History Awesome / FinalFantasyI

** {{LetsPlay/Projared}}'s playthrough of the NES version had him make an observation on the sprite change in that version of the class change that borders on {{Fridge Brilliance}}. Say what you will about those old sprites, but the difference between the base and promoted class sprites has your characters going from almost cutesy, child-like characters to looking like adults. As Jared put it, it symbolizes your characters not only changing class, but growing older, wiser, and more experienced and their appearance reflecting everything they had been through to that point. ''No other version since then has had such a poignant display with a simple sprite change'', leaving this as the only version to [[ShowDontTell represent it in such a way]].
* This game's very existence really. [[Creator/SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like ''{{VideoGame/Ultima}}'' or ''{{VideoGame/Wizardry}}'' or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home [=PCs=], hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

** Oh, he doesn't care overmuch about ''living'' forever, he wants to ''kill the Light Warriors forever''. After they killed him as Garland, he hates them so much that killing them once just wouldn't be ''enough''. He wants to spend eternity killing them over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Then, of course, there is the severing of said time loop by the Light Warriors, which also redeems Garland by undoing his original FaceHeelTurn.

* One of the RPG world's first {{Evil Plan}}s (albeit a very simple one): when [[spoiler:Garland]] reveals, at the end of the game, that he [[spoiler:created a time loop by sending the Fiends 2000 years forward so they would send his body back 2000 years to allow him to transform into [[OneWingedAngel Chaos]], and live forever]].
** [[spoiler:Oh, he doesn't care overmuch about ''living'' forever, he wants to ''kill the Light Warriors forever''. After they killed him as Garland, he hates them so much that killing them once just wouldn't be ''enough''. He wants to spend eternity killing them over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Then, of course, there is the severing of said time loop by the Light Warriors, which also redeems Garland by undoing his original FaceHeelTurn.]]

* The iconic bridge-crossing scene, which signals the real beginning of the game.

** [[spoiler:Oh, he doesn't care overmuch about ''living'' forever, he wants to ''kill the Light Warriors forever''. After they killed him as Garland, he hates them so much that killing them once just wouldn't be ''enough''. He wants to spend eternity killing them over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.]]
** [[spoiler:The severing of said time loop by the Light Warriors may also count, if you actually care that much about the story to such a simple game.]]

* This game's very existence really. [[Creator/SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like ''{{VideoGame/Ultima}}'' or ''{{VideoGame/Wizardry}}'' or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home [=PCs=], hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* This game's very existence really. [[Creator/SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like {{Franchise/Ultima}} or {{VideoGame/Wizardry}} or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home [=PCs=], hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* "[[MemeticMutation I, GARLAND,]] [[GoodBadTranslation SHALL]] [[NeverSayDie KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"]]

* This game's very existence really. [[SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like {{Franchise/Ultima}} or {{VideoGame/Wizardry}} or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home [=PCs=], hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* This game's very existence really. [[SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like {{Franchise/Ultima}} or {{VideoGame/Wizardry}} or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home PCs, hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* This game's very existence really. [[SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like {{Franchise/Ultima}} or VideoGame/Wizardry or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home PCs, hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting [=FF1's=] Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* This game's very existence really. [[SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. ''And'', most importantly, do it with an interface and controls that anyone could understand.[[note]]Games like {{Franchise/Ultima}} or VideoGame/Wizardry or [[VideoGame/GoldBox AD&D Gold Box]] all had ''options'' this robust, but required decent home PCs, hours of manual reading, and/or extensive existing knowledge of the game system in question to actually make any ''use'' of these options. And, counting FF1's Japanese release date, Gold Box came ''after''.[[/note]] It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* This game's very existence really. [[SquareEnix A dying company]]'s employee makes one last ditch attempt at a good game. His only real standard: show up ''DragonQuest''. Instead of [[ItsUpToYou one character]], choose any combination of four from six unique classes. Instead of less than a dozen boring spells, choose any 24 from at least 36 options. Instead of a handful of equipment, dozens of pieces that match the class options. It doesn't seem like much today, but back then, it was miles above what anyone thought a game could be. It saved a dying company and spawned one of the [[CashCowFranchise most famous video game series in the world]].

* "[[MemeticMutation I,]] [[spoiler:[[MemeticMutation GARLAND,]]]] [[GoodBadTranslation SHALL]] [[NeverSayDie KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"]]

* [[GoodBadTranslation "I, GARLAND, SHALL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"]]

* One of the RPG world's first {{Evil Plan}}s (albeit a very simple one): when [[spoiler:Garland]] reveals, at the end of the game, that he [[spoiler:created a time loop by sending the Fiends 2000 years forward so they would send his body back 2000 years to allow him to transform into [[OneWingedAngel Chaos]], and live forever.]]

* [[GoodBadTranslation "I, GARLAND, WILL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"]]

* [[SoBadItsGood "I, GARLAND, WILL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"]]

* "I, GARLAND, WILL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!"

* How about the iconic bridge-crossing scene, which signals the real beginning of the game?

* One of the RPG world's first {{Xanatos Gambit}}s (albeit a very simple one): when [[spoiler:Garland]] reveals, at the end of the game, that he [[spoiler:created a time loop by sending the Fiends 2000 years forward so they would send his body back 2000 years to allow him to transform into [[OneWingedAngel Chaos]], and live forever.]]

* "I, GARLAND, WILL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN!" Though YourMilageMayVary on that.