Sabin Rene Figaro

"Edgar's twin brother, who traded the throne for his own freedom..."

Sabin Rene Figaro is a playable character from Final Fantasy VI. He is the brother of Edgar Roni Figaro and thus is an apparent heir to the throne of Figaro Castle. However, he fled his kingdom in search of a quiet life, and lived as a student of the martial arts. His name is Mash in the Japanese version.

Story


Sabin grew up in Figaro Castle with his brother Edgar. One day, however, their father died. The new heir to the throne was disputed, and Sabin, thinking that the Empire killed their father, did not want to take it. Edgar and Sabin decided who would take the throne by a coin toss. If Sabin won, Edgar and Sabin would go their separate ways, but Edgar used a two-faced coin to make sure Sabin won. Afterwards, Sabin fled the kingdom, and took up studying the martial arts under the renowned teacher Duncan. He quickly became Duncan's best student, which made Vargas, Duncan's son, jealous, as Vargas thought he was going to be the next master. Sabin thought otherwise, as Vargas was Duncan's only son and his heir. Vargas fled into Mt. Kolts and Sabin pursued him.

When Sabin saw Vargas attack Edgar, along with Terra Branford and Locke Cole he immediately jumped in to save them. Edgar immediately recognized Sabin, and Sabin offered to help his brother after a short reunion. Together, they went to see Banon in the Returners' Hideout. Banon decided to go to Narshe to get a look at the frozen Esper, and Terra, Edgar, and Sabin accompanied him. On the way down the Lete River, however, they were attacked by Ultros. During the struggle, Ultros stuck a tentacle to Terra's leg, and Sabin had to save her. During this struggle, Sabin was thrown from the raft, and floated to the end of the Lete River.

Sabin washed ashore near a house, where he met Shadow, the lone wolf mercenary. Shadow agreed to help him find his way to Narshe, and led him south towards Doma. However, Doma was under seige by the Empire. Sabin and Shadow had to sneak through an Imperial Camp, where they overheard Kefka Palazzo's plan to dump poison into the river that ran through Doma, thus killing all of Doma's citizens. Sabin and Shadow tried to stop Kefka, but to no avail. This caused Cyan Garamonde, one of the finest soldiers in Doma, to go down to the camp and destroy soldiers. Sabin and Shadow helped him, and Cyan agreed to help them find Narshe. Together they escaped the camp in Magitek Armor, and headed south towards the Phantom Forest.

In the forest, the threesome boarded the Phantom Train, and learned that in order to get off, they had to make their way to the locomotive and shut it off. They enlisted the help of a Ghost, and succeeded in stopping the train, after fighting it. Afterwards, they headed to Barren Falls, where Shadow left Sabin and Cyan by themselves. Sabin and Cyan jumped down the falls, fighting pirhanas along the way. They floated down the river towards The Veldt, where they were rescued by a wild child named Gau. However, Gau refused to talk to them unless they fed him, so they went to the nearby hamlet of Mobliz and bought Dried Meat. They fed this to Gau, who agreed to show them his "shiny thing," a scuba-diving helmet which would take them through the Serpent Trench to Nikeah. From Nikeah they took a ferry to South Figaro where they could easily reach Narshe.

Sabin, Cyan and Gau arrived just in time. Kefka was planning a raid on Narshe to get the frozen Esper. The three helped Banon, Terra, Locke, Edgar, and Celes Chere defend Narshe and succeeded, but after the battle, Terra reacted with the Esper for the second time. She was turned into an Esper and flew away. A search party was sent to look for her. On the way, the party passed through Figaro again. Here, Sabin walked around the castle, and called back some old memories, including the coin toss with Edgar.

The party found Terra on top of the tallest tower in Zozo, where she was being cared for by Ramuh. Ramuh told them that they needed to go to Vector and free the imprisoned Espers. One of them was Terra's father Maduin. To get there, they had to meet up with Setzer Gabbiani, the infamous gambler. Setzer was not willing to help them, but Celes proposed a coin toss, which if she won, Setzer would offer help. Otherwise, Setzer and Celes would marry. Edgar provided a fixed coin to guarantee that Celes would win, much to Sabin's dismay. It is assumed that this was the coin that Edgar used when deciding which of the brothers should have to rule and which would be free, but despite a suprised look there is no ensuing conversation on this matter. Setzer agreed to help anyway. The group went to Vector, succeeded in recovering the Espers, and saved Terra.

Back in Narshe, the Elder decided to join with the Returners. An agreement was made that Terra would contact the Espers to attack Vector, after which a coalition of Returners and Narshe guards would storm from the north. The plan was a success, and Emperor Gestahl appeared to have surrendered. At a banquet, he asked Terra if she would try convince the Espers to negotiate peace. She and Locke would go to Crecent Island to parlay the Emperor's message. Edgar and Sabin were still very sketpical of the Emperor, and decided to stay in Vector to make sure the Emperor wasn't lying. However, Edgar seduced one of the Emperor's maids into revealing the Emperor's true plan: he wanted to lure out the Espers in hopes of capturing them. They flew to Thamasa to warn Terra and Locke, but they were too late. Kefka had acquired more magicite and used it to revive the Statues and turn the Land of Espers into the Floating Continent.

One year after the apocolypse, Sabin made his way to the town of Tzen (and apparently passed through Albrook, where he was just in time for Kefka to strike with his "Light of Judgement." Sabin had to hold up the largest house in town so that someone could rescue a child trapped inside.  That someone just happened to be Celes, and Sabin joined Celes after she saved the child.

Sabin and Celes made their way to Mobliz, which was found destroyed. Only the children survived, and they were being cared for by Terra, who was feeling things she never felt before, and as a result, could not fight. Sabin and Celes had to defend the town from a monster named Phunbaba. They made their way to Nikeah, where they found Edgar disguised as a Thief named Gerad who was a member of the Crimson Robbers. They did not know what Edgar was up to, so they followed him to South Figaro and through Figaro Cave with help from Siegfried. They cornered Edgar in the engine room of Figaro Castle, where Edgar revealed that he was using the thieves to get into the submerged castle so he could resurface it again. They helped Edgar fight off the tentacles that were jamming up the engine, and Edgar rejoined them. They headed to Kohlingen, where they met up with Setzer, who took them to Darryl's Tomb to find a new airship: the Falcon.

Afterwards, Sabin found out that Duncan was still alive, and was meditating north of Narshe. He paid Duncan one final visit where he perfected his ultimate Blitz techinique: the Bum Rush.

In the ending, Sabin would save Edgar from being crushed by a falling girder. He revealed to Edgar that he only left Figaro so he could become stronger, and defend the kingdom, and his brother, from an Imperial attack.

Equipment and Stats
Being a Monk, Sabin has naturally high HP and physical stats, but low defense and magic stats. His weapons are limited to claws, and his shield options are limited to those that are universally used, and can equip lightweight vests and tunics.

Abilities
Sabin's special is called Blitz. Blitzes are used by entering a specific button pattern when the command is selected. Sabin learns more Blitzes as he levels up, but can also learn his final ability from his master, Duncan, at the end of the game.

Music
Sabin shares a theme with his brother, Edgar. The theme is aptly called "Edgar and Sabin." The theme is found in the "Coin Song" and the ending theme.