Concept artwork from Final Fantasy VI
I've got more lives than I do arms!
Ultros
Ultros (オルトロス, Orutorosu?), also known as Orthros, is a recurring creature in the Final Fantasy series, first appearing in Final Fantasy VI. Ultros is a carnivorous purple octopus with a writhing mass of tentacles who has a mouth full of fangs. He frequently cracks corny jokes and makes lecherous comments towards female party members. Ultros works with his partner, Typhon, who provides the muscle Ultros lacks.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Ultros is a large purple octopus with red eyes and a mass of tentacles that usually emerge from his mouth below a row of sharp fangs, but his lower mouth is never seen. In almost all instances, this gives him an iconic mocking grin. Ultros is not always depicted with eight tentacles, as real-life octopuses have, and is sometimes pink instead of purple. He has spots on his body in some appearances and, in Final Fantasy XIII-2, he has white markings. While his exact size varies, Ultros is usually larger than the player party. His trademark attacks are Tentacle and Octopus Ink.
While Ultros is an octopus in most appearances, he instead appears as a purple flan in Final Fantasy XII and Tactics A2.
Personality[]
Uwee hee hee! What have we here? I'm warning you, I'm armed... Eight-armed, that is! Uwee hee hee!
Orthros in Final Fantasy
Ultros rarely, if ever, bears proper reason for his antagonism and is often regarded as a bizarre nuisance who just likes causing trouble, rather than being truly evil. He adores females, but hates males and, when fought, often comments on how attractive the females are and how repulsive the "muscle head" males are. Ultros relies on his partner, "Mr. Typhon", for assistance, as Typhon is much more powerful and durable.
Ultros thinks highly of himself, referring to himself as "octopus royalty" in Final Fantasy VI. He mocks the party and speaks in an over-the-top fashion. When fought, he protests when attacked, specifically hating when Terra casts Fire on him in Final Fantasy VI and calling out "No more!" when attacked in Final Fantasy XIII-2. At heart, he is a coward, fleeing from battle and calling in Typhon for help when the tide of battle turns against him.
Appearances[]
Final Fantasy[]
Orthros appears as a boss exclusive to the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary releases, encountered in Whisperwind Cove alongside other bosses originating from Final Fantasy VI. Orthros retains his sense of humor and his ink attack to blind the party and can hit up to eight times with his basic attacks, making him one of the hardest hitting bosses in the game. Defeating him earns the Rune Staff.
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years[]
Orthros appears as a boss exclusive to the 2D releases, being encountered in the Depths alongside other bosses originating from Final Fantasy VI. He uses a variation of his battle patterns from the third battle in VI and will comment on how cute the females are and berate the males as "muscle men". After the fight, the party is confused by the encounter, but Rydia remarks that he did not seem like a bad person, if somewhat strange.
Final Fantasy VI[]
Ultros appears as a recurring boss and minor character. His primary role is as comic relief, as he is not tied to any faction within the world. In the World of Ruin, he can be found working in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum, a quirk that is referred to in later appearances in the series, where Ultros tends to appear at battle arenas. Ultros is fought as a boss in the Lethe River, Opera House, Esper Caves, and Blackjack.
Final Fantasy XII[]
Orthros appears as a rank V elite mark encountered in the Garamsythe Waterway. Being a lecher, Orthros only appears when the main party is made up of three female characters. Orthros differs from his usual cephalod appearance, instead appearing as a flan.
Final Fantasy XIII-2[]
Ultros appears as a DLC boss in the Coliseum, referred to by the Arbiter of Time as Ultros the Uninvited due to the octopus barging into the Coliseum and the Arbiter wanting him gone by any means. As the battle begins, Ultros flirts with Serah Farron while screwing with Noel Kreiss' head prior to calling Typhon to lend him a helping hand.
After Typhon is defeated, Ultros tries to escape, but Serah pins his tentacles to the ground with arrows as she and Noel combine their fire spells to fry Ultros and knock him unconscious. Upon defeat, he can be recruited into the Paradigm Pack as a Synergist as a reward for a perfect Cinematic Action.
Final Fantasy XIV[]
Ultros appears as a recurring boss and minor character. A presumed voidsent summoned by the Thaumaturges' Guild, he is first encountered during the Hildibrand Manderville questline, working for the Bloodsands of Ul'dah. He is fought as a boss during 
The Dragon's Neck and later appears during 
The Summer of Ultros, 
Sigmascape V3.0, and Lady Typhon.
Final Fantasy XV Universe[]
Ultros is a daemon that appears in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV as an adversary to the Glaives and in A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV as the final boss. Ultros is a monstrous purple octopus with a large mouth. He is much bigger than an average daemon and, in King's Tale, he can talk. In Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, he appears to be a daemon either caught or created by Niflheim.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift[]
Orthros appears as an enemy encountered in Brightmoon Tor during the second ascent and is once more a flan like his Final Fantasy XII incarnation. He is level 99 and possesses several devastating attacks, including the Gold Hourglass, a move that targets everyone on the player's team for both massive damage and Slow.
Final Fantasy Tactics S[]
Ultros appears as a recruitable character and boss.
Final Fantasy Dimensions II[]
This section about Summon magic in Final Fantasy Dimensions II is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.
Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)[]
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Ultros from Final Fantasy VI appears as a summon. He uses Octopus Ink, obscuring both players' Bravery points. Ultros's summonstone is obtained as a level bonus in Destiny Odyssey III.
Ultros is also a ghost card: Level 100 Terra, who has the Red Gem and Delicious Fish accessories to be won via battlegen. The quote on the card is what Ultros says to Terra during the party's first battle with him in Final Fantasy VI.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]
Ultros Ultros returns as a summonstone, with the same function as in the first Dissidia. He can be purchased from certain Moogle Shops for 20 KP. He also makes a cameo in the in-game manuals, explaining accessories with Relm and Typhon.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy[]
Ultros appears as a boss, appearing mainly when playing "The Decisive Battle".
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call[]
Ultros appears as an enemy in Battle Music Sequences.
Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]
Ultros from Final Fantasy VI appears as a boss.
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]
Ultros appears as a boss inside the Opera House and the Passage of the Eidolons.
Final Fantasy All the Bravest[]
Ultros from Final Fantasy VI appears as an enemy encountered on the South Figaro Sea. He uses Tentacle and drops the Lilith Rod.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
Ultros/Orthros from Final Fantasy VI appears as a playable character, boss, and summon, using both the Ultros and Orthros names. As Ultros, he appears as a recurring boss in the VI realm. As Orthros, he became a rank 4 Summoning ability by way of fan vote for the global release's first anniversary. His attack, Tentacles, deals eight hits to enemy targets with a chance of inflicting Blind. He later still became a playable character as Ultros with access to high-level Combat, Black Magic, and Summoning abilities.
Final Fantasy World Wide Words[]
This section about an enemy in Final Fantasy World Wide Words is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]
Ultros/Orthros appears as a boss. Both the Ultros and Orthros name are used and all versions use the same sprite, though the name Ultros is only used during Final Fantasy VI content. As Orthros, he is encountered in the "The Octopus and the Teacher" and "Scorn of the Octopus and the Teacher" trials, as well as during the "Soul Palace Eltira" and "Boss Rush Survival 2" events. As Ultros, he appears during "Chronicle Battle: Ultros" and the events "Esper Caves - Exploration," "VS Ultros & Typhon - EXT," and "Opera House - Stage."
Mobius Final Fantasy[]
Ultros appeared alongside Typhon as a recurring water-elemental boss encountered during several events, first appearing during "Ultros Ultimatum" in the Battle Tower. He could also be acquired as a Ranger ability card, granting the Icedance ability.
World of Final Fantasy[]
Ultros appears as a Mirage encountered as a boss during the intervention quests Freak of Nature and Operation Opera and in the Coliseum. He can be imprismed in the Coliseum using an Ultros★ Prism if facing him with only one party member and can be transfigured with the Kraken.
Chocobo series[]
Ultros appears in Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon and Chocobo's Dungeon 2 as a boss. He attacks mainly by using Drain on Chocobo and Shirma. His head and two tentacles appear as separate targets with their own ATB gauges. Ultros remains in a lake for the duration of the fight, requiring Chocobo to use magic unless he is near the shore.
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]
Ultros from Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Theatrhythm appear as water-elemental cards.
Final Fantasy Portal App[]
Ultros from Final Fantasy VI, XIV, and World of Final Fantasy appear as Triple Triad cards.
Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]
Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable[]
Ultros appears as a chance card that grants the spell Warp.
Kingdom Hearts[]
In Kingdom Hearts III, there is a constellation that can be photographed in the Ocean Between that takes the appearance of Ultros and unlocks a special Ultros Gummiship.
Behind the scenes[]
Ultros in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Retro-spective trailer.
Even though Ultros is said to be an octopus, in his 3D debut in Final Fantasy XIII-2, he has seven tentacles. This would make him a heptopus. This may be a reference to the one tentacle the player defeated before his initial boss encounter in Final Fantasy VI.
In LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII - Retro-spective Trailer, Ultros has a cameo appearance using his Final Fantasy VI sprite in Sunleth Waterscape -300 AF- (mistakenly marked as -500 AF-,) where he is hidden in a cave watching as Serah, Noel, and a chocobo are rushing to help Snow fight the Royal Ripeness.
Square Enix's Eorzea Cafe served a food item called "Marinated Orthros ~Genovese style~" with a description that translates to: Orthros, lover of many. Regretfully defeated and then marinated. However, even after being cooked, his mind still continues to be filled with thoughts of his "bro"...
Etymology[]
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 direct connection with the mythical Orthros, but his appearance on the Lethe River that flows to Nikeah and his association with Typhon thematically connect him to Greek mythology. The Orthrus spelling is also the name of a genus of jumping spider, another eight-limbed creature.
Ultros's CollectaCard in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy addresses the character's recurring naming discrepancy:
- "Though his name has at times been mixed up with that of a certain two-headed dog of legend, Ultros is quite definitely just an octopus with no sense of propriety for women. He is quite strong, though."