Minwu

Minwu, known officially in Japan as Ming-Wu and Mindu in the Origins version, is one of the temporarily playable characters from Final Fantasy II, as well as the protagonist of Soul of Rebirth. A White Wizard from Mysidia, he works as Fynn's Royal Mage, and after Fynn's takeover by the Palamecian Empire, he becomes Princess Hilda's right-hand man who will do anything to help the Wild Rose Rebellion.

Minwu is alluded to in several other installments, always as a great mage of lore.

Final Fantasy II
Minwu has long served the Fynn royal family as their personal mage and healer. Fleeing Fynn with Princess Hilda and the King during the Empire's attack, he helps set up the rebel base in Altair. When Hilda finds Firion and his friends badly beaten in the woods near Fynn, Minwu heals their wounds, sensing "a strong life force" within Firion.

After Hilda accepts Firion, Maria and Guy into the resistance, Minwu accompanies them to Salamand, and further to the Semitt Falls to find mythril for their cause. They fight their way through the falls, and manage to rescue enslaved peasants from Salamand from the Empire and obtain the mythril. After returning to the Rebellion, Minwu joins the party into infiltrating the Empire's operations at Bafsk and sabotaging the Dreadnought. However, once they reach the behemoth airship, its construction has been already been concluded.

Once the party returns to Altair, they discover the King of Fynn's injuries have worsened, and Minwu stays in Altair to attend to the King. After the party destroys the Dreadnought and rescues Hilda alongside Gordon, the King of Fynn dies of his wounds, and with his final breath, tells Minwu to travel to Mysidia to find the Ultima Tome. Minwu agrees to his king's last request and sets out straight away.

The party eventually follows Minwu's quest after Fynn's liberation and hear he's departed for the Mysidian Tower in Mysidia. There, he finds a seal blocking the way to the Ultima Tome, and waits for the party to arrive. He offers to break the seal, using all of his power, at the cost of his own life. Telling the rest of the party not to mourn, he perishes in the Chamber of the Seal.

However, this was not the end of his journey. Not much later, Minwu awakes in a strange cave similar to the Jade Passage, and encounters the Prince of Kashuan, Scott, and together they descend the cave, eventually finding Josef of Salamand and later the Dragoon Ricard Highwind. Due to these encounters he realizes he is now dead. He also learns of recent events through Ricard Highwind, such as the Emperor's death and revival as the Lord of Hell. Together, the four fight their way through the path to hell and eventually reach a settlement where they meet Cid, who together with Wild Rose soldiers, established and defend Machanon.

Minwu finds a portal to an area resembling the Chamber of the Seal at the Mysidian Tower, the place where he died. Inside they encounter the Ultima Weapon, who, once defeated, grants Minwu an Ultima Tome. Back in Machanon they find another portal leading to a strange palace, which Minwu deducts to be Pandaemonium, the palace of hell. At the top of the structure they find the Emperor's light side, who tells them they have been chosen into Heaven, not unlike him, whose soul has been split into Good and Evil, and sent to both Heaven and Hell.

Minwu also learns that unlike what he thought, he has been traveling through the passage to Heaven, Raqia, and the palace of Heaven, Arubboth. The Emperor offers the party a heavenly afterlife, but suddenly a vision of Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon fighting the Hell Emperor awakes Minwu. The party engages the Light Emperor in battle, so as to banish the Emperors. Upon his defeat, Minwu can finally rest in peace knowing that the future of the world is in good hands.

Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū
In the game's official novelization Muma no Meikyū Minwu's role is quite different. As the entire Ultima plot was cut, Minwu never dies in the novel. Instead, Minwu meets the Emperor's mother, Airu, whom the Emperor had banished to live on the Palamecian deserts after ascending the throne. Airu is looking for a way to save her son, and together with Minwu creates a crystal that has the power to purify the land of demon influence. Even if it is too late to save the Emperor, Airu and Minwu's crystal is used to destroy the Stone of Iludia, which is revealed to be the resting place of a demon that keeps corrupting all of the Palamecian Emperors, making them evil.

Stats and Traits
Minwu joins the party knowing several White Magic spells in high levels, so the player should train him with a staff to raise up his Magic. His ultimate weapons, the Stardust Rod and the Staff of Light, grant huge Spirit, Intelligence and Magic bonuses, enhancing his proficiency as a spellcaster. If the player chooses to do the Soul of Rebirth quest, Minwu is a good choice to teach the Ultima spell too due to his many high-level spells.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Minwu makes a cameo in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals, explaining the battle set-up to the player with Gordon. Minwu is also the name of a Ghost Card. The Minwu ghost is a Level 100 Firion, and has the Yellow Gem and Wild Rose to win by Battlegen. Minwu's shield is also used by Firion.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Minwu returns in the follow-up to Dissidia as a tutor from the in-game manuals, now explaining the basics of Story Mode.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Minwu will appear as a sub-character in Theatrhythm, and can be earned by collecting eight Silver Crystal Shards collected via Rhythmia rewards or by completing Dark Note bosses.

External References

 * Prior to the DS release of Final Fantasy IV, the designers notes found in the Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Hen outline that a Sage named Minwu is the founder of Mysidia. This idea was seemingly discarded or retconned by remakes of the game.
 * The key item Gizamaluke's Bell in Final Fantasy IX has a quote from a White Wizard named Minwu.
 * One of the artefacts obtained from an Errand in Final Fantasy Tactics is the Orb of Minwu, which appears to be based on a . The description of the Orb of Minwu is as follows:
 * "The soul of Minwu, the First Mage, is said to be sealed within this stone. As such, it is sometimes called the Soul of Minwu. An orb only in name, it is in actuality comma-shaped".


 * Similarly, an item in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is called Orb of Minwu. It is a usable item, and makes the user immune to almost every debuff in the game. It is the closest thing the player can get to a Ribbon for some races who lack the means to equip one.
 * Minwu's shield, seen in his artwork, is used by Firion in Dissidia.
 * Ming-Wu is the founder of Mysidia in Chocobo Racing, and is responsible for the division of the great Crystal.
 * The non-Square Enix game  contains a reference to Minwu in the form of "Newmin" who sacrifices himself to allow the player to receive the Ultima Book, which is otherwise useless.

Trivia

 * The male costumes of the Mystic Knight job class in Final Fantasy V resemble Minwu's attire.
 * Minwu is the first playable mage in the series with a name and storyline.
 * To date, Minwu is also the only male, playable, storyline White Mage in the series, as all others are female.
 * Minwu is the first temporary playable character in the series.

Etymology
"Ming" is a Chinese name which is directly translated as 'enlightenment', while "Min" means 'clever, sharp'. The alternate transliteration 'Minh' is Vietnamese but means the same thing. "Wu" is a common Chinese surname meaning 'shaman'. Both of these pertain to Minwu.

The name "Minwu" bears a resemblance to the name Menw, a name which belonged to King Arthur's court magician and counselor who often traveled with and accompanied him on his quests.