Ficus Finis
- "Hah, you don't have to worry. You know what they say? 'Failure is the mother of success'."
- — Ficus Finis
Ficus Finis is a character in Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland.
Ficus is a mysterious traveling magician who joins Lulua in her journey. He comes off as strange, and not much is known about him at first. In his character events, it will be revealed that he hides much more than his personality suggests.
Profile
Appearance
Personality
Ficus comes off as a very strange person. He, for one, always urges Lulua to try to speak to monsters and understand them, instead of fighting them. He has an unusual sense of humor, doesn't seem to take things seriously, he is usually smiling or laughing out loud. He also has a strange hobby of seeing people grow.
In the main story, though, it's implied that he has a burden he carries from his past. Sometimes, he shows a sadder side, such as when Piana organizes an event to tell ghost stories. To understand him, the player must play his character events.
Story
Ficus first met Elmerulia Frixell when she was dealing with a Puni infestation. He decides to tag along with the party when they are sent by Totooria Helmold to defeat a powerful monster inside the ruins near Arland.
Throughout the story, it is hinted that he is more than he appears and has a special relationship with Stia and Mana Altgalaxia.
He was in fact sent by the latter to keep an eye on Lulua. During his character events it is revealed that he is the human form of Evil Face trying to atone.
According to his retelling of his own story, which he explains to the other characters as a "ghost story", Evil Face lived inside Liechtein Soehnle with a young human girl named Pilche, and a monster so powerful it could destroy the world if angered named Rage Beast.
Evil Face always did his best to calm Rage Beast down, so that it wouldn't go on a rampage, but he failed one day. Rage Beast ate Pilche, who Evil Face cared about, and Evil Face was, since then, forced to look for human sacrifices to calm Rage Beast's anger.
Evil Face, even though he wasn't truly evil, took the blame for the sacrifices because the world didn't know about Rage Beast. For this reason, Gisela Helmold before the events of Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland tried to slay Evil Face, and Totooria Helmold attempts it as well.
Totori defeated Evil Face in front of the entrance of Liechtein Soehnle, and Evil Face seemed to disappear.
Sometime after the events of Atelier Totori, Mana found him, and they had a battle which Evil Face lost. Since then, Evil Face became Mana's servant. This can be seen in Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland in the Makina Domain dungeon (they both are superbosses but their story isn't explained).
After Mana sent him to watch over Lulua, Evil Face took a human appearance and the name Ficus Finis, becoming a traveling magician. He now travels the world to atone, keeping a Demon Crystal where he sealed Rage Beast's soul. In his character events, Lulua will help him destroy the crystal and finally be freed from Rage Beast.
In the end, he reveals he likes watching people grow and find themselves because he couldn't watch Pilche live her life.
Relationships
- Elmerulia Frixell: Lulua meets Ficus during her mission to defeat the Puni Rangers in Arland. After a few more missions, Ficus insists on traveling with her. Since then, Ficus starts supporting Lulua in her journey, even encouraging her (in his own way) to study alchemy and grow as a person. After learning about Ficus' past, Lulua is very accepting and doesn't give much of a reaction. She helps Ficus overcome his burden by destroying the Demon Crystal, and they continue as very good friends, performing in Ficus' magic show in Arls.
- Christoph Aurel Arland: Aurel and Ficus have a one-sided "hate" relationship, in which Ficus treats Aurel as a friend, while Aurel seems to always be annoyed by him. A recurring joke in the game is that Aurel tries to hit Ficus with his sword multiple times when Ficus says something, but Ficus always dodges it.
- Mana Altgalaxia: Ficus and Mana know each other since after the events of Atelier Totori. Ficus works under Mana ever since she defeated him in a battle, and he is always doing her bidding. A recurring joke in the game is that Ficus is terrified of Mana since the beginning, and the characters can't understand why. Mana is the one who sent Ficus to look after Lulua, and after Lulua defeats her in Orthogalaxen, Mana tells Ficus that she frees him. However, she purposely contradicts herself after, and says that sometimes she will still force him to do work for her.
Battle
Ficus can be used as a party member, dealing many elemental magics. His weapon of choice are Tarot Cards. He has a special resource named Arcana that is required to be spent in order to use most of his skills.
Active Skill
| Title | Description | MP | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuffle | Completely recover Arcana. | 0 | 20 |
| Double Arcana Crimson Blaze | [Special Cost: 2 Arcana] Deal light fire damage to all enemies. Low probability to cause Burns. issue 1 Time Card that causes fire damage to a single enemy | 10 | 20 |
| Double Arcana Azure Glacier | [Special Cost: 2 Arcana] Deal light ice damage to all enemies. Low probability to cause Sleep. Issue 1 Time Card that causes ice damage to a single enemy | 10 | 20 |
| Triple Arcana Golden Strike | [Special Cost: 3 Arcana] Deal light lightning damage to all enemies. Low probability to cause Slowness. Issue 1 Time Card that causes lightning damage to a single enemy | 10 | 30 |
| Release | [Special Cost: 5 Arcana] Greatly increase statuses of all allies. Issue Time Cards that causes physical and magic damage to a single enemy each. | 50 | |
| Million Midnights Ultimate Attack | [AP 100] Deal physical damage and cast Confusion on all enemies. Cause Stun if the Faint value exceeds a certain amount of damage | 100AP | 50 |
Assist Skills
| Title | Description | Assist Condition | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misdirection | Cast Camo status on all enemies and slightly increase all statues. Reverse increase and decreases of statues and increase effectiveness | Recover MP | 20 |
| Downer's Crown | Deal Mp damage to all allies. Decreases WT | Use an item to inflict magic damage on a single enemy | |
| Jester's Heart | Deal Mp damage to all allies. Acquire AP. The more allies against whom MP damage has been inflicted, the more AP will be recovered | Use a Skill to inflict physical damage on a single enemy |
Passive Skills
| Title | Description | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity + | Increase the maximum value of arcana by 1 | |
| Call the Quarters | Increase elemental damage | |
| Capacity++ | Increase the maximum value of Arcana by 2 |
