Rubicante

Rubicante (ルビカンテ Rubikante), also known as Rubicant, is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy universe. First appearing in Final Fantasy IV as a minor villain, he is one of the four archfiends associated with the element of Fire. Despite his role as an antagonist, he has a strong sense of honor and fair play, unlike the other archfiends.

Final Fantasy
Rubicante appears in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes as a boss in Hellfire Chasm, one of the bonus dungeons for the remakes.

Final Fantasy IV
For the enemy page, see: Rubicante (Final Fantasy IV)

Rubicante is a boss in the Final Fantasy IV. He is one of Golbez's Archfiends, and is the Element Lord of Fire, titled the Autarch of Flame. He is considered to be the most powerful of the four, and is their leader. In spite of his less than savory actions, he is an honorable fighter at heart, and restores the party's health before every fight against him. He wears a "Cloak of Flame," which, when donned, absorbs all elemental magic, though ice elemental weapons can still damage him (the Nintendo DS version is an exception to this). He is voiced by Lee Everest and Norio Wakamoto in the English and Japanese versions respectively.

Rubicante first appears in the Tower of Babil, where he is overseeing the destruction of Eblan. It is assumed that he led this attack. The attack succeeds, and Eblan's inhabitants are forced to flee to Eblan Cave. He is first seen speaking to Dr. Lugae in the Tower of Babil in the Underworld, when Lugae transports him to the Overworld. There, he is chased by Edge, the prince of Eblan, who seeks revenge for the destruction of Eblan and the assumed murder of his parents. Cecil Harvey, Kain Highwind, Rydia, and Rosa Joanna Farrell witness Edge's loss to Rubicante, and Rubicante's subsequent departure.

The party confronts Rubicante again in the upper half of the Tower of Babil, where Edge accuses him of not only destroying Eblan, but also turning his parents into monsters. Rubicante explains that the transformation of the king and queen of Eblan into chimerae was Lugae's doing, and in an interesting show of his character, when he saw what had happened to Edge's parents he actually cursed Lugae for what he did. He commends Edge's strength but sees him as being too emotional to be a worthy opponent. Edge ignores Rubicante's remark, and joins the party in attacking, and then defeating Rubicante. Unlike the other fiends, Rubicante accepts his defeat and compliments the party on their victory.

Rubicante is revived by Zemus, along with Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, and Barbariccia. They fight Cecil's party one last time in the Giant of Babil together. However, they are all defeated again.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Rubicante appears in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years at Eblan's Castle where he fights the party in a scripted battle. He gives Edge a clue on how to defeat Ifrit, who has taken control of the castle. Rydia and Edge then learn Rubicante's Inferno as a Band ability. He reappears on the True Moon as a boss spawned by the Crystals. The player can have a one-on-one fight with him as Edge, and obtain Rubicante's cloak, the Fire Scarf. With it, Edge can absorb any fire-elemental attacks. After defeating him, Edge acknowledges Rubicante is still a worthy opponent and has possibly made peace with him.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Rubicante appears in Dissidia as a summon. There is also an item bearing his name, called 'Rubicante's Cowl'.

Lord of Vermilion II
Rubicante is a card in the sequel to Lord of Vermilion along with other characters from Final Fantasy IV, as a special cross promotion.

Etymology
Rubicante's name comes from the Inferno, part one of the Dante's Divine Comedy. He is one of the Malebranche ("Evil Claws") who guards the 5th Malebolge in the eighth circle of Hell (Cantos XXI through XXIII). His name means "he who grows red". He also makes a reference to the circles of hell before his first battle "Not even the frozen winds of hell's ninth circle can penetrate this cloak of flames."