History Anime / FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin

* UndyingLoyalty: Jane, Neil, and Ryan are all loyal to Gray even when he disobey's an order given by General Hein.

* UnfriendlyFire: Major Elliot is accidently shot by one of his men, who's weapon discharges after he is killed by a phantom.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: General Hein, realizing that he accidentally let the Phantoms into a major population center.

* TragicVillain: Hein's hatred of the Phantoms and increasing desperation to wipe them out at all costs is a constant thorn in the protagonists' sides and causes more problems than it solves [[spoiler: ultimately including mass-destruction of some of the few remaining precious bits of human infrastructure, as he repeatedly fires the cannon against the suggestions of his technical advisors.]] But it's made clear that his fanaticism is fueled by grief over the horrific deaths of his family via a process he analogizes to spiritual rape, and later it's suggested that the SunkCostFallacy is doing the rest, as his plans cause horrific side effects and he doesn't want them to amount to nothing in the end, [[spoiler: as they ultimately do]].

* {{Fanservice}}: Several images have been released in this manner. One has Aki wearing a tight black leather outfit, which [[BareYourMidriff exposes her navel]], has a very seductive look on her face with her hair in the middle of a "wave" motion (and oddly, her nipples evident from beneath the leather). Another has Aki posing in a bikini. And one has Gray posing completely shirtless.

* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Jane Proudfoot, the tough SpaceMarine, gets eaten, while [[HotScientist Dr. Ross]] survives.]]

* AlienLandmass: There are recurring dream sequences that take place on an unknown and desolate planet, where (in addition to an AlienSky) the entire landscape is covered with lanky, crescent-shaped landmasses.

* AlienInvasion: [[spoiler: Subverted, as what the human authorities ''assume'' was a deliberate invasion is really just an accidental [[ColonyDrop collision]] between a huge haunted chunk of the Phantoms' home planet and the Earth.]]

* CallBack: While looking for the seventh spirit, they mistake it for an eagle flying overhead. Aki remarks that it's just "a survivor. Waiting for life to return." [[spoiler: The same eagle reappears at the end of the film when the Phantoms have been cleansed from the Earth. This is what inserts some positivity into the situation - as Aki realises that life will go on]].

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: The Phantoms. Earth's authorities and population assumed that they were strange and violent alien invaders who happen to be incorporeal by nature. They're actually ghosts, whose presence on Earth is completely accidental. The assumption that they are alive ends up backfiring ''horribly'' against General Hein when, in an attempt to gain authorisation to use the Zeus cannon, he lets what he plans to be a small group of Phantoms into New York Barrier City, and then have his men eliminate them before they do too much damage. Then the Phantoms start spreading rapidly throughout the city, using methods that living things would not be able to survive. This mistake ends up dooming the city, costing the lives of all its inhabitants]].

* DomedHometown: The City. [[spoiler: Eventually ends up becoming a DoomedHometown]].

** [[spoiler: Hein, realizing that he was responsible for the Phantoms massacre of the New York Barrier City, drifts into space within his ship and unloads all but one of the bullets from his gun, with the intention of shooting himself. He changes his mind when his ship beeps at him for a destination, deciding to go out in a blaze of glory using the Zeus cannon]].
** [[spoiler:Jane, after Neil is killed getting the ''Black Boa'' prepped, lowers her weapon and simply waits to be killed, It's unknown if she could have made it to safety if she wanted to - but Phantoms were closing in around her]].

* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Gray's LastWords to Aki just before his HeroicSacrifice are that he loves her]].

* InkSuitActor: Hein looks a ''lot'' like Creator/JamesWoods. However, a lot was made of making Gray (voice by Creator/AlecBaldwin) look a ''lot'' like Creator/BenAffleck.

* JustInTime: [[SarcasmMode Averted]] Aki manages to defeat the Phantom infecting Edwards with a whole 1.''02'' seconds to spare.
* KillSat: The Zeus space cannon. [[spoiler: It fires into the meteor crash site as a downward beam of light]].
* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: Sid to Aki: "And stay away from your friend, the captain. He saves your life, you save his life... I was young once too you know?"

* NonActionGuy: Aki isn't a DistressedDamsel, but she's clearly a non-combatant scientist who hangs around with four very competent soldiers.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: The Phantoms are ghosts who were killed when their planet was destroyed. They are able to infect others and kill them, turning them into Phantoms too]].

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Implied. [[spoiler: Gray sacrifices his life so that the completed waveform can be transferred to the Phantom Gaia, which is completed when the 8th spirit is created by "the hope of new life" from within Aki causing Earth's Gaia to change her infection into the 8th spirit. Pay attention to where the Phantom's tendrils in her vision hit her (which is also the point where it begins to change) and note that Aki and Gray. This was actually made more explicit in the original version of the film (during the PleaseDontLeaveMe moment), but test audiences didn't respond well to it, and so it was mostly cut]].

* KillThemAll: [[spoiler: Only Dr. Aki and Dr. Sid manage to survive in the end.]]

** [[spoiler: Gray Edwards]] sacrificed himself as a medium needed to physically transmit the completed spirit into the alien Gaia.

** [[SenselessSacrifice General Hein thought he was doing this when he overloaded the space cannon]].

* CallBack: While looking for the sixth spirit, they mistake it for an eagle flying overhead. Aki remarks that it's just "a survivor. Waiting for life to return." [[spoiler: The same eagle reappears at the end of the film when the Phantoms have been cleansed from the Earth. This is what inserts some positivity into the situation - as Aki realises that life will go on]].

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: When visible, the spirit energy is this. Phantoms (and anything else native to their planet) show up as red energy. Humans (and other creatures native to Earth) show up as blue energy. When the Phantom particle sealed with Aki's chestplate makes its HeelFaceTurn, its energy color [[ConvenientColorChange changes from red to blue to signify its new loyalty]].

* {{Reconstruction}}: The film finds a way to justify many of the tropes associated with the Final Fantasy games. Monsters appear out of nowhere? They're invisible and can only be illuminated by bioetheric energy. Monsters can't enter cities? They have barriers to block them out. Don't get an airship until late in the game? It's confiscated by the authorities for the first two acts. The movie even puts in a way for the 'final boss' to go OneWingedAngel.

* VillainousBreakdown: Suicidal tendencies + access to huge freaking space cannon = BAD THING.

* BlackBestFriend: Ryan is this for Gray, since he's TheLancer within the Deep Eyes.

* BigBad: General Hein, who is willing to risk destroying the Earth just for a shot at killing the Phantoms with a giant space canon. [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Though]] he is ultimately a [[BigBadWannabe secondary threat]] to the Alien Gaia, the collective mass of the souls and hatred of the Phantoms. It kickstarted the events of the film by causing the apocalypse, and disabling it is the only way to stop the Phantom invasion.]]

In the year 2065, an alien infestation has overrun Earth; the remaining humans live in "barrier cities" all over the world while trying to free their planet from the spectral alien beings ("Phantoms") that devastate everything in their path. Dr. Aki Ross, alongside her old mentor Dr. Sid, hopes to unlock the secret behind these Phantoms and find a way to destroy them without harming Earth -- but General Hein has plans to annihilate the Phantoms using a huge space cannon, regardless of the damage it can do to the planet.

* BigBad: [[spoiler: The Alien Gaia, the collective mass of the souls and hatred of the Phantoms. It kickstarted the events of the film by causing the apocalypse, and disabling it is the only way to stop the Phantom invasion. It also creates another villain in General Hein, who is willing to risk destroying the Earth just for a shot at killing it.]]

* EndlessConflict: [[spoiler: The Phantoms were from an alien race that fought each other constantly. Eventually, they used a DoomsdayDevice that destroyed them all, locking them in a violent post-mortal energy state.]]

* BigNo: Jane [[spoiler: when Neil is killed]].