I would agree with that, the parallel universe theory is possibly the most plausible (certainly more so than the theory that has them all set in the same world), the only problem with that is the GFs/guardians. They’re pretty much in common with all of the FF worlds. They’d probably have to be able to travel between them or something. The games never really explain where they go when you’re not using them in battle.
The games never really explain where they go when you’re not using them in battle.
hmm well.
FF1 : no summon
FF2 : no summon
FF3 : Summoned beasts live their lifes (like Leviathan hanging in his lake if I remember well)
FF4 : Phantom Beasts live in their subterranean world, where time flows faster than on the ground; humans/lunarians can become P.Beasts (Odin Baron, Bahamut)
FF5 : Espers, like FF3 (Bahamut lives on his mountain)
FF6 : Espers used to live in their Magic Cave (?), but they died and got transformed into Magicites
FF7 : just magical spirits from Materiae
FF8 : Guardian Forces, like FF3 except there junctions provoke memory loss
FFT : just magical spirits
FFTA : like FFT
FF9 : Eidolons, hmm don’t remember, just spirits I think
FF10 : Aions, metamorphosed sacrified Fayths
FF11 : ??
FF12 : like FFT normally
I really don’t remember very well all the FF scenarios (shame on me…), but if you really think all the FF takes place in the same world you could try to track Odin’s life to see the chronology: he’s alive in FF3, he died in FF4, his death is related in FF6, his ‘corpse’ is seen in FF7 (materia), he died again in FF8 
…
That is true about Odin, he was alive again in 9 too. What I mean is that what the summons are, fundamentally, is never really explained very well. In some they are summoned from items like materia, but does that mean that that is where their consciesness dwells or is it just connected to them in some way. In FF8 and 10 they were certainly connected to the summoner through some kind of conscious link (in FF8 it’s theorised that junctioning GFs affects the mind) but nobody really explains where the come from.
I think Wilfredo said it best
WHERE are they being summoned from? Perhaps the same superior reality?
If they are set in parallel type universes (I’m not saying they are, it’s just one of the suggestions that could theoretically be true), there’s nothing to say that FF1 happened first chronologically speaking. If they are all set in different worlds, then there wouldn’t really be a way of working the chronology out properly.
I think the idea in FF8 is that the GFs were somehow dematerialized and took up a part of the junctioned person’s brain, which was why they suffered memory loss. The GF overcrowded old memories making the person forget them (though all memories can be remembered…)
Odin and Gilgamesh, technically, weren’t GFs, so they probably function the same as in FF3 and what-not.
One additional thing though, Gilgamesh’s comments about the dimensions when he first appears would seem to indicate that he is the SAME Gilgamesh that was in FF5 and somehow got hurled to the FF8 universe after his battle over the save point in FF5.
I like how he has 4 swords… Zenzokuken(I think that’s it’s name), Masamune, Excalibur, and Excalipoor. Haha! I was almost in shock when I saw him appear and deal 1 damage to my enemy.
:fungah:
Originally posted by FATE
FF11 : ??
Avatars(summons) are gained through quests I believe. And I think summoners start with Carbuncle. (If I’m wrong plz correct me).
In FFXI, you can summon:
Carbuncle(light), Ifrit(fire), Titan(earth), Leviathan(water), Garuda(wind), Shiva(ice), Ramuh(lightning) and a Spirit for each element except lightning and earth.
I like how he has 4 swords… Zenzokuken(I think that’s it’s name), Masamune, Excalibur, and Excalipoor. Haha! I was almost in shock when I saw him appear and deal 1 damage to my enemy.
:fungah: [/b]
It’s Zantetsuken (something like ‘Iron Saber’)… Gilgamesh… nostalgic eh?
too bad he isn’t that integrated in the story of VIII(I miss his funny quotes and all…)
I think the idea of diffrent dimensions and universes seems most probable. The idea of a universe within a universe within a universe to near infinity is a grand idea. And having it all ends at a single place, or a single world or universe, and thats where the GF’s live. The idea that they’re all universes within universes would be a good reason for the consistancy of some things, and complete changes in others. Maybe what dies in one moves on to the next. Hell, or maybe certain games are set in the same world, just thousands of years later. Who knows, maybe in the year 3000, they will tell stories about these mythical devices known as “cars” and “planes” and people would use them to travel around the world in less than a day. We are all prisoners of time and space, after all, only through fantasy and imagination are we able to transcend the claustrophobic cell of life.
(i just finished “The Gunslinger” in the Dark Tower series, so the Dark Man’s sermon is still stuck in my head)
Or it could be like with Chewbacca living on Endor with the Ewoks.
Originally posted by ahkeeyuu
[b]Avatars(summons) are gained through quests I believe. And I think summoners start with Carbuncle. (If I’m wrong plz correct me).In FFXI, you can summon:
Carbuncle(light), Ifrit(fire), Titan(earth), Leviathan(water), Garuda(wind), Shiva(ice), Ramuh(lightning) and a Spirit for each element except lightning and earth. [/b]
Avatars are gained by fighting them.
You can also summon the Elementals.
The FF’s cannot take place in parallel universes. Firstly, the summons’ names are sometimes changed, or spelled differently (i.e. Jinn/Ifrit, Carbuncle/Carbunkle). Secondly, the summons’ appearances keep changing. Thirdly, Gilgamesh appears in three FF’s (FFV, FFVIII, and FFIX), and like the summons, he is constantly changing in appearance. Fourthly, in FFIX Zidane makes an allusion to FFVII, saying that he once knew a yellow spiky-haired guy (Cloud) that used a familiar-looking sword found in a shop in Lindblum. Unless Cloud once again travelled to a new world (FFT), it is impossible for Zidane to have known him. Fifthly, where did the music record from FFI come from in the Black Mage Village (FFIX, yet again). Did Cloud bring it with him? Speaking of Cloud, when did he have time to go to Ivalice (FFT)? He was eager to get back to hunt down Sephiroth (although he never actually says Sephiroth, it’s more like “…roth”, if I remember right), meaning it had to have been during FFVII. The only time you don’t have Cloud in the game is when he was in the Lifestream and became a vegetable (not literally). Also, why didn’t he get to keep all the stuff from FFT, and how did he get back for that matter?
Anyway, back to the subject, the FF's cannot take place in parallel universes. It just doesn't all add up. Indeed, the FF's can't take place on the same world either. The geographies are constantly morphing, the crystals are constantly breaking, and the world histories are constantly changing. This suggests that the worlds are in the same universe, but are not the same. However, the probability that so many worlds have the same names, summons, weapons, monsters, crystals, job classes, etc. is highly unlikely, meaning Squaresoft (SquareEnix, whatever you want to call them) made 15 different games with 15 different worlds that are in no way related. They kept the same stuff (once again: crystals, weapons, job classes, names [damn you Cid!], monsters, summons, etc.) because everyone loved those things. In actuallity, Squaresoft (SquareEnix, whatever) doesn't care about the games' fans, they only care about the money. They leave loopholes in their plotlines because they don't care enough to get rid of these things, they just care about whether the fans like the game and will buy their next one. The fans are gullible enough to believe that Square really cares about them and that there is a hidden answer to these plotholes left to the player's imagination <waves hands and rainbow appears (damn I watch too much tv)>. Who could have seen that one coming?TubaMute, their called alternae parallel universes because they ARENT they same. Havn’t you heard about the theory that there a millions of universes. and that every time you make a decission, you create a new alternate universe. Say, for instance, that you are standing on a street corner, and you decide to cross the street instead of turning left. A whole new universe and new timeline is create where you DID turn left instead of crossing the street. There are universes you don’t even exist because your parents never met. millions and trillions of these alternate universes. This is just the basic theory of quantum mechanics. I really cant get into details (because i dont know them). But yeah, the whole ideal of alternate universes is because of change.
Weird how Ragnarok can go from being a sword to a ship, huh ?
I feel like i am missing out on something good with FF11… I just might dish out the cast to get all the things neccessary to make my PS2 on-line playable… It is tacs time, after all.
That is correct, Tuba. Parallel Worlds range from nearly-identical duplicates to completely different worlds that just happen to have a few things in common.Obviously, most FF worlds are the later type of PEs; note, however, that, in FF11, the online players are split up in different servers. In effect, EACH SERVER IS AN ALTERNATE VERSION OF VAN’ADIEL AND ITS EVENTS! They even have different names for each server (named after the Avatars (summons). For Fanfic purposes, you can assume each Server version of Van’adiel is a Parallel World of the “really similar” type.
I admit you’re right, when the chips are down, Square does this for the money. Big surprise, we live in CAPITALIST societies were life is based in moneymaking. However, the PLAYERS who buy the games obviously have less cynical thoughts about the games, that’s why they’re so popular, and if the Square people have half a brain, they do take their feelings into consideration.
As for Cloud’s trip to Ivalice, it was never cleared up where it fits into FF7, nor was it explained how he got back. Popular theory is that it took place during the time he was in the Lifestream (the ancient machine pulled him from there and into their world) and apparently, the same machine was used to return him- but he fell into the Lifestream again, and suffered Mako Poisoning. (Rumors also say the crossover was originally intended to be between FF7 and Xenogears, but it never came thru; that’s why Cloud says “xenogears” (poorly translated to english) when he was still mumbling. This has never been proven, of course.)
If you look at the magic, you can kind of create an order to the games. Consider this.
First off, all magical ability was contained within the bodies of the creature (FF 4). As time slowly progressed, magic could only be learned from scrolls (FF 1, 2, 3, 5) rather then solely from natural ability. Eventually, the magical energy made its way into various items (FF 9) as scrolls becaue old an the people slowly forgot how to use them. Eventually, these items lost their power and the magical energy could only be found in the planet itself and in monsters, it eventually became so potent it began to crystalize and seep from the surface (FF 7 & 8). It’s a bit hard to say where FF 6 fits in, I’d say right after people could still naturally use magic, then when the espers were gone and took magic with them, that was when the magical energy was only in the earth itself.
I dunno, it’s just one of those wild theories.
One theory on whole Cloud going to Ivalice, would be that his conscius mind was sent to Ivalice, while his body remained here. Thus while his body was suffering from Mako poisoning in this world, his mind was doing whatever it needed to in that one.And then his mind was done, it returned to either help Tifa, or after Tifa helped him.
off-topic, but Lucca also made an appearance in Xenogears… cool eh
off-topic, but Lucca also made an appearance in Xenogears… cool eh
She did? Where?!
just a little comment on the jinn/ifrit name thing, in ff3, there was a genie named jinn who was seperate from ifrit. so the summoning of jinn (not that I’ve seen that as a summon in any ff yet) could be the summoning of something else. also, in ff3, there is a steward by the name of gilgesh or something. interestingly close to gilgamesh
Originally posted by Chris StarShade
She did? Where?!
Lucca appeared in a village… I forgot the name… she is in a shop I think. She just stand there and says some sentences, not much.
And about Djinn and Ifrit, isn’t it just a translation change? I heard Ifrit’s name always was Ifrit in the Japanese games (like Ramuh and Indra).
Originally posted by FATE
[b]Lucca appeared in a village… I forgot the name… she is in a shop I think. She just stand there and says some sentences, not much.And about Djinn and Ifrit, isn’t it just a translation change? I heard Ifrit’s name always was Ifrit in the Japanese games (like Ramuh and Indra). [/b]
Lucca was in Lahan Village at the very beginning of the game, in the Mayor’s House. She’s standing next to the Save Point.
http://zanyvg.overclocked.org/xenogears/index.html
There’s a link to a bunch of quotes, with some pictures of her too.
And Epicgamer, that’s a very interesting theory there. 10 could very well fit in the end of that, too (if you think about the positions of the locations on the world map and how they are similar to FF7’s, as well as the spheres being oddly similar to materia)
Yeah, maybe if I get around to it I’ll write it up all pretty like.
That was supposed to be Lucca? The Xenogears graphics engine screwwed up her image. Can barely recognize her.