Emperor Mateus

"This world can have but one Emperor, and I am he!"

- The Emperor

Emperor Mateus Palamecia is the primary antagonist and final boss of Final Fantasy II. He is the ruler of Palamecia who aims to conquer the world through demonic forces. Though known simply as the Emperor in Final Fantasy II, he is named Mateus in the Japan-exclusive novelization of the game. =Appearance and Personality= Mateus wears light, golden colored armor with purple robes underneath. His hair is blond and spiked, and he has an very long ponytail. On his chestplate are black and white stripes tracing his ribs, and on his waist and back are demonic looking faces. His gauntlets sport extended claws. The Emperor wears purple make up on his eyes and lips. He also seems to wear a purple crown.

He is the ruler of Palamecia, and he is arrogant, intelligent and manipulative. Despite his arrogance, he is often polite when referring to his enemies by name of calling them gentlemen, but at the same time he is quick to call them insects or worms. He seems to harbor a hatred of Humanity. This becomes apparent when he is beaten and he declares humanity to have a flawed sence of justice and forsaken love, and being inherently violent.

In Dissidia Final Fantasy, he retains his personality, but some minor changes are made. The Emperor is always calm and never seems to lose control of his emotions, and he is never seen worrying, because he believes his plan will succeed without fail.

Final Fantasy II
The Emperor was able to build up a gigantic army of demons by summoning up creatures from Hell. With this army, he started taking over the world. Several cities resisted, but they were no match for the Emperor's power. Kingdoms that did pose a threat were conquered by poisoning the drinking water.

After Firion and the rest of the party gather several supplies to help aid the rebels and sink the Dreadnought, the Emperor kidnaps Princess Hilda of Fynn and makes her the prize in a tournament at his Coliseum. Firion and his comrades attempted to rescue her, however it is revealed to be a trap, and the Emperor unleashes the Behemoth on them. Locking the party away, the Emperor continues his assault on the land above.

By the time the party escapes, the Emperor has summoned a giant Cyclone to destroy Fynn. The party makes their way inside, and makes another assassination attempt on the Emperor. He is killed, but it is not over, as the Dark Knight has now taken over the Palamecian army.

After getting into Palamecia's mountain-protected castle, the party confronts the Dark Knight. Before they can do anything, the Emperor reappears, in a new demon body. By killing him, the party only made him stronger, as he has now gained incredible strength and became Emperor of Hell. Ricard summons the Wind Drake to get the party out of Palamecia while he confronts the revived Emperor. The Emperor kills the Dragoon easily.

While it is not known if the Emperor intentionally killed himself to gain the dark powers of Hell, given the fact he already had power over Hell-spawn, it is likely that it was his true intention all along. Summoning the castle of Hell, Pandaemonium, where Palamecia once stood, the Emperor intended to reign over both earth and Hell. However, the party traveled through the Jade Passage and confronted the Emperor head on. He is eventually defeated, and fades away.

In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary versions, something unforeseen happened when the Emperor was killed: His soul split into two entities. While one went to Hell and became the lord of Pandemonium, the other went to Heaven and became the lord of Arubboth. With his new powers, he summoned the fallen souls of Minwu, Josef, Scott, and Ricard to him as representatives of those who fell in the wake of the Empire's conquests.

After they traveled to his throne within the walls of Arubboth, he asked for their forgiveness and offered them eternal life. They are reluctant, and consider his offer. However, the souls of all the people they care about appear before them, and tell them to look past his charade.

With their help, they realize they are being tricked, that this Emperor is no different from the other, and attack the Emperor's light side while Firion's group battle his dark counterpart. As he dies in conjunction with his other half at the hands of their respective parties, the Emperor's light half tells them it is futile that the bloody struggles of violence and war with continue as long as humans exist. Minwu comments at the very end that if anyone can change man's violent legacy, it would be Firion and his friends.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control on a number of Crystals, resulting in total control of the Final Fantasy worlds. The Emperor of Palamecia is one of these villains and he stands as the villain representing Final Fantasy II, opposing Firion.

As one of the higher-ranking villains, the Emperor is the mastermind of the game's overarching plot to destroy Cosmos and drown the world in darkness. He manipulates hero and villain alike towards this goal when needed. However, it is later revealed that the Emperor orchestrated this plan with the intent for both Cosmos and Chaos to die. The Emperor's ultimate goal is for both gods to perish and their warriors with them, leaving him to survive their destruction and rule over existence in their absence.