History Trivia / FinalFantasyI

* ImageSource:
** PlayerParty (1st row)
** TheRedMage

* QuoteSource: DummiedOut.

* FanNickname:
** This game named the trope PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling due to the eponymous Peninsula of Power north of Pravoka, which featured late-game enemies that could be easily dispatched with Level 2 magic.
** The "Giants' Cave"/"Hall of Giants" is the small loop on the first floor in the Cavern of Earth where every step you take causes an encounter with one to four Giant-type enemies.
** The large group of chests in the second level of the volcano is called the armoury, especially by players of the randomiser version of the game.

** It's worth noting that in the ports released after the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan and [=PS1=] versions, the most D&D-related parts in the game were mandatorally changed to match the later ''Final Fantasy'' games (whereas the [=PS1=] version had retained a "classic" mode): the spell charge system was replaced with MP, and attacks aimed at a dead enemy now redirect to a live enemy.

* LateExportForYou: Like the other ''Final Fantasy'' games before ''VII'', ''I ''wasn't released in Europe until 2003 when it was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation via the ''Origins'' remake. The original NES version wasn't released there until 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console.

* An early spell list included in Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1 indicates that the game was originally planned to have a level 1 NonElemental attacking spell called ミサイラ[[note]]''misaira'', roughly "Missira" or "Missila", from "missile" (ミサイル), all but certainly an adaptation of classic ''D&D'' spell Magic Missile[[/note]], with the iconic [[FireIceLightning Fire, Blizzard, Thunder]] spell set starting at spell level 2 and each having just two tiers instead of three. As well, the Paralyna spell was also planned to appear in the game (albeit with a slightly different Japanese name; パララナ instead of the final パラナ), but ultimately wouldn't make it into the series until ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Final Fantasy XI]]''.

** An early spell list included in Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1 indicates that the game was originally planned to have a level 1 NonElemental attacking spell called ミサイラ[[note]]''misaira'', roughly "Missira" or "Missila", from "missile" (ミサイル)[[/note]], with the iconic [[FireIceLightning Fire, Blizzard, Thunder]] spell set starting at spell level 2 and each having just two tiers instead of three. As well, the Paralyna spell was also planned to appear in the game (albeit with a slightly different Japanese name; パララナ instead of the final パラナ), but ultimately wouldn't make it into the series until ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Final Fantasy XI]]''.

** Virtually the entire bestiary is lifted from 1st edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', particularly the iconic Beholder and the elemental fiends (who are a lich, a marilith, a kraken, and dragon-goddess Tiamat); someone at Nintendo of America was savvy enough to change the Beholder so that Creator/{{TSR}} wouldn't sue for use of an assiduously-guarded part of the ''D&D'' IP. The only truly unique enemies in the game are Chaos, [=WarMech=], and the robots of the Flying Fortress (and the latter can feel like they're instead cribbing from other pop culture sources of the time, or the Square crew had played ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_to_the_Barrier_Peaks Expedition to the Barrier Peaks]]'' and expanded on it).

** The middle screenshot depicts the party shopping for black magic spells. Notably, Fire, Thunder, ''and'' Blizzard are all Level 1 spells, while Blizzard is Level 2 in the final game. As well, the Focus spell is nowhere to be seen, with a spell called シェイブ[[note]]''sheibu'', "Shave"[[/note]] being included instead.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There's [[https://twitter.com/VGDensetsu/status/942857553918283777 an old flier for the game]] that seems to depict a battle not in the game, with a "dragon" (named in katakana) the size of the full enemy area facing off against four warriors of light, all wielding weapons at once, and with a Black Wizard in ''red'' (and this sprite makes the [[https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Raistlin_Majere Raistlin comparison]], hair color aside, a ''lot'' more obvious). The dragon graphic is one not used in the final product, too (its sprite is bigger than ''Chaos's'' and it looks more like enemy sprites from ''II'' or ''III'' than the ones found in ''I'', bearing particular resemblance to ''II'''s [[SeaSerpents Sea Snake]] enemies). There's also what appears to be a ''castle'' at Crescent Lake, and Crescent Lake's design is itself somewhat different (with a small "sub-lake" within the crescent).

** An early spell list included in Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1 indicates that the game was originally planned to have a level 1 NonElemental attacking spell called ミサイラ[note]''misaira'', roughly "Missira" or "Missila", from "missile" (ミサイル)[/note], with the iconic [[FireIceLightning Fire, Blizzard, Thunder]] spell set starting at spell level 2 and each having just two tiers instead of three. As well, the Paralyna spell was also planned to appear in the game (albeit with a slightly different Japanese name; パララナ instead of the final パラナ), but ultimately wouldn't make it into the series until ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Final Fantasy XI]]''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There's [[https://twitter.com/VGDensetsu/status/942857553918283777 an old flier for the game]] that seems to depict a battle not in the game, with a "dragon" (named in katakana) the size of the full enemy area facing off against four warriors of light, all wielding weapons at once, and with a Black Wizard in ''red'' (and this sprite makes the [[https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Raistlin_Majere Raistlin comparison]], hair color aside, a ''lot'' more obvious). The dragon graphic is one not used in the final product, too (its sprite is bigger than ''Chaos'' and it looks more like enemy sprites from ''II'' or ''III'' than the ones found in ''I''). There's also what appears to be a ''castle'' at Crescent Lake, and Crescent Lake's design is itself somewhat different (with a small "sub-lake" within the crescent).

** The spell system and list is lifted from D&D almost entirely, with set spells-per-rest, the spell lists trimmed a bit to the most iconic spells thanks to space limitations ([=FIR2=] is Fireball, BANE is Cloudkill, XXXX is Power Word Kill, etc.) and only a slight bit of redesign at the top end to compensate for the missing ninth spell level, squishing or combining some spells together. The only real exception is the Cure spells, which funnily enough got reworked from the system early ''D&D'' used (two direct "cure wounds" spells and "heal") to a system ironically much more like what 3rd Edition and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' would implement a decade or more later (four ranks of Cure spells, along with a separate series of mass-healing spells distinct from the single-target direct heals).

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Contrary to popular belief, the title ''Final Fantasy'' was not chosen because Square was about to go bankrupt. In reality, creator Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted the initials "FF" for the game, but his first choice, ''Fighting Fantasy'', was [[Literature/FightingFantasy already taken]].

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Contrary to popular belief, the title ''Final Fantasy'' was not chosen because Square was about to go bankrupt. In reality, Creator/HironobuSakaguchi wanted the initials "FF" for the game, but his first choice, ''Fighting Fantasy'', was [[Literature/FightingFantasy already taken]].

* PlayerParty (1st row)
* TheRedMage

** The spell system and list is lifted from D&D almost entirely, with set spells-per-rest, the spell lists trimmed a bit to the most iconic spells thanks to space limitations ([=FIR2=] is Fireball, BANE is Cloudkill, XXXX is Power Word Kill, etc.) and only a slight bit of redesign at the top end to compensate for the missing ninth spell level, squishing or combining some spells together. The only real exception is the Cure spells, which ironically got reworked from the system early ''D&D'' used (two direct "cure wounds" spells and "heal") to a system ironically much more like what 3rd Edition and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' would implement a decade or more later (four ranks of Cure spells, along with a separate series of mass-healing spells distinct from the single-target direct heals).

** Virtually the entire bestiary is lifted from 1st edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', particularly the iconic Beholder and the elemental fiends (who are a lich, a marilith, a kraken, and dragon-goddess Tiamat); someone at Nintendo of America was savvy enough to change the Beholder so that Creator/{{TSR}} wouldn't sue for use of an assiduously-guarded part of the ''D&D'' IP. The only truly unique enemies in the game are Chaos, [=WarMech=], and the robots of the Flying Fortress (and the latter can feel like they're instead cribbing from other pop culture sources of the time).

** The spell system and list is lifted from D&D almost entirely, with set spells-per-rest, the spell lists trimmed a bit to the most iconic spells thanks to space limitations (FIR2 is Fireball, BANE is Cloudkill, XXXX is Power Word Kill, etc.) and only a slight bit of redesign at the top end to compensate for the missing ninth spell level, squishing or combining some spells together. The only real exception is the Cure spells, which ironically got reworked from the system early ''D&D'' used (two direct "cure wounds" spells and "heal") to a system ironically much more like what 3rd Edition and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' would implement a decade or more later (four ranks of Cure spells, along with a separate series of mass-healing spells distinct from the single-target direct heals).
** Substantial parts of the 1e combat systems are incorporated into the ''FF1'' battle engine, from simultaneous initiative rolls, multiple hits per attack action (which lives on to this day), attacks landing on a dead target deliberately (because you have to designate targets ahead of initiative), etc.

** It's worth noting that in the ports released after the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan and [=PS1=] versions, the most D&D-related parts in the game were mandatorally changed to match the later ''Final Fantasy'' games (whereas the PS1 version had retained a "classic" mode): the spell charge system was replaced with MP, and attacks aimed at a dead enemy now redirect to a live enemy.

* FollowTheLeader: The NES version of ''Final Fantasy'' is really, more or less, an unlicensed ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' product. Virtually the entire bestiary is lifted from 1st edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', particularly the iconic Beholder; someone at Nintendo of America was savvy enough to change it so that Creator/{{TSR}} wouldn't sue for use of an assiduously-guarded part of the ''D&D'' IP. Almost all the classes are taken right from the D&D class list (with the exception of the Red Mage and with the White Mage losing a Cleric's heavy armor for balance purposes, though the Red Mage may have origins in ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}''. The spell system and list is lifted from D&D almost entirely, with only a slight change to compensate for the missing ninth spell level. Substantial parts of the combat systems are taken from simultaneous initiative rolls, multiple hits per attack action, attacks landing on a dead target deliberately (because you have to designate targets ahead of initiative), etc. It seems a bit miraculous that TSR never took Square to court over it all. They probably would have, if the Beholder had actually made it into the English release. Square probably owes its continued existence to that anonymous Nintendo of America employee who realized what a dire legal threat it posed and how that one monster made all the difference between homage and outright plagiarism. In the ports released after the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan and [=PS1=] versions, the most D&D related parts in the game were changed to match the later ''Final Fantasy'' games: The spell charge system was replaced with MP, and attacks aimed at a dead enemy now redirect to a live enemy.
* LateExportForYou: Like the other Final Fantasy games before 7, 1 wasn't released in Europe until 2003 when it was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation via the Origins remake. The original NES version wasn't released there until 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There's [[https://twitter.com/VGDensetsu/status/942857553918283777 an old flier for the game]] that seems to depict a battle not in the game, with a "dragon" (named in katakana) the size of the full enemy area facing off against four warriors of light, all wielding weapons at once, and with a Black Wizard in ''red''. The dragon graphic is one not used in the final product, too (its sprite is bigger than ''Chaos'' and it looks more like enemy sprites from ''II'' or ''III'' than the ones found in ''I''). There's also what appears to be a ''castle'' at Crescent Lake, and Crescent Lake's design is itself somewhat different (with a small "sub-lake" within the crescent).

* TheWikiRule: The [[http://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki Final Fantasy Wiki]].

* WordOfDante: A lot of people attribute the personalities (and in the case of the White Mage, gender) of the ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' cast to the characters in the game. Of course, nobody has a personality in the game, so you can add pretty much whatever you want and it still works.

* FollowTheLeader: The NES version of ''Final Fantasy'' is really, more or less, an unlicensed ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' product. Virtually the entire bestiary is lifted from 1st edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', particularly the iconic Beholder; someone at Nintendo of America was savvy enough to change it so that Creator/{{TSR}} wouldn't sue for use of an assiduously-guarded part of the ''D&D'' IP. Almost all the classes are taken right from the D&D class list (with the exception of the Red Mage and with the White Mage losing a Cleric's heavy armor for balance purposes, though the Red Mage may have origins in ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}''. The spell system and list is lifted from D&D almost entirely, with only a slight change to compensate for the missing ninth spell level. Substantial parts of the combat systems are taken from simultaneous initiative rolls, multiple hits per attack action, attacks landing on a dead target deliberately (because you have to designate targets ahead of initiative), etc. It seems a bit miraculous that TSR never took Square to court over it all. They probably would have, if the Beholder had actually made it into the English release. Square probably owes its continued existence to that anonymous Nintendo of America employee who realized what a dire legal threat it posed and how that one monster made all the difference between homage and outright plagiarism. In the ports released after the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan and [=PS1=] versions, the most D&D related parts in the game were changed to match the later ''Final Fantasy'' games: The spell charge system was replaced with MP, and attacks aimed at a dead enemy now redirect to a conscious enemy.