Taking a Look at Conspiracy Theories and Thoughts on Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy has been around for decades, with the first Final Fantasy being released in Japan in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). When a game has been around this long, with quite a few fans, it’s easy to find all sorts of odd ideas or theories about the games. There are the usual ones, like Biggs and Wedge being in every game (they aren’t in II or III, but they are in all the others, including Final Fantasy Tactics), or a Cid in every game (can confirm – there is a Cid in every game, all male except for the new Cidney in Final Fantasy XV). Then there are some really peculiar thoughts on Final Fantasy.

Similarities between games have been noticed throughout the franchise that players believe suggests that certain game worlds are connected. Final Fantasy II and IV, for example, both have a town named Mysidia that sports mages. There is also an official connection between the games mentioned in IV‘s Japanese scenario guide, which states that Cecil’s sword, Deathbringer, originally belonged to Leonhart, a player in II. Then there is one of the main characters from IV, Kain. Kain is supposedly seen as a child in II and wants to grow up to be just like his father, Ricard Highwind, and be a dragoon. Low and behold, in IV one of the main characters is Kain Highwind and he’s a dragoon! It’s pretty interesting to see how the games link together. It really adds an extra layer of intimacy for the fans that play all of the games.

There is also an idea floating around the interwebs that Final Fantasy IX‘s Freya is basically a female version of IV‘s Kain. She is a dragoon that experiences lost love. However, since it’s never really been corroborated by Square, you’ll just have to make up your own mind on that.

There is another idea of connected worlds between VII, X, and X-2. If you have ever played Final Fantasy VII then you know of the Shinra Electrical Power Company. There is a mysterious boy in X-2 named Shinra that states, “Farplane data. The more I study it, the more fascinating it gets. There’s limitless energy swirling around in there…. The life force that flows through our planet… I think. With a little work, we could probably extract the energy in a usable form.” Obviously, this is exactly what the Shinra company has been doing for quite some time in VII. This would put the world of VII as the future world from X and X-2. In fact, the Spira wiki link here, states that Kazushige Nojima, a scenario writer from Final Fantasy,  and Yoshinore  Kitase, a producer, divulge that the two games are connected! Apparently, Shinra’s ancestors go on to create the Shinra Electric Power Company on another world many, many generations later. So at least it’s not Spira being destroyed…

Now for some of the really strange conspiracy theories.

Final Fantasy VIII has two main conspiracy theories – that Squall is actually dead and that Rinoa is Ultemicia. For the Squall is dead theory it is believed that at the end of disc one, when Edea throws a person sized ice spear through Squall, Squall dies. The rest of the game from there onward is just Squall’s imagination as he dies. It’s a pretty sad thought considering how much I was emotionally invested in him when I was younger. A website actually called squallsdead goes into quite a bit of detail explaining the theory. In a way, it makes sense and would truly add a tragic element to the entire story, but honestly I don’t want to believe it (because feels) and it hasn’t been corroborated by Square, so I’ll keep my innocence.

The Rinoa is Ultimecia theory is definitely interesting. Rinoa becomes a sorceress during the game, and she can be seen with white wings. Ultimecia, who looks quite a bit like Rinoa, is also a sorceress, but from the future and with black wings. It is suggested in VIII that junctioning GF’s (summons) causes the user to eventually lose some of their memories. Because Rinoa has junctioned GF’s it is thought that over time she loses her memories and, with Squall having died over this period of time, succumbs to darkness and becomes Ultimecia. It would be a huge paradox, and equally as sad as the Squall is dead theory, though I personally think this theory makes more sense. Unfortunately, Square has since come along and said that this is not true. If you want to read more on it check here!

If you know of any other interesting ideas or theories pertaining to Final Fantasy leave a comment!