I found this on FF Wiki, and thought it was really interesting, so decided to post it to see what the rest of you think, and whether or not you agree with / can explain away the list ^^
Plot Holes
A plot hole is a contradiction in the game's plot.
Final Fantasy III
A goof is a minor continuity issue or visual mistake in the game. It usually doesn't affect the game's plot.
Final Fantasy VII
Unlike a plot hole, an unexplained event doesn't contradict the game's plot.
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy Tactics
Plot Holes
A plot hole is a contradiction in the game's plot.
Final Fantasy III
- In the DS version, there is a contradiction towards the story of how the four children came to be. According to Cid, the children were not originally from this world, stating that ten years prior to the game, he was ferrying people to and from the continents when an unknown evil struck, causing his ship to be destroyed. This contradicts what Unei says at one point of the game: that the Surface World had been closed off for a thousand years.
- Somehow, Golbez and Fusoya are able to return to the Red Moon without the use of an airship.
- Somehow both Cid and Yang survive catastrophic explosions and are found alive and relatively healthy, while Cecil and Rydia are knocked unconscious by an earthquake, Rosa is bedridden and incoherent with a fever, and Edge is seemingly heavily wounded by Rubicante's fire magic.
- After the three-party split, the characters happen to meet back at Narshe at the same time; however, Sabin's trip through the Veldt, Doma Castle, Phantom Train, and Barren Falls should have logically taken much more time than Terra Branford's trip on the Lethe River and Locke's infiltration of Figaro. However, this can be explained since the game never actually states how much time passes between Terra, Edgar and Bannon's arrival and the appearance of the rest of the party.
- There is a deviation between the time of death of Tifa's father between Last Order -Final Fantasy VII- and the game.
- Sephiroth is stabbed and hurled into the mako pit at the Nibelheim Reactor by Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, but it is shown that he willingly throws himself into it in Last Order.
- Rufus wanted to borrow Cid's Tiny Bronco, but being president of Shin-Ra, he should have access to many vehicles.
- Possibly the most blatant of them. When Aerith is slain, none of the characters attempt using Raise or Phoenix Down to try to save her life. This is however not a plot hole, as these items and spells only cure fainted victims, actual death being permanent.
- Though the Weapons awaken to combat Sephiroth and Meteor, once his barrier is destroyed none of the remaining Weapons attack him. Indeed, one of Ultimate Weapon's favourite places to hover (when the player is pursuing it) is right over the North Crater! It is conceivable, however, that this is due to the WEAPON's inability to breach Sephiroth's protective barrier.
- Seifer used a power similar to magic, but in-game information indicates that he uses chi, not actual magic.
- Edea murders President Deling in front of a crowd of thousands and practically proclaims herself a tyrant, yet her parade carries on and people cheer for her. However, this could be due to Ultimecia's control over the people of Galbadia, or their hatred for President Deiling.
- Time Compression occurs yet there remain students willing to play cards. Although one might assume that, in an existence where time has been focused into a singularity, there is not much else to do.
- There is an anti-magic shield in the D-District Prison, but during the battle with Biggs and Wedge GFs and Magic can be used normally.
- Although during the SeeD exam Squall and his classmates show no difficulty in defeating the Galbadians, at several times during the game they are shown to consider the Galbadian soldiers a threat - the TV Station, the Prison
- Though her goal during the game has been to capture Ellone, while possessing Rinoa on the spacestation, Ultimecia walks right past her. However, due to her seeming inability to completely control Rinoa with ease, it is possible that she was in no position to abduct Ellone at that point, anyway.
- Though they are apparently such an (in)famous weapon in the world of FFVIII, the only people to use Gunblades are Seifer, Squall, and Laguna. However, their infamy could be the result of their difficulty in use, which would account for the small number of people who can actually wield them.
A goof is a minor continuity issue or visual mistake in the game. It usually doesn't affect the game's plot.
Final Fantasy VII
- Tseng appeared to have been killed by Sephiroth in the Temple of the Ancients. His death seemed to have been confirmed by Elena when she blamed Cloud for "doin' in (her) boss" and Tseng is never seen in the game again. However Tseng later appears alive and well in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It was later revealed that Elena's line was a mistranslation.
- An infamous translation goof occurs during the first boss of the game, against the Guard Scorpion. Cloud urges the player to "Attack while its tail's up!", however doing so will allow the Guard Scorpion to counter with its Tail Laser.
- In the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII, Aerith's name is Aerith, but it was translated as Aeris in the English version by SCEA. This is because the Japanese language doesn't have the "th" sound, and the closest thing is "su," the equivalent of the English-language "s" sound. The translators were mistaken when they spelled her name in English, and took the "su" sound in her Japanese name to mean an "s." However, since Kingdom Hearts, her name has been translated as Aerith in her appearances such as Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, meaning that the Aeris name has been retconned.
- Player was able to use only one snowboard despite having three party members.
- During one of the CGI cutscenes, Aerith and Tifa flee in a car (while Cloud uses a motorbike). If you look carefully at the logo on the side of the car, the name of the company that produced it is "Motor Midgal's Group" which is a typo as it should read "Motor Midgar's Group." This mistake is probably due to the fact that the Japanese pronounced the letters L and R the same.
- During the FMV showing the Ropeway cable car going towards Gold Saucer, the propellors change position several times.
- During the scene where Sephiroth stabs Aerith with his sword, his gloves disappear for a few seconds.
- When we first see Aeris at the altar, she is facing the stairs, with her back to the railing. However, when Sephiroth comes down with his sword, both he and Aeris have their backs to the stairs. Once the FMV ends, they are again facing the stairs.
- Also during Aerith's death scene, Aerith is stabbed through the chest, yet there is inexplicably no blood.
- Again, during Aerith's death scene, Aerith's body sinks to the bottom of the water, but dead bodies can't sink - they float.
- Again, during Aerith's death scene, Cloud let's Aerith's body sink into the center of a deep lake, where Cloud is standing next to her on the lake floor.
- Lastly, during Aerith's death scene, Cloud vanishes when showing Aerith sink.
- During the Rocket Launch FMV, the text on the rocket (Shinra No. 26) is reversed.
- The Sister Ray cannon is not aimed at North Cave, although an FMV shows it hitting the correct target. This is known as it is possible to 'aim' the Highwind in the direction the cannon points- it is several degrees off.
- When Kadaj kneels in front of Rufus Shinra, watch his sword. As he kneels, it goes through the floor.
- Cloud finds Tifa lying on the flower-patch in the church, after the fight with Loz. When we first see her she has her leather gloves on, then the next shot her hands are bare, and again in the next shot she has her gloves again.
- During the bike chase towards the end, as Cloud and Loz/Yazoo crash through the security gate, you can see that the lettering is misspelled: "Authorized Parsonnel Only." It should read "Authorized Personnel Only."
- In the final battle of Cloud VS Sephiroth, when the Shinra HQ is collapsing, in the final shot of the building collapsing, one of the pieces of rubble is not there for about one or two frames, then it suddenly appears.
- When Yazoo jumps/flips over Cloud's motorcycle in the opening chase sequence, the way his motorcycle is flipping through the air changes slightly between shots.
- During the Bahamut attack scene, in some of the wide shots above the city, you can see some of the people (All computer generated) running "through" each other.
- After Aerith resurrects Cloud, he finds himself surrounded by children in the pool of water in Aerith's church, but when he stands up he is completely dry.
- When the giant crowd has gathered around the memorial before the Bahamut attack scene, you can see some of the CGI people are using the exact same body animations.
- Barrier protects the caster from high-powered sniper bullets yet not from chainwhips, nunchaku and bare fists.
- Irvine is seen to shoot Edea from the front during the parade sequence, but moments later when Squall drives up to her float, the float is facing forward. Besides the obvious change of direction in the way the float is facing, the backing of Edea's throne would have made shooting her from that angle impossible.
- In the third Laguna Dream in Winhill a map is visible on the back wall of the Flower Restaurant. Interestingly, the map is not of the world of Final Fantasy VIII but of our own world. The map is no longer present if the player returns to Winhill with Squall later in the game.
- The first line of Bahamut's Scan description in English contains a grammatical error, reading "Called the King of GF; its Mega Flare ignores all defense, giving a powerful blo". In the PlayStation Greatest Hits release this error was corrected so that the first line ends with simply "ignores all defense."
- In the English translation Zell loves eating hotdogs however in the ending FMV he is seen to be eating flavored bread instead. This is because in the original translation (Japanese) Zell's favorite food was flavored bread, not hotdogs.
- Selphie's weapon were called Nunchaku in the NTSC versions of Final Fantasy VIII, but in the PAL versions and some walkthroughs they are known as Shinobou.
- Though Cid says that Xu, Fujin and Raijin are evacuating students from Garden in case the missiles hit, afterward every student that was there before is still there.
- When Aki gets cornered by phantoms in Old New York at the beginning of the film and the Deep Eyes come to rescue her, all four members of the Deep Eye Squad jump from the transport (even though one of them should be the pilot), but only three of them hit the ground. Just a few seconds later, Aki tries to escape through a gap between two buildings. The three Deep Eyes follow her. When Ryan shoots at two phantoms hitting some explosive tanks in one of the next shots, you can see four Deep Eyes again.
- When Gray is being operated on by Aki (he's on the medical table) you can clearly see a reddish-brown scar on the lower left side of his neck (it's not a recent wound). It appears off and on for the rest of the film. Example: you can not see it when they are conversing after escaping to space in her ship after everyone else dies.
- After the same operation Aki turns around to pick up the canister containing the plant off a table there is no table or ledge. If you watch the movie with the commentary one of the members involved with the movie says that it is floating on nothing.
- The DVD includes some cast bloopers as well:
- Grey shoots through the hangar window and then knocks himself out as his attempt to jump through it fails.
- In the scene where Neil drives through the building and crashes, the main characters emerge with debris (pipes, tools, stop signs) through their heads, and yet they continue to act as if nothing has happened.
- In the Wasteland, Grey stumbles and accidentally shoots Aki. After realizing she's not moving, he nonchalantly sets his gun aside and starts running.
- Aki drives her spaceship into Grey during the shoot-out in the hangar.
- During the conference scene, Aki enters the room and smacks Sid upside the head.
- In the final scene where Aki is solemnly carrying a dead Grey out of the Crater, she happens to sneeze, which causes both her and the dead body to break out into laughter.
Unlike a plot hole, an unexplained event doesn't contradict the game's plot.
Final Fantasy
- In the original game, it is not explained how Garland and the Four Fiends manage to travel through time. This is later explained in Dissidia Final Fantasy, being explained as the doing of the Void.
- Neither the Emperor's reasons to throw a world domination campaign, nor the origin of his fiendish powers are ever shown.
- Leila has no backstory from before her life of piracy.
- It is never explained exactly why the King of Baron wants the village of Mist destroyed, although it can be logically deduced that any group with the power to summon Eidolons might be considered a threat against any plans Zemus would have for repopulating the earth with Lunarians.
- Only two of the four Dark Crystals are shown, the other two are only mentioned in passing. Furthermore, there is no real place in the Underground for them to have been kept.
- It is never explained how the Dark Elf was able to steal the Crystal of Earth from Troia, although the Troians do not seem particularly adept at combat.
- It is never explained exactly how the Tower of Babil was built, nor where the Tower of Zot is.
- The character Banon, leader of the Returners, plays a fairly important role in the first half of the game, but is then completely forgotten in the second half without any explanation to his fate or whereabouts.
- It is never explained why Maria was absent during the Opera sequence and why Celes happens to look like her. Indeed, Maria never appears in the game.
- Siegfried's full story is never given. He appears aboard the Phantom Train and in the Figaro Cave, both times without any apparent reason or explanation. The full story of Gogo is not given either.
- After the events of the Whirlwind Maze, a large crater appears East of Junon on the World Map. It is unknown what caused this crater to appear, although it could be the result of a WEAPON emerging from the Northern Crater..
- Assault rifles exist in this universe and prior to Dr. Odine's discoveries only a selected few were able to use magic. Taking this into account, the widespread use of mêlée weapons remains unexplained.
- The true nature of the Moon is never explained, nor why the Lunar Cry occurs.
- Ultimecia's true ambitions and origins are never explained in a clear manner.
- Balamb Garden has a ballroom which is seen in several scenes in the story, however it is never clear how the characters actually get there as the room does not exist when walking around in the in-game map.
- Although Irvine's remembrance of the party's childhood and why he never mentioned it is explained, it is never fully mentioned how Seifer remembered that they grew up together. This could, however, have happened from being the Matron's knight.
- Though Squall's final exam is to defeat Ifrit in the Fire Cavern, it is never explained what the exam is for other students - if they too must defeat Ifrit, defeat a different GF elsewhere, or do something entirely different.
- Though weapons are constantly shown to be upgraded or modified at shops, it is never explained where these weapons are originally made in the first place.
- Necron's origins are never explained.
- It is never shown if Kuja died or survived after Zidane found him.
- After rescueing Hilda, it's never explained just how Dagger (or indeed Tantulus and Zidane) make their way back to Alexandria without the use of an airship or boat. There aren't Gargants that go straight from Linblum to Alexandria either.
- Lulu and Paine wear clothes that are completely foreign to the rest of Spira and it is never explained how or why.
- It is never stated why the Occuria leave Ivalice, and yet still take such an active interest in the goings on of the world. They also disappear without explanation after the destruction of the Sun-Cryst, seemingly giving up their control of history without as much as a single comment.
Final Fantasy I
- Intelligence Bug
- Invisible Man of Cornelia
- Peninsula of Power
- Running Glitch
- Special Abilities Glitch
- Spells Glitch
- Weapons Glitch
Final Fantasy IV
- 255 Anything Glitch
- Item Duplication Glitch (Final Fantasy IV)
- Psycho Edward bug
- Reviving Enemies Glitch
- Sealed Cave Glitch
- Second Form Glitch
- Sneak Glitch
- Airship and Hiryuu Glitch
- Ancient Library Glitch
- Berserker Class Glitch
- Black Chocobo Glitch
- Catch Bug
- Encounter Glitch
- Hidden Zombies Bug
- Hide Glitch
- Infinite Items Glitch
- Item Transformation Bug
- Kiss of Blessing bug
- Mix and X-Magic Glitch
- Power Drink Bug
- View Bug
- Walking Through Walls Glitch
- Walking in Air Glitch
- Atma Weapon Petrify Glitch
- Capture Glitch
- Dream Stooges Bug
- Evade Bug
- Genji Glove Bug
- Jump Glitch
- Kaiser Dragon Glitch
- Kutan Glitch
- Mantra Glitch
- Mimic Glitch
- Optimize Glitch
- Pincer Attack Glitch
- Psycho Cyan Bug
- Rippler Bug
- Save Point Glitch
- Sketch Bug
- Slot Bug
- Trance Glitch
- Vanish-Doom Bug
- Adamantaimai Cure Glitch
- Back Attack Glitch
- Death Penalty Glitch
- Gelinka Rude AI Glitch
- Infinite Elixir Glitch
- Magic Defense Bug
- Master Command/Support Materia Glitch
- Pyramid Encounter Glitch
- Quadra Magic Cave Glitch
- Save Crystal Glitch
- Unescapable Battles Glitch
- W-Item Duplication Bug
- In the Debug Menu, amongst the FMVs listed for Disc 2 are ones called Laguna/Squall watching the moon. When played, they show scenes from the Clash of the Gardens - indicating these FMVs were dummied out for some reason, most likely lack of disc space. The Laguna scene sounds like it could have been a movie of him proposing to Raine, like in the ending. Squall's moon scene may have been him watching the moon during the concert at Fisherman's Horizon. However, there is also promotional CG artwork that depicts Squall and Laguna look at the night sky, which may have been part of this FMV at one point.
- According to the Debug Menu, the FMV of Adel junctioning herself to Rinoa was going to be on Disc 3, so it is likely that Adel was going to be the Final Boss of Disc 3 instead of Seifer, but her boss fight and FMV were moved to Disc 4 likely due to lack of space on Disc 3 for another FMV.
- Originally there were two other spells slated to be in Selphie's Limit Break but for an unknown reason they were never programmed in, although they can be accessed with a Gameshark. When used, the animation is of the Fire spell. These two extra spells are:
- Percent - cuts all enemies' HP by a certain percentage.
- Catastrophe - the ultimate offensive spell, more powerful than even Apocalypse.
Final Fantasy Tactics