The Zodiac Braves can be a reference to two different groups in Final Fantasy Tactics. It can refer to a group of 12 warriors in the Church of Glabados legend who defeat the Lucavi using 12 Holy Stones. It can also refer to the Lucavi and those they possess.
The legend of the Zodiac Braves is famed throughout the kingdom of Ivalice as part of its ancient history. Agrias once remarked on it being a fairytale told to her at church, to which Cardinal Alphonse Delacroix suggested that she might have considered the Church lying. The Zodiac Braves is one of the Church's favorite legends.
The "Magic God" version[]
The famed version tells its origins in ancient times, before Ivalice was a united kingdom. The land was divided between seven kingdoms: Zeltennia, Fovoham, Lionel, Limberry, Lesalia, Gallionne, and Mullonde. Each wished to expand their territory, and were locked in an endless battle over hundreds of years.
An ambitious king was born in the kingdom of Mullonde who gathered a great army from all of Ivalice, and fought valiantly to further expand his province. He even sought ancient and forbidden magick, and summoned a demon from the netherworld. The young king could not control it and was killed. The demon then aimed to destroy the human world. Twelve brave knights appeared, each carrying a Zodiac Stone, a magickal stone with a zodiac sign carved onto it. With the power of the stones, the "Zodiac Braves", as the people called them, drove the demon back to the netherworld and returned peace to the land.
Delacroix mentions that, according to the legend, Saint Ajora Glabados was one of the twelve Zodiac Braves.
The St. Ajora version[]
At the time of the Holy Ydoran Empire, people had lost faith over the Pharist teachings due to the so-called miracles performed by one Saint Ajora Glabados. After executing Ajora, a great wave struck the Holy Empire, submerging it into the depths.
Those who had believed in Ajora and his miracles formed the Church of Glabados, believing that Ajora was truly a saint and that his miracles were the word of the gods. To further strengthen Ajora's image, the Church of Glabados incorporated Saint Ajora into the legend of the Zodiac Braves claiming that Saint Ajora led the twelve Zodiac Braves against a demon summoned by the King of Limberry.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy XIV[]
The Zodiac Braves are heroes of legend from the version of Ivalice found on the Source. They are the subjects of beloved stories told in Dalmasca and Garlemald, such as the "Zodiac Brave Story" stage play. Several Zodiac Braves have existed throughout the ages, including Saint Ajora, the assassin Ashley, Mullenkamp the star seer, and most famously, Delita Heiral and his companions. They are analogous to the Warriors of Light from Eorzea, and in fact Ramza is identified as a Warrior of Light in the Return to Ivalice questline.
There is a different version of the Zodiac Braves legend in Radz-at-Han, though like the Ivalician version these Zodiac Braves are also similar to the Eorzean Warriors of Light as heroes who rose to battle the darkness. They wielded weapons that absorbed the souls of their enemies and shone with the radiance of a thousand stars. The legends of the Zodiac Braves are collected in sacred texts found commonly in Radz-at-Han, the "Tales of the Braves".
Etymology[]
zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude that are centered upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year.
In both astrology and historical astronomy, theThe term zodiac derives from Latin zōdiacus, which comes from the Greek ζῳδιακὸς κύκλος (zōdiakos kyklos), meaning "circle of animals", as half of the signs of the classical Greek zodiac are represented as animals (besides two mythological hybrids).