Garland (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia (PSP)

Garland is one of the warriors fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He also appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and its arcade version. He is the antagonist representing the first Final Fantasy. Garland is a being consumed by battle and conflict, and is willing to accept his fate of eternal battle. He wields a large sword that can freely transform into various weapons, from a destructive axe to twin blades. Due to his connection to Chaos, Garland is one of the game's higher-ranked antagonists.

His position as Chaos's right-hand warrior can be seen as analogous to the one his rival, Warrior of Light, has with Cosmos. While the Warrior of Light is his rival in the original Dissidia, his main rival in the Dissidia 012 storyline is Lightning.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Garland's original outfit is based on his in-game sprite from the original release of Final Fantasy. Garland wears a dark blue cape with silver armor set with blue jewels, and wears his distinctive horned helmet that reveals his yellow eyes, as opposed to red in the original. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura has stated that, because there were only in-game sprites to draw from, he had trouble designing Garland as a character, as in essence it was designing a new character rather than redesigning an old one. He maintained the idea that it was still the original Garland fans would recognize.

Garland's first alternate outfit, "Stalwart's Armor", is an original palette swap, which colors his cape burgundy and his armor gold. The cape's coloring is reminiscent of of the first Final Fantasy. In EX Mode his cape is cream with red runes.

Garland's second alternate outfit, "Discord Incarnate," gives him the appearance of Yoshitaka Amano's "," Garland's original design. Garland wears no armor, revealing black skin with gray claws and blank white eyes. Instead of his distinctive helmet, he wears a headpiece with horns of various length and design. He has long white hair and spikes emerging from his shoulders. In his EX Mode Garland turns a lighter shade of gray. Garland's sword is a different shape from his other outfits, and is light gray and white with cracks along its length. It turns black with orange cracks in his EX Mode, appearing to be made out of rock and magma. In the "Battle Tips" menu, Penelo implies this is Garland's appearance underneath his armor.

Garland's Claymore has an original design in the Dissidia series. It is an enormous spire-like sword that uses its weight to reinforce its cutting power. Garland drags the sword behind him and swings his entire body to attack with it. Its default form is a greatsword made up of several interlocking plates with a long handle. The sword can shift into an axe by folding the blade forward and the handle downwards, a portion of the sword can separate on its own interior handle for Garland to dual-wield, the entire sword can extend on a chain from the handle and be flung about like a massive flail, and the plates can lengthen and extend to form a longer, lance-like weapon. Garland uses all five forms and shifts freely between them. In general, the greatsword form is used for technical and finesse based attacks, the axe form is used for slamming attacks, the twin swords for combo attacks, the flail form for ranged attacks, and the lance form for charging attacks.

Garland's manikin version, False Stalwart, is blue.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

 * Default
 * Knight of the Cycle I - Default coloration. Garland dons a new appearance in the revived conflict. His horned helmet has a more monstrous design; his smaller horns are longer and pointed, and his longer horns have blue accents that replace the original silver base. The helmet reveals more of Garland's face and its eyes are more slit-shaped. His cape no longer covers his shoulders, and his pauldrons are larger and pointed.
 * Knight of the Cycle II - 1st alternate coloration. Identical to his "Stalwart's Armor" coloration from the PSP games.
 * Knight of the Cycle III - 2nd alternate coloration. Darkens his armor black and changes his cape purple, resembling Garland's 20th Anniversary battle sprite.


 * 1st Alternate Costume
 * Hardened Zealot I - Default coloration. An updated version of his original attire while in his "Class Change" EX Mode from the PSP games. Garland's white armor and cape symbolizes his time as a heroic knight of Cornelia before his fall from grace.
 * Hardened Zealot II - 1st alternate coloration. Recolors his armor black, and his cape yellow. The cape has a unique pattern on its underside.
 * Hardened Zealot III - 2nd alternate coloration. Recolors his armor bronze with black accents, and his horns are colored purple.

Garland wields greatswords:
 * Weapons
 * Rebellion - Default weapon. A large decorated purple sword with golden ornaments and accents. Garland's primary weapon in the beginning of the new conflict.
 * Chaosbringer - 1st alternate weapon. A crude black volcanic iron blade with glowing magma running along fissures on its body and surface. Originates from his "Cloudsea Djinn" attire while in EX Mode from Dissidia 012.
 * Balmung - 2nd alternate weapon. An original designed sword for Garland, and is said to be a holy knight sword once wielded by him during his days serving Cornelia. It is an enormous double-bladed broadsword accentuated with inlaid metal details, and has a wing themed crossguard.
 * Zanmato - 3rd alternate weapon. Another original design for Garland. The weapon itself resembles that of Spiritus's greatsword, with the blade featuring more inlaid edges. The wielding portion is decorated with a spiked guard fashioned in the motif of an oni, with the handle wrapped in the fashion of a katana and adorned with a knotted string at its pommel.
 * Claymore - Extra alternate weapon. Garland's original weapon used in the PSP games. Available to players who pre-order or purchase Dissidia Final Fantasy NT on Day One.

Garland's alternate weapons recur throughout the series. Though their properties vary by installment, the Chaosbringer and Balmnung are associated with the Dark Knight job class, while the Zanmato is associated with the Samurai job. They share themes of discord along with the Rebellion; the Balmung alludes to its originating tale of the Nibelung and Volsunga Saga as a story set in brutal times and fraught with instances of human fault.

Garland's default player name is titled Nameless Stalwart, and his manikin counterpart is renamed the False Heretic.

Personality
Whereas in Final Fantasy Garland and Chaos are the same character, Dissidia Final Fantasy separates the two, although Garland implies that he would eventually become Chaos right before his and Chaos's final battle against the warriors of Cosmos. Garland has a proud, arrogant, and brutal personality, and enjoys combat more than any of the other warriors of Chaos. When he and the Emperor lose to Lightning and the Warrior of Light, he is only disappointed at how short the fight was. It has been hinted that this love for combat is Garland's method of enduring the endless cycles. Garland is obsessed with the concept, and believes it is the heroes' and villains' fate to fight one another eternally. He therefore attempts to test the resolves of those who wish to end the conflict.

Garland remains loyal to Chaos, and to a greater extent Cid of the Lufaine (though he only refers to the latter as the Great Will) by maintaining his job of developing Chaos as the ultimate weapon. Dissidia 012 hints that Garland's motive for his actions are more for sympathy for Chaos, who is in similar circumstances as himself. Garland is the only Warrior of Chaos who stays by Chaos's side even after Cosmos is killed. He objects to the Emperor's suggestion of recruiting the disabled Jecht as a Warrior of Chaos for the next cycle, anticipating that this would end up being against Chaos's and the other warriors of Chaos best interests (with his hunch ultimately being proven correct).

In Dissidia NT, he is still shown to have a massive rivalry with the Warrior of Light, which he implies is due to believing that fate demanded that they do battle. However, he nonetheless was shown to be reasonable, as he accepted the Noctis's offer for a truce to put a stop to the Planesgorgers and led them to Spiritus, especially after confirming that not only was Spiritus not responsible for the Planesgorgers, but also that Spiritus himself desired for World A and B to survive. Garland also implies that he remembers the original time loop that he instigated when he stated "Even though we are no longer bound by time, we are still bound by destiny to fight!"

Story
Garland was a Knight of Cornelia that fell from grace and was trapped in a time loop. He was freed and summoned to World B by Shinryu. Encountering Cid of the Lufaine, Garland agreed to coerce Chaos into fighting Cosmos due to the connection he felt with Chaos, and stood by the God of Discord throughout the cycles.

During a previous cycle, Garland and Prishe briefly fought over the custody of the newly summoned Warrior of Light. Garland recognized the Warrior and warned Prishe she couldn't understand his true nature, but Prishe was victorious and the Warrior of Light was taken to Order's Sanctuary to join Cosmos. Sometime after, Garland confronted Shantotto and was the last one to see her before she left World B via a doorway to the Rift.

Treachery of the Gods
In Prologus, Garland is the first Warrior of Chaos Lightning faces. He and the Emperor mock her and the Warrior of Light for waiting for them to make the next move. After the battle, Garland is disappointed it was short and tells Lightning and Warrior they will meet again.

Garland later confronts Lightning, seeing no point in fighting her, and leaves her for the manikins while telling her most of her allies have already been dealt with by the strange beings. Garland explains the manikins bypass the gods' power to revive the fallen, and thus they can end the existence of a warrior of either side for good.

Garland witnesses the Emperor suggest Jecht should be converted into a Chaos warrior. Garland is taken aback, but Chaos relents and channels his energy into the fallen Jecht.

Garland serves as the final boss of the main story of Dissidia 012. After Laguna leads the party to a portal to the Rift from which the manikins have been emerging, the Emperor, the Cloud of Darkness, Ultimecia, Garland and Kefka teleport in to stop the heroes from destroying the portal. Lightning battles Garland alone for the final match, after which the five Chaos warriors teleport away so the manikins can finish the conflict for them.

Light to All
Early into the Warrior of Light's journey, Garland arrives and challenges him to battle. Garland is defeated, but he tells the Warrior that fighting back is pointless, and fades away. Believing Garland is dead, the Warrior of Light journeys on, but Garland survives. Sephiroth questions Garland about the memories they have lost, and asks about a dragon with an unearthly glow he saw when he awoke, but Garland does not answer.

Garland confronts Ultimecia about her manipulations of Squall, and she reveals she has her own plans separate from the Emperor, and asks Garland to assist her. Later, when Cloud defeats Sephiroth and claims his Crystal, Garland speaks to the Emperor, and the two agree that Sephiroth may become a threat to the Emperor's plan. Later, the two meet again to discuss Terra's shaky alliance to Cosmos due to her lack of light, and Kefka's plans to bring her back into the fold.

Squall arrives to battle Ultimecia and Garland approaches, intending for Squall to fight both of them. Zidane appears and fights Garland so that Squall may face Ultimecia alone. Squall defeats Ultimecia, but Garland only thanks Zidane for the battle, and leaves after Ultimecia falls. The Warrior of Light defeats the Emperor, and Garland appears before him, telling the shocked knight that he cannot be defeated. He invites the Warrior of Light to follow him to discover the war's true nature. Before their final battle, Garland lectures Kuja about fate, telling him they all share the same destiny, including Ultimecia. He speaks to Sephiroth again, who questions Garland's ability to be revived despite numerous defeats.

When the Warrior of Light arrives at the Chaos Shrine, Garland tells the Warrior the reason he came back to life was because of Chaos, and reveals the true nature of the gods' conflict. Garland encourages the Warrior of Light to submit to the cycle of war, but he refuses, and the two battle again. Garland is defeated and the Warrior of Light claims his Crystal, but Garland goads him. Garland claims the Crystals have the power to stop the cycle, and even the gods cannot foresee what would become of the world if the Crystals were brought together.

The Emperor, Garland, and the other warriors of Chaos, had in fact allowed themselves to be defeated to ensure that the warriors of Cosmos receive the Crystals, as per their plan. After Chaos kills Cosmos, Garland oversees his god's slumber. Sephiroth questions Garland about the memories he has regained, asking what Garland's desire is once Chaos is destroyed. Garland rejects the idea, claiming he is a prisoner to the cycle of war and has no right to desire anything else. While with Golbez, Garland reveals the world to be a testing ground for Chaos and how he had arranged it under Cid's instructions. Garland believes he cannot leave the cycle even if he wanted to, but is interested on its disbursal.

When Chaos awakens and describes a peculiar dream in which he governed the world harmoniously with Cosmos, Garland reveals this was World B before the conflict, and that he himself had instigated it in accordance to the Great Will. Garland tells Chaos he is predestined to be sent 2,000 years into the past by God of Discord, becoming Chaos himself—their fates intertwined as Chaos would subconsciously convince Garland to take the path leading to his eventual change.

As the warriors of Cosmos approach Chaos's domain in the Land of Discord, Garland stands as the final villain alive before he is defeated. He reveals Chaos plans to destroy World B with the cycle finally broken. Though the heroes question Garland's acceptance of this, Garland tells them his spirit will endure and he will find another cycle. He fades while vowing he and the heroes will meet again. Though revived by Shinryu, Garland learns too late that Shinryu is now involving itself in the conflict's final battle.

Official Quests
In "Gabranth's Quest 000: One Who Faces Hell", during an unspecified earlier cycle, Gabranth becomes disillusioned with the cycle when he realizes the losers are purified of memories. Refusing to fight as there is no point to it, Garland attacks Gabranth when he threatens to kill Chaos if the god forces him to fight. Garland mocks Gabranth and encourages him to use up all his strength so he will not be revived in the next cycle. When attempts to kill himself, he is consumed by the Rift. Garland tells the Emperor that this is the fate of those who defy the will of the gods, to be cast into the Rift until they submit to the cycle and are willing to return to fight again.

In "Shantotto's Quest 000: The Seeker's Destination", Garland encounters Shantotto after she destroys a gateway, seeking to create a temporal distortion with its destruction strong enough to open a portal to the Rift so she can escape the cycle. Garland battles her and claims there is no escape, but Shantotto's guess proves accurate when a portal opens and she enters the Rift. In "Prishe's Quest 000: The Defeat of Cosmos", Garland confronts Cosmos, seeking to discover if even a god will be purified and reborn if slain. Garland kills Cosmos, but true to his suspicions, she is purified and revived in the next cycle.

During the twelfth cycle in "Cloud's Quest 012: You Should Have Disappeared", Garland intervenes when Sephiroth challenges Cloud, telling the two conflict between allies is not tolerated. Cloud follows Garland when he leaves and challenges him, but Garland holds back, refusing to go all-out as there is no point to them killing each other. He warns Cloud his potentially traitorous actions during the twelfth cycle have been noticed by the other warriors of Chaos. In "Sephiroth's Quest 012: The Hero's Memory", the Emperor witnesses Sephiroth commit suicide as he seeks to uncover the truth of the cycle of war. He and Garland reflect on possible reasons why Sephiroth can do this when Gabranth failed.

Rebirth of the cycles
Garland is summoned as a warrior of Spiritus to fight in the new war and is the first to arrive at his tower. When Spiritus communicates with Materia, Garland silently watches as Spiritus declares his intentions to rule World B.

Garland confronts the Warrior of Light in the gateway that resembles Cornelia, and challenges him to a fight. Despite being accompanied by two Manikins, Garland is ultimately defeated by the Warrior, Cecil, and Noctis. After the battle, the Warrior of Light asks Garland whether Spiritus's true motive is to destroy the world, prompting the latter to explain that Spiritus does not desire in its destruction. Garland, after confirming that Spiritus is perfectly willing to overlook a grudge against Materia for the best interests of their respective worlds when Noctis suggested they go to Spiritus's realm to communicate with Materia there, then accompanies the three to Spiritus's domain to establish communication with Materia.

Upon arrival, Shantotto initiates the discussion between the two gods, where Garland is present. Once Materia and Spiritus come to a truce, the champions on both sides engage in a stage battle to lure Shinryu, the source of planesgorgers that threatens to eradicate the world, out to them. During the ensuing fight, Garland briefly duels with Noctis and Lightning, before taking up arms against the Warrior of Light directly. Once the battle energy summons Shinryu, Garland participates in a joint attack against the dragon, but is repelled as Shinryu reveals his true form in a potent burst of power. Once the warriors regain their composure, they work together to defeat Shinryu. Afterwards, the moogles give Garland a crystal to host his memories for Spiritus to use in the new cycles of wars. With a crystal doppelgänger of himself to serve on Spiritus's behalf, Garland is sent home.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Garland is described as a Nemesis, meaning he uses his huge sword to crush his opponents. His sword shifts into different forms while attacking, and some of his attacks vary depending on the timing of the button inputs, allowing Garland to alter the effects of his attacks quickly. Garland is most powerful in melee combat, but he has several charging attacks that allow him to attack opponents from a distance. A drawback is that Garland is a slow mover, and most of his melee attacks can be blocked.

Boss
In Dissidia, Garland is fought in Destiny Odyssey I and IX, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory and Inward Chaos.

In Dissidia 012, he is fought in An Undocumented Battle, Trust, Champions of her Will (twice), and Conclusion of the Cycle chapters of Story Mode, as well as during Report #18.

Bravery Attacks

 * DFF2008
 * Dissidia 012

HP Attacks

 * DFF2008
 * Dissidia 012

EX Mode
Garland's EX Mode is Class change, where his cape turns white and gains arabesque patterns along the edges. Garland gains the ability "Indomitable Resolve" preventing him from flinching or being knocked back by an opponent's attacks while executing an attack of his own. He still takes damage from the attack, and is only immune to flinching when hit with a Brave attack. HP attacks will still knock him back, but only the HP-damaging part of the attack; HP attacks that inflict Bravery damage will not stun him until the final hit.

Garland's EX Burst is Soul of Chaos, where he knocks his foe back and raises his sword. The player must press repeatedly to fill a meter as Garland charges energy. If filled, Garland will repeatedly attack his opponent with twin swords, hits them several times with the chain, stabs them with the spear, then swings his axe downwards hitting the opponent multiple times. He ends the EX Burst by spinning to unleash two powerful sword blows.

Equipment
Garland can equip Greatswords, Katanas, Spears, Axes, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor. In Dissidia 012, Garland can also equip Large Shields.

Exclusive Weapons

 * DFF2008
 * Dissidia 012

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

 * Type: Vanguard - By hitting the opponent with consecutive attacks, Garland can receive a buff that stacks up to two times and enhances attack potency while extending the effect's duration.
 * EX Skill: Deranged Soul - Restrain Garland's target while is held down. This skill also makes it easier to stack buffs when landing bravery attacks.

Voice
In the Japanese versions of Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012, Garland is voiced by Kenji Utsumi. In Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and its arcade version, he is voiced by Kōji Ishii, owing to the former's death in 2013, who also voiced Ba'Gamnan in Final Fantasy XII and Oscha from Final Fantasy: Unlimited.

In the English versions, he is voiced by Christopher Sabat.

Both of Garland's English and first Japanese voice actors also voiced Alex Louis Armstrong from another Square Enix project: Fullmetal Alchemist and its reboot Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Gallery

 * Dissidia and Dissidia 012

Allusions

 * At the start of Destiny Odyssey I-5, Garland's line "You will meet your end here, and I will live forever!" is based on what he says in Final Fantasy before the final battle after transforming into Chaos.
 * In his battle dialogue with Kuja, the two refer to Kuja's antagonistic relationship with the Garland of Final Fantasy IX. Garland says, "I sense you are haunted by your fate", referring to the mortality Garland of Final Fantasy IX placed upon Kuja. His dialogue to Zidane, "I will erase you and your soul", refers to when the Garland of Final Fantasy IX attempted to destroy Zidane and take back the soul he had given him.
 * Garland's introduction to Tidus is, "Better you fall down fate's spiral", referring to Sin's cycle of destruction and rebirth in Final Fantasy X. His quote to Jecht, "Another prisoner of fate", refers to how Jecht became trapped within the cycle of Spira, similar to Garland.
 * Garland's EX Burst is named after the Soul of Chaos dungeons in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary editions of Final Fantasy. His three exclusive weapons are weapons found in the Whisperwind Cove, another bonus dungeon in the aforementioned releases, and are named after a subset of axes that do additional damage to giant-type enemies.
 * Garland is the only antagonist fought twice in the same storyline. He is fought as a boss both at the beginning of Destiny Odyssey I and at the end—reflecting his role as the first and, in essence, final boss of Final Fantasy. Furthermore, Garland is the last antagonist fought in Shade Impulse before Chaos, in Chapter 3-5, again reflecting his role in Final Fantasy.
 * In Garland's conversation with Chaos in Shade Impulse, he states he was sent 2,000 years into the past to become Chaos himself, paralleling his actions in Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy, Garland says he will lose all memory of the past in 2,000 years, reflected in Chaos's amnesia in Dissidia.
 * The forms Garland's sword transforms into refer to the Four Fiends from Final Fantasy. The axe represents Lich, the twin swords represent Marilith, the lance represents Tiamat and the whip represents Kraken.
 * Garland's HP attacks are attacks used by Chaos in the original Final Fantasy, and each uses the form of his sword corresponding to the Fiend of the attack's element—Earthquake uses the axe, Blaze uses the twin swords, Tsunami uses the whip, and Cyclone uses the lance. In Dissidia 012, Garland's fifth HP attack Flare uses the base greatsword form, reflecting that it is non-elemental.
 * In the Japanese version of Dissidia 012, Garland's "Thundaga" is named "Thunga". This is the original Japanese name of the high-tier lightning-type spell in Final Fantasy in the NES version.
 * Garland's fighting pose is the same pose he takes right before fighting the warriors of Cosmos in the opening FMV. This is also the pose as his enemy sprite in the original game.
 * When facing Chaos, Chaos's opening line alludes to the time loop.
 * Garland's recognition of the Warrior of Light in one of Cid's Reports may have been a reference to Garland's earlier defeat at the hands of the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy.
 * When using Earthquake in the arcade version, Garland will declare that he will "knock you all down," a reference to his line before the player fights Garland for the first time in Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * Garland has the highest base Attack and Defense, with 112 Attack and 113 Defense at level 100. In Dissidia 012 his stats are reduced to 111 Attack and 112 Defense.
 * Garland's first outfit's EX Mode model is plagued by several graphical errors in the original Dissidia due to misaligned textures. These errors are fixed in Dissidia 012.
 * Garland's manikin, False Stalwart, appears thirty times in Dissidia, the most of any manikin.
 * Garland is one of three characters to be fought four times as a main storyline boss, the others being Ultimecia and the Emperor.
 * Garland is the tallest of the warriors of Chaos, standing just above Golbez and Exdeath.
 * Garland is the first antagonist to appear in the arcade reboot.
 * He is the first character to undergo a redesign in the arcade reboot.
 * As a result, he is the only character to have their official art updated by Tetsuya Nomura, which now positions him facing to his left, like the rest of the warriors of Chaos.

Garland (Dissidia) Gárland (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia Garland (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia Garland (Dissidia) Гарланд (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia