Astos & Ultima Weapon Enemy File

Director's comment, Inoue:

If you're familiar with Astos from Final Fantasy I then his new design was surely a shock, but it was decided he'd be a more handsome character since the time Nomura brought in his proposal for the game. This came from the idea that Astos originally looked much more elf-like, but for some reason his appearance grew uglier in Final Fantasy I. Though his appearance has changed significantly from Mr. Amano's illustration for FFI, there are many details in common, such as accessories, his nails, and his slender body. The scarf-like fabric drawn in Mr. Amano's illustration also became the silhouette of his hood for this game.

Yoji Ueda's voice acting was wonderful. Astos was burdened with so much due to his origins and his role, and I think that you get a glimpse of his darkness through his suspicious, unsettling words and actions. Incidentally, Astos became known as the Fool because of his trickster-like manner in guiding Jack and his companions, and in relation to the phrase "pretty stupid of them"* from a conversation with Jack in a past world. Astos, too, was a fool for believing in a foolish man.

The soul burst used on Astos reveals a small bit of Jack's memories when his fist makes contact. This event was proposed by Mr. Kumabe, and I think it became a turning point for the flow of the story that followed.

* Translation note: the "pretty stupid of them" phrase is a little different in Japanese and directly uses a word meaning "fool" that's similar to the word for "fool" used in the Fool's Missives. In other words the relation is much more apparent in Japanese.

As Terra Tortura was based on the Floating Continent from Final Fantasy VI, we anticipated an enemy with a silhouette like Ultima Weapon and based the design on that. This one was not designed by Mr. Takeya but the designers at Koei Temco Games, and like the other Fiends, it's imbued with negative emotions.

The primary negative emotion is grief; the sadness and pain of being left behind by trusted friends, and by their forgetting absolutely everything. This led to the birth of Ultima Weapon Origin, via Astos' connection to the darkness inside himself.

The design is that of a frighteningly deformed demon, but if you look closely at the face, its mouth is shaped as though lamenting its grief, and its chest is a gaping, empty hole. In addition, the concept behind the thorny ivy wrapped around its limbs is one of preventing it from showing its feelings of grief or resentment towards Jack.

Because Ultima Weapon Origin would be the last boss fight as a team, the designers and art director, Goto, exchanged a lot of feedback to finalize the design. Thanks to that, I believe the final design is on par with that of the other Fiends.

Perhaps Jack remembered something, in his own way, during the fight, but the soul burst he uses on Ultima Weapon Origin doesn't carry the same sense of boldness and atrociousness as before. What's special about this soul burst is that we see Jack from Astos' point of view, and I think that makes for a fitting final boss fight as a team.

translated by Jai from Confidential Files - Secret Chapters -