Judge

**Judge** (ジャッジ, *Jajji*?) is a military rank in the Archadian army, and its members belong to a special order of knights under the Imperial Ministry of Law.

With the spread of Archadian influence came a rise in crime and regional conflicts. To reduce the amount of time required by judicial process, House Solidor introduced legislation bringing a military court into existence, this being the origin of the Order of Judges. They are the supreme enforcers of Archadian law in Ivalice. Each wields extraordinary legal power over lower-ranked Archadian officers. Judges are referred to as "your honor" by both outsiders and one another.

The higher ranked **Judge Magisters** (ジャッジマスター, *Jajjimasutā*?), in addition to functioning as chief arbiters and enforcers of Archadian law, are also the elite guard of House Solidor which effectively makes them the commanders of the Imperial Army. Magisters wield both magickal and physical power, and are at times ordered to guard high profile people such as Princess Ashe and Lord Larsa Solidor. They are also sent on the most sensitive and important missions, such as retrieving the Dusk Shard or the Sword of Kings. They are all most commonly seen in full plate armor and rarely without their helmets. Each Judge Magister has a unique set of armor with complex helmet ornamentation, usually including horns.

## Known judges

**Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow.*** *(Skip section)*

### Judge Magisters

* Bergan: Director of the 2nd Bureau. He is killed by the party atop Mt Bur-Omisace, unable to control the manufacted nethicite grafted into his bones.

* Drace: Mentor and mother figure to Larsa. She is killed as a test of Gabranth's loyalty to Vayne Solidor when she accuses Vayne of killing his father Gramis Solidor. She is the only female Judge Magister.

* Gabranth: Magister of the 9th Bureau, which is primarily concerned with the gathering and dissemination of information. His true name is Noah fon Ronsenburg, the twin brother of Basch fon Ronsenburg. Noah dies at the end of the game and his post is taken by his brother Basch.

* Ghis: Officiant of the 13th Bureau and commander of the Dreadnought Leviathan, the flagship of the 8th Fleet of the Western Armada. He despised Vayne and, after capturing the Dawn Shard, begins plotting to take the crown for himself. He dies when the Leviathan implodes after testing the Dawn Shard in its engine.

* Zargabaath - Captain of the Alexander, flagship of the 12th Dalmascan Fleet of the Archadian Army. Zargabaath is the only Judge Magister to survive the events of the game.

* Zecht: A Judge who was sent on a mission to Nabudis to test the Midlight Shard. The results were catastrophic, wiping out the capital and covering the area with Mist. Afterwards, he quit the Archadian military and went missing, and is still considered "a great man" by several of the other Judges. Two years later, Judge Gabranth finds the wayward Judge posing as a Sky Pirate called Reddas. Zecht sacrifices himself to destroy the Sun-Cryst, redeeming himself of his previous atrocities.

### Lesser judges

* Ffamran: Appointed Judge by Dr Cid, Ffamran only served the Archadian military for a short time. Having grown fearful of Cid's growing madness, he ran away, changed his name to "Balthier" and became a Sky Pirate.

* Hausen: Larsa Solidor's bodyguard while he treks to the land of the garif in Kerwon, Jahara. Not much is known about this Judge, apart from the fact that he is a male hume. The party will only encounter him once, and this occurs only if they double-back to Jahara and speak to him after Larsa joins the party. If the party does this, he will reward them with two Hi-Potions and an Ether.

***Spoilers end here.***