Caitsith

This is one of the many worlds of FFXI. It was one of 20 servers activated upon the original release of FFXI in Japan. It is named after the Final Fantasy character/summon Cait Sith, but its name is shortened to one word for the server.

ID Number: 14

Activation Date: May 16, 2002

History in the FF Series

Final Fantasy II: Soul of Rebirth
Cait Sith is an enemy added to the 2004 and 2007 remakes of Final Fantasy II, in the extension of the story, Soul of Rebirth. It is part of the Coeurl family, and appears in Arubboth (JP) / Unknown Palace (EN).

Final Fantasy IV
Cait Sith's first appearance is in FFIV, as a Coeurl enemy appearing in many areas.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Cait Sith appears as a Coeurl enemy in nearly every chapter of FFIV's sequel. Its stats are the same as in the original FFIV.

Final Fantasy VI
Cait Sith (JP, EN GBA), Stray (EN SNES/PS1)
Cait Sith first appears as a summon in Final Fantasy VI. It was a status-afflicting summon who attempts to confuse all enemies. He is a black and gray cat who can walk upright and wears red boots and a green cape. He is one of the Espers hiding in the city of Zozo in an apartment. He and his companions are convinced by fellow Esper Ramuh to transform into Magicite and assist the heroes' cause.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
A prototype Cait Sith robot appears and aids the Turks in the final chapters of the game.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Cait Sith's second appearance as a summon is in Crisis Core, where he assists Zack by using Courage Boost!, which grants Endurance, Protect, Shell, 0 MP Cost, 0 AP Cost, Physical and Magical Guard to Zack. Cait Sith is obtained by finding a treasure chest in the mission "Zack, the Materia Hunter 8-3-3: Suspicious Mail".

Final Fantasy VII
Cait Sith appears as a playable character in Final Fantasy VII. It is a small upright black and white cat robot wearing a gold crown, red boots, and a red cape. He sits atop a giant stuffed Moogle robot, wielding a Megaphone as a weapon to command the Moogle robot to smash enemies with its fist. Cait Sith is a remote-controlled robot (actually a series of robots) controlled by Reeve, head of Housing & Urban Development in Shinra, Inc. in Midgar.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Cait Sith appears as a minor character in Advent Children, appearing to assist the heroes in the battle against Bahamut SIN. In this appearance, he rides Red XIII rather than a stuffed Moogle. In an interview, Square Enix revealed that Cait Sith, Red XIII, and the wolf in Advent Children were very difficult and costly to create due to their fur rendering, and so they opted to have Cait Sith ride Red XIII.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII
Cait Sith reappears as both an NPC and playable in Dirge of Cerberus, and is first sighted in the beginning of the game in the assault on Kalm, where he is inside a Reeve Tuesti disguise when meeting with Vincent. The disguise is destroyed, revealing a Cait Sith rather than a dead Reeve. There are many Cait Sith models in Dirge of Cerberus, and one is temporarily playable in the mission "Solid Cait" in Mako Reactor 0. Cait Sith is a terrible fighter, and is forced to use stealth to reach his objective. In the US and International versions' Extra Missions, Cait Sith appears multiple times as a playable character, where he is forced to kill hordes of enemies with only his claws. The Cait Sith missions are among the hardest of Dirge of Cerberus's Extra Missions.

Final Fantasy XI
In the Wings of the Goddess expansion, Cait Sith appears as a species of beings. Many of them are seen as NPCs in the story's cutscenes, while some are fought in battle.

Moves:

"Cat Rain"- attempts to confuse all enemies (FFVI)

"Courage Boost!"- grants Endurance, Protect, Shell, 0 MP Cost, 0 AP Cost, Physical and Magical Guard to Zack (Crisis Core)

Attributes:

Final Fantasy VI

Offers Magic+1 Level Up Bonus

Teaches Confuse, Imp, and Float

Historical Background

Cait Sith is a variant spelling of Cat Sidhe, a cat-like fairy from Scottish & Irish folklore. The Cait Sith is said to be a large black cat with a white spot on its chest which haunts the Scottish highlands. The name derives from both Irish and Gaelic, where cait means "cat" and sith (sidhe) refers to "faeries" or any sort of otherworldly entity. The Cait Sith (large black cat with white spot) may refer to a rare breed of cat, the Kellas Cat.

The appearance of Cait Sith (the Esper and the character) is also based on the Puss-in-Boots, a figure from European fairy tales. The fairy tale with this character was first recorded in the 1500s CE, though there is some evidence it existed as an oral story earlier than that. The story involves the Puss in Boots being a cat that promises its owner wealth in return for getting a pair of boots and a bag. The cat proceeds to use deception to bring wealth to his owner. Puss-in-Boots also slays an ogre in the story. Occasionally, in art, the cat is depicted with a feathered hat (similar to the classic hat for RDM) and with a cape or scarf. The Puss-in-Boots character also appeared in the film Shrek 2 and 3.

The "lucky cat" or "beckoning cat" from Japanese culture, the Maneki Neko may also be a source of inspiration. Visit the link for more information on Maneki Neko [1].