Umaro and Gogo. You know them. The two opticional party members that lack a backstory, especially Gogo, and that are easily the two people you'll leave behind or even forget they exist (can we blame their dungeons for that?). But how well do we really know them?
There truly isn't a lot of information regarding their actual story, and thus you might be questioning this post, since I usually do this to expose a character's story above all else, but there's more than just a character's story. After all, there's all the other facts and curiosities around a character to find and these posts of mine also work to expose them. So, while I'll start by exposing what little story we have of them, my true objective with this one is to expose the additional information about these two that is easily overlooked and probably not even known by many.
Umaro:
In the World of Balance, Umaro can be spotted in Narshe looking at what's going on (gotta keep updated on the news, you know) from a hole in his lair, but will retreat if people get too close. There's at least on resident in the town that knows of Umaro, since they saw him with the moogles in the mines.
Now in the World of Ruin, after the party defeats Valigarmanda, a part of the cliff falls and you can now enter and explore the Yeti's Cave, a one-way only dungeon, once you're in, only one way to get out (who has Warp again?). So, what do you do? As a proud gamer, you obviously explore that place, scream at every trap you keep falling into and curse every monster you encounter because eitheir they use the Imp status on you or are Tonberrys; there's no in-between. Except, of course, for the boss of that dungeon, our dear Yeti, Umaro, that will attack the party after they've basically stolen the Midgardsormr magicite from his bone carving (honestly, he has all the right to attack us). Once you defeat him, Mog will tell him to join and help us save the world, which Umaro agrees to, since Mog's his "boss" (so he kinda follows him, you know), and thus goes to wait at the party's airship, the Falcon.
Flashforward to Kefka's Tower being reduced to junk, Umaro opens a wall to go from one hallway to another, when Celes and Edgar find a locked door on the way, stopping their track, and continues to break the tower even more, because that's very smart and completely safe..... Anyway, no need to worry, he goes back to the airship and is alright. How? I guess that wall breaking lead him to the airship (so, had we followed him, we'd be there faster?).
Gogo:
Starting already in World of Ruin, when the party explores Triangle Island they come face to face with Zone Eater (aka, the only enemy of the region now) and eventually get eaten by it. This leads us to a cave system, for some reason, and now we have another dungeon to explore and curse its strong enemies. After passing its different challenges, that differ from green dudes pushing you off bridges to falling ceilings to jumping between stones and bridges, you eventually reach Gogo, who offers to mimic the party but first wants to know what they're doing. So we say we're working on saving the world from a maniac clown and upon hearing this, Gogo joins us, mimicking us saving the world.
Flashforward to their little appreciation segment as Kefka's Tower falls to its doom, a path collapses, leaving Setzer and Edgar trapped (these two have a weird chemistry and I'm all up for it) and throwing Celes and Gogo to parallel sides of the room. They come to discover that in order to rescue the boys, the levers from both sides must be operated at the same time, so Gogo is instructed to mimic Celes, which they obviously do, with a creepy level of perfection, and now the boys are saved (hurray!). As Celes, Edgar and Setzer leave the room, Gogo, still mimicking Celes, follows too, but falls into the pit that separates both sides. But worry not! They're ok. They reach the Falcon and escape alongside everyone else. How? Now, that one not even I know.
And, story-wise, that was it for these two, I hope you liked it. Stay now with the true gem of this post - more facts about them:
Like previously said, Umaro's a Yeti. He has 4 years counted (according to the Ultimania) and his birthday is 9th September.
Being a Yeti, Umaro is covered in fur except for his hands, feet and face. His skin and fur color have varied between white, blue and purple among versions.
Umaro's a male yeti, weighting 198 kg (436 lbs) and 209 cm (6' 10'') tall. His blood type is red (I feel you there, buddy).
His name, Umaro, is a portmanteau of the Japanese term for cryptids, UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal), and the Japanese suffix "maru". The name is also similar to "umano", which is human in Italian (that is very ironic)
He has the unique Tent sprite of an igloo in the mobile and Steam versions.
His hobby is bone sculpting (you don't say?), he loves bones and hates hairy caterpillars. His treasured possession is his favorite scrub, made from a Behemoth bone (how did he even got a Behemoth bone? Last I remember there's no Behemoths around Narshe).
Umaro has limited speach (kinda like Gau, yeah?), speaking more in grunts and groans.
He's a good enough craftsman, having a bone carving decorating his little space and what appears to be a makeshift carpet.
His only friends are the moogles that also live in the mines (that sounds like a nightmare to me).
While his equipment menu is not visible, Umaro uses a Bone Club as weapon and a Snow Scarf as armor (this scarf heals HP if Umaro is hit with an ice spell). His job class is Berserker.
Alongside Gau, Umaro has no Desperation attack due to the nonexistence of the Fight command for them.
He's a Berseker, thus uncontrollable, but certain abilities might be used if his specific relics are equipped, namely throwing allies at the enemy or cause a snowstorm, an ice-elemental ability (thus he's associated with ice elemental stuff in spin-offs).
He has the highest Strength, Stamina, Defense and Magic Defense by far, and his Speed and Magic are mediocre.
His two exclusive relics are Berserker Ring (Rage Ring in some versions) and Blizzard Orb (this is the one that allows the snowstorm to happen). A third exclusive relic can be won in the Coliseum in compensation for not having an Ultimate Weapon: a Bone Wrist.
Umaro has a total of 4 abilities: normal attack, Body Blow (where he throws himself at the enemy), Throw Ally (available with Berserker Ring equipped. Allies afflicted with sleep or confuse take priority and are healed afterwards [he's quite smart!]) and Snowstorm (available with Blizzard Orb equipped). If both relics that allow for new abilities to trigger are equipped, each of the four abilities have 25% of chance to happen.
Umaro is able to use his special attacks even if afflicted with Imp or Zombie, in the latter case he may come to throw someone at another ally or himself. He can still use the throwing attacks with a Magitek Armor (take him to Cyan's dream world and see for yourself). With the Black Belt equipped, he can counterattack with any ability available.
Due to his high Strength and unability to use magic (with the exception of Snowstorm, that regardless can be a risk to use), Umaro is useful in the Cultists' Tower, where the magic-only barrier doesn't work on him, and in the Colliseum, where he only has to choose from his 4 abilities in comparison to the rest that have like over 50. He's also a great ally to have fighting alongside Cyan, as Umaro is still able to attack while we wait painfully for Cyan's Bushido to get that free Zantestuken, something most party members can't do.
In all versions but Pixel Remaster, Umaro has 0 MP, thus attacks that affect MP, like Osmose and Rasp are absolutely useless against him. However, in the Pixel Remaster he does have MP, thus everyone else can replinish MP by casting Osmose on him and getting his otherwise useless MP (see? He's very useful and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise). He can't equip magicite, a trait shared with Gogo, but while Gogo can still learn spells, Umaro truly can't.
Umaro is fought as a boss before joining under the name Yeti. There's unused data of a weaker Yeti, probably meant to be a fight in World of Balance. For some reason, Umaro has a weird reaction to Green Cherries, as they grant him multiple stats buffs and stronger attacks as a boss. This particularity no longer exists when he's a party member.
Umaro can only be recruited if Mog is in the party. If you fight Umaro without Mog, you can then go back with Mog this time to have Umaro joining you.
Getting Umaro unlocks the achievement Bone Carver in the mobile and Steam versions.
According to Sakaguchi, Umaro has a strong sense of honor and feels like he owns a debt to Mog, who gave him food when our yeti collapsed from exhaustion.
Umaro's Theme is named after him, "Umaro", and plays while in his cave. It's also mixed in the ending.
In Secrets of Evermore, Umaro appears alongside other FFVI characters at the gladiator battle of Antiqua. These other characters are Terra, Locke, Mog, Relm and Strago.
Umaro was originally supposed to be a random encounter on the world map, meant to be obtained using a bait, much like Gau.
Umaro has a placement on the Blackjack, seen by hacking him there or using the airship glitch. His line is the same he has in the Falcon.
He has an unused casting magic sprite; when casting Snowstorm (his only magic ability), Umaro takes a simple ready stance. One frame of the casting magic sprite can be seen in the world map if Umaro picks a magicite.
In the data, Umaro is the last listed character. This was done as a shortcut for developers. Numerous game scripts that affect multiple characters do so in a specific range, and as Umaro's the last listed, the range of such scripts, such as the NPC that unequips party members, is one digit lower, affecting only the 12 core party members and Gogo.
Gogo's gender is unknown, as well as many other informations. Their weight is estimated to be 60 kg (~132 lbs) and his height 166 cm (~5' 5'').
His name means "dupe" in French.
Their hobby is mimicking (you don't say).
Gogo wears elaborate multicolored layered robes with different patterns. Their clothes have allusions to other FFVI characters, such as Setzer with the white and black triangle trim at the bottom, Shadow with the spikes, another robe resembles Locke's clothes in his Amano's artwork, and Gau and Strago with the sun-like polka-dots (and I dare argue the feathers resemble Kefka). Their face is covered by a yellow hood with feathers and spikes emerging from it. A slit in the hood reveals their eyes and a part of their face, which in some versions show some white and red facial paint, much like Gilgamesh. In their SNES and GBA sprite, Gogo wears red and green robes with gold trim (awfully close to Kefka's color palette).
While their gender is unknown, in the Japanese version they use the masculine pronoun ore, and speak in an all-around masculine speech register. Unused shop price modifiers regarding gender depict Gogo as male. They're also unable to equip female only equipment.
Their tent sprite in the mobile and Steam versions resembles a circus tent (I'm heavily starting to think it's just Kefka in disguise... They aren't, but like....).
As a Mime, Gogo is able to mimic others, and going as far as blinking in unison.
Their Mime command allows them to mimic the last action performed by an ally in battle, including casting magic and summons without spending MP and reusing items without affecting stock. They're capable of equipping three other commands in the stats menu, with the exception of Trance and Throw if the party didn't wait for Shadow in the Floating Continent. Their stats are the lowest and worst you'll ever see (worst Strength, second worst Speed and Magic after Cyan and second worst Stamina after Strago. Since they can't equip espers to raise stats, good luck dealing with this punching bag forever), and their equipment range is reduced to rods, some daggers, maces, universal shields, and lightweight caps and robes (similar to Strago and Relm).
Their Desperation Attacking is Punishing Meteor and their Ultimate Weapon is Scorpion Tail.
Gogo is treated majorly as a mage, as stats boosts must come from equipment and the second best weapon after his Ultimate Weapon is the Magus Rod, with +7 Magic boost. On the other hand, Gogo has no weapon or armor that raises his Strength.
In the GBA and subsequent versions, Gogo can't equip the Merit Award relic. Even in the versions he can, it's not recommended to do so.
In all versions but the Pixel Remaster, Gogo can't break the curse of the Cursed Shield, as it requires Magic AP that he can't collect.
If Mog stumbles in his dance and Gogo mimics him, they might succeed instead. The opposite can happen too, against bosses, namely the final ones: if Mog succeeds in his Dance, Gogo might fail.
Their Mimic ability allows them to mimic a previously mimicked action, as long as no one acted after it. This allows Gogo to keep summoning espers infinitely.
Gogo can't mimic Desperation Attacks, and will instead attack normally.
Temporary characters' commands, such as Pray, Possess and Shock are available to Gogo if the characters are hacked when the player has Gogo. The dummied Summon command will be available and usable too if it is first given to a party member. These commands may appear blank at the end of the list or replace already existing ones, but will be visible once Gogo equips them.
If you're taking Gogo to the Cultists' Tower and/or the Dreamscape, they must have the Attack command equipped for it to become Magic and Magitek respectively. The Rage command will become the Magic command in the Cultists' Tower, but will not become Magitek in the Dreamscape.
Due to his unique battle mechanics, Gogo is amazing for item farming, allowing one to have two Steal abilities (if Locke's in the party too and Gogo has Steal equipped) and/or continuously summon Ragnarok to use Metamophorse on every enemy that appears.
Because the player can alter Gogo's abilities pool, they are a reliable character to take to the Coliseum. They can also make the best use of the Imp equipment in this context, as long as the player gives Gogo nothing but the Attack command and the dragoon relics. Another strategy is using the Tools command, by having only the tools the player wants Gogo to use and no more (the rest of the tools can be bought in Figaro Castle or stolen from the machines enemies of Kefka's Tower).
Gogo's Theme, "Gogo", is named after the character and plays in Zone Eater's Belly. It's also mixed in the ending. The theme resembles the Fat Chocobo's theme of FFIII and FFIV.
Due to his unknown gender in the original game, some titles refer to Gogo as "him" whereas others place them in both male and female unit categories.
Gogo is mentioned in FFIX in Mini-Brahne's figurine description and in the Magic Fingertips' description. Upon giving the Magic Fingertips to the man in Daguerreo, he'll explain Gogo was a master craftsman who could make lifelike dolls, and his secret was apparently in his fingertips.
The character Golden Goliath from FFXIV's Blue Mage job storyline also works as a reference to Gogo. He's a Roegadyn from Namai, going under the name Gogo when fought against in the 31st stage of the Masked Carnivale, with an outfit resembling the real deal. The first two letters of each of his names also build the word Gogo (Golden Goliath).
The Dreamscape has a bug that will change Gogo's color palette into pink.
According to Director Kitase, Gogo doesn't have an identity nor backstory, and simply exists for the player to use in battle. Fan theories have brought Darill, Baram, Emperor Gestahl, Banon, among other characters whose fate can only be speculated, forth as possible candidates to who Gogo is.
Gogo might be a reference to the Famed Mimic Gogo from FFV. Both are Mimes, and FFVI Gogo's Punishing Meteor resembles FFV's Gogo's Meteor that he'd cast when the party failed to mimic him properly once his HP was low, thus "punishing" them. The two have the same name and similar appearance. In FFV. Gogo casts Banish at the end of the battle, which leads him to the Rift, that Gilgamesh confirms can be used to travel in between Final Fantasy worlds, so there's a possibility FFV's Gogo and FFVI's Gogo are the same, but this hasn't been neither proven or disproven.
Gogo was originally intended to be found in pubs around the world disguised as one of the playable characters not in the active party. They'd randomly cycle around towns based on a timer, and if the player could face them with the character Gogo's disguised as, they'd join the team. The developers felt this was too hard, so they changed for what we have today. However, this original idea could explain the Siegfried imposter was meant to be Gogo during development.
Like Umaro, Gogo also has a placement in the Blackjack, visible by hacking them there or the airship glitch. Their line is the same they have in the Falcon.
An urban legend was that Gogo was a reference to the American politician Adlai Stevenson. The theory claims Gogo, and the Zone Eater's Belly were Gogo is found, allude to things Stevenson said or wrote, such as a passage in one of his books where he compared legislating to "jumping from one rickety bridge to another, with blind men running back and forth trying to push you off", which is what players must do in a room in the Zone Eater's Belly. The theory has been traced back to a Final Fantasy fan forum and a poster that started the rumor in 2001 as a joke, and all of the quotations the theory attributes to Stevenson are made up.
