Gau (Final Fantasy VI party member)

Gau is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. As a Feral Child, Gau fights by mimicking the behavior of monsters, allowing him to use a wide variety of attacks, but doing so puts him into a berserk-like state when he becomes uncontrollable and acts on his own.
==Battle==
===Stats===
Gau's stats are all around high. His Strength is the third-highest in the game and his Speed, Stamina, and Magic are above average. He has the second-best Evasion after Shadow and the best Magic Evasion. His only stat that is lacking is his Defense, which is mediocre, but Gau has access to the most physically defensive armor in the game, covering for this shortcoming.
To compensate for his inability to equip a weapon, Gau's natural attack power is much higher than any other character's—his base Battle Power is 99, when most characters don't exceed 20.
Name 	Initial Stats
Strength 	44
Speed 	38
Stamina 	36
Magic 	34
Attack 	99
Defense 	44
Evasion 	21%
Magic Defense 	34
Magic Evasion 	18%
Escape Success 	5
HP Gain 	45
MP Gain 	10
Level Averaging	+2
Level	HP 	MP 	EXP 	+
1 	45 	10 	0 	
2 	56 	14 	32 	
3 	68 	18 	96 	
4 	82 	23 	208 	
5 	99 	28 	400 	
6 	119 	34 	672 	
7 	141 	40 	1056 	
8 	165 	47 	1552 	
9 	191 	55 	2184 	
10 	218 	63 	2976 	
11 	246 	72 	3936 	
12 	276 	81 	5080 	
13 	311 	91 	6432 	
14 	350 	101	7992 	
15 	394 	111	9784 	
16 	444 	121	11840 	
17 	498 	131	14152 	
18 	555 	142	16736 	
19 	616 	153	19616 	
20 	681 	164	22832 	
21 	748 	175	26360 	
22 	817 	186	30232 	
23 	889 	198	34456 	
24 	965 	210	39056 	
25 	1044	222	44072 	
26 	1126	234	49464 	
27 	1212	246	55288 	
28 	1302	259	61568 	
29 	1397	272	68304 	
30 	1496	285	75496 	
31 	1596	298	83184 	
32 	1697	311	91384 	
33 	1799	325	100088 	
34 	1901	339	109344 	
35 	2004	353	119136 	
36 	2108	367	129504 	
37 	2214	381	140464 	
38 	2321	396	152008 	
39 	2429	411	164184 	
40 	2539	426	176976 	
41 	2650	441	190416 	
42 	2763	456	204520 	
43 	2877	472	219320 	
44 	2993	488	234808 	
45 	3110	504	251000 	
46 	3229	520	267936 	
47 	3349	536	285600 	
48 	3471	553	304040 	
49 	3596	570	323248 	
50 	3724	587	343248 	
51 	3854	603	364064 	
52 	3985	618	385696 	
53 	4118	632	408160 	
54 	4252	645	431488 	
55 	4388	657	455680 	
56 	4525	668	480776 	
57 	4664	678	506760 	
58 	4806	687	533680 	
59 	4950	695	561528 	
60 	5095	702	590320 	
61 	5242	708	620096 	
62 	5390	713	650840 	
63 	5540	718	682600 	
64 	5692	724	715368 	
65 	5845	730	749160 	
66 	6000	737	784016 	
67 	6156	744	819920 	
68 	6314	751	856920 	
69 	6474	759	895016 	
70 	6636	767	934208 	
71 	6796	775	974536 	
72 	6951	783	1016000	
73 	7102	791	1058640	
74 	7247	798	1102456	
75 	7387	805	1147456	
76 	7523	812	1193648	
77 	7655	818	1241080	
78 	7781	824	1289744	
79 	7901	830	1339672	
80 	8018	836	1390872	
81 	8131	841	1443368	
82 	8241	846	1497160	
83 	8349	851	1552264	
84 	8454	856	1608712	
85 	8556	861	1666512	
86 	8656	866	1725688	
87 	8754	871	1786240	
88 	8849	877	1848184	
89 	8941	883	1911552	
90 	9031	889	1976352	
91 	9119	895	2042608	
92 	9206	901	2110320	
93 	9291	908	2179504	
94 	9374	916	2250192	
95 	9456	925	2322392	
96 	9536	935	2396128	
97 	9619	946	2471400	
98 	9705	958	2548224	
99 	9793	971	2637112	
===Equipment===
Gau is unique among the party in that he cannot equip weapons, save for the universal Impartisan that has low battle power unless he's under the Imp status. Despite this, the Impartisan does have an important use for how it interacts with Gau's relics.
Gau's armor options are limited to lightweight gear. Because he lacks an ultimate weapon obtainable in the Dragons' Den, Gau has an "ultimate armor" instead, the Dueling Mask, which increases all his stats by 6, his HP by 25%, and halves elemental damage.
Gau is one of three characters able to equip the Snow Scarf, the best armor in the game with Defense and Magic Defense surpassing all other armor save for the Reed Cloak, which is only active under Imp status and only trumps the Snow Scarf by 10 Magic Defense. With the Snow Scarf and Dueling Mask, Gau is the bulkiest character in the game even before additional benefits from a shield are taken into account.
Three relics of note for Gau are the Genji Glove, the Gauntlet, and the Master's Scroll. The effects of these relics affect not only Gau's normal attacks, but also special physical attacks, such as Cat Scratch and Critical. The Genji Glove and Gauntlet only take effect if the user is equipped with a weapon, which is where the Impartisan has utility for Gau since it is the only weapon he can use, and together they let Gau use special physical attacks twice, or boost their damage. The Master's Scroll does not require an equipped weapon, and lets Gau use special physical attacks four times, eight if used with the Genji Glove.
====Weapons====
Universal
*Unarmed
*Impartisan
====Armor====
Shields	Helmets	Body Armor
*Buckler
*Mythril Shield
*Flame Shield
*Ice Shield
*Thunder Shield
*Aegis Shield
*Force Shield
*Genji Shield
*Cursed Shield
*Paladin's Shield
*Tortoise Shield	
*Leather Cap
*Plumed Hat
*Bandana
*Green Beret
*Priest's Miter
*Twist Headband
*Mythril Helm
*Tiger Mask
*Black Cowl
*Circlet
*Red Cap
*Thornlet
*Genji Helm
*Dueling Mask
*Saucer	
*Leather Armor
*Kenpo Gi
*Mythril Vest
*Ninja Gear
*Power Sash
*Gaia Gear
*Diamond Vest
*Mirage Vest
*Black Garb
*Snow Scarf
*Reed Cloak
===Abilities===
Gau's special ability is Rage, which lets him mimic the behaviors of monsters. When fighting on the Veldt, Gau has the Leap command whose use instantly ends the battle and removes Gau from the party. A time later when fighting on the Veldt, Gau will reappear at the end of a battle and, if not attacked, will rejoin the party having learned the Rages of any enemies that were in the enemy formations when he Leapt and when he returned.
When Gau uses a Rage, he takes on that enemy's elemental and status affinities, including innate statuses and immunity to statuses. This includes statuses that normally cannot be afflicted on the party: undead and dying at 0 MP. The latter only occurs if Gau's MP is reduced to 0 while under Rage; if his MP is already 0, he will be unaffected until an attack damages his MP. Each individual elemental affinity of a Rage will overwrite Gau's affinity to that element only if his equipment offers inferior protection—an enemy that is immune to fire-elemental damage would overwrite resistance to fire, but not absorption.
While in Rage status, Gau becomes uncontrollable and will randomly perform a normal attack or a special attack each turn, with a 50% chance of either. Rage continues until Gau is KO'd, petrified, or until the battle ends. If Gau is KO'd and revived, the elemental and status affinities of Rage will not persist, with the exception of Float.
Gau's Rages make him perhaps the most powerful character available in the World of Balance. He can access tier-two magic spells well before the party gains access to magicite, and can perform powerful physical attacks. Later in the game Gau can easily access earth, water, and wind spells, elements not easily available to other party members, and he can cast top-tier magic, including Meteor.
However, Gau's viability in the late game suffers due to his uncontrollable nature—while he can use powerful abilities, other party members can perform similarly and do so reliably without giving up player control. Gau's Rages do not become useless, but using him can be risky if the player needs a party member for a different task than what his current Rage locks him into doing.
Two popular Rages for Gau are the Stray Cat and Magic Urn. The Stray Cat's special attack, Cat Scratch, is a powerful Level 6 attack. While other Rages can be more efficient under various circumstances, the Stray Cat Rage is a simple but powerful option that can carry Gau through the game comfortably, as it can deal several thousand damage and even hit the damage cap as Gau trains up his Strength. Magic Urn absorbs all elemental damage and its special attack is Curaga, which, supplemented by Gau's powerful equipment, makes him very durable and allows him to support the party with healing magic.
Because Gau does not have an Attack command, he has no Desperation Attack. He also cannot use the Jump command; equipping the Dragoon Boots will do nothing.
==="Wind God Gau"===
A particularly powerful strategy for Gau was so effective that it was removed from all versions of Final Fantasy VI after the original Super NES release. Equipping Gau with the Merit Award allows him to equip the Kazekiri ("Tempest" in the Super NES translation), which has a chance to cast Wind Slash when attacking. The coding to randomly use Wind Slash is identical to the coding for casting spells when attacking that other weapons have, but is a separate mechanic, and because of this it is not disabled when using the Master's Scroll.
With this combination and the Stray Cat Rage, Gau will attack four times every turn, and each attack has a chance to use Wind Slash which will hit all enemies. Further, if Gau uses Cat Scratch, it can also trigger Wind Slash and Wind Slash will have increased power due to Cat Scratch being a Level 6 physical attack. This allows Gau to reliably hit all enemies for maximum damage, potentially multiple times each turn. The only drawback is that the strategy is much less effective against enemies that are immune to or absorb wind-elemental damage, but very few enemies in Final Fantasy VI are. This strategy was nicknamed "Wind God Gau" by the fanbase.
The PlayStation Anthology release made Gau unable to equip the Merit Award, but the "Wind God Gau" strategy was not entirely gone, as Gogo could also do it, just less effectively since they have poorer stats and cannot equip magicite for level up bonuses to their Strength. The Game Boy Advance version made both Gau and Gogo unable to equip the Merit Award, and all ports since have retained this.
===Enemy===
Gau can be encountered as an "enemy" on the Veldt if he had Leapt previously and not returned yet and the party has fewer than four members. As long as the battle is not a back attack, side attack, or pincer attack, there is a chance Gau will appear after the monsters are defeated. He can be attacked and even killed during this time, but if the player does not attack him, he will speak up and rejoin the group with the Rages of any monsters present in the battle he leaped and the battle he returned in.
==Quests==
===Recruitment===
Gau is recruited in the World of Balance by purchasing dried meat from Mobliz during Sabin's scenario and then using it on Gau in battle when he appears. After a cutscene, he will join. When Gau uses Leap to leave the party, he will eventually appear at the end of a battle on the Veldt and rejoin as long as the party has an empty slot for him. He will not appear if the party is full.
In the World of Ruin, Gau will appear at the end of battles on the Veldt as if he had used Leap and rejoins the party as he would normally.
Skipping Sabin's scenario with the airship glitch will cause Gau to be forever unobtainable because, like most party members, Gau shares a slot with one of the Ten Moogles (specifically Kuru/Mugmug). Naming Gau during Sabin's scenario is the trigger for updating Gau's slot to be him and not a moogle, and not doing so will cause him to fail to load properly when encountered on the Veldt. When encountered in this way, Gau will never show up on screen, and be unable to be attacked or targeted with the Dried Meat, requiring the player to run away to end the battle.
===Story role===
Gau has unique dialogue when meeting Ramuh in Zozo, but because the game checks for his presence last when determining what dialogue to display, his unique dialogue will only trigger if he is the only party member.
In the World of Ruin, taking Gau to the house on the Veldt with at least him and Sabin in the party leads to a series of cutscenes where Sabin deduces the old man living there is Gau's father and dresses him up to introduce them. Completing this quest does not have any gameplay impact or rewards.
===Low-level play===
When Gau is Leapt on the Veldt, including the start of the World of Ruin, his levels are not included in the algorithm that calculates the levels of new and rejoining party members based on the average level of the currently recruited party members. This gives Gau important utility in low-level playthroughs as there are many scripted battles and unavoidable battles that reward experience points. To keep the party's levels as low as possible, players can fight these battles with Gau, allow him to level up, and then Leap him onto the Veldt so his level will not be included when determining the levels of newly joining characters.
==Gallery==
FF6GauSprites.PNG|Sprite sheet of Gau (SNES/PSX/GBA).
FF6 iOS Gau Sprites.png|Sprite sheet of Gau (Mobile/PC).
Gau Spellcasting Animation.gif|Animated sprite of Gau casting a spell (SNES/PSX/GBA).
Gau Spellcasting Animation FF6 IOS.gif|Animated sprite of Gau casting a spell (Mobile/PC).
Gau from FFVI Pixel Remaster spellcasting sprite.gif|Animated sprite of Gau casting a spell (Pixel Remaster).
Gau Rage Status Animation.gif|Animated sprite of Gau under Rage status (SNES/PSX/GBA).
FF6SNES Gau Victory Pose.gif|Animated sprite of Gau's victory pose (SNES/PS/GBA).
Gau Victory Animation FF6 IOS.gif|Animated sprite of Gau's victory pose (Mobile/PC).
Gau from FFVI Pixel Remaster victory sprite.gif|Animated sprite of Gau's victory pose (Pixel Remaster).
de:Gau
Category:Character gameplay in Final Fantasy VI