Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!


Viera
Red Mage




Viera warrior-mages versed in the arts of Black/White magic and swordplay. They are one of the many Job Classes one can assume in the Square-Enix Game Boy Advance video game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Trivia

1. Red Mages first appeared in the original Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom video game Final Fantasy, where they were one of the six possible starting character classes. Traditionally, a Red Mage can use both White and Black magic and is also a decent melee fighter.

2. In order for a Viera to obtain access to the Red Mage Job Class, she must first learn any one (1) Fencer Job Class Action Ability.

3. Equipping the following items will allow you to use, and eventually master [provided you earn the required number of Ability Points (AP) for each], all of the Red Mage's skills:

Mage Masher--learn "Barrier" with 100 AP (Action Ability)
Flamberge--learn "Blizzard" with 100 AP (Action Ability)
Chain Plate--learn "Catch" with 300 AP (Reaction Ability)
Fleuret--learn "Cure" with 100 AP (Action Ability)
Madu--learn "Doublecast" with 999(!) AP (Action Ability)
Scarlette--learn "Fire" with 100 AP (Action Ability)
Coichemarde--learn "Magic Pow+" with 300 AP (Support Ability)
Silver Rapier--learn "Poison" with 100 AP (Action Ability)
Mythril Rapier--learn "Red Combo" with 100 AP (Combo Ability)
Estoc--learn "Sleep" with 200 AP (Action Ability)
Stinger--learn "Thunder" with 100 AP (Action Ability)

4. Viera Red Mages can equip:

Weapons: Rapiers (Interestingly, the official character art depicts her holding a magic staff--scroll to the bottom of this web page to see for yourself.)
Body: Clothing, Robes
Head: Hats, Ribbons
Shields: None
Accessories: Any

5. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was developed by Square-Enix and published in North America on September 8th, 2003 by Nintendo of America. It is a 16 Megabyte (128 Megabit) cartridge. While not a direct sequel, it is a follow-up to the 1998 Playstation Final Fantasy Tactics video game.

6. There is a special "secret character" Viera Red Mage that you can get to join your party during the course of the game. Her name is Eldena, and she starts out with several useful Red Mage abilities already mastered, including Double Cast (which normally takes 999 AP to learn, getting Eldena will save you some serious time in that regard). In order to recruit her, take the "Elda's Cup" mission item on any Dispatch type mission--when the character you sent out returns, there is a chance Eldena will try to join your clan. You can get "Elda's Cup" by completing Mission 123, "Hungry Ghost".


BACKGROUND:
One afternoon, four St. Ivalice children--Marche, his brother Doned, and his classmates Mewt and Ritz--study a strange, old book that Mewt purchased earlier in the day. The tome is filled with words written in an indecipherable language and unusual illustrations of fantastic beings. This book is actually the Gran Grimoire, an ancient and powerful text that can alter reality, transforming the physical world into whatever the reader secretly desires. Scanning the faded pages, Mewt reads aloud a single phrase, "Alta oron, Sondus kameela", the only words in the book he can understand, and remarks that it sounds like a magic spell.

It is.

The children awake the next day to find themselves, and their reality, transformed into the fantastic land of Ivalice--a magical place populated by many different tribe and monster species. This whimsical kingdom has been born of Mewt's love of the Final Fantasy video games, as well as his own personal demons: the death of his mother, his father's spiraling decline after that tragedy, and the constant bullying he receives at school every day. As Marche tries to come to terms with his role in this new world, he also struggles to find a way to return it to the way it was, a goal Mewt, Doned, and Ritz don't seem to share . . .

Viera are one of the five tribes of Ivalice. They are all female (which begs the question of how they reproduce) and resemble humanoid rabbits. Red Mage is one of the Job Classes a Viera can take on; in fact, Viera are the only tribe whose members can become Red Mages.


ABILITIES:

  • Red Magic

  • A mastered Viera Red Mage can cast a variety of relatively low-level spells, borrowed from both the White and Black schools of magic. Attack spells at her disposal include: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Poison, and Sleep. Curative/Support spells that can be found in her repertoire: Cure and Barrier (casts Shell & Protect simultaneously).

  • Double Cast

  • An ability unique to Red Mages, Double Cast allows them to rapidly execute two spells in succession. A Red Mage, could, for example, attack a group of enemies with a Fire spell, and then immediately heal a nearby ally with a Cure spell, all in one combat turn. While effective with Red Magic alone, if paired with another spell casting ability (from the Summoner, White Mage, or Elementalist Job Classes), Double Cast becomes even more useful (summoning two monsters, one after the other, or casting Auto-Life twice, on two different allies, are a couple examples).

  • Fencing

  • Unlike most magic users, who tend to be physically weak, Red Mages can hold their own in melee combat. They fight skillfully with rapiers; Viera prize the light weight and speed of these thrusting blades.

  • Projectile Catching

  • This skill allows the user to capture, in mid-air, items thrown at them. Let's say, for example, that a Ninja tosses a blade at a Red Mage who can use this ability. She will automatically catch, without injury, and pocket said item for her own use. The object can then be used by the Viera, and her allies, or sold for extra money.

  • Speed/Agility

  • Viera are quick and highly dextrous. They generally get to act first in combat, giving them an advantage over the other tribes of Ivalice.

WEAKNESSES:

  • Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None

  • Red Mages enjoy a balanced selection of skills, but don't excel in any of them. The abilities of a Red Mage pale in comparison to those of an individual who has mastered a Job Class that is dedicated entirely to either white magic, black magic, or physical combat (i.e., a character with a mastered Black Mage Job Class has access to far more powerful attack spells than a Red Mage does).

  • Small Magical Reserves

  • Red Mages, in comparison to other magic users, have a relatively low number of Magic Points (MP) with which to cast their spells. This is a liability for a Job Class that relies heavily on magical energy for much of its tactical usefulness.


Materials:
Newsprint, cardboard, white paper, tissue paper, paper plate, a paper clip, wire twist ties, white glue, hot glue, gloss nail polish, and acrylic paint.


Dimensions*:
(*The dimensions for this model can vary, depending on how the joints are positioned. The numbers given are for the figure in a 'neutral' standing pose.)
11.0 cm/4.3 in. x 3.5 cm/1.4 in. (highest point x widest point)


Articulation:
Twenty points total: Ears (2), neck (2), ponytails, waist, loin cloth, posterior cloth, shoulders (2), elbows (2), wrists (2), thighs (2), knees (2), ankles (2).


Time:
Approximately five days; construction ran from 9/5/07-9/12/07, with no work being done on the 7th, 8th, or 10th.


Viera Red Mage photo collage.




Mid-Construction Photos

Viera Red Mage mid-construction photos, Day 1.
Viera Red Mage mid-construction photos, Day 2.
Viera Red Mage mid-construction photos, Day 3.
Viera Red Mage mid-construction photos, Day 4.
Battle map mockup.





For comparison purposes, below are two images of a Viera Red Mage. The first, on the top, shows the character portrait art (left) and game sprite (right) from the status screen menu in the video game. The second, on the bottom, is the official Square-Enix artwork for the Viera Red Mage.

Viera Red Mage game sprites.

Viera Red Mage artwork.



REFERENCES:
(In no particular order of importance.)




« Return To My Square-Enix Video Game Fan Art Gallery


This is a nonprofit web site.
All trademarked/copyrighted characters, names, etc. depicted on this web page belong to their respective holders/owners.