Firion/Dissidia (PSP)

Firion is one of the heroes fighting for the side of Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Representing Final Fantasy II, he is a young man skillful in armed combat, including swords, lances, bows, knives, axes and staves. He has a passionate soul and an unshakable sense of justice. Firion is one of the most passionate of the heroes, fighting for a world "where wild roses can bloom freely," symbolizing a world free from war and tyranny. His dream of a free world stands in opposition to the desires of his adversary, the Emperor, who wishes to control the world. In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, his fighting style has been "heavily re-balanced".

Crystal and Attire
Firion's original outfit is based on Yoshitaka Amano's artwork from Final Fantasy II, depicting him with black and blue armor with a blue cape. He has silver hair covered by a blue, orange and white bandana, and carries a wild rose as a reminder of his dream. Firion fights using six different weapons and is skilled in unarmed combat, representing his mastery of the seven attack classes of Final Fantasy II: sword, axe, bow, staff, dagger, lance, and fists. He also carries with him a shield based on the shield used by his comrade Minwu.

Firion's first alternate outfit "Spiky Hair" is based on an alternate Amano artwork that depicts him with a red cape, a different hairstyle and bandanna, and recolored armor. His EX Mode colors his body armor gold as seen in another piece of Amano art.

Firion's second alternate outfit "Bone Band" is based on another artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, giving him a headpiece with large horns, a purple cape, primarily purple and red armor, and longer hair. His EX Mode gives him light blue clothing and armor.

His Crystal is a bright pink shard.

Firion's manikin version, Imitation Liegeman, is yellow in color.

Twelfth cycle
Prior to the conflict beginning, Firion accompanied Squall and Laguna on patrol and they found a wild rose. Upon hearing the flower's name, Firion receives the rose in hope it would restore his memory. He later loses it with Lightning finding it. Though he manages to get it back, he is amazed by her comment of feeling a similar connection to the rose, promising to return it to her once he regains his memory. At another point, he finds Kain and he is happy to see him. Later on, he is attacked by Kain.

Thirteenth cycle
At the beginning of the final cycle, Firion accompanies Cecil, Cloud, and Tidus. While the four search for their Crystals, Cloud questions why his companions fight. Firion does not respond, and attempts to think of a way to explain it to Cloud properly. Later, Firion shows Cloud the wild rose, explaining his dream to see a world where they bloom freely, and vows to end the fighting to see that world come true. Wishing to understand the strength given to him by his dream, Cloud requests a battle with Firion. At the end of the match, Firion is defeated, but for Cloud, it is an empty victory, as he now realizes he has no dream at all. Firion, despite showing signs of fatigue, attempts to keep fighting, and Cloud compliments him on his resolve. Not long after, Cloud departs to travel on his own and find his own reason to fight.

After Cloud leaves, Firion, Cecil, and Tidus are ambushed by Sephiroth, who steals Firion's rose. Firion chases after him to retrieve it while Cecil and Tidus are left behind. The Warrior of Light finds them, and when told what happened, pursues Firion, finding him confronting Sephiroth in the Planet's Core. The Warrior battles Sephiroth himself and orders Firion to return to Cecil and Tidus. Sephiroth later presents Firion's rose to Cloud as a ruse to get Cloud to pursue and battle him.

Continuing their journey, Firion learns more about his companions' reasons for fighting: Tidus fights to settle his grudge with his father, while Cecil struggles with his complex relationship with his brother Golbez. When Golbez offers Cecil assistance, Firion warns Cecil that despite their bond Golbez is still aligned with Chaos, and his desire to help Cecil may be a trap. Despite Firion's words, Cecil still continues to ponder what Golbez has told him, and Tidus later convinces him to go see Golbez. Firion accepts Cecil's decision and questions Tidus's bond with Jecht, though Tidus claims his desire is to defeat him.

As the two continue on, Tidus asks Firion what his dream is, but Firion says he has not thought of such a thing and is focused on ending the war. At this time, a flashback is shown of Firion discovering his rose some time ago, having been placed there by Golbez for him to find. As the enemies before them grow more numerous, Firion and Tidus split up to rendezvous later. On the Lunar Subterrane, Firion meets Jecht, having been blocked from fighting Tidus by the Emperor. Firion accuses Jecht of running from Tidus, and the irritated Jecht attacks him to relieve his frustrations. Firion is victorious but Jecht urges him to keep fighting. Firion refuses, telling Jecht he is not Tidus's substitute, and Jecht leaves to confront the Emperor with his meddling. Tidus finds Firion not long after and tells Firion the Emperor spoke to him about his desire to fight Jecht, but as with Golbez, Firion tells Tidus not to trust him.

The two come across Jecht confronting the Emperor, the two locked in battle. The Emperor vanishes while Jecht limps off, wounded. Tidus tells Firion he is going to pursue Jecht alone, and Firion gives him a potion to use on his journey. Tidus runs after Jecht, and the Emperor reappears to taunt Firion about his friends leaving him behind. Firion tells the Emperor they left only to accomplish their goals, and he still wishes to accomplish his goal of ending the war. The Emperor tells Firion his dream is futile, and Ultimecia appears to battle Firion. Firion defeats her but Ultimecia reappears immediately after, and both she and the Emperor accuse Firion of being a tool of Cosmos, fighting only because she told him to. Cosmos meets with Firion, who tells her what the Emperor said to him. Cosmos reassures him of his dream to end the war and fill the world with roses, and a newly inspired Firion continues on.

Encountering the Emperor again, he attacks Firion and subdues him with one blow. However, Cloud and Tidus come to his rescue, protecting him and forcing the Emperor to flee. Cloud presents Firion with the rose Sephiroth stole from him, telling him his friends wish to see him achieve his dream. Firion takes the rose and follows the Emperor to Pandaemonium. They battle, and Firion prevails and claims his Crystal. Though he knows the war is still not over, Firion resolves to keep fighting and see his dream world of wild roses come to be with the help of his friends.

With Cosmos gone and the world about to be consumed by discord, Firion and the other warriors battle the revived villains and attempt to destroy Chaos before they vanish without Cosmos. Confronting the Emperor again, the Emperor declares it was his plan that was responsible for Cosmos's death, a plan that relied on the heroes acquiring their Crystals. Thanking them for fulfilling their role in his plan, the Emperor battles Firion and is defeated a second time, fading with a cry. After defeating Chaos, the heroes return to their own worlds. Before fading back to Fynn, Firion gazes down at a field of roses and states to the Warrior of Light that a new dream is starting.

Official Quests
Firion takes a prominent role in two official quests. In "Firion's Quest 012: A Small Flower", Firion realizes after first finding his wild rose that a few of his comrades have fallen behind, and heads back to retrieve them. He battles a mind-controlled Terra to save the Onion Knight from her. He mentions the rose's connection to his memories to the Onion Knight, but when the two head back to Laguna and Squall Firion realizes he lost it somewhere, leading into Lightning finding it and Firion confronting her over it.

In "Sephiroth's Quest 013: Shape of the World", Sephiroth awakens in the 13th cycle and attacks Firion. Remembering in the 12th cycle Cloud was reluctant to fight, Sephiroth steals Firion's rose to goad Cloud into battling him. Firion pursues Sephiroth alone to reclaim it.

Battle
Firion is a Weapons Specialist, and fights by combining his weapons to perform powerful combo attacks. His Bravery attacks can both drag opponents closer or send them flying away, letting him keep enemies off their guard. His HP attacks combine his magic with his wide array of weapons, and similarly are divided between close and mid-range attacks. Firion's largest weakness is his poor list of aerial attacks, as he is limited to Swordslash and three spell attacks when fighting in the air, the latter of which work best as distractions rather than actual attacks.

In Dissidia 012, Firion's Reel Axe, Rope Knife and Lance Combo can change the second part of the attack by tilting the analog stick up or down, or leaving it neutral. These interchangeable follow-ups are essentially the three follow-ups for each of the attacks in the original Dissidia. His spell attacks, renamed "Magic Arts" work the same way, casting three spells in succession with the second and third spells based on the analog stick's direction. Pressing the button will cast Blizzard, pressing  and towards to cast Fire, and  and away to cast Thunder.

The commands and effects of his melee follow-ups are as follows:


 * + - Knock opponent into air with sword, then fire an arrow at them. Additional effect: Chase
 * - Slam opponent with a powerful punch. Additional effect: Wall Rush
 * + - Swing lance overhead to attack several times and knock opponent down and away. Can use this follow-up even if the first part of the attack misses. Additional effect: Wall Rush

Boss
In Dissidia, Firion is fought in Destiny Odyssey VII, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.

In Dissidia 012, he is fought in the Beyond Doubt chapter of Story Mode.

EX Mode


Firion's EX Mode is Blood Weapon equipped, which recolors his armor with red and orange details and gives the same coloration to his weapons, a reference to the Blood Sword in Final Fantasy II which was the best weapon to use when fighting the Emperor. While in EX Mode, Firion gains the ability "Blood Weapon", which follows the tradition of such weapons by healing Firion an equivalent amount of HP whenever he damages the opponent's HP.

Firion's EX Burst is Fervid Blazer, where Firion attacks the opponent with the full force of all his weapons and magic. The player must correctly input five button commands within a time limit. If all five commands are input, Firion attacks the opponent with his lance, daggers, axe, staff, and sword enchanted with magic, followed by using his bow to launch all of his weapons at the opponent, creating an explosion.

Equipment
Firion can equip all normal weapons, along with Parrying Weapons, Shields, Bangles, Hats, Helms, Clothing, and Light Armor. In Dissidia 012, Firion can also equip Guns, Poles, Headbands, and Chestplates.

Allusions

 * Abel's Lance, the Longinus, and the Wild Rose are Ricard, Leon, and Scott's ultimate weapons in Final Fantasy II, respectively.
 * When acquiring the Auto version of Shiva in Destiny Odyssey II-3, their conversation is a parody of the event where the Lamia Queen impersonates Princess Hilda to seduce Firion. Shiva says "Come Firion, I don't enjoy being teased," as the Lamia Queen did. When fighting Ultimecia, Firion says "Your looks will not deceive me," another reference to his seduction by the Lamia Queen.
 * In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, when Kain acquires the Auto version of Shiva with Firion as an assist, Shiva says to Firion, "What's wrong? Come to me...", also a reference to the Lamia Queen.
 * In the cutscene before his battle with the Emperor in Destiny Odyssey II, and when entering battle normally, Firion holds his sword in front of his face the same way he holds it in his original Amano concept art.
 * When Firion fires his bow when using Straightarrow and beginning his EX Burst, the bow flips forward as he fires. This is the same as the animation used in Final Fantasy II for bow weapons.
 * Each of Firion's weapons represents the weapons he and his comrades were most proficient with in Final Fantasy II: Firion used swords, Maria used bows, Guy used axes, Minwu used staves, Ricard and Gordon used lances, Leila used knives, and Josef used his bare hands. The shield is an exception, however, the artwork of Minwu shows him holding it.
 * When using Rope Knife, the knives Firion throws are electrified - Leila, who used knives in Final Fantasy II, joined knowing the Thunder spell. Also when using Rope Knife, Firion pulls a knife out of each of his boots, launching them at his enemy, referencing the attack he uses to save Leon from attacking imperial knights in the Origins opening FMV.
 * At one point during Destiny Odyssey, Firion talks about the different reasons people die during wartime, and the examples he uses - to protect one's friends, and to give strength to others - refer to Josef and Minwu respectively.
 * At the end of Dissidia 012's remake of Destiny Odyssey II, Firion is required to use a Teleport Stone to reach Chaos's domain, where the gateway leading to the battle with the Emperor is located. This may be a reference to the Jade Passage.

Trivia

 * Firion is the only character to have his exclusive equipment changed in Dissidia 012, with Abel's Lance given to Kain Highwind and replaced with the Rebellion Army.
 * Firion is the second to the last character to receive his Crystal. The only character who receives his later is the Warrior of Light.
 * In Dissidia, Firion is the only Warrior of Cosmos shown to carry his weapons on him at all times, while the other heroes summon their weapons in preparation for battle and dismiss them when not needed. In Dissidia 012, Lightning does the same.
 * Of the twenty main characters, Firion's manikin, Imitation Liegeman, appears the least number of times in Dissidia, with eighteen appearances.
 * Besides Cid's, Firion's voice is the only other voice heard in the opening of Dissidia, when he grunts as Jecht strikes him.
 * There is an error in the command listing of Reel Axe, it says that the combo from Reel Axe (when the analog stick is still) is the natural combo from Lance Combo (where Firion sends the foe flying with his spear), while it is actually a "Shattering Punch". This error is only found in Reel Axe, the other skills are correct.
 * In the video sequence that plays when Firion confronts The Emperor in the last battle of his chapter, the floor of Pandemonium appears as its Omega version. However in actual gameplay the arena is normal.
 * On the world map as Firion in Dissidia 012, his Rope Knife can perform its three follow-ups as though the player were in a battle. However, this has no practical purpose.

Firion/Dissidia Firion (Dissidia) Firion (Dissidia)