Eight

Eight is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0. He represents the number 8 of Class Zero and fights with knuckles.

Appearance
Eight has chestnut hair and eyes. As a member of Class Zero he wears a uniform consisting of a black jacket with gold-padded shoulders and a red mantle. Instead of pants, he wears white capris and boots. Eight's cape is tied around his neck, giving it a scarf-like appearance. Eight uses gloves and fights using martial arts because he hates weapons, believing they take away lives too easily. His summer uniform has a white short-sleeved shirt with a black print on the side, black capris and cape, and white boots. His dress uniform has a red jacket with black-padded shoulders, black capris with a silver trim at the bottom, black boots and a white mantle. If Eight became a l'Cie, his brand would be located on his left calf. He is short, yet nimble.

Personality
Eight is loyal to his adoptive mother, Arecia Al-Rashia. He feels honored of having been picked by her, and when her reputation is on the line, he feels he cannot mess up and risk discrediting her. As he puts it himself, Arecia is Eight's reason to keep going, to make her proud. Eight is sensitive about his height, possibly due to being the shortest boy in the class, but generally holds a calm and rational demeanor.

Final Fantasy Agito
Eight is a member of Class Fifth and dons a yellow-green mantle.

He can be found in the Fountain Plaza during the morning, afternoon and evening.

Final Fantasy Type-0
Quick on his feet, Eight caught the attention of Dr. Al-Rashia of Akademeia's Sorcery Division at young age. After adopting him, she escorted him to a facility near Akademeia where he began training and honing his skills. Eight joined Class Zero, a group of students adopted and assembled by Arecia, enrolled to the magic academy of the nation of Rubrum. Class Zero fights the invasion by the Milites Empire and as part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle," Eight and his comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Tempus Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.

The cadets are deployed to help liberate Akademeia, and after Ace gets his COMM working, he contacts the others, Eight retorting he is "too busy punching people" to talk. After the cadets help liberate Akademeia they are officially enrolled as students, move into the Akademeia dorms, and are deployed to missions to help reclaim the areas conquered by the empire. Despite this they still attend lectures, during which Eight comments Sice is "smarter than she looks" but as a retort she makes fun of his height, angering him.

After the mission to Togoreth Eight laments he's become used to living in Akademeia, pinpointing the key to success as an Agito Cadet being maintaining a balance between study and training, saying that given enough time people can adjust to anything—academics, relationships, and even war.

The cadets are sent to liberate Mi-Go in a joint mission with the Kingdom of Concordia, where Eight and Sice meet with their Concordian contact, a woman with a vendetta against the local imperial commander. After the cadets neutralize the imperial antennas and dispatch the local commanding officers, the Concordian woman confronts the imperial officer. Sice voices her dislike, but Eight points out Sice herself has a similar attitude, which she is quick to deny.

When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. The cadets' commanding officer, Kurasame Susaya, travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety, and afterward explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor.

They meet Queen Andoria of the Kingdom of Concordia who explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis. Eight holds fellow classmate Machina Kunagiri back when his emotions get the better of him, yet, the cadets struggle accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will.

During their free time in the Militesi capital of Ingram Eight laments he can't feel comfortable in enemy territory even during a ceasefire. He recalls how much more powerful the l'Cie they had encountered at the Magitek Facility was than the one they had faced in Akademeia during liberation, saying they were lucky the ceasefire was called. Eight gets a feeling they are under surveillance, but Cater chalks it up to their status as Agito Cadets and the imperials' distrust of them. The two spot a mysterious dominion quaestor talking to an imperial trooper, but dismiss the sighting.

Queen Andoria is assassinated and Class Zero is blamed for it. The cadets are ambushed at the Armada Hotel and the class orderly Aria Luricara is shot by a sniper. Eight urges them to escape and the cadets must fight their way out of the city while unable to contact Central Command raising the possibility they have been abandoned to fend for themselves.

They face off against Celestia, Queen Andoria's ambassador, who, at first, holds them culpable for the regicide, but is convinced otherwise and helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region. After an argument over Machina holding the rest of Class Zero culpable for his brother Izana's death, he marches off.

When Deuce mentions their COMM is working but they can't contact anyone, Cinque points out that the Vermilion Bird Crystal must be fine because Rem—a cadet in their class not augmented by Arecia—can still use magic. Eight speculates something is interfering with their communications, similar to how a crystal jammer cuts one off from their nation's Crystal. Machina returns in the morning, and the cadets move on as Deuce exclaims the COMM is working and she has reached the dominion.

Kurasame organizes for the cadets to be rescued by airship. Back in Akademeia Eight is the first to greet him, but Kurasame is cold and tells the cadets there will likely be an investigation, and implies they had switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous. They hear Andoria has been succeeded by a king who has allied with the empire. Eight speculates it being no coincidence that Concordia changed its approach to foreign policy immediately after the queen's death.

When liberating the town of Meroë Eight runs into Class Second students after the mission is over, and it turns out the other class members were merely decoys whereas Class Zero had been given the true assignment of capturing the imperial aircraft before it could take off. The other cadets are annoyed, but Eight rebuffs them, calling them "noisy."

After the cadets return from a mission to reclaim Eibon, they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces. Class Zero is to be sent with the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet, while Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for the Vermilion Bird Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon.

The cadets help Rubrum secure victory on the eastern front by defeating Shinryu Celestia. The western front is falling back and Class Zero is recalled as reinforcements to destroy the empire's crystal jammer, because as long as it is active, Class Zero is the dominion's only functioning unit, being the only ones who can wield magic independent of the Vermilion Bird Crystal. The cadets succeed allowing for Lady Caetuna to begin summoning Alexander for which Kurasame and many Akademeia cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis.

Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery but cannot comprehend the losses as all memories of Kurasame as well as the others perished have been removed from them by the Vermilion Bird Crystal. Ace says that dwelling in sadness will not do them any good, and Eight replies that even so, they will not forget that the people who died were here and lived in this era.

After Class Zero helps the dominion invade Concordia, Eight and Deuce meet with a fellow cadet Carla Ayatsugi. She returns the investment Class Zero had made in her business, and announces she has used her connections to join the class, much to Eight and Deuce's surprise.

As the final showdown against the empire and its Cid Aulstyne begins, the class is sent to help conquer the imperial capital. As Class Zero is to be deployed Machina disappears. The others go without him and best General Qator Bashtar in his new and improved MA. The empire falls and Orience is united under the Vermilion Bird banner, but as the cadets return to Akademeia they find its cadets and legionaries slain by the Rursan Reavers and the dominion commanders gone: Tempus Finis has begun.

Other cadets reveal the once Code Crimson missions, which Class Zero partook, making the remaining cadets turn against them, blaming them for the ensuing apocalypse. Rem's illness reaches its final stages and she collapses. Arecia tells the others the cadets have lived their lives according to the Will of Crystals recorded in the Akashic Records, but now that the "souls have been released" they can write their own ending, as humans have the power to decide how they live or die, hinting at a vital decision the cadets would soon need to make. Eight laments Akademeia being deathly quiet, yet being unable to remember those who used to liven it up.

Queen calls everyone to the Altocrystarium room where she tells them about the Judge who resides in the newly appeared sanctuary, Pandæmonium, to make the Final Decision: if there is no Agito, Orience will be destroyed by the Rursus. The cadets plan to infiltrate the sanctuary to speak to the Judge while knowing that without Arecia they will not be revived if they fall in battle.

Deuce and Eight talk to Quon Yobatz, a fellow cadet who has devoted his life to magical research stemming from his interpretation that "Agito" would be an individual with mastery over all magic. Finding his magical knowledge useless against the Rursus, Quon believes Agito is but a fairy tale to pacify people in the face of the end times, and reveals that even the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie, Zhuyu, has fallen to the Rursus. Eight comments he had always suspected Machina resented the rest of them for the death of his brother, but admits he may have been wrong and Machina was mostly upset they couldn't help Rem, and with himself for also failing at that task.

The cadets are taken to Pandæmonium by Celestia who loses her humanity and turns into Shinryu Celestia for having defied the Focus given to her by the Azure Dragon Crystal. The cadets head to the top of the temple guided by Cid's voice, who had entered Pandæmonium ahead of them. The Vermilion Bird Crystal asks them to become l'Cie, but if they accept the cadets are slain by the Rursus, Arecia deeming it yet another failed experiment and Orience and, eventually, Class Zero, are reborn in wait for another Tempus Finis.

If they choose to remain mortal, the Vermilion Bird brands Rem, still slumped in Arecia's office back in Akademeia, in their stead, and sends her to intercept a White Tiger l'Cie it had sensed in Pandæmonium, wanting one of the Vermilion Bird to become Agito. As Rem engages the l'Cie she is impaled by his rapier, and it turns out the l'Cie was Machina who had willingly inherited White Tiger Secundus l'Cie Qun'mi Tru'e's Focus to become strong enough to protect Rem. As Rem dies, both enter crystal stasis, the cadets mourning the sight when they happen upon their crystal.

The cadets face off against Cid who has become the Rursan Arbiter, possessed by the fal'Cie Gala. He deems Class Zero unfit to be Agito, and thus sets out to destroy Orience. Machina and Rem's crystal bestows the cadets with their power allowing them to prevail, but like the rest of Class Zero, Eight meets his end after they vanquish the Judge. At first they despair their impending deaths, but decide to cheer each other up by talking about all the things they would do in a war-free Orience. Eight suggests studying something other than combat, getting a mixed reaction.

The mysterious Tiz and Joker, who had been observing the class's progress, ask for Arecia to listen to the class's wishes from beyond the grave. By listening to their souls Arecia learns the class loves her, but have made their own decision on how they met their end and do not wish to be revived. Arecia releases Machina and Rem from crystal stasis and instead of restarting the spiral, departs from Orience, abandoning the experiment to find Etro's gate with the Agito. The Crystals fade and people are allowed to remember the dead, Machina and Rem holding dear the memories of Class Zero.

During the alternate ending where Arecia removes the Crystals from Orience's history, Eight lives a peaceful life with the rest of the members of Class Zero. He paces under a ledge, happy that his and Cater's names are similar (with the Japanese pronunciation), saying they were made for each other. A tardy Cater jump down from the ledge as a means of a shortcut to get to her next class. She loses her balance upon noticing him, and despite Eight saying that he will catch her, Cater falls on top of him, knocking them both unconscious.

Gameplay
Eight wields knuckles and fights with kicks and punches. In his abilities marked as Styles, directional inputs with the control stick allow him to execute a variety of moves at no cost of the ability gauge. The player can cancel Eight's attacks to make infinite combos, as well as quickly maneuver to an opponent's side and gain extra damage for executing back attacks. Mixing all these allows the use of his true potential.

A downside to Eight's battle style is his range; as most of his attacks are close ranged, he will struggle trying to get close to long ranged enemies or reach airborne enemies. His MP pool is low and his damaging special attacks consume a lot of the ability gauge.

As compensation, Eight is quick. Both his movement speed and attack speed are on par or better, than that of fellow classmates Cater and Rem. Since his attacks are quickly executed, Eight can abuse the Killsight function like Eight's body tends to step out before attacking, saving players the need to get close to their opponents, and his Styles balance his ability gauge heavy attacks, allowing him a variety of quick attacks and patterns.

Eight's quick and aggressive battle style is suitable for players with an aggressive play style. Alongside Cater, he is an ideal character to use to solo a level with ground-based enemies. With proper equipment and well-timed dodges and attacks, Eight can easily become a lethal force in the right hands.

Equipment
Unlike the rest of the weapons in the game, knuckles do not have a weapon model because Eight's knuckles are nothing more than a gameplay element. He fights barehanded. Eight's exclusive accessory is the "Transcendent Scroll", which increases his Strength by 80, decreases all his magic stats by 40, and grants Auto Endure status.


 * Brass Knuckles
 * Silver Knuckles
 * Killer Knuckles
 * Heavy Knuckles
 * Platinum Knuckles
 * Iron Fists
 * Boxing Gloves
 * Steel Claws
 * Mythril Gloves
 * Diamond Fists
 * Adamant Knuckles
 * Godhands
 * Master Fists
 * Golden Hands
 * Kaiser Knuckles
 * Demon Fists (ultimate weapon)

Support Personnel
Some Support Personnel characters in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD appear as Eight: Hideo Masu (Drummer for Bump of Chicken), Rina Okumoto (Battle Animator), Taisuke Ooe (Lead Character Action Designer), and Hashimoto Meijin (Executive Producer).

Creation and development
Eight's hairstyle appears to be mostly mirror reflection with minor remodeling.

Before the complete release of Final Fantasy Type-0, Eight's Form abilities were initially named with themes related to bodies of water and weather, before having their current themes of more spell-orientated and dynamic phenomena. The only remaining unchanged form ability is Hurricane Kata (in the Japanese version).

Voice
Eight is voiced by in the Japanese version. He shares his Japanese voice actor with and  from the  series.

In English, he is voiced by Jeff Fischer who also provided voice for Yuj from Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Eight appears as a Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.

Ability Cards=

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle
Eight appears as a playable character in the Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle sponsored by Amazon. His attacks are Brass Knuckles, Swiftwind Stance and Blizzard.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Eight appears in the Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy-themed trading card game published by Square Enix.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Lost Zero
The Class Zero uniform and weapons of Eight and other class members can be obtained in the game as part of a collaboration event with Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy Agito.

Gallery

 * Final Fantasy Type-0 (contains spoilers)

Etymology
"Eight" is one of the trumps of a traditional set of playing cards.

Trivia

 * Eight's fighting style and his fainting animation are similar to Zell Dincht from Final Fantasy VIII, while his stances resemble moves in staple fighting games, such as Street Fighter and King of Fighters.
 * According to the Type-0 novel, Eight wishes to become a competitive martial artist upon leaving Class Zero.
 * Eight's unique accessory, the Scrolls of Enlightenment, is a reference to historic accounts and collected insight on the Buddhist perspectives of magic; despite heralded as great powers of legend and awesome might in its own lore, Buddhist accounts hold deeply that magic by itself as an action is to be that of miraculous and temporary effort to instead clear paths in the world to ease the way to enlightenment, where that of the ordinary is to be valued as the answers to one's spiritual growth and that true magic is inherent and harnessed in all things by living life with virtue.