Montblanc

Montblanc is a recurring character in the Ivalice Alliance. He is a hard working moogle, and in all his appearances, he is in charge of a clan. He is the oldest one of Six Moogle Siblings, the others being Nono, Hurdy, Gurdy, Horne, and Sorbet.

Appearance and Personality
Montblanc has blond hair slicked to the back, his pom-pom and wings are orange while his fur is brown. He has dark brown tips on his ears, and preserved in Final Fantasy Tactics A2 including his portrait sprite, unlike the other Moogles which ear tips aren't darkened. Despite of this, there are still some artworks where Montblanc doesn't have dark brown ear tips. In some artworks his eyes are gray, with only two artworks that has Montblanc with a different eye color, with his Final Fantasy XII artwork's eye color brown and his Final Fantasy Tactics A2 artwork with lavender gray eyes.

His upper clothing consists of a wide standing turtle neck. He wears a green jacket with a yellow clothe lining. Each of his sleeve has a lace, probably cutwork. His bottom garment are red-brown baggy pants. He also a brown belt with a bag on it, also known as a fanny pack. His fanny pack is first visible in Final Fantasy XII. Montblanc also wear fingerless gloves and brown shoes, with toe caps and yellow shoe tounges.

Montblanc has a kind personality, and he seems to save almost everyone he sees. He is also known as reliable and trustworthy. He also sometimes speak in metaphors.

Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII, Montblanc is the leader of a clan in the city of Rabanastre, which the player can join. The clan, called Clan Centurio, is a clan devoted to hunting marks of extreme difficulty. By joining Clan Centurio, the player will gain access to the clan shop, as well as being able to find bills not found on common pubs. In the Clan's headquarters, Montblanc stands at the top of the stairs on the banister in the middle, with the clan's founding members and trusty friends Krjn and Ma'kenroh behind him.

Montblanc usually give bills or Elite Marks for Hunts if the player talks to him. He also gives information of the Mark. If the petitioner is not him, the player must come to the petitioner to accept the hunt.

Over time, Montblanc reveals his founding of the clan is due to his master who taught him and his five siblings the ways of world and they all looked up to him. But after Yiazmat took away the man and killed him, Montblanc started Clan Centurio, to find the strongest warrior to fight Yiazmat and avenge his master.

You could also get Montblanc's sprite for Sky Pirate's Den, by getting a monster chain of over 50. The title for this sprite is The Unrelenting.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
He is Marche Radiuju's most prominent ally in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, his first appearance. Prior to Marche's arrival he is the leader of the clan which eventually becomes Clan Nutsy. When Marche is teleported to the dream Ivalice by the Gran Grimoire, he incites the wrath of two pugnacious Bangaa. Montblanc arrives on the scene in time to guide Marche through the systems of laws and engagements and helps him win the battle with the him as a Guest unit. After the battle and the introduction of the clan, he will become a playable character.

At the beginning of the game, he mostly introduces the elements of Ivalice, including Judge Points and clan battles. At the game, he mostly encourage and gives some advice to Marche, including saying to Marche that he had become "older" (which he actually meant that Marche's more mature) at Marche's attempt to attack Doned. He doesn't appear at cut scenes anymore when the player continues the game after the main story has ended.

Montblanc seemed to have expect Marche's appearance, explaining to the Bangaa that Marche had "just come in from the country". The Moogle is then suprised to learn of Marche's story and his ignorance of the races of Ivalice, but invites the foreigner into Clan Nutsy anyway. He also said that their meeting was "no accident". Whether Montblanc decided to help Marche because he genuinely knew of his arrival in Ivalice or because he simply wanted to help a stranger in need is not clear.

After the second mission Herb Picking at Giza Plains, it was revealed that picking up Muscmaloi was his childhood chores.

After the mission Desert Peril is finished, he tells Marche that he believes in the "crystal theory", a theory about the existence of crystals. According to the theory that he believed, the magical crystals were made by the palace. The magic is so strong that it also affect the animals. He wasn't really sure that it was true until the mission Twisted Flow, where Marche had entered a portal to a crystal room, which was guarded by Famfrit.



At the end of the game, before Mewt Randell reads the Grimoire so Ivalice would turn back into St. Ivalice, Montblanc says that he will tell Marche's farewell and his thanks to everyone because Marche didn't have time to do so. After that Marche says that he would never gotten that far without him and hugs him.

Moogle Bride is the only mission that made Montblanc the center of attention (which he is the only unit that cannot be removed). The petitioner was Mogumi, a townsgirl who invited him to Materiwood to explain her feelings. But when Clan Nutsy arrived at Materiwood, it ends up to be a trick created by Reaker, a Mog Knight from Clan Rose. At this battle, the song Painful Battle is played. This mission only appeared after the game has been completed. There is also a similar mission from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift named "A Bride for Montblanc", while the Japanese name is the same as the Tactics Advance one.

As a storyline character, he may not be dispatched on any missions. Montblanc can be removed permanently from the game by letting him die in a Jagd, despite Montblanc's presence in the story. A short scene will occur with Marche saying goodbye to his friend. There are two different scenes, at the usual scene, Montblanc will say that he's sorry to leave but it was a good life. At Jagd Hunt, Marche will call Montblanc to go to Baguba port, but Montblanc became quiet. Both of the scenes have Marche calling his name two times, Montblanc disappearing and Marche facing away from him.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift


Montblanc returns as a playable character in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. His first official appearance is in the encounter I'm Back, Kupo! (やってきたクポ Yatteki Ta Kupo) at Fluorgis. While Luso Clemens is waiting for Hurdy, he bumps into a pair of Bangaa, specifically a White Monk and a Warrior. The two angry Bangaa begin to walk away, but then turn around and angrily accuse Luso of stealing a magick medallion from one of them. After a brief exchange, Montblanc arrives and points out that the Bangaa White Monk merely dropped his medallion on the floor, and the situation is soon diffused. Right after Montblanc leaves, Hurdy arrives very late and hears a summary of the encounter from Luso. Hearing that, Hurdy said that the moogle sounded like his brother, who would never stand by and watch a bully. The scene in which Montblanc first appears is humorously similar to the one where he first appeared in the first Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.





Montblanc also appears as a golden statue at the southeast corner of Luso's journal (along with his siblings) after completing 50 missions. His pose at the statue is like his pose at Tactics Advance, which is holding a book with his right hand.

In order to recruit him, the player must obtain the Gigas Pendant, Earrings of the Dead, and the Pin of Order, and must have completed the game. The quest "Wanted: Friends, Kupo!" (仲間募集クポ Nakamaboshuu Kupo) will then appear at a pub, which the location is at Baptiste Hill, right at the Boulderfall. Montblanc was seeking these rare items, but upon seeing that Luso already has all of them he decides to give up on his treasure hunt. He later explains to Luso and Hurdy that he used to have the Gigas Pendant (similar to Marche's pendant at Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which could only been seen at his artwork) himself a long, long time ago, but as a replica. It was his favorite accessory and was with him the whole time, until it was lost. He was shocked, but then recovered, deciding to go on a search to replace his replica with the real thing. Somehow, the Scions Montblanc needed in the quest appeared in artworks of the three Tactics Advance protagonists Marche, Ritz, and Mewt.

After he explained his reason to go to Jylland, Hurdy asked him if he wants go back to his clan, but Montblanc rejected it and decided to "linger for a while". Then Luso invited Montblanc to join his clan, which he accepted it. When Hurdy asks him if it's all right for him to leave Clan Centurio unattended for his brief stay in Jylland, Montblanc claims that Bansat will take care of things.

thumb|200px|left|Montblanc's Recruitment

At the Champion's Cup, the clan is in battle against Montblanc's former clan: Clan Centurio, that is now lead by Bansat the Seeq Viking. Bansat was surprised that he joined another clan, and probably thought that he went to Jylland only for bauble hunting. Montblanc then told Bansat that it's his chance to show the results of his leadership.

While it is unsurprising that he interacts with Hurdy when recruited, it seems a little odd that he doesn't interact with Vaan and Penelo, given that they are extremely prominent members of Clan Centurio. It should also be noted that, while joining Clan Centurio in Final Fantasy XII is technically optional, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 seems to take it as a given that Vaan and Penelo joined it (see here for evidence in favour of this).

The soliloquy performed by Montblanc when he is knocked out is "Kupo-po. Ah, old friend. Is that you...?". While only speculation, this could be taken to be a reference to Marche, implying that Montblanc has some memory of the events of Tactics Advance, despite the fact that Tactics Advance's version of Ivalice wasn't the "real" Ivalice. Alternatively, it could be a reference to his master who was killed by Yiazmat. In the Japanese version, he says that he sees a visual blur and uttered "Ma...", which is close to Marche's name.

A side story of "Wanted: Friends, Kupo!" is "A Bride for Montblanc". The petitioner is Cois, Maiden of the Wood. But when Clan Gully arrives at Ruins of Delgantua; right at the Hall of Kings, it appears that Cois isn't real. It was actually a Viera named Fras, the person Montblanc had defeated at a clan tourney. She had claimed that her clan had drugged the other contestants with an elixir, but then Montblanc's clan had arrived unannounced and claimed the victor's mantle. Because of this, she wanted to kill Montblanc for vengance.

In the Side Story
In a side story to Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Chapter 4: Hurdy Heads for the Hills, Montblanc is mentioned as one who gives encouragement to his younger brother Hurdy to travel the world. He also asked Hurdy to bring back the rare and expensive vintage wine called Prudence - which is one of the wines found in Vagrant Story's Leá Monde — which Hurdy thinks is ridiculous, since Montblanc doesn't seem to drink wine. He also can't ride on chocobos according to Gurdy's Section, which probably explains why Montblanc can't turn into the Chocobo Knight class.

Easter Egg
Montblanc has some minor appearances as a sprite at Pubs. He was never mentioned by anyone each time this easter egg occurs. Below are the times when Montblanc's sprite appears.


 * 1) Right after the first mission.
 * 2) After the second mission.
 * 3) After completing mission "Wanted: Ugohr".
 * 4) When Adelle and Illua first met.
 * 5) After completing mission "Seeking the Stone".

These appearances might explain why Montblanc said that he "was with Luso all the time" at the I'm Back, Kupo! encounter.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
In the first mission Lizard Men!?, Montblanc gets to be a Black Mage, and after the mission he could change his job into a Thief or an Animist. He equips a Rod and a Hempen Robe.

Below are his stats during the mission Lizard Men!?. During the battle, if Montblanc has been hit or KOed, he will regain full HP whenever he talks to Marche.

After the first mission has been completed, Montblanc's stats will slightly change. (The stats that are changed will be in bold text. Decreased stats will be in red )

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
He joins the clan as a Black Mage, equipped with a Chill Rod and Magick Robe, and the spells Fire, Fira, Firaga, Thunder, Thundara, and Thundaga already mastered. Like in Tactics Advance, Montblanc has high magick attack and resistance.

He could gain access to all jobs if following the criteria, except for the Chocobo Knight job. This is the same case with Hurdy because of their unique sprites. Montblanc could also not be a Chocobo Knight because he can't ride a chocobo, as it was explained in the sidestory.

Below are his stats once recruited from mission Wanted: Friends, Kupo!. His stats varies, but below are the range of his stats.

Note that if the average clan level is higher than 45, his stats will change according to it.

Musical Theme
In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, his main theme is Teach Me, Mont Blanc. It was mostly used at Montblanc's appearances.

Virtual World
Montblanc has been seen in Square-Enix Members Virtual World community.

Trivia

 * He was the first moogle to have hair on his head instead of fur, with a different color. This was followed by Hurdy, Gurdy, Sorbet, and Zupp.
 * At the Final Fantasy XII Pins merchandise. He is also featured in a bonus card.
 * He was one of the few Moogles ever seen using their wings. In this case, Montblanc used his wings at mission "Wanted: Friends, Kupo!" in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.
 * At Tactics Advance, he was the only moogle with a different pom-pom color (the other ones were red). This also happened at Tactics A2, which he doesn't have a blue or red pom-pom.

Etymology
Montblanc is "white mountain" in French. It is also the name of a sweet chestnut pastry, which is popular among Japan. This may reference that he leads clan Nutsy in the first Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, his appearance (orange pom-pom, blond hair, and tan fur) and the nuts hanging from his staff in his artwork for Grimoire of the Rift.