Mog (Final Fantasy XIII-2)



Mog (モーグリ) is a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He accompanies Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss on their journey through time, and teaches them about the game's mechanics. Mog is voiced by Sumire Morohoshi in the Japanese version and Modern Family actress Ariel Winter in the English version.

Datalog
''Mog is a small, mysterious creature covered in white fur. He has bat-like wings that he often beats as he flits around, but his power of flight does not appear to rely on them.''

''Mog has a crystal bobble that reacts to the presence of anomalies, and he is proficient at finding lost objects, but his most astounding feature is his ability to transform into a weapon. With the right components available, Mog is capable of evolving into even more powerful weaponry.''

Lightning came across Mog in Valhalla, and asked the strange little being to act as Serah's protector and good luck charm.

Although he closely resembles the fictitious moogles described in Cocoon's fairy tales, the connection is uncertain.

Appearance and Personality
Mog is a white moogle with a fairly human-sized head that is big compared to his body. He has oblique eyes, a big round nose, puffy pink cheeks, small ears, short arms and legs, purple bat wings, and unlike other moogles, he has a pink crystal pom-pom instead of a traditional fluffy one on a black antenna. He carries a clock staff composed of a blue rod, a bronze clock with a white clock face adorned with the same kind of crystal like the one on Mog's antennae.

Mog is shy and reluctant to talk at first, but as time passes and he begins to talk, he shows to be a caring and lively being with a spunky and sarcastic side. Whenever he feels a strong emotion, he tends to express himself in an over-the-top manner. He also has a habit of hiding behind Serah whenever certain situations become too much for him to handle. Mog shows discomfort toward people holding and poking him for long periods of time until he gets used to them, evident when he meets Serah, during one scene with Snow Villiers, and through the Moogle Throw mechanism.

Despite his initial distance, Mog is closely bonded to Serah, hovering around her when she is knocked out in battle and fretting until she is revived. As Serah and Noel help Mog remember things from his past in Oerba from 300 to 400 AF, he chooses not to take what might be his only chance at returning home, and claims that his new home is at Serah's side. Mog also warms up to Snow after some time, occasionally making a light joke or comment about him. Although rarely seen, Mog has a greedy side, displayed when the player accesses the Bresha Ruins at 100 and 300 AF; Mog has several monologues where he schemes to solve the area's monster infestation and secure a large bounty of gil from the government as compensation. His voice becomes somewhat diabolical or sinister in these moments, a change from his usual easy-going personality, as he dreams of earning "all the gil my little heart could desire, kupo."

Mog is often shown to have a sense of humor. Many of Mog's funnier moments are seen in Live Trigger converstations with a variety of the more humorous answers regarding Mog. For example, in the Yaschas Massif 10 AF Mog plays along with Serah's joke about Fenrir's appearance, if the player chooses the "Moogle Consipracy" answer to the Live Trigger regarding the fal'Cie's appearance.

Mog easily attracts the attention of others with his cute appearance and the use of his talents. When using his Moogle Hunt or Throw abilities in an area, NPCs will often run over to watch, or even chase him as he flies toward his target. As shown with the flan in the Sunleth Waterscape at 400 AF, Mog is also capable in understanding the languages of monsters, as he can translate what they say to Noel and Serah.

Downloadable content
Downloadable content lets the player choose a new look for Mog. The 16 different designs contain a pirate look and a panda look, among others.

Story
Mog originates from the Ocean of Time, a place abundant with other moogles. While playing hide-and-seek with his friends, Mog was sucked into a paradox losing his memories of his home, friends, and family. Mog drifted away into the Void Beyond and during his travel he encountered a Chocobo Chick and many other various creatures in various humorous encounters, including those with five flan, a Centaurion Blade, an Imp and his Ahriman friend, and Proto Fal'Cie Adam before it was erased from existence.

Mog eventually ended up in Valhalla, battling the Eidolon Odin and the Knight Valfodr upon learning the realm's rules that the weak must serve the strong. Though both wanted nothing to do with the moogle due to him being too weak, Mog was soon found by Lightning. To live up to his title as the "Weakest Monster of the Void", Mog challenged Lightning to a duel and quickly lost, only to be surprised that she would take him under her wing and thus make him her loyal follower.

Transforming into the Starseeker weapon during her battle with Caius Ballad, Lightning gives Mog to Noel Kreiss so he would pass it on to Serah as a gift and good luck charm. In the Gran Pulse village of New Bodhum 3 AF, Serah questions Noel about Lightning and Mog constantly squirms in her embrace until she drops him. Mog follows Serah and Noel to the site of the meteor crash, where the latter reveals the meteor to be a Time Gate, and later, Mog sits with Serah as she and the members of NORA listen to Noel's story. The next morning, Mog uses his item detecting ability to help Noel and Serah find an artefact to use the Time Gate. In the process, Mog finds Lightning's survival knife, Serah's cat, and students from her class, one of who took Snow's pendant. Soon after finding an artefact, Serah, Noel, and Mog enter the Time Gate and the Historia Crux.

They come out into the Bresha Ruins 5 AF in Cocoon, where they are attacked by Atlas. After Serah and Noel defeat him and are surrounded by armed troops, Mog attempts to stand up to them but promptly hides behind Serah in fright, and follows suit when she and Noel surrender. They are eventually set free by a girl named Alyssa Zaidelle. When Serah and Noel witness a defeated monster turn into a crystal, Mog talks for the first time, explaining to them that the monster is now under their control.

As Serah and Noel approach the device capable of weakening Atlas, they are dragged into a paradox. Mog flies into the Temporal Rift after them, and says that in order to escape, they need to solve the puzzle. After defeating Atlas, the trio travels to Yaschas Massif 10 AF, where they meet Hope Estheim along with a slightly older Alyssa. They tell the party about the Farseers that once lived in the Paddra Ruins, before showing them a device called an Oracle Drive, which stores the prophecies made by a seeress named Yeul. Traveling to Oerba 200 AF, Serah, Noel, and Mog see the area being sucked into a void which Mog says is caused by the past and future merging as one. After resolving the paradoxes, they encounter Caius and Yeul.

Returning to Yaschas Massif 1X AF, the trio repeat their meeting with Hope and through the Oracle Drive witness images of Lightning in Valhalla and Caius seemingly destroying Cocoon. Afterwards, Mog senses a new gate in the area, which they use to emerge in the Void Beyond, a place Mog says is the area between Time Gates. When Serah decides to rest, Mog sits down next to her and they listen to Noel recite a legend about Etro before continuing onwards.

In the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, they see a trail of Miniflan and notice more through a paradox. Serah has another vision and runs off frantic, and Mog flies after her before Noel catches up with them. They find Snow under attack by Miniflan before they battle the Royal Ripeness. As it regenerates itself, the party retreats to a safe location. Learning about the threat the Royal Ripeness poses to Cocoon's crystal pillar, the party decides to follow the trail of Miniflan as it could lead them to an artefact. After disposing of the Miniflan guarding an artefact, Mog gives it to Serah before Snow begins playfully poking him, much to Mog's dismay. Noel, Serah, and Mog soon travel to the Coliseum and the Archylte Steppe and retrieve the White and Black Hole fragments before returning to Sunleth Waterscape to resolve the paradox.

Noel, Serah, and Mog find Snow fighting Mutantomato and help him defeat it before Snow disappears into the flow of time. Leaving Sunleth Waterscape, Serah, Mog, and Noel emerge in the Void Beyond and decide to take a break. Next they travel to the highly-advanced Pulsian city of Academia 400 AF, but upon arrival, countless citizens are turned into Cie'th, causing Mog to get frightened and hide behind Serah. As they make their way through the city, the party encounters Caius, who says they died in a tower 200 years ago after learning the forbidden history and are now causing a paradox to occur by being alive. They pursue Caius and eventually find Yeul under attack. After defeating Zenobia, Yeul tells Noel and Serah that Caius wasn't in the city and dies, leaving behind an artefact.

In Augusta Tower 200 AF, the party learns that Hope created the Proto fal'Cie Adam in the hopes of re-floating Cocoon. Riding the elevator to the top level, they see a video showing the forbidden history Caius spoke of before: Hope and Alyssa were killed by machines reprogrammed by the Proto fal'Cie's sentient AI.

Mog, Noel, and Serah speak with the same Yeul they met in Oerba, who reveals the Caius from Academia was a fake created by the Proto fal'Cie and they saw the real Caius in the tower. The party enters a Time Gate and battles Adam and Serah uses Mog to intercept the Proto fal'Cie's attack before Noel uses Mog to fire at the fal'Cie's core. Receiving a shock from the ordeal, Mog says, "You guys play rough, kupo", while Serah and Noel call him a hero for saving the day. When the Proto fal'Cie revives itself through a paradox, Serah yells at Hope for creating it and it vanishes from existence, because Hope received Serah's message through the Oracle Drive.

Arriving in Academia 4XX AF, Serah, Noel, and Mog are greeted by Hope and Alyssa. Unsure if they are the real deal, Mog flies around Hope to inspect him, before the latter puts Noel and Serah's minds at ease. At the Academy's headquarters, Hope tells them about his "New Cocoon Project" and after helping out the project by bringing Hope five Graviton Cores needed for the new Cocoon to float, Alyssa gives the trio an artefact. Before leaving through a new Time Gate, Mog, Noel, and Serah say their goodbyes to Hope and Alyssa, but Mog notices Alyssa stop and look back, smirking with a grim expression before he heads into the gate after Serah and Noel. Upon catching up to them, Mog gets hit and knocked out cold by a dislodged piece of the Historia Crux. Serah saves him but the two of them get separated from Noel and emerge in Valhalla's shadow in the Void Beyond. Mog's soul separates from his body and he is unable to interact with Serah. After Serah's confrontation with Caius, Mog continues to follow her throughout her dream in the Void where she encounters Vanille and Fang, who help her leave the dream world.

In the Dying World 700 AF, after Noel and Serah activate the Oracle Drive at the Farseers' Relic, Mog's soul is freed from the Void Beyond by Lightning and returns to his body. When Noel makes fun of him for "hiding" and "being scared," an angered Mog flies around him while flailing his wand at his head. Mog brings Serah and Noel new information from Lightning about Caius formerly being a Pulse l'Cie tasked with the Focus of protecting Yeul before being freed from his fate and made immortal by Etro. They go to New Bodhum 700 AF and meet with Lightning, who tells them the story of how she came to be in Valhalla and became Etro's protector and reveals Caius's plan to kill the goddess and create a world in Valhalla's image. At her command, Mog reveals a Time Gate that will take Noel and Serah to the year 500 AF, the time of the prophecy, when Caius will attempt to destroy both Cocoons.

Emerging from the gate, the party finds themselves in Academia 500 AF. Approaching Academy headquarters, Caius attacks as Chaos Bahamut. Hope arrives with soldiers for support, and the trio jumps on board an airship piloted by Sazh Katzroy. Flying after Chaos Bahamut, Mog holds onto Serah's back in order to not fall behind. Serah and Noel fight Caius in his dragon and human forms and a wormhole opens in the sky.

Mog, Noel and Serah jump into the wormhole following after Caius and emerge in Valhalla. After Caius impales himself with Noel's sword and fades away, numerous Time Gates appear throughout Valhalla. Mog says the final paradox has been solved and Noel says they should look for Lightning. Mog says he does not sense her in Valhalla anymore, causing Serah to worry if Caius did kill her like he said he did. Noel assures Serah Caius was lying, and Lightning will be with the others now that the timeline has been fixed. When they prepare to leave for Gran Pulse at 500 AF, Mog jokes to Serah and Noel that they might see Snow there, though Noel retorts that it might be up to Lightning.

Upon arrival, the new Cocoon, Bhunivelze, has risen into the sky and the gate to Valhalla closes. Serah dies after having another vision of the future, Hope arrives from Academia to greet them, but joins Mog and Noel as they mourn for Serah. The world begins to go dark, Mog grows weak, and falls into Hope's embrace, weakly saying that Etro is gone. Mog faints as chaos consumes Gran Pulse along with Bhunivelze and the world turns into Valhalla.

Gameplay


Mog can not only transform himself into Serah's weapon, but he can also use his magic to execute the Mog Clock prebattle system and detect hidden treasures on the field with Moogle Hunt. Mog can also be thrown by Noel or Serah toward out-of-reach areas through the Moogle Throw command.

The Moogle Hunt command is used to find items which are hidden or "phased out." If there are hidden items in the area, Mog's pom-pom will flash, and he will approach the area where the item is hidden. If / is pressed, the treasure becomes visible if it is within a certain range. The / button can then be used to attain said item.

As the player gains Mog's trust, the Moogle Throw command will become available. This allows the player to throw Mog to a location where he can attain out-of reach treasures, however, Mog will protest to this, and squirm while trying to be thrown. This can be utilized using the / button.

There are two fragment skills that improve Mog's abilities; "Mog's Manifestation" unlocks Advanced Moogle Throw, which allows Mog to always bring back items after he has been thrown; this is obtained upon speaking to the mystic in Serendipity for the first time; and "Mobile Mog", which reduces the cooldown time of the Moogle Throw and is acquired after obtaining all fragments from Oerba in all time periods, including Oerba -??? AF-.

Creation and Development
In Final Fantasy XIII, moogles only appear on the sign for the Moogleworks shop. Motomu Toriyama, director of Final Fantasy XIII-2, said that having a moogle as a mascot type character in the sequel is a kind of fan service and that the team intend to show moogles as a symbol for the Final Fantasy series and to make it easier for players to get involved in the game’s rather serious main story. Mog was designed by Toshitaka Matsuda, who was the Lead Art Designer of Final Fantasy XIII. His design was chosen over other possible designs made by various members of the development team. It was based on the idea of a "baby moogle" with exaggerated features.

The sound designers had difficulties on Mog's voice, especially ad-lib or responsive sounds and answers. "Kupo" is Mog's main means of communication, but with each scene, the emotion is different, and so the sound designers divided the "kupo" into categories such as "angry," "sad," and "happy," and recorded it many times in different ways. Afterward, the team chose which "kupo" was applicable to the different situations.

There are times Mog speaks quite a bit, but at first, during the beginning stages of development, the team had made him talk too much to the point of Mog talking nonstop while navigating the map. The designers had to go through some trial and error by changing or decreasing the occurrence patterns and changing the script to balance things out.

Merchandise
Ultimate Prize winners of the Word to Your Moogle tour received a pink and white PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 featuring Mog. A tag featuring Mog is also available in the Japanese Square Enix shop.

Trivia

 * Mog shares his Japanese voice actor with Mog from Final Fantasy Type-0. Both of Mog's voice actors (English and Japanese) also voiced Marlene Wallace in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete and young Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series.
 * Although he is officially called "Mog", there exists official material which calls him "The Moogle" or just "Moogle", for example in the EU wallpaper.
 * In Japanese version of the game, Mog is referred to as "Moogle" and rarely called "Mog".
 * The clock face of Mog's staff is divided into twelve sections like clocks in the real world, as opposed to the thirteen-sectioned clock face seen in Final Fantasy XIII's Nautilus and Oerba's Deserted Schoolhouse. For some reason Mog does not have his clock staff in the ending FMV.
 * Mog is called "Piggy Kitty" by Noel when a Breshan researcher asks him about his name. Moogles first appeared in Final Fantasy III where they said "nyaa," the Japanese onomatopoeia for "meow", which was replaced with "kupo". Also, moogles in some games resemble a pig; hence the 'piggy' part of the nickname.
 * In the last Live Trigger in Yaschas Massif 10 AF, where Serah notices that something is on Noel's mind and the player chooses an option regarding Mog, a funny conversation about Mog's face will take place: Serah will say that Mog's face is "cute", while Noel's says it's weird or rather "unique".
 * According to the fragments obtained in Oerba, the "duel" between Mog and Lightning was actually a rock-paper-scissors match.
 * The only time Mog is seen sitting is when the party first visits the Void Beyond.