Final Fantasy- Anti God ?

[maybee]

Do you reckon that Final Fantasy is anti God and anti religion ?

Game Theory: Why Final Fantasy is Anti-Religion - YouTube

Thoughts ? It could be. Tactics defiantly spells that, however Kefka and Sephiroth were not really god as in the actual god. They just wanted to be god and therefore in my eyes they symbolize a false god so Cloud and Terra tackle down false idols. Also Kefka & Seph are filled with arrogance and pride, and pride is looked down upon in Christianity, just look at the Seven Sins. Pride is viewed as the worse and the most offending because nobody should be better or feel like they are better than the actual god.

FF X ? It could just symbolize not to follow cults willy nilly because you could end up doing something stupid like killing yourself in vain and looking and feeling like a moron. * Cough, Wakka, Cough * !

But then there is moments where like Headmaster Cid has smurfing Satan in a lamp and he's like a ally in battle and even helps you out as the game goes along. And the pentagram star is a transport in FF 3 and appears in FF X while you summon Ifrit, before he appears out of the ground.

Your thoughts on this ?

[The Man]

FFX is pretty critical of organised religion but I don't think the other games are particularly anti-religious. Sephiroth and Kefka could both be interpreted as people who try to usurp the gods (well, goddesses in FFVI's case). Kefka definitely. I don't really remember there being much presence of deities in FFVII's world although it has been years since I played the game. Haven't played Tactics so I can't comment on that.

[black orb]

>>> Is just old good classic fantasy, all these genres are filled with gods, demons, evil/dark priests/churches, etc..
I see them everywhere not just FF..

[Pete for President]

That video... is total trout. What's with the negative undertone? Why is he trying his best to "scare us" or make Square look like some demonic reincarnation?

People have always tried to become "gods", very similar to some FF villains. It's nothing new. The Roman emperors, leaders in China, even genetic manipulation and cloning are kind of like trying to become a god. Not all of these attempts are/were for the better of mankind.

[Forsaken Lover]

For the love of...

WILL ANYONE EVER REMEMBER THAT YU YEVON WAS NOT THE GOD OF THE YEVON FAITH?

Wakka and Lulu, devout followers of the religion, HAD NO IDEA WHO THE GUY WAS.

I get it's a bit confusing that Yu Yevon has nothing to do with the actual Church of Yevon but come on people. Far too many people make this mistake.

[Pete for President]

For the love of...

WILL ANYONE EVER REMEMBER THAT YU YEVON WAS NOT THE GOD OF THE YEVON FAITH?

Wakka and Lulu, devout followers of the religion, HAD NO IDEA WHO THE GUY WAS.

I get it's a bit confusing that Yu Yevon has nothing to do with the actual Church of Yevon but come on people. Far too many people make this mistake.

Agreed. The guy's recap of FFX's story is not 100% accurate.

[Mirage]

Yeah, no. Some games clearly are. The series as a whole? Hardly.

Even if they were, I wouldn't exactly mind.

[Cloudane]

Obviously there's FFX (and half of FFX-2 which treats New Yevon as "same as the old Yevon", though they do eventually see a bit of sense from both sides) but aside from that I don't see it much. Well maybe XIII a bit with the "gods" being those evil Falcie guys.
Anyway if I was religious I'd possibly see X-2 as positive in an odd little way. It reinforces the "if you cast off religion you'll become a brazen hussy" stereotype
(I'm half kidding, but I did prefer religious Yuna)

FFVII's Aeris could be seen as religious. Even if the "god" was the planet's gaia, and not a bearded chap in the sky. And she was treated fairly well (SPOILER)apart from the whole "dying" thing.

[Mirage]

13 did it a bit, but the falcie aren't real gods. They are given power by the real goddess but that was far away and she kind of lost her influence over the world. Or something. The game explains this pretty poorly.

In 13-2, the goddess gives you the power to change history to recreate the true history of the world, but then we are kind of sabotaged by some guy who hates her.

In fact, it might seem like the goddess in FF13 isn't actually both all knowing and all powerful. Maybe she is just one of the things, and just has a lot of the other but not infinitely much.

[Forsaken Lover]

As far as I know, the goddess who screwed everything up is a third generation god. There is a god above her who is the son of another goddess. In short, the real "God" of the series made a couple lesser gods who made the fal'Cie we see in the gme.

None of this is explained anywhere at all in the main story of XIII. There is only one God, The Maker, and it does jack in the story.

[Cloudane]

My bad about XIII, forgot about the poorly explained Maker.

And I really ought to play the rest of XIII-2 one of these days. It did my head in and I kind of stopped playing...

[G13]

Interesting theory but I think he's missing a bigger picture. FF has roots to all sorts of religions and myths. Arabic, Norse, Eastern and Western cultures, they're pretty much all in there. I don't think Square would produce games simply to push some sort of anti-organized religion agenda. The specific games mentioned happened to have a central theme of religion being used for ill intent, which really shouldn't be more shocking than, say, a game based on the wacky misadventures of a terrorist group. Is that what's next? Square is pro-terrorism because VII says so? They're just stories, nothing more.

[Quindiana Jones]

I think their main agenda is making fun and interesting games. Well, was.

[Night Fury]

I think there are a lot of religious undertones in FFX, especially - but also a lot of Philosophical stances, I did mention in my Rikku spotight some Kantian ethical issues, but I don't think FF is anti-religion.

[Sephiroth]

FFX is pretty critical of organised religion but I don't think the other games are particularly anti-religious. Sephiroth and Kefka could both be interpreted as people who try to usurp the gods (well, goddesses in FFVI's case). Kefka definitely. I don't really remember there being much presence of deities in FFVII's world although it has been years since I played the game. Haven't played Tactics so I can't comment on that.

While Final Fantasy VII-1 does not mention a god per sé the Lifestream itself with its cycle of rebirth, the planet's essence which gives live to everything and where everything ends is spoken very godly of. And still it is told to be a "living being" while Dirge of Cerberus adds the explanation of Omega and Chaos being the lifestreams "messengers", who gather the rest of the life when te time has come and the lifestream has to go to another place in the universe to begin new life with Omega flying it to a new planet which life is given to. And of course Genesis also mentions the "Goddess" which is Minerva.

Final Fantasy is not "anti-god" or "anti-religion", not only that is is often based on religious themes and while Barthandelus is an exception I don't see a reason why a villains plan to surpass something greater than him is "anti-". It a pretty normal aspect in every story for a villain that he wants to become way better than all.