Ifrit (Final Fantasy XV)

Ifrit, also known as the Infernian, is an Astral in Final Fantasy XV. He is one of the Six and the god of fire. He plays an important role in Eos's history. His role is expanded upon in the official strategy guides to Final Fantasy XV and the in-game bestiary.

Profile
Like the other Astrals, Ifrit is based on a recurring summon in the Final Fantasy series. Unlike the more leonine appearances of him since Final Fantasy VIII, Ifrit in Final Fantasy XV appears as a demonic humanoid. He is smaller than most Astrals, but bigger than a normal human, able to hold a person in the grasp of his hand. He has bronze skin, long dark hair, and red eyes.

Ifrit wears golden wrist and ankle bracers, and a golden crown adorned with red jewels. He has long twisted horns and claw-like nails. He is topless and radiates heat, the air around him aflame. He sits on an elaborate throne that appears to be made out of bones. He wields a sword whose hilt is encrusted with red and white jewels, and has what appears to be a gold and purple scarf wrapped around it, held in place by a gemstone bracelet and a metal chain. The sword's blade is worn, and Ifrit's body is scarred. His left arm and leg are gray, as if petrified.

Cosmogony describes him as "fickle" and "wicked", and Ardyn Izunia says Ifrit has no compassion toward mankind. Ifrit doesn't talk to the party when encountered like the other Astrals do. However, according to Shiva, during the Old Calendar Era Ifrit was different, admiring humans and granting them his blessing of fire.

Story
Ifrit is one of the six Astrals that ruled over Eos; he is the God of Fire, standing equal and opposite to Shiva, the Goddess of Ice. Humans were created in the Astrals' image, and though most Astrals were indifferent to man's fragile and ephemeral existence, the God of Fire admired their strength of will. Granting mankind his flame, a civilization flourished: Solheim. Ifrit's benevolence warmed Shiva's heart, who likewise came to love humans and fell in love with Ifrit.

Some people of Solheim began to see themselves as superior to the gods and spurned their blessings. Due to the perceived betrayal of the Astrals by Solheim's people, Ifrit declared war on them, triggering the Great War of Old. The Six are sworn to protect Eos, even from each other, and thus the other Astrals turned against Ifrit. The other Astrals killed him, laying his body upon the Rock of Ravatogh.

Ifrit's actions caused him to be labeled as "the Betrayer", which was how he would be remembered by humans after rebuilding themselves into the nations of Lucis, Accordo, Tenebrae and Niflheim, with only Niflheim seeking to emulate the glories of Solheim. Although Ifrit was dead, the malady of Starscourge that transforms humans and animals into daemons still threatened Eos; only the power of the prophesied "True King", using the Astrals' blessing and the power of the Crystal granted to mankind by the planet itself, could destroy it.

The True King was meant to be Ardyn Lucis Caelum, but due to absorbing the Starscourge to heal others he was rejected by the Crystal and later demonized by his successors. In his scheme to exact vengeance upon the Lucis Caelum line and the Astrals, Ardyn eventually resurrected Ifrit with the Starscourge as a human-hating thrall. Shiva sought to save Ifrit, but as she awoke in M.E. 745, she was slain by the magitek infantry of the Niflheim Empire, her colossal body abandoned to the outlands of Ghorovas Rift. It is implied, although not stated outright, that Ardyn was the one who corrupted Ifrit and resurrected him with Starscourge. Shiva awoke when she sensed "a mortal drawing the Pyreburner away from the Light". Although Ardyn is immortal in human terms, the Astrals seem to simply refer to humans as "mortals."

When Shiva meets Noctis Lucis Caelum in M.E. 756, the Crystal's Chosen, she tells him the story of Ifrit and asks him to grant the Pyreburner release. Ardyn summons Ifrit to delay Noctis's party when he arrives at the ruins of Insomnia in M.E. 766 to fulfill his role as True King. Noctis and his friends fight Ifrit with the backing of the other Astrals. Bahamut rains down swords from the sky, which Ifrit dodges. Amid the chaos Noctis cleaves off one of Ifrit's horns. After weakening the Astral further, Shiva appears, saying; "Pyreburner. That heart of flame was turned to ash once. A dead flame must burn no more. Taste again the chill wind of death." Shiva performs Diamond Dust, which encases Ifrit in ice, before kissing him and shattering his body.

Boss


Ifrit is fought as the penultimate boss. There are stages to his battle, and the player can summon the Astrals against him. This is the only battle where Bahamut can be summoned. Defeated, Ifrit drops the Infernian Shards key item, described as a proof of his demise at the hands of Noctis. It doesn't have a usefulness other than as a souvenir.

Musical themes
The track that plays for Ifrit's boss battle is "Hellfire", named after Ifrit's recurring summon attack from the series. It ends with the iconic "Prelude" that has been part of the series since the original Final Fantasy.

When commissioning the music for the Ifrit battle, Sho Iwamoto, audio programmer at Square Enix, sent the composer a gameplay video, and requested music that is easy to transition. The first transition to "pre-end" part of the music happens when the player has damaged Ifrit enough for him to get into the "serious mode". The last transition from pre-end to the end part of the music aims to synchronize with the long ending scene.

Etymology and symbolism
Ifrit in Final Fantasy XV defines the original definition of efreet in Islamic lore, being enormous flaming derivatives of djinn that inhabit ruins and reside underground, and are feared for their wicked nature. Ifrit is also reminiscent of that of Iblis or Shaytan, who in Islam was a djinn that refused to bow down to Adam, the first human; some reasons state his pride as a djinn and the leader of a fellow tribe, others state of Iblis's loyalty to Allah being a flaw to where Iblis only saw evil and imperfection in man.

In Christian terms, Ifrit is comparable to Satan or Lucifer, who scorns God's creations after he and his followers were cast from heaven due to his pride as God's first and closest angel. Ifrit is said to have granted mankind the knowledge of fire, which allowed them to flourish and build a grand civilization, but also led to their downfall as man became blinded by his own hubris and turned against the gods. In the a serpent, which some view as a representation of Satan (although it is not described as such in the Bible itself), tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge which had them cast out from paradise. In Final Fantasy XV, Ifrit seeks to "banish man from paradise" himself by razing the civilization mankind had built with the help of his blessing. Juxtaposed is that of the Greek Titan Prometheus, who defied the Greek Gods and helped mankind survive the gods' punishments by sharing with them the knowledge of the welfare of food and fire.

In Buddhist terms, Ifrit can be seen as Mara taken form as that of Namuci or Dairokuten Maou, who is said to be the Demon King proper. He is the divine being said to keep all in the —a realm of sensual and material sensations that includes the six realms of existence, one being the world of Men—under his control.

is the ultimate obstacle of enlightenment through his temptation and the employ of his demon hordes to keep all in fear and eternal cycles of at his enjoyment. In Final Fantasy XV this can be seen through the Starscourge and daemon hordes that spawn because of Ifrit's influence. Mara's most notable appearance is when he confronts Buddha on the grasp of enlightenment. Mara offers sensual delights and temptations, which are dispelled by Buddha's understanding. Mara resorts to threats and summons his demon armies, who are defeated when Buddha gives evidence of those who bear witness of his achievements, being that of the Earth and all of the heavens, who come to Buddha's side. Noctis, likewise, leads the battle against Ifrit who is summoned by Ardyn. As Noctis continues on, the Astrals, too, come to his side as those who bore witness of Noctis's feats, helping him defeat Ifrit.

Trivia

 * Ifrit is glimpsed at the very beginning of the game. Ifrit's early appearance was intended by the game's director Hajime Tabata as a mysterious stinger, like the opening of Final Fantasy II.
 * Ifrit's throne resembles the throne Chaos sits in in for the original Final Fantasy.


 * The lore in Ifrit's bestiary entry is slightly different between different translations. The Japanese version says Ifrit was the King of Solheim who in ancient times had given them fire and the "flame of knowledge", but doesn't mention his subjects rebelling against him. It posits Ifrit was resurrected via Starscourge that corrupted his body and mind. The English description says Ifrit's "once-loyal subjects turned against him", but doesn't mention the corruption of his body and mind. The German version says Ifrit was once "a lover of mankind" whose gift of knowledge led to the success of the Solheim civilization. It doesn't mention Ifrit being the King of Solheim, but says the people of Solheim became drunk with power and turned against "the Gods", and that Ifrit's mind and body were corrupted by Starscourge.
 * Ifrit's body having been laid to rest at the Rock of Ravatogh is mentioned in a loading screen for the English, German and Portuguese localizations of Episode Gladiolus, but is absent from other versions.