Chaos (Final Fantasy)

Chaos (カオス Kaosu) is the antagonist and the final boss of the original Final Fantasy. He is an incarnation of Garland occurring 2,000 years prior to the majority of the plot of Final Fantasy. The Warriors of Light travel to the past and discover Garland there. He transforms into Chaos and attacks, but is ultimately defeated.

Story
He first appears as a rogue knight who kidnaps the princess of Cornelia at the beginning of the story. However, his plot is foiled by the Warriors of Light, who seemingly kill him while rescuing the princess in the ruined Chaos Shrine. Garland apparently makes an unholy pact with Chaos and the Four Elemental Fiends of the past (the Lich, Marilith, the Kraken, and Tiamat) to summon him 2,000 years back in time while they are sent into the present to cause mass destruction. This pact will create a time-loop and allow Garland to live forever and become Chaos at some point.

The Warriors of Light return to the ruined Chaos Shrine to use the restored Crystals to travel two thousand years into the past, where they meet Garland who remembers them, transforming through the powers of the Fiends to become Chaos and extact his revenge. He is defeated by the Warriors of Light, breaking the time loop that sustained him, thus ending his threat. As the Warriors return to their time, it is stated during the game's ending that Garland waits for them, confirming that he still exists as he had before the time loop, though whether he is still rogue from Cornelia's knighthood is uncertain.

Battle


Chaos is always fought as the last boss of the game. While in the NES version he just used the standard battle theme, later editions would give him his own music, as well as increasing the difficulty of the fight.

In the NES version of the game, his battle's music is "Battle Scene", while as of the Wonderswan Color version of the game, the BGM played is Last Battle.

Dissidia Final Fantasy


Chaos makes an appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy as the God of Discord and the main antagonist. He summons villains from other universes in order to defeat Cosmos, who has summoned heroes to fight Chaos' forces, in a cycle of war that seemingly has no end. Elements of his original back story, specifically those pertaining to his relation to Garland, are retained, though he is not aware of them. Garland, who actually represents Final Fantasy in the crossover game, is aware of the time travel events and informs Chaos of them shortly before both fell to Cosmos's warriors.

Chaos' history is revealed extensively through the Cosmos Reports and Chaos Reports, which are expanded on by more Reports in Dissidia 012. Chaos is a manikin created by Onrac researchers and Cid of the Lufaine to be used as a weapon of war against other nations. Raised by Cid and his wife until he matured, Chaos was taken away by the Onrac military at a later time, and a manikin of his mother, Cosmos, is used to coerce him into obeying. When Cid and his wife attempt to rescue Chaos, his mother is shot, and in his hatred Chaos opens a portal to the Interdimensional Rift, which draws him, Cid and Cosmos into World B, where the events of Dissidia and Dissidia 012 take place. In this new world, the three are met by Garland, and eventually Cid makes a deal with with Shinryu that Chaos and Cosmos will war to perfect Chaos' power, at which point they will return home to seek revenge on Onrac. However, Chaos' memories fade over time, and by the time of Dissidia 012 his memories of his past with Cid and Cosmos are gone, the only fragments left coming to him in dreams.

Because Dissidia's backstory for Chaos conflicts heavily with the story of Chaos' creation in Final Fantasy - most obviously, Chaos is not created from Garland in Dissidia - it is unknown what connection exists between the two incarnations of Chaos, as well as between Chaos and Garland. The Reports mention the Four Fiends briefly, and Garland states in a Report and to Chaos in a cutscene that he is sent back in time to become Chaos, both instances indicating the plot of Final Fantasy has not been entirely retconned. However, there are still few details on how Chaos and Garland's stories in Dissidia connect with the story of Final Fantasy.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Chaos is returning as the God of Discord in this prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy along with all his previous warriors from the game. A bestial form of Chaos, Feral Chaos, is also introduced as a playable character. This incarnation of Chaos is the result of Chaos when he goes insane and berserk after losing too many times to Cosmos in a dark nightmare world Cid is imprisoned in by Shinryu.

Trivia

 * Chaos is often remembered for his noteworthy death animation, which showed him being disintegrated after he is defeated, a somewhat innovative phenomenon in games for the NES. This style of death was repeated for final bosses of future games in the series, including Neo Exdeath in Final Fantasy V, Kefka in Final Fantasy VI, and Safer∙Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. However, this pattern was discontinued in Final Fantasy VIII where Ultimecia was shown convulsing in a circular fashion and then vanishing in a form resembling static interference. It was revived as the death scene for Yu Yevon and the Weapon-type fiends in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2.

Chaos (FFI) Caos (Final Fantasy)