129. Breath Of Fire
Breath of Fire (ƒuƒŒƒXƒIƒuƒtƒ@ƒCƒA, Buresu obu Faia?) is the first role-playing game in the Breath of Fire series. It was originally released for the Super NES in Japan in 1993 by Capcom. It was released in North America in 1994 by Squaresoft (now Square Enix). It was later re-released for the Game Boy Advance worldwide, this time by Capcom themselves.
There are several Dragon Families. At their peak, a goddess of Desire appeared and granted them wishes. She encouraged them to fight amongst each other and the war between the dragons escalated. She was locked up by a warrior and his 7 companions with the Goddess Keys which were scattered throughout the world. The Light Dragon family was able to balance the power. However, the Light Dragons eventually renounced the Dragons and lost their abilities.
The game starts with Ryu (the protagonist of the game) being given a message by a dragon in his sleep, warning him to escape the burning second story of his house. It is revealed that under the rule of the Emperor Zog, the Dark Dragon family gathered the goddess keys, and attacked the village of the Light Dragons where Ryu lives. They did this, not realizing that the Light Dragons had renounced the dragons and were now in no position to oppose the Dark Dragon family. Sara turns the villagers into stone for their protection, and surrenders herself to the Dark Dragons. She fights off her captors, and duels with Jade until it becomes clear that she can't defeat him.
After Sara's defeat, Ryu leaves the village, and reaches the neighboring kingdom of Camlon, which has been attacked by the Dark Dragons. Ryu defeats the monsters inside the castle, including a giant frog that is the game's first boss. After liberating the castle, he discovers that Nanai has an earthquake device, and sneaks into Nanai to stop it. Ryu fights his way through the caverns below the city, and kills an enemy knight who is protecting the device, and the E. Key. Unfortunately, Nanai is destroyed in the process. Ryu heads on to Winlan.
Upon entering Winlan's Castle, Ryu requests an audience with the King. However, the King was poisoned by a letter sent by a Wizard of the Dark Dragons. Fearing that word of the King's poisoned body will spread, Ryu is informed that the King is not in the castle and offered a bed in a guest-room, which he takes. Princess Nina leaves Winlan in search of Remedy to cure father, the king's poisoned body. However upon reaching the Aura, Cave she is stopped by a pair of guards who are guarding the cave, and is refused entrance unless she takes them in escort, which she does.
Nina, with her newfound escorts, passes on to Karma, and while she and her escorts pass through the forest and defeat the Wizard's guardians (including two grim reaper-esque spirits), the basement that serves as the wizard's inner sanctum contains Xeon gas. The gas and the Wizard's spells kill one soldier, weaken Nina to the point of capture, and force the second soldier to retreat to Winlan, where he informs the guards of the situation before dying of his wounds. Ryu is asked to rescue the princess, and flies in with a soldier of Windia while other Winlan soldiers distract the Wizard's air force of dragon-like creatures. The soldier accompanies Ryu to the entrance of the basement, and Ryu defeats the Wizard; he, being a Dragon Tribe member, is immune to the gas's effects.
Ryu returns to the castle with Nina, and cures the King. The King opens the bridge to the east, and Nina agrees to accompany Ryu. Ryu then proceeds to the towns of Tantar and Tuntar, located on opposite sides of a dry river; Tantar being populated by Forest Tribesmen, and Tuntar being populated by humans. A feud has erupted between the two leaders, with Tuntar's leader demanding an artifact known as the Ring to be given to the Dark Dragons in exchange for removing a water blockade, a request that many believe casts suspicion on him. Ryu and Nina make their way to the nearby Forest of Despair, cutting down a tree with a saw (even though Ryu overdid it and the saw broke), and discover that there is a Dark Dragon base inside. They defeat the human and non-human protectors of the base, and rescue Tuntar's chief, who had been held prisoner inside, but discover that the "chief" is a Dark Dragon general in disguise, and are trapped with a two-headed monster known as Pog. Pog is defeated, and a Forest Tribesman hunter named Bo frees them and helps them defeat the General.
Ryu and his companions make their way to Romero, which Nina had previously passed. Romero has many zombie villagers, and needs the water of the Cleansing Water Cave to ameliorate this situation. Ryu procures some of the water, and brings it to the village to give the undead final rest. Ryu obtains a Slab from the Mayor of Romero, and uses it to enter the levitating fortress of Agua. Ryu and his companions defeat the guardian Wisp, and receive one of the Goddess Keys, the KngKey, for their victory.
Ryu and his companions return to the region north of Tantar and Tuntar, finding a Stone Robot. The Robot, however, is infested with monsters, and Ryu must once again fight a Dark Dragon general, this time to secure the controls. The Robot, however, is useful in clearing the blockade of the river with a powerful laser type weapon, and allowing Ryu and his companions access to the Ring Cave.
After the return of the ring, Terry, a Forest Tribesman, and Amelia, a human woman, have their wedding in Tantar. The General then takes control of the Stone Robot and destroys the town of Tuntar, which is unoccupied due to its citizens attending the wedding. The General attempts to destroy Tantar as well, but the robot refuses to comply, as it knows the act to be evil. Ryu and his companions enter the Robot once again, and defeat the General, who has turned into a Gremlin; a large, strong, green demon. After the battle, the Robot walks to a volcano south of the towns and, after discharging Ryu's party, sinks into the lava in order to avoid being used for human purposes, in a scene reminiscent of Terminator 2: Judgment Day's finale.
Ryu continues south with his companions, and reaches Auria, a city that is almost entirely made of gold. However, in Auria, they are feared as thieves, and are thrown into prison. A lazy thief (later revealed to be Karn) helps them to escape, but stays in his cell. Ryu discovers that it is perpetually daytime in this city, and that a rich man's daughter has locked herself in the safe, which only a skilled thief can open. Ryu's party journeys through the Bleak Cave under the mountains to the town of Bleak. The opposite holds true in Bleak; the town is entirely dark, and thieves and con men attempt to profit off of Ryu and his companions.
Ryu and his companions reach the desert aided by the Icicle, and the town of Arad. After defeating a Sand Worm that is devouring the town's goats, the party receives a Fife, and enters the Krypt. The guardian of the crypt, EyeSpy, inadvertently reveals that someone else arrived before Ryu's group, before it attacks and is defeated by Ryu's party. When Ryu's group triggers a flood trap in a treasure room, that intruder arrives, and reveals that he is Karn. He agrees to help them in exchange for finding a Book for master thieves. Upon finding the book (humorously enough, it says that if the person found it, he or she is a master thief already), Karn accompanies the party to the Tower of Darkness near Bleak. The guardian spirit, Cloud, reveals that someone has already stolen the Light Key, and attacks the party. The party obtains the Dark Key and a relic called the Mirror, and restores day to Bleak. The party then reaches Ross's house in Auria, and finds his daughter in the safe. She explains that she locked herself in the safe because she is upset that her father is going to give the Dark Dragons the Light Key. The party, however, convinces Ross to give them the Light Key, and loan them his ship, by using the Mirror to allow him to speak with his deceased wife, Alena.
Using the ship to cross the ocean, however, is another matter entirely. Dark Dragons are waiting at the dock, and even defeated, they manage to destroy the ship. Ryu and his party pass through caves to reach a Dark Dragon ship, defeating the defenders, including a Dark Dragon in the form of a giant squid. The vessel sets sail, but Dark Dragons intercept the vessel at sea. The boarding party forces the party to make a fighting retreat to the gunpowder room, where the commander transforms into a giant octopus and attacks. However, the gunpowder ignites, and the stolen ship and the Dark Dragon vessels are destroyed.
The party washes up on a desert island, and realizes that the only way to leave is to walk on the floor of the ocean. A Manillo merchant named Gobi heads to the underwater city of Prima to get some Gills so that the party can breathe underwater. In Prima, the player learned that Gobi was stripped of his license as a merchant for selling "happiness in a bottle," and must now deliver goods to Gant in order to gain the Gills. In Gant, most of the young people, hybrids of oxes and humans, are missing, having been captured by the Dark Dragons. Returning to Prima, Gobi learns of a barely alive escapee from the Dark Dragons, and of an evil spirit named Morteo that wishes to take him to the netherworld. Gobi takes the Gills to Ryu's party, which reaches Prima and defeats the powerful spirit.
Ox reveals that the people of Gant were taken hostage by the Dark Dragons; the men were forced to work on a new weapon, and the women were taken as hostages, presumably to force the cooperation of the men. The party, with Ox as a new member, raids a Dark Dragon mountain pass fortress, but learns that the weapon has already been taken to the nearly impenetrable Nabal castle. However, the party steals an egg from the GrimFowls, and throws it into the fortress, knowing that they will attack the castle's defenders, whom they believe to be the thieves. The party manages to defeat several Dark Dragon soldiers who transform into slimes and eventually fuse together, but the commander escapes with the weapon, a Torpedo, and plans to destroy Prima.
The party then seeks the assistance of Wisdon's sorceress. After moving through the catacombs beneath the town, the party enters the temple, and defeats the three spirits guarding the sorceress, Bleu. Bleu awakens from her long slumber, and advises the group to take an egg and drop it in a volcano so as to incubate it. The party does so, and when they return to Bleu, she accompanies them to help Prima. The Dark Dragon naval invasion arrives soon after they reach Prima, but the egg hatches, and the Typhoon Bug destroys most of the enemy fleet. The people of Prima engage the soldiers underwater, and Ryu and his party defeat the commander, who takes the form of a giant crab. He attempts to destroy Prima, but barely fails.
Meanwhile, Zog is taking notice, and Jade passes orders to his lieutenants; Cort, Mote, Cerl, and Goda, to defeat Ryu's party, and recover the Goddess Keys. At this point, Gobi also recovers his Sphere, allowing him to turn into a fish, and enabling Ryu's party to travel to the town of Gust. The people of the town all act very strangely due to the fumes that are blown south from a giant flower. The party investigates the north, and finds a Dark Dragon fortress. Fighting their way through the fortress, the party is momentarily delayed by Cort shrinking them, but finds the cure after helping some mice defeat hostile roaches. The party defeats a mutant in the back of the laboratory, but finds out that it is Nicholie, the bridge builder, who was transformed by Cort. The party's attacks result in his being severely wounded, and the party obtains oil from a G. Fly to cure him. The party heals him, and destroys the flower, freeing Gust from its poisons. After another transformation into a mutant, Nicholie agrees to help the party repair the bridge out of town. However, Cort, having turned himself into a giant horn toad, attacks the party.
The party reaches a town named Gramor, populated by mole people. One of them, Mogu, is trapped in his dreams, and the town asks them so that to obtain the Bolster from Tunlan to enter Mogu's dream. The party retrieves the Cowl from the citizens of that town, and the Maestro from Gust, as they need both to be able to communicate with the people of the town. The party then is involved in an attempt to prevent the Princess of Tunlan from turning over the kingdom's Time Key to the Dark Dragons. The attempt fails, and Cerl obtains the Key.
The party, however, obtains the Bolster Pillow, and enters Mogu's dream, encountering many of his emotions. A strange monster named Mothro holds sway over Mogu, and the party is unable to damage him. The party then decides to traverse the dangerous Gas Fields to reach Mogu's Courage. Once Mogu's Courage is convinced to help the group, the party attacks Mothro, chases him to the top of his tower, and defeats him, allowing Mogu to awaken.
The party moves on to the town of Spring, which is trapped in ice. The party climbs the Spyre Tower to attempt to solve this problem, but Mote awaits at the top, and sends them into his dream world. Mote seems invincible, but his Conscience helps the party defeat him, return to reality, and obtain the Sky Key, returning Spring's weather to normal, and allowing them to pass behind a waterfall.
The party reaches the town of Carmen and finds that time has stopped, save for a few and notably a man asking why time stopped.. The party reaches the tower of Tock, and finds that this is Cerl's doing. Cerl, however, thwarts the party's attempts to stop her, and sends them into a portal using the Time Key. The hero makes it back to the village, and learns of a man named Alan who loves Cerl. He is in fact the man who was walking around the stopped village earlier. However, his attempts to reason with her fail, and she wounds him before attacking the party in a half human, half-monster form, and sending them into a portal once again. She closes her mind, and seals herself within the fortress. The party learns from Alan that she was banished from the village because she was not human, and that she enjoyed the fruits of a nearby tree. The party brings the fruit, and a dejected Cerl, who believes that Alan will never forgive her, gives the party the TimeKey. Goda arrives to punish Cerl for her betrayal, but Cerl holds him off, allowing the party to escape. After the party escapes, Alan rushes into the fortress to save her. It then vanishes. Later on when the party returned to what used to be the fortress all that remains is two children (named Cerl and the other is unnamed, possibly Alan as suggested by an NPC in the Game Boy Advance remake) playing with each other. It's assumed that this is a memory of Cerl's at a younger age.
The party returns to Tock and uses the TimeKey, but Nina is sucked through a portal. The party goes through and arrives in Tunlan (where the people speak in music), where they find an older Nina. The party manages to cure her amnesia, and learns that she is now able to fly. The party flies to Scande, and learns that the Dark Dragons are attempting to excavate Obelisk, a flying fortress. The party reaches the top of the tower, and confronts Zog himself, who turns into a massive, purple dragon. Zog is defeated, and the party falls into a hole.
The party encounters Sara herself in the hole, and finds the last of the Dragon Keys. The party turns over the keys, but learns that she has betrayed them, and now serves Jade. Jade declares himself emperor of the Dark Dragons, and leaves for Agua with Sara. The party pursues him there, and finds that he has raised the Goddess's resting place; twin towers with paths that weave between the two. Inside the tower, the party learns that Sara is under Jade's control, and is forced to fight with her. She dies, reassuring them that they did the right thing.
The party is ultimately too late to stop Jade from releasing the Goddess, and the force of his powers destroys the tower; the party is only saved through Sara's spiritual intervention. The party then tracks Jade and Tyr to the fortress of Obelisk, which by now has been excavated. The party deals with Goda, who has inexplicably survived the destruction of Cerl's fortress, then defeats Jade. Jade offers the party a town or two if they join him, but the party refuses.
In the center of the fortress, the party finds the Tyr herself, who claims to be innocent when threatened by Ryu's party, but the party attacks her upon Sara who is insisting that she is evil. The final battle begins.
The party ultimately defeats Tyr, and depending on the player's actions, receives one of two endings. The "bad" ending, obtained by not defeating Tyr with the Dragon Power Agni, shows the heroes expressing joy upon Tyr's defeat, oblivious to the fact that she will return. The "good" ending, obtained by using Agni to reveal Tyr's true form, shows Tyr vowing to return before vanishing, and Obelisk being destroyed. The hero receives congratulations from Sara and the Dragon Lord, and he and his companions return to their home towns to rebuild the world.