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Within [[Final Fantasy XI]], the raising and breeding of chocobos was a long-requested activity, and was enabled in the Summer 2006 update.<ref>{{cite web | author= Perry, Douglass C.|title=It's Chocobo Breeding Time| publisher=[[IGN]] | date=2006-06-01 | url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/710/710971p1.html | accessdate=2006-08-15}}</ref> Chocobo racing began in March 2007. Players were allowed to race player-raised chocobos against [[non-player character]]s. Winning racers earn "Chocobucks", which can be used to buy items that assist chocobo breeding.<ref>{{cite web | author=Cordeira, Jim |title=Final Fantasy XI: Chocobo Racing to launch this week| publisher=Gaming Age | date=2007-03-27| url=http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2007/3/27-44 | accessdate=2008-02-24}}</ref>
Within [[Final Fantasy XI]], the raising and breeding of chocobos was a long-requested activity, and was enabled in the Summer 2006 update.<ref>{{cite web | author= Perry, Douglass C.|title=It's Chocobo Breeding Time| publisher=[[IGN]] | date=2006-06-01 | url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/710/710971p1.html | accessdate=2006-08-15}}</ref> Chocobo racing began in March 2007. Players were allowed to race player-raised chocobos against [[non-player character]]s. Winning racers earn "Chocobucks", which can be used to buy items that assist chocobo breeding.<ref>{{cite web | author=Cordeira, Jim |title=Final Fantasy XI: Chocobo Racing to launch this week| publisher=Gaming Age | date=2007-03-27| url=http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2007/3/27-44 | accessdate=2008-02-24}}</ref>


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 "Boko" appears in ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics''. Black Chocobos, which possess the ability to fly, are found in ''Final Fantasy IV'', ''Final Fantasy V'', and ''Final Fantasy VII''.
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 "Boko" appears in ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics''. Black Chocobos, which sometimes possess the ability to fly, are found in ''Final Fantasy IV'', ''Final Fantasy V'', and ''Final Fantasy VII''.


''[[Final Fantasy Mystic Quest]]'' features several chocobo-shaped [[weather vane]]s 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. In addition. ''Final Fantasy Adventure'' featured a chocobo egg which hatched to aid the player. 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 chocobo-related [[easter egg (media)|easter eggs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2001/101401a.html|title=Interview with Final Fantasy Producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi|last=Hill|first=Doug|date=2001|publisher=RPGamer|accessdate=2009-01-16}}</ref>{{Fact|date=January 2009}}
''[[Final Fantasy Mystic Quest]]'' features several chocobo-shaped [[weather vane]]s 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. In addition. ''Final Fantasy Adventure'' featured a chocobo egg which hatched to aid the player. 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 chocobo-related [[easter egg (media)|easter eggs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2001/101401a.html|title=Interview with Final Fantasy Producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi|last=Hill|first=Doug|date=2001|publisher=RPGamer|accessdate=2009-01-16}}</ref>{{Fact|date=January 2009}}

Revision as of 07:50, 2 February 2009

This article is about the fictional species. For information on the spin-off series, see Chocobo (series).
An example of a chocobo from Final Fantasy X.

A chocobo (チョコボ, chokobo) is a fictional, large, and normally flightless galliforme/ratite bird capable of being ridden. This species is a staple of the Final Fantasy series. While most chocobos are yellow, certain rare breeds are of different colors and have special abilities, such as the ability to fly or cast magic. A singular variant is the Fat Chocobo (or Chubby Chocobo), which resembles a morbidly obese yellow or white chocobo and can humorously stock the party's items in its stomach or appear randomly when summoning a chocobo in battle. Chocobos are also occasionally used as lightly armored war mounts. In such cases they can assist their riders with their beak and claws. Overall, the species is a very versatile and useful bird, which comes in handy since horses are either untamed or non-existent in the Final Fantasy games. The onomatopoeia for a chocobo's call is "kweh" (クエ, kue) and is sometimes replaced with "wark" in English translations.

Chocobos first appeared in Final Fantasy II and have been featured in almost all subsequent Final Fantasy games since, as well as making cameo appearances in numerous non-Final Fantasy games. A spin-off series featuring chocobos has also been created.

Creation and influence

The chocobo was created by Koichi Ishii, a video game director who worked on various Final Fantasy titles.[citation needed] The influence for chocobos was from Kyorochan, a character in television advertisements for Morinaga & Company's chocolate candy, which is also a bird with the call of "kweh".[citation needed] Morinaga has also released a tie-in product: Chocobo no Chocoball (チョコボのチョコボール, lit. "Chocobo's Chocoball"). The Chocobo design is said to be based on Hayao Miyazaki's Horseclaws, which appear in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[1]

Appearances of chocobos

Most chocobos dwell in forests (although those from Final Fantasy VII live in grasslands and snowfields). While timid in the wild and vicious if threatened, they tame rather easily and act as vehicles, as well as quick and effective cavalry. In this role they tend to be capable of crossing shallow water and are noted for their high speeds. Most often they can be caught in the wild and ridden without fear of random encounters, escaping after the player dismounts. A frequently occurring food for chocobos (usually used to help tame the bird) are Gysahl Greens, which are named after a town in Final Fantasy III.[citation needed] The food is occasionally incorrectly translated as "Gishal".[citation needed]

Final Fantasy V was the first installment to have chocobos play a role in the plot. Boko (sometimes translated as Boco) went on to become a recurring chocobo name in later installments. In Final Fantasy XIII, the character Sazh Katzroy has a baby chocobo, named "Hina", for a pet.[2]

Within Final Fantasy XI, the raising and breeding of chocobos was a long-requested activity, and was enabled in the Summer 2006 update.[3] Chocobo racing began in March 2007. Players were allowed to race player-raised chocobos against non-player characters. Winning racers earn "Chocobucks", which can be used to buy items that assist chocobo breeding.[4]

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 "Boko" appears in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy Tactics. Black Chocobos, which sometimes possess the ability to fly, are found in Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VII.

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. In addition. Final Fantasy Adventure featured a chocobo egg which hatched to aid the player. 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 chocobo-related easter eggs.[5][citation needed]

Appearances outside the Final Fantasy series

Squaresoft and Square Enix games

Chocobos appear frequently in other Squaresoft and Square Enix games, notably in the Mana series. A chocobo serves as a mount in Seiken Densetsu (Final Fantasy Adventure), 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 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/keychain and a Gummi Ship design that are both named and modeled after a chocobo; there is also a drawing of a chocobo in the cave on the Destiny Islands. In Parasite Eve, a banner depicting 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. Web-based minigames starring Chocobos are also featured on Square Enix's member site.[6]

Other appearances

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".[citation needed] Additionally, in the online point and click adventure, Kingdom of Loathing, a bird-like familiar known as the Cocoabo can be raised. It is made entirely of cocoa.

Music

Main article: Music of the Chocobo series

The chocobo signature theme is an upbeat ditty that is present in one form or another in all Final Fantasy games since their introduction in Final Fantasy II, frequently as variants or remixes: for instance, the Final Fantasy VII chocobo races have a frantic version, while the futuristic Final Fantasy VIII has a more modern one. These songs are titled with the suffix "de Chocobo" and prefixed by the name of the style in which they are played. For example, "Techno de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VI's PlayStation release features a dance remix, while "Cinco de Chocobo" from Final Fantasy VII features a jazz remix (in 5/4 time, cinco being Spanish for the number five). A newer version of the theme, titled "Swing de Chocobo", was created by Nobuo Uematsu for the concerts VOICES and Play!. It has been performed by a number of different orchestras between 2005 and 2007.

Reception and legacy

Rules for using yellow and black chocobos in Dungeons & Dragons were published in the September 2004 issue of Dragon magazine.[citation needed] Boko, the Chocobo from Final Fantasy V, was voted by joystiq the 20th most desired character to be placed in the new Final Fantasy fighter game Dissidia: Final Fantasy.[7] Music composed for chocobo appearances in the Final Fantasy games was used in the "Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy" concert tour.[8] Merchandise of chocobos has been released, including a rubber duck[9][10] and a plush baby Chocobo.[11]

The chocobo has inspired similar creatures or homages in other games and related media. The open-source computer games Egoboo and The Battle for Wesnoth both feature a creature called a "Chocobone" that looks like a skeletal Chocobo.[citation needed] The November 2007 Monthly Collectable for GaiaOnline features a pose that allows users' avatars to "ride" a very chocobo-like bird.[citation needed] In World of Warcraft, two racial mounts, the Blood Elf Hawkstrider and the Gnome Mechanostrider, both bear close resemblance to chocobos.[citation needed] The Korean MMORPG Ragnarok Online features a mount for the Knight and Crusader classes that strongly resembles a chocobo called a Peco-Peco.[citation needed] The browser-based game Kingdom of Loathing features the Cocoabo familiar, a chocobo-shaped creature apparently made of cocoa (according to the item description, the stuffed version says "kweh" when you squeeze it).[citation needed] Chocobos have been parodied in several webcomics including VG Cats,[12][13][14] RPG World as Dragobos,[citation needed] 8-bit Theatre,[citation needed] and Weebl and Bob.[15]

References

  1. ^ 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."
  2. ^ V-Jump Magazine (in Japanese). January 2009. p. 24. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (2006-06-01). "It's Chocobo Breeding Time". IGN. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  4. ^ Cordeira, Jim (2007-03-27). "Final Fantasy XI: Chocobo Racing to launch this week". Gaming Age. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  5. ^ Hill, Doug (2001). "Interview with Final Fantasy Producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi". RPGamer. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  6. ^ Game Zone│Square Enix Members
  7. ^ Majed Athab (2008-03-28). "Top 20 Final Fantasy characters that should be in Dissidia". Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  8. ^ Brian Davis (2008-03-01). "Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy, Chicago". Music4Games. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  9. ^ Michael McWhertor (2008-01-22). "Final Fantasy's Chocobo Goes Rubbery, Ducky". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  10. ^ SQUARE ENIX MEMBERS (2008-04-24). ""NY Comic Con Event Diary: Day 2"". Square Enix. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  11. ^ "PlayStation: The Official Magazine Holiday Gift Guide '08," PlayStation: The Official Magazine 13 (Holiday 2008): 37.
  12. ^ Ramsoonair, Scott. "VG Cats". Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  13. ^ Ramsoonair, Scott. "VG Cats". Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  14. ^ Ramsoonair, Scott. "VG Cats". Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  15. ^ "FF7 - Weebl's Stuff". Weebl and Bob. Retrieved 2009-01-16.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chocobo&oldid=267996448"