Zande
From FFXIclopedia, the free Final Fantasy XI encyclopedia
This was one of four servers used for beta testing of the original release of FFXI for the Playstation 2 console in Japan. In February 2002, the populations of Golbez and Xdeath servers were merged with the population of Zande before being deactivated.
ID Number: N/A
Activation Date: December 17, 2001
Deactivation Date: April 26, 2002
History in the FF Series
Demon King Zande was the primary villain of Final Fantasy III. He was a man of few words who commanded legions of monsters (most notably Medusa, Kraken, Titan [not the Summon]). He was a black/midnight blue-skinned humanoid wearing baggy orange pants and a cape, wielding a scepter. He used Libra every other round between using powerful spells like Meteo & Quake.
He was one of the three students of Archmage Noah (the others were Dorga and Unne), a sage of great power who had mastered all magic, including Summon Magic (he even had the power to seal Bahamut and Leviathan up on the Floating Continent). Noah gave each of his students a different gift. Dorga was given powerful magic. Unne was given control over the Dream World. Noah's gift to Zande was life as a human. He felt like he was cheated, but Dorga & Unne considered it the best gift of the three. He left the Light World (presumably for the Dark World, which lies in a parallel dimension) a bitter and resentful person. Though it is not said, Dorga, Unne, and Zande may not be human. Dorga and Unne are shown to have monstrous true forms and Zande looks generally human except for his pitch black complexion and demonic facial features, not to mention Zande receiving the gift of becoming human (which would infer the 3 were not human to begin with).
He controlled the Earth Crystal (of Light) and used it to cause a worldwide earthquake which sunk all the continents of the planet except for the highest portions of land some time ago and then the earthquake on the Floating Continent more recently. His goal was to control the power of Light by sealing the power of the 4 Crystals) so it may be overrided by the power of Darkness. His forces had seized control of the 4 Crystals (2 of which were located on the mainland, 2 of which were located on the Floating Continent) and he tried to crash the Floating Continent back into the surface. The 4 Dark Crystals were already under his control.
He was controlled by the Dark Cloud. A Dark Cloud is created whenever the power of Dark or Light gets out of balance with the instinct of pushing the imbalance to the furthest limit, annihilating both worlds. She/it wanted to return the Light World and Dark World back to the Void (the nothingness which existed before creation) by destroying them with a flood of Darkness. She was invincible, having absorbed the power of the Dark Crystals and the Light Crystals, but with the sacrifice of the Dark Warriors (the heroes of the Dark World), she lost the Dark power and became vulnerable, though still wielded the power of Light (the devastating Flare Wave). A previous Dark Cloud emerged when the Ancients abused the power of Light, causing a flood of Light, destroying their civilization. 4 Dark Warriors had to come from the Dark World to stop that Dark Cloud in the Light World.
The current Dark Cloud apparently hedged its bets by enthralling others, such as Hyne & Jinn, to accomplish its objectives. Anyone controlled by her/it gets the powers of Darkness and strong desires (such as conquest, destruction).
(*- It should be noted there were several floods and they should not be confused into being thought of as a singular event. There was the flood of Light in the distant past which destroyed the civilization of the Ancients and all its machinery (except for the Floating Continent and the Statues of the Quest). More recently, the Earth Crystal submerged the mainland of the planet surface and the civilization which had developed since the fall of the Ancients. This was a flood of regular water, not Light or Dark. Zande & the Dark Cloud were threatening a flood of Darkness to inundate the Light World, eventually causing both worlds to be destroyed and replaced with Void).
Historical Background
The Zande were an African tribe originally from the area that is now Sudan and the Central African Republic. They were a tribe of warriors ruled by a king.
