Mog (Final Fantasy VI)

Mog is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. A moogle Dancer/Geomancer, he also acts as one of the game's tutorial presenters with Kappa the Imp. He lives deep in the mines of Narshe.

Mog is fondly remembered as the first playable Moogle character in the series, as well as the first Moogle to speak human language, a discovery that shocks the party when he thanks them for saving him.

Character and Appearance
Mog is a moogle, about the age of twelve. He has the traditional Moogle look: white fur (though his portrait sprite shows it as a cream color), cat-like ears and little wings.

Mog is shown to be more intelligent than the other moogles, and acts as their leader. He is the only seen moogle who can speak the human language, while the rest just say "Kupo" or variations of it. He is also a bit bossy, seen bossing Umaro to join the party. He uses loose speech and slang terms, such as referring to Ramuh as "that old psycho" in the Super NES release.

Story
Mog first appears to help Locke Cole defend a fallen Terra Branford from the Narshe Guards in the Mines. He and his party of moogles offer assistance, and should one access the Menu during this scene, Mog's equipment can be accessed and removed, indicating his status as a playable character. When the Returners must travel back to Narshe, Mog is used to select which of the three scenarios to complete. Mog can be found in the Moogle home in the mines up until after the Magitek Research Facility is destroyed - he stands against the back wall and says something subtly different from the other Moogles wandering the cave when approached.

At an unspecified point, Ramuh appears to Mog in a series of dreams and orders him to help the party. Through these dreams Mog learns to speak the human language, and decides to listen to Ramuh and join the party once he gets the chance.

It is not until after Terra rejoins the party that Mog is available as a permanent character. If the player chooses to do the sidequest involving Lone Wolf the Pickpocket, they will follow him to the area where Valigarmanda is. Lone Wolf is holding Mog hostage, but Mog breaks free, throwing both himself and Lone Wolf to the cliff's edge. The player must choose between rescuing Mog or Lone Wolf. If Mog is rescued, he reveals his ability to speak, and joins the party. If Lone Wolf is rescued, the party obtains a Gold Hairpin and Mog can only be recruited again in the World of Ruin.

One year after the apocalypse, Mog returned to the moogle cave in the Narshe Mines, but he is the only moogle left, implying that the other moogles had perished. When the party finds him, he automatically rejoins and tells them to find Umaro, who he claims would be helpless without him. After the party finds and beats Umaro in battle, Mog bosses him around and orders the yeti to join the party. If one inspects the spot Mog was standing at when he was found, Molulu's Charm will be found. Incidentally, Molulu was one of the ten moogles, and was present in Mog's party, implying that she was Mog's girlfriend and that relic was Mog's only memory left of her.

Even if Mog is not recruited in the World of Balance, he will still appear in the World of Ruin. However, if Mog is not recruited in the World of Balance, his only way of learning the Water Rondo Dance is through the battle with Leviathan.

Before the final battle, Mog proclaims his motivation to live is his "new pals". In his section of the ending, Mog and Edgar escape Kefka's Tower together, but the floor collapses and Mog is left hanging over a pit. Edgar uses a crane to pull him to safety, but Mog is irritated when Edgar grabs him by his pom-pom to do so, grumbling that he is no stuffed toy.

Battle
Mog is a combination Dancer/Geomancer, and thus his magic stats are high, while his physical stats are low with the exception of his Defense, which is the highest in the game. He can equip spears, daggers, universal shields and lightweight helmets and armor. Along with Gau and Umaro, Mog is one of three characters able to use the Snow Scarf, the most powerful piece of defensive gear in the game.

He also has his own special relic, Molulu's Charm, which eliminates all Random Encounters. Mog's ability is Dance, where he executes one of four random attacks based on the dance. Mog learns new dances by fighting in different terrain, and each dance has its own set of four attacks.

Development
A pre-release version of the game had a different way for Mog to join the party in the World of Ruin. There was supposed to be an extra area near Narshe called "the Moogle Hole", which had 20 moogles running around. The player could (re-)recruit Mog if they could find him among all the other moogles. The developers eventually felt this mini-game of sorts was too annoying and so Mog is considerably easier to find in the game's final version (he just stands alone in the moogle cave in the Narshe mines).

Musical Themes
Mog's theme is named for himself, and is the theme played in the Moogle Cave. The theme recurs throughout the series as the general moogle theme, and is mixed into the Ending.

Mog appears among a crowd of people that includes Final Fantasy VI characters in the gladiator battle of Antiqua. He appears alongside Terra, Locke, Relm, Strago and Umaro.

Trivia

 * In Dissidia Final Fantasy, when Mogstache (the player's Mognet correspondent) is asked about Mog, he says that a moogle fighter is something special, but he "still would have picked the Gold Hairpin-hands down!".
 * Mog makes a little cameo in Dissidia where he dances over the player's character picture for a few seconds when the moogle is summoned.
 * Mog was featured heavily in the original marketing campaign for the SNES version's North American release. Print ads, television ads, and even the cover of the game box played him up as an important character, which is somewhat ironic considering his role as an optional character in the actual game. One of the commercials was Mog auditioning monsters to appear in the game.
 * Similar to Mog from Final Fantasy IX, Mog from Final Fantasy VI has a yellow pompom, an unusual trait among moogles.
 * In Japan, Mog's bloodtype is known to be Black-footed Duck type (黒足アヒル型), as stated by Mog himself when asked for his bloodtype.
 * Despite earlier appearing named "Mog" in both the Narshe Mines battles and when selecting scenarios, the player still has the option to rename him when he is obtained as a playable character.
 * Since Mog is a playable character, his initial equipment while helping Locke to protect Terra is available from the beginning. The player only needs to remove his mythril spear and shield and then reequip them to another character. This is especially useful with Edgar, who is the only other character capable of equipping spears.