Chaos (Final Fantasy)/Dissidia

Chaos is the main antagonist of Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is the god of destruction that opposes Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, both being equal in power. However, Chaos summons villains from other worlds to seize control of the Crystals, tipping the balance of power in his favor and setting the stage for the events of the game.

Chaos is voiced by Norio Wakamoto in the Japanese release, and Keith David in the English release.

Appearance
Chaos' appearance is based on his original artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. He appears as a four-arm fiend in dark and red hues, with wings sprouting from his back and a demonic face with large horns. He also has an alternate form that can be changed to in battle, which is a palette swap based on the in-game sprite from the original Final Fantasy. In the opening FMV, he takes the form of a creature made of magma, emerging from the earth, in contrast to the cloudy form of Cosmos in the same cutscene.

Shade Impulse
After the ten Warriors of Cosmos retrieve the crystals, they return to Cosmos' throne and attempt to use the Crystals to restore Cosmos' strength. However, Chaos himself appears and incinerates the goddess before the eyes of the heroes. With her final strength, Cosmos' spirit protects the heroes from fading back to their worlds, giving them one final chance to strike back at Chaos and end the war for good.

As the heroes journey to Chaos and strike down the other villains, it is revealed that Chaos, like the other characters, has no memories of the previous cycles of the war. However, he admits to Garland that he had a dream of a world where he suppressed disorder, and ruled this happy world alongside Cosmos, though he cannot understand what this dream means. Garland then reveals to Chaos that he was the one who guided him to begin the war, and that Chaos will send Garland into the past to become Chaos himself. Garland also claims he did this to serve the purposes of the "Great Will", though he does not say why.

With all his warriors defeated, Chaos regains his memories of the previous cycles, and resolves to end the cycle and destroy all existence. In a final battle, the heroes vanquish Chaos and return to their own worlds.

Battle


Chaos is fought as boss twice, as the final boss of both Shade Impulse and Inward Chaos, as well as for a third time in the Time Attack sub-mode in Arcade Mode (North American, European, and Australian releases only). Chaos fights with long and powerful fire and earth-themed combos as well as his claws, and can easily obliterate careless opponents. He also has access to the unique summon Shinryu, which can activate one of several random effects and can be summoned multiple times in one battle. Chaos must be beaten three times in succession in any battle in order to be deemed defeated.

Music
Chaos has his own theme, with vocals, included in the game, titled Chaos. The band "Your Favorite Enemies" performs this song for the game.

Allusions

 * Chaos' ultimate attack, involving four swords that stab the arena, is a reference to the summon Chaos in the world of Ivalice, which itself is a reference to the original Chaos. The final blow is called "Brink of Delusion", a synonym for Final Fantasy.
 * When the Warriors of Cosmos confront Chaos on his throne, he is sitting in the same pose as Yoshitaka Amano's original artwork of Chaos in Final Fantasy.
 * In several instances during the story, Chaos's eyes flash in the same way his eyes flash while using Blaze, Tsunami, Tornado or Earthquake in the later remakes of Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * Although Chaos' official artwork depicts him facing to the right, as the artwork of the other villains do, his logo artwork and in-game character icon face to the left, as the artwork of the heroes do.
 * He is the only character to be fought three times in succession.
 * Though he is not a playable character, Chaos can be played using hacks. There are a few problems with this though - Chaos has no victory pose, no EX Mode, while using him the opponent's HP bar will not appear, and when using his "Utter Chaos" attack in an arena other than Edge of Madness the camera angles will swing through and inside the arena floor and walls.
 * After completing Shade Impulse, an option that allows the player to face Chaos in Quick Battle mode and Arcade mode (Western releases only) will become available to purchase in the PP Catalog. However, like the Shade Impulse and Inward Chaos battles, Chaos can only be fought at Edge of Madness and the save replay function is not available.