Final Fantasy Theory

[OzDok]

Alright, so everyone who is the least bit enamoured with Final Fantasy will have come across the infamous "Timeline" theories, where people try and figure out which games come before each other.

What if there wasn't just one world in Final Fantasy for the timeline to be on?

Please note that I am not including any game past 10 in this theory. The Ivalice collection is a world of it's own that has no standing on the other games, so 12 is out. And 13 I have no idea what the hell that's doing.

So from 1-10.

What if the each of those games were set on one of two worlds, Gaia and Terra?

In Final Fantasy 9, Terra was elaborated on in Oeilvert. It was a world that had reached it's peak of civilisation, but had suffered a terrible cataclysm and the world could only survive by absorbing another planet. The planet chosen was Gaia.

Now on Terra, Garland was appointed to be the steward. He lived in Castle Pandemonium. He remarks that "Once he tried to take the world by force..."
This could be a reference to either Garland from FF1 or The Emperor from FF2. Either way, Castle Pandemonium was The Emperor's in FF2. It's more likely that Garland is from FF1, as the 4 fiends are present too.

Now, the first time that Gaia is mentioned is FF7. Most of the game it's called "The Planet", but one of the Elders in Cosmo Canyon mention that it's name is Gaia.

It's possible that FF6 is the last in the timeline of Terra, with the great Cataclysm being the destroyed world left by Kefka. The restoration process by the people might have failed, as referenced by the words from one of the masks in Oeilvert - "Attempts were made to ressurect Flora and Fauna, with no success".

This may have led to the need for Terra to absorb Gaia.

The timeline for Gaia is a little more complex, but the world that FF7, 8 and 9 share is very similar. 4 main continents, a few hidden islands around the rim of the world, etc etc.

I'm not sure how Spira fits in here, it maybe that the name for the world was changed. Or that it's a completely different world of it's own, like Ivalice.

Regardless, I believe that FF1-9 are set on two different worlds, with overlapping timelines.


Your thoughts?

 

[Tom Badguy]

Where do III, IV & V fit in your time line?

I always look at the Final Fantasy games as all separated. Each it's own universe. With all the things that are common in the games(ex: weapons, Chocobos, Mogs, names, etc), I just consider them staples of the series. Certain aspects that appear in all Final Fantasy games. I think they do this to keep their own identity and for nostalgic value.

I do like your theory and I think it's a fun idea. I would expand on it with some research and connect all the games(1-10) though, just to make your theory have more value.

 

[OzDok]

Where do III, IV & V fit in your time line?

I always look at the Final Fantasy games as all separated. Each it's own universe. With all the things that are common in the games(ex: weapons, Chocobos, Mogs, names, etc), I just consider them staples of the series. Certain aspects that appear in all Final Fantasy games. I think they do this to keep their own identity and for nostalgic value.

I do like your theory and I think it's a fun idea. I would expand on it with some research and connect all the games(1-10) though, just to make your theory have more value.

I don't know where they come in. Squenix actually confirmed that there was a timeline, either because there is one or they want to screw with the fans.

I think that 2 comes first, then 1, then maybe 3, then 5, 4, 6. Then the Gaia timeline begins with 7, 8, 9.

 

[Rorolina Frixell]

I remember hearing a theory that 4 comes after 2, because Kain Highwind's father is Ricard Highwind, who is a character in 2 I think? I forget the finer details of it but there's probably a deeper connection than that somewhere

 

[Shaissa]

I remember the first... 4 or 5 were theory that they had a timeline but after that, i dont think the other worlds were related. after that i dont think any of them were... I mean you can fly around the world in 4 and 6 and 5 and i mean, i think if they wanted the worlds connected they wouldnt let you fly around the world....

 

[OzDok]

I remember the first... 4 or 5 were theory that they had a timeline but after that, i dont think the other worlds were related. after that i dont think any of them were... I mean you can fly around the world in 4 and 6 and 5 and i mean, i think if they wanted the worlds connected they wouldnt let you fly around the world....

What...?
Your grammar has confused me immensely.

 

[Shaissa]

What...?
Your grammar has confused me immensely.

Sorry let me try to make it clearer, after reading that myself it made me go "what was i saying???"

Basically I think 1-4 were supose to be "connected somehow but after that I think its fair game i mean they give you airplanes to fly around the whole world in most of them.

I think if Square really wanted the games to have be "connected" they would put in more characters from the past or more real references, like in VII they would mention the war of the magi, or Cecil being a king in the past, or something.

 

[OzDok]

Sorry let me try to make it clearer, after reading that myself it made me go "what was i saying???"

Basically I think 1-4 were supose to be "connected somehow but after that I think its fair game i mean they give you airplanes to fly around the whole world in most of them.

I think if Square really wanted the games to have be "connected" they would put in more characters from the past or more real references, like in VII they would mention the war of the magi, or Cecil being a king in the past, or something.

Well like I said, I think the jump from 6 to 7 begins on a new world, Gaia. Before that, Final Fantasy was set on Terra. So in FF7 they wouldn't really mention the War of the Magi because they knew nothing about it.

As for references, there are quite a lot. FFIV's Kain Highwind has a predecessor in FFII - Ricard Highwind.

The monsters locked away in FFV - Omega and Shinryuu - are mentioned in FFVI, (I think Atma was originally intended to be Omega, and Shinryuu was removed from the final cut of the game but is called KaiserDragon in FFVI)

After thinking a bit more, I think FFV comes first in the timeline of Terra, then FFI, then FFII, then FFIV, then FFVI. I'm not sure where FFIII fits into it, never having played the game.

 

[Exoskeleton]

What if there wasn't just one world in Final Fantasy for the timeline to be on?

But there isn't just one world. There are numerous worlds with different timelines unique to each. Now I don't know if I have your theory correct or not but it looks like you're saying the FF worlds are the same "earth" but in a different time.

I pretty much disagree. I mean there's so many differences between the Final fantasies from 3 on up. Just what you said about Ivalice and the 13 world should prove my point. They are different (Although Ivalice was fucking ripped from FFTactics ). I would totally believe that 1 and 2 existed in the same world... 3 not so much because of the geography and the floating continent, which I don't think is seen much in any other FFs. The fourth FF had people on the friggin moon 0__0 so I don't know how this wacky timeline would be working out... And FFVI? Oh just forget about linking that to other FFs, with

Spoiler

magic being stripped completely from the world and it's geography being broken to bits.

To be honest I haven't played or know much about 5 but I'd probably say maybe 3 and 5 are together in some way...could link 6 to the end of that timeline but I'm not so sure. FF7 is definitely stand alone in my opinion. People talk about lifestreams and the lifestream being there for thousands of years and continuing to be there. Plus the world of FF7 was kind of dying...FF8 I'd say would be closest to being linked to ff13 in my opinion but that's JUST because of the gunblade and the similar look of technology from both worlds so I'd say 13 could be future ff8 universe but I seriously doubt it.

Ugh there's so many differences in 9 and 10 as well...But listing them all would be a pain. Maybe this timeline you heard was for the numbered games in production because to me each FF universe is completely different o.o I like the theory though ^^

 

[Linnaete]

Interesting idea actually, though the way I see it, references are just that. They're references - mainly just Easter eggs inserted in so fans of the series can enjoy the reference, such as Shinra in FFX-2 saying he's found something that can power whole cities being connected to FFVII's Shinra Electric Power Company. I have never heard of any "timeline" confirmation by SE other than the vague one put together for the Ivalice Alliance games. I don't believe that the games can be easily pieced together to form a coherent timeline of two separate worlds (could be nice though as it may give Dissidia a slightly more canonical reason to exist) as the games each have their own separate lores that don't really fit together with others.

 

[OzDok]

Interesting idea actually, though the way I see it, references are just that. They're references - mainly just Easter eggs inserted in so fans of the series can enjoy the reference, such as Shinra in FFX-2 saying he's found something that can power whole cities being connected to FFVII's Shinra Electric Power Company. I have never heard of any "timeline" confirmation by SE other than the vague one put together for the Ivalice Alliance games. I don't believe that the games can be easily pieced together to form a coherent timeline of two separate worlds (could be nice though as it may give Dissidia a slightly more canonical reason to exist) as the games each have their own separate lores that don't really fit together with others.

So does our world - Yet it's real.

 

[Merung]

Yeah, well... It's pretty obvious there's no single universe here, but a multiverse. They're not parallel worlds, but are proven to be connected. FFXII's Bestiary entry on Gilgamesh says he's capable of traveling from one world to another, and he's seen carrying weapons from other FF worlds. Perhaps Shinra of FFX-2 learned to travel between worlds as well and established ShinRa Co. in the FFVII world.

If we really want to delve into it, it could be argued each of the worlds started off the same, but evolved differently due to a number of factors. This would explain the similarity of the world maps in some of the games.

 

[Linnaete]

So does our world - Yet it's real.

I'm not too sure what you mean exactly by this, though I assume you're pertaining to what I said about worlds having their own lores that would be rather incompatible with another. In which case, I don't quite follow the comparison. "Our world" is composed of numerous cultures and is diverse yes, but many of the FF worlds differ from one another on a greater level, such as geography, biology, origins and mythology. I'm not saying any theories that try and converge the worlds together are blatantly wrong (particularly if there are valid reasons to support the ideas which there are), I just find it rather improbable, especially as each of the FF games are designed, written and planned to be different and independent from its predecessors - though with recurring elements such as Gilgamesh and Chocobos to partly show that this is a Final Fantasy game.

 

[Shaissa]

I'm not too sure what you mean exactly by this,

I think what he's getting at is that our would has changed over time, with the Continents spreading apart and everything, so I guess you could Semi argue that the FF worlds are many years apart and the continents shifted over time, but at the same time without Square saying its the same world or any timeline for which games came first in this "world" I have to assume that all the worlds are separate, like Earth and Mars.

 

[OzDok]

Did anyone get what I was pointing at?
Squeenix confirmed that there was some sort of timeline, probably to prod the fans.

I was talking about how the original 10 installments take place on two different worlds that are shown to be linked together in FF9. They have their seperate timelines. What these timelines are I don't know, but I believe there is the "Crystal World" of Terra, where the original 6 are based, and the other world of Gaia where 7-9 are based.

I think that 6 is at the end of the Terra timeline and FF9 is at the start of the Gaia timeline.

Things like Gilgamesh, Shinryuu and Omega can travel between the void between the worlds at will, possibly through time as well.

Ivalice can be dismissed because it never started as a real FF "world", merely a world for a spin-off, FF Tactics to be placed.

FF13 can suck me.

Yes, our history and lore is confused as to the basics of our world and it's geography. The arabs thought the world was like an upside down umbrella, the Christians thought it was flat and you could fall off the edge - we now know it's a sphere. In a world where dictators and evil regimes were the norm, we have forgetten most of them. It's possible in a world where magic and monsters run rampant that the past so-to-be evil rulers were also forgotten.

Also, Iifa Tree = Moore Tree/ExDeath?