CHOCOBO REFLECTIONS
		A Whimsical Tribute Celebrating Final Fantasy’s 15th Birthday 
					by Ronald Wartow

December 18, 2002, is a very special date for me, and, I expect, any RPG gamer. Fifteen years ago to the day, Final Fantasy, a new style of RPG game and rapidly to be the first of an enduring classic series, was released in Japan by Square. Three years later, the game exploded onto the Nintendo Entertainment Systems of American gamers.

After 15 years, 10 principal games, several playalikes, and more to come, the Final Fantasy series has millions of loyalists. They gobble up every new offering, ready and willing to incinerate money and dozens of hours to finish each one. I proudly count myself as one of those millions.

Perhaps initially, I should specify what this article is not. You will find no history of the Final Fantasy series. Nor will you find plot summaries, fan fiction, fan art, reviews of past games, previews of upcoming games, or any attempt at deep analysis. For that, I refer you to the literally hundreds of web sites covering every imaginable aspect of the Final Fantasy series. To emphasize the point, my recent search for “Final Fantasy” on Google resulted in 851,000 hits. Yahoo only found 810,000, leaving one to wonder how 41,000 web references could go undiscovered.

This article focuses on my own observations about the series, honing in on the glitches, foibles, oddities, and things that just make you want to say “Wow!”. I have tried earnestly to avoid any game spoilers. Hopefully, I succeeded. 

A short list of what this article is about follows:

•		How did the name “Final Fantasy“ come to be?.
•		In several Final Fantasy’s, there are recurring characters named after Star Wars’ film personalities.
•		The series’ designers seem to have a fascination with the number 4.  
•		No Final Fantasy yet is a sequel to a predecessor.
•		Just a single major character has appeared in every Final Fantasy, though some characters reprise their roles in non-Final Fantasy games.
•		The Fashion Police would have a field day evaluating the look of many series’ characters.
•		Numerous Final Fantasy characters, both villains and heroes, look surprisingly like some real world personalities.

I should relate my perspective on the Final Fantasy series. I personally have played and completed every Final Fantasy. (Since I played some of the games over 10 years ago, the article focuses, though not exclusively, on Final Fantasy VII forward.) I was privileged to author 2 Sybex unofficial strategy guides on Final Fantasy VII, and another on Final Fantasy Tactics. For Brady, I penned the Official Xenogears Strategy Guide, and co-wrote the Official Saga Frontier Strategy Guide, both  Square RPG’s. Currently, I have no affiliation with Square, Brady, or Sybex.

Finally, please check out the excellent references at the end of this article. I highly recommend all of them for further study of everything Final Fantasy.

What’s Final About 10 Final Fantasy’s?

Which of the Final Fantasy’s is the final one? Are any final? How do we solve this seeming paradox? Are they all final? The answer is simple, based on “confirmed rumor” and old press reports. Apparently, the game was the last hope or chance (or final fantasy) for Square to create a popular and bestselling game back in the late 1980‘s. Thus, the name, which has stuck ever since.

Sequels, We Don’t Need No Stinking Sequels

Apologies for skewing Humphrey Bogart’s memorable line from Treasure of the Sierra Madre. That said, this phrase reveals the “dreadful” truth about the Final Fantasy series. No Final Fantasy is a direct sequel of a predecessor, despite the numerical succession of games’ titles. No major character (except 1) appears in games subsequent to their initial appearance. Even the locations, towns, continents, and entire worlds are completely different. I have uncovered no specific reason for this. Guessing, I would say that Square wanted to make each game a fresh, new experience for its players.

Like everything else in the world, this state of affairs is about to change. Many websites, and Japanese press, are reporting that Square has scheduled a March 2003 Japan release for Final Fantasy X-2. This will be a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X, followed by an English release later in the year. The game focuses on Yuna, the engaging Summoner, and features many of the same locations. Rumor has it that the prim and proper Yuna is in for the proverbial “new look.“ Early screenshots show a woman closer in dress to Lara Croft than a noble Summoner. That aside, Yuna, X’s Rikku, and another female comprise X-2’s protagonists.  	

Doesn’t Barrett Wallace from Final Fantasy VII Look Like Mr. T?

In a word, yes. The resemblance is striking. Watch a rerun of “The A Team”, and see if this isn’t so. 
Barrett isn’t the only Final Fantasy character to resemble closely a real-world person. What’s next are some obvious examples sure to bring a smile to your face Just conjure up these couples side-by-side:

•	VI: Kefka is a dead ringer for Marilyn Manson.
•	VII: Rufus, an evil Shinra, is Leonard DiCaprio to a pixel.
•	VIII: Squall is the singer, John Reznik. Seifer reminds me of a reincarnation of a David Bowie’s persona. The evil Edea is Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars. Cid could pose as substitute for Elton John, assuming he could sing. Why not, he can do practically everything else!
•	IX. Vivi is a dead ringer for those black mages in earlier Final Fantasy’s and Final Fantasy Tactics.
•	X: Tidus looks exactly like Meg Ryan, the film actress. Lulu closely resembles, particularly the hairdo, Tiffany Amber-Thiessen, of Baywatch fame.
•	X-2: Yuna will look a lot like Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft. Quite a change from her facade in X.
	
Stormy Weather

For some mysterious reason, Square named 2 characters in consecutive games after weather phenomena. Of course, I’m referring to the enigmatic Cloud in VII and  the embittered Squall in VIII.

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy, Far, Far Away

Some Final Fantasy creators evidently are devotees of Star Wars. How else can you explain the appearance in 4 straight games of 2 recurring characters from the films.. Remember Cloud’s first rush up the Mako reactor, along with Barrett’s Avalanche rebel group? Two of the group members were Wedge and Biggs. Sound familiar? 

Who could forget Wedge Antilles, an important member of Luke Skywalker‘s Red Squadron? Remember his everlasting words on seeing the Death Star for the first time:
“Look at the size of that thing!"? He appears in the New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Lucky him, he actually survived.

Biggs Darklighter appeared in Luke’s Red Squadron for one brief shining moment in the original Star Wars. Flanking Luke on the spectacular trench run at the end of the film, Biggs is vaporized by Darth Vader. 

Final Fantasy Encores in Subsequent Final Fantasy’s

Despite Square’s sequel phobia, a single major character, some minor characters, regular monsters, summoned monsters, chicken-like creatures, teddy bears, and even music appear in more than 1 game.

Characters: 

•	Cid is the only character that has appeared in all 10 numbered Final Fantasy’s. Though, depending on the game, he looks different, and plays diverse roles, he always livens up the game when he makes an entrance. Cid’s trusty airship, named in later games, The Highwind, always is nearby, and continually rescues the heroes from one sticky situation after another. The airship usually provides the means to explore the game’s entire world. 
•	The name “Garland” appears in I and IX. In I, he plays an evil knight, who sends 4 Fiends into the future to cause the heroes many headaches. In IX, Garland is a major story character, who repeatedly helps the game’s heroes.
•	Wedge and Biggs, minor but memorable characters, from Star Wars, appear in VI, VII, and VIII. See discussion above.

Creatures:

•	In most of the games, starting with III, there are guardians (Shiva, Ramuh, Titan, for example) that can be summoned from the cosmos to help your adventuring party. These provide some of the most spectacular and unforgettable graphics in the games.
•	What about that indomitable and unique Final Fantasy transportation mode, the chocobo? In every Final Fantasy, but I and X, this chicken-like creature has helped many a game’s hero escape from danger. Breeding chocobos became an art form in VII. The ultimate goal was to produce a gold chocobo. Much luck, patience, and know-how were required, but the end result was worth it. Take a chocobo to a forest in IX, and it can fly.
•	Moogles have appeared several games, the latest IX. Overly cute, I have always been wary of them, for some inexplicable reason.

Music:

•	The famous Prelude that begins and ends every game, always reminds me of a magical waterfall.
•	The ubiquitous Victory Theme that follows every combat win over monsters appears in all the games. Though the musical arrangements might be different, the basic tune is always the same.

Final Fantasy Encores in non-Final Fantasy Games

Though Final Fantasy heroes, villains, and other major characters do not reprise their roles in subsequent games, some have appeared in games outside the series. Some illustrations:

•	Final Fantasy Tactics: After much convolution and work, you can recruit VII’s Cloud as a member of your party. That includes his incredibly large sword, and the powerful Limit Break, Omnislash.
•	Kingdom Hearts: VII’s Cloud’s unforgettable opening appearance in this game is still burned into my conscience, one of my favorite game moments ever. Minor appearances by Yuffie, Aeris, Cid, the Moogles, and the evil Sephiroth take place. VIII’s Selphie shows, up as well as X’s Tidus, Wakka, and Yuna.  
	
The Final Fantasy ER

There’s nothing wrong with a troubled or ailing hero in RPG’s, but some Final Fantasy heroes are absolute emotional and physical wrecks for much of their respective games. Fortunately, the final boss battle usually brings these, sometimes pathetic heroes, back to earth and peace of mind.

•	Heading the list is the troubled VII’s Cloud. Wracked with internal pain, with a guilt complex the size of a building, this character constantly drops into a deep sleep. This sleep is always marked by disturbing dreams about his uncertain past. A psychiatrist’s dream!
•	VIII’s Squall. A very cold and calculating character. This probably stems from the fact that his real name is Leon, far from heroic. (Apologies to all the Leon’s out there!)
•	V: Galuf, an otherworldly persona, suffers from a severe case of amnesia. Butz Klauser, though brave, was a few megs short of a gig, probably because he was an deprived as an orphan.
 
The Final Fantasy Fascination with and Homage to Ancient and Modern Mythology

Countless Final Fantasy characters are unmistakably named straight for fictional, mythological, legendary, and even real notables. Sources of Final Fantasy luminaries most certainly come from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Indian, Norse, German, French, Judaism, Aztec, Greek, Roman, Japanese, and Celtic mythology, Dungeons & Dragons, and the Bible also provide fodder for the series‘ designers. 

The examples below are just a handful. There are dozens of others over the entire length of the series.

•	Ogopogo, a boss in IV, is another name given to the infamous Loch Ness Monster. This is a dinosaur-like beast, resembling the Plesiosaur, supposedly living in Loch Ness, a large Scottish lake, near the city of Inverness.
•	Sephiroth, the classic nasty piece of work from VII, surprisingly comes from an ancient Hebrew text, and means “Tree of Life”. If the Final Fantasy designers actually were referring to the very old meaning, it seems quite a stretch. However, like the “Tree of Life“, Sephiroth radiates oodles of energy. 
•	Ragnarok appears in several games as the name of a monster, base ship or a weapon. The name comes from the Norse version of the Apocalypse, where the world is destroyed through conflicts and feuds, the so-called beginning of the end. Out of all this chaos, a new word dawns. This certainly accurately describes many Final Fantasy plots.  
•	Midgard, VII’s foremost locale, seems temptingly close to "Midgar” from Norse Mythology meaning "Middle Earth", the abode of humans. Like the mythical Midgar, Midgard was created as a stronghold around the world for protection. 
•	Lionheart, one of II’s heroes, in all likelihood derives from Richard I, King of England during the Middle Ages. Much beloved, and known as “The Lionheart”, he is a hero of mythological proportions, who really did exist.
•	IV’s Kain is a good guy. It is doubtful his name comes from the Bible, Adam’s eldest son, who murdered Abel, and was banished.
•	IV’s Red Wings. Could this be a tribute the Detroit Red Wings hockey team, founded in 1926? The game’s high-flying Red Wings are certainly quick and fast, and the hockey team’s logo is a stylized winged wheel.
•	Aeris, a heroine of VII, has a last name of Gainsborough. Could this be an homage to  Thomas Gainsborough, the renowned English painter and portraitist, who lived late in the 18th century? The similarity is not very obvious. Aeris was a shy flower-seller, who just happened to be important to world events. She didn’t paint, as far as I know.
•	VII’s Barrett Wallace is the head of an underground resistance movement, which, the hero, Cloud joins early in the game. Barrett‘s group fights a mega-conglomerate, Shinra, Inc., which harmfully is sucking the life out of the planet. A reference to William Wallace, the great Scottish rebel leader, celebrated recently in the movie, Braveheart?
•	Mithril or Mythril appears in 5 Final Fantasy’s, as an extraordinary material for high-grade armor. The term was coined by J.R.R Tolkien, in his Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and is of Elvish origin. The metal was discovered by dwarves deep within the mines of the Misty Mountains. 	
•	Pandemonium, which appeared as monster-infested castles in II and VI, comes straight from the 17th century literary classic, Paradise Lost, by John Milton. In the book, Pandemonium is Satan's capital, and translated from the Greek means “all demon“.
•	Many will leap to conclude that V’s hero, Butz, derives from an obvious, scatological term. I happen to think that the character was named after a former United States Secretary of Agriculture. (This is a definite sign I should bring this article to a close immediately!)
•	Behemoth appears as a monster in 4 games, and comes from the Old Testament (Book of Job, 40:10). It means a herbivore that resembles an elephant. 
•	Shiva, one of the guardians that can be summoned in several games, is a Hindu god, called the destroyer. Shiva's consort is a goddess who comes in many different forms, one of whom is Kali. Remember the flick, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? The bad guys worshipped Kali, and the name is mentioned many times in the film. 
	
The Number 4 and Final Fantasy

After playing Final Fantasy’s, one cannot help but wonder why the games’ creators are so obsessed with the number 4? That number plays a key role in many of the games, including quantity of heroes, villains, bosses, and key factors. Let’s look at some examples:

•	I: 4 Fiends, 4 Light Warriors
•	II: 4 Heroes, 4 Crystal Orbs
•	III: 4 Lost Boys, 4 Legendary Warriors, 4 Large Crystals
•	V: 4 Elemental Crystals, 4 Warriors of the Dawn
•	VII: 4 Huge Materia, 4 Secret Materia
•	VIII: 4 New SeeD Members, 4 Places to Sight a UFO
•	IX: 4 Crystal Shards

The Fashion Police

Fashion sense has not been a hallmark of Final Fantasy heroes. Sure, some characters are snappy dressers, sure to decorate any gathering. But the fashion-don’ts sometimes outweigh the fashion-do’s. Cases in point:

•	Hairstyles: Cloud in VII’s spiked hair looks like he walks around with his finger stuck in a portable light socket. Another dreadful hairdo was Barrett's buzz cut.
•	Threads: Among the flashy dressers, some real rabble rears its ugly head. Take X’s Tidus. Couldn’t he find someone to tailor his Blitzball pant legs to the same length? VI’s Gau, a wild child, left little to the imagination.
•	Accessories: VIII’s Ward features a politically-incorrect do-rag. Irvine’s cowboy hat went out of fashion years ago.
•	Fashion Fauxs Pas of the Century: Zidane’s tail in IX. Let’s face it, when you’re out and about trying to impress, nothing is more of a turnoff than a prominent tail emerging from your south-backside or your border. Also in IX, Queen Brahne is completely blue in skin color, a fashion statement of guaranteed not to appear in Gap commercials.

Special Credits and References:

My sincere thanks go out to the following, all of which provided proficient jogs to my fading memory, plus were invaluable resources that contributed greatly to this article:

Articles:

•	The History of Final Fantasy by Andrew Vestal (http://www.videogames.com/features/universal/finalfantasy_hs/)
•	Final Fantasy: The Game, the Myth and the Legend by Mark Scigliano (http://www.gaming-media.com/_feature/finalfantasy/)

Web Sites:

•	Thor's House of Recalcitrancy (http://thor.mirtna.org/oddities/lookalikes/) 
•	Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://www.wikipedia.org)
•	GameFaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com)	
•	The Squaresoft Repository: Of Science Fiction and Myth (http://mythology.terrapolis.org/Mythology.htm)
•	Final Fantasy Insider (http://www.ffinsider.net/)

Copyright Ronald Wartow 2002. All Rights Reserved. Permission to post or display this article on any website, or elsewhere, must be obtained from the author at rwartow@yahoo.com. The author welcomes corrections or suggestions.