Light Emperor

Evil-doer
Full Name	Light Emperor
Alias	Emperor Mateus Emperor of Heaven Empire
Origin	Final Fantasy II
Occupation	Lord of Arubboth Light half of Emperor Mateus' soul
Powers / Skills	Magic Deception
Hobby	Torturing people.
Goals	Conquer heaven. Claim the souls of Minwu, Josef, Scott and Ricard. Ensure he and the Dark Emperor stay alive in order for Mateus to never be destroyed and continue his tyranny over the universe.
Crimes	Malefic Abuse of power Attempted universal hegemony Blasphemy
Type of Villain	Angelic Dark Lord

“	If you will not have eternal life, I will give you eternal suffering!	„
	~ Mateus the Light Emperor

The Light Emperor is the light half of Emperor Mateus's soul and the final Boss in Final Fantasy II.

History

In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary versions, something unforeseen happened when Emperor Mateus was killed: His soul split into 2 entities. While one went to Hell and became the lord of Pandemonium, the other went to Heaven and became the lord of Arubboth, also letting inside Heaven, his former empire and monster forces from Hell. 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. However Josef had to be rescued from Borghen's spirit who was torturing him under the Emperor's approval.

After they traveled to his throne within the walls of Arubboth, the Light Emperor demanded the four have to forgive him and offered them eternal life to exchange. 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 just evil as the Dark Half and his supposed redemption was a facade to trick the group into surrendering their souls. Enraged that they have seen past his charade, the the Emperor's light side drops all pretenses and attacks Minwu 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, he then explodes with his dark Half, Emperor Mateus destroyed forever.

Minwu watching the living world in spirit form with his comrades, comments at the very end that if anyone can change man's violent legacy, it would be Firion and his friends, as they peacefully accept their deaths.

Appearance

The Light Emperor has an otherworldly appearance and always has his eyes closed. He has six wings similar to a Seraph, and a golden arch on his back. He at times appears to be made of clouds and wears a light-colored robe. The design may be based on Lucifer, since he was an angel before he fell. The Light Emperor's portrait is based on Mateus's appearance from a promotional poster by Yoshitaka Amano.

Personality

The Light Emperor is quite deceptive in nature; he is also monstrous. He initially comes off as courteous and polite, but is revealed to be a hypocrite and a liar, and just as evil as his former self. Knowing that as long as one half Emperor lived, the other could be revived, the Light Emperor pretended to have reformed to lull his victims in a false sense of security.

Even before the Light Emperor drops the charade, his insincerity is shown by him trying to avoid responsibility such as; constantly downplaying the heinous crimes he committed in life as mere "indiscretions", claiming the heroes were being selfish by not forgiving him immediately and saying were just as bad as him. His direct demand they had to forgive and attempt at a bribe of eternal life, when true remorse and forgiveness is based on accepting the responsibility for your sins and making penance.

All these factors revealed that the Light Emperor never no remorse for his actions and his attempt to get the heroes to bow to him was simply an attempt to claim their immortal souls for his own. His hidden evil was further revealed when the Emperor revealed he planned to torture Minwu and his comrades for eternity.

Powers and Abilities

The Light Emperor is even more powerful than the Dark Emperor. He is capable of casting Flare and Starfall with far greater strength than the Dark Emperor and he retains the drain effect his dark half's physical attacks has and his immunity towards elemental magic and almost any attempt to inflict status ailments. In addition, the Emperor could also cast the highest level of Holy and Blaze, with his use being just as devastating as his Starfall and Flare. As the Ruler of Arubboth, the Emperor is capable of returning souls to their bodies and even granting eternal life, as he did with the fallen heroes and offered to grant them immortality.

Trivia

• In Duodecim, the prequel to Dissidia, Emperor Mateus can get a downloadable costume which turns him into the light emperor. As the costume's EX Mode is still called "Power of Hellfire" , likely a reference to his connection to his Dark Half and his connection with the hellfish forces in Heaven.
• When Minwu and company visit Heaven, the only people who aren't invaders from Hell, are people who have died to the Emperor and his Empire throughout the game, such as populations of towns destroyed by him. The spirits of the Emperor's victims were tormented and killed by the damned souls of soldiers of the Empire.
• It is unclear how the Emperor's "Light Half" was allowed into Arubboth, where good people go when they die, despite his being unrepentantly evil.
  • It is implied the Emperor invaded Heaven, as his old soldiers and Demons had invaded the afterlife, running rampant in his palace.
  • It is also possible the Emperor had created a fake Heaven as a trap for his victims.
• He is also known as "Empire" in the "Dark Shadow Over Palakia" translation.

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