Rursan Reaver

Rursan Reaver, plural Rursus, is a magitek creature in Final Fantasy Type-0. Two versions of it appear as regular enemies, with distinct appearances.
==Profile==
The Rursus are terrifyingly powerful humanoid beings born from the Rursan Crystal. They can withstand the magic of the Vermilion Bird Crystal, and teleport around the field wielding large swords. The Rursus destroy phantoma, the essence of life itself, and thus their victims cannot be helped with healing magic. The Rursus revive themselves when slain, and the trick to killing them off permanently is to destroy their own phantoma, something only Class Zero can do.
The Rursus appear more like automatons created to do the Rursan Crystal/the Rursan Arbiter's bidding than living creatures with wills of their own; the only Rursan creature with a personality is the Arbiter himself. The final annals entry describes the Rursan acts as "soul-reaving", implying they are robbing people of their literal souls.
The regular Rursus have an ornamental faces, somewhat similar to certain fal'Cie in the Lightning Saga, most prominently Barthandelus's boss forms. Perhaps coincidentally, both Barthandelus and the Rursus have a link to the deity Lindzei. The second Rursan Reaver type also has a head ornament vaguely resembling the shape of Lindzei's crest, a recurring shape for Lindzei's fal'Cie in Final Fantasy XIII. Concept art (see gallery) reveal designs for unused Rursan enemies, the "final" version having overt Etro's gate motifs and a wheel similar to Orphan from Final Fantasy XIII. The red circles on this design also resemble the mark of Solheim from Final Fantasy XV.
==Story==
Rursan Reavers flood Orience to slaughter its citizens after Tempus Finis starts in the wake of the Dominion of Rubrum uniting all of Orience under its banner. An enormous sanctuary rises from the ocean, sending out hordes of the beings that kill everyone in sight, and the world falls into chaos.
When Class Zero returns to Akademeia from the battle at Ingram, they find many Akademeian cadets and legionaries slain and the members of the Central Command and the Consortium of Eight gone. The remaining legionaries extol to have defeated the Rursus by disabling Akademeia's great portal, cutting off the different areas of Akademeia. Lord Zhuyu, the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie, has fallen to the Rursan Reavers and entered crystal stasis.
Akademeia's archsorceress, Arecia Al-Rashia, is the only one with knowledge of the Rursus and tells the remaining legionaries to not engage them for their unimaginable strength. Many are shocked the mythical Rursus actually exist, and ponder how Arecia knows about them, there not being existing records of such beings. A Sorcery Division researcher reveals to Class Zero they are the only ones able to kill the Rursus, who need their phantoma harvested to be truly vanquished.
Class Zero heads to Pandæmonium, the newly appeared sanctuary, and fights through the hordes of Rursus. If the cadets agree to the Vermilion Bird Crystal's plea for them to become l'Cie, they face unending waves of Rursus until they are killed. If they continue onward as human, they make it to the Rursan Arbiter, the Judge who deems whether Agito has appeared in the world; the Rursan purpose is to serve their master Gala in his quest to find Agito, the person or collection of people who can open Etro's gate, a feat the gods believe requires the right type of soul tempered through warfare. When the experiment fails, the world is reset and the events recur, leading to another Tempus Finis.
During the final repeat of the cycle, the cadets sacrifice themselves to slay the Rursan Arbiter. Tempus Finis stalled, Pandæmonium and the Rursus likely vanish from Orience, as the world enters a new era of peace when the light of the Crystals fades.
==Gameplay==
Rursan Reaver appears in two forms. They have identical stats, with the exception being that the second has greater HP. The Rursus are fought in Pandæmonium.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
 
==Musical themes==
"Tempus Finis" plays in battles against Rursan Reavers.
==Behind the scenes==
One unused idea for the game was that Khalia Chival VI, the leader of Akademeia, would be the Rursan ring leader. (translation)
==Gallery==
RursanReaver1Concept-fftype0.png|Artwork from Final Fantasy Type-0 Kōshiki Settei Shiryōshū Aku no Hishi.
RursanReaver2Concept-fftype0.png|Artwork from Final Fantasy Type-0 Kōshiki Settei Shiryōshū Aku no Hishi.
RursanReaverDifferentFormConcept-fftype0.png|Unused version.
RursanReaverFinalFormConcept-fftype0.png|Unused "final" version.
FFT0 Ace vs Rursus.png|Ace confronts a Rursan Reaver at Akademeia.
Rursan-Reaver-Type-0-HD.png|Rursan Reaver in Pandæmonium.
FFT0 Ace Rursan Reaver Finis Artwork.png|Artwork of Ace fighting a Rursan Reaver at the entrance area of Akademeia.
==Etymology==
 This likely alludes to the Rursan role in facilitating the spiral of Orience.
 The original term, senshi (戦士), is simply Japanese for "soldier" or "warrior". The English name fits their role as "soul-reavers", whereas the Japanese name likens them more to an army.
According to more traditional depictions of the end of the world within Buddhist eschatology, one such end time is known as the "sword interval", where upon mankind's devolution at its nadir, nearly all humans are said to be "born with swords in their hands", and "prey upon each other like sport", with only a few going into hiding within the wild. Upon the bloodshed reaching the intensity where all of the violent beings will assure their mutual destruction, those who have refused to participate will be guided by Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. The entirety of Orience and Rubrum's practices allude to this, though the Rursan Reavers and their heralding of the end of the world help to underline their appearance and the purpose the most.
Type B Rursan Reavers take their likeness from "the headless ones" or the Blemmeyes, the headless abdomen faced humanoid monsters within Medieval European mythology said to be maneaters, and are sometimes conflated with the infernal cannibal tribes of Gog and Magog, being those sealed away by Alexander the Great and are said to come about upon the end of the world to reign terror on mankind and make way for the reign of the devil. 
==Citations==
ru:Рурсанский разоритель
Category:Final Fantasy Type-0
Category:Creatures