Emperor Mateus

The Emperor, also known as Emperor Mateus, is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy II. He rules the Palamecian Empire and aims to conquer the world through demonic forces. 
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
The Emperor wears golden armor with purple and rose-colored robes that have four portions: two connected on each side, and a raised collar and extended striped epaulettes. His hair is blond (although the exact shade varies from golden blond to platinum) and spiked, with an extra-long ponytail, and purple ombre at the tip of the side bangs. His head is adorned with tiny colored jewels, along with four long golden purple-tipped spikes atop his head. Black and white stripes trace his ribs on his chestplate, and demonic looking faces embellish his waist and back. His gauntlets sport extended claws. The Emperor wears purple makeup and a purple and gold crown depicting a serpent. His boots have stiletto heels. He wears a transparent quartz-colored belt around his waist. His Amano artwork as well as his PSP and Dissidia depictions depict him with violet-colored eyes, while his portrait in the GBA version has white eyes and black scelara.
He has at times worn a darker outfit, consisting of navy blue robes with yellow octastar arrangements. It has curved spines near the shoulders and back, spined fasteners at the front, and four massive curved purple shoulder ornaments. He wears gauntlets resembling spiders, and his platinum-colored hair is styled to resemble a pair of demonic horns. This outfit exposes his hands, which have long fingernails painted black with golden lines, and rings on his middle and index fingers of his left hand. The pair of horns has golden ornaments and a crown with rubies.
After his soul was split to dominate both sides of the afterlife, the Emperor has two appearances, each representing the spiritual element the form embodies. The Emperor of Hell is bestial with a skull-like face, razor-sharp teeth, and snakes on his head similar to a Medusa. He is covered with spines and wears a dark cape or cloak and has clawed hands. His battle sprite in the Famicom, 20th Anniversary, and Pixel Remaster versions lack a lower half, but it is present in the PlayStation/GBA battle sprite. In the former, he overall has a similar build to his human self, with his lower half having the armor appear darker than in the original human form, while his skin darkens. His field and battle sprites from the PlayStation version onward often depict him with a scepter, although the 20th Anniversary versions omit the staff in the battle sprite.
The Light Emperor has an otherworldly appearance and always has his eyes closed. He has six wings similar to a Seraph and a golden gate on his back. He appears to be made of clouds and wears a light-colored robe. His ears are long and pointed as well. The design may be based on Lucifer. The Light Emperor's portrait is based on Mateus's appearance from a promotional artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
=== Personality ===
The Emperor of Palamecia is cunning, subtle, rude and arrogant. He calls Firion by name after he defeats the Emperor's Behemoth, but other times calls them insects or worms. Owing to his arrogant nature, the Emperor never fights unless he has to, and has his minions do the work for him. His actions are tyrannical and he abhors humanity. As the Emperor views humans as interchangeable, he sees himself as superior to them and thus views himself as the only one capable of ruling. Owing to his arrogance and subtlety, he told Firion's group that him personally dispatching them ought to be considered an honor.
The Emperor is implied to be skilled with developing advanced weaponry, as the Dreadnought airship was developed by him. He is skilled in strategy, as evidenced by how he left a decoy of the then-captured Princess Hilda aboard the Dreadnought, and used the real deal for the coliseum to draw out the Wild Rose rebels.
The Emperor is a heartless despot who cares for nothing but power and world domination, using cruel methods to achieve his ends. The Emperor generally looks down on everyone, especially his opponents. Upon being defied repeatedly with his army facing an array of setbacks, the Emperor employs even more inhuman methods: he creates a genocidal weapon, the Dreadnought, and uses his powerful magic to erect a Cyclone and directs it towards his enemies' main settlement to slaughter them once and for all.
Even in death, the Emperor is defiant, refusing to accept that he could be bested by the people he looked down upon. His obsessive ambitions are burned deep in his soul, to the point it split in two halves that became the regents of Hell and Heaven. The novelization states that the Emperor defeated and usurped Satan, the Lord of Hell, and it is implied that his light half did the same on his respective side.
The Emperor's different incarnations have subtle personality differences in the mortal world and the afterlives. The Dark Half is arrogant and destructive to the point of no longer caring about merely ruling the Palamecian Empire, seeking to destroy the world with the powers he gained upon his return from Hell, yet at the same time admonishing Leon for taking the mantle of emperor. The Light Half initially comes off as courteous and apologetic, but is a hypocrite and a liar, containing the same misanthropic spirit as the Emperor.
=== Abilities ===
Even before he crowns himself the Emperor of Hell, Mateus is incredibly powerful, able to create cyclones destructive enough to devastate entire towns and lift one of his castles to use as a mobile fortress. The opening FMV included in the PlayStation version of Final Fantasy II implies the Emperor can manipulate the tide of battle via energy from his fingertips even when not directly on the battlefield. He can teleport, or at least leave behind an illusion of himself, as evidenced by how he traps Firion and his party at the Coliseum. He employs strong elemental magicks in combat, while having a mass arsenal of support spells. He has access to a seemingly endless stock of Elixirs, allowing him to repeatedly restore himself to health.
Upon his death, and eventual rebirth, the Emperor gains the ability to summon Pandaemonium to the surface world, as well as a slew of new demonic powers. His dark half can generate purple flames, while also causing distortions within the area he is occupying.
His light half is implied to have the power to return dead souls to their bodies, along with the ability to grant eternal life to people.
== Story ==
The Emperor begins his campaign for world domination by summoning an army of creatures from Hell. Several kingdoms, like Fynn, Kashuan and Deist, resist, but are subdued. In the case of Deist, the militarily-powerful homeland of the Dragoons, the Emperor orders the poisoning of their wyverns' water supplies, leaving the Dragoons powerless.
The royalty of Kashuan, which survived the Palamecian Empire's attack, founded the Wild Rose Rebellion alongside the kingdom of Fynn. The Empire attacks Fynn to destroy the resistance, and after capturing it, the Emperor begins the construction of the fearsome Dreadnought. The Emperor also subtly aids in the campaign via his powers from within his throne room. Ironically, his attack on Fynn ultimately helped bring about the people who would put an end to his reign of terror: Firion, Guy, Leon, and Maria. At some point, he had Leon captured, where he brainwashed him into becoming his Dark Knight.
After Firion and his friends gather the Sunfire and Princess Hilda is captured by the Dreadnought while traveling to Kashuan on Cid's airship, the Emperor replaces the captive Hilda with a Lamia Queen. After the Dreadnought is destroyed, the Imperial Lamia is taken to Altair, and later felled. The Emperor announces a tournament at the Palamecian Coliseum, and makes Hilda the prize. Firion and his comrades attempt to rescue her alongside Prince Gordon of Kashuan.
After defeating a Behemoth pit against them, Firion and his friends attempt to kill the Emperor as they approach him to take the prize. It is a trap and the Emperor locks the party away via the Dark Knight. Meanwhile, the Emperor continues his assault on the land above.
After the Liberation of Fynn, the Wild Rose Rebellion acquires the Ultima Tome, but by that time the Emperor has summoned a giant Cyclone and crushed the towns of Paloom, Altair, Gatrea and Poft, and is approaching Fynn. The Emperor resides inside the Cyclone to personally oversee the destruction of Fynn and the party makes their way inside by summoning a wyvern. The Emperor initially assumes they are not important enough for him to fight despite acknowledging that they revived the Wyverns of Deist he had wiped out earlier, and thus deploys several of his royal guards against them. After two units are wiped out, the Emperor concludes he may have underestimated Firion's group, and decides to dispose of them personally, claiming such is to be considered an honor. The Emperor is killed in the fight, and the Dark Knight Leon proclaims himself the Emperor of Palamecia and takes over the army.
After breaking into Castle Palamecia, Firion's party confronts the Dark Knight and the Emperor appears in a new demonic form. He had arrived in Hell and seizes the throne within Castle Pandemonium. After Leon protests that he has no intention of relinquishing the title, Mateus reveals he no longer cares about ruling the empire, but intends to destroy the world with his new powers, starting with the surviving members of the Wild Rose Rebellion. Ricard summons the wyvern to get the party out of Palamecia while he confronts the revived Emperor, who slaughters him with ease.
While it is unknown if the Emperor intentionally allowed to be killed to arrive in Hell, as he already had power over Hell-spawn, it is likely it was his true intention all along. After killing Ricard, Mateus summons Pandaemonium to the mountains where Palamecia once stood and resumes his world-domination campaign. The party travels through the Jade Passage and breaks into Castle Pandemonium, and after defeating the Emperor's hellish generals, Firion and his friends confront the Emperor. The Emperor is defeated, and fades away, although not before expressing disbelief that he could lose against the same group twice.
=== Soul of Rebirth ===
In the Dawn of Souls, 20th Anniversary and mobile versions, something unforeseen happens when the Emperor is killed: his soul splits in two, one going to Hell to become the lord of Pandemonium, the other going to Heaven and becoming the lord of Arubboth. With his new powers the second Emperor summons the fallen souls of Minwu, Josef, Scott and Ricard as representatives of those who fell in the wake of the empire's conquests.
As they reach his throne within the walls of Arubboth, the Emperor asks for their forgiveness and offers them eternal life. They consider his offer, but the souls of the people they care about appear and tell them to look past the Emperor's charade.
The party realizes they are being tricked, and that this Emperor is no different from the other. They attack the Emperor's light side while Firion's group battles his dark counterpart. The Light Emperor vows to have them know eternal suffering due to their refusal to forgive him, and as he dies, tells them the struggles of violence and war will continue as long as humans exist. He fades away just as his dark counterpart. Minwu later comments that if anyone can change man's violent legacy, it would be Firion and his friends.
== Gameplay ==
The Emperor is fought three times. He is fought first in human form in the Cyclone where he fights in the company of two Royal Guards and a Wood Golem and uses buffing magic like Haste VIII and Blink VIII, with Thunder X as his only damaging spell.
The Emperor of Hell is the final boss fought in the throne room of Pandaemonium. He uses Flare XVI and Starfall X and powerful physical attacks that heal him. He uses high-level status magic like Curse XVI and Slow XVI. The Emperor of Hell resists or absorbs all types of elemental damage.
The Emperor of Heaven is the final boss of Soul of Rebirth. He uses Flare XVI, Holy XVI, Blaze XVI, and Starfall XVI. His only status spell is Dispel XVI, which weakens the party to his other spells.
== Musical themes ==
As of the WonderSwan Color remakes, the original boss theme of Final Fantasy II, "Battle Scene 2", is the final boss theme, while arrangements of the game's two battle themes are used for other boss battles. Thus, "Battle Scene 2" became associated with the Emperor alone. "Battle Theme B" plays in the first boss encounter with the Emperor, shared with the Behemoth. The Pixel Remaster version adds female wail vocals into the background of the music.
A rearrangement by the Black Mages titled "Battle Scene II" appears on their first studio album. Another arrangement appears on the Dissidia Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack. The Pixel Remaster version also added in a choir in the background of the song, singing with vaguely Latin lyrics.
Although technically never used in the original game, a third song called Battle Scene III was included in All Sounds of Final Fantasy I-II, presumably intended for the final battle against the Emperor.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Vd6DFLgLs The only time it was officially played was in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius in the Emperor boss event.
== Other appearances ==
Emperor Mateus has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
*Ivalice Alliance series as a cameo.
*Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin as a DLC boss.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy NT as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character and boss.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All Star Carnival as a boss.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy All the Bravest as a playable character.
*Mobius Final Fantasy as an ability card.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Triple Triad as a card.
=== Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances ===
Emperor Mateus has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
*Puzzle & Dragons.
*Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble as a playable character.
===Other media===
====Novels====
In the Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū novel, it is stated Palamecia is cursed with demonic influences of Satan that corrupt its emperors. The demon that corrupts the minds of Palamecian emperors originates from the beginning of the world when it became trapped within the indestructible "Stone of Iludia" and swore revenge. With Satan's influence, Mateus becomes a malicious masterminds and gains the power to summon demonic forces into the mortal world. After ascending to the throne, Mateus exiled his mother, Aile, to the deserts of Palamecia, and yet she still spends her life trying to find a way to save him, although she never succeeds. His father was also killed by Satan via a heart-attack, implied to be because unlike his son, Satan could not influence him. It is also implied that the reason Mateus exiled his mother was because he retained enough of a soft-spot for her that Satan could not influence him into committing matricide. The same novelization expands a bit on Mateus's capture of Hilda, depicting him as lusting after the princess and trying to sway her into marrying him only for her to refuse. In the original game, it is never indicated whether Mateus felt anything towards Hilda beyond a means to get the Returners captured.
The Emperor also appears in the Final Fantasy I * II * III: Memory of Heroes adaptation, in a similar role as in the original game. This portrayal of the Emperor is shown to favor illusions, having a court jester that makes an illusion of him to trick the rebels at the Coliseum and initially in the Cyclone (Final Fantasy II).
====Web comics====
The Emperor is referred to in the popular web comic 8-Bit Theater. Black Mage Evilwizardington is killed by Lich and sent to Hell where he overthrows the current rulers, absorbing the powers of Hell and returning to Earth. He kills Lich and announces his plan to conquer the world, but is stripped of his powers shortly after when Lich heals the overthrown demons and becomes the new king of Hell.
==Behind the scenes==
The Japanese-exclusive novelization of the game, Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū by Kenji Terada, gives the Emperor the name Mateus , and the English release of the Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive uses it as his proper name. However, all versions of Final Fantasy II refer to him as simply "the Emperor" in both the English and Japanese scripts, which also extends to his appearances in spin-off titles. 
Though the name "Mateus" has never been directly attributed to the Emperor in any Final Fantasy game, the name is alluded to in connection with the Emperor. The recurring weapon Mateus's Malice bears the name and is exclusively usable by the Emperor, and the entity Mateus in games set in Ivalice is based on the Emperor.
While never alluded to in-game, the Emperor's mother was planned to appear in the story. Aile was a fortune teller who would provide the player with helpful hints when sought out, and would later be revealed as Mateus's mother in disguise in the Muma no Meikyū novel.
In the original release, when the Emperor reappeared in his Hell Emperor form, he did not speak until Leon stated he had no intention of relinquishing the throne, by revealing he no longer intended to rule the world, but to destroy it instead with his new powers from Hell. The ports added in a boastful speech where he chided Leon for trying to take over the position of Emperor.
===Popular culture===
The Emperor is renowned in Japan for his death cry of "Uboaaa!" and the romanized version, "Uboar!". "Uboar" was the name of his Japanese fanclub. In some fan translations this was changed to "Gwaaaahhhh!!" His death cry is in Dissidia, and Tidus questions him about his scream. In the English version, his death cry was changed to "Ungaahhhh!", which has also caught on in Japan due to the English subtitle option of Final Fantasy II for the PlayStation Portable. In pixel remaster, it was changed to "Uraaahhh!" "Uboaa" is also used in the English prototype of Final Fantasy II, Dark Shadow Over Palakia.
=== Voice ===
In the ports, the Emperor of Hell roars briefly before facing the party.
In the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, he is voiced in the Japanese versions by Kenyu Horiuchi. Horiuchi previously portrayed Cloud Strife in the fighting game Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring.
He is voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in English versions. Smith voices him with a deep, vaguely British accent with a bit of a dramatic flair, similar to the late British singer and actor David Bowie, particularly his role as Goblin King Jareth from the Jim Henson film Labyrinth (whom the Emperor has a slight resemblance to).
== Gallery ==
FFII Emperor Palamecia Amano 5.jpg|Emperor Palamecia's Dark Emperor artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Emperor Palamecia 6.jpg|Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Emperor Palamecia 5 (color).jpg|Color artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Amano Emperor.jpg|Alternate Art by Yoshitaka Amano.
Hell Emperor.jpg|Artwork of the Emperor of Hell by Yoshitaka Amano.
FFII Emperor Palamecia Amano unused.jpg|Alternate designs for the Emperor of Hell by Yoshitaka Amano.
FFII Novelisation Amano Illustration 7.jpg|Artwork of Emperor with Princess Hilda drawn by Yoshitaka Amano for the Final Fantasy II novelization.
Amano FFII Cast.jpg|Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano of the Emperor and Firion's party.
EmperorOrigins.JPG|The Emperor in the opening FMV for Final Fantasy Origins.
Emperor's Ambitions.jpg|CG, Final Fantasy Origins.
The imperial invasion.jpg|CG, The Imperial Invasion.
20th Anni Emperor.jpg|Yoshitaka Amano artwork for 20th Anniversary edition.
Emperor Line Art.jpg|Yoshitaka Amano artwork for 20th Anniversary edition.
Emperor DoS.png|Soul of Rebirth artwork.
Mateus CG.png|CG render of the Emperor from Dissidia Final Fantasy.
Dissidia Mateus ex.png|Emperor's "Dark Emperor" render from Dissidia Final Fantasy.
Emperor Alt.png|Emperor's alternate artwork render from Dissidia Final Fantasy.
DissidiaEmperor 3rdAlt.png|Emperor's Final Fantasy Origins render from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
Dissidia-HeavenEmperor.png|Emperor's "Light Emperor" render from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
FFRK Emperor Mateus.png|Final Fantasy Record Keeper sprite.
Dffoo emperor.png|Render from Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia.
FFOrigins Emperor Mateus Render.png|Render from Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin.
== Etymology ==
The title used for the Emperor in the Japanese version, Kōtei, is the Japanese archaic form of the title, which itself was derived from the Chinese term for emperor, or more specifically, the Yellow Emperor.
==Citations==
de:Imperator Mateus
es:Emperador Mateus Palamecia
fr:Empereur Mateus
it:Imperatore di Palamesia
pt-br:Imperador Mateus
ru:Император Матеус
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy II
Category:Antagonists