The Catoblepas is a beast type enemy from Final Fantasy IX, found as a regular enemy on the non-forested Forgotten Continent overworld areas. Catoblepas is encountered in Treno weapon shop with the same stats, and the player wins 15,000 gil for defeating it.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Devil's Bell.
Catoblepas can inflict Petrify through its Devil's Bell attack. It uses Earthquake to deal Earth damage to all party members. Its Heave attack deals strong physical damage to one opponent, uses the Thundara and regular physical attacks, which are fairly powerful. Catoblepas uses Limit Glove on 1 HP; if its HP is reduced to one (either from really bad luck or through use of Matra Magic), it will counter with Limit Glove and deal 9999 damage to whoever attacked it last.
Strategy[]
It is recommended to equip the Jelly support ability to prevent Petrify, and to have either Earth-resistant abilities or Auto-Float to avoid its Earthquake attack. Having Protect mitigates the damage Catoblepas can do with its powerful physical attacks. An easy way to protect everyone at once is via Quina's Mighty Guard (though expensive MP wise) and Eiko's Carbuncle when she has Boost equipped or the player gets lucky with the long summon animation.
To defeat the Catoblepas easily, one can use skills that inflict Instant Death, Heat, or Freeze. It is also susceptible to Quina's LV4 Holy.
AI script[]
Function Catoblepas_Init
set attacklist = [ Heave ; Thundara ; Devil’s Bell ]
set earthquakecounter = ( GetRandom & 3 ) + 1
Function Catoblepas_ATB
set selectedattack = RandomAttack( attacklist )
if ( selectedattack == Heave )
set SV_Target = RandomInTeam(SV_PlayerTeam)
elseif ( selectedattack == Thundara )
set SV_Target = RandomInTeam(SV_PlayerTeam)
elseif ( selectedattack == Devil’s Bell )
set SV_Target = RandomInTeam( NotMatching(SV_PlayerTeam[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | DEATH | JUMP) )
if ( !earthquakecounter )
set SV_Target = SV_PlayerTeam
set selectedattack = Earthquake
set earthquakecounter = ( GetRandom & 3 ) + 1
if ( ( SV_FunctionEnemy[HP] == 1 ) && ( SV_FunctionEnemy[MP] > 10 ) )
set SV_Target = RandomInTeam(SV_PlayerTeam)
set selectedattack = Limit Glove
Attack( selectedattack )
Function Catoblepas_Counter
if ( ( GetAttackCommandId == Skill ) && ( GetAttackId == What's That?! ) )
return
set earthquakecounter--
if ( !earthquakecounter )
set SV_FunctionEnemy[ATB] = 0
set SV_FunctionEnemy[PREVENT_ATTACK] = 1
set SV_Target = SV_FunctionEnemy
Attack( Groan )
Etymology[]
Catoblepas (from the Greek expression καταβλέπω katablépō meaning "to look downwards") is a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described first by Pliny the Elder and later by Claudius Aelianus. It is said to have the body of a buffalo and the head of a wild boar. Its back has scales that protect the beast, and its head is always pointing downwards due to its head being heavy. Its stare or breath could either turn people into stone, or kill them.