Zemus

"The body dies, but the spirit lives on."

- Zemus

Zemus is a powerful and cruel Lunarian warlord with awesome magic and the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy IV. He wants to exterminate the human race, in order for his kind to claim the Earth. Since his own people were sealed in the Second Moon's core, he took control of Golbez, who serves as his enforcer for the major part of the game.

History
The Lunarians lived in a planet between the Earth and Mars. When this planet exploded, they chose to emigrate to Earth. However, as they arrived on Earth, they discovered that life was still evolving. In response, they created a second moon orbiting the Earth, where they would sleep until life on Earth reached a level of evolution that could live together with them.

But Zemus had a different idea: he thought that the living beings from Earth should be wiped out in favor of the Lunarians. For this, Zemus was imprisoned within the moon's core, sealed by 8 crystals, and forced into sleep. But this was never enough to keep Zemus under control. Many years later, Zemus awoke and through his powerful mind, managed to reach Earth by telepathy.

Zemus then took control of the half-Lunarian Theodor Harvey to do his bidding, turning him into the dreaded sorcerer Golbez. Golbez went to find all of Earth's Crystals, in order to unleash the fearsome Giant of Babil from it's confinement at the Tower of Babil and use it to wipe out mankind. But the Lunarian Fusoya managed to broke Zemus's spell over Golbez, and the two of them went to defeat Zemus. They killed Zemus, but death only fueled his hatred, making him become an even greater threat. After Zemus was defeated, he was reborn as Zeromus, a monster made of pure hatred and attacked the heroes.

Personality
Zemus is very selfish. He never cares for anyone but him, doing whatever is needed to get what he wants.

Powers and Abilities
Zemus is an intergalactic sorcerer with strong magic who is capable of unleashing powerful spells, but his main power is his ability to control the minds of others remotely, particularly Golbez and Kain Highwind (indirectly). Strong feelings can interrupt this power for a time, as seen when Kain is stopped by Rosa from killing Cecil. Additionally, Fusoya is able to break Zemus' influence over Golbez and make him remember his true identity.

Appearances in other media
Zemus appears as a card in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game.

Trivia

 * Zemus is the Amharic word for "prayer".
 * One piece of unused dialogue exists, "You are entering into my realm, the Zemus-Zone. No one can ever escape from my minions! Perish in the Darkness before you reach me." A speech given by Zemus, taunting the party telepathically. This was probably intended to be displayed upon entering the Lunar Subterrane or the Lunar Core. The "Zemus-Zone" is also an unused location name.
 * The party being defeated by the final boss and then revived by their allies alludes to a similar scene in Final Fantasy III.