This repulsive monster will eat all that comes before its gaping maw. Its body is covered in fetid slime.
Description
Malboros in Final Fantasy Tactics are the familiar tentacled monstrosities that appear in so many other Final Fantasy games. They have a large amount of HP, but no evasion. Malboros' special abilities focus on debilitating their enemies with various status effects. They can move on the surface of water and have a weakness to ice.
Ranks[]
- Rank I
- Malboro
The quickly-recognized malboro, also known as Morbol in the PlayStation version, appears as the standard green monster with orange eyes and a gaping maw.
- Rank II
- Ochu
Ochus' Goo ability can adhere enemies to the ground. Ochu is another recurring enemy in the Final Fantasy series, though generally weaker than the malboro.
- Rank III
- Great Malboro
Great malboros, also known as Great Morbol in the PlayStation version, can cause a plethora of devastating status effects with Bad Breath. They have a ton of HP and can use Malboro Spores to turn a generic enemy units permanently into a malboro. Great Malboro is a recurring strong variant of the malboro enemy in the Final Fantasy series.
Statistics[]
| Monster | Move | Jump | Phy. Evasion Rate | Innate Abilities | Common Poach | Rare Poach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malboro (Morbol) |
3 | 3 | 0% | Waterwalking, Counter | Platinum Dagger | Ice Shield |
| Ochu | 3 | 3 | 0% | Waterwalking, Counter | Nu Khai Armband | Chameleon Robe |
| Great Malboro (Great Morbol) |
3 | 3 | 0% | Waterwalking, Counter | Elixir | Omnilex |
Abilities[]
The damage formula for Tentacles is as follows:
The formula for success of status attacks is as follows:
| Ability | Malboro | Ochu | Great Malboro | Range | Effect | Vertical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tentacles | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Attack by flinging filthy tentacles about. | ||||||
| Lick | Yes | No[note 1] | No | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Smear on viscous saliva to form an invisible, magick-reflecting wall. Effect: Reflect. | ||||||
| Goo | No | Yes | No | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Belch forth sticky secretions from deep within to gum up the target and prevent movement. Effect: Immobilize. | ||||||
| Bad Breath | No[note 1] | No | Yes | Auto | 3 | 0 |
| Belch forth putrid stench to inflict status ailments. Effect: Stone, Blindness, Confuse, Silence, Oil, Toad, Poison, Sleep. | ||||||
| Malboro Spores | No | No | No[note 1] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Coat the target in malboro spores, turning it into a malboro. The effect is permanent even after battle and cannot be reverted by any means. | ||||||
As party members[]
Malboros make for slow, but potentially useful party members in certain situations, but are greatly hindered by their poor movement and jump capabilities, although their innate Waterwalking, whereas several monsters cannot enter water at all, helps. A regular malboro can grant Reflect on a party member for free, however, it must be next to them to do so. With a unit with Beastmaster next to it, Bad Breath can cripple enemy units, however, because the Beastmaster unit has to be next to the malboro, it will suffer the same fate without a ribbon equipped.
Ochu are less useful, as its Goo ability is easily outclassed by any character like Mustadio who can cause immobilization from afar and has a far greater versatility in combat. If one wants Lick for the free Reflect, it is a better idea to use a malboro so one does not need a Beastmaster unit.
Great malboro can be deadly so long as it can be positioned correctly to use Bad Breath. It is recommended to Haste the Great Malboro so it can move more frequently, as it may take too long to reach the combat. Malboro Spores, while potentially useful, is more of a novelty, as one still needs to contend with the enemy, and requires a Beastmaster unit to be next to the great malboro.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
The name may be a reference to Marlboro Cigarettes, since the creatures often spew horrid fumes from their mouths. The word "mal", originating from Latin, means "bad" or "evil" across many languages, including English, where it is not used on its own but can be found within words such as "malevolent" or "malefic".
"Ochu" comes from Dungeons & Dragons; specifically, it is the otyugh. The name in Japanese (and transliterations) comes from the pronunciation; it is pronounced with a short O and T (practically to a ch), making the pronunciation close to "o-chuugh". "オチュー" is the closest the katakana system can get to representing the sound without using compound katakana pronunciations not natively found in Japanese.