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Characters / Dissidia: Final Fantasy – Warriors of Cosmos VII to XI

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A character sheet for the Warriors of Cosmos from Dissidia Final Fantasy and its prequel. Note that comments on a character's fighting style generally stay the same between games, except when otherwise mentioned.

See the Main Page here.

See also:

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    Cloud Strife 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cloud_Dissidia_Artwork_4307.jpg
"What I want most — I'll find myself."
"There are no lies, what I believe, is the only truth." — True Past.

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Steve Burton (English)

—Fighting Style: Buster Basher

The famous protagonist from Final Fantasy VII, a former member of the Shinra Electric Power Company's SOLDIER program, Cloud became a mercenary working for the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE after his home was razed by his idol, the legendary SOLDIER Sephiroth. In a mission gone wrong, he encounters the mysterious Aerith, the last of the Cetra, drawing Cloud into a conflict to confront not only the threats to the Planet, but the circumstances of his own Mysterious Past.

Cloud's fighting style is described as a Buster Basher, both things his massive sword is very good at. Cloud's sword blows do high damage and tend to slam opponents into walls and floors for Wall Rush, piling on even more damage. He's even stronger in his EX Mode, crushing blocking opponents and getting a massive boost in attack power as long as his HP is high. As a downside he is a melee brawler with few ranged skills and he moves and attacks slowly.

General Tropes

  • Character Catchphrase: "Not interested." Seems to have become one thanks in part to Flanderization.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Fights for Chaos in Dissidia 012, but for Cosmos in the thirteenth cycle.
  • Only I Can Kill Him: Sephiroth may have the resurrection powers of a slasher film villain, but Cloud seems to be the only one who can put him down for any amount of time.
  • The Stoic: Almost gives Squall a run for his money. Almost.
    • He also rarely changes expression, but due to the graphic designs, few characters do in this game.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

  • Armor-Piercing Attack: All of his HP Attacks have high-priority and thus smash right through most other attacks and defenses. His EX Mode grants this property to all of his attacks, making it nearly impossible to do anything but dodge and play keep away to avoid taking damage.
  • BFS: Cloud's weapon of choice is as unbelievably large as always.
  • Blown Across the Room: Most of Cloud's attacks can inflict Wall Rush, and knock the opponent far enough away that most of the time they will. For an idea, Cross-Slash can send an opponent flying from one side of the World of Darkness or Chaos Shrine to the other.
  • Cool Sword: The Buster Sword normally, the Ultima Weapon in EX Mode, or, with his alternative costume, the Fusion Swords and their completed assembly version.
  • Irony: In Advent Children Complete, Cloud attempted to finish off Sephiroth with the original Omnislash, and when that didn't work, moved in for the (revamped) Omnislash Version 5. Well, now the Version 5 is an HP attack, and the original is his EX Burst, so it can happen exactly the other way around.
  • Limit Break: Half his movelist consists of his Limit Breaks from Final Fantasy VII.
  • Magically Inept Fighter: Cloud's sword skills are impressive. His magic skills are not. Though Fire at least makes a useful distraction, Cloud is in the running for having the worst magical attacks in the game. This also means, aside from Meteorain and Blade Beam, he has no ranged options, and referring to them as ranged attacks is still pushing it.
  • Meteor Move: Climhazzard.
  • Mighty Glacier: He moves and attacks very slowly, and is just this side of Firion for having one of the slowest movement speeds on Team Cosmos. On the other hand, he hits like a semi truck, in his EX Mode his attacks are ridiculously powered up, and if he has full HP or close to it, his EX Burst is the strongest in the game. Cloud has trouble landing hits, but when he does, he makes sure they count.
  • Painfully Slow Projectile: Fire, but not Fira or Firaga. Ironically, Fire is considered the most useful of the three for precisely this trait, as it makes a good distraction.
  • Playing with Fire: He exclusively uses fire magic for his Brave Spell Attacks as well as his Meteorain HP Attack.
  • Spin Attack: Finishing Touch.
  • Super Mode: Ultima Weapon Equipped!/The Power of Mako!
    "Give me strength..."
    • Cloud changes weapons to his version of the Ultima Weapon; or, if he is using his alternate Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children costume, he wields the fully-assembled Fusion Sword, and glows with green Mako energy. In addition to Regen, Cloud's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
      • [Ultima Weapon] Attack: Much like the Ultima Weapon from his own game, Cloud's Ultima Weapon increases the damage his sword deals relative to the amount of health he has. The more health, the more damage he deals.
      • [Ultima Weapon] Guard Crush: While equipped with the Ultima Weapon, Cloud's attacks are unblockable. The only way to avoid getting hurt is to dodge his attacks.
    • In addition to those abilities, Ultima Weapon/Power of Mako gives Cloud access to his EX Burst: Omnislash.
      "Breaking my limits!"
    • Cloud smashes the enemy away and then begins charging for his attack, as the background shifts through fire, wind, and light from above. Once he's done, he begins his attack; a perfectly executed Omnislash will have Cloud slashing the enemy fourteen times with increasing speed, before smiting them with one final overhead strike that hits them multiple times.
      "This is it!"
  • Sword Beam: One of his bravery attacks. "You're gone!"

Design and Costume Tropes

In Dissidia

Seeking for a reason to fight, Cloud finds himself confronting Sephiroth once again, who, like he did in their original game, tries to manipulate him, calling him "just a puppet" once more.

  • Aloof Ally: How he comes off to some of his friends.
  • Dramatic Ellipsis: Quite a few times, most notably when reassuring himself that he's not Sephiroth's puppet.
    Cloud: "My reality... is mine alone."
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Of a sort. To calm Terra down when she loses control of her powers, he engages her in battle so that she can expend her energy beating him up.
  • It Was a Gift: When asked if his sword is heavy he replies, that it isn't because it is a memento.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Cloud initially doesn't want to fight Sephiroth because he doesn't see the point of it anymore. Seeing as how this is the seventh time or so they've done so...
    Cloud: "Fighting you... would be meaningless. I'm tired of taking part in pointless battles."
  • My Greatest Failure: It wouldn't be Cloud without him angsting over letting someone he cares about die. See You Remind Me of X below.
    • Some of his dialogue in the 13th cycle seems to flirt with him remembering some events of the 12th cycle, and thus failing to save Tifa, his other Love Interest.
  • Supporting Protagonist: His reason for fighting is basically looking for a reason to fight. He doesn't find a reason for himself, but instead resolves to help his friends fight, and their reasons to fight become his reasons to fight. He particularly latches on to Firion's Wild Rose dream quickly.
  • Sweet and Sour Grapes: He never seemed to find the exact answer he was looking for (a reason to fight), but he did get his crystal.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Sephiroth treats him like this, and his story is about getting out of this position.
  • You Remind Me of X: Never quite stated, but Cloud's interaction with Firion and later Terra seem to remind him of his departed best buddy Zack and Love Interest Aerith. If anything, at least they are Shout Outs.

In Dissidia 012

In Dissidia 012, Cloud starts out fighting for the side of Chaos. However, his reluctance to fight due to his memories from before he was summoned to fight for the gods leads him to (once again) question what he's fighting for.

  • Anti-Villain: Type IV. He shows concern toward his opponents in Prologus, warning Lightning not to underestimate the other Warriors of Chaos, and has no real motive (or incentive) to fight any of them, let alone Tifa.
  • Dating Catwoman: His interaction with Tifa — who's technically his enemy — when he comes to save her borderlines this.
  • Defiant to the End: After rescuing Tifa, he decides that he has to stop the war before anything happens to her. How does he go about this? He fights Chaos all by himself. It... doesn't go well for him.
  • Faking Amnesia: After Cloud rescues Tifa, he claims to not know who she is. But his thoughts following this scene indicates that he refrained from telling her because he knew that she would definitely refuse to fight him if she remembered him.
  • Heroic BSoD: Cloud has been through several cycles already, and more importantly, remembers them, so he's burnt out and unmotivated because he knows it's a waste of time. It's not like fighting any of the Warriors of Cosmos or getting killed by one of them is going to change anything, they'll all just be back in the next cycle.
  • Minion with an F in Evil: Is called out on it in an official quest — Garland and the others have noticed how he acted in Prologus and what's going on between him, Tifa, and Sephiroth, and they're not happy with him.
  • Mysterious Protector: For Tifa, who even lampshades it.
    Tifa: "So you just save one of your enemies when the mood strikes?"
    Cloud: "Something like that."
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: To Tifa, who is a Warrior of Cosmos. It is also heavily implied that this is the reason for his sympathizing with the Cosmos side despite being on Chaos' side, and thus his Anti-Villain status.

    Squall Leonhart 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dissidia_Squall_8769.jpg
"I only came to fulfill my promise. It's because of them that I can't allow myself to stop. I know that I'm not alone."
"Of course I care what others think! I could love others if I was true to myself." — Unshelled Bullet.

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)

—Fighting Style: Relentless Revolver

The reluctant hero of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall was an elite member of the SeeD mercenary company which opposed the rise of the Sorceress Edea, his fate became entwined with that of the succession of witches when his sister Ellone and new love Rinoa become the target of her mysterious plot.

Squall's fighting style is a Relentless Revolver. He specializes in swift, long sword combos that deal heavy damage, and his spell attacks act as support skills, helping to set opponents up from mid-range for him to land a sword attack easier. His EX Mode flat doubles the damage output of most of his melee attacks, making him even more effective at swiftly draining the enemy's Bravery. His shortcomings come from his HP attacks, many of which are slow to start-up, short-ranged, and/or are easy to avoid. Squall excels at building up his Bravery, but struggles to land a finishing blow.

General Tropes

  • Irony: Two examples:
    • A small case with his character design. In Dissidia, Squall's costume was given a small half-cape/skirt on the right side of his waist. Its purpose is clearly, like some old age costumes, to hide the holder of one's weapon (in this case, the Gunblade), but this is the game where almost everyone was given an evident Hammerspace power that allows them to summon their weapons out of nowhere in a fashion similar to the weapons in Kingdom Hearts.
    • In Dissidia 012, the fact that Squall's gameplay makes him one of the best (if not the best) suited ones for relying on the Assist Feature makes quite a contrast with his "I Work Alone" attitude.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his prickly outside, Squall is actually quite fair hearted.
  • Rebellious Spirit: In his own, silent way.
  • The Stoic: It is extremely difficult to get a rise out of Squall, not that it stops his allies from trying.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: As he begins to open up to his allies, he remains aloof but gets significantly kinder.
  • Troubled, but Cute: He's still rocking the leather clad bad boy image.
  • Vocal Dissonance: Don't let the Kingdom Hearts voice fool you; here, he's his 17-year-old FFVIII self. (In Dissidia 012, at least, Doug Erholtz tries to sound younger.)

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

  • BFS: Revolver doesn't quite cut it, but Lionheart sure does.
  • Blade Spam: Most of Squall's attacks work this way. He isn't called "Relentless" for nothing. This is actually lampshaded by the name of his Limit Break: if The Other Wiki is correct, "Renzokuken" roughly translates to "Continual Sword" or "Serial Sword".
  • Boring, but Practical: Aside from his spell attacks, which aren't really his intended niche, he only has two melee Bravery attacks for each of air and ground. However, they're so effective that they're all he needs.
  • Cool Sword: His Gunblade, be it Revolver or Lionheart is undeniably cool. It's even lampshaded by the other warriors
    Onion Knight: "That's a really neat weapon."
    Zidane: "If I win, that sword's mine!"
    Gilgamesh: "Wow, a gunblade! You're a connoisseur!"
  • Diagonal Cut: Rough Divide has him jump up before charging at an angle, and his EX Burst ends with one.
  • Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age: The Gunblade is notoriously difficult to work with and fell out of fashion to plain swords and guns despite its superior strength.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: Blizzard Barret and Thunder Barret, but he doesn't get Fire Barret until 012. Fusillade and Mystic Flurry combine the three to string together projectile attacks.
  • Having a Blast: Fated Circle uses a Spin Attack to generate a magical explosion.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: Gets a special mention because the gunblade's intense recoil makes it such a Difficult, but Awesome weapon that it requires them to use properly, but Squall takes it to the next level by using the recoil as a part of his fighting style. He manages to turn the momentum of the recoil around into further slashes. Hence the very deliberate, staccato nature of his strikes.
  • Lightning Bruiser: His melee attacks pack a punch and execute pretty quick aside from Heel Crush. His HP attacks are a bit slow, but he has variety with them and can use Thunder Barret and Fire Barret to set up for them.
  • Magic Knight: Compared to most of the other heroes, Squall has a larger variety of spells; in fact, by 012, he has more magical Bravery Attacks than sword ones. His spells support his sword skills by setting up opponents for melee strikes, or otherwise string together hits in the same manner as his melee attacks. Justified by the Junction system of his home game and his training at the Balamb Garden.
  • Magic Missile Storm: Fire Barret, and Mystic Flurry to a lesser degree.
  • Meteor Move: Upper Blues.
  • Mix-and-Match Weapon: Gunblades are his weapons. Subverted or averted in that they don't work as firearms.
  • Recoil Boost: Uses it in most of his attacks, but most prominently in Heel Crush, where he uses the recoil to power a kick to the point where it can break guards.
  • Spell Blade: Blasting Zone and Revolver Drive enchant the gunblade with magic one to make a BFS and the other one for a powerful Dash Attack.
  • Super Mode: Lion Heart Equipped!
    "Lion's Heart!"
    • Squall exchanges his Revolver for the Lion Heart weapon. In addition to Regen, the weapon gives him the following abilities:
      • Lion Heart (Range): The Lion Heart has a longer range than the Revolver, giving him a larger "Instant Death" Radius.
      • Lion Heart (Hit): Squall activates the trigger function on his gunblade, adding an extra hit to every attack, doubling the number of hits he lands with each combo.
    • In addition, Lion Heart gives Squall access to his EX Burst: Renzokuken.
      "Don't make me laugh!"
    • Squall smashes the enemy over and over and over again in a vicious Blade Spam that requires precise timing to land all the hits with. Once he runs out of attacks, he backs up and deals the final blow with the Lion Heart attacknote , in which he runs the enemy through and catches them in a huge explosion.
      "Here goes! Mission accomplished..."
  • Vibroweapon: The gunblade functions by using special ammunition to create explosive shockwaves along the blade.

Design and Costume Tropes

In Dissidia

From Final Fantasy VIII to Dissidia, Squall is more of a loner than in his game (at least when it comes to fighting), but more secure of his intentions and of the fact that he cares for his allies. Ultimecia, showing a curious interest in him and becomes a more personal foe for Squall.

In Dissidia 012

Squall doesn't have much of a role in the main storyline (like the other Warriors who make it to the 13th cycle), but is shown interacting with Laguna and the others in the Reports.

  • Demoted to Extra
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: His new quote when reaching the final stage of fighting Chaos just screams this.
    Squall: "No need to throw a fit."
  • First-Person Smartass: If he wasn't one of these before...
    Kefka: You sure are talkative... in your HEAD!
  • I Work Alone: His motives aren't quite as developed yet: he doesn't see the point of getting close to the others when they're (supposedly) headed back to their own worlds anyway. Laguna doesn't buy it, arguing — from personal experience — that there's no way of knowing when you'll see someone for the last time even if you live in the same world and all you can do is live for the moment.
  • Properly Paranoid: Out of the group following Kuja, he is the only one suspicious of Kuja's trustworthiness, feeling that he'll betray them to the Warriors of Chaos. He ends up being right, sort of. Although Kuja does genuinely intend to help the Warriors of Cosmos defeat Chaos, he betrays them in the end, albeit mostly due to Kefka's interference — he attacks them when Kefka reveals his deception so he can save them from the other villains and the manikins — and an apparent compulsion to play out the part he seemed to have been given (when he faces Lightning, later on).
  • Surrounded by Idiots: More specifically, surrounded by the most cheerful characters, as by Dissidia 012, it seems the writers have made it a point to almost always team him up with those around cut-scenes. It's even mentioned in his profile of the game that, "Whether out of personal charm that attracts others, or just a coincidence, a lively crowd is often seen by his side." And ultimately lampshaded by Cloud's duel quote:
    Cloud: "You sure have a lively lot with you."
    • To elaborate further, not only does Squall interact with the cheerful Laguna (in which, ironically, they don't remember they come from the same world or that they're blood relatives), but, also, in the original game, he traveled with Bartz and Zidane. By happy coincidence, all three happen to be characters who know Gilgamesh. So, in Gilgamesh's scenes in 012, the three are joined by the other warrior who knows Gilgamesh, Vaan, who happens to be the most happy-go-lucky of the 012 new characters, thus both tropes reinforce one another.

    Zidane Tribal 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dissidia_Zidane_2932.jpg
"Do you need a reason to help someone?"
"The ability to accept fate and shoulder that burden alone attracts others" — Theater Ticket.

Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese), Bryce Papenbrook (English)

—Fighting Style: Aerial Ace

The hero of Final Fantasy IX, the ever courageous thief and lover of women, comes to Dissidia to embrace the adventure like a challenge. Wielding two daggers that he can combine into a double-blade and having his Trance abilities constantly available, he dominates air combat with speed and diversity.

Zidane is aptly described as an Aerial Ace. With a good pool of aerial attacks, ground attacks that let him take to the skies, and strategic variety in where he strikes from when attacking, Zidane can run circles around his enemy and attack from any angle. He also has several HP link attacks. This makes him good at swiftly striking and damaging the opponent's HP directly. However, he's not so good at hitting their Bravery, with his Bravery damage output being mediocre at best.

General Tropes

  • All-Loving Hero:
    Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help someone?"
    • Said while extending a helping hand to Kuja.
  • Animal Motifs: Not nearly as prominent as Squall's Lion, but it is common for his enemies to call him "monkey" and "baboon" to insult him, even though he just brushes it off.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Not even Cloud of Darkness or Cosmos are above his flirtations.
    (Cosmos appears) "Today's not a good day for a date."
    (to Terra) "I hate to see a pretty lady lose her smile."
    • Then for his battle quotes:
      (vs Cloud of Darkness) "You sure are impressive, in more ways than one."
      (vs Tifa) "Headstrong and skimpy, I like it!"
      (vs Shantotto) "If I win, you owe me a date!"
      (vs Prishe) "A foul mouth's a part of the charm."
  • Cultured Warrior: He's the only one among Cosmos's Warriors who's not just a warrior, but also an actor, and he has a fair knowledge of music, which he sometimes references.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Implied with Tifa's encounter quote with him, "What are you staring at? Focus!"
  • KidAnova: He's sixteen. For all the flirting he does with the women, he couldn't legally do anything with them in some parts of the world.
  • Likes Older Women: It doesn't seem to faze him that all the females are older than him — Yuna is 17/19 (depending on if she's from the X or X-2 timeframe), and everyone else at least 20 years old, while Zidane is just 16.
  • Lovable Rogue: The characterization remains, though he's not stealing anything in Dissidia — except possibly the show.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He tackles Garland off his feet, when Garland is about three times his size, wearing a full suit of armor, and carrying his BFS.
  • This Cannot Be!: A rare heroic version of the trope — when defeated, during the final blow, he says "What? This can't be...!".
  • Too Slow: His dodge quote.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Says so himself. Doesn't stop him from beating up the females just as hard as the males in battle, though he doesn't like doing it.
    (fighting Terra) "Fight a girl? This'll be tricky..."

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

  • Bifurcated Weapon: His Mage Mashers can combine into a Thief Sword "The Ogre" during some attacks.
  • BFS: Comparatively speaking◊ when Zidane's stature is taken into account.
  • Double Weapon: His Daggers can form a Thief Sword when connected.
  • Dual Wielding: And Reverse Grip when his Thief Sword is split apart.
  • Energy Weapon: Meo Twister.
  • Fragile Speedster: He's quick and agile with multi-hitting moves, versatile HP attacks, and a lot of HP links, but he has poor defense and doesn't do much Bravery damage.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: Rivals Sephiroth for the biggest abuser of this trope. He controls his daggers with impossible skill, separating and connecting them in the blink of an eye while spinning himself and them around, and abusing the Flying Weapon trope for all it's worth to perform flashy dagger throws and then command them to float back to his hands.
  • Instant Runes: Most of his magic-based attacks are energy runes, though his aren't as impressive as the Emperor's. "Free Energy" takes this to the logical extreme — it creates a rune of energy that explodes, and is almost literally instantaneous in execution. Tidal Flame also has minor traces of this having the fireballs contain a rune inside them.
  • Launcher Move: His combo finishers. He has two different ones that end during specific Bravery Attacks that launch his opponent higher, and while also bringing Zidane himself into the air.
  • Magic Knight: While all but two of his Bravery attacks are physical, Zidane's HP attacks all deal magical damage, save for Grand Lethal, which is Full-Contact Magic.
  • Magic Missile Storm: Scoop Art and Solution 9.
  • Magikarp Power: Much as with Firion and Onion Knight, he starts out with a handful of weak Bravery attacks, then you begin to master his attacks and get his HP links.
  • Playing with Fire: Tidal Flame.
  • Pure Energy: Zidane's Dyne magic, which is itself named after an obsolete unit of measuring energy.
  • Rolling Attack: Vortex.
  • Shock and Awe/Making a Splash: Shift Break.
  • Spectacular Spinning: Several of his moves involve:
    • Twirling his double weapon (his Bravery Attack finishers), and several of his Bravery Attacks themselves too.
    • Grand Lethal (dives into his target head-first while spiraling).
    • Stellar Circle 5.
    • Tidal Flame, one of his few ground-based-only attacks where he sets a flame ball circle that slowly tracks his target, but then rapidly picks up speed after a while.
    • Meo Twister, but mainly in name only.
    • Even his Limit Break involves this at the very end.
  • Spin Attack: Storm Impulse.
  • Status Buff: With jumping nerfed to no longer "reset" after dodging in Dissidia 012, Zidane's EX Mode now grants that skill.
  • Summon to Hand: After using Meo Twister.
  • Super Mode: Trance!
    "Time to get serious!"
    • Much like Terra, Zidane uses Trance to transform into a semi-monstrous form to improve his power. In addition to Regen, Zidane's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
      • Aerial Jump: Far beyond a mere Double Jump, Zidane's EX Mode gives him ten consecutive jumps; fifteen with the proper abilities equipped.
      • Dodge Jump: Zidane becomes immune to certain attacks while jumping, justifying the excessive number of jumps he has. In Dissidia 012, it also "resets" his jumps after he dodges, letting him dodge and keep jumping, which other characters can no longer do.
    • In addition, Trance gives Zidane access to his EX Burst: Reverse Gaia.
      "It's not over yet!"
    • Zidane charges out of nowhere at various angles at rapid-fire speed, slashing through his target on each pass, while the image of his planet Gaia merges over the image of Kuja's planet of Terra. Once the fusion is done, he finishes the Burst with a spinning flurry of strikes.
      "And for the final touch, fly awaaaaaaaay!"
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Tempest throws his blades down at an opponent.

Design and Costume Tropes

  • Little Bit Beastly: But when in Trance, he is more along the lines of a Beast Man.
  • Ornamental Weapon: In his normal and 2P costume, his Orichalcum dagger merely sits in its holster, and in his 3P costume, he has a sword on his back that won't see any use.

In Dissidia

Teaming up with Bartz, he races in search for his crystal. However, as Kefka, Kuja, and Exdeath team up to separate them (and Squall), his faith in their success slowly starts to weaken, and so his confidence must be restored to confront the growing adversity.

In Dissidia 012

Again, Zidane barely has any role in Dissidia 012, appearing primarily in scenes with Kuja before being defeated by Kain.

  • Big Brother Mentor: One scene in the Reports has him acting like this towards Onion Knight in a clear reference to how he acted towards Vivi.
  • Properly Paranoid: Although neither he nor Onion Knight went as far as to commit suicide (unlike, say, Sephiroth), the two of them started to speculate whether they were in fact enhanced manikins instead of the real deal in one of the reports. Most likely, they weren't. However, they were right in that some of the characters, namely Cosmos, Chaos, and the Warrior of Light, are manikins.

    Tidus 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dissidia_Tidus_5176.jpg
"This isn't over yet. There's no tomorrow for me... unless I beat you today!"
"I'll see my will through and continue on my story, no matter what awaits." — Fayth's Dream.

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (Japanese), James Arnold Taylor (English)

—Fighting Style: Spry Striker

The hero from Final Fantasy X. The star player of the Zanarkand Abes, Tidus was torn from his home of Zanarkand and thrust into the world of Spira where he accompanied the Summoner Yuna on a pilgrimage to the ruins of his home city to vanquish the monster Sin who was said to have destroyed it one thousand years ago.

Tidus is a Spry Striker. Many of his Bravery attacks have a dodge effect built into them, letting Tidus avoid the opponent's attacks and land a counterstrike in the same motion. His attacks are fairly strong already and get even stronger in his EX Mode, which also makes his dodges more effective. As a downside, the same "dodge" motions built into his attacks makes it difficult for him to be aggressive, as their startup lag makes it easy to block or dodge his strike.

General Tropes

  • Action Survivor: Tidus lampshades in quite a few quotes that he is new to this whole fighting thing; still, that doesn't mean he isn't any bit as powerful as his comrades.
  • Badass Normal: Unlike the other heroes, Tidus does not use any magic outside Energy Rain (which itself is more like a Ki Manipulation).
  • Big Damn Heroes: Has a moment with Cloud when they save Firion from The Emperor.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: What he's fighting for a chance to do... regardless of whether he's on Cosmos' or Chaos' side.
  • Character Tic: Tidus sometimes does a fist pump with his left arm. Normally a case of Going Through the Motions, but it makes it into a full rendered cutscene.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Fought for Chaos in the 12th Cycle, but for Cosmos on the 13th. One way or another, it's always for fighting Jecht.
  • Hot-Blooded: Not as bad as Firion, but definitely loud and passionate.
  • Keet: Definitely so in comparison to most of the other Warriors of Cosmos.
    • Bartz and Zidane are pretty upbeat, too, making this trifecta shine among their more serious/moody/withdrawn comrades.
    • The default expressions for most characters are blank. Tidus, however, has his face set in a permanent smile.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Ironic, considering his opinion of Jecht. And in light of 012, it's Harsher in Hindsight Dramatic Irony. Tidus, when fighting Jecht, calls him a "selfish, ungrateful old bastard!" Jecht's final actions as a Warrior of Cosmos, unbeknownst to Tidus, was to save Tidus's life after he had saved Yuna's.
  • Lovable Jock: Because being a star player doesn't mean he can't be cheerful, personable, and friendly.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

  • Cool Sword: Brotherhood to Caladbolg.
  • Elemental Weapon: You can see the bubbles rising from Brotherhood from its innate Waterstrike Ability.
  • Counter-Attack: Tidus specializes in the dodge-and-counter style rather than the block-and-return version that Exdeath has.
  • Deadly Dodging: Tidus's dodging skills lead his opponents into vulnerable positions for his attacks.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: Probably the best candidate for Cosmos' team; most of his attacks feature a dodge before an attack, which results in an easy miss if your opponent isn't in the middle of something. Tidus is all about Evade and Counter — dodge the opponent's attack, then strike for yourself.
  • Fire/Water Juxtaposition: The Water to Jecht's Fire.
  • Glass Cannon: He's fast, does a lot of damage, and has one of the strongest EX Bursts in the game. However, his attacks have a long recovery time, tend to have a "dodge" effect built into the start of the animation, and leave him very vulnerable if they miss. The dodge-attacks are also the only ones that chain into the HP combo Quick Hit. In addition, the power of his EX Mode is tied into his HP. If he's lost a lot of health already, the damage bonus is nearly useless.
  • Hooks and Crooks: Brotherhood has a notable hook on the end of the blade.
  • Hurricane Kick: During his Quick Hit HP attack.
  • I Know Madden Kombat: Much of Tidus's attacks involve Blitzball tackles and kicks among his swordplay.
  • Lightning Bruiser: His EX Mode turns him from a Glass Cannon into this, making him the fastest character in the game bar none, can run right straight through low-priority projectiles without worry, can dodge nearly any attack thanks to his increased invulnerability frames, and hits incredibly hard for as long as his health is topped up. However, he's still a Fragile Speedster if he isn't careful and runs low on health.
  • Magic Missile Storm: The second part of Energy Rain sends a barrage of energy projectiles out and converging.
  • One-Handed Zweihänder: Not as big as the Buster Sword, but still a huge blade.
  • Pure Energy: Notably, his only magical attack is Energy Rain.
  • She-Fu: A rare male example of this combat type, Tidus is easily the most acrobatic fighter in the game, and his fighting style is based around avoiding enemies with graceful flips and counter attacking from them.
  • Super Mode: Caladbolg Equipped!
    "Ready... GO!"
    • Tidus switches his Brotherhood sword for his strongest weapon, the Caladbolg. In addition to Regen, Tidus's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
      • Caladbolg (ATK): Caldabolg's attack power increases depending on how much HP Tidus has remaining.
      • Caladbolg (Dodge): Tidus is invincible for longer while dodging.
      • Mirror Dash: While running on the ground, Tidus reflects certain projectile attacks. In addition to that, his running speed goes up considerably, to the point where he's approaching teleportation faster than even Onion Knight or Shantotto. This skill is a throwback to Tidus's Time Magic from Final Fantasy X.
    • In addition, Caladbolg gives Tidus access to his EX Burst: Blitz Ace.
      "You ready for this?!"
    • Tidus slashes his opponent several times and knocks them down before producing a Blitzball and throwing it at them. As the ball bounces back up, Tidus has to time a kick to knock the ball back into the enemy again. The closer the timing, the more of a Repeat Cut is placed on the kick; perfect execution results in a triple cut. As the ball hits, it explodes in a burst of blue energy.
      "Game set!"
  • Sword and Fist: Tidus mixes a lot of tackles and kicks with his swordplay.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: He throws his sword into enemies for his Stick and Move attack.
  • Weaponized Ball: Mixes blitzball shots in with his swordplay.

Design and Costume Tropes

  • Fashionable Asymmetry: Wins this trope by a mile, though since his outfit was toned down, it's not as bad as it normally is.

In Dissidia

  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: His one goal is to beat his father and prove himself stronger. Though he claims throughout the campaign that he hates Jecht, Tidus admits to him after their battle that he'd always wanted his approval.
  • Younger and Hipper: Tidus seems a bit more of childish here than he is in Final Fantasy X, and his new styling may have quelled some complaints that his original appearance was too keet for comfort. This and the Primal Stance make him look rather small, but if they followed his FFX profile to the letter, he'd be one of the taller heroes.

In Dissidia 012

During this cycle, he's summoned by Chaos for a chance to fight against Jecht, who's on Cosmos' side. However, meeting with Yuna, who remembers their journey together, will take that into another direction...

    Shantotto 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shantotto-dissidia_4922.jpg
"Of course! The future is for one to take by brute force!"

"The most feared and renowned of fame, how splendid!" — Boiling Blood.

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Candi Milo (English)

—Fighting Style: Chainspeller

A popular NPC from Final Fantasy XI. A veteran from the Crystal War, retired Minister of Windrust, and a Black Mage without equal, Shantotto spends her days in retirement researching magic and tasking adventurers to aid her in her studies in exchange for training in magic and staff-fighting.

Shantotto is a Chainspeller. Her Bravery attacks are mostly supportive, and some don't even damage the opponent. They're there to set her enemies up for her HP attacks. Unique to her, Shantotto can chain her HP attacks into each other to pile on extra Bravery damage before dealing HP damage, and the more Bravery she has, the stronger her HP attacks get, with larger areas of effect, higher damage, and so forth. Her struggle is in building up enough Bravery to take advantage of these effects, as in their base forms, her HP attacks are weak and easy to avoid without good usage of her support Bravery attacks.

General Tropes

  • Badass Adorable: She's childlike in appearance and is powerful enough to scare the shit out of everyone else.
  • The Battle Didn't Count: Much like a certain mission in XI, if Shantotto is defeated, her defeated pose reveals that "Shantotto" was actually a magically controlled doll under Shantotto's control.
  • Beyond the Impossible: Story-wise, Shantotto has the capability to wipe out the entire side of Chaos singlehandedly. So to prevent her from actually interfering with the plot, she bowed out of the Cycles on her own terms after losing interest in the war — something no one else was able to do.
  • Blood Knight: It really helps sell the Killer Rabbit image she has going on.
  • Breakout Character: How she got this far — that, and the developers liked her. Her appearance in Dissidia in turn has drastically increased her popularity.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Due to her new status as a villain in her new expansion pack, most of the villains praise her when they encounter her, while the heroes instead fear her.
    Warrior of Light: "This woman is out for blood..."
    Squall: "Never thought I'd meet another witch."note 
    Kefka: "Now you've got what it takes to destroy the world!"
    Terra: "I've never seen such mystic power!"
    Cloud of Darkness: "An equal? No... you surpass...!"
    Garland: "Ah, a lady worthy of the highest praise!"
    The Emperor: "It is an honor, milady."
  • Idle Animation: Leave her idle long enough, and she'll yawn and remark "Oh, how dull."
  • Insufferable Genius: She's frustratingly good at what she does.
  • Killer Rabbit: You know what they say about judging by appearances...
  • Lady of Black Magic: She may look like a child, but she makes up for it in lady-like, proper manner, refined rhyme, and powerful spells.
  • Laughing Mad: Her reaction when performing her EX-Burst is somewhat... too exhilarated when defeating her enemy.
  • Little Miss Snarker: "Little" being just her physical appearance, but damn if she doesn't have some of the best quotes of the game.
    (vs Cloud): "Your hair... is a distraction!"
    (vs Exdeath): "Inside your head is the void!"
    (vs Bartz): "Stupidity? Impossible to gauge."
  • Mythology Gag: Notice how, when Shantotto is defeated, she turns into a doll? That's a reference to how you meet the real Shantotto after fighting a doll controlled by her.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: A trademark of hers.
    • She even uses it as one of her rhymes.
  • Older Than They Look: She's a Tarutaru. Comes with the territory.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Garland, Exdeath, and Golbez are each about five times her size and covered in armor, but her staff attacks will still knock them across the arena. Same for Chaos, who is a bit closer to ten times her size.
    Shantotto: It is unwise to judge me by size!
  • Praetorian Guard: She serves as Cosmos's personal guard. In her own words, she is the last and best line of defense.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: Her iconic trait is doing this, a chance to rhyme she'll never miss. However to the writers's shame, many of them are rather lame.
    Shantotto: I don't make threats!
    If there's no result by the time I'm done researching the ultimate spell, it's too late for regrets!
  • Rule of Three: Her HP Attacks have three versions (see Evolving Attack), they can chain into each other in sequences of up to three (but only the last will inflict HP damage), and she learns exactly three other spells besides the ones she starts with (well, a ground and midair version of each).
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: She ruminates on how she's going to kill Gabranth right before fighting him without ever dropping her trademark rhyme scheme and noble diction.
    Shantotto: Yes, yes, do your worst and all that. Strong words will count for naught once I've crushed you flatter than flat. Hmm, so striking and tall... I think I'll incinerate you, pretty armor and all!
  • Story-Breaker Power: Shantotto is so powerful that she was given the duty of serving as Cosmos' bodyguard. The only fight she's shown participating in the story has her toying with Gabranth before killing him. Naturally, she isn't seen participating in many of the battles of the previous cycle before losing interest in the war and withdrawing entirely.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Is on the receiving end of this trope from Gabranth, who initially dismisses her due to her size, but realizes that she is a wielder of magicks. Even then, he underestimates her despite being trusted as the last line of defense.
    Gabranth: So you are the last line of defense?
    Shantotto: The last, and best.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

  • Balance Buff: In the first game, Shantotto was a Squishy Wizard who relied on spamming HP attacks that grew stronger as she gained Bravery. However, they executed slowly, had significant end lag, and ironically, her Bravery game was terrible, so she rarely got enough Bravery to level up her HP attacks. The prequel lowered the amount of Bravery needed to power them up, let them execute faster and reduced the end lag, gave them better range/tracking/absorption, and also improved the same on Shantotto's Bravery attacks, including letting her chain her Stun attack into HP attacks. This overall makes her much more aggressive and more difficult to punish on a whiff.
  • Black Mage: Shantotto thinks White Mages are pansies and Red Mages are barbarians.
  • Boomerang Comeback: Miss the throw and it'll likely swing to hit you from behind.
  • Boss Banter: While all characters Call Their Attacks, Shantotto's quotes for her full-powered HP attacks deserve special notice for being condescending and mocking.
    "Why, is something burning?"
    "How about a swim?"
    "Ashes to ashes!"
    "I'll shake you to the core!"
    "I'll slice you thin!"
    "You'll look better on ice!"
  • Elemental Powers: Shantotto's main attacking spells cover six elements with Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Wind and Ice.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Her HP spells are cast in a very specific order: Fire —> Water —> Thunder —> Earth —> Wind —> Ice —> Fire. This is in reference to Final Fantasy XI's Ancient Magic spells (which her HP attacks become at their maximum strength). When an Ancient Magic spell hits an enemy, they acquire an elemental weakness to the next element in the chain. This is also why her EX Burst must be executed in that particular order to deal maximum damage.
  • Evolving Attack: If her Brave is high enough, all of her HP attacks are upgraded to superior forms. There are three versions of each.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: She's more than happy to batter you with weapon skills between her magical attacks.
  • Magic Staff: Though she specializes in magic, she does have two physical attacks.
  • Squishy Wizard: Her HP attacks hit hard, and her EX Mode makes her quite the force to be reckoned with, since she can use her EX Burst on you and retain all the Brave she racks up using it afterwards. However, the start-up lag to her HP attacks as well as the fact she has to hold still while using them means that dodging and counterattacking is something that will happen to her a lot.
  • Status Effects: Notably the only Dissidia character to use them. Bio drains your Brave, Stun interrupts your actions, and Bind holds you in place for a short period of time (you can still attack, though).
  • Super Mode: Two-Hour Ability!:
    "Fine!"
    • Shantotto activates her Black Mage's Two-Hour ability, represented by her being clothed in either the Cobra Cloche armor set, or the Black Mage Relic Armor, depending on her outfit. In addition to Regen, Shantotto's EX Mode gives her the following ability:
      • Manafont: The aforementioned Two-Hour Ability. In EX Mode, Shantotto's Brave does not go down when she lands an HP Attack, giving her free reign to spam them as much as she wants. In Dissidia 012, Manafont instead immediately regenerates Shantotto's bravery to its base value after performing an HP attack, allowing her to use her attacks with no fear of being Bravery Broken in return.
    • In addition, Two-Hour Ability gives Shantotto access to her EX Burst: Play Rough.
      "Now, I'm MAD!"
    • Shantotto strikes the enemy with Heavy Swing, followed by Howling Fist, triggering a Skillchain: Fusion. She is then given a list with the six Ancient Magic spells. When cast in the proper order (Flare, Flood, Burst, Quake, Tornado, Freeze), she deals maximum damage before finishing with a blast of Non-Elemental magic. Of note is that Shantotto's Manafont ability applies to this attack, so if the EX Burst doesn't outright kill the enemy, she will keep all the Brave she acquires from executing it.
      "I'm driven to destroy!" [casts massive spells in rapid succession before turning around with a Noblewoman's Laugh]

Design and Costume Tropes

In Dissidia

By the thirteenth cycle, Shantotto has retired from the War, though she hasn't actually escaped the cycle — instead, she resides at a sanctuary for the victors of previous wars. Her only appearance in the main storyline is a flashback, but she appears in a mini-story where she meets the player's selected character, dismisses it, then has it get rid of the manikins she inadvertently let loose, and finally offers a chance to fight her as reward.

  • 11th-Hour Ranger: Hard to make much of an impact when the story is written to allow for your absence.
  • But Thou Must!: And then she lampshades it.
    Shantotto: That illusion of choice was a mere formality.
    Your task has already been decided, you see.
  • Old Maid: Interestingly enough, in the game's Character Files, it states that Shantotto's one and only regret in life is that she never married.
  • Regional Bonus: In the American release, she has more voiced cutscenes than in the original version.
  • Retired Badass: She's a previous Warrior of Cosmos, echoing her status in her original game — a retired minister of the Orastery (Windurst's military in FFXI).
  • Secret Character: Slightly less secret than many other such characters, but still qualifies.

In Dissidia 012

As expected thanks to the first game, Shantotto now stands on the front line along with the other warriors, finally getting a starring role... technically. We get an expansion on her fight with Gabranth, and a mention of her researching "the ultimate spell."

  • Advertised Extra
  • Crazy Enough to Work: Official quests reveal her plan to escape the cycles of war was to outright destroy gateways to destabilize the portals to other worlds inside them until a portal to the Rift was created from the dimensional distortions she was creating in her wake. And obviously, yes, it eventually worked.
  • The Dreaded
  • The Mentor: Seems to be something like this for Prishe. Although their relationship isn't exactly ideal at times.
  • Nerf: Her EX Mode's Manafont ability now just instantly recharges her bravery after a HP attack.
  • Punch-Clock Hero: Shantotto sees the cycles as a chance to experiment with magic. Once she decides that the cycles are limiting further progress, she tells Cosmos "good luck" and goes off to find a way to escape the cycles without caring about her duties to the goddess.
  • Status Buff: Bind tracks longer before snaring the opponent, Stun can combo and has greater range, and her HP attacks go off faster and upgrade earlier, to name a few.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Or at least, the most Anti Heroic.

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