
Originally Posted by
Yu-Yevon
A while ago I posted a thread called "The True story of Anima" and showed alot of the backround in the game,the meaning, and how it is in reality. My question is, do the other aeons have myths and studies that can be found in the real world?
In general, most FF Summons are derivative of religions and mythologies from all over the world. As regards FFX, Valefor seems to be derivative of demonology,
as suggested by the wikipedia..
Ifrit is taken from Islamic mythology, and can also be spelled afreet, afrit, afrite, and/or efreet. Ifrits are among the most powerful of the Jinn (spirits which rank below angels and devils). Ifrits are generally giant creatures of smoke or air or fire; the latter might explain the elemental correlation between Ifrit and Fire that has always existed within Final Fantasy.
Ixion, as stated earlier, is taken from Greek mythology. According to the legend, Ixion was the first human being to kill shed the blood of a relative. This resulted in Ixion wandering the earth as an exile; Zeus took pity on the man and brought him to Mt. Olympus. However, Ixion became obsessed with lust for Hera, and ended up impregnating a cloud Zeus had disguised as Hera. From this was born the monster Centaurus, which would father the Centaur race with the mares of Mt. Pelion. In any case, Zeus bound Ixion to a flaming wheel, and is frequently cited by the classical writers when mention is made of Tartarus.
Shiva is generally viewed to be taken from Hinduism;
he is, along with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the three primary Hindu deities. There have been references to Shiva as female (which might explain Shiva in FF), although these are in error.
Bahamut, according to Arabic mythology, is a giant fish. A giant bull, Kujata (obviously the source of the FFVII summon Kjata), stands upon Bahamut, and on top of Kujata are a ruby mountain, an angel, six hells, the earth, and seven heavens. I've never seen a mythological source that cites Bahamut as having the form of a dragon.
Yojimbo, as mentioned, translates approximately to "bodyguard." There was a Kurosawa film of the same name.
The Magus Sisters, so far as I know, are purely an invention of Final Fantasy.
Clearly, although the names of the Aeons often correpond to religious and mythological sources, the appearances have been notably altered in many cases.
As far as previous FF reference, Ifrit, Shiva, and Bahamut are classic summons. Valefor, Ixion, and Anima seem to be new, but Yojimbo and the Sisters reference Final Fantasies IV and V. The Magus Sisters were a boss in FFIV, while Yojimbo is best known as the enemy in FFV that carried the rare Strato katana.