Moogle (race)


 * For the recurring summon, see Moogle (Summon).



Moogles (モーグリ, Mōguri) are a recurring race in the Final Fantasy series. The name Moogle (or Moguri in Japanese, Spanish and Italian) is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for mole (mogura) and bat (komori). They first appeared in Final Fantasy III, and have appeared in some capacity in every main series game since, with the exception of Final Fantasy IV. The importance of Moogles to the plot varies from game to game, ranging from playable characters to simple cameos. Several such as Mog, Stiltzkin, Artemicion and Montblanc, have made repeated appearances. Although their appearance has changed throughout games, they can easily be recognised by the small wings, usually pink or white fur and a pom-pom hanging from their heads. Moogles are generally mild tempered and like to eat vines and fictional kupo nuts.

Characteristics
Moogles sport a "pom pom" - a red ball of fur on a thin, wiry antenna - emerging from their heads, which they are very sensitive about being touched. From their suggested mole-bat ancestry, a Moogle's wings are most often of a dark, Gothic, or bat-like design, as to juxtapose their otherwise harmless appearance and bubbly nature. Moogles generally resemble small mammals - ranging from rodents, to felines or marsupials - but sometimes appear as little more than limbless balls of fluff. Many games have included color variations for their fur and pom-pom as well. In early games, Moogles didn't wear any form of clothing, but in games set in Ivalice (where they have been incorporated into the cast as one of the world's primary races) they do, possibly to better fit in with their Hume co-inhabitants. The favorite food of Moogles is the Kupo Nut. Dissidia Final Fantasy mentions that Moogles can fly, but not by using their wings: they suck up air to inflate themselves and float, and only use their wings to steer themselves about.

Moogles are very intelligent and industrious, though in some games they are wary of human contact. Because of their size, the lot of playable Moogle characters specialize in gadgetry, tinkering, and engineering. Even in games where Moogles do not mind humans, they are known to maintain their own separate societies. Moogles are capable of communicating across long distances, a feat often attributed to the Moogle mail service, Mognet. In earlier games Moogles spoke only with their trademark cry "kupo", and variations of such. In later games Moogles have been able to speak English normally, but often punctuate their sentences with "kupo", as a sort of verbal tic. In some Japanese version games, they use the pronoun "mogu" in place of the word "I", such as if a young girl would use "atashi" and a young boy with "boku".

Final Fantasy III
Moogles make their debut in this game as bodyguards for the sage Doga, as a highly intelligent race wielding great powers of magic. A notable Moogle was named Mog. In the DS remake of the game, talking to Moogles can initiate Mognet, where players can transfer letters to friends with Final Fantasy III or send a letter to Final Fantasy III residents.

In this game, Moogles did not say "kupo", but instead said "nyaa", Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's meow. In the DS release, this is changed to "kupo".

Final Fantasy IV
While Moogles do not make an appearance, there are a race of similar creatures called the Hummingway.

Final Fantasy V
There was a Moogle Village in the Second World, and Bartz, Lenna, Galuf, and Faris rescue a stray Moogle and follow it there. Krile also owns a Moogle, which is the only one that can speak the common language.

Moogles in this game are able to use telepathy to keep in touch with each other over great distances, and are very wary of humans, forcing the party to wear a Moogle costume to walk among them. This is the first time in the series that characters can dress as Moogles.

Final Fantasy VI
Moogles play a much larger role in this game than previously. Mog appears as the first playable Moogle in the series, and there are ten others who join temporarily. Mog and the Moogles live in the mines in Narshe and help Locke rescue Terra. They are mentioned by NPCs to keep away from humans, but sometimes help miners who get lost in the mountain.

The Moogles of Final Fantasy VI differ from the original sprite designs of previous titles. While still maintaining the simple, unclothed model, the motif of squinted or closed eyes was established and has since been used countless times elsewhere in the series.

Only Mog is accustomed to being around humans, and through a series of telepathic dreams with Ramuh, learns to speak English. Following the destruction of the world, it appears that all the Moogles except Mog died out, and their cave in Narshe is abandoned. Mog has returned to the cavern where the Moogles lived and dwells there alone when the party finds him.

Strago and Relm can dress up as Moogles in battle by equipping the Moogle Suit.

Final Fantasy VII
Moogles are called "Mogs" in this entry. No live Mogs are featured in the game, but they do appear on various man-made objects such as backgrounds in Gold Saucer. They also appear in the mini-game Mog House. A Mog is also featured in the Choco/Mog summon, riding a Chocobo. "Snow Mogs," Moogle-shaped objects made of snow, block the course on the snowboarding mini-game. Cait Sith is also riding a giant fat toy Mog. Unlike most Moogles in the Compilation, they do not have their signature pom-poms, outside of the Snow Mogs, but retain their wings.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
The Moogle Girl, one of the many children with Geostigma, is always seen carrying a Moogle doll with her, hence her fan-coined name. Interestingly, the Moogle doll in question has its signature pom-pom, unlike the "Mogs" featured in Final Fantasy VII. Although Cait Sith was initially missing his toy Mog in Advent Children, it does appear in a brief flashback scene in Advent Children Complete.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Unimagined Moogle-Figures exist that can be sold for money and in the first stage, Vincent has to rescue a little girl, that also has a Moogle doll like in Advent Children. A Moogle doll is also seen floating above the collected Mako in Weiss's headquarters.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
A Moogle appears as a summon on the DMW after obtaining the Moogle Amulet. His ability, Moogle Power, casts Regen on Zack for 40 seconds and levels up his Materia the same number of levels as the level of the summon (i.e. a Moogle Power Lv. 2 will raise each of his Materia two levels).

Final Fantasy VIII
As with Final Fantasy VII, in this game Moogles appear to be a work of fiction. The only Moogle in the game is the MiniMog. MiniMog is a "pseudo-Guardian Force", summoned with the command "MiniMog." It has a distinct feline appearance, differing from the other canon Moogle character designs. The MiniMog card is also a Triple Triad card. A special mention on Moogles was given by Selphie, who mentioned that she liked a dish called "Ms. Moogle's cake", which is a cake with "lots and lots of fruit on top, covered with fluffy cream."

Moogles are also mentioned in an alternate answer for the password that Squall is supposed to give to the Forest Owls. The correct password is "but the Owls are still around," but one of the alternate choices is "But the Moogles are still here." Additionally, a basketball fan in Trabia Garden states that he thinks the MogMog Moogle team will make it to the finals and play against the Mach "Chacobos". Another student corrects his pronunciation.

Final Fantasy IX
When Itahana came in to replace Nomura as character designer for Final Fantasy IX, his Moogle concept art was meant to echo that of the previous two console generations (which goes along with the game's development concept as a whole, openly considered allusion). Itahana's version incorporates previous designs but in the end renders a completely new Moogle, with balloon-shaped head a vertically oval nose resembling a koala bear, vastly different than Nomura's previous feline Mini-Mog. In addition, they sport a full mane of fluffy fur, worn like a mink fur boa around the neck. The continued evolution of Itahana's Moogle design carries on in his many Crystal Chronicle titles with his recurring characters such as Artemicion whose first appearance was in this game.

Moogles again play a major role in Final Fantasy IX. They act as Save Points throughout the world, and can be called with a flute to access the Save command on the World Map. Each Moogle has a name, and most can speak the common language. Many dwell in human settlements and towns, living in peace and providing their Save services. In addition to saving, if the player uses a Tent at any Moogle, a cutscene plays to simulate overnight resting, and the crude structure in which the party is meant to sleep sports a Moogle pom-pom. Moogles communicate to each other through Mognet, and the player can help deliver letters among Moogles as part of a subquest. The player can also collect Kupo Nuts and deliver them to a Moogle in Gizamaluke's Grotto for items.

Moogles also live in the Summoner village of Madain Sari alongside summoner Eiko. Notable Moogles in the game include Stiltzkin, a traveling Moogle who sells merchandise to Zidane; the aforementioned Artemicion, the head of Mognet in dire need of player assistance; Mene, curator of the Chocobo Forest and Choco's only friend; and Mog, a female Moogle who hangs out with Eiko sporting an orange pom-pom. Moogles are also the subject of plays in the theater district of Lindblum namely the Moogle Wannabee 2 play, starring the famous actor Lowell who dons a Moogle suit to escape from his avid fans.

The Moogle that the player calls on the world map named Moguo can be annoyed to say the following if the player keeps calling it and canceling:

"Don't call me if you don't need me, kupo" "You're starting to tick me off, kupo" "I'm sharpening my knife, kupo" "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! KU-PHEH!"

Final Fantasy X
As a stark departure from the previous title and a means of making a name in the newest console generation, Moogles do not appear in Final Fantasy X outside of folklore; however, some of the dolls that Lulu uses as weapons are Moogles.

Final Fantasy X-2
Yuna was dressed in a Moogle suit in Luca while LeBlanc held her concert. She can be played in Chapter 1. A Moogle also appears in Chapter 5 in Luca that only Yuna can see. It helps her remember the memories of her, Tidus and the others. Yuna's Mascot dressphere appearance is the very same Moogle suit.

Final Fantasy XI
Moogles serve two purposes in Final Fantasy XI. A Moogle will reside in a players home, known as a Mog House. These Moogles watch over the house and allow access to several options including stored items, gardening, the delivery box and job changing. They most closely resemble the Itahana Moogle from Final Fantasy IX, likely because of his collaboration with other character designers for the title. Secondly, there are many event festivals in Final Fantasy XI that roughly correlate with many real or seasonal holidays in reality in both Japan and abroad (i.e. Tanabata is The Summerfest, Valentine's Day is Valentione's Day, Halloween is The Harvest Festival, etc). Moogles administrate over these in-game events and offer out various rewards for completion.

In essence, Moogles function as an extension of the game's remaining active development team. As the game is continually patched and expansions are released, patch notes, updates, special event items, and Bonanza Lotteries are delivered by the Mog House Management Union (MHMU) to the playerbase, sometimes literally. In fact, each zone in Final Fantasy XI was originally coded with data for several NPC targets titled "Moogle", some visible in the farthest corners of maps to players using third-party tools, in preparation for such future events.

Moogles play an active role in the story and progress of the core game as well. Nomad Moogles act as mobile Mog Houses, appearing in secondary and tertiary towns and habitations. One Moogle next to Maat in Jeuno is involved with every level cap increase a player must face after reaching Lv.50; furthermore, another Moogle has more recently appeared to manage the new Magian Weapon augmentation system. More recently, Moogle activity has been on the rise in Vana'diel.

In fact, an entire downloadable add-on expansion entitled A Moogle Kupo d'Etat: Evil in Small Doses was released in 2009, dealing with political turmoil in the Moogles' world, culminating in an unforgettable fight against an unlikely combatant.

Final Fantasy XII
Moogles are a very common sight in Final Fantasy XII, appearing in every city as background characters. The design present in this title is a vast departure from any other in the series, and is a direct result of the Ivalice Alliance title released three years prior: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Their features are more rodent-like, with full rabbit ears, extended pom-poms, and fully garbed for Ivalice society. The most notable encounter is with the Six Moogle Siblings: Montblanc is the head of Clan Centurio; Nono serves as Balthier's mechanic (and, with Montblanc, come directly from FFTA to FFXII); Gurdy runs the Chocobo stables, while her twin brother Hurdy and the two remaining brothers (Sorbet and Horne) operate a transportation system called "The Moogling" in Rabanastre that allows players to teleport to other parts of the city.

In certain regions, Moogles call themselves with the pronoun "mog," but typically they end their sentences with the word "kupo." Their intelligence and lifestyles are similar to Humes, which makes it easy for Moogles to live amongst the Hume cities. With their dexterous hands, they are knowledgeable in the field of engineering. It is said that Moogles built the first airship, a masterpiece of technological advancement. There are Moogles that are so advanced that they are able to learn the ultimate technology called Etoria. Most Moogles contribute to society with their great engineering capabilities. Not all Moogles become engineers; there are a few who become knights or mages (allusions to the Jobs of FFTA). Throughout Ivalice history, Moogle technology has been used in Hume wars by most of the races.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Moogles appear in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, although the only one of any importance to the story is Nono. The other appearing Moogles are all enemy Sky Pirates, who take the jobs of Fusilier, Time Mage, and Black Mage.

Fortress
Moogles are set to appear in this spinoff installment.

Final Fantasy XIII
Moogles make a very small cameo in Final Fantasy XIII. Although they do not physically appear in the game world, there is a shop called Moogleworks. The Moogle shown in the shop logo resembles a Crystal Chronicles Moogle. They also appear as a valuable item called a "Moogle Puppet", which can be sold for a premium.

Final Fantasy Agito XIII
A moogle can be seen in concept artwork, although its role is currently unknown.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Moogles exist in Final Fantasy Tactics as one of the Summons available in the game. It provides healing, but not as much as Faerie. It is said that they once existed and lived in the Siedge Weald.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Moogles are playable characters, most prominently represented in that game by Montblanc with Nono as a NPC. Unlike most previous moogles, they have rabbit shaped ears and wear long-sleeved clothing topped with an elaborate pom-pom. This Moogle design is specific to the Ivalice Alliance games, and was first introduced here; later, several specific characters would be featured as mainstays in Final Fantasy XII. Their race's Totema is Famfrit, who calls the Moogles the "white ones", possibly since the generic Moogle has white fur, though this game introduced many significant variations. Because of their small stature, Moogles excel at Jobs which involve engineering and dexterity, such as Thief, Gadgeteer, and Juggler. Furthermore, while some Moogles excel in the magical arts, others clad themselves in heavy armor as Moogle Knights fighting on the front lines with their Hume and Bangaa combatants.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift


In Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the Moogles Hurdy and Montblanc are among the main cast. Moogles are also playable characters and have access to ten jobs, including two new jobs not found in Tactics Advance; Chocobo Knight and Flintlock. Most of the Moogle jobs' artwork were taken from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

While units are now able to perform actions while standing in water, Moogles and Nu Mou are no longer able to enter water unless they have Winged Boots equipped.

The pride Moogles take in their pom-poms is a point of humor throughout the game, including the story mission where the player faces Mooglebanes, enemies purported to eat Moogle pom-poms.

Moogles can be obtained in these locations during Goldsun or Silversun:


 * Bisga Greenlands - Animist, Thief, Black Mage
 * Goug - Moogle Knight, Fusilier, Tinker, Time Mage
 * Neslowe Passage - Chocobo Knight, Juggler, Flintlock

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Moogles live along with other Tribes and in various dungeons, where they will place stamps on a special card that will enable you to play a Mario Kart-esque minigame called Blazing Caravans. They appear armless, puffy, and are usually flying around. If you are playing a single player game, a Moogle named Mog will carry your Crystal Chalice allowing you to move around in the dungeons. The Moogle Paint feature allows players to paint Mog. Moogles also delivers mail to you once you collect a drop of Myrrh. Moogles are not affected by the Miasma which causes the traveling Moogle Stiltzkin to worry that Moogles are just like monsters. Although his journey eventually leads him to Mag Mell where he finds out that Moogles in fact have more connections to the Carbuncles than monsters. The Moogles Stiltzkin and Artemicion also appear in the prequel game that takes places many years before the original game which could mean Moogles can live for a long time just like the Carbuncles.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, Moogles appear through out dungeons to help the party out and give them stamps which once again unlocks Blazing Caravans. Stiltzkin from the original game once again appears in this one and leads the group of moogle who are secretly trying to help out the main characters. They place signs where needed and will appear when a new character joins the party to teach the player about their skills and abilities. Artemicion also appears in this game and runs a shop that gives players HP, ATK, DEF, and Magicite/Item Pocket upgrades. The Moogle Paint feature returns once again with a major upgrade from the original.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, a group of known as the Moogle Brothers appear in the Padarak to help out the young King Leo. Most moogle's names begin with "Mog", such as Mogmune and Mogcid. They help in various ways such as helping in creating new buildings to build and inform King Leo on citizen who need help so he can assign a new behest to solve their problem. Stiltzkin also appears during the story, helping King Leo figure out the fate of his father.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, moogles help out Adventurers by putting up signs in dungeons, such as they did in Ring of Fates. They work under Stiltzkin once again, who gives out quests the Adventurers can take.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, moogles appearances aren't much different than in the past Crystal Chronicles games, but they are slightly taller and have arms.

Final Fantasy: Unlimited
Later on in the anime, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Kaze finds his old partner, a Moogle simply called Moogle Kupo. Moogle's pompom is yellow and seems to possess various powers, glowing when he activates them. He uses it to both seek out Kaze and to fix his Magun. He also indicates in "Moogle: Nostalgic Memories" that it gives him a shock when he becomes confused, though he may just be joking. Moogle has the ability to power up Kaze's Magun, letting him summon more powerful versions of previous summons. Moogles were common in Kaze's homeworld, Windaria. In the final episode of the anime he sacrifices himself and changes into a soil sample, Soul Gun Metal  in order to help Kaze summon Bahamut. In one English dub his name was Mogli instead, though in the official English dub released on DVD by ADV films, he is still Moogle Kupo. In the English dub, he is also listed in the listing for the Japanese cast under the name "Moogle Kupow." Additionally, in the English subtitles, he is shown using "kupo" at the end of each sentence, like the majority of the moogles in Final Fantasy IX, though this is not reflected on the audio. However, he did use "kupo" in his speech during the episode Kaze: The Glory of Life.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Moogles are responsible for the Mognet option every day.

A new cutscene in the North American, European and Universal Tuning releases plays when the player acquires the Moogle summon, of the Moogle presenting itself to the player's character and agreeing to help them. As a bonus, if Terra is used, the scene will be extended to show her cuddling the Moogle. The Moogle shown here is based on the Kingdom Hearts depiction of Moogles.

The Summon Compendium expands on the species, explaining their ability to fly, and says that Moogles saying "Kupo" and those saying "nyaa" may be different species altogether.

Non-Final Fantasy Appearances
Moogles have appeared in other Square-Enix games, most notably the Seiken Densetsu ("Mana") series, Chocobo series and Kingdom Hearts series.

Chocobo series
In the Chocobo game series, Mog is always out to steal the spotlight from Chocobo. In Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, Mog (left) calls himself Dueler X and Dungeon Hero X, respectively.

Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2)
There is an entire village of Moogles in the Upperland. There is also a status ailment named Moogle.

Seiken Densetsu 3
Moogles are non-playable characters in the third game from the Seiken Densetsu series. Like the previous title, it is also a status ailment brought upon by certain enemy attacks.

Kingdom Hearts series


In Kingdom Hearts, Moogles can be seen wandering around Traverse Town, and own a synthesis shop there. Another moogle in Cid's accessory shop speaks about the tournaments in Olympus Coliseum, though later on in the game when the tournaments have all been beaten he begins to suspect Sora of being the champion (which is undoubtedly true).

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, moogles appear in "Moogle Rooms," a special room generated by a map card of the same name. Inside, Sora is able to cash in his unwanted cards for "moogle points" and is able to spend accumulated moogle points on purchasing new card packs. There is also a chance that the moogle will give Sora a free card pack when you first speak to it in an area. The moogle(s) in Chain of Memories are not given a name other than the collective "Moogle."

In Kingdom Hearts II, the moogles run synthesis shops. However, unlike Kingdom Hearts, only holograms of moogles run the shops. According to the game's journals, this is because the Moogles are tired of people touching their pom poms and started doing business this way, along with the witty joke "They don't like getting their pom-poms ruffled (don't we all)." The only moogles that do not appear as holograms are Mog and Elmina. All the Moogle shop owners have names that are related to Final Fantasy Moogles (e.g. "Stiltzkin's Synthesis Shop"). There is also a Gummi Ship you can win in the shape of a Moogle.

In Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, one single moogle, wearing the black coat akin to those worn by Organization XIII, can be found in The World That Never Was and in Twilight Town in front of the Train Station appearing after Roxas has betrayed the Organization XIII (Claiming that Roxas is just too good of a source of income to simply abandon). Like other moogles it runs a Shop and Syntheses items. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, a Moogle awards the player with medals won in Multiplayer Mode.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
The Moogle appears in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Courtesy of the game's developer, Square-Enix, the Moogle appears as a secret character in the Mario sports game, Mario Hoops 3-on-3. The Moogle's special shot is "Moogle Dance."

Music
The Moogle Theme is the music commonly associated with Moogles, although it is not as well-known as the Chocobo's Theme. The theme first appeared in Final Fantasy V, and is also featured in Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy IX. It was also used as Mog's character theme in Final Fantasy VI.

Trivia

 * In the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV, the Hummingways look similar to the moogles of Ivalice, but lack the iconic pompom. In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, the Hummingways operate shops via holographic projections around the world, similar to the Moogles in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * The Pig enemies from Final Fantasy Tactics also bear a striking resemblance to traditional Moogles without pompoms or wings.
 * In the Webcomic VG Cats, there is a reference to a franchise known as "Kentucky Firaga Chocobo" which supposedly sells Moogle Pom-Poms in a similar manner to popcorn chicken.
 * Moogle speech in later games is usually rendered through subtitles instead of audio in spite of the fact that they can speak fluently. However, there are Moogles who gain voice-acting, including Moogle Kupo, Montblanc, and Nono.