Giant, floating, Buddha-like heads that can be found in Squaresoft's 1994 Final Fantasy VI Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game (said title was also later ported to the Sony Playstation and Nintendo Gameboy Advance). They can be randomly encountered inside the Phoenix Cave (World of Ruin). Phases do battle by biting, leering with 'Smirk' (so disturbing that it causes the Stop status effect), or vomiting up the '1,000 Needles' (automatic 1,000 units of damage on the target, regardless of defense rating). The enemies Phase/Face and Brainpan share the same game sprite, but differ in color and ability. It's likely that the original 1994 translation of the creature's name (Phase) is incorrect, as the words 'phase' and 'face', sound, and are spelled, similarly, in Japanese katakana.

Phases are ranked as Level 47 monsters. They have 4,550 hit points (HP) and 1,700 magic points (MP). Every Phase that you slay will net your party 2,600 experience points and $890 in Gil. They inherently enjoy 'Float' status (immunity to Earth magic, like Quake). Phases are particularly susceptible to ice-based attacks and magic, but they will absorb fire, so don't use that on them unless you think it's fun to heal your enemies. They are immune to the status effects Imp, Petrify, Death, Doom, Silence, and Sleep. Like a number of other monsters, Phase will instantly perish if it runs out of MP (if you've got the time to wait for it to whittle away 1,700 of them, you need to get out more often). It is also impossible to run from a Phase; you must fight until it, or your party, is annihilated.

'Phoenix Down' (a single-use item that resurrects a character in your party that has been KO'd) can potentially be stolen (12.5% probability) from a Phase, or obtained after the fight as spoils (also a 12.5% chance). Gau can learn the Rage ability '1,000 Needles' from any Phases he encounters while in the Veldt (They won't show up there until you defeat at least one at the Phoenix Cave. The enemies Brainpan and Cactrot/Cactuar also teach 1,000 Needles). Strago can also learn 1,000 Needles as a Lore/Blue Magic from Phase (he can also potentially get it from the enemies Brainpan, Cactrot/Cactuar, Dark Force, Katana Soul/Samurai Soul, Mover, and Presenter/Angler Whelk). If Relm controls a Phase (by equipping the 'Fake Mustache' Relic), she can directly command it to execute normal attacks, Smirk, and 1,000 Needles against itself, or its' monstrous allies [if you only have Relm's regular 'Sketch' ability, the Phase will randomly execute 1,000 Needles (75% probability) or Smirk (25% probability)]. The Ragnarok Esper can be used to morph Phases into Potions (single use curative item that restores 50 HP for one character) or Elixirs (single use item that restores all of a single character's HP and MP) with a 12.5% chance of success (if the transformation worked, there's a 75% probability of getting a Potion, 25% of getting an Elixir).

Materials:
Tissue paper, newsprint, white glue, super glue, plastic, and acrylic paint.

Dimensions:
4.5 cm/1.8 in. x 3.6 cm/1.4 in. (widest point x highest point)
The height is 7.0 cm/2.8 in. when attached to the transparent stand.

Time:
Two days; October 29 & 30, 2009.

Pallette-swapped Brainpan mock-up.

For comparison/informational purposes, below are several images from the Final Fantasy VI video game:

•   Final Fantasy VI Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game. Note that this was intentionally mistitled Final Fantasy III in North America when it was released in 1994, to avoid consumer confusion (Final Fantasies II, III, and V hadn't been published in the region at the time, thus, VI was re-numbered as III, because it was the third Final Fantasy game, in the main series chronology, to be published in North America).


•   Final Fantasy VI: Advance Gameboy Advance (GBA) video game.
  
•   Various GameFAQs Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VI Advance game guides.


•   RPG Classics Shrines Final Fantasy VI 'World of Ruin' and 'World of Balance' bestiaries.

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