Mog (Final Fantasy VI)

Mog is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. A Moogle and a Dancer/Geomancer, he also acts as one of the game's tutorial presenters, the other being Kappa the Imp. He lives deep in the mines of Narshe.

Mog is fondly remembered as the first Moogle playable character in the series, as well as the first Moogle to speak human language, a discovery that shocked the party when he thanked them for saving him.

Development Information
A prerelease 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 eventually felt this mini-game of sorts 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).

Character and Appearance
Mog is a Moogle, about the age of twelve. He has the traditional Moogle look: white fur (though his portrait sprite shows it as a cream color), cat-like ears, and little wings.

Mog is shown to be more intelligent than the other Moogles, and acts as their leader. He is the only seen Moogle who can speak the human language, while the rest just say "Kupo" or variations of it. He is also a bit bossy, seen bossing Umaro to join the party. He uses very loose speech and slang terms when speaking, such as referring to Ramuh as "that old psycho" in the Super NES release.

Story
Mog is first found in the battle to save Terra Branford from the Narshe Guards. He leads a party of Moogles to help Locke Cole defend Terra, and succeeds. Mog then appears as the character players use to select the scenarios in the game's three scenario section. 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.

At an unspecified point, Ramuh appears to Mog in a series of dreams and orders him to help the party. Through these dreams Mog learns to speak English, and decides to listen to Ramuh and join the party once he gets the chance.

It is not until after Terra rejoins the party that Mog is available as a permanent character. If the player chooses to do the sidequest involving Lone Wolf the Pickpocket, they will follow him to the area where Valigarmanda is. Lone Wolf is holding Mog hostage, but Mog breaks free, throwing both himself and Lone Wolf to the cliff's edge. The player must choose between rescuing Lone Wolf and rescuing Mog. If Lone Wolf is rescued, the party obtains a Gold Hairpin. If Mog is rescued, Mog reveals his ability to speak, and joins the party. One year after the apocalypse, Mog had returned to the Moogle cave in the Narshe mines, but he is the only Moogle left. When the party finds him, he automatically 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 him to join the party. Even if the player skipped recruiting Mog in the World of Balance, he will still appear in the World of Ruin.

In the ending, Mog and Edgar escape Kefka's Tower together, when 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 to do so.

Battle
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. He can equip spears, daggers, universal shields, and lightweight helmets and armor. Along with Gau and Umaro, Mog is one of three characters able to use the Snow Scarf, the most powerful piece of defensive gear in the game. He also has his own special relic, Molulu's Charm, which eliminates all random encounters. Mog's ability is Dance, where he executes one of four random attacks based on the dance. Mog learns new dances by fighting in different terrain, and each dance has its own set of four attacks.

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.

Other Appearances

 * In Secret of Evermore, Mog appears among a crowd of people that includes Final Fantasy VI characters in the gladiator battle of Antiqua. He appears alongside Terra, Locke, Relm, Strago, and Umaro.
 * There is a Moogle named Mog in Kingdom Hearts II. He appears as a shopkeeper in Disney Castle.
 * There is a playable Moogle named Mog with a similar personality in Chocobo Racing.
 * There is game involving Mog in the Wonder Square of the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII.
 * Mog appears in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time seen building a new house in the bonus dungeon, River Belle.

Trivia

 * In 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 little cameo in Dissidia where he dances over the player's character picture for a few seconds when the Moogle is summoned.
 * 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, which is somewhat ironic considering his role as an optional character in the actual game.
 * Mog appeared in a commercial for Final Fantasy VI in North America during the game's original Super NES release, auditioning monsters to appear in the game.
 * Similar to Mog from Final Fantasy IX, Mog from Final Fantasy VI has a yellow pompom, something odd among Moogles
 * In Japan, Mog's blood type is known to be Black-footed Duck type (黒足アヒル型 kuroashi ahiru kei), as stated by Mog himself when asked for his bloodtype.