The location of the world of FFVIII

[Skyblade]

Just something I have to point out, because it's a lot of fun.

The world of FFVIII is Earth, or a planet close to it. On what do I base this observation? In the FMV where the pods are picked up by the space station, and in the starfield where Rinoa goes to unlock Adel (and probably others, but none that I can remember right now), you can clearly see the constellation Orion in the lower left corner of the screen. Any astronomy buff can tell you that the shape and/or brightness of a constellation changes drastically with even a (relatively) short interstellar displacement. So the world of FFVIII must be in the close vicinity of Earth... Or perhaps it is Earth...in an alternate universe, or something. This is just a fun little fact that I couldn't resist throwing out there.

[Slade]

I think all the worlds in every Final Fantasy are supposed to be alternate earths, even if some are named different: Spira, Gaia

[Skyblade]

That's probably true. In fact, I think this is the second FF that I have spotted Orion in (the other one had the Big Dipper too) I think it was FFVII... But I haven't checked to confirm that yet.

[Quina]

Would that make Ireland the Island Closest to Heaven or the Island Closest to Hell?

[Skyblade]

Ireland is the Island closest to Hell (not through any fault of it's own, mind you), New Zealand, home of LotR, is the Island closest to Heaven.

[Kamrusepas]

Tsk, FFVIII-world can't be Earth.
You can't miss the huge moon...

[rubah]

Or by some freak coincidence, orion is in a parallel universe!!111oneelevenone.

we lack the great big monsters going around everywhere stealing your memories.

so I doubt it's earth.

[Squall04]

In VII when you fight Sephiroth and he casts Super Nova, you see all the planets of this solar system get wiped out. I think it's just so that they don't have to come up with entirely different star constelations and solar systems.

[Skyblade]

In VII when you fight Sephiroth and he casts Super Nova, you see all the planets of this solar system get wiped out. I think it's just so that they don't have to come up with entirely different star constelations and solar systems.

That's right. I forgot about that. Super Nova was so cool. You don't see all the planets get wiped out though. A few are missing. I'll list them as soon as I face Sephirtoh again.

[Yuffie514]

i think Earth :p , but my brother says it's Final Fantasy VII :) after some centuries later. :mad:

[DJZen]

That's right. I forgot about that. Super Nova was so cool. You don't see all the planets get wiped out though. A few are missing. I'll list them as soon as I face Sephirtoh again.

First it demolishes Pluto, then it turns Jupiter into a doughnut, then it wrecks Saturn's rings (?????), then it slams into the sun, which expands and obliterates Mercury, then it stops just before it destroys Earth. Apparently the solar system regenerates very quickly, as he can do this as many times as he'd like within one fight.

[Squall04]

First it demolishes Pluto, then it turns Jupiter into a doughnut, then it wrecks Saturn's rings (?????), then it slams into the sun, which expands and obliterates Mercury, then it stops just before it destroys Earth. Apparently the solar system regenerates very quickly, as he can do this as many times as he'd like within one fight.
Yes and it gets REALLY old.

But anyway, the planet is just some planet, heck let's just say it's in a solar system exactly like ours and the view of the stars is exactly like ours. With the infinite reaches of the universe, it's definitely possible. In fact, if you think about it, it's almost impossible for it NOT to exist. I mean, in all the great big huge expanses of the galaxies, there's got to be some wierd stuff out there.

Anyone read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? It'd be like that Perspective Vortex thing that shows you the whole of infinity and then shows you how you compare to that. (A microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, and then a little smaller)

[Big D]

Super Nova is a magic spell, not an actual act of astronomical destruction. If he could do that, he'd hardly need the Black Materia now would he?

FFVIII's continents and moon bear no resemblance to Earth's.
The moon isn't over-size, it's just extremely low - a very short distance from the world's atmosphere. This means that it must have extremely low density, otherwise its gravity would be so great that it'd wreak havoc with the world's oceans, orbit and more.

[Flashback007]

I think that's just something to make it reconigable. Square did more of this stuff. Just put in things that would look that it makes earth, but isn't entirely. I noticed these things before in various FF's. For example the Summon Island in FFIV that looks like South America. And more from that stuff. It's just to let the world look like earth but just isn't earth.

[Sword]

[QUOTE=Big D]Super Nova is a magic spell, not an actual act of astronomical destruction. If he could do that, he'd hardly need the Black Materia now would he?
Maybe Supernova is a lower or higher level magic of the Blk materia

[Skyblade]

Super Nova is a magic spell, not an actual act of astronomical destruction. If he could do that, he'd hardly need the Black Materia now would he?
Maybe Supernova is a lower or higher level magic of the Blk materia

Well, it certainly works a lot faster... Meteor takes weeks to show up, Supernova is done in just a minute or two.

[Future Esthar]

Of course it´s Earth.You can see that in Laguna´s third dream on the hotel(a world map is there).More support for WOTC.

[Squall of SeeD]

This is a bit offtopic perhaps, but I think that the world of Final Fantasy VIII is the world of Final Fantasy III after several hundred years have passed.

The reasons for this are as follows:

1) First, there are some startling similarities in the geography of the two worlds:
Final Fantasy III World Map (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalFantasyIIIWorldMap.gif).
Final Fantasy VIII World Map (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalFantasyVIIIWorldMap.jpg).

2) Referring back to the previous point, when considering that the northernmost continent of Final Fantasy VIII was hit by a Lunar Cry at one point (note the large crater on its landscape) and that the southernmost continent (the Centra continent) was pulverized by one, its civilization being wiped out, and then consider the natural process of continental shift, we can possibly account for the changes in the geography.

Further still, the Crystal Pillar fell from the Moon onto the Centra Continent, and if the Lunar Cry that wiped out its civilzation had not been enough to break that southernomst continent up into the chunks we see on Final Fantasy VIII's World Map, the massive structure that is the Crystal Pillar (the Lunatic Pandora was a large enclosure developed by Esthar to hold the Crystal Pillar; we can even see the Crystal Pillar within the Lunatic Pandora when it pulls Adel's Tomb out of the Lunar Cry: Linkage (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/CrystalPillar.jpg); while it's reasonable to assume based on this picture that the Lunatic Pandora is taller and wider than the Crystal Pillar, taking into account that Lunatic Pandora is three miles tall and and a mile and a half across, we can safely assume that the Crystal Pillar is -- for lack of a better term -- smurfing huge) falling with it or at another time could have certainly contributed massive continental crust damage.

With the damage rendered to the landscape of the northernmost and southernmost continents by Lunar Cries and continental shift allowed to take place for several hundred years, the World Map of Final Fantasy VIII isn't too far a cry from what we see with Final Fantasy III's World Map.

There's even a continent between the two western and eastern continents of Final Fantasy III's World Map that could have become Final Fantasy VIII's Balamb Continent, and to the southeast of that continent, on the western continent we have the Water Temple, Water Cave, and a large lake. The Water Crystal had been in the Water Cave. To the southeast of Balamb on Final Fantasy VIII's World Map, we have the Great Salt Lake, dried up due to experiments conducted there by Esthar. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that Esthar may have excavated the area due to residual energy from the Water Crystal still being detected in the area.

(Note: I realize that there are some noticeable differences in the geography beyond just their locations, but considering the differences in the graphics of the two games, these may not be as significant as they appear.)

3) There's a Floating Continent in Final Fantasy III. It's location on the Final Fantasy III World Map matches the location of the Deep Sea Research Center of Final Fantasy VIII exactly (refer to the lower lefthand corner of both World Maps). In Final Fantasy III, this Floating Continent nearly fell into the sea at one point, and only one Person knew how to prevent it. If, in time, this Person should die and no other knew how to prevent the Continent's fall should it be endangered once again, there would be nothing to prevent its collapse into the sea.

The Deep Sea Research Center was most certainly built over something that had sank into the sea. We see marvelous architecture in the Deep Sea Deposit area. That this lost land may have been the Floating Continent once upon a time seems very possible to me.

4) Referring back to the previous point, Bahamut lived on the Floating Continent of Final Fantasy III. Bahamut was discovered in the Deep Sea Deposit of Final Fantasy VIII.

5) In Final Fantasy III, the Sorcerer Hyne took over the Floating Continent and its kingdom of Argass, and was later defeated by the Light Warriors, who happened to be children. When he was defeated, his head disappeared first.

In Final Fantasy VIII, we're told that a being named Hyne was the originator of the Sorceress Power. The People regarded Hyne through legend as having been a god, and, indeed, the creator of Homo Sapiens. In he Legend of Vascaroon, told to some children by a lady named Lina on the White SeeD Ship, we're told that the being Hyne ruled the world (Hyne of Final Fantasy III ruled his world, the Floating Continent). He created Homo Sapiens and then went to sleep. When he awoke, he found that they had multiplied by a vast margin, and he began trying to remove the children (possibly a reference to the fact that children are those who defeated Hyne in Final Fantasy III).

Hyne is said to have begun to lose the war with the Homo Sapiens who rebelled against him, and offered up half of his body to them along with his powers as a peace offering. However, he had tricked them and offered up a powerless skin of himself, taking his power with him in his escape (again, when Hyne is defeated in III, his head vanishes before the rest of him).

In the case of the Great Hyne of Legend of Vascaroon, we're not told at which point he gave up his powers to some Homo Sapien Females, but the Tutorial states that the Sorceress Power originated when Hyne did just that:


Sorceress

The legend goes that the Great Hyne created people. The sorceresses were given a fragment of Hyne's own power. It's hard to determine how many sorceresses exist today, for many keep their powers concealed. However, it is believed that they avoid spreading their power too thin.

Further, it's said that to call a Sorceress "Hyne's Descendant" shows great respect. When Rinoa and Squall return from space, the Esthari representatives who take Rinoa into custody address her as "Sorceress Rinoa" and then "Hyne's Descendant." Though it's not explained when it occurred or why, Hyne most certainly was the progenitor of the Sorceress Power

It may very well be that Hyne escaped death at the hands of the Light Warriors and eventually gave up his powers unto some Homo Sapien Females. I concede that I might be reading too far into things, but after many centuries, it's possible for the facts surrounding what happened in regard to Hyne to have become obscured and for what broken information remains to become the stuff of legend. While Hyne is regarded as the creator of Homo Sapiens, the legend still retains information suggestive of him having been an asshole and that People rose up against him.

6) This isn't really a large point, and might be altogether unrelated to the matter at hand, but on Ultimecia's large clock tower, the hands point to "III" and "VIII": Linkage (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/UltimeciasClocktower.jpg).

Without the other bits of information, I would regard this as irrelevant, but with them present, I think it's possible this could be a reference to the two worlds being the same, the world of III having become the world we see in VIII with the passage of time (represented by the large clock).


I concede that there are some possible holes in the theory, such as the whereabouts of the Elemental Crystals in Final Fantasy VIII. Personally, I think the Crystals could have removed themselves from the surface world so as to never allow anyone to tamper with them again, as their power was not something that should be tampered with in the first place. If they removed themselves to within the Planet, this might even explain why Magic seeps up out of the Planet to its surface as Draw Points.

[Gilgamesh of Legends]

i read this thing before on a gaming website, did you copy some stuff or did you write that article?

[Christmas]

Most likely he wrote it. Go to the website:

http://www.rpgamer.com/editor/2005/q2/050205gm.html

And look for this line:


6) This isn't really a large point, and might be altogether unrelated to the matter at hand, but on Ultimecia's large clock tower, the hands point to "III" and "VIII": Linkage.

Press the linkage and it link you to this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/UltimeciasClocktower.jpg

Or are there other gaming website which you might want to show the link.

[crazybayman]

That's a neat theory. Nicely put together.

The only thing I could disagree on is the fact of it being several hundred years later. You'd need thousands, perhaps millions of years to get that kind of continental drift going on, unless of course in this world continental drift is happening at an incredibally rapid pace, which would mean very fast tectonic activity, and inherently a lot of volcanic activity going on. Though it is Final Fantasy, after all :p . Perhaps this is the same world, but hundreds of thousands years later.

Everything else ties together very well, with the Sorceror named Hyne, and the reference of Ultimecia's clock tower.

Very interesting.

[Sir Bahamut]

I went through the flaws of this theory in the topic "A sweet theory...but not mine".

Didn't know it was Squall_Of_SeeD who came up with it though.

[Future Esthar]

The Lunar Cry explain the geological changes.

[crazybayman]

The Lunar Cry explain the geological changes.
If this were the case, why don't you see any geological changes as a result of the lunar cry during the game?

The changes in the continents are far beyond that possible by a lunar cry. While the crater in Trabia may be the result of a lunar cry, and a lunar cry may have wiped out the Centra civilization, these are incredibly minor compared to the differences we see between FFIII's and FFVIII's worlds.

As well, if a lunar cry were capable of such power, wouldn't Esthar have been wiped out?

[Future Esthar]

Esthar-Didn´t Tears point had a forcefield to prevent the impact from the monsters?
Trabia and Centra-We don´t see the continents before the Lunar Cry.How do you know?

A possible answer is to had many many consecutive Lunar Cries.

[crazybayman]

Esthar-Didn´t Tears point had a forcefield to prevent the impact from the monsters?
Says who? There is nothing in the game script about a force field around Tears Point.

As well, the lunar cry just drops monsters to earth. If the impact was this great as to rearrange continents, all the monsters would have been destroyed. Instead, they are roaming freely around Esthar.


Trabia and Centra-We don´t see the continents before the Lunar Cry.
The Trabia Lunar Cry happened during one of the Laguna sequences, which was 17 years ago. If the lunar cry was so powerful as to completely re-arrange the continents, everything would have been destroyed, Laguna and company, or anything else in the vacinity probably wouldn't have survived. The whole world would have been affected. You're talking about a force powerful enough to change an entire continent. This would surely have an adverse affect on the rest of the world. Like the theory of the Dinosaurs being wiped out by a meteor. The impact on a relatively small portion of the world causes a ripple over the entire earth surface, destroying everything there. The same would occur if one instant impact is strong enough to toss around a continent.


A possible answer is to had many many consecutive Lunar Cries.
Same as above.

My point is, Lunar cries aren't this powerful as to rearrange continents. The differences between the FFIII and FFVIII worlds, if they are the same world, would be a result of continental drift, which would probably take hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of years.

[Future Esthar]

A possibility is that the Pandora was transparent during Laguna´s film and just showed up in the end..
Which means the impact was formed before they go to Trabia..

[Destai]

I think its just a reference and doesnt reveal any large geological revalations or whatever you'd like to call it.

[MJN SEIFER]

Squaresoft: All FF games take place on Gaia. Except in 10 where it is Spira which is the overside of Gaia and one day people from Spira will make there way to Gaia

[GunbladeMaster]

wer did u quote that from? Besides if they were all held on Gaia than wouldnt they have said so in one of the earlier FFs and not waited till FF9 to spill it? (if they did mention it in the previous FFs than i apoligize) but i personally do believe that they are all staged on the same planet due to the similarities of the continent structure and shape and Ivalice could be Spira after many years or even before it was called Spira!
hehe jus a thought.