Interdimensional Rift

The Interdimensional Rift, also known as the Cleft of Dimension, the N-Zone, or simply "The Void", is the final dungeon on Final Fantasy V. It is a bizarre mishmash of dimensions between worlds.

Enuo and Detachment
1,000 years before the events of Final Fantasy V, a fiend named Enuo took control of the Void, but he was defeated by the Twelve Legendary Weapons. The Void itself was sealed inside the Interdimensional Rift, along with numerous other monsters too powerful for even the Twelve Weapons to destroy. To make sure no one could enter the Rift and take control of the Void, the planet's Crystals were split in two, and this caused the planet itself to split into two planets. In the process of splitting, the town that would become known as the Phantom Village was inadvertently pulled into the Rift. But once the planets were separated, the entrance to the Rift became caught in the space between the two worlds, out of reach.

Exdeath and Reattachment
A tree used to seal evil animas had become corrupted into a great evil, and it became Exdeath. Exdeath sought the power of the Void, but could not reach the Interdimensional Rift as long as the world was split.

In the course of the events of Final Fantasy V, he shattered the Crystals of both worlds, weakening their Elements so that the two worlds would revert to their one natural form. Once this happened, the entrance to the Rift was accessible again, and Exdeath went in and harnessed the power of the Void.

Using the Rift as a stronghold and managing not to be frozen in time, he unleashed the Void over Tycoon, then over the Library of the Ancients, then simultaneously over Walse, Istory, the Moogle Village and Lix, then later again over the Castle of Bal, the Catapult and the Pirates' Hideout, sucking all of them into the Void he had harnessed, thus holding the world under siege.

Bartz and his friends collected the four tablets from the Sealed Castle to unseal the Sealed Weapons the Twelve Warriors had used to defeat Enuo, then entered the Rift through the sky, over what used to be Tycoon, and fought against Exdeath. During the battle, Exdeath himself was sucked into the Void, and re-emerged as Neo Exdeath, a being of destruction.

After Neo Exdeath was defeated, the lands sucked into the Void were restored to the world. Bartz and his friends returned from the Interdimensional Rift, but what happened to the Rift after this is unclear.

Nature
Entrance to the Interdimensional Rift is as simple as being the victim of the Banish spell, which exiles anything to the Rift through a one-way trip. However, leaving the Rift has always been much more difficult, which makes the Rift a suitable prison frozen in time.

Inside the Rift seems like a bizarre mishmash of dimensions, where the rules of space and time do not necessarily seem to apply the same way as they do in the normal world. Entire deserts, fortresses, forests, caverns, and so forth seem to be exiled within the Rift, interconnected through a series of passages that sometimes seem to contradict logical physical layout.

Those trapped in the Rift appear only recently trapped, as the passage of time does not appear to flow for many of them. (When Bartz and friends visited the Phantom Village, its inhabitants seemed unaware that time had passed for them.)

It also appears that the Interdimensional Rift intersects more worlds than just that of Final Fantasy V, with one of its most famous trapped residents, Gilgamesh, managing to find an exit in the world of Final Fantasy VIII, where he can appear in the Lunatic Pandora during the battle with Seifer Almasy, having emerged from the "dimensional interval". This raises further questions as Gilgamesh seemed to have sacrificed himself in an explosion to save Bartz and friends from Necrophobe in Final Fantasy V: If Gilgamesh died, how did he emerge alive in another world?

A clue to this may be explained during the final confrontation with Exdeath. After Exdeath uses the Void to consume Bal, the Catapult and the Pirates' Hideout, the party can fight him, but it is also actually possible to go back and leave the Interdimensional Rift at this time. If one succeeds in leaving the rift, it is revealed that time actually rewound itself and Bal, the Catapult, and the Pirates' Hideout are fully intact, having not yet been sucked into the Void.

One must question whether it was indeed possible that one instance of Gilgamesh in the Interdimensional Rift died saving Bartz and his friends, while another forked instance of Gilgamesh survived and instead found his way to the Lunatic Pandora. However, it is also possible that the explosion that appeared to destroy Gilgamesh did not kill him at all, but actually was the means that transported him to the Lunatic Pandora, making both instances one and the same. There seem to be no clear answers to these questions.

Desert

 * Ammonite
 * Dhorme Chimera
 * Landcrawler



Ruins
Entered through a door on a stone wall in the desert.
 * Baldanders
 * Death Dealer
 * Grenade
 * Level Checker



Phantom Village
A door in the ruins leads to the "sealed" door inside a building in the village. All of the villagers are frozen in time, some in mid-stride, and cannot be spoken to. Consequently, none of the usual services, such as the shops or the inn, are available, but the HP/MP restoring urn still works.



Forest
Entered through the normal exit of the phantom village.
 * Farfarello
 * Moss Fungus
 * White Flame
 * Calofisteri (Boss)



Cave
Entered through a hole below a tree at the end of the forest.
 * Achelon
 * Great Dragon
 * Metamorph
 * Orukat
 * Omega (Optional Boss)



Library
A small room at the end of the cave.
 * Apanda (Boss)



Tower

 * Dragon Aevis
 * Ninja



Dimension Castle

 * Death Claw
 * Fury
 * Iron Giant
 * Mythril Dragon
 * Sword Dancer
 * Yojimbo
 * Red Dragon
 * Ninja
 * Catastrophe (Boss)
 * Azulmagia (Boss)
 * Halicarnassus (Boss)
 * Twintania (Boss)
 * Alte Roite (Boss)
 * Jura Aevis (Boss)
 * Ramuh (If not obtained)



Last Floor

 * Belphegor
 * Crystal Dragon
 * Crystelle
 * Gorgimera
 * King Behemoth
 * Mindflayer
 * Mover
 * Necromancer
 * Gilgamesh (Optional)
 * Necrophobe (Boss)
 * Barrier (Boss)
 * Exdeath (Boss)
 * Neo Exdeath (Final Boss)
 * Shinryu (Optional Boss)

Music
"The Prelude of Empty Skies", also known as "Prelude to the Void" plays as the background music for every of the areas of the Interdimensional Rift with exception of the final area, where "In Search of Light" plays as the background music.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
The Dimensional Fortress area is the representative area of Final Fantasy V in Dissidia under the name The Rift (次元城 Jigen-jō, lit. Castle of Dimensions). It is here that the Onion Knight begins his storyline, Squall fights Kuja, and Cloud fights Firion. Bartz is transported here when he is captured, and fights Exdeath here at the end of his storyline.

The Rift is a very open arena and the largest in the game, with a large central castle surrounded by several smaller turrets and towers floating in the air. Quickmove indicators connect the various towers to the central area. Portals to other areas of the Void from Final Fantasy V appear in the sky as background elements. The Ω form of the stage causes the castle's structure to randomly shift around, drastically changing the environment: turrets will appear in mid-air upside down, towers will stack up on each other, and some buildings will vanish altogether. Only the central castle's base will remain unchanged, though the keep in the center of the base and the bridges around it will still shift. EX Cores will likewise teleport to new locations or even vanish entirely when this occurs, and the Bravery pool increases.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The Interdimensional Rift returns as an arena in Dissidia 012.