Cactuar from FFXI
The name Cactuar is the western localization of the original Japanese Sabotender, a portmanteau of "Saboten Pretender", "saboten" meaning "cactus" in Japanese. The Cactuar are a race of creatures that physically resemble cacti and are typically depicted in a distinct running pose with stiff arms and legs, three black dots on their faces (representing two eyes and an oblong mouth) and three yellow quills at the top of their heads. According to an article in the 15 February 1997 issue of V-Jump, Cactuar was designed by Tetsuya Nomura based on a doodle he drew on a notebook when he was a highschool student. They bear a resemblance to Japanese clay figures called "Haniwa", a type of clay figures made for ritual and funerary uses.
The Cactuar is known for its characteristic "1,000 Needles" attack, able to bypass an opponent's defense stat and which always deals exactly 1,000 points of damage. Cactuars are usually worth a substantial amount of currency or experience points, but their high evasion stat and tendency to flee make them difficult prey. There is sometimes a giant variety of Cactuar that displays a characteristic mustache. "Jumbo Cactuars" as they are called also have a "10,000 Needles" attack which has the effect of causing instant death being one point higher than a character's maximum possible Hit Points.
Cactuars appear in Final Fantasy VI (actually called "Cactrot"), Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII (with the alias 'Cactoid'), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and Chocobo's Dungeon 2. Cactuars appear as a summon in Final Fantasy VI remade for the Game Boy Advance, and Final Fantasy VIII. Cactuars appear as a stuffed doll in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2.
Cactuars also appear in Chocobo Racing, Chocobo World, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Itadaki Street Special, Itadaki Street Portable and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. In The Bouncer, Volt Krueger has a Cactuar on the back of his jacket with a red line through it. "Cactuar" is a featured Gummi Ship model in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. When the cactus opponent in Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime gets run over by a cart, it resembles a Cactuar. It features the eyes, mouth and the position the Cactuar usually has. A cactuar starred alongside a Tonberry in series of Flashplayer animations made by a man known as Crazy Boris, such as Final Fantasy Gil Quest and its sequels, Final Fantasy Fugitive and Resident Cactuar. A Cactuar named Cornwall is the main character of the comic strip "The Lesson Of The Day". A Cactuar appears in the webcomic called Origami Lad's Superhero Society as a main character alongside his best friend Foldman and a group of other superheroes. The Ironclaw April Fools' Day supplement "Time of Monsters" includes a monster named 'Millaghi Moltogrande, the Mysterious Merchant.' The character is physically identical to a Cactuar, although he dresses in a period-appropriate outfit with a hat impaled on his head-quills and a mustache. He has his "1,000 Needles" attack, and his motivations are listed as "1. Survive; 2. Make money." The listing for the character appears reprinted in the supplement "Onandon," along with the rest of the "Time of Monsters" material. Alaskan rock band M-Tentacles has a song named Cactuar with only lyrics consisting of the words "Cactuar", "1,000 Needles", and "Rilfsak".