Thread by @Nibayasan

Thread about the many Final Fantasy or Square-Enix related references that Final Fantasy XIV makes.

This thread is mostly to get some interest for Final Fantasy fans to try out this game and also to see if any non-FF fans FF XIV players gain some interest in the series.

FF I: The Warrior of Light's helmet can be obtained in the Collector's Edition, the other pieces of armor however are loot from one of the raids, The Labyrinth of the Ancients.

This outfit is based on Amano's artwork of the warrior in Final Fantasy I.

FF I: The Minion of Light minions are based on the classes Warrior, Black Mage and White Mage from Final Fantasy I

They even do the little victory dance if left idle!

FF I: The Wind-Up Warrior of Light minion is also a reference to Amano's artwork of the Warrior.

FF I: Piscodemons were random enemy encounters in FF I, they appear in FF XIV.

One of these is the final boss of the Tam-Tara Deepcroft, as well as a normal enemy in Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard)

FF I: Kraken is one of the Four Fiends in Final Fantasy I, which are responsible for sending Garland 2000 years into the past and becoming Chaos.

Kraken is fought in Hullbreaker Isle, as the last boss of said dungeon.

FF I: This is one of my favourite references. In FF I you have to visit a cave, in which there lives a witch named Matoya, who lost her crystal eye.

In FF XIV, there's another witch also named Matoya, she's one of the more important supporting characters in Heavensward.

P.S. The broomsticks in both games speak in backwards, and her theme in FF XIV is a rearrangement of Matoya's Cave from Final Fantasy I

FF II: When you join the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Minfilia gives you a password to be able to tell the others in the faction that you're on their side. This password is Wild Rose, the same password the Rebels from Final Fantasy II used to recognize each other.

FF II: Another one of my favourites. One of the battle themes that plays in some of the places in the game (most notably, the Hall of the Novice) is a rearrangement of the FF II battle theme.

FF II: Firion's outfit is available as one of the veteran's rewards, and is awarded to you for 240 days of subscription.

Firion is the protagonist of FF II, a rebel raised by Maria and his brother Leon, that joins the Rebels to stop the evil of the Palamecian Empire.

FF III: Cid nan Garlond's airship, the Enterprise, is named as such by the ship of the same name from Final Fantasy III

FF III: The Evoker/Summoner's Equipment from FF XIV (the names of the Artifact Gear of the Summoner) are named after the Evoker and the Summoner jobs from FF III

FF III: There are 3 raids in Final Fantasy XIV that are direct references to FF III, more specifically, to the Crystal Tower.

The Labyrinth of the Ancients, Syrcus Tower and the World of Darkness.

They are all filled with references to Final Fantasy III.

FF III: The Onion Knight set of equipment is obtainable in these dungeons, which is based on the Onion Knight job from Final Fantasy III (the starting job in the NES ver,). A job that didn't have much strength in the lower levels, but that became overpowered at the higher levels.

FF III: The Wind-Up Onion Knight minion is based on the original NES sprite of the Final Fantasy III Onion Knight.

FF III: The Warriors of Darkness are named after the same Warriors of Darkness from Final Fantasy III, and even have the same motive: The flood of light destroyed their home.

FF IV: The Dragoon artifact armor and the Dragoon male idle pose are both direct references to Kain in the Final Fantasy IV logo.

FF IV: The Spoony Bard minion is a direct reference to Edward in Final Fantasy IV.

Spoony bard is a reference to a line Tellah calls Edward from Final Fantasy IV. Tellah was the father of Edward's girlfriend, Anna, and did not approve of their relationship.

FF IV: The ADS boss in the Binding Coils of Bahamut is based on the CPU boss from FF IV.

FF IV: The Final Boss of Antitower is Calcabrina and even has her own introduction music from Final Fantasy IV, Dancing Calcabrina.

FF IV: The Final Boss of The Burn is the Mist Dragon. The Mist Dragon, was one of the first bosses in Final Fantasy IV, and is summoned by the mother of Rydia. When she's slain by Cecil and Kain, it causes Rydia's mother to die. Which causes a lot of grief for her

FF V: Another one of my favourites. Gilgamesh (or Greg, as Hildibrand calls him) is a recurring character from the series. He's a character that's banished to the Rift by Exdeath, whom he served, after so many failures while working for him. >

Gilgamesh is the same Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V, since the Rift is kind of like the Final Fantasy multiverse. He's an avid weapon collector and he travels with his companion Enkidu (who in this case, is just a chicken painted green)

After travelling through dimensions, he comes back to help Bartz and his party against Necrophobe, sacrificing himself in the process while also giving a touching speech to each of the party members.

FF V: Sastasha, the first dungeon in the game, is a reference to the Pirate's Hideout from Final Fantasy V, where Bartz, Galuf and Lenna infiltrate to steal a ship. They're however, noticed by Faris and stuffed in the Brig.

They're both the first dungeons in their own games.

FF V: The Guardian Tree is a location in Gridania. This is a reference to the same Guardian Tree from Final Fantasy V.

FF V: In one of the Solo Quests, the WoL fights Siren in a Ship Graveyard.

This is a reference to the Ship Graveyard in FF V, where the party almost get charmed by Siren, with the exception of Galuf, who has amnesia and helps them regain their senses and fight her.

FF V: Yet another one of my favourites! Krile Mayer Baldesion is a character from FF XIV, a supporting character who has known Alphinaud from way back and maintains a long friendship with him.

She's a reference to Krile Baldesion from FF V, Galuf's granddaughter and party member

P.S. Her outfit however, seems to be based on the Devout job from Final Fantasy III

FF V: Twintania, from Turn 5 of The Binding Coils of Bahamut (which is also a mount), is a reference to the same boss from Final Fantasy V.

FF V: Halicarnassus is a boss fought in Haukke Manor (Hard) and is named after the same boss from FF V.

However, in SB, the actual Halicarnassus from FF V is fought in the Deltascape raid.

FF V: The Great Gubal Library is a massive reference to the Library of the Ancients from FF V.

Page 64 and Byblos are both an enemy and boss in both games.

FF V: The Gaelicats found in the Sea of Clouds are based on the same enemy from FF V.

P.S. You can also get a minion of it btw, it's called the Gaelikitten and it's obtained in the final loot chest of Sohm Al, it's random if it appears or not, though. (I have it!)

FF V: Omega and Shinryu are based on the bosses from FF V, funniest thing is in both this game and FF V they were both mortal enemies lorewise.

FF V: The Sirensong Sea is based on the Ship Graveyard from FF V

FF V: The Interdimensional Rift, which is the base of operations in the whole Delta/Sigma/Alphascape raid, is based on the Final Dungeon of FF V.

The theme that plays in it is a rearrangement of Prelude to the Void from FF V.

FF V: The bosses from Deltascape are all based on FF V bosses, the final boss of Deltascape is Exdeath, the villain from FF V.

In the Savage version of the raid, you also fight Neo Exdeath, FF V's final boss.

FF V: The casting animation for Blue Mage in FF XIV is directly based on the one from FF V.

FF VI: The most obvious one. Since they're incapable of using magic, the Garlean Empire use a replacement called Magitek.

Magitek was also prominent in FF VI, and used by the Empire in that game, for the same reasons.

FF VI: In the same vein as the last one, Magitek Armors are prominent in both games. The Final Fantasy XIV magitek armors are based on the Amano artwork of them for FF VI, while the SB ones are based on the in-game sprite of the armors. (They're both mounts btw)

P.S. When you use the Magitek Armor mount, a rearrangement of Terra's Theme from FF VI plays. It's really beautiful too.

FF VI: The Kingdom of Doma is named after the same kingdom from FF VI. Doma in FF VI is completely murdered by Kefka by poisoning their water, with the exception of Cyan. (Trying not to use images of the iOS version because they're butfugly but bear with me)

FF VI: Hien is also a reference to FF VI, his birthname is Shun, Shun is the japanese name of Cyan's deceased son. Hien's father, Kaien, is also Cyan's japanese name, and it's also how Cyan's name is supposed to be spelled (yeah, it's not spelled See-an or Sai-an)

FF VI: In Sigmascape V1, after defeating the Phantom Train (which is another reference in of it's own), you can see two ghosts thanking you.

These are references to the ghosts of Cyan's family after the battle with the Phantom Train in Final Fantasy VI

FF VI: Setzer Gabbiani's costume is available in the Gold Saucer. Makes sense, considering Setzer was a gambler.

FF VI: Again, one of my favourites. Ultros and Typhon are both recurring creatures in FF XIV, they're based on the recurring bosses Ultros (Orthros) and Typhon from FF VI, which were very comic relief based.

FF VI: Azys Lla is based on the Floating Continent, and the Aetherochemical Research Facility is based on the Magitek Research Facility.

FF VI: The Warring Triad are three gods from FF VI lore, and it's because of their power that Kefka leaves the world a barren wasteland.

While they were not given any names in FF VI, the Warring Tried appear in FF XIV: Sephirot, Sophia and Zurvan.

FF VI: In some dungeons/areas (namely, Hullbreaker Isle (Hard), Sirensong Sea and the Ruby Sea) there's an enemy/boss named Ymir.

The Ymir was the first boss from FF VI, and if it hid in it's shell, it would counter with a devastating electric move if attacked.

FF VI: Magna Roader, Number 024 and Inferno are all enemies or bosses from Castrum Abania. They were all enemies or bosses from FF VI, and they retain more or less the same battle strategies.

FF VI: Kefka is the final boss of the Sigmascape Raid. While he uses many original abilities and strategies, the statue set in the background of the battle changes accordingly to how much life he has left, referencing the many phases his final boss had.

P.S. In the Savage version of the fight, you also fight his final form from FF VI. Also, Kefka's theme is an arrangement of his final boss theme, Dancing Mad, which is one of the longest final boss themes the series ever had.

FF VII: Costa del Sol in La Noscea is named after the same location from FF VII.

FF VII: The materia system, where you affix materia to your weapons and armor is based on the system from FF VII, however, in FF XIV you only get stat buffs from them. In FF VII you'd get stat buffs or debuffs and also pasive skills, attack skills or magic.

FF VII: Braver is the Level 1 Limit Break of all Melee classes. It's named after Cloud's Limit Break, Braver. One little detail is that while doing the LB, you can actually see you're using Cloud's Buster Sword, his starting weapon.

FF VII: In the quest you're introduced to Biggs and Wedge, you find them stranded after an airship called the Tiny Bronco crashed.

The Tiny Bronco is the name of Cid's plane from FF VII.

FF VII: In Mor Dhona, the bar that the Scions use as a base is called the Seventh Heaven.

The Seventh Heaven is Tifa's bar in Final Fantasy VII, and is named as such because it is located in Sector 7 of Midgar.

FF VII: The character Jessie is named after Jessie from FF VII, who along with Barret, Cloud, Biggs, Wedge and Tifa formed part of AVALANCHE. A group that wanted to take down Shinra Co. for taking energy from the planet to turn it into energy, slowly killing it in the process.

FF VII: The squat emote is a reference to Zack Fair, who used to squat all the time both in Final Fantasy VII and in it's prequel of which he's the protagonist of, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

FF VII: One of my favourites and one of the things that sold me on FF XIV INMEDIATLY.

The Manderville Gold Saucer is based on the Gold Saucer from FF VII, a place that's full of minigames and that uses it's own currency, the GP in FF VII and the MGP in FF XIV.

P.S. the theme that plays is a rearrangement of the Gold Saucer theme from FF VII

Personal experience, the first time I entered this place I almost done shat my pants.

I love it! It even has the Chocobo Races, one of my favourite minigames from FF VII!

FF VII: King Thordan and his knights are called the Knights of the Round. The Knights of the Round are a summon from Final Fantasy VII.

FF VII: The Dark Knight job's /victory emote is a direct reference to Cloud's victory pose

For reference, I can't post 2 gifs at the same time. Sorry.

FF VII: One of the bosses in the Ala Mhigo dungeon is the Magitek Scorpion. An NPC there will say in a speech bubble "Attack while the tail's up". A reference to Cloud's quote in the Guard Scorpion boss:
"Attack while the tail's up!"
"It's gonna counterattack with it's laser!"

P.S. This was a minstranslation, what you had to do was to NOT attack when the tail was up. This caused a lot of grief for many players.

FF VII: Cloud's bike, the Fenrir from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is available for purchase at the Mogstation...

For 20 dollars
Yeah...

FF VII: Cloud's outfit from Advent Children is one of the Veteran Rewards. It's awarded to you for 90 days of subscription.

Advent Children's story was controversial, specially because of Cloud's detached personality. However a lot of people agree that the action scenes rule.

FF VIII: One of the most obvious ones. The Triple Triad was a card game in FF VIII that was useful for the fact that you could turn the cards into actual items.

While you can't do that in FF XIV, the Triple Triad is there as an actual minigame. It's really fun.

P.S. The theme that plays while playing Triple Triad is the same one from VIII, and remains unchanged.

The theme's name is Shuffle or Boogie.

FF VIII: The box emote is a reference to Zell Dincht. Zell used to shadowbox a lot around the course of the game.

FF VIII: The Garlean Empire's weapon of choice is the Gunblade.

The Gunblade is Squall's weapon, and is said to be difficult to master.

Gunblades are also going to be the weapon of one of the next Shadowbringers' Jobs, with Squall's Revolver being in the Collector's Edition.

FF VIII: The All-Seeing Eye from Dzemael Darkhold has an ability named Eyes On Me.

Eyes On Me is the name of the theme song of Final Fantasy VIII, which is beautiful

FF VIII: Diabolos, the boss from the Lost City of Amdapor is based on his Final Fantasy VIII incarnation. In FF VIII he's a summon that you can only get after beating him. You can only fight him if you use the Magic Lamp item that you get from Cid before leaving for Timber.

FF VIII: The Tonberry King from Wanderer's Palace is a direct reference to the Tonberry King from FF VIII

FF VIII: You can get Squall's outfit from one of the Veteran Rewards, you get it with 330 days of subscription.

Squall Leonhart is the protagonist of FF VIII, a boy that tries his hardest to look cold and aloof, a mask that breaks away when he meets Rinoa Heartilly.

FF IX: The winged mermaid statue from Aleport resembles the one in the Prima Vista from FF IX.

FF IX: The Majestic Mogtome has a pop-up Moogle with a quill, resembling the moogles from FF IX when you save the game, as they bring out a book and a quill.

FF IX: Ozma, from the Weeping City of Mhach, is a bonus boss from Final Fantasy IX, the strongest of all of them.

FF IX: Gigi from the Hildibrand questline is based on Vivi from Final Fantasy IX. Vivi's main issue was his existential crisis, which is something Gigi also faces in the questline.

FF IX: The Cruise Chaser from the Alexander Raid is based on the Ark summon from FF IX with both it's airship and mech forms.

FF IX: In the final battle of the Alexander Raid, Alexander sprouts wings, like his appearence in Final Fantasy IX

FF IX: Zidane's outfit is available as a Veteran's Reward, you get it when you have a total of 150 days of subscription on the game.

Zidane is the protagonist of FF IX, he's a happy-go-lucky thief who always helps those in need and sees his life changed when he kidnaps Garnet.

FF X: When you're searching for clues on Titan, a certain NPC who says he fought it misnames it as "Tidus"

Tidus is the name of the protagonist of FF X.

FF X: Garlean machinery is refered to as machina, machina is how machines (mostly Al Bhed made ones) are referred to in Final Fantasy X.

FF X: The boss room of Tam-Tara Deepcroft is named "Eternal Calm"

The Eternal Calm is a concept in FF X. The Calm is a period of time where Sin. a giant monster that terrorizes Spira, ceases to act. The Eternal Calm came when Yuna and her Guardians defeated Sin once and for all.

FF X: The Relic Weapon for White Mages is the Nirvana, the Nirvana is Yuna's Celestial Weapon.

FF X: The battle against Bismarck is reminiscent of the battle against Sin.

FF X: Yojimbo uses the same model as his FF X counterpart. He's a boss fight in Kugane Castle as well as a supporting character in the SB Hildibrand questline.

Yojimbo in FF X is a summon that needs to be given money in order for him to attack.

FF XI: All of the races (except the recent ones) are all based around the races from XI.

FF XI: Most beast tribes are just upscaled version of the Beastmen from FF XI

FF XI: Most practicers of Thaumaturgy are Lalafels. In FF XI the Tarutaru of Windwurst are tied to Black Magic, specially Shantotto, who can actually even defeat the main character of XI if angered in one instance.

FF XI: Speaking of Shantotto she makes an appearance in a cross-event between FF XI, FF XIV and Dragon Quest X.

P.S. As you can see, rhyming is her schtick!
If you don't like it, you will become sick!

FF XI: In the Black Mage questline, the Crystal otorgued to you has the memories of Shatotto in it.

This is also a reference to Shantotto.

FF XII: The Imperial Legatus's armor are somewhat based on the Archadian Judges's armors.

FF XII: The whole Return to Ivalice raids are full of references both to this game and to Final Fantasy Tactics. Famfrit, Mateus, Yiazmat and Belias appear as bosses in some of these raids.

FF XII: One of the costumes you can get in Ridorana Lighthouse is Vaan's costume, not from FF XII, no, it's actually from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2, where he makes a cameo appearence and can be recruited after doing some certain missions involving him and Penelo.

FF XII: Clan Centurio is based on the actual Clan Centurio from FF XII, who is led by none other by Tactics Advance veteran, Montblanc.

A moogle named Montblanc also appears in the Return to Ivalice questline as a reference in name only, as he lacks his defining traits.

FF XIII: Lightning and Snow's costume and weapons based on FF XIII are purchaseable in the Mogstation store.

FF XIII: Ruin, a skill from FF XIII, returns here as an Arcanist skill, with the same animation too.

FF XIII: Lightning appeared in an event called Lightning Strikes.

FF Tactics: When Cid nan Garlond hides his identity in Thanalan, he wears a robe similar to that of Cidolfus Orlandeau.

FF Tactics: Elidibus, one of the Ascians and the voice of Zodiark, is based on a bonus boss from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Tactics' Elidibus will also use a summon in battle, with the name of Zodiark. It was implied that Elidibus pledged loyalty to Zodiark.

FF Tactics: A lot of Tactics enemies appear in the Return to Ivalice raids, however, in the Orbonne Monastery we actually fight boss fights based on some of the main characters themselves, Mustadio, Agrias and The Thunder God (Cid Orlandeau).

FF Tactics: The final boss of said raid is Ultima The High Seraph, based on a mix of it's FF Tactics and FF XII incarnations.

FF Tactics: Ramza bas Lexentale and Alma bas Lexentale are both direct references to Ramza Beoulve and Alma Beoulve.

FF Tactics: The whole party of Final Fantasy Tactics appear as ghosts at the end of Orbonne Monastery, thanking the Warrior of Light for his endeavors.

And that's all she wrote (for now)

If you have any more references to share that I've missed please post them in replies anywhere.

If you wanna contact me in the game for anything, I'm Yuuki Nozomi or Celeste Lodestar in Diabolos (moving to Famfrit and Brynhildr soon though)

Considering the fact that this is getting so much attention, I'm gonna try to squeeze in any references whenever I can.

The one that comes to my mind the most is a quest called Parasite Cleave.

It's a reference to Parasite Eve, one of my fave Square videogame series for PSX.

I'm also doing this because I think I haven't done a good enough job yet and I think I could do better.

FF V: In the Isles of Umbra you can find a Magic Pot. The Magic Pot is an enemy that will give you an item if given an Elixir in FF V.

This particular Magic Pot will give you 2 minions if given an Elixir or a Hi-Elixir, the Wind-Up Sun/Moon.

(Location is in the 3rd image)

P.S. As many of you have noted, the outfit is actually a reference to her White Mage sprite, which also had cat ears.

I'm really sorry for the mess-up

To anyone that wants to try Final Fantasy XIV, you can always use the free trial, which has no time expiration but limits some of your capabilities (like being limited to level 35) but that doesn't limit you that much and it's very enjoyable.

The theme that plays during the fight with Thunder God Cidolfus Orlandeau in the Orbonne Monastery is actually a song from Vagrant Story.

Vagrant Story is also set in the world of Ivalice, it's a game for the PSX.