Tantarian

Tantarian is an optional boss in Final Fantasy IX. It can be found in Alexandria Castle's library, but there are only two chances to fight it: during the time the party is rescuing Garnet who is being held in the castle basement, and later when the party arrives to look for Garnet and Eiko during the Battle of Alexandria. If the player misses out on these two opportunities, Tantarian cannot be encountered again.
It is a challenge to face Tantarian the first time the battle is available, because his highly damaging attacks can weaken the party quickly. In addition, battling him then eats away at the 30-minute time limit imposed on the party for finding Garnet in Alexandria Castle's basement.
Tantarian can be found by examining the book case on the left in the library. Though often referred to as a boss, the boss battle music will not play, and the party will earn EXP. There is a moogle in the Knights' Guardhouse to save the game before attempting the battle, but only during the second chance to fight it.
==Stats==
== Battle ==
Tantarian hides inside a book, and begins the battle there. Tantarian's defense is high while hiding, and this is also when it uses its most powerful attacks, including Paper Storm, which inflicts hundreds of points of damage to all party members. The battle against Tantarian requires the player to strategically force him out of the book, and keep him there.
Whenever damage is dealt to Tantarian while the book is closed, the damage amount is added to a hidden counter that resets to 0 whenever it exceeds 200. The book opens to the page matching the counter, and Tantarian is found between pages 150 and 200. For example, an initial attack dealing 320 damage would open the book to page 120 (320 - 200 = 120). A subsequent attack dealing 240 damage would open the book to page 160 (120 + 240 - 200 = 160), which falls between 150 and 200, forcing Tantarian out of the book. Tantarian opening is considered a counter attack; because a counter attack cannot itself be countered in Final Fantasy IX, a counter attack cannot cause Tantarian to open; however, damage dealt by counter attacks is still added to the page counter.
When out of the book, Tantarian's defense drops and the only attack he uses is Poison, which can easily be nullified by equipping Antibody. Any physical attack will cause Tantarian to retreat into the book, and it will also close after a few rounds even if not hit physically. So the player may have to find Tantarian multiple times to defeat it. Tantarian is weak to Fire damage. When Tantarian is out in the open, the player should keep him around as long as possible by using only magical attacks, such as Bio and Fira with Vivi, and Sword Magic with Steiner. Zidane's Thievery is also effective because it ignores Tantarian's high defense.
It is possible to steal the Demon's Mail armor from Tantarian, a very powerful piece of equipment early on, but the armor is notoriously difficult to steal. It may take a few reloaded saves to successfully steal it.
=== Strategy for the first chance to fight Tantarian ===
Before engaging Tantarian, the party should prepare Steiner to deal the exact amount of damage required by using the Alexandrian guards outside the hall just before the library. Steiner's Sword Art Minus Strike deals damage equal to the difference between his max and current HP. After battling the guards, Steiner needs to end up 150–200 HP below his max. If necessary, Freya or Zidane can be used to attack Steiner during the battle before defeating the guards, and then use Potions to heal Steiner into the desired HP range. This will let Steiner use Minus Strike to open the book to Tantarian's hiding place.
Before starting the battle against Tantarian, all characters should be equipped with Antibody. If Steiner's HP have been set properly, he can use Minus Strike to immediately reveal Tantarian. Zidane can steal and Vivi use Fira. On Steiner's second turn, he should use Fira Sword to inflict thousands of points of Fire damage (Tantarian will not close because Fira Sword is considered a magic attack). Zidane can keep stealing and Vivi can keep using Fira. Freya should be on standby to use Ethers on Steiner and Vivi if they run low on MP.
After about six turns, Tantarian will revert to his book form; at this stage, the player must have Steiner on standby to immediately use Minus Strike when Tantarian changes form, to reveal Tantarian again; at no point during this battle should any healing be done (this includes Freya using Reis's Wind) since Tantarian should never have the opportunity to inflict damage. Once Zidane has stolen all items of interest, he should become the standby character ready to use Ethers, and Freya should switch to using Lancer to inflict moderate damage each turn.
=== Strategy for the second chance to fight Tantarian ===
The party members will be Zidane, Freya, Vivi, and Amarant.
It helps if each character has the following abilities:
* Freya: Reis's Wind, Antibody, and Devil Killer.
* Zidane: Bandit, Antibody, and Devil Killer.
* Amarant: Devil Killer, Antibody, Chakra, and Revive. Amarant should not equip Counter.
* Vivi: Fira, Antibody, and Slow.
The party should begin by attacking with all characters, including Vivi. The goal is to get Tantarian open as soon as possible without attacking physically an extra time and having Tantarian close again. The player should keep track of how much damage each party member does.
When Tantarian is open, Amarant can revive any character that may have died and Freya can cast Reis's Wind if the party has been damaged, but the party should take no damage this round. Zidane should keep stealing, and Vivi use Focus during the open phase.
Casting Slow helps keep Tantarian open as well as allows the party to possibly get through a closed phase without taking damage or getting Doom cast on any members, but is not necessary. As Freya's and Vivi's MP drop through the fight, Chakra can top them up as Amarant will be useless during the open phases. The party should only take damage in the closed phase once or twice depending on the party's ATB. It is worth stopping stealing during closed phases to get Tantarian open faster. After the player is done stealing, or if they decide not to steal, they can simply follow the regular strategy of burning Tantarian down with Fira.
== AI script ==
== Tetra Master ==
== Other appearances ==
===Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia===
=== Final Fantasy Record Keeper ===
FFRK Tantaria (Closed) IX.png|Tantarian
FFRK Tantarian FFIX.png|Tantarian
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
=== World of Final Fantasy ===
==Behind the scenes==
Tantarian resembles the enemy Page 64 from Final Fantasy V. The image on the front cover is also based on the enemy Page 256, the picture on the back cover is based on Page 128, and Page 32 can be seen on its spine. An image of the Goblin can be seen inside its covers.
Tantarian is one of the few enemies in the game that drops a piece of equipment; in this case the Running Shoes add-on. Another example is the Friendly Yan that drops a Rosetta Ring if defeated rather than appeased.
== Gallery ==
Tantarian FFIX Art.jpg|Concept artwork.
Tantarian.jpg|Tantarian's location.
Alexandria11-ffix-battlebg.png|Battle background.
Tantarian-Doom.png|Tantarian casting Doom.
FFIX tantarian in book.png|Initial battle render.
== Etymology ==
In the French localization this enemy is called Lovecraft in reference to the author H.P. Lovecraft.
de:Alexandrikon
it:Dantarian
Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy IX