Chocobo (species)

The Chocobo are a flightless bird species that appear in nearly every Final Fantasy game, starting with their debut in Final Fantasy II. Chocobos bear a resemblance to casuariiformes and ratites, and is capable of being ridden by humans, usually for transportation. Chocobos are one of the Final Fantasy mascots, and even have their own spinoff series, the Chocobo series.

There are both wild and domesticated chocobos. In the games, the party can ride domesticated chocobos on the overworld, allowing them to travel around more quickly. Chocobos are capable of crossing shallow water and other terrain that party members cannot. Riding a chocobo allows the party to avoid enemy encounters. Chocobos have occasionally been sighted as lightly armored war mounts in which case they can assist their riders with their beak and claw. When the party dismounts a chocobo, it usually runs away. Chocobos come in a variety of colors, although yellow is the most common. Chocobos have a signature theme that is an upbeat ditty, and there are several variants, including remixes, of it. This theme appears in every game that Chocobos have a role in.

Chocobos appear as a summon in many games, starting with Final Fantasy III, and their signature moves include Chocobo Kick and Chocobo Dash.

The onomatopoeia for a chocobo's call is "Kue" (クエ) in the Japanese versions, and is sometimes transliterated as "Kweh" in the English translation. They may also have "Wark" as their cry.

Creation
The chocobo was created and designed by Koichi Ishii, a video game director who worked on various Final Fantasy titles. The chocobo appears remarkably similar to and was likely inspired by the prehistoric bird Gastornis. Hiromichi Tanaka has speculated that the chocobo concept may have come from Kyorochan, a character in television advertisements for Morinaga & Company's chocolate candy, which is also a bird with the call of "kweh". Morinaga has also released a tie-in product, Chocobo no Chocoball (チョコボのチョコボール, lit. "Chocobo's Chocoball"). Another likely inspiration was Hayao Miyazaki's Horseclaws, which appear in the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and the anime film of the same name, which Hironobu Sakaguchi once cited as an influence on his series. In turn, Miyazaki's Horseclaws were inspired by the extinct Gastornis species. This mythical creature is a "cousin" of the ostrich and is designed to have yellow feathers, but there are rare Chocobo breeds that are capable of giving birth to different-colored chicks.

Final Fantasy II
In Final Fantasy II, chocobos are found in the Chocobo Forest, which is south of Kashuan Keep. Chocobos are running around the area, and the party can catch a chocobo to mount them and ride around on them in the overworld. Once the party dismounts a Chocobo, it runs back to the Chocobo Forest.

When the Confuse spell is used, a flock of Chocobos briefly encircle the opponent; this references the circling birdies trope commonly seen in cartoons.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III, Chocobos have a somewhat larger role. In particular, a small minigame involves a Chocobo: players who ride one of the birds around the Floating Continent are rewarded with a special item. The game introduces the Summoner class, whose first summon is a Chocobo. It can use one of two moves: Chocobo Dash or Chocobo Kick.

The game also introduces the Fat Chocobo, an overweight chocobo who can be summoned with Gysahl Greens. Its purpose is to store items for the party in its stomach.

Yoshitaka Amano's original Chocobo artwork has a very different design, the most notable differences being a larger beak, a long head crest, and a pink and taller body.

Final Fantasy IV
In Final Fantasy IV, Chocobos are found in Chocobo Forests, and besides the standard yellow type, the game introduces Black Chocobos and White Chocobos. Fat Chocobo also makes a reappearance. The standard yellow type can be ridden on the world map, and it escapes when dismounted. Black Chocobos can be caught in later Chocobo Forests, and it can fly between these areas. Unlike yellow chocobos, the black ones wait for the party to return after dismounting. White Chocobos cannot be ridden, but they can restore MP to each party member.

Chocobo returns as a summon that can be used by Rydia, and if summoned, the Chocobo uses Chocobo Kick.

The game has three Chocobo themes: "Enter Fat Chocobo", "Chocobo-chocobo" and "Samba de Chocobo".

Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V is the first game where chocobos have a significant role in the plot. One of the supporting characters is a yellow chocobo named Boko, who is Bartz's companion. Later, Boko meets a female chocobo named Koko and they have choco-babies. Black chocobos also appear and retain their role from Final Fantasy IV. The Fat Chocobo appears as a summoned creature.

At the start of his adventure, Bartz uses Boko to travel between locations. Unike other yellow Chocobos, Boko does not run away when dismounted, and waits for Bartz and the party to return. Bartz later leaves Boko with Faris's pirate group when he goes out to journey to save the world. Later on, the party went back to Faris's pirate hideout and realized that Boko broke his leg while following them (this event only occurs in World One sequence, depending on player's decision). The black chocobos are necessary at times both to get to certain locations and to reveal hidden secrets, and the character Krile is able to understand what chocobos are saying. She proves helpful to the party by interpreting what was "said" by Boko and his wife Koko.

Boko is a recurrent name one in many Final Fantasy-related games that have a chocobo as a main character.

In the ending, Bartz, Lenna, and Faris hop onto chocobos. They take off on them as the ending theme starts and can be seen riding them throughout the closing credits. Krile opts to ride on her dragon.

The game has two Chocobo themes: "Mambo de Chocobo", which is used when riding the black chocobo, and "Boko's Theme", which is used when riding Boko.

Final Fantasy VI
In Final Fantasy VI, Chcoobos can be ridden on the overworld, but must be rented from Chocobo Stables in certain towns. Unlike earlier Final Fantasy titles, the world map is not shown from a bird's-eye-view and is rendered in Mode 7 whenever the party rides a Chocobo there. As with before, the Chocobo runs away, presumably back to its stable, when the party dismounts it.

Setzer Gabbiani can summon Chocobos to attack using his Slot skill. If all three slots show a Chocobo, several of them appear and use the Chocobo Stampede attack.

At the Jidoor Auction House, a pet Chocobo is offered in an auction, but is always claimed by a NPC at the request of his child for a million gil.

The game has only one Chocobo theme — Techno de Chocobo, which has an upbeat, techno sound to it. There is a track named "Milan de Chocobo" on the Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale album.

Final Fantasy VII
In Final Fantasy VII chocobos have a much larger role, and even appear on the Squaresoft logo. They return as a summon and a means of transportation on the world map. While riding a chocobo on the world map, the party can skip enemy encounters. The Chocobo Farm is a location named after and dedicated to chocobos, and the party can buy items there to catch, breed, and tame chocobos. In the Gold Saucer's Chocobo Square, there is a racing minigame in which chocobos race each other around a course.

In the game's story, chocobos first play a major role when AVALANCHE struggle to defeat a Midgar Zolom in muddy swamp leading to Mythril Mine. If they learn how to breed and ride a chocobo, they can cross the swamp without encountering the Midgar Zolom. Later, some time after AVALANCHE is thrown into Corel Prison, Mr. Coates only allows them to be released if they win a Chocobo race. Furthermore, if the party wanders around the desert near Corel Prison, they might encounter a wagon pulled by a large chocobo, who can ride them back to Corel Prison. Chocobos can be encountered in a random enemy encounter on the world map if the party has Chocobo Lure Materia equipped. To obtain the chocobo, the party must defeat every enemy without having the chocobo run away. The party can use various greens to distract the chocobo from running away as they fight off the enemies. Chocobos usually escape when dismounted, but if the party rents free space in the Chocobo Farm, their chocobos can instead be sent there to be housed and tamed. These chocobos can be fetched and ridden at will, do not escape, and can be carried into the airship.

The first summon in the game is Choco/Mog, which calls a chocobo with a moogle rider to smash into the enemies as a "Deathblow!" attack that does damage and sometimes inflicts Stop status. There is a small chance of a Fat Chocobo dropping on the enemies instead for somewhat increased damage.

There is a large side-quest in which the party can capture and breed more advanced Chocobos. This improves their performance in the chocobo race at the Gold Saucer. Breeding chocobos can also 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, which required the traversal of mountains, shallow water, and ocean.

The game has several chocobo themes. Farm Boy plays at the Chocobo Ranch, Electric de Chocobo in a battle featuring a chocobo, and Cinco de Chocobo plays while riding a chocobo. There is also the Waltz de Chocobo, which the chocobos perform at the Chocobo Ranch before giving the player the Choco/Mog summon. "Place Your Bets" can be heard at the Chocobo Races, when the player is given the opportunity to bet on the races or when entering their own chocobo. Finally, Fiddle de Chocobo plays during the racing itself.

Chocobo colors
Final Fantasy VII further elaborated on the "color" motif, giving each Chocobo different abilities both in the racing minigame and on the world map. Most of the colored versions are faster than the average normal Chocobo in the racing minigame. All types prevent random monster encounters. They are as follows:


 * Yellow Chocobo: The first and most common type in all games. Allows for accelerated movement over land only. No special attributes in the racing minigame. There are many different "quality" ranks of the Yellow Chocobo that determine their speed, stamina and intelligence in the racing minigame. Different "ranks" are found in different areas, and certain ranks are required to mate with each other in order to breed the colored versions. In the Japanese version of some Final Fantasy games, this Chocobo is good at memorizing numbers and always at the top of its class at Chocobo School.


 * Green Chocobo, also known as "Mountain" Chocobo: Retains the properties of a yellow, but also has the ability to scale mountainous terrain. The Green Chocobo will also travel at normal speeds through the "water" regions of the Chocobo racing minigame; why this quality was given to the Green Chocobo and not the Blue one remains unclear.


 * Blue Chocobo, also known as "River" Chocobo: Also has the running capabilities of a yellow breed. In addition, they have a basilisk-like ability to run on shallow water (although it cannot cross oceans). No apparent special qualities in the Chocobo racing minigame.


 * Black Chocobo, also known as "Mountain-and-River" Chocobo: This Chocobo has the capabilities of all three of its predecessors; the only things it cannot traverse are deep ocean waters. The Black Chocobo will travel at normal speeds through the "water" regions of the chocobo racing minigame. Can only be obtained via mating a Blue and Green Chocobo. A "rival" Joe in the racing minigame also has a Black chocobo mount named Teioh, although his speed is based on the party's current Chocobo's.


 * Golden Chocobo, also known as "Ocean" Chocobo: The rarest of all breeds, and also the most coveted, this Chocobo can travel anywhere on the map, including over deep Ocean waters. The Golden Chocobo is the only thing that can take the party to the cave that contains the "Knights of the Round" Materia. In the racing minigame, the Golden Chocobo will travel at normal speeds through the "water" regions. In the American version, the Golden Chocobo can be retrieved in two ways; either via breeding or as a reward for defeating one of the Weapons. Players discovered that the quality of bred Golden Chocobos is higher compared to that of rewarded Golden Chocobos.

Chocobo racing
The Chocobo Races not only allow the player to upgrade their chocobo and access new locations, but also feature great prizes. Chocobo Race winners can obtain a variety of great items for their wins and can also simply choose to cash in their prize ticket for GP to use elsewhere at the Gold Saucer. In order to raise a chocobo's statistics for the races, the player must feed it special types of greens at the chocobo ranch. Chocobos start out with a race Rank of C, followed by B, A and the coveted S rank. Joe and his black chocobo Teioh usually appear at the A and S rank races. Teioh's stats are always higher than the players' chocobo, but he is easily defeated by an experienced player.

Chocobo breeding
Besides the standard yellow chocobos, the game features four special kinds. Green chocobos are able to traverse mountains, blue chocobos walk across shallow bodies of water, black chocobos have both abilities, and golden chocobos can also traverse the seas. Each kind makes a hidden Materia cave accessible, and the golden chocobo is the only way to access the final and most powerful summon of the game, "Knights of the Round". Chocobos of colors other than yellow must be bred in the chocobo stables.

When breeding two yellow chocobos, a "good" and "great" of the opposite genders, a baby green or blue chocobo of either gender may be created (two "great" chocobos may also be used, generally resulting in a chocobo that is better at racing than if a "good" and "great" are mated). By breeding a green and blue chocobo of opposite genders, a black chocobo can be created. The elusive gold chocobo may be created by breeding a "wonderful" 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, the type of food given to the chocobos, and the type of nut given to them when they are mated.

Other colors of chocobos can be seen when chocobo racing. Opposing racers are often pink, red, white, and different colors of blue. There are no ways to obtain a chocobo of these colors in the game. This, though, has not stopped fans of the game from creating all sorts of wild rumors as to how to obtain chocobos of these and other colors. Some of the most pervasive include rumors about a chocobo that can go underwater, but no such chocobo is obtainable.

One special way to gain a gold chocobo is to visit the Kalm Traveler of Kalm Town in the North American and International versions. He requests that the player give him the Desert Rose, which can be gained by defeating Ruby Weapon. If given, he produces a Gold Chocobo, which is immediately named and sent to the Chocobo Stables. However, while this chocobo's World Map capabilities are the same as any other Gold Chocobo, its racing statistics are nowhere near as good as those of gold chocobos bred by the player.

Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII also featured chocobos. The player and their party could obtain a chocobo by entering one of many round forests, known as Chocobo Forests, situated all over the world map. There would be a boy inside who would teach the player how to capture a Chocobo by using a Sonar and a Flute. He would also provide the player with Gysahl Greens to summon Boco in battle (see below). Once captured, the player can ride the chocobo. Travel by Chocobo is much faster than by foot or car, plus it also doubles the amounts of steps one takes to obtain SeeD money more frequently. However, Chocobos can only be ridden out of a Chocobo forest and to other areas connected by land or shallow seas. Chocobos in this game can never gain the capability to cross mountains, rivers, or deep oceans. Chocobos in this game are very different compared to the ones in Final Fantasy VII. They are much, much larger and have a smaller beak. They do not appear as agile as and lack the comical looks of those seen in Final Fantasy VII.

There are several forests that the player can visit. Each of these contains a mini-game in which the player can use the tools ChocoSonar and ChocoZiner to attempt to corral baby chocobos and eventually locate the choco-mother. These tasks often require exact precision, especially the more advanced forests and are the bane of players attempting to complete all challenges within the game. If the player completes all the forests, they can use their chocobo on the map to travel to the Chocobo Sanctuary. There, the player receives the Chicobo Card for use in Triple Triad after the six chocobos collected do a dance. Accessing this forest in disc four and gaining use of a chocobo here is key to regaining use of the Ragnarok airship on this disc.

However, that is not where Chocobos end in Final Fantasy VIII. If the player catches a Chocobo, a much smaller baby Chocobo (called a Chicobo) follows the player around. The Chicobo, named Boko, starred in his own minigame called Chocobo World, a game that could be downloaded from the Final Fantasy VIII disc onto the PocketStation game unit. The PC version of Final Fantasy VIII features a stand-alone Chocobo World program. Much like a Tamagotchi, players take care of Boko in Chocobo World, feeding him, resting him, and so on. As he grows, the player can collect special items, which can then be accessed from within Final Fantasy VIII. Boko can also be summoned in combat with Gysahl Greens, and his attacks are dependent on his progress in Chocobo World. The minigame also features a female Chocobo named Koko, who like Boko, is named after its Final Fantasy V counterpart Coco.

Final Fantasy VIII features two chocobo themes. Mods de Chocobo plays while riding a chocobo. This is a sort of upbeat rock theme with a female chorus sometimes singing "Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh" in tune with the music. The other, ODEKA de chocobo, is a synth tune that plays at the Winhill village chocobo crossing. In the final chocobo gathering at the Chocobo Sanctuary, the six chocobos dance to the "Waltz for the Moon" theme (similar to the chocobo dance "Waltz de Chocobo" in Final Fantasy VII), though this is not a theme dedicated to only chocobos.

Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy IX also features chocobos, but has only one ridable chocobo, named Choco. The player gains Choco by visiting Chocobo Forest and talking with the moogle there named Mene. Choco can be evolved to different colors (and thereby gained different forms of mobility) via the chocobo digging minigame, "Chocobo Hot & Cold", which allows the player to obtain Chocographs. Finding Chocographs is a mini-game that is played like egg hunting. The player has a few clues to work with, and the player will have to go around the world to find the prizes. 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.

The colors of Choco are as follows:
 * Yellow (Field Chocobo)= Standard running. No special ability.
 * Light Blue (Reef Chocobo)= Able to walk in shallow water, entering at bays/reefs.
 * Red (Mountain Chocobo)= Able to traverse mountains.
 * Dark Blue (Ocean Chocobo)= Able to walk in deep water (must still enter at bays/reefs.
 * Gold (Sky Chocobo)= Able to fly, launching and landing in forests. This, together with the black chocobos of FFIV and FFV are the only chocobos in the series to have the ability. As such, it should not be confused with FFVII's gold chocobo.

The abilities Choco learns are cumulative, so as he upgrades he retains the previously learned abilities.

In addition to Chocobo's Forest, there is also a Chocobo Lagoon and Chocobo's Air Garden. These locations allow the player to play advanced versions of the Chocobo Hot & Cold Game. In addition to finding Chocographs, this game allows the player to find various useful items and win points that can be traded in for even more items. With an entry fee of only 60 gil (30 at one point in the Lagoon), this game is an ultra-bargain as the treasure found by a good player should make up the entry fee many times over.

There are three chocobo themes in this game. Vamo' alla Flamenco plays during the scene where Zidane and Blank battle in the play early in the game, but also plays when the player is engaged in a Chocobo Hot & Cold game. Aloha de Chocobo plays in the Chocobo Forest, Lagoon and Air Garden during the time when the Hot & Cold game is not being played. Finally, Ukulele de Chocobo plays when the player is riding a chocobo.

Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy X, an Al Bhed named Rin owns a shop in Mi'ihen Highroad which harbors a chocobo stable. After battling the Chocobo Eater, the player is able to ride these chocobos as long as the player is within the perimeters of the Highroad. While riding a chocobo, there are no random encounters, and the player travels twice as fast. Chocobos grant entry to secret areas that only chocobos can access, with many items.

The next time the player is able to ride chocobos is at the Calm Lands, where most of the free-roaming chocobos reside. Here the player is able to train their Chocobo and play various mini-games, as well as race them under Remiem Temple for prizes. Chocobos are useful to obtain rare items and side-quests. This includes a couple of very valuable prizes — the Cloudy Mirror (which can be upgraded to the Celestial Mirror, vital for obtaining and upgrading the Celestial Weapons) and the Sigil for Tidus's Celestial weapon, as well as the weapon itself.

In Final Fantasy X, chocobos are also used for warfare and to power such vehicles as boats, though it is theorized that they might also power the airship using some form of fusion. There is an elite unit of the Crusaders known as the Chocobo Knights, who ride armored chocobos into battle. All but one of these chocobos were wiped out during Operation Mi'ihen. The last survivng chocobo was found by a character named Clasko, who decides to quit the Chocobo Knights and become a breeder, looking after the surviving chocobo. However, this is a player choice — the decision must be made whether to tell Clasko that he should become a breeder, or remain with the Knights. If he is told to become a breeder, they can obtain a special prize later. Clasko returns in a much more major role regarding chocobos in Final Fantasy X-2.

Final Fantasy X features only one chocobo theme — Brass de Chocobo.

Final Fantasy X-2
In Final Fantasy X-2, chocobos have become very scarce. They are no longer used on the Mi'ihen Highroad and have been replaced by hovercrafts, due to the increase in chocobo-eating fiends in the area and the faster speed of the hovercrafts. However, if the player meets certain conditions in the game, he/she can start a chocobo ranch with the help of Clasko, a chocobo breeder. He/she can also bring chocobos back to the Mi'ihen Highroad, although this is largely unconnected to Clasko.

In order to return chocobos to the Highroad, the player must complete the Mi'ihen Mystery sidequest and pin Chocobo Eater, Calli, Rikku, or Rin as the culprit. Pinning Prophet as the culprit will not allow the chocobos to return. He and his group were advocating their return, but they are forced to drop this if he is pinned as the culprit. Chocobos will also not return if the player does not properly solve the mystery, or simply does not attempt to solve it. Players can initiate events for this mission as early as Chapter 1 of the game, though the actual solving of the mystery does not happen until Chapter 4 and the results are not seen until Chapter 5, the final chapter. If the player pins Rin as the culprit, he/she can ride chocobos for free on the Highroad, while for all other outcomes that return chocobos to the Highroad, a token fee must be paid. However, pinning Rin as the culprit denies the player a valuable Episode Complete for this area and pinning anyone other than Rikku means the player loses out on the Ragnarok accessory. In any case, the player talks to the same attendant that also operates the hovers before he/she can ride one of the chocobos. Riding a chocobo makes travel along the Highroad much faster and also gives access to the Mi'hen Dungeon where valuable accessories may be found.

Players can also gain chocobos for the purpose of finding items throughout Spira by opening Clasko's chocobo ranch. In order to open the ranch, the player must simply find and talk to Clasko in Chapter 1 or 2 and invite him aboard the Celsius. After completing the Cuckoo for Chocobos mission in Chapter 2, the player can then invite him back aboard and he will want to jump ship and head for the Calm Lands. After completing a mission to clear the fiends out of the old monster arena, the ranch will open. Alternatively, Clasko will jump ship automatically in Chapter 3 if he's still on-board. If the player fails to find Clasko in either Chapter 1 or 2, they will lose the opportunity to open the ranch until their next New Game Plus. Clasko will give the player Gysahl Greens. The player must encounter a chocobo in battle and capture it using these, but it is not always a simple task. Brave Chocobos are capable of healing themselves, casting supportive magic, and even attacking the player's characters with Choco Kick, which does a moderate amount of damage to one character, and Choco Meteor, which does a major amount of damage to all characters (but will never kill them outright.) Chocobos will also sometimes simply run away, making the task even more difficult. After a chocobo has been captured, it is taken to the chocobo ranch where the player can raise it and send it off to other places in Spira in search of items. This mini side-quest resembles FFVII's Chocobo Breeding minigame.

The dedicated player will be rewarded for their patience with the true secret of Clasko's chocobo ranch. Once the player sends out three chocobos of Level 1, raises them to Level 2, sends them out again and so on, up till 5 and has 4 Level 5 choco-runners, he/she can exit the ranch and then enter again. Clasko will announce that the chocobos have found a hole leading to a secret dungeon. He's sure there's an Amazing Chocobo in there, but he's too scared to go in and find it. This is good for the player, as this dungeon is loaded with valuable accessories, including the AP Egg (triples AP gain for one of the girls) and another special dressphere upgrade. Once the player has fought the Anything Eater and then opened all five of the gates within the ranch, YRP find the Amazing Chocobo! Bright gold and capable of flying, Clasko convinces this chocobo to not run away and the player gains an Episode Complete for this segment of the game. The Amazing Chocobo is then available for two tasks — Explore Spira (and find more valuable items), or to support the player’s other chocobos. It can also go on Standby — though it hides its fatigue well, it sometimes needs to rest.

Additionally, while viewing the CommSphere in the Thunder Plains in chapter 4, the player can capture two wild chocobos with the help of Shinra's ChocoPorter. However, these chocobos do nothing besides walk around in the Celsius's cabin.

Like Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 has only one chocobo theme, called Chocobo Jam.

Final Fantasy XI
In Final Fantasy XI, chocobos serve as a primary means of transportation and can be rented from several locations around the world. Upon reaching level 20, a player can do a quest to obtain a Chocobo License that is required for him or her to rent them. The rental fee at each location will vary based on how busy that location is and what level the player is at the time. In addition, Chocobos cannot be ridden into any cities, and the player automatically dismounts a Chocobo after a period of about 30 minutes unless the player is wearing gear that allows for more time. Mini time-based quests similar in nature to FFX's chocobo road game were added in a update which awards players with items for getting a chocobo to a stable in the fastest time in relation to other players.

Chocobo raising was introduced in the game with the August 21, 2006 update. Players are able to own a Chocobo, feed it different foods and even taken them out on dates with other players chocobos which, if they are compatible will get them to breed a baby chocobo. The chocobo's stats are directly related to this feeding and breeding process.

A chocobo whistle, similar to the NPC Signal Pearl but worn around the neck, allows players to call their Chocobos to them in outdoor areas.

Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII Chcobos have a more menacing appearance, including eagle-like eyes and a longer, sharper beak. The player is able to rent Chocobos to travel into the wilderness, provided with Gysahl Greens to force the Chocobo to sprint, but only for a short time. When the time is up, the mount returns to its stall and the player has to continue on foot. While on a Chocobo, the player is ignored by enemies. Coloured chocobos also make a return with black and white breeds.

The soundtrack of the game features two tracks of the Chocobo theme. One is a harmonious tune named "Chocobo FFXII Arrange Ver.1" on Disc 2, and the other a jovial albeit militaristic marching tune titled "Chocobo ~FFXII Version~" on Disc 3.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Chocobos are a Rank I non-elemental Esper, and they are very common.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
In Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, the town of Windia has several weather vanes shaped after chocobo.

Final Fantasy Tactics
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, and are tough opponents early in the game. The yellow chocobos fought in the beginning can heal themselves and others, counterattack, and physically attack. Chocobos can be brought under one's control with the proper Job and Ability, most notably the mediator class. The other chocobo colors are black and red. Black Chocobos can fly, counterattack, and attack with a powerful long-range attack (choco ball). Red chocobos are newly introduced in the game, and they can jump up any height, attack physically, or attack with a very powerful, very long-range, plus a move impossible to avoid (choco meteor). If a Chocobo is on the player's team in a battle, a human character or a ghost-type monster (the latter most likely due to a glitch) can ride it for extra mobility, or to protect the Chocobo from harm. At a certain point there's a plot battle where Ramza can win a chocobo called Boco.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Chocobos serve a relatively minor role. During engagements, the Judges ride on armored Chocobo mounts, allowing them to quickly move around the field. The Animist class has an ability called Chocobo Rush, which causes a stampede of Chocobos to trample over enemies in the selected spaces. Unlike Final Fantasy Tactics, Chocobos do not appear in battle as defeatable or controllable monsters.

Chocobos are further mentioned in a few of the numerous dispatch missions, for which a player must send out a clan member to complete the mission. One of the early bars in the game is named The Prancing Chocobo, the name being a nod to in  series.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
In Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, Chocobos return as enemies, and they are common ones. They can be mounted by a character in the Chocobo Knight job class.

Chocobo series
Chocobo has its own spin-off series. The first installment of the series is Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, featuring a chocobo for a playable character. A sequel, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, also known as Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2 in Japan, was released both in and out of Japan. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon was never released outside Japan. The protagonist is a chocobo named Boco.

Another spin-off is Chocobo Racing, a game similar to the Mario Kart series. This is actually a spin-off of the Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon series, starring the same chocobo and other cameos from that series.

In Japan, two other games featuring chocobos were released. Chocobo Stallion (a chocobo breeding and racing game) and Dice de Chocobo (an interactive board game) were packaged along with Chocobo Racing and released by Squaresoft as Chocobo Collection in 2000. Hataraku Chocobo, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice, and Chocobo World are other Japanese exclusives.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
While chocobos do not physically appear in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, they are depicted on the Chocobo Shield, which is named after them. There is also an artifact called the Chocobo Pocket, which grants an extra command slot to the player.

Appearances in other media
In Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, one of the main characters can summon Chocobos. Unlike traditional chocobos, these ones are featherless and have a pink body.

In the anime series Final Fantasy: Unlimited, there are many chocobos, but one that joins the cast named Chobi. Chobi later gains a 'power-up' where he gains the legendary Ciel-Chocobo armour, enabling him to fly.

A couple of visual references to Chocobos are in the film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Chocobos do not physically appear in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, but there is a Chocobo silhouette on a sign that reads "Chocobo House" at 0:56:04 (in the upper-left corner).

Video games
Chocobos are a common sight in other Square Enix titles:


 * Final Fantasy Adventure: A Chocobo serves as a mount, but is later changed into a 'Chocobot'. It was removed from the ' remake in favor of the 'Cannon Ball Travel', which originated in '; however, a Chocobo can be seen in Sword of Mana by waiting for a certain period of time after the completion of the game.
 * : Wild black Chocobos are random monsters and uncapturable, but it's possible to grab bird eggs from several locations, and these have a chance of hatching a tame yellow Chocobo, a pet that would fight alongside the player. Moreover, if the player has a game save from Final Fantasy VIII on their memory card during the Monster Corral tutorial quest, the egg obtained during this quest will hatch a Chocobo (rather than a Rabite).
 * : Chocobo eggs are collectible items.
 * Kingdom Hearts: A Keyblade known as the Metal Chocobo has a key chain resembling a yellow Chocobo. A type of Gummi Ship (a flying vehicle used in the game) named "Chocobo" is in the form of one. There's also a drawing of a Chocobo in the cave on Destiny Island. It has been crossed out, possibly by Donald Duck, whose drawing is right next to it.
 * : A banner picturing a Chocobo hangs over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History. A Chocobo skeleton can be found nearby.
 * : A Chocobo is obtainable as a combatant.

The Chocobo is parodied in the browser-based game  as the Cocoabo familiar, which can charge monsters to deal damage, heal characters by nuzzling them (much like a phoenix), run around monsters to confuse them, and dig in the ground to give the characters extra money ("Meat," in the game). The Cocoabo is shaped like a Chocobo but is apparently made of cocoa or chocolate, hatched from a cocoa egg item.

In  a blue Chocobo-like creature drives the wagons of the traveling circus, Carivan. The red dragon Ruby mentions it was a Chocobo, but quickly changed it into "Chuckoboo".

 features a "Chocobone" unit. The official unit profile on the Chocobone states that "Riding the bones of ostrich-like large birds once used as mounts by a lost civilization, the skeleton Chocobones can move faster than most cavalry units."

In , two racial mounts, the Blood Elf Hawkstrider and the Gnome Mechanostrider, both resemble chocobos.

Webcomics
Chocobos are somewhat of a running gag in the webcomic . The comic has made fun of breeding, Kentucky Fried Chicken (named as Kentucky Firaga Chocobo) , and getting a Chocobo License in FFXI.

Chocobos appear in the webcomic and Final Fantasy parody 8-bit Theatre starting in episode 673, where they are the center of Red Mage's plan for getting off an island on which the "heroes" find themselves stranded.

Small creatures called Dragobos in  are stand-ins for Chocobos, transparent to the point of a "please don't sue us" sign. One is a party member and a companion to a "Mubble."

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

An episode of the popular web animation , parodying Final Fantasy VII, features a badly drawn chocobo uttering "wark".

The anime series  features large unnamed birds that closely resemble chocobos in several episodes. They come in various colors and are bet upon in races, but bear two rows of sharp teeth.