Black Mages
Black Mages, also known by its full title Attack of the Black Mages, is a series of Flash animations created by Matt Roszak back in 2004-2005. Based on the Final Fantasy series, it is notable for being some of Matt's earliest work, with several themes carried on into his later productions.
Black Mages includes the following episodes:
- Black Mages
- Black Mages 2
- Black Mages 2: SE (Special Edition)
- Black Mages 3
- Black Mages 4
- Black Mages 5
Synopsis
Black Mages
A party, consisting of a Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard, and White Wizard, walk into a vaguely tropical scene, with a ringed planet filling the sky.
An injured man crawls over to them, begging for help. The Knight misinterprets him as an enemy and promptly attacks him, apparently killing him. The White Wizard exclaims that the injured man was actually his father and attacks the Knight with a hammer in revenge. The Knight survives, and stops the White Wizard from going to heal his father, telling him that his father is already dead (although, once the party leaves, the White Wizard's father says, "I'm still alive...").
Shortly afterward, the Red Wizard notes the approach of several Black Mages, and the party, barring the Knight, makes a hasty retreat. The Knight stays behind to fight the Mages, but is quickly overpowered and killed. The Ninja then appears behind the swarm of Black Mages and makes short work of them. The Wizards return to the scene, and the White Wizard revives the Knight, who complains that his head hurts (to which the White Wizard replies, "Good").
Suddenly, more Black Mages, lead by a Black Wizard, emerge, dragging the White Wizard's father('s corpse) off screen and killing him for good. The Ninja raises his sword to defend his party, but the Red Wizard tells him not to be a hero and carries him with the rest of the party as they flee again. As they run, the Knight stumbles (presumably due to his previous injuries), and the Black Mages catch up to him. Expressing his frustration with having to run, he pulls out his sword and kills three Mages in a single stroke, before charging ahead to fight the rest. After slaughtering a number of them, he is joined by the Ninja, and the two proceed to slice apart the entirety of the Black Mage army, except the Black Wizard. Severely wounded, the Black Wizard flies into the sky, swearing his revenge and eventual return.
Black Mages 2
Another party, this time an ensemble of only a Fighter, Red Mage, and White Mage, walk into a scene with the same background as before. The Red Mage comments that they're lost, and the Fighter expresses his rising urge to kill something. Cue the appearance of a Black Mage, whom the Fighter eagerly leaps upon and hacks into pieces. More Black Mages appear, and the Red Mage throws the Fighter into one of them to kill them both. The Red Mage pulls out his saber to make battle with the remaining one, which the Fighter comes back from the dead to ridicule the size of. The Fighter pulls out his Buster Sword for comparison, but collapses under the weight and crushes himself. The Black Mage takes the opportunity to cast a large explosion, killing everyone except for the Fighter, who is apparently still alive on the ground. He makes this known by getting up and saying hello to the viewers, but is promptly downed again by the Red Mage's falling saber.
Black Mages 2: Special Episode
Essentially the same thing as Black Mages 2, except a Thief appears at the beginning with the rest of the party. After being hit by one of the Black Mages' explosions, the party gets back up and continues the fight. The battle dissolves into random characters falling out of the sky and tripping over themselves, causing massive amounts of collateral damage, including when the Thief drops a gigantic safe on Fighter, who throws it off with relative ease. Finally, one of the Black Mages nukes the battlefield, causing corpses to rain from the sky as a huge cloud of fire and smoke can be seen rising out of a crater in the background. The Fighter stands up, alone and victorious by virtue of his nature as a tank, before being crushed again by the Thief's safe.