Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #14

#14 - Rubicante

(Final Fantasy IV)

The concept of the four elemental fiends has existed in the series as far back as the first game in the series. Indeed, Final Fantasy I had four powerful monsters, each themed around one of the elements that stood in the party’s way. However, Final Fantasy IV fully realized that concept and gave the Fiends unique personalities, gimmicks, and battles, and easily the best of those was Rubicante.

Our first impression of Rubicante cements him as a threat even after the other three have already been dealt with. He is responsible for the destruction of the ninja kingdom of Eblan, and when its prince Edge attempts to defeat him, Rubicante effortlessly swats him aside with a trace of arrogance. However, his ego is justified, since he is insanely powerful with fire.

The first fight against him establishes him as another tricky foe to deal with, as the tried-and-true elemental weakness strategy won’t work, as his cloak of fire is strong enough to repel ice. The fight is one of many in IV that really makes you think and pushes the battle system to its limits. However, there are two things that really set him apart from the other villains in IV.

The first is his code of ethics. When the aforementioned Edge learns that his parents, the King and Queen were captured by the villainous Dr. Lugae (sort of a proto-Hojo) and transformed into Chimerae, Rubicante makes it clear he had nothing to do with it and expresses disgust at his colleague’s actions. Then, he heals the party back to full health so he can get a fair fight, which is a really honorable thing to do.

The second is the rematch against him. In a rare move for any villain in a Final Fantasy game, Rubicante thought “Hey, the heroes ganging up on me worked real well for them. I think I’ll get the OTHER Fiends and do the same thing!” What follows is one of the best fights of the series, where you fight all four Fiends one after another, in an exhausting final exam of a boss. You still get a free HP refill beforehand, which is nice.

I don’t have as much to say about him, but he is effective as a side villain, particularly for the SNES era. I decided to place him above Yotsuyu because her most interesting moments are from her brief stint of not being evil, whereas Rubicante is a worthy adversary every second of his time onscreen. His impact on the series, the awesomeness of his battles, and his unique personality for a villain at the time cement his position as the best villain of Final Fantasy IV.