Garland (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia (PSP)

Garland is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Garland is a man consumed by battle and conflict, and is willing to accept his fate of eternal battle. He wields a large sword that can freely transform into various weapons, from a destructive axe to twin blades. Due to his connection to Chaos, Garland is one of the game's higher-ranked villains. His position as Chaos's right-hand warrior can be seen as analogous to the one his rival, Warrior of Light, has with Cosmos.

Attire
Garland's original outfit is based on his in-game sprite from the original release of Final Fantasy. Garland wears a dark blue cape with silver armor set with blue jewels, and wears his distinctive horned helmet. Tetsuya Nomura has stated that, because there were only in-game sprites to draw from, he had trouble designing Garland as a character, as in essence, it was designing a new character rather than redesigning an old one.

Garland's first alternate outfit, "Stalwart's Armor," is an original palette swap, which colors his cape burgundy and his armor gold. The cape's coloring is reminiscent of Garland's remake sprites.

Garland's second alternate outfit, "Discord Incarnate," gives him the appearance of Yoshitaka Amano's "Cloudsea Djinn," Garland's original design. Garland wears no armor, revealing black skin with gray claws, his eyes are blank white, and he wears a headpiece with horns of various length and design. He also has long white hair and spikes emerging from his shoulders. In his EX Mode Garland turns a lighter shade of gray. Garland's sword in this outfit is a different shape from his other outfits, and is light gray and white with cracks along its length. It turns black with orange cracks in his EX Mode, appearing to be made out of rock and magma.

Garland's sword is an entirely original design. It is a crushing weapon with seemingly no cutting ability like a proper sword. Garland drags the sword behind him and swings his entire body around to attack with it, likely due to the blade's massive size and weight. Its default form is a greatsword made up of several interlocking plates with a long handle. The sword can shift into an axe by folding the blade forward, a portion of the sword can separate on its own interior handle for Garland to dual-wield, the entire sword can extend on a chain from the handle and be flung about, and the plates can lengthen and extend to form a longer, lance-like weapon. Garland uses all five forms of the weapon in battle and shifts freely between them when attacking. In general, the axe form is used for slamming attacks, the twin swords for combo attacks, the flail form for long ranged attacks, and the lance form for charging attacks.

Garland's manikin version, False Stalwart, is blue.

Story
Garland, a Knight of Cornelia who fell from grace and was trapped in an eternal time loop, was freed and summoned to World B by Shinryu. Encountering Cid of the Lufaine, he agreed to coerce Chaos into fighting against Cosmos due to the connection he felt with Chaos, and stood by the God of Discord throughout the Cycles. During a previous cycle, Garland and Prishe briefly encounter each other, and fought over the custody of the newly summoned Warrior of Light. Garland recognized the Warrior and warned Prishe she couldn't understand his nature, but Prishe was victorious and the Warrior of Light was taken back to Order's Sanctuary to join Cosmos. Sometime after, Garland confronts Shantotto and was the last one to see her before she leaves World B via a doorway to the Rift.

Twelfth cycle
In Prologus, Garland is the first Warrior of Chaos Lightning faces. He and the Emperor mock her and the Warrior of Light for waiting for them to make the next move. After the battle, Garland is disappointed about the short battle and tells Lightning and Warrior they will meet again, since the battle has just begun.

Garland is later seen confronting Lightning, seeing no point in fighting her and leaves her for the manikins to hunt, while telling her most of her allies have already been dealt with by the strange beings. Before leaving, Garland explains the manikins bypass the gods' power to revive the fallen, and thus they can end the existence of a warrior of either side for good.

Later, Garland is seen with the Emperor, who is talking to Chaos, and suggesting Jecht should be converted into a Chaos warrior. Garland is taken aback by the idea, but Chaos eventually relents and channels his energy into the fallen Jecht.

Finally, Garland serves as the final boss of the main story of Dissidia 012. After Laguna leads the party to a portal to the Rift from which the manikins have been emerging, the Emperor, the Cloud of Darkness, Ultimecia, Garland and Kefka teleport in to stop the heroes from destroying the portal. Lightning battles Garland alone for the final match, after which the five villains teleport away so the manikins can finish the conflict for them.

Thirteenth cycle
Early into the Warrior of Light's journey, Garland arrives and challenges him to battle. Garland is defeated, but he tells the Warrior that fighting back is pointless, and fades away. Believing Garland dead, the Warrior of Light journeys on, but Garland survives. Sephiroth questions Garland about the memories they have lost, and asks about a dragon with an unearthly glow he saw when he awoke, but Garland does not answer him.

Garland confronts Ultimecia about her manipulations of Squall, and she reveals she has her own plans separate from the Emperor, and asks Garland to assist her. Later, when Cloud defeats Sephiroth and claims his Crystal, Garland speaks to the Emperor, and the two agree that Sephiroth may become a threat to the Emperor's plan. Later, the two meet again to discuss Terra's shaky alliance to Cosmos due to her lack of light, and Kefka's plans to bring her back into the fold.

Squall arrives to battle Ultimecia and Garland approaches, intending for Squall to fight both of them. Zidane appears and fights Garland so that Squall may face Ultimecia. Squall defeats Ultimecia, but Garland only thanks Zidane for the battle and leaves after Ultimecia falls. After, the Warrior of Light defeats the Emperor and Garland appears before him, telling the shocked knight he cannot be defeated, and invites the Warrior of Light to follow him to discover the war's true nature. Before their final battle, Garland lectures Kuja about fate, telling him they all share the same destiny, including Ultimecia. He also speaks to Sephiroth again, who questions Garland's ability to be revived despite numerous defeats.

When the Warrior of Light arrives at the Chaos Shrine, Garland tells the Warrior the reason he came back to life was because of Chaos, and that as long as Cosmos and Chaos are alive, the struggle between good and evil will never end. Garland encourages the Warrior of Light to submit to the cycle of war, but he refuses and the two battle again. Garland is defeated and the Warrior of Light claims his Crystal, but Garland goads him, telling him the Crystals have the power to stop the cycle, and even the gods cannot foresee what would become of the world if the Crystals were brought together.

After Cosmos's death at the hands of Chaos, Garland oversees his god's slumber. Sephiroth also questions Garland about the lost memories he has regained, asking what Garland's desire is once Chaos is destroyed. Garland rejects the idea, claiming he is a prisoner to the cycle of war and has no right to desire anything else. While with Golbez, Garland reveals the world to be a testing ground for the ultimate weapon, Chaos, and how he arranged it under Cid's instructions, Though telling Golbez he can leave the cycle even if he wanted too, he expresses an interest on its disbursal. When Chaos awakens and describes a peculiar dream in which he governed the world harmoniously with Cosmos, Garland reveals such was the way things were before the conflict between harmony and disorder, and that he himself had instigated the conflict in accordance to the Great Will. Garland tells Chaos he is predestined to be sent 2,000 years into the past by Chaos, where he would become one with the god of discord — their fates intertwined that Garland would become Chaos himself, and that Chaos would subconsciously convince Garland to take the path leading to his eventual change.

As the Warriors of Cosmos approach Chaos's domain in the Land of Discord, Garland stands as the final villain alive before he is defeated and reveals how Chaos now plans to destroy World B with the cycle finally broken. Though the heroes question Garland's acceptance of this, Garland tells them his spirit will endure the world's destruction, and eventually he will find another cycle as he fades while vowing he and the heroes will meet again. Though revived by Shinryu prior to being sent back in time to fulfill his predestined fate, Garland learns too late that Shinryu is now involving itself in the conflict's final battle.

Battle
In battle Garland is described as a Nemesis, and uses his huge sword to crush opponents with powerful attacks. His sword automatically shifts into different forms while attacking, and some of his attacks vary depending on the timing of the button inputs, allowing Garland to alter the effects of his attacks quickly. Garland is most powerful in melee combat, but he has several charging attacks that allow him to attack opponents from a distance. A drawback is that Garland is a slow ground mover.

Boss
In Dissidia, Garland is fought in Destiny Odyssey I and IX, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory and Inward Chaos.

In Dissidia 012, he is fought in An Undocumented Battle, Trust, Champions of her Will (twice), and Conclusion of the Cycle chapters of Story Mode, as well as during Report #18.

EX Mode
Soul of Chaos 7zHkmYShKdw Garland's EX Mode is Class Change, where his cape turns white and gains runic symbols along the edges. While in EX Mode Garland gains the ability "Indomitable Resolve", preventing him from flinching or being knocked back by an opponent's attacks while executing an attack of his own. He still takes damage from the attack and is only immune to flinching when hit with a Brave attack. HP attacks will still knock him back, but only the HP-damaging part of the attack; HP attacks that inflict Bravery damage will not stun him until the final hit.

Garland's EX Burst is Soul of Chaos, where he knocks his opponent back, then lifts his sword and charges himself with energy. The player must press the button repeatedly to charge a gauge up to its maximum within a time limit. If the player charges the gauge completely, Garland unleashes a series of attacks using the four variant forms of his sword, before spinning and unleashing a final blow with its base form. Failure to fill the gauge results in Garland using fewer attacks before skipping to the finishing attack. While the player charges the attack a visual distortion and a chime signal each level of power, occurring three times while charging and a fourth once fully charged.

Equipment
Garland can equip Greatswords, Katanas, Spears, Axes, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor. In Dissidia 012, Garland can also equip Large Shields.

Allusions

 * At the start of Destiny Odyssey I-5, Garland's quote "You will meet your end here, and I will live forever!" is based on what he says in Final Fantasy before the final battle after transforming into Chaos.
 * In his battle dialogue with Kuja, the two make reference to Kuja's antagonistic relationship with the Garland of Final Fantasy IX. Garland says, "I sense you are haunted by your fate," referring to the mortality Garland placed upon Kuja. His dialogue to Zidane, "I will erase you and your soul," refers to when the Garland of Final Fantasy IX attempted to destroy Zidane and take back the soul he had given him.
 * Garland's introduction to Tidus is, "Better you fall down fate's spiral," referring to Sin's cycle of destruction and rebirth in Final Fantasy X. His quote to Jecht, "Another prisoner of fate," refers to how Jecht became trapped within the cycle of Spira, similar to Garland.
 * Garland's EX Burst is named after the Soul of Chaos dungeons in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary editions of Final Fantasy. His three exclusive weapons are all weapons found in the Whisperwind Cove, another bonus dungeon in the aforementioned releases, and are named after a subset of axes that do additional damage to giant-type enemies.
 * Garland is the only villain fought twice in the same storyline. He is fought as a boss both at the beginning of Destiny Odyssey I and at the end - reflecting his role as the first and, in essence, final boss of Final Fantasy. Furthermore, Garland is the last villain fought in Shade Impulse before Chaos, in Chapter 3-5, again reflecting his role in Final Fantasy.
 * In Garland's conversation with Chaos in Shade Impulse, he states he was sent 2,000 years into the past to become Chaos himself, directly paralleling his actions in Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy, Garland says he will lose all memory of the past in 2,000 years, reflected in Chaos's amnesia in Dissidia.
 * The forms Garland's sword transforms into reference the Four Fiends from Final Fantasy. The axe represents Lich, the twin swords represent Marilith, the lance represents Tiamat and the whip represents Kraken.
 * Garland's HP attacks are all attacks used by Chaos in the original Final Fantasy, and each uses the form of his sword corresponding to the Fiend of the attack's element - Earthquake uses the axe, Blaze uses the twin swords, Tsunami uses the whip, and Cyclone uses the lance. In Dissidia 012, Garland's fifth HP attack Flare uses the base greatsword form, reflecting that it is non-elemental.
 * In the Japanese version of Dissidia 012, Garland's "Thundaga" is named "Thunga". This is the original name of the high-tier lightning-type spell in Final Fantasy on the NES.
 * Garland's fighting pose is the same pose he takes right before fighting the Warriors of Cosmos in the opening FMV. This is also the same pose as his enemy sprite in the original game.
 * When facing Chaos, Chaos's opening quote alludes to the Time Loop.

Trivia

 * The sample voices the player can purchase for Garland in the PP Catalog are of him speaking the names of the Four Fiends and Chaos.
 * Both of Garland's voice actors (English and Japanese) also voiced Alex Louis Armstrong from another Square Enix project: Fullmetal Alchemist and its reboot Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
 * Garland has the highest base Attack and Defense in the game, with 112 Attack and 113 Defense at Level 100. In Dissidia 012, he no longer has 112 strength and 113 Defense, it is set to 111 Strength and 112 Defense.
 * Garland is the only villain whose EX Mode is entirely original and not based on an ability or form from his original game.
 * Garland is plagued by several graphical errors while in his EX Mode in his normal outfit. While in his Alternate form, his EX Mode does not possess any of these graphical problems. These errors are corrected in Dissidia 012.
 * The texture for Garland's eyes is mistakenly placed on his smaller set of horns.
 * The textures for the jewels on the elbow area of his gauntlets do not meet up: a black stripe appears at the back where the textures do not connect.
 * The textures near the bottom of his boots do not wrap properly: white stripes along his ankle appear where his feet meet the ground.
 * Errors appear on his rear end in the form of a white stripe along his butt and yellow on his crotch.
 * At the front and back of his metal skirt, there are blank areas similar to the graphical error on his feet.
 * His belt also "shrinks" to half the width that it appears in all other forms.
 * His "earrings" change slightly from regular to EX Mode, in Normal form; the lower yellow gem disappears, along with the face on the skull. The upper blue gem is lowered and surrounded with four metal loops, two above and two below.
 * A jewel graphic appears on his mantle just behind his head. It appears identical to the graphic of his belt.
 * Garland's manikin version, False Stalwart, appears thirty times in Story Mode, more than any other manikin.
 * Garland's fighting style, Nemesis, is also the name of a superboss from Final Fantasy X. Likewise, Warrior of Light's fighting style, Paragon, is the name of a superboss from Final Fantasy X-2.
 * Garland is one of three characters to be fought four times as a main story line boss the others being Ultimecia and the Emperor.
 * Garland's "Discord Incarnate" outfit marks the first time Garland has been seen without his armor in the Final Fantasy series.
 * Garland is the tallest of the Warriors of Chaos, standing just above Golbez and Exdeath.

Gárland (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia Garland (Dissidia)