Final Fantasy and Mythology

Danijel

Danijel

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The real life and mythology reference in FF games

This thread is about the the things in real life and mythology have reference in FF games. Let me start:

FF6: The Dream Stooges; Moebius, Laragorn and Curlax are reference to the TV seried Three Stooges in which the characters were called Moe, Larry and Curly.

FF5, FF8: Odin - In FF8 and FF5 Odin, if can't use Zantetsuken, uses Gungnir. In Norse mythology Odin's (chief god in Norse mythology) weapon is called Gungnir.

FF5, FF8, FF12: Gilgamesh and Enkidu - in Sumerian mythology Gilgamesh was king of Uruk in Babylonia. The Gilgamesh was half god and half human. Then a man named Enkidu enters the city and confronts Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh wins and ever since that battle Gilgamesh and Enkidu were friends.
 
Hehe, awesome! Everything gets direct ideas from other sources. Mythology seems to be a popular source for fantasy. Well done on finding those! I'm sure, after further research, many more ideas will be found to have links with real myths. =]
 
This really is something I thought most people new... Most of the Aeons, Guardian forces, summons , are usually from Mythology. Like Shiva, a deity from the Hinduism, Minotaur, Greek mythology, you mentioned Odin, Bahamut originated from Arabic creationist myths, Ifrit from the Arabic mythology as well, also known as Afrit from the muslim book the Qur'an...

If you check probably even more of the originate from myth and religion :D
 
There are many aspects of Final Fantasy that were referenced from Mythology and other Western folklore. Not just summons were taken from Western folklore many monsters, races, and items as well.

http://mythology.terrapolis.org/?title=Main_Page This a good website to surf if you wish to see other Western references.
 
I found something more about the myth of Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Sumerian Mythology, this time it includes Humbaba that appears in FF6 and FF12.

Humbaba was a demon guarding the Cedar Woods. Gilgamesh and Enkidu went there to fight Humbaba. When they were nearing the Cedar Woods they fell asleep. Then suddenly Gilgamesh was awaken by strange sounds, he then woke up Enkidu. Then the Humbaba appeared and both Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought that creature.

P.S. You can also post some of you're findings
 
I learned about the story of Gilgamesh in my senior english class. At some point, Gilgamesh's friend Enkido dies (can't remember the cause) and Gilgamesh pretty much watches him die. That is when Gilgamesh decides to go look for a way to give himself eternal life. After many years of journeying, Gilgamesh finds the man to be the only immortal person in the world (forgot his name). The man tells gilgamesh that in order to receive eternal life, he must eat a special fruit that can only be found in one place. Getting the fruit was very difficult because it was on a cliff (or something). Anyway, Gilgamesh finally gets the fruit, but before he can eat it, a serpent snatches it from him and eats it. So now, Gilgamesh is forced to return to his kingdom empty-handed and a very old man( his journey was very long).

-That's about as much as I can remember from my English class.
 
I just brought this up in another thread this morning and I thought I would share it, since it's interesting enough. This is something learned in my world civ. class.
In regards to FFX, and the dreaming Fayth.

In Indian culture, it's believed that "we" (human beings) are not real, or physical entities; each and every one of us is actually an individual fragment of God's "dream". When "God" goes to sleep, he dreams that he is "us" ("us", being the people of the world). And every one of us has a different task as a portion of his dream. And when "God" finally awakes from his dream, we no longer exist, and he returns to heaven (or, his own "reality").
 
Rhea said:
I just brought this up in another thread this morning and I thought I would share it, since it's interesting enough. This is something learned in my world civ. class.
In regards to FFX, and the dreaming Fayth.

In Indian culture, it's believed that "we" (human beings) are not real, or physical entities; each and every one of us is actually an individual fragment of God's "dream". When "God" goes to sleep, he dreams that he is "us" ("us", being the people of the world). And every one of us has a different task as a portion of his dream. And when "God" finally awakes from his dream, we no longer exist, and he returns to heaven (or, his own "reality").
Click to expand...
So you're saying that FFX and the dream of the fayth may be in reference to that?
 
RPGs have a way of using real myths from many origins, and Final Fantasy is no exception. Many examples can be named:

Sephiroth is originally a Hebrew term that refers to the ten tasks Caballans must conquer in life to return to God in the afterlife.

Midgar got its name from the Norse term Midgard, which was Earth.

And Nibelheim loosely translates to "frozen hell" in Nordic myth.

Discuss the many uses of mythology used in the FF series.
 
I'm not sure if this counts but a lot of aeons/espers are named after gods. eg. Shiva. I don't know any other myths in FF games though.
 
some monsters have mythical-esque names as well when you look at it:

Cerberus: 3 headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld
Basilisk: serpent that could kill with just a direct look

Also the Knights of the Round summon (7) is based (loosely) on King Arthur and his knights
 
the whole story of the one winged angel comes from Religion and Mythology, I don't know the entire story behind it, but I also know they use the same myth behind it in Xenogears. You find out about the story when you take Bart's (in Xenogears) sister Marge to the church. The two angels must work together to become one whole.

Kinda the same for Sephi and Cloud. The two aren't complete without the other one, thats why Cloud is given the other wing in the KH series.
 
Ragnarok was the norse battle between the gods and Loki's children.

Anyone who doesn't know what excalibur is from can sit here and wonder for the rest of their lives.

The four fiends in FFIV are all named after babylonian guardians of hell.

Ramuh was some hindu thing.

Leviathan and Behemoth are from the bible.

The summons in FFT are references to the zodiac.

Etcetera.
 
I've noticed a lot of Zodiacal references in general throughout the FF series. FFXII and Tactics did have the espers which all corresponded to a sign of the Zodiac, and there were lots of items to collecet also with this theme (eg. Saggitarius Bow, Capricorn Gem).

FFX also had references to the planets with the crests and sigils needed for the celestial weapons, you could kinda link that to astrology and the Zodiac. I thought it was pretty spooky how the characters had personalities that would match the signs of the ruling planets that correspond with their crests and sigils eg. Rikku needs the Mercury sigil and crest, which rules Gemini, which fits her quite well ^^ not quite mythological but an amusing way of looking at things. Since Japanese people take their horoscopes very seriously I wouldn't put it past them to use those personality traits for their characters. Or it could just be me >_<
 
Miss Valentine said:
Rikku needs the Mercury sigil and crest, which rules Gemini, which fits her quite well ^^ not quite mythological but an amusing way of looking at things. Since Japanese people take their horoscopes very seriously I wouldn't put it past them to use those personality traits for their characters. Or it could just be me
Click to expand...

No, that's a really good point. I never thought about it that way.

Even though the real name of St. George's lance is supposed to be Ascalon or Ashkelon, I always imagined the Dragon Whisker from Final Fantasy Tactics to be a representation of the lance. It fits the dragon-slaying thing.
 
Booger said:
I just brought this up in another thread this morning and I thought I would share it, since it's interesting enough. This is something learned in my world civ. class.
In regards to FFX, and the dreaming Fayth.

In Indian culture, it's believed that "we" (human beings) are not real, or physical entities; each and every one of us is actually an individual fragment of God's "dream". When "God" goes to sleep, he dreams that he is "us" ("us", being the people of the world). And every one of us has a different task as a portion of his dream. And when "God" finally awakes from his dream, we no longer exist, and he returns to heaven (or, his own "reality").
Click to expand...
If you mean Indian as in India then you couldn't be more wrong, most Indians are hindu, and Hinduism is a polytheastic religion.
If you mean native americans, then you're ignorant for calling them Indians.

FFX also had references to the planets with the crests and sigils needed for the celestial weapons
Click to expand...
Actually all the planets are named after roman gods, roman gods are greek gods btw.
Which would make sense, considering how many things in FF are taken from mythology.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu come from a book, for want of a better word. It's called the epic of Gilgamesh.
 
Ixion in FFX uses the Overdrive called Thor's Hammer, sometimes translated as Mjollner, which was Thor's weapon. Since Thor was the god of storms and thunder, kind of fits the electric unicorn
 
The only one I can think of is Cloud's bike Fenrir, which (as EVERYBODY knows) is refering to the Norse wolf god..
 
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