Geshtar

February 28, 2021

Other than Thanatos, Geshtar is the only member of the Emperor’s inner circle who has a significant presence in the game.  Unlike the others, it’s not known if he has a secret contract with Mavolia; it’s clear that he’s human the first time you fight him.  His battle concept reminds me of the Magitek Armor that’s a huge part of Final Fantasy VI.   We meet him four times: in the Water Palace, in Kakkara, in Northtown, and finally as a zombie in the Grand Palace.

Geshtar is our first direct look at the Empire when we encounter him in the Water Palace.  Our previous confrontation with Thanatos was isolated, and didn’t explicitly involve the Empire’s forces.

GESHTAR: Hahaha, you’ve done well, “men.” I am Geshtar of the Vandole Empire.  Now then, if you’d like to save Luka, hand over the seed!

LUKA: Stop [what you’re doing]! Run away!

GESHTAR: Huhu, idiots.

RANDI: Urrgh…my body won’t move!

GESHTAR: It would have been a great deal of trouble for us if the Seed were not here.  Now, it’s only matter of [making the situation such that the seal is undone]…

LUKA: Oh, you mustn’t [unseal it]!

GESTHAR: Well then, it’s about time for me to take my leave.  Forgive me.  As thanks from me, I’ll give you a pet! Do your utmost to dote upon it! Fuhahaha!

Like every major villain in the game, he leaves and assumes it all went according to plan. There’s actually three Jabberwockies in the game’s code that can spawn at the same time and work perfectly:

Let’s go to Kakkara, where Geshtar launches a surprise attack on Tasnica’s sandship:

GESHTAR: Oho? I didn’t think I’d run into you “men” in such a place.  So it was you [all] that were the “group of three” in Thanatos’ report.  Alright, I’ll have a round with you directly. Here I come!

It’s not revealed in the game, but according to the Secret of Mana Fundamental Knowledge Compilation, Geshtar becomes half cyborg after being injured here:

From other guides, we learn that Geshtar is an expert in Ancient technology, which is why he has a weapon that’s more advanced than the technology of the rest of the world. The Metal Mantis was created by transferring Mantis Ant’s brain to a mechanical body with a 5000 HP motor, possibly the work of Geshtar.

In Northtown, we get a better sense of him:

GESHTAR: Your Majesty! Please, give me one more chance!

EMPEROR: Very well, I suppose. We will go on ahead to the Palaces [all over the world]. Clean up here quickly…

GEHSTAR: Yessir!  Curse you, you bastards!  You’ve caused me great shame!  Oooh, I won’t let this one go!  Here I come!

Geshtar comes off somewhat honorable here, and the fact that he wears green reminds me of General Leo from Final Fantasy VI.  Of course, Leo saw the error of his Empire’s ways and paid a price for it.  

regrs of GameFAQs had a tip on fighting the second machine rider, given a flaw in his attack pattern:

Poor Geshtar. His AI is so bad...He [tries to target] the character closest to him on the Y-Axis, [but] he also has horrible tunnel vision. He really wants to be in Y-Axis alignment with his target, [to] the point [that] he'll shut off his own movement [and his] attack scripts until he can pull it off. 

Stand here:

[...and] you've broken his AI. [You're] below him so he can't attack, and the space is [too] small for him to fit in there, so he'll just lazily float back and forth forever. He will get one attack in retaliation every time you hit him. Either Missile Barrage (At >50% HP) or Missile Barrage/Wave Cannon (At <50% HP), then he'll go right back to being stuck and not doing anything...[plus] the missiles tend to miss and just circle you forever...

After the second battle…

GESHTAR: …You…you’ll come with me! I’ll burn this place to a crisp!

It’s assumed that Geshtar died here, which makes his final appearance in the Mana Fortress a surprise:

RANDI: Geshtar! So you survived!?

GESHTAR: …

THANATOS: Ku ku ku…that is at once Geshtar, and not Geshtar! That is a magical living machine, reborn through my ancient magic! Ho ho ho…a pitiable fighting doll…

RANDI: How could you do such a thing!?

More from regrs: the third machine rider has an attack that’s bugged and never happens:

Interestingly enough, the Fundamental Knowledge Compilation mentions this as an attack to watch out for. As that was released with Secret of Mana in Japan, this was probably something they couldn’t fix in time.

It’s possible that Thanatos knew Geshtar would never stand for his treachery, and had him do some free work for him.  And sadly, that’s an ignominious end to Geshtar’s Imperial career.

Localization Notes

• The word translated as “men” above (shokun) is difficult to localize. Gesthar is mocking the party with a bit of martial formality. Shokun is used as a term of address by military officers for their troops.
• An alternative translation of “Onore, kisama-ra!” (“Curse you, you bastards!”) is, “damn you (pl.) all!” This has additional meaning in context with the previous reference to shokun. Kisama is often used in fiction as a very rude, condescending way of saying “you” but in reality, it doesn’t always have that effect.
• Geshtar shouts “Ikuzo!” before a battle, translated as, “here I come!” above.
• Geshtar is “Geshutaru” in Japanese, but this can also be localized as, “Gestahl”, the same as the Emperor in Final Fantasy VI. His Japanese name is “Gastora.”