"Shiva"

[Demon]

For awhile, I was thinking that Nix from Final Fantasy XIII was "Shiva". But then I realized that her name was Nix.

Nix was one of two Shiva sisters in XIII known as "Nix & Stiria".

In Final Fantasy X, there was a female who you could summon who was named "Shiva". She looked a little like Nix I guess, except her skin color was a bit different.

When talking of the Shiva sisters in XIII, I was thinking that one was the younger sister of a female named "Shiva" and one the older sister of a female named "Shiva". But then someone suggested the idea that perhaps "Shiva" was the last name of Nix and Stiria.

 

[Dionysos]

Shiva is a recurring summon in the Final Fantasy series. She has been used in most FF games with summon capabilities up to this point.

I think that hey just had to split Shiva into two as they had problems figuring out how to make Shiva transform into a motorbike without looking much stranger than the two sisters do. After splitting her they probably had a meeting to decide which sister would be Shiva, and which would be someone else, but they ultimately decided that none of them will be Shiva, but that they will both be the Shiva Sisters instead.

So essentially Shiva is still in the game but is in two parts instead of one. It’s really strange for the player to see Shiva this way, so they decided to give Shiva two different names for each of the sisters which make up Shiva in FFXIII.

 

[Saix]

With the split, I tended to view 'Shiva' as more of a concept than a physical entity. Obviously that trail of thought pertains (thusfar) only to FFXIII, but it helped me justify the idea of having two beings, named collaboratively, as 'Shiva'.

You could associate an erotic, feminine being with quite a few elements (except perhaps Earth - that's quite rugged), so seeing two women deal with ice seems appropriate, as if the summon's element itself was reference to a sexual nature. Further delving into the sexual aspect, having two women together could have the potential for eroticism, further explaining the developer's use. Considering the target audience... well...

A thought, at least.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

With the split, I tended to view 'Shiva' as more of a concept than a physical entity. Obviously that trail of thought pertains (thusfar) only to FFXIII, but it helped me justify the idea of having two beings, named collaboratively, as 'Shiva'.

You could associate an erotic, feminine being with quite a few elements (except perhaps Earth - that's quite rugged), so seeing two women deal with ice seems appropriate, as if the summon's element itself was reference to a sexual nature. Further delving into the sexual aspect, having two women together could have the potential for eroticism, further explaining the developer's use. Considering the target audience... well...

A thought, at least.

Lol , as we all know Shiva is an Hindu God, thats what Shiva is based on, I think the only reason they made Shiva female is because of the phrase "she's cold as ice" , typical phrase that suits a icy female. its perfect.

Maybe they also made her damn sexy for the sex appeal but I doubt it though xD, you are just a sexual being , you and your thoughts

 

[Saix]

Lol , as we all know Shiva is an Hindu God, thats what Shiva is based on, I think the only reason they made Shiva female is because of the phrase "she's cold as ice" , typical phrase that suits a icy female. its perfect.

Maybe they also made her damn sexy for the sex appeal but I doubt it though xD, you are just a sexual being , you and your thoughts

She may be a God in Hinduism, but not in Final Fantasy. I am quite aware of her thanks.

My reference to their being two was simply a sexual one - pure speculation. A possible trail of thought, but I've never spent time seeking what their real inspiration was for the duo.

 

[Demon]

I think that hey just had to split Shiva into two

Upon looking into this, I think you're right.

Very weird that they did this. It would make more sense if they were of the water element, because water easily splits.

You could associate an erotic, feminine being with quite a few elements (except perhaps Earth - that's quite rugged)

Earth is the easiest for me... mother Earth, or a female with dirt all over her or vines rapped around her... oops, just lost my train of thought.

 

[Dionysos]

On a slight tangent... Earth could easily be the most erotic of all elements.

A lot of Earth's earliest cultures centred around the worshipping of a (ludicrously) curvaceous female figure of fertility, most often associated with the earth.

Erotic icy female figures are nowhere near as common (off the top of my head I can’t think of any ice-related goddesses), but in fiction they are typically witches, sorceresses, or some other type of clever, cold and calculating villainess (or mysterious anti-heroine). They often have sexy appeal, but in a "I'm not too sure if I really want to get close enough to hug / go further with that". You'd have to be very horny, very brave, or under a spell of some sorts.

Mother Earth however... She'd be wiggling her hips about, doing twirls and baring and lifting up her breasts. She'd welcome you with warm, open arms.


I always found it interesting that they'd named FF's Shiva as Shiva in the first place. For starters the Hindu god is more often considered male (I think he was meant to be considered both feminine and masculine, but still), and FF's ice summon is always very much a female.

I guess it phonetically makes sense; Shiva can sound like "shiver". Hindu deities (of which Shiva the summon undoubtedly resembles in many of her forms) are often blue. The marrying of Shiva to FF's Shiva makes sense in a way, even though it is not really the Shiva of Hinduism.

 

[strifehart]

Argor you might find this interesting...

I'm hindu, so I might be able to shed some more light on the background of "Shiva". As Argor said, Shiva really bears no resemblance to the Hindu god aside from namesake. Even the ice element has nothing to do with Shiva. Lord Shiva is a male god, married with two sons, who lives in what many might consider a hermit-style life in the Himalayas at the top of the mountains. I suppose the ice could be connect with the cold temperatures at the tops of the mountains.

Additionally, Shiva is considered the god of destruction. He has a closed third eye located on his forehead. When he opens it, it brings about complete destruction (like the apocalypse). He's also one of the older gods...he supposedly was part of hinduism before the incorporation of other dieties brought in from cultures entering india from the north (these dieties typically make up most of hinduism).

There are a lot of different theories behind the blue skin thing. People depicted with blue skin have a strong connection with nature and are spiritually strong or holy. Another common theory is that when these dieties were first starting to be drawn, blue was used to show a darker skin color. Either way, its similar to a halo around the head in christian mythology (haha, i say this because a lot of people say hindu mythology, like hinduism is a dead religion or something. I don't mean harm by it, or to bring about religious debate or anything, just thought i'd try putting the shoe on someone else).

Last quick bit about masculinity and shiva. Shiva is actually VERY masculine. In fact, shiva is often depicted as a "lingam". This is basically a phallic object, symbolizing male fertility and strength.

 

[bearsfwd]

Since I learned that Shiva was actually sisters, I never really had problems wrapping my brain around it. It was odd at first, but certainly not horrible.

Making Shiva a set of sisters in XIII wasn't nearly as bad as taking Ifrit out completely or that Odin was lightning-based (wasn't he WEAK to lightning? I don't recall him EVER casting lightning spells previously in the series...). Where was Titan, or Ramuh/various other lightning summon?

I always found it interesting that they'd named FF's Shiva as Shiva in the first place. For starters the Hindu god is more often considered male (I think he was meant to be considered both feminine and masculine, but still), and FF's ice summon is always very much a female

This actually goes along with Bahamut too. I think he is a fish or something in Arabian Mythology. I think he is the only other summon besides Shiva that is not even close to its mythological counterpart, at least that I know of off the top of my head.

 

[Vannitie]

"The other way they run along the skirts of Germany, through Stiria, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, as far as Thrace and the Black Sea." Only result I can find for Stiria is a place.

All I can find as far as Nix goes are things related to folk tales that are kind of vague.
So...I guess they just liked the names and needed Shiva split in two. ( I KNOW Nix sounds familiar though, and it's really bothered me.)