Ultima (Final Fantasy XVI)

Ultima
(アルテマ, Arutema?)
Physical description
Race	Deity
Gender	Male
Gameplay details
Type	Boss
Behind the scenes information
Japanese voice actor	Mitsuru Miyamoto
English voice actor	Harry Lloyd

An otherworldly being that Clive encountered in the inner sanctum of Drake's Head. He addressed Clive as "Mythos" before attempting to merge their consciousnesses. However, Clive was able to summon the will to resist the creature, before Joshua returned from the dead to imprison it in a cage of flame that he sealed away in his own heart.

Persons of Interest description

Ultima is the main antagonist and final boss of Final Fantasy XVI. He is a mysterious, god-like being who manipulates events across Valisthea from behind the scenes, instigating conflict between the various nations of the land and pitting their Dominants against each other. Clive Rosfield and his allies confront him various times throughout their journeys as they seek to discover the truth behind him and his connections to the Mothercrystals, the Blight, and the Eikons.

History

The visualization for "The Ultima Civilization" in Mysteries of the Realm depicting tall spires.

Five millennia before the main events of Final Fantasy XVI, Ultima's species evolved somewhere in the world and were ruled by their king, "Ultimalius". Ultima's species eventually discovered magic that allowed them to flourish. Magic existed in eight elemental aspects and the ninth, "typeless" element, and Ultima's kind could use all types of magicks. Their species was almost driven to extinction, the few survivors driven from their homeland by the Blight, a byproduct of their use of magic sapping the land of aether, which turned their realm into a lifeless husk. Sixteen survivors of their kin were forced to discard their physical forms to travel to Valisthea in their ark, Origin. One member of the Ultima collective retained his physical form even after traveling to Valisthea, but was eventually forced to shed it later after it decayed too much.

The Ultima collective saw their only option was to revive their species and create a new world in place of Valisthea for them to live in. Ultimalius, who had led the exodus from the collective's homeworld to Valisthea, masterminded the plan to revive their species and recreate the world. Eight of the Ultima collective formed the cores of the Mothercrystals to siphon and store the land's aether, and the collective created humans to sire a Mythos, an ideal vessel to cast the spell "Raise", which would destroy humanity and Valisthea while raising a new world for the revived Ultima species. Humanity started as tribes associated with one aspect of the Ultima collective's magic, such as Motes of Fire tribe or Motes of Earth tribe. To conceal the Mothercrystals' true nature, the member of the Ultima collective who did not turn himself into crystal named them after parts of an ancient dragon. Ultima also fashioned himself a shrine in the sky to observe his plan coming together.

The plan was eventually for these inherent traits in mankind to lead to the awakening of Dominants and Eikons among them. Such a plan would take millennia to unfold, so Ultima joined his sleeping brethren in hibernation on Origin, the "ark" they had used to travel to Valisthea and which now lay hidden under the land. The Dzemekys Mothercrystal had a direct connection to Ultima's slumbering place inside Origin, and initially allowed the people who inhabited the nearby lands to commune with their god. Without Ultima's guidance, the religion that had revered Ultima as a savior god, the Circle of Malius, fractured after failing to get response from their deity. Humanity developed wills of their own, and magic-use became widespread in ways Ultima had not intended or foreseen. Humanity began to use the Mothercrystals as sources of power for their societies, leading to a series of wars that would begin and hasten the spread of the Blight across Valisthea.

Mankind developed magitek and a flying civilization, but when they attempted to claim the power of a Mothercrystal, its core—really another part of the Ultima collective—intervened, and the Dzemekys Mothercrystal was erased from the face of the earth, leaving behind but a massive canyon. The sky civilization permanently fell into ruin, and the people of Dzemekys ("Motes of Darkness" originally), whose crystal had been destroyed, emigrated from Valisthea. The Dzemekys people kept the Circle of Malius faith alive on the outer continent while knowledge of Ultima otherwise faded from the Twins.

The Ultima collective eventually recruited Barnabas Tharmr into aiding them, a descendant of the Dzemekys people who had emigrated from the Twins and who still revered Ultima as the savior god. Barnabas awoke as the Dominant of Odin, the Warden of Darkness, and as Ultima's champion gained supernatural powers in exchange for relinquishing his free will; he appears to have become biologically immortal, as after making his way to the Twins and taking over the continent of Ash single-handedly with the aid of his Eikon and a sword that can erase matter from existence, he has not appeared to have aged a day in the 35 years he has been in power. This ultimately resulted in his former lord commander, Cidolfus Telamon, defecting.

Ultima eventually found his Mythos, Clive Rosfield, who awakened as Ifrit's Dominant. Barnabas, under Ultima's orders, orchestrated scenarios for Clive to come into contact with other Dominants, as Mythos's inhered power was to absorb the Eikons' aether, the culmination of Ultima's plan to prepare a vessel strong enough to handle the spell the collective was going to cast. Ultima later converted the newborn Olivier Lesage into a puppet body for one part of the collective to influence Sanbreque.

Oh... You have learned our name. What else have you learned, Phoenix?

Ultima

Ultima made his existence known to Clive when he and Cid freed a fragment of the collective upon destroying Drake's Head. The offshoot used Typhon as a puppet to test Clive before attempting to take his body, mortally wounding Cid in his Ramuh form in the process. Cid, recognizing Ultima and his intentions from his earlier corruption of Barnabas, impaled Ultima's neck just as he attempted to possess Clive, making clear he had no intention of letting Ultima have him. Clive finished Ultima off with Cid's blade, causing Ultima to dissipate into aether, although not before expressing shock that Clive would refuse his fate and purpose. Ultima shortly afterward used a shockwave on Clive, Jill, and Torgal to "have [Clive] learn [his] place in [Ultima's] grand scheme", although Margrace interfered and dispelled the shockwave. Margrace, whose true identity was Clive's brother and the Dominant of the Phoenix, Joshua Rosfield, then confronted Ultima, accusing him for separating him from his elder brother, and demanding he leave Clive alone. Joshua used the power of his Eikon to seal this Ultima's spirit within his body, where it lodged and appeared as a dark crystal embedded on his chest. While Joshua departed to continue his own quest to unveil Ultima's true goals, Clive continued to absorb the other Dominants' Eikons. His group proceeded to destroy the other Mothercrystals, unaware that Ultima was being rejoined with his offshoots while absorbing and concentrating the aether they had collected over the centuries, despite mankind having also harvested aether from the Mothercrystals in the form of crystal shards.

Ultima, under Olivier Lesage's guise, manipulated the Dominant of Bahamut, Dion Lesage, into an uncontrollable prime and attacking Twinside and the Mothercrystal therein. Clive and Joshua discovered their power to merge their Eikons and subdued him, after which Clive absorbed Bahamut from Dion, and Olivier revealed his true form as a puppet of Ultima, dispersing into dark dust particles when killed. Ultima rose to the skies of Valisthea and cast the spell Primogenesis that began to sap aether from the land and direct it to Origin via the Obelisk constructs that dotted the land, to collect the aether needed for the final phase of their plan. The aetherfloods this brought forth turned people and wildlife into Akashic, aether-filled beings consumed in primordial aggression, which began to wreak havoc on the realm.

Barnabas eventually explained Ultima's mission to Clive and his role as the "Mythos" to be the god's new body. Barnabas was still under the belief that Ultima was a savior god whose spell would create a paradise, and so felt no agitation over his machinations ravaging the land or getting people killed. Joshua and the secret society known as the Undying, meanwhile, uncovered some fragments of the ancient Circle of Malius faith and learned of the Eikons' role as Ultima's "heavenly servants" whose prophesied appearance would herald the god's return; however, the Eikon of Water had since been lost to the ages and no longer awakened in modern people. After absorbing Odin from a defeated Barnabas, who scattered into dust like Olivier had, Clive held seven of the nine Eikons, Leviathan considered unrecoverable.

Ultima reanimates his "erstwhile body" as Infernal Eikon.

Clive and Joshua made way to the final Mothercrystal on the Twins, Drake's Spine in Stonhyrr. The Ultima that was the true form of the Spine's core pulled them into the Interdimensional Rift, where Clive and Joshua glimpsed this Ultima's discarded body, which resembled a decaying version of Clive and Joshua's Ifrit Risen form without the Phoenix's wings. Ultima explained he had created mankind to one day birth Mythos, but the people forming free will was not a part of their plan and this anomaly should thus be removed to turn people into mindless Akashic at the mercy of the Ultima collective. Clive rejected the notion of becoming a mindless vessel for Ultima's spell, and defeated this part of Ultima with Joshua when the deity took control of his former body once more. After the body was destroyed, the again bodyless Ultima conceded that Clive became stronger through his struggles, yet was still consumed with sin, and implied he would forgive him if he sacrificed his free will. Although he came close to taking control of Clive, Joshua brought him back via his feather talisman. The brothers combined their strength into Ifrit Risen and Ultima was obliterated, although not before deducing not only Joshua's imprinting onto Mythos, but also that Clive was going to become Logos. The act of obliterating this shard of Ultima shattered the Mothercrystal. Ultima then warped Clive and Joshua out of the rift, after condemning Clive for choosing the path of Logos and hinting at his intention of raising Origin.

Ultima raised Origin from underneath Twinside into the sky, where it appeared as a giant flying black Mothercrystal. After Barnabas's death, the orcs who had previously joined forces with Waloed became Ultima's followers and continued to wreak havoc, alongside the echoes and Ultima's thralls that had reanimated during Primogenesis. Clive, Joshua, and Dion made their way to Origin but Ultima had anticipated their arrival, also implying that he raised Origin as a backup plan in the event that Clive didn't arrive, and assumed his Ultima Prime state against the three's respective Eikon forms, giving them a significant enough challenge that Dion sacrificed himself for a final attack that seemingly obliterated Ultima Prime. Clive and Joshua, the latter heavily wounded, partly due to the Ultima shard he sealed within himself growing stronger, were the only ones to make it to the inner sanctum. They learned of the bodies of Ultima sleeping there since time immemorial, and how some of them had been the hearts of Mothercrystals, and destroying the hearts had only released them.

Ultima became one with all of his offshoots, including the one inside Joshua that emerged from his chest. Joshua passed on Phoenix to Clive and perished. Clive then used his powers as Mythos to confront the fused Ultima collective who warped Clive to a void to "empty the vessel". Although initially confident in being able to surpass Clive, the latter gradually overcame him, shocking Ultima that Clive was now completely free from his control. Angered, Ultima ascended to his Ultima Risen form, with Clive turning into Ifrit Risen. Even Ultima Risen was not strong enough to defeat Clive, forcing him to kneel in defeat. Clive deduced Ultima's real motive was fear over his weaknesses, and that he had turned his back on humanity out of cowardice from recognizing that his creation had the potential to surpass him. Ultima rejected that notion, and summoned the sixteen Ultima shards to form the Tree of Sephirot to regain his full power. He unveiled his fully resurrected self as Ultimalius and vowed to have Clive suffer eternal anguish as punishment for defying him. Clive pointed out this "punishment" would only strengthen his resolve to stop the mad deity.

Ultimalius used various Eikonic powers against Clive's human form, who countered them in kind, encouraged through spiritual support from his various friends and allies. Ultimalius lost his temper over being defied, even more so after Clive inferred they were beings on the same level. Clive used the power of the Phoenix to overpower him, and told Ultimalius that he could have become even stronger had he accepted those below. Ultimalius insisted he did not need anyone's help, with Clive noting this as their starkest difference as he could not have gotten as far as to end Ultima's reign without the help of those he was close to. Ultimalius declared he could not end due to being the end itself and attempted a last stand, only for a hole to be blown through his chest, weakening him enough for Clive to deliver the finishing blow with a flame-enhanced punch to the face.

My congratulations. Relish this victory, knowing that you have but delayed the inevitable— Your world is already dead. May you enjoy an eternity... On its blackened husk.

Ultima

Clive, after some discussion about humanity's future in a world without gods, absorbed Ultima's aether into his body, although not before the latter spitefully projected that humanity will die an agonizing death. His body holding the powers of a "god" but with his free will intact, Clive destroyed the nexus, the wellspring of magic inside Origin, and erased magic from the world once and for all to stop the spread of the Blight.

Characteristics

Appearance

Ultima without a vessel has the appearance of a gaunt, pale-skinned humanoid, with pronounced blood vessels, white hair, and blackish contours around his eyes which have darkened sclera and lack eyelids, giving him a zombified guise. Ultima has four arms, and the vast majority of his body is encased in a purplish crystalline substance.

Ultima

When he confronts Clive and Joshua in the Interdimensional Rift, Ultima assumes a "battle form" that combines his features with those of Ifrit: his body is covered in black soot-like substance that crystallizes as armor with red glowing veins and a gaping hole in the torso. His face is covered by a helmet with large horns curved upwards. He has only two arms, but gains a pair of tattered wings that hover behind him while not attached to his back.

The official art book notes Typhon as "Ultima", but a developer interview in Final Fantasy XVI Ultimania notes that Typhon is a being like what failed Mythoses became. If Typhon is another body used by Ultima, in this form he is more monstrous and enlarged version of himself, lacking the crystalline encasing, but is fully blueish, with his hair longer and black. He lacks legs, instead featuring a series of tentacle-esque limbs.

He can adopt a form known as Ultima Prime, in which he resembles a black version of Ifrit with blueish hues, but is also larger and winged. An extension of this called Ultima Risen, is the same but has more wings.

Ultima

In his true form, Ultima looks fundamentally the same as his base form, albeit more muscular, his face appears more human-like with sharper facial features and eyelids, and he has two arms on each side that fuse into one. The crystalline substance now covers nearly all his body like a suit of armor and his shoulders have two broader segments, behind of which lie a pair of large floating white wings, with a pair of floating crystalline parts similar to his shoulder protectors, from which multiple, smaller, and thinner black wings emerge.

Ultimalius

His last form, known as Ultimalius, is encased on crystalline material, including his head, although now with an emerald hue, with several golden markings across his body, and certain parts glowing blue due to his magic, although similar glowing parts shine a red color while on his face. When entering his Limit Break state, he also gains additional halo-like contraptions on top of his head and near his shoulder pads. His helmet also disappears in his Limit Break state, apparently being destroyed during the power up sequence.

Ultima has also appeared as the hooded man Clive saw at Phoenix Gate (speaking in Ultima's voice, saying "we have found you", "we" referring to the collective). The hooded man bore some resemblance to Margrace, which caused Clive to assume the latter was the one who was Ifrit until the truth was revealed. Just prior to Clive's first priming into Ifrit during the Night of Flames, he witnessed a fiery spectral entity floating around. The entity bore some resemblance to Ultima. Olivier can also be seen as another form of Ultima, though biologically he still appears to be a human born from Anabella and Sylvestre Lesage.

Personality

No! Mine is the altar at which you pray! Mine are the eyes that look down upon you all.

Ultima

While Ultima initially refers to himself in plural, alluding to both his race and his offshoots in the collective, Ultima later refers to himself in singular after absorbing his clones. His thrall Olivier also referred to himself in the singular during Dion's coup. He also notably refers to himself in the singular once during his confrontation with Clive in the Interdimensional Rift, when revealing his role in humanity's creation. The various shards of Ultima share a single consciousness.

In most instances Ultima is cold and detached, reacting to everything around him with indifference. Ultima looks down on everyone, and is self-assured, rarely if ever feeling threatened, and shows mild annoyance at any opposition thrown at him, mostly because he views it as a futile exercise. Ultima is condescending and absorbed in his selfish interests, caring little to nothing for anything else. His indifference to humanity, who once worshipped him as a god, leads to humanity taking on a will of their own after Ultima ignored their pleas for guidance for long enough.

Ultima is a megalomaniac, believing himself absolute and his word final, and that as the discoverer of magic and creator of mankind, he can do as he pleases. He scoffs at the idea that humanity could forge a path of their own without his willing, being so committed to the idea that all things must obey his command alone, and that everything exists for his sake. Not even his Eikons were immune to his contempt, as he freely decried Leviathan as being his "most profaned fragment" solely due to being sealed away for eighty years. Despite his contempt for everyone save for himself, he has respect for those he deems worthy, complimenting Clive for besting Leviathan and donating a portion of his power to him, although it is implied he only did this because he still needed Clive to become his vessel.

When Clive Rosfield, empowered by both Ifrit and Phoenix, evenly matches the despotic god, Ultima's calm demeanor collapses, showing frustration that Clive can oppose him. He reaffirms his self-proclaimed authority over the world, insisting that at it is his will. Ultima's anger is evident on his insults towards Clive, damning him for opposing him, asserting himself as Clive's master. Ultima is so shaken by this series of events that he cries in disbelief upon being bested.

For all his outward posturing, Clive exposes Ultima as a coward, so afraid to admit to his own flaws that he denied humanity's potential to surpass him, all to hide his weakness as a creator. Since humanity knows pain and suffering, they have the capacity to unite and become stronger together, concepts that are alien to Ultima. As a result of his unwillingness to acknowledge his own flaws, let alone that he and his creation were essentially on the same level of existence, he came across as hypocritical regarding denouncing humans for their sins (specifically, their embracing their own will), as Joshua and Clive both pointed out during their time in the interdimensional rift. Even when in the face of defeat, Ultima remains defiant and in denial of his flaws, refusing to accept that he needs anyone else, convinced of his own superiority. Even after being soundly defeated, he mocks Clive's plan of alleviating the world's problems.

Abilities

Ultima is the master of illusion, able to trap those under his influence into dreams of his making that to the one experiencing them are indistinguishable from reality. Ultima appears able to delve into others' minds to either make these images, or reflect the images the person already is projecting to themselves.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Ultima directs Clive toward his destiny by appearing to him as a mysterious hooded man, later shown to have Clive's own face. Ultima traps Clive into an illusion of his memory of what happened at Phoenix Gate, where Clive is able to defeat his "Infernal Shadow" and accept that he is Ifrit's Dominant and what transpired there. In this scene Ifrit is depicted as something of his "inner demon", or what could also be seen as his Jungian shadow, an unconscious aspect of personality that the ego resists and projects; by confronting and accepting one's shadow, a person can self-actualize. If Ultima can influence people through their psychological shadows, then those incapable of accepting the uncomfortable aspects of themselves would be more susceptible to his manipulation.

Though Hugo Kupka appears unaware of Ultima, he sees Benedikta Harman in front of his nation's Mothercrystal, which spurs his hatred and thirst for vengeance to fight Clive once more. During the battle of Twinside, the heart of Drake's Tail delves into Dion Lesage's deepest feelings and assumes the shape of wyvern tail as a result, a flower with special meaning to Dion. When Dion passes out after losing Bahamut to Clive, it is ambiguous whether the vision of his father he sees is in his own mind or if it is Ultima's reflection, as in the same scene, Anabella Rosfield also suddenly appears to hallucinate and see her sons as evil incarnates, which leads her to take her own life. Finally, Ultima shows various visions to Barnabas, such as his former lover Benedikta, and pacifies him by showing him the illusion of being cared by his mother.

Ultima can exist as a soul without a body, though it is assumed he originally did have a corporeal form, as he is said to have discarded it. In his disembodied state, he can take over others' bodies and use them as puppets, such as Olivier Lesage, whom he supposedly inhabited when Olivier was but a newborn. When speaking through such puppets, the subjects' eyes glow blue. This is also how Eikons and semi-primed Dominants' eyes appear when they are in control of a body composed of aether. Ultima may be able to create his thralls out of aether, and when these thralls perish, they crumble into almost nothing. Ultima may also be able to quicken ancient magitek creations to life, as some such echoes are found in Reverie and Apodyteries and appear to be commanded to fight Clive specifically. Active Time Lore entries to "Echoes", "Ultima's Thralls", and "Orcs" posit that post-Primogenesis they are commanded by Ultima's will.

Spoilers end here.

Ultima teleports Clive and Joshua to the Interdimensional Rift.

Ultima is capable of teleporting himself and others, creating pocket dimensions severed from the physical realm where time appears to stand still, erecting powerful barriers that deflect magic attacks, and unleashing strong magic blasts of his own. Ultima, owing to his creating the Eikons and by extension Dominants and their abilities, can prevent a Dominant from semi-priming and even dissipate part of their power afterward, as demonstrated by his interaction with Clive in the Interdimensional Rift when "proving" that, contrary to Clive's assertion that Valisthea belongs to everyone, humans own "nothing more than [their] precious will".

As the discoverer of magic, Ultima can use spells of all elements (though he is never seen using water), and uses spells similar to what the Eikons are capable of. Ultima also uses ultimate tier spells, such as Flare, Holy, Meteor, and the namesake Ultima.

Ultima can use a body of a beast resembling a dark blue-hued winged Ifrit called Ultima Prime where he is strong enough to fight Ifrit, Phoenix, and Bahamut all at once, and dominate most of the fight through a mix of powerful magic attacks, devastating physical strength, and inhuman duress, best evidenced by being able to survive their combined Tri-disaster attack. Even in his standard form, when Ultima was obliterated by the combined powers of Clive and Joshua at Drake's Spine, he showed little to no reaction at being vaporized. This is likely because Ultima's standard form lacks physicality, making him immune to various attacks, as Joshua acknowledges before using his Phoenix powers to seal Ultima within himself. However, Ultima Prime is unable to defend himself against Bahamut's sacrificial release of multiple beams of light.

Ultima can further evolve into a form known as Ultima Risen, which is the same as Ultima Prime, but with more wings. Ultima Prime's ultimate attack is Purgatorium, which unleashes a devastating attack, but has an exceedingly long cast time, similar to the recurrent countdown sequence from Bahamut across multiple installments. In his ultimate form, known as Ultimalius, the combination of all versions of Ultima, he can conjure the powers of the Eikons: being able to summon rods that explode Lightning around their proximity; summon a fist that can level Earth; claws that allow him to manipulate Wind; draconic wings that let him conjure bursts of explosive Light beams; a mantle that lets him drop blocks of Ice; a blade that lets him wield Darkness to slice everything around him; and a pair of blazing wings that let him rain down Fire. When pushed to the brink, he can use Limit Break to release all restraints. He never uses a spell associated with Leviathan, though this was once one of the Eikons. When about to use the Eikons' powers, he utters a phrase that ties into the element ("Gales Unrelenting" for his wind-based attack, "Levin Untamed" for his lightning rods, "Earth Unyielding" for his fists, "Light Undying" for his light beams, "Ice Unfeeling" for his ice blocks, "Darkness Unending" for his dark sword, and "Flames Unforgiving" for his fire wings).

Gameplay

Ultima Prime.

Boss

Ultima is fought twice in the game's third act. The first battle occurs within the Interdimensional Rift, with Clive accompanied by Torgal and Joshua. The second battle occurs within Origin, with Ultima assuming four different forms as the final boss sequence. The first phase is a mostly cinematic battle, in which the player controls Ifrit, Phoenix, and Bahamut against Ultima Prime, followed by a one-on-one battle against Ultima as Clive. The third phase is an Eikon battle in which the player controls Ifrit Risen against Ultima Risen. The fourth and final phase has the player control Clive against Ultimalius, a powered-up version of Ultima in which he wields the powers of all the Eikons.

In-battle quotes

Ultimalius.

• "Prostrate yourselves."
• "We will unmake you!"
• "Repent."
• "You bore us."
• "Perhaps this will break you."
• "You know nothing of magic."
• "Behold!"
• "Break!"
• "This is the work of my will."
• "I will crush you!"
• "Let your will be purged!"
• "Know your insignificance."
• "We are without equal."
• "Submit!"
• "Bow before me!"
• "Let tempest rage!"
• "Thunder, roar!"
• "Darkness, spread!"
• "Light, shine!"
• "Frost, fall!"
• "Kneel before me!"
• "Bow to your god!"
• "My will be done!"
• "Let lightning strike!"
• "Earth, tremble!"
• "Let all be consumed!"
• "Fly, flames!"
• "Let your blood run cold!"
• "Petulant child!"
• "Good night!"
• "Witness my creation!"
• "Know my power!"

Clive's abilities

This section in Final Fantasy XVI is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Musical themes

Ultima's theme is "Logos", which is arranged to numerous tracks associated with Ultima and his champion growing as Mythos. Logos is an Ancient Greek term and is used in Western philosophy, psychology, and rhetoric, and connotes an appeal to rational discourse that relies on inductive and deductive reasoning. This is what Ultima calls his "failed" Mythos who has free will too strong to purge. "Logos" plays during his Ultima Risen phase of the final fight, having noticeably more upbeat tone to the song. Although not used with him directly, the tracks used for Typhon's initial appearance and the Transgressor phase for Typhon, "Babel of Savage Screams" and "Catacecaumene", respectively had the same melody as "Logos" in order to foreshadow their ties. The only noticeable difference between "Catacecaumene" and "Logos" besides it lacking an upbeat tone is that "Logos" was more orchestral while "Catacecaumene" was more techno-based.

Bars for Logos are also used for several scenes involving Ultima in some capacity, such as "Babel of Savage Screams" and "Eschaton" (for the scenes where Typhon emerges and when Ultima lifts Twinside, or rather, Origin into the air, respectively).

During the first phase of the fight, a remix of "Logos", called "A Far Cry from Heaven" plays. It had a strong choir and rapid percussion in the background. During both the battle against Ultima at Drake's Spine and the second phase of the final boss fight, the song "'Neath the Pall" plays. The fight against Ultimalius has "Hymn of the Penitent" playing, which combines both "Logos" and the melody for "Find the Flame", Clive's leitmotif.

"Hamartia" also contains motifs from "Logos" and plays during boss battles against Typhon, Liquid Flame and Necrophobe who are creatures controlled or summoned by Ultima via the Mothercrystals' hearts.

The melody of "Main Theme" from the original Final Fantasy is also used in a number of tracks associated with Ultima, i.e. "Too Bloody Quiet", "Bloodlines", "Mighty Acts of God", "Salvation", "Death Shall Me Devour", "'Neath the Pall", and "The Mural".

Behind the scenes

In the art book for the game, Typhon is listed under "Ultima".

The way Ultima dissolves after his Ultima Risen form is defeated is similar how Chaos disintegrates after his defeat in the first Final Fantasy, which has been repeated in subsequent games in the Final Fantasy series. Coincidentally, Ultima has a passing similarity to Chaos in his basic form due to his four arms.

The mentioned 16 survivors of Ultima's race are an allusion to the number XVI as per the series's numbered entry.

Ultima summoning a version of the Tree of Sephirot is both an allusion to mysticism from which the game lore derives influence, and also possibly the antagonist of Final Fantasy VII who is called Sephiroth. The Ultima collective's version of the Tree of Sephirot has sixteen nodes as an allusion to the number XVI and the surviving number of their collective. Aside from Sephiroth, he also has some similarities to Jenova, namely his shapeshifting into entities to manipulate various characters into doing his bidding, most notably Barnabas via the image of his mother (similar to how Sephiroth post-madness was dedicated to Jenova's cause due to believing her to be his mother), and to a lesser extent his having a single wing in certain forms, like several Jenova byproducts, including Sephiroth. On a similar note, one of the associated musical themes for Ultima, "Eschaton", has a similar opening melody to Sephiroth's leitmotif in both the original and remake versions of Final Fantasy VII, "Those Chosen by the Planet".

Ultima's character may be an allusion to the final antagonist of Final Fantasy Tactics of the same name, Ultima, the High Seraph, who was also looking for a vessel to inhabit, and used the series's recurring magic spell, Ultima. The link is strengthened in "The Rising Tide" where Ultima gifts Clive a part of his power by giving him the spell "Eschaton", the Ivalice Ultima's ability, though in the English version it is instead localized as, "Ultimate Demise", missing out on the allusion. Ultima existing as a self-appointed god of the world who has discarded his physical body, creator and bequeathor of magic, and requiring a champion of the mortal kind to do his bidding, also draws parallels to the Occuria from Final Fantasy XII. His Limit Break form also has a passing resemblance to Necron from Final Fantasy IX. Ultima also has similar personality traits to Bhunivelze from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, disdaining humanity for possessing free will and intending to use the protagonist as part of his agenda to remake the world into a his idea of paradise. Although not quite to the extent of Bhunivelze, elements of Ultima's character, such as his creating humanity and to a lesser extent his discovering magic and his overall personality, resembles the demiurge from Gnosticism.

Voice

In the Japanese version, he is voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto. He is voiced in English by Harry Lloyd, who portrayed a similar character in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 called Z. Lloyd voices him with a more haughty and even-handed tone, and also had a slight echo to his voice due to Ultima having 16 shards of himself that share single consciousness.

When first appearing, and when talking in Clive's mind, Ultima has a deeper, menacing voice that also has a more alien manner of speech. He would not speak normally until after Margrace identified him by name.

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Ultima means "the last" in Latin and many Latin-based languages. The word is an inflection of ultimus which is the superlative of ulter, which means "that is beyond". In the Spanish versions of many Final Fantasy games, the spell Ultima's name is written as "Artema", a close transliteration of the Japanese katakana.

In the Final Fantasy series, Ultima is the name of the recurring ultimate magic spell, befitting the role of Ultima in Final Fantasy XVI as the discoverer of magic. Ultima has also been prior used as the name of a main antagonist in Final Fantasy Tactics.

His final form's name, Ultimalius, is a combination of both Ultima as well as Malius, alluding to his role in the Circle of Malius religion.