Golbez

Golbez, real name Theodor, called Man in Black before his identity is revealed in The After Years, is a non-player character in Final Fantasy IV and a playable character in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. In Final Fantasy IV, he is the main antagonist, a powerful sorcerer who pursues the Crystals. In The After Years, Golbez returns as a playable character.

Golbez has also appeared as a playable character in the fighting games, Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as the villain opposing Cecil.

In Final Fantasy IV, Golbez is voiced by Peter Beckman under the pseudonym Anthony Landor. Beckman returned to voice Golbez using his actual name in Dissidia and Dissidia 012. In the Japanese versions of all three games, he is voiced by Takeshi Kaga, famous for his role as the Chairman on the television program.

Appearance and Personality
Golbez's appearance in Final Fantasy IV is that of a tall imposing man in dark blue and black armor with gold trimmings, and a helmet with tall horns. The lining of his cape has been both red and blue in color, sometimes in the same game - the Nintendo DS release shows Golbez's official render with a blue lining, but his in-game appearance has a red lining. The exact color of his armor has also varied considerably between appearances, from light blue to dark blue to black. In The After Years, Golbez wears a black cloak and kilt with rings of prayer beads on his arm. He has a large, muscular figure and long silver-white hair like Cecil. His concept art depicts him wearing a large black sword on his back, possibly the Ebony Blade, an exclusive weapon for Golbez that can be acquired at the start of his tale.

His armored sprites and SD art depicts Golbez with green eyes, while his PSP portrait in The Complete Collection gives him blue eyes. In both his Complete Collection sprite for The After Years and his appearance as a child in the DS release of Final Fantasy IV, Golbez has violet eyes like Cecil.

Through the majority of Final Fantasy IV, Golbez appears as a cruel and heartless man who will stop at nothing until he has obtained the Crystals, destroying anyone and anything that stands in his way. He is also a cunning manipulator, tricking Cecil and his allies into retrieving two Crystals for him, and otherwise luring them into traps. As Fusoya later reveals, Golbez is being manipulated by a powerful Lunarian named Zemus by bonding Golbez's thoughts with his. Awakened, Golbez's personality shifts radically back to his true self; Golbez is horrified by his actions and feelings of hatred. Golbez's true personality is that of a caring, self-sacrificing, and deeply empathetic individual.

During The After Years, Golbez is stoic and silent. His focus is investigating the Mysterious Girl's actions and gaining entry to Baron to make sure Cecil is safe, and he only speaks on matters relevant to these goals. However, he occasionally demonstrates a dry, somewhat sardonic wit. While the other party members openly express their reactions to the bosses on the True Moon, Golbez keeps his thoughts on such to himself, and shows compassion and sympathy towards the Archfiends, wishing them peaceful rest when they are slain. When confronting the Dark Knight, he accuses Golbez of wanting to die at Cecil's hands to atone for both his actions under Zemus and abandoning Cecil as a child - Golbez neither confirms or denies this. If he survives, he later tells Cecil he can no longer hide from the world, and must live up to his crimes.

The Dissidia series somewhat merges these two aspects of Golbez's personality. Golbez truly wishes for Cecil and the other Warriors of Cosmos to prevail, and he appears to Cecil and the other heroes numerous times to offer assistance at his own risk, as as the other villains view his behavior as treachery. Golbez manipulates the heroes towards the ultimate goal of their victory, in particular, placing the Wild Rose for Firion to find in order to inspire his dream. Golbez also has no qualms about attacking the heroes when called upon, including Cecil, but has good reason for this. His Dissidia 012 museum profile states he was content to remain in the cycles of war as punishment for his sins, but Cecil's appearance, and the sacrifice of six of Cosmos's warriors at the end of the twelfth cycle, motivated him to help Cosmos end the cycles and free Cecil and the remaining Warriors.

Early Life
Theodor was born to Kluya and Cecilia, making him a half-Lunarian. 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 boasted he can cast magic, but when his father asked if he has even mastered the Cure spell, he admitted he cannot. When Theodor returned home afterward, he saw his mother collapsed on the floor. She told him she was alright, and that she is just tired from carrying her next child. Excited about having a new sibling, Theodor went to bed.

Later, Kluya was attacked by the very magic he had taught to humans. When Kluya wondered if it was right to teach the people of Earth magic, Theodor assured his father it was, comforting his father in his final moments. As Kluya passed on, Theodor tried to cast Cure on him, but was unable to. The villagers took care of Theodor and Cecilia afterward, and when Cecilia finally gave birth, she died in labor. Shortly after their mother's death, the children are seen alone in their house.

While staring at his brother, Theodor heard a voice telling him 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 told him he was "an insect birthed from womb of dragon's corpse", and declared his new name was Golbez. Controlled by the voice and filled with hatred towards his brother, Golbez left him just outside of Baron. The infant grew to become Golbez's brother Cecil Harvey.

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

Final Fantasy IV
Taking control of the four Archfiends Zemus has sent to him, Golbez sends Cagnazzo to assassinate the King of Baron and impersonate him, using the Red Wings to steal the Crystal of Water from Mysidia. 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 kills a young woman named Anna, daughter of a powerful sage, Tellah. 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 castle defenses and Golbez is forced to enter the castle himself with Cecil's friend, Kain Highwind, of whom he has taken control of telepathically. After Kain wounds Cecil, Golbez effortlessly strikes down Yang and Edward, taking the Crystal of Air and also abducts Rosa Joanna Farrell, the woman with whom Cecil and Kain are both in love.

Golbez takes the 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 returns to Baron and kills Cagnazzo, restoring Baron to the peaceful nation it once was. Golbez has already stolen the air fleet and placed Kain in command, who rendezvous with Cecil and offers to return Rosa if Cecil brings them the final Crystal from Troia. Cecil retrieves the Crystal of Earth 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.

Cecil and his companions enter the Underworld, where Golbez has already gone to find the next four Crystals, the Dark Crystals, of which he already has two. After defeating his minion Calcabrina in the Dwarven 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, but again only weakened, and manages to take the Crystal before escaping.

Golbez does not appear for some time, until he again takes control of Kain in the Sealed Cave and has him take the final Crystal. Golbez activates the Tower of Babil to call the Giant of Babil. Cecil and his companions retrieve the airship Lunar Whale and go to the Red Moon, where they meet Fusoya who tells them 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's control of him. Golbez promptly remembers who he is, surprising Cecil with the knowledge he has been fighting his own brother. Golbez and Fusoya climb up the tower to go to the Red Moon and defeat Zemus. Following them to the Moon, Cecil and his companions find Golbez and Fusoya battling Zemus. Although they easily defeat him, Zemus is 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 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 Cecil and the people of Earth can't forgive him for his crimes, 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 Baron's throne and the Lunarians' moon leaves the Earth's orbit. Cecil receives one final telepathic message from Golbez, saying good-bye.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Golbez is initially introduced to players as the Man in Black, in Rydia's Chapter, who rescues Rydia and Luca by defeating Titan, which had been summoned by the Mysterious Girl. 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 and fly the Falcon out of the underground.

Lunarian's Chapter covers the events of Golbez's return prior to the events in Rydia's chapter. Shortly after Ceodore departs on his journey to obtain his Proof of Knighthood, Golbez has a nightmare in which Cecil attacks and dispatches him. Awakening among the sleeping Lunarians, he feels uneasy, and senses a strange force coming from the Crystal Palace. Journeying to the surface, he finds the Crystals glowing red. Joined by Fusoya, the two set out to investigate a mysterious meteor impact near Bahamut's lair. At the bottom of the crater, they meet the Mysterious Girl, who demands the Crystals and summons Asura to attack them.

When the Girl is defeated, Golbez and Fusoya enter Bahamut's lair and find he has been petrified. Returning to the Crystal Palace, the Crystals are without light in their altars. Mysterious Girl reappears and summons Leviathan. Dispatched again, the two begin to pray for the Lunar Whale to come to them, when one of the Crystals shatters.

Another Girl appears, and declares she no longer needs the Crystals. As Fusoya and Golbez rush to protect the Lunarians in the core, Kluya's spirit on Earth sends the Lunar Whale to the moon. Meanwhile, the Crystals continue to shatter, releasing Zeromus's Malice. Zeromus uses Big Bang, and Fusoya teleports Golbez aboard the Lunar Whale, who flies the craft to Earth. Along the way, numerous flashbacks of the events of Final Fantasy IV occur.

In The Gathering chapter, Golbez accompanies Rydia, Luca and Edge as they recruit the other party members from around the world and return to Baron to free Cecil from the Mysterious Girl's control. As the party ventures through the Subterrane they encounter the Elemental Archfiends. If Golbez is in the party, the Archfiends will recognize him. Scarmiglione thanks Golbez for accepting him, despite being hideous and unworthy. Cagnazzo expresses joy in seeing Golbez again, claiming it to be an honor. Golbez responds by wishing for Cagnazzo to rest in peace, proclaiming that they may one day share the same fate. Barbariccia begs her former master's forgiveness for attacking him.

At the end of the Subterrane, the party is attacked by Cecil's Dark Knight doppelganger. Golbez takes a mortal hit meant for his younger brother, giving Cecil the will to fight on. If Ceodore and Rosa are in the party with Golbez and Cecil, then Golbez will survive the battle, but if they are not present, he perishes.

Upon the Creator's defeat, Cecil and his party return home. Should Golbez survive, he appears in a flashback in Mount Ordeals along with Cecil, Rosa, Kain and Ceodore where it is revealed he took the Lunar Whale and departed to the stars to find the Red Moon and discover the fate of Fusoya and the Lunarians.

As he leaves, Ceodore hopes they may meet again to which Golbez answers "Thank you", the same line he said to Cecil in Final Fantasy IV before departing. If Golbez perishes, a scene is witnessed at his grave site. In the Final Fantasy IV: The After Years novelization published in Japan, Golbez dies in the Subterrane event, but whether or not the novel is considered canon is unknown.

Abilities
Golbez is shown to be a powerful mage capable of teleportation and telepathy, and can take control of minds, although his ability to do this seems limited to Zemus's influence. He is able to critically injure party members out of battle with electric shocks and is somewhat immune to physical or even fatal harm, as he shrugs off Tellah's spells until Tellah unleashes Meteor. This is further demonstrated by his defeat at the Dwarven Castle by Cecil's party, where he says that death will not claim him and is able to seize the crystal with his disembodied hand.

This was subverted in the DS release, where he simply teleports away with the Crystal. Golbez is capable of summoning a Shadow Dragon, which is also featured in Dissidia. While in Final Fantasy IV Golbez's abilities are mostly magical, Dissidia expands further upon his powers, where he can summon dark energy and also the CPU's nodes in order to fire beams.

Final Fantasy IV
Golbez appears as a playable character during two AI-controlled fights at the end of the game, fighting Zemus and Zeromus alongside Fusoya. He knows the Black Magic spells Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Meteor and Twincasts Double Meteor with Fusoya. As a child, Golbez was attempting to learn Cure, but has no proficiency with White Magic as an adult.

Boss


Golbez is fought once as a boss in Final Fantasy IV and knows several strong spells. In the SNES and Game Boy 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: The After Years
Golbez can equip swords, axes, spears, hammers, rods, staves and daggers, as well as a combination of heavy armor and lightweight hats and robes. He has access to the Pressure ability, which paralyzes an enemy, Taunt, which draws enemy attacks toward him, and Black Magic. Golbez doesn't learn the status-type spells that Palom and Rydia can, but has the advantage of knowing Firaga, Blizzaga and Thundaga at a much earlier level.

Golbez's HP is initially 2,971, giving him a great deal of HP at first, but he will not gain more until Level 55, where he will be on par with other characters. Golbez's HP and Stamina are fairly high, and his MP, Strength and Intelligence are decent. These balanced stats, combined with his wide variety of equipment, allow Golbez to function as both a powerful attacker and an effective mage at once, though ultimately he is outclassed in both aspects by dedicated characters.



Music
Golbez is also known for his dramatic and foreboding theme music, and was the first villain of the series to get his own theme. Golbez's music is titled "Golbez, Clad in Darkness" and plays often. It uses a pipe organ for its sound and is immediately recognizable in comparison to the other songs in the game. It incorporates a musical quotation from J.S. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" in D Minor (BWV 565). A remix of the tune is used as the theme for the Tower of Zot. The theme's title has also been translated as "Golbez, Clad in the Dark" on official soundtracks.

A piano arrangement of the theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy IV album.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Golbez is one of these villains and stands as the villain representing Final Fantasy IV, opposing Cecil Harvey.

Possessing motivations and desires more complex than most of the other villains, Golbez helps the heroes in their struggles in his secretive fashion while pretending to follow the plan set down by the Emperor. It is later revealed that in his heart, Golbez is on the side of light, and works to assist the heroes in the hopes they can break the cycle of war.

His alternate outfit is a palette swap based on his Final Fantasy IV battle sprites and DS render, giving him black armor and a red lining on his cape.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Golbez reappears as a Warrior of Chaos in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy alongside all the other characters from the original. He plays a brief but important role in the main story, enlightening Kain to the nature of the cycle of war, information which motivates Kain to strike down his allies so they will survive to the next cycle instead of being killed permanently by the manikins. He also speaks to Cosmos at the beginning of the thirteenth cycle before the war begins again, rekindling her memories of the previous cycle when she laid the foundation for her plan to manifest Crystals for her warriors.

Golbez's second alternate outfit is his appearance in The After Years as the Man in Black, removing his armor and leaving him clad in a black kilt and cloak.

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

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Golbez has five cards in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One depicts his appearance from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and is of the Shine element, bearing the name "Man in Black". The others feature his DS render, Dissidia Final Fantasy art, and SD artwork appearances, are of the Dark element, and a third is Lightning element and features another Amano art.

As references to his control over the Archfiends, Golbez's Dissidia card has the effect that when moved to the Break Zone, the player can search their four cards of different elements and a cost of 2, and play them to the field for no cost, while his DS render card lowers the cost to play it by 2 for each of the Archfiends the player controls, and allows the player to move an Archfiend they control to the Break Zone to Break a Forward of their choosing. His Amano art card references his control of Kain, allowing the player to select a Forward on the field and take control of it after Golbez attacks, if they control a Dark character. His Man in Black card references his hidden identity, preventing it from being played while a Golbez card is in play, and has an ability that mimics his Pressure ability, preventing a Forward from attacking.

Virtual World
Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Golbez.

Lord of Vermilion II
Golbez appears as a card and summonable creature in the sequel to Lord of Vermilion, along with other characters from Final Fantasy IV as part of a special cross promotion. His Shadow Dragon is also a card.

Guardian Cross
Golbez, along with Cagnazzo, Rubicante, Barbariccia and Scarmiglione are all promotional cards in the game Guardian Cross (the latter four being promotional for the release of Final Fantasy IV for the Apple iPad). Golbez himself was part of the "Grab-A-Golbez" campaign. All of them are Rank 5 (the rarest), with Golbez being a Giant-type Guardian that would have been found in the Deadmoon Desert.

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

"Golbeza" is a mistransliteration 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 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 "birthed from womb of dragon's corpse", both a reference to the Golubac Fly and a corruption 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.

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

Trivia

 * During flashbacks of Cecil's battles with Golbez in the The After Years, Golbez comes equipped with a sword called the "Ebony Blade" in his left hand, despite the fact he has not been shown to use swords before. The sword can be unequipped during the battle and added to the player's inventory.
 * Golbez has a menu portrait in the DS version, but it cannot be seen unless the player uses a cheat device to add him to their party. When the cheat is used, he shares some animations with Cid, and the game uses his child model in the field.
 * Golbez's HP in his and Fusoya's battle against Zemus at the end of Final Fantasy IV (2,943) can alternatively be read in Japanese as 憎しみ nikushimi, which means "hatred", while his starting HP in The After Years (2,971) can be read as 償い tsugunai, meaning "atonement".
 * The Golbez that fights in the flashbacks of The After Years is an entirely different character in terms of game data, with slightly different stats from the normal Golbez. If hacked into the party he can grow to Level 45, the level cap of The Lunarian's Tale, and will keep the same HP while his other stats increase normally as the normal Golbez. However, the flashback Golbez will not learn any new spells, and does not have the real Golbez's Pressure and Taunt abilities.