Edea Kramer

Edea Kramer, also known as Sorceress Edea, or Matron, is a temporary-playable character from Final Fantasy VIII. A mysterious woman appointed as ambassador to Galbadia, she acts as the primary antagonist of the first half of the game.

Appearance
Edea is refined, sophisticated, and ladylike, traits particularly evident during her possession when Ultimecia used Edea's sophistication and great physical beauty to their optimum effect to beguile her enemies. She has long black hair and green eyes that are golden yellow when possessed by Ultimecia.

Normally she wears a modest black dress with little jewellery, but while possessed Edea wears a purple skin-tight dress with a plunging neckline and feathers around the collar, a headpiece adorned with jewels and a metallic half-circle frame on her back with two long strips of sheer material hanging down on each side. Before revealing her face at the parade, Edea wears a red mask to conceal her identity. During close-ups of her face during FMVs, white lines can be observed extending from the corner of her eye and cheek.

Personality
When first introduced, Edea is possessed by Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future, and is thus portrayed as a vain, power-hungry and remorseless sadist. All traces of her once kind and loving personality are purged from her character under Ultimecia's possession and are replaced by an all-consuming desire for world domination.

In actuality Edea is a benign and gentle person. Although she has been under the stigma of being a sorceress ever since the age of five, she has never resented the world for the prejudice it must have shown her. She devotes her life to helping others, focusing upon the children she cares for in her orphanage. Edea loves children, as shown in the fond memories of the children from her orphanage, and those raised by her are reluctant to accept that the deeds performed by a possessed Edea are those committed by their beloved matron.

Story
When she was five years old, Edea received sorceress powers from an unknown sorceress. She eventually married Cid, who knew she was a sorceress. They led a happy life operating an orphanage for the Sorceress War orphans on the Centra continent with the orphans referring to Edea as "Matron".

When Laguna Loire embarked on his search for his missing step-daughter Ellone, he visited the orphanage, questioning Edea on what she might know about how to enter Esthar. Later, nearing the Sorceress War's end, Squall—Laguna and Raine's son—would also be sent to Edea's orphanage by the people of Winhill after Raine's death. Ellone came to the orphanage during the same time as Squall, whom he called "sis".

When Squall was four years old Edea met Ultimecia and a teenage Squall, both who had come from the future. Ultimecia was dying, having been defeated by the teenage Squall, and Edea received Ultimecia's powers. Squall told Edea about the SeeD and the Garden, saluting her with the SeeD salute, before disappearing back into the time portal. Stricken by this encounter, and the fact the Squall from the future had told her SeeD and Garden were her ideas, Edea and Cid began plans to create them. Cid left the orphanage to look for sponsors, as they needed funding, and she stayed at the orphanage with the children.

Ellone was being sought by Dr. Odine to complete his research on her, and Edea created the White SeeD, a group of older orphans assigned to protect Ellone. Edea and Cid were permanently separated as Cid became the Headmaster of Balamb Garden, his quest being to train young people, Squall among them, as SeeDs to become strong enough to one day take on Ultimecia. Edea stayed on the White SeeD ship with the other orphans and Ellone.

Twelve years after Balamb Garden's completion, Ultimecia possessed Edea and she left the White SeeD ship. The White SeeD and the other orphans were bewildered by this, and voyaged to Balamb Garden to tell Cid of this turn of events. Ultimecia, oblivious to how close she had been to Ellone when first possessing Edea, used Edea's body and name as a vessel to seize power across the planet to use the resources she'd gather to hunt down Ellone. Ultimecia wanted to mobilize the Galbadian army to find her, but to do that she would need to take over Galbadia and she, under Edea's guise, allied with the president Vinzer Deling.

During a live television broadcast meant to introduce her to the world as a new Galbadian ambassador, Seifer, a rogue SeeD cadet, takes the president hostage and Ultimecia in Edea's body spirits him away with her. Deeming Seifer potentially useful for her, Ultimecia makes Seifer her sorceress's knight. While possessed by Ultimecia, Edea's "shell" kills President Deling, survives an assassination attempt by SeeD, and takes command of the Galbadian army. She declares SeeD as an enemy and orders missile attacks on Trabia and Balamb Gardens while she makes Galbadia Garden her base of operations.

While Balamb Garden escapes the missile attack by activating its mobile functions and moving away from the spot the missiles were programmed to target, Trabia Garden is not as lucky. Ultimecia orders the G-Forces to look for Ellone with Seifer in command, who appoints his friends Fujin and Raijin as commanders. Squall, meanwhile, becomes the commander of Balamb Garden and begins the war against Edea and her G-Forces despite knowing her as his former Matron.

During the Battle of the Gardens Edea falls in battle and the near-death experience expels her sorceress power that seeks for a new host in Rinoa Heartilly, a member of Squall's party. Ultimecia immediately possesses Rinoa, and tells Seifer to rouse the Lunatic Pandora, an Estharian weapon of mass destruction, before Rinoa falls comatose. Seifer departs to carry out the task with the G-Forces, and Edea regains control over body and mind.

Everyone retreats to the old orphanage where Edea is reunited with Cid. Edea explains to everyone what had happened to her and Ultimecia's true purpose for finding Ellone: casting a spell that would destroy the world as they know it, time compression. Edea is unaware of having lost her sorceress powers, and only knows Ultimecia has left her, and is unable to help Rinoa who is still in a coma. She helps Squall look for Ellone by telling him where to find the White SeeD Ship, and gives him a letter of introduction so the crew would accept him onboard.

Edea wants to ensure Ultimecia will never possess her again and joins the party for a trip to Esthar in hopes of Dr. Odine potentially ridding her of her powers. Edea helps the party as they travel through the Great Salt Lake and later when the Lunatic Pandora, now operated by Seifer and the G-Army, flies over Esthar City. After meeting Dr. Odine Edea discovers she had inadvertently relinquished her sorceress power to Rinoa. With the burden of her power lifted, Edea returns to the ruined orphanage with her husband, where she would give shelter, advice, and background information to the party.

After a visit to the Estharian space station the party returns to the orphanage with a cured Rinoa. The president of Esthar sends a message to the party asking to hire them on a SeeD mission to vanquish Ultimecia once and for all, and Edea wishes them good luck. Squall and his friends travel to the future and kill Ultimecia, and Edea and Cid attend the victory celebrations in Balamb Garden.

Party Member
Edea is a temporary playable character, controllable during the party's trek across the Great Salt Lake and during the time Lunatic Pandora attacks Esthar City. She must equip Guardian Forces to use magic in battle, but has no equippable weapon and can use the Attack command without one.

Edea's physical weapon is the "None". Physically weak, None is further hampered by its inability to be upgraded. Edea has potent Magic and Spirit scores, and also possesses good compatibility with every Guardian Force. Edea has low HP, Strength, and Vitality, and her Speed and Luck are none too great either. She is the epitome of the traditional Black Mage class, excelling at magic, but little else.

Limit Break
Her Limit Break, while powerful, is limited, as it only deals damage to one target. Her Limit Break is Ice Strike that hurls several large icicles at the target. Edea's Limit Break's strength is unaffected by Crisis Level and its attack power is 120.

This Limit Break is also seen at the end of Disc One, where she uses it on Squall with near-lethal effects.

Ice Strike is a subset of Edea's skillset called Sorcery even if at the point Edea is playable she had already lost her sorceress powers.

Boss


Edea is fought twice in the game: the first time after the sorceress parade, and the second in Galbadia Garden. Before fighting Edea the first time, Squall faces off against his rival, Seifer, alone. After defeating him, Rinoa and Irvine arrive to help Squall, and Edea takes the stage. The battle is scripted and can't end in a Game Over, but if the player defeats Edea they get battle rewards.

When confronting Edea for the second time at Galbadia Garden, the party must again defeat Seifer before they can touch her. During this second confrontation, the party can draw the Guardian Force Alexander from her.

Triple Triad
Edea carries her own Triple Triad card. It is one of the best cards in the game, but Edea is arguably the best Triple Triad player in the world, having smart AI. The difficulty of winning the card from her is compounded by her being playable at the Centra region that uses all the rules of the game.

Creation and Development
Edea's character was designed for Final Fantasy VII, and Tetsuya Nomura intended the design to emulate the style of Yoshitaka Amano. It was not until Final Fantasy VIII Nomura found a way to use her.

Musical Themes
There are two themes accompanying Edea's presence. "SUCCESSION OF WITCHES" is the song that accompanies her when she appears as an antagonist, most notably played when she first encounters Seifer in Timber, however, this is considered as Ultimecia theme because it also appears when she is possesing other sorceresses. The other theme is called "Truth", and plays at Edea's Orphanage.

Pocket Station Memorycard Icons
An icon sprite of Edea appears in the Pocket Station memorycard file manager.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy


Although not mentioned in the game, the player has an option to switch Ultimecia's normal outfit to Edea's outfit in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Not featured in the first Dissidia game, the new outfit refers to Edea's time as a puppet under Ultimecia's control. Unlike Ultimecia's other outfits, she bears no wings in her normal form or EX Modes, though her EX Mode—to junction Griever—remains the same.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call


Edea appears appears in her Sorceress form as an enemy.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Edea is an ally, a summonable Legend and a boss in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. Her EX ability is Maelstrom.

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Edea appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and is represented in Thunder-elemental cards. One pictures her render with the words "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" inscribed in front of her, one uses her Final Fantasy VIII official artwork, and one is her appearance in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call.

Trivia

 * The metallic half-circle holding Edea's cape is similar to the one worn by Wrexsoul in Final Fantasy VI. It only appears during FMV scenes and battles, but is not present in her field model.