Cockatrice is a Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Cockatrice is the eleventh card in the inventory, the last basic Level 1 Monster Card.
Being a Level 1 card, the card values on the Cockatrice are not strong, though it has a 6 on the left, the highest value for Level 1. Its value placement may be useful for games that use Same and/or Plus. Cockatrice is a lightning-elemental card, which comes into play with the Elemental rule. If simply playing through the story in order, the player will first encounter Elemental in Fishermans Horizon halfway into the game, though they can find it in Dollet earlier as well. With the Elemental rule in play, placing the Cockatrice on a tile with the matching lightning bolt symbol will gain +1 to its values. The +1 is disregarded for Same/Plus triggering, but counts for Combo.
Obtain[]
The Cockatrice monster has a 3.5% chance to drop the card. Using the Card command on a Cockatrice has a 93.7% chance to procure a Cockatrice card when it succeeds.
Any AI Triple Triad player who uses Level 1 cards has a chance of using Cockatrice in a play, from where the player can win it in a card match.
Card Mod[]
A Cockatrice card refines into a Cockatrice Pinion with Quezacotl's Card Mod ability. It can be used to further refine into Break spells after the player learns ST Mag-RF ability on Diablos. This is the earliest the player can amass the spell, making collecting Cockatrice cards worthwhile if the player decides to play Triple Triad early.
Physical version[]
In 1999, following the release of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan, Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards in Final Fantasy VIII Carddass Masters Perfect Visuals. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collector's edition playing mat. The cards have a blue side and a red side. The cards have become a rare collector's item.