Manikin



Manikins (イミテーション, imitēshon, lit. Imitations) are the main enemies encountered in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. They appear as crystalline palette-swaps of the playable characters. In-game they are represented by various Battle Pieces on the map board.

Story
Manikins were created by Cid as an attempt to draw warriors into his world. His failures became Manikins, incomplete puppets, which were sealed in the Rift until Exdeath released them as footsoldiers for Chaos during the events of Dissidia 012. Garland explains to Lightning that the Manikins are above mercy and being defeated by them would negate the gods' ability to revive a fallen warrior.

In Battle
Manikins are colored in a manner reflective of their original counterpart - Terra's Manikin is red, Kuja's is purple, and so forth. Some Manikins, like The Emperor's, use two colors. Their voices are garbled, distorted versions of their counterparts, and their icon is that of the Battle Piece icon that represents them on the board.

In battle, the Manikin's power changes according to the type of Battle Piece that represents it. Manikins are able to perform any attack that their original counterpart knows, but they can execute these attacks even if they are not a high-enough level to legally know them. For example, Cloud learns Blade Beam at Level 30, but Cloud's Manikin counterpart can potentially have the move equipped regardless of level. The same goes for equipment: Manikins may potentially equip any equipment piece they like regardless of its level requirement. They can also equip as many of the same accessory they like regardless of their rank, though they still may not equip more than ten. Manikins can equip support abilities, and all Manikins have the basic Block, Dodge and Free Air Dash abilities. Manikins can utilize EX Mode, and as such can pick up EX Cores and absorb EX Force. Instead of having their counterpart's EX Mode, all Manikins share a single EX Mode titled "Powered Up!", in which they gain the Regen effect, glow brightly and have a greater likelihood to score critical hits. However, they do not gain any special abilities or attacks usable by their counterparts, cannot use EX Bursts, and keep the same appearance as their normal mode save for a glowing aura. The sole exception to these rules is Gabranth's Manikin, since his fighting style is centered on him being in EX Mode. Gabranth's Manikin changes its appearance while in EX Mode and gains a different moveset like Gabranth himself does, but its EX Mode is still called "Powered Up!" and it still cannot use Gabranth's EX Burst.

Some Manikins give the player a chance to win a Destiny Point by fulfilling a requirement, such as scoring a critical hit within a time limit or preventing the opponent from picking up an EX Core. Manikins represented by Strange and Expert Battle Pieces always give the player a Destiny Point for winning in the Destiny Odyssey story modes, but in the other story modes they may not. In all story modes, defeating an Ultimate Battle Piece-level Manikin always awards two Destiny Points. Depending on the stage, defeating a Manikin may unlock certain restricted areas, or cause other items including extra Battle Pieces to appear on the stage.

Etymology
Manikin, also known as mannequin, is an articulated doll or dummy used mainly by artists, tailors, and dressmakers. This name is befitting to the role of these characters as Crystal embodiments.