History Headscratchers / FinalFantasyIV

** Perhaps the trap isn't a mechanical device that was installed, but [[AWizardDidIt a magical effect]] created by whatever part of Cagnazzo hadn't quite yet faded into the afterlife.

** Obviously not. Does anything about the Damcyan royal family indicate that they would?

* One of the clerics of Toroia/Troya worries that their country will become a desert without the Crystal of Earth, implying that the crystal's power made it into a lush land of forests and rivers. Meanwhile, Damcyan was located in a desert to begin with -- does that mean that the royal family was using the Crystal of Fire to 'intentionally' desertify their lands?

* What's the purpose of the deathtrap Rosa is placed in in the Tower of Zot?

* Why does the Lodestone Cavern have an enormous, ornate crystal room deep inside it? Did the Dark Elf build it all by himself?

* When did Cagnazzo install the crushing-walls trap outside of his throne room? How did he do it without anyone catching on? If it was a pre-existing mechanism or trap, wouldn't Cid, his chief engineer, be the one to have personally installed something like that?

** In ancient Japan, prior to the advent of the family registration system, lowborn people usually wouldn't have a last name - in fact, Toyotomi Hideyoshi explicitly made it illegal for non-samurai to have surnames. The game reflects that Japanese perspective, where a "medieval" setting would lack surnames for non-nobility. Rydia is sometimes referred to as Rydia of Mist in later material, so it's likely that that's how she would be identified (and probably similarly for Palom and Porom.) Tellah likewise lacks a last name, despite his power. FuSoYa and Golbez, of course, lack surnames because they're aliens with different customs and were never integrated. Whereas the rest of the party is nobility of some form or another (although Cid and Rosa's status are slightly unclear, it's reasonable to infer that they had a high status in Baron.)

** Given that Cecil & co. reach it via airship, the Tower of Zot is presumably floating above the surface of the Blue Planet (much like the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Flying Fortress]]) and possibly continuously in motion so as to not be conspicuous or easily located (depending on how high in the sky it is, of course). The tower is likely Golbez's primary base of operations prior to its destruction [[LoadBearingBoss when Barbariccia dies]]. ([[NoEndorHolocaust Maybe its wreckage landed in the ocean?]]) Some fans have alternatively speculated that the Tower of Zot and the Tower of Babil are part of [[StarScraper some sort of superstructure]], likely due to the two locations sharing the same architecture in the SNES version. As for the name, I'd assume there's no real meaning behind it and the word was chosen because [[RuleOfCool it sounded cool and/or imposing]]. [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zot#Albanian The word "Zot" can mean "God" in Albanian,]] which would make for a nice parallel to the Tower of Babil, but [[LuckyTranslation I personally wouldn't throw any weight behind that being intentional]].

** Given that Cecil & co. reach it via airship, the Tower of Zot is presumably floating above the surface of the Blue Planet (much like the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Flying Fortress]]) and possibly continuously in motion so as to not be conspicuous or easily located (depending on how high in the sky it is, of course). The tower is likely Golbez's primary base of operations prior to its destruction [[LoadBearingBoss when Barbariccia dies]]. ([[NoEndorHolocaust Maybe its wreckage landed in the ocean?]]) Some fans have alternatively speculated that the Tower of Zot and the Tower of Babil are part of [[StarScraper some sort of superstructure]], likely due to the two locations sharing the same architecture in the SNES version. As for the name, I'd assume there's no real meaning behind it and the word was chosen because [[RuleOfCool it sounded cool and/or imposing]]. [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zot#Albanian The word "Zot" can mean "God" in Albanian,]] which would make for a nice parallel to the Tower of Babil, but [[LuckyTranslation I personally wouldn't throw any weight behind that being intentional]].
----
<<|ItJustBugsMe|>>

** More specifically, he presumably lacks magical training, whereas his brother was ''probably'' trained by someone (possibly the Fiends? By Zemus in his head?) And his uncle, of course, would have been trained as a Lunarian and had vastly more experience. Cecil just has a small amount of knowledge beamed into his head by the last energy of his father's Fortress of Solitude crystal or whatever it was, so it stands to reason that he can't use it as well as people who have trained their entire lives.

** One of possibility of many. The manner of his death is unspecified; all that's known is Cagnazzo killed the real king and impersonated him at some point prior to the start of the game, around the time Baron began to aggressively militarize its forces to the consternation of its subjects and the rest of the world.

** Given that Cecil & co. reach it via airship, the Tower of Zot is presumably floating above the surface of the Blue Planet (much like the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Flying Fortress]]) and possibly continuously in motion so as to not be conspicuous or easily located (depending on how high in the sky it is, of course). The tower is likely Golbez's primary base of operations prior to its destruction [[LoadBearingBoss when Barbariccia dies]]. ([[NoEndorHolocaust Maybe its wreckage landed in the ocean?]]) Some fans have alternatively speculated that the Tower of Zot and the Tower of Babil are part of [[StarScraper some superstructure]], likely due to the two locations sharing the same architecture in the SNES version. As for the name, I'd assume there's no real meaning behind it and the word was chosen because [[RuleOfCool it sounded cool and/or imposing]]. [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zot#Albanian The word "Zot" can mean "God" in Albanian,]] which would make for a nice parallel to the Tower of Babil, but [[LuckyTranslation I personally wouldn't throw any weight behind that being intentional]].

** They're monarchs of a country of {{Ninja}} and committed {{Harakiri}} to preserve their honor.

** Not that big, since it's more or less a [[YearInsideHourOutside Decade Inside Month Outside]] situation. The Feymarch is definitely outside of the dimension Earth is on, considering it's floating appearance and it's entrance through teleportation.

*** Hard to tell. She acts rather mature to start with and nothing about her personality appears to significantly change when she returns. Though I've never played The After Years so that could answer this.

** Alternatively, the Elder seems to be a white mage in the sequel; it wouldn't be surprising if he's better than Tellah at dedicated, long-term white-magic-specific projects. He also has all the resources, knowledge, and talent of Mysidia to draw on, while Tellah didn't; and he has time to spare working on the problem, while Tellah was in a hurry to stop Golbez.

** In the world of JRPG's, where you can fight monsters at 5, join the military at 15, and you're considered a seasoned veteran with command of a whole wing of the military at 20, reaching 60 might as well be reaching 120.
** Also, he has an adult daughter, and I believe he's implied to have been living in Kaipo with her for quite a while. It's entirely possible he's been out of the wandering-sage business for a long time. He's not senile - he's out of practice.

* What exactly are the elemental Archfiends, and where did they come from? How much do they know about what's really going on? Do they know about Lunarians and Zemus? Are they aware that Golbez is under mind-control? Are they loyal to Golbez, or to Zemus?
** I can't give a source for this, but I always heard / assumed that they were given to Golbez by Zemus to keep an eye on him, and make sure he didn't HeelFaceTurn, while posing as his underlings. I always assumed that [[spoiler:Zemus reviving them in the Tower of Bab-il]] was intended to be taken as TheReveal that they answered to him all along.
* In the DS/Mobile phone versions, we get an expanded backstory in regards to Kluya, explaining that he's repsonsible for giving humans airships, the Devil's Road, and magic. Except other parts of the script suggest the latter two are much, much older than airships. While Kluya might be ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, it doesn't explain how he could get credit for inventing magic, be Theodore and Cecil's father, AND still be mistaken for human.

* Where are the other two crystals of the underground? We see the one in King Jiott's throne and the one in the Sealed Cave, there's no hint as two the whereabouts of the other two crystals
** According to Jiott, when you first visit him, Golbez had already captured the other two. My guess is they are located with the other crystals at the top of the Tower of Bab-il, in that room with the trap.

* Why did FuSoYa waited for your party to arrive on the Moon before trying to stop Zemus? After the Giant's destruction, we see FuSoYa take Zemus down. Why didn't he try that before the crystals were gathered and the Giant summoned?
** He probably wasn't strong enough to do it alone. In that fight, he relies heavily on Golbez' assistance. And he wasn't able to reach and free Golbez without your party's assistance. While FoSoYa is powerful, he's also an old man (represented by his hard-capped MP that never increase).
* Where is the Tower of Zot? What's it's purpose? And what does "Zot" mean?

** More specifically, he presumably lacks training, whereas his brother was *probably* trained by someone (possibly the Fiends? By Zemus in his head?) And his uncle, of course, would have been trained as a Lunarian and had vastly more experience.

** At least initially, Golbez seems to be trying to pass himself off as just a human working for King Baron (he's introduced as the new captain of the Red Wings); he probably figures that if he reveals that he's controlling monsters too early, humanity might unite against him (and Baron might rebel against his puppet king.) After the fake king is killed, this is no longer an option, and he shifts to using entirely monstrous armies.

** According to Jiott, when you first visit him, Golbez had already captured the other two.