Orthros (The After Years)

Template:IncompleteTable Template:IVTAY Enemy Template:See Also Orthros (Ultros in the Wii version) is a boss from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. He is in the Depths of the True Moon.

Battle

Orthros regularly uses Earthquake and Tentacle, the latter of which strikes one target twice or two targets once. He sometimes uses Bad Breath and counters all physical attacks with Constrict and all magic with Bile.

After taking enough damage the music will change and the player receives a warning about Orthros changing his form. At this time he absorbs all elemental damage and counters elemental spells with the third-tier spell of that element, Firaga to counter Fire, for example. He will still use Tentacle, which can now hit up to four times, but his Constrict counterattacks occur less frequently. Orthros will begin using Deluge, which can do several thousand damage to the party, and Maelstrom to reduce the party's HP to single digits.

Orthros drops the Kitchen Knife, Sheila's kitchen utensil from the original game, which can be Thrown to cause 9,999 damage.

Strategy

The player is advised to have many Remedies to deal with Constrict.

For the first part of the battle the player can take their time buffing the party as Orthros is not strong. With Float cast, Quake will be negated and thus his only form of offense save for his counterattacks is Tentacle. The player should cast Shell several times to reduce the damage from Deluge in the second part, and with stronger Tentacles and Maelstrom will need to be more diligent on their healing.

Another strategy is to cast Reflect on Golbez and Rydia if they are in the party and use Flare on Orthros's second form. He will counter with a direct Flare, which will bounce and hit him. One only needs to cast Flare twice to defeat him.

Quotes

Ugh! I hate muscle men!

Orthros, if Cecil attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! Barefoot ones, to boot!

Orthros, if Golbez attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! What, are you the backup?

Orthros, if Ceodore attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! All muscley and things!

Orthros, if Kain attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle-bound gentlemen!

Orthros, if Yang attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! ...But wait, you have none!

Orthros, if Palom attacks him

Whoa...you smell the same as I do!

Orthros, if Edge attacks him

Your muscles...you don't have any.

Orthros, if Edward attacks him

A white beard... Splendid!

Orthros, if Cid attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! Too much muscle!

Orthros, if Gekkou attacks him

Ooh! I just love tall, dark, handsome men!

Orthros, if Zangetsu attacks him

Ugh! I hate muscle men! And so young, too!

Orthros, if Tsukinowa attacks him

Sorry, I don't like playing with dolls!

Orthros, if Calca attacks him

Gallery

Tentacle sprites (PSP).

Bad Breath (Wii).

Constrict (Wii).

Earthquake (Wii).

Maelstrom (Wii).

Tentacle (Wii).

Freezing Mist (PSP).

Tentacle (PSP).

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]In Greek mythology, Orthrus or Orthus was, according to the mythographer Apollodorus, a two-headed dog who guarded Geryon's cattle and was killed by Heracles. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and the brother of Cerberus, who was also a multi-headed guard dog. The Orthros of Final Fantasy has no connection with the mythical Orthros, save for their link to Typhon, which in the Greek myth was the father of Orthros and Cerberus.

Trivia

• Orthros's battle patterns are based on his Final Fantasy VI incarnation, specifically the third battle with him. His lecherous remarks about the female party members and his "muscle men" insults are taken from the first battle, where said comments were directed at Terra and Sabin, respectively.
• In the PSP release, the tentacle sprites used for Orthros's tentacle attack are palette swaps of the Cooler Leech and Octoleech enemies.