All such tales of gods and their miracles are false.
Wiegraf Folles
Wiegraf Folles is the leader of the Corpse Brigade terrorist organization in Final Fantasy Tactics. He is a White Knight, able to use most of the same swordsmanship abilities as Holy Knights, like Agrias Oaks. His sister Milleuda is also a member of the brigade.
History[]
Wiegraf and the Corpse Brigade[]
The reeking masses yearn for gods and miracles. It is their opiate, and they consume it greedily. The people do not endeavor towards greatness, but rather mire themselves in their petty strifes—shackles on the feet of man.
Wiegraf
Wiegraf was the commander of an army unit called the Dead Men, formed from among the peasantry during the Fifty Years' War. Upon returning home, the crippling monetary problems facing the country led to Wiegraf's soldiers being denied their pay. Developing a distaste for nobles, Wiegraf and his soldiers renamed themselves the "Corpse Brigade", beginning a campaign of ambushes against the remaining nobles and the Crown, which earned them notoriety and a reputation as anarchists.
The Corpse Brigade proved a match for the orders of the Northern and Southern Skies knights, testament to Wiegraf's skill as a soldier and a commander. When his lieutenant, Gustav Margriff, defied his orders and kidnapped Marquis Elmdore of Limberry for ransom, Wiegraf executed him and releases the marquis with no monetary demands. Despite his grudge, Wiegraf's ultimate intention is to reform the way Ivalice is run, a goal not all of his underlings share.
Wiegraf at Windmill Hut during Tietra's kidnapping.
Following a brigade member Gragoroth Levigne's failed assassination attempt on the nobleman Dycedarg Beoulve, a commoner girl in House Beoulve's care, Tietra Heiral, was captured. Ramza Beoulve, along with Tietra's brother, Delita Heiral, attempted a rescue. On their way to the Windmill Hut where Wiegraf was holding Tietra, Ramza encountered a group of Corpse Brigade knights led by Milleuda, Wiegraf's sister. Milleuda was slain in the ensuing battle, and when Wiegraf learned of this, he resolves to fight. Though he commanded Gragoroth to leave Tietra at the Windmill Hut and make for Fort Zeakden, Gragoroth saw Tietra as a bargaining chip and had her taken to Fort Zeakden. Wiegraf fought alongside his chocobo, Boco, but realizing he was losing, he escaped into the mountains. Without him, the Corpse Brigade disintegrated.
Wiegraf as a knight templar[]
A year later, Wiegraf visited his sister's grave, expressing regret over her death and his inability to save her. The templar knight Loffrey Wodring approached him. Wiegraf refused to join the Church of Glabados, but Loffrey convinced him by explaining they fought for the same goal: an Ivalice free of the aristocracy. The leader of the templars, Folmarv Tengille, gifted Wiegraf the Aries auracite, presumably as a sign of goodwill, but with the actual intention of making him the host of Belias, the Lucavi demon dormant within; likely Wiegraf's hatred for Ramza and burning desire for vengeance identified him as an ideal candidate.
Wiegraf facing Ramza as a Knight Templar.
Folmarv sent his son, Isilud, and Wiegraf to retrieve the Virgo auracite from Orbonne Monastery where Isilud mortally wounded the librarian Simon Penn-Lachish and made his way into the Underground Book Storage to retrieve it. Ramza, now labeled a heretic, arrived with his sister, Alma, also seeking the stone. Ramza pursued Isilud into the basement and Alma remained at the entrance with Ramza's auracites.
Transformation[]
Seeing his opportunity for revenge, Wiegraf captured Alma, and as Isilud teleported back upstairs with the Virgo stone, handed the girl to him. Ramza rushed up the stairs to help his sister, and Wiegraf had Isilud take Alma away while he attempted to avenge Milleuda's death, but Ramza prevailed. As Wiegraf crawled outside, mortally wounded, the younger Tengille mounted a chocobo and fled. The Aries stone in Wiegraf's possession activated, and Wiegraf heard a voice tell him to commit his soul to the stone. Despite Ramza's warnings, Wiegraf did so in a fit of desperation, and transformed into Belias. Ramza prepared to fight, but Belias teleported away.
In The Ivalice Chronicles, Ramza saw Wiegraf alive and wearing a templar armor. Wiegraf lamented how long it had been since they met. Ramza berated him for having become a thrall to the Church and abandoning his dreams. When Wiegraf displayed his strive for power, Ramza pitied him, reminiscing about the man with broken dreams who acted upon his own convictions, attracting so many to join in on his cause. Ramza argued the Church would never believe about his share of ideals, and how Milleuda and his fallen friends would abhor this barter. An angered Wiegraf would not suffer Milleuda's murderer to invoke her name, and argued that living a harsh life under oppression from the nobles explained the kind of character he had grown up into. Upon his defeat, Wiegraf refused to lose against Ramza and his party, proclaiming himself as one of the Zodiac Braves and the bearer of the Aries auracite, teleporting away.
While in near-death state, the auracite resonated and spoke to him in a different language. Ramza caught up with him and warned him about the auracite deceiving him. Wiegraf submitted to the auracite's power regardless, triggering his transformation into Belias. Wiegraf in Belias's form wondered about the auracite's powers of darkness, and upon facing Ramza, gloated about now seeing the darkest truth. As Ramza drew his sword, Wiegraf spared him and maniacally laughed over getting more power before teleporting away.
Wiegraf accompanied Folmarv on a trip to Riovanes Castle to meet with Grand Duke Gerrith Barrington. The duke had Isilud brought before the two knights, and an infuriated Folmarv stroke his son across the face. A report came in that Ramza was approaching the castle, and Folmarv ordered Wiegraf to deal with him. As Ramza searched the castle for his sister, he came across Wiegraf in a hallway.
Wiegraf demanded that Ramza draw his sword, but Ramza claimed Milleuda would never have wanted her brother to become the monster he now was. Wiegraf explained he no longer fought to gain revenge for Milleuda, and his sole goal was to bring chaos to the world (granting the masses auracite and re-shaping the world in The Ivalice Chronicles). The two fought but Ramza gained the upper hand. Wiegraf transformed into Belias just as Ramza's allies entered the room and summoned three Archaeodaemons to even the scales, but Ramza still prevailed. Belias exploded, the Aries stone dropped harmlessly to the ground, and Wiegraf was truly dead. In The Ivalice Chronicles, as Belias was dying, Wiegraf—while in the form of Belias—mourned his inability to avenge Milleuda's death.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Concept art.
Wiegraf has a short sandy brown hair with two fringes and brown eyes. As the leader of the Corpse Brigade he wears a long green and white mantle with green and yellow linings. Underneath he wears a white and green long-sleeve button shirt, white pants and red knee-high boots with white armor. He wears red gloves and a yellow scarf. The outfit he wears carries over to Beowulf Cadmus during Chapter 4 "In the Name of Love".
As a templar knight, Wiegraf wears a golden armor with a long red hooded cloak, golden pants with a brown belt and a yellow buckle, and golden boots.
Personality[]
The denial of his pay after the Fifty Years' War has embittered Wiegraf against those in power, but he refuses to let the Corpse Brigade become common bandits, and opposes methods such as kidnap and ransom. Wiegraf sees his quest as a righteous battle to free the commoners from the tyranny of the nobility, and though he does not revel in violence, he sees it as his only tool to free the people of Ivalice. His strong conviction lifted people and caused many to rally to his cause.[note 1]
Wiegraf develops a sense of rivalry as well strong hatred towards Ramza, who he blames for Milleuda's death. After joining the Knights Templar, he sees that the only way to achieve his dream is to attain power, even if it means sacrificing the ideals that he made sacred, and even his own humanity by heeding the call of the Aries auracite and transforming into a Lucavi.
Even after making a pact with the Aries auracite and becoming possessed by Belias, Wiegraf still has a desire for a revolution in the class system, but now believes that power is everything, and is meant to be used to rule over those who do not possess it. He claims that with this newfound power he'll burn the corrupt Ivalice with this own hands and see it reborn.
In The Ivalice Chronicles, Wiegraf retains his sanity while in his transformed state as Belias and mourns his inability to avenge Milleuda's death.
Gameplay[]
Wiegraf is fought three times: the first at the Windmill Hut at the Fovoham Windflats, the second time at Orbonne Monastery, and the final time with only Ramza at Riovanes Castle. In the first battle, Wiegraf is a level 9 white knight with 71 bravery, 64 faith, and equipped with a mythril sword, round shield, barbut, chainmail, and a shoulder cape. He has access to the Holy Sword command, Jump +1, Counter, random squire support ability, and a random action ability.
Wiegraf is susceptible to Blindness, Silence, Oil, Slow, Stop, Immobilize, and Disable. The player does not have to deplete all of his HP or defeat any other enemies to end the battle; simply reducing his HP to critical (20%) is enough.
During the battle at Orbonne Monastery, Wiegraf is a level 27 white knight with 71 bravery and 64 faith, and comes equipped with the diamond sword, crystal helm, elven cloak, and a random armor. He still uses the Holy Sword command, and the Counter, Doublehand, Movement +1, and a second random action ability. He is now only susceptible to Blindness, Oil, Slow, and Silence. In this fight, the player must KO Wiegraf to win. Equipping characters with the chameleon robe prevents Wiegraf from using his Holy Sword skills against them.
In the final battle against him at Riovanes Castle, Wiegraf is a level 28 white knight with 71 bravery and 64 faith, and equipped with a full set of diamond equipment, including the diamond sword, diamond helm, diamond armor, diamond shield, and diamond bracelet. Wiegraf comes with Holy Sword but also comes with the abilities Counter, Martial Arts, Safeguard, and Movement +1. He is still susceptible to the same ailments as in the previous battle. In this battle, the player needs to only reduce him to less than 20% of his Max HP to start the second phase of the battle.
Rendezvous[]
Wiegraf can be fought in the Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions enhanced port, in the tenth Rendezvous battle: The Knights Templar, where he is five levels higher than the highest leveled deployed unit, and has 71 bravery and 64 faith. He comes equipped with the save the queen, while his other equipment are randomized. He comes with Holy Sword and other random abilities, and is immune to the same statuses as before.
When fought in the fourteenth Rendezvous battle: Brave Story, he is level 99 and starts with 97 bravery and 64 faith. He comes equipped with the Excalibur, crystal shield, circlet, luminous robe, and a random accessory. He has access to the Holy Sword command, as well as to the abilities Mana Shield, Attack Boost, Ignore Elevation, and a random other ability. He is still immune to the same statuses as previously.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]
A white knight from another world who leads the revolutionary Corpse Brigade organization. He has a powerful Holy Sword ability. Before the War of the Lions, he was a holy knight in charge of recruiting commoners during the Fifty Years' War. However, after hearing that no knights received compensation after the war was over, he decided to rise up against the crown in defense of the citizens who were made to suffer.
Enemy Description
Wiegraf appears as a boss during the "Orbonne Monastery Vaults" event.
Behind the scenes[]
Wiegraf speaking of spoony bards.
According to Game Director Yasumi Matsuno, in the early stages of development, Wiegraf was set as a member of the Knights Templar and had no connection to the Corpse Brigade. As the plot was refined, it was decided that his origin would stem from the Corpse Brigade.[2]
In the Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions port Wiegraf refers to the famous "You spoony bard!" line from Final Fantasy IV when he says "No spoony bard could spin a sweeter tale."
In War of the Lions, the infamous fight against Wiegraf at Riovanes Castle in Chapter 3 is slightly easier than before all versions of the game (including the Japanese version).
Wiegraf is the first enemy with a special job fought in the game. He is also the first enemy seen fleeing through teleportation upon defeat.
In the Enhanced Mode of The Ivalice Chronicles version, if Agrias is present during the battle against Wiegraf at the Orbonne Monastery in Chapter 2, he will taunt her and House Oaks, insulting her family name's rise into power as they bought their way into aristocracy after the Fifty Years' War.
Voice[]
In The Ivalice Chronicles, Wiegraf is voiced by Kenji Fukuda in Japanese and Dario Coates in English. In the English version of the game, Wiegraf speaks in a British accent with a rough and gruff pitch.
Etymology[]
Wiegraf may be a mistransliteration of the Anglo-Saxon name Wiglaf. Aside from having similar spelling (with a potential L/R mistranslation), Wiegraf's first sprite is nearly identical to Beowulf Cadmus's sprite, though the two never interact. Wiglaf is a character in the epic poem, Beowulf where he is the only one among all of King Beowulf's men to stand by his side during their confrontation with the dragon. Though the dragon is slain, Beowulf is killed during the battle with Wiglaf succeeding him.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ Despite their differences, even Ramza acknowledged Wiegraf's strong will in seeing the cracks in the aristocracy.