Warring Triad (Final Fantasy VI)

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The Statues on the Floating Continent (iOS/Android/PC).

The Warring Triad (三闘神, Santōshin?, lit. Three Warring Gods), also known as the Statues and Goddesses, are, according to legend, collectively the gods of magic and the beings that created the espers in Final Fantasy VI. They are named Demon, Fiend, and Goddess.

Story

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

Main article: War of the Triad

Three gods descended from the heavens and fearing one another's power, began to war. The mortals caught among their fighting became espers and were forced to fight as slaves to the gods. The gods realized the chaos their fighting was causing and agreed to seal away their power. They returned the espers' free will and turned themselves to stone with the last words left for the espers being, "Never must we be woken." After the War of the Magi the espers fled the world to a new realm and took the Warring Triad's petrified remains with them. The Triad were placed in a delicate balance of power, and it was said catastrophe would occur if they were moved out of position.

A thousand years, later a man named Gestahl rediscovered the secrets of magic. He built up an Empire and invaded the esper world, kidnapping espers and draining their powers to be used in Magitek technology to conquer the world. Kefka Palazzo knows of the Warring Triad and plans to reawaken them. After discovering magicite, the true power of the espers, Gestahl invades the Esper World with Kefka, raising the Floating Continent with the Warring Triad's power at his fingertips. However, Kefka had other ideas after being injured and demanded for the Warring Triad to use their full power, with Gestahl being against it due to the implications of this. Kefka ultimately seizes the Triad's power for himself and uses it to murder Gestahl in response. Kefka moves the statues out of alignment, releasing their power, shifting the face of the world.

Kefka uses the power of the Triad in the World of Ruin to exert his destructive will on any city that resists him, using a ray of energy called the "Light of Judgment" to burn anyone who opposes him, or destroy entire towns. When the party raids Kefka's Tower they destroy the Triad to get rid of Kefka's power source. This worries Terra, who is half-esper and half-human. The Triad are the source of magic, and thus the espers' life force. If the Triad were destroyed espers would die, possibly including Terra. By this point Kefka had drained most of the Triad's power into himself and thus become the source of magic. After Kefka is defeated, Terra survives as a human without the espers' magical abilities because of her strong feelings for the children in Mobliz.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

Template:See Also The Warring Triad are fought as bosses in Kefka's Tower.

According to the Final Fantasy III Nintendo Player's Guide, the final battle sequence against the Statue of the Gods is supposed to be a rematch of the Warring Triad; the first tier being Demon, the second tier being Goddess, and the third tier being Fiend. No official material support this, however; the idea was created by Nintendo of America.

Musical themes

"Catastrophe" is the musical piece that plays when the party confronts Kefka and Gestahl before the Warring Triad, and is also used when the Floating Continent rises. During the three battles with the Warring Triad, the music used is "Battle to the Death".

Allusions

Final Fantasy IX

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Artwork of the three statues.

Three statues that appear in the Desert Palace appear to be an allusion to the Warring Triad. The outer statues are demonic creatures titled "Promise of the Evil God" and "Truth of the Devil." The middle statue is angelic, and is named the "Illusion of the Goddess."

Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2

Template:Sideicon Template:Sideicon The Japanese name of the "Ruthless" paradigm—(撃滅の戦鬼, Warring Demons of Destruction?), consisting of a Commando, a Ravager, and a Saboteur—may be a reference to the Triad.

Final Fantasy XIV

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Main article: Warring Triad (Final Fantasy XIV)

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

Artwork of the Warring Triad in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.

The Warring Triad are a group of three Primals. They had the unfortunate honor of being the first three Primals that the Allagan Empire successfully bound, a technology they later used in the construction of Dalamud. They remain bound in Azys Lla to this day, presumably inside the Flagship at the center of the floating continent. Three statues in the middle of Azys Lla are carved in their likeness, and they are otherwise identical to their appearance in Final Fantasy VI.

Archbishop Thordan traveled to Azys Lla in the hopes of utilizing the power of the trapped Primals to become a god-king that would put an end to all conflict, but he was ultimately defeated by the Warrior of Light. Nevertheless, his activation of Azys Lla and his drawing upon their power began a process of awakening, a fact not lost on Urianger. He called upon the Warrior of Light's help in preparing for their awakening.

With each patch, the wear of the statues has increased and as of 3.15, are covered by moss. Patch 3.2 will start a Trial series based on the Warring Triad, starting with Containment Bay S1T7.

Spoilers end here.

Warring Triad statues in Azys Lla.

Demon.

Fiend.

Goddess.

Demon in 3.15.

Fiend in 3.15.

Goddess in 3.15.

Final Fantasy Legends: Toki no Suishō

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Dissidia Final Fantasy

Template:Sideicon Kefka's EX Burst is titled Warring Triad. The input sequence to power up the attack features three controller commands appearing over Kefka in a triangle formation in the same positioning as the Triad's statues. The circles surrounding the commands when they appear are colored in the same pattern as the Triad's color scheme: the top circle (Goddess) is blue, the left circle (Fiend) is yellow, and the right circle (Demon) is red.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Template:Sideicon Warring Triad is mentioned in the Mognet letter sent by Kathy, who tells the player of their luck for the day. Kathy describes the Warring Triad as their nemesis for always being able to keep the 'battle-relationship' "fresh."

Your Luck Today: Bomb

Enjoy toying with an opponent's weak spot? "Warring Triad" is your nemesis, kupo! The myriad of forms it takes to appear to you will always keep the relationship fresh! Today's lucky weapon is "Fixed Dice," kupo!

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Template:Sideicon Kefka's Dissidia EX Mode card refers to his draining of the Triad's power with its effect. Instead of paying Kefka's cost to play him from the hand, the player may instead send three Backup or Forward cards of different elements to the Break Zone.

Kefka's trading card.

Gallery

Battle sprite of the Goddess (iOS/Android/PC).

Battle sprite of the Fiend (iOS/Android/PC).

Battle sprite of the Demon (iOS/Android/PC).

The Statues on the Floating Continent (GBA).

Goddess statue.

Fiend statue.

Demon statue.

The golden likenesses of the Warring Triad in the Esper Caves.

The Warring Triad statues in the Esper Caves (iOS/Android/PC).

Warring Triad (iOS/Android/PC).

The Fiend in battle (iOS/Android/PC).

The Goddess in battle (iOS/Android/PC).

The Demon in battle (iOS/Android/PC).

Etymology and symbolism

A triad is defined as a "group of three." The number three occurs with great frequency in countless mythologies and religions found across the globe.

The Warring Triad may be loosely based on the Japanese gods Amaterasu, Susano'o, and Tsukuyomi. The storm god Susano'o and the moon god Tsukuyomi are male, while the sun goddess Amaterasu is female and the strongest of the three siblings. According to myth, when Izanami, one of the first gods and wife to Izanagi, died and went to the underworld, Yomi, Izanagi attempted to retrieve her but she was unable to follow. Izanagi returned to Earth and bathed to purify himself, washing out Amaterasu, Susano'o, and Tsukuyomi, from his eyes and nose. Though the three are siblings they are opposed to each other, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi having a falling out when he killed the food goddess Uke Mochi, while Amaterasu and Susano'o were always locked in a feud.

In the original concept artwork by Tetsuya Nomura, the Warring Triad are named beyond their basic titles: The Goddess is Sophia, the Demon is Zurvan, and the Fiend is Sephiroth.

[view · edit · purge]Sophia, Greek for wisdom, is a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism, Orthodox Christianity, Esoteric Christianity, as well as Christian mysticism, and is commonly represented as a goddess. Sophia is also a primary deity in Gnosticism. As a feminine given name of Greek origin, Sophia retains the meaning of "wisdom", with variant names Sofia and Sophie among others in Western culture.

[view · edit · purge]In Zurvanism, Zurvan is the god of infinite time (and space) and is Aka Manah ("one", "alone") deity of matter.

[view · edit · purge]Səphīrōth (סְפִירוֹת, medieval Hebrew form of Sephirot; also spelled Sefirot), is a plural noun in Hebrew; the singular is Sephirah (also spelled Sefira). The Sephiroth are described in the Kabbalah as the manifestations of God that allow Him to manifest in the physical and metaphysical universes. Sephiroth also means "counting" (of numbers).

Each of the three names represents the highest levels of knowledge and power in their respective religions.

Trivia

• The triad is linked to the three principal elements. Fiend corresponds to Ice, Demon to Fire, and Goddess to Lightning.

References

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