History MythologyGag / FinalFantasy

The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games are ''filled'' with (depending on your perspective) recurring characters and/or Mythology Gags. With the series steadily entering the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV XVth]] title, and sprawling countless spinoffs, ''Final Fantasy'' will have a lot of Mythology Gags to count on.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', many of the little details in the character designs are taken from the original artworks, even when they were gone from later designs. For instance, Cloud's original 1997 design gives him visible eyebags, which can also be seen on his menu portrait; the weirdly low placement of his earring is its placement on the original FMV model.

** Kuja [[spoiler: kidnaps a princess named Sarah (Garnet's real name) and a woman named Hilda]] like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the original Garland]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII Emperor Mateus]] respectively. He also goes on a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum upon learning he is mortal like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Xande]] and [[spoiler: like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Golbez]] he is the brother of the main protagonist.]] His character design bears resemblance to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth and his plan disrupts the natural cycle of life.]] Finally, like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] he uses this game's summons to gain more power and usurp his boss with Garland's death mimicking that of Emperor Gestahl.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyDimensions'' is virtually built on this. From the story to the characters to dialogue. There's far too many references to the rest of the series to even try to list them.

** And of course, the Trance powerup, which turns the characters into furred versions of themselves for an incredible power boost, is a reference to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s Terra.

** The fan translation introduces a few. An escaping villain taunts the heroes with "You spoony... guys!", referencing an infamous {{Bowdlerization}} from ''FFIV''. And a random townsman says a frequent line from the original ''{{Final Fantasy|I}}'', "Warriors, bring light to the ORBS!" only for the heroes to respond "Shut up."

* The description for the song "Chocobo Chocobo" in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV DS'' Music Player says "They're probably all off playing in some mysterious dungeon now." A comparatively long-running spinoff series for ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' is ''Chocobo No Fushigi Dungeon'' -- which translates as "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon", although it's usually just called ''ChocobosDungeon'' in the US. The randomly-generated dungeons in the series are consistently called "mysterious dungeons" in either version.

* ''ChocobosDungeon'' has a dungeon filled with Cactuars and Iron Giants. The song playing in the background is a remix of the song playing in the Thunder Plains from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', an area filled with said monsters.

** The SOLDIER 1st Class Legend Job uses animations based on Cloud's from the PSX version of ''VII'' (amusing, as the ''VII'' storyline is based on ''VII Remake''). This looks comical in practice, since Wol's more realistic in appearance.

* In ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', the Deepground logo is the same as the SOLDIER logo as it appeared in the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. The logo had been redesigned for the ''Compilation'' titles.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIDirgeOfCerberus'', the Deepground logo is the same as the SOLDIER logo as it appeared in the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. The logo had been redesigned for the ''Compilation'' titles.

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games are ''filled'' with (depending on your perspective) recurring characters and/or Mythology Gags. With the series steadily entering the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV XVth]] title, and sprawling countless spinoffs, ''Final Fantasy'' will have a lot of Mythology Gags to count on.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' features a Dragoon, the first in the series, named [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Richard/Ricard]] Highwind; later, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' would feature a Dragoon named Kain Highwind, and while the curmudgeonly airship mechanic Cid Highwind of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' (himself being FFVII's incarnation of recurring character Cid) certainly doesn't resemble the traditional ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' Dragoon, his use of spears and the Jump ability in combat cement him as a Highwind in the mold of his immediate predecessor. Later translations of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' incorporate a new Mythology Gag in the form of Ricard's "adoptive" son being named Kain (even though the continuity of the games, or lack thereof, means he cannot possibly be ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'''s Kain Highwind), and the most recent translation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' brings the reference full circle with a brand-new scene where Kain mentions that his father's name is Richard.
*** The fan translation introduces a few. An escaping villain taunts the heroes with "You spoony... guys!", referencing an infamous {{Bowdlerization}} from ''FFIV''. And a random townsman says a frequent line from the original ''{{Final Fantasy|I}}'', "Warriors, bring light to the ORBS!" only for the heroes to respond "Shut up."
** Another example is the Job System in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII''. You got jobs from each of the Crystals. The first Crystal bestowed the jobs of Fighter, Black Belt, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage, and Red Mage. The ''exact same jobs'' that were your choices in the original ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy|I}}''. In addition, the final Crystal bestowed 4 of the six upgraded jobs from Franchise/FinalFantasy, with the mages gaining snazzy new names: Ninja, Warlock, Devout, and Master (Knight was on the second Crystal, and Red Wizard was replaced by the one-man magical arsenal known as the Sage).
*** Heck, this got a reference later, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', of all games - the first six job classes available are Warrior, Monk, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage and Red Mage. All the others require having at least a certain level and doing a quest to unlock each one.
** The description for the song "Chocobo Chocobo" in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV DS'' Music Player says "They're probably all off playing in some mysterious dungeon now." A comparatively long-running spinoff series for ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' is ''Chocobo No Fushigi Dungeon'' -- which translates as "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon", although it's usually just called ''ChocobosDungeon'' in the US. The randomly-generated dungeons in the series are consistently called "mysterious dungeons" in either version.
*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' features a "Spoony bard" too, while the Warrior Monks are in Luca. A townsman will tell you that he asked one of them out, "but she called me a spoony bard! Can you believe it?"
** Character Job Classes (most noticeably Bartz as a Dragoon featuring a near-identical sprite to Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'') in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' often feature cues from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' in at least one design. Subsequently, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' features a similar amount of nods, with several generic character sprites featuring identical design features... Most notably the male Monk and male Thief (Bartz) and the female Lancer and Ninja (Faris).
** The OptionalPartyMember Gogo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is a direct nod to the boss of the same name who guarded the Mimic class crystal in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. Even his battle menu is customizable in the same way as a Mimic in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV.''
*** The Advance Remake has Gilgamesh as an Esper. He is once again a sword-collector; he falls for Excalipoor again, and in battle, he uses the same trick he did in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''; namely casting Protect, Shell, Haste, and Jumping.
*** And another new Esper is [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Diabolos]]. His specialty is, yet again, Gravity spells.
** This was arguably the entire point behind ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''.
*** The play in the ending sequence of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' includes the line "No [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII cloud]], no [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII squall]] shall hinder us!" This is one of many such references to the game's predecessors.
*** Getting the Ramuh Eidolin requires gathering parts of a story. Said story is about [[spoiler:Josef's HeroicSacrifice]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''.
*** When the main character is in a weapon shop he sees a sword on the wall. He remarks that he remembers "a guy with [[AnimeHair spiky hair]]" who used a sword like that. The sword looks very similar to Cloud's Buster sword from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''.
*** Final Fantasy IX was generally ''filled'' with these, since it was basically a reference to the series as a whole, to wit: the return of the BattleThemeMusic that had been last heard in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', a sidequest involving characters named [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Doga and Une]], the in-game band's performance of the Rufus march from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', the appearances of black mages as faceless people with glowing eyes underneath wide-brimmed hats, which had been avoided (at least for player characters) after ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', and the general return to cartoonish proportions in the character design, which had been eschewed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''.
*** One of the villains is named Garland and the four fiends are named after the ones from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''.
*** Kuja [[spoiler: kidnaps a princess named Sarah (Garnet's real name) and a woman named Hilda]] like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the original Garland]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII Emperor Mateus]] respectively. He also goes on a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum upon learning he is mortal like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Xande]] and [[spoiler: like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Golbez]] he is the brother of the main protagonist.]] His character design bears resemblance to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth and his plan disrupts the natural cycle of life.]] Finally, like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] he uses this game's summons to gain more power and usurp his boss with Garland's death mimicking that of Emperor Gestahl.
*** And of course, the Trance powerup, which turns the characters into furred versions of themselves for an incredible power boost, is a reference to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s Terra.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Lulu's weapons are dolls of characters from previous Franchise/FinalFantasy games.
*** Additionally, the Ronso tell Yuna that they'll build her a statue with big horn on her head. Yuna is a summoner. In previous games (III and V, as well as one of the summoners from IX-- [[spoiler: the other had hers cut off]]), the summoner class had horns.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' contains several references to other games in the series, including, on Ultima Weapon's [[EnemyScan scan data]], "Whatever you do, don't call it [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Atma]]."
*** Also there's the enemy named "King VERMIN!", which is named after the insult Barrett used on Shinra.
*** When Shinra tells them of the huge amount of energy from the Farplane and how, if used, would change a lot in their world, Yuna talks about [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII a huge city that would never sleep]]...
*** Which is also a StealthPun, since ''Shinra'' came up with the idea.
*** When Yuna first acquires her Songstress sphere, she often says, "Hey! [[WaxingLyrical Eyes on me!]]" "Eyes on Me" was the main love theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has a bit more elaborate nod to ''FFI'' with what are called Artifact Armor. Some of the classes in the game can gain special armor that makes them look like characters from the older games: Fighters got bulky red platemail, White Mages got red-trimmed white robes, Black Mages got the pointy hats, and Red Mages got the distinct red jerkin-cloak-armor and the pimp hat.
*** On top of that, the 6 jobs new ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' characters initially have available are the same as the 6 possible party members in ''FFI'': Warrior (Fighter), Monk (Black Belt), Thief, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage.
** When Gilgamesh fights you in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', he breaks out a number of other ''Final Fantasy'' swords over the course of the battle. His version of the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Buster Sword]] is marked "Replica" in kanji on its side, which makes a lot of sense for someone best known for wielding the "[[JokeItem Excalipoor]]".
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has Hurdy, a Moogle bard. His starting abilities include hiding at low health. It would seem that his mentor was SpoonyBard Edward of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' fame.
*** And Hurdy has a twin sister named Gurdy, harkening back to Hurdy and Gurdy from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' (even though there is the implication that Hurdy and Gurdy are actually the same person)...
** ''ChocobosDungeon'' has a dungeon filled with Cactuars and Iron Giants. The song playing in the background is a remix of the song playing in the Thunder Plains from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', an area filled with said monsters.
** The number of these gags in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' can only be described as "staggering".
*** Some character intros will have clear references to events in the other games: for example, both [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Cecil and Golbez]] will make reference to the fact that [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Gabranth]] is going through the same pain they have. On the lighter side of things, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] will tell [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Tidus]] to "go back to the beach already..."
*** Summons will reference appearances in multiple games if they have different forms by using different artwork for each one.
*** The [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Elemental Fiends]] have pretty much the same effects as the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Elemental Archfiends]]
*** Characters are constantly taking iconic poses.
*** The Mognet Moogles complain about the Chocobo staring in a series of spin-off games (which have a Moogle as an antagonist) and declare "I know it won't be long 'til we star in our own game, kupo! [[TakeThat And not just a racing game or mysterious dungeon spinoff, either, kupo!]]"
*** And [[MythologyGag/DissidiaFinalFantasy many, many more]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', take a good look [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:CloseJenovaHead.jpg at Jenova's headplate]]. [[spoiler:"MADE IN HONG KONG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1996. SQUER COMPANY LIMITED."]] Later games and TheMovie changed the plate to be much less of a StealthPun and to make sense in-universe.
** The kitchen knife being the [[InfinityPlusOneSword ultimate weapon]]. It made its debut in VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV, where [[{{Ninja}} Edge]] could throw it for massive damage. From the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV next installment]] onwards, the [[BossInMookClothing Tonberries]] would use these to maim your party with a [[FingerPokeOfDoom gentle poke]]. The gag was lost since the translation of IV turned it into a Spoon for [[{{Macekre}} no good reason]].
** The ''A Realm Reborn'' release of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a number of these to rival ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', up to and including porting ''entire dungeons'' from earlier games, with new, setting-appropriate backstories attached.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIDirgeOfCerberus'', the Deepground logo is the same as the SOLDIER logo as it appeared in the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. The logo had been redesigned for the ''Compilation'' titles.