The Zone Eater

Triangle Island

The vaguely triangular Triangle Island is found in the northeastern corner of the World Map. There is only one type of Monster here, a Zone Eater. They do not appear on the Veldt, nor do they offer tremendous rewards. Zone Eaters only attack with Demi and Engulf, a Sneeze-like Ability that removes Characters from the battle. They can counter Magic with Engulf or counter Fight with Cold Dust.

What makes the Zone Eater special is that, if you allow everyone in the party to be Engulfed, they'll find themselves in a hidden dungeon: the Zone Eater's Belly. The rewards here are well worth the effort of finding it, including the hidden Character Gogo.

Zone Eater's Belly Encounters

Just north of where you start, you'll see a beam of light. You can enter this beam to leave the dungeon at any time. If you need to re-enter, fight another Zone Eater and let it Engulf the party again. Most of the Zone Eater's Belly shares the same set of Encounters. (The one exception is Gogo's Room, which has different formations of the same Monsters that are found elsewhere.) The Monsters here cause a variety of nasty Statuses, so any Ribbons you've collected will be invaluable.

Karkasses are Lifeshaver-using undead similar to those you've seen before. They will sit back and use Figaro Tea to turn your Characters into Imps until you attack them. They have three different types of counterattacks: Fight will get the least response, with the possibility of a basic attack. Magic triggers Bolt 3, Break, or Flare, none of which you want to see. Any other attack results in a Lifeshaver response. The simple solution is to just Fight them to death. Try to avoid any other attack unless you're sure if will kill them.

The rarest Monsters in the Zone Eater's Belly, Woollies, will sometimes appear alongside Karkasses. They attack indirectly by turning your party Berserk with Frenzy, then counterattacking the ensuing Fights with normal attacks. They share a vulnerability to Fire with Karkasses.

Wart Pucks and Ogors appear in tandem as well. Wart Pucks are very similar to the similar-looking Surianders. They will use Yawn to inflict Psyche and can counter attacks with Sneeze. They are vulnerable to Fire, while their allied Orogs are vulnerable to Thunder and Poison. They are the rare non-undead creature that inflicts Zombie, via their Zombite special. In fact, that's all they will do until attacked. They counter Magic with Bio and other attacks with a basic attack of their own.

The final combination you'll find in most of the Zone Eater's Belly is the most dangerous: a Tap Dancer and two Coverts. Whatever you do, do not Throw anything at either of them. They will respond in kind for several thousand non-resistible damage, even if your attack kills them. Tap Dancers are otherwise not so bad, sticking to basic attacks and the Muddled-inducing WaistShake. Coverts can use Wind Slash on odd-numbered turns, and throw a random skean on every other turn. These attacks are very powerful and add up quickly. Coverts also respond to Fight by becoming Clear. Magic works well on both of them, though they do not share any weaknesses (except that both are vulnerable to the Man Eater). Tap Dancers are vulnerable to Poison, while Coverts absorb Poison and are instead vulnerable to Pearl.

Finding Gogo

The Zone Eater's Belly is a strange place, with strange music to go with it. South from the Entrance, you'll find the Triple Bridge. There are stairs leading down to the Lower Cavern, but it's currently blocked off. The bridges are patrolled by men in green, and if one runs into you, it will toss you into that Lower Cavern. You'll want to allow this to happen at least once to collect the Ether and Red Jacket down there. To jump between bridges, face the direction you want to go and press A.

You'll have to be careful and quick to obtain the treasures scattered across the bridges. There are a pair of chests and you'll need to reach it from both sides to collect both Treasures. The right chest contains Genji Armor, while the left has a Magical Brsh for Relm. The third chest is the trickiest to reach, though it contains the incredibly useful FakeMustache which is well worth obtaining. You'll have to stand on the middle bridge, watching for the patrolman, and jump to the lower bridge while avoiding a second patrolman there. Sprint Shoes can help if you're having trouble.

There is a save point in the next Passage, which may suggest an upcoming boss fight. That's not the case this time, though. Instead, there is a crushing ceiling puzzle in the next room that will result in automatic game over if you're crushed. You don't want to have to start the dungeon over, so it's wise to save here.

Sprint Shoes can help in the Crushing Ceiling Room, though they are not strictly necessary. The key here is patience. Watch the ceiling fall, locate a safe spot, and then move to it immediately once the ceiling rises. There are safe areas directly in front of the first two chests (containing a Zephyr Cape and a Hero Ring), but not the third chest. To get the Tack Star inside, you'll need to run up to the chest, open it, and get to safety before the ceiling falls. Fortunately, you won't be attacked while you're in this room.

You'll head through a Small Passage to the Jumping Puzzle Room, the last room before Gogo's Room. Like in the Crushing Ceiling Room, there are no Encounters here. The open chests act like springboards, allowing the party to bounce in a straight line past them when jumping with A. There is a clear, albeit looping, path to the door, but you'll need to think somewhat outside the box to collect the Thunder Shld in the chest to the west. There is a platform with a switch on it, but no obvious way to reach it. That is, unless you realize you can just jump from the bridge to the north with A. The switch adds several bridge sections that let you reach the Treasure.

There are odd new Encounter combinations in Gogo's Room, but you won't stay long. Speak to Gogo, and he/she will join your party. You can now walk out of the Zone Eater's Belly, or just Warp.

Gogo

Gogo is a mimic, and one of the more interesting Characters in the game. He/she…I'm going to go with "they." They are capable of using nearly every basic Command, though their only Command to begin with is Mimic. Gogo can't even use Items unless you assign it. To do so, go to their Status screen on the menu. You'll get a cursor on "Mimic" which you can move to the other empty slots. Press A and a list of potential Commands appears. The only Character Commands they can't use are Leap and Morph/Revert. Everything else is up for grabs (except possibly Throw, which is not available if you left Shadow behind on the Floating Continent).

There are various restrictions on the Commands Gogo uses. If you assign them Magic, they have access to any Spell known by any Character in the current party. They automatically know whatever SwdTechs, Blitzes, Lores, Rages, and Dances are known to the character that normally learns them, though Gogo cannot learn on their own (specifically in the case of Dances and Lores). They still need to qualify to use any given Command, such as having an appropriate weapon for Runic or SwdTech.

Obviously, Gogo is an extremely flexible Character, but they do have their downsides. They cannot equip an Esper, so they can never get a level up bonus. If you've been diligent about level up bonuses, this could leave Gogo far behind in terms of battle power. Gogo is also restricted largely to mage-style gear, making them more appropriate as a spellcaster than a physical attacker. A Merit Award can alleviate this lack somewhat, though.