WMG / Final Fantasy VI

Kefka

Kefka is the Joker's Great Grandfather

• Because they both act the same.

Kefka IS The Joker

• The Joker is a Laughing Mad Straw Nihilist. This frequently takes the form of Breaking the Fourth Wall, Medium Awareness and full enjoyment of Chaos. Who's to say he didn't just travel to the world of Square's latest Final Fantasy game? He also reprises the role in Dissidia, making almost no reference to being in a game as he just sees it as putting on a show, one that results in a LOT of death and destruction and also the only chance he'd ever get to become a Physical God and letting a world become his plaything.
  • There is a comic saga called Emperor Joker, in which the Joker cheats Mister Mxyzptlk out of 99.99% of his power and using the power to mostly turn reality into warm taffy. So this does kind of fit.

Kefka deliberately threw the final battle.

When the party confronts Kefka at the end of the game, Kefka is practically a god. In the cutscene prior to the battle, Kefka toys with the party, throwing them around, and generally showing that they don't stand a chance against him. Yet, the final battle is generally regarded as one of the easiest in the Final Fantasy series, almost to the point of being a joke. Why? There's only one good explanation (aside from Gameplay and Story Segregation, of course) - Kefka decided to lose.

Let me explain. At the game's halfway point, Kefka manages to achieve every Evil Overlord's dream. He plots to gain ultimate power, and actually gets it. He doesn't just dream about destroying the world, he actually does it! As the Cult of Kefka would say, he succeeded where Sephiroth failed. You are now his slave forever and ever. Kefka won. End of story. Game over.

Only it's not over. Having achieved everything he ever wanted, Kefka has nothing left to do that's worth doing, nothing left to gain that's worth gaining, and nothing even left to destroy that's worth destroying. Everything is pointless, and what's even worse is that there are still people out there that don't realize it! They have nothing left to live for, and they still fight! Kefka doesn't understand this, and that makes him angry. Killing their bodies would be an empty victory; only killing their spirit, killing their hope, and making them feel the same despair that he does would be enough to satisfy him. Hence why he didn't just blow up the Falcon with his all-powerful Light of Judgement despite having plenty of time to do so, or actually let Celes die of despair in Solitary Island, instead he allowed her to live and have a hope spot just for his plan to send her to Room 101 and stamp her face with a boot for ever. What would satisfy the God of Despair himself more than creating Despair Event Horizon right there in the heroes' highest hopes?

However, as the final cutscene makes clear, no matter how much power Kefka has, no matter what Kefka does, the party will never, ever give up their hope. Faced with something that can't be destroyed, Kefka's hatred turns inward; rather than live with the memory of something more powerful than he can ever be, he gives up and commits suicide by allowing the party to kill him.

• Suicide, you say? That is what you could expect from a massively nihilistic Nietzsche Wannabe.

• In this case, Kefka's tactic is just like the Anti-Spiral's: instead of outright obliterating them with divine power before the heroes get to take a level in badass, crush their hopes forever by beating them in their own game. And in both, this tactic will prove to be a Villain Ball.

• There might have been a bit of Taking You with Me, as well. Kefka probably knew that his death would mean the end of all magic (and possibly Terra's life), too. So from his perspective, even though he'd have technically lost, he would be destroying the party's leader and their greatest tool for healing the world, all in one swoop.

• Kefka proclaims that he will create a monument to non-existence. What's more destructive than self-destruction? From his own perspective, he destroyed all life, hope and dreams from the universe by dying.

Kefka was still firing the Light of Judgment during the final battle

In the event that the "Kefka threw the battle" theory above isn't true, then this was probably why he lost. The heroes give their "No More Holding Back" Speech, which causes Kefka to lose whatever modicum of restraint he has left and fires the Light of Judgment upon the world, seeking to eliminate the heroes' remaining sources of hope (and everything that happens to be in between them), prompting the heroes to attack. When they get to the top of the tower, Kefka's still using Light of Judgment as he fights, thinking that once everything's destroyed, the heroes will have no other option than to succumb to dispair (or the Light will cause an Earth-Shattering Kaboom, whichever comes first). Kind of a Weaksauce Weakness, since it basically boils down to Kefka trying and failing to multitask, but it makes sense.

• That makes a lot of sense; I can easily imagine that Kefka had simply become too damn crazy to fight properly, blowing up random parts of the landscape instead of focusing his power on the people trying to kill him.
• I can completely buy that he would decide to go for broke and do it all at once, rather than pacing himself.

There are two Kefkas.

Kefka was described as a good man before his experimental Magitek infusion, and then turned abruptly into a Monster Clown. What if this was because there was a piece of Magicite lodged inside his brain? Then, what if, once he seized control of the Goddesses and assumed his One-Winged Angel form, he disposed of his old body as having served its purpose? (I admit this sounds Naraku-like, but I seriously thought of this before ever seeing Inuyasha.) Then, no longer caring, this body got up of its own will and wandered off. It is the old good Kefka, with no more Magicite in his brain. So even as the True Companions fought against the One-Winged Angel Kefka who ruled from Kefka's tower, there's a second non-evil human Kefka wandering around somewhere in the world. Yay, a theory that's both Epileptic Trees and Fan Wank!

• Alternatively, you had to wait for Shadow on the floating continent because he finished off Kefka's human body, and Kefka's spirit drained the Triad of their powers. What you see at the top of his tower is a physical manifestation of his godlike powers.
• I had a similar theory, 'cept the "Good Old Kefka" gotten eaten by a sand worm named Zone Eater. Knowing how Evil!Kefka would ruin fuck over everything, he donned a cowl and called himself Gogo. I thought of this cause they share almost the same sprite cept the face, and the art for Gogo could easily be Kefka's plus a hood. Fridge Brilliance sets in when you think about how one is an Monster Clown and the other is a Kind Mime...
  • I actually saw a fanfiction about this theory!
    • Any chance of linking us to said fanfiction?

Kefka created the Void.

In his quest to create his Monument To Nonexistence, Kefka created (or became) the Void, but it was sealed in the Interdimensional Rift, and harnessed by Enuo and Exdeath on another world.

Kefka's makeup causes him to overheat.

The bust shot of Kefka that appears during dialog scenes shows him with white makeup on his face and neck. The makeup prevents heat from escaping from his head, so he overheats easily. For example, in Terra's flashback, Kefka is letting Terra handle all of the combat in her training exercise so that he doesn't have to exert himself in the fiery environment. When Kefka and his bodyguards arrive outside of Figaro Castle, Kefka crouches and complains about how hot he is. He flees from combat situations throughout the game because he's overheating from exertion.

Kefka is attracted to Celes.

At some point in the game, Kefka feels attraction toward Celes. He persuades Emperor Gestahl to forgive her treason (provided that she kills her teammates), allow her back into his inner circle, and arrange a breeding program between himself and Celes because he wants Celes for himself. Kefka completely loses his composure when Celes stabs him on the Floating Continent because he has been betrayed by the woman he desires.

Even after the events atop the Floating Continent, Kefka still harbors feelings for Celes. When Celes wanders into Tzen, the citizens are panicking over an impending Light of Judgment strike, but the strike never comes. Kefka refrains from striking the town when he sees that Celes has arrived there.

Kefka belongs to a third-gender category, similar to a hijra or Two-Spirit.

Even though Kefka is male, his appearance and mannerisms are feminine. For example, the bust shot of Kefka that appears during dialogue scenes shows him with earrings, makeup, and beads in his hair. Official art and his battle sprite both depict him prancing or striking a feminine pose. However, no one in the game comments on this or finds it unusual.

Kefka belongs to a traditional third-gender category that is specific to Vector, much like the Two-Spirits of many Native American cultures or the hijra of India. Members of the third-gender category historically served in ceremonial and leadership roles, which is why Kefka was chosen to be Emperor Gestahl's lieutenant.

Kefka is the son of Locke and Celes.

Sometime after the events of Final Fantasy VI, Locke and Celes bear a son, and Cid gives him the name Kefka, after the good man (and friend to Cid) who Kefka originally was before the botched Magitek experiment turned him into a Monster Clown. Later, toddler Kefka is pulled into the Void and is luckily quickly thrown out, but the Time Compression dropped him in the vicinity of Vector decades in the past. He grows up as Kefka Palazzo, a man two decades older than Locke. No, I had never read Marvel Universe at the time I came up with this particular WMG.

• Essential craziness aside, and assuming Cid is alive, naming a kid Kefka after the World of Ruin would probably be like naming a kid Adolf after WWII. Times ten. You can't really Anakin Skywalker/Solo it, since the name was straight-up the one he used while he was a cackling god of unspeakable horror. Also, that really makes the emperor's 'I want you and Celes to have magi-babies' speech even worse...
  • The theory presumes that no one really knew where Kefka originally came from, except that he came through the Void. And yes, Kefka+Celes magi-babies is Squicky, whether or not they were already related. That wasn't lost on me. And though Corrupted!Kefka was horrible, the fact that he became evil only after a Magitek accident makes him more of a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.

Kefka's Peace Ring

When you defeat Kefka at Narshe, he drops a Peace Ring. What does that do? It prevents Berserk and Confusion. In other words, it keeps you sane. And after this is when Kefka starts to go really nuts. I think Gestahl made him wear the ring to keep him under some semblance of control, but he lost it in the battle and made him lose what little grip on reality he had.

Kefka Was Always Nuts

While you might be inclined to think Kefka's a Woobie because the Magitek infusion drove him mad, this is not the case. He was always a Straw Nihilist and a sociopath with terrible color sense. All the Magitek did was get him to drop his inhibitions and stop pretending to be sane.

Kefka actually proceeded to create his own monument to destruction: The Instrumentality Sequence from Neon Genesis Evangelion

But because the party defeated him, Shinji survived. Both series are also set in worlds of ruin after Eldritch Abominations devastated them, and Eva-verse could represent Kefka's despair. Why not?

Kefka is Baram.

Kefka grew up in a crappy orphanage, where he learned to steal and fight to survive. As he grows up, he is noticed by someone in the Empire, and is taken in to become a soldier. He grows up more and becomes a general, etc etc. When the Espers were discovered, he was prepared to become the first Magitek knight. However, it seems unlikely that Cid and the Emperor Geshtal hadn't experimented at all before trying it on one of the best soldiers, so they probably tried weaker Espers on weak animals or criminals, and Kefka got to see the results, which were likely filled with Body Horror and insanity. The esper he was to be infused with was also probably out of control. It freaked him out badly and he ran away, hoping to escape the experiment. Government propaganda covered his escape as him going on a mission or something. Kefka drew upon his past experience of thieving and fighting, and became a robber with the name of Baram. He met Clyde, etc etc., until he gets injured. He begs to be killed, because he remembers what the Esper infusions did to the subjects, and wants to escape that fate. Clyde leaves him behind, and he gets brought to the Empire, where he is forced to become a Magitek knight. His anger and feelings of betrayal are amplified by the Esper's anger, causing him to snap and become permanently hatefilled and angry, as well as insane. Also, both Baram and Kefka lose self-control when they see their blood: Baram breaks down when he's injured, and Kefka goes berserk when Celes stabs him. ^note I know this reads like bad fanfiction, and I got the idea from a Youtube comment, but I don't think this has too much fridge logic.

• So Shadow tried to make amends by finishing Kefka/Baram off on the floating continent? Interesting theory.
• That... is disturbingly plausible.
• I have to admit, I don't favor this theory and even I have to say it's surprisingly plausible. Good job.

Wrexsoul orchestrated Kefka's rise to Godhood.

Remember Wrexsoul? The being who craved despair, who positively fed on ones with no hope? Well, he craved more despair than existed in the world at the time. But what could he do? He had no power in the material world. Only in people's psyches could he do anything of note. Now, he could manipulate others, by a method similar to mind control. However, it only worked on those whose minds had fallen so far as to provide no resistance to Wrexsoul. Now, who could this work on? Kefka! Wrexsoul could force this mad clown to usurp the powers of the Gods, telling him what to do. Then, when Kefka became a God and destroyed half the world, Wrexsoul would feed on the despair of those eking a wretched existence in this World of Ruin. It was a brilliant plan, but unfortunately, fourteen adventurers put a stop to it.

• This opens up a new perspective on everything Kefka does after the cataclysm. He does virtually nothing for that year but sit up in his tower, draining all of the magic from the Warring Triad. There's no reason why he lets life continue in the world of ruin, but Wrexsoul would need living bodies from which to farm despair. Assuming Cyan rejoins the party and faces Wrexsoul at Doma castle, that only leaves a used up, godlike Kefka by the endgame. Without Wrexsoul feeding from his own troubled past, Kefka decides to erase all existence in an extreme, opposite reaction to Wrexsoul's initial plot.

Kefka is an evil clone of the Sixth Doctor.

At some point in his sixth incarnation, The Doctor came to the world where the game takes place, and, long story short, Emperor Gestahl got ahold of some of his DNA, created a clone, and fused it with magic. The end result was pretty much an exaggerated version of the Sixth Doctor, with magical powers.

The Mayans predicted that 12/21/2012 will be the day of Kefka's return! On that day, he will complete his monument to non-existence!

What the title says. Prepare for the Second Coming of Kefka!!!

• Jossed. It is now 4/14/13 and there is no sign of any psycho clown.

Terra

Terra dies at the beginning of the game.

The entire game is a dream she is having while dying.

• Hey, that's boring! You can stick this WMG literally anywhere and claim anything is someone's Dying Dream.
• ...Conceded.
  • Obviously people draw the line at different points, but to be fair to the idea itself, there are some moments in the game that could believably lead to a Dying Dream; Terra's fall while escaping from the Narshe guards, the airship crashing near Maranda, the end of the world, Celes's suicide attempt potentially working. Heck, given how out there Sabin's scenario can be at times, it wouldn't surprise me if he drowned after falling from the raft or went splat after leaping off Baren Falls and everything afterward is a Dying LSD Dream. (Not that I believe any of these are the case to begin with.)

Terra is gay.

She seems confused by Edgar's flirting and even says "I guess a normal girl would have found him charming, but I'm hardly normal", she never hits it off or even shows interest in Locke and then there's the Les Yay with Celes.

• Probably not. The reason why she's confused by Edgar's flirting is because she's just had the Slave Crown removed by Arvis. In the Japanese translation (not sure about the GBA because I haven't played in a while) Arvis says that the Crown dampens her emotions. In other words, it dulls any fear, empathy, or love that she might have otherwise felt while wearing it. Also, she's just escaped from the Empire: the only non-grunts she might have ran across were Gestahl, Kefka, Leo, and Cid. YMMV regarding Locke and the Les Yay with Celes; I saw waaay more tension with Leo, to be honest.
  • Also, fan speculation is that Terra's Esper heritage made it hard for her to feel emotions like love. Example of this is when she asks Celes, the only other magic user she knows at the time "Can you love?" Not "have you?", but "can you?" She honestly wants to know if it has something to do with magic.
  • Yeah I kinda doubt that theory is true. For one no actual woman would have found Edgar charming and the whole thing with Celes, as explained above makes sense in context.

Terra Killed Biggs and Wedge

So, when Biggs and Wedge go bye-bye, we don't see the usual Doom, Banish, or other spell animation. They just sort of flicker and then are no more. When Kefka attacks Thamasa and "neutralizes" the Espers powers, his Magitek-armored soldiers disappear in a similar manner. The common link between the two? Maduin. Maduin is Terra's father, and she inherited this ability (which she never masters consciously) and Kefka got it via Cid's tube machines at some point.

Terra Branford is Yoshitaka Amano's waifu.

Amano stated that Terra is his favorite character. Why else would Terra have the most Amano artworks of any Final Fantasy character?

Terra has both Green Hair and Blonde hair

Her half-esper nature gives her hair an unnatural green color for most of the game, a sign of her ethereal and partially otherworldly nature. But when Magic disappears from the world after Kefka's defeat, she loses that part of herself, which is signified by her hair becoming a more normal blonde. Therefore, both her in game appearance, and her Amano artwork appearance are her correct looks.

• I agree, except I think she only got green hair after she transformed for the first time.
• Except the game still depicts her with green hair in the ending, after magic disappears. Dissidia depicts her both ways, with blonde hair as the default appearance, and she still has her magic there.
  • Of course, FFVI's character sprites don't change appearance based on equipment, are the same size as towns on the world map, and use the same image for kneeling when wounded as for sitting on the toilet. It's an open question how much representational fidelity the graphics are meant to convey.

Terra burned down Figaro castle

.When you last see Terra, sheś angsting because her years in the military have turned her crazy and she doesn't know what the right thing to do is an more. Then the screen fades to black and suddenly Figaro castle is on fire. Coincidence? I think not. It'd take a powerful esper to set a stone castle on fire anyway.

Terra Is Asexual and Not Because She's Half-Esper

Exactly What It Says on the Tin

Terra is, as of the ending, a clone of her mother

Her esper nature vanished when magic did, leaving only her human nature. Her human side came entirely from her mother. Ergo, with everything she inherited from her father gone, she should be 100% identical to her mother, or at least functionally a clone.

• She'd only have half of her mother's DNA. Even if that half was duplicated to "fill in the blanks", that wouldn't make her genetically identical to her mother, since the duplicate genes wouldn't all be the same alleles as the ones she didn't inherit.
  • An Esper Did It. Well technically, A Human And An Esper Did It. Honestly though, this isn't the worst idea, but I think that Espers would have to have a physical portion including DNA — at least that can interact tangibly with non-magical DNA. See my WMG entry "The Magi are Half Human Hybrids." further up. This entry though (not the other one I just mentioned) raises some interesting concepts, which I might address in a future WMG entry.

Celes

Celes succeeded in her suicide attempt.

Kefka succeeded in destroying all sapient life, and starts to use his God powers to evolve into a full-blown Eldritch Abomination. Only Cid and Celes survived the Apocalypse. However, after Cid dies Celes is the last woman on earth, and all that takes place after her suicide is actually in Purgatory.

• If you beat the Advance version, what happens? Beautiful ending sequence, in which the threat is extinguished and the world regains its lost vitality. The victorious friends zoom off into the sky. Fade to black. What happens next? Dumped right back outside Kefka's Tower, the party comes to, complete with all the weapons, items and experience you found within the tower, even items stolen from the final boss, so that even though they know they killed Kefka and saved the world, it doesn't matter. The world is still crapsack and Kefka will still be at the top of the tower to rule as God. Even if you repeat the process forever.

Celes and Maria are really the same person.

Celes apparently looks exactly like Maria, sounds exactly like Maria, and is able to sing opera well enough to pose as Maria. Further, the real Maria never shows up, and nobody claims to have even heard from her while Celes is with your party. Celes agrees to the impersonation plan rather quickly, after seeming to resist for all of a few seconds. Opera isn't something a beginner can just take up and instantly master. Also, it's unheard-of for one opera singer to sound exactly like another, even when they have the same range and type of voice. To be able to perform that well during the opera scene, Celes must really be a professional opera singer with years of training. Due to her genetic augmentation and magitek infusions, Celes may not have needed much combat training to perform her military duties, which may have allowed her enough free time during her off-duty hours to pursue a secondary career as an opera singer. Perhaps she has a teleport spell that lets her get to and from the opera house quickly. But she may be embarrassed about her passion for opera, fearing it may clash with the "tough chick" image she tries to project among her military comrades, so she hides this side of herself by taking on a different name and pretending to be someone else.

• Out of my head, boy!
• Strangely enough, she does have a secret teleport spell she doesn't tell people about: When Kefka catches up with the party under the magitek factory, she teleports away with him. Needless to say, she doesn't have this power when she's under your control, so she must be keeping it secret for some reason.
  • So. . . Celes took Kefka to the opera?

Celes and Maria are twins.

We know that the two of them look amazingly alike and we have no idea of who Celes' parents are. So how about this, the Chere family objects to what Gestahl is doing so he sends troops to arrest them for treason. Not all of them are able to escape and when Celes is captured they decide to use her to test the Magitek infusion process.

Celes is a Figaro.

The reason why Sabin and Celes look so much like each other is not just a passing resemblance, but because Celes was genetically engineered from the King and Queen of Figaro during a time of war, wanting to humiliate Figaro by using the ruler's seed against him. This would make Celes the younger sister of Edgar and Sabin.

Before she made rank, Celes was a member of the Gestahlian Imperial Choir.

A lot of emphasis is placed on Maria's beauty and Celes' striking resemblance to the singer, but there's no way she would have been able to step into Maria's role with zero musical background. Celes can sing because as a low-ranking soldier in the Gestahlian army she was also a member of the imperial choir, reinforcing the values of the empire through jingoistic anthems. The reason she keeps this part of her past secret from Locke is because she's ashamed to have once bought so deeply into the Empire's propaganda machine.

Celes is a magic-infused clone of Maria.

She's specifically said to be the product of genetic engineering, rather than a previously-ordinary person infused with magic like Kefka. So rather than it being just a coincidence that she looks and sounds just like Maria, it's because for whatever reason Maria's genetic template was used to create her. Perhaps Maria's parents were both thought to have particularly "good genes" by the Emperor's standards. And cloning baby Maria rather than an adult like her parents would at least one of the obstacles to a healthy clone (telomeres) gets bypassed.

Locke

Locke is Banon's son.

Locke was born in Doma to Banon and a Returner woman from Kohlingen (who may or may not have also been Banon's wife), but the mother and child returned to Kohlingen. As war with the Empire became drawn out, the Returners left Doma for the Sabil Mountains. Locke was originally indifferent to the Returners (and to Banon), but after Rachel was killed in an Imperial attack on Kohlingen, Locke joined the Returners.

Locke's future japanese voice actor...

Is Kouji Tsujitani a.k.a Miroku.Celes' voice actor is also Sango. Not to mention that Tsujitani also have to deal with Star-Crossed Lovers, as Mobile Suit Gundam can attest.

Another one could be Yuji Ueda a.k.a Akito Tenkawa from Nadesico. Celes is also Yurika.

• Jossed. Locke's voice actor is Yuki Ono. In other words, Josuke.

Shadow/Clyde

Clyde and Baram were lovers.

In a case of Bi The Way, as Clyde seems to like ladies too if he banged Relm's mom. Anyway, Shadow's last line in the ending is translated different ways depending on release, but the literal translation from Japanese was "I don't need to flee anymore. Embrace me warmly."

Shadow lives.

My honest original Alternative Character Interpretation, before arriving on the Internet and discovering most other people believed differently. In the end, when Shadow abandons the party and says he doesn't want to run away anymore, he doesn't commit suicide, but rather takes off his mask and settles down somewhere to start over with an honest life. He may or may not have ever returned to Relm.

• I second that theory, mainly cause he interpreted the dreams as Baram wanting Clyde to live. He took the name Shadow to hide from whoever was after him in that scene.
  • I (this entry's author) always assumed that Clyde and Baram's heist was from Doma. But Doma's toast now. Though now I wonder — if Doma gave rise to the Returners (as the script seems to suggest), could the stolen money have been from the Returners' treasury? Maybe that's why Shadow says he's worn out his welcome and leaves if you try to take him to Narshe during the World of Balance (the second time you pick him up, from Kohlingen). Does anyone else have any particular other theory why Shadow was avoiding Narshe?

Shadow is supposed to die on the Floating Continent.

When the party reaches the Floating Continent, they are joined by Shadow, but he separates from the group to attempt his would-be CMOA against Kefka. But Kefka immediately destroys the Continent and the rest of the party has to flee. No matter how fast you make it, Shadow does not rejoin you until literally the last second, and so the player has the option of leaving early and stranding him there to die— which most people probably did on their first time through because they didn't want to risk a game over. In the World of Ruin, you come across either Shadow or Relm knocked unconscious in the Cave in the Veldt, depending on whether or not you waited for Shadow. Regardless of who the party comes across, they say "let's get her back to Thamasa..." In other words, the developers intended for Shadow to already be dead in the World of Ruin, and this is a hint that he does not survive. ...Yes, I know it's more likely that the translator had to pick one pronoun or another and couldn't alter it depending on the player's choice, but the fact that Woolsey assumed you would be saving Relm and not Shadow has to count for something.

The Memento Ring is Shadow's and Relm's mother's wedding rings

The love of a deceased loved one protects them, and there's only two of them. Relm has one, passed down from her mother, and Shadow has the other, which he leaves at the counter in Strago's house after rescuing the party from the burning mansion.

The third Memento Ring is stolen from Wrexsoul, in which case it could conceivably be taken to either belong to Cyan or his wife, given where Wrexsoul appears. Though if so, this does beg the question of why Cyan can't equip the Memento Ring.

• Alternatively, you fight Wrexsoul in a dream realm, and during so you battle through not just the Phantom Train, but also the caves of Narshe in Magitek, which story-wise, Cyan didn't go through(I might be wrong though). So while the dream area is mainly composed of Cyan's memories, they are most likely also formed in small part from the memories of the rest of the team that's there with him. This, along with Wrexsoul being a demon that feeds on negative emotions, depending on whether or not you have Shadow in the party would mean that the third Memento Ring is not what is but what could have been - it would have been Baram's ring.

Shadow took his wife's Death by Childbirth as his own karma.

The real reason he abandoned Relm is he doesn't want her to be caught in his karmic crossfire.

Clyde is Freddie Mercury.

Just looks at that face and tell me it isn't so.◊Also, this supports the Clyde/Baram ship mentioner earlier on this page.

• Wow. Relm's certainly got her father's pants.

Clyde murdered Baram.

If I were wandering around killing people for money because it was all I thought I was good at, it would have to be for a pretty dang good reason. All we're given as a means of knowing about what happened between them are Shadow's nightmares, and who's to say he's being honest with himself during a nightmare?

Sabin

Sabin is gay.

While pretty much the whole party gets in on purchasing new clothes for Gau, Sabin is the only one who seems to venture a discerning opinion about what Gau should actually wear, and refers to the whole process as a "make-over". Plus it was his idea. He also never expresses any interest in any of the female party members, or in any girls at all, and is the only adult male human in the cast who doesn't at least have SOME obvious hetero interest; Edgar is a womanizer, Locke arguably has Terra and/or Celes (and definitely had Rachel), Cyan had a wife and son and had a correspondence-courtship with Lola, Shadow had at least a female lover. His lack of open interest in the ladies might just be because he's a monk, but still...

• "Bodybuilder? I'll take that as a compliment." Yeah, he's gay.
  • I played a bit of the fan-translation hack of Final Fantasy VI and I am pretty sure Terra called Sabin a Bear.
    • That was also in the more literal GBA translation. Plus, bears are a subculture of gay men.
  • Go and watch the "Licentious Howler" scene in the GBA version. Sabin writes off his suppressed sex drive as a perk of his years of ascetic training. So yeah, it's 'cause he's a monk.
    • It should be noted that Sabin trained in the mountains with two other men (and perhaps more unnamed ones as well). Aesthetic means the study of beauty in nature/art/taste. It only stands to reason that when he says, 'Aesthetic training in the mountains' that Sabin is referring to the other men. To him, they may be beautiful, thus, the statement that would be allowed to slip past game ratings and the undiscerning eye unnoticed.
    • Psst, psst... Sabin said "ascetic," not "aesthetic." Completely different words, completely different meanings.
    • That said, it was very common in less accepting times for sexual minorities to join religious orders in an effort to supress their desires.
• While I think it's unlikely that this would be true even though the game DOESN'T handle it like it does everything else (suicide, teen pregnancy, etc.), it might be worth mentioning that when visiting Duncan's house before Mt. Koltz, Edgar recognizes Sabin's favorite flowers, tea, and china set. Might just be a case of Real Men Wear Pink, though.
• Is there a reason that a heterosexual man can't be involved in wardrobe advice or have a favorite tea? Is there a reason a gay man *should* somehow be more so? Beyond unfair sexual stereotypes nothing listed is particularly more common in homosexual men then heterosexual men.

Sabin pummel'd all nutkins to extinction!

When he had enough of them taking away his favorite snacks of walnuts.

Edgar

Edgar is gay.

He's handsome, a genius inventor, and a king, yet no girls over the age of 12 will go near him. His outrageously inept flirting must be a trick to drive women away. I suspect that, once upon a time, a woman actually tried to take him to bed, found out the truth, and then told everyone else in Figaro Castle, which would also explain why all the girls stay away from him.

• Well the cutscene following the death of General Leo * did* have Edgar explaining that he and the others were tipped off to the Emperor's deception by a barmaid that he had gotten friendly with.
  • ...At which point he loudly insists that he was a perfect gentleman. Maybe he keeps making a fuss over his sex drive to hide the fact that he's asexual.
• In the GBA translation, he also tells Relm to wait a eight years until she's legal, and then he'll get back to her.
  • On medieval times?
    • High Fantasy is pretty timeless. Besides, the setting seems more reminiscent of a cross between Italy (Figaro), Feudal Japan (Doma, yet it's mixed with Cyan's olde englishe), Darkest Africa (the Veldt, it even comes with African folk music, but thankfully avoiding that trope's more Unfortunate Implications), Urban Segregation (Jidoor vs. Zozo with surprisingly sturdy-looking skyscrapers), Steampunk (practically everywhere but especially Figaro, Vector and Narshe) and The Gay '90s (household technology), with lots of Schizo Tech to go around (Come on, the Empire has mecha and genetic engineering (Celes' implied origin) yet they still use carrier pigeons? Well if one has Magitek he can easily build an Internet for starters). Overall, the world feels less Middle Ages and more post-Renaissance, with sprinkled pieces of pure Anachronism Stew and that make the setting difficult to pin to any real world time period. Basically, the story can get away with anything it pleases, including certain modern-style laws like age of consent.
  • He actually says "Here's hoping you're still around in eight years, kid." I think the dialogue was supposed to be suggesting that that Relm was hitting on him...
    • That's not really what he says in the original version either. In the Japanese version is it's more like: "That's just criminal...... Don't even think of it." Because of what such a line implicates, none of the official translation and almost none of the fan re-translations will translate that line cleanly.

Edgar is not a Figaro.

Edgar is not related to Sabin or their parents at all. In a time when the Empire was at war with both Figaro and Doma (who were allies), Cyan (who was in his 20s) lost his first wife during an Imperial raid. She was never found or identified, but was actually a vegetative pregnant Jane Doe who came into Figaro's care from out of the war zone. She gave birth on the same day as the pregnant Queen, and since the woman would never wake up, the King and Queen of Figaro adopted her baby and raised their own son and the other boy as twin brothers. Sabin resembles their father much more than Edgar does. Cyan later married Elayne and had another son, Owain. Yeah, this one is a real Epileptic Trees, I admit. But I've been Wild Mass Guessing Final Fantasy VI since 1994.

• Okay, granted, WMG is fun, but what's the point of this? Nobody ever says that Edgar doesn't look like the rest of his family, or that he looks like Cyan. Sure, Sabin is said to look like his father, but hey, I look more like my father than my brother does. He probably just takes after his mother or something.

Cyan

Cyan is troubled by his past because of the townspeople.

Cyan's wife looks the exact same as most/all of the young female townspeople, so it could be that every time the party wanders into a village, Cyan's PTSD is triggered by the girls walking around. The same goes for his son, seeing all of the kids running around doing nothing.

Gau

Gau is a Half-Human Hybrid. He is half-whatever Gogo is.

Gau's sprite and character art show him to have pointed ears, fangs, and (in the Amano art, at least) a little bit of FUR on his elbows and knees; while it could be that this is the result of being in near-constant Rage mode for twelve or so years, it's more likely that he was born with them, leading his father to throw him onto the Veldt. Living so close to the Veldt, Gau's mother could well have come into contact with any number of creatures— after all, monsters from all over the world naturally migrate to the Veldt. She met Gogo, and living alone with a mentally unstable husband, she was lonely and wanted some affection from this mysterious stranger. Gogo Mimed her Seduction ability, and she got pregnant with Gau as a result; sometime afterward, Gogo was swallowed by a Zone Eater on the Veldt, which returned to its natural habitat on Triangle Island. When Gau was born, he looked entirely normal for someone of Gogo's species, prompting his father to abandon him. Gau's Rage ability is an overly-developed and highly-specialized Mime ability that he inherited from his biological father.

Gau is a descendant of Strago.

His Rages, being monster abilities, are essentially unrefined blue mage skills. It also explains his magical abilities because he would be part Thamasan. Combined with the above, his Rages become a Blue Mage/Mime hybrid.

Alternatively Gau is an Esper/human hybrid like Terra.

He has the same hair color as her and can use magic naturally via some of his rages. Furthmore his dad claiming his mother was a demon could mean she was a demonic esper like maduin.

Gau's father was a magic infusion test subject.

After Kefka went nuts after being infused with magic, the process needed to be refined. So they used a random person and used the process on him. He was sane but right on the precipice of going nuts. He escaped the Empire and ran to the Veldt to hide. Not long after, he met a woman and they had a child but she died during childbirth, triggering his descent into madness. This would explain why Gau can use magical abilities with his Rages because he has magic in his DNA from his father, and magic is acquired either from Espers or from the magic infusion process.

The Veldt is one big Soul Jar for Gau

Think about it: The Veldt is inhabited by enemies from all over the game's world, but only ones that you have already encountered/battled. And they're always in the same formations as when you previously encountered them. And what's one of Gau's unique abilities? a "Leap" attack (which only works in the Veldt!) that has him jump at whatever enemies were present in the encounter you used it in, followed by the battle abruptly ending and Gau disappearing for a while and reappearing at the end of a later encounter, also in the Veldt. And when he returns, the moves of the enemies from both encounters will be attributed to him. So the way things are, it would seem the enemies you fight in the Veldt are actually spirits/apparitions of everyone you killed, and Gau is absorbing their restless spirits.

Gogo

Gogo is Daryl/Gestahl/Adlai Stevenson.

He can't just be a plotless reference to FFV! Because...uh...hey, look behind you! A three-headed monkey!

• I always had my suspisions about old Adlai...
• Personally, I've always liked the Gogo is Banon theory, as its never explained what happens to him...
  • I'm more partial to a recent theory that says that Go Go is the old leader of the bandits from Figaro jail. Not only does it make sense, but the person who made the theory even has in-game proof to back up his claim.
    • Hold on a tic... that makes a lot of sense. Didn't the bandits say their leader was eaten by a sandworm? Well, what is Zone Eater?
    • One theory I have is that Gogo is an amnesiac Gilgamesh in disguise. Why Gilgamesh? The outfit worn by Gogo is roughly like what Gilgamesh would wear fully covered up; Gilga's penchant for carrying multiple weapons of past (and future) Final Fantasy games' Heroes lends credit to the additional theory that he actually can use all these various different weapons, and can Mime other attacks, but chooses to focus on Weapons instead of everything on the table (Which neatly ties into why he took over for Odin in Final Fantasy VIII as the Guardian Force and was able to do the same job and attacks). Plus, he regularly travels between Dimensions (Showing up in IV, V, VIII, IX, XII canonically). Why is he Amnesiac? Dimension travelling probably took a toll on him after a while, or maybe he just hit his head. So, given his Amnesia, Gilgamesh took on the name Gogo, and now Mimics everything instead of just Weapons skills.
    • How do you know the chronological order of the games if they're in different Dimensions? What's to say this isn't the end of Gilgamesh's story and he never remembered how to leave?
    • This has been jossed in the GBA release: Gilgamesh is an esper.
    • Exactly when does Gilgamesh appear in FFIV canonically?
  • I'm of the opinion that it is the very same Gogo from FFV. After he Banished himself, he was thrown across the dimensional rift, and ended up in the FFVI dimension... where he was promptly eaten by Zone Eater.
    • Given that's apparently what happened to Gilgamesh, it's as good a theory as any.
    • Fridge Brilliance: Gogo was refining his art to the next level, and Mimiced Gilgamesh's crossover.
  • Though I like the leader of the bandits as Gogo theory now, when I played through it the first time, I couldn't get it out of my head that Gogo was Baram, Shadow's old partner. Mostly because we never actually saw him die...
    • 'Cause the empire probably got him. I say Gogo is the one from V, but also became the thief leader (the thieves tried to mimic him thieving), then he got eaten. Why was he thieving? Maybe he saw Locke from afar and tried to mimic him.
• I am a diehard Adlai Stevenson theorist, even though some of the evidence in favor was bogus. No reason why he couldn't also be the Gogo from FFV.
• Gogo isn't Daryl. Gogo is Clyde, and Shadow is Setzer's old flame. Interceptor just happens to like all little painter girls he meets.
• An aside: the Memento Ring item, which is full of "memories of [Relm's] departed mother," can only be equipped by Shadow, Relm... and Gogo. Make of that what you will.
  • Actually, I tried that for the SNES, and it didn't let Gogo equip the memento ring.
• Gogo is Mario. You get him by going through a Zone Eater (WARP ZONE PIPE). Then you face enemies dressed in green suits (LUIGI). To get past them you have to jump from platform to platform. If you're hit you fall off the screen with your hands up and a look of extreme surprise (SUPER MARIO BROS). Then you have to move through an area with a falling ceiling, finding the holes in the ceiling to survive (SUPER MARIO BROS 3 SUBCASTLES). Items you receive while in this area include a red jacket (obvious), a fake mustache (obvious), a magical brush (MARIO PAINT), a cape (SUPER MARIO WORLD), and a tack STAR (obvious). The clincher? The Mario Theme's official name is "GO GO MARIO".
  • On top of that, as far as I know, Mario has ALWAYS been a jack-of-all-trades, ideal for being a mimic. And I've always wondered why the item is called "Fake Mustache." It goes deeper. Gogo's only viable weapons are flails and rods, which are the closest FF6 gets to hammers, Mario's signature weapon. Not saying I believe the theory, but still.

Even Gogo doesn't know who he is.

Stuck in the Zone Eater a long time ago, he even looses his memories and his own self identity.

Mog

Mog will have a single son...

...named Worf.

Banon

Banon and Duncan were the same person.

Think about it, we get no backstory for Banon, none at all. And he and Duncan share the same sprite, Duncan just has a different color palette. Sure, you could chalk it up to being lazy, but remember that when Edgar was using the alias Gerad, he used the same sprite as normal with a different color palette. So why not pull the same trick with Duncan and Banon, use the same sprite but different palettes to hint they're the same guy? Furthermore, with how many other important characters in the game (Madeline, Lola, Cyan's family, Gungho) use generic sprites, and how many NPCs of minor importance get unique sprites (Katarin, Arvis, Darill, Rachel), why would the developers reuse Banon's sprite for Duncan? Why not give him a unique sprite or a generic sprite? No other character reuses a party member's sprite like this. It really only makes sense if one presumes there's something to this.

If they were the same person, then Duncan would easily be found by the Empire as a famous martial arts master. So he makes up an alias, and whenever the Returners refer to their leader, they use his alias "Banon" to keep his identity secret. When Vargas "killed" Duncan, he took the chance to drop out of sight and devote his full energy to the Returners - remember that the timeframe when Vargas killed Duncan more or less lines up with Locke rescuing Terra, so if we assume he sent word to Banon of this young woman who could use magic, it makes sense Duncan would use the "death" excuse to vanish and take on the Banon persona full-time. This is why Banon vanishes in Vector when the Floating Continent rises, he's going back to hide under the Duncan persona again. This is also why, despite the fact he's supposedly alive the whole time, we never see Duncan in the World of Balance - because we do see him, as Banon. This would also explain Banon's Pray/Health ability which seems to be magic; Duncan would naturally have the ability to harness the same type of energy that powers Sabin's Blitzes.

• But then why doesn't Sabin say anything?
  • Simple - he knew, he was in on it. Being that Terra never knew who Duncan was it would make no sense to point it out to her. The people who ought to have been told Duncan was Banon knew, and the people who didn't need to know weren't told. Even Duncan's wife mentioning he's dead fits in with the idea, she either didn't know about his double life or did know and lied to people to keep up the charade.
    • That's actually not a bad theory. When you meet Duncan in the World of Ruin, he doesn't say a word about Vargas, even though that was a far more obvious reason for him to be dead than the End of the World as We Know It.
    • That also explains something that has always bugged me a bit, why Sabin was immediately accepted as part of the returners. Locke and Edgar had already been shown to be members, Terra being recruited is part of the story but Sabin just seems to be along for the ride for no real reason. If he was already secretly a member already then there would be no reason to try and recruit him.
    • Sabin is probably along for the ride because he's a capable fighter, and Edgar's brother.
    • That, or the fact that Sabin was the most distraught when his father died, poisoned by the Empire, so he'd probably be part of the Returners anyway if he knew about them. Assuming Duncan is Banon, if Sabin ever told Duncan why he ran away, then Duncan might recruit him into the Returners and make sure he knew about the Banon alias.
  • This theory has a tangential yet interesting implication: Was Vargas really Duncan's son? An argument against this would be that Banon betrays no hint that his son just died; shouldn't he be in grief? Yes, but neither do his parents. You can speak to both his mother throughout the game and his father later in it, and neither of them have a single word to say about the death (or even the existence) of their child. The only way I can see to explain that are that Vargus, being an uncontrollably antagonistic psychopath who kills (or claims to kill) his own father over a snub, without any display of remorse or guilt, was so awful a person that even his own parents wouldn't acknowledge him (perhaps politely expressed by his father in the form of shunning Vargas in favor of Sabin). Which *whew* would explain why Banon expresses no reaction about the death of 'Duncan's' son. Maybe he even feels relief inside. Or, 2: There's some stupidly convoluted scenario involving Duncan lying to Vargas about being his father. I prefer the first idea.

Banon is Gestahl's son.

Banon was originally Gestahl's son, but stole much of Vector's wealth and defected to Doma where he founded the Returners as a combined rebel/resistance group against Gestahl's regime. The Returners would later remove to the Sabil Mountains after prolonged warfare between the Empire and Doma.

Baram

Lone Wolf is really Baram.

After Clyde abandoned Baram at the foot of Baren Falls, Baram was brought back to full health in an act of mercy by the Esper Fenrir using his own power, which is why Lone Wolf is a talking wolf. Fenrir lived on the Veldt, but was killed when the world was ruined, leaving behind only his Magicite in Mobliz.

Sigfried is Baram's ghost.

After Baram and Clyde's train robbing spree, the Doma circuit was shut down; which left the tracks open for the phantom train. After their biggest heist, Clyde and Baram jumped from Barren Falls to escape the Doma guards in pursuit but Baram was injured in the fall. Baram died of his wounds (or is perhaps killed by a Doma Soldier) but his spirit couldn't leave the world. Instead, having the unfinished business of 1)becoming the greatest thief in history, and 2)settling his inner turmoil over being abandoned by Clyde; Baram was doomed to wander the planet stealing and searching for his lost partner (who is hiding). Having a taste for the theatrical, Baram took the new identity of Sigfried and took up swordsmanship to avoid being injured so badly again (remember, even ghosts battle in FFVI). Ironically, he is cursed to rob the same train over and over again for all of eternity while continuing to search for Clyde. The hints are everywhere:

• Sigfried is first encountered on the phantom train... with Baram being a dead train robber.
• Sigfried and Baram are similar in personality, both being very excitable and craving attention.
• Baram and Clyde parallel each other by hiding their true identities.
• Baram and Clyde both become notorious in their own right.
• Shadow refuses to jump from Barren Falls with Sabin and Cyan.
• Ultros (who acknowledges Sigfried as a great) also has a partner in crime (who, incidentally, also has a knack for distancing himself from others).
• Sigfried and Shadow both end up in the Colosseum.

Espers and Esper Magic

Esper Magic is Linked To Emotions

Look at the facts:

• The times when Terra's power wells up are all times she's experiencing a personal breakthrough; when she confronts Valigarmanda for the first time, when she meets other Espers herself for the first time, and when she's fighting to protect the children of Mobliz.
• The Espers are said to have lost control of their powers in the human world when they learned the Empire had killed their friends and they flew into a rage. When you find them later, they've calmed down and regained control.
  • Note that, while the characters speculate that Espers in the human world just can't control their powers because of some aspect of their realm that keeps their powers in check, that doesn't hold up to analysis: outside the mentioned instances, Terra never shows trouble controlling her powers, nor do any other Espers in the human world. Clearly something else is at play here.
• The Espers met are usually very calm and stoic, and are easily defeated shortly thereafter; they don't use their full power because they lack the moderation to let their emotional control slip even a little.
• Terra's powers are weakened when she's struggling to come to terms with her feelings for the children of Mobliz; as told above, her power returns in full when she resolves to protect them.

All in all, it seems that an Esper has to retain their emotional control to have control over their magic, as well. Loss of emotional control equals loss of your control over your powers. Emotional turmoil and angst means fluctuating power levels.

The argument against this is Kefka, who just grows stronger and stronger as he grows more and more insane and seems to have no trouble controlling his powers. However, much like The Joker he is often compared to, perhaps Kefka has a sort of "super sanity" where he's just so crazy and erratic that he retains full control of his powers in spite of or perhaps because of his insanity.

Crusader is Sealed Evil in a Can.

Related to the above theory, the Esper Crusader is actually an evil force that was sealed away by the Dragons for good reason. The esper is morally sketchy to begin with; a move called "cleansing" that deals extreme damage to friend and foe alike. The esper is most likely a Knight Templar that sought to eliminate all of dragonkind because they believed them to be evil that must be eradicated. The Eightfold Seal was the dragons' attempt to seal this danger away, with Kaiser personally entering into a Sysiphus Vs Rock deal to keep the Crusader in check after the two of them were sealed. Over time, Crusader eventually died and became magicite, but the danger of the magicite was deemed enough for the dragons to continue guarding the seal. Until the party released it by killing them. All of this makes the party's actions even more damning in Kaiser's eyes: these filthy bloodthirsty humans slaughter his brethren and release the dangerous Esper, and then they have the gall to come into their sanctuary and kill them all over again? They're no better then Crusader itself.

• Another thing many forget, is that the Espers where created by the energies of the Warring Triad changing animals and other things into powerful beings, they then began warring with each other under the guidance of the Triad. After the Triad became sealed, the espers no longer had a reason to fight. My theory is that Crusader wished to continue to fight, in fact if you noticed there are three of them that could easily be analogs for the Triad themselves. They could of been the champions of each faction who refuse to stop fighting, and were so powerful they wiped out those around them like their Gods. Thus the sealing.
• Crusader's Japanese name is Jihad. Oh, and there's Meltdown, the spell that only Crusader teaches...

Most Espers had their emotions sealed/dampened.

There was some discussion on the Bugs Me page about whether Espers are capable of love, and some showing, at least in some translations, a lack of emotion. We know they were originally used as weapons by the three Goddesses, and whether they have an innate love for destruction is a key plot point in Dissidia. Having been weapons for so long, and by this theory naturally drawn to violence, many espers either chose to, or forcibly, sealed or reduced their emotions, in order to ensure such urges wouldn't endanger their new peace.

The Esper whose power was used to infuse Kefka was evil, while the Esper whose power was used on Celes was good.

It isn't that the operation was imperfect in Kefka's case, it's just that the Esper's personality affects the subject's. Therefore, Celes' decision to turn against the empire was fueled by a conscience given by her operation just like how Kefka's decision to destroy the world was fueled by madness gained from his.

• They actually said that he was driven mad by the infusion/operation due to the unperfected methods as he volunteered immediately after hearing about it.
  • I know. That's why it's a WMG: I want to offer an alternate viewpoint to the canon.
• That makes a lot of sense.
  • Celes was infused (at least in part) by the Esper Siren. This explains how she can match Maria's operatic singing.

Everyone in the world has a bit of Esper heritage.

After the War of the Magi, some Magi and Espers remained behind with 'regular' humanity instead of going to the Esper World or Thamasa. Their magical power diluted through the generations to the point of uselessness, but it still remains in small amounts, as evidenced by the various party members; either extensive training (Sabin's Blitzes, Cyan's Bushido techs, Gau's Rages, General Leo's Shock ability) or extreme desperation (Edgar's Royal Shock Limit Break; the other Desperation Attacks run off the Magic stat, but Edgar - who has no magical talent otherwise - summons a huge pillar of light from the ground with his) allows one to draw on it. In addition, MP growth is still calculated under the hood when leveling up, it's just hidden in the menu before getting magicite; in-universe, everyone has MP, they just don't have any magicite to use it with.

3 of the 4 additional Espers added in Advance are a new generation.

As Kefka ran the Warring Triad's power havok, he unwittingly made espers out of the following:

• A deep-sea creature became Leviathan.
• A cactus in a small desert near Maranda became Gigantaur, Who then spawns smaller Cactaur.
• An Imperial soldier will a lesser rank became was turned into an esper. His name was still originally Gilgamesh, but he is an alternate version of of Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V.

The Magi are Half Human Hybrids.

The Magi of 1000 years before (and their descendants the Mages of Thamasa) were originally much earlier Half Human Hybrids of humans and Espers, which explains their secret ancient ability to use magic even without the assistance of Magitek or Magicite. Though the Thamasans were primarily endogamous to maintain their secret, their magical ability was gradually diluted through occasional intermarriage with ordinary human outsiders. Both the dilution of blood and the discipline of generations of experience made it possible for Thamasans to keep from losing control of their magical sides — but even then, no modern Thamasan is as powerful a half-Esper as Terra is.

Like the inhabitants of Thamasa, the Espers have steadily declined in power over the generations.

The Espers you find during the World Of Balance section of the game not only teach you rather weak magic, but also often look rather unspectacular and small (Siren and Ramuh are looking completely human, Cait Sith is a black cat in boots).In contrast to that the Espers you find in the World of Ruin are gigantic, powerful monsters and sometimes downright bizarre (Bahamut, Alexander, Phoenix, Ragnarok who is a sentient sword!)

That has the simple explanation that all the Espers you find in the World of Balance come from the single (and very recent) raid on the Esper World when Terra was a baby (for the sake of this WMG, Serraphim, Golem and Zone Seeker are also from this batch, but were drained by the Empire already and were dumped into the sewers like Ifrit and Shiva, where they died and were found by thieves/scavengers) Thus they are from a very late generation in the history of the Espers at which point the magic that had been infused into the first Espers by the Goddesses would have already been weakened to a very low level also causing less magical mutation/deformities in newly born Espers (less powerful spells, more human-like appearance)The Espers you find in the World of Ruin, however, all hark from earlier times, possibly the War of the Magi or earlier and show the Espers before their power had vanned over the generations. Their magicite had lain buried below the earth for generations and was unearthed by the turmoils during the Apocalypse. Thus their larger power and generally more bizarre/spectacular appearance.

Following this the Espers, had they not been exterminated by Kefka, would eventually have dwindled in power until they had become humans like those in Thamasa again and could have lived among humankind again.

Tritoch is Terra's distant ancestor.

Maduin, her father, teaches Bolt 2, Ice 2, and Fire 2. Tritoch teaches Bolt 3, Ice 3, and Fire 3. Tritoch's magic is stronger because he was a soldier in the War of the Magi, and Maduin wasn't quite as martial. Tritoch is a bird-dragon-thing and Maduin is a Final Fantasy V-style gigas, but who knows how appearance gets determined with Espers?

Abilities such as Sabin's Blitz, Cyan's Bushido and Gau's Rages are not related to magic or espers.

Basically, there is another fundamental force in the FF6 universe that humans and monsters can tap into. It has several applications but takes extensive training and is highly limited compared to magic. This explains the otherwise unexplainable enemy and character abilities that seem magical or magic-like, despite the claim that the general populace believes nobody has used magic in a thousand years. Leo's Shock, Sabin's Blitzes, Cyan's Bushido, Gau's Rages, possibly Setzer's slots, Mog's dance and most enemy abilities are examples of the utilization of this 'weak supernatural force'. The exception might be Strago, as his lores are implied to stem from being a descendant of the Magi, and therefore magic-based. Same with Relm's sketch. The upshot of this whole theory is that with the annihilation of magic at the end of the game will not affect these abilities, so post-game, supernatural events and abilities will still be the norm, they just won't be as intense or prominent as those caused by magic.

Miscellaneous

The man who sells you Seraph in Tzen is the same guy that runs the inn in Vector.

He's obviously a thief; he steals your money if you sleep in the inn, and he then sneaks into the Magitek facility after you leave and attack it. Then he steals the magicite and goes to sell it for money.Also, after the negotiation, the inn guy is not at his booth. And the two share a character model....

The old man you talk to outside of Sabin's Cabin is Duncan in disguise.

Trickster Mentor, anyone?

• We refuse to respond to that. You only brought it up so you could say "Sabin's Cabin," admit it.

Downer Ending Poison Oak Epileptic Tree based on the above theory (Celes succeeded in her suicide attempt)

Kefka succeeded in becoming God, and Celes is the last woman on Earth who did succeed in her suicide attempt. However, Kefka put her in Purgatory, and gave her illusions of a "revived team" as a setup to give her hope until he crushes her to Absolute Despair Event Horizon. No matter how Celes' imaginary team will defeat him, the Purgatory is still crapsack and Kefka will still be at the top of the tower to rule as God. Even if you repeat the process forever. In other words, Kefka put Celes, the last woman on Earth, in an Endless Recursion of Time. She will continue to suffer under Kefka, at least until she is driven to Absolute Despair. And even when she succumbs to Absolute Despair and kills herself, she will still survive to be trapped under Kefka's boot... Forever and ever.

The Eight Dragons were not evil.

Think about it. What did the Eight Dragons ever do that was evil? Aside from holding up an opera, none of the Dragons really did anything other then wander about their home. Humbaba and Death Gaze were menaces; attacking orphanages and raining death from the skies, but there was no indication that the Dragons planned to do anything other then sit around their homes. The party always made the first move, always chose to start the fight. Especially with Earth Dragon: if he was hostile to begin with, why did he wait for the party to pick themselves up before attacking? The party doesn't kill them to defend anyone, or because they were attacked; the only reason they have to fight them is because they were released on the Day of Ruin like Humbaba and Deathgaze, so they must be evil menaces that have to die, right? But it's all OK, because once they're all dead, you get a shiny new piece of magicite, and that justifies everything, right?And then in the remake, the party hunts them down to their afterlife and slaughters them again. Kaiser Dragon pretty much spells it out for you when you face him: the party have been slaughtering his people for no reason, and then continued to defile their resting place. Oops.

• If you're going to start moralising about killing monsters, that imp you condemned to a horrible, frothing disease death by testing out Bio on him has a civil lawsuit for you. Heck, in Chrono Trigger you kill a LOT of enemies who'd likely leave you alone otherwise.
  • It's mainly just the fact that Kaiser goes all What the Hell, Hero? on you that gets me thinking about the Dragons.

Terra, Kefka, and Celes are sterile.

Think about it. None of them has any kids, two of them constantly run from any feelings of connection, and all of them are magic-users through unusual circumstance.This leads me to believe that the Magitek infusion process leaves the subject completely sterile. Celes copes with this by insisting she cannot love someone. This is why she hurls herself off the cliff when she believes she's the last person alive. Even if there was another male, she wouldn't be able to further the race.

Terra, being half-esper/half-human, is sterile simply by being a hybrid, much like a mule. She also copes by insisting she cannot feel love. This slowly grows into her becoming a motherly figure to the orphaned children at Mobliz, til Duane and Katarin have their own child and assure her they can take care of the kids.

Kefka, on the other hand, does not take this as well. He copes by being a complete sociopath, hiding his misery with a facade of insanity and glee in causing pain. He kills others without mercy or honor, when he becomes a God-like being he does his best to leave children parent-less. Whereas the first two hid from their problem, Kefka embraces it as an excuse to hurt and kill.

To contrast, Relm and Strago are both Magic-users, and Strago obviously had kids who eventually had Relm.

• The fact that Terra and Celes don't have children doesn't mean they are sterile, and there is actually no logical reason to they they are. They are both 18 years old, so unless they wanted to be in "16 and pregnant" its obvious they don't have children. I got the age from the Final Fantasy wiki which DOES need citations and official info, so unless it's been wrong for several years, then that's their age (I think it was from a manual book or something).
• Unfortunately, the game contradicts this theory: Relm is Shadow's daughter and he is not related to Strago. There is no mention of Strago ever having kids of his own that I'm aware of.
  • Strago could be Relm's maternal grandfather though (i.e. her mom was Strago's daughter.) The magic has to come from somewhere, and several people outright tell you that the reason people can do magic there is because of heredity.
    • Yes, but a random woman in Thamasa tells you a secret - that Relm isn't actually Strago's granddaughter, but the granddaughter of a friend.
    • BUT what a random woman in town tells you doesn't mean that a whole town full of magic users (a town founded after the war ended ONE THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE THE GAME) can't have children. They obviously can and no theory that says "What if they are immortal?" fits because Strago tells you very clear that the power of magic is WEAKENING in their blood with each generation, that's why Stragon can only naturally use Lores and Relm can only paint, because the magic is weaker. So it's obvious that the magic-using people of Thamasa can have children.
• Not having kids in-game doesn't exactly say much about whether the characters are sterile. We only ever see the birth of two people in game (Terra and Duane and Katarin's kid) and only three of the playable characters are parents (provided again that you buy that Strago really is Relm's grandfather.) It's not like the aforementioned characters are repeatedly getting it on with someone offscreen. The "Terra's a genetic hybrid and therefore sterile" argument makes sense though.
• Doesn't work the original Japanese (or at least the fan translation I read) has Emperor Gestahl say this on the Floating Continent: "My Celes. Come to my side. You alone are different. You and Kefka are to leave behind magical children that will sustain the Supreme Gestahl Empire!" It is likely that he would know.
  • He wants them to make magibabies in the Advance script as well. That pretty much shoots this theory down, honestly.
  • Does he want them to make magibabies separately, or rather does he...?
• Terra's a mule, and Celes and Kefka were artificially infused. The technique may not be completely understood, ergo, sterility is an unforseen side-effect. On the other hand, the people of Thamasa are natural born mages, albeit ones that are, at this point, highly diluted by non-magi bloodlines.

The World of Balance has continental drift margins.

At the western edge of the western-most continent, and at the eastern edge of the eastern-most continent, the shapes of the lands are such that they just about fit together, like South America with Africa.

• Chalk that one up to the original War of the Magi. The world before that might well have been one prosperous continent that was subsequently split apart and reduced to a barren wasteland.
  • (Fridge Brilliance moment...) I hadn't actually thought of the drift being that recent, but it makes perfect sense. That opens awesome possibilities for the layout of the pre-Magi world map.

Narshe is a hydrothermal field.

I always believed that all those clouds rising from the buildings in Narshe were not smoke, but hydrothermal steam from heated water underground. Narshe uses it much the way they do in Japan, Iceland or New Zealand, as both a heat and energy source, which is especially useful since it always seems to be winter there. The Narshe area may be partially volcanically active, with Hailfire Peaks. The more active volcanic areas would be useless (and unsafe) for mining, but adjacent extinct volcanoes might be lucrative areas of geothermally-placed ore deposits, with just enough geothermal activity to heat some of the water table and provide a steady source of hot water that can be piped where it's needed. The anachronism of burning fireplaces in Narshe buildings however either suggests that they're part of the overall abstraction of the available tiles in limited graphical tilesets (and the fireplaces look awesome), or that much of that steam is in fact...smoke (from either wood or fossil fuels). What do you think, steam or smoke?

• I believe one of the townspeople says flat-out that Narshe is kept warm by geothermal devices.

The empire had a number of genetic experiments in operation.

After Kefka's less-than-perfect magical infusion, the empire started experimenting with various orphaned or unwanted infants, modifying their genes to make them more receptive to the process. Maria and Celes were originally part of the same test group. At some point, Maria was found unsuitable, and shunted off into some side project for imperial cannon-fodder before escaping and capitalizing on her looks and singing talents. This is why Maria and Celes not only look uncannily similar, but also have the same singing voice (or at least one similar enough to fool an audience). They were both bred to be weapons AND symbols for the empire, beautiful, deadly, good public speakers, etc. Someone who could look inspirational and captivating as she gave the emperor's orders.

Expanding on the idea, some of the genes they were modified with were actually Terra's, as Terra, being a hybrid, provided the perfect example of a body capable of handling the Espers' magic.

Maybe Daryl was even part of the same project, before she made her own escape - it would explain why Setzer developed such a fast and hard fixation on Maria and Celes, and seemed rather fond of Terra, too. Though that could also just be Setzer.

There WILL be a Sequel.

It's just trapped in Development Hell. Everyone has idea's about it, and surely Square realizes it's one of (apart from VII) their most well-loved game. So why not?

Okay, first things first. It will be set eight-yrs-later, after the Party defeats Kefka (the eight years is mostly owning to Edgar's comment about Relm). It will start (and possibly stay) in Terra's POV. The world is being un-Crapsacked. Terra awakens in Mobliz one day, and has to save Duain and Katherine's child. However something weird happens in the battle. She can cast Fire! How? The Triad has been destroyed? Who knows where the other Espers have gone? And so, with Celes (the only other part of the main party that could use magic...until you get Strago) and the others, the Player sets out to find out why Magic has returned...

C'mon, Squeenix, give us a good sequel! (I'd like it to be for the PS3 or the Wii).

• Nope! My prediction: it'll be for the PSP and won't get an export. And the graphics will be like FFVII's out-of-battle characters.

The world of FFVI is the very last Gilgamesh visits.

Considering Espers only turn into Magicite upon death...

• Unless he's only BEHAVING like an Esper (he turned into Magicite for gameplay reasons, but not in the universe) and he's really just hanging around in the wings (maybe even on the ship and unseen for the earlier reasons), until the moment he's needed, attacks, then goes back to chilling. Or a less funny but more realistic theory could be that he leaves the VI universe at the right time and its rules no longer apply to him. Or something.
  • His Magicite is really a FAKE Magicite and what it really does is act like magic Void-spanning radio.
  • When you consider that in Duodecim, when Gilgamesh enters the Dissidia world, he is bound by the rules of the cycle, means that he probably had to obey the rules of the FF6 universe. When magic was gone, he reverted to normal, and left for the world of FF8.
• Which is not unlikely if Gilgamesh has to abide the current universe's laws, considering 1), how similar the FFVI Esper's creation is to how l'Cie are made in the Fabula Nova Crystallis games, meaning the Warring Triad are not so so much gods but the FFVI equivalent of fal'Cie, pretending to be actual gods for unknown purposes, 2) Type-0 gives us a formerly human Gilgamesh turned l'Cie, and 3) the possibility that with slightly tweaked rules l'Cie become Espers/Eidolons themselves in this world instead of being granted one as a separate entity and Crystal Stasis being somewhat different as well.

Ultros wants to become a legitimate villain and is trying to achieve this by copying other villains

He admits when he's first seen that he's doing it for no reason and asks if that makes him a villain. In his second appearance, he learned Setzer was going to kidnap Maria and informed the opera house ahead of time. Ultros thought telling the victim ahead of time would make for a good calling card and tried to repeat it. In his third encounter, he attempts to steal the Warring Triad, items that the party would later seek. He mentions being rivals with Siegfried, a thief who stole an item the party sought earlier. Finally, he joins the Gestalt army, probably in the hopes of gaining rank and eventually usurping the emperor, which Kefka does not even an hour later.

Origin of the Returners

The first Returners were originally part of Maranda's military, and when their country was taken over by the Empire they fled to their ally, Doma. This first group managed to pool together refugees from Albrook and Tzen, and find supporters in other nations as well. The name obviously means that they shall "return" to their homeland and defeat the Empire. This is why Doma "gave rise to the Returners" because it gave the exiles a place to lick their wounds and gather strength, and why Cyan specifically points out that Celes lead the attack against Maranda. The base in the Sabil Mountains was meant as a secret fallback position, but it was found out when agents of the Empire tracked Terra, Edgar, Locke, and Sabin there.

Madeline is the most badass character in the game

She made it through the Cave to the Sealed Gate, apparently alone and without weapons, certainly without magic, and somehow opened the gate to the Esper realm and got inside, something that on the two other occasions it is down needs the magic force of multiple Espers to be done. Even the Espers don't know how she managed to get into their realm, so clearly her ability surpasses even them. It's fortunate for the Empire Madeline isn't a playable character or she'd probably be able to take out the Guardian and storm the palace on her own.

The Party Died in the Esper Cave

After recruiting Strago and Relm, Terra and Locke find the Espers in the cave with the golden statues west of Thamasa. The Espers slowly close in, the screen fades to black... and then fades in on the exact same scene but with the characters standing in slightly different positions. What gives? The Espers killed them, is what. Everything that follows is some kind of purgatory or nightmare scenario. How else could Kefka, whose ass you've been handing to him throughout the World of Balance, suddenly be able to take on dozens of Espers single-handedly? Level grinding? Don't make me laugh.

Kaiser Dragon is Shinryu

Or at least, the Final Fantasy VI version of him. He is fought right before the Omega Weapon, just like Shinryu's fight was paired with Omega. Both are somewhat serpentine, and have long, red hair. Both are also superbosses.

The background music in the factory

• ...Is actually the background noise. Girders being slammed and bolted into position, and beeping computers.

Magic Is Not Dead, Just Sleeping

So, it appears that magic is gone as of the end of the game, right? But isn't that what everyone though after the War of the Magi, too? Who's to say that, 1,000 years after the events of the game, the long-thought-dead-and-gone force of magic will, once again, be brought forth by some improbable chain of events?

Wrexsoul is formed from the evil ghosts of the Phantom Train.

The game says that Wrexsoul is a spirit formed from the vengeful souls of warriors slain in war. Naturally, there's the war with the Empire going on now, so it makes sense to make the connection that Wrexsoul is formed from those killed in the Imperial war.

However, take it a step further. Remember Sabin's scenario, aboard the Phantom Train? What do they do to escape the ghosts at once point? They detach the rear cars, causing them to stop on the tracks. If the Phantom Train is to pick up the souls of the dead and carry them to the afterlife, the obvious implication is that if you don't board the train, you don't go to the afterlife. Those evil ghosts left behind in the rear cars are stranded in the world of the living forever. What happened? Fueled by hate and vengeance, they combine into Wrexsoul.

And the killer point of it - Cyan was in the party when it happened, the Phantom Train runs near Doma, and it could be presumed at least some of the ghosts are Imperials or Doma soldiers killed in the siege prior to the final boarding seen later. Where does Wrexsoul attack Cyan? Doma Castle.

Interceptor is part-esper.

Its magic power is an extent of controlling dreams. It is the one giving Shadow the 4 dreams in the first place. If it were to be accompanying Relm instead, it would give her that fifth dream.

The NPC who can remove equipment from members not present in the party is part esper.

How does he take the equipment away? Magic, that's how!

Etymology of Bastard Sword

They are named so because they are all illegitimate children of the Esper, Ragnarok.

Edgar's two-headed coin is a denomination of an esoteric Figaro currency.

Though Figaro uses Gil, the kingdom retains its own currency, maybe just for collectors' purposes. The reason this particular coin has two heads is because it bears the twin princes of Figaro, Sabin and Edgar. Sabin doesn't notice that it's their coin when Edgar flips for the throne because he doesn't look at it.

Shadow is he reason why Relm has the highest magical stats.

When the mage warriors founded Thamasa, they probably recluded themselves within their own circle, so the weakening of their magical power was a concequence of constant genetic sharing, and might (or not) had some inbreeding cases, resulting in the magical power weakening to a degree. Shadow was however a total muggle, and when he married with her wife at Thamasa and had Relm, the lack of magic from Shadow's side gave the genetical renewal that allowed Relm to surpass any character on the game in magical stats.

All the characters are modeled of older FF classes

Terra:Red Mage/SummonerLocke:ThiefSabin:MonkEdgar:Ranger/EngineerCeles:Paldin/Magic KnightCyan:Fighter/SamuraiStago:Blue MageRelm:Bard(Art instead of music)Mog:Dancer/GeomancerUmaro:BerserkerSetzer:Gambler/MerchantGogo:MimeGau:Beast masterShadow:Ranger/Assassin

The Magic Master was the leader of the Magi during the War of The Magi

The Magi must have been led by an incredibly powerful magic-user. Arguably the most powerful magic-using boss in the game is the Magic Master. Also, he is found guarding the Soul of Thamasa at the top of the Fanatic's Tower. Thamasa was founded by renegade magi after the war, so it is plausible that the guardian of a powerful magic artifact connected to the town may also be connected to the war. But if the Magic Master was the leader of the Magi, how did he survive the thousand years since the war? He didn't. His sprite is a ghost, so this is simply his spirit, resurrected by Kefka or the Cult and potentially modified with Magitek Power. I propose that his name is in fact Thamasa, and that he is being forced to guard his own soul (which can be utilized to enhance magical power). Its not much of a stretch to assume the town of Thamasa was named after the leader of the Magi.

Members of the Warring Triad's species are the source of magic on other Final Fantasy worlds as well

At least, triads are present on the worlds of FF1,2,3,4,5,9,10 and maybe 12 and 15, where the source of magic is not explained. On these worlds, the Triads that arrived didn't conflict, and were never discovered. In FF7, magic is explained to be somewhat of a byproduct of crystallized memories within Materia, so it is an exception. For FF8, I suggest that there is a triad on the world's moon, and that inhabitants of the planet have learned to extract or 'draw' magic from monsters arriving from the moon following lunar cries (coincidentally similar to the Empire draining magic from Espers, but obviously more refined).