History Trivia / FinalFantasyVIII

* CulturalCrossReference: The French translation, full of gratuitous English that does not match the original English, has an item called a [[Music/NineInchNails 9 inch nail]]... described as "the claw of an [[IndustrialMetal industrial monster]]." Guess the French translator must've been a fan then. The same translation also has an NPC remarking that Galbadia Garden's ice hockey team watches the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' movies while they train. Then when you fight them on disc 2 they're not called "Slapper" but are instead named "Jason."

** The ''Ultimania'' josses the theory that Ultimecia is a future version of Rinoa simply by not mentioning it at all. Due to Ultimecia's line about "[=SeeD=] swarming across generations", the only way it would work is if sorceresses have extended lifespans. Square points out that if that were true, Ultimecia would have no reason to cast Time Compression (as she's afraid of dying).
** The "Squall is dead" theory was also shot down, this time by [[WordOfGod Yasunori Kitase]] in [[http://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113 an interview]] (where he shots down the previous theory yet again, too). He did, however, note that he found the idea interesting and suggested that if they ever remake the game, they might "go along with that story in mind" (although he didn't elaborate on what he meant by that).

* NoExportForYou: Unless you have the PC version or import a Japanese [=PocketStation=], there is no way to play the [=ChocoboWorld=] game in international releases.
* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in 2019. ''VIII'' is also notably absent from their mobile store and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of ''VIII'', many executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7 original PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts: it'd be unsurprising if this was a large part of it. Finally averted with the E3 2019 announcement of ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', which is coming to Steam, [=PlayStation=] 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. It turns out part of the reason it took longer for a rerelease was that Square Enix chose to upgrade the character models, making them closer to [=PS2=] quality, as the game was going to be played on HD monitors instead of [=CRTs=].

** Selphie had two additional Limit Breaks in her 'Slot' command: Percentage, a gravity-based attack - that cuts all enemies by 15/16 of their current HP. And Catastrophe - a spell even more powerful than Apocalypse. These can be accessed with a gameshark - and are seen with the Fire spell animation.
** Rinoa's name was initially mistranslated as 'Lenore' in a lot of magazines - and her name is 'Linoa' in the French version of the game.
** Adel was meant to be the final boss of Disc 3 - following the tradition of finishing every Disc with a sorceress battle. Game data also shows that the player is supposed to be awarded 40 AP for the battle, as well as receiving the Samantha Soul item. As there is no results screen after the battle is over, the player never gets either (though the Samantha Soul can be mugged from Adel during the battle).
** Part of the game's dummied content[[note]]Game elements that exist in the data but are inaccessible in the game itself.[[/note]] states that a sorceress's powers weaken whenever they're passed on. It's unknown if this is canon or not.

** The game's data shows that Triple Triad was originally going to have a rule called 'Retry', assumed to be similar to Sudden Death.

** Selphie was originally designed with overalls. But Tetsuya Nomura wanted one of the females to wear a skirt and, upon realizing neither Quistis nor Rinoa would wear one, gave Selphie a mini-skirt/overall hybrid and Quistis a skirt worn over long pants.

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

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in 2019. ''VIII'' is also notably absent from their mobile store and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of ''VIII'', many executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7 original PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts: it'd be unsurprising if this was a large part of it. Finally averted with the E3 2019 announcement of ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', which is coming to Steam, [=PlayStation=] 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. It turns out part of the reason it took longer for a rerelease was that Square Enix chose to upgrade the character models, making them closer to [=PS2=] quality.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in 2019. ''VIII'' is also notably absent from their mobile store and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of ''VIII'', many executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7 original PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/ Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts: it'd be unsurprising if this was a large part of it. Finally averted with the E3 2019 announcement of ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', which is coming to Steam, [=PlayStation=] 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in 2019. VIII is also notably absent from their mobile store and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of VIII, executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts: it'd be unsurprising if this was a large part of it.
** Finally averted with the announcement with ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', which is coming to [=PlayStation=] 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

** Selphie was originally designed with overalls. But Tetsuya Nomura wanted one of the females to wear a skirt and, upon realising neither Quistis nor Rinoa would wear one, gave Selphie a mini-skirt/overall hybrid and Quistis a skirt worn over long pants.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. VIII is also notably absent from their mobile store and [=PlayStation 4=]. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of VIII, executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts: it'd be unsurprising if this was a large part of it.
** Finally averted with the announcement with ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', which is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. VIII is also notably absent from their mobile store and [=PlayStation 4=]. Though Square Enix has never spoken on record about the lack of VIII, executives including the [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/president of Eidos]] (who oversaw the [[https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7PC versions of it and VII]]) and [[https://www.vg247.com/2018/09/14/isnt-ps4-xbox-switch-port-final-fantasy-8-preservation-may-answer/Tetsuya Nomura himself]] have talked openly about source code being lost during this era of gaming, including Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and Kingdom Hearts.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. VIII is also notably absent from their mobile store and [=PlayStation 4=].

* CulturalCrossReference:
** The French translation, full of gratuitous English that does not match the original English, has an item called a [[Music/NineInchNails 9 inch nail]]... described as "the claw of an [[IndustrialMetal industrial monster]]." Guess the French translator must've been a fan then. The same translation also has an NPC remarking that Galbadia Garden's ice hockey team watches the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' movies while they train. Then when you fight them on disc 2 they're not called "Slapper" but are instead named "Jason."

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. VIII is also notably absent from their mobile store.

* NoPortForYou: For reasons unknown, Square Enix chose to skip over ''VIII'' when they re-released a large number of their older ''Final Fantasy'' 3D titles for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019.

** The French translation, full of [[ArtisticLicense gratuitous English that does not match the original English]], has an item called a [[Music/NineInchNails 9 inch nail]]... described as "the claw of an [[IndustrialMetal industrial monster]]." Guess the French translator must've been a fan then. The same translation also has an NPC remarking that Galbadia Garden's ice hockey team watches the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' movies while they train. Then when you fight them on disc 2 they're not called "Slapper" but are instead named "Jason."
** In the English version, Zell is obsessed with obtaining hot dogs from Balamb Garden's cafeteria. In the original Japanese script, it was 'pan' i.e. sweet bread. It is considered an exotic treat in Japan (introduced when they began trading with Portugal in the 16th century) and comes in flavors such as apple, curry, and melon. It was changed to hot dogs in the English version simply because the pan shown in the ending FMV vaguely resembles hot dog buns.

* Speaking of - there was a period in time where J-Rock singer Gackt claimed Squall was based off his appearance. This was countered by the director at the time referencing RiverPhoenix as Squall's inspiration. However, Gackt would indeed later have a character in Final Fantasy VII's spinoffs.

** The "Squall is dead" theory was also shot down, this time by [[WordOfGod Yasunori Kitase]] in [[http://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113 an interview]] (where he shots down the previous theory yet again, too). Although he admited that, if they ever remake the game, they might "go along with that story in mind" (albeit he doesn't elaborate what does he mean by that).

* {{Jossed}}: The ''Ultimania'' josses the theory that Ultimecia is a future version of Rinoa simply by not mentioning it at all. Due to Ultimecia's line about "[=SeeD=] swarming across generations", the only way it would work is if sorceresses have extended lifespans. Square points out that if that were true, Ultimecia would have no reason to cast Time Compression (as she's afraid of dying).

** The French translation, full of [[ArtisticLicense gratuitous English that does not match the original English]], has an item called a [[Music/NineInchNails 9 inch nail]]... described as "the claw of an [[IndustrialMetal industrial monster]]." Guess the French translator must've been a fan then.
*** Same translation also has an NPC remarking that Galbadia Garden's ice hockey team watches the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' movies while they train. Then when you fight them on disc 2 they're not called "Slapper" but are instead named "Jason."

* {{Fanon}}:
** EpilepticTrees persist that Ultimecia was an alias used by [[FutureMeScaresMe Rinoa in the future]]. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.
** Squall's surname of "Leonhart" is commonly supposed to have come from [[NomDeMom his mother]], whose maiden name has never been stated anywhere in the game or its supplementary materials.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Selphie had two additional Limit Breaks in her 'Slot' command: Percentage, a gravity-based attack - that cuts all enemies by 15/16 of their current HP. And Catastrophe - a spell even more powerful than Apocalypse. These can be accessed with a gameshark - and are seen with the Fire spell animation.

** Adel was meant to be the final boss of Disc 3 - following the tradition of finishing every Disc with a sorceress battle.

** The French translation, full of [[ArtisticLicense gratuitous English that does not match the original English]], has an item called a [[NineInchNails 9 inch nail]]... described as "the claw of an [[IndustrialMetal industrial monster]]." Guess the French translator must've been a fan then.

* NoExportForYou: Unless you have the PC version, there is no way to play the [=ChocoboWorld=] game in international releases unless you import a Japanese [=PocketStation=].

* {{Fanon}}: Rumors persisted that Ultemecia was an alias used by [[FutureMeScaresMe Rinoa in the future]]. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.

* ExecutiveMeddling: ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has this game to thank for it's sloppy second disk. In the middle of ''Xenogears''' production, staff and funding was taken from the game in order to work and finance ''Final Fantasy VIII''. This resulted in exposition being narrated in paragraphs instead of actually playing the game and a storyline that wasn't entirely explained in the game too clearly (all but requiring [[UniverseCompendium Perfect Works]] to make sense of things).