Magitek infantry

The magitek infantry is an army of robotic soldiers that serves Niflheim in the Final Fantasy XV Universe. It was introduced by Chancellor Ardyn Izunia to be further developed by research minister Verstael Besithia. Its forces appear in Final Fantasy XV, Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV, and Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. The soldiers are often referred to with the slang term "MT," short for "magitek trooper," and a play on their soulless, or "empty," nature.

Profile
Magitek soldiers are weaponized daemons developed and produced in Zegnautus Keep, Niflheim's magitek laboratory. After the empire believed they had discovered a way to control organisms mutated by the Starscourge, they began the Deathless Project to develop a magitek army. Magitek troopers are plasmodia-based biological weapons that avoid light, as their cellular structure breaks down upon exposure, the cells being converted to benign molecules. Thus, MTs are encased in lightproof armor.

An army of MTs able to fight in daylight proved superior to human troops, and Niflheim's human infantry was replaced by magitek units and Niflheim began augmenting biological materials through cloning. MTs are different from natural daemons in that their behavior can be programmed, and thus Niflheim believes they can be controlled. This may be related to the serial number tattooed in each unit, which also allows them to pass through the imperial magitek laboratory freely. It later turns out however that yet unprogrammed MTs begin to go rogue.

MTs can wield a variety of weapons and can even self-destruct to take out opponents by latching onto them. Some have built-in firearms in their arms. Their lightproof armor makes them weak to lightning, but they are generally resilient. MTs are often deployed from dropships, and such groups carry a flag of Niflheim among them. Many are uneasy in their presence, as magitek troopers are silent and expressionless, move robotically, and don't react much to being damaged.

As revealed in Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto, magitek troopers are produced in a remote facility in the arctic regions of Niflheim. They are clones fathered by Verstael Besithia and have the same bar code on their wrists. They are human before turning into daemons, some being brought up since infancy to become an MT. If a clone were to escape the daemonization process, they would grow up as a regular human, albeit the systems built for magitek troopers would still recognize them as one and their bar code would still work to operate the magitek facilities.

Story
In M.E. 722 Ardyn Izunia entered Niflheim and proposed the development of a magitek army. A year later, the empire began mass producing magitek soldiers in preparation for war with Lucis. As Niflheim's new forces overwhelmed Lucis two years later, the reigning monarch of Lucis concentrated the nation's magical barrier around the Crown City and took up a siege position.

In M.E. 745 the astral goddess of ice, Shiva, awoke as a giantess and attacked the imperial territory. The magitek army killed her, but Niflheim lost most of its army, and began developing magitek soldiers that would be strong enough to fight astrals.

As depicted in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, the magitek infantry invaded Tenebrae in an attempt to kill King Regis and his young son, Noctis. Under the leadership of Imperial General Glauca, it slaughtered many innocent bystanders. Twelve years later, on M.E. 756 the day a peace treaty is to be signed between Lucis and Niflheim, the magitek infantry breaches the Wall and invades Insomnia. It kills the Lucian ruling council and much of the Crown City's populace. Prince Noctis and his friends are not in the city when it is invaded, as they are on their way to Altissia.

As depicted in Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV, Noctis, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum stop for a meal at a diner. As the friends eat, they see a Niflheim airship dispatch several magitek infantrymen outside. Noctis and company devise a strategy to defeat the robots and attack. Later on, after Noctis and his allies slaughter a Garula, they are confronted by more magitek infantrymen. The synthetic soldiers are easily dismantled, and the fight against them reminds Gladiolus of how he and Noctis became friends.

Ravus Nox Fleuret is appointed the leader of the Imperial Army by Verstael after Insomnia's fall. He uses it to attack Noctis and his allies, as well as in attempts to kill the astrals. Many of Ravus's magitek infantrymen are lost in the battle against Leviathan.

In the Piztala region, a horde of magitek troopers attacks a train carrying Noctis and his friends. Noctis and Prompto team up to fend them off. Meanwhile, in Gralea, the Starscourge has broken out as a virulent plague that decimates the capital city. Researchers identify that the overuse of daemons in their army caused the outbreak, but are unable to do anything. Unprogrammed magitek infantrymen begin to go haywire and attack imperial citizens.

When Noctis goes to Gralea to rescue Prompto, he learns magitek infantrymen are daemons encased in lightproof armor. He finds several of the robotic soldiers lying dormant within Zegnautus Keep, and also discovers that, under the code name "Project Deathless", humans were once mass-produced in Niflheim to become magitek troopers. After Noctis, Ignis, and Gladiolus rescue Prompto, they learn he was raised to become a magitek infantryman. Prompto is still able to use the serial code with which he was branded at birth.

The Starscourge engulfs Eos in an eternal night, with Emperor Aldercapt becoming a daemon as well. The empire is implied to have collapsed with Gralea devastated and devoid of humans. The magitek infantry is presumably no longer being manufactured.

When Noctis and his friends return to the ruins of Insomnia to fulfill the prophecy of the True King, they find Insomnia still swarmed with magitek troopers.

Gameplay
In Final Fantasy XV, the imperial dropships periodically drop magitek infantry to fight Prince Noctis and his party. They are less commonly dropped onto roads, but it can still happen. Magitek infantry are also fought in the imperial bases and during story scenes in Chapters 9 and 11. Magitek troopers are fought in Zegnautus Keep and in the final dungeon. Magitek troopers are never fought in hunts.

Iris Amicitia's Technique, Eclipse, has a unique effect when used on magitek troopers: Iris will bind the enemy and flip into their backs and deal a devastating kick to instantly kill them.

List of magitek infantry

 * Armored Assassin
 * Armored Axeman
 * Armored Swordsman
 * Battery Soldier
 * Eternal Trooper
 * Haywire Axeman
 * Imperial Rifleman
 * Imperial Sniper
 * Imperial Spearman
 * Imperial Trooper
 * Magitek Assassin
 * Magitek Axeman
 * Magitek Bannerman
 * Magitek Swordsman
 * Rogue Axeman
 * Shock Trooper

Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto
Magitek troopers are the main enemies fought in Prompto's DLC episode. If he can sneak up on them without them being alerted, they can be taken out with melee moves and Prompto can steal their weapon. He also fights them long range with his handgun, and can stock up on a sub machine gun, sniper rifle, bazooka and grenades.

There are two two types of magitek troopers. The ones with their face covered who move more human-like are weaker, than the axe-wielding green-faced magitek troopers that are usually fought in the main game. Defense nodes found around the magitek research complex heal magitek units in their vicinity unless destroyed. The weaker MTs shoot at Prompto unless he is right next to them, in which case they will attack with melee attacks. They deal normal damage, whereas the axe-wielding troopers—though restricted to short range attacks—also damage Prompto's max HP that recovers slow and can only be healed by Elixirs and Hi-Elixirs.

Creation and development
In the trailers for Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the Final Fantasy XV E3 2013 trailer, the imperial soldiers appear to be human. The human infantry was replaced by the robotic magitek soldiers for the final game that also includes a redesigned look, now sporting metallic faces with glowing eyes. In-game lore extolled in the research notes found in Zegnautus Keep posits that the original infantry was replaced by magitek units for efficiency's sake. The original human-like versions still appear in the game, such as in the scene where Ravus and Verstael meet Emperor Aldercapt in his throne room, when soldiers apprehend Lunafreya in Altissia, and as the weaker enemies in "Episode Prompto".

The imperial soldiers appeared on tanks in the E3 2013 trailer, but in the final game they are dropped from aircraft. The tanks from the trailer appear in "Episode Prompto" however, albeit stationary outside the magitek research base.

Etymology
The term originates from Final Fantasy VI, where magitek was similarly developed by the game's the antagonist empire.