Chaos (Final Fantasy)

Chaos (カオス Kaosu) is the final boss of the original Final Fantasy. He is an incarnation of Garland occurring 2,000 years prior to the majority of the plot of Final Fantasy. The Warriors of Light travel to the past and discover Garland there. He transforms into Chaos and attacks, but is ultimately defeated.

Story
Chaos first exists as Garland, an evil knight who kidnaps the princess of Cornelia at the beginning of the story. However, his plot is foiled by the Warriors of Light, who seemingly kill him while rescuing the princess in the ruined Chaos Shrine. Garland apparently makes an unholy pact with the Four Elemental Fiends of the past (the Lich, Marilith, the Kraken, and Tiamat) to summon him 2,000 years back in time while they are sent into the present to cause mass destruction. This pact will create a time-loop and allow Garland to live forever.

The Warriors of Light return to the ruined Chaos Shrine to use the restored Crystals to travel two thousand years into the past, where they meet a Garland who remembers them, seeks revenge, and absorbs the powers of the Fiends to become Chaos. He is defeated by the Warriors of Light, breaking the time loop that sustained him, thus ending his threat. As the Warriors return to their time, it is stated during the game's ending that Garland waits for them, confirming that he still exists as he had before the time loop, though whether he is still rogue from Cornelia's knighthood is uncertain.

Chaos is often remembered for his noteworthy death animation, which showed him being disintegrated after he is defeated, a somewhat innovative phenomenon in games for the NES. This style of death was repeated for final bosses of future games in the series, including Neo Exdeath in Final Fantasy V, Kefka in Final Fantasy VI, and Safer∙Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. However, this pattern was discontinued in Final Fantasy VIII where Ultimecia was shown convulsing in a circular fashion and then vanishing in a form resembling static interference. It was revived as the death scene for Yu Yevon and the Weapon-type fiends in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2.

Battle


Chaos is always fought as the last boss of the game. While in the NES version he just used the standard battle theme, later editions would give him his own music, as well as increasing the difficulty of the fight.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Chaos makes an appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy as the God of Discord and the main antagonist. He summons ten villains from other universes in order to defeat Cosmos, who has summoned ten heroes, and captures the Crystals, placing control of the universes in the hands of evil. Elements of his original back story, specifically those pertaining to his relation to Garland, are retained, though he is not aware of them. Garland, who actually represents Final Fantasy in the compilation game, is aware of the time travel events and informs Chaos of them shortly before both fell to Cosmos's warriors.