Rage (Final Fantasy VI command)



Rage is Gau's ability in Final Fantasy VI. It replaces the Attack command and allows Gau to use enemy attacks instead. The attacks Gau uses depend upon which enemy he Rages. The optional character Gogo can also use the Rage command.

Overview
Most regular enemies have a Rage, as well as a few bosses. When Gau Rages, control over him is lost either until he is KO'd or until the end of battle. Gau will have a 50% chance of using two attacks, and it will always consist of an Attack and an ability which either can be a special attack, a magic spell, a Dance ability, a Lore spell, or an enemy spell that does not fit into a particular category. Using Magic, Lore, or enemy spells through the Rage command doesn't cost Gau any MP.

Gau emulates that monster, and gains their elemental immunities, weaknesses, and absorptions. He also gets their status immunities, and innate statuses, such as Protect or Float. For example, if Gau Rages the Bomb, he will absorb Fire and be under Float. If Gau rages Magitek Armor, he will have the Protect status.

A few Rages provides innate abilities, such as "0 MP equals death". This means that if Gau uses the Rage of an enemy which can be killed by depleting its MP, enemies will be able to KO Gau through both his HP and MP. If Gau Rages an undead enemy, he'll become an undead himself and gain their advantages and disadvantages.

Some Rages are considered human, and since Gau is a human target by default, Rages such as the Cartagra will override this and make Gau not a human target since the enemy is not a human target itself. If a confused ally equipped with the Man-Eater attacks Gau who has been raging Cartagra before being attacked, the Man-Eater will not deal double damage to him because he's not considered a human target thanks to the Cartagra Rage.

For one reason or another, Gau doesn't inherit the monster's innate ability to automatically deal a critical hit if Imp; this ability can be found on Adamankary and among many other monsters.

Leaping
Gau can learn new Rages on the Veldt. Once an enemy formation is encountered (it does not have to be defeated), it will show up on the Veldt. Once Gau encounters a monster which the player wants to learn a Rage for, a special command that only appears on the Veldt, Leap, must be used. Gau leaves the battle and the battle ends there. Gau will randomly return at the end of another battle, and he will have learned the Rages of not only the enemy he Leapt onto, but also those that were defeated in the battle he came back on. Gau will not appear if there are four members in the party, or if the fight was a Back Attack, Surrounded, or Side Attack. He will escape if he is damaged by a party member while he is returning. Gau can't leap if he's the only member in the party.

Not all enemies appearing on the Veldt have Rages. The enemy Tonberries has a Rage that was dummied out. Its rage can be obtained and added to Gau's Rage list on the GBA version, but it cannot be selected during battle. It, and the Proto Armor (which does not have a Rage), both appear on the Veldt anyway.

Several enemies that have Rages—Typhon, Siegfried, and Death Warden—do not appear on the Veldt in the game's SNES version. This is corrected for Death Warden in the GBA release; however, even in the updated release, Siegfried and Typhon will never appear on the Veldt, meaning players cannot obtain these two Rages without a cheat device. There is a bugfix patch for the SNES version that allows players to get these three Rages.

Bosses that have Rages include the Guard Leader, Hell's Rider, Behemoth King (Undead), and Holy Dragon.

Status
This status is not named in-game except as a battle command; this is the state entered by using the Rage command. A character will automatically either attack or use the ability associated with the current Rage. The inflicted will gain that monster's trait, which includes elemental properties, status protections, and other traits such as human, undead, and 0 MP equals death.

This status can be removed with the Petrify status and KO statuses. The Imp status will force normal attacks, but it will not remove the status. If Strago was inflicted with the Rage status (not possible in a normal game), it would prevent him from learning Lore spells. This status has no known effects on monsters.

Improving Rages
Gau can equip the Merit Award only in the SNES version to improve his Rage abilities when equipped with specific weaponry. Such weaponry like the Kazekiri (Wind Slash), Kagenui (Stop), Boomerang (Long Range), and Assassin's Dagger (Death) among many other weapons that have extra effects when attacking. Not only does this work when Gau used the Rage's Attack (weapon strike), but also for when he uses the special ability of Rages, such as Stray Cat's Cat Scratch and Guard's Critical. The only exception are weapons that deal an automatic critical hit by consuming MP, which don't work when using a special attack. Due to the stacked advantages, the later releases of Final Fantasy VI starting with the PS version prohibit Gau from equipping the Merit Award, and in turn, Gogo with the GBA and following versions.

In the SNES version, if Gau is equipped with the Genji Glove, he will attack twice with the selected Rage's attack or the special attack, such as Guard's Critical, whichever Gau uses. In all versions, if Gau is equipped with the Master's Scroll, he will not only attack four times, but if the Rage uses the monster's special attack, such as Stray Cat's Cat Scratch, he will perform it four times as well. Magic spells and enemy spells, such as Thundaga or Flare Star, are not affected by the Master's Scroll nor the Soul of Thamasa.

List of Rages
The game lists enemy Rages in the order of their position within the rom's data.

The Attack column is what the normal attack looks like; the weapon only takes the graphic and sound effect and not its special properties. For example, the Ice Rod is not ice-elemental and it does not randomly cast Blizzara when Gau attacks. It merely looks and sounds like the Ice Rod, nothing more.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Gau uses Rage in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.


 * Ability Cards