Character design of Final Fantasy

Though each Final Fantasy story is independent, many themes and elements of gameplay recur throughout the series. Some spin-off titles have cameo appearances of characters from preceding stories, but in most cases merely the names are reused, so that each game has its own unique collection of characters in totally unrelated worlds.

Gameplay elements

Character classes and the job system

File:Final Fantasy V - Job System.png

The job system in Final Fantasy V

Main article: Final Fantasy character classes

The most common playable character classes have been the Fighter or Warrior; White and Black Mages; Monk; and Thief. Less common are the Red and Blue Mages. In some titles, the player can choose what job class each character can assume, but even in games where the player is not given a choice, these classes often play an important background role in the story.

Magic

Main article: Final Fantasy magic

Magic in the Final Fantasy series is generally divided into classes, which are usually named after a specific color. The actual magic classes vary from game to game, but all games include White magic, which includes healing and support spells, and Black magic, which includes offensive spells. One who is proficient in White or Black magic is often known as a White Mage or Black Mage. Additional classes and mages appear throughout the series, such as a Red Mage, who can cast both white and black magic, or Green Magic, which can inflict positive or negative statuses on both foe and friend. There is also a Blue Mage class. Blue Mages can cast Blue Magic which consists of special abilities learnt from enemy creatures.

Status effects

Characters in Final Fantasy games are usually subject to a number of standard "status ailments" which cause often deleterious (but sometimes favorable) effects, including silence, stop, berserk, poison, petrification and confusion. While these are present in many console RPGs, Final Fantasy has a standard list of items which may be used to cure specific ailments, as well as magical spells. In most cases, a status ailment can be cured by either an item or a spell.

Design elements

Character design

Further information: [[:Recurring character names of Final Fantasy]]

A character named "Cid" has been present in every Final Fantasy game. Although he is rarely the same individual, he is usually presented as an owner, creator, and/or pilot of airships and sometimes plays a political role in the story. In a similar vein, characters named Biggs and Wedge (homages to the Star Wars characters Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles) have appeared in most games since Final Fantasy VI. Other names appear in several games. The protagonists of the Nomura-designed Final Fantasy games usually have a name alluding to or directly related to meteorological phenomena or celestial bodies.

File:Ff8-rinoa-angelwing.png

Rinoa's limit, Angel Wing.

In some Final Fantasy Titles, some characters appear with real or symbolic wings. Kefka from Final Fantasy VI gained real wings after he ascended to Godhood in the form of Kefka Palazzo. Final Fantasy VII's villain Sephiroth ascended to the form of Safer Sephiroth, in which he had one wing on his right shoulder, as well as 3 pairs of wings where his abdomen should be. The one-sided wing is the source of his nickname as the "One Winged Angel". Sephiroth has appeared in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts with one wing on his right side. Cloud Strife, his antithesis, also appears in Kingdom Hearts with one wing, although it is non-feathered and comes from his left side. Sephiroth is often referred to as the "One Winged Angel", and his theme song is also called "One Winged Angel". Final Fantasy VIII used the depiction of two white wings on the back of Rinoa Heartilly's vest. Rinoa also grows literal wings temporarily during her "Angel Wing" limit break during battle. She also transforms a petal that she catches in the wind into a single white feather in the opening sequence of the game. Seifer Almasy is shown blasting into black feathers at the stroke of Squall Leonhart´s final gunblade strike in the opening FMV. Final Fantasy IX brought back physical wings in the form of ornaments that Eiko Carol wears on her back. Her wings were a gift, and they enlarge in her trance form. Yuna from Final Fantasy X wears a wedding dress that has white wings incorporated into it's design.

Music

Main article: Final Fantasy music

Several musical tracks have been in just about every Final Fantasy game to date. In most games in the series, the same simple melody is used at the opening screen, and a very noticeable musical cue is the victory music which is played after the player wins a battle. This cue is so well known it has become a ring-tone for cellular phones; in fact it makes a 'cameo' of sorts in the full-length movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children as Loz's ring-tone. These songs were written in majority by composer Nobuo Uematsu.

Plot elements

Many entries in the Final Fantasy series involve broadly similar plot points, such as rebellion against a major economic, political, or religious power; a struggle against an evil which threatens to overtake or destroy the world; and nature versus technology. The love between major characters, and in some cases rivalry between characters, as well as the desertion or death of major (and sometimes playable) characters, often drives the plot as well.

The Gaia hypothesis permeates several titles of the Final Fantasy series: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy Adventure, and the animated movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Recurring elements

Airships

File:Final Fantasy IV JAP Airship.png

Airships have appeared in every Final Fantasy game, and a character named Cid is almost always directly related to them. (Final Fantasy IV shown).

Main article: List of Final Fantasy airships

Powerful airborne vessels which usually serve as a primary mode of transportation for the player, enabling fast movement to nearly anywhere in the overworld, often without the risk of random encounters. In many games the presence of airships is a key component to the story itself. In the games in which the player has full control over the airship and can fly throughout the world, the game map wraps on both its X and Y axis.

The games in the Final Fantasy series often features different types of transportation, but the most significant is the airship. Airships have appeared in every game in the series and in most spin-offs. Some titles have specific battles that involve airships which are used to advance the plot, while a few games have random encounters with an optional monster. In many games the presence of airships is a key component to the story itself.

In most of the titles, airships generally have the appearance of flying sailing ships with a series of propellers instead of sails. However, in some of the later games they look more technological, appearing to be zeppelins or even ornate space ships. In the games in which the player has full control over the airship and can fly throughout the world, the game map wraps on both its X and Y axes.

An airship as shown in the Final Fantasy I remake from Dawn of Souls.

An airship as shown in the Final Fantasy I remake from Dawn of Souls.

In Final Fantasy, the ancient Lufenian civilization ("Lefeinish" in the original North American software localization) was renowned for their skill and manufacturing airships. In the present, however, all but one of those airships has been lost to time. The one remaining airship, lacking a power source, lies buried beneath the desert. Only by obtaining the anti-gravity Levistone ("Floater" in the original North American software localization) can the ship be salvaged from the sands and returned to the sky.

In the Final Fantasy I remakes, the Lufeinians reference an ancestor named Cid as the creator of their airship. The "Floater" is also renamed Levistone.

The airship in Final Fantasy moves roughly four times faster across the world map than standard walking speed. It can't land on any area other than plains, but traveling via airship does prevent the party from encountering random battles.

An airship as show in the Final Fantasy II remake from Dawn of Souls

An airship as show in the Final Fantasy II remake from Dawn of Souls

The Emperor airship from the Final Fantasy II remake from Dawn of Souls

The Emperor airship from the Final Fantasy II remake from Dawn of Souls

In Final Fantasy II, much of the power of the Palamecian Empire is derived from their mastery of the skies. Cid's airship frequently shoots across the skies when the player is traveling the overworld. Fleeing from the captured city of Fynn, four youths deliver news that the Emperor plans to build a gigantic airbound warship called the Dreadnaught to Fynn's princess-in-exile, Hilda. In order to stop the warship, Hilda and the youths enlist the aid of Cid, one of the world's only freelance airship pilots. Using Cid's ship, the rebels hope to turn the tide against the Emperor.

Final Fantasy III

File:Inside Invincible (Final Fantasy III).png

Inside the Invincible

A total of four airships appear in Final Fantasy III. The first of these airships, owned by Cid Haze, is bequeathed to the four protagonists of the game to help them lift the curse placed on the village of Kazus by the demon Djinn. Following the defeat of Djinn, Cid and Kazus's village blacksmith outfit the airship with a mythril bow that allows the ship to plow through the rock slide that has blocked the mountain pass between the villages of Kazus and Canaan. Although the bow does its job, the airship is torn apart in the process.

Later, after obtaining the sailing ship Enterprise from the Vikings, the four heroes use the Wheel of Time, a perpetual engine, to convert the Enterprise into an airship. While slightly faster than Cid's old airship, the Enterprise is still unable to cross mountains, and, because it was created as a seabound vessel, it can only land on water. While traveling over the city of Saronia, the Enterprise is mistaken for an enemy vessel and shot down.

Realizing their mistake, the scholars of Saronia develop a new airship for the heroes. Designed to be both lightweight and aerodynamic, the Airship Nautilus is the fastest airship in the world. Only the Nautilus can travel through the high-wind mountain passes that would repel a slower ship. Later, the Nautilus is modified by the wizard Dorga (Doga in the DS remake) so that it can travel underwater and find deep sea caves. Like Cid's airship, the Nautilus can only land on grassland.

The airship Invincible

The airship Invincible

Finally, the Airship Invincible is the largest airship ever devised. Four times the size of the Nautilus, it features its own shops and sleeping quarters. Because of its size and weight, the Invincible must stay in the skies at all times: it is necessary to exit the ship via a small boarding ladder that hangs beneath it. The Invincible's engines are powerful enough to briefly boost the ship into higher flight than any airship before it. However, because of the power required, it can only maintain such high altitude for a very short period of time: only long enough to pass over small sections of mountain. Lastly, the Invincible includes a single cannon defense system to be used against the airborne monsters who appear very late in the game.

In PlayStation spin-off Chocobo Racing, the S.S. Invincible is an unlockable 'racer' capable of speeds greatly surpassing the regular characters of Chocobo's Racing. The S.S. Invincible's speed is even higher than custom-made characters in the game's "Edit Parameters" mode. Its high speed, although useful in races without the dangers of falling off the course, is sometimes a bit too fast, sometimes causing the racer to repeatedly hit the wall before getting on with the race.

Final Fantasy IV

File:Lunar Whale (Final Fantasy IV).png

Inside the Big Whale

Much of the story of Final Fantasy IV involves airships. While Cid Pollendina is credited with the invention of airships, it is actually the Lunarian KluYa who introduces the idea to humans. As chief engineer of Baron, Cid created a military fleet of airships, known as the Red Wings. Cecil Harvey begins the game as the commander of the Red Wings, but is relieved from the role when he begins to question the King's judgment.

It is later revealed that the power-obsessed king is in fact Kainazzo (Cagnazzo in the Game Boy Advance remake), the Elemental Lord of Water, in disguise. Cecil defeats Kainazzo, and is joined by Cid. Cid gives Cecil and the rest of his party access to his airship the Enterprise. The Enterprise is modified to carry Edward's hovercraft. When Cecil and Cid take the Enterprise to the Underworld, it is caught in the middle of a battle between the Red Wings and the Dwarven Tanks. After an emergency landing at the Dwarven Castle, Cid leaves the party to fix the Enterprise. When exiting the Underworld, Cid closes the entrance to the Overworld, so the Red Wings cannot follow.

Cecil later enters the Underworld in a trap which drops him to the Underworld level of the Tower of Babil (Tower of Babel in the Game Boy Advance remake). They then steal an enemy airship, which Edge dubs the Falcon. The Falcon, however, cannot fly over magma, which covers much of the Underworld. Cid and the Dwarves modify the Falcon to allow it to withstand the extreme heat, as well as adding a drill to the airship so that it can burrow its way back to the surface.

The Lunar Whale

The Lunar Whale

In the Tower of Worship of Mysidia, the mages magically raise the ancient Lunarian ship, the Big Whale, from the sea floor. The Lunar Whale is a gigantic vessel capable of short-distance space flight between the earth and the Red Moon, which KluYa used years ago for his own Moon-to-Earth voyage.

Final Fantasy V

The airship from Final Fantasy V

The airship from Final Fantasy V

Airships in Final Fantasy V do not exist in the present, but were the results of the labor of an ancient civilization. During their journey, the party stumbles upon an airship. Cid, the engineer and scholar of the kingdom of Karnak, with the help of his grandson Mid, fix the airship. Soon after the completion of the airship repair, adamantite must be found in order for the party to get to the Earth Crystal, as the metal is used to reach a gigantic flying fortress. Later in the game, the airship is upgraded even more, until it has the capabilities to become a submarine, as well as a boat.

Final Fantasy VI

The Blackjack

The Blackjack

Aboard the Blackjack

Aboard the Blackjack

The airships of Final Fantasy VI are the first vessels in Final Fantasy that are actual airships, using large stores of lighter-than-air gas to lift the aircraft.

The Blackjack
In Final Fantasy VI, the gambler Setzer Gabbiani first appears with his ship the Blackjack to abduct Celes from the Opera House during a show. The airship is decorated like a casino and has its own personnel staff. The Blackjack's final flight takes place after Kefka rearranges the Esper Goddess Statues and defaces the World of Balance. The resulting chaos destroys the Blackjack in mid-flight and scatters its passengers. Pieces of the ship (in 1/1200 fractions) are sold at the Auction House, but cannot be bought.

The Falcon

The Falcon

Aboard the Falcon

Aboard the Falcon

The Falcon
The game's other airship, the Falcon belonged to Setzer's long lost friend Daryl, who crashed it after a race with him many years ago. Setzer discovered the wreck a year later, but Daryl was nowhere to be found. He fully restored it and put it underneath her resting tomb. After making their way through Daryl's Tomb in the World of Ruin, the Returners find the Falcon, their only means of reaching Kefka's Tower.

Final Fantasy VII

As well as the traditional Final Fantasy Airship, in Final Fantasy VII, a Gelnika Type B Jet appears, as well as a Tiny Bronco. However instead of a classic ship, a Submarine is available instead. Unlike the latter two, the Gelnika Jet is not controllable, it is a location once it has crashed into the sea.

The Highwind

The Highwind

The game's only airship is first shown in the town of Junon. The Highwind is used by Shin-Ra, which is headed by Rufus Shinra at this point, to track Sephiroth. Cid Highwind leads the party inside the airship to escape from Junon.

One of the famous promotional pictures, seen above left, shows Aerith Gainsborough standing before the Highwind. In the game, however, she dies before the chance to ride it; this picture is thus one of the arguments in debate on whether or not it's possible to revive Aerith in the game. However, Aerith does have a chance to see the airship in Junon airport, and mentions it to Cloud in the cargo ship on the way to Costa del Sol, so this argument appears to be mostly unfounded.

File:Final Fantasy VII - Inside Highwind.jpg

Inside the Highwind

Shortly after Meteor is released, Cid leads the crew of the Highwind to rescue and evacuate the party from Junon; after this point the airship falls into the hands of the player's party. It is used as a command center by Cid as the party attempts to locate the missing leader of the party, Cloud Strife, and later allows the party to paradrop into the city of Midgar. The Highwind later takes the party to the Northern Crater in preparation for their confrontation with Sephiroth and allows the party to escape.

Although the Highwind features no weapons capability in-game, Cid's Limit Break "Highwind" involves a swarm of missiles launched from the airship. The Highwind undergoes two transformations; one occurs when the main propeller and pod-mounted propellers are jettisoned in favor of jet engines, and the second occurs in the final cinematic, where Cid triggers an "emergency" function leading to the deployment of a much sleeker airship.

In Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Cid retired the Highwind (due to the fact that the Highwind is all but destroyed at the end of Final Fantasy VII) in favor of a new airship named the Shera, after his assistant and wife Shera who, on more than one occasion, saved his life. The Shera shares many common design elements with the Highwind but is clearly a more advanced vessel than her predecessor. The Shera made a return appearance in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, along with an entire fleet of similar airships, some of which were of the same specifications as Highwind. It was revealed in the game that the Shera was named by Cid but created by an ancient civilization, most likely the Cetra.

Final Fantasy VIII

The Ragnarok

The Ragnarok

File:Final Fantasy VIII - Inside Ragnarok.jpg

Bridge of the Ragnarok

The Ragnarok

The Ragnarok

The first form of airship found in Final Fantasy VIII is the Balamb Garden mercenary academy building. The Garden is forced to transform into a transportation method to escape missile bombardment from the Republic of Galbadia.

The Ragnarok is the name of the main airship in Final Fantasy VIII. Also a spacecraft, it was used, along with two similar craft, by the nation of Esthar to send the sorceress Adel into space to finally rid the world of her (or so Esthar believed) and put an end to the second Sorceress War. Seventeen years later, Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly are rescued from being lost in space when they drift near the Ragnarok. Upon boarding the ship, Squall and Rinoa discover that the ship has been raided by monsters and the ship's crew eradicated. After purging the ship of the creatures, the two return to the planet, where Selphie Tilmitt (accidentally) assumes the role as the ship's pilot.

The quadruped-esque Ragnarok is a heavily-armed ship, equipped with several rapid-fire turrets, manipulator arms, and a large beam cannon mounted beneath its hull. While none of the weapons are usable by the player, they are used in an FMV sequence when Squall and company initiate their assault on Lunatic Pandora.

The obtaining of the Ragnarok in Final Fantasy VIII uses symbols from the Norse legend of Ragnarok, the Viking doomsday, from which the name is borrowed.

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX has many airships. Cid Fabool, even if he is a monarch, likes airships and mechanics in this game and is the builder of the Hilda Garde series of airships.

Red Rose- The Red Rose was the personal airship of Queen Brahne of Alexandria, named for the queen's favorite flower. The Red Rose appears at Cleyra when Brahne uses the magic of the eidolon Odin to destroy the tree village. It also appears with the Lindblum air fleet to clear a path for Zidane and the main party to fly into Memoria to take on Kuja.

Cargo Ship- The Cargo Ship is an old airship from Lindblum that crashed on the South Gate while the party (Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Steiner) was fleeing from Black Waltz III, it carries Black Mages like Vivi from Dali to Alexandria.

Prima Vista- Prima Vista is Latin for "first view" or "first sight". The Prima Vista is the massive theatre ship Tantalus uses to travel to Alexandria at the beginning of the game. Much of the early gameplay takes place within the Prima Vista, however, it is not usable by the player as it is severely damaged during the kidnapping of Princess Garnet and crash lands in Evil Forest.

Hilda Garde I — The Hilda Garde I was considered a magnificent piece of technological engineering. The airship, which was the first to run without the use of a mist engine, was stolen by the ship's namesake and the Regent's wife, Hilda Garde, after she discovered the womanizing ways of her husband and turned him into an oglop. The airship was later taken from her by Kuja who used it for his deeds. This ship cannot be used by the player.

Hilda Garde II — The Hilda Garde II was a failed attempt by Cid to reproduce the stolen Hilda Garde I. The Hilda Garde II was poorly designed because of Regent Cid's hampered skills as an oglop and frog. As a matter of trivia, the Hilda Garde II was mistakenly replaced by the Hilda Garde III in an FMV intended to feature the ship. This ship is also unusable for the player.

File:Final Fantasy IX Inside Invincible.jpg

Inside the Invincible

Hilda Garde III — The Hilda Garde III was the third airship designed and built by Regent Cid. After Cid was reunited with his wife, she transformed him back into a human, and just after promising his faithfulness to Hilda, he began to design and build the Hilda Garde III so that Zidane and his allies would be able to travel unrestricted around the world. The airship was built by cannibalizing the Blue Narciss, which had previously ferried the party across the oceans of Gaia. The Hilda Garde III is used by the player until the end of the third disc, and can only land on flat grassy areas.

The airship Invincible

The airship Invincible

The Invincible — The Invincible is the final airship in Final Fantasy IX. The Invincible appears as an eyeball in early memories of Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, and she remembers it as the destruction of her hometown. It is only revealed later in the game what is beyond the eye. The Ship has the ability to contain the many souls of those who have perished to it. The ship also has a devastating attack that reduced the great city of Alexendria to rubble. The Invincible also under the command of Kuja, enslaved Bahamunt and under Garland, destroyed Alexander. The Invincible comes to the party's rescue when Trance Kuja sends Terra to its doom. The Invincible is the airship that is usable for the remainder of the game, and can land on any kind of flat ground.

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X's airship

Final Fantasy X's airship

File:Final Fantasy X Inside Airship.jpg

The bridge of Fahrenheit

Final Fantasy X's airship belongs to the Al Bhed, a race of machina users rejected by the rest of Spira for this same reason. Upon its first appearance, the party are simply passengers aboard the ship and Cid is in control of flight. Later, when the party reaches Bevelle, they lose use of the airship. Eventually, the party gains full control of the airship and use it as they see fit.

Initially, the Airship was a machina from the Machina War, probably used by Bevelle (as they used the more advanced machina). It apparently fell into the sea near Baaj and near the start of Final Fantasy X, Tidus and Rikku must activate the power in some ruins so the Al Bhed could salvage it, most probably as a transport for the Al Bhed race. It was used as an escape vessel because of the attack on the Home by the Guado.

The Fahrenheit faces off against Sin

Final Fantasy X's airship does not allow free-roaming around a world map unlike previous games in the series. Instead, the player selects an available destination from a list and the ship takes them there directly and instantaneously. While not as interactive as previous airships in terms of manual navigation, the ship does serve a number of purposes in the game. The interior of the ship is very large, large enough that there are two separate save points on board. At one point in the story, the ship serves as the ersatz home of Rin and a number of other Al Bhed. A few battles occur on the airship in which the player can interact with Cid, the ship's captain. The ship is also part of the sidequest in which Rikku obtains her Celestial weapon. Perhaps most importantly, the ship becomes an important element in the game's plot as it is an integral part of the heroes' plan to finally defeat Sin once and for all.

The official figurine from the Square-Enix "Mechanical Arts" series gives it the name Continental Circus, but the FFX-2 International Ultimania Omega reveals that the name of the airship is the Fahrenheit, a name parallel to Final Fantasy X-2's Celsius.

The only known weapons are missile launchers on the top and 2 giant lance-shaped electro-cannons on the underbelly of the ship, as well as at least 7 tow hooks.

Final Fantasy X-2

The Celsius

The Celsius

File:Celsius 1.jpg

The Celsius

Celsius is the name of the airship in Final Fantasy X-2. Like Final Fantasy X, the player can't control the airship directly on a world map, but instead get to choose from a list of locations. The main difference is that the player can use the ship from the start of the game and get to choose to where they want to go, in a non-linear way. Brother, who was introduced in Final Fantasy X as Cid's son, is the leader of the Gullwings, a group of sphere hunters including Yuna, Rikku and Paine, and so therefore, is the airship's owner. The Celsius acts as the "headquarters" of the Gullwings, so most of the party's interactions occur onboard it.

File:Final Fantasy X-2 Inside Airship.jpg

Inside the Celsius

The Celsius is so important as a base of operations for the Gullwings that it contains its own shop, the 'Gullstore', run by the Hypello Barkeep. Through an optional mission the party can also allow O'aka XXIII to stay on the airship, where he will also sell items in order to make enough money to pay off his massive debts. Brother found the Celsius in the frozen regions of Spira when he and Cid parted ways. The inside of the Celsius bears slight resemblance to that of Final Fantasy VIII's Ragnarok, in the way that the bridges look with the screens and the way the floor is laid out. It cannot however be compared to the Ragnarok in size simply because of the huge size difference.

Final Fantasy XI

An airship in Final Fantasy XI

An airship in Final Fantasy XI

File:Final Fantasy XI On Airship.jpg

Aboard an airship in Final Fantasy XI

There are many methods of traveling in Final Fantasy XI. The airships can be used in the game to travel between the four major cities in Vana'diel and a town called Kazham. To ride an airship, a player must obtained a rank of five in any of the starting nations. This is not the same as a character level. Alternatively, a player can pay 500,000 gil to obtain a pass earlier. Airship tickets are 200 Gil each way, and no monsters will attack whilst on-board.

Final Fantasy XI's airships were also developed by a Cid, the chief engineer of Bastok's Metalworks. When investigating the Dangruf Wadi, he found broken down Zilart machines for inspiriation. With this inspiration, Cid constructed airships by the dozen to use against the then dangerous Shadow Lord. These airships were fuel inefficient, and burnt through crystals at an excessive rate, for a power source. Until the archduke of Jeuno supplied Cid with a power regulator, the airships were of limited use. By the time Cid had altered all the craft to include one, the Shadow Lord was dead.

In the peace treaty after the Crystal War, San D'Oria demanded Bastok's airship armada be destroyed, as it was the long time enemy of Bastok. In a compromise, Bastok sold the fleet to Jeuno, who used it to ferry adventurers and trade goods between cities quickly.

Cid also wants your character to clandestinely acquire supplies to build another armada, because of the increasingly dangerous situation developing in Vana'diel, and because Cid has started to doubt Jeuno's motives. This has to be done by an independent group such as you, as it involves stealing the power regulators from Jeuno.

Final Fantasy XII

File:Final Fantasy XII Airship.jpg

Vaan and Penelo watch as an airship passes overhead.

Final Fantasy XII takes place in the land of Ivalice, although not necessarily the same Ivalice of the Final Fantasy Tactics games. The airships of this game are quite varied; they come in a myriad of shapes and sizes, but all are relatively high-tech aircraft. The party's primary airship is known as the Strahl. Most of the other airships bear the names of traditional Final Fantasy summons such as Cruiser Ifrit, Dreadnought Leviathan, Atomos, Light Cruiser Shiva, Odin, Alexander, and Sky Fortress Bahamut. The flagship of the Marquis Ondore and his insurgence is known as the Garland. Some of the dungeons in the game are in fact the interiors of airships.

The Strahl - Airship designed and built by YPA, a shipwright's guild of Archades. Officially named the YPA-G847 Test Combat Fighter, production was halted after the completion of a single test model due to dissatisfaction on the part of the Imperial customer with the costly dual-movable-wing design. Scheduled for scrapping, Balthier liberated the ship at the last moment. Balthier has since modified the Strahl to his tastes with a new engine and numerous other augmentations, making it a very different ship from the one envisaged by its YPA inventors.

The Ifrit - No. 1 Cruiser Class Airship belonging to the 8th fleet of the Archadian Imperial Army. A large, heavily armed vessel used primarily for ground strikes, she was used to disrupt the resistance fighters who attacked the Palace in Rabanastre by bombarding them with artillery.

The Leviathan - No. 1 Dreadnought Class Airship, flagship of the 8th Fleet of the Archadian Imperial Army. The 8th Fleet was assigned to the Galtea Tactical Force of the Western Armada, under the command of Judge Ghis. Fitted with jagd-resistant skystone and large enough to carry hundreds of attack craft, she was a lynchpin of the Imperial air forces. An uncontainable reaction involving the nethicite fragment known as the "Dawn Shard" destroyed the Leviathan and her fleet above the Tomb of Raithwall.

The Shiva - No. 1 Light Cruiser Class Airship belonging to the 8th Fleet of the Archadian Imperial Army. Ordered to return to Rabanastre after the nethicite fragment known as the "Dawn Shard" was recovered, but sank in an explosion thought to have been caused by the relic before she could make port.

The Alexander - No. 1 Heavy Carrier Class Airship, flagship of the 12th Fleet of the Archadian Imperial Army. The 12th Fleet, commanded by Judge Zargabaath, operates under the Galtea Tactical Force of the Western Armada, led by Lord Vayne. Similar in size and armament to a Dreadnought Class ship, the Alexander carries hundreds of fighter craft and is armed with multiple heavy cannon batteries.

The Bahamut - No. 1 Sky Fortress Class Airship belonging to the Western divisions of the Archadian Imperial Army, a mobile fortress and tactical base, under the control of the commandant of the Archadian forces, Lord Vayne. This was the last sky fortress designed by Dr. Cid, powered both by ordinary skystone and manufacted nethicite, the latter absorbing Mist from its surroundings to generate the massive amounts of energy the fortress requires to function. The size of a city and tornadic in shape, she was armed with hundreds of anti-air gun batteries and several massive "nethicite cannons", capable of destroying an entire air fleet in a single shot. Following the defeat of Vayne and Venat, her nethicite-powered glossair rings shut down and she was grounded in a lake outside Rabanastre, where she remained as an inert tourist attraction.

The Garland - No. 1 Heavy Carrier Class Airship, flagship of the anti-Imperial coalition forces led by Marquis Ondore. Built in secret by the Marquis to prepare for war against the Archadian empire, she was similar in size and capabilities to the Imperial heavy carrier Alexander.

The Galuf Val - A Resistance Carrier Class Airship, the Galuf Val was one of many ships that was destroyed in the Battle Over Rabanastre. She was destroyed by the Bahamut's nethicite cannon, which pierced her hull and reduced her to burning debris.

Final Fantasy Tactics

File:Airship (Final Fantasy Tactics).jpg

The ruins of an airship, the final battlefield of Final Fantasy Tactics

During the era of St. Ajora, several centuries before the start of the Final Fantasy Tactics, the land of Ivalice was dominated by kingdoms which relied on the power of airships. The abandoned city of Goug was a major center of industry, and, though long since abandoned, many airship parts can still be found scattered throughout the wreckage. The so-called "graveyard of airships" in the netherworld of Murond Death City consists of several downed ancient airships, and it amongst these ruins that Ramza Beoulve and his army find the last of the Zodiac Braves, Altima.

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales

In the side-game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Cid pilots an unnamed airship that can be powered by aquatic Coreshells. He uses it to return to the island on which the tale takes place, responding to a distress call sent to him by Chocobo, Shirma, and Croma, and rescues the trio from a trap set by Greeble and Peekaboo. The airship soon crashes in the field north of the farm, and Cid asks Chocobo to find three Coreshells in order to power it. Once Chocobo returns with the Coreshells, Cid and the others ride the airship to the Technolith, a mechanical tower set in the sea to the west, where the final crystal awaits.

Final Fantasy: Unlimited

In the anime series Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Cid creates an airship he named Silvia that requires flying water to run. The main party has to travel to end of the Wonderland Sea in the submarine Jane to obtain the water. Cid had planned the airship to be used to raid the flying fortress Gaudium. Unfortunately he never used the airship in combat, but Cid is seen piloting Silvia in the end credits of the final episode.

Silvia did serve as a great help in the events following the series, like taking the gang to Sadoshima island before going off for the final battle.

Crystals

Elemental crystals have appeared in over half of the titles of the series. Almost all Final Fantasy installments have a theme of an increase in monster activity, often caused by an imbalance of nature forces, caused by Mist or Crystals. Also, most of the games' plots seem to involve large-scale destruction at some point in the game, often near the end.

The Wind Crystal in a crystal amplifier before it shatters (Final Fantasy V)

The four elemental crystals appear in Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Four elemental crystals also appear in Final Fantasy IV along with four more "dark" crystals that are not stated to be any particular element, though only two of them are seen in the game. In addition to the eight crystals of the Earth, there are eight on the moon that balance with them. However, the moon crystals are not explored in detail. Furthermore there is a "Crystal of Flight", and Golbez wields an 18th crystal against Zeromus, but the nature of this crystal is never explained. It is most likely, however, a "Crystal of Light", as only Cecil can use it properly by channelling his own energy into it, and Golbez, by contrast, cannot. In Final Fantasy IX, a single, giant crystal lies in Memoria.

In Final Fantasy: Unlimited there are two types of crystals that are prevalent. The first type is only a crystal in appearance, and greatly resembles the classical shape of the crystals. This is a large crystal that, when deposited produces a large monster. Its function in the series is completely unlike the crystals in any other continuity. The second type of crystals is the Omega Crystals. Omega is an enormous, destructive creature that was long ago split into many pieces and scattered across Wonderland. The pieces of Omega are seemingly sentient, and when defeated revert to an Omega Crystal which is a small, star-shaped reddish crystal. When Omega recovers an Omega Crystal, it absorbs the crystal, and the part of Omega's body corresponding to the crystal is regenerated. Like Omega itself, the Omega Crystals have the ability to break down the dimensional barrier and travel between worlds. The subway "Elizabeth" was built by Cid with an Omega Crystal to give it the ability to travel between different worlds.

In spin-off game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, four elemental sigils and their respective guardians appear in tribute to the crystals and fiends in the original Final Fantasy.

Chocobo

File:FFX Chocobo.jpg

A Chocobo, as seen in Final Fantasy X

A Chocobo (チョコボ, Chokobo) is a large, normally flightless galliforme/ratite bird capable of being ridden and is a staple of the Final Fantasy series. The chocobo was created by Koichi Ishii, a video game director who worked on various Final Fantasy titles. Most dwell in forests. While timid in the wild, and vicious if threatened, they tame rather easily and make good transports. In this role they tend to be capable of crossing shallow water and are noted for their high speeds. Chocobos have occasionally been sighted as lightly armored war mounts in which case they can assist their riders with beak and claw. Most often they can be caught in the wild and ridden without fear of random encounters, escaping after the player dismounts. Overall, the species is a very versatile and useful bird, which comes in handy as horses are untamed or non-existent in Final Fantasy games. While ordinary Chocobos are yellow, certain rare breeds are of different colors and have special abilities, such as crossing mountains or flight. An even rarer, more extreme variant is the Fat Chocobo (or Chubby Chocobo), which resembles an overweight yellow chocobo and can humorously stock the party's items in its stomach or appear randomly when summoning a chocobo in battle. A frequently occurring food for Chocobos, Gysahl Greens, are named after a town in Final Fantasy III and go on to feature in subsequent titles, although occasionally incorrectly translated as "Gishal". Final Fantasy V was the first installment to have Chocobos play a role in the plot. Boco (sometimes translated as Boko) went on to become a recurring Chocobo name in later installments.

A basis for Chocobos was Kyoro-chan, a character in TV advertisements for Morinaga & Company's chocolate candy, Chocoball (チョコボール, chokobōru), having in common with the Chocobo that it is a bird with the call of "Kweh" (クエ, Kue). "Kue" is sometimes replaced with "Wark" in the English translation. Morinaga has also released a tie-in product Chocobo no Chocoball (Chocobo's Chocoball). The Chocobo design is said to be based off of Hayao Miyazaki's Horseclaws, which appear in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The Chocobo signature theme is an immediately recognizable upbeat ditty that is present in one form or another in all Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy II, frequently as variants or remixes: for instance, the Final Fantasy VII Chocobo races have a frantic version, while the futuristic and relatively realistic Final Fantasy VIII has a more modern one. It is titled with the suffix "de Chocobo," and is prefixed by the name of the style it is played in. For example "Techno de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VI features a dance remix, while "Cinco de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VII features a cool jazz remix (in 5/4 time, 'Cinco' being Spanish for the number 5). A new version of the theme titled "Swing de Chocobo" was created by Nobuo Uematsu for the concerts titled VOICES and Play! and was performed by a number of different orchestras between 2005 and 2007.

Chocobo appearances

Chocobos have appeared in all numbered installments except the first, in addition to Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Chocobos appear as a summon in Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. Fat Chocobo appears in Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX. A chocobo by the name of "Boco" appears in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy: Tactics. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest features several chocobo-shaped weather vanes in the town of Windia. In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles one can obtain the Chocobo Shield and the Chocobo Pocket items. In the animated sequel to Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, one of the main characters can summon pink, feather-less Chocobos. Chocobos are common in the anime series Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and one named Chobi joins the cast in their adventure. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children both have a couple of visual references to Chocobos.[2]

File:Boco (Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2).png

A Chocobo from Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2

Chocobos have several games dedicated to them including Hataraku Chocobo, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon and it's sequel Chocobo's Dungeon 2 feature a Chocobo as the main character. Chocobo Stallion, Dice de Chocobo and Chocobo Racing were released in a collection entitled Chocobo Collection. In May 2007, Square Enix announced the development of a new Chocobo game, tentatively named Chocobo's Dungeon: Toki-Wasure no Meikyuu, to be released on the Wii.

Chocobos are also a common sight in other Squaresoft and Square Enix games, notably in the Mana series. A Chocobo serves as a mount in Seiken Densetsu, and is later changed into a 'Chocobot'. It was removed from the 2003 remake Sword of Mana in favor of the 'Cannon Ball Travel' which originated in Secret of Mana; however, a Chocobo can be seen in Sword of Mana by waiting for a certain period of time after the completion of the game. Wild black Chocobos appear as monsters in Legend of Mana, while tame yellow Chocobos can be hatched by the player from eggs to assist them in battle. Chocobos also appear in Seiken Densetsu: Friends of Mana.

In Secret of Evermore a Chocobo Egg is a rare item. In Kingdom Hearts there is a keyblade and a Gummi Ship that are both named and modeled after a Chocobo; there is also a drawing of a Chocobo in the cave on Destiny Island. In Parasite Eve, a banner picturing a Chocobo hangs over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History, while a Chocobo skeleton can be found nearby. In Tobal 2, a Chocobo is obtainable as a combatant. References to the Chocobo have also been made in non Square Enix video games. In Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, a blue Chocobo-like creature drives the wagons of the traveling circus Carivan. The red dragon Ruby mentions it was a Chocobo, but quickly changes it into "Chuckoboo". Battle for Wesnoth features a skeletal "Chocobone" unit. In World of Warcraft, two racial mounts, the Blood Elf Hawkstrider and the Gnome Mechanostrider, both bear close resemblance to chocobos. The browser-based game Kingdom of Loathing features the Cocoabo familiar, a Chocobo-shaped creature apparently made of cocoa. Chocobos have been parodied in several webcomics including VG Cats,[3][4][5] RPG World as Dragobos, 8-bit Theatre and Weebl and Bob.[6] Rules for using Yellow and Black Chocobos in Dungeons & Dragons were published in the September 2004 issue of Dragon magazine.

Monsters

Main article: Monsters of Final Fantasy

Certain fictional monsters reappear frequently throughout the series, including Goblins, Oni/Ogres/Gigas/Giants, Bombs, Behemoths, Tonberries, Malboros and Cactuars. Summoned monsters - such as Bahamut - as well as the elemental monsters - Shiva (ice), Ifrit/Efreeti (fire), and Leviathan (water) - have appeared in almost every title in the series. The lightning elemental has been represented by a variety of creatures, principally Ramuh but also Quezacotl, and Ixion.

Moogle

File:Moogle FFXI.jpg

Classic Moogle appearance as in Final Fantasy XI

Moogles (モーグリ, Mōguri) 　are small creatures that appear throughout several Square Enix game series, including the Final Fantasy series, the Seiken Densetsu series, the Chocobo game series, and the Kingdom Hearts series. Moogles are called "Mōguri" in the Japanese version games, a portmanteau of the Japanese words mogura (mole) and kōmori (bat).

Moogles have small eyes and red, pink, or purple bat-like wings. A single black antenna sticks up from their heads, with a small colorful ball (usually red or yellow) at the end called a "pompom". Their ears are usually shaped like a cat's and their fur are white or light pink; however, they have longer, rabbit-like ears and tend to have more beige or gray fur in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XII. When they first appeared, in Final Fantasy III, Moogles generally ended their sentences with the word "nya", the Japanese equivalent of a cat's "meow". In the later games, they use the word "kupo" instead; some games briefly mention a Moogle language formed out of various permutations of "kupo". In the Final Fantasy III Nintendo DS remake, the word "nya" was replaced with "kupo".

Moogles run an in-game message delivery service in Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. In the Final Fantasy III remake, the Moogles' message delivery service allows to send real e-mails using the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi function. In Final Fantasy XI, a Moogle is assigned to each player to take care of their house and change their jobs. In Final Fantasy XII, the Moogles are known to be skillful in mechanics and engineering; they were the first pioneers of airship construction.

Several Moogle characters of the Final Fantasy series are named Mog, including a playable character in Final Fantasy VI, a character from an arcade game in Final Fantasy VII, a form of the Eidolon Madeen in Final Fantasy IX, and the single player's companion in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. In the spin-offs Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, and Chocobo Racing, a Moogle named Mog is friend with the main character Chocobo. Moogles appear as summoned creatures in Final Fantasy VII where a Moogle appears riding a Chocobo, in Final Fantasy VIII with a young Moogle called MiniMog, and in Final Fantasy Tactics. Eiko in Final Fantasy IX had a Moogle guardian named Mog, she later became the Summon Madeen or Guardian Mog in the English version.

Moogles make an appearance in the Final Fantasy series in Final Fantasy III and all subsequent numbered installments except Final Fantasy IV, in addition to Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and Final Fantasy: Unlimited. They were used as Save Points in Final Fantasy IX. Moogles appear only as stuffed dolls in Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Moogles make an appearance in the Seiken Densetsu series as a race and/or as a status condition in Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana, and Seiken Densetsu 3, and are mentioned in Sword of Mana. They make an appearance in the Chocobo series in Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Chocobo Racing, and Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice. They also appear in the three games of the Kingdom Hearts series. Finally, a Moogle appears in Egg Monster Heroes, while one is an unlockable character in Mario Hoops 3-on-3. Moogles have also appeared as characters in some webcomics, such as Ren from Mac Hall. In the webcomic Exploitation Now there is a character named Ralph who is known as "a walking copyright infringement waiting to happen" and appears very similar to a moogle. Also in the Flash-animated series, International Moron Patrol, a moogle named Kulock appears.

Weapon

File:Weapon ultima ff7.jpg

Ultimate Weapon in Final Fantasy VII.

Main article: Weapon (Final Fantasy)

The Weapon (ウェポン, Wepon) creatures are entities (some biomechanical and others entirely organic) in the Final Fantasy series. They have been a recurring feature in the series since the fifth installment. They are generally very powerful and have large amounts of HP, relative to other monsters in the game, and are usually presented as powerful optional superbosses.

Weapons have appeared in the first Final Fantasy of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls, the Game Boy Advance remake of Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.