Gau. You know him. The green-haired red-eyed little wild boy that made the Veldt his place and became Sabin's little buddy. But how well do we really know him?
Like with some other characters, like Umaro, Gogo and Mog, Gau was created more with the intentions of expanding the world of FFVI rather than impact the story itself. Thus, he is often left untouched and usually not very used (unless you're like me, who at any opportunity would go back to the Veldt for him). Nevertheless, his story is certainly one of tragedy (just like with everyone else of this game, but sure).
In a house north of the Veldt, a woman is having a child. This is Gau's mother, who unfortunately died giving birth. Mad with grief, Gau's father believed Gau was a demon and abandoned him in the Veldt, eventually fooling himself saying he never had a wife or son. The little boy was raised in the wild, learning how to fend for himself. The citizens of Mobliz, a town not too far away, knew of Gau's existence, but not where did he come from; nevertheless, some dried meat would sometimes be given to him, but Gau still kept his distance from the town.
We're now falling off a waterfall with Sabin and Cyan, who get to the shore near the Veldt. Gau finds them there, but upon seeing them moving, runs away. Our older characters visit Mobliz and learn from the citizens about Gau. Determined to find a way back to Narshe and thinking Gau might help them find the lost diving helmet they need, they get some dried meat to feed to the little boy.
Gau gets his meal and demands more, but Sabin refuses. The two start fighting until Cyan interrupts them and introduces himself and Sabin. Due to the way Cyan speaks, Gau refers to Sabin as "Mr. Thou"; he a little confused, but he's got the spirit. Anyway, Gau shows Sabin and Cyan a gift as thanks for the meat, which is none other than the diving helmet they wanted.
Gau ends up going with the men, because even though it is a gift, it's still his shiny thing. The three males then travel the Serpent Trench to Nikeah to then move to South Figaro by ship. Sabin hopes to find the other Returners safe and sound, to which Cyan assures they'll surely be okay, feeling Gau shares.
Now in Narshe and with quick presentations done, the party defended the town from an imperial invasion led by Kefka.
Gau stayed with the Returners as the story goes.
Now with the power of the Warring Triad, Kefka caused a cataclysm on the planet that reshaped it and scattered the party. During this time, Gau passed through Maranda at some point and met Cyan. Telling him he would train more to get stronger, Gau left Cyan, with the latter assuming Gau went to the Veldt. While regrouping the team, the party finds Gau there. Recognizing them, Gau rejoins.
While the party travels around the world, regrouping the team and checking the condition of the places, they come across a little house just north of the Veldt. Viewed its inhabitant, Sabin theorized it could be Gau's father and took Gau to Jidoor to teach him etiquette and give him a makeover to show what a fine man Gau had become to his father. The party returns to the house, done with Gau's makeover, and Sabin introduces the two and told the man Gau was is son. The old man denied having a son, but recounted his dream of being married and his wife dying to a demon child whom he abandoned on the Veldt. While the man was terrified of his dreams, he complimented Gau and said his parents must be proud of him. Sabin got furious with the old man's denial, but Gau stopped Sabin from attacking the man and left the house. Outside, Sabin apologized to Gau for his reaction, but Gau seemingly recognized the old man as his father and was happy he was alive.
Kefka is now dead and the party is escaping a crumbling Kefka's Tower. Gau called out he found a "shortcut" and simply jumped on a pile of loose rocks that he rode down to a lower part of the tower. The others followed, and Gau repeated the incident, this time forcing Celes to ride another rock down the tower.
And with that, we have Gau's story. Here's some other things about Gau:
He sticks with the party through the war against the Empire, despite having no apparent reason to.
He is an Aries, his birthday is 5th April and he is 13 years old by the time FFVI happens. 13 is often considered a number hinting bad luck, which might be connected to the fact Gau's mother died during birth and he was abandoned; also, him being refered to as "demon child" from his father's mouth. It probably is completely unintentional, but still a little nice extra.
Gao is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a growling and snarling sounds made by large beasts. So, technically, Gau's name is just a beast's growl.
His treasured possession is a teddy bear that he had when he was abandoned.
Gau loves shiny things and hates clothes. His hobby is running wild. He is afraid of heights
He has no Fight command, and thus no Desperation Attack, a trait he shares with Umaro. He doesn't equip weapons in FFVI, but spin-offs have him with knuckles and claws.
And that was it for Gau. I hope you liked it. He was the character with the highest percentage at the end of my FFVI playthrough, with 56%, while second place was Sabin with 53%. He is a character that even before I played FFVI, I came across someone who really liked him and so interest grew on me and when I played, I loved this guy. I think my parents must have thought something was wrong with me when I read his dialogue....... Oh well, nothing new.