The Mythical and Historical elements in FF.....

[Zenshen]

Greetings! :D

One of the things that really interests me the most in Final Fantasy games is the way that weapon names, summons, mosters, character names etc., are usually based on mythical, cultural or historical legends.

So, in honour of Squaresoft who obviously research this sort of thing, here is a thread dedicated to the posting of mythical names used in Final Fantasy games.

Try to post one name per post please so that other people can post. Any pictures relevant to the name discussed are also welcome.

So, here goes my first one:

Ifrit

http://www.ffinsider.net/ff10/pix/ifrit.jpg

Has roots in both Indian and Arabian folklore. To the Indians, Ifrit was the god of Fire. The Arabian version was slightly different. They were a sort of genie, a Djinn. However, these genies were not limited to do much. They granted limitless wishes, followed their own impulses but still always obeyed the holder of their lamp or other item of captivity.

[Mo-Nercy]

Quezacotl:

The ancient Aztec god of thunder. I dunno much else except for what I've learnt in Age of Empires II

[Zenshen]

Shiva (Sometimes Shivu)


http://www.ffinsider.net/ff10/pix/shiva.jpg

Third of the Triad of gods in Hindu religion. He is also the god of fertility, time, creation and destruction. He is also not always depicted as a he, on occasion you will see Shiva with both female and male attributes. He also has a mysterious 3rd eye.

Not only that, but there is a Celtic Shiva who is depicted wearing beads, rags and dreadlocked hair. Apparently, Shiva has appeared in this form in one particular FF game....

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Shiva is sometimes Siva. Never heard of Shivu.
Originally posted by Al Bhed³
Quezacotl:

The ancient Aztec god of thunder. I dunno much else except for what I've learnt in Age of Empires II The name is Quetzalcoatl.

[Rostum]

Odin.

[Zenshen]

Heheheeeee......Mojo Pin....

If you could post some description of where the name comes from mythically as well, that'd be great as this is what this thread is for! :D

Masamune

http://www.ffonline.com/1_ff10gfx/weapon-blade6.gif

Masamune was probably THE greatest Japanese swordsmiths of all time. He made a host of special Katanas in the 12th Century.

There was once a legendary contest between Masamune and his student Murasama. There blades would stuck into the river bed and a leaf would set towards each blade to see who's blade was the best. The first leaf headed towards Murasama's and was cut in to, impressive. The second leaf started to head towards Masamune's blade but at the last minute it seemed to avoid the blade. This spiritual connection with Masamune's sword was proof that his sword was better and more divine than Murasama's.

[Blizzard]

Originally posted by Zenshen
Heheheeeee......Mojo Pin....

If you could post some description of where the name comes from mythically as well, that'd be great as this is what this thread is for! :D

Masamune

http://www.ffonline.com/1_ff10gfx/weapon-blade6.gif

Masamune was probably THE greatest Japanese swordsmiths of all time. He made a host of special Katanas in the 12th Century.

There was once a legendary contest between Masamune and his student Murasama. There blades would stuck into the river bed and a leaf would set towards each blade to see who's blade was the best. The first leaf headed towards Murasama's and was cut in to, impressive. The second leaf started to head towards Masamune's blade but at the last minute it seemed to avoid the blade. This spiritual connection with Masamune's sword was proof that his sword was better and more divine than Murasama's.

That's it! *gives 50 more awards*

But seriously, I've heard of some of these, I've just forgetton them.

[muchacho]

Gilgamesh : The great hero of Sumerian and Babylonian epic poetry. He is the precursor of Heracles and other folk heroes. Gilgamesh is the son of the goddess Ninsun and Lugalbanda or a priest of Kullab (part of Uruk), and fifth king of Uruk after the flood. He was famous as a great builder and as a judge of the dead.

Hades : god of the under world

Diablos : devil in spanish

[Scar Face]

http://www.fflegend.com/images/ffviii/gf/odin_ss2.jpg

Odin is a god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom. He hung for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree. Here he learned nine powerful songs, and eighteen runes. Odin can make the dead speak to question the wisest amongst them. His hall in Asgard is Valaskjalf ("shelf of the slain") where his throne Hlidskjalf is located. From this throne he observes all that happens in the nine worlds. The tidings are brought to him by his two raven Huginn and Muninn. He also resides in Valhalla, where the slain warriors are taken.

Odin's attributes are the spear Gungnir, which never misses its target, the ring Draupnir, from which every ninth night eight new rings appear, and his eight-footed steed Sleipnir. He is accompanied by the wolves Freki and Geri, to whom he gives his food for he himself consumes nothing but wine. Odin has only one eye, which blazes like the sun. His other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, and gained immense knowledge.

On the day of the final battle, Odin will be killed by the wolf Fenrir. He is also called Othinn, Wodan and Wotan. Wednesday is named after him (Wodan).
http://www.ffcompendium.com/~Skylark/ff8/Cerberus.jpg
Cereberus

Cerberus was a huge gaurd dog with three fearsome heads and three snakes for tailes. His job was to gaurd the entrance of the underworld and prevent any one from leaving or entering without permission. The Greeks, at one time, so loved Cerberus that they buried a small honey cake with there dead which supposedly pleased this fearsome watch dog of hades.

[Zenshen]

Eden

http://pobladores.lycos.es/data/pobladores.com/ca/it/caith_sith/channels/final_vivi_fantasy/images/eden.jpg

Eden is the name for the place created by God, as an abode for the first humans to live. It was mentioned in Genesis 2 and is the place where the first humans Adam and Eve lived.
Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, because they disobeyed God’s commands and ate a forbidden apple.

In rabbinical literature the Garden of Eden (Hebrew: Gan Eden) is the paradise where the righteous live after their deaths.

Note also how the symbols on Eden look like the Garden symbols? Garden of Eden? You could say that Eden is the most powerful Garden. Hehe, it's oddly connected. :D

[muchacho]

omega:

the last letter in the greek alphabet.

[Mattokenzi]

Ramuh: Could be Rama, the hero of an epic Indian poem, the Ramayana. He is handsome, brave, and a model individual. After many trials and tribulations, he becomes king, and it is revealed that Rama is actually the god Vishnu in human form.

[muchacho]

no ramuh is a reference to one of the gods of Judgement in the Asian realm.

[Zenshen]

Anima

http://ffx.annamation.ca/images/aeons/Anima_thumb.png

One of the unique aspects of the aeon Anima is her two-halved nature. Just as every man contains a feminine side to his subconscious, each woman has a masculine side to her subconscious. This masculine side is known as the animus. According to Jung's theories, the anima and animus combine to form something known as a syzyny; a marriage of the minds.

Anima herself could be said to be an aeon representation of a syzyny. It can be theorized that Anima's upper half represents the anima while her lower half represents the animus. Yet, though she is a depiction of her son's anima and her own animus, Anima is still wholly a female aeon. According to Jung, "[t]he androgyny of the anima may appear in the anima herself."

The syzyny has two archetypes: the animus joined to the anima is known as the Wise Old Man archetype while the anima joined to the animus is known as the Chthonic Mother archetype. The lower animus half of Anima does resemble an (albeit demonic-looking) elderly man whose crown may suggest wisdom. The upper anima half of Anima is chthonic (underworldly) in apperance and Anima herself is a mother. However, the connection goes deeper than that.

Another name for the Chthonic Mother archetype is the Great Mother or Earth Mother. The archetypal Chthonic/Great/Earth Mother is driven by love, but destroys as a result of her love. She has good intentions that fail in their execution. Anima had Seymour's best interests in mind when she chose to become a fayth, but she failed to protect him due to his own lust for power.

[Zenshen]

Hades

http://www.ffonline.com/1_ff7gfx/summon-hades.jpg

Hades is the lord of the dead and ruler of the nether world, which is referred to as the domain of Hades or, by transference, as Hades alone. He is the son of Cronus and Rhea. When the three sons of Cronus divided the world among each other, Hades was given the underworld, while his brothers Zeus and Poseidon took the upperworld and the sea respectively. He ruled the underworld together with Persephone, whom he abducted from the upperworld. Zeus ordered him to release Persephone back into the care of her mother Demeter, but before she left he gave her a pomegranate. When she ate it, it bound her to the underworld forever.

Hades sits on a throne made of ebony, and carries a scepter. He also has a helmet, given to him by the Cyclopes, which makes him invisible. Hades rules the dead, assisted by various (demonic) helpers, such as Thanatos and Hypnos, the ferryman Charon, and the hound Cerberus. Many heroes from Greek mythology have descended into the underworld, either to question the shades or trying to free them. Although Hades does not allow his subjects to leave his domain, on several occasions he has granted permission, such as the time Orpheus requested the return of his beloved Eurydice.

Hades possesses the riches of the earth, and is referred to as 'the Rich One'. Possibly also because, as Sophocles writes, 'the gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears'. Of all the gods, Hades is the one who is liked less and even the gods themselves have an aversion of him. People avoided speaking his name lest they attracted his unwanted attention. With their faces averted they sacrificed black sheep, whose blood they let drip into pits, and when they prayed to him, they would bang their hands on the ground. The narcissus and the cypress are sacred to him.

[DJZen]

Originally posted by muchacho marc
Diablos : devil in spanish

Not quite, Diablos would mean "devils" in Spanish.

Why don't we go for some of the obscure ones?

Sephiroth: If I remember correctly, a sephiroth is a point on the tree of life, a symbol from the Kabalaa, I can't remember what they signify though.

Cid: Possibly taken from the epic El Cid, a spanish tale about a man who is cast into exile but still fights for Spain against the moores (ironically, it's taken from the Arabic tale Al Sayid, of which the Spanish name is a corruption).

Bahamut: Okay, I'm not really up on my Zoroastrian mythology, but I believe Bahamut is the fish on which rests the turtle on which rests the lizard on which rests the somethingoranother on which rests the bunny rabbit on which rests the.... uhh.... stuff.... on which rests the 1,000 or so corpses on which rests the world..... I think..... Bahamut may also be a reference to Bafomet (it's in katakana, could be either really) the 3-headed god of..... the knights templar? Ugh, I can't can't remember...

Genji equipment: Genji were a legendary clan of ninjas who battled the Heiki clan.... or something like that....

Mithril: If you don't get this one, you haven't seen any of the LotR movies nearly enough. Go, what are you still reading this for?

Alexander: The name is no doubt taken from the legendary Macedonian prince Alexander The Great. There's a cartoon by Peter Chung about him that's running on Cartoon Network's adult swim. Choppy animation, questionable armor design, recycled footage and ambiguous character genders aside, it's not that bad. How we go from Macedonian conqueror to giant robot city thing though is beyond me.

Question, the difference between Masamune's swords and Murasama's swords are that Murasama's held greater potential for destruction, right?

[King Michael]

Biggs and Wedge: Both taken from the Star Wars (original) movies.

[Scar Face]

http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/3847/images/bahamut.jpg


Bahamut

[ Mythology : Arabic ]

Floating in a fathomless sea, Bahamut is a gigantic fish. A giant bull, Kujata, lays upon its back, and upon him is a ruby mountain. Upon that is an angel, the six hells, and the earth, with the seven heavens at the top. The Bahamut is so large that human eyes cannot bear it.

This is the Arabic version of Bahamut, the name "Bahamut" is included in several other mythologies.

[King Michael]

Originally posted by Dark Omega
http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/3847/images/bahamut.jpg


Bahamut

[ Mythology : Arabic ]

Floating in a fathomless sea, Bahamut is a gigantic fish. A giant bull, Kujata, lays upon its back, and upon him is a ruby mountain. Upon that is an angel, the six hells, and the earth, with the seven heavens at the top. The Bahamut is so large that human eyes cannot bear it.

This is the Arabic version of Bahamut, the name "Bahamut" is included in several other mythologies.

A giant bull named Kujata huh. Remind you of a certain summon named KJATA in FFVII? He was kind like a bull, but more like an elephant. (the summon)

[Tgunz262]

Various things in FF have their source in Norse mythology.
Quite a bit of LoTR has roots in Norse mythology as well.

Fenrir:

"Fenrir (or Fenris) is a gigantic and terrible monster in the shape of a wolf. He is the eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods learned of a prophecy which stated that the wolf and his family would one day be responsible for the destruction of the world. They caught the wolf and locked him in a cage. Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to feed and take care of the wolf."
-------------------------------------
Freya:

"In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love."
-------------------------------------
Midguard:

"In Norse myth, the defensive fortress which the gods build about the middle portion of the earth allotted to men in order to protect mankind from the giants. Midgard ("middle world") is on the same level as Nidavellir (land of the dwarfs), Svartalfheim (land of the dark elves/dwarfs) and Jotunheim (the land of the giants). "
-------------------------------------
Niflheim:

"Niflheim ("house of mists") is the far northern region of icy fogs and mists, darkness and cold. It is situated on the lowest level of the universe. The realm of death, Helheim is part of the vast, cold region. Niflheim lies underneath the third root of Yggdrasil, close to the spring Hvergelmir ("roaring cauldron"). Also situated on this level is Nastrond, the Shore of Corpses, where the serpent Nidhogg eats corpses and gnaws on the roots of Yggdrasil."
-------------------------------------
Ragnarok:

"Ragnarok ("Doom of the Gods"), also called Gotterdammerung, means the end of the cosmos in Norse mythology. It will be preceded by Fimbulvetr, the winter of winters. Three such winters will follow each other with no summers in between. Conflicts and feuds will break out, even between families, and all morality will disappear. This is the beginning of the end."



All definitions from:

http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/norse/articles.html

[Zenshen]

Heaven's Cloud

http://www.nicksmods.homestead.com/files/ff7wepheavenscloud.JPG

This excerpt is taken from a post in the FFVII section by Knight2Knight about this sword....cheers! :thumb:

"The greatest and most revered of Japanese swords is the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi (Gathering-Clouds-of-Heaven Sword), alternately called Kusa-nagi no Tsurugi (Grass-mowing Sword)."

It is basically one of the three sacred regalia of the imperial family, and without all of them, the family can not take the throne.

"...The sword is a straight-bladed, double-cutting-edged type with a perfect balance. It denotes courage..."

In answer to DJzen's question about the Murasama, yes his swords were said to be cursed and encouraged bloodlust and destruction in the user. They were also said to sometimes turn on their bearers. On the opposing hand, you Masamune's 'divine' sword. You can see how the two swords opposed each other.

[Mattokenzi]

Originally posted by muchacho marc
no ramuh is a reference to one of the gods of Judgement in the Asian realm. what you don't belive me well http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/nsummon.shtml

[playaGAW]

Gaea was the female personification of the Earth in Greek mythology. I don't know if I am corrrect on this one but Quezacotl was a leader of the Aztecs that found thier, I just confused myself skip it.

Phoniex was a bird in Egyptian mythology that diedthen rose again from the ashes. It is also a chracter in X-men.

Knights of the Round comes from King Arthur and knights of Round Table.

Tyhoon is a tropical storm.

[Big D]

Curiously, the Typhoon summon is identical to Chupon (Ultros' buddy) from FFVI. Two-headed or two-faced monsters are quite common in mythology.

[playaGAW]

They are either the same or just twins.

[Strider]

When I saw Typhoon, I figured Chupon was just a really bad translation etched into FFVI.

[Zenshen]

Typhon (or Typhoon)

http://pobladores.lycos.es/data/pobladores.com/ca/it/caith_sith/channels/final_vivi_fantasy/images/typhon.jpg

Born of Mother Earth and Tartarus, from Typhon came the fierce destructive winds of the world. He used his destructive winds on land to destroy crops and in water to sink ships and drown sailors. Typhon was the largest and most grotesque of all creatures that has ever lived. A hundred serpent heads grew from his shoulders, fire flashed from his eyes and head. He had serpents for feet and a tongue of fire. He made sounds of a bull, lion, and dog, and has even been said to have made hissing sounds like a snake.

One time Typhon rushed the heavens and the gods were so frightened by Typhon's features, they fled to Egypt and disguised themselves among the wild. Zeus had to defend Mount Olympus so he threw bolts of lightning at Typhon. Typhon fought back with force and cut off several of Zeus' muscles from his hands and feet. Typhon had his sister, Delphyne, guard the muscles in a cave, but Hermes tricked her and the muscles were returned to Zeus. Zeus became even more distraught and threw more thunderbolts at Typhon. Typhon fled around the world and in Sicily Zeus threw Mount Etna on top of him, which crushed Typhon. It is said to this day that the flames and steam that rise from the volcano are from Typhon.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Don't post in ancient threads. This is common sense.

[DJZen]

In answer to DJzen's question about the Murasama, yes his swords were said to be cursed and encouraged bloodlust and destruction in the user. They were also said to sometimes turn on their bearers. On the opposing hand, you Masamune's 'divine' sword. You can see how the two swords opposed each other.

Well, shouldn't the Murasama deal more damage? I mean, I know it's just a videogame and I'm reading too much into things, but if Murasama's weapons were said to be more destructive than Masamune's, wouldn't it follow that the Murasama in the FF games would do more damage than the Masamune?

Well, in order to stay on topic, I've got another entry. Cait Sith. Cait Sith is Gaelic for "Fairy Cat", the "Sith" meaning fairy. Yes, this means that Lucas named the villans of the Star Wars series "the fairy lords".