Palamecia (Final Fantasy II)

Palamecia, also known as Palakia in the unreleased English version on the Nintendo Entertainment System, is a brutal and war-hungry empire from Final Fantasy II, ruled by the dictatorial Emperor Mateus.

The Empire of Palamecia is located on a fertile haven surrounded by a mountainous, arid desert. The Castle Palamecia is located on the mountain ranges nearby, which makes it a natural, impenetrable fortress.

Story
A story found in the Mysidian library in Dawn of Souls and later remakes, implies that Palamecia was once a kingdom before becoming an empire. A previous king of Palamecia had challenged the world to see who could reach his daughter on a high floor of his castle. Many men tried but failed, until one man used a hot air balloon to reach her. The king was furious and attempted to seize him, but the man escaped into the skies with the king's daughter. The story is an adaptation of the traditional Rapunzel fairy tale. At the time of Final Fantasy II the Emperor builds an unstoppable army by raising demons from the depths of hell. Using this army he conquers the kingdoms of Deist and Kashuan. The army eventually reaches the kingdom of Fynn, but despite the people of Fynn's resistance, they are overrun due to Borghen's defection to the Empire.

The Emperor creates the weapons of his demise when taking over Fynn as four youths; Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon; are left for dead after being attacked by his Black Knights. While Firion, Maria and Guy are saved by the Wild Rose Rebellion and join it, Leon is captured and becomes the Emperor's right hand as the Dark Knight.

While the rebels build their forces, the Empire constructs a giant airship, the Dreadnought and with it the Empire crushes every town that gets in their way, as well as capturing Princess Hilda and striking Cid and his airship. The Dreadnought is struck down by the rebels, and the Empire must rethink their plans, though it still has one trump.

The Empire still holds Princess Hilda as captive, and uses her as bait to lure the Wild Rose's attention to the Coliseum at Palamecia, where Hilda is the prize for the arena champion. The rebels rescue the princess nonetheless, with the help of Paul and Gordon.

Later, while the rebels' key members seeks out the ultimate magic spell, Ultima, the Emperor summons a Cyclone to attack the towns and kingdoms. The Emperor is killed by Firion's party and the last surviving Dragoon, Ricard Highwind.

The Dark Knight assumes the position of Emperor and Firion, Maria, Guy and Ricard travel to Castle Palamecia to stop him. As the party confronts the Dark Knight, the Emperor returns from Hell to unleash Hell onto the world, as he is no longer interested in ruling the Palamecian Empire. Ricard stays behind to stall the Emperor while a wyvern saves the other four, but the Dragoon is killed by the Emperor's new powers. Destroying Castle Palamecia, the Emperor raises the castle of Hell, Pandaemonium, to earth, also permanently destroying the Palamecian Empire in the process.

Final Fantasy XIV
One of the original servers was named Palamecia. It was merged into the Excalibur server along with the Karnak and Bodhum servers.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Palamecia is present as a room for customized characters of the game's Multiplayer Mode Online Lobby.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Palamecia is featured in the background of the Final Fantasy II "Main Theme" Field Music Sequence.

Trivia

 * One of the Sanctum Skyfleet's airships in Final Fantasy XIII is called Palamecia.
 * In the Final Fantasy II novelization Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū it is stated Palamecia is cursed with demonic influences that corrupt its emperors. The demon, desiring to rule the world by human proxy, turns men into malicious masterminds by using everything at its disposal to pollute their thoughts with its malice. The demon originates from the beginning of the world when it became trapped within the indestructible "Stone of Iludia" and swore revenge. After ascending to the throne, Mateus exiles his mother, Airu, to the deserts of Palamecia, but she still spends her life trying to find a way to save him. During the novel, Airu and Minwu team up to find a crystal, which can purify the land. It ends up being too late to save Mateus, but it helps to bring peace to the world.

Palamecia (Final Fantasy II) Palmekia (FFII)