Edea Kramer

Edea Kramer, also known as Sorceress Edea, is the wife of Cid Kramer, and with him, ran an orphanage on the Centra continent and eventually created SeeD and the Gardens.

Background
When she was five years old, Edea received Sorceress Powers from an unknown Sorceress. She eventually married Cid, with Cid knowing full well who she was; nevertheless, they led a happy life together and started an orphanage for the Sorceress War orphans on the Centra continent, with the orphans referring to her as "Matron."

Years later, as Ultimecia had warped to the past and lay dying, Edea received Ultimecia's powers, as she did not want any of the orphans to take them. After a short talk with the Squall Leonhart from the future, she and Cid began making plans to contain or eliminate her if and when she went bad. These plans resulted in the creation of SeeD and the Gardens.

Later on, after Ellone was being sought by Dr. Odine to complete his research on her, Edea created the White SeeD, a group of older orphans assigned to protect Ellone.

The Rise and Fall of Sorceress Edea
Sorceress Edea's parade C5yc1Z0XVFk

Shortly before the game begins, Ultimecia took full control of Edea, using her to seize power across the planet. During a broadcast by President Deling, Seifer tried to assassinate the president of Galbadia. Edea--or rather, Ultimecia--took pity on Seifer, and spirited him away with her. She survived an assassination attempt by SeeD, killed President Deling, and took command of the Galbadian army afterwards. Because of the failed assassination, she declared SeeD as an enemy and ordered missile attacks on Trabia and Balamb Gardens. While Balamb Garden flew out of the way, Trabia Garden was not as lucky. Later, forces from Galbadia brought over by Galbadia Garden attempted to invade Balamb Garden, with little success.

Shortly after, she fell in battle to the party at Galbadia Garden, and Ultimecia abandoned Edea to enter Rinoa. Edea then regained control over her body, explained what had happened to her, and later joined the party for a trip to Esthar. After reaching Esthar, Edea gave her Sorceress Power--which included the power of Ultimecia herself, from the past/ future, depending on how you look at it--to Rinoa, and was thus no longer able to use sorceress magic. With the burden of her power finally lifted, Edea went back to the now-ruined orphanage, where she occasionally gave advice and background info to the party.

At the end of the game, she is seen in the past with future Squall, who tells her about SeeD and Garden, and in the present with Cid attending a party at Balamb Garden.

Personality
Edea is an extremely kind and loving person. Although she has been under the stigma of being a Sorceress ever since the age of five, she has never resented the world for the prejudice it must have shown her--indeed, she spends her entire life devoted to helping others, focusing, of course, upon the children she cares for in her orphanage. With Cid by her side to keep her in control of her powers, she would never have shown a single violent streak throughout her life had Ultimecia not arrived and possessed her.

She clearly loves children, as all of the children from her orphanage (which include the entire cast of Final Fantasy VIII, except for Rinoa) remember her fondly and are completely unable to wrap their minds around the idea that their beloved Matron could ever do the evil deeds Sorceress Edea performs. It would seem, however, that she cannot have children of her own--if she could, one would assume that by now she would have, as she and Cid have been married for at least thirteen years now. One possibility is that she did not want to risk passing on Ultimecia's powers, should she have a daughter--perhaps now that she is no longer a Sorceress, she will be able to have children of her own. Edea is said to have a child, which some fans speculate is Seifer.

Although Edea has never shown hatred for the rest of the world, she has shown a very strong dislike indeed for her own powers. Edea does not like being a Sorceress, and she is more than happy to give up her powers in Esthar, although she probably feels guilty for having given them to Rinoa. She resents Ultimecia (understandably) for giving her the tainted powers that eventually allowed Ultimecia to possess her and use her as a pawn for evil; if she had any liking for the powers she first received at the age of five, it is clearly overruled by her loathing of Ultimecia's.

Edea's Powers
Edea first became a Sorceress at the age of five. Because her preferred element seems to be ice (her strongest spell the second time you fight her is Blizzaga, she has extremely good compatibility with Shiva, and her Limit Break is called Ice Strike,) it would seem that the powers she first received focused on this element.

Later she would receive the powers of Ultimecia, powers which seemed to focus on space and time. From this point on, she was capable of great feats of magic including teleportation, phasing through solid objects, and giving life to inanimate objects; however, as this power came with the knowledge that Ultimecia would someday possess her, Edea probably never got the chance to enjoy them.

As a Boss


Edea is fought twice in the game; the first time after the sorceress parade, and the second in Galbadia Garden. Before fighting Edea, Squall faces off against his rival, Seifer, alone. After defeating him, Rinoa and Irvine arrive to help Squall, and Edea takes the stage. When confronting Edea for the second time, at Galbadia Garden, the party must again waste Seifer before they can touch her. Fortunately, defeating Seifer is easy; defeating Edea is not.

As a Party Member
Edea only joins you once, and rather briefly--after Rinoa is sent into a coma by Ultimecia, Edea accompanies Squall on his journey to Esthar. Once Esthar is reached, she helps Zell reach the Lunatic Pandora; however, he and she are both denied entry and are forced to return to Esthar. Here in Esthar, Edea gives up her Sorceress Power to Rinoa, and leaves the party for good.

Unsurprisingly, Edea has extremely potent Magic and Spirit scores, and also possesses extremely good compatibility with every GF in the game. However, she also has scarily low HP, Strength, and Vitality, and her Speed and Luck are none too great either. She is the epitome of the traditional Black Mage class--she excels at magic, but little else.

Her physical attack, the Blizzard Palm, is an extremely weak weapon that is further hampered by its inability to be upgraded. Her Limit Break is also quite limited (though powerful), as she only has one command and it only deals one hit to one enemy.

Limit Break
Ice Strike 0umnsrYqfXk The ultimate manifestation of Edea's Sorceress Power is her Limit Break, called the Ice Strike. When activated, she summons several large icicles that rain down on the target, dealing massive ice damage.

This Limit Break is also seen at the end of Disk One, where she uses it on Squall with near-lethal effect.

Musical Themes
There are two themes accompanying Edea's presence. One is called "Succession of Witches", most notably played when Edea first encounters Seifer in Timber. The other is "Truth", played at Edea's Orphanage after the revelation of her possession.

Edea Kramer