Angel

The Angel is a recurring motif in the Final Fantasy series. They often appear as a small child in a white gown with blond hair and a halo above the head, or a cherub, a chubby male child, usually nude and with a pair of wings.
They share a distinct similarity: they appear whenever someone uses the spells Raise and Arise. Angels are often associated with life and granting protection against death, but in some rare cases they can inflict harm on the player's characters if used by enemies to attack the party.
White feathers are associated with divinity, purity and magic in some games in the series. In Final Fantasy VIII, white feathers represent Rinoa Heartilly, whose motif is angel wings. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, white feathers represent goddess Etro.
== Appearances ==
=== Final Fantasy ===
The angel in the Game Boy Advance version appears as a blond male child dressed in a white gown with a pair of large white wings on his back.
Churches are scattered across the world within towns, and talking to the priest will revive all KO'd party members in the party by paying with gil. Two angels will descend upon the fallen party member(s) and revive them before the angels take their leave. They resemble the angel from the Life spell effect.
=== Final Fantasy II ===
The angel in the Game Boy Advance version is depicted as a blond male child dressed in a white gown with a pair of wings on his back. Unlike the other angels in the series, his hair covers most of his face. Church are scattered across the world within towns, and talking to the priest will revive all KO'd party members in the party by paying with gil. Two angels will descend upon the fallen party member(s) and revive them before the angels take their leave. They resemble the angel from the Raise spell effect.
Sanctuaries are scattered across the world within towns, and praying at the altar will revive all KO'd party members in the party with 1 HP at no cost. Two angels will descend upon the fallen party member(s) and revive them before the angels take their leave. They resemble the angel from the Life spell effect.
=== Final Fantasy III ===
The angel is depicted as a blond male child with a pair of wings on his back and a halo above his head.
=== Final Fantasy IV ===
The angel is depicted as a blond male child with a pair of wings and a halo above his head. They appear with the Raise and Arise spell, descending from the heavens and bringing back the fallen ally before leaving the battlefield after accomplishing his task.
==== Final Fantasy IV -Interlude- ====
The angel's depiction from the previous game is the same.
==== Final Fantasy IV: The After Years ====
The angel's depiction from the previous game remain the same.
=== Final Fantasy V ===
The angel is depicted as a blond boy with a pair of wings and a halo above his head. They appear with the Raise and Arise spells, and the Geomancer's Revive, as well as reviving mixes.
=== Final Fantasy VI ===
The angel is similar to the previous Nintendo and Super Nintendo era angels, a blond male child with a pair of wings on his back and a halo above his head. The Raise and Arise spells call forth a single angel, bringing the target back to life. Heartless Angel brings down multiple angels, one for each target, dropping the character's HP down to a single digit.
The Reraise spell calls forth pairs of angels to encircle party members, and bestows protection against death.
Cloudy Heaven calls forth pairs of recolored angels who bestow a curse upon the entire party, turning them into Zombies that last for the rest of the battle after the countdown expires.
=== Final Fantasy VII ===
The angel appears as a blond male child with a halo above the head, dressed in a white gown with a pair of white wings on his back. He appears in the Life, Angel Whisper, and Heartless Angel abilities.
At the Nibel Reactor Jenova's container is covered by what has been referred to as the "Jenova Cover" or "Jenova Doll". The effigy is a presumably man-made metal construct that resembles the torso of an angel that obscures Jenova while the wings cover the side of the container.
The final boss evokes imagery of a fallen angel with a single dark wing in place of an arm, and numerous white wings that enable flight.
====Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-====
Subjects of Project G exhibit some angelic qualities: those associated with Angeal Hewley have white wings, whereas those associated with Genesis Rhapsodos have a dark wing. Angeal's name is also close to the word "angel". Though he at first sees his mutation as a sign of being a monster, Zack Fair tries to convince him they represent the goodness of angels. Angeal later takes the allegorical role of an angel as a messenger from the lifestream, guiding Zack.
=== Final Fantasy VIII ===
Rinoa Heartilly is associated with angels and angel wings. She has a pair of white wings on the back of her duster, her ultimate weapon is made of white wings and white feathers represent her during the opening and ending cinematics. In juxtaposition, dark feathers are associated with evil sorceresses.
Ultimecia will use "Absorbed into time..." on a character that is KO'd if the player left said character KO'd for too long. An angel will descend on the fallen character and remove them from battle.
=== Final Fantasy X ===
The angel in Spira is depicted as an androgynous young child with glowing rainbow-colored wings with a velificatio floating around the angel that loops above its head. Its overall appearance is more evocative of East Asian religious figures, from bodhisattvas and tennin, whose roles do not differ much.
=== Final Fantasy XIII-2 ===
White feathers symbolize the presence of goddess Etro, who is herself not met in person. When Lightning is blessed by Etro, white feathers swirl around her, and she gains a half-skirt made of white feathers. In juxtaposition, Caius Ballad has dark feathers in his design, being Etro and Lightning's adversary, and a Guardian who has fallen from Etro's grace.
==== Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII ====
White feathers continue to represent divinity, as the Angel of Valhalla is a white chocobo whose true form is linked to Valhalla. It is said to herald the end of the world.
During the final battle, when Bhunivelze casts Heartless Angel, two angel-like figures that Bhunivelze calls his "messengers" resembling the fal'cie Eden appear and circle Lightning giggling all the while before draining her HP to 1 (if she fails to block their attack) before disappearing.
=== Final Fantasy XV ===
The Oracle in the prophecy painting is an angelic figure who has one wing. She also appears on the game's logo. When a young Noctis Lucis Caelum reads the Cosmogony, there is a page that depicts a king, an Oracle, and the gods' Messengers who have angel wings. The Messengers are called angels in the Japanese version. Among the Messengers are Gentiana, Umbra, Pryna and Carbuncle. Another Messenger who does have wings, Garuda, has been slumbering so long she is almost lost to history. Bahamut is depicted with angel wings in the Kingsglaive emblem, but his true form rather has wings made of swords.
Ardyn Izunia at times wears a black wing accessory, likening him to an image of a fallen angel. The insignia of Lucis is a winged skull and the Lucian kings' royal arms each bear white wings, but usually only one.
There is also an island called Angelgard.
FFXV logo.png|A woman with an angel wing in the game's logo.
Cosmogony-Book-FFXV.png|Angel wings on the cover of Cosmogony.
Cosmogony-Illustration-FFXV.png|Angel-winged Messengers in Cosmogony.
Lucis-Emblem.png|Winged-skull, the symbol of Lucis.
Swords-of-the-Wanderer-FFXV.png|A Royal Arm with angel wing's on one side.
Ardyn Izunia Concept Art.jpg|Artwork of Ardyn Izunia and his black wing accessory.
Kingsglaive Symbol Art.png|Kingsglaive's emblem.
=== Final Fantasy Tactics ===
The angel is depicted as a chubby male child, nude with a pair of wings. The spells Raise, Arise, and Reraise make a single angel descend from the heavens in a ball of light and materialize above the KO'd character. If the target unit doesn't have a high enough Faith stat (a character's belief in God), there's a chance the unit will not hear the angel's voice and will not be revived.
=== Final Fantasy Mystic Quest ===
The angel appears as a small child wearing a white gown with blond hair, a halo above the head, and a pair of wings. The only spell it appears in is the Life spell.
=== Final Fantasy Legend II ===
The angel appears as a small child wearing a white gown with a halo above the head. It appears above the enemy with his hands fold, flapping his wings while ascending. The angel appears when attacking an undead enemy with the Prayer during battle.
=== Final Fantasy Dimensions ===
The angel is depicted as a blond male child with a pair of wings and a halo above his head. He appears when a character uses a Phoenix Down item, Raise, and Arise spell. Descending from the heavens and bringing back the fallen ally before he leaves the battlefield.
== Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances ==
=== ===
Two angels appear when the Dryad spell Revivifier or the item Cup of Wishes is used on a KO'ed character. The icon in the ring menu is that of an angel. The angel is the same sprite as the one from Final Fantasy V, but with slight different coloration.
=== ===
An angel appears in the following spells; Raise, Arise, Lifeline, and Green Dream through the Reraise status. Raise and the Athenian Water item has a single angel swirling around the KO'd character while Arise has three instead of one. The angel is the same sprite as the one from Final Fantasy VI.
== Etymology ==
ru:Ангел
Category:Recurring story elements
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy II