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

[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]

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



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."
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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."
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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). "
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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."
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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/mythol.../articles.html

[Zenshen]

Heaven's Cloud



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

"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)



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".