Golbez



Golbez (ゴルベーザ Gorubēza), real name Theodor Harvey (セオドール・ハーヴィ Seodōru Hāvi), is a non-player character in Final Fantasy IV. He is the main antagonist for most of the game, a powerful half-Lunarian sorcerer and brother to the game's protagonist Cecil Harvey, although neither of them knows this for the majority of the game. Golbez eventually usurps Cecil's command of the Red Wings, the powerful air force of Baron, and through them successfully carries out his goals, only to be thwarted and alerted of his true origins, at which point he turns on Zemus, the true antagonist who was controlling him telepathically, and attempts to defeat him with the help of Fusoya.

Golbez was notably the first antagonist of the series to be telepathically controlled by another (while King Gorn Restor from Final Fantasy III preceded him, he was not actually fought in battle by the party), more malicious true villain, and was also the second villain to be a blood relative of the protagonist (Leon from Final Fantasy II, the brother of Maria, was the first). Golbez is also known for his dramatic and foreboding theme music and was the first villain of the series to get his own theme.

In the English localization of the DS version, Golbez is.

Childhood
Theodor Harvey was born to Kluya and Cecilia in Baron. While growing up, he always wondered why his father was fascinated by the moon and was unaware of his father's origins as a Lunarian. His father would not tell him until he had mastered the arts of magic. Theodor boasts that he can cast magic, but when his father asks if he's even mastered the Cure spell, he admits he can't. When Theodor returns home afterwards, he sees his mother collapsed on the floor. She tells him she's okay, and that she's just tired from carrying her next child. Excited about having a brother, Theodor goes to bed.

Later, Kluya is attacked by the very magic he had taught people. When Kluya wonders if it was right to teach the people of Earth magic, Theodor assures his father it was, comforting his father in his final moments. As Kluya passes on, Theodor tries to cast Cure on him, but is unable to. When Cecilia finally gives birth, she dies in labor. Unsure what to do, Theodor takes the child and runs away. As he runs, he hears a voice telling him that the baby was the one responsible for taking his mother and father away from him, and that he was worthless for letting it happen. The voice then tells him that he isn't worthy of his current name, and starts calling him Golbez. The infant grows to become Golbez's brother Cecil Harvey.

In reality, the voice was Zemus. Combined with Golbez's Lunarian blood and his hatred of his younger brother, Zemus is easily able to influence his mind and take control of it. Golbez subsequently loses many of his memories and begins to gather the Crystals to summon the Giant of Babil. The Giant would then depopulate the planet so that the Lunarians, presumably under Zemus' control or command, could live there rather than stay in stasis inside the moon.

Lord Captain of the Red Wings
Taking control of the four Archfiends sent to him by Zemus, Golbez has Cagnazzo assassinate the King of Baron and impersonate him, using the Red Wings to steal the Crystal of Water from Mysidia. However, Cecil, Lord Captain of the Red Wings, is hesitant over his orders and is removed from duty when he returns and questions the King's actions. Golbez takes his place as commander and attacks Damcyan, stealing the Crystal of Fire in an attack that killed a young woman named Anna, daughter of a powerful sage, Tellah. In response, Tellah swears revenge against Golbez and sets out to kill the sorcerer at any cost. Meanwhile, Cecil assembles a group of allies, including Yang Fang Leiden and Prince Edward Chris von Muir of Damcyan, and heads to Fabul where the third crystal is kept.

With the warning from Cecil and Yang of the impending attack, the King of Fabul tightens the defenses of the castle, and Golbez is eventually forced to enter the castle himself with Cecil's friend Kain Highwind, who he has taken control of telepathically. With Cecil wounded by Kain, Golbez effortlessly strikes down Yang and Edward, taking the Crystal of Air and also kidnapping Rosa Farrell, the woman with whom Cecil and Kain are both in love.

After this, Golbez takes all three crystals to the Tower of Zot. Once he receives word Cecil is attempting to climb Mount Ordeals and become a Paladin, he dispatches Scarmiglione to kill him. When this fails, Cecil then returns to Baron and kills Cagnazzo, restoring Baron to the peaceful nation it once was. However, Golbez had already stolen the Red Wings and placed Kain in command. Kain rendezvous with Cecil and offers to return Rosa if Cecil brings them the final Crystal from Troia. Cecil retrieves the Crystal from the Dark Elf and brings it to the Tower of Zot.

Climbing the Tower, Cecil hands over the Crystal, but Golbez refuses to return Rosa. Enraged, Tellah pushes Cecil aside and confronts Golbez. After fruitlessly casting his best spells, Tellah sacrifices his life to cast the ultimate magic, Meteor. Although Tellah dies shortly after, Golbez is severely weakened and his control over Kain is broken. Golbez retreats, and strikes down Cecil when he attempts to follow. At this time, Golbez apparently recognizes his brother, and hesitates to deliver the finishing blow. Although Cecil is confused, Golbez announces he will destroy him at another time and leaves the tower.

Afterwards, Cecil and his companions enter the Underworld, where Golbez has already gone to find the next four Crystals, of which he already has two. After defeating his minion Calcabrina in the Dwarves' Castle, Golbez appears and tells Cecil his plan. Cecil and his friends attack Golbez to no avail, and Golbez summons a Dragon to kill them. Rydia intervenes with her Mist Dragon, defeating Golbez's dragon, and with her assistance Golbez is defeated. However, he is again only weakened and manages to take the crystal before escaping.

Awakened
After this, Golbez does not appear for some time, until he takes control of Kain again in the Sealed Cavern and has him take the final crystal. With this, Golbez activates the Tower of Babil to call the Giant of Babil. Cecil and his companions in turn retrieve the airship known as the Lunar Whale and go to the Moon, where they meet Fusoya who tells them that Zemus is controlling Golbez and returns to Earth with them.

On Earth, the Giant begins its attack, and with the help of the combined forces of the Overworld and Underground, Cid Pollendina flies Cecil and his friends into the Giant. After destroying the Giant's core, Golbez emerges and Fusoya shatters Zemus' control of him. Golbez promptly remembers who he is, surprising Cecil with the knowledge he has been fighting his own brother. Golbez and Fusoya leave to go to the Moon and defeat Zemus.

Following them, Cecil and his companions find Golbez and Fusoya battling Zemus. Although they easily defeat him, Zemus is quickly reborn as Zeromus, and their attacks fail. Golbez uses a Crystal to try and turn the tide, but as he has lived a life of darkness he fails and Zeromus strikes them both down. Golbez then gives the Crystal to Cecil, and he and his companions are able to use it to make Zeromus corporeal and defeat him. After the battle, Golbez confronts Cecil with calling him "brother" before the battle, although Cecil does not respond. Realizing that he is unforgivable for his crimes, by Cecil and the people of Earth, Golbez decides to go to the Lunar Sleep with Fusoya. He leaves, but Cecil calls out to him and says goodbye before he does, indicating he may forgive him after all. In the DS release, Golbez's armor vanishes as he walks away, showing how he looked before Zemus took control of him.

Soon after this, Cecil ascends to the throne of Baron, and the Lunarian's moon leaves the earth's orbit. Cecil receives one final telepathic message from Golbez, saying good-bye.

Final Fantasy IV the After: Tsuki no Kikan
Shortly after Ceodore departs on his journey to obtain his Proof of Knighthood, Golbez awakens from a nightmare in which he falls in battle to Cecil. Examining his surroundings, he feels uneasy, and makes his way to the Crystal room, where he finds that the Lunarian Crystals are glowing red. He joins with Fusoya, and the two ultimately set out for the Blue Planet to investigate the cause.

Golbez is initially introduced to players as the Man in Black (黒衣の男, Kokui no Otoko), in Rydia's Chapter, as a mysterious man with gray hair dressed in a black mantle and kilt, who rescues Rydia and Luca by defeating Titan, which had been summoned by the Mysterious Maiden. Though Rydia doesn't recognize him, he urges them to travel to Babil, where they eventually unite with Edge and the Eblan Four in Edge's Chapter.

Cecil has also named his son, Ceodore, after his brother. At the start of the final chapter, Golbez takes a mortal hit for his younger brother from a sinister Dark Knight doppelganger, giving Cecil the will to fight on in the process. Golbez dies once Cecil dispatches the doppelganger.

Power
As one would expect of the game's antagonist, Golbez is shown to be an incredibly powerful mage. He is capable of teleportation and telepathy, and can even take control of minds, although his ability to do this seems limited. He is able to critically injure party members out of battle with bolts of energy and is somewhat immune to physical harm, as he shrugs off Tellah's spells at first. However, once struck by Meteor, the protagonists are able to defeat Golbez in battle with ease the next day. One could also assume that, due to his command of the Red Wings, that Golbez is a cunning battle tactician.

In Battle


Although Golbez is not a playable character, he does have a sprite defined for combat. He attacks Zemus with FuSoYa and knows Blizzaga, Firaga, Thundaga and Meteor, as well as a "Twin Meteor" spell as a Twin spell with Fusoya. Golbez is fought once as a boss and knows several strong spells. He also summons a Dragon to attack Cecil, the only time in the game he is seen summoning. In the Super NES and Gameboy Advance releases, Golbez has a simple attack pattern, but in the DS release, he acquires elemental weaknesses and resistances, casts stronger magic than before and is overall a much more difficult enemy.

Final Fantasy IV
Prior to being awakened, Golbez had the ability to summon the Shadow Dragon, and casts high-level Black Magic during the boss battle with him. During the battle against Zemus, he casts Level 3 Black Magic spells. As a child Golbez was attempting to learn Cure, and perhaps other White Magic, but he seemingly has no capabilities of this as an adult.

Final Fantasy IV the After
Though first introduced as an NPC, Golbez becomes playable from the outset of the Lunarian Chapter. He initially has access to the Intimidate ability, which causes an enemy to become paralyzed, and Provoke, which draws enemy attacks toward him. He soon gains access to Black Magic, and has the following spells:


 * Fire
 * Fira
 * Firaga
 * Blizzard
 * Blizzara
 * Blizzaga
 * Thunder
 * Thundara
 * Thundaga
 * Bio
 * Osmose
 * Drain

He is also able to Band with Fusoya in order to perform Double Black Magic.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control of a number of Crystals, resulting in total control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Golbez is one of these villains. He stands as the villain opposing Cecil Harvey. Golbez's design is heavily based on his original artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. He wears black armor with gold and blue trimmings, with a large cape and oversized shoulder armor. Despite this, he shows no difficulty in leaping and moving as swiftly as any other character.

Golbez's appearances have been limited, but he has been seen speaking with Sephiroth. Sephiroth questions Golbez's search for light, and Golbez claims he needs "light" to accomplish some unspecified goal. The two also appear together when the villains meet at the Chaos Shrine, implying they may be working together. Golbez also battles Cecil on the Red Moon, and taunts Cecil with his choice to use the power of humans as his strength, making allusions to the losses and betrayals Cecil has experienced from his comrades. In the CG sequences he appears fighting Bartz Klauser, levitating rocks and boulders using his magical powers. Golbez has been described as a "Double Command" attacker. Golbez attacks using his magic and can execute long-range and short-range attacks at once, allowing players to combine attack patterns for better efficiency. However, his is overall a long-range fighter. His EX Mode allows him to conjure and fuse with the Shadow Dragon, and in his EX Burst, "Double Moons", the player must input commands for both to perform(directionals and face buttons). The Dissidia Ultimania guide book reveals that Golbez unleashes a double Meteo attack like in FFIV during Double Moons.

Golbez will be voiced by Takeshi Kaga of Iron Chef fame, on the Japanese version of the game, reprising his role from the DS version.

Music
Golbez's music is titled "Golbez, Clad in Darkness" and played often in the game. It uses a haunting organ-like sound and is immediately recognizable in comparison to the other songs in the game. A remix of the tune is used in the Tower of Zot and as the Four Archfiends theme. The title of the theme has also been translated as "Golbez, Clad in the Dark" on official soundtracks.

Etymology
"Theodore" is a common name of Greek origin, meaning "Gift from God."

"Golbeza" is a mistranslation of Golubaeser (also known as Golubac Fly), a type of black fly named for the town of Golubac in Serbia, as Golubaeser and Golbez(a) are written the same way in katakana (ゴルベーザ). According to folk legends, the venomous flies were born from the body of a decomposing dragon, a fitting metaphor for what became of Theodor. This is further emphasized during Golbez's flashback scene in the DS version, where Zemus taunts Theodor by calling him an insect that was "born from womb of dragon's corpse," both a reference to the Golubac Fly and a corruption of the first line of the Mysidian Legend. Golubaeser is also the name of a demon in the book "Devils" by J. Charles Wall, from which several other names in Final Fantasy IV were drawn. It is also speculated that Golbez may have been inspired by Darth Vader from Star Wars. Ironically, He shares the same voice actor with the latter, James Earl Jones.