Diabolos

Artwork for Final Fantasy VIII by Tetsuya Nomura.

See Diablos' summon sequences here.

Diabolos (ディアボロス, Diaborosu?), also known as Diablos, is a recurring creature in the Final Fantasy series that has most often appeared as a summoned monster. He first appeared in Final Fantasy VIII and his trademark ability is Dark Messenger, which usually deals fractional damage based on the target's HP. Even though his nature and backstory change, Diabolos's appearance throughout the series is consistent.

Appearances

Final Fantasy VI

Main article: Diabolos (Final Fantasy VI)

Diabolos appears in the Game Boy Advance and subsequent versions. His magicite is obtained by defeating the Kaiser Dragon in the Dragons' Den. Dark Messenger deals non-elemental fractional damage reducing opponents' HP to 1/16, ignoring protection to Death, and also inflicts Sap. He costs 100 MP to summon. Diabolos teaches Graviga (x5), Gravija (x3). At level up, Diabolos provides a +100% boost to HP.

Final Fantasy VIII

Main article: Diablos (Final Fantasy VIII)

Diablos.

Diablos is an optional boss who becomes a Guardian Force upon defeat. He can be obtained when the party receives the Magical Lamp from Headmaster Cid. Upon using the lamp in the menu the screen will dissolve and the player will fight Diablos.

Diablos learns HP-J, Mag-J and Hit-J junctions, HP and Magic boosting support abilities, and Mug, which lets one steal items from opponents with the Attack command. Its unique abilities are ones that reduce the frequency of random encounters and refine abilities that let the player make time magic and status magic from items. Because Diablos's attack power is determined differently from most GFs', it doesn't learn SumMag+ abilities or Boost.

Diablos's summon attack is Dark Messenger that deals damage in relation to the enemies' maximum HP count via a percentage equal to Diablos's level range (with a damage cap of 9,999).

Its compatibility item is Steel Orb and it also gains compatibility when the person junctioning it uses Demi and forbidden magic. Diablos doesn't have an "opposite" GF whose summoning would deplete its compatibility the most. Its Triple Triad card drops from its boss form.

Final Fantasy XI

Diabolos is one of the five terrestrial Avatars, alongside Carbuncle, Fenrir, Phoenix, and Bahamut. He is the ruler and creator of the dreamworld known as Dynamis, and appears as a character and boss in the Chains of Promathia storyline.

Players who have defeated Diabolos can optionally face a far more powerful version of him in the quest "Waking Dreams" to forge a pact with Diabolos, gaining the ability to summon him. As a summon associated with dreams and sleep, many of Diabolos's moves are magic-based and some gain bonuses from being used when it is nighttime or when the enemy is asleep.

Diabolos is also the name of a server.

Blood Pact abilities

Name	Level	Pact Type	MP	Effect
Ruinous Omen	1	Rage	All	Deals damage equal to a random percentage of HP to enemies within area of effect. Only available during Astral Flow.
Camisado	1	Rage	20	Deals minor physical blunt damage and knocks back the target.
Somnolence	20	Ward	30	Deals minor dark magic damage and weighs the target down.
Nightmare	29	Ward	42	Gradually deals dark damage, weakens attacks, and inflicts sleep on enemies within area of effect. This special sleep status prevents gradual damage from waking the afflicted targets.
Ultimate Terror	37	Ward	27	Decreases attributes of enemies within Area of Effect.
Noctoshield	49	Ward	92	Gives all Party members in area of effect the effect of Phalanx.
Diabolos's Favor	55	Avatar's Favor	0	Causes MP to Refresh for all party members near Diabolos, but weakens Diabolos's offensive power.
Dream Shroud	56	Ward	121	Enhances magic attack and magic defense for party members within area of effect.
Nether Blast	65	Rage	109	Delivers a ranged magical attack dealing moderate dark damage. Damage is fairly consistent, ignoring many defensive stats.
Night Terror	80	Rage	177	Deals powerful dark magic damage to a target. Damage receives a significant bonus when used on a sleeping target.
Pavor Nocturnus	98	Ward	246	Inflicts Instant Death on the target. Target will be Dispelled if Death fails. Chance to inflict Death increases if target was already slept with Nightmare.

Concept art.

Diabolos, ruler of dreams, creates multiple copies of himself in the dreamworld.

Diabolos presides over a sleeping soul.

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Final Fantasy XII

Main article: Diabolos (Final Fantasy XII)

Diabolos is a Mark and an otherworldly demonic gargoyle with a spear and fiery wings. It is fought at the Lhusu Mines.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Main article: Diabolos (Revenant Wings)

Demon who bends gravity to his will.

Description

Diabolos appears as a rank 2 Non-Elemental Flying summon. His regular attack is called Nightmare, while his special attack, Gravity, causes the Sap status.

Final Fantasy XIV

Diabolos.

Main article: Diabolos (Final Fantasy XIV)

To face me is to face thy deepest, darkest nightmares!

Diabolos

Diabolos appears as the final boss in the level 50 dungeon, Lost City of Amdapor. He uses both gravity magic and the skills of the Final Fantasy XI incarnation. To evade his Ruinous Omen attack, the party must memorize and open the correct door to the void which will protect the party while traveling through it.

Though defeated, Diabolos managed to escape the lost city. He later appears in Heavensward as the one responsible for awakening the voidsent trapped in the Void Ark, and carried off the coffin containing the Shadow Queen Scathach into a voidgate.

He sought the queen's resurrection for his own gain. After the Adventurer defeated Scathach in Dun Scaith, Diabolos absorbed her essence and faced of Eorzea's defenders once last time, ending in his defeat and banishment from the realm.

Final Fantasy Type-0

Diabolos.

Diabolos is a Vermilion Bird Eidolon obtained by completing the Chapter 7 Expert Trial "Operation Dragon Slayer". His attacks are drain-based as his movement involves him dispersing into a cloud of bats and striking anything that he passes through while healing him. One of Diabolos's attacks is a combo ending with him dispersing into a mass of bats which regenerate his health upon hitting Dark Strike.

His signature technique is Gravitation Ball (Graviton in his Astaroth variation) where Diabolos drains the health of anything within the area into a large sphere which, upon release, drifts towards its target and explodes on contact. He comes in three variations; Diabolos, Baalberith and Astaroth.

Artwork.

In-game.

In-game.

In-game.

In-game.

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Bravely Default

Main article: Diabolos (Bravely Default)

Diabolos is a demonkind enemy that appears in the Dark Aurora.

Bravely Archive

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Bravely Second: End Layer

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Final Fantasy Dimensions

Pitiful creature, why dost thou call my name? I am both darkness eternal and the deep sin of the light.

Diabolos

For battle information, see Diabolos (Dimensions boss)

Diabolos is gained during Chapter 4: The Darkness section, when the Warriors of Darkness traverse the Lufenian Ruins where they find a dark orb floating in the Demon Corridor.

After touching the orb, Diabolos engages the party in battle. Upon defeat, Diabolos allows the Warriors of Darkness to summon him, costing 64 MP to summon. Diabolos's attack Dark Messenger hits all enemies and deals Darkness-element damage.

Diabolos and the Monk ability Vacuum Wave are the necessary components to unlock the Dark Judgement Fusion Ability. Dark Judgement removes 1/4 of all enemies' HP, reducing them to 3/4 of their current HP.

Final Fantasy Dimensions II

Artwork of Diabolos Alpha.

Artwork of Diabolos Omega.

Signet (Rank 8).

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Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia

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Pictlogica Final Fantasy

Icon.

Sprite.

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Diablos is a boss in some Final Fantasy VIII dungeons and events.

FFVIII version.

FFXI version.

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Final Fantasy Explorers

Diabolos

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Final Fantasy Explorers-Force

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

For battle information, see Diabolos (Brave Exvius boss)

Diabolos (★1).

Diabolos (★2).

Diabolos (★3).

Diabolos's portrait (★1).

Diabolos's portrait (★2).

Diabolos's portrait (★3).

Enemy sprite.

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Mobius Final Fantasy

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World of Final Fantasy

Main article: Diabolos (World of Final Fantasy)

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Diabolos is represented by a card of the aqua element portraying his appearance in Final Fantasy Type-0. Another card depicts Diabolos from Final Fantasy XI with a dark-elemental card, and a wind-elemental card for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.

Trading card.

Trading card.

Trading card.

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Triple Triad

Diabolos from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius appears on Triple Triad cards in the version available via Final Fantasy Portal App.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

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Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

Lord of Vermilion

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Crystal Conquest

Diabolos.

Diabolos is one of three summons. It deals massive damage to other characters.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

As part of a Collaboration between Capcom and Square Enix, Tetsuya Nomura was asked to design various new Armor types for the playable characters, and their feline companions.

For Male Hunters Nomura created the Rage Armor set, which is based on Diabolos.

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Behind the scenes

Cancelled appearances

Concept art for Final Fantasy XIII.

There are have been several attempted appearances of Diabolos throughout the series, either as a summon or as an important figure within certain selected titles.

According to concept art from Final Fantasy XIII, Diabolos was planned to appear as a fal'Cie, but it never appears in the game. Many different forms and styles were considered from an organic-looking creature to a mechanical one, which appeared to have been used as design elements for the creatures Faeryl and Aeronite in the sequels.

In Final Fantasy Record Keeeper, Diabolos was also set to appear as a Summoning ability based on his Final Fantasy VIII appearance, but doesn't appear in the final product. Its animation mimics his Final Fantasy VIII summoning sequence and the ability would likely deal dark-elemental magic damage to all targets.

Voice

In World of Final Fantasy, Diabolos's English voice actor is Robin Atkin Downes, who also voiced Genesis Rhapsodos in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Diabolos is the Greek word for "devil". It has entered many languages to mean devil, such as Diabolus (Latin), Diavolo (Italian), Diablo (Spanish), Diable (French), and Diabo (Portuguese). Diabolos actually means "accuser" or "slanderer" and could also be connected to the Greek word diabolous, which means "divider" (which fits given his affinity with gravity element), but eventually the general word Diabolos became the specific name of the entity. In the original Greek rendering, it was used to refer to the Christian Devil (The New Testament was written in Greek). Devil is the English translation of Diabolos and in Christian belief, this being is the embodiment of evil.

The concept of the Devil is believed to originate in Zoroastrianism with Angra Mainyu (also known as Ahriman) as well as from the Judaic Satan in the Book of Job in the Old Testament. However, their Satan was merely the "devil's advocate", an angel who acted as a skeptic and whom God allowed to afflict Job with suffering. Satan is Hebrew for "prosecutor/accuser" or "adversary".

The concept of the summon Diabolos may be connected to the Jinn in Islamic mythology, similar to Ifrit. The djinn were the origins of genie myths and were spirits or ghosts made of fire or smoke. They were said to grant wishes.

Diablos emerging from a magic lamp in Final Fantasy VIII may be a reference to the djinn.

The French localization of Final Fantasy VIII renamed Diabolos to "Nosferatu", a Romanian term meaning "Unclean One" that is sometimes synonymous with the Devil or vampires. In the Spanish localization it is called Diablo.