SPOILERS Symbolism of black chocobos.

[Dionysos]

THIS THREAD CONTAINS OPEN PLOT SPOILERS. DO NOT READ BEYOND THE PICTURE OF THE BLACK CHOCOBO CHICK IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS.

Symbolism of black chocobos:

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Before I start, I’m not going to discuss possible insensitive racial metaphors in this post. Racial elements are undoubtedly there in some of the earliest depictions of black chocobos, just not necessarily FFXV’s (unless you think I’m wrong). Instead, this post deals with the role of the black chocobo in Eos and its use as a foreshadowing device.

Black chocobos have always been a very special breed of feathered mounts in the Final Fantasy franchise. They are usually very rare (sometimes limited to one particular region), and they often have abilities surpassing those of their yellow counterparts. Traditionally black chocobos were a breed capable of flight, although this role was shifted to the gold chocobo in PSX titles and have somewhat obscured the unique abilities of the black chocobo. Nevertheless, the significance of black chocobos as being ‘special’ in some way remains true in FFXV, albeit without (so far – DLC pending) any special abilities being known. Is it possible that the black chocobos act as an unheard warning to the player of what the future has in store for Noctis and his gang?


Black chocobos in Eos:

Black chocobos are also very rare in FFXV. The inhabitants of Eos describe a scenario where black chocobos are going extinct, and they now only exist in the wild in dwindling numbers. In a quest for Wiz’ Chocobo Post the party can rescue the egg of a black chocobo and see it hatch into a baby. Here you end up doing your bit for the conservation of the species.

During an optional friendship tour quest with Ignis in Myrlwood, the player can meet another black chocobo. Here the very naughty adult black chocobo has stolen Ignis’ glasses and the player has to help him retrieve them by sneakily snatching the glasses whilst Ignis distracts the bird with gysahl greens.

So that’s it, right? Black chocobos are hardly significant at all? That’s quite probable… But what if they were more important than we first thought as we passively played the game? These scenes seem highly insignificant, but they could be key scenes in what they foreshadow.


Ardyn and black chocobos:

Before we return to the scenes described above, let us consider briefly the lore surrounding Ardyn Lucis Caelum (later Izunia). Although never seen in the game, artwork suggests that Ardyn rode a black chocobo during his early days while he was a hero-king tasked with healing those inflicted with the Starscourge and restoring light to Eos.

Were black chocobos associated with Ardyn? Was his wing-arm in Kingsglaive supposed to reference this (or was he cosplaying Kenny Crow that day?!)? We can imagine that black chocobos were less rare 2,000 years ago while Ardyn was a hero, and so did black chocobo numbers begin to decline when Ardyn fell from grace? Would this be correlation or causation?

We can’t really know.

Given that the colour black (coupled with death imagery) is important to Lucian royalty, it is quite possible that black chocobos were a favourite mount for Lucian kings.

We can only speculate on the figurative implications, but it would be plausible to imagine that we are also to take the black chocobo as predicting the incremental rise of darkness within Ardyn as the daemonic essences which he was absorbing from his patients were beginning to corrupt him. Ardyn is presented in the above artwork in a triumphant procession and celebrated as a hero and saviour, yet his mount might foreshadow a darker future around the corner.


Darkness incoming: the unheard warnings of the black chocobos.

After contemplating the above, let’s go back to the incident when Ignis’ glasses were stolen. This seems quite important considering that as the game continues Ignis suffers a serious injury to the eyes which leaves him permanently blind. The theft of glasses would be a strong enough omen for his upcoming misfortune without the need for any chocobo, but the black chocobo itself might again be a symbol of darkness. Ignis’ entire world shall very shortly match the shade of that mischievous chocobo’s plumage.

It is also implied that Ardyn might have blinded Ignis himself (or that the blindness was as a consequence of Ardyn's arrival). We never see the incident occur, but Ignis tells Noctis that the last thing he remembers seeing before his injury is Ardyn arriving at the scene. If Ardyn is somehow associated with black chocobos then Ignis’ glasses thief might be hinting at the future involvement of Ardyn himself in Ignis’ trauma.

Now, back to that egg. Noctis and the bros rescue the chocobo egg from monsters, and seeing no mother about they take it to Wiz’ Chocobo Post to give it a chance of surviving and hatching. Several days later, the egg hatches and a black chocobo chick emerges.

This black chocobo chick could symbolise a couple of things (or nothing at all, of course!). If black chocobos are a Lucian royal favourite, then it could represent the young Prince Noctis himself (whose mother is never seen, and who himself is seen as a new hope for the world of Eos, albeit a hope surrounded by darkness and death). The black chocobo chick could equally represent Ardyn (a villain whose aims the party unwittingly help fulfill). Or it could be both in that Ardyn and Noctis help each other in equal measure in an odd symbiotic relationship (at the end of the game both Noctis and Ardyn’s aims are fulfilled, each by the other), not unlike the relationship between the chocobo chick and its carers. Additionally, the Starscourge is quickening and in the near future the nights will lengthen and swallow the days. Perhaps the birth of the black chocobo chick can also symbolise the inevitable World of Ruin which is approaching.

Considering that bird signs have historically been considered as presaging particular events at certain times in our own world (also in popular culture), this might not be as far-fetched as it sounds (unless, of course, it is).

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So what do you think? Are black chocobos simply black chocobos? Or are they also sometimes prophesying what is to come?

 

[Dionysos]

It has recently been suggested to me that the Genesis artwork (an in-game painting which depicts the prophecy of the True King ending the Starscourge) is more connected with particular events which we see occurring in FFXV than I'd first thought.

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Not only is Ultros there (hinting at his impalement in Kingsglaive), but the central figures (the companions of the True King in the middle) are clearly representations of the roles which Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis ended up filling.

The figure on the right appears to be blind or disabled in some way (needing the support of another figure) and is highly suggestive of Ignis being helped by Gladio.

If so then it might suggest that Ardyn knew of this and that this is why he blinded Ignis (to fulfill the prophecy).

The entire game hinges around the prophecy. People complain about characters dying and sacrificing themselves in FFXV, but the entire point of the game is that nobody is really free to choose their destinies once they are involved with the True King prophecy.



Considered in context, the black chocobos are one of many omens which hint at things to come and suggest the journey of the prophesied True King.

 

[Miko]

Interesting read. I guess I've always just attributed Black Chocobos with rareness instead of.. prophecy.

Even in our own times we tend to have associations of doom or other negative associations with black animals such as crows and cats. I guess it's a bit naive of me to see them as strictly 'rare' specimens, especially in a Final Fantasy universe. My first introduction to black Chocobos was FF7 when you are racing/breeding. I always thought they were a much cooler design but I understood that 'gold' is a much more higher grade than the black Chocobo. Them inserting Gold Chocobos reinforced my views on that, but now maybe I can view it as more of a 'purer', perhaps even 'white' version to the black. Like yin/yang. Is that weird to think?

Anyway, another thought about the prophecy of a black Chocobo could be taken as oncoming death, perhaps like Lunafreya. It's been so long since I've played FFXV, as well as only having it played once, so maybe I'm wrong or there isn't enough to draw on that, but it's an idea at least.

Thanks for the interesting read! I kinda wanna run through this game again!

 

[Dionysos]

Interesting read. I guess I've always just attributed Black Chocobos with rareness instead of.. prophecy.

Even in our own times we tend to have associations of doom or other negative associations with black animals such as crows and cats. I guess it's a bit naive of me to see them as strictly 'rare' specimens, especially in a Final Fantasy universe. My first introduction to black Chocobos was FF7 when you are racing/breeding. I always thought they were a much cooler design but I understood that 'gold' is a much more higher grade than the black Chocobo.

Black birds, particularly crows or ravens, have long been associated with prophecies and acted as messenger birds of the gods.

They were associated with the Greek god Apollo (often a god of prophecy, particularly when considered in the context of his sanctuary at Delphi). Originally the raven (or crow) had white feathers (according to some versions) and acted as a messenger for the god. When the raven reported the bad news that Apollo’s lover Coronis (whose name itself can also mean crow/raven) was taking a new lover, Apollo in his rage shot the messenger, scorching him and turning his birdy messenger black, changing the colour of the species forever. In Norse mythology too ravens are associated with prophecy, developing into the idea that Odin had two ravens Huginn (‘thought’) and Muninn (‘memory’) serving as messengers bringing the Allfather information about the mortal realm of Midgard. In more recent times there is the prophetic myth about the Tower of London that should all of the ravens leave the tower then the Kingdom of England will collapse. There are many other examples from across the world.

Them inserting Gold Chocobos reinforced my views on that, but now maybe I can view it as more of a 'purer', perhaps even 'white' version to the black. Like yin/yang. Is that weird to think?

Anyway, another thought about the prophecy of a black Chocobo could be taken as oncoming death, perhaps like Lunafreya. It's been so long since I've played FFXV, as well as only having it played once, so maybe I'm wrong or there isn't enough to draw on that, but it's an idea at least.

Thanks for the interesting read! I kinda wanna run through this game ag

I think Square was also probably thinking “Where can we go next and how can we push this new 3D technology?” Rendering gold might have been regarded as a challenge, and gold has long been associated with high value and wealth and, eventually, with coming ‘first place’ in contests, and so on. Maybe that’s why they decided to go with the ‘gold chocobo’ as the new super-chocobo. In a way it is quite refreshing to see them return to the black chocobo as a significant variant in Final Fantasy XV.

Also they’ve pretty much confirmed some of the things I speculated about in this interview following Episode Ardyn’s Prologue anime. This thread predates all of that, so it’s nice to now see confirmation (almost word for word with my speculation in my first post):

When it comes to Lunafreya, I suppose we shouldn’t forget her two dogs. Umbra (the black dog) and Pryna (the white dog). It isn’t always explicit in the original form of the game (I’m not sure if it is more obvious in the current version or not) but these are meant to be Messengers of the Astrals. They connect the Oracle (which during the game is Lunafreya) with the Astrals, serving as intermediaries. They are also animals of omens, manipulating dreams, etc, and appropriately feature prominently in the pre-release kick-ass trailer Omen.

They even have wings in the game’s in-universe history books.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/f...on-FFXV.png/revision/latest?cb=20180302164044

We see here again a light/dark duality. With the prominence of the idea of the night engulfing the world in the plot, this fits in quite nicely amongst the themes. As for the black chocobo symbolising Lunafreya’s oncoming death, that might be another angle. If the black chocobo can symbolise Ardyn then it can also symbolise Lunafreya’s untimely end at his hand. That the chocobros found the black chocobo egg and helped rear it could also symbolise how the chocobro’s own actions, rather tragically, inevitably worked alongside Ardyn’s to ensure Lunafreya’s death.