Chocobo: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:FFX Chocobo.jpg|right|thumb|150px|A Chocobo, as seen in ''Final Fantasy X'']] |
[[Image:FFX Chocobo.jpg|right|thumb|150px|A Chocobo, as seen in ''Final Fantasy X'']] |
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A {{nihongo|'''Chocobo'''|チョコボ|Chokobo}} is a large, normally flightless [[galliformes|galliforme]]/[[ratite]] [[bird]] capable of being ridden and is a staple of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The [[ |
A {{nihongo|'''Chocobo'''|チョコボ|Chokobo}} is a large, normally flightless [[galliformes|galliforme]]/[[ratite]] [[bird]] capable of being ridden and is a staple of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The [[onomatopoeia]] for a chocobo's call is {{nihongo|"Kweh"|クエ|Kue}} and is sometimes replaced with "Wark" in the English translation. The chocobo was created by [[Koichi Ishii]], a video game director who worked on various ''Final Fantasy'' titles. |
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==Creation and influence== |
==Creation and influence== |
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Revision as of 19:54, 20 June 2007
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. |
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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 onomatopoeia for a chocobo's call is "Kweh" (クエ, Kue) and is sometimes replaced with "Wark" in the English translation. The chocobo was created by Koichi Ishii, a video game director who worked on various Final Fantasy titles.
Creation and influence
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". 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.[1]
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.
Final Fantasy series
Most Chocobos 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 a morbidly obese 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.
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]
Chocobo series
Chocobos have a spin-off series dedicated to them. In addition, 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.[3]
A mobile game titled Chocobo-Mate was also released sometime before 2003.[4]
Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon
| Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Square Co. |
| Publisher(s) | Square Co. Bandai |
| Series | Chocobo series Fushigi no Dungeon series |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, WonderSwan |
| Release |  December 23, 1997 (PlayStation) March 4, 1999 (WonderSwan) |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon (チョコボの不思議なダンジョン, Chokobo no Fushigina Danjon, lit. "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon") is a video game made for the Sony PlayStation and Bandai WonderSwan and released only in Japan. The game is vaguely linked to the Final Fantasy series of adventures with the series' trademark mascot, the chocobo. The game is a roguelike dungeon crawl (similar to Rogue or Nethack), and part of the Fushigi no Dungeon series. The game consists of a chocobo wandering through randomly generated dungeons, picking up items and battling enemies. The PlayStation version is almost all sprite-based, with some polygon-based objects.
The title character in Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon is a yellow chocobo named Poulet (プーレ, Pūre, a pun on "pureiyā" for "player"), but the player can rename him. The layout of the game consists of 3 dungeons: A ten level dungeon, a 30 level dungeon, and an infinite dungeon which recycles enemy types every 100 levels.
The game received a large fanbase due to its tie-in to the Final Fantasy franchise as well as some animation and effects such as summoning the mainstay creatures of the series, including Ifrit and Bahamut in Super Deformed style. This game marks the solo composing debut of Masashi Hamauzu, who prepared both the soundtrack and an arrangement album named Coi Vanni Gialli.
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Chocobo's Dungeon 2 is a sequel to Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon released on the PlayStation.
Chocobo World
Chocobo World is a PocketStation minigame released as part of Final Fantasy VIII.
Chocobo Collection
| Chocobo Collection | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Square Co. ParityBit (Chocobo Stallion) Denyusha (Dice de Chocobo)[5] |
| Publisher(s) | Square Co. |
| Series | Chocobo series |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release | December 22, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Compilation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Chocobo Collection (チョコボコレクション, Chokobo Korekushon) is a compilation release of three games released for the PlayStation in 1999. It was released as a 10th anniversary to the first appearance of the Final Fantasy series chocobo mascot in 1988's Final Fantasy II. Although one of the games had received a stand-alone release in North America, the collection was only released in Japan. The games in the collection include:
- Chocobo Racing — a racing game similar to the Mario Kart series
- Chocobo Stallion — an expanded version of the chocobo raising and racing element found in Final Fantasy VII. It was developed by ParityBit with a staff that included the character illustrator for Legend of Mana, Shinichi Kameoka.
- Dice de Chocobo — a board game developed by Denyusha Co..
Hataraku Chocobo
| Hataraku Chocobo | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Square Co. |
| Publisher(s) | Square Co. |
| Series | Chocobo series |
| Platform(s) | WonderSwan |
| Release | September 20, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Simulation game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Hataraku Chocobo is a WonderSwan occupation simulation game developed by Square Co., Ltd. in 2000. はたらく (usually: 働く, romanized: hataraku) means work, labour, or practise. So an accurate translation of the title would be "Chocobo on the Job." It was not released outside of Japan.
Chocobo Land
| Chocobo Land | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Square Co. |
| Publisher(s) | Square Co. |
| Series | Chocobo series |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Release | December 13, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice (チョコボランド A Game of Dice, Chokobo Rando), is a board game-based video game and spin-off title in the Final Fantasy series for the Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan in 2002.
You play as Chocobo, who is trying to beat this board game world in order to return his friends and himself to the real world. From the overworld map, you can select the region you would like to play in. Each region has its own board design and opponent; as you progress through the game, you will face more (up to three) computer controlled opponents at a time. If you replay a region after you complete it for the story, you can win more playing pieces.
The style of play for Chocoboland is very reminscient of Monopoly. You begin each match on Start, which is a round space with a rainbow-colored border. You are given a certain amount of Crystals and the option of buying the pieces you would like to start with (in your first match, you will only be able to buy Carbuncles).
Final Fantasy Fables
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales was released on the Nintendo DS.
Other appearances
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 and fictions. 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,[6][7][8] RPG World as Dragobos, 8-bit Theatre and Weebl and Bob.[9]
Reception and legacy
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Rules for using Yellow and Black Chocobos in Dungeons & Dragons were published in the September 2004 issue of Dragon magazine.
References
- ^ Rogers, Tim (March 27, 2006). "In Defense of Final Fantasy XII". Next Generation. "Okay, so the Chocobos -- big, yellow riding birds -- were actually stolen from Hayao Miyazaki's movie 'Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind', and Hironobu Sakaguchi freely admitted that way back when."
- ^ http://www.eeggs.com/items/30441.html
- ^ KujaFFman (2007-05-10). "Chocobo's Dungeon débarque sur Wii (MàJ)". Final Fantasy World (in French). Retrieved 2007-05-10.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - ^ Square Enix staff (2003-08-04). "Square Enix IR Roadshow Document" (PDF). Square Enix Japan. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
- ^ Denyusha staff (2005). "Denyusha Co.,Ltd". Denyusha Entertainment Software Company. Retrieved February 3.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|work=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=72
- ^ http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=97
- ^ http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=101
- ^ http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/ff7/
