Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire, also known as Breath of Fire: The Dragon Warrior (ブレスオブファイア竜の戦士, Buresu obu Faia Ryū no Senshi) is the first game in the Breath of Fire series. It was produced by Tokuro Fujiwara. Developed by Capcom in 1993 for the Super Famicom, it was licensed a year later by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) for release in North America. In 2001, Capcom independently re-released the game for the Game Boy Advance worldwide. It is notable for being the first role-playing game Capcom ever published. While Keiji Inafune did the original artwork for the Super Famicom release, illustrations for the GBA version were done by Tatsuya Yoshikawa.

Characters

Ryu - the main protagonist of the game. He has a sister named Sara. As his name implies, he can transform into elemental dragons, as well as fuse with his party members to form the ultimate dragons: Rudra and Agni. His main skill (when on the world map) is the ability to fish through any body of water using a rod and bait, even discovering powerful items from certain locations.

Nina - a winged citizen of the Kingdom of Wyndia. She is extremely useful for her healing and supportive magics to aid the party in the battles to come. Halfway through the game, she suffers through amnesia, but later recovers and even gains the ability to turn into a bird, transporting the team anywhere around the world by air.

Bo - a humanoid wolf possessing amazing skill with a bow. His archery skills deem useful while in the map. He can hunt for food by shooting wild animals in forests. With him leading the party, they can also travel through dense forests without hindrance.

Gobi - a greedy fish-man who only thinks of personal gain and monetary profit. He grants the party the ability to travel underwater by transforming into a giant fish. He is extremely effective with spears and tridents. In his official art, he is depicted with an abacus in one of his hands.

Ox - as his name suggests, is an Ox-man of the Iron Ogre Clan. His clan was forced into labor by the Dark Dragon to build a secret weapon. He has a wife and is expecting a child soon. His ability allows him to punch through cracked walls, shattering them with immense force to allow passage through them.

Karn - a master thief who can detect traps and unlock chests. He is also one of the fastest characters. Later in the game, he gains his most useful ability that allows him to fuse with his comrades during battle, forming into a more powerful being. He can fuse with Bo, Gobi and Ox.
- Shin Fusion (Karn, Bo and Gobi) - this form retains Bo's ability to walk through Forests and has a faster bow for Hunting when on the world map. This form has high HP, Speed and Attack, but low defense.
- Debo Fusion (Karn, Gobi and Ox) - this form can only be used underwater and has no special abilities. This form has high Speed and Attack, average defense, but its underwater-only restriction makes this form not as useful.
- Doof Fusion (Karn, Bo and Ox) - this form retains Ox's ability to break rocks and gains enhanced strength, allowing him to push even heavier objects in towns and dungeons. This form has high Attack and HP growth, but only average Speed.
- Puka Fusion (Karn, Bo, Gobi and Ox) - this combined form of all four characters takes on a strange, chubby duck-billed lizard appearance. This form possesses the unique ability to Roar and open the special sealed Dragon Doors found all across the world map. It is also unique in that is has more than one regular attack; it may, instead of its Roar, randomly roll into a ball and slam into an enemy, doing far more damage. This form has the highest HP, Speed and Attack of all the fusions.
Bleu - is an immortal with strong magical powers and a serpent's tail, resembling a Naga. She was the sorceress that sealed Tyr many ages ago. Because she's been asleep for so many years, she has forgotten most of her spells and more often than not botches them up. Bleu does not have a map ability.
Mogu - is a mole-man with the ability to dig through patches of earth seen throughout the map. He fought against the Dragon Clan but was trapped in a nightmare (consisting of his scattered "emotions") world by one of the Dark Dragon lieutenants before being freed by Ryu and his gang. His people are being exploited by the Dark Dragon in order to excavate an ancient weapon. He has a sister named Anne.
Jade - Zog's primary General. He appears as a mysterious man to advise the party on some occasions, presumably so that he can release the Goddess himself and rule the world after disposing of his superior. He succeeds in obtaining the Goddess Keys and gains power from releasing her, but learns that he will lose to Ryu. He turns into a monster and fights Ryu after attempting to convince him to serve him, but is defeated.
Myria - is the main antagonist of Breath of Fire. She is the cause of the original Goddess War. Thousands of years in the past, Myria instigated the "Goddess War" which was fought between the Light and Dark Dragons. She is capable of granting any wish, though her real motive is to encourage others to fight over her power. Just as the war was bringing the world to the brink of destruction, a Light Dragon "hero" and his comrades sealed Myria within a tower and locked her away with six keys. In the present day, Myria is freed by Jade and placed inside the flying fortress Obelisk. She greets Ryu in the guise of a little girl. However, Sara's spirit appears and warns that Myria is deceiving him. When struck by Ryu's ultimate dragon form, Agni, Myria reverts to her true demonic state. The Obelisk crumbles to pieces when Myria is defeated, though she promises that one day, she will return.
Chun-Li - (cameo) - The Street Fighter heroine can be found in the town of Bleak (only at night) in one of the houses, via answering correctly to a magician. Put money (100 GP) on the table, and then answer "yes" to his first two questions, "no" to the next two and "yes" to the last question. She will then practice her trademark Hyakuretsu Kyaku lightning kick. Beating the game with the "BrokenSD" equipped to the main character and getting the good ending will show Chun-Li (in her 2p outfit) in the ending scene.

Story

The Dark Dragons continue to hunt their longtime enemies, the Light Dragons, and have driven them into isolation. Unbeknownst to the Dark Dragons, the Light Dragon Clan sealed away their dragon powers long ago. The game's protagonist, Ryu, is living peacefully in a village of Light Dragons survivors. Ryu was orphaned when he was young and was raised by his sister, Sara, a priestess who can summon powerful magic. One night, he dreams of a dragon that warns him of impending danger; he awakens to find his village has been set ablaze. Sara uses her magic to draw the Dark Dragons away from Ryu and the other villagers, but he is taken prisoner.

The Dark Dragon Emperor, Zog, has announced that it is the birthright of the Dark Dragons to conquer the planet. Zog intends to release Myria by assembling the six Goddess keys. Ryu leaves the village and embarks on a quest to collect the keys before Zog can.

Bosses

Gremlin - the true form of the General found in the brain area of the Stone Robot, a being that was manipulated by him into destroying a town.
Sand Worm - the Mayor of Arad will not hand over the Fife, an item necessary to progress further, unless this desert boss is destroyed.
Morteo - a citizen of Gant escapes from the Dark Dragons, when a Grim Reaper-like boss (similar to two enemies fought earlier in the game) shows up and threatens to take the injured man.
Grimfowl - she must be defeated in order to steal her egg.
Golem - the boss of Nabal Castle, an oozing blue humanoid with yellow eyes, formed of three slimes smaller than itself.
Pincher - after Gobi takes the party under the sea, they encounter this crab monster.
Flower X - a pollinating flower that drives the people of Gust insane whenever the wind blows from a laboratory north of town.
Horn Toad - the monster form of Cort, a top scientist in the Dark Dragon army, he is responsible for creating Flower X, among other atrocities.
Mothro - a demon at the heart of Mogu's nightmare in Dreamland, which must be defeated in order for him to awaken.
Mote - one of Jade's Generals, he originally placed Mothro in Mogu's sleep to terrorize him and later subdues the party at Spyre by trapping them in Dreamland. He is defeated by the party with the help of Mote's conscience.
Cerl - a woman who becomes a monster with crab-like arms when angered. She stopped time in the village of Carmen with the stolen Time Key.
Zog - Emperor of the Dark Dragon family. He masterminded the plan to recover the Goddess Keys, believing that one man should control the world. Ryu, after a long journey, finally reached the imperial capital of Scande and defeated him.
Sara - Ryu's sister who, at the beginning of the game, transforms herself into a large white dragon. Jade controls her, but she resists to some degree, lowering the barrier preventing Ryu from passing through the Goddess's towers. Jade regains control, and forces her to fight the hero. She breaks free after her defeat, but is mortally wounded.
Goda - one of the final bosses in the game, General Goda is fought inside the Obelisk. He is a giant built of stone bricks. He manipulates his parts into a brick ball which strikes, and also tries to petrify the party. He looks similar to Stone Man from Mega Man 5.

Trivia

Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune did the original illustrations for the game.
Arthur, from the Ghosts 'n Goblins games, has a cameo, appearing in some paintings in houses.
In the town of Bleak, there is a trick that can be done to view an animation of Chun-Li doing her lightning kick (see "Characters" above).

Credits

SNES Version

Planner: Bamboo, Botunori, Pukchi, Makoto
Scroll Staff: Don, Banndy, Scr. Spirit, U-King, Tuck-K
Object Staff: Inuffkin, Fishman, Simiz, Zura-Zura, Mats
Music Composer: Bun-Bun, Mari, O-Jaring, Pii♪
Sound Effects: Any, Elf
Sound Programmer: Oyabun, Ikebon
Game Programmer: Kanecon, Noriko, Sun Chan, Sleeper, Shu
Special Thanks: Bone, Quetzal, Kazuki, No.19, Tatuya, All Capcom Staff, and... You

English Version

Director: Ted Woolsey
Coordinator: James Gillis

Localization

Translation: K.Brandjord, R.Yamaji, Y.Orimo, Ted Woolsey
Editor / Writers: George Sinfield, Nathan Williams, Charlie Wilson
Graphics Evaluator: Nathan Williams
Special Thanks to: Rich Silveira, T.Horii, J.Yanagihara, Beau Folsom, Y.Kawano, M.Takemura, E.Takahashi, ...and all the folks at Capcom, Japan, and... you.