The Origins Of Final Fantasy 4’s Archfiends Have Been Revealed

New information about the origins of the Archfiends from Final Fantasy IV has been revealed by Square Enix. The Archfiends expand upon the concept of the Four Fiends from the first Final Fantasy game. However, their backgrounds are a bit different from what fans once thought.

The idea of elemental crystals is a major part of the Final Fantasy series, as well as there being monsters that represent corrupted versions of the same elements. In the first Final Fantasy, these fiends were Lich (Earth), Marilith (Fire), Kraken (Water), and Tiamat (Wind). FF4 was released on the more advanced Super Nintendo hardware, so it came with a fancier version of the Fiends, known as the Archfiends. These Archfiends were Scarmiglione (Earth), Cagnazzo (Water), Barbariccia (Wind), and Rubicante (Fire). The Archfiends have since made a number of cameo appearances in other FF games, being ranked among the most iconic Final Fantasy bosses.

Like many villains in the Final Fantasy series, the Archfiends were never given a backstory, as they mostly exist as a roadblock for the players. FF4 game designer/scenario writer Takashi Tokita was recently interviewed by the official Square Enix website for the 30th anniversary of the game, where he shed some light on the origins of the Archfiends.

Where Final Fantasy 4’s Archfiends Come From

According to Tokita, the developers didn’t put too much thought into the backstories of the Archfiends, as it would have made it hard for the players to fight them. Tokita’s own belief is that the Archfiends were once regular people (or wizards, based on Rubicante’s appearance), but they were changed over time, in a similar manner to how Golbez was mind-controlled into serving Zemus.

The four Archfiends have official titles, with Scarmiglione being the Blighted Despot, Cagnazzo being the Drowned King, Barbariccia being the Empress of Winds, and Rubicante being the Autarch of Flame. All of the titles are related to rulership, so it’s possible those were roles they once held in life. A lot of Final Fantasy fans assumed that the Archfiends were originally monsters that were drafted into service by Zemus, as they are far less antagonistic when they are resurrected/defeated in The After Years.

Many fans also assumed that they were demons, as they are named after characters from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Based on Tokita’s comments, it seems that the Archfiends were unwilling pawns in Zemus’ plans, and were being manipulated in the same way that Golbez and Kain were throughout the story. Fans will have a chance to replay through Final Fantasy 4when it re-releases as a Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster later this year.

Source: Square Enix

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Scott Baird
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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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