5ive Things You Didin't Know about FFV: Take 2

[Wolf Kanno]

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I enjoy FF trivia, and I have a few threads around here detailing that, so I decided FFV needed one as well. Then I remembered someone did make this thread so I hunted it down and was... kind of disappointed. Kind of felt the thread went silly too quickly, and frankly even my own contributions were largely subpar, so now we're going to do this one properly. So now let's do some trivia like men, and women, and women who dress like men! En Garde it's FFV Trivia time!

1. While most people know Gilgamesh debuted in FFV, what some might know due to the official artwork being all by Amano, is that Gilgamesh is actually the brainchild of Tetsuya Nomura.

2. Gilgamesh is loosely based of the historical figure known as Benkei. He was a warrior monk, and retainer for Minamoto no Yoshitsune (whom a lot of SMT/Persona fans should be familiar with) and is a figure who has a lot of exaggerated stories about him. The most famous is that Benkei was tasked with collecting a thousand weapons. So he parked himself at the Gōjō Bridge in Kyoto, and would challenge anyone who tried to cross. When he was about to get his one thousandth weapon, he was finally defeated because his opponent was Yoshitsune. But Benkei chose to follow the man who bested him and was said to be a powerful warrior who could best 200 men every battle. If you don;t believe me, the artwork Nomura eventually released of his original draft for the character has him called Benkei. The kabuki painted face is also a reference to how popular this character is in kabuki theater. The fact he's usually seen using a Naginata is also a reference.

3. In old interviews in Japanese magazines, it's revealed Gilgamesh does have a bit of back story. He comes from a small village of warriors who revere the Genji Armor set, which is only awarded to the best warrior in the village. "The blood, tears, and dust that adorn the armor have made them very resistant". It is never explained if Gilgamesh is the best warrior in the village or if he actually stole the armor and ran away with them.

4. Despite Gilgamesh's very samurai warrior/ashura vibe going on with his design, he's actually a blue mage ability wise, and you can learn a lot of them from him. This is an element that has largely stuck with him in many of his future encounters.

5. Gilgamesh, along with quite a few other enemies who share this skill, has a special attack that seems to be either unfinished or bugged. ゆうばくalso known as Resploder in the PS translation, and Chain Reaction in the GBA version doesn't seem to do anything but hit a character like a normal attack. Normally, a regular attack wouldn't have such an exotic name, and while it seems on brand for Gilgamesh to give a regular punch an over the top name, I will point out again that this skill is shared with a few other enemies including ExDeath and Ramuh.

6. FFV is the first FFV that lets you fight Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, and Titan. In FFIII, you purchase them from a summoner village and in IV, Rydia comes with them already learned after her plot relevant age up.

7. FFV is the first to introduce recurring summons Carbuncle, Phoenix, Golem, and Catoblepas as summons.

8. VII fans likely et a kick when the Fat Chocobo appears during the Choco/Mog summon, but the concept of Fat Chocobo appearing as a special critical hit for the summon debuted in FFV. Likewise, Odin using Gungnir when facing an opponent that is immune to insta-death was also borrowed from this FF.

9. FFV has another secret summon, Eggman! He is technically dummied out of the game as an enemy type, but you can actually summon him by using the Magic Lamp item. Once you've summon the Chocobo using the Magic Lamp 19 times, Eggman will appear and try to use Egg Chop, but the attack always fails. Eggman is a reference to another Square property called Hanjuku Hero! Which was created by Takashi Tokito of FFIV/Live a Live fame.

10. Original game documents mention that Faris' beloved ally Syldra was meant to have a much darker end. Originally, she was meant to be the final boss of the Walse Tower instead of Garula due to ExDeath's influence driving the monsters and other wildlife mad, and she would have had a conflict trying to fight the party. It's unknown why it was changed the way it was, but likely due to being too grim.

[Wolf Kanno]

11. The Earth and Water elements debut in FFV. I know this seems weird considering Leviathan, Quake, and Geomancers existed in previous games, but weirdly enough, there was no separate water or earth element in those games.In most cases before FFV, "earth" and "water" attacks were either non-elemental, instant death, or sometime Thunder or Ice elemental depending on the game and ability in question.

12. In a hilarious subversion of the above fact, Aqualung is not a water elemental attack, it's actually non-elemental but does have a secondary value where it does double damage to desert type enemies.

13. FFV debuted a lot of recurring status effects including: Zombie, Invincible, Charm, and Erased/Eject. Zombie gets special mention since it also means the debut of the Holy Water item to heal it, and a lot of the rules about the status were first implemented here such as party members afflicted can't be controlled, most other status elements won't affect them or do the opposite effect, and healing magic hurts them.

14. Likewise, FFV is the only FF to have the status effect Old. Kind of makes sense why this spell has not resurfaced because it;s abit broken. It basically reduces the afflicted's stats until they drop down to 1. Sort of like having Tellah's leveling curve but this affects all stats expect HP/MP. What really makes this status dangerous is that unless it gets healed, it will last until the end of battle, and even worse, even if the character is healed, the stats will remain whatever they were after being afflicted until the battle ends, so even just having the status for a little can still handicap you.

15. Weirdly enough, FFV is the first game to have proper accessories. Before, characters had armlets that often fell into this category, but FFV is the one that finally created the equipment category that can best be thought of as the Misc. equipment slot.

16. It's also the first game to create items that purely enhance abilities like the Brigand's Glove (raises steal success rate) or Koronago's Gourd (allows Catch to work on enemies at half health instead of 12.5%).

17. While FFIV was the first to introduce cursed equipment in the series, FFV is the first to have a piece of cursed gear for every category you can equip. If you collect them all, then hitting optimize in the equip screen (and assuming your a class that can equip all of the gear) will have your character equipped with Excalipoor, Bone Mail, Thornlet, and Cursed Ring.

18. There are 12 Sealed Weapons in the game, but technically there are sixteen weapon types in the game. Unarmed, regular swords, boomerangs, and hammers don't get a Sealed Weapon type.

[Wolf Kanno]

19. FFV is the first FF to give monsters a Row system similar to the party. What this means is that if you attack an enemy towards the back of a group of monsters, unless you are using a weapon with Ignore Row as an attribute such as Bows or some of the Whip weapons, then your attack with do less damage.

20. FFV debuted several now classic FF Jobs including Blue Mage, Time Mage, Chemist, Mystic Knight, Dancer, Berserker, Beastmaster, Samurai, and Mime.

21. While both FFIV, VI, and most famously FFVII were rife with major rumors concerning their games which usually entailed making a certain character playable again, FFV has it's own unique rumor that persisted for ages when the game was still Japan only. The FFV Rumor detailed a hidden Job class that was usually Paladin.

22. FFV is the only mainline FF where the female party members outnumber the male ones 3:2.

23. Gilgamesh is the first comic relief villain in the series and would largely set the stage for successors like Ultros, The Turks, Biggs, and Wedge, and Lani.

24. When the developers were trying to come up with Job classes to add and abilities for them, Tetsuya Nomura wanted to have a gambler class and came up with an idea of Ninja's using a dog as a companion. Neither idea made it into FFV but did eventually make it into the next installment.

25. While Chocobos have existed for several games by this point, FFV was the first to really personify the lovable mascot by giving us Boko. While Gilgamesh often gets more fanfare for his numerous appearances in later installments, Boko has also managed to make several appearances or be referenced a lot in later installments as well, often being a default name for Chocobos the player encounters.

26. Barring Galuf, the one thing all of the final party members have in common is a close connection to a different animal. Bartz with Boko, Lenna with the Wind Drake, Faris with Syldra, and Krile with both her world's Wind Drake and the Moogles.

27. FFV is the first introduction to a character named Mid who often has a close connection to the world's Cid.

28. FFV is the first FF to receive an official sequel in the form of the four part 90s OVA Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. While it was a policy with Sakaguchi's tenure at Square to never make a game sequel to any FF entry, he was okay with adaptions in other media. He and Nobuo Uematsu served as Executive Producers for the series. The anime was directed by Rin Taro and made by Studio Madhouse. The anime was given an English translation but it has never been released on anything but VHS and SE seems to want fans to ignore it's existence. You can still find it online if you look.

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29. Ironically, despite being a sequel to FFV, Legend of the Crystals was released in the West before the actual FFV did.

30. While lots of FFs have had issues with name translations before, FFV is the only entry where almost every main character has had some weird argument about their "proper" name. Most will obviously think about the Bartz/Butz/Battz controversy, but Lenna/Reina was an issue. How to pronounce Fari's real name Sarisa has been an issue. Galuf's true name wasn't revealed to fans outside of Japan until the FF 20th Anniversary Ultimania's were released. He was simply known as Galuf Doe up until then. Finally, Krile/Cara/Kururu will still start fights in some parts of the internet. This is sort of in contrast with other FF translations where some names were fixed and finally accepted by the fanbase such as Aerith or in the case of FFIV and VI, SE just acknowledges the Western translation. Even ExDeath gets in on this action with some people still believing he should be called Exodus.

31. FFV was one of the first and most popular fan translated ROMs in the early history of fan translating games outside of Japan.

32. Much like the name controversy above, hair color is another divisive topic when considering what is "canon". Not helped that SE often goes back and forth between the Amano version and the Shibuya sprite versions depending on the media. Though in recent years it seems that Bartz and Faris settle with their sprites' hair but Amano's outfit, Galuf and Krile are often based off Amano's design. Lenna oddly, tends to be the only one to stick with her sprite design in any outside cameos.

[Wolf Kanno]

33. Despite what FFVI fans from the SNES days may tell you, Lone Wolf the Pickpocket and Famed Mimic Gogo debuted in FFV. Though in the case of Gogo, the design is completely different.

34. Many fans today likely played the classic series through ports and re-releases would be shocked to know that the ATB bar actually debuted in FFV. While ATB debuted in FFIV, the ATB Bar was created as part of fan feedback from FFIV.

35. Likewise, casting times for spells and abilities were also removed in FFV due to fan feedback and would remain that way until X-2. ATB creator Hiroyuki Ito really likes this mechanic though, because he kept it in for Final Fantasy Tactics and FFXII.

36. If you look at the official sprite art for the classes. One of the most amusing things to notice is how often Krile being the youngest is portrayed. Most will remember how her Berserker class looks like she's wearing a onsie, but it goes farther than that. It's not as noticeable with the in-game sprites, but the official art shows that many of her outfits are actually a bit too big for her. Most outfits with capes have them dragging behind her. Her Red Mage outfit especially looks like she's wearing Galuf's uniform instead as the cape and pauldrons are so large, you can't see her arms.

37. Obviously, since he dies before the party can obtain it, Galuf is the only party member that doesn't get an outfit for the Mime class.

38. Many of the Job Class outfits are callbacks to the earlier FFs. Notable ones are Bartz's Dragoon outfit designed to evoke Kain Highwind from IV. Krile's White Mage outfit is based off the Devout Class from FFIII. All of the Black Mage Outfits are a mishmash of the classic Black Mage and Magus class from FFIII. Bartz and Galuf's White Mage outfits are based off the White Wizard design from FFI. In fact, a vast majority of Bartz's versions of an outfit are usually based on the original class sprite from their respective game.

[Wolf Kanno]

39. FFV saw the first appearance of two infamous rare monsters within the FF series:

• The Movers are a set of three small round ball creatures that work as a team and can use the Magus Sister's infamous Delta Attack to turn the party into stone. They were hard to kill but worth the effort for the obscene APB rewards they give and VII fans will know as since they are they best creatures to farm to raise materia as well.
• The Magic Pot is probably the most recognizable for fans as their gim,mick of being completely immune to all damage and demanding elixirs to placate them is well known. They are also loved for giving out great rewards when defeated.

40. FFV also introduced us to two of the most infamous recurring superbosses in the series, namely Omega and Shinryu. The two interesting facts I will give about both of them is that Omega should never be confused with Omega Weapon, they are actually considered different entities and Omega traditionally is pure machine and usually has a form similar to his FFV incarnation. Shinryu on the other hand has not always appeared in later installments as a superboss. In FFIX, the "Nova Dragon" Kuja rides is actually meant to be Shinryu, I am not sure why it was translated. Likewise, he has appeared as a story boss in Type-0 and a summon in both Dissidia and Dimensions II.

41. Famed Mimic Gogo's bestiary reveals that he is both weak and immune to Water. Which makes it even more amusing you face him underwater.

42. Goblin Punch is an absurd joke skill in FFV and arguably one of the Blue Mage's dirtiest tricks. It does non-elemental magic damage that ignores Row, and if the caster is the same level as the opponent, it deals 8x damage. Making it even more broken is that the formula for determining damage is dictated also by the user's weapon, though it will ignore any special properties from the weapon like elemental effects or special skills. This second set of rules can be exploited in some versions as this makes Goblin Punch one of the few skills that lets a player bypass Excalippor's silly 1hp damage rule and allow the player to use it's absurd attack power properly. There was also a glitch in the first version where Power Drinks only affected Goblin Punch and no other stat or ability.

[MJN SEIFER]

In FFIX, the "Nova Dragon" Kuja rides is actually meant to be Shinryu, I am not sure why it was translated.

It's something that I missed that - they can both be taken to mean "New Dragon" (though I don't know if that was the point).
It never clicked for me, that Nova Dragon was Final Fantasy IX's take on Shinryu, which would make sense, due to FFIX's place as the "Nostalgia Final Fantasy".

Loving this thread, along with the FFIV and FFVI threads.

[Wolf Kanno]

43. I'm sure some fans forget this since you rarely see his full name given, but FFV continues the Highwind tradition, but in a fun inversion of the famous last name, the name is not given to a Dragoon style character, nor is it a last name. The King of Tycoon's full name is Alexander Highwind Tycoon.

44. Even though he's never stated to be a dragoon, King Tycoon, does have a lot of references to the class. His helmet is reminiscent of a dragon with its wings outstretched and even has a gold figure of dragon breathing fire on it, much like how a dragoon helmet is designed to look like a dragon head. Likewise, his scepter in the Amano artwork also has a dragon motif. Finally, Tycoon, is the only kingdom to have access to the Wind Drake, and traditionally in the FF lore, Dragoons rode dragon steeds.

[Wolf Kanno]

45. Byblos is an interesting boss in FFV due to a bunch of weird things about him. He actually has a few pieces of Amano artwork for him for one thing. More than most bosses, including ones with more plot relevance. He's also one of the few major bosses to get a palette swap in the form of Apanda, one of the Demons of the Rifts who is fought in a similar place a Byblos in the Inter-dimensional Rift. He also gets special dialogue as he is one of the first hints to ExDeath's existence since he'll mention he is serving a master that i trying to be unsealed. If you talk to one of the scholars in the Library, they will mention that Byblos was sealed in the Library of Ancients after he was caught trying to destroy the Wind Crystal. If you use Ifrit to defeat him, he will actually alter his lines and curse Ifrit. Likewise, his palette swap counterpart Apanda will also speak of Ifrit if he is summoned during the battle. In FFTactics, Byblos is an Apanda Demon Class the party can recruit and his move-set recreates Byblos fighting style involving status infliction and stealing GP and MP.

46. FFV has quite a few callbacks to previous FFs, but most will notice how similar it is to FFIII:

• Both games use a Job class system that let's you freely choose and swap your jobs between battles.
• Both games begin with the party realizing the threat to the world due to interacting with the Wind Crystal.
• Both games deal with the mythos involving the crystals relationship with the Void.
• The final boss of both games is a physical embodiment of the Void itself.
• Both games have a sidequest that involves riding a Chocobo around the world.
• Both games utilize a plot twist about a hidden second world beyond the one the players and party initially know of.
• Both games feature a final dungeon that involves traveling to another dimension.
• Both entries involve facing off with Bahamut on a tall mountain that he makes as his lair.
• Both games involve meeting a character with amnesia, who ends up being connected to the main problem of the setting in a way (Desch as a member of the Ancients who caused the Flood of Light in the past, and Galuf as a Dawn warrior sealing ExDeath in Bartz's world)
• Both games feature an airship that can become a submarine.
• Both games feature a starting class that is secretly the best class in the game.
• Both games feature a slew of forbidden magics and weapons that were sealed away due to their power as a minor plot point, the party can choose to collect.
• Both games feature piano the players can play that will often play real world piano pieces.

47. The first real battle with ExDeath in his castle can be quite a doozy for an unprepared party, seeing how he knows all the -aga level spells and other assortment of nasty abilities. He actually has two phases of nasty surprises, but unbeknownst to some players, he has a third phase he can never enter due to a bug where he pulls out Meteor. Luckily we don;t have to deal with this.

48. ExDeath also gets a quirky upgrade after he obtains the Void. You see, unlike most major villains in the franchise, ExDeath is ironically weak to Holy. Even more amusing because he is also carrying a Staff of Judgement (Holy Elemental) as a rare steal. Even his Soul variant is weak to it. But his final boss form loses this weakness, and in fact, he can cast Holy now as an ability. Adding to the irony is that ExDeath's Signature Move Almagest used by Neo-ExDeath (and a bunch of other enemies, but we'll ignore that) is also a Holy elemental attack.

49. For a long time, it was rumored that ExDeath was some sort of reincarnation of Enuo, the original evil that used the Void. This has largely been debunked with better translations and guide books, but design documents for FFV have revealed that in an earlier draft of the story, ExDeath's goal was to actually bring Enuo back and merging with him would have created Neo-Exdeath.

50. Neo-ExDeath's form may seem a bit out there, but if you were paying attention to the narrative and understand ExDeath's origins, it makes sense. ExDeath was once a Holy tree that had an innumerable amount of evil spirits, demons, and dark magics sealed within him. These beings merged together to create ExDeath and the Holy Tree became their body. So once the Void got mixed in and also merged with this legion of evil that makes ExDeath's being, it makes sense his new form would appear a legion of evil emerging from some body horror. If you've watched Inu-Yasha, its central villain Naraku is a similar entity made up of countless demons.

51. Oddly enough, there is a picture of ExDeath without his baby blue armor, and it is interesting to say the least.
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52. Interestingly enough, of the Sealed Weapons, only the Magus Rod and Apollo Harp are original weapons and not a returning weapon from an earlier entry.

53. Another amusing element about the Sealed Weapons is that most of them are not even the strongest weapons of their class within FFV, being one of the first entries where the plots "ultimate" weapons are not the game's ultimate weapons. This is even before the Advance/Steam version added another set of Ultimate weapons For a Quick breakdown of the original:

Sealed Weapon ~~~~~~~ Strongest Weapon
Rune Axe Titan's Axe
Gaia's Bell Both Rune's Bells and Tinkerbell
Yoichi's Bow Artemis Bow
Masemune Murakumo
Excalibur Both Ragnarok and Brave Blade
Assasin's Dagger Man-Eater
Holy Lance Dragon Lance
Sage's Staff Staff of Judgement
Fire Lash Dragon's Whisker

Only Apollo's Harp, Sasuke's Katana, and the Magus Rod are the strongest weapons of their class in the base game. Though it should be noted that while many of the weapons in the Dtrongest category are statistically more powerful, many of the Sealed Weapons have certain traits that can actually make them better weapons overall like the Masemune, Fire Lash, Sage's Staff, and Yoichi's Bow.

54. The most powerful summon attack in FFV statistically is Odin's Gungnir attack which has a attack power of 255 and does non-elemental damage to a single opponent with Heavy Status. Second place goes to Bahamut, whose Mega Flare does 250 non-elemental damage to all enemies.

55.The Magic Lamp is one of the quirkiest items in FFV that I feel a lot of players miss out on. It's an itemthe player can acquire in Istory Falls and it will summon a different summon every use, starting with the strongest (Bahamut) foing down to the weakest (Eggman). The Lamp will never summon Phoenix though and Odin is restricted to Zantesuken. Once all the summosn ahve been used, the lamp can be recharged by taking it back to Istory Falls where you found it or in the Deep Sea Trench where you fight Phobos, Triton, and Nerid.