About Domus Facina

Domus Facina is a fan-based webcomic created by Phillip Andrew Elliott Jr. Hosted on both DeviantArt and YouTube, "DF" is uploaded on an irregular basis, making updates unpredictable. The comic's main plot involves an antagonist referred to only as "The Landlord", who has summoned villains from the Final Fantasy series to his world so that he may study them (or so he claims). The Landlord is accompanied by four cohorts (only two of which have been revealed so far), but their exact plans are unknown.
Production of DF began on June 2, 2008, when "PJ" (as the author calls himself) began planning the designs for the eleven main characters, which include the Landlord and the main villains of Final Fantasies 1-10. His original plan was for all of the cast members to be disproportionate to the point where their heights were only five times the lengths of their heads. This idea was immediately scrapped in favor of more realistic proportions. The first episode of DF was uploaded on August 11, 2008, and featured only two characters: the main antagonist, the Landlord, and the main protagonist, Garland, the first villain in the entire Final Fantasy series.
== Plot ==
Much of the plot still remains a secret, as the story has only just begun. What we do know, is that a powerful sorcerer known as The Landlord has summoned several Final Fantasy villains to his world to live together, presumably so that he can study their behavior. The world on which they currently reside is a small planet called Xineerauqs that the Landlord himself created with his magic. It is small enough to encircle on foot in under five hours, and features many buildings and facilities. While the Landlord is in charge of the house in which the villains live, which is called "Domus Facina", most of the other facilities such as the grocery store and hospital are run by one of his cohorts, known as The Contractor. The Landlord also has a special spell cast on the entirety of the planet that prevents anyone living on it to die. This is so that none of the villains are killed, which would screw up the natural balance of their home worlds, but it may also be for the Landlord's own protection.
While some of the villains appreciate the vacation the Landlord has offered them, others are suspicious of him and can't wait to return home. In order to ensure that the Final Fantasy villains obey him, the Landlord scares them with threats of opening "The Door". He has not actually revealed to the reader exactly what it is that's behind the door, but he did tell Emperor Mateus Palamecia and Sephiroth in order to keep them from rebelling. It is unknown what The Door holds, only that it is something terrifying enough to win the loyalty of two very independent characters.
In Episode 0021, when Gilgamesh was brought into the comic, a small piece of the plot was revealed. Apparently, the Landlord is looking for a sword known as the "Omega Weapon". Whether or not the Omega Weapon is actually a sword or the recurring Final Fantasy monster by the same name is unknown. What the Landlord plans on doing with it is also unknown.
The majority of the comic will tend to ignore the plot in favor of Sunday Funny-esque humor, while much of the first couple hundred episodes will focus on expanding the cast. The author has stated that he intends to include at least one villain from every single Final Fantasy game, and all of the games, movies, and series related to them. Once he has done that, he will begin taking requests, although it is unknown exactly how many characters he will allow.
== Art ==
The character designs of Domus Facina are heavily influenced by the style of manga, although much of the style is unique to the artist. The designs of the original characters usually involve leather, belts, buttons, buckles, and random animal parts. The designs of the Final Fantasy villains are based on how on they were designed for Dissidia, in which the characters' designs featured a mix of their original and most recent designs. Most of these designs are influenced by Yoshitaka Amano's original concept art, but some, like Seymour Guado, remain unchanged.
The format of the comic involves two columns of symmetrical panels against a black backdrop. The panels, backgrounds, and characters are hand-drawn and inked, and then scanned onto a computer. After eliminating all colors except for pure black and white, the panels are colored, but not shaded. The gradient tool is often used for simple backgrounds. Once the panels are completely colored, they are copied and pasted depending on how many panels use the same characters in the same poses and positions. All that remains after that is the addition of dialogue balloons.
All of the episodes are exactly 950 pixels wide, and were at one time uploaded as jpg's, but now are uploaded as png's.
== Characters ==
The events in DF mostly revolve around the main eleven characters: The Landlord, and the main villains of Final Fantasies 1-10. But these characters will inevitably only make up a small percentage of the cast. Many of the Final Fantasy villains have had some creative changes, but nonetheless maintain the personalities that fans love them for (if they ever had any, that is).
=== Original Characters ===
*The Landlord — The main antagonist of the series; he has summoned the Final Fantasy villains to his own personal world and is holding them there against their will. While he claims to be studying them, hints are given that he also wants something more. The Landlord is very serious most of the time, and it is hinted that he may be a Sephiroth fanboy.
*The Contractor — The first of The Landlord's cohorts to be revealed. The Contractor wears what appears to be a modernized musketeer outfit, and has a fox tail. The Contractor has a very bubbly personality, but is also very sly and cunning. Through the use of his unknown powers, he single-handedly runs and maintains most of the world's facilities on his own.
*The Soldier — The second of The Landlord's non-FF cohorts. The Soldier wears what appears to be a misshaped Kung-Fu uniform, and has retractable bat wings. The Soldier is a round character with a laid back personality, and is the only homosexual in the comic. It is his job to wander the Final Fantasy worlds searching for items to assist the Landlord's plans.
*The Guardian — The third of The Landlord's non-FF cohorts. The Guardian wears leather, like the others, but also wears armor and a long cape. He possesses the horns and tail of a horned lizard, and is charged with guarding various locations, like the Lunar Palace, from intruders. He is portrayed as a random maniac whose dialogue is intelligible. He is constantly accompanied by his imaginary companion, Bone.
*The Others — The author has revealed that there will be at least one more cohort, but nothing is known about them yet.
*Kumera —While not technically a "cohort", Kumera does work for the Landlord, classifiying him as such. He is a moogle who acts as the series' camerman, and is therefore always off-screen.
=== Main Final Fantasy Villains ===
*Garland — The main character of Domus Facina, Garland is the Final Fantasy series' very first villain, and the main villain of Final Fantasy. Garland's design is based mostly on his Dissidia design, but the head and helmet are based on his original NES field sprite. Garland is portrayed as having Multiple Personality Disorder, being possessed by four split personalities, each based on one of his world's four elements: Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. The Earth side is known as his "aristocratic" side, and is very calm, serious, and intelligent. His Fire side has yet to be seen in the comic, but it features his helmet from Dissidia, and is his most evil, destructive side. His Water side features him as a very childish and naïve person, and his Wind side turns him into a raging sociopath with a singular fixation on knocking people down for his enjoyment.
*Emperor Mateus Palamecia — The main villain of Final Fantasy II, Emperor Mateus's design is based solely on his Dissidia design. Mateus is the most serious member of the cast thus far, and it has been revealed by the author that he will have OCD. Mateus is one of the few villains who does not trust the Landlord and is incapable of enjoying himself while in Domus Facina. Mateus has claimed to have a deep hatred of Kefka and Sephiroth, as he did everything that both of them did first, but didn't get any of the credit for it. He has threatened to make their stay in DF very miserable.
*Xande — The main villain of Final Fantasy III, Xande's design is a mixture of his original concept art by Yoshitaka Amano, his NES battle sprite, and his 3D model from the Nintendo DS remake. Xande is portrayed as an overly emotional buffoon who makes ridiculous excuses for his shortcomings. He tries to win over people with conceited, self-centered speeches about how great he thinks he is, only to be ignored by the other characters.
*Golbez — Though not really the main villain of Final Fantasy IV, he was summoned to Domus Facina due to a technical difficulty. In his original game, he performed all of his villainous deeds while being controlled by another character. Now free of his control, Golbez is portrayed as a very kind, polite, and refined anti-villain who rarely shows strong emotions. He is accompanied by his pet dragon, Shadow.
*ExDeath — The main villain of Final Fantasy V, ExDeath's design was once based on his SNES battle sprite, but the author has redesigned him to match his Dissidia counterpart. ExDeath is portrayed as a loud-mouthed, egotistical moron who talks about himself too much, and has a secret sexual fetish for plants (because ExDeath himself is a tree).
*Kefka Palazzo — The main villain of Final Fantasy VI, Kefka's design is based almost exactly on his Dissidia design (his purple lipstick has been removed from his cheeks). Kefka's personality remains seemingly unchanged from his selfish, heartless, cocky, power-hungry, ruthless, humorous, and pure evil portrayal that he is so well-known and loved for. Kefka is enjoying his time in Domus Facina, and is seen reading books written by Franz Kafka, the author whom Kefka's character was originally based on.
*Sephiroth — The main villain of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth's design is mostly based on his Dissidia design, except that he retains his bangs from his original Tetsuya Nomura concept art. Sephiroth's personality is mostly unchanged, as he is viewed as a cool character who isn't afraid to joke around from time to time. He has been seen both hitting on, mocking, and being mocked by Ultimecia, as he is generally hated by the other villains for being more popular than them. Sephiroth is also seen carrying the severed head of his "mother", JENOVA, believing she can speak to him (the only real outstanding change in his personality).
*Ultimecia — The main villainess of Final Fantasy VIII, Ultimecia's design is based solely on her Dissidia design, which is almost completely unchanged from the original anyway. Just like in the original game, Ultimecia is portrayed as having an accent that causes her to pronounce all hard c's like a k, meaning if she would say "cat", it would appear to be spelled "kat". Ultimecia has been seen very few times so far, but it is known that she has a short temper, but also has a rarely exposed bubbly side.
*Kuja — The main villain of Final Fantasy IX, Kuja's design is based solely on his Dissidia design, which, like Ultimecia's, is almost completely unchanged from the orginal. Kuja's personality is also largely unchanged, appearing as a coy narcissist with a self-centered view of the universe. Perfectly aware of what others think of him, he goes out of his way to prove that he is not homosexual like most believe. Kuja's personal dragon, Silver, is also featured in the comic.
*Maester Seymour Guado — While not exactly the main villain of Final Fantasy X, he was the only villain who qualified, as the other villains either weren't important enough, or weren't in control of their own actions. Seymour's design is based solely on his original Tetsuya Nomura artwork. Not much is known about Seymour's role in the comic, but he is still portrayed as being somewhat emotionless, not appearing to have any guilt over anything he says or does. He believes that everything that happens, happens because he planned it that way, and will never admit defeat.
=== Other Final Fantasy Villains ===
Here is a list of the Final Fantasy villains appearing in DF thus far who are not part of the main cast:
*Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy series
*Shadow Lord, Final Fantasy XI 
*Judge Gabranth, Final Fantasy XII 
*Cloud of Darkness, Final Fantasy III
*Jecht, Final Fantasy X
*Master Zemus, Final Fantasy IV
*Emperor Vayne Solidor, Final Fantasy XII
*The Creator, Final Fantasy Legend
*Julius Vandole, Final Fantasy Adventure
*Dark King, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
*Magus, Chrono Trigger
*Emperor Sauzer, Bahamut Lagoon
*Smithy, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
*Ultima, Final Fantasy Tactics
*Django, Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring
*General Hein, Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within
*Makenshi, Final Fantasy Unlimited
*Ansem, Kingdom Hearts
*Raem, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
*Shadow Dragon, Final Fantasy IV
*JENOVA, Final Fantasy VII
*Silver Dragon, Final Fantasy IX
*Yu Yevon, Final Fantasy X
*Venat, Final Fantasy XII
*St. Ajora Glabados, Final Fantasy Tactics
== Trivia ==
*The literal, Latin translation of Domus Facina is "villainous abode", which is better locallized as House of Villains, or House of Villainy.
*While several of the designs and the overall concept of an internal crossover are directly based on and inspired by Dissidia, the author has stated numerous times that Domus Facina is NOT a Dissidia parody.
*The author has stated that the Domus Facina cast will eventually feature well over 100 characters.
== External Links ==
The complete gallery of Domus Facina, featuring the logoes, character sheets, and episodes thus far, can be found here.
Video slideshows of the episodes, with music from the series added, can be viewed here.