History Fridge / FinalFantasyXVI

** Joshua is subconsciously holding back because he doesn't want to hurt his brother since unlike Clive, Joshua is actually aware of what he was doing. Meanwhile, Clive isn't even ''realising'' what he is doing and has no such reservation.

** Joshua becoming Phoenix is due to a TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening in where he saw his friends and family get murdered in front of him. His psyche isn't really ok in that situation.

* Why didn't we see [[TheGhost Leviathan]] or even a Dominant and nation corresponding to it? [[AwesomeButImpractical Because it is too dependent on external factors to make it work]]. In the ocean, it is pretty much unbeatable. Leviathan will just drown any of the other Eikons (unless they can fly) fighting it, to say not of any navies stupid enough to attack it in the ocean. If there is any danger, it can just hide in the deep ocean and wait things out. On the other hand, assuming that Leviathan can move inland like in ''XV'', its powers are heavily limited to it's own water supply, giving it a disadvantage to the other Eikons. If Leviathan cannot move inland, it is a sitting duck that can be blasted from afar. There's a reason why most major cites in ''XVI'' are inland, out of Leviathan's more destructive ''range''. Anyone who tried to form a nation around Leviathan most likely realised this and decided not to bother, as being an island chain or fully coastal nation are the only viable options to make it work. The only known islands are already taken up by the Iron Kingdom, who hate everything about Dominants and Eikons. No wonder we didn't see Leviathan at all. It couldn't find a Dominant!

* TheReveal that Olivier was DeadAllAlong for being a manifestation of Ultima's will becomes this when the story and lore logs alike never reveal when he died. It could've been a possession or a KillAndReplace ''years ago'' and no one was any the wiser the entire time until Ultima's plans came to fruition; it's even [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation entirely possible]] that, having birthed the Phoenix and the perfect vessel for Ifrit, Anabella was [[TheChosenOne silently picked for the plan to produce another vessel]], and Olivier may have ''never'' been a child but merely a puppet host from conception.

** In addition, the book Vivian asks you to find, ''From a Distance'' actually explains that the bearers used to be in charge ''because'' of their magic. In fact "bearer" is short for "Bearer of the Heavenly Blessing". Then non-bearers rose up and began to subjugate them. That part of history is now virtually unknown, implied to be deliberately so so that both non-bearers and bearers alike don't recognize both the humanity of the bearers and just how powerful bearers were/can be.

* How it is possible for Cid to conceive the idea of being not reliant on Crystals for everyday-life when for a common Valisthean it is an unthinkable idea? Well, he hails outside Valisthea where magic is simply not possible outside the Mothercrystals' influence.

* How it is possible for Cid to conceive the idea of being not reliant on Crystals for everyday-life when for a common Valisthean it is an unthinkable idea? Well, he hails outside Valisthea where magic is simply not possible outside the Mothercrystals' influence. Ramuh is also specifically noted to bestow wisdom and insight upon its Dominant, potentially explaining how Cid was accurately able to discern what the Mothercrystals were really doing.

** This is actually because the hideaways are in the Deadlands; where there is insufficient amounts of aether to use any magic, whether it be through the use of crystal or Bearer’s natural abilities.

** This is acutally because the hideaways are in the Deadlands; where the is insuffcient aether to use any magic. Crystal or Bearer.

** Another option as to the lack of Leviathan in Valisthea is the possibility that those that could inherit Leviathan are extinct or outside Valisthea, where the presence of the Mothercrystals are lacking which in turn makes magic practically non-existant for non-Valistheans. Cid came from outside Valisthea and he became the Dominant of Ramuh. The Thousand Tomes directly and indirectly implied for Cid and Barnabas that they descended from certain tribes which makes it possible for them the become Dominants of certain Eikons.

** Anatomically-wise, Joshua is having more trouble being Phoenix due being a bird. Meanwhile, Ifrit is bipedal with working hands which makes it perfect for Clive.

* In the hideaway(s), even though they are a community of mostly Bearers, you seldom see magic being used, even to make their lives a bit easier. This is probably because of Cid's discovery of what use of magic does to Bearers over time, as well as the fact that his plan to destroy the Mothercrystals will cause [[TheMagicGoesAway magic to fade from the realm]] and he wants them to be used to not having access to it.

* How it is possible for Cid to conceive the idea of being not reliant on Crystals for everyday-life when for a common Valisthean it is an unthinkable idea? Well, he hails outside Valisthea where magic is simply not possible outside the Mothercrystals' influence.

** If you walk by a particular handmaiden in the prologue, you actually hear this happen as she'll note that Clive and Jill make "a handsome pair" and expects there to be a "feast" for the two of them soon. Granting Jill her seat as a Duchess(?) of the Northern Territories contingent upon her marriage to Clive was probably the exact plan.

* In the side quest "Priceless", Jill mentions that when she was still living in Rosaria as a child, she had overheard the adults discuss her "marriage prospects". As a (former) princess with royal blood of the territory Rosaria had conquered, wouldn't they just assume she should be married to Joshua or even Clive, since they would be raised together and likely have a higher affinity? This actually would have been reasonable to want to avoid, as it was possibly she could have leveraged that marriage to reclaim her homeland.

**

** Another option as to the lack of Leviathan in Valisthea is the possibility that those that could inherit Leviathan are extinct or outside Valisthea, where the presence of the Mothercrystals are lacking which in turn makes magic practically non-existant for non-Valistheans. Cid came from outside Valisthea and he became the Dominant of Ramuh. The Thousand Tomes directly and indirectly implied for Cid and Barnabas that they descended from certain tribes which makes it possible for them the become Dominants of certain Eikons.

* Why didn't we see [[TheGhost Leviathan]] or even a Dominant and nation corresponding to it? [[AwesomeButImpractical Because it is too dependent on external factors to make it work]]. In the ocean, it is pretty much unbeatable. Leviathan will just drown any of the other Eikons (unless they can fly) fighting it, to say not of any navies stupid enough to attack it in the ocean. If there is any danger, it can just hide in the deep ocean and wait things out. On the other hand, assuming that Leviathan can move inland like in ''XV'', its powers are heavily limited to it's own water supply, giving it a disadvantage to the other Eikons. If Leviathan cannot move inland, it is a sitting duck that can be blasted from afar. There's a reason why most major cites in ''XVI'' are inland, out of Leviathan's more destructive ''range''. Anyone who tried to form a nation around Leviathan most likely realised this and decided not to bother, as being an island chain or fully coastal nation are the only viable options to make it work. The only known islands are already taken up by the Iron Kingdom, who hate everything about Dominants and Eikons. No wonder we didn't see Leviathan at all. It couldn't find a Dominant!

** But also, Phoenix did almost win. It’s not that difficult to make it through the battle without taking any damage, cinematics show him demolishing Ifrit, and in the final cutscene Clive is completely exhausted and battered. Phoenix just happened to abandon his ranger advantage when Ifrit seemed down for the count, and after that he couldn’t escape the Eikon’s grip.

* Why didn’t Clive show any signs of being a Dominant before Phoenix’s Gate? He was already empowered by a second Eikon of fire. Any of his natural abilities would’ve been written off as coming from Joshua.

** Joshua becoming Phoenix is due to a TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening in where he saw he friends and family get murdered in front of him. His psyche isn't really ok in that situation.

** Joshua is subconsciously holding back because he doesn't want to hurt his brother since like Clive, Joshua is actually aware of what he was doing. Meanwhile, Clive isn't even ''realising'' what he is doing and has no such reservation.

* Why didn't we see [[TheGhost Leviathan]] or even a Dominant and nation corresponding to it? Because it is too much of a SituationalSword. In the ocean, it is pretty much unbeatable. Leviathan will just drown any of the other Eikons fighting it, to say not of any navies stupid enough to attack it in the ocean. If there is any danger, it can just hide in the deep ocean. On the other hand, assuming that Leviathan can move inland like in ''XV'', its powers are heavily limited to it's own water supply, giving it a disadvantage to the other Eikons. If Leviathan cannot move inland, it is a sitting duck that can be blasted from afar. There's a reason why most major cites in ''XVI'' are inland, out of Leviathan's more destructive ''range''. Anyone who tried to form a nation around Leviathan most likely realised this and decided not to bother, as being an island chain or fully coastal nation are the only viable options to make it work. The only known islands are already taken up by the Iron Kingdom, who hate everything about Dominants and Eikons. No wonder we didn't see Leviathan at all. It couldn't find a Dominant!

* Torgal is Clive's CanineCompanion but in the prologue as a puppy he has an unusually close bond with Jill. Almost immediately after the story picks up in the present day, you find out that Jill is the Dominant of Shiva. And then some time later you find out that Torgal is a ''frostwolf'' descended from Fenrir, who was implied to be a familiar to Shiva herself.

* It might seem odd that the Bearers, people with awesome and dangerous magical powers, are the slaves in this world. If they rebelled, wouldn't they easily win? Except they're not the only ones with magic--anyone can use a crystal and do the same thing. This means that their slavery is ultimately for ''economic'' reasons, as they are cheaper than crystals. This parallels much more closely with real-world slavery than typical SuperhumanTrafficking.