Cloud of Darkness (Final Fantasy XIV)

The Cloud of Darkness is a powerful voidsent in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. She appears in the Crystal Tower storyline as a disembodied voice speaking from the World of Darkness and later appears as the final boss of the storyline.
==History==
Long ago, the resurrected Emperor Xande of the Allagan Empire forged a pact with the Cloud of Darkness to reduce Eorzea into nothingness, having realized one's achievements will be meaningless upon death. Though Xande died at the hands of the Warriors of Light, the pact remained.
Doga and Unei attempted to negate it and close the portal leading to the World of Darkness, but the Cloud of Darkness resisted and summoned Doga and Unei Clones to attack the NOAH group, pulling Doga and Unei into its world.
As the Cloud of Darkness could not harm Doga and Unei directly as they possessed Xande's blood, it resolved to use the other voidsent to kill them. Having been inadvertently dragged in by the Cloud of Darkness, Nero tol Scaeva protected the two while allowing the void to enter his body. The Warrior of Light and G'raha Tia found the Cloud of Darkness and reduced it into a formless cloud as it made a final attempt to stop the Warrior's group from escaping the World of Darkness, only to learn G'raha is a descendant of Xande's blood and thus powerless to harm him. Doga and Unei remained to fend the entity off as G'raha returned to Eorzea to end Xande's covenant with the Cloud. During the Scions' travel to the Void sometime later, they and the Warrior are assured by Zero that the Cloud would not not likely be fully restored as she lost the vast amounts of Voidsent she had consumed over the years and may have likely been devoured in her weakened state by another.
During the Warrior's adventures in the First, they helped Ryne bring life back to the Empty by fighting versions of the primals from the Warrior's memories to stimulate the movement of aether aspected to the six elements. This failed to bring life back to the Empty as the overpowering light continued to force the aether to stillness. Gaia was influenced by Mitron to suggest creating a manifestation of darkness to stimulate the motion of the Empty's aether. Gaia and Ryne worked together to create a version of the Cloud of Darkness from the Warrior's memories, and on its defeat, the sudden influx of darkness was sufficient to allow aether, and thus life, to begin to flow and spread through the Empty again.
==Characteristics==
===Appearance===
The Cloud of Darkness's appearance is based on her counterpart in Final Fantasy III, being a green-skinned female form with yellow tentacles formed from what appears to be a literal "cloud of darkness". A disembodied voice emanates from a Voidgate shaped similar to the NES map sprite of Cloud of Darkness in Final Fantasy III. Despite being considered genderless, the being is referred to as a "she" in the cutscenes and bears an overall feminine form. When summoned through Eden's power in the First, her design is identical to her appearance in Dissidia, and is smaller in size.
A minion based on her, called the "Puff of Darkness" (available as a rare possible reward upon defeating her), is also derived from her depiction in Dissidia.
===Personality===
The Final Fantasy XIV version of the Cloud of Darkness refers to itself in singular pronouns. As an embodiment of the concept of nothingness, she fixates on destruction and intends to flood the world with darkness, as per the covenant.
==Gameplay==
The Cloud of Darkness is fought at the end of . Her attacks derive from both the DS remake of Final Fantasy III, and her moveset in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
A Primal version of her, resembling her appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, appears as boss in with attacks mostly named after her Dissidia moveset and her title also a direct reference.
==Musical themes==
"The Reach of Darkness" plays during the battle against the Cloud of Darkness in the World of Darkness. It is an orchestral rearrangement of "Last Battle" and was composed by Masayoshi Soken.
While fighting the primal version during "Eden's Promise: Umbra", the music used is a rearrangement of "Don't Be Afraid" from Final Fantasy VIII.
==Gallery==
FFXIV ARR - Cloud of Darkness.png|Artwork.
Crystal Tower Bosses FFXIV Art.jpg|Artwork of the Cloud of Darkness along with the other bosses of the Crystal Tower.
Cloud of Darkness XIV.jpg|Early test render of the Cloud of Darkness.
FFXIV Cloud of Darkness.png|In-game render.
Eden Cloud of Darkness.jpg|The Cloud of Darkness summoned through Eden's power.
==Citations==
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XIV
Category:Antagonists
Category:Voidsents