Gabranth



Judge Gabranth (ジャッジ・ガブラス Jyajji Gaburasu) is a character in Final Fantasy XII. A major antagonist, he is a Judge Magister, the highest rank possible in the Archadian Empire's military. While he appears to serve the Empire faithfully, a torn and broken man lies behind his lordly false.

Apperance
Gabranth is a tall man, being Basch's twin brother both of them share the same facial features, however Gabranth lacks his fashion for beards wich is prominent on Basch's looks, also as it appears in Final Fantasy XII epilogue, Gabranth has always wears short hair while Basch had a tendency to leave his hair grow long, the only time Gabranth is seen with the same looks of his brother is during his impersonation of him. On the other hand Gabranth has a slightly more muscular built different from Basch who has a slim figure, though this could be considering his imprisionment.

Personality
Through Final Fantasy XII Gabranth demonstrates a ruthless and cruel demanor, imprisioning his brother and keeping him live while informing him of every failure his former knights suffer after the Archadian occupation, also while dispatching Reks he takes his role further by taking all hope the young boy had to save his kingdom and after releasing Ba'gamnan from his duty after Balthier and Vaan are taken to the Nalbina Dungeon.

Despite his cruel attitude Gabranth remains as a respectful follower to Emperor Gramis and to his desmay a faithful attendant to Vayne Solidor despite the later seeing him as a dog that follows his beck and call. Performing his duties as a defender to Lord Larsa he shows fondness to Judge Drace whom appears to be the only person he trusts and yet Gabranth chooses to solve his problems with his sword when he offers his assistance to know whether or not Ashe desires vengeance upon the empire.

As a lone warrior Gabranth chooses to act on his own and through his battle taunts his opponents with poetic sentences that reflects his desires as he did towards Ashe, Vaan and later Basch. Even though he acts as a faithful soldier to the empire Gabranth's motivations are related to his profound hatred towards his believed dishonorable defeat at the hands of Arcades and for letting his homeland Landis fall, which in turn directs his hatred to his brother aslong since he choose another master instead of regretting the loss of his country.

By the end of the story Gabranth is a broken man, regretting even more his defeat to his brother and failing to protect his master Larsa but more than that for the hatred he feels to the Empire who took his life even to the point when he states that he does not deserve to be called by his birth name as he has lost his honor, though after his showdown with Basch he regains his motivations fighting alongside the party and protecting Larsa from danger until the end when he fatally wounds Vayne to retrieve his pride leaving him wide open for Vaan to perform a final strike.

Story
Born Noah fon Ronsenburg (ノア・フォン・ローゼンバーグ Noa fon Rōzenbāgu), he is the twin brother of Basch fon Ronsenburg. They lived and grew up in the Republic of Landis, before it was invaded by Archadia. During the invasion, Basch fled their hometown to the Kingdom of Dalmasca, while Noah moved with his sickly mother to Archadia, her homeland. There, he adopted his mother's surname Gabranth, and joined the Archadian Military. He quickly climbed the ranks, and with the backing of Emperor Gramis became Judge Magister.

Two years before the main events of Final Fantasy XII, Gabranth was present at the Dalmascan counter-attack at Nalbina Fortress. However, he wasn't involved in the fighting. Instead, he killed King Raminas of Dalmasca while impersonating his brother, Basch. This was part of a ruse to trick all survivors of the Dalmascan side into believing that their captain had turned traitor, and to give Archadia an excuse to take over Dalmasca. For the next two years, Basch would be locked up in the Nalbina Dungeon framed for regicide, where Gabranth would be his interrogator.

The 9th Bureau that Judge Gabranth leads is primarily concerned with the gathering and dissemination of information. As a result, many of the bureau’s activities are shrouded in secrecy. Serving as right hand to the Emperor, Gabranth reports Vayne's activities to him and vows to the emperor that he would protect Larsa so that he may never have to see the violence of war. After Gramis' subsequent passing, Judge Drace correctly accuses Vayne of killing his own father. To test Gabranth's loyalty, Vayne appoints him as Drace's executioner. Reluctantly, he kills the Judge, but with her dying breath, she asks Gabranth to guard Larsa in her place, to which Gabranth promises that he would.

While at the Pharos at Ridorana, the party encounters Gabranth at the Sun-Cryst. Though charged by Larsa to see if Ashe can make peace with the Empire, he incites her to take the nethicite and avenge all those who had fallen. However, when Ashe refuses, Gabranth is confounded, demanding that the Princess take back what is rightfully hers. Her further refusal to do so causes Gabranth to fall into a maddening rage and viciously attack the player's party. However, he is defeated, at which point Dr. Cid interrupts, telling Gabranth that he is pitiful for failing Larsa and that he no longer serves any real purpose. This greatly hurts the Judge, who is forced to retreat back to the Bahamut in disgrace.

Aboard the Bahamut, Gabranth is now a broken man and torn between his duty and honor, heavily wounded after fighting his own brother. Angered that Basch still retains his pride and honor after having abandoned Landis years prior, Gabranth demands an explanation, himself possessing little self-worth at having joined the enemy of his homeland. Basch tells Noah that by having something worth protecting, one can still hold onto his honor. Gabranth then witnesses Vayne fighting the player's party, where Larsa gets hurt. After Vayne's transformation, the former asks Gabranth to protect Larsa while he fights. He does so by raising his sword to his former master. During the fight, Gabranth stabs Vayne through the chest, causing the latter to retaliate by fatally wounding the Judge. After the fighting is done, Gabranth is taken aboard the Strahl, where he dies. With his dying breath, he apologizes to Basch and asks that he protect Lord Larsa for him, which Basch promises to do by donning his brother's armor and taking his place as Judge Magister.

Battle


The party fights Gabranth twice, at the Pharos at Ridorana and on board the Sky Fortress Bahamut.

Gabranth focuses on Basch if he is in the active party. Sentence and Guilt are strong hits on one party member. Innocence and Circle of Judgment damage the entire party.

During the second battle he will automatically Renew at 50% HP (while several abilities trigger) and boost himself with Enrage.

He is also present in Trial Mode, at Stage 100.

Voice
In the English version of Final Fantasy XII, Gabranth is voiced by Michael E. Rogers, while he is played by Keith Ferguson in the English version of Dissidia, who had previously voiced Gabranth's brother Basch. In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy XII and Dissidia, he is voiced by Akio Ohtsuka.

Dissidia Final Fantasy


Gabranth appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy representing Final Fantasy XII, and plays as a special character, assumed to oppose Shantotto. He has very little influence on the story, being an extra character as well as the only one appearing from Final Fantasy XII, appearing only once in the main storyline.

In the bonus storyline he appears in, Gabranth is the guardian of a hellish dimension where warriors slain in the cycle of conflict are entrapped when they perish. The player's character is trapped here as well, and fights to escape. Gabranth then battles the player to determine if they truly deserve the right to live or not.

Trivia

 * As revealed in the Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Guide, Gabranth's larger blade is named "Chaos Blade", and the smaller weapon is named "Highway Star".
 * A Judge who looks like Judge Gabranth appears in concept art for the Final Fantasy XII spinoff game Fortress, although he wields a lance rather than a sword. It is unknown whether this character is Gabranth, Basch or an unidentified character.
 * Although Gabranth and Cidolfus Demen Bunansa are not related, their Japanese voice actors are, as Cid is voiced by Chikao Ohtsuka, the real-life father of Akio Ohtsuka, the japanese voice of Gabranth. This is ironic, since the two characters interact before the player faces Cid the second time.
 * Gabranth's biography in Dissidia Final Fantasy reveals he is the younger twin, and Basch is the older twin. Final Fantasy XII does not specify which of them is the older.