Mog (Final Fantasy VI)

Mog is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. A moogle Dancer/Geomancer, he also acts as one of the game's tutorial presenters with Kappa the Imp, and is the character used to select a playable party during the scenario the team splits up. He lives deep in the Narshe Mines.

Mog is fondly remembered as the first playable moogle in the series, as well as the first moogle to speak human language, a discovery that shocks the party when he thanks them for saving him.

Appearance
Mog is an eleven-year-old moogle with the traditional moogle look: white fur (though his portrait sprite shows it as a cream color), feline ears and small wings.

Personality
Mog is more intelligent than the other moogles, and acts as their leader. He is the only moogle to speak the human language, while the rest just say "Kupo" or variations of it. He is bossy, seen when he tells Umaro to join the party. He uses loose speech and slang terms, such as referring to Ramuh as "that old psycho" in the SNES release.

Story
Mog and his party of moogles help Locke Cole defend a fallen Terra Branford from the Narshe guards in the mines. Mog can be found in the moogle home in the mines up until after the Magitek Research Facility is destroyed—he stands against the back wall and says something subtly different from the other moogles wandering the cave when approached.

Ramuh appears to Mog in a series of dreams and orders him to help the Returners, the rebel faction opposing the Gestahlian Empire Locke and the others are emmbers of. Through these dreams Mog learns to speak the human language, and decides to join the party once he gets the chance.

If the party follows the Lone Wolf the Pickpocket to the area where the frozen esper Valigarmanda is, Lone Wolf holds Mog hostage. Mog breaks free, throwing both himself and Lone Wolf to the cliff's edge, and the party must choose between rescuing Mog or Lone Wolf. If Mog is rescued, he reveals his ability to speak, and joins the party. If Lone Wolf is rescued, the party obtains a Gold Hairpin and Mog can only be recruited in the World of Ruin.

One year after the end of the world, Mog has returned to the moogle cave in the Narshe Mines, but he is the only moogle left. When the party finds him, he rejoins and tells them to find Umaro, who he claims would be helpless without him. After the party finds and beats Umaro in battle, Mog bosses him around and orders the yeti to join the party. If one inspects the spot Mog was standing at when he was found, Molulu's Charm will be found. Molulu was one of the ten moogles present in Mog's party, implying she was Mog's girlfriend, and that relic is Mog's memory left of her.

Before the final battle, Mog proclaims his motivation to live is his "new pals". Mog and Edgar escape Kefka's Tower together, but the floor collapses and Mog is left hanging over a pit. Edgar uses a crane to pull him to safety, but Mog is irritated when Edgar grabs him by his pom-pom, grumbling that he is no stuffed toy.

Recruitment
Lone Wolf is first seen imprisoned in Figaro Castle and he cannot be freed. He eventually escapes and makes his way to Narshe. After obtaining the Blackjack, the party can return to the treasure room in Narshe and find Lone Wolf trying to open a locked chest. He flees to the mines and the party can follow him to the ledge where Valigarmanda is.

Lone Wolf holds Mog hostage, and if the party waits where he asks them to for a minute, he and Mog will fly off the ledge, and the party must choose to save either Lone Wolf or Mog. Freeing Lone Wolf gives the party a Gold Hairpin, while freeing Mog recruits Mog to the party.

Even if Mog is not recruited in the World of Balance, he will still appear in the World of Ruin. If Mog is not recruited in the World of Balance, his only way of learning the Water Harmony dance is through the battle with Leviathan.

As a party member
Mog is a combination Dancer/Geomancer, and thus his magic stats are high, while his physical stats are low with the exception of his Defense, which is the highest in the game.

Mog's ability is Dance, a mixture of the Animals and Gaia battle commands from Final Fantasy V. He will execute one of four random attacks based on the dance. Mog learns new dances by fighting on different terrain, and each dance has its own set of four abilities. Mog's Desperation Attack is Moogle Rush that deals magical damage to one enemy.

Equipment
Mog can equip spears, daggers, universal shields and lightweight helmets and armor. Along with Gau and Umaro, Mog is one of three characters able to equip the Snow Scarf, the most powerful piece of defensive gear in the game. Mog has an exclusive relic, Molulu's Charm, which eliminates all random encounters.

Since Mog is a playable character, his initial equipment while helping Locke to protect Terra is available from the beginning. The player can remove his Mythril Spear and Shield and then reequip them to another character. The Mythril Spear in particular is a useful first weapon for Edgar, who is the only other character capable of equipping spears, while the shield can provide a sizable defense boost since it won't be available for purchase for quite some time. Mog can still contribute greatly to the battle to protect Terra without his equipment by using the Twilight Requiem Dance, which he will learn after one battle in the cave.

Creation and development
A pre-release version of the game had a different way for Mog to join the party in the World of Ruin. There was supposed to be an extra area near Narshe called "the Moogle Hole", which had 20 moogles running around. The player could (re-)recruit Mog if they could find him among all the other moogles. The developers felt this minigame was too annoying and so Mog is considerably easier to find in the game's final version (he just stands alone in the moogle cave in the Narshe mines).

Musical themes
Mog's theme is named for himself, and is the theme played in the Moogle Cave. The theme recurs throughout the series as the general moogle theme, and is mixed into the ending.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
When Mogstache (the player's Mognet correspondent) is asked about Mog, he says that a moogle fighter is something special, but he "still would have picked the Gold Hairpin-hands down!".

Mog makes a cameo where he dances over the player's character picture for a few seconds when the moogle is summoned.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Legend Cards=

Final Fantasy All the Bravest


Mog is an exclusive character available from the Premium Character Shop as a random downloadable content, he uses the Stardust Jitterbug ability during battle.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


Mog appeared as a recruitable character in the Special Event Forbidden Treasure as the First Time Reward for completing Normal battle during the event's second phase. He also appeared as the tertiary character in the Challenge Event Assassin in Black behind Shadow and Locke. He was also available after accepting the Bonus Quest, "Complete Abandoned Mineshaft Elite (VI)".

Mog is a Moogle. His combat role is Healing Magic.
 * Assessment

Mog demonstrates good balance as a fighter-mage despite a fairly limited equipment draw. He is equally proficient between physical and magical power and, as his origin suggests, a top-class dancer. Mog has high Speed and Evasion scores that seem a complement to these skills in addition to being higher than other characters in the player's roster at the same level.


 * Stats

Mog can use Black Magic spells up to rarity rank 3, White Magic spells up to rarity rank 4, Dragoon abilities up to rarity rank 2, and Dancer abilities up to rarity rank 5.
 * Abilities

His initial Soul Break is Leaf Swirl which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment deals physical damage to all targets. The light armor Heroic Scarf (VI) allows Mog to use Heroic Harmony which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment lowers Attack and Resistance of all targets. The spear Holy Lance (VI) allows Mog to use Sunbath which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment grants heavy Regen to the party and raises their Attack.

Mog can equip the following weapon types: daggers, spears, rods, and staffs. The spear Holy Lance (VI) allows Mog to use Sunbath.
 * Equipment

He can equip the following armor types: shields, hats, light armor, robes, and bracers. The light armor Heroic Scarf (VI) allows Mog to use Heroic Harmony.

He can equip accessories.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Mog appear with wind-elemental cards.

Secret of Evermore
In Secret of Evermore, Mog appears among the crowd of spectators that includes other Final Fantasy VI characters at the gladiator battle of Antiqua. He appears alongside Terra, Locke, Relm, Strago, and Umaro.

Trivia

 * Mog was featured heavily in the original marketing campaign for the SNES version's North American release. Print ads, television ads, and even the cover of the game box played him up as an important character, somewhat ironic considering his role as an optional character in the actual game. The most famous of the commercials had Mog auditioning monsters to appear in the game, and largely being unimpressed with all of them as he rejected each one by blasting them with lightning.
 * Similar to Mog from Final Fantasy IX, Mog from Final Fantasy VI has a yellow pompom, an unusual trait among moogles.
 * In Japan, Mog states that his bloodtype is Black-footed Duck type when asked.
 * Despite earlier appearing named "Mog" in both the Narshe Mines battles and when selecting scenarios, the player still has the option to rename him when he is obtained as a playable character.
 * Mog's Desperation Attack looks just like Sabin's Raging Fist Blitz.