Golbez/Dissidia (PSP)

Golbez is one of the characters on the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is a man possessing immense magical powers. Despite wearing a full suit of armor, he remains quite agile. Golbez works behind the backs of the other villains, attempting to help the heroes in his own ways, though he remains their enemy as well. As Cecil's older brother, Golbez considers himself stained with darkness beyond the point of salvation, and so walks the path of shadow he feels his brother should not.

He is set to return, along with the other characters from Dissidia, in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Attire
Golbez's original outfit is based on his original Amano artwork, featuring him with dark blue and black spiked armor with a gold lining, along with large shoulders and a cape. In his alternate costume, Golbez's armor is darker with silver highlights, and his cape is colored red, approximating his appearance in the DS release of Final Fantasy IV. In his alternate costume, the Shadow Dragon in Golbez's EX Mode is gold, which may be a reference to the Gold Dragon enemy in Final Fantasy IV which shared the Shadow Dragon's sprite.

His third costume in Dissidia 012 is his The After Years attire, which consists of him wearing no armor, but rather he is shirtless with a black cape and kilt with buckles. He wears prayer beads around his arms and ankles, and he has long silvery-white colored hair.

Golbez's Manikin version, Delusory Warlock, has blue armor and a silver cape. This reflects Cecil whose Manikin version is blue or silver depending on what form it is in.

Dissidia 012
In the trailers, other than meeting with the Emperor, Golbez is confronted by Kain as he asks if he wants the world to be destroyed by Chaos. However, Golbez reveals to Kain how the world can never truly end because the battle they are in has no end. By then, Cecil arrives as Golbez advises Kain to learn the truth himself. He also speaks with Ultimecia, where Golbez, accused by Ultimecia of implying something as he merely responds that he implies nothing and that there simply is no end in sight.

Destiny Odyssey
Golbez appears before Onion Knight after Cloud of Darkness kidnaps Terra, telling him that the Cloud of Darkness is too powerful for him to defeat, and he is wise to avoid fighting her. The Onion Knight is still uncertain, and Golbez leaves telling him to look in his heart for answers if listening to reason does not work. Later, when the Onion Knight defeats the Cloud of Darkness, Golbez reappears and tells him to support Terra and protect her. The Onion Knight vows to do this, and his resolve and determination manifest his Crystal before him.

In a small scene during the Warrior of Light's story, Golbez meets with Cosmos, discussing her plan to end the cycle of war with her. Golbez warns Cosmos that her gamble is dangerous, and if it fails her warriors will not be revived during the next cycle and she will lose the war. Golbez appears before his brother Cecil as Cecil begins to doubt his path. He tells Cecil that he cannot find his Crystal simply by looking for it, and advises him to follow him if he wishes to learn more about the Crystals, before vanishing. Afterward, the Emperor congratulates Golbez on baiting Cecil. Following the advice of Tidus, Cecil leaves him and Firion and follows Golbez to Planet's Core. Golbez tells Cecil he wishes to discover if Cecil has what it takes to find the Crystal, when Exdeath appears. Exdeath accuses Golbez of treachery, and Cecil battles Exdeath to defend his brother. Cecil prevails and Golbez congratulates him on proving himself strong enough to find the Crystal. Cecil begs Golbez to join with him, but Golbez refuses. He then leaves, telling Cecil he cannot find the Crystal as he currently is. Golbez and Sephiroth briefly encounter each other at Kefka's tower, to which Sephiroth asks if he misses the light. Golbez merely responds that he has duties to attend to. Sephiroth then warns him that if he gets too close to the light, he'll get scorched. Cecil begins to return to his comrades, when Golbez appears before him again. Golbez lectures Cecil about depending on his friends for strength and attacks him, telling him the friendships he relies on are illusions. Golbez departs and is confronted by Jecht, who tells Golbez that fighting a family member is not easy if he holds onto their bond. Later, as Bartz is exploring the villains' territory, Golbez attempts to warn him the Crystal he found was a fake made by Exdeath. They battle, and though Bartz wins Golbez continues to warn him, when there is an earthquake caused by the light of the Warrior of Light. Bartz uses the distraction to flee. Exdeath speaks to Golbez again afterward, mocking his attempts to guide the heroes.

Cecil arrives at Moon Canyon, telling Golbez he fights with friends not to cover his own weakness, but to give them strength as they give him strength. The two battle, and Cecil is victorious and claims his Crystal. Golbez compliments him on the strength he showed and vanishes.

Shade Impulse
After Cosmos's death, Golbez is confronted by the Emperor about his acts of treason. Golbez reveals that everything he did was to assist the heroes in claiming their Crystals, and believes they will defeat Chaos and free the worlds from the cycle of war he has trapped them in. Garland also speaks to Golbez, who tells him his actions lead to the death of Cosmos, and the cycle of war has ended. Golbez questions Garland's role in maintaining the cycle, and Garland says he has no desires of his own, having no right to have one as a prisoner of time.

As he is still a minion summoned by Chaos, Golbez battles Cecil a second time, telling him upon defeat that he believes Cecil and his friends can destroy Chaos. Golbez begins to leave, claiming that his ties to Chaos are proof of his weak heart, and he has no right to fight with Cecil. However, Cecil says he believes Golbez will overcome himself one day, and asks him to join him when that day comes. Golbez claims Cecil is too kind-hearted to be a knight, but answers that he may someday, if light shines upon him.

If a Warrior of Cosmos besides Cecil encounters Golbez, Golbez will thank the Warriors of Cosmos, as their light has given him some hope. He then tells them to draw their swords, as he fully accepts his fate. After his defeat, Golbez will remark that, although the flesh may rot away, the soul won't.

Battle
In battle, Golbez is a Thaumaturge, and uses a unique fighting style consisting of two-part attacks. Golbez's Brave attacks have him fling out his hand to summon the CPU and its nodes and waves of energy to attack, letting him hit at both close and long ranges. This way of attacking allows players to chain Golbez's attacks together depending on their timing. One slight drawback is using his attacks to strike from a distance makes them more readable and relatively easy to dodge. Though they can hit at long-range, Golbez needs to be very close to his opponent to strike using the physical parts of his attacks, and the ranged parts of his attacks still have a low range compared to some of the other magical fighters.

Boss
Golbez is fought in Destiny Odyssey IV, V, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.

EX Mode
Twin Moon rPxY-loEl4w Golbez's EX Mode is Summon Shadow Dragon, where he summons and fuses with the Shadow Dragon, his personal summon from Final Fantasy IV. While in EX Mode, Golbez regains health over time due to Regen, and gains the attack "Black Fang", usable by holding R +. The attack has a long charge time, but causes an instant Break on the opponent. The summon Phoenix is the only way to stop this, other protective summons like Demon Wall or Alexander cannot stop Black Fang from working.

Golbez's EX Burst is Twin Moon. To execute it, the player must input three pairs of commands successfully within a time limit. If the player fails, Golbez casts Gravity Quake, crushing the opponent between boulders. However, if all three commands are inputted successfully, the Shadow Dragon paralyzes the opponent with Binding Cold, followed by Golbez casting Twin Meteor, conjuring a barrage of meteorites to attack.

Equipment
Golbez can equip the following: Greatswords, Spears, Axes, Rods, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor.

Allusions

 * Golbez's battle stance is identical to his original Final Fantasy IV artwork and his battle sprite in the same game.
 * When Golbez is defeated in Shade Impulse, he says that he might join his brother once light shines on him, a reference to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, where he does indeed join forces with his brother.
 * Golbez's ultimate weapons are all present in Final Fantasy IV: the Lilith Rod is dropped by Lilith in Mount Ordeals and by Lamia Queen in the Lunar Ruins; Asura's Rod can be obtained in the Lunar Ruins in the Advance edition of Final Fantasy IV. The Zeromus Shard is a reference to the Crystal Golbez gives to Cecil during their fight against Zeromus.
 * Golbez is the only one of the Warriors of Chaos who does not fade away after his battle in Shade Impulse, which mirrors his fate in Final Fantasy IV, wherein he went with Fusoya to rest inside of the moon instead of joining Cecil after he had killed Zeromus. Though, oddly, he walks away from the Crystal Palace, instead of towards it.
 * In Shade Impulse II-4, when Golbez is defeated by any character but Cecil, Golbez’s final words are "The flesh may rot, but the soul never perishes..." This was originally said by Zemus, upon his transformation into Zeromus.
 * Upon activating EX Mode, Golbez cries, "My creature of shadow!", the same line he used when calling forth the Shadow Dragon in Final Fantasy IV. His EX Mode special attack, Black Fang, was originally an attack the Shadow Dragon used to instantly dispatch Cecil's allies. During Golbez's EX Burst, the Dragon will attack with Binding Cold, an attack Golbez used in Final Fantasy IV to paralyze Cecil and his allies in preparation for the Dragon's attack.
 * Golbez's EX Burst Twin Meteor is named after the attack he and Fusoya use to destroy Zemus in Final Fantasy IV. If the player times Golbez's EX Burst correctly, an additional text box will appear of the Shadow Dragon saying "give your power to Meteor!", reflecting what Fusoya says to Golbez when they use Twin Meteor in Final Fantasy IV. Golbez replies "Very well," which is what he said in response to Fusoya's command in the same scene. To see this variation of the EX Burst, the player must input the button commands as Golbez says "shadow," "light," and "dark."
 * When Golbez attacks with Gravity Force, he sometimes says "Allow me to give you something." In addition, he will say "A gift!" when using the second part of Float System and Gravity System. Both of these lines are references to the line that he speaks upon meeting Cecil for the first time in Final Fantasy IV: "So, you are Cecil. Allow me to give you something - a gift to remember our meeting by."
 * One of Golbez's loss quotes is "Death... will not claim me." This is based on what he says after being defeated in the Dwarven Castle in Final Fantasy IV.
 * Golbez's victory pose is similar to his pose on the new logo of the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, only viewed at a frontal angle.

Trivia

 * Golbez's Genesis Rock attack may be a reference to the given to a sample of the original lunar crust recovered by Apollo 15.
 * Golbez's fighting style, Thaumaturge, is also the name of a discipline of magic in Final Fantasy XIV, though they do not have any abilities in common. The word "" is Greek, and refers to a saint or magician that can create miracles.
 * Due to Golbez's unique two-part attacks, the developers had trouble creating his attacks and gave him the nickname "Double trouble-chan".
 * Golbez is the only villain besides Chaos who speaks to Cosmos herself during the storyline.
 * Golbez is the sole surviving villain in the game, walking away rather than fading after dueling Cecil.
 * Golbez is the only character who speaks upon ending EX Mode after executing an EX Burst. If the opponent is struck by his EX Burst and survives, Golbez will remark "impressive" when his EX Mode ends shortly after.
 * Golbez appears in more Destiny Odyssey storylines than any other villain, often to offer the heroes advice. He appears to Cecil, Onion Knight, and Bartz directly, and appears to other characters in Terra's, Cloud's, and Warrior of Light's stories, and is hinted in Firion's storyline to have created the rebel's signature rose.
 * Golbez is the only Warrior of Chaos who learns chainable HP attacks upon mastering his Brave attacks. He is also the only character to have more chainable HP attacks than he has base HP attacks.
 * In the Battle Tips menu, Penelo says Golbez, despite his fierce looks, is a sweet older brother to Cecil, and starts to ponder what that would be like for her.
 * Golbez is the only character that can Break when the opponent has used Alexander, Demon Wall, Marilith or Cagnazzo if the opponent has one of them equipped with his attack Black Fang.

Golbez/Dissidia