Who is Gogo? (Theories abound!)

[Terminal Est]

MidgarFanatic mentioned the slew of Gogo theories some years ago in my CC thread and aye, I remember being quite active in them. My opinions have changed though.

Gogo from FFVI is almost an iconic symbol of the entire FF rumour spectrum, and so I thought, because MF reminded me of it, that it would be fun to revive.

I do not have so much of a theory as I do some theory debunking though.

Here is one of the more popular rumours I had heard, and I once myself stood by this one, and many more, with the utmost conviction, albeit with some very far fetched theories to back them up.

Gogo is Daryl-No.

That was a popular one, because it was claimed that in the race with Setzer, she had crashed on what looked to be a triangular island, should you be attentive enough during that cut scene. (I could never notice it though.) And this is where you find Gogo-BUT-you only find him in the disfigured world, so it could easily have been some different island.

Besides, Daryl was Setzer's lover-if she was still alive, why would she play this charade? She would be happy to find Setzer again, so it makes no sense that she would not tell him that she is still alive. Unless she was horribly disfigured or something. But even then. And she had a tomb. Somebody must have buried her in there somewhere-although we never find evidence of such in the dungeon.

So that is one example...there are MANY more. Gogo could be Banon who disappeared after the end of the world, it could be the emperor who fell from the floating island, or again, it could be Lonewolf Pickpocket. I hardly think so though...because when you meet him/her, she or he states that they have perfected the miming techniques for years-so therefore the characters I mentioned earlier could not be Gogo, as they all disappeared or died a year ago in the game, and nothing pointed at them being mimes while they lived.

None of the worlds in FF are related, but I like to imagine that countless centuries separate them, and let us note that Gogo makes his first appearance in FFV, and his presentation speech is related to something about riding the cosmos on a great worm...which leads me to believe that it is the same Gogo in FFVI, since you find him by being swallowed by a Zoneater, which is a huge worm.

To me Gogo is just a mysterious, seemingly immortal being from God knows where who gets bored once in a while and decides to get involved in some human things. It really is that simple, and I base this on his goofy demeanor and reflective dispositions in both games.

There were also some nasty rumours about Gogo being a reference to a certain political figure, this apparently given out by elements you find or notice in the cave in which he resides, (Fake moustache.) and by himself.

This rumour was started by a ten year old boy, and I believe that the Gogo theories died when this was debunked, (Look closely on Gamefaqs though, some people still whisper the...enigma!) as among the game related rumours, this was a persistent one. (The world was fooled by a ten year old boy, wa ha!)

So then-what do you think?

[MidgarFanatic]

Ah Gogo, the first of many bizarre characters Square began to experiement with in the FF series, opening up a truly bizarre and unique repertoire of characters including Cait Sith, Red XIII, Quina, Kimahri, and Fran. And FFVI had three of them, also including Mog and Umaru in the cast. So much fun. And move over Vincent and Yuffie, Gogo and Umaru were the first truly optional characters in any FF game. You could of gone the entire game without stumbling across these valuable teammates.

I am not sure who Gogo is, I suppose the theory that he was Daryl was as convincing a fan theory as any that I had read on the net back in the day, but I remember many including suppositions to the idea that Gogo was somehow Relm’s mother/father, to some kind of relation to Shadow’s past, and indeed that Gogo was Banon. But none of these seem to fit as nicely as the evidence which seems to point to Setzer’s lurid past. And this could very well be the case, after all, amnesia is a terrible affliction which seems to just pop-up as a sake of convenience far too often within the realm of mythologized fiction. But it would help support this theory nonetheless. So I suppose if I was to pick one theory that I believed more than all the others… the Daryl connection would be it.

Theories are fun, but I actually preferred to see Gogo’s past as a solitary story element on her/his own; I suppose reflecting her/his very own nature and personality. Gogo was just an extra character, thrown into the mix to keep the player busy and add to the enormity of this 16-bit game.

Overall I really liked Gogo, for obvious reasons once you start using her/him s/he turned out to be the most versatile character in the game. S/he was the second character I chose, after Terra of course, in my list of players to use in the final battle of the game. I gave her/him the three battle commands of Blitz (gotta love that Bum Rush), Magic, and Item. With these four options Gogo was EXTREMELY powerful. And I believe s/he lasted all four rounds of the final battle with Kefka till the end.

Gogo had some other incredible uses in this game. Gogo was the only one who could summon espers more than once per battle using the mimic ability. And s/he was the only one who could use the Fight ability in the Fanatic’s Tower in the World of Ruin (with the exception of also Umaru of course). That was extremely useful.

And thank you Terminal for sharing your incredibly interesting theory about the Gogo in FFV’s Tower of Walz… that had never occurred to me in the slightest. I always just saw that little battle as another reoccurring cameo, like Gilgamesh. It does indeed seem to fit within a rather plausible chain of events.


Conceptual artwork of Gogo by Yoshitaka Amano… love the hat.

And while we’re on the topic, there are only a few FFs I have not played. I have never played (and never will) any of the Chocobo’s Dungeon series. I have yet to add the latest three expansion packs to FFXI. And I have not yet checked out FFXII Revenant Wings. But I have also yet to get my hands on the latest Advance version of FFVI for the GBA. Does anyone know if they have shed any light on this little mystery within this lately installment? For the sake of mystery and fun surrounding this little dark corner of the FF fan universe, I hope they have not.

[Terminal Est]

Rest assured, Gogo's mystery remains intact. All that has changed was the translation.

I never did think of that for the Daryl theory though...amnesia. It sure is a recurring theme in role playing games anyway, and if such were to be the case, it would explain the hum...disposition by which Gogo abides. Always ''off'' and cooky...but then, would Setzer not recognize the voice?

The Banon theory seems to stem from the very image you posted. People like to theorize that the little you can see of Gogo's eyes resemble that on Banon's, that as well as the position in which they both stand in the artworks. But that is a bit loose to base anything on...I have never really noticed it myself.

...also, Banon was the leader of the Returners. Were he to still be alive, would he not want to continue the battle against the empire?

Of course, the empire no longer exists after that, however let it be noted that while Banon's rebellion movement seemed rather patriotic, one can tell that his true intent was for a peaceful world, so I believe that he would still fight against Kefka...of course he still does, in a way, if he is indeed Gogo. That does not explain the new found miming abilities though.

Incidentally, some people tend to think That Arvis is Gogo, as well.

Hmm...Relm's parents...well, it is proven, pretty much anyways, that Clyde is indeed Relm's father...so that would mean that Gogo would have to be a women. Also, is not Strago Relm's grandfather? That means that Shadow is his son?

Or also, there is the ever returning theory that Gogo is General Leo.

O_o

Right, Gogo was a very useful character. Miming came quite handy, however it seems that he is always slightly weaker...if you mime Bum Rush for example, Sabin will deal 9999 damage, but Gogo will do a little less. Since you get him so late, there is little time to upgrade his statistics with the Espers though, which would probably boost him a little.

But his damned supposed Desperation Attack, Meteo X, I NEVER did manage to unleash.

[Morgana]

Originally Posted by Terminal Est

Gogo is Daryl-No.

That was a popular one, because it was claimed that in the race with Setzer, she had crashed on what looked to be a triangular island, should you be attentive enough during that cut scene. (I could never notice it though.) And this is where you find Gogo-BUT-you only find him in the disfigured world, so it could easily have been some different island.

Besides, Daryl was Setzer's lover-if she was still alive, why would she play this charade? She would be happy to find Setzer again, so it makes no sense that she would not tell him that she is still alive. Unless she was horribly disfigured or something. But even then. And she had a tomb. Somebody must have buried her in there somewhere-although we never find evidence of such in the dungeon.

So that is one example...there are MANY more. Gogo could be Banon who disappeared after the end of the world, it could be the emperor who fell from the floating island, or again, it could be Lonewolf Pickpocket. I hardly think so though...because when you meet him/her, she or he states that they have perfected the miming techniques for years-so therefore the characters I mentioned earlier could not be Gogo, as they all disappeared or died a year ago in the game, and nothing pointed at them being mimes while they lived.

None of the worlds in FF are related, but I like to imagine that countless centuries separate them, and let us note that Gogo makes his first appearance in FFV, and his presentation speech is related to something about riding the cosmos on a great worm...which leads me to believe that it is the same Gogo in FFVI, since you find him by being swallowed by a Zoneater, which is a huge worm.

To me Gogo is just a mysterious, seemingly immortal being from God knows where who gets bored once in a while and decides to get involved in some human things. It really is that simple, and I base this on his goofy demeanor and reflective dispositions in both games.

There were also some nasty rumours about Gogo being a reference to a certain political figure, this apparently given out by elements you find or notice in the cave in which he resides, (Fake moustache.) and by himself.

This rumour was started by a ten year old boy, and I believe that the Gogo theories died when this was debunked, (Look closely on Gamefaqs though, some people still whisper the...enigma!) as among the game related rumours, this was a persistent one. (The world was fooled by a ten year old boy, wa ha!)

So then-what do you think?

umd...maybe Gogo has amnesia? That's possible. It never said that Setzer actually buried Daryl. Also, Banon was Killed by Ultros, if I remember.

[MidgarFanatic]

Banon was not killed. I recall he survived the battle with Ultros and managed to complete his delivery of Terra to Narshe. Sabin was separated from them after the battle, but that was about it. Banon lives on!!!

[Terminal Est]

If Daryl was Gogo but had amnesia, she would not know to disguise her voice so that Setzer would not recognize her, for whatever reasons she would have to hide herself... He speaks every now and then if I recall, I am sure Setzer would have noticed something.

Also, Banon was not killed by Ultros, not in the Lete River events, as he his active many times after. Perhaps he was killed, since in the world of ruin his whereabouts are unknown, but other then this the game specifies nothing.

That's possible. It never said that Setzer actually buried Daryl.

No, but besides the fact that there is an entire crypt in her name sort of suggests that she most likely was, although it was never confirmed in game...but there were some hints at it. Actually that, I am not sure. Anyone recall any specific dialogue?

[Morgana]

actually, Gogo has no character lines, and let's please remember that this was a simpler FF world, which means that even if Gogo did have lines, we wouldn't know the difference anyhow.

Setzer said he built it "As a memorial to her."

and that was about it.


and it's not a crypt, there's no casket there, so yeah, it is just a memorial to her.

[Terminal Est]

He has some lines when you first meet him, therefore he must have a voice. So even if he did not speak, how would we not know the difference? Also it is clearly a tomb, as Setzer says so himself. It is indeed a simpler world, so with the few hints that there are, I have too take them literally.