Orphan (boss)

The first form of Orphan is the penultimate boss of Final Fantasy XIII. After Barthandelus is defeated, Orphan's shell emerges from the inky fluid and attacks the party. The battle starts directly after the previous battle with Barthandelus, using the same settings.
Orphan's design resembles the Baldanders enemy from Final Fantasy V, which shares the same name origin as Barthandelus.
== Stats ==
== Battle ==
Orphan resists many status effects, but is susceptible to Poison. Unlike other bosses, Orphan has a low Libra value, and won't reveal all of its information when defeated.
Merciless Judgment.|thumb|left
Orphan begins the fight by switching to Consummate Light and using Merciless Judgment, a cinematic attack dealing fractional damage to all party members equal to 99% of their current HP and resetting Orphan's chain gauge. During this attack, the party cannot perform actions or switch paradigms, and can succumb if afflicted with Poison. Orphan switches between Consummate Light and Consummate Darkness after roughly 2 minutes and 30 seconds. When staggered, Orphan temporarily loses its form, and will switch once the stagger period ends. After each switch, it will use Merciless Judgment.
During Consummate Light, Orphan's slap attack hits all nearby party members for moderate damage, and it can use Requiem to deal a fair amount of damage to a single party member. It regularly heals for around 2,500 HP, and nearly double that if it has Deshell. The Consummate Darkness mode is more dangerous, as Orphan constantly attacks random party members with dark lasers, and can use Vile Exploitation to attack the party and heal itself, or Chains of Torment to inflict the party with Poison and any status ailments from a random party member.
Once Orphan's HP drops below 80%, it will begin using Contamination in Consummate Darkness, which inflicts up to four random status ailments on a single party member, except Imperil, and Progenitorial Wrath in Consummate Light, which damages one party member and may inflict Instant Death, potentially ending the battle if the death effect takes effect on the party leader. Despite being a magical attack, its damage is calculated using Orphan's Strength stat.
Dies Irae.|thumb
After Orphan's HP drops below 40%, it will use Merciless Judgment followed by Opposite Extremes, combining both of its forms. Orphan will alternate between passively healing itself and damaging the party, while using Progenitorial Wrath, Vile Exploitation, and Dies Irae, which damages the party heavily and inflicts Deprotect and Deshell. Upon coming time to switch forms, Orphan will merely use Merciless Judgment again and reactivate Opposite Extremes.
Orphan will cast Doom on the party leader after 30 minutes passes.
=== Strategy ===
While the battle starts directly after the previous battle with Barthandelus, the player can pause the game and select Retry to adjust their paradigms or equipment. Combat Clinic (SEN/MED/MED) should be the party's starting paradigm. Creating a paradigm for Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN), Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV) and Aggression (COM/COM/RAV) is also recommended.
As Orphan uses an Instant Death attack, equipping the party leader with a Seraph's Crown is recommended. Since Cherub's Crowns do not stack completely, they won't remove the threat entirely. Equipping three will only result in a 66% resistance to death, whereas a max level Seraph's Crown will provide 60% resistance. Equipping three max level Seraph's crowns will provide 94% resistance.
As Orphan is susceptible, it may be wise to have a character who can cast Poison as the party leader (Vanille, Lightning or Sazh). It will take a couple of tries to stick Orphan with Poison. The player will probably need to do this twice during the battle. Poison makes the battle easier, because it removes a constant percentage of the target's maximum HP, meaning the more HP the target has, the more effective Poison is. Poison removes about 0.32% of the total health bar per second, or 19.2% per minute. The player could thus deplete Orphan's health pool in just over 5 minutes using only Poison.
Players should use Esuna as soon as the party is debuffed. Merciless Judgment resets Orphan's chain gauge, so it is best to not wait too long with attacking, or the gauge will be reset again before the party can stagger the boss.
Orphan opens with Merciless Judgment, which is why using Combat Clinic as the first paradigm is recommended. After the party has recovered from the attack, they should shift to Evened Odds. Orphan has low resistance to many status effects. The Synergist will concentrate on placing Haste, Protect, Shell, Veil and Enfire on all party members while the Medic heals when needed.
Once these status effects are in place, the party should shift to Relentless Assault. With the party's Enfire status, coupled with Orphan's Imperil, it will not be long before Orphan is staggered, but the player should shift back to Combat Clinic whenever they need healing. Once stagger occurs, the party should shift to Aggression and attack. Depending on how powerful the party is, Orphan will have lost around half its HP once the first stagger period ends. Afterward, Orphan will immediately use Merciless Judgment, so the party should shift to Combat Clinic before this happens.
After Merciless Judgment, if Orphan still has over half its HP remaining, it will switch to its dangerous Consummate Darkness form. It is best to ignore any status ailments inflicted on the party and shift to Relentless Assault and aim to stagger the boss as quickly as possible. Once this is achieved, the party should shift to Evened Odds to reapply any expired buffs on the party and debuffs on the enemy, then shift to Aggression to inflict as much damage as possible. Again, the party should shift to Combat Clinic just before the stagger period ends to protect against Merciless Judgment.
Progenitorial Wrath prioritizes targeting Sentinels and Medics, so being in paradigms with an ally Sentinel or a Medic will help divert the attention away from the party leader, although the party must be in the paradigm(s) before Orphan starts casting Progenitorial Wrath for this to work. If any other party members are inflicted with Instant Death, the leader can use a Phoenix Down as it is quicker and restores more HP than Raise.
During this stage, the party should use Relentless Assault and aim to stagger Orphan, remembering to shift to Combat Clinic if a party member's HP bar turns yellow. Once staggered, the party should switch to Aggression and aim to finish the battle.
== Musical themes ==
The music played during this encounter of Orphan is "Born Anew".
== Gallery ==
Orphan First Form.png|Orphan's full form with the lyrics of the song "Ragnarok" inscribed in the blade.
XIII orphan1 requiem.PNG|Requiem.
XIII orphan1 vile exploitation.PNG|Vile Exploitation.
==Etymology==
One of Orphan's attacks is called Dies Irae. 
One of Orphan's abilities, Dies Irae, is a lyric from the song "Fighting Fate". It is Latin for "Day of Wrath". The Nodes on Vegnagun's Leg in Final Fantasy X-2 also use a move called "Dies Irae".
== Related enemies ==
* Orphan (final boss)
* Anima
* Dahaka
* Barthandelus
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Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy XIII