Cactuar

Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAC : Cactuar

---

Cactuars (also called Cactrot, or Sabotender) are small cactus-like creatures from the Final Fantasy series of role-playing games.

Cactuars (also known as Cactuer, Qactuar, Qactaur, Sabotender, and Cactrot) are typically depicted having stiff arms and legs, three black dots on their faces representing two eyes and an oblong mouth, and three red quills at the top of their heads. They have their own language (mostly consisting of variations of the word "Ge-ka", which resemble squawks and warbles to the ear). A Cactuar also cannot stand getting wet, as it weakens them. They are best known for their defensive attack, 1000 Needles (also called Blow Fish), which does exactly 1000 hit points of damage to an opponent, regardless of defenses. There was a Jumbo Cactuar in Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X-2 which was probably 10-20 times larger than the average Cactuar, wore a moustache (in Final Fantasy VIII) and demonstrated the 10,000 Needles attack, which instantly killed any player character (the maximum number of hit points for playable characters in the Final Fantasy series prior to Final Fantasy X being 9999). Their Japanese name derives from "Saboten Pretender", saboten meaning cactus. It refers to their ability to hide among cacti unnoticed, though this has never come into play in any of the games. They bear a striking resemblance to a Japanese spirit called a 'doso', a type of roadside idol used to give good luck.

Appearances In Final Fantasy Games

Final Fantasy: Unlimited

In , the Cactuars used to live in a peaceful desert until they were attacked by the Wandering Ocean (an entity composed of souls who died at sea), which destroyed their home and forced them to hide underground. Thanks to the Comodeen & Kaze, the Cactuars gained the courage to use their own lifeforce to create a whirlwind that destroyed the Wandering Ocean. Everyone mourned the deaths of their fallen comrades, until it was revealed the Cactuars could be revived with sunlight. Fungo was only one of the heroes to translate the Cactuar language.

Final Fantasy VI

In Final Fantasy VI, Cactuars (called "Cactrots" in American translation of the game) are found in a small desert west of the town of Maranda in the World of Ruin, only one of two creatures found there, along with the Hoover. While the Hoover gives the characters 5 Magic Points when it dies, the Cactuar gives 10, but is much harder to hit; most attacks completely miss it, even though it only has 3 Hit Points. One strategy a player would use to hit the elusive Cactuar is equipping the Sniper Sight relic; which ensures a 100% Fight hit rate. A better strategy is to equip the Offering relic (acquired after defeating Katanasoul in the ancient castle) which allows one character to attack an enemy 4 times, defeating cactuar immediatly. Like all monsters in Final Fantasy VI, once encountered it will also randomly appear on the Veldt, allowing playable characters Gau to acquire its Rage, and Strago to learn the Blue Magic "Blow Fish" from it. Also famously, one can bet a rare Elixir in the Colisseum and fight a Cactuar to win a Rename Card, which allows a player to change the name of a character.

Final Fantasy VII

In Final Fantasy VII, the creatures appear on an island not shown on radar in the world map. They are the only random battles that can be fought there. They also have weaker relatives named "Cactuers" in Corel Desert, which look identical, but less elusive. They can be morphed into Tetra Elementals.

Final Fantasy VIII

In Final Fantasy VIII, the creatures have an island of their own with the Jumbo Cactuar(it's so big it is visible on the world map). Upon defeating the Jumbo Cactuar, a Cactuar becomes available as a Guardian Force. Once summoned, he performs his 10,000 Needles attack.

Chocobo Racing

In the Final Fantasy spin-off Chocobo Racing, Cactuar appears as a secret unlockable character, unlocked by completing Story Mode 6 times. By highlighting Squall and holding the R2 button, you are able to select Cactuar as a playable character. However, Cactuar races on foot, and is very slow.

Final Fantasy IX

In Final Fantasy IX, Cactuars appear as a random encounter enemy in the Donna Plains on the Forgotten Continent. They often hide under the sand and revealing only the spikes on their heads until they are damaged. They can also cast confuse on player characters.

Final Fantasy X

In Final Fantasy X and,Final Fantasy X-2, the Cactuar exist within the desert of Bikanel Island on a village of their own known as the Cactuar Nation., which originally was protected by a sandstorm until the player finishes a red-light, green-light minigame with the 10 Cactuar Gatekeepers. The leader of the cacti and Cactuars is an ancient cactus named Marnela(meaning 'Grandmother' in the Cactuar language), who has a special bond with a young Al Bhed boy named Benzo. Benzo is the only person who is able to understand their language. The Cactuars in this area appear as realistic cacti. It is explained that the cactus stage is how Cactuars appear when they are born, then later in their lives, they uproot themselves and become what players know as a Cactuar. When they reach a certain level of maturity, they root themselves again, becoming cacti once more. It was believed a millennium ago that some Cactuar left Bikanel and migrated to the Thunder Plains, become the "Qactuar". The Cactuar Nation also contains a sealed cave where "Rogue Cactuars" who break certain codes of conduct are exiled. It is only within this cave that players find aggressive Cactuars. The exiled Cactuars also have an ability to shoot needles at other fiends, enlarging them to several times their original size and power, thus transforming them into giant formidable opponents. The Jumbo Cactuar also lurks in this cave.

In FFX, if the player catches specified monsters in the Thunder Plains, the Monster Arena owner in the Calm Lands will allow the party to battle a King Cactuar. This version is the same size as a normal Cactuar, but has considerably greater hit points and will use not only the "10,000" needles but also "99,999 needles". This much more powerful attack exists to counter the extended damage system introduced in Final Fantasy X, where player characters and Aeons could 'break the HP limit' and have up to 99,999 hit points. Cactuar dolls may also serve as Lulu's weapons.

Final Fantasy XI

In Final Fantasy XI, Cactuars have an organic look, instead of dots in the eyes they have two lines and the arms are not always in the same position. They live in the Kuzotz Region (which includes the Altepa Desert, Quicksand Caves and the Kuftal Tunnel). Cactuars have Spanish (or semi-Spanish) names in this Final Fantasy (Sabotender Mariachi, Sabotender Enamorada, Sabotender Bailarina, Sabotender Sediendo etc.). The most powerful Cactuar is "Cactrot Rapido". This Cactuar runs extremely quickly, it requires almost 18 players working together to defeat it and has the special ability "10,000 needles". Here, the attack deals damage to each party member in the area equal to 10,000 divided into the number of players that receive the attack. This Cactuar drops two special items named "Arete de Sol" (Sun earring) and "Arco de Velocidad" (Speed bow).

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Cactuars appear solely in the Lynari Desert, usually near two scorpions and either a Zu or a Lamia.

Apearances Out of The Final Fantasy Series

The Bouncer

In The Bouncer, Volt Krueger has a Cactuar on the back of his jacket with a red line through it. Since cactuars are notorious for escaping battles, this insignia is assumed to mean "No Escape", rather than "No cactuars", which, in the context of the bouncer, would make considerably less sense. Though the Bouncer is not a Final Fantasy game it was produced by Square.

Kingdom Hearts Series

"Cactuar" is a featured Gummi Ship model in Kingdom Hearts. He is featured as one also in Kingdom Hearts II.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3

A Cactuar will be a playable character in the upcoming (Square-Enix made) Mario Hoops 3-on-3. His special shot is his trademark 1000 Needles. Other Final Fantasy characters appearing in this game are Ninja, White Mage, Black Mage, and a Moogle.

Unofficial Appearances

• Cactuar starred alongside a Tonberry in series of Flashplayer animations made by a man known as Crazy Boris, such as Final Fantasy Gil Quest and its sequel, Final Fantasy Fugitive.
• A Cactuar appears in the webcomic called Origami Lad's Superhero Society as a main character alongside his best friend Foldman and a group of other superheroes.

Merchandise

Cactuars are a popular staple of the Final Fantasy series among fans, and a plush Cactuar soft-toy is available, though not officially sold outside of Japan.

Trivia

• The simplistic face of the Cactuar is likely based on ancient Japanese Haniwa sculptures.
• Many have believed that the Cactuar resembles the manji, which is regarded as a Buddhist symbol in much of Asia.
• "Cactuar" is the leader of the demonic Alliance attempting to destroy the gorilla population in World of Warcraft.

External Links

• [Cactuar Mario Hoops 3-on-3 Information]

 

---

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

?