The king of the dark elves, Astos lives in the Western Keep. It's said that he knows the location of the crystals. Although possessing a certain beauty, he carries an air of pestilence. He seems to know about Jack and the others.
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Astos is the King of the Dark Elves who dwells in the Western Keep in Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. He seems to be knowledgeable of many events happening in Cornelia and guides Jack Garland and his companions towards their ultimate goal.
History[]
Astos was an elf of Cornelian origin who was taken by the Lufenian. By his own accord, he traveled with the Lufenians across many planes. The Lufenians repurposed him as an organic reconnaissance unit, turning him into a Dark Elf through mutative technology.
He was eventually sent back to his world, now as a Lufenian agent, being a tasked with helping Strangers play their roles as "Warriors of Light" while masquerading as the king of the Dark Elves. He was assigned to be the contact for the agent Jack Garland and his companions, but over the course of several iterations, they became friends, and Jack, inspired by his feelings for Princess Sarah, offered Astos to rid the world of the Lufenian influence. Albeit reluctant at first, the dark elf eventually agreed. Jack left his crystal with Sarah and got his memory wiped, while Astos remained in Cornelia, remembering every detail of the plan. To avoid losing any of the vital information, he used his clones to store his memories, granting each of them part of himself.
Jack, Ash, Jed, and Neon arrived at the Western Keep, guided by Bikke, while Astos was waiting for them. After they defeated his puppet, a suit of armor animated by magic known as the Black Knight, he congratulated the party and introduced himself. Jack interrupted him and asked about the elemental crystals' locations, and Astos sent them to the Crystal Mirage, a tower from which they could board the Flying Fortress where the Crystal of Wind was kept.
Astos eventually guided Jack and his party towards the remaining three crystals. After vanquishing the four fiends who had tainted the crystals' light, Jack and his party were surprised find the world shrouded in even greater darkness. Following an attack on Cornelia by Bikke's crew maddened due to the darkness, the party defeated him, restoring him back to his senses. Bikke suspected Astos to have the answers and that he had an unequal hatred of Chaos. Bikke told the party to follow the bats as they were Astos's envoys. Doing do, the party ended up on the Ancient's Tower.
At the top of the tower, the party found Astos on the floor being trapped by an Iron Giant. The party defeated the mechanical construct and Astos told them he was monitoring the darkness to keep it in check. He cryptically instructed them to look for constructions that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and did not belong with their surroundings as they were full of monsters and could spread chaos and death, before teleporting away.
After the party's victory in the Vigilia Court, they regained more of their lost memories with the white bats creating a portal into Terra Tortūra, a floating continent made up of both dirt and organic elements, which was a Lufenian facility where Astos lied. The party encountered Astos again, who was ready to answer their questions. Jack asked who Astos was and the dark elf insisted for Jack to guess. Jack believed he was a Lufenian, but Astos corrected him, saying that the white bats were, in fact, the Lufenians he turned into their current shape, who had tried to help the party to have Astos killed so their curse would be lifted. Jack brushed this aside and asked Astos to give him purpose. Astos was unable to and laid out the deep negative feelings he harbored within him, as darkness surrounded him. Astos asked if Jack knew who he was but Jack was unable to remember, only referring to him as the King of Dark Elves. Disappointed, Astos engaged the party in combat and was felled. As Jack finally remembered his fallen comrade, Astos shared his growing embitterment over Jack forgetting him. Before dying, Astos revealed to Jack the true nature of the Lufenians and their plan to stop them.
In the Hall of the Dark Crystal, Jack and his companions discovered another copy of Astos who had no memory of them and was somewhat lost while the others interacted with him, but over the course of continuous conversations, Astos's memories started to resurface. Slowly, the unit gained all of Astos's identity, thus the dark elf was revived to help Jack.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Astos is a tall ashen-skinned elf with dark gray hair and piercing red eyes and a lanky frame. There are strange dark vein-like markings on his cheeks and his hands. He wears a horned circlet on his head, a dark gray tunic with a pointed hood and a collar decorated with spearheads, black trousers, and black knee-high boots. He has a necklace made of thorns and decorated with purple flowers and purple earrings. He is described as being light weighing.
Personality[]
Astos is confident and sarcastic and likes to mess with everyone he encounters, often launching into long-winded speeches to annoy people and draws amusement from their reactions, and speaks cryptically. He is ticked off when others try to make him give straightforward information.
His actual personality is much more scornful and resigned, as he realizes just how expendable he is, angry at the Lufenians for forcing him to comply with their plans. During his duties he got to know and assist multiple Strangers, many of whom did not survive, and those who did ultimately forgot him, which fueled his hatred of the Lufenians further.
As he grew the closest to Jack, whom he met multiple times, it is hinted that his meetings with him motivated him to move beyond merely serving the Lufenians and become his own person. He is deeply loyal to Jack, even willing to sacrifice himself as part of the plan to rebel against the Lufenians, but nonetheless became embittered when Jack did forget about him once more. Nonetheless, Astos still desired to be of help to Jack so he set contingencies in place to secure his eventual return.
Gameplay[]
Astos serves as the Boss of Terra Tortūra, and also as a shopkeeper and an aid in battle in Rift Labyrinth.
Battle[]
Phase 1[]
In the first phase, he wraps himself in darkness and constantly teleports around the battlefield. Astos can mold darkness into an array of forms: Dark Surge for a stream of darkness; Dark Revolution or Dark Slash for a rotating cutting attack; Dark Hammer for a strike from above; Dark Thrust to create puncturing structures that either pursue their target or lie around Astos, detonating afterwards; Dark Flare as a large AoE spell on a specific target; and Cremation to spread darkness around himself. Dark Hammer and Dark Surge are unblockable, while Dark Fire and Dark Thrust can be used as Instant Abilities. He further complements his dark attacks with spells like Thundaga or Blizzaga.
If hit repeatedly, the darkness on Astos will dissipate and he weakens. In this state, he teleport while utilizing martial arts, especially kicks to push his targets away and uses Primordial Frost, which shoots multiple frozen projectiles, or Primordial Bolt to create four advancing rows of lightning. After some time passes, he will use Dark Matter to recharge his dark power.
Phase 2[]
In the second phase, Astos transforms into the gargantuan Ultima Weapon Origin. His attacks and pattern are vastly different now. Astos still uses dark abilities, such as Energy Emission, creating an explosion around himself; Shadow Flare to breath darkness in front of the party; Void Spout which creates a well of darkness that tracks its target; Shimmering Rain, creating rain clouds around himself that inflict Curse; and Antimatter, which spawns several orbs of darkness that track its target. Of these only Antimatter is an Instant Ability. Astos can employ Calamity Frost to create falling icicles in front of him or Calamity Bolt, which is the same as Primordial Bolt, but cast on both of his sides. Rarely he will use Flare Star for a powerful streaming attack, or Ultima Origin, a devastating AoE around himself.
For physical attacks, Astos will try to stomp his target or swipe his hands. He can use Crossover for a crossed attack, Dark Calamity for an upwards swipe, or Full Power for a body charge. The latter two are unblockable.
Strategy[]
Astos is highly mobile in the first phase and pinpointing him can be hard with all his teleporting. The best approach is to wait for Astos to remain stationary and strike back. If Astos teleports, the player should be alert to either his slashing attacks or Dark Hammer as they can come fast. Blocking the slash attacks will allow the player a room to strike at Astos. Players can also take advantage of the party members' diversion to employ ranged attacks; spells work best for this. When Astos is weakened, he leaves himself open in longer windows when using his spells, otherwise, one should beware when he teleports as he almost always follows with a kick to push the player away, so it is best to block it for an opening.
Ultima Weapon Origin is a much easier phase. Astos is far less mobile and his attacks generally focus on the area in front of him, and he rarely swipes to his sides like other bosses do. Many of Astos's attacks, such as Shadow Flare or Flare Star, create significant rooms to attack Astos on his sides.
Rift Labyrinth[]
A copy of Astos appears in the Rift Labyrinth where he serves as a shopkeeper, selling items like Potions, Ethers, and Phoenix Down to the party in exchange for gil. As the party explores the Rift further, they can unlock hidden memories that restore the organic unit into Astos once more. Occasionally, Astos will aid Jack in combat in missions that require defeating a large number of enemies, he uses his skillset from his state without darkness.