Onion Knight (Dissidia)

The Onion Knight is one of the heroes fighting for the side of Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. A lad who bears the title of "Onion Knight". He makes up for his size with speed and is a master of sword arts and magic. In the original title, while playing in the Altar Cave which opened up in the great earthquake, he wandered into the altar of the crystal and is appointed one of the Warriors of Light.

The youngest warrior, the Onion Knight's lack of battle experience causes him to put on a brave and confident front when in reality he is rather scared and unsure inside. His valor is tested when his friend, Terra, is kidnapped by the Cloud of Darkness.

Crystal and Attire
The Onion Knight's outfit is taken from aspects of all incarnations of the hero of Final Fantasy III. In particular, the color scheme in his default appearance is based on his original NES appearance. The helmet is based on the DS version, as is the ability to cast magic. The body armor is closer to Amano's artwork of the hero. The default appearance looks more like his original character, while his alternate outfit resembles Luneth from the Nintendo DS remake but retains the original colour from Amano's artwork of the hero. The crystallized version of the Onion Knight is green.

The Onion Knight's crystal is a direct reference the elemental Crystals from Final Fantasy III. It has a green hue, and is the same shape as the ones seen in the game.

Destiny Odyssey III
The Onion Knight and his companion, Terra, travel together to find the Crystals. During their adventures, Terra starts to sense a strong aura and the Knight convinces her to check out what it is despite her warnings. They then encounter Exdeath and the Knight talks his way out of fighting him because of his fears of losing against a powerful enemy. Exdeath calls him a coward and then leaves. When the Knight and Terra get closer to the aura, Terra starts to lose control and attacks the Knight, forcing him to defend himself. Terra was then taken by the Cloud of Darkness, who tells the young warrior that he was responsible for Terra's fall.

The Knight was then visited by Cosmos, who tells him that the only way to obtain a Crystal was to defeat the Cloud of Darkness. The young warrior laments that he does not have a heart to do so but Cosmos questions him of his state of courage and vanishes. Then Golbez appears and tells the Knight of Terra's possession under the Cloud of Darkness and to think about if he could continue to make judgments in his own head.

The Onion Knight eventually finds Terra, who fainted while fighting against the possession the Cloud of Darkness has instilled in her. At first, the Knight offered to be her servant in order to prevent Terra from getting attacked any further but then decides against this when the Cloud of Darkness tries to possess him. That is when the Knight realizes his inner courage and uses it to protect Terra from her, even if it means fighting a powerful monster. The Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness fought, and she is defeated. Golbez appears once again and gives him a Crystal, praising him of his determination and bravery. After Golbez leaves, the Knight decides to rest with Terra to look after her.

Destiny Odyssey VI
The Onion Knight continues to protect Terra, who has lost some of her memory while passed out during the Knight's fight with the Cloud of Darkness. They are ambushed by Kefka, who tries to sway Terra into joining him. The Knight interferes, however, and both he and Kefka disappear. The Knight later shows up when Terra and Cloud Strife are surrounded by Kefka and the Cloud of Darkness. Both the Knight and Cloud Strife distract the Cloud of Darkness while Terra has her final showdown with Kefka, whom she defeats. She then obtains her Crystal, just like the Knight thought she would.

Shade Impulse
As the Onion Knight reunites with the group of heroes, Chaos arrives and finishes Cosmos. The heroes start to fade away, however, Cosmos used the last bit of her energy to give them a fighting chance. Like the other heroes who faced off with they're worst enemies, the Onion Knight was confronted by his enemy, the Cloud of Darkness. After her defeat, the Cloud of Darkness returns to sleep, while the Onion Knight joins the other heroes to face off against Chaos. With Chaos beaten, the worlds were restored, and the heroes were then transported to an open field near Cornelia Castle, where one by one, they disappear back to their home worlds, including the Onion Knight, who returns to the Floating Continent.

Battle
The Onion Knight is described as a "Mystic Fencer", as he uses both magic spells and sword attacks to strike opponents with swift blows. What distinguishes him from the other characters is the unique ability to chain each Brave Attack into another Brave Attack or an HP Attack, which adds in strength and versatility. He is also the fastest character in the game in normal circumstances, surpassing even Tidus and Zidane, but his damage output is a bit weak.

Boss
Onion Knight is fought in the Distant Glory: Heroes and Inward Chaos storylines.

EX Mode
While in EX Mode, Onion Knight's Job Class is decided by whether you're using a physical attack or a magic attack. While using magic, he'll become a Sage, which increases the damage done by magical attacks, and causes them to change slightly (Firaga shoots three blasts instead of one, for example). While using physical attacks, he'll become a Ninja, and do more damage with them instead. Both of these classes were considered the best at magic and attacking respectively, in the original Famicom release of the game. He also gains the Regen effect.

In both Bursts, the game will become reminiscent of a classic Final Fantasy battle and you must choose a command from the menu that appears. Onion Knight is unique in that he has two completely separate EX Bursts. If activated from a magic attack, his Sage form will use Spellbook, while his Ninja form will use Ninjutsu if it was activated after a physical attack.

For Spellbook, Holy (ホーリー) must be selected under the Magic command, while for Ninjutsu Shuriken has to be chosen from under the Throw command. If you choose the right options, Onion Knight will perform the selected ability, and then follow them up with Meteor or Back Attack respectively.

If you fail to select the right command on either burst, Onion Knight will immediately use Meteor or Back Attack! without using Holy or Shuriken.

Equipment
Onion Knight can equip the following: Hats, Clothing, Light Armor, Bracelets, Gloves, Rods, Daggers, Staves, Short Swords, Swords, and Throwing Weapons.

Allusions

 * While Onion Knight returns to his home world, he looks up at the sky, watching a flock of birds flying above him. This is a reference to Final Fantasy III - the ending sequence of the original NES version and the opening FMV of the DS version. It could also Allude to his home being a floating continent.
 * One of the Onion Knight's weapons, fittingly called Onion Sword, is a reference to the Onion Equipment from Final Fantasy III.
 * The Tyrving and King's Sword are a reference to two similar swords. The Tyrving equippable by the Red Mage class, while the King's Sword equippable by the Fighter and Knight job class in the Famicom release of Final Fantasy III.
 * Onion Knight's EX Burst is a homage to the traditional battles of the first Final Fantasies. While he is engaged on the right and poised like the NES sprite, his opponent will adopt their stance as viewed in the Museum from a different angle.
 * While in EX Mode as a Ninja, the Onion Knight wields two swords as seen in the hands of the unnamed warrior on the logo for Final Fantasy III. When executing Back Attack! in his EX Burst, he also assumes a post similar to the warrior.

Trivia

 * Within the game's timeline, Onion Knight is the first to retrieve his Crystal according to Destiny Odyssey 26.
 * The Onion Knight is only called once by his title, by the Cloud of Darkness.
 * The Onion Knight is both the youngest and the shortest in height of the warriors of Cosmos.
 * Onion Knight is the only character with 2 different EX Modes and EX Bursts. Each EX Burst uses the most powerful option available in Final Fantasy III.
 * Onion Knight's Destiny Odyssey is also unique, due that majority of tiles have a question mark sign, noting that something is hidden— a board enemy, an item chest, a potion, or ether. It is also used in some stages in Shade Impulse. Also, there is only one question mark tile that hides a boss chess piece, and it could only be seen in Shade Impulse. It is none other than Cloud of Darkness's boss piece.
 * Onion Knight, Terra, Squall, and Cloud are the only 4 heroes who fight another hero as a boss. Onion Knight fights Terra in his story.
 * Onion Knight is one of the fastest characters in Dissidia. This is probably due to his size and fighting style. This could also be a reference to both the original and remake of Final Fantasy III, as in each the game, whenever the heroes attack a foe with their weapons, they strike very fast compared to other games in the series. In the remake, the characters run in a hasty fashion when moving around in dungeons or villages.
 * Although not relevant to the EX Burst, the Item Menu can be opened to reveal Gysahl Greens, Gnomish Bread, Potion, Sheep Pillow, Earthen Drum, Mallet, Gold Needle, and a Turtle Shell.
 * Tetsuya Nomura has noted that, similar to Garland, he had only in-game sprites to draw from when designing Onion Knight, which made doing so difficult. His initial designs were "too cartoony" compared to the other heroes, and redesigned it to match the cover image of Final Fantasy III. Shortly after, the promotional images Yoshitaka Amano had been designing were finished, and Nomura reverted back to a more "cartoony" design to match Amano's work.