Rubicante



Rubicante, also known as Rubicant, is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy universe. First appearing in Final Fantasy IV as a minor villain, he is one of the four archfiends associated with the elements; in this case, fire. Despite his role as an antagonist, he has a strong sense of honor and fair play, unlike the other archfiends.

Final Fantasy
Rubicante appears in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes as a boss at the last floor Hellfire Chasm, one of the bonus dungeons for the remakes. Defeating him will take the player off the dungeon, and he drops a Kikuichimonji.

Final Fantasy IV
For the enemy page, see: Rubicante (Final Fantasy IV).

Rubicante is a boss in the Final Fantasy IV. He is one of Golbez's Archfiends, and is the Element Lord of Fire, titled the Autarch of Flame. He is considered to be the most powerful of the four, and is their leader.

In spite of his less than savory actions, he is an honorable fighter at heart, and restores the party's health before every fight against him. He wears a "Cloak of Flame", which, when donned, absorbs all elemental magic, though ice elemental weapons can still damage him (the Nintendo DS version is an exception to this). He is voiced by Lee Everest and Norio Wakamoto in the English and Japanese versions respectively.

Rubicante first appears in the Tower of Babil, where he is overseeing the destruction of Eblan. It is assumed that he led this attack. The attack succeeds, and Eblan's inhabitants are forced to flee to Cave of Eblan. He is first seen speaking to Dr. Lugae in the Tower of Babil in the Underworld, when Lugae transports him to the Overworld.

There, he is chased by Edge, the prince of Eblan, who seeks revenge for the destruction of Eblan and the assumed murder of his parents. Cecil Harvey, Kain Highwind, Rydia, and Rosa Joanna Farrell witness Edge's loss to Rubicante, and Rubicante's subsequent departure.

The party confronts Rubicante again in the upper half of the Tower of Babil, where Edge accuses him of not only destroying Eblan, but also turning his parents into monsters. Rubicante explains that the transformation of the king and queen of Eblan into chimeras was Lugae's doing, and in an interesting show of his character, when he saw what had happened to Edge's parents he actually cursed Lugae for what he did. He commends Edge's strength but sees him as being too emotional to be a worthy opponent. Edge ignores Rubicante's remark, and joins the party in attacking, and then defeating Rubicante. Unlike the other fiends, Rubicante accepts his defeat and compliments the party on their victory.

Rubicante is revived by Zemus, along with Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, and Barbariccia. They fight Cecil's party one last time in the Giant of Babil together. However, they are all defeated again.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Rubicante appears in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years at Eblan's Castle where he fights the party in a scripted battle. He gives Edge a clue on how to defeat Ifrit, who has taken control of the castle. Rydia and Edge then learn Rubicante's Inferno as a Band ability. He reappears on the True Moon as a boss spawned by the Crystals.

The player can have a one-on-one fight with him as Edge, and obtain Rubicante's cloak, the Fire Scarf. With it, Edge can absorb any fire-elemental attacks. After defeating him, Edge acknowledges Rubicante is still a worthy opponent and has possibly made peace with him.

Final Fantasy Type-0
In this game, Rubicante is one of the many versions of Ifrit. This model has only two attacks, and has the lowest HP maximum among the fire Eidolons.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Rubicante is a summon from Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is summoned as a counter to an opponent's summon and triples the summoner's Bravery points. His original artwork from Final Fantasy IV is used in this game.

Rubicante can be obtained on the second stage of the Shade Impulse III storyline. When the player collects Rubicante's Summonstone, the dialogue mirrors what Rubicante says to Edge before his boss battle in Final Fantasy IV.

Like the other Archfiends, Rubicante appears to act as a "counter" version of one of the original Final Fantasy's Four Fiends. Specifically, Rubicante's Inferno accomplishes the same result as Tiamat's Wind Arcana; tripling the Summoner's Bravery. Both Rubicante and Tiamat are the fourth and final "fiend" the party encounters in their respective games.

There is also an equipment bearing his name, called "Rubicante's Cowl".

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Rubicante has the same function from the previous Dissidia. He can be purchased from certain Moogle Shops for 100 KP. The headgear referencing him also returns.

Rubicante, as like his fellow archfiends, also appears as a tutor for the Labyrinth feature at the in-game manuals.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Rubicante, along with the other elemental archfiends, makes an appearance as an enemy in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Rubicante appears in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as an enemy during an event called "Showdown". In battle, Rubicante uses Scorch.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
Rubicante appears as a boss in Final Fantasy All the Bravest.

Lord of Vermilion II
Rubicante is a card in the sequel to Lord of Vermilion along with other characters from Final Fantasy IV, as a special cross promotion.

Guardian Cross
Rubicante, along with Cagnazzo, Scarmiglione, and Barbariccia are all promotional cards in the game Guardian Cross, all of whom were special captures to celebrate the release of Final Fantasy IV for the Apple iPad. All of them are Rank 5 (the rarest), with Rubicante being a Humanoid-type Guardian that would have been found in the Glaverow Volcanic Zone.

Etymology
Rubicante's name comes from the Inferno, part one of the Dante's . He is one of the ("Evil Claws") who guards the 5th Malebolge in the eighth circle of Hell (Cantos XXI through XXIII). His name means "he who grows red". He also makes a reference to the circles of hell before his first battle in which he states, "Not even the frozen winds of hell's ninth circle can penetrate this cloak of flames I wear".

Rubicante Rubicante