A Field Guide to Final Fantasy's Creatures and Monsters/Creatures/Chocobo

A Chocobo as portrayed in Final Fantasy VII.

A Chocobo is a large chicken-like ratite that first appears in Final Fantasy II and then in nearly all subsequent Final Fantasy games. The design for the Chocobo is possibly based on Hayao Miyazaki's Horseclaws, which appear in the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Wild Chocobos can be captured and ridden and used as a form of transport over otherwise inaccessible terrain, usually escaping after the player dismounts. Trained chocobos can be hired in some games (e.g. Final Fantasy VII, X, XI, and XII).

The onomatopoeia for a sound a Chocobo bird makes in the Final Fantasy series of video games is either "kweh" (featured in Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy X-2) or "wark" or "cue" (in the majority of the other games of the series).

Game appearances

In Final Fantasy IV, there are multiple species of chocobo. There is the standard yellow chocobo, which is captured in a chocobo forest and escapes when dismounted. The black chocobo can be caught in later forests, and is capable of flying between forested areas. Unlike the yellow chocobo, it waits for the rider to return after dismounting; when mounted again, it returns to its home forest. The white chocobo can also be found in forests, but it cannot be captured; it merely restores MP. There is also the Big Chocobo, or Fat Chocobo, who acts as a bank for player characters. The chocobo is also a summoned monster in this game.

In Final Fantasy V, one of the supporting characters was a yellow chocobo named Boco, a companion to the main character. Black chocobos, as in Final Fantasy IV, could be captured in chocobo forests and flown.

Final Fantasy VI featured yellow chocobos, which could be hired in chocobo forests and some towns. The character Setzer could also summon chocobos to attack using his "Slot" skill.

In Final Fantasy VII, Chocobos can be sent to stables rented at the Chocobo Farm. Chocobos taken them from the stables do not escape when dismounted. When riding a Chocobo, random battle encounters do not occur. Most Chocobos are large, bright yellow and fluffy, making sounds such as "meep", "kweh", "cue" or "wark". These yellow chocobos are capable of running very fast over level terrain but they cannot submerge underwater or fly, but the player can find, capture in battle, and breed more advanced Chocobos. The obvious goal in breeding and raising chocobos is to improve their performance in racing at the Gold Saucer, a gambling area within the game. Chocobos are also used to support gambling through the Chocobo Races. The goal in breeding chocobos is to produce a chocobo of a different color, which allows the player to traverse terrains to areas otherwise inaccessible even by airship, such as materia caves, that required the traversal of mountains, shallow water, and the ocean.

Besides the standard yellow chocobos, in Final Fantasy VII there were 4 additional types of Chocobos. Green chocobos are able to traverse mountains, blue chocobos are able to walk across shallow bodies of water, black chocobos have the ability to cross mountains and shallow bodies of water, and golden chocobos are able to cross mountains as well as both deep and shallow bodies of water. By creating various chocobos, players are able to access hidden areas of the game. Creating a golden chocobo is the only way to attain the "Knights of the Round" summon. Chocobos of colors other than yellow must be bred in the chocobo stables. When breeding two yellow chocobos, in the proper conditions, a baby green or blue chocobo may be created. By breeding a green and blue chocobo, a black chocobo can be created. The elusive gold chocobo may be created by breeding a yellow and a black chocobo. Factors that influence the type of baby that any two chocobos may produce are the parent's rankings in the Chocobo Races, the colors of the parents, and the type of food given to the chocobos.

Final Fantasy IX also features chocobos, but has only one ridable chocobo, named Choco. Choco can be evolved to different colors (and thereby gained different forms of mobility) via the chocobo digging minigame, "Chocobo Hot & Cold". The ultimate goals of the minigame and evolutions are to reach Ozma (one of the game's optional superbosses) and Chocobo's Paradise, as well as receive the more powerful weapons and rare treasures. Chocobo's Paradise is the home of the chocobos, ruled over by the fat chocobo.

In Final Fantasy Unlimited, there are many Chocobos, but one that joins the cast named Chobi. Chobi later gained a power-up where he gains the legendary Ciel-Chocobo armor, enabling him to fly.

Domesticated Chocobos in Final Fantasy Tactics are used much like cavalry, as a means of faster transportation. Wild Chocobos are monsters that players would slay in battle, but can be brought under one's control with the proper Job and Ability. Chocobos come in the normal Yellow Chocobos, which can heal injuries, Black Chocobos which can fly, and powerful Red Chocobos, which can summon meterors on their opponents.

A spin-off series, Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, also features Chocobos. Another spin-off is Chocobo Racing, which is a Mario Kart-style game, Final Fantasy style, except for possibly the way the programers devised who are playable characters.

A Chocobo also appeared in Seiken Densetsu, but later changed into a Chocobot. It was removed from the 2003 remake, Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana in the United States), in favor of the Cannon Ball Travel, which originated in Secret of Mana. Legend of Mana for PlayStation features chocobos as random enemies or as a pet.

Rules for using Chocobos in Dungeons & Dragons were published in the September 2004 issue of Dragon Magazine. The ruleset contained information on two different breeds of Chocobo, yellow and black.