Japanese cover of Breath of Fire II.
Breath of Fire II is the second game in the Breath of Fire series. It was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1994 by Capcom, and was later brought to North America in 1995 by Capcom, before Laguna released it in Europe in 1996. It was later re-released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan under the name Breath of Fire II: Shimei no Ko. It was re-released in North America and Europe in 2002 under the original title.
Story[ | ]
The Breath of Fire II Storyline centers around one of the last surviving members of the Dragon Clan working to clear his best friend's name of a falsely accused crime. In the process he joins with a number of other adventurers and uncovers a religious conspiracy that is threatening the world.
Playable characters[ | ]
Breath of Fire II has nine playable characters, including one secret optional character.
Ryu: The game's protagonist. He has blue hair and is one of the very few surviving Dragon Clan members. He never speaks a single line of dialogue in the game, but seems to have a strong sense of justice and cares deeply for his friends. Can wield swords, dirks, and daggers. Can wear heavy to light armors and has above average stat growth in all areas except his AP, which is not a real impediment since his strongest attacks drain his max AP in one cast. He has probably the highest Counter-Attack rate in the game after Katt. After certain points in the game Ryu can transform into different dragons during battle just long enough to deliver a very powerful one shot attack, at the cost of all his AP. The damage done is decided on base damage multiplied by his current AP vs Max AP when it is cast.
- Dragon Forms
- FirPuppy: 256 (base) fire damage to one target.
- IcePuppy: 256 (base) ice damage to one target.
- T.Puppy: 256 (base) electric damage to one target.
- FireDrgn: 512 (base) non-elemental damage to all targets.(does non-elemental damage despite it's name)
- IceDrgn: 512 (base) non-elemental damage to all targets.(does non-elemental damage despite it's name)
- T.Drgn: 512 (base) non-elemental damage to all targets.(does non-elemental damage despite it's name)
- G.Drgn: 999 (base) non-elemental damage to all targets.
- Field Ability - Fish
- Special Combat Ability - Guts: Recovers a part of Ryu's lost HP. The less HP he has, the more it heals. Has 1/8 chance of restoring 0 HP.
- Learned Spells:
- TimeWarp: LV 2
- Cure 1: LV 7
- Cure 2: LV 16
- Smoke: LV 19
Bow(originally named Boche in Japan): A half-dog half-human and Ryu's best friend since childhood. He is a little greedy and will do almost anything for money or a pretty face, yet he is sometimes noble and very loyal to his friends, willing do what it takes to protect or help them. He thinks of Ryu almost like a brother. His clan is not stated in the game. He does not seem to have any connection to Bo from Breath of Fire. Bow is a great healer, the best in the game actually. He learns many healing, buffing, and status-curing spells and levels up at a very quick rate. He has rather poor defense and you will not be able to use him for the first half of the game due to the plot, which hampers him severely when you actually do get to use him. He uses Bows and ranged weapons and wears light armors.
- Field Ability - Hunt: Bow shoots an arrow which can kill animals during a hunt, turning them into meat or an item.
- Special Combat Ability - Shot: Has a chance to either deal a lethal blow to the target. If it fails, it will inflict 1 HP damage. Some monsters are more susceptible to this attack than others.
- Learned Spells:
- Cure 1: LV 2
- CurePsn: LV 3
- Def-Up: LV 5
- Cure 2: LV 16
- Renew: LV 20
- Heal: LV 23
- Def-UpX: LV 26
- Cure 4: LV 30
- Cure 3: LV 33
- Renew X: Lv 36
- Cure X: LV 40
Rand: Young member of the armadillo-like Shell Clan. Rand, like all other members of his clan, is a towering 9 foot tall muscular behemoth with a hard shell on his back. He is very kind and somewhat naive however, making him a gentle giant. He seems to genuinely want to help others and always do the right thing. Rand has a huge amount of HP, the highest in the game. His defense is high and strength is high and you will definitely want him on the front lines taking hits for other characters, however his strength does not fully go to his offense but adds a bit to his Defense instead. He is very slow however and his turns usually come last.
- Special Power - Roll: Rand rolls up into a ball and rolls along the ground moving very quickly and avoiding random monster encounters.
- Field Ability - None
- Special Combat Ability - Wake: Attacks a party member for very low damage. Can wake them up from from sleep status and has a low probability of resurrecting a dead party member with 1 HP.
- Learned Spells:
- Cure 1: Already Learned
- CurePsn: Already Learned
- Thunder: LV 9
- Cure 2: LV 17
- 8.0: LV 24
- Renew: LV 27
- Heal: LV 31
- Cure 3: LV 35
- Cure 4: LV 37
Katt(originally named Rinpoo in Japan): A sassy young coliseum fighter. She is a member of the Woren tribe (originally named Furen in Japan) of which there seem to be few of in the world, or at least their home village is never shown. Katt, somewhat obviously, has a very cat-like personality. She is independent and fights for what she believes in, and can be quick to anger and slow to contemplation. However once she has taken a shine to someone she is very friendly and playful. Katt gains levels very quickly and is the most agile character, not counting Bleu/Deis. She has a very high Guts rating. She isn't very survivable and can die easily however, considering that she has the worst physical and magical defense, she also has very low AP. Still, is quite useful for her ability to hit hard, hit fast, and CtrAttck if necessary.
- Special Power - Whack It(With My Stick!): Katt smacks whatever is in front of her with her staff. Which can break boulders, fences, and various obstacles as well as kill animals while hunting, turning them into meat or an item.
- Field Ability - Hunt
- Special Combat - Dare: Katt uses her turn to provoke monsters into attacking her rather than the other members of the party. I don't know the exact chances of it working, but it does indeed increase the chances that the monsters target Katt. Not really useful because of Katt's low HP and Defense. This would have been far more useful on Rand.
- Learned Spells:
- Fireball: LV 11
- Hail: LV 13
- Bolt X: LV 15
Nina: Princess of the city and people of Windia, she was exiled because she has black wings, where as the rest of her people's wings are white or sometimes pink. Nina can appear very shy and detached possibly because of her upbringing. However she seems to keep her true feelings of caring and admiration on the inside due to the fact that she can display great bravery and selflessness at times. Her wings can make her look alluring and mysterious. Nina is the best magic user in the game, not counting Bleu/Dies. She has very high AP, and INT for strong spells, and decent speed. She however is the easiet character in the game to kill as she has the lowest HP, Defense, and Stamina. She is best kept at the back of the party so she can shoot off spells and dish out lots of damage across enemy groups and cast debuffs to lower enemy power.
- Special Power - Fly (Over Holes In Dungeons) and Call Mina (Late In The Game)
- Field Ability - None
- Special Combat - Will: Nina regenerates some AP. The less AP she has, the more likely she is to recover AP. (if used with a high AP amount, she is likely to recover 0, otherwise she can get 16, and if low on AP, she can recover 24)
- Learned Spells:
- Tornado: Already Learned
- Thunder: Already Learned
- Cold: Already Learned
- Spark: Already Learned
- Ag-Down: LV 9
- Pwr.Down: LV 10
- Exit: LV 12
- S.Boom: LV 13
- Def-Down: LV 15
- Drain: LV 17
- Flame: LV 20
- Typhoon: LV 22
- Freeze: LV 24
- Angel: LV 26
- Death: LV 28
- Hail: LV 31
- Bolt X: LV 36
- Fireball: LV 55
- Bomb: LV 56
- Missile: LV 57
Sten: A once famous soldier of the monkey-like Highlander Tribe he now is a street performer and womanizer. Many times greedy and cowardly, Sten can also be very clever, quick-witted, and noble. He regains much his bravery after a series of events in his hometown. Sten is average in just about all areas. He has decent focus on physical attacks, but with slightly more focus on defense than Katt, but with less speed than her. He learns primarily fire spells and does average spell damage. He is the middle of the road character that you can use to round out a party. His special ability is the only way to get past certain areas in the game however.
- Special Power - None
- Field Ability - Reach (reaches between wooden posts to pull the party over short gaps)
- Special Combat - Rip: Sten plays dead and won't be targeted by enemies. He still attacks, but it doesn't seem to make a difference to the damage he inflicts. If he is the lone survivor, he will still be targeted by enemies but will take much more damage.
- Learned Spells:
- Spark: Already Learned
- Bomb: LV 10
- Flame: LV 15
- Fireball: LV 33
- Missile: LV 38
Jean(originally named Tapeta in Japan): The prince of Simafort and a member of the Creeping Clan who is transformed into a giant frog by a witch's spell, yet is turned back into his normal sized self by Ryu and company. Jean's foppish and silly manner can make him seem like just an careless idiot, however it belies the fact that he is really very understanding, caring, and intelligent. He speaks with an exaggerated French accent. Jean isn't that great a fighter, most of his stats are below average and he has a very odd assortment of spells and abilities. His highest stat is Luck, which helps with obtaining items after battle, but not much else. His most useful ability is turning into a giant frog on the world map.
- Special Power - Turns Into A Gigantic Frog
- Field Ability - None
- Special Combat - Jab: Jean attacks all monsters on the field, but inflicts little damage.
- Learned Spells:
- Ag-Up: Already Learned
- Hush: LV 12
- Warp: LV 14
- Pwr.Down: LV 16
- Cold: LV 18
- Idle: LV 20
- Angel: LV 30
- Death: LV 32
- Renew: LV 34
Spar(originally named Aspara Gus in Japan): The legendary "Grass Man" of the travelling circus who is rather gender ambiguous. Spar is very calm, quiet, enigmatic, yet wise and insightfull. Spar appears to be the last of his kind. Spar has a lot of HP and AP, the rest of his stats are only fairly decent though. He has a large assortment of Buffing and Status effect spells making him an excellent support magician.
- Special Power - Walk Through Forests
- Field Ability - None
- Special Combat - Ntre: Spar calls on the power of nature to aid him in battle. It works on all open fields, but not in underground or basement dungeons. There are several attacks depending on the battlefield. It can go from small healing on all characters, to a tree that attacks all monsters for large damage, to a cactus exploding, to flowers blooming (defense down on monsters).
- Learned Spells:
- Cold: Already Learned
- Cure 1: Already Learned
- Ag-Down: Already Learned
- Pwr.Down: Already Learned
- Def-Down: Already Learned
- Hush: Already Learned
- Ag-Up: Already Learned
- Def-Up: LV 14
- Idle: LV 16
- Exit: LV 18
- Warp: LV 19
- Sap: LV 21
- Drain: LV 22
- Cure 2: LV 26
- Freeze: LV 28
- Shield: LV 30
- Def-UpX: LV 32
- Atk-Up: LV 36
Bleu(originally named Deis in Japan): The powerful sorceress from the original Breath of Fire returns as a secret character. Bleu is an ancient sorceress with incredible powers, yet her appearance is that of a young female naga(half-serpent, half-human). She is pushy, opinionated, loves to flirt, and always speaks her mind though she is also very informative and seems to know exactly what needs to be done. Bleu has the highest stats in every area in the game, except her Guts rating, which doesn't hinder her at all. She dishes out incredible damage with her spells, has tons of HP and AP, is very fast and can regenerate all her HP with her special combat ability. The game almost gets too easy if you use her.
- Special Power - None
- Field Ability - Hunt
- Special Combat - Shed: Bleu recovers all of her HP and removes all status ailments, but her defense lowers (defense down status). Unlike Ryu's ability, it works 100% the time and recovers all HP.
- Learned Spells:
- S.Boom: Already Learned
- Bomb: Already Learned
- Flame: Already Learned
- Freeze: Already Learned
- Death: Already Learned
- Ag-Down: Already Learned
- Pwr.Down: Already Learned
- Def-Down: Already Learned
- Ag-Up: Already Learned
- Def-Up: Already Learned
- Atk-Up: Already Learned
- Sap: Already Learned
- Drain: Already Learned
- Exit: Already Learned
- Warp: Already Learned
- Fireball: LV 36
- Hail: LV 37
- Missile: LV 38
- Bolt X: LV 39
Other Characters[ | ]
Ganer: Ryu and Yua's father. He is the priest of Gate's St. Eva chapel and a powerful magician. He mysteriously disappears from Gate.
Yua/Patty the Phantom Thief: Ryu's younger sister and one of the few members of the dragon clan. She disappears from Gate along with Ganer. However, throughout the game there is a bat-like woman (who frames bow of a crime he did not commit)who has similar colorings to Ryu. This is Yua.
Mina: Nina's younger sister and the current princess of Windia. She loves her sister dearly and will do almost anything to help her. She is turned into The Great Bird.
Ray Bradoc:One of the most dedicated members of St. Eva church who helps you several times on your journey. He possesses powerful Holy Magic.
Valerie: Ryu and Yua's mother and Ganer's wife. She supposedly died before the events of the game however towards the end she is reveled as the dragon garding the gate to Infinity.
Gandaroof: The "Great Wise Tree". He was once a "Grass Man" like Spar and has lived for hundreds of years.
Barubary: A powerful and menacing demon who seems to have some insight about Ryu.
Deathevan: the offspring of Myria(also known as Maria and Tyr), the Goddess of Destruction in Breath of Fire. An extremely powerful creature.
Township[ | ]
Township is a town that you build up from a broken down hut. As you progress in the game you will be able to expand township and eventually use it to fly. Some items you can only get from Township.
Shamans[ | ]
One very notable feature in Breath of Fire II is Shaman fusing. It allows the player to fuse multiple elemental Shamans into a character. If the process is successful, the character's appearance, statistics, and abilities are altered and many times improved. There are six Shamans in the game, two of which you find during the plotline; the other four are hidden.
- Sana(Sanamo in Japan): the Fire Shaman
- Seso(Sesso in Japan): the Water Shaman
- Spoo(Spoona in Japan): the Wind Shaman
- Solo: the Earth Shaman
- Seny(Seiny in Japan): the Holy Shaman
- Shin: the Devil Shaman
(It is interesting to note that when you locate the Holy Shaman she is rather rude and obnoxious, while the Devil Shaman is sweet and polite)
All of the shamans in the official art depicted as beautiful females, while the Earth shaman is depicted as a heavy, round woman, an allusion to Mother Earth.