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* AntagonistTitle: [[spoiler: ''Heavensward'' is revealed to be this, when the Heavens' Ward--the bodyguards of the Archbishop of the Church of Ishgard--and their leader, Archbishop Thordan VII, step into the BigBad role.]]
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* AllThereInTheManual: There's two backstories on Square's website that shows what several major characters have done before the events of the game. [[http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/anniversary/na/detail/memoir_5.html?rgn=na&lng=en Tales from the Calamity]] shows what city-state leaders and the Scions did before the adventurer came into the picture for 2.0 and [[http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/2015/short_stories/ Tales from the Dragonsong War]] showcases what the major characters from 3.0 were doing before the expansion happened.
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** Hard Mode [[spoiler: Ultima Weapon]] is similar, and is explicitly non-canon.
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** Hard Mode [[spoiler: Ultima Weapon]] is similar, and is explicitly non-canon. Story-wise it's presented as a bard's dramatic retelling of your original encounter with it.
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** The entire [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon final area]] of ''Heavensward'', [[spoiler:Azys Lla]], foregoes battle music.
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* AIRoulette: [=NPCs=] in Triple Triad games have this due to their decks always containing powerful cards. Without the induced random behavior, the AI would crush unprepared players or back others into a corner every time.
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*** They are actually Peach Blossoms, but the visual effect is pretty much the same.
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** [[spoiler: ''Heavensward'' ultimately explains that all primals are actually this: constructs fueled by desire and prayer and tremendous quantities of aether and crystals. Ysayle the Lady Iceheart--who manifested Shiva in patch 2.4's story--approaches the elder dragon Hraesvelgr, who loved the original Saint Shiva, and declares herself Shiva's reincarnation, using her primal summoning as proof. Hraesvelgr completely shuts down this line of thought, declaring it as no more than the product of Ysayle's fervent belief and desire.]]
** [[spoiler: The ''Heavensward'' main story concludes with the ultimate example of this: Archbishop Thordan VII and his twelve Heavens' Ward bodyguards create and manifest the primal Knights of the Round, the original King Thordan I and his Knights Twelve, who have been worshiped by the Church of Ishgard for centuries.]]
** [[spoiler: The ''Heavensward'' main story concludes with the ultimate example of this: Archbishop Thordan VII and his twelve Heavens' Ward bodyguards create and manifest the primal Knights of the Round, the original King Thordan I and his Knights Twelve, who have been worshiped by the Church of Ishgard for centuries.]]
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* BeefGate: A few examples. Although advanced players with lots of MMO experience will barely feel some of these
** ''The Sunken Temple of Quarn'' serves as the players first introduction to the real beef of the dungeon systems and raidboss mechanics, you can still be carried through the dungeon, but you WILL get hell about it from your party mates.
** ''The Sunken Temple of Quarn'' serves as the players first introduction to the real beef of the dungeon systems and raidboss mechanics, you can still be carried through the dungeon, but you WILL get hell about it from your party mates.
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* BeefGate: A few examples. Although advanced players with lots of MMO experience will barely feel some of these
these.
** ''The Sunken Temple ofQuarn'' Qarn'' serves as the players player's first introduction to the real beef of the dungeon systems and raidboss mechanics, you raid boss mechanics. You can still be carried through the dungeon, but you WILL get hell about it from your party mates.
** ''The Sunken Temple of
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** Also featured against Leviathan Extreme, and against Ravana in 3.0.
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** The rewards from PVP are also this. At best they're on par with cutting edge gear, but with much more grinding involved.
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** ''Heavensward'' has [[TheOtherDarrin the dub cast changed to a British studio]], making them sound much more authentic (and rather hilarious when compared to their former voices).
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** The other major raid is the Crystal Tower, which feature 24-person alliances of three 8-person parties. Its story focuses on exploring the eponymous tower, an ancient Allagan structure that factors into the fall of the Allagan Empire.
** ''Heavensward'' introduces Alexander as the new endgame 8-man raid, a gargantuan primal that the Illuminati--a cadre of intellectual gooblins--seeks to make their moving citadel utopia.
** ''Heavensward'' introduces Alexander as the new endgame 8-man raid, a gargantuan primal that the Illuminati--a cadre of intellectual gooblins--seeks to make their moving citadel utopia.
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** ''Heavensward'' replaces it with a cinematic summarizing the story so far, through patch 2.55.
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* HundredPercentHeroismRating: The Player Character. This comes to your advantage[[spoiler: after you are framed for regicide at the end of 'Before the Fall'.]] NPCS all over the world will comment on how they still believe in you, despite the accusations.
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* HundredPercentHeroismRating: The Player Character. This comes to your advantage[[spoiler: after you are framed for regicide at the end of 'Before the Fall'.]] NPCS [=NPCs=] all over the world will comment on how they still believe in you, despite the accusations.
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** It's ''mostly'' averted, however there is one exception in the ability to buy additional Retainers, NPCs that have 200 storage spaces, are used to put items up on the market boards to sell, and can be leveled to run 'Ventures' where they bring back things ranging from crafting materials (both common and rare) to rare minions, and several other desirable items. It's a subtle boost to your capabilities in that you can carry more, sell more, and get more back via Ventures, but ultimately not as big a deal as it could be.
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** It's ''mostly'' averted, however there is one exception in the ability to buy additional Retainers, NPCs [=NPCs=] that have 200 storage spaces, are used to put items up on the market boards to sell, and can be leveled to run 'Ventures' where they bring back things ranging from crafting materials (both common and rare) to rare minions, and several other desirable items. It's a subtle boost to your capabilities in that you can carry more, sell more, and get more back via Ventures, but ultimately not as big a deal as it could be.
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* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Triple Triad returns from FinalFantasyVIII and you can duel NPCs in the world to win cards. Some NPCs will leave you screaming in rage as they blatantly cheat. The NPC uses the Random rule? Enjoy having only one decent card and everything else is 1-star rarity while the NPC has almost a full hand of 2-star or higher. The NPC uses Random and Order? Watch as you're forced to play your best card first OR you don't get the first move and your best card never gets played because it's last in your hand. When the rule for hiding cards is in effect, it only seems to affect you because the NPCs know what cards you have, but you can't see theirs.
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* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Triple Triad returns from FinalFantasyVIII and you can duel NPCs [=NPCs=] in the world to win cards. Some NPCs [=NPCs=] will leave you screaming in rage as they blatantly cheat. The NPC uses the Random rule? Enjoy having only one decent card and everything else is 1-star rarity while the NPC has almost a full hand of 2-star or higher. The NPC uses Random and Order? Watch as you're forced to play your best card first OR you don't get the first move and your best card never gets played because it's last in your hand. When the rule for hiding cards is in effect, it only seems to affect you because the NPCs [=NPCs=] know what cards you have, but you can't see theirs.
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** Abilities with positional requirements make up most of the dps of melee classes, and not landing them properly is a huge DPS loss. For enemies who are too massive or stands so that their back or flank is never accessible (such as the Demon Wall and Cloud of Darkness) their entire hitbox counts for both their flank and back.
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--> Maerwynn: So, all you need to do is search for the golem, slay it, claim its heart, and use it to bait the spriggan. Oh, and do remember to rub the soulstone against a sufficiently large concentration of amber, say, Amberscale Rock in the Central Shroud. Short of petitioning a mage versed in golem magicks, that is the only way I know to dispel the enchantments woven into a true heart. [[BlankStare Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?]] I had relations with a thaumaturge once, if you must know.
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--> Maerwynn: '''Maerwynn:''' So, all you need to do is search for the golem, slay it, claim its heart, and use it to bait the spriggan. Oh, and do remember to rub the soulstone against a sufficiently large concentration of amber, say, Amberscale Rock in the Central Shroud. Short of petitioning a mage versed in golem magicks, that is the only way I know to dispel the enchantments woven into a true heart. [[BlankStare Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?]] I had relations with a thaumaturge once, if you must know.
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** Allowances for levequests (sort of randomized quests that can provide some easy chunks of EXP) are granted for every character in the same intervals. There are also daily caps on certain rewards and daily objectives.
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* {{Cap}}: All class levels are capped to level 50 and soldiery/poetics tomes are capped to 2000, though there's a double cap on the poetics tomes where players can only earn a maximum of 450 tomes a week; this prevents players from obtaining the endgame gear too easily.
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* {{Cap}}: All class levels are capped to level 50 (60 with Heavensward) and soldiery/poetics tomes are capped to 2000, though there's a double cap on the poetics tomes where players can only earn a maximum of 450 tomes a week; this prevents players from obtaining the endgame gear too easily. If you play the 14-day free trial, you're capped at level 30 instead.
** There are also caps on the maximum level players can be in duties and FATEs, with the Level Synch mechanic temporarily lowering the level to it (also affects equipment, and locks out abilities learned at levels beyond that limit).
** Retainers: You can only have two without paying extra, and their class level if assigned one is capped at the players level in the same class.
** Retainers: You can only have two without paying extra, and their class level if assigned one is capped at the players level in the same class.
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* CausticCritic: Some of the Discipline of the Hand guildmasters. Geva (Leatherworking) and Gigi (Goldsmithing) in particular.
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* CausticCritic: Some of the Discipline of the Hand guildmasters. Geva (Leatherworking) and Gigi (Goldsmithing) in particular. If not the guildmasters, there is almost guaranteed to be another guildmember NPC to fill that role.
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** For the return option, the pain depends on where you set your home point last. Though even so, you can easily teleport back to the nearest crystal for a bit of cash, but if you died during a levequest and got revived in another zone, you fail it.
** Averted entirely for single-player duties, which help you with a buff to health and damage if you keep struggling with one.
** Averted entirely for single-player duties, which help you with a buff to health and damage if you keep struggling with one.
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**special mention goes to Gilgamesh who has not one but TWO variations of Battle on the Big Bridge during his second fight.
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* BrokenBridge: ''Heavensward'' has paths to other areas blocked off with a rockslide until you progress further in the plot, to which the blockage mysteriously vanishes. One exception to the rule is in Idyllshire where a goblin will blow up a blocked path with bombs.
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* CameBackWrong: Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) has [[spoiler: Edda using dark magics on the head of her fiance to bring him back to life, only for him to come back as a monster. Edda doesn't mind it at all due to her crossing the DespairEventHorizon]].
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* CameBackWrong: A couple of instances in the story.
** Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) has [[spoiler: Edda using dark magics on the head of her fiance to bring him back to life, only for him to come back as a monster. Edda doesn't mind it at all due to her crossing theDespairEventHorizon]].DespairEventHorizon]].
** Heavensward reveals this to be the fate of [[spoiler: the Elder Primal, Bahamut. His sister Tiamat reveals that he was slain by Allagan forces, and in her grief the Ascians offered to bring Bahamut back - as a primal. He did come back, but as a "shell of his former self." To this day, Tiamat punishes herself for her choice.]]
** Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) has [[spoiler: Edda using dark magics on the head of her fiance to bring him back to life, only for him to come back as a monster. Edda doesn't mind it at all due to her crossing the
** Heavensward reveals this to be the fate of [[spoiler: the Elder Primal, Bahamut. His sister Tiamat reveals that he was slain by Allagan forces, and in her grief the Ascians offered to bring Bahamut back - as a primal. He did come back, but as a "shell of his former self." To this day, Tiamat punishes herself for her choice.]]
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* AbusivePrecursors: The Allagans left behind nameless amounts of incredibly dangerous technology, Bahamut sealed in Dalamud being the most well known, though there are others like the WEAPONS, the entire crystal tower which is inhabited by an omnicidal clone of the Emperor Xande and his mad scientist aide with the goal of opening a world-destroying portal to the void. [[spoiler: And then ''Heavensward'' brings in Asyz Lla, a floating continent powered by three sealed primals of unknown power, which also possesses violent security systems, murderous Chimera beasts that were made to be anything from beasts of battle to housepets, and millenia old hostages of the Meracydian dragons as well as their Matriarch Tiamat, trapped in an undying stasis [[AndIMustScream until the world itself ends]]. The fractal continuum even contains a museum to all these "Accomplishments".]] All in all, it's clear that the Allagans had completely cast off morality and it was probably for the better that the earthquake that heralded the fourth umbral era wiped them out.]]
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* AbusivePrecursors: The Allagans left behind nameless amounts of incredibly dangerous technology, Bahamut sealed in Dalamud being the most well known, though there are others like the WEAPONS, the entire crystal tower which is inhabited by an omnicidal clone of the Emperor Xande and his mad scientist aide with the goal of opening a world-destroying portal to the void. [[spoiler: And then ''Heavensward'' brings in Asyz Lla, a floating continent powered by three sealed primals of unknown power, which also possesses violent security systems, murderous Chimera beasts that were made to be anything from beasts of battle to housepets, and millenia old hostages of the Meracydian dragons as well as their Matriarch Tiamat, trapped in an undying stasis [[AndIMustScream until the world itself ends]]. The fractal continuum even contains a museum to all these "Accomplishments".]] All in all, it's clear that the Allagans had completely cast off morality and it was probably for the better that the earthquake that heralded the fourth umbral era wiped them out.]]
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* AbusivePrecursors: The Allagans left behind nameless amounts of incredibly dangerous technology, Bahamut sealed in Dalamud being the most well known, though there are others like the WEAPONS, the entire crystal tower which is inhabited by an omnicidal clone of the Emperor Xande and his mad scientist aide with the goal of opening a world-destroying portal to the void. [[spoiler: And then ''Heavensward'' brings in Asyz Lla, a floating continent powered by three sealed primals of unknown power, which also possesses violent security systems, murderous Chimera beasts that were made to be anything from beasts of battle to housepets, and millenia old hostages of the Meracydian dragons as well as their Matriarch Tiamat, trapped in an undying stasis [[AndIMustScream until the world itself ends]]. The fractal continuum even contains a museum to all these "Accomplishments".]] All in all, it's clear that the Allagans had completely cast off morality and it was probably for the better that the earthquake that heralded the fourth umbral era wiped them out.]]
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** Also incredibly common whenever you interact with objects for any quest. Though depending on the quest objective its not much of a surprise. Some objects are also surrounded by a purple aura which triggers monster spawns when you step into instead, but that's even less of a surprise after the first time.
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** Unusually, crafting and gathering professions are classes as well, complete with their own "weapons" and a lot of equipment with bonuses to either.
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* CorruptChurch: From the first moment you see them, it's clear that Ishgard's Holy See breeds their soldiers to be paranoid, mindlessly patriotic KnightTemplar, and the Dark Knights exist in lore because the clergy are AboveTheLaw no matter how reprehensible their deeds. [[spoiler: Additionally, you learn midway through ''Heavensward's'' story that Ishgard were the ones who started the Dragonsong war, the reason? Sheer envy over the longevity of dragons, and they accomplished that through an unjustified murder of Ratotoskr, which drove Nidhogg insane with grief. In the present day, the current Pope, Thordan the VII, intends to use Nidhogg's eyes and an Allagan-made floating landmass with primals sealed in it to turn himself into a primal of King Thordan and bring the world to heel.]]
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[[{{VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV}} Back to the main index]]
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** ''The Steps of Faith'' is currently a HUGE wake up call for a lot of non-raiding players. It is a required fight in the main storyline and demands both mechanical knowledge and coordination. Endgame raiding groups can still clear this easily, but it is difficult to be carried through the fight. Arguably it is Square Enix's attempt to show the casual players where most of the true end game content lies skill wise.
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** ''The Steps of Faith'' is currently was, before subsequent patches, a HUGE wake up call for a lot of non-raiding players. It is a required fight in the main storyline and demands demanded both mechanical knowledge and coordination. Endgame raiding groups can could still clear this easily, but it is was difficult to be carried through the fight. Arguably it is Square Enix's attempt to show the casual players where most of the true end game content lies skill wise.fight.
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* BreatherBoss: Oddly enough, given the recurring boss's reputation in other games as unrelentingly powerful, the Demon Wall in the Sunken Temple of Qarn has an exceeding low HP total, along with telegraphed attacks that, while they require knowledge of the mechanics to survive, are easily dealt with or dodged. Unlike most boss fights, which can take several minutes, the Demon Wall can be killed in approximately a minute with little trouble.
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* BreatherBoss: Oddly enough, given the recurring boss's reputation in other games as unrelentingly powerful, the Demon Wall in the Sunken Temple of Qarn has an exceeding low HP total, along with telegraphed attacks that, while they require knowledge of the mechanics to survive, are easily dealt with or dodged. Unlike most boss fights, which can take several minutes, the Demon Wall can be killed in approximately a minute with little trouble.
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* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Averted. The deserts in this game are extremely realistic. Only one desert has any cacti at all.
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* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Averted. The deserts in this game are extremely realistic.realistic, and have proper vegetation in the different areas. Only one desert has any cacti at all.
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AllDesertsHaveCacti: Averted. The deserts in this game are extremely realistic. Only one desert has any cacti at all.
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* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Averted. The deserts in this game are extremely realistic. Only one desert has any cacti at all.
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AllDesertsHaveCacti: Averted. The deserts in this game are extremely realistic. Only one desert has any cacti at all.
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* AnimalMotifs: Every class has a certain animal that their pvp gear takes after. Additionally, after doing 100 end-game raids (being Extreme mode primals and Binding Coil) tanks get a mount fitting to the class' motif (bears for Warrior, lions for Paladins).
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* HundredPercentHeroismRating: The Player Character. This comes to your advantage[[spoiler: after you are framed for regicide at the end of 'Before the Fall'.]] NPCS all over the world will comment on how they still believe in you, despite the accusations.
* AbsoluteCleavage: Several outfits that the female Player Character (and a few NPC's) can wear fit this trope. The most notable example is the variations of the [[http://i.imgur.com/rl1mRPP.jpg Bard Classes Artifact Armor]].
** Like the ChainmailBikini trope in the rest of the game, this is mostly [[AvertedTrope averted]], Mage gear is long, flowing robes no matter what gender you are, and tank gear is just as big and bulky.
** Played straight with Scylla and Scylla's armor from the Syrcus Tower dungeon. Which features a long, fur covered robe that exposes a lengthy vertical section of the body, from neck to navel. Averted for the male version.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: It is implied that a scaled beastman in Bronze Lake forces his way to the camp's springs, exposes himself, and does...stuff to himself in front of other bathers. When a Storm Sergeant confronts the troublemaker about it while trying to ban him from the springs, the beastman claims his actions are his "ritual bathing dance". The two characters then fight each other and you can assist the sergeant if you choose to do so since it's a FATE.
** One of the delivery quests has you escorting a Mamool Ja dancer to instruct some of Costa Del Sol's consorts. He starts doing the same "ritual dance" and [[TakeOurWordForIt it cuts to black]]. When the screen comes back into focus, the dancers run away screaming and the nearby guard falls to her knees in horror.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Like all little liars, Lalafell love to litter letters like this:
--> '''Lalafell Female:''' Does your world want for a wealth of wordplay and wit? An abundance of alliteration, assonance aplenty and a soupcon of sibilance to seal the deal? Well, you were warned.
** Also applied liberally to otherwise nameless filler [=NPC=]s (Glowing Goodwife, Mocking Miner, Positively Pungent Pirate, etc.)
* AfterTheEnd: This is sort of the gimmick of ''A Realm Reborn''; it wasn't a particularly ''big'' apocalypse, but it did change the world and you're playing through its aftermath.
** This is also revealed to be the situation, after a fashion, for the ''Amalj'aa'' in patch 2.1; it turns out that there are actually Amalj'aa who have not been tempered by Ifrit. They're such a tiny minority, however, that the race as a whole seems doomed to mindless servitude to Ifrit forever and the best the "Brotherhood of Ash" can hope to accomplish is to try and prevent their fanatical kin from doing too much damage. Reversing the effects of the tempering is impossible, so it has to end in either containment or slaughter. It is also hinted that some of the Amalj'aa aren't tempered and follow their brethren anyway while some have thoughts of deserting for the Brotherhood of Ash because they view them as the stronger side of the war (though they never get to join the group due to one of the Brotherhood members seeing the deserters as people who are too easily swayed by anyone that has the most power and could easily turn against them if the tides of the war tilts).
*** Before patch 2.1, there was hints of some Amalj'aa not following Ifrit's influence or going with their kin's way of worshiping Ifrit. One Amalj'aa spends his time hiding from people because he knows that everyone would mistake him as another Ifrit worshipper and could possibly be killed as a result.
** Note that there's been at least ''six'' of these. The world's state tends to move between the GoldenAge of the Astral Eras, and AfterTheEnd of the Umbral Eras. 1.0 started during the 6th Astral Era, then moved to the seventh Umbral Era after Dalamud. At the conclusion of the 2.0 release stories, the city leaders declare the Umbral Era is over and the 7th Astral Era has began.
* AlienSky:
** In 1.0, Hydaelyn has an unusually bright starfield and had [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV two]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX moons]], although the second is ''very'' small and difficult to see at certain times of night and moonphases. A less common instance of a non-in-your-face AlienSky.
** Near the end of the original version, Dalamud (the smaller moon) grew larger -- and [[BadMoonRising redder]], as part of the final storyline before ''A Realm Reborn''. It turned out ThatsNoMoon, but a massive artificial satellite created by the ancient, far more advanced Allagan Empire during the 3rd Astral Era. One of Garlemald's generals went rogue and poured aetheric energy into it to make it [[ColonyDrop crash down to the earth]].
* AlwaysNight: Northern Thanalan seems to be under an eternal dusk, possibly due to the constant smog that the ceruleum processing plant produces.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Characters with blue and green skintones are a common sight, being a racial trait of the Sea Wolves, Keepers of the Moon and Duskwight. The Heavensward benchmark shows that Au Ra of both of clans are capable of very odd skin tones like fire red, grass green, or grape purple.
* AnAdventurerIsYou: The ARR release puts a rather large emphasis on the roles of the character classes ([[DamagerHealerTank Tank, Healer, and DPS]]).
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: A standard reward for most quests which you'll rely on for better armor if you're not planning to buy from shops or other players. Many of the limited time events also reward you with unique outfits that aren't exactly combat material, but are for showing off instead.
* AntiFrustrationFeature: Failing a solo quest battlefield related to the main story or your class grants you a buff called "The Power of the Echo" if you decide to try again without logging off. The buff increases your maximum HP, healing potency, and attack power for the quest you failed on in order to give you a slightly better edge. Once you complete the quest, the effect goes away. The effect also kicks in for certain quests requiring a party of players and the effects will stack every time the party wipes out so that people aren't tempted to RageQuit.
** Gear repairs from menders won't cost the player any money if they are at level 10 or below, which greatly helps new players get into the game without feeling too frustrated about having to watch their gear durability when they don't have much money.
** It can be a pain for Arcanist branch to keep moving their pets in [=AoE=] heavy fights. Pets have an 80% damage reduction from most forms of [=AoE=] damage. It doesn't protect them from the possible status debuffs the [=AoE=] can possess, but they get the Rouse ability which makes them immune to these effects (in inclusion to increasing damage/healing by a large amount).
** Internet connections aren't always stable. If a player is in a dungeon with a party and they get disconnected, they can jump back in without any progression lost assuming that the party hasn't left the dungeon yet.
* AntiPoopSocking: There are a number of features that attempt to make the game more 'casual friendly' and reduce the ability of 'hardcore' players to outpace those playing more casually or with less time to play. These include:
** @@Guardian's Favor:@@ Points can be spent, upon initiating a quest, to increase Discipline experience income until the objectives are complete. Burns out if used at every possible opportunity over more than a couple of days and has to be allowed to regenerate. This was replaced in patch 1.21 with an inn, where you get an experience boost from resting in a private room.
** @@Teleporting:@@ Instantaneous (for a nominal fee) to any Aetherites a player has previously visited
*** Teleportation between mini-Aetherites in major cities are free and instantaneous.
** @@Sanctuaries:@@ The newest and currently-active system; spending time logged off in a 'sanctuary' zone (such as a private inn room or near Aetherites in camps around the maps) builds up an EXP bonus, indicated on the EXP bar by a shaded section.
* ArtificialStupidity: A lot of class quests would be much easier if the NPC companions you're meant to keep alive would just ''step out of the way'' of enemy attacks the way any sane player would.
* AttractMode: The "End of an Era" cinematic plays if you sit at the title screen for a few minutes.
* BackgroundMusicOverride:
** To emphasize that you're deep within enemy territory, the themes of the Garlean and Beast Tribe strongholds continue playing through battles.
** During the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Lightning]] event, the FATE events she spawns with begin with their normal music, only to be replaced with "Blinded By Light", the battle theme from ''XIII'', once she appears proper.
* BackStab: Attacking monsters from the flanks or behind gives you slight bonuses such as an increased critical hit chance or improved accuracy. Certain attacks automatically deal more damage if used from the correct position, and others may be ineffective if used from the wrong position.
** The Lancer and Pugilist classes (and their Job counterparts Dragoon and Monk) are the only classes in ARR to receive direction-dependent special attacks; however, all classes still receive the same small overall acc/crit boosts to all of their attacks by striking from the flank or behind. As a result of this, tank classes tend to need the highest accuracy stat to consistently strike their targets, due to the fact tanks are usually stuck attacking the front of the target.
** The Rogue Class introduced in patch 2.4 of ARR has two versions of this. ''Trick Attack'' let's a Rogue that is using their ''Hide'' ability, inflicting good damage, and increases the target's Damage Vulnerability for 10 seconds. The other, is ''Assassinate'', which can only be used against enemies below 20% HP, and has the Rogue quickly vanishing, then reappearing on the shoulders of their target before stabbing them in the neck with both daggers, and hopping back down to their starting position. Oddly, their ''Sneak Attack'' ability is more of a ''face stab''.
*** The reason for Sneak Attack being enhanced by using it from the front, is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] by members of the Rogue Guild. According to them any half-decent enemy would expect a rogue to sneak up behind them and stab them in the back. Few however, expects to see a Rogue appear out of no where right in front of them before stabbing them in the face.
* {{Badass}}: Gaius van Baelsar. His first appearance involves him fighting [[spoiler: Yda, Papalymo, Thancred, Y'shtola and the player's Path Companion]] all at the same time. And he doesn't even get hit once, while his enemies have to protect each other and pretty much do their best to avoid turning the battle into a CurbStompBattle.
* BadassFamily: The Mandervilles. Hildibrand's kind of an idiot, but he's MadeOfIron. Godbert's so awesome as to be something short of a PhysicalGod, and even he's ''terrified'' of his wife. The Thaumaturges guild is also run by one, and their storyline heavily involves the one sibling of the seven who isn't badass.
* BadassNormal: The Garleans, for all their technological prowess, are physically incapable of casting magic. For characters like the main Garlean villains, their fighting styles are pure and simple strength and technique as well as special gun-weapons. Even when you see Garlean soldier harnessing what appears to be magic, it's coming from one of two sources: their specialized weapons which veer into MagicFromTechnology, or drafted soldiers ''from'' magic-wielding areas like Othard or Ala Mhigo (which is where the tiny number of Lalafells and Miqo'te in their army come from).
* BadassAdorable: The weapons dropped by Good King Moggle Mog XII have names such as "Murderous Mogfists" or "Malevolent Mogwand", and are some of the strongest weapons that can be acquired prior to earning HM Primal/relic weapons. They also make a [[VerbalTic "kupo"]] sound whenever drawn, and look like [[http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1754/semttulowrq.jpg this]].
** The Mogglesguard themselves aren't exactly far off from this either. Seeing a moogle with a sword, shield, and helmet shout "Defend the king, kupo!" is pretty much the pinnacle of the trope.
** Lalafells in general.
* BadassBeard [[BadassMustache And Mustache]]: The player can give male [=PCs=] facial hair, even if they're a Lalafell.
* BadassFingersnap: With their new abilities in Heavensward, bards do this after casting one of their abilities now. As they snap their fingers, the arrow just shot detonates into a dark explosion of magic.
* BadBoss: The Garlean commanders see their soldiers as disposable, and both Nero and Livia shoot their own troops dead at certain points in the story. The game explains that this is because the Garlean footsoldiers are conscripted from the most recently conquered nation to stem rebellion, so anything less than blind loyalty may be seen as a sign of dissension.
* BaitTheDog: Teledji Adeledji is presented in 2.2 as the one sympathetic member of Ul'dah's Syndicate, voting in favor of accepting the Doman refugees into the city and paying for their transportation to Revenant's Toll from his own pocket when that fails. [[spoiler:Then 2.3 shows that he merely wished to exploit them to further his own ambitions, and he's actually a heartless schemer who will gladly jeopardize the stability of the Eorzean Alliance and put untold lives at risk in order to get his hands on Omega, an Allagan superweapon whose power eclipses that of the Ultima Weapon.]]
* BalefulPolymorph:
** The Toad status during the fight against Gilgamesh, which makes you unable to do anything but run away from the chickens wanting to peck you to death. There's also the Fire Toad effect when fighting Amon and it has the same effect as the normal Toad effect, but you're a bit bigger, colored red, and can breathe fire to melt the ice cages that imprisons a party member.
** The 2014 All Saints Wake event has you being transformed into a monster (bat, imp, demon, floating bat eye, and spirit), Minfilia, or one of the 3 city state leaders. The transformation is just an illusion that can be removed at will, though while transformed, you can't interact with [=NPCs=] not related to the event and you can't use any of your abilities. You can still do emotes while transformed as another person and yes, you can make the illusion of the city state leaders and Minfilia do the Manderville dance.
** The fight against Ultros turns players into imps. This works against him (as do most things Ultros does) as it's part of the mechanic that lets you avoid a OneHitKill.
** Fighting the last boss at the hard version of the Sunken Temple of Qarn has the mummy status that damages you over time and getting a stack of 4 transforms you into a mummy where you're forced to run across the room and any party member touching you will get a stack.
* BarrierWarrior: A popular setup for tanks in Legacy was to make use of Thaumaturge's Punishing Barbs and Stygian Spikes with Conjurer's Shock Spikes, which effectively deals equal damage as taken, restores MP for each hit taken, as well as deal lightning damage and stun the enemy respectively.
** With A Realm Reborn, Thaumaturges and Black Mages can still raise their own defense with Manawall and Manaward to ignore damage temporarily from Physical and Magical attacks respectively. They also have Apocatastasis which they can use on another party member to increase their Magic Resistance by 20% for a short time.
** Also in ARR, the Scholar job is this. Aside from the Arcanist "Eye for an Eye" ability which reduces the attack power of enemies who strike a buffed party member, they also have a single target, and Area of Effect Healing spells which also buff party members with a shield equal to the amount healed. They also have Sacred Soil, which raises a large barrier, on the battlefield, protecting all party members inside of it with a damage received reduction
* BattleThemeMusic: Where to even begin. There are six regular battle themes, one for each major area and one for dungeons. Then, there are at least three different boss battle themes, four different guildleve themes and the behest theme, not to mention the instanced dungeon theme, beast tribe stronghold theme, a different theme for each Primal battle, and special themes for certain quests such as the lunar transmitter fight or the final job quest.
* BeachEpisode: The Firefall Faire event rewarded the players with swimsuits and special wallpapers with their characters posing with their new gear. This news was announced with screenshots of female [[http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/86/97/949_1.jpg Hyur and Miqo'te]], and a [[http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/86/97/949_0.jpg Roegadyn]], sporting the new outfits on the beach.
* BeefGate: A few examples. Although advanced players with lots of MMO experience will barely feel some of these
** ''The Sunken Temple of Quarn'' serves as the players first introduction to the real beef of the dungeon systems and raidboss mechanics, you can still be carried through the dungeon, but you WILL get hell about it from your party mates.
** ''The World of Darkness'' raid requires a certain knowledge of the raid mechanics to avoid wiping completely, another instance where you can easily feel yourself being carried in such a way it tries to spur you to learn your class.
** ''The Steps of Faith'' is currently a HUGE wake up call for a lot of non-raiding players. It is a required fight in the main storyline and demands both mechanical knowledge and coordination. Endgame raiding groups can still clear this easily, but it is difficult to be carried through the fight. Arguably it is Square Enix's attempt to show the casual players where most of the true end game content lies skill wise.
* BeehiveBarrier: The effects for the a lot of the defensive spells/abilities such as Protect feature a tessellating hexagonal motif.
* {{BFS}}: For a class that uses one handed swords, Gladiators and Paladins like to use some rather large bladed ones, such as their relic Curtana.
** Odin of course brings Zantetsuken, which players can get a version of their own by earning Odin's Mantle. The blade appears in a flash of light whenever drawn, and is about as long as the player character is tall.
** Dullahan (haunted armors) and Magitek Colossus type enemies carry enormous swords. In the Colossus case, they're basic attacks are cleave attacks which hit whoever is standing right in front of them.
** Dark Knights in ''Heavensward'' will use these types of swords as their primary weapon, with said swords being at least as tall as the person wielding them if not slightly bigger.
* BigBoosHaunt: Haukke Manor.
* BigDamnHeroes: Can be invoked by you or any other player when a battle seems to be lost, only for someone else to come in and save everyone.
** Also invoked at the very end of the main story. [[spoiler: The magitek armor that you converted to your side comes rushing in to aid you in escaping the impending explosion after you beat the FinalBoss.]]
* BirdRun: Ninjas do this while their weapons are unsheathed. Most do the "arms swept back" variant, while Lalafells do a flat-out arms-extended version.
* {{Bishounen}}/{{Bishoujo}}: Every Elezen, almost every Miqo'te, a good number of Hyur, certain Lalafell and practically the ''point'' of Au Ra ladies. Of course you can make your character one as well.
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Gets completely ''bonkers'' with the Au Ra. Most of the races of Eorzea don't feature that much difference between the sexes save for maybe a bit of difference between male and female Roegadyn, but the Au Ra run with this horse: the men are ''fully half-again'' as tall as the women and have well over ''twice'' as much body mass, as well as far more prominent facial scales and much more imposing horns. Even their ''animations'' are wildly different, with the men being very aggressive in their body language and the women being far more demure and delicate. While the men are clearly draconic, the women could very easily be mistaken for midlander Hyur, if not for their (much smaller) tails. (This is a deliberate design decision as the men and women are meant to appeal to different tastes, but it can still be a little mind-boggling when you first see it.)
* BlackAndGrayMorality: The Monetarist faction of the Syndicate, one of Ul'dah's chief political groups, especially during the ''Legacy'' story line. To them, ''everything'' was about profits or costs, even whether to form an alliance with Limsa Lominsa and Gridania prior to the fall of Dalamud. At least one member flat out voiced it would be better if they actually bribed or allied with the Garleans as a possible expansions of trades would open up. Additionally, one quest, secretly given by Raubahn through an trusted Immortal Flame member, tasked the player with stopping a Syndicate member's plan to release dangerous animals into Little Ala Mhigo's refugee camp, as a sort of underground gladiatorial battle for the amusement of corrupt betters.
** Events of "A Realm Awoken" show that the reason why there was no Teleport Aetheryte built at the Vesper Bay base of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn was specifically because the Scions refused to become their lackeys, hoping to put a financial squeeze on the Scions. And while "Into the Maelstrom" shows that the Syndicate does have some viable concerns, profit is still a key factor to them. [[spoiler: Worse yet, a fair number of them are trying to overthrow the reasonable and kind Sultana, and have already bribed and corrupted significant portions of the Paladin order sworn to defend her, and trying to assassinate the ones who won't be bribed.]]
** 2.3's "Defenders of Eorzea" reveals that the one Syndicate member who supported letting the Domans stay in Ul'dah [[spoiler:planned on using them and the refugees from the wars with the Garleans to stir up riots between them and Ul'Dah, to get a bill through that would let him claim large portions of the Carteneau Flats. Why? Because [[OhCrap Omega Weapon]] is there, and he wants it, as it's rumored to be stronger than even Bahamut! And because he's using various loopholes, despite committing blatant treason, he can't be arrested for it.]]
** 2.5 Part 2, shows that with probably the sole exception of Godbert Manderville (who is seen using his money towards good causes, such as paying for the gifts as part of Eorzea's Christmas Expy, the Starlight Festival, and building the Gold Saucer to create jobs and housing for refugees and the poor). The rest of the syndicate has absolutely zero qualms of seizing power by any means necessary and takes a happy leap into the abyss. [[spoiler: Poisoning the Sultana, framing the Scions and Warrior of Light for her death, seeking to split the Eorzean alliance, killing innocents, and forcing the survivors of the Scions, and adventurers to flee for Ishgard is all just business for power and fortune to them.]]
* BlackComedy: {{Lampshading}} the endlessly-repeating nature of [=FATEs=], one quest-style FATE in the Central Shroud involves a woman whose boyfriends have been eaten by Lindwurms on the way back from fishing so many times that she can't actually remember their individual names anymore.
* BlackMage: The Thaumaturge's advanced job. Gives access to some rad-tastic spells (including [[SphereOfDestruction Flare]]) and considered among the best class in terms of pure damage output. You can also get their iconic ''Final Fantasy'' outfit, which is pitch black with only some purple decs here and there and hides the whole body, save for the right eye (the left is hidden by an EyepatchOfPower).
* BlahBlahBlah: The Monk job unlock quest has the character forced to put up with an arrogant historian who has hired the PC to replace his monk bodyguard [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere probably left for the same reason]], and half of the historian's unwanted dissertation is replaced with <blah blah>.
* BodyHorror: In Sastasha hard mode, the pirates inside have been horribly mutated. The standard goons have had their heads turned into jellyfish and [[ICannotSelfTerminate some beg you to kill them]]. The consorts have been mutated into naga, and Captain Madison has been mutated into a ten-foot tall Cthulhu-esque squid-man. At the very end of the quest, an NPC states that this is the logical conclusion of aether infusion, and in their case, it was most likely Leviathan [[YouHaveFailedMe punishing them for failing to hold Sastasha the first time.]] Naturally, the revelation that something like this can happen disturbs everyone involved. (Everyone previously thought that level of aether exposure was akin to radiation poisoning in the real world - it'd simply kill you outright after making you violently ill.)
* BoobyTrap: Some dungeons have traps that will sic monsters on you. Treasure chests that you find outside of dungeons via treasure maps will also unleash monsters on you the moment you interact with the box.
* BookEnds: The very first song a player hears, ''Answers'', plays during Bahamut's escape from Dalamud and the lyrics speak of the chaos and tragedy his release and attack creates over Eorzea. [[spoiler: The final theme that plays for the battle with Bahamut Prime in the Final Coil uses the same song. And given what you've learned of Bahamut's torture at the hands of the Allagans, [[TragicMonster the lyrics to it now fit him and dragonkind better.]]]]
** The 2.0 storyline [[OldSaveBonus (For new players at least)]] opened with the player entering their chosen starting city on a chocobo-drawn carriage. The finale in patch 2.55 ends with them leaving Ul'dah via chocobo carriage, [[spoiler: fleeing to Ishgard to seek asylum after being set up by the monetarists, framed for murder, and the [[BolivianArmyEnding scions having held off your retreat.]]]]
* BonusBoss: The "Extreme" version of the primals which only exist to challenge players at the end game and has zero impact on the storyline. Defeating the extreme primals nets you some nifty accessories and possibly a rare color swapped version of the Unicorn mount.
** Hard Mode [[spoiler: Ultima Weapon]] is similar, and is explicitly non-canon.
* BonusDungeon: The Binding Coil of Bahamut (as well as its sequels, the Second Coil and Final Coil) in ''A Realm Reborn'', which offers just a small bit of information regarding the story from 1.0 and ties up any loose ends from it while having little impact on the main story.[[note]]Well, [[spoiler:until the 2.4 and 2.5 main story at least, where some of the revelations in Final Coil begin to tie in obliquely to the Dravanians and helps explain why dragons take such a dim view of humanity, likely helping to set up some of Heavensward's conflicts.]][[/note]] Each segment of the dungeon is broken up into "turns" (5 total) and completing a turn nets you rare gear and various tomes. Unlike other dungeons, your progression in the Coil is saved so you and your group can resume at a later date, though each new week has all progress reset. Patch 2.2 removed the weekly lockout for the Binding Coil and allowed players to start at any of the turns, Patch 2.4 did the same for the Second Coil, and Patch 2.55 did the same for the Final Coil.
* BonusFeatureFailure: The Atma relic weapons are statistically the exact same as the Zenith relic before it, only with the glow removed and the textures getting new colors. Considering that the items needed to make an Atma weapon only come from RandomDrops, Atma weapons are underwhelming. It isn't until you go to the higher tiers for your relic that the weapon will actually improve. You can choose to ignore the relic weapons entirely and go for suitable alternatives.
* BoringButPractical: The Conjurer's Cure spells. When playing as the healer in the party, 95% of your actions will be nothing but spamming Cure spells on your party. However, constant healing is what will keep everyone alive.
** That said, by the endgame White Mages have enough individual healing spells to make things a bit more fun. But then going right back to this trope, most damage you'll do soloing as a White Mage will come from spamming [[HolyHandGrenade Holy]] ''constantly'', which does excellent damage in inclusion to being [=AoE=] and stunning the targets that are hit, which can serve as a form of damage mitigation in itself.
* BossArenaIdiocy:
** Many examples. But the most glaring one is the All-Seeing Eye, the first boss of Dzemael Darkhold. He would be impossible to beat if he picked a room that wouldn't conveniently had crystals all around that take away his invincibility.
** Garuda, meanwhile, can potentially {{invert|ed Trope}} this into ''Player'' Arena Idiocy - there's a set of stone pillars that you need to duck behind to avoid getting one-shotted by her powerful Mistral Song attack, but the pillars will take damage and eventually be destroyed. If she's tanked too close to the pillars, her area-of-effect attacks will hit and destroy said pillars, leaving you no cover. The pillars simply being present on the battlefield also weakens Garuda's special attack, Aerial Blast.
* BossBonanza: It's a Final Fantasy title, so it's to be expected after all.
** In ''The Praetorium'', which concludes the first part of the story about the Garlean Empire, you will face a ton of bosses. You will start with a ''Mark II Magitek Colossus'' halfway in the dungeon. Nothing too alarming, it's an easy boss. However, once you reach [[spoiler:Nero]], prepare yourself, because from then on it's solely boss fights one after the other, and, including [[spoiler:Nero]], you will have to face no less than [[spoiler:5]] freakin' bosses: [[spoiler:Nero, Gaius, Ultima Arma Part 1, Ultima Arma Part 2, and [[PostFinalBoss Lahabrea]]]].
** ''Labyrinth of the Ancients'', is this as a whole. It's divided into 4 areas, each with 2 to 4 fights occurring in sealed arenas, with the fight at the end of each area ending in a boss fight with different fight mechanics to them.
* BottomlessMagazines: Eorzean technology, limits them primarily to the classic iron ball shooting cannons (with Ishgard using specialized versions that mount 4 barrels, and another, high powered one that launches huge metal lances at dragons), and twin barreled musket pistols. Yet, aside from a very short recast time (less than 3 seconds) on the quad cannons when they're used, not a single person is ever seen reloading these guns. The Garleans, have entered what seems to be pre-modern Gun tech (Revolvers primarily) which is a bit more justifiable, but even they seem to not be constrained and shoot way more rounds than the typical revolver can hold. The one person who has ever averted this, was Gaius with his arm grenade launcher/cannon, during a cut scene in 1.0, and that was only because it was a signal flare round to a nearby aerial gunship to fire an explosive round at Circle of Knowing that were fighting him.
** Back in 1.0, anyone using ranged physical weapons (Gladiators Throwing daggers, Marauders throwing axes, Lancers javelins, Pugilists chakrams, and arrows for Archer) had to buy stacks of ammo, much like in Final Fantasy XI. However, with 2.0, Yoshi and the team felt this was unfair (especially to Archers) since it made some classes much more expensive to play than others. In response, among the changes from Legacy to A Realm Reborn, all ammo was removed from the game, giving Archer's Bottomless Quivers that come automatically with their bows, and the melee classes had their ranged throwing attack turned into a high TP cost attacks where they throw a weapon or shield at the enemy, before quickly returning to them with no negative effects (except Pugilists which have no throwing attack).
* BottomlessPit: The fight against Titan has your party standing on a pillar whose walls are quickly destroyed part way in the fight. Get knocked off the edge and it's an instant KO for you with no way for your party to revive you. The fight against the Demon Wall also has bottomless pits on the sides.
* BraggingRightsReward: Zig zags. Many rewards you get for earning certain achievements are purely for show and are not suitable for use in battle. You can show them off while remaining battle-ready by using glamours, though. The rare loot dropped by currently endgame content is also effectively bragging rights only until the next major content patch rolls around, giving the powerful gear some use.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Averted. Head producer Yoshida stated that he has no intention of allowing players to buy items that makes the game easier for themselves and any items that Square does sell will purely be for fashion.
** It's ''mostly'' averted, however there is one exception in the ability to buy additional Retainers, NPCs that have 200 storage spaces, are used to put items up on the market boards to sell, and can be leveled to run 'Ventures' where they bring back things ranging from crafting materials (both common and rare) to rare minions, and several other desirable items. It's a subtle boost to your capabilities in that you can carry more, sell more, and get more back via Ventures, but ultimately not as big a deal as it could be.
* BritishAccents: Most voiced characters sound at least ''vaguely'' British.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Most if not ''all'' of the guildmasters for the Disciplines of the Hand. Severian (alchemy) and Beatin (carpentry) are probably the most notable in this regard.
* ButThouMust: When you reach the end of the Zodiac quest, you're told that there's only a 1.4% chance [[note]] Which is a total lie since it's the developers trolling you and the success rate is 100%[[/note]] that melding the relic with the materials you gathered will actually work and you'll lose the relic if it goes bad. You have the option to continue or to back out, but saying no will have Gerolt call you a spineless wimp for backing out and he has your relic worked on anyway.
* BystanderSyndrome: The entire nation of Ishgard has consistently refused to help the Eorzean Alliance when they've needed them the most. When Dalamud was threatening to fall, Ishgard stood by and did nothing. In the aftermath of the Calamity, the Empire picked up the pieces and threatened Eorzea once more; and once again, Ishgard ignored the Alliance's pleas for help. In patch 2.4, it's revealed that the reason Ishgard will not aid the other city-states is because A) they can't spare any soldiers since they're too busy fending off dragons, and B) as far as they're concerned, as long as ''they're'' not attacked whatever happens beyond their borders is not their problem (which explains why they allow the Ixal to roam free since it's Gridania that they threaten, not Ishgard). It's only when they get the news that Shiva was summoned that the higher ups begin to reconsider their stance.
* CallBack: Dozens. Of note is a remix of the battle theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' used in two different quests. It's also used for battles against Elite Marks from the Hunt, and miscellaneous battles held under silly circumstances, (in example, almost every non-Duty Finder encounter during the [[ComicRelief Hildibrand]] side quests.
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** As did [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Vana'diel]] before it, Eorzea measures things in ilms, fulms, yalms, and malms, which seem to be equivalent to inches, feet, yards, and miles, respectively. This is also done with weight, as in "An onze of prevention is worth a ponze of cure."
** Lightning is referred to as "Levin" (An archaic word for lightning), while Thunder and Electricity keep their normal wording. This is notable because it changes [[ShockAndAwe Ramuh's]] title to "The Lord of Levin", which may confuse people at first, and lightning storm weather effects are referred to in the in-game coding as "Levinstorm".
** Each of the orders of animals are referred to as something ending with "kin". You have Beastkin (mammals) Scalekin (reptiles) Cloudkin (birds) Wavekin ( Anything from the water) Vilekin (Insects) as well as Seedkin (living plants like Treants or Morbols).
* CallASmeerpARabbit: In addition to various monster examples: all the five playable races, not just the Hyur, but the Elezen, Miqo'te, Rogaedyn and Lalafell as well, are called "human" in the game's earlier publicity[[note]]that is, in Japanese they are collectively called 人間, ''ningen'', which is a broad term for "human" but is sometimes applied to "sentient bipeds" generally in fantasy literature especially, and the early publicity reflected this[[/note]]. However, since launch, the convention seems to have become 'the spoken' or 'sentients' instead.
* CameBackWrong: Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) has [[spoiler: Edda using dark magics on the head of her fiance to bring him back to life, only for him to come back as a monster. Edda doesn't mind it at all due to her crossing the DespairEventHorizon]].
* CameraLockOn: You can have the camera focus on a specific target or player instead of yourself, for easier tracking.
* CameraScrew: Especially if you're playing on console, the camera in Leviathan Extreme is easily mistaken for a Sahagin sympathizer. Leviathan's dives and bodyslams onto the arena (which are effectively instadeath/permadeath mechanics in the second half of the fight) are telegraphed for dodging by a plume of water signaling where he'll charge from. However, the camera doesn't pan back far enough to show every possible position, so you have to attempt to locate and then dodge the plume while wildly spinning the camera as fast as you can. Eventually a DPS check and ground based [=AoEs=] during these dives and slams are added to make this more... "fun."
** For a while, boss fights inside dungeons would have nasty cases of camera screw when the barrier blocking your escape got in the way of the camera since it was treated as a solid wall. This made some fights more difficult than it should have if the fights required you to take the battle near the barrier. A patch rectified the problem by allowing the camera to pass through the barrier.
* {{Cap}}: All class levels are capped to level 50 and soldiery/poetics tomes are capped to 2000, though there's a double cap on the poetics tomes where players can only earn a maximum of 450 tomes a week; this prevents players from obtaining the endgame gear too easily.
** The Labyrinth of the Ancients, the first raid involving the Crystal Tower in Mor Dhona had a cap on treasure you gain. You can win a loot roll for a piece of armor once per week. After that, you had to wait until next Tuesday to roll for another piece of loot. Patch 2.2 removed the restriction, allowing people to roll for everything without waiting. Patch 2.3 however reimplemented it with the next raid of the Crystal Tower, Syrcus Tower, and 2.4 removed that restriction. With patch 2.5, the lockout has once again been implemented for the newest and final installment of Crystal Tower, the World of Darkness.
* CatGirl: The Miqo'te race. Think Mithra from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', minus the characteristic noses (though they can be added during character creation), with more slender ears and tail variation, and a different culture.
** Cat Boys were added in A Realm Reborn due to fan outcry for Male Miqo'te and Female Highlanders and Roegadyn.
* CatNinja: A Miqo'te with the 'ninja' job class is literally this.
* CausticCritic: Some of the Discipline of the Hand guildmasters. Geva (Leatherworking) and Gigi (Goldsmithing) in particular.
* ChainmailBikini: While averted with almost all gear in the game, the Coliseum equipment for mage and melee classes definitely fit into this trope.
** It's worth noting that examples of this trope apply equally to both men and women; if it looks like a ChainmailBikini on a female character, it'll look like that on a male character.
* ChekhovsGun: The finale of the Hildibrand story has an absolutely ''epic'' one. [[spoiler: You remember those Zombies you found Hildibrand teaching the finer points of being gentlemen? Upon hearing that their "overlord" was at risk of dying for good, they go and help him stop the phantom thief's plot to start a ZombieApocalypse by reminding the other mindless thralls of their benevolent leader. Ellie's reaction when she sees the zombies closing in on your party doing Hildibrand's signature pose is to scream and fall over.]]
** The main story has a big one in regards to Ishgard. Around the 2.0 story line, you're told that Ishgard is completely closed off to outsiders and they refuse to let anyone visit them. [[spoiler: By 2.55 you're branded as a fugitive in Ul'dah due to you being set up as a "murder" to Nanamo and the other city-states won't let you seek refuge with them. Alphinaud then realizes he can use Ishgard's xenophobia to his and the player's advantage by requesting asylum, knowing that Ishgard owes them after they had gotten help dealing with Shiva and the dragon horde.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: The merchant in your transport, the man you ''always'' first talk to after making a character in ''ARR'', comes back in a big way. [[spoiler:He helps get you away from Ul'dah after being framed for the assassination of Sultana Nanamo, literally THE ENTIRE GAME from his first appearance. It's SUCH a big callback that [[SuddenlyVoiced he has a voice actor]] during it.]]
* CherryBlossoms: Appeared around the cities as part of the [[http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=f767124daabe5125df3a06968ccc12d93af54878 'Little Ladies' Day']] celebrations, presumably playing off the upcoming [[JapaneseHolidays Girl's Day]] festivities in Japan.
*** They are actually Peach Blossoms, but the visual effect is pretty much the same.
** The Lancer Class' attack [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9ajGiHoO-Y 'Chaos Thrust']] has those pink petals erupting everywhere as you flail that spear.
** The Pugilist Class skill 'Fists of Wind' has a swirl of pink petals when you activate it.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler: King Moggle Mog and Shiva are summoned as primals, but they technically are not classified as primals since they never existed as primals previously. Mog and Shiva's existence came about because, as Yda had put it, their subjects prayed and believed in them a lot until they became real. Shiva is a notable case since, unlike Mog existing from a legend instead of being a real figure, she ''was'' a living person many years ago, but she returns as a primal due to Iceheart fully believing that Shiva siding with the dragons was the right choice and envisioned her as such.]]
** Also comes up in the Manderville storyline as [[spoiler: [[UpToEleven Gilgamesh ends up accidently summoning his old friend Enkidu]] in primal form by merely wishing to see him again near a couple dozen cases of crystals.]]
* ClassAndLevelSystem: Of the VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics "one character can play whatever class they want at any time" variety, with aspects of a PointBuild system. At the start of Legacy's service, it featured a "physical level" that determined extra stat points and whatnot, on top of each individual class level - this was later disposed of in favor of basing everything off of each individual class.
* CombinationAttack: How a Limit Break works. Every party member's actions build up the party's Limit Gauge. When a Limit Break activates, the other party members will raise their arms up as though freely giving some of their power, while the initiating member channels the combined energy to use the Limit Break. Additionally, The Melee DPS, and Magic DPS limit breaks have their damage calculated by the entire party's attributes and gear.
** [[spoiler: During the ending when Lahabrea is defeated he and the player are pulled into the crystal realm where Hydaelyn brings the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the leaders of Eorzea together. Super charged by the crystal's light they all strike Lahabrea all at once to finish him and free Thancred. It's the one moment in the entire story where Lahabrea goes {{oh crap}}.]]
---> [[spoiler: '''Lahabrea''': *After being forcibly expelled from Thancred's body by the Player's Weapon of Light attack* "[[BigWhat What?!]]"*looks up,and mouth opens in fear as he sees Hydaelyn's crystal form, the Player, Scions, and Leaders of Eorzea glowing with aura's of pure light. They shout a battle cry and charge at him together*. "The Light! It binds them! They are too many!"]]
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In the lead-in to the Kobold beast tribe quests, despite the extremely insulting tone of a captured kobold's description of the 789th, the Red Swallows assume he's describing them as the "worst" as in "most dangerous." As quickly becomes clear when you encounter them, if you didn't pick up on it earlier, he meant "worst" as in "least good" -- incompetent, poorly-equipped, lazy, cowardly, etc.
* CommLinks: Linkpearls are used just like in FFXI, you also stay in contact with NPC organisations with whom your character is signed linkpearls ones given you by their representatives.
* CompleteTheQuoteTitle:
** There's a quest about halfway through the main storyline titled "All Good Things", referencing the saying "All good things must come to an end." Having just triumphed over Titan, you return to the Scions' safehouse to report in person. [[spoiler: And you find the aftermath of a brutal Garlean attack, with only one survivor who hangs on just long enough to tell you what happened and where to go. Worse, the Garleans were there specifically looking for you]].
** The last quest of the 2.5 storyline (and, by extension, of ''A Realm Reborn'') is titled "Before the Dawn". Given [[WhamEpisode all the horrible things]] that have happened by the time you get there, it's easily the DarkestHour of the story.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Triple Triad returns from FinalFantasyVIII and you can duel NPCs in the world to win cards. Some NPCs will leave you screaming in rage as they blatantly cheat. The NPC uses the Random rule? Enjoy having only one decent card and everything else is 1-star rarity while the NPC has almost a full hand of 2-star or higher. The NPC uses Random and Order? Watch as you're forced to play your best card first OR you don't get the first move and your best card never gets played because it's last in your hand. When the rule for hiding cards is in effect, it only seems to affect you because the NPCs know what cards you have, but you can't see theirs.
** Perhaps the worst part is that the computer ''routinely'' uses illegal decks - players can only have one "rare" (e.g. a named character) card in their hand. Higher level computer opponents will routinely use four or five such cards. (Many of these opponents also have gimmick rules specifically intended to make them beatable, but it's still frustrating that it's ''impossible'' to match them power-for-power.)
* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: When you feed your chocobo snacks in order to get its feathers to change colors, the game will say "X's plumage will change in Y hours." This is only a half truth. What the game doesn't tell you is that you have to keep feeding your chocobo until you get the message "X is growing new feathers!" and only then will its feathers change colors in the stated time frame. A patch changed the plumage message to say that there's a ''possibility'' that your chocobo's feathers will change in X hours, but once again, it's still a half truth.
** The NPC that is in charge of the relic quest lines post Zenith also plays the trope straight for the Atma portion. After [[RandomDrop beating the RNG and acquiring 12 Atmas]], taking them to the NPC has him infuse your relic weapon with them, making it an Atma weapon. Said NPC boasts about your relic having newfound strength, yet an Atma relic ''gains no stat boosts'' at all, making it just a Zenith relic with a different coat of paint.
** The end of the Zodiac questline is a rare ''benevolent'' version of the trope. After getting the required materials, you are told several times that you only have a 1.4% chance of successfully converting your relic weapon to a Zodiac weapon and you will lose your weapon completely if the process fails. The success rate will always be 100% and the drama about the low chance is [[TrollingCreator the developers making fun of how ridiculous the steps for the relic had gotten]].
* ContinuingIsPainful: Zig zagged. Being knocked out leaves you with two options: return to your home point/start of the dungeon or wait for another player to revive you. Being revived lowers all your battle related stats by 15% (Weakness) for a bit but gets you right back into the action. Returning to your home point or the dungeon's entrance does not leave you with any penalties other than the damage to your equipment and possibly wasted time, but you must travel back to where you were before you were defeated. In the case of dungeons, returning to start while your party is fighting a boss will leave you locked out of the boss room until the fight is finished, whether by death of the boss or the rest of the party in the room being defeated. However, if you're knocked out again while under the Weakness status, getting revived again puts you under the Brink of Death status, which lowers your battle stats by a whopping 30%.
** Played straight with dungeons and trials where a total party wipe has the boss fully recover its HP.
* CosmeticAward: Minions, small cute (or Ugly Cute) critters that follow your character around and do absolutely nothing. Some of them can be bought from shops, others are rewards from quests and FATE events.
** You can also earn pieces of gear for earning certain achievements, but they have terrible stat boosts and are more for looking pretty/showing off than to be used in combat.
* {{Cosplay}}: Iconic outfits from past games are common rewards. The Lightning Strikes even rewarded players with Lightning's and Snow's outfits, the Labyrinth of the Ancients rewards tanks with the [[FinalFantasy1 Warror]] [[DissidiaFinalFantasy of Light's]] armor, Setzer's gear can be obtained from the Gold Saucer, and Cloud's ''Advent Children'' outfit is a veteran reward.
* CostumePorn: Armor that's unique and/or high leveled, such as the AF armor or the stuff gotten in dungeons like Copperbell, Brayflox and the Crystal Tower tends to be really pretty and detailed to the stitch.
* CounterAttack: Certain special attacks only become briefly usable immediately after evading or blocking an attack, such as the Pugilist's Haymaker or the Gladiator's Shield Swipe. Certain abilities can be used to temporarily increase your chances to evade/block, which in turn makes these attacks temporarily more available.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: One of the storyline quests is specifically named this. [[LampshadeHanging It's immediately obvious as to why.]]
--> Maerwynn: So, all you need to do is search for the golem, slay it, claim its heart, and use it to bait the spriggan. Oh, and do remember to rub the soulstone against a sufficiently large concentration of amber, say, Amberscale Rock in the Central Shroud. Short of petitioning a mage versed in golem magicks, that is the only way I know to dispel the enchantments woven into a true heart. [[BlankStare Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?]] I had relations with a thaumaturge once, if you must know.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Most of Eorzea is a WorldHalfFull as it heals from the Calamity, but at first glance the Twelveswood, with its few beastmen issues (including one of the only friendly tribes), plentiful resources, and low crime is far better off than the rampant corruption of Ul'dah and the bloodthirsty pirates of Limsa Lominsa. But it turns out that it's that way because the Gridanians have to be at the beck and call of The Elementals, {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s who work on a mentality [[BlueAndOrangeMorality completely incomprehensible to normal people]]. In return for free access to the Twelveswood's bounty, the Gridanians have to enforce very harsh laws (poaching is a death sentence, regardless of the circumstances one is driven to it for). You also learn that the conjurers have to petition to heal civilians, as one of the random NPC chatter around Gridania implies they're going to let a twelve year old die of sickness because the elementals said so, and you see a similar situation with the Ala Mhigan refugees during the main quest. There's also far more racism towards the Duskwight Elezen than in most other regions of Eorzea, and the Elementals only just "tolerate" mortals, it's implied that their leader and the "brain" of [[GeniusLoci the twelveswood]], known simply as the Great One, is completely intolerant of the spoken and has to be soothed back to sleep with conjury to prevent him from sending the wildlife to completely raze Gridanian civilization.
* CriticalHit: Happens naturally through random chance, though there's a stat that is dedicated to increasing odds of it happening. Damage that is a critical hit will have a distinctive *PING!* sound effect and a "!" appears next to the damage number. There's also a critical hit for ''healing''.
* {{Crossover}}: A recurring theme is for characters from other games to "invade" in some way for monthly events.
** Prominently featured around the game's launch was "[[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII Lightning Strikes]]", promoting the latest entry in the ''XIII'' series by having Lightning cameo, and giving players a set of her (or Snow's, for males) gear.
** Next came Burgeoning Dread and Breaking Brick Mountains, the first involved everyone's favorite pint-sized sociopath, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Professor Shantotto]]. The second involves fighting Brick Golems from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX''.
** The story continued in 2.1 has Minfillia ask [[spoiler: "Where are you, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Krile]]?]]" To put it lightly, the revelation of that character's involvement (if it is indeed the same character) caused the epileptic trees about the nature of Eorzea in the scheme of the Final Fantasy multiverse to go nuclear.
** While the Crystal Tower is a big reference to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Final Fantasy III]], almost all the bosses are alternate versions that fit into Final Fantasy XIV's lore. The exception seems to be Cloud of Darkness, whose status as an [[EldritchAbomination undying entity]] that lives within [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds the void between the Final Fantasy universes]] means that it's likely, though unconfirmed, that this is the same one that appeared in Final Fantasy III and [[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy]].
** Not to forget of course, [[RunningGag Gilgamesh]] is back.
** 2.4's Hildibrand quests have [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Ultros]] making an appearance. Apparently the Thaumaturge's Guild accidentally summoned him.
* CutAndPasteEnvironments: Previously, the game had enormous expanses of land that re-used some assets to fill out the space--while all [=MMOs=] do this to some extent, much ado had been made about this game's usage, which sometimes recycled entire topographical features. The dev team listened, and in ''ARR'', all zones have been split into 3-4 smaller zones with far greater variety and landmarks.
* CuteLittleFangs: A trait of the Keepers of the Moon Miqo'te.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Roegadyn aren't monsters, but the men ''are'' big, burly giant-like folk that resemble The Incredible Hulk. The women, by that token, are [[AmazonianBeauty Amazonian Beauties]] that resemble She-Hulk. The Au Ran ladies, meanwhile, are much, ''much'' more obviously this, with the men being nearly as tall as Roegadyn and Elezen, with fierce facial features, but the women are as small and delicate as a Miqo'te. (For the record, Roegadyn and Au Ran men aren't ''ugly'' by any stretch of the imagination, just more "monstrous" in a way.
* CutScene: Surprising for an MMO, this game has a lot of these. This is nothing new to players of FFXI, however, aside from the presence of voice acting in some high quality cutscenes, which will be more prevalent in ''ARR'' (though the game won't be ''fully'' voiced, to keep costs reasonable).
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Generally avoided, but the Futures Perfect quest cutscene is a perfect demonstration of the trope with all kinds of acrobatic moves and non available spells that makes one wish they could actually do half of what's done there.
** The intro trailer for 1.0 was also heavily criticized for featuring player analogues doing all ''sorts'' of things players themselves couldn't hope to do - up to and including a few abilities which were ''meant'' for players at the time the video was made but removed by the time the game went live, such as the "En[element]" line of spells for Conjurer [[note]](this is what the Lalafell does to the CG Midlander's arrow)[[/note]].
* TheCycleOfEmpires: And HOW! The Empires seemingly rise with each Astral Era, and then have their fall marked by an Umbral Era, often started by their very own actions.
** The Allagan Empire rose via technological skills back in the 3rd Astral Era that surpasses even modern Eorzea and even the Garlean Empire. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, after building the Solar Energy collecting Crystal Tower, they began to become decadent. In a desperate ploy, their chief technologist, Amon, experimented in Cloning and bringing back the dead to revive Emperor Xande, the first Emperor of the Allagans. It worked, but Xande, having felt the [[DespairEventHorizon pain of death itself]] decided that all of life was fleeting, and thus, it would be better to cast it all into the nothingness of the Void by striking a blood pact with the Cloud of Darkness. A failed experiment involving Dalamud triggered a massive world wide earthquake that buried all of their civilization]]
** The ancient civilization of Amdapor was amazingly skilled at White magic. [[spoiler: However, in their pursuit of ever more powerful magics, they began studying Black Magic and the Void, sparking off the "War of the Magi" that drained the planet much of its aether, and weakened the barriers between Eorzea and the realm of the void. White and Black magic have become largely forbidden ever since.]]
* AbsoluteCleavage: Several outfits that the female Player Character (and a few NPC's) can wear fit this trope. The most notable example is the variations of the [[http://i.imgur.com/rl1mRPP.jpg Bard Classes Artifact Armor]].
** Like the ChainmailBikini trope in the rest of the game, this is mostly [[AvertedTrope averted]], Mage gear is long, flowing robes no matter what gender you are, and tank gear is just as big and bulky.
** Played straight with Scylla and Scylla's armor from the Syrcus Tower dungeon. Which features a long, fur covered robe that exposes a lengthy vertical section of the body, from neck to navel. Averted for the male version.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: It is implied that a scaled beastman in Bronze Lake forces his way to the camp's springs, exposes himself, and does...stuff to himself in front of other bathers. When a Storm Sergeant confronts the troublemaker about it while trying to ban him from the springs, the beastman claims his actions are his "ritual bathing dance". The two characters then fight each other and you can assist the sergeant if you choose to do so since it's a FATE.
** One of the delivery quests has you escorting a Mamool Ja dancer to instruct some of Costa Del Sol's consorts. He starts doing the same "ritual dance" and [[TakeOurWordForIt it cuts to black]]. When the screen comes back into focus, the dancers run away screaming and the nearby guard falls to her knees in horror.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Like all little liars, Lalafell love to litter letters like this:
--> '''Lalafell Female:''' Does your world want for a wealth of wordplay and wit? An abundance of alliteration, assonance aplenty and a soupcon of sibilance to seal the deal? Well, you were warned.
** Also applied liberally to otherwise nameless filler [=NPC=]s (Glowing Goodwife, Mocking Miner, Positively Pungent Pirate, etc.)
* AfterTheEnd: This is sort of the gimmick of ''A Realm Reborn''; it wasn't a particularly ''big'' apocalypse, but it did change the world and you're playing through its aftermath.
** This is also revealed to be the situation, after a fashion, for the ''Amalj'aa'' in patch 2.1; it turns out that there are actually Amalj'aa who have not been tempered by Ifrit. They're such a tiny minority, however, that the race as a whole seems doomed to mindless servitude to Ifrit forever and the best the "Brotherhood of Ash" can hope to accomplish is to try and prevent their fanatical kin from doing too much damage. Reversing the effects of the tempering is impossible, so it has to end in either containment or slaughter. It is also hinted that some of the Amalj'aa aren't tempered and follow their brethren anyway while some have thoughts of deserting for the Brotherhood of Ash because they view them as the stronger side of the war (though they never get to join the group due to one of the Brotherhood members seeing the deserters as people who are too easily swayed by anyone that has the most power and could easily turn against them if the tides of the war tilts).
*** Before patch 2.1, there was hints of some Amalj'aa not following Ifrit's influence or going with their kin's way of worshiping Ifrit. One Amalj'aa spends his time hiding from people because he knows that everyone would mistake him as another Ifrit worshipper and could possibly be killed as a result.
** Note that there's been at least ''six'' of these. The world's state tends to move between the GoldenAge of the Astral Eras, and AfterTheEnd of the Umbral Eras. 1.0 started during the 6th Astral Era, then moved to the seventh Umbral Era after Dalamud. At the conclusion of the 2.0 release stories, the city leaders declare the Umbral Era is over and the 7th Astral Era has began.
* AlienSky:
** In 1.0, Hydaelyn has an unusually bright starfield and had [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV two]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX moons]], although the second is ''very'' small and difficult to see at certain times of night and moonphases. A less common instance of a non-in-your-face AlienSky.
** Near the end of the original version, Dalamud (the smaller moon) grew larger -- and [[BadMoonRising redder]], as part of the final storyline before ''A Realm Reborn''. It turned out ThatsNoMoon, but a massive artificial satellite created by the ancient, far more advanced Allagan Empire during the 3rd Astral Era. One of Garlemald's generals went rogue and poured aetheric energy into it to make it [[ColonyDrop crash down to the earth]].
* AlwaysNight: Northern Thanalan seems to be under an eternal dusk, possibly due to the constant smog that the ceruleum processing plant produces.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Characters with blue and green skintones are a common sight, being a racial trait of the Sea Wolves, Keepers of the Moon and Duskwight. The Heavensward benchmark shows that Au Ra of both of clans are capable of very odd skin tones like fire red, grass green, or grape purple.
* AnAdventurerIsYou: The ARR release puts a rather large emphasis on the roles of the character classes ([[DamagerHealerTank Tank, Healer, and DPS]]).
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: A standard reward for most quests which you'll rely on for better armor if you're not planning to buy from shops or other players. Many of the limited time events also reward you with unique outfits that aren't exactly combat material, but are for showing off instead.
* AntiFrustrationFeature: Failing a solo quest battlefield related to the main story or your class grants you a buff called "The Power of the Echo" if you decide to try again without logging off. The buff increases your maximum HP, healing potency, and attack power for the quest you failed on in order to give you a slightly better edge. Once you complete the quest, the effect goes away. The effect also kicks in for certain quests requiring a party of players and the effects will stack every time the party wipes out so that people aren't tempted to RageQuit.
** Gear repairs from menders won't cost the player any money if they are at level 10 or below, which greatly helps new players get into the game without feeling too frustrated about having to watch their gear durability when they don't have much money.
** It can be a pain for Arcanist branch to keep moving their pets in [=AoE=] heavy fights. Pets have an 80% damage reduction from most forms of [=AoE=] damage. It doesn't protect them from the possible status debuffs the [=AoE=] can possess, but they get the Rouse ability which makes them immune to these effects (in inclusion to increasing damage/healing by a large amount).
** Internet connections aren't always stable. If a player is in a dungeon with a party and they get disconnected, they can jump back in without any progression lost assuming that the party hasn't left the dungeon yet.
* AntiPoopSocking: There are a number of features that attempt to make the game more 'casual friendly' and reduce the ability of 'hardcore' players to outpace those playing more casually or with less time to play. These include:
** @@Guardian's Favor:@@ Points can be spent, upon initiating a quest, to increase Discipline experience income until the objectives are complete. Burns out if used at every possible opportunity over more than a couple of days and has to be allowed to regenerate. This was replaced in patch 1.21 with an inn, where you get an experience boost from resting in a private room.
** @@Teleporting:@@ Instantaneous (for a nominal fee) to any Aetherites a player has previously visited
*** Teleportation between mini-Aetherites in major cities are free and instantaneous.
** @@Sanctuaries:@@ The newest and currently-active system; spending time logged off in a 'sanctuary' zone (such as a private inn room or near Aetherites in camps around the maps) builds up an EXP bonus, indicated on the EXP bar by a shaded section.
* ArtificialStupidity: A lot of class quests would be much easier if the NPC companions you're meant to keep alive would just ''step out of the way'' of enemy attacks the way any sane player would.
* AttractMode: The "End of an Era" cinematic plays if you sit at the title screen for a few minutes.
* BackgroundMusicOverride:
** To emphasize that you're deep within enemy territory, the themes of the Garlean and Beast Tribe strongholds continue playing through battles.
** During the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Lightning]] event, the FATE events she spawns with begin with their normal music, only to be replaced with "Blinded By Light", the battle theme from ''XIII'', once she appears proper.
* BackStab: Attacking monsters from the flanks or behind gives you slight bonuses such as an increased critical hit chance or improved accuracy. Certain attacks automatically deal more damage if used from the correct position, and others may be ineffective if used from the wrong position.
** The Lancer and Pugilist classes (and their Job counterparts Dragoon and Monk) are the only classes in ARR to receive direction-dependent special attacks; however, all classes still receive the same small overall acc/crit boosts to all of their attacks by striking from the flank or behind. As a result of this, tank classes tend to need the highest accuracy stat to consistently strike their targets, due to the fact tanks are usually stuck attacking the front of the target.
** The Rogue Class introduced in patch 2.4 of ARR has two versions of this. ''Trick Attack'' let's a Rogue that is using their ''Hide'' ability, inflicting good damage, and increases the target's Damage Vulnerability for 10 seconds. The other, is ''Assassinate'', which can only be used against enemies below 20% HP, and has the Rogue quickly vanishing, then reappearing on the shoulders of their target before stabbing them in the neck with both daggers, and hopping back down to their starting position. Oddly, their ''Sneak Attack'' ability is more of a ''face stab''.
*** The reason for Sneak Attack being enhanced by using it from the front, is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] by members of the Rogue Guild. According to them any half-decent enemy would expect a rogue to sneak up behind them and stab them in the back. Few however, expects to see a Rogue appear out of no where right in front of them before stabbing them in the face.
* {{Badass}}: Gaius van Baelsar. His first appearance involves him fighting [[spoiler: Yda, Papalymo, Thancred, Y'shtola and the player's Path Companion]] all at the same time. And he doesn't even get hit once, while his enemies have to protect each other and pretty much do their best to avoid turning the battle into a CurbStompBattle.
* BadassFamily: The Mandervilles. Hildibrand's kind of an idiot, but he's MadeOfIron. Godbert's so awesome as to be something short of a PhysicalGod, and even he's ''terrified'' of his wife. The Thaumaturges guild is also run by one, and their storyline heavily involves the one sibling of the seven who isn't badass.
* BadassNormal: The Garleans, for all their technological prowess, are physically incapable of casting magic. For characters like the main Garlean villains, their fighting styles are pure and simple strength and technique as well as special gun-weapons. Even when you see Garlean soldier harnessing what appears to be magic, it's coming from one of two sources: their specialized weapons which veer into MagicFromTechnology, or drafted soldiers ''from'' magic-wielding areas like Othard or Ala Mhigo (which is where the tiny number of Lalafells and Miqo'te in their army come from).
* BadassAdorable: The weapons dropped by Good King Moggle Mog XII have names such as "Murderous Mogfists" or "Malevolent Mogwand", and are some of the strongest weapons that can be acquired prior to earning HM Primal/relic weapons. They also make a [[VerbalTic "kupo"]] sound whenever drawn, and look like [[http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1754/semttulowrq.jpg this]].
** The Mogglesguard themselves aren't exactly far off from this either. Seeing a moogle with a sword, shield, and helmet shout "Defend the king, kupo!" is pretty much the pinnacle of the trope.
** Lalafells in general.
* BadassBeard [[BadassMustache And Mustache]]: The player can give male [=PCs=] facial hair, even if they're a Lalafell.
* BadassFingersnap: With their new abilities in Heavensward, bards do this after casting one of their abilities now. As they snap their fingers, the arrow just shot detonates into a dark explosion of magic.
* BadBoss: The Garlean commanders see their soldiers as disposable, and both Nero and Livia shoot their own troops dead at certain points in the story. The game explains that this is because the Garlean footsoldiers are conscripted from the most recently conquered nation to stem rebellion, so anything less than blind loyalty may be seen as a sign of dissension.
* BaitTheDog: Teledji Adeledji is presented in 2.2 as the one sympathetic member of Ul'dah's Syndicate, voting in favor of accepting the Doman refugees into the city and paying for their transportation to Revenant's Toll from his own pocket when that fails. [[spoiler:Then 2.3 shows that he merely wished to exploit them to further his own ambitions, and he's actually a heartless schemer who will gladly jeopardize the stability of the Eorzean Alliance and put untold lives at risk in order to get his hands on Omega, an Allagan superweapon whose power eclipses that of the Ultima Weapon.]]
* BalefulPolymorph:
** The Toad status during the fight against Gilgamesh, which makes you unable to do anything but run away from the chickens wanting to peck you to death. There's also the Fire Toad effect when fighting Amon and it has the same effect as the normal Toad effect, but you're a bit bigger, colored red, and can breathe fire to melt the ice cages that imprisons a party member.
** The 2014 All Saints Wake event has you being transformed into a monster (bat, imp, demon, floating bat eye, and spirit), Minfilia, or one of the 3 city state leaders. The transformation is just an illusion that can be removed at will, though while transformed, you can't interact with [=NPCs=] not related to the event and you can't use any of your abilities. You can still do emotes while transformed as another person and yes, you can make the illusion of the city state leaders and Minfilia do the Manderville dance.
** The fight against Ultros turns players into imps. This works against him (as do most things Ultros does) as it's part of the mechanic that lets you avoid a OneHitKill.
** Fighting the last boss at the hard version of the Sunken Temple of Qarn has the mummy status that damages you over time and getting a stack of 4 transforms you into a mummy where you're forced to run across the room and any party member touching you will get a stack.
* BarrierWarrior: A popular setup for tanks in Legacy was to make use of Thaumaturge's Punishing Barbs and Stygian Spikes with Conjurer's Shock Spikes, which effectively deals equal damage as taken, restores MP for each hit taken, as well as deal lightning damage and stun the enemy respectively.
** With A Realm Reborn, Thaumaturges and Black Mages can still raise their own defense with Manawall and Manaward to ignore damage temporarily from Physical and Magical attacks respectively. They also have Apocatastasis which they can use on another party member to increase their Magic Resistance by 20% for a short time.
** Also in ARR, the Scholar job is this. Aside from the Arcanist "Eye for an Eye" ability which reduces the attack power of enemies who strike a buffed party member, they also have a single target, and Area of Effect Healing spells which also buff party members with a shield equal to the amount healed. They also have Sacred Soil, which raises a large barrier, on the battlefield, protecting all party members inside of it with a damage received reduction
* BattleThemeMusic: Where to even begin. There are six regular battle themes, one for each major area and one for dungeons. Then, there are at least three different boss battle themes, four different guildleve themes and the behest theme, not to mention the instanced dungeon theme, beast tribe stronghold theme, a different theme for each Primal battle, and special themes for certain quests such as the lunar transmitter fight or the final job quest.
* BeachEpisode: The Firefall Faire event rewarded the players with swimsuits and special wallpapers with their characters posing with their new gear. This news was announced with screenshots of female [[http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/86/97/949_1.jpg Hyur and Miqo'te]], and a [[http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/86/97/949_0.jpg Roegadyn]], sporting the new outfits on the beach.
* BeefGate: A few examples. Although advanced players with lots of MMO experience will barely feel some of these
** ''The Sunken Temple of Quarn'' serves as the players first introduction to the real beef of the dungeon systems and raidboss mechanics, you can still be carried through the dungeon, but you WILL get hell about it from your party mates.
** ''The World of Darkness'' raid requires a certain knowledge of the raid mechanics to avoid wiping completely, another instance where you can easily feel yourself being carried in such a way it tries to spur you to learn your class.
** ''The Steps of Faith'' is currently a HUGE wake up call for a lot of non-raiding players. It is a required fight in the main storyline and demands both mechanical knowledge and coordination. Endgame raiding groups can still clear this easily, but it is difficult to be carried through the fight. Arguably it is Square Enix's attempt to show the casual players where most of the true end game content lies skill wise.
* BeehiveBarrier: The effects for the a lot of the defensive spells/abilities such as Protect feature a tessellating hexagonal motif.
* {{BFS}}: For a class that uses one handed swords, Gladiators and Paladins like to use some rather large bladed ones, such as their relic Curtana.
** Odin of course brings Zantetsuken, which players can get a version of their own by earning Odin's Mantle. The blade appears in a flash of light whenever drawn, and is about as long as the player character is tall.
** Dullahan (haunted armors) and Magitek Colossus type enemies carry enormous swords. In the Colossus case, they're basic attacks are cleave attacks which hit whoever is standing right in front of them.
** Dark Knights in ''Heavensward'' will use these types of swords as their primary weapon, with said swords being at least as tall as the person wielding them if not slightly bigger.
* BigBoosHaunt: Haukke Manor.
* BigDamnHeroes: Can be invoked by you or any other player when a battle seems to be lost, only for someone else to come in and save everyone.
** Also invoked at the very end of the main story. [[spoiler: The magitek armor that you converted to your side comes rushing in to aid you in escaping the impending explosion after you beat the FinalBoss.]]
* BirdRun: Ninjas do this while their weapons are unsheathed. Most do the "arms swept back" variant, while Lalafells do a flat-out arms-extended version.
* {{Bishounen}}/{{Bishoujo}}: Every Elezen, almost every Miqo'te, a good number of Hyur, certain Lalafell and practically the ''point'' of Au Ra ladies. Of course you can make your character one as well.
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Gets completely ''bonkers'' with the Au Ra. Most of the races of Eorzea don't feature that much difference between the sexes save for maybe a bit of difference between male and female Roegadyn, but the Au Ra run with this horse: the men are ''fully half-again'' as tall as the women and have well over ''twice'' as much body mass, as well as far more prominent facial scales and much more imposing horns. Even their ''animations'' are wildly different, with the men being very aggressive in their body language and the women being far more demure and delicate. While the men are clearly draconic, the women could very easily be mistaken for midlander Hyur, if not for their (much smaller) tails. (This is a deliberate design decision as the men and women are meant to appeal to different tastes, but it can still be a little mind-boggling when you first see it.)
* BlackAndGrayMorality: The Monetarist faction of the Syndicate, one of Ul'dah's chief political groups, especially during the ''Legacy'' story line. To them, ''everything'' was about profits or costs, even whether to form an alliance with Limsa Lominsa and Gridania prior to the fall of Dalamud. At least one member flat out voiced it would be better if they actually bribed or allied with the Garleans as a possible expansions of trades would open up. Additionally, one quest, secretly given by Raubahn through an trusted Immortal Flame member, tasked the player with stopping a Syndicate member's plan to release dangerous animals into Little Ala Mhigo's refugee camp, as a sort of underground gladiatorial battle for the amusement of corrupt betters.
** Events of "A Realm Awoken" show that the reason why there was no Teleport Aetheryte built at the Vesper Bay base of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn was specifically because the Scions refused to become their lackeys, hoping to put a financial squeeze on the Scions. And while "Into the Maelstrom" shows that the Syndicate does have some viable concerns, profit is still a key factor to them. [[spoiler: Worse yet, a fair number of them are trying to overthrow the reasonable and kind Sultana, and have already bribed and corrupted significant portions of the Paladin order sworn to defend her, and trying to assassinate the ones who won't be bribed.]]
** 2.3's "Defenders of Eorzea" reveals that the one Syndicate member who supported letting the Domans stay in Ul'dah [[spoiler:planned on using them and the refugees from the wars with the Garleans to stir up riots between them and Ul'Dah, to get a bill through that would let him claim large portions of the Carteneau Flats. Why? Because [[OhCrap Omega Weapon]] is there, and he wants it, as it's rumored to be stronger than even Bahamut! And because he's using various loopholes, despite committing blatant treason, he can't be arrested for it.]]
** 2.5 Part 2, shows that with probably the sole exception of Godbert Manderville (who is seen using his money towards good causes, such as paying for the gifts as part of Eorzea's Christmas Expy, the Starlight Festival, and building the Gold Saucer to create jobs and housing for refugees and the poor). The rest of the syndicate has absolutely zero qualms of seizing power by any means necessary and takes a happy leap into the abyss. [[spoiler: Poisoning the Sultana, framing the Scions and Warrior of Light for her death, seeking to split the Eorzean alliance, killing innocents, and forcing the survivors of the Scions, and adventurers to flee for Ishgard is all just business for power and fortune to them.]]
* BlackComedy: {{Lampshading}} the endlessly-repeating nature of [=FATEs=], one quest-style FATE in the Central Shroud involves a woman whose boyfriends have been eaten by Lindwurms on the way back from fishing so many times that she can't actually remember their individual names anymore.
* BlackMage: The Thaumaturge's advanced job. Gives access to some rad-tastic spells (including [[SphereOfDestruction Flare]]) and considered among the best class in terms of pure damage output. You can also get their iconic ''Final Fantasy'' outfit, which is pitch black with only some purple decs here and there and hides the whole body, save for the right eye (the left is hidden by an EyepatchOfPower).
* BlahBlahBlah: The Monk job unlock quest has the character forced to put up with an arrogant historian who has hired the PC to replace his monk bodyguard [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere probably left for the same reason]], and half of the historian's unwanted dissertation is replaced with <blah blah>.
* BodyHorror: In Sastasha hard mode, the pirates inside have been horribly mutated. The standard goons have had their heads turned into jellyfish and [[ICannotSelfTerminate some beg you to kill them]]. The consorts have been mutated into naga, and Captain Madison has been mutated into a ten-foot tall Cthulhu-esque squid-man. At the very end of the quest, an NPC states that this is the logical conclusion of aether infusion, and in their case, it was most likely Leviathan [[YouHaveFailedMe punishing them for failing to hold Sastasha the first time.]] Naturally, the revelation that something like this can happen disturbs everyone involved. (Everyone previously thought that level of aether exposure was akin to radiation poisoning in the real world - it'd simply kill you outright after making you violently ill.)
* BoobyTrap: Some dungeons have traps that will sic monsters on you. Treasure chests that you find outside of dungeons via treasure maps will also unleash monsters on you the moment you interact with the box.
* BookEnds: The very first song a player hears, ''Answers'', plays during Bahamut's escape from Dalamud and the lyrics speak of the chaos and tragedy his release and attack creates over Eorzea. [[spoiler: The final theme that plays for the battle with Bahamut Prime in the Final Coil uses the same song. And given what you've learned of Bahamut's torture at the hands of the Allagans, [[TragicMonster the lyrics to it now fit him and dragonkind better.]]]]
** The 2.0 storyline [[OldSaveBonus (For new players at least)]] opened with the player entering their chosen starting city on a chocobo-drawn carriage. The finale in patch 2.55 ends with them leaving Ul'dah via chocobo carriage, [[spoiler: fleeing to Ishgard to seek asylum after being set up by the monetarists, framed for murder, and the [[BolivianArmyEnding scions having held off your retreat.]]]]
* BonusBoss: The "Extreme" version of the primals which only exist to challenge players at the end game and has zero impact on the storyline. Defeating the extreme primals nets you some nifty accessories and possibly a rare color swapped version of the Unicorn mount.
** Hard Mode [[spoiler: Ultima Weapon]] is similar, and is explicitly non-canon.
* BonusDungeon: The Binding Coil of Bahamut (as well as its sequels, the Second Coil and Final Coil) in ''A Realm Reborn'', which offers just a small bit of information regarding the story from 1.0 and ties up any loose ends from it while having little impact on the main story.[[note]]Well, [[spoiler:until the 2.4 and 2.5 main story at least, where some of the revelations in Final Coil begin to tie in obliquely to the Dravanians and helps explain why dragons take such a dim view of humanity, likely helping to set up some of Heavensward's conflicts.]][[/note]] Each segment of the dungeon is broken up into "turns" (5 total) and completing a turn nets you rare gear and various tomes. Unlike other dungeons, your progression in the Coil is saved so you and your group can resume at a later date, though each new week has all progress reset. Patch 2.2 removed the weekly lockout for the Binding Coil and allowed players to start at any of the turns, Patch 2.4 did the same for the Second Coil, and Patch 2.55 did the same for the Final Coil.
* BonusFeatureFailure: The Atma relic weapons are statistically the exact same as the Zenith relic before it, only with the glow removed and the textures getting new colors. Considering that the items needed to make an Atma weapon only come from RandomDrops, Atma weapons are underwhelming. It isn't until you go to the higher tiers for your relic that the weapon will actually improve. You can choose to ignore the relic weapons entirely and go for suitable alternatives.
* BoringButPractical: The Conjurer's Cure spells. When playing as the healer in the party, 95% of your actions will be nothing but spamming Cure spells on your party. However, constant healing is what will keep everyone alive.
** That said, by the endgame White Mages have enough individual healing spells to make things a bit more fun. But then going right back to this trope, most damage you'll do soloing as a White Mage will come from spamming [[HolyHandGrenade Holy]] ''constantly'', which does excellent damage in inclusion to being [=AoE=] and stunning the targets that are hit, which can serve as a form of damage mitigation in itself.
* BossArenaIdiocy:
** Many examples. But the most glaring one is the All-Seeing Eye, the first boss of Dzemael Darkhold. He would be impossible to beat if he picked a room that wouldn't conveniently had crystals all around that take away his invincibility.
** Garuda, meanwhile, can potentially {{invert|ed Trope}} this into ''Player'' Arena Idiocy - there's a set of stone pillars that you need to duck behind to avoid getting one-shotted by her powerful Mistral Song attack, but the pillars will take damage and eventually be destroyed. If she's tanked too close to the pillars, her area-of-effect attacks will hit and destroy said pillars, leaving you no cover. The pillars simply being present on the battlefield also weakens Garuda's special attack, Aerial Blast.
* BossBonanza: It's a Final Fantasy title, so it's to be expected after all.
** In ''The Praetorium'', which concludes the first part of the story about the Garlean Empire, you will face a ton of bosses. You will start with a ''Mark II Magitek Colossus'' halfway in the dungeon. Nothing too alarming, it's an easy boss. However, once you reach [[spoiler:Nero]], prepare yourself, because from then on it's solely boss fights one after the other, and, including [[spoiler:Nero]], you will have to face no less than [[spoiler:5]] freakin' bosses: [[spoiler:Nero, Gaius, Ultima Arma Part 1, Ultima Arma Part 2, and [[PostFinalBoss Lahabrea]]]].
** ''Labyrinth of the Ancients'', is this as a whole. It's divided into 4 areas, each with 2 to 4 fights occurring in sealed arenas, with the fight at the end of each area ending in a boss fight with different fight mechanics to them.
* BottomlessMagazines: Eorzean technology, limits them primarily to the classic iron ball shooting cannons (with Ishgard using specialized versions that mount 4 barrels, and another, high powered one that launches huge metal lances at dragons), and twin barreled musket pistols. Yet, aside from a very short recast time (less than 3 seconds) on the quad cannons when they're used, not a single person is ever seen reloading these guns. The Garleans, have entered what seems to be pre-modern Gun tech (Revolvers primarily) which is a bit more justifiable, but even they seem to not be constrained and shoot way more rounds than the typical revolver can hold. The one person who has ever averted this, was Gaius with his arm grenade launcher/cannon, during a cut scene in 1.0, and that was only because it was a signal flare round to a nearby aerial gunship to fire an explosive round at Circle of Knowing that were fighting him.
** Back in 1.0, anyone using ranged physical weapons (Gladiators Throwing daggers, Marauders throwing axes, Lancers javelins, Pugilists chakrams, and arrows for Archer) had to buy stacks of ammo, much like in Final Fantasy XI. However, with 2.0, Yoshi and the team felt this was unfair (especially to Archers) since it made some classes much more expensive to play than others. In response, among the changes from Legacy to A Realm Reborn, all ammo was removed from the game, giving Archer's Bottomless Quivers that come automatically with their bows, and the melee classes had their ranged throwing attack turned into a high TP cost attacks where they throw a weapon or shield at the enemy, before quickly returning to them with no negative effects (except Pugilists which have no throwing attack).
* BottomlessPit: The fight against Titan has your party standing on a pillar whose walls are quickly destroyed part way in the fight. Get knocked off the edge and it's an instant KO for you with no way for your party to revive you. The fight against the Demon Wall also has bottomless pits on the sides.
* BraggingRightsReward: Zig zags. Many rewards you get for earning certain achievements are purely for show and are not suitable for use in battle. You can show them off while remaining battle-ready by using glamours, though. The rare loot dropped by currently endgame content is also effectively bragging rights only until the next major content patch rolls around, giving the powerful gear some use.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Averted. Head producer Yoshida stated that he has no intention of allowing players to buy items that makes the game easier for themselves and any items that Square does sell will purely be for fashion.
** It's ''mostly'' averted, however there is one exception in the ability to buy additional Retainers, NPCs that have 200 storage spaces, are used to put items up on the market boards to sell, and can be leveled to run 'Ventures' where they bring back things ranging from crafting materials (both common and rare) to rare minions, and several other desirable items. It's a subtle boost to your capabilities in that you can carry more, sell more, and get more back via Ventures, but ultimately not as big a deal as it could be.
* BritishAccents: Most voiced characters sound at least ''vaguely'' British.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Most if not ''all'' of the guildmasters for the Disciplines of the Hand. Severian (alchemy) and Beatin (carpentry) are probably the most notable in this regard.
* ButThouMust: When you reach the end of the Zodiac quest, you're told that there's only a 1.4% chance [[note]] Which is a total lie since it's the developers trolling you and the success rate is 100%[[/note]] that melding the relic with the materials you gathered will actually work and you'll lose the relic if it goes bad. You have the option to continue or to back out, but saying no will have Gerolt call you a spineless wimp for backing out and he has your relic worked on anyway.
* BystanderSyndrome: The entire nation of Ishgard has consistently refused to help the Eorzean Alliance when they've needed them the most. When Dalamud was threatening to fall, Ishgard stood by and did nothing. In the aftermath of the Calamity, the Empire picked up the pieces and threatened Eorzea once more; and once again, Ishgard ignored the Alliance's pleas for help. In patch 2.4, it's revealed that the reason Ishgard will not aid the other city-states is because A) they can't spare any soldiers since they're too busy fending off dragons, and B) as far as they're concerned, as long as ''they're'' not attacked whatever happens beyond their borders is not their problem (which explains why they allow the Ixal to roam free since it's Gridania that they threaten, not Ishgard). It's only when they get the news that Shiva was summoned that the higher ups begin to reconsider their stance.
* CallBack: Dozens. Of note is a remix of the battle theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' used in two different quests. It's also used for battles against Elite Marks from the Hunt, and miscellaneous battles held under silly circumstances, (in example, almost every non-Duty Finder encounter during the [[ComicRelief Hildibrand]] side quests.
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** As did [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Vana'diel]] before it, Eorzea measures things in ilms, fulms, yalms, and malms, which seem to be equivalent to inches, feet, yards, and miles, respectively. This is also done with weight, as in "An onze of prevention is worth a ponze of cure."
** Lightning is referred to as "Levin" (An archaic word for lightning), while Thunder and Electricity keep their normal wording. This is notable because it changes [[ShockAndAwe Ramuh's]] title to "The Lord of Levin", which may confuse people at first, and lightning storm weather effects are referred to in the in-game coding as "Levinstorm".
** Each of the orders of animals are referred to as something ending with "kin". You have Beastkin (mammals) Scalekin (reptiles) Cloudkin (birds) Wavekin ( Anything from the water) Vilekin (Insects) as well as Seedkin (living plants like Treants or Morbols).
* CallASmeerpARabbit: In addition to various monster examples: all the five playable races, not just the Hyur, but the Elezen, Miqo'te, Rogaedyn and Lalafell as well, are called "human" in the game's earlier publicity[[note]]that is, in Japanese they are collectively called 人間, ''ningen'', which is a broad term for "human" but is sometimes applied to "sentient bipeds" generally in fantasy literature especially, and the early publicity reflected this[[/note]]. However, since launch, the convention seems to have become 'the spoken' or 'sentients' instead.
* CameBackWrong: Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) has [[spoiler: Edda using dark magics on the head of her fiance to bring him back to life, only for him to come back as a monster. Edda doesn't mind it at all due to her crossing the DespairEventHorizon]].
* CameraLockOn: You can have the camera focus on a specific target or player instead of yourself, for easier tracking.
* CameraScrew: Especially if you're playing on console, the camera in Leviathan Extreme is easily mistaken for a Sahagin sympathizer. Leviathan's dives and bodyslams onto the arena (which are effectively instadeath/permadeath mechanics in the second half of the fight) are telegraphed for dodging by a plume of water signaling where he'll charge from. However, the camera doesn't pan back far enough to show every possible position, so you have to attempt to locate and then dodge the plume while wildly spinning the camera as fast as you can. Eventually a DPS check and ground based [=AoEs=] during these dives and slams are added to make this more... "fun."
** For a while, boss fights inside dungeons would have nasty cases of camera screw when the barrier blocking your escape got in the way of the camera since it was treated as a solid wall. This made some fights more difficult than it should have if the fights required you to take the battle near the barrier. A patch rectified the problem by allowing the camera to pass through the barrier.
* {{Cap}}: All class levels are capped to level 50 and soldiery/poetics tomes are capped to 2000, though there's a double cap on the poetics tomes where players can only earn a maximum of 450 tomes a week; this prevents players from obtaining the endgame gear too easily.
** The Labyrinth of the Ancients, the first raid involving the Crystal Tower in Mor Dhona had a cap on treasure you gain. You can win a loot roll for a piece of armor once per week. After that, you had to wait until next Tuesday to roll for another piece of loot. Patch 2.2 removed the restriction, allowing people to roll for everything without waiting. Patch 2.3 however reimplemented it with the next raid of the Crystal Tower, Syrcus Tower, and 2.4 removed that restriction. With patch 2.5, the lockout has once again been implemented for the newest and final installment of Crystal Tower, the World of Darkness.
* CatGirl: The Miqo'te race. Think Mithra from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', minus the characteristic noses (though they can be added during character creation), with more slender ears and tail variation, and a different culture.
** Cat Boys were added in A Realm Reborn due to fan outcry for Male Miqo'te and Female Highlanders and Roegadyn.
* CatNinja: A Miqo'te with the 'ninja' job class is literally this.
* CausticCritic: Some of the Discipline of the Hand guildmasters. Geva (Leatherworking) and Gigi (Goldsmithing) in particular.
* ChainmailBikini: While averted with almost all gear in the game, the Coliseum equipment for mage and melee classes definitely fit into this trope.
** It's worth noting that examples of this trope apply equally to both men and women; if it looks like a ChainmailBikini on a female character, it'll look like that on a male character.
* ChekhovsGun: The finale of the Hildibrand story has an absolutely ''epic'' one. [[spoiler: You remember those Zombies you found Hildibrand teaching the finer points of being gentlemen? Upon hearing that their "overlord" was at risk of dying for good, they go and help him stop the phantom thief's plot to start a ZombieApocalypse by reminding the other mindless thralls of their benevolent leader. Ellie's reaction when she sees the zombies closing in on your party doing Hildibrand's signature pose is to scream and fall over.]]
** The main story has a big one in regards to Ishgard. Around the 2.0 story line, you're told that Ishgard is completely closed off to outsiders and they refuse to let anyone visit them. [[spoiler: By 2.55 you're branded as a fugitive in Ul'dah due to you being set up as a "murder" to Nanamo and the other city-states won't let you seek refuge with them. Alphinaud then realizes he can use Ishgard's xenophobia to his and the player's advantage by requesting asylum, knowing that Ishgard owes them after they had gotten help dealing with Shiva and the dragon horde.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: The merchant in your transport, the man you ''always'' first talk to after making a character in ''ARR'', comes back in a big way. [[spoiler:He helps get you away from Ul'dah after being framed for the assassination of Sultana Nanamo, literally THE ENTIRE GAME from his first appearance. It's SUCH a big callback that [[SuddenlyVoiced he has a voice actor]] during it.]]
* CherryBlossoms: Appeared around the cities as part of the [[http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=f767124daabe5125df3a06968ccc12d93af54878 'Little Ladies' Day']] celebrations, presumably playing off the upcoming [[JapaneseHolidays Girl's Day]] festivities in Japan.
*** They are actually Peach Blossoms, but the visual effect is pretty much the same.
** The Lancer Class' attack [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9ajGiHoO-Y 'Chaos Thrust']] has those pink petals erupting everywhere as you flail that spear.
** The Pugilist Class skill 'Fists of Wind' has a swirl of pink petals when you activate it.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler: King Moggle Mog and Shiva are summoned as primals, but they technically are not classified as primals since they never existed as primals previously. Mog and Shiva's existence came about because, as Yda had put it, their subjects prayed and believed in them a lot until they became real. Shiva is a notable case since, unlike Mog existing from a legend instead of being a real figure, she ''was'' a living person many years ago, but she returns as a primal due to Iceheart fully believing that Shiva siding with the dragons was the right choice and envisioned her as such.]]
** Also comes up in the Manderville storyline as [[spoiler: [[UpToEleven Gilgamesh ends up accidently summoning his old friend Enkidu]] in primal form by merely wishing to see him again near a couple dozen cases of crystals.]]
* ClassAndLevelSystem: Of the VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics "one character can play whatever class they want at any time" variety, with aspects of a PointBuild system. At the start of Legacy's service, it featured a "physical level" that determined extra stat points and whatnot, on top of each individual class level - this was later disposed of in favor of basing everything off of each individual class.
* CombinationAttack: How a Limit Break works. Every party member's actions build up the party's Limit Gauge. When a Limit Break activates, the other party members will raise their arms up as though freely giving some of their power, while the initiating member channels the combined energy to use the Limit Break. Additionally, The Melee DPS, and Magic DPS limit breaks have their damage calculated by the entire party's attributes and gear.
** [[spoiler: During the ending when Lahabrea is defeated he and the player are pulled into the crystal realm where Hydaelyn brings the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the leaders of Eorzea together. Super charged by the crystal's light they all strike Lahabrea all at once to finish him and free Thancred. It's the one moment in the entire story where Lahabrea goes {{oh crap}}.]]
---> [[spoiler: '''Lahabrea''': *After being forcibly expelled from Thancred's body by the Player's Weapon of Light attack* "[[BigWhat What?!]]"*looks up,and mouth opens in fear as he sees Hydaelyn's crystal form, the Player, Scions, and Leaders of Eorzea glowing with aura's of pure light. They shout a battle cry and charge at him together*. "The Light! It binds them! They are too many!"]]
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In the lead-in to the Kobold beast tribe quests, despite the extremely insulting tone of a captured kobold's description of the 789th, the Red Swallows assume he's describing them as the "worst" as in "most dangerous." As quickly becomes clear when you encounter them, if you didn't pick up on it earlier, he meant "worst" as in "least good" -- incompetent, poorly-equipped, lazy, cowardly, etc.
* CommLinks: Linkpearls are used just like in FFXI, you also stay in contact with NPC organisations with whom your character is signed linkpearls ones given you by their representatives.
* CompleteTheQuoteTitle:
** There's a quest about halfway through the main storyline titled "All Good Things", referencing the saying "All good things must come to an end." Having just triumphed over Titan, you return to the Scions' safehouse to report in person. [[spoiler: And you find the aftermath of a brutal Garlean attack, with only one survivor who hangs on just long enough to tell you what happened and where to go. Worse, the Garleans were there specifically looking for you]].
** The last quest of the 2.5 storyline (and, by extension, of ''A Realm Reborn'') is titled "Before the Dawn". Given [[WhamEpisode all the horrible things]] that have happened by the time you get there, it's easily the DarkestHour of the story.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Triple Triad returns from FinalFantasyVIII and you can duel NPCs in the world to win cards. Some NPCs will leave you screaming in rage as they blatantly cheat. The NPC uses the Random rule? Enjoy having only one decent card and everything else is 1-star rarity while the NPC has almost a full hand of 2-star or higher. The NPC uses Random and Order? Watch as you're forced to play your best card first OR you don't get the first move and your best card never gets played because it's last in your hand. When the rule for hiding cards is in effect, it only seems to affect you because the NPCs know what cards you have, but you can't see theirs.
** Perhaps the worst part is that the computer ''routinely'' uses illegal decks - players can only have one "rare" (e.g. a named character) card in their hand. Higher level computer opponents will routinely use four or five such cards. (Many of these opponents also have gimmick rules specifically intended to make them beatable, but it's still frustrating that it's ''impossible'' to match them power-for-power.)
* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: When you feed your chocobo snacks in order to get its feathers to change colors, the game will say "X's plumage will change in Y hours." This is only a half truth. What the game doesn't tell you is that you have to keep feeding your chocobo until you get the message "X is growing new feathers!" and only then will its feathers change colors in the stated time frame. A patch changed the plumage message to say that there's a ''possibility'' that your chocobo's feathers will change in X hours, but once again, it's still a half truth.
** The NPC that is in charge of the relic quest lines post Zenith also plays the trope straight for the Atma portion. After [[RandomDrop beating the RNG and acquiring 12 Atmas]], taking them to the NPC has him infuse your relic weapon with them, making it an Atma weapon. Said NPC boasts about your relic having newfound strength, yet an Atma relic ''gains no stat boosts'' at all, making it just a Zenith relic with a different coat of paint.
** The end of the Zodiac questline is a rare ''benevolent'' version of the trope. After getting the required materials, you are told several times that you only have a 1.4% chance of successfully converting your relic weapon to a Zodiac weapon and you will lose your weapon completely if the process fails. The success rate will always be 100% and the drama about the low chance is [[TrollingCreator the developers making fun of how ridiculous the steps for the relic had gotten]].
* ContinuingIsPainful: Zig zagged. Being knocked out leaves you with two options: return to your home point/start of the dungeon or wait for another player to revive you. Being revived lowers all your battle related stats by 15% (Weakness) for a bit but gets you right back into the action. Returning to your home point or the dungeon's entrance does not leave you with any penalties other than the damage to your equipment and possibly wasted time, but you must travel back to where you were before you were defeated. In the case of dungeons, returning to start while your party is fighting a boss will leave you locked out of the boss room until the fight is finished, whether by death of the boss or the rest of the party in the room being defeated. However, if you're knocked out again while under the Weakness status, getting revived again puts you under the Brink of Death status, which lowers your battle stats by a whopping 30%.
** Played straight with dungeons and trials where a total party wipe has the boss fully recover its HP.
* CosmeticAward: Minions, small cute (or Ugly Cute) critters that follow your character around and do absolutely nothing. Some of them can be bought from shops, others are rewards from quests and FATE events.
** You can also earn pieces of gear for earning certain achievements, but they have terrible stat boosts and are more for looking pretty/showing off than to be used in combat.
* {{Cosplay}}: Iconic outfits from past games are common rewards. The Lightning Strikes even rewarded players with Lightning's and Snow's outfits, the Labyrinth of the Ancients rewards tanks with the [[FinalFantasy1 Warror]] [[DissidiaFinalFantasy of Light's]] armor, Setzer's gear can be obtained from the Gold Saucer, and Cloud's ''Advent Children'' outfit is a veteran reward.
* CostumePorn: Armor that's unique and/or high leveled, such as the AF armor or the stuff gotten in dungeons like Copperbell, Brayflox and the Crystal Tower tends to be really pretty and detailed to the stitch.
* CounterAttack: Certain special attacks only become briefly usable immediately after evading or blocking an attack, such as the Pugilist's Haymaker or the Gladiator's Shield Swipe. Certain abilities can be used to temporarily increase your chances to evade/block, which in turn makes these attacks temporarily more available.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: One of the storyline quests is specifically named this. [[LampshadeHanging It's immediately obvious as to why.]]
--> Maerwynn: So, all you need to do is search for the golem, slay it, claim its heart, and use it to bait the spriggan. Oh, and do remember to rub the soulstone against a sufficiently large concentration of amber, say, Amberscale Rock in the Central Shroud. Short of petitioning a mage versed in golem magicks, that is the only way I know to dispel the enchantments woven into a true heart. [[BlankStare Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?]] I had relations with a thaumaturge once, if you must know.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Most of Eorzea is a WorldHalfFull as it heals from the Calamity, but at first glance the Twelveswood, with its few beastmen issues (including one of the only friendly tribes), plentiful resources, and low crime is far better off than the rampant corruption of Ul'dah and the bloodthirsty pirates of Limsa Lominsa. But it turns out that it's that way because the Gridanians have to be at the beck and call of The Elementals, {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s who work on a mentality [[BlueAndOrangeMorality completely incomprehensible to normal people]]. In return for free access to the Twelveswood's bounty, the Gridanians have to enforce very harsh laws (poaching is a death sentence, regardless of the circumstances one is driven to it for). You also learn that the conjurers have to petition to heal civilians, as one of the random NPC chatter around Gridania implies they're going to let a twelve year old die of sickness because the elementals said so, and you see a similar situation with the Ala Mhigan refugees during the main quest. There's also far more racism towards the Duskwight Elezen than in most other regions of Eorzea, and the Elementals only just "tolerate" mortals, it's implied that their leader and the "brain" of [[GeniusLoci the twelveswood]], known simply as the Great One, is completely intolerant of the spoken and has to be soothed back to sleep with conjury to prevent him from sending the wildlife to completely raze Gridanian civilization.
* CriticalHit: Happens naturally through random chance, though there's a stat that is dedicated to increasing odds of it happening. Damage that is a critical hit will have a distinctive *PING!* sound effect and a "!" appears next to the damage number. There's also a critical hit for ''healing''.
* {{Crossover}}: A recurring theme is for characters from other games to "invade" in some way for monthly events.
** Prominently featured around the game's launch was "[[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII Lightning Strikes]]", promoting the latest entry in the ''XIII'' series by having Lightning cameo, and giving players a set of her (or Snow's, for males) gear.
** Next came Burgeoning Dread and Breaking Brick Mountains, the first involved everyone's favorite pint-sized sociopath, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Professor Shantotto]]. The second involves fighting Brick Golems from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX''.
** The story continued in 2.1 has Minfillia ask [[spoiler: "Where are you, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Krile]]?]]" To put it lightly, the revelation of that character's involvement (if it is indeed the same character) caused the epileptic trees about the nature of Eorzea in the scheme of the Final Fantasy multiverse to go nuclear.
** While the Crystal Tower is a big reference to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Final Fantasy III]], almost all the bosses are alternate versions that fit into Final Fantasy XIV's lore. The exception seems to be Cloud of Darkness, whose status as an [[EldritchAbomination undying entity]] that lives within [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds the void between the Final Fantasy universes]] means that it's likely, though unconfirmed, that this is the same one that appeared in Final Fantasy III and [[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy]].
** Not to forget of course, [[RunningGag Gilgamesh]] is back.
** 2.4's Hildibrand quests have [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Ultros]] making an appearance. Apparently the Thaumaturge's Guild accidentally summoned him.
* CutAndPasteEnvironments: Previously, the game had enormous expanses of land that re-used some assets to fill out the space--while all [=MMOs=] do this to some extent, much ado had been made about this game's usage, which sometimes recycled entire topographical features. The dev team listened, and in ''ARR'', all zones have been split into 3-4 smaller zones with far greater variety and landmarks.
* CuteLittleFangs: A trait of the Keepers of the Moon Miqo'te.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Roegadyn aren't monsters, but the men ''are'' big, burly giant-like folk that resemble The Incredible Hulk. The women, by that token, are [[AmazonianBeauty Amazonian Beauties]] that resemble She-Hulk. The Au Ran ladies, meanwhile, are much, ''much'' more obviously this, with the men being nearly as tall as Roegadyn and Elezen, with fierce facial features, but the women are as small and delicate as a Miqo'te. (For the record, Roegadyn and Au Ran men aren't ''ugly'' by any stretch of the imagination, just more "monstrous" in a way.
* CutScene: Surprising for an MMO, this game has a lot of these. This is nothing new to players of FFXI, however, aside from the presence of voice acting in some high quality cutscenes, which will be more prevalent in ''ARR'' (though the game won't be ''fully'' voiced, to keep costs reasonable).
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Generally avoided, but the Futures Perfect quest cutscene is a perfect demonstration of the trope with all kinds of acrobatic moves and non available spells that makes one wish they could actually do half of what's done there.
** The intro trailer for 1.0 was also heavily criticized for featuring player analogues doing all ''sorts'' of things players themselves couldn't hope to do - up to and including a few abilities which were ''meant'' for players at the time the video was made but removed by the time the game went live, such as the "En[element]" line of spells for Conjurer [[note]](this is what the Lalafell does to the CG Midlander's arrow)[[/note]].
* TheCycleOfEmpires: And HOW! The Empires seemingly rise with each Astral Era, and then have their fall marked by an Umbral Era, often started by their very own actions.
** The Allagan Empire rose via technological skills back in the 3rd Astral Era that surpasses even modern Eorzea and even the Garlean Empire. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, after building the Solar Energy collecting Crystal Tower, they began to become decadent. In a desperate ploy, their chief technologist, Amon, experimented in Cloning and bringing back the dead to revive Emperor Xande, the first Emperor of the Allagans. It worked, but Xande, having felt the [[DespairEventHorizon pain of death itself]] decided that all of life was fleeting, and thus, it would be better to cast it all into the nothingness of the Void by striking a blood pact with the Cloud of Darkness. A failed experiment involving Dalamud triggered a massive world wide earthquake that buried all of their civilization]]
** The ancient civilization of Amdapor was amazingly skilled at White magic. [[spoiler: However, in their pursuit of ever more powerful magics, they began studying Black Magic and the Void, sparking off the "War of the Magi" that drained the planet much of its aether, and weakened the barriers between Eorzea and the realm of the void. White and Black magic have become largely forbidden ever since.]]
