Quote Originally Posted by -Demos- View Post
Thanks Wolf Kanno, that was a very well researched response, I understand that canonically the games are not really connected, one could even argue that Dissidia is its own self-contained parallel multiverse and that it has nothing to do with the original games from where the characters first appeared (For instance the representative of FF3 is the "Onion Knight" instead of one of the four named characters that took the role of warriors of light in the 3D remake).

So I guess my point is that if you combine some important elements of the lore from the different games one could come to an overall theory of a theoretical "Final Fantasy Universe" were all the Final Fantasy planets exist and have a tangential relation, I personally like to try and imagine these connections, but I don't claim they are intentional, specially considering that the different games have been made years apart with the input of a lot different people, and with the explicit intention to be separated histories (except for the direct sequels like FFX-2 of course).
Don't get me wrong, my purpose isn't to discourage people from making theories but to strengthen your arguments. While I do stand with the idea the game's are separate outside of a possible mutliverse scenario. I like poking holes into such theories to make the theorist come up with better answers. I'm not saying someone can't come up with a universal theory that connects every entry into the same universe, but said theory is going to have to be on point and I'll be here to find those weak spots. So I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm simply trying to point out flaws in the theory for the sake of discussion.

You bring a very interesting point about the nature of magic in the different games, that and the ability to persist after death, are in my opinion, the more interesting aspects of the lore, because, even in our world these matters are a point of debate, the current scientific consensus is that we are biological machines and once our brains stop, working that is it, we are gone forever, but basically all the religions of the world, and even some philosophical theories, base their existence in the belief of some "essence" that transcends death, an immortal soul that could move on to different plane of existence or be reincarnated in a different body, in a rather poetic way maybe that is our "Final Fantasy" the idea that we could overcome death.
I feel it's a safe bet to say that the concept of a spiritual soul exists within the FF universes since it's been shown so many times to be a thing. Whether a game maintains something close to the real world idea of the concept such as the Ivalice entries or tries for a pseudo-scientific approach like the Lifestream, I feel it's safe to say its a fixture in the inner workings of the various FF worlds. I think only FFI and VIII avoid the idea of souls or an afterlife.

About Final Fantasy 7 I think that Materia facilitates magic, but is not truly indispensable, many of the Limit Breaks look a lot like magic to me, for example Cid the character that literally said that he believes in science over magic can summon a spirit dragon as one of its limits, also in the games where some people can use magic and some can't, I think that is because humanity has a "Magic Gene" that is activated since birth in some people, but only awakes later in life for some others, for example Rydia can learn a lot of spells while being a child, but Cecil is unable to cast any spells until he becomes a paladin, also in FF8 a game where the fact that humans can't use magic is a plot point, (Only sorceress can, and people fear them because of it) most of the Limit Breaks also look like magic, and still, the characters can use those limits without any magic or GF's juctioned, in fact Selphie uses some spells that are not even attainable in the game by any other means like Full Cure, Wall, Rapture and the famous "The End".
I disagree but that's simply because the Ultimania discusses how magic is the manipulation of the planet's energy to perform feats of wonder, whereas Limit breaks are more something channeled by the character themselves and is unique to them. The reason the party stops using Materia in AC is due to the revelation that using materia actually drains the planet. So I would say it's medium used to manipulate a finite resource whereas Limits are a situational exertion of power coming from the party. It may look like magic but the nature and source of the power are radically different according to in game text and background materials.

As for VIII, well that one does likely work with your theory. Desperation Attacks don't have much of an explanation in-game and other sources don't give much insight either. The bigger issue is witnessing human characters who don't have sorceress powers or GFs use magic like how regular Galbadian soldiers can cast Fire magic. So in the case of VIII, I would agree that humans have a very limited ability to use magic and desperation attacks are likely stemmed from that power, whereas sorceress' have the ability to use far more diverse and powerful magic. So it's likely a matter of scale.

In VI its implied that many of the special moves by characters likely comes from a third and unidentified power not connected to magic or simple physical technique.

Also about the differences of the Crystals, another plot point of FF4: TAY is that the Crystals can evolve, in fact "The Creator" was defeated because the eight Crystals from Earth and the eight Crystals from the Lunarian's "Moon" basically developed a conscience and decided to betray "The Creator" and side with humanity, so the differences between Crystals could be explained as different stages of evolution, but only if you like to entertain the theory of course.


Final note, I always thought that the Esper Magicites from FF6 and the Materia from FF7 were the precursors to the crystals, I mean in FF7 is stated that Materia forms naturally over thousands of years, but Shinra Inc. developed a way to manufacture artificial Materia within their reactors, maybe with some more technological advance they would have learned to manufacture Crystals.
As I mention, I think the bigger issue is that the crystals' influence varies a bit too wildly. In both III, V, IX, and a lesser extent FFI, the crystals are defined as being the literal source of reality opposed only by the Void. In IV and TAY, the disappearance of the crystals has no direct affect on the state of the world outside of the party being aware they are a strong power source. Its not like the others where their destruction or manipulation by dark forces is enough to end all life as we know it or affects both time and space, nor does it explain their connection to being an antithesis of the Void which always appears when the Source Crystals are destroyed or threatened. The issue is that Crystals are simply tools in games like II, IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, and XII. But in the other entries they are the equivalent to a Higher godlike power that creates everything. Your theory will need to figure out how to rectify this disparity. I don't feel evolution will work as a sufficient answer simply because you wind up with a chicken and egg scenario since it's difficult to explain how the crystals can be both a simple tool in one setting and the literal linchpins of reality in another, and yet also still be the same thing from a source perspective. It would be like arguing that our concept of god is indeed a objective entity that created our reality including us, and paradoxically a manifestation that only exists because of our collective imagination of such a being as humans, thus we created it.

An easier solution would be to argue that while crystals are indeed a universal power, there is a distinct difference from Source Crystals that maintain reality as opposed to finite crystals that may have great power, but are simply tools such as Magicite, Materia, or the crystals of IV. Thus Source Crystals exist within the games that don't feature them but are simply not brought up due to the ignorance of the inhabitants. The other solution that would allow you to keep the evolutionary theory of the crystals is that the entries that possess such Source Crystals are likely tertiary realities created when the previous universe likely experienced heat death except the crystals survived and used their evolved powers to recreate the world they know, though this still wouldn't explain their connection to the Void.