Mog (Final Fantasy XIII-2)



Mog is a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He accompanies Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss on their journey through time, and teaches them about the game's mechanics. Mog is voiced by Sumire Morohoshi in the Japanese version and in the English version.

Although he is officially called "Mog", there exists official material which calls him The Moogle or just Moogle, for example in the EU wallpaper. In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Mog is referred to as "Moogle" and rarely called "Mog".

Datalog
''Mog is a small, mysterious creature covered in white fur. He has bat-like wings that he often beats as he flits around, but his power of flight does not appear to rely on them.''

''Mog has a crystal bobble that reacts to the presence of anomalies, and he is proficient at finding lost objects, but his most astounding feature is his ability to transform into a weapon. With the right components available, Mog is capable of evolving into even more powerful weaponry.''

Lightning came across Mog in Valhalla, and asked the strange little being to act as Serah's protector and good luck charm.

Although he closely resembles the fictitious moogles described in Cocoon's fairy tales, the connection is uncertain.

Appearance and Personality
Mog is a white Moogle with a human-sized head that is big compared to his body. He has oblique eyes, a big round nose, puffy pink cheeks, small ears, short arms and legs, purple bat wings, and unlike other moogles, he has a pink crystal pom-pom instead of a traditional fluffy one on a black antenna. He carries a clock staff composed of a blue rod, a bronze clock with a white clock face adorned with the same kind of crystal that is on Mog's antenna.

In the "Time's Shell" fragment entry Mog says that his body is just a puppet, and that he actually exists inside the clock. This is contradicted by another fragment where Mog insists he is not a puppet and is offended when Arbiter of Time calls him such. In other fragment entries Mog elaborates that it is his crystal bobble rather than his wings that enable him to fly.

Mog is shy and reluctant to talk at first, but as time passes and he begins to talk, he shows to be a caring and lively being with a spunky and sarcastic side. Whenever he feels a strong emotion, he tends to express himself in an over-the-top manner. He has a habit of hiding behind Serah whenever a situation become too much for him to handle. Mog shows discomfort toward people holding and poking him evident when he meets Serah, during a scene with Snow Villiers, and through the Moogle Throw mechanism.

Despite initially keeping his distance, Mog bonds with Serah, hovering around her when she is knocked out in battle and fretting until she is revived. As Serah and Noel help Mog remember things from his past in Oerba from 300 to 400 AF, he chooses not to take what might be his only chance at returning home, and claims that his new home is at Serah's side. Mog also warms up to Snow after some time, occasionally making a joke or comment about him. Although rarely seen, Mog has a greedy side, displayed when the player accesses the Bresha Ruins at 100 and 300 AF; Mog has several monologues where he schemes to solve the area's monster infestation and secure a large bounty of gil from the government as compensation. His voice becomes diabolical and sinister in these moments, a change from his usual easy-going personality, as he dreams of earning "all the gil my little heart could desire, kupo".

Mog is shown to have a sense of humor. Many of Mog's funnier moments are seen in Live Trigger conversations with a variety of the more humorous answers regarding Mog. For example, in the Yaschas Massif 10 AF, Mog plays along with Serah's joke about Fenrir's appearance, if the player chooses the "Moogle Conspiracy" answer to the Live Trigger regarding the fal'Cie's appearance.

Mog attracts the attention of others with his appearance and the use of his talents. When using his Moogle Hunt or Throw abilities in an area, NPCs will run over to watch, or chase him as he flies toward his target. As shown with the flan in the Sunleth Waterscape at 400 AF, Mog is also capable in understanding the languages of monsters, as he can translate what they say to Noel and Serah.

Downloadable content
Downloadable content lets the player choose a new look for Mog. The sixteen different designs contain a pirate look and a panda look, among others.

Story
Mog originates from the Ocean of Time, a place abundant with other moogles. While playing hide-and-seek with his friends, Mog was sucked into a paradox, losing his memories of his home, friends, and family. Mog drifted away into the Void Beyond and during his travel, he encountered a chocobo chick and many other various creatures in various humorous encounters, including those with five flan, a Centaurion Blade, an Imp and his Ahriman friend, and the Proto Fal'Cie Adam before it was erased from existence.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After
Mog ends up in Valhalla, battling the Eidolon Odin and the knight Valfodr upon learning the realm's rules that the weak must serve the strong. Neither wanted anything to do with the moogle due to his weakness, and Mog was found by Lightning. He tells off Lightning for mistaking him for a stuffed toy and pushes away any of her attempts to help him.

To live up to his title as the "Weakest Monster of the Void", Mog challenges Lightning to a duel and quickly loses, but is surprised that instead of abandoning him, she would take him under her wing. In response to Lightning's kindness, Mog pledges to serve her forever. Mog tells Lightning about Valhalla, the Void Beyond, and the goddess Etro, and accompanies Lightning and Odin to Etro's temple. Since he is forbidden to enter, Mog stays outside with Odin. While Lightning is battling the throne guardian Bahamut, she loses her weapon. Sensing that Lightning was in danger, Mog is compelled to break the rules for her sake and come to her aid. Transforming into a bow, Lightning takes Mog and defeats Bahamut. Lightning goes before Etro's throne and is transformed into the goddess's champion.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
During her battle with Caius Ballad, Lightning summons Mog and gives him to Noel Kreiss so he would pass Mog on to Serah as a gift and good-luck-charm. In the Gran Pulse village of New Bodhum 3 AF, Mog follows Serah and Noel to the site of the meteor crash, which turns out to be a Time Gate. The next morning, Mog uses his item detecting ability to help Noel and Serah find an artefact to use it. After finding an artefact, Serah, Noel, and Mog enter the Time Gate and the Historia Crux.

They come out into the Bresha Ruins 5 AF in Cocoon, where they are attacked by Atlas and Alyssa Zaidelle enlists their help in defeating it. When Serah and Noel witness a defeated monster turn into a crystal, Mog explains the monster is now under their control.

As Serah and Noel approach a device capable of weakening Atlas, they are dragged into a paradox. Mog flies into the Temporal Rift after them, and says they need to solve the puzzle. After defeating Atlas, the trio travels to Yaschas Massif 10 AF, and to Oerba 200 AF where they resolve the paradoxes, and return to Yaschas Massif 1X AF. Mog senses a new gate in the area, which they use to emerge in the Void Beyond, a place Mog says is the area between Time Gates.

In the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, they find Snow. Noel, Serah, and Mog travel to the Coliseum and the Archylte Steppe in ??? AF and retrieve the White and Black Hole fragments before returning to the Sunleth Waterscape to resolve the paradox. Leaving the Sunleth Waterscape, Serah, Mog, and Noel emerge in the Void Beyond and next travel to the highly-advanced Pulsian city of Academia 400 AF.

In Augusta Tower 200 AF, the party learns Hope created the Proto fal'Cie Adam to re-levitate Cocoon. The party battles Adam and Serah uses Mog to intercept the Proto fal'Cie's attack before Noel uses Mog to fire at the fal'Cie's core. Receiving a shock from the ordeal, Mog says, "You guys play rough, kupo", while Serah and Noel call him a hero for saving the day. When the Proto fal'Cie revives itself through a paradox, Serah yells at Hope for creating it and it vanishes from existence, because Hope received Serah's message through the Oracle Drive.

Arriving in Academia 4XX AF, Serah, Noel, and Mog are greeted by Hope and Alyssa. Unsure if they are the real deal, Mog flies around Hope to inspect him, before the latter puts Noel and Serah's minds at ease. After helping out Hope's "New Cocoon Project" Alyssa gives the trio an artefact. Before leaving through a new Time Gate, Mog, Noel, and Serah say their goodbyes, but Mog notices Alyssa smirking with a grim expression before he heads into the gate after Serah and Noel. Mog gets knocked out by a dislodged piece of the Historia Crux. Serah saves him but the two get separated from Noel and emerge in Valhalla's shadow in the Void Beyond. Mog's soul is separated from his body and he is unable to interact with Serah. After Serah's confrontation with Caius, Mog continues to follow her throughout her dream in the Void, where she encounters Vanille and Fang who help her find Noel in his own dream world to save him.

In the Dying World 700 AF, after Noel and Serah activate the Oracle Drive at the Farseers' Relic, Mog's soul is freed from the Void Beyond by Lightning and returns to his body. Mog brings Serah and Noel new information from Lightning about Caius Ballad. They go to New Bodhum 700 AF and meet with Lightning, who tells them the story of how she came to be in Valhalla and became Etro's protector and reveals Caius's plan to kill the goddess. Mog reveals a Time Gate that will take Noel and Serah to the year 500 AF, the time of the prophecy, when Caius will attempt to destroy both Cocoons.

Emerging from the gate, the party finds themselves in Academia 500 AF and Serah and Noel fight Caius in his dragon and human forms until a wormhole opens in the sky. Mog, Noel, and Serah jump into the wormhole following after Caius and emerge in Valhalla. After Caius impales himself with Noel's sword and fades away, numerous Time Gates appear throughout Valhalla. Mog says the final paradox has been solved and that he does not sense Lightning in Valhalla.

They leave Valhalla back to Gran Pulse 500 AF where the new Cocoon, Bhunivelze, has risen into the sky, and the gate to Valhalla closes. Serah dies after having a vision of the future, and Hope joins Mog and Noel as they mourn for Serah. The world goes dark, Mog grows weak and falls into Hope's embrace, saying Etro is gone. Mog faints as chaos consumes Gran Pulse along with Bhunivelze and the world merges with Valhalla, forming Nova Chrysalia.

Gameplay
Mog can not only transform himself into Serah's weapon, but he can also use his magic to execute the Mog Clock prebattle system and detect hidden treasures on the field with Moogle Hunt. Mog can also be thrown by Noel or Serah toward out-of-reach areas through the Moogle Throw command.

The Moogle Hunt command is used to find items which are hidden or "phased out." If there are hidden items in the area, Mog's pom-pom will flash, and he will approach the area where the item is hidden. If / is pressed, the treasure becomes visible if it is within a certain range. The / button can then be used to attain said item.

As the player gains Mog's trust, the Moogle Throw command will become available. This allows the player to throw Mog to a location where he can attain out-of reach treasures, however, Mog will protest to this. This can be utilized using the / button.

There are two fragment skills that improve Mog's abilities; "Mog's Manifestation" unlocks Advanced Moogle Throw, which allows Mog to always bring back items after he has been thrown; this is obtained upon speaking to the mystic in Serendipity for the first time; and "Mobile Mog", which reduces the cooldown time of the Moogle Throw and is acquired after obtaining all fragments from Oerba in all time periods, including Oerba ??? AF.

Creation and Development
In Final Fantasy XIII, moogles only appear on the sign for the Moogleworks shop. Motomu Toriyama, director of Final Fantasy XIII-2, said that having a moogle as a mascot type character in the sequel is a kind of fan service and that the team intend to show moogles as a symbol for the Final Fantasy series and to make it easier for players to get involved in the game’s rather serious main story. Mog was designed by Toshitaka Matsuda, who was the lead art designer of Final Fantasy XIII. His design was chosen over other possible designs made by various members of the development team. It was based on the idea of a "baby moogle" with exaggerated features.

The sound designers had difficulties on Mog's voice, especially ad-lib or responsive sounds and answers. "Kupo" is Mog's main means of communication, but with each scene the emotion is different, and so the sound designers divided the "kupo" into categories such as "angry", "sad", and "happy", and recorded it many times in different ways. Afterward, the team chose which "kupo" was applicable to the different situations.

There are times Mog speaks quite a bit, but at first, during the beginning stages of development, the team had made him talk too much to the point of Mog talking nonstop while navigating the map. The designers had to go through some trial and error by changing or decreasing the occurrence patterns and changing the script to balance things out.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Mog has two cards in the Japanese Final Fantasy trading card game. His cards are ice-elemental.

Merchandise
Ultimate Prize winners of the Word to Your Moogle tour received a pink and white PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 featuring Mog. A tag featuring Mog is also available in the Japanese Square Enix shop.

Trivia

 * Mog Clock appears as a weapon in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
 * Mog shares his Japanese voice actor with Mog from Final Fantasy Type-0. Both English and Japanese voice actors also voiced Marlene Wallace in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete and young Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series.
 * The clock face of Mog's staff is divided into twelve sections like clocks in the real world, as opposed to the thirteen-sectioned clock face seen in Final Fantasy XIII's Nautilus and Oerba's Deserted Schoolhouse as two hours were lost due to Etro's intervention at the end of Final Fantasy XIII. For some reason, Mog does not have his clock staff in the ending FMV.
 * Mog is called "Piggy Kitty" by Noel when a Breshan researcher asks him about his name. Moogles first appeared in Final Fantasy III where they said "nyaa", the Japanese onomatopoeia for "meow", which was replaced with "kupo". Also, moogles in some games resemble a pig; hence the 'piggy' part of the nickname.
 * In the last Live Trigger in Yaschas Massif 10 AF, where Serah notices that something is on Noel's mind and the player chooses an option regarding Mog, a funny conversation about Mog's face will take place: Serah will say that Mog's face is "cute", while Noel's says it's weird or "unique".
 * According to the fragments obtained in Oerba, the "duel" between Mog and Lightning was actually a rock-paper-scissors match.
 * If the player loads a save around the beginning of the game any time after Noel appears in New Bodhum, Mog may be heard narrating "Final Fantasy XIII-2: The story so far, kupo!" even though in the game itself it has not yet been revealed that he can say more than just "kupo!"
 * In the Brain Blast quiz, it is said that Serah and Noel's journeys through time caused "moogle throw simulator" research project to receive lots of funding and donations.
 * Mog's doll is present in Chocolina's chest.