Emperor Mateus/Dissidia (PSP)

The Emperor is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is a man who possesses great magic abilities, capable of casting powerful spells. With an iron fist, he will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives. As one of the higher-ranked villains, he plots with Ultimecia to take control of the world, rather than most of the other villains who seek to destroy it. His desire to rule all stands in opposition to Firion's dream of a world free of war and oppression.

Attire
The Emperor's outfit is heavily based on his Amano artwork from Final Fantasy II, which also features his staff. Mateus wears light, golden colored armor with purple robes underneath. His hair is blonde and spiked, with an extra-long ponytail. On his chestplate are black and white stripes tracing his ribs, and on his waist and back are demonic looking faces. His gauntlets sport extended claws. Mateus also wears purple makeup on his eyes and lips. He also seems to wear a purple crown in the shape of a snake, a possible allusion to the snakes that make up his crown as the Emperor of Hell.

His alternate outfit is a black and white palette swap, based on an alternate Amano artwork and similar to his design from the Final Fantasy Origins FMV.

The Emperor's Manikin version, Imitation Despot, is colored yellow.

Destiny Odyssey


Forming an allience with Ultimecia, the Emperor works behind the shadows for his own agenda to upsurp Chaos and rule the world. He also recruits Jecht into aiding him by offering him a chance to return to his homeworld with Tidus. The Emperor and Kefka discuss Sephiroth. The Emperor questions Sephiroth's motives, and Kefka replies that Sephiroth is just another sadist with a god complex. The Emperor says that Sephiroth took his life before his eyes in the last war. Kefka asks why, and the Emperor then says that he was probably planning something. Afterward, he starts a conversation with Garland about Terra's incredible power.

When Jecht and Tidus confront eachother, the Emperor halts them from fighting and command Jecht to lead as he suggests Tidus to direct whatever hatred he has for his father onto him. After the battle, the Emperor tells Tidus that he cannot get the crystal through hate alone; he then shocks Tidus with a Thunder Crest and disappears laughing.



After Golbez gives Cecil advice to follow him to find the secret of the crystals, Emperor tells Golbez that it was a good show. Later on, after Exdeath is defeated by Cecil, Exdeath and the Emperor meet about Golbez's betrayal. Emperor says that it's a matter of time before Golbez finds his own light.

Later on, when Jecht learns of the Emperor's full plan, battles him until they end in a stalemate with the Emperor tells Jecht that he could not count on him then teleports away. The Emperor later confronts Firion after he and Tidus part ways, asking why he is alone while at the same time implying that Firion's friends have abandoned him. Firion replies that his friends are only doing what they must. The Emperor then asks what Firion's goal is, to which Firion answers that he simply wants to end the war. The Emperor, laughing at this, signals Ultimecia to fight him. However, she loses and leaves, but not before stating that it is futile to end the battle between the gods. The Emperor then questions Firion's intention, calling him weak and saying that he is nothing more than a tool of Cosmos.

The Emperor and Ultimecia approach Sephiroth with their plan; however, Sephiroth has no interest in the plan. Then, the Emperor noticed Bartz spying on them. Instead of pursuing the copycat hero, having sensed the Warrior of Light, the Emperor leaves to Bartz have him dispose of Exdeath, "The Needless Destroyer." Once fighting the Warrior, the Emperor attempts bribe his loyalty by presenting a fake Crystal, but the Warrior of Light sees easily through the ruse and destroys it. After the Warrior tells him that the Crystals are not earned by mercy, but by strength, the Emperor attacks him. He loses and disappears, but not before he questions the Warrior's resolve, telling him that he'll know the whole truth of the battle soon enough.

The Emperor encounters Firion again at the Dimensional Fortress, taunting him by saying that his dream is too foolish to come to realization. He then fires at Firion, bringing him to his knees. However, Tidus and Cloud arrive to defend their comrade. Realizing that he is outnumbered, the Emperor flees, but not before taunting Firion to come after him. They confront each other in Pandaemonium, and the Emperor still calls Firion a tool. They both fight and Firion wins with Emperor fading away as he states that the battle will never end.

Shade Impulse
After Chaos kills Cosmos, the Emperor reveals to Jecht his true nature as a former warrior of Cosmos and that the he only needed him in order to create his own version of the Crystals. As the Crystals the Warriors of Cosmos gathered protected them, the "dark" Crystals the Emperor seized from Jecht will allow him to survive after Chaos destroys existence, leaving him reign over the remnants of reality and become the new god.

Later, the Emperor meets the warriors of Cosmos and congratulates them on not only ridding him of Kefka and Exdeath, but killing Cosmos. He then reveals as how it was his plan (and to a greater extent, the plans of the other villains) that ensured they gathered the crystals so Cosmos can be killed. By gathering the crystals, Cosmos relinquished her power, and died, and states that they are the forces of darkness that destroyed Cosmos. Emperor then tells the warriors that he will rule over existence after Chaos is killed. After the Emperor is defeated, he says that as long as Chaos exists, he'll keep coming back even from the depths of hell while fading away with an anguished cry.

Battle
In battle, the Emperor is described as a "Trap Master", and his arsenal consists of various magical traps, such as mines and crests of energy that ensnare the opponent and can deal a lot of damage. His main HP attack, the ground Flare homes in on enemies, and his other HP attack Starfall is difficult to avoid. As a downside, his victory largely depends on the terrain and plane - in smaller areas his traps are more difficult to avoid, but in larger areas he has more room to lay said traps and for his Flare spell to track enemies. Some of his traps can also hurt him as well as the enemy.

Boss
The Emperor is fought in Destiny Odyssey I, II, and X, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory and Inward Chaos.

EX Mode
Absolute Dominion A5Jgdo5y-N0 The Emperor's EX Mode Power of Hellfire has him take on the appearance of his Emperor of Hell form, faced as the final boss of Final Fantasy II. His clothing undergoes small changes, while his body becomes bulkier and his face quite demonic. While in EX Mode he gains the ability of Blood Magic, where any HP damage the Emperor inflicts on the opponent will be converted into HP for himself, like Firion's Blood Weapons, and also benefits from the effect of Regen.

His EX Burst, Absolute Dominion, has the Emperor conjuring a powerful spell, and requires the player press a sequence of buttons as they light up, and will end in the ability Entice if executed perfectly. If not, he will end the Burst with the weaker attack, Cyclone.

Equipment
The Emperor is able to equip Swords, Daggers, Rods, Staves, Bangles, Hats, Hairpins, Clothing, and Robes.

Allusions

 * The Emperor's EX Burst, "Cyclone", is a reference to the event when he unleashed a cyclone to destroy the Kingdom of Fynn in Final Fantasy II.
 * In Shade Impulse C2-5, some of the Emperor’s final words are “How could I lose...not once but twice? Who ARE you?”, the same as his last lines in Final Fantasy II.
 * In Shade Impulse C2-1, the Emperor’s line, “I've come back from the afterworld,” is derived from when he returned from hell in Final Fantasy II.
 * When fighting the Emperor while playing the Emperor he will say: “This world can have but one Emperor!” He originally said these words to Leon, who had declared himself the new emperor in Final Fantasy II.
 * When he is defeated and fades away in Shade Impulse, he will cry out "Ungaahhhh!", his death wail in Final Fantasy II. He will also make the iconic yell when dealt the final blow during a match.
 * When fighting Tidus while playing the Emperor, the former will sometimes say: "What's this 'Ungaahh!' business?" This is another reference to the iconic death cry The Emperor had in the English version of Final Fantasy II.
 * When fading away in Shade Impulse, black and white auras appear from him. This would reflect how his soul was split into the Dark and Light Emperors after his death.
 * In the Battle Tips menu, Penelo has a very negative opinion of the Emperor, despising him for his love of domination and subjugation and even claiming that she doesn't "even want to see that guy's face!". This a reference of the hatred she bore against the Archadian Empire which invaded her homeland, Dalmasca.
 * The Emperor's HP attacks Flare and Starfall are references to the Emperor's final form in Final Fantasy II, where Flare XVI and Starfall X were his sole offensive attacks besides physical blows. His Brave attacks appear to be lightning-based, reflecting the boss battle with his human form, where Thunder X was his only offensive spell.
 * Thunder Crest may be intended as a reference to the electrified floor panels in the Cyclone.
 * In Shade Impulse, The Emperor says "Death, life, even the divine shall come under my rule!" This may be an allusion to the Soul of Rebirth quest in the Gameboy Advance and PSP releases of Final Fantasy II, where the Emperor's dark side conquers hell, while his light side ascends to Heaven and becomes the lord of Arubboth.

Trivia

 * The Emperor is one of the villains to fight another, that other warrior being Jecht.
 * Even though Garland is the closest to Chaos, the Emperor can be considered the leader, since most of the heroes' problems come from him, and he is the one who seems to give orders.
 * The Emperor's Starfall attack has the longest charge time of any attack in the game, requiring more than eight seconds to execute.
 * Other than Garland, the Emperor is the only Warrior of Chaos to speak to Chaos himself.
 * Though his artwork depicts him holding his staff with his left hand, in-game the Emperor carries it with his right, a peculiarity also shared by Tidus. This may be to prevent their weapons from obscuring their bodies in the art.
 * The Emperor's EX Burst, "Entice," may be in reference to an event in Final Fantasy II where the Emperor entices Leon to abandon his sister and friends to become his Dark Knight.
 * In the Japanese release the Emperor had the fewest HP attacks in the game, with only Flare and the ground and aerial versions of Starfall. However, the English and Universal Tuning releases give him a second Flare spell, tying him with Jecht and Cecil for having the fewest HP moves.
 * The appearances of the Emperor's mines are inconsistent as they have different appearances in cut scenes and in battle