Emperor Mateus/Dissidia (PSP)

The Emperor is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is a man capable of performing immensely powerful magic. With an iron fist, he will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives. As one of the higher-ranked villains, he plots with Ultimecia to take control of the world, rather than most of the other villains who seek to destroy it. His desire to rule all stands in opposition to Firion's dream of a world free of war and oppression.

He is set to return, along with the other characters from Dissidia, in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Attire
The Emperor's outfit is based on his Amano artwork from Final Fantasy II. The Emperor wears gold and purple armor with a purple cape, and has long blond hair. His armor is decorated with small spikes, purple and white stripes, and demonic faces including one on his back obscured by his hair. His gauntlets sport extended claws. On his head sits a purple crown with a snake head emerging from it, a possible allusion to his form as the Emperor of Hell which has a crown of multiple snake heads. The Emperor's first alternate outfit is a black and white outfit with gray and lavender tones, based on an image of the main cast of Final Fantasy II. His second alternate outfit is directly based on his appearance in the Final Fantasy Origins FMV, giving him an elaborate robe primarily black with dark purple details, knee-high boots and a large purple sash around his waist. The Emperor's hair is styled differently, and he bears a single larger pair of horns.

The Emperor's Manikin version, Imitation Despot, is colored yellow with orange highlights.

Dissidia 012
In the TGS trailer, the Emperor meets with Golbez as he tells him how no one among the Warriors of Cosmos has any memory of the true nature of the conflict between Cosmos and Chaos. He later plays a role in Jecht becoming a Warrior of Chaos.

Destiny Odyssey
The Emperor is allied with Ultimecia, and together the two execute a plan to destroy Cosmos and end the cycle of war in Chaos's favor. As part of the plan, the Emperor convinces Jecht that he will be able to return to his homeworld with Tidus if he helps him. The other villains follow the Emperor's plans, which include testing the heroes' resolve and eventually allowing them to claim their Crystals. The Emperor and Ultimecia approach Sephiroth and offer him a role in their alliance, but are rejected. The Emperor notices Bartz spying on them but allows him to escape, having sensed the Warrior of Light approaching, and instead dispatches Exdeath to pursue Bartz. Though the Emperor attempts to bribe his loyalty by presenting a fake Crystal, the Warrior of Light sees through the deception. After the Warrior tells him that the Crystals are not earned by mercy, but by strength, the Emperor attacks him. He loses and disappears, but not before he questions the Warrior's resolve, telling him that he will know the whole truth of the battle soon enough. At some point later, Kefka ends up meeting with Emperor Mateus about what Sephiroth is planning. Kefka does not seem to care, as he feels that Sephiroth is not really special due to the fact that he is "Yet another sadistic maniac with a god complex." Kefka seemed to react with surprise when he learned from Mateus that Sephiroth apparently killed himself in front of Mateus in the last battle. They then decide to keep an eye on Sephiroth.

When Jecht and Tidus confront each other, the Emperor halts them and tells Jecht that Tidus wishes to fight him out of hatred, which goes against their plan. Jecht departs and the Emperor battles Tidus himself, telling him he cannot find his Crystal if he fights for hatred. Shortly after, Golbez speaks to Jecht and questions his role in the Emperor's plan, implying the Emperor will ultimately betray his trust. Later, Jecht learns the Emperor's true plan and refuses to assist him any further, and attacks him. Tidus and Firion witness the fight, and Tidus leaves to follow Jecht and fight him. The Emperor appears to Firion afterward and questions Firion's goal in comparison to his friends, who have abandoned him to fulfill their desires. When Firion says he wishes to end the war, the Emperor mocks him, and Ultimecia appears to battle Firion. Though she loses, both Ultimecia and the Emperor accuse Firion of being too weak to fulfill his dream, and tell him he is nothing more than Cosmos's tool. In spite of the Emperor's words, Firion is newly inspired by Cosmos and continues on. The Emperor encounters Firion again at the Dimensional Fortress, taunting him by saying that his dream is too foolish to come to realization. The Emperor subdues Firion, but Tidus and Cloud arrive to defend their comrade. The Emperor flees, inviting Firion to come battle him alone and prove himself. The two meet in Pandaemonium, and battle, and Firion is victorious and claims his Crystal. The Emperor begins to fade, but taunts Firion about his goal to end the war once again, claiming his dream will be crushed and Firion will be begging for the Emperor's rule.

Shade Impulse
After Chaos kills Cosmos, the Emperor reveals Jecht's true nature as a former warrior of Cosmos, and that he manipulated Jecht to fight Tidus to create his own versions of the Crystals attuned to darkness rather than light. As the Crystals the Warriors of Cosmos gathered protected them, the "dark" Crystals the Emperor seized from Jecht will allow him to survive after Chaos destroys existence, leaving him reign over the remnants of reality and become the new god. Golbez confronts the Emperor on this, both of their schemes exposed, and Golbez claims that he believes the Warriors of Cosmos have the power to destroy Chaos and restore the worlds to their former state.

The Emperor later exposes his survival to the other Warrior of Cosmos, to which he explained to Firion when he remarked with surprise at his survival that he came back from the afterworld, as well as mentioning that the world is in dire need of a new ruler. Firion lashes that its because of fiends like the Emperor that conflict never fades. The Emperor then implies that things are going to get worse afterwards: due to Cosmos' death, the other Warriors of Chaos have split into separate factions: One seeks to return the world to the Void, the other intends to annihilate the world outright, and that each one is following what their hearts desire. He also remarks that the future is not the Warriors of Cosmos to give or take, and remarks that they'll be his opening act until the beginning of his reign before he teleports away.

Later, the Emperor meets the Warriors of Cosmos and reveals how it was his plan (and to a greater extent, the plans of the other villains) that ensured they gathered the Crystals so Cosmos could be killed. By gathering the Crystals, Cosmos relinquished her power and died, finally breaking the cycle of war. The Emperor tells the warriors he will rule over existence after Chaos is killed. After Zidane, the Onion Knight, and Cecil each defeat their nemeses, Kuja, the Cloud of Darkness, and Golbez, respectively, the Emperor attacks the warriors but is again defeated. However, he claims he will return once again as long as Chaos exists, and fades away with an anguished cry.

Battle
The Emperor is described as a "Trap Master", and his arsenal consists of various traps, such as exploding mines and crests of energy which can paralyze the opponent. Most of his attacks, including his Flare HP attacks, allow the Emperor to continue moving and attacking to pressure the opponent, or give him time to charge up his signature Starfall attack. As a downside, his victory largely depends on the terrain and plane - in smaller areas his traps are more difficult to avoid, but in larger areas he has more room to lay said traps and for his Flare spell to track enemies. Most of his Brave attacks can be blocked or dashed through, and some can be reflected to damage the Emperor. Of particular note is that if the opponent uses a guard-crushing attack to reflect the Emperor's Flare, it will begin to track the Emperor himself instead.

Boss
The Emperor is fought in Destiny Odyssey I, II, and X, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.

EX Mode
Absolute Dominion UMGP4cgaTCI The Emperor's EX Mode is Power of Hellfire, where he takes on the form of the Emperor of Hell, his form when faced as the final boss of Final Fantasy II. His body becomes bulkier, his clothing is darker with more pronounced spikes, and his face and crown become demonic in appearance. While in EX Mode he gains the ability "Blood Magic", where any HP damage the Emperor inflicts on the opponent will be converted into HP for himself, in addition to gradual healing from Regen.

The Emperor's EX Burst, Absolute Dominion, requires the player to press a sequence of buttons as they light up around the Emperor as he charges energy. If the player fails to execute all five commands correctly in time, the Emperor attacks with the opponent with Cyclone. If the player gets all five commands correct, the Emperor uses Entice, attacking the opponent with beams of energy, to which his human form briefly makes an appearance while using the attack.

Equipment
The Emperor is able to equip Swords, Daggers, Staves, Rods, Bangles, Hats, Hairpins, Clothing, and Robes.

Allusions

 * The Emperor's EX Burst attack Cyclone is a reference to the Cyclone he used to destroy the Kingdom of Fynn in Final Fantasy II.
 * In Shade Impulse C2-5, the Emperor’s exclaims "How could I lose...not once but twice? Who ARE you?". This is the same as his final words in Final Fantasy II. His dialogue in Shade Impulse C2-1, "I've come back from the afterworld", is derived from when he returned from Hell.
 * When the Emperor battles a mirror match, his fight introduction is "This world can have but one emperor!" He originally said these words to Leon, who had declared himself the new emperor in Final Fantasy II after the Emperor's death.
 * The Emperor's death cry "Ungaahhhh!" is his trademark death wail from Final Fantasy II. He makes the same cry when defeated in battle and in a cutscene in Shade Impulse. As a reference to this, Tidus' fight introduction against the Emperor is "What's this 'Ungaahh!' business?".
 * The Emperor's HP attacks Flare and Starfall are references to the Emperor's final form in Final Fantasy II, where Flare XVI and Starfall X were his sole offensive attacks besides physical blows. His Bravery attacks appear to be lightning-based, reflecting the boss battle with his human form, where Thunder X was his only offensive spell. In Final Fantasy II when fought as the final boss, the Emperor's physical attacks healed him, reflected in Dissidia by the Emperor's EX Mode bonus "Blood Magic".
 * The Emperor's ground Flare fires a blue fireball, while his midair Flare fires an orange fireball. In most Final Fantasy titles the animation for Flare is orange, but in Final Fantasy II its animation is blue.
 * In Shade Impulse, the Emperor says "Death, life, even the divine shall come under my rule!". This may be an allusion to the Soul of Rebirth quest in the Game Boy Advance and PSP releases of Final Fantasy II, where the Emperor's dark side conquers hell, while his light side ascends to Heaven and becomes the lord of Arubboth. There is possibly a similar allusion in the fact that the Emperor's final death in Dissidia involves both darkness and a small amount of light emanating from his disappearing body.
 * It also references the death animation of the Dark Emperor in the PSX and GBA remakes.
 * When the Emperor faces Cecil and asks "Ought you not be on our side?", it is also a possible reference to when the Empire converted Leon into a Dark Knight.

Trivia

 * The Emperor's Starfall attack has the longest charge time of any attack in the game, requiring more than eight seconds to execute.
 * Other than Garland, the Emperor is the only Warrior of Chaos to speak to Chaos himself.
 * Though his artwork depicts him holding his staff with his left hand, in-game the Emperor carries it with his right, a peculiarity also shared by Tidus and Jecht.
 * In the original Japanese release, the Emperor had the fewest HP attacks in the game, with only Flare and the ground and aerial versions of Starfall.
 * In the Battle Tips menu, Penelo has a very negative opinion of the Emperor, despising him for his love of domination and subjugation and even claiming that she does not "even want to see that guy's face!". This is a reference to the hatred she bore against the Archadian Empire which invaded her homeland, Dalmasca.
 * From the Emperor's quotes to the other characters, the only ones that seem to have his respect are Ultimecia and Shantotto.

Emperador Mateus/Dissidia