DiscipleofBob
11-17-2011, 02:07 PM
The Basics
This was a theory I typed up in high school, and, for those of you who read 8-Bit Theater, actually got posted on Red Mage’s Twinkin’ Out Column. The general theory is that all of the Final Fantasies (or at least the main ones anyway) are not in fact separate universes, but all part of the same timelines, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of years between each game. The major differences in landscapes and geography are explained by a geological climate that is constantly shifting thanks to all the magics and regular apocalypses that seem to plague the universe. The different cities and kingdoms are explained by ever-changing political climates: nations rise and fall or perhaps just change their name under a different ruler. I wanted to write a more comprehensive version of this theory than what I hurriedly typed up in high school.
Disclaimers
The attempt is to connect Final Fantasies 1 through X in chronological order, with one exception. I’m not even taking anything from FF11 on into account, nor any of the spinoff series at this point. Perhaps once the main ten are linked will I try to fit in the others. No, Dissidia doesn’t really work with this theory and I won’t be taking it into consideration, at least not yet.
A lot of this is FAN THEORY. That is, speculation without proof from the canon. If you ask me to prove something happens a certain way when it’s clearly one of the speculated or theorized bits, I will most likely ignore you.
Why is this in Media Discussion instead of Gaming (Other) you ask? Several reasons. I) some of the sources we have to look into for information are not video games. There are novelizations, anime, movies, interviews, art books, commentaries, all sorts of media to work with even though the main sources are the video games. II) Generally speaking from what I’ve seen, the Media forum of this board is better about discussing the story, settings, philosophies, etc. while the Gaming board talks more about the mechanics behind the games, the latter of which doesn’t really help that much in this theory. Not saying that’s always the case, it just seemed to be the general trend here.
This theory will likely step on the toes of a lot of Word of God and other materials designed to supplement and explain the canon. I will do my best to fill in the holes in the theory, but at some point I will end up flat-out declare something false that is currently labeled as canon. By all means though, if you can find material that contradicts something in this theory, or have any suggestions, questions, or other criticisms, feel free to post them. If I end up agreeing I’ll go back and alter something.
No, the entire theory is not posted yet. I’m going one game at a time because this is enough of an information dump as is, and if I try to do the entire series at once, that means that I) it’ll take that much longer for readers to process, and II) it’s that much more likely I’ll miss important details. It’s better if I put this theory up in chunks to make it easier for constructive criticism. The main ten games will all be posted in time.
I apologize if I give blatantly incorrect information on a subject and welcome criticism as to such. Specifically for Final Fantasies 2, 3, and 5 since I never actually beat those games. I'm currently confident that I've read enough spoilers and wiki entries to write about them, but I could very easily make a mistake on those games. The rest of the main games in the series I'm fairly certain I have memorized.
I think that's everything, so without further ado, I present...
The Final Fantasy Timeline Theory
Final Fantasy I
The Plot
We start out in the world of Final Fantasy 1. The world is under siege from dark forces which seek to corrupt the very elements themselves. The world’s last standing human kingdom is Corneria, the last bastion of hope and the source of a prophecy involving four Light Warriors who will save the world. Four Light Warriors bearing crystals do indeed appear and fulfill the prophecy, defeating corrupt elemental fiends and restoring the light to the crystals. Along the way, we find out the truth that the traitor knight Garland was the man behind the plot, using the energy drained from the crystals to send himself back in time to start this whole process, causing a time paradox to result in a millennia-long time loop at a bid for immortality as the demon Chaos.
The Light Warriors break the time loop and restore the world. They manage to get back to their own time where they are hailed as heroes, and Garland exists as a different person: a benevolent and loyal knight who never even conceived of the plot for immortality.
The Aftermath
Corneria becomes the global superpower, all other nations, or at least their remnants, paying homage to them. The world is surely but slowly being rebuilt. Most importantly, however, measures are being taken to better safeguard the crystals, lest the next villain decide to try and attack them to destroy the world…
Final Fantasy II
The Plot
The elemental crystals are not seen or mentioned in II, probably (and thankfully) because they aren’t central to the plot this time, so they remain hidden for now. The world is being threatened as the Emperor of the world’s strongest nation desires to rule the world, and thus launches a campaign to conquer the world, crushing any resistance in his path. The plot of Final Fantasy II revolves around some refugees who prove themselves to the rebels and become unlikely heroes. The plot is basically an arms race of magical artifacts and weapons. Multiple cities are destroyed, including the land of the dragoons. The party finally manages to confront the Emperor inside the destructive force known as the Cyclone. But their battle is far from over. Even from the afterlife, the Emperor actually manages to raise Castle Pandemonium from hell with his own army from the underworld. No longer content to rule just the world of the living, the Emperor attempts to conquer this and every world, only finally getting destroyed by our party and being banished back to the underworld, this time for good.
The Aftermath
The Emperor’s ambition was stopped, but not before leaving his mark on the world. The nations of the world had now learned to fear each other, as any nation with too much power could decide to try and take over the world. The trend towards gathering/building powerful weapons, magical or otherwise, was also started (Dreadnought, Sunfire, Cyclone, Ultima, Mythril, etc.). Thus the world’s nations obsessed over an arms race that would carry on to the distant future, a source for the future conflicts that the world sought to prevent. On top of that, Castle Pandemonium might have sunk back into hell, but the dam had already burst. The monsters of hell could now reach the world of the living, causing the race for military power among the few surviving nations to hasten to protect themselves.
The Connections
The emergence of Corneria as THE world power at the end of Final Fantasy 1 was accepted mainly because Princess Sara was a kind, just, and noble woman who understood what was at stake. Under her rule, the various races and nations of the world could come together in an age of peace and prosperity. But rulers don’t last forever, and their heirs don’t always live up to their precedent. After many years of changing politics, the central power of the world was eventually renamed Palamecia, and its emperor, whoever his ancestors might be, was far from kind. The Emperor was easily the most powerful man in the world, but he sought complete and total control of everything. The other nations of the world were completely unprepared for his military campaign.
Possibly the largest inconsistency between the first and second game is the lack of several key components from the first game: other sentient races like elves, dwarves, dragons, etc., and the crystals. The former could possibly be explained by interracial marriage and breeding blending the genomes until there were no real differences, but the unfortunately more likely possibility is that the majority of said races were wiped out by the Emperor’s ethnic cleansing. One bit of evidence we have for that is the society of dragoons and dragons that was wiped out by the empire before you can ask for their aid in game. It is possible that some of the other races survived, but were just in hiding for the whole game. The dwarves could just dig deeper, the elves could hide out in remote forests, etcetera, especially since such races to some degree to appear in later Final Fantasy games. That’s probably why the crystals aren’t mentioned. They’re probably well-hidden, and neither side wants to destroy the world so they would be kept out of the fray as much as possible. The Emperor has every reason to leave the crystals untouched so the world he wishes to rule over stays intact.
Final Fantasy III
The Plot
Many years ago, on a Floating Continent hovering high above the surface of an unnamed planet, a technologically advanced civilization sought to harness the power of the four elemental crystals of light. They did not realize they could not hope to control such fundamental forces of nature. This power of light would have consumed the world itself had the light crystals not had their natural counterparts: the four dark elemental crystals. Disturbed by the interruption of the careful balance of the light and the dark, four warriors were granted the power of the dark crystals in order to re-contain the light crystals' power.
This bit from the Final Fantasy Wiki is where we begin because it directly plays into where we left off in Final Fantasy II, namely an escalating magical arms race that climaxes with a technologically advanced floating continent and an attempt to harness the powers of the crystals which ends in a world disaster, leaving most of the world sealed in darkness and only the floating continent safe from the dangers of the world below.
The adventure this time revolves around four orphaned youths on the floating continent who come across the previously sealed Wind Crystal. The Crystal grants the youths its power, giving them the abilities of various Jobs that they can switch between at will (something that will come up several times later). The youths, charged with saving the world, set out to explore the floating continent on which they live, on the way meeting Vikings, Dwarves, Mini-People, Bahamut, and evil monsters like Medusa claiming to be a servant of the dark wizard Xande attempting to destroy the entire floating continent. They eventually find the Fire Crystal and receive its blessing and more jobs.
Our heroes then learn that their floating “continent” is but an island compared to the vast world that lies below, and that they were originally from said continent, having been rescued by Cid when they were still very young, and his airship entered a cloud of darkness before crashing on the floating continent. The world below is a swirling mass of darkness, most of the remaining settlements enshrouded and stopped in time. It is only once they find and reactivate the Water Crystal that the time flows again and the world is returned to normal.
It turns out the tide of darkness was caused by the dark sorcerer Xande, an attempt to stop time to stave off his own mortality. Xande was the apprentice of a powerful magus named Noah, still revered among the wizarding world, along with fellow apprentices Doga and Unne. Noah gave his disciples each a gift: Doga vast knowledge of magic, Unne control over the world of dreams, and Xande mortality. Xande, confused and furious with his “gift,” sought to create an imbalance of the world to stop time, so he drained the energy from the Water and Earth crystals on the surface below. The Fire and Wind crystals were stored safely on the floating continent, but for the time being, Xande was successful in stopping time on the surface world. When our heroes journey to the world below, their quest to restore the light to the crystals starts time moving again.
Eventually, our heroes meet with Doga and Unne, who seek to aid the heroes against Xande’s dark ambitions. They end up giving their lives so their souls can power the keys to the Crystal Tower where Xande awaits. They find the Earth Crystal in the maze surrounding the Crystal Tower, and proceed to Xande’s lair. After finally defeating the dark sorcerer, a being called the Cloud of Darkness appears, claiming to have been using the darkness in Xande’s heart to manipulate him the entire time. The Cloud of Darkness effortlessly defeats our heroes with her Particle Beam, but thanks to a macguffin arranged by the souls of Doga, Unne, and the prayers of their allies the heroes made through their adventures, the heroes come back to life and pursue the Cloud of Darkness on her own turf: the World of Darkness.
In the World of Darkness, the heroes find four Dark Crystals, the counterparts to the four crystals of their world. After defeating some monsters guarding the crystals, they find the four Dark Warriors who saved their world some time ago when a different imbalance caused light to almost envelop and destroy their world. Confronting the Cloud of Darkness, the four Dark Warriors sacrifice themselves to make the Cloud of Darkness vulnerable to harm. In an epic final battle, our heroes defeat the Cloud of Darkness and restore balance to the world, then returning on the floating continent.
The Aftermath
Final Fantasy III starts out with the world in shambles. The game isn’t so much about saving the world as putting it back together. When Xande and the Cloud of Darkness are defeated and the crystals are restored, balance returns and the world can begin to heal. The events leading up to Final Fantasy III, namely the magical arms race, saw the creation of new magics including Summon Magic, something that we’ll have to take into consideration later. The theme of crystals choosing heroes and imbuing those heroes with power will be repeated in later games as well.
The Connections
Final Fantasy III contains a lot of firsts that we’ll need to keep track of for the sake of the theory, but let’s start with the crystals. In FF3, there are 8 crystals, four light and four dark. Presumably the four dark crystals also correspond to fire, earth, air and wind. This might seem to contradict our timeline in the events of FF1, but it actually doesn’t. In FF1 there were eight crystals as well: one in each shrine, and one carried by each Light Warrior. Although the final dungeon is called the ‘World of Darkness,’ we have no reason to believe that it’s another dimension or world at all, just a secluded place where the Dark Crystals are stored. For our world, we’re going to currently assume there are eight crystals, two for each element, and that each crystal also acts as sort of a backup generator for the other. Darkness swallowed the world not just because the Light Crystals were being drained dry, but because the Dark Crystals were out of commission as well, being guarded by monsters in the Dark World. We’ll see these same crystals in FF4.
The lore of this game mentions another epic story where four ‘Dark Warriors’ stop another imbalance from destroying the world, though in their story light is trying to engulf the world. This might not seem to tie into the other games, but if we stretch the story and allow for some of the details to have changed over several generations. In Final Fantasy 1, the four designated Light Warriors of the prophecy show up apparently out of nowhere each carrying a “darkened crystal, one for each element.” In order to save the world, they have to go to each crystal and, using their own crystal, restore the light of the crystals. This theory hypothesizes that the Light Warriors actually carried the Dark Crystals, and used their properties to give light to the Light Crystals and restore the balance. Their plan backfired, however, since Garland/Chaos’s plan drew upon the light of all four crystals to power his time loop. This could be interpreted as the ‘light engulfing the world’ the story of FF3 talks about, and since no real mention of who the FF1 Light Warriors are or what their ultimate fate is (unlike the nameless protagonists of FF3 who are stated to be orphans who go back to their village at the end of the game), it’s possible that the Light Warriors of FF1 are in fact the nameless Dark Warriors of FF3, and they give their lives to combat the Cloud of Darkness.
Let’s go now to the Floating Continent. We know from the lore that it’s the remnant of an advanced civilization that tried to harness the power of the Light Crystals, and that it was the one refuge when the world was swallowed by darkness. We know there are multiple races, including the dwarves, on the floating continent that have lived for possibly hundreds of years in ignorance of the status of the world below. When the world was swallowed by darkness, it’s likely that everyone who could took refuge on the floating continent via airships, or even possibly Bahamut. According to lore, the magus Noah was the one who actually put Bahamut and Leviathan on the island. We know of a civilization capable of floating cities: the Lufeins of Final Fantasy I. It’s possible that this continent was the natural evolution of their technology. Not just a floating city, but an entire continent.
Speaking of Bahamut, his role in FF3 is odd in that it’s both the first time he can be summoned and the only time he’s not presented as some sort of divine dragon-god-king and instead as a wild beast. Because of the advent of Summon magic, some dark implications arise. It’s possible that Bahamut along with other summoned creatures were enslaved and brainwashed as part of early summon magical experiments. Bahamut’s behavior is due to his mind being wiped and not having any master to control his actions, thus reverting to the actions of a wild dragon.
One important detail that I didn’t mention in the Plot section is that Final Fantasy III marked the first appearance of the Moogles. They were friendly servants of the wizard Doga before his demise. It would make sense that Moogles were magically created creatures, like familiars, who were sentient and helpful. Their bodies including their tiny wings, colorful and cute appearance, and red bonbon don’t exactly lend themselves well to evolution, and their demeanor is far from the norm for natural selection. Doga created the Moogles as servants to help with his magical studies, and after Doga’s death, the Moogles were free to do as they pleased, living throughout the Final Fantasy series in ways we’ll get to in later installments.
Final Fantasy IV
The Plot:
When we last checked on our Final Fantasy world, it was in a rare era of prosperity. Balance had been restored to the light and dark crystals, all the tyrants and evil advisors had been overthrown (for the time being), and the land was allowed to prosper. Over time, the light crystals were restored to place of balance on the surface world and the dark crystals were well hidden underground. Instead of hiding the light crystals in dungeons, something that the past had shown to be a bad idea, kingdoms were built around the crystals to protect them. The residents of the floating island eventually migrated to the surface world, the floating island itself left to drift into obscurity (we’ll touch upon its fate later).
Kingdoms which protect and are protected by the power of the crystals greatly prosper, but other kingdoms pop up as well. Eblan, the secretive home of the ninjas, prospers largely isolated from the rest of the world. Baron, not governed by the power of the crystals or superstition, becomes the leader of an industrial revolution that rediscovers airship technology and constructs its own fleet. For a time, there is peace. Then something happens: the ruler of Baron does a personality 180 and suddenly starts attacking other peaceful kingdoms to raid their crystals. Their first act is to raid Mysidia, causing numerous casualties before the mages who live there to surrender the Water crystal. The other kingdoms are ill-defended: Damcyan, a kingdom in the middle of desert full of culture and trade but little military force, Fabul, a kingdom of monks and martial strength but little in the way of full military might, and Troia, a matriarchal theocracy headed by the pacifist Epopts. However, the corrupted Baron does fear the potential might of the Summoners in the hidden town of Mist. Fortunately, the captain of his force, Cecil, is showing doubts and signs of possible disloyalty, so he sends him to deliver a ‘package’, which turns out to be a massive bomb spell which burns the city to the ground, killing all but a young summoner girl named Rydia.
Cecil then goes on a quest to warn and hopefully defend the other crystals, but he arrives at Damcyan too late. He gets to Fabul and the monks assemble only to be beaten back by Baron’s forces, including monsters, Cecil’s old friend Kain, and the mysterious armored figure known as Golbez. Cecil’s love Rosa is kidnapped by Golbez and Cecil resolves to take a ship to Baron with, at this point, the summoner girl Rydia, the bard/king of Damcyan Edward, and the future king of Fabul, Yang. On the way to Baron, their ship gets attacked and swallowed by Leviathan and the group is separated. Cecil wakes on the shores of Mysidia, the very town of mages that he had attacked under the service of the king before. The Elder gives Cecil a quest to go to the top of Mount Ordeals, where Cecil faces and triumphs over his darker side and becomes a Paladin. Along the way, he must face a servant of Golbez: the earth fiend known as Scarmiglione.
Cecil, along with Mysidia twins Porom and Palom, and the sage Tellah, go to Baron via a mystical channel known as the Devil’s Road. They encounter Yang in the town of Baron who was brainwashed into serving the kingdom until Cecil defeats him and sets his mind straight. They sneak into the castle and confront the king, who is actually the water fiend Cagnazzo in disguise. The ruse exposed, the group finds and frees the engineer Cid who provides them with an airship. Porom & Palom petrify themselves to stop a crushing wall trap (they get better later), and the four (Cecil, Cid, Tellah, and Yang) take the airship to the earth crystal in Troia. Unfortunately, they find out that a certain Dark Elf has stolen the crystal and hidden in the Lodestone Cavern. The party goes after the earth crystal, and at some point meet Kain in an enemy airship, with the offer to exchange the earth crystal for Rosa. (They also meet a recovering Edward in Troia.)
Cecil reluctantly gives the earth crystal to Kain, and the airship is escorted to the Tower of Zot at an unknown location, where the group fights the wind fiend Barbariccia and Golbez. Tellah gives his life to use the powerful magic Meteor on Golbez which injures but doesn’t kill him. Seemingly though this is enough to break the control over Kain, who informs the group that there are still the four Dark crystals remaining. They rescue Rosa and teleport out of the Tower before it crumbles on top of them.
They unlock the hidden path to the underground world and head below in their airship, and after sustaining an attack, crash near the Dwarven Kingdom. They fight and seemingly defeat Golbez for the crystal with the help of a returned adult Rydia, but Golbez’s magics allow him to sneak away the crystal before anyone can stop him. They assault the Tower of Babil where the (now seven) crystals in Golbez’s possession are kept, and in the process Yang sacrifices himself to stop a superpowered cannon from destroying the dwarves (he survives, but is injured for the rest of the game.) On the way out from the underworld, Cid sacrifices himself to seal the hole to the surface so the Red Wings can’t pursue Cecil and co (he also survives and gets better eventually).
Cecil, Kain, Rydia, and Rosa find their way to Eblan, seemingly abandoned after being attacked by the fiend Rubicante. It turns out the ninjas of Eblan just evacuated to nearby tunnels that would also lead into the Tower of Babil. They find Eblan’s prince, Edge, who seeks to kill Rubicante to avenge his father and mother who were killed in the attack. Edge joins the party, and together they fight and defeat Rubicante. They steal a ship from the Tower of Babil called the Falcon and they use it to reach the Sealed Cavern where the last dark crystal sleeps. They retrieve the crystal, but right when they’re about to leave Golbez reasserts his control over Kain, who betrays the party and steals the crystal.
With the help of the Elder and the ancient ship known as the Big Whale, the party travels to the second moon, a constant source of superstition for the world, where they learn that Cecil’s father, Kluya, was part of the Lunarian race which inhabited this second moon before, and that one Lunarian, Zemus, has gone rogue and is responsible for the actions of Golbez and Kain. They recruit the Lunarian FuSoYa and head back to the planet’s surface where Golbez has used the crystals to revive the Giant of Babil, a mechanical weapon so large that Cecil and company have to infiltrate inside the giant while their allies use all the military might left in the world to distract it. Defeating the four archfiends again, stopping the giant, and with FuSoYa’s help, breaking the control over Golbez and Kain, we learn that Golbez is Cecil’s brother and Golbez and FuSoYa head back to the moon to confront Zemus.
The party (Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Rosa, and Edge) travel to the moon’s core to witness Golbez and FuSoYa strike down Zemus, but Zemus’s hatred manifests as the seemingly invincible Zeromus who easily defeats Golbez and FuSoYa, before turning on the party and wiping them out in one attack as well. Through the prayers of their allies on the surface, and a crystal provided by Golbez, the party manages to make Zeromus vulnerable and finally defeat him. The party heads back to the surface, while FuSoYa and Golbez stay on the second moon which leaves for the distance. Cecil and Rosa get married and Cecil becomes king of Baron, Kain leaves to train his body and atone for his role in the events that transpired, Rydia rebuilds Mist and maintains relations with the world of eidolons in the underworld, Edward becomes king and rebuilds Damcyan, Yang becomes king of Fabul, and Edge becomes king of Eblan.
I will cover the After Years in a different update, since it contains a lot of pertinent information to cover with our theory.
The Aftermath:
This will be shorter than other entries, as I have to review a lot of information in The After Years and Final Fantasy V before I make full connections. What we do know so far is that although the crystals were once again stolen by malevolent forces, they were retrieved and returned to their places in each kingdom. The crystals will once again play an important role in the installment of this theory for V.
The Connections:
The biggest difference between past games and this one is the presence of a second moon, which isn’t a moon at all. It’s a space station! References aside, that’s not completely untrue. In Final Fantasy I, we had the floating castle as a remnant of the Lufenian civilization, In Final Fantasy III, it had grown into a small continent. Keeping at its rate, by Final Fantasy IV, it had become an entire second moon fully capable of space travel. The inhabitants of the second moon claim they did not come from earth, but from a different planet altogether. This theory both supports and refutes that claim. It’s possible that the second moon, fully capable of space travel, actually traveled and possibly colonized a whole planet in our solar system, the advanced science, technology, and magic allowed for a terraforming project on a massive scale. But the process was experimental and eventually failed, and generations later the second moon returned to the Blue Planet with a different crew entirely who believed the Blue Planet to be entirely new to them. They claim the crystals were their invention, but aside from the many artificial crystals that powered their ‘space station,’ we know that to be false, so it’s possible they assumed the crystals were somehow of their invention.
To support this theory, we have the true king of the eidolons, Bahamut, living on the moon. If the second moon was truly alien to the planet, it wouldn’t make sense for a recognized member of the eidolons of earth to be found on the moon. Bahamut, was, however, on the floating continent of Final Fantasy III, even if at the time he’d been reduced to a feral state. We also know the eidolons in general are in hiding. Based on what we’ve postulated about summoning magics in FFIII, we can assume that the eidolons eventually broke free of control and hid in their own society deep underground where they couldn’t be enslaved, only allowing their services to the chosen summoners of Mist whom they fostered a relationship with. Leviathan and Asura are the acting rulers of the eidolons on earth, even though Bahamut is and probably will always be their true ruler.
The Lunarians are, biologically, completely human. Their differences are purely in their culture and technology, whatever their claims might be, and we can start to see the pattern of a wise, advanced society in the FF-Verse which claims to be a different race altogether. The Lufenians of FFI, the prophet Gulgans of FFIII, and it certainly won’t be the last example.
We can see that although the Dragoon tradition is rare, it’s still managed to survive throughout the years, likely through only one or two practicioners passing it down through the family lines.
We see the obvious fates of the Light Crystals and the Dark Crystals as they’re clearly referenced, even though we never see the actual resting places of two of the Dark Crystals (in both FFIV and its sequel they’re already stolen before you can get to them).
But what about the Moogles which made their first appearance in FFIII? Well, we have similar creatures in the Namingways, and while they differ slightly in appearance in the first game, their appearance in the second game is more reminiscent of the moogles. We also see a large colony of them on the moon, which makes sense since they would most likely function as servants of the magically inclined Lunarians.
Final Fantasy V
The Plot:
I'm going to try and summarize the important points. According to in-game mythology, there was one world with four crystals. Then a powerful immortal wizard named Enuo attempted to use the power of the Void to take over the world, was defeated, and as a result the world and its crystals were split into two.
30 years before the main plot, four heroes known as the Warrior of Dawn on the second world fought an evil force known as Exdeath. Exdeath was once a tree in the Great Forest of Moore where, since Enuo's demise, evil beings had been sealed inside the tree until it developed a malevolent sentience. The Warriors of Dawn pursued Exdeath to the other world where he was sealed and temporarily defeated. One of the Warriors of Dawn, Dorgann, stayed in the alternate world to make sure Exdeath stayed defeated. Dorgann eventually had a son, Bartz, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy V.
When his father finally passed, Bartz started to travel the world as per his wishes. During his travels, Bartz comes across a meteor crash site where he finds an amnesiac old man who can only remember his name, Galuf. Galuf we later find out is one of the original Warriors of Dawn and a king in the other dimension. They also come across the princess Lenna, who's headed to the Wind Shrine where her father, King Tycoon, was headed to check on the status of the Wind Crystal. Bartz, Lenna, and Galuf resolve to go to the Wind Shrine but no ships are sailing since the wind died down. They find a pirate ship still working run by the enigmatic Captain Faris, pulled by the sea dragon Syldra. The four go to the Wind Shrine where they are chosen by the crystals to defend the world as the Wind Crystal is destroyed. The shards, however, grant the party new powers in the form of job/classes.
The party travels the world to try and save the remaining crystals, but they are being drained of power by various forces in the world, and Exdeath has the power to possess key individuals to destroy the crystals. One by one the crystals are destroyed and the seal binding Exdeath weakens. On the way to the last crystal, they meet Krile, Galuf's granddaughter, who helps Galuf regain his memories. The last crystal is destroyed, and the party follows Galuf to his homeworld where they engage Exdeath's army and servants in a number of battles.
The party confronts Exdeath in the Great Forest of Moore, where Exdeath has corrupted and taken control of that world's crystals. Galuf sacrifices himself to save Krile and weaken Exdeath, but Exdeath escapes. Galuf grants Krile his power and Krile joins the party in his place. The group confronts Exdeath again and defeats him, but in the process the remaining crystals shatter and the two worlds merge. This also unleashes the power of the Void contained in the Interdimensional Rift, Exdeath's true goal.
The party collects four Slabs to unseal the twelve Legendary Weapons which were used to defeat Enuo long ago, along the way fighting the Demons of the Rift that Exdeath summons. They eventually enter the Interdimensional Rift and confront Exdeath. The spirits of the Dawn Warriors and King Tycoon use their power to make Exdeath vulnerable, and the party fights and defeats him. Exdeath gets consumed by the power of the void and becomes Neo Exdeath, but the party manages to defeat him as well.
The four Light Crystals are restored and the world is restored to normal, though still merged.
The Aftermath:
Of the eight crystals, only four remained that we know of. Then again, if the two worlds were merged, then the eight crystals were probably merged into the remaining four as well. Essentially, the crystals were destroyed during the plot causing one of the world-changing apocalypses that plague this world. Whether balance is truly restored is a mystery, but Exdeath was defeated and the power of the void was sealed, so the world is at least optimistic for now.
However, the world has discovered that a shard from the crystal bestows great power, and suddenly a lot of people have a reason to risk breaking the crystals to gain their power. Seeing as this is likely the last we'll see of the actual Light Crystals, it's highly possible that between this game and the next, the crystals were broken by those seeking their power.
The Connections:
The very first and most obvious discrepancy we need to cover is the world's mythological origin, as it directly conflicts with our current theory that there are eight crystals to keep track of, not four. We could chalk this up to the world inventing its own mythology to explain the presence of the second world and the other four crystals, but let's take from this what we can. In the beginning, there was the Void, the power of nothingness: no air, no vacuum, no life or death, just nothing. Then the crystals came into being. Those crystals split into a total of eight crystals. Perhaps there was even only one crystal to begin with (something that will come into play later). This still contradicts the canon, however, in that the splitting of the crystals occurred not 1000 years ago, but much farther back before any of the previous entries.
Of course, this brings us to our second contradiction, Enuo:
1,000 years before the start of the game, Enuo, an immortal wizard, traded his immortality for control over the Void. With this great power of nothingness under his control, he wreaked havoc across the original world. Eventually though, Enuo was defeated by the power of the twelve Sealed Weapons. After the battle, the Crystals were split into two so that the world itself would be split into two as well. The Void was then contained in the newly formed Interdimensional Rift between the two dimensions, so that no evil being could ever use the dark power again. Final Fantasy V Advance shows that while he was consumed by the Void, his essence lived on in the Sealed Temple within the Void itself.
However minor a part he might have played in the game itself, the story of Enuo is important to FFV and our timeline in general. We can ignore the number of “1000 years” entirely, since it's highly unlikely that the game's storyline is on the millennial anniversary of Enuo's defeat, and much more likely that 1000 years is only a rough estimate and merely a term from the legends. “After the battle, the Crystals were split into two so that the world would be split into two as well.” If the sentence is taken literally, the timeline falls apart, but if we attribute some discrepancies to changes in the myth over time, we could instead interpret it as the crystals being split into two groups: four for the first world and four for the second world. The story of Enuo himself, a being who traded his immortality for unimaginable power, sounds very similar the story of Xande: a being whose gift from his teacher was having his immortality removed. Enuo, being a poweful wizard, was likely well-versed in mythology, studied the story of Xande, and realized what Xande did not: that immortality, while nice, also limited his power. By Enuo accomplishing what Xande failed to realize, Enuo traded his immortality for control over the Void: the power of nothingness, to cancel life, death, and existence itself. Suddenly, the action of Xande's teacher make more sense. He trusted Doga with the power of earthly magic, Unne with the realm of dreams, and Xande with the power of the void whether Xande realized it or not. This is how Xande also unconsciously summoned the Cloud of Darkness, a being of the void, way back when.
As for the actual splitting of the world, a creative interpretation of the world “splitting” leads us to a different conclusion. We know of the presence of the second moon. Once a castle, a city, then a continent, and then a moon and even possibly another planet. The second moon grows over time, until events prior to Final Fantasy V give the “second moon” its own dimension. But the two worlds cannot exist simultaneously, so either a war broke out or the top mages searched for a way for the worlds to coexist. The end result is the four Dark Crystals have to be set on the second world, and they coexist via parallel dimensions, the eight crystals remaining in balance to support both worlds.
That covers our two biggest connections: the crystals and the second moon. At some point, I'd like to go back and cover the various summons: Bahamut, Ifrit, Shiva, etcetera since they seem to span over the games as well, but for now we'll leave them alone unless their presence is vital to the storyline. If all the main games fit in the first post of this thread, the second will be devoted to other elements of the Final Fantasy series and how they interconnect, such as Chocobos, Moogles, and Summons, as well as possibly other fan theories regarding Final Fantasy.
I eagerly await your thoughts.
This was a theory I typed up in high school, and, for those of you who read 8-Bit Theater, actually got posted on Red Mage’s Twinkin’ Out Column. The general theory is that all of the Final Fantasies (or at least the main ones anyway) are not in fact separate universes, but all part of the same timelines, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of years between each game. The major differences in landscapes and geography are explained by a geological climate that is constantly shifting thanks to all the magics and regular apocalypses that seem to plague the universe. The different cities and kingdoms are explained by ever-changing political climates: nations rise and fall or perhaps just change their name under a different ruler. I wanted to write a more comprehensive version of this theory than what I hurriedly typed up in high school.
Disclaimers
The attempt is to connect Final Fantasies 1 through X in chronological order, with one exception. I’m not even taking anything from FF11 on into account, nor any of the spinoff series at this point. Perhaps once the main ten are linked will I try to fit in the others. No, Dissidia doesn’t really work with this theory and I won’t be taking it into consideration, at least not yet.
A lot of this is FAN THEORY. That is, speculation without proof from the canon. If you ask me to prove something happens a certain way when it’s clearly one of the speculated or theorized bits, I will most likely ignore you.
Why is this in Media Discussion instead of Gaming (Other) you ask? Several reasons. I) some of the sources we have to look into for information are not video games. There are novelizations, anime, movies, interviews, art books, commentaries, all sorts of media to work with even though the main sources are the video games. II) Generally speaking from what I’ve seen, the Media forum of this board is better about discussing the story, settings, philosophies, etc. while the Gaming board talks more about the mechanics behind the games, the latter of which doesn’t really help that much in this theory. Not saying that’s always the case, it just seemed to be the general trend here.
This theory will likely step on the toes of a lot of Word of God and other materials designed to supplement and explain the canon. I will do my best to fill in the holes in the theory, but at some point I will end up flat-out declare something false that is currently labeled as canon. By all means though, if you can find material that contradicts something in this theory, or have any suggestions, questions, or other criticisms, feel free to post them. If I end up agreeing I’ll go back and alter something.
No, the entire theory is not posted yet. I’m going one game at a time because this is enough of an information dump as is, and if I try to do the entire series at once, that means that I) it’ll take that much longer for readers to process, and II) it’s that much more likely I’ll miss important details. It’s better if I put this theory up in chunks to make it easier for constructive criticism. The main ten games will all be posted in time.
I apologize if I give blatantly incorrect information on a subject and welcome criticism as to such. Specifically for Final Fantasies 2, 3, and 5 since I never actually beat those games. I'm currently confident that I've read enough spoilers and wiki entries to write about them, but I could very easily make a mistake on those games. The rest of the main games in the series I'm fairly certain I have memorized.
I think that's everything, so without further ado, I present...
The Final Fantasy Timeline Theory
Final Fantasy I
The Plot
We start out in the world of Final Fantasy 1. The world is under siege from dark forces which seek to corrupt the very elements themselves. The world’s last standing human kingdom is Corneria, the last bastion of hope and the source of a prophecy involving four Light Warriors who will save the world. Four Light Warriors bearing crystals do indeed appear and fulfill the prophecy, defeating corrupt elemental fiends and restoring the light to the crystals. Along the way, we find out the truth that the traitor knight Garland was the man behind the plot, using the energy drained from the crystals to send himself back in time to start this whole process, causing a time paradox to result in a millennia-long time loop at a bid for immortality as the demon Chaos.
The Light Warriors break the time loop and restore the world. They manage to get back to their own time where they are hailed as heroes, and Garland exists as a different person: a benevolent and loyal knight who never even conceived of the plot for immortality.
The Aftermath
Corneria becomes the global superpower, all other nations, or at least their remnants, paying homage to them. The world is surely but slowly being rebuilt. Most importantly, however, measures are being taken to better safeguard the crystals, lest the next villain decide to try and attack them to destroy the world…
Final Fantasy II
The Plot
The elemental crystals are not seen or mentioned in II, probably (and thankfully) because they aren’t central to the plot this time, so they remain hidden for now. The world is being threatened as the Emperor of the world’s strongest nation desires to rule the world, and thus launches a campaign to conquer the world, crushing any resistance in his path. The plot of Final Fantasy II revolves around some refugees who prove themselves to the rebels and become unlikely heroes. The plot is basically an arms race of magical artifacts and weapons. Multiple cities are destroyed, including the land of the dragoons. The party finally manages to confront the Emperor inside the destructive force known as the Cyclone. But their battle is far from over. Even from the afterlife, the Emperor actually manages to raise Castle Pandemonium from hell with his own army from the underworld. No longer content to rule just the world of the living, the Emperor attempts to conquer this and every world, only finally getting destroyed by our party and being banished back to the underworld, this time for good.
The Aftermath
The Emperor’s ambition was stopped, but not before leaving his mark on the world. The nations of the world had now learned to fear each other, as any nation with too much power could decide to try and take over the world. The trend towards gathering/building powerful weapons, magical or otherwise, was also started (Dreadnought, Sunfire, Cyclone, Ultima, Mythril, etc.). Thus the world’s nations obsessed over an arms race that would carry on to the distant future, a source for the future conflicts that the world sought to prevent. On top of that, Castle Pandemonium might have sunk back into hell, but the dam had already burst. The monsters of hell could now reach the world of the living, causing the race for military power among the few surviving nations to hasten to protect themselves.
The Connections
The emergence of Corneria as THE world power at the end of Final Fantasy 1 was accepted mainly because Princess Sara was a kind, just, and noble woman who understood what was at stake. Under her rule, the various races and nations of the world could come together in an age of peace and prosperity. But rulers don’t last forever, and their heirs don’t always live up to their precedent. After many years of changing politics, the central power of the world was eventually renamed Palamecia, and its emperor, whoever his ancestors might be, was far from kind. The Emperor was easily the most powerful man in the world, but he sought complete and total control of everything. The other nations of the world were completely unprepared for his military campaign.
Possibly the largest inconsistency between the first and second game is the lack of several key components from the first game: other sentient races like elves, dwarves, dragons, etc., and the crystals. The former could possibly be explained by interracial marriage and breeding blending the genomes until there were no real differences, but the unfortunately more likely possibility is that the majority of said races were wiped out by the Emperor’s ethnic cleansing. One bit of evidence we have for that is the society of dragoons and dragons that was wiped out by the empire before you can ask for their aid in game. It is possible that some of the other races survived, but were just in hiding for the whole game. The dwarves could just dig deeper, the elves could hide out in remote forests, etcetera, especially since such races to some degree to appear in later Final Fantasy games. That’s probably why the crystals aren’t mentioned. They’re probably well-hidden, and neither side wants to destroy the world so they would be kept out of the fray as much as possible. The Emperor has every reason to leave the crystals untouched so the world he wishes to rule over stays intact.
Final Fantasy III
The Plot
Many years ago, on a Floating Continent hovering high above the surface of an unnamed planet, a technologically advanced civilization sought to harness the power of the four elemental crystals of light. They did not realize they could not hope to control such fundamental forces of nature. This power of light would have consumed the world itself had the light crystals not had their natural counterparts: the four dark elemental crystals. Disturbed by the interruption of the careful balance of the light and the dark, four warriors were granted the power of the dark crystals in order to re-contain the light crystals' power.
This bit from the Final Fantasy Wiki is where we begin because it directly plays into where we left off in Final Fantasy II, namely an escalating magical arms race that climaxes with a technologically advanced floating continent and an attempt to harness the powers of the crystals which ends in a world disaster, leaving most of the world sealed in darkness and only the floating continent safe from the dangers of the world below.
The adventure this time revolves around four orphaned youths on the floating continent who come across the previously sealed Wind Crystal. The Crystal grants the youths its power, giving them the abilities of various Jobs that they can switch between at will (something that will come up several times later). The youths, charged with saving the world, set out to explore the floating continent on which they live, on the way meeting Vikings, Dwarves, Mini-People, Bahamut, and evil monsters like Medusa claiming to be a servant of the dark wizard Xande attempting to destroy the entire floating continent. They eventually find the Fire Crystal and receive its blessing and more jobs.
Our heroes then learn that their floating “continent” is but an island compared to the vast world that lies below, and that they were originally from said continent, having been rescued by Cid when they were still very young, and his airship entered a cloud of darkness before crashing on the floating continent. The world below is a swirling mass of darkness, most of the remaining settlements enshrouded and stopped in time. It is only once they find and reactivate the Water Crystal that the time flows again and the world is returned to normal.
It turns out the tide of darkness was caused by the dark sorcerer Xande, an attempt to stop time to stave off his own mortality. Xande was the apprentice of a powerful magus named Noah, still revered among the wizarding world, along with fellow apprentices Doga and Unne. Noah gave his disciples each a gift: Doga vast knowledge of magic, Unne control over the world of dreams, and Xande mortality. Xande, confused and furious with his “gift,” sought to create an imbalance of the world to stop time, so he drained the energy from the Water and Earth crystals on the surface below. The Fire and Wind crystals were stored safely on the floating continent, but for the time being, Xande was successful in stopping time on the surface world. When our heroes journey to the world below, their quest to restore the light to the crystals starts time moving again.
Eventually, our heroes meet with Doga and Unne, who seek to aid the heroes against Xande’s dark ambitions. They end up giving their lives so their souls can power the keys to the Crystal Tower where Xande awaits. They find the Earth Crystal in the maze surrounding the Crystal Tower, and proceed to Xande’s lair. After finally defeating the dark sorcerer, a being called the Cloud of Darkness appears, claiming to have been using the darkness in Xande’s heart to manipulate him the entire time. The Cloud of Darkness effortlessly defeats our heroes with her Particle Beam, but thanks to a macguffin arranged by the souls of Doga, Unne, and the prayers of their allies the heroes made through their adventures, the heroes come back to life and pursue the Cloud of Darkness on her own turf: the World of Darkness.
In the World of Darkness, the heroes find four Dark Crystals, the counterparts to the four crystals of their world. After defeating some monsters guarding the crystals, they find the four Dark Warriors who saved their world some time ago when a different imbalance caused light to almost envelop and destroy their world. Confronting the Cloud of Darkness, the four Dark Warriors sacrifice themselves to make the Cloud of Darkness vulnerable to harm. In an epic final battle, our heroes defeat the Cloud of Darkness and restore balance to the world, then returning on the floating continent.
The Aftermath
Final Fantasy III starts out with the world in shambles. The game isn’t so much about saving the world as putting it back together. When Xande and the Cloud of Darkness are defeated and the crystals are restored, balance returns and the world can begin to heal. The events leading up to Final Fantasy III, namely the magical arms race, saw the creation of new magics including Summon Magic, something that we’ll have to take into consideration later. The theme of crystals choosing heroes and imbuing those heroes with power will be repeated in later games as well.
The Connections
Final Fantasy III contains a lot of firsts that we’ll need to keep track of for the sake of the theory, but let’s start with the crystals. In FF3, there are 8 crystals, four light and four dark. Presumably the four dark crystals also correspond to fire, earth, air and wind. This might seem to contradict our timeline in the events of FF1, but it actually doesn’t. In FF1 there were eight crystals as well: one in each shrine, and one carried by each Light Warrior. Although the final dungeon is called the ‘World of Darkness,’ we have no reason to believe that it’s another dimension or world at all, just a secluded place where the Dark Crystals are stored. For our world, we’re going to currently assume there are eight crystals, two for each element, and that each crystal also acts as sort of a backup generator for the other. Darkness swallowed the world not just because the Light Crystals were being drained dry, but because the Dark Crystals were out of commission as well, being guarded by monsters in the Dark World. We’ll see these same crystals in FF4.
The lore of this game mentions another epic story where four ‘Dark Warriors’ stop another imbalance from destroying the world, though in their story light is trying to engulf the world. This might not seem to tie into the other games, but if we stretch the story and allow for some of the details to have changed over several generations. In Final Fantasy 1, the four designated Light Warriors of the prophecy show up apparently out of nowhere each carrying a “darkened crystal, one for each element.” In order to save the world, they have to go to each crystal and, using their own crystal, restore the light of the crystals. This theory hypothesizes that the Light Warriors actually carried the Dark Crystals, and used their properties to give light to the Light Crystals and restore the balance. Their plan backfired, however, since Garland/Chaos’s plan drew upon the light of all four crystals to power his time loop. This could be interpreted as the ‘light engulfing the world’ the story of FF3 talks about, and since no real mention of who the FF1 Light Warriors are or what their ultimate fate is (unlike the nameless protagonists of FF3 who are stated to be orphans who go back to their village at the end of the game), it’s possible that the Light Warriors of FF1 are in fact the nameless Dark Warriors of FF3, and they give their lives to combat the Cloud of Darkness.
Let’s go now to the Floating Continent. We know from the lore that it’s the remnant of an advanced civilization that tried to harness the power of the Light Crystals, and that it was the one refuge when the world was swallowed by darkness. We know there are multiple races, including the dwarves, on the floating continent that have lived for possibly hundreds of years in ignorance of the status of the world below. When the world was swallowed by darkness, it’s likely that everyone who could took refuge on the floating continent via airships, or even possibly Bahamut. According to lore, the magus Noah was the one who actually put Bahamut and Leviathan on the island. We know of a civilization capable of floating cities: the Lufeins of Final Fantasy I. It’s possible that this continent was the natural evolution of their technology. Not just a floating city, but an entire continent.
Speaking of Bahamut, his role in FF3 is odd in that it’s both the first time he can be summoned and the only time he’s not presented as some sort of divine dragon-god-king and instead as a wild beast. Because of the advent of Summon magic, some dark implications arise. It’s possible that Bahamut along with other summoned creatures were enslaved and brainwashed as part of early summon magical experiments. Bahamut’s behavior is due to his mind being wiped and not having any master to control his actions, thus reverting to the actions of a wild dragon.
One important detail that I didn’t mention in the Plot section is that Final Fantasy III marked the first appearance of the Moogles. They were friendly servants of the wizard Doga before his demise. It would make sense that Moogles were magically created creatures, like familiars, who were sentient and helpful. Their bodies including their tiny wings, colorful and cute appearance, and red bonbon don’t exactly lend themselves well to evolution, and their demeanor is far from the norm for natural selection. Doga created the Moogles as servants to help with his magical studies, and after Doga’s death, the Moogles were free to do as they pleased, living throughout the Final Fantasy series in ways we’ll get to in later installments.
Final Fantasy IV
The Plot:
When we last checked on our Final Fantasy world, it was in a rare era of prosperity. Balance had been restored to the light and dark crystals, all the tyrants and evil advisors had been overthrown (for the time being), and the land was allowed to prosper. Over time, the light crystals were restored to place of balance on the surface world and the dark crystals were well hidden underground. Instead of hiding the light crystals in dungeons, something that the past had shown to be a bad idea, kingdoms were built around the crystals to protect them. The residents of the floating island eventually migrated to the surface world, the floating island itself left to drift into obscurity (we’ll touch upon its fate later).
Kingdoms which protect and are protected by the power of the crystals greatly prosper, but other kingdoms pop up as well. Eblan, the secretive home of the ninjas, prospers largely isolated from the rest of the world. Baron, not governed by the power of the crystals or superstition, becomes the leader of an industrial revolution that rediscovers airship technology and constructs its own fleet. For a time, there is peace. Then something happens: the ruler of Baron does a personality 180 and suddenly starts attacking other peaceful kingdoms to raid their crystals. Their first act is to raid Mysidia, causing numerous casualties before the mages who live there to surrender the Water crystal. The other kingdoms are ill-defended: Damcyan, a kingdom in the middle of desert full of culture and trade but little military force, Fabul, a kingdom of monks and martial strength but little in the way of full military might, and Troia, a matriarchal theocracy headed by the pacifist Epopts. However, the corrupted Baron does fear the potential might of the Summoners in the hidden town of Mist. Fortunately, the captain of his force, Cecil, is showing doubts and signs of possible disloyalty, so he sends him to deliver a ‘package’, which turns out to be a massive bomb spell which burns the city to the ground, killing all but a young summoner girl named Rydia.
Cecil then goes on a quest to warn and hopefully defend the other crystals, but he arrives at Damcyan too late. He gets to Fabul and the monks assemble only to be beaten back by Baron’s forces, including monsters, Cecil’s old friend Kain, and the mysterious armored figure known as Golbez. Cecil’s love Rosa is kidnapped by Golbez and Cecil resolves to take a ship to Baron with, at this point, the summoner girl Rydia, the bard/king of Damcyan Edward, and the future king of Fabul, Yang. On the way to Baron, their ship gets attacked and swallowed by Leviathan and the group is separated. Cecil wakes on the shores of Mysidia, the very town of mages that he had attacked under the service of the king before. The Elder gives Cecil a quest to go to the top of Mount Ordeals, where Cecil faces and triumphs over his darker side and becomes a Paladin. Along the way, he must face a servant of Golbez: the earth fiend known as Scarmiglione.
Cecil, along with Mysidia twins Porom and Palom, and the sage Tellah, go to Baron via a mystical channel known as the Devil’s Road. They encounter Yang in the town of Baron who was brainwashed into serving the kingdom until Cecil defeats him and sets his mind straight. They sneak into the castle and confront the king, who is actually the water fiend Cagnazzo in disguise. The ruse exposed, the group finds and frees the engineer Cid who provides them with an airship. Porom & Palom petrify themselves to stop a crushing wall trap (they get better later), and the four (Cecil, Cid, Tellah, and Yang) take the airship to the earth crystal in Troia. Unfortunately, they find out that a certain Dark Elf has stolen the crystal and hidden in the Lodestone Cavern. The party goes after the earth crystal, and at some point meet Kain in an enemy airship, with the offer to exchange the earth crystal for Rosa. (They also meet a recovering Edward in Troia.)
Cecil reluctantly gives the earth crystal to Kain, and the airship is escorted to the Tower of Zot at an unknown location, where the group fights the wind fiend Barbariccia and Golbez. Tellah gives his life to use the powerful magic Meteor on Golbez which injures but doesn’t kill him. Seemingly though this is enough to break the control over Kain, who informs the group that there are still the four Dark crystals remaining. They rescue Rosa and teleport out of the Tower before it crumbles on top of them.
They unlock the hidden path to the underground world and head below in their airship, and after sustaining an attack, crash near the Dwarven Kingdom. They fight and seemingly defeat Golbez for the crystal with the help of a returned adult Rydia, but Golbez’s magics allow him to sneak away the crystal before anyone can stop him. They assault the Tower of Babil where the (now seven) crystals in Golbez’s possession are kept, and in the process Yang sacrifices himself to stop a superpowered cannon from destroying the dwarves (he survives, but is injured for the rest of the game.) On the way out from the underworld, Cid sacrifices himself to seal the hole to the surface so the Red Wings can’t pursue Cecil and co (he also survives and gets better eventually).
Cecil, Kain, Rydia, and Rosa find their way to Eblan, seemingly abandoned after being attacked by the fiend Rubicante. It turns out the ninjas of Eblan just evacuated to nearby tunnels that would also lead into the Tower of Babil. They find Eblan’s prince, Edge, who seeks to kill Rubicante to avenge his father and mother who were killed in the attack. Edge joins the party, and together they fight and defeat Rubicante. They steal a ship from the Tower of Babil called the Falcon and they use it to reach the Sealed Cavern where the last dark crystal sleeps. They retrieve the crystal, but right when they’re about to leave Golbez reasserts his control over Kain, who betrays the party and steals the crystal.
With the help of the Elder and the ancient ship known as the Big Whale, the party travels to the second moon, a constant source of superstition for the world, where they learn that Cecil’s father, Kluya, was part of the Lunarian race which inhabited this second moon before, and that one Lunarian, Zemus, has gone rogue and is responsible for the actions of Golbez and Kain. They recruit the Lunarian FuSoYa and head back to the planet’s surface where Golbez has used the crystals to revive the Giant of Babil, a mechanical weapon so large that Cecil and company have to infiltrate inside the giant while their allies use all the military might left in the world to distract it. Defeating the four archfiends again, stopping the giant, and with FuSoYa’s help, breaking the control over Golbez and Kain, we learn that Golbez is Cecil’s brother and Golbez and FuSoYa head back to the moon to confront Zemus.
The party (Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Rosa, and Edge) travel to the moon’s core to witness Golbez and FuSoYa strike down Zemus, but Zemus’s hatred manifests as the seemingly invincible Zeromus who easily defeats Golbez and FuSoYa, before turning on the party and wiping them out in one attack as well. Through the prayers of their allies on the surface, and a crystal provided by Golbez, the party manages to make Zeromus vulnerable and finally defeat him. The party heads back to the surface, while FuSoYa and Golbez stay on the second moon which leaves for the distance. Cecil and Rosa get married and Cecil becomes king of Baron, Kain leaves to train his body and atone for his role in the events that transpired, Rydia rebuilds Mist and maintains relations with the world of eidolons in the underworld, Edward becomes king and rebuilds Damcyan, Yang becomes king of Fabul, and Edge becomes king of Eblan.
I will cover the After Years in a different update, since it contains a lot of pertinent information to cover with our theory.
The Aftermath:
This will be shorter than other entries, as I have to review a lot of information in The After Years and Final Fantasy V before I make full connections. What we do know so far is that although the crystals were once again stolen by malevolent forces, they were retrieved and returned to their places in each kingdom. The crystals will once again play an important role in the installment of this theory for V.
The Connections:
The biggest difference between past games and this one is the presence of a second moon, which isn’t a moon at all. It’s a space station! References aside, that’s not completely untrue. In Final Fantasy I, we had the floating castle as a remnant of the Lufenian civilization, In Final Fantasy III, it had grown into a small continent. Keeping at its rate, by Final Fantasy IV, it had become an entire second moon fully capable of space travel. The inhabitants of the second moon claim they did not come from earth, but from a different planet altogether. This theory both supports and refutes that claim. It’s possible that the second moon, fully capable of space travel, actually traveled and possibly colonized a whole planet in our solar system, the advanced science, technology, and magic allowed for a terraforming project on a massive scale. But the process was experimental and eventually failed, and generations later the second moon returned to the Blue Planet with a different crew entirely who believed the Blue Planet to be entirely new to them. They claim the crystals were their invention, but aside from the many artificial crystals that powered their ‘space station,’ we know that to be false, so it’s possible they assumed the crystals were somehow of their invention.
To support this theory, we have the true king of the eidolons, Bahamut, living on the moon. If the second moon was truly alien to the planet, it wouldn’t make sense for a recognized member of the eidolons of earth to be found on the moon. Bahamut, was, however, on the floating continent of Final Fantasy III, even if at the time he’d been reduced to a feral state. We also know the eidolons in general are in hiding. Based on what we’ve postulated about summoning magics in FFIII, we can assume that the eidolons eventually broke free of control and hid in their own society deep underground where they couldn’t be enslaved, only allowing their services to the chosen summoners of Mist whom they fostered a relationship with. Leviathan and Asura are the acting rulers of the eidolons on earth, even though Bahamut is and probably will always be their true ruler.
The Lunarians are, biologically, completely human. Their differences are purely in their culture and technology, whatever their claims might be, and we can start to see the pattern of a wise, advanced society in the FF-Verse which claims to be a different race altogether. The Lufenians of FFI, the prophet Gulgans of FFIII, and it certainly won’t be the last example.
We can see that although the Dragoon tradition is rare, it’s still managed to survive throughout the years, likely through only one or two practicioners passing it down through the family lines.
We see the obvious fates of the Light Crystals and the Dark Crystals as they’re clearly referenced, even though we never see the actual resting places of two of the Dark Crystals (in both FFIV and its sequel they’re already stolen before you can get to them).
But what about the Moogles which made their first appearance in FFIII? Well, we have similar creatures in the Namingways, and while they differ slightly in appearance in the first game, their appearance in the second game is more reminiscent of the moogles. We also see a large colony of them on the moon, which makes sense since they would most likely function as servants of the magically inclined Lunarians.
Final Fantasy V
The Plot:
I'm going to try and summarize the important points. According to in-game mythology, there was one world with four crystals. Then a powerful immortal wizard named Enuo attempted to use the power of the Void to take over the world, was defeated, and as a result the world and its crystals were split into two.
30 years before the main plot, four heroes known as the Warrior of Dawn on the second world fought an evil force known as Exdeath. Exdeath was once a tree in the Great Forest of Moore where, since Enuo's demise, evil beings had been sealed inside the tree until it developed a malevolent sentience. The Warriors of Dawn pursued Exdeath to the other world where he was sealed and temporarily defeated. One of the Warriors of Dawn, Dorgann, stayed in the alternate world to make sure Exdeath stayed defeated. Dorgann eventually had a son, Bartz, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy V.
When his father finally passed, Bartz started to travel the world as per his wishes. During his travels, Bartz comes across a meteor crash site where he finds an amnesiac old man who can only remember his name, Galuf. Galuf we later find out is one of the original Warriors of Dawn and a king in the other dimension. They also come across the princess Lenna, who's headed to the Wind Shrine where her father, King Tycoon, was headed to check on the status of the Wind Crystal. Bartz, Lenna, and Galuf resolve to go to the Wind Shrine but no ships are sailing since the wind died down. They find a pirate ship still working run by the enigmatic Captain Faris, pulled by the sea dragon Syldra. The four go to the Wind Shrine where they are chosen by the crystals to defend the world as the Wind Crystal is destroyed. The shards, however, grant the party new powers in the form of job/classes.
The party travels the world to try and save the remaining crystals, but they are being drained of power by various forces in the world, and Exdeath has the power to possess key individuals to destroy the crystals. One by one the crystals are destroyed and the seal binding Exdeath weakens. On the way to the last crystal, they meet Krile, Galuf's granddaughter, who helps Galuf regain his memories. The last crystal is destroyed, and the party follows Galuf to his homeworld where they engage Exdeath's army and servants in a number of battles.
The party confronts Exdeath in the Great Forest of Moore, where Exdeath has corrupted and taken control of that world's crystals. Galuf sacrifices himself to save Krile and weaken Exdeath, but Exdeath escapes. Galuf grants Krile his power and Krile joins the party in his place. The group confronts Exdeath again and defeats him, but in the process the remaining crystals shatter and the two worlds merge. This also unleashes the power of the Void contained in the Interdimensional Rift, Exdeath's true goal.
The party collects four Slabs to unseal the twelve Legendary Weapons which were used to defeat Enuo long ago, along the way fighting the Demons of the Rift that Exdeath summons. They eventually enter the Interdimensional Rift and confront Exdeath. The spirits of the Dawn Warriors and King Tycoon use their power to make Exdeath vulnerable, and the party fights and defeats him. Exdeath gets consumed by the power of the void and becomes Neo Exdeath, but the party manages to defeat him as well.
The four Light Crystals are restored and the world is restored to normal, though still merged.
The Aftermath:
Of the eight crystals, only four remained that we know of. Then again, if the two worlds were merged, then the eight crystals were probably merged into the remaining four as well. Essentially, the crystals were destroyed during the plot causing one of the world-changing apocalypses that plague this world. Whether balance is truly restored is a mystery, but Exdeath was defeated and the power of the void was sealed, so the world is at least optimistic for now.
However, the world has discovered that a shard from the crystal bestows great power, and suddenly a lot of people have a reason to risk breaking the crystals to gain their power. Seeing as this is likely the last we'll see of the actual Light Crystals, it's highly possible that between this game and the next, the crystals were broken by those seeking their power.
The Connections:
The very first and most obvious discrepancy we need to cover is the world's mythological origin, as it directly conflicts with our current theory that there are eight crystals to keep track of, not four. We could chalk this up to the world inventing its own mythology to explain the presence of the second world and the other four crystals, but let's take from this what we can. In the beginning, there was the Void, the power of nothingness: no air, no vacuum, no life or death, just nothing. Then the crystals came into being. Those crystals split into a total of eight crystals. Perhaps there was even only one crystal to begin with (something that will come into play later). This still contradicts the canon, however, in that the splitting of the crystals occurred not 1000 years ago, but much farther back before any of the previous entries.
Of course, this brings us to our second contradiction, Enuo:
1,000 years before the start of the game, Enuo, an immortal wizard, traded his immortality for control over the Void. With this great power of nothingness under his control, he wreaked havoc across the original world. Eventually though, Enuo was defeated by the power of the twelve Sealed Weapons. After the battle, the Crystals were split into two so that the world itself would be split into two as well. The Void was then contained in the newly formed Interdimensional Rift between the two dimensions, so that no evil being could ever use the dark power again. Final Fantasy V Advance shows that while he was consumed by the Void, his essence lived on in the Sealed Temple within the Void itself.
However minor a part he might have played in the game itself, the story of Enuo is important to FFV and our timeline in general. We can ignore the number of “1000 years” entirely, since it's highly unlikely that the game's storyline is on the millennial anniversary of Enuo's defeat, and much more likely that 1000 years is only a rough estimate and merely a term from the legends. “After the battle, the Crystals were split into two so that the world would be split into two as well.” If the sentence is taken literally, the timeline falls apart, but if we attribute some discrepancies to changes in the myth over time, we could instead interpret it as the crystals being split into two groups: four for the first world and four for the second world. The story of Enuo himself, a being who traded his immortality for unimaginable power, sounds very similar the story of Xande: a being whose gift from his teacher was having his immortality removed. Enuo, being a poweful wizard, was likely well-versed in mythology, studied the story of Xande, and realized what Xande did not: that immortality, while nice, also limited his power. By Enuo accomplishing what Xande failed to realize, Enuo traded his immortality for control over the Void: the power of nothingness, to cancel life, death, and existence itself. Suddenly, the action of Xande's teacher make more sense. He trusted Doga with the power of earthly magic, Unne with the realm of dreams, and Xande with the power of the void whether Xande realized it or not. This is how Xande also unconsciously summoned the Cloud of Darkness, a being of the void, way back when.
As for the actual splitting of the world, a creative interpretation of the world “splitting” leads us to a different conclusion. We know of the presence of the second moon. Once a castle, a city, then a continent, and then a moon and even possibly another planet. The second moon grows over time, until events prior to Final Fantasy V give the “second moon” its own dimension. But the two worlds cannot exist simultaneously, so either a war broke out or the top mages searched for a way for the worlds to coexist. The end result is the four Dark Crystals have to be set on the second world, and they coexist via parallel dimensions, the eight crystals remaining in balance to support both worlds.
That covers our two biggest connections: the crystals and the second moon. At some point, I'd like to go back and cover the various summons: Bahamut, Ifrit, Shiva, etcetera since they seem to span over the games as well, but for now we'll leave them alone unless their presence is vital to the storyline. If all the main games fit in the first post of this thread, the second will be devoted to other elements of the Final Fantasy series and how they interconnect, such as Chocobos, Moogles, and Summons, as well as possibly other fan theories regarding Final Fantasy.
I eagerly await your thoughts.