Gabranth/Dissidia (PSP)

Gabranth is an extra character in Dissidia Final Fantasy. An Archadian Judge in service to the Empire, he took on the guise of his twin brother Basch and killed King Raminas of Rabanastre, disgracing Basch and ensuring Archadia's dominance of the region. In battle, Gabranth uses his power to quickly charge his EX Gauge, then crush opponents with powerful attacks. As an extra character in the game, Gabranth has no impact on the main storyline and has no hero opposing him. However, as an extra character who once served Chaos, the role of his heroic counterpart is filled by Shantotto. Similar to Golbez, he is trying to atone for his past mistakes.

Attire
Gabranth's outfit is based on his original design in Final Fantasy XII. An alternate costume features him in black armor, a color reference of Basch's armor in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings or his armor color in his Amano art. His Manikin version, Warrior of Antiquity, is colored light yellow.

Destiny Odyssey
After all crystals have been gathered, Cosmos remembers about her time with Shantotto. In this flashback, Shantotto is about to confront Gabranth, in order to protect Cosmos.

Distant Glory: Villains
In order to obtain him, the player must finish his story mode, where Judge Gabranth makes the player fight the ten villains and, after all of them have been beaten, he will be fought as the final boss. If the player manages to defeat him, he can be bought in the PP store for 1,000 PP. Also, this is the only story mode where board enemies of Gabranth can be fought (With the exception of a rare piece in Distant Glory [The Lady of Legend]).

Within the context of the game's story, Gabranth is the warden of the underworld, where hero and villain alike are discarded after each turn in the conflict of the Gods, a Hellish prison in which they are doomed to rot in obscurity unless they are called to fight once more. As the player fights their way out, Gabranth first condemns their efforts as helpless, that having been cast aside, they should be content to rest in the underworld rather than return to an eternity of conflict. He later tells the story of his fall, revealing that he was once a champion of Chaos, but was discarded because of his weakness at an unknown point in time.

As the player advances, however, he questions their determination in earnest, lamenting his own weakness and inability to overcome his own inner demons. He notes that the player must have something worth fighting for if they are so determined, and elects to test the strength of that conviction himself. After the player defeats him at the foot of Chaos' throne, Gabranth asks them not to end up like him, consumed by their own hatred and self-loathing. He then disappears, his fate unknown.

Battle
Gabranth is described as the "EXecutioner". He has no HP attacks at all and can only inflict damage in Chase Sequences, which none of his Brave attacks can initiate. Instead, his HP attack button causes him to charge his EX Bar during his normal mode. In his normal mode, Gabranth has very few attacks and is very slow. In EX Mode though, Gabranth's skillset changes completely, giving him a much wider variety of attacks and increasing his speed dramatically, letting him pummel opponents with powerful sword combos. In both forms, Gabranth has limited ranged attacks.

Boss
Gabranth is faced as a boss at the end of Distant Glory (Villains) and Inward Chaos.

EX Mode
thumb|300px|right|Black Hole Gabranth's EX Mode Mist is his fully armored judge form. During EX Mode, his skillset changes completely and his EX Burst Quickening consists of variations of his brother Basch's Quickenings. The player must cycle through the commands and input the next one within a time limit, and the commands must be entered in order from Level 1 to Level 3. Depending on how many Quickenings Gabranth performs, the Concurrence with which he finishes the chain changes between Inferno, Ark Blast, and Black Hole. These Concurrences don't damage the opponent's brave at all, instead dealing the HP damage of the EX Burst.

Equipment
Gabranth can equip the following: Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor.

Allusions

 * Upon ending his EX Burst, entering battle, using the ability "Hatred" and in his victory pose, Gabranth assumes a pose similar to his appearance on the logo of Final Fantasy XII.
 * Gabranth's battle pose while standing still in EX Mode, as well as his board icon when used in storylines, are in the same pose depicted on his bestiary entry in Final Fantasy XII.
 * One of his exclusive weapons, Death Bringer, is the version of the sword from Final Fantasy XII. His ultimate weapon, the Chaos Blade, is the name of his right-hand weapon. Furthermore, his exclusive hand armor, Highway Star, is the name of his left-hand weapon.
 * The "Theme of the Empire" is played as the background music for Distant Glory - Villains, referencing Gabranth's undying devotion to the Archadian Empire.
 * When in EX Mode and using "EX Charge", Gabranth glows red, similar to how characters in Final Fantasy XII would glow when powered by Manufacted Nethicite.
 * The symbol of Distant Glory - Villains is the symbol of the Archadian Empire, as seen on the back of the capes of the Judges.
 * As mentioned, Gabranth's EX Burst features variations of the Quickenings of his twin brother Basch. However, Gabranth's Quickenings are animated faster, and there are some differences in name and appearance:
 * Basch's Fulminating Darkness has green-blue coloring. Gabranth's "Fulminating Oblivion" has red-orange coloring.
 * Basch's Ruin Impendent consists of his punches "cracking" the screen to reveal a vortex that draws in the foe. Gabranth's "Ruin Unflinching" only cracks the screen and does not include the vortex.
 * Basch's Flame Purge has a longer sequence in which the swords twirl behind him before flying forward to stab the foe. Gabranth's "Frost Purge" does not including the twirling and only features the stabbing.


 * In addition to the above, when performing his EX Burst, the "Mist Charge" option may appear while shuffling commands, though it cannot be used. In Final Fantasy XII, using Quickenings consumed the user's Mist Charges, and using the Mist Charge command during a Quickening Chain would restore their charges. In Dissidia, Gabranth obviously has no Mist Charges, hence why the command appears, but cannot be used.
 * Gabranth's attacks "Sentence", "Lunge", "Circle of Judgment", "Guilt" and "Innocence", are all attacks he uses when fought as an enemy in Final Fantasy XII. His "Aero" attack is taken from Judge Ghis's boss fight on the Dreadnought Leviathan.
 * Gabranth's dialogue to Shantotto in their cutscene, "There is no future for the bystander. As there is naught he can defend," is based on what he says to Basch at the Pharos at Ridorana before he attacks: "Without power, what future can you claim? What good a kingdom you cannot defend?". His introduction when facing Tidus, "One without strength has no future", is also based on this quote. His introduction when facing himself, "There is no escaping the past", is taken from the part of the scene when he faces Reddas. One of Gabranth's victory quotes is "Even a stray has pride", which he said when he attacked Vayne in Final Fantasy XII.
 * When Gabranth uses the aerial version of "Innocence", he cries "your life ends here!" This is derived from what Gabranth says in Final Fantasy XII when using Innocence, "your lives end at my blade!".
 * Gabranth's pose in his artwork resembles the pose he makes in the Amano portrait of the Archadian Judges.

Trivia

 * Gabranth is the only character whose artwork does not match his normal mode, which instead features him with his helmet and only holding one of his two swords.
 * The only way for Gabranth to defeat his opponents outside of EX Mode is via a Chase Sequence, which none of his normal attacks can initiate. Thus, the player must either time his attack to initiate the sequence as his EX Mode ends, or let themselves get hit by an opponent's attack that can initiate it.
 * In the English version of Dissidia, he is voiced by Keith Ferguson, who voiced Gabranth's twin brother Basch in the English version of Final Fantasy XII. This makes him, along with Golbez, the only characters in Dissidia to not have their original actor reprise their role.
 * Unless one counts the variant quotes used for Terra's spells when Dualcasting, Gabranth is the only character to use two different battle cries for the same attack. If using the ground version of "Innocence", he calls "destruction!", but if using the aerial version he says "your life ends here!".
 * Aside from The Emperor, Gabranth is the only one who has varation for an HP attack with a ground and air version. On the ground, Innocence follows a straight trajectory while in the air, the attack arcs downward.
 * In the Battle Tips menu, Penelo demands to know why Gabranth is in the game instead of Vaan, declaring that it "just isn't fair!"
 * Gabranth is the only character to have a level 100 exclusive piece of armor, namely his short blade hand armor "Highway Star".
 * While most characters have two outcomes for their EX Bursts, depending on if the burst is executed correctly or not, Gabranth is the only character with three outcomes - namely Inferno, Ark Blast and Black Hole.