Ultimecia

Ultimecia (Japanese:アルティミシア (Arutimishia)) is a Rank S Yo-kai of the Eerie Tribe.

Biology
Ultimecia wears a skin-tight red gown with a plunging neckline that exposes her neck, chest, stomach and abdomen, and only partially obscures her breasts. A black collar extends down the neckline to her waist; the collar rests over her shoulders and covers the junction of her black feathered wings. In Final Fantasy VIII the collar appears to be made of feathers, but in Dissidia Final Fantasy it is made of fur. The dress has a short train, which drags along the floor, trimmed either similarly to the collar, or torn and frayed and made dirty. Long red sleeves with prominent shoulder pads join with her purple taloned hands.

Ultimecia's skin is tattooed or body-painted with lined patterns. She wears a gold necklace, earrings and hair jewelry among a headdress designed to pull her hair up to resemble horns; silver bangs are left to frame her face. Ultimecia has yellow eyes surrounded by purple eyeshadow and she wears deep red lipstick. She has no eyebrows, instead having tattoos. She doesn't wear shoes, walking (or perhaps flying) barefoot, and although Ultimecia has a human appearance, her toenails resemble a beast's claws and are accentuated in her Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance.

Personality
In the English version of Final Fantasy VIII, Ultimecia emphasizes the letter 'c' pronouncing it as a harder sound than normal (transcribed as 'k's in the text). However, during and after she evolves into her final form she loses this emphasis. She also doesn't speak this way in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, or while possessing Edea. Ultimecia has no accent in Japanese, and arrogantly uses omae to refer to the party, this usually being associated with male speech. Overall, she uses few feminine speech markers, which makes her sound rather like a male antagonist.

Ultimecia has a definitive sense of style: the interior of her castle is filled with faux-Victorian opulence. In Deling City, her waiting room is draped with sheer curtains, and while in Galbadia Garden, she reclines on a throne designed like a translucent flower with lights similar to the fronds of luminescent sea kelp.

Acting through the bodies of other sorceresses, Ultimecia is a malevolent and manipulative sorceress filled with anger and hate. Her background and motives are alluded to indirectly, the most significant being her inauguration speech in Deling City where she implies she had been persecuted due being a sorceress, and the events surrounding the final battle.

Ultimecia demonstrates a strategic and diplomatic mind, such as convincing the president of Galbadia to employ her as the nation's diplomat, as well as enticing Seifer Almasy, normally a hostile youth, to devote himself to her. In Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimecia manipulates Kuja into performing for her ends and tries to get Sephiroth to join her and Emperor Mateus in their quest of taking over the world, though they end up failing. In Dissidia, if defeated by someone other than Squall in Shade Impulse, Ultimecia is painted in a more tragic light where she implies that she tried to use time compression to return to her childhood.

Etymology
Ultimecia's name differs depending on the translation.

The English and French translations' addition of "Ulti" to the name could be derived from the word, "ultimate." A definition of "ultimate" is to be the furthest away or the best of a kind; Ultimecia was assumed to, once time was compressed, possess every sorceress power bestowed upon humanity by the Great Hyne, effectively becoming "the ultimate sorceress." Another theory is that her name derives from the spell Ultima. "Ultimate" comes from ultimare, which in Latin means "to be final, come to an end," befitting of Ultimecia since she may be the last sorceress.

The Spanish translation's take on the name (Artemisa) could be derived from Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt (also the Goddess of Childbirth, Virginity, Forests, and the Moon), and Zeus and the nymph Leto's controversial child who never married and remained chaste for all her days. Another possible origin is the spell Ultima which is called "Artema" in Spanish language versions.

The Italian and German translation's take on the name (Artemisia) calls back to at least three prominent historical women:
 * Artemisia I of Caria (About 480 BC)


 * Known as the "Tyrant of Halicarnassus", she fought alongside the

Persians in the Battle of Salamis, but survived the battle using an unorthodox tactic; by sinking a friendly Persian vessel which made the Greeks think she was fighting for their side and backed off.


 * Artemisia II of Caria (About 350 BC)


 * The wife (and sister) of King Mausolus; she is known in history

for her bizarre way of grieving from her husband's death and to memorialize him she had the Mausoleum of Mausolus built, that is known today as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World".


 * Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1653)


 * A female painter, whose theme in many of her paintings is female strength and sometimes even dominance over men.

In Italian culture "Artemisia" is a typical sorceress name.

As "l" turns to "r" in Japanese, it might also simply be that "Ultimecia" is a phonetically-wrong transliteration of the katakana composing her name in the Japanese version (literally: a ru ti mi shi a) which, as most foreign-sounding words in such language, is written "as it is pronounced", and that she was meant to be called "Artemisia" all along.

Trivia

 * As a sorceress, Ultimecia is almost the mirror opposite of Rinoa: Ultimecia is an evil sorceress with black wings, while Rinoa is pure and has whiteAs wings; Rinoa has black hair and Ultimecia has white-silver hair; Ultimecia wears a red dress, while Rinoa's sweeper is light-blue; Rinoa uses Angelo in battle and Ultimecia uses Griever; Griever is based on a lion, while Angelo is a dog; Rinoa is associated with angel imagery whereas Ultimecia's hair style takes the shape of horns, a motif often associated with the devil; Rinoa's special power appears to be that of revival, whereas Ultimecia seeks to cause death and destruction.