Shantotto/Dissidia (PSP)

Shantotto is an extra character in Dissidia Final Fantasy. A hero who fought in the Great Crystal War, Shantotto is a famous professor of magic from Windurst. She is well-known for her habit of speaking in rhyme and her high-pitched, haughty laughter. Shantotto is respected for her great power, but she refuses to admit it when she finds someone who could be better than her. In battle, she fights using powerful spells that can level up as she gains power. As an extra character in the game, Shantotto has no impact on the main storyline and has no villain opposing her. However, as an extra character who once served Cosmos, the role of her villainous counterpart is filled by Gabranth.

Attire
Shantotto's outfit is based off her original design in Final Fantasy XI, a robe with a stripes design and two gauntlets. An alternate outfit features her in the Wizard's Attire, the unique Black Mage Artifact Armor. Her Manikin version, Lady of Antiquity, is colored brown.

Destiny Odyssey
After warrior of light is beaten crystals have been gathered, Cosmos remembers about her time with Shantotto. In this flashback, Shantotto is about to confront Gabranth, in order to protect Cosmos.

Distant Glory: Heroes
In order to obtain her, the player must finish her story mode, where Shantotto makes the player fight the other ten heroes and, after all of them have been beaten, she will be fought as the final boss. Once defeated, Shantotto will depart, having been challenged by Gabranth to a duel (though she doesn't remember his name). If the player manages to defeat her, she can be bought in the PP store for 1,000 PP. Also, this is the only story mode where board enemies of Shantotto can be fought.

Battle
In battle Shanttoto is a "Chainspeller", and her HP attacks consist of black magic spells that level up depending on the quantity of Brave Points she has. The tiers range from 0 to 2999, 3000 to 5999, and from 6000 to 9999, giving them stronger hits, longer ranges and larger areas of effect. She also has the unique ability of chaining up to three HP attacks to deal more Brave damage depending on the attack's element in relation to the next attack, such as chaining Fire-Water-Thunder, etc. However, her Brave attacks are mostly supportive and rather than do damage inflict status ailments, such as reducing a foe's Brave over time and holding them in place, but her physical attacks can have the potential to be very deadly. One of the best qualities with Shantotto is that together with the Onion Knight, she is the most evasive of the characters, being the smallest, followed by the Onion Knight, and the fourth fastest, after Zidane, making her very hard to hit and aim at. One problem with Shantotto is that her HP Attacks can easily be evaded or blocked, and unlike the other speedy characters, her moves are usually slow paced, although highly precise, but this can be remedied by her Brave attack, Bind.

Boss
Shantotto is faced as a boss only once, at the end of "Distant Glory: Heroes"

EX Mode
Shantotto's EX Mode is called  Two-hour Ability, and is visually represented by Shantotto being equipped with the Cobra Cloche Set (or the Sorcerer's Attire, the Black Mage Relic Armor, in another form). When in EX Mode, Shantotto gains the ability Manafont, which is indeed a Black Mage's Two-hour Ability, which lets her perform HP attacks without losing Brave Points, even when using her EX Burst and performing its final blow.

Her EX Burst, Play Rough, has her execute a "Skillchain Fusion" in which she bombards enemies with spells. A menu appears, and the player must input the spells and press twice in order to attack the enemy. To execute it perfectly, the player must cast the spells in the following order: Flare, Flood, Burst, Quake, Tornado, and Freeze. Using the spells in this order will maximize the Brave damage done before Shantotto delivers the final blow.

Equipment
Shantotto is able to equip the following: Headdresses, Hats, Clothing, Robes, Bracelets, Rods, and Staves.

Allusions

 * If faced against Zidane, Shantotto will say "A male mithra? Or perhaps not.", referencing the similarly-tailed race from Final Fantasy XI.
 * The order in which the player can chain Shantotto's HP attacks, and enters her attacks during her EX Burst, reference Ancient Magic, the most powerful spells available in Final Fantasy XI. In addition to the massive amount of damage each spell can deliver, Ancient Magic gives the target an elemental weakness to the spell's element, allowing other spells to do more damage. The order Shantotto's attacks are chained in is as follows: "Fire - Water - Thunder - Earth - Wind - Ice".
 * Unlike others who kneel staggeringly when they lose, Shantotto turns into a doll. This is a reference to a special event battle in Final Fantasy XI where the player can battle Shantotto. However, when they win Shantotto turns into a doll, and another Shantotto emerges and reveals the Shantotto the player just defeated was simply a puppet the real Shantotto had brought to life.
 * Shantotto's emblem, seen as the symbol of Distant Glory - Heroes, is the flag of the Federation of Windurst.
 * Shantotto's exclusive weapons are named after staves available in Final Fantasy XI. Specifically, the last two are the two most difficult Black Mage staves to acquire in the game; their Mythic Weapon and Relic Weapon, respectively.
 * If you look closely at her staff when she's casting her Elemental HP attacks, the color of the jewel on it changes to correspond to that particular element. This is a homage to the popular practice of players in Final Fantasy XI, mostly Black Mages, switching between a collection of elemental staffs that boost the effectiveness of spells of their corresponding element (the Thunder Staff grants a bonus to all thunder-element spells, for example).
 * If Shantotto would win a battle, she might say "Total Loser!", a possible reference to her statement in the Vana'diel Tribune about enjoying the antics of 'Total Loser' adventurers, whom she often berates in her manor. 'Total Loser' is also a title that players can earn if certain choices are made in the "Curses, Foiled A-Golem?!" quest, which is also started by Shantotto.

Trivia

 * Shantotto is the only character who has access to all her HP Attacks from the start.
 * Prishe was supposed to fill in the role of the representative of Final Fantasy XI in the game, but was later rejected in favor of Shantotto.
 * Among all the magic-using characters, who all move slowly, Shantotto is the only mage who can run at high speeds.
 * In Dissidia's Character Files in the Museum, it is stated Shantotto's one and only regret in life is she never married.
 * The North American version of Dissidia for her storyline includes voiced cutscenes with Shantotto speaking with the player's chosen character, aside from just text dialogue. However, in the Japanese version, these cutscenes are not included at all and there is only text dialogue.
 * Both of Shantotto's voices in each of the game's releases have her high pitched, however her English voice sounds older while her Japanese voice makes her sound younger.