Minwu

Minwu, known officially in Japan as Ming-Wu, known as Mindu in the Final Fantasy Origins version, and called Minh in the Neo Demiforce fan translation, is one of the temporarily playable characters from Final Fantasy II, as well as the protagonist of Soul of Rebirth. A White Wizard from Mysidia, he works as Fynn's Royal Mage, and after Fynn's takeover by the Palamecian Empire, he becomes Princess Hilda's right-hand man who will do anything to help the Wild Rose Rebellion.

Minwu is alluded to in several other installments, always as a great mage of lore.

Appearance
Minwu wears a white turban with a white cloth covering his mouth, and wears a white robe with a gold pieces of plate in them. His turban and cloak are adorned with red gems and he is shown carrying a red and blue spiked shield. He has short hair, perhaps brown as shown by the sprites, dark brown skin, and blue eyes.

Personality
As a white mage, Minwu is naturally a person who takes care of the wounded, and is loyal to Hilda and acts like a adviser. He usually talks in a way that things "are by fate have to happen," so he may have an external locus of control. When he leaves to Mysidia, he acts like a person on a mission, because "his fate" is to obtain the Ultima Tome.

Final Fantasy II
Minwu has long served the Fynn royal family as their personal mage and healer. Fleeing Fynn with Princess Hilda and the King during the Palamecian Empire's attack, he helps set up the rebel base in Altair. When Hilda finds Firion and his friends badly beaten in the woods near Fynn, Minwu heals their wounds, sensing "a strong life force" within Firion.

After Hilda accepts Firion, Maria and Guy into the resistance, Minwu accompanies them to Salamand, and further to the Semitt Falls to find mythril for their cause. They fight their way through the falls, and rescue enslaved peasants from Salamand from the Empire and obtain the mythril. After returning to the Rebellion, Minwu joins the party into infiltrating the Empire's operations at Bafsk and sabotaging the Dreadnought. However, once they reach the behemoth airship, its construction has been already been concluded.

Once the party returns to Altair, they discover the King of Fynn's injuries have worsened, and Minwu stays in Altair to attend to the King. After the party destroys the Dreadnought and rescues Hilda alongside Gordon, the King of Fynn dies of his wounds, and with his final breath, tells Minwu to travel to Mysidia to find the Ultima Tome. Minwu agrees to his king's last request and sets out.

The party follows Minwu's quest after Fynn's liberation and hear he's departed for the Mysidian Tower. There, he finds a seal blocking the way to the Ultima Tome, and waits for the party to arrive. Minwu offers to break the seal, using all of his power, at the cost of his own life. Telling the rest of the party not to mourn, he perishes in the Chamber of the Seal.

Minwu awakes in a strange cave similar to the Jade Passage, and encounters the Prince of Kashuan, Scott, and together they descend the cave, finding Josef of Salamand and later the Dragoon Ricard Highwind. Due to these encounters Minwu realizes he is dead. He learns of recent events through Ricard Highwind, such as the Emperor's death and revival as the Lord of Hell. Together, the four fight their way through the path to hell and reach a settlement where they meet Cid, who together with Wild Rose soldiers, established and defend Machanon.

Minwu finds a portal to an area resembling the Chamber of the Seal at the Mysidian Tower, the place where he died. Inside they encounter the Ultima Weapon, who, once defeated, grants Minwu an Ultima Tome. Back in Machanon they find another portal leading to a strange palace, which Minwu deducts to be Pandaemonium, the palace of hell. At the top of the structure they find the Emperor's light side, who tells them they have been chosen into Heaven, not unlike him, whose soul has been split into Good and Evil, and sent to both Heaven and Hell.

Minwu learns that unlike what he thought, he has been traveling through the passage to Heaven, Raqia, and the palace of Heaven, Arubboth. The Emperor offers the party a heavenly afterlife, but a vision of Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon fighting the Hell Emperor awakes Minwu. The party engages the Light Emperor so as to banish both Emperors. Upon his defeat, Minwu can rest in peace knowing that the future of the world is in good hands.

Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū
In the game's official novelization Muma no Meikyū, Minwu's role is quite different. As the entire Ultima plot was cut, Minwu never dies in the novel. Instead, Minwu meets the Emperor's mother, Airu, whom the Emperor had banished to live on the Palamecian deserts after ascending the throne. Airu is looking for a way to save her son, and together with Minwu creates a crystal that has the power to purify the land of demonic influence. Even if it is too late to save the Emperor, Airu and Minwu's crystal is used to destroy the Stone of Iludia, which is revealed to be the resting place of Satan who keeps corrupting all of the Palamecian Emperors, making them evil.

Final Fantasy II Hihō no Dragon
An elderly Minwu appears in this book.

Gameplay
Minwu joins the party knowing several White Magic spells in high levels, but without any experience with weapons or shields. He also has high Spirit and Magic, so his magical proficiency will quickly grow. His ultimate weapon in the Arcane Labyrinth is the Staff of Light, while in Soul of Rebirth he acquires the Stardust Rod.

Depending on Minwu's stats, the Staff of Light may be preferable to the Stardust Rod, as it boosts Minwu's Agility while the Stardust Rod does not, but the Stardust Rod gives a great booster to Magic, Spirit and Intelligence than the Staff of Light. Minwu is a good choice to teach the Ultima spell to in Soul of Rebirth, as his many high-level spells greatly increase Ultima's power.

Initial Abilities

 * Stats


 * Proficiencies
 * Spells

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Minwu makes a cameo as a tutor from the in-game manuals, explaining the battle set-up to the player with Gordon. Minwu is also the name of a Ghost Card. The Minwu ghost is a Level 100 Firion, and has the Yellow Gem and Wild Rose to win by battlegen. Minwu's shield is also used by Firion.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Minwu returns in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals, now explaining the basics of Story Mode.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy


Minwu appears as an unlockable character, and is earned by collecting Silver Shards. Like Firion, his appearance is based on his Yoshitaka Amano art.

His stats and abilites are Defense and Support oriented.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Minwu returns as an unlockable character, and is now be unlocked by collecting Purple Shards.

He is once again Defense and Support oriented.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Minwu is an ally and a summonable Legend. He is depicted in his default Final Fantasy II outfit. His EX ability is Ultima.

Ability Cards=


 * -|Legend Cards=

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Minwu appears with his Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls artworks.

Other references

 * Prior to the 3D release of Final Fantasy IV, the designers notes found in the Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Hen outline that a Sage named Minwu is the founder of Mysidia in Final Fantasy IV. This idea was seemingly discarded or retconned by remakes of the game.
 * In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, the unnamed white mage who joins Ceodore states "Stand back please" before breaking the seal to Devil's Road, mirroring Minwu's act of breaking the Ultima Seal.
 * In Final Fantasy IX, the comment viewable in the inventory on the Protection Bell is signed by "Philosopher Minu." This refers to Minwu, but the connection is lost in translation in the English localization.
 * In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the head accessory Soul of Thamasa is upgraded to the Soul of Minwu upon obtaining it for a third time through New Game+. The Soul of Minwu increases the number of magic attacks before a combo finale but reduces maximum HP by 50% for the schema it is equipped to.
 * One of the artefacts obtained from an Errand in Final Fantasy Tactics is the Orb of Minwu, which appears to be based on a . The description of the Orb of Minwu is as follows: "The soul of Minwu, the First Mage, is said to be sealed within this stone. As such, it is sometimes called the Soul of Minwu. An orb only in name, it is in actuality comma-shaped".
 * In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, there is an accessory called Mindu Gem that blocks a number of status ailments and halves lightning damage. The localization went with the Origins spelling of his name.
 * Similarly, an item in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is called Orb of Minwu. It is an equippable accessory, and makes the wearer immune to almost every debuff in the game. It is the closest thing the player can get to a Ribbon for some races who lack the means to equip one.
 * Ming-Wu is the founder of Mysidia in Chocobo Racing, and is responsible for the division of the great Crystal.
 * The non-Square Enix game  contains a reference to Minwu in the form of "Newmin" who sacrifices himself to allow the player to receive the Ultima Book, which is otherwise useless.

Etymology
Both of these pertain to Minwu.

The name "Minwu" bears a resemblance to Menw.

He is called Minu in the Spanish versions and Min'U in German.

Trivia

 * The male costumes of the Mystic Knight job class in Final Fantasy V resemble Minwu's attire.
 * Minwu is the first playable mage in the series with a name and storyline. He is also the first temporary playable character in the series.
 * To date, Minwu is also the only playable male storyline White Mage in the series, as all others are female.