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Revision as of 00:38, 30 July 2016
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The Archfiends stand against the party under Golbez's command. From left: Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, Rubicante and Scarmiglione. At the center, Golbez.
The Archfiends, also known as Elemental Lords (Game Boy Advance), Four Fiends of the Elements (SNES and PlayStation), Four Emperors (J2e), or 四天王 (Shitennō?, lit. Four Heavenly Kings) are a group of powerful elemental beings that serve Golbez in Final Fantasy IV.
They consist of the Blighted Despot, Scarmiglione, the Drowned King, Cagnazzo, Empress of the Winds, Barbariccia, and Autarch of Flame, Rubicante.
Story
Final Fantasy IV
The Archfiends are minions of Zemus, who placed them under the command of Golbez. As the strongest monsters under his control and the generals of his army, the Archfiends are dispatched against Cecil Harvey after he begins searching for a way to become a Paladin. Golbez sends Scarmiglione to Mount Ordeals to kill Cecil, as his undead were immune to Cecil's dark sword. With the assistance of Palom, Porom and Tellah, Cecil defeats Scarmiglione's zombies and himself, forcing him to reveal his true form as an undead. Cecil prevails and Scarmiglione plummets to his death.
After returning to Baron, the King reveals his true form as Cagnazzo, who had killed the true king some time ago as part of Golbez's plan to take over the kingdom. With his last breath, Cagnazzo collapses the walls of the throne room's antechamber forcing Palom and Porom to petrify themselves to save Cecil.
After agreeing to exchange the final Crystal Golbez needs for the life of Rosa Joanna Farrell, Cecil and his companions climb the Tower of Zot and defeat the Magus Sisters, minions of Barbariccia. After defeating them and confronting Golbez, Tellah forces him to retreat by unleashing Meteor, and both Rosa and Kain Highwind join Cecil. Barbariccia herself emerges to battle them, using strong winds to avoid many attacks. Through Kain's Jump attacks, Barbariccia's storms are overcome and she dies, collapsing the tower around her.
Rubicante destroys Eblan whose survivors flee to the Cave of Eblan. With Golbez incapacitated after Meteor, and the subsequent battle at the Dwarven Castle, Cecil and his companions turn their attention to the Tower of Babil and retrieving the Crystals. In the underground portion of the tower, the party confronts Dr. Lugae, who told them Rubicante had moved the Crystals to the upper portion of the tower. After killing Lugae and returning to the surface, they enter the tower with the assistance of Edge and defeat Rubicante.
The Archfiends revived.
The Archfiends are revived by Zemus in the Giant of Babil, in a final chance to redeem themselves and defeat Cecil. They fail and are again destroyed. Their malice survives, however, and can be battled as optional superboss Geryon.
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
All four of the Archfiends are fought once again in the True Moon Subterrane. They were summoned from the dead by the Crystals, against their will. After each of them die they will thank the party, oddly showing a more benign side to themselves.
If Golbez is in the party they will each recognize and speak with him, showing a great deal of respect as well as happiness. Rydia will note that each of them is as much a part of the world as themselves. Scarmiglione also claims to be a spirit of the land, implying that the Archfiends are living incarnations of the elements of Earth.
Battle
Scarmiglione is fought upon Mount Ordeals. Cagnazzo posed as the king of Baron before being fought inside the Castle. Barbariccia is fought after the defeat of the Magus Sisters in the Tower of Zot. Rubicante is fought in the Tower of Babil.
The four Archfiends are fought a final time together in the Giant of Babil after Zemus raised them.
Other appearances
Final Fantasy
The Archfiends appear in the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable remakes as optional bosses in Hellfire Chasm, one of the bonus dungeons for the remakes.
Dissidia Final Fantasy
The Archfiends appear in Dissidia as summons. Their effects differ, but all are triggered by the use of the opponent's summon: After the opponent's summon is used, they instantly act.
There are also four equipment pieces named for the Archfiends - Barbariccia's Wristlet, Rubicante's Cowl, Cagnazzo's Carapace, and Scarmiglione's Fang. When all four are equipped, the wearer gains the "Elemental Archfiend" combination.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The group's namesake equipment and their summons all reappear, and they also give the player tutorials in the Labyrinth.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon The four Archfiends appear in the game as enemies.
Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon The four Archfiends appear in the game as enemies.
Musical themes
The battle theme that plays whenever fighting the Elemental Archfiends is called "Battle with Golbez's Four Emperors".
Gallery
Etymology
The prefix "arch" comes from the Greek árchos (leader), árchein (to be the first, command)
A fiend is an evil spirit or a demon in mythology.
The four Archfiends are named after four of the twelve named Malebranches in the 8th Circle of Hell, the Malebolge, from Dante's Divine Comedy. In particular, "barba riccia" is Italian for "curly beard," an obviously male attribute; despite this, the Archfiend Barbariccia is the only one with clear female features.
Calcabrina and Farfarello are derived from Malebranches as well.
Trivia
- Every Archfiend has two different battle sprites.
- Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare...!, a Square RPG for the Super Famicom, features a parody of Final Fantasy IV's Archfiends.
- The Archfiends appear in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as tutors in the in-game manual. They explain how to use the Labyrinth game mode.
- Golbez's Four Elemental Archfiends allude to Chaos's Four Fiends from the original Final Fantasy.
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