Magitek Armor

Magitek Armor is a technological device in Final Fantasy VI. It is a mechanical weapon employed by the Gestahlian Empire, able to fire beams of magical energy through the Empire's Magitek technology.

Appearance
Magitek Armor appears in-game as a green, yellow and brown exo-suit, roughly humanoid in design with the seat for the rider being mounted on the armor's torso. Magitek attacks are seen to be fired from the chestplate of the armor when used by party members. In CG sequences and Yoshitaka Amano's designs Magitek Armor is draconian in appearance, and the rider sits on the approximate location of the "neck".

Story
Magitek Armor, along with the rest of the Empire's Magitek, was developed by Cid Del Norte Marquez. All Magitek Armor units are produced in the Magitek Research Facility at Vector. Magitek Armored troops appear in all territories and cities occupied by the Empire, though they are not as numerous as the Empire's foot army. In order to reduce the Empire's ability to use Magitek, and to gain insight on Espers, Locke Cole and Celes Chere infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility and free the trapped Espers the Empire was draining magic from. This, combined with the Empire's discovery of Magicite, results in them foregoing Magitek usage outside of troops already stationed, and soldiers mention that the Magitek Research Facility is being dismantled and the armor is being refurbished.

Battle
There are various enemies that can be fought in the game that involve Magitek Armor to some degree. These include Magitek Armor, Heavy Armor, Proto Armor, and Mega Armor. There are also a handful of Magitek Armor-type enemies in the World of Ruin. Pluto Armor appears as a manifestation in Cyan's Soul, and Duel Armor and Fortis appear within Kefka's Tower.

Ability
Wearing Magitek Armor gives access to the Magitek command, although there are limited occasions where Magitek Armor is usable; the first time is at the beginning of the game, where the player controls Terra, Biggs and Wedge. The second time is at the Imperial Camp near Doma Castle, where Sabin, Cyan and Shadow, if the player recruited him, escape in stolen Magitek Armor. The third time is within Cyan's soul during the sequence that takes place in a mine.

Terra alone is able to use the full arsenal of Magitek abilities. If Gogo has the Attack command assign to his/her battle menu list and he/she's also in the party, all eight commands will be available to him/her.

Development
The opening of Final Fantasy VI uses a different in-game model of the Magitek Armor than the rest of the scenes. The game's producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi, wanted to make the Magitek Armor in the opening identical to the Magitek Armor that appears in the game, but Tetsuya Takahashi, the graphics designer for Final Fantasy VI, went ahead and drew another version his own way, which ended up being better and was used in the game opening.

Final Fantasy XIII
Vanille's Eidolon Hecatoncheir's Gestalt Mode was not intended as a reference to Magitek Armor, but the developers acknowledged it appears similar. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 the Brain Blast quiz refers to this transformation as Magitek Armor.

Final Fantasy XIV
The Magitek Armor is being considered as a type of mount available to players. It was featured in the first FMV trailer for A Realm Reborn.

On March 14, 2013, Square Enix revealed the first look of the Magitek Armor on the game's official blog.

Final Fantasy Type-0
The Byakko crystal in the Milites Empire, the nation that instigates the war in Orience, grants the power of weapon to its people, allowing the creation of Magitek Armor. Qator Bashtar and Qun'mi Tru'e are two notable pilots of customized Magitek Armor for the war in Type-0.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Noctis is able to use Magitek Armor.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
The Mage Mail, available from the last boss rush mission on Normal mode, appears to be some kind of reference to the Magitek Armor. The game description says: "Military equipment that exists in the sixth final fantasy". The armor appears as a mechanical armor suit.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
A generic Imperial Soldier is piloting a Magitek Armor, an exclusive character only available from the Premium Character Shop as a random downloadable content, he uses the Thunder Beam ability during battle.