotionally detached to the manically driven man he became prior to the Seventh Umbral Calamity.
===Abilities===
As one of the Ascian Paragons, Lahabrea is a powerful sorcerer who can call monsters from the void and cast spells like Shadow Flare and create damaging orbs and pools of Darkness. Lahabrea can teleport himself and others without the use of aetheryte and use the power of a Dark Crystal to possess a living host body. He developed spells like aetherial shackles, where the user conjures chains to immobilize a target, and interment, which freezes the space around its target, trapping it for an extended period of time. Lahabrea can also summon arcane spheres to increase his power. However, for all his pride and the danger he poses, Lahabrea was the weakest unsundered Ascian, as his swapping of bodies drained his strength.
==Gameplay==
===Battle===
Lahabrea is the final boss of the main storyline of A Realm Reborn. He was originally fought as the final boss of , an 8-player dungeon. This encounter was replaced in patch 6.1 with the solo quest battle . The first phase of Devastation is an unwinnable battle, with Lahabrea inevitably defeating the player with Dark Meltdown and teleporting away, leaving their body behind. Hydaelyn revives the player and draws Lahabrea back. For this second phase the player gains the status, greatly increasing their damage.
He is later fought as the penultimate boss of Heavensward alongside Igeyorhm, during the final encounter of . The two Ascians are first fought simultaneously, and then fused into an Ascian Prime. He later reappears for brief roles in and .
His splintered fragment, Hephaistos, is the boss encounter of and its Savage mode.
===Triple Triad===
==Musical themes==
Lahabrea's appearances are accompanied by "Without Shadow". During his encounter at the end of A Realm Reborn, "Thunderer" plays in his first phase, while "Torn to the Heavens" plays in the other phase. "Embers" plays during the encounter with Hephaistos in Abyssos: The Eighth Circle. "White Stone Black", a trance remix of "Without Shadow" and "Thunderer" plays during the second encounter of its Savage mode.
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
PFF Lahabrea.png|Sprite.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Lahabrea is a special boss in FFXIV section of Cardia Dungeons. He is fought in the D580 Dreambreaker stage.
A dress record for Alphinaud is awarded for defeating him for the first time.
===Final Fantasy Portal App===
Lahabrea appears as a Triple Triad card. 
==Behind the scenes==
Lahabrea is notorious among fans due to his perceived bland characterization compared to his unsundered colleagues, and especially because of how easy his first fight was. Lahabrea was the final encounter of the original, 8-player version of . Due to Lahabrea's limited attack range and power compared to the other bosses, and the lack of an item level sync, players become far too strong for the encounter to pose any significant challenge. 
In Patch 6.1, Lahabrea's encounter was removed from the Praetorium and moved to solo quest battle after the . With an item level sync, the encounter was portrayed as a proper challenge. With the implementation of Duty Support, Lahabrea's second encounter at the end of Heavensward was mechanically overhauled in Patch 6.3.
A dummied Lahabrea model with a new body can be found in the game files, but it never appeared or was mentioned in-game.
===Voice===
Lahabrea was initially voiced by Kyle Hebert in the English version of A Realm Reborn and Alec Newman in Heavensward and Endwalker.
He is voiced by Shūichi Ikeda in the Japanese version.
==Gallery==
FFXIV Lahabrea concept.png|Concept art.
FFXIV Before the Fall artwork.png
FFXIV From Astral to Umbral artwork.jpg|From Astral to Umbral Arrangement Album artwork.
FFXIV Endwalker Pandaemonium art.jpg|Lahabrea in the Pandæmonium promotional artwork.
Perfect Imperfection.png|Perfect Imperfection: Hephaistos
File:Hephaistos Savage.png|Savage 2nd form.
==Etymology==
Lahabrea was named after Lahabrea, the Abyssal Celebrant, the scion of light in opposition to Mateus, the Corrupt from Final Fantasy XII. The glyph that appears when Lahabrea is channeling magick is almost identical to the bottom portion of Mateus's, representing the spear the esper wields, only inverted. This connection is further referenced in Pandæmonium, which takes inspiration from the dungeon of the same name in Final Fantasy II and its ruler, Emperor Mateus.
Hephaistos, or Hephaestus, is a god in the Greek mythology. He was the god of craftsmanships, fire and volcanoes. A myth describes that Hephaistos and Athena were lovers, but at the last moment Athena pushed Hephaistos aside.
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Category:Antagonists
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XIV
Category:Ascians
Category:Ancients in Final Fantasy XIV