Kermitu Kleric Katie
KULT OF KERMITU
Ahh, Cactuars. The cute little cactus enemies with their famous 1,000 Needles attack are one of the more iconic FF critters. Here are some notes on them I noticed while reading up on their Japanese name. First of all, let's talk about their Japanese name. In Japan, they are known as Sabotenders, which is a portmanteau of Saboten, the Japanese word for cactus, and pretender, so they're literally "pretend cacti". There are three main variations of this family, the standard Sabotender, usually translated into English as Cactuar, a slightly different variation known as Sapotender, which has been given many different names in English that we'll cover shortly, and the Jabotender, which initially went by Jumbo Cactuar in English before they settled on Gigantuar.
They initially appeared in FFVI, where they were called Cactrots in the SNES release(later versions went with now standard "Cactuar", obviously), and already they had several of their signature characteristics. They attacked with 1,000 Needles, which does exactly 1,000 damage and is unblockable, they had sky high evade but pitiful HP, and they were good for grinding, in this case Gil and AP, which they gave out 10,000 and 10 of, respectively. The Jabotender appears in the Advance and later releases, which happens to be the first instance of its name being translated as Gigantuar, which is now its standard English name. It was a very tough boss(and I would know, I just fought it earlier today on the PC version, and it took me several tries), using 1,000 needles multiple times in a row and countering attacks with a powerful defense ignoring attack. Defeating it nets you the Cactuar magicite, one of the new magicites added in the GBA version and notably one of two Espers to grant a +Speed level up bonus.
Sabotenders appeared again in the next game, FFVII, along with a weaker variant, Sapotender, who did not use 1,000 needles. This game is also the first to feature a "cactuar island", an island where only cactuars appear. What's interesting about this game's translation is that they translated Sapotender, the "fake" version, as Cactuar, and Sabotender as Cactuer, the first "similar but slightly different version of the cactuars name" translation choice for Sapotenders. In this game, Sapotenders were only good for Gil grinding, while Sabotenders gave out a lot of EXP and AP in addition to Gil, making them useful for grinding all 3 at once. Cactuars appeared in some compilation titles, with Crisis Core being notable, due to Cactuar itself not appearing as an enemy at all, instead as a summon, and two variations of the Sapotender, Sapotender (A) and (B), appearing as enemies instead. The English version called them Kactuar and Kactuer, respectively.
Cactuars in FFVIII are notable for being the best enemy to AP grind on, giving a whopping 20 AP and pitiful EXP, meaning you won't get overleveled grinding off them. It also introduced the Jabotender, called Jumbo Cactuar in the English version, and was the first game to feature Cactuars as a summon. Like FFVII, Cactuars appear on a island where they appear exclusively, and like FFVI, beating the Jabotender gets you the Cactuar summon. Another notable thing is that rather than doing a fixed 1,000 damage, the Cactuar GF's 1,000 needles instead does damage equal to 100 x the Cactuar's level.
FFIX also featured Cactuars, but the only notable thing about them in that game is their ability to hide underground.
FFX notably had two variations of Sabotender, which had the same name but were written in different writing systems. They got translated as Cactuar and Qactuar, a rather neat translation choice IMO. Sapotender appears in this game too, this time being called Cactuar King in the English version. Jabotender appears in the sequel, still under the moniker Jumbo Cactuar in English.
In FFXI Cactuars are called Sabotenders even in the English release, due to enemies having the same name in all regions.
FFXII lacks Cactuars themselves, instead having the enemies Cactoid(Saboten, or "Cactus". in Japan), Cactite(Tiny Saboten, or "Tiny Cactus", in Japan), and Flowering Cacctoid(Hana Saboten, or "Flower Cactus", in Japan). Cactoid is an Esper in the sequel.
Unlike in most games, Cactuars in FFXIII have very high HP. Sapotenders also appear, this time being called Flowering Cactuars in English. Jabotender appears too, at this point going by Gigantuar in English. All three appear in the sequal, this time joined by Metallicactuar (Metarusaboten, or "Metal Cactus", in Japan), Cactuaroni (Sabotenyoru in Japan), Metal Gigantuar (Metal Jaboten in Japan), Cactuarina (Sabatina in Japan), and Cactuarama (Sabotenyurita in Japan). LR just has Cactuar, Cactuar Omega, and Cactair (Bosatender in Japan).
Type-0 has the Cactuar, but also Flowering Cactuar, which this time isn't Sapotender in the JP version, instead being called Hana Sabotender (Flower Cactuar), with Sapotenders instead being called Kactuars in the English version.
The only other game of note is Dimensions, which features Cactuar, Gigantuar, Sapotender(which goes by the name it went by in FFX, Cactuar King), and Za Sabotender, or Super Cactuar in English.
Cactuars appear in more games, but this was mostly about names and such, and I don't want this post to be too long. Anyway, this was just something I noticed and wanted to share. Hope found it interesting.
They initially appeared in FFVI, where they were called Cactrots in the SNES release(later versions went with now standard "Cactuar", obviously), and already they had several of their signature characteristics. They attacked with 1,000 Needles, which does exactly 1,000 damage and is unblockable, they had sky high evade but pitiful HP, and they were good for grinding, in this case Gil and AP, which they gave out 10,000 and 10 of, respectively. The Jabotender appears in the Advance and later releases, which happens to be the first instance of its name being translated as Gigantuar, which is now its standard English name. It was a very tough boss(and I would know, I just fought it earlier today on the PC version, and it took me several tries), using 1,000 needles multiple times in a row and countering attacks with a powerful defense ignoring attack. Defeating it nets you the Cactuar magicite, one of the new magicites added in the GBA version and notably one of two Espers to grant a +Speed level up bonus.
Sabotenders appeared again in the next game, FFVII, along with a weaker variant, Sapotender, who did not use 1,000 needles. This game is also the first to feature a "cactuar island", an island where only cactuars appear. What's interesting about this game's translation is that they translated Sapotender, the "fake" version, as Cactuar, and Sabotender as Cactuer, the first "similar but slightly different version of the cactuars name" translation choice for Sapotenders. In this game, Sapotenders were only good for Gil grinding, while Sabotenders gave out a lot of EXP and AP in addition to Gil, making them useful for grinding all 3 at once. Cactuars appeared in some compilation titles, with Crisis Core being notable, due to Cactuar itself not appearing as an enemy at all, instead as a summon, and two variations of the Sapotender, Sapotender (A) and (B), appearing as enemies instead. The English version called them Kactuar and Kactuer, respectively.
Cactuars in FFVIII are notable for being the best enemy to AP grind on, giving a whopping 20 AP and pitiful EXP, meaning you won't get overleveled grinding off them. It also introduced the Jabotender, called Jumbo Cactuar in the English version, and was the first game to feature Cactuars as a summon. Like FFVII, Cactuars appear on a island where they appear exclusively, and like FFVI, beating the Jabotender gets you the Cactuar summon. Another notable thing is that rather than doing a fixed 1,000 damage, the Cactuar GF's 1,000 needles instead does damage equal to 100 x the Cactuar's level.
FFIX also featured Cactuars, but the only notable thing about them in that game is their ability to hide underground.
FFX notably had two variations of Sabotender, which had the same name but were written in different writing systems. They got translated as Cactuar and Qactuar, a rather neat translation choice IMO. Sapotender appears in this game too, this time being called Cactuar King in the English version. Jabotender appears in the sequel, still under the moniker Jumbo Cactuar in English.
In FFXI Cactuars are called Sabotenders even in the English release, due to enemies having the same name in all regions.
FFXII lacks Cactuars themselves, instead having the enemies Cactoid(Saboten, or "Cactus". in Japan), Cactite(Tiny Saboten, or "Tiny Cactus", in Japan), and Flowering Cacctoid(Hana Saboten, or "Flower Cactus", in Japan). Cactoid is an Esper in the sequel.
Unlike in most games, Cactuars in FFXIII have very high HP. Sapotenders also appear, this time being called Flowering Cactuars in English. Jabotender appears too, at this point going by Gigantuar in English. All three appear in the sequal, this time joined by Metallicactuar (Metarusaboten, or "Metal Cactus", in Japan), Cactuaroni (Sabotenyoru in Japan), Metal Gigantuar (Metal Jaboten in Japan), Cactuarina (Sabatina in Japan), and Cactuarama (Sabotenyurita in Japan). LR just has Cactuar, Cactuar Omega, and Cactair (Bosatender in Japan).
Type-0 has the Cactuar, but also Flowering Cactuar, which this time isn't Sapotender in the JP version, instead being called Hana Sabotender (Flower Cactuar), with Sapotenders instead being called Kactuars in the English version.
The only other game of note is Dimensions, which features Cactuar, Gigantuar, Sapotender(which goes by the name it went by in FFX, Cactuar King), and Za Sabotender, or Super Cactuar in English.
Cactuars appear in more games, but this was mostly about names and such, and I don't want this post to be too long. Anyway, this was just something I noticed and wanted to share. Hope found it interesting.
