The game has so many Mythology Gags and Shout Outs, most of which were unfortunately lost in (mis)translation. To name but a few: (Warning: Unmarked spoilers below!)
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To other Final Fantasy games
There are references to all eight previous installments in the series, although some are difficult to find. Here's a link
that will save up the walls of text.
that will save up the walls of text.- Mount Gulug is a mistranslation of Gurgu Volcano from the original Final Fantasy, and uses a remix of the original's theme music.
- Castle Pandemonium is a reference to the final dungeon of Final Fantasy II, also named Pandemonium, and it even has the same theme music (albeit with pipe organs and at half the tempo of the original)
- The Eidolon Madeen is a mistranslation of Maduin, a reference to an Esper of the same name from Final Fantasy VI. Its attack was supposed to be Terraforming, but was mistranslated as Terra Homing.
- Every passenger car in Lindblum is numbered #08.
- The cry of the dwarves, "Rally-ho!", is a mistranslation of Lali-ho, the cry of the dwarves in Final Fantasy IV.
- If you examine a sword that looks remarkably similar to the Buster Sword in the weapon shop in Lindblum, Zidane will remark "I remember a guy with spiky hair who carried something like this...", referencing Cloud from Final Fantasy VII.
- This little gem courtesy of Zidane: "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us." Could also double as a Stealth Pun. (This particular reference is not present in the Japanese version.)
- A sidequest reveals that Princess Garnet's real name is Sarah, and her biological mother's name was Jane, the same as the princess from the original Final Fantasy.
- If you examine the grandfather clock in Quan's Dwelling, you are told that there is nothing inside. This is in reference to Final Fantasy VI, where there would be an Elixir in every grandfather clock in the game. This is the only place in Final Fantasy IX where there is a grandfather clock you can examine, so it was likely an intentional reference. After visiting the dwelling with Vivi and Quina and watching a special cutscene, the clock will be revealed to contain Running Shoes when checked.
- The original Final Fantasy also featured a villain named Garland.
- When Princess Garnet is first encountered, she wears a robe like that worn by the White Mage in the original Final Fantasy.
- The world map bears a striking resemblance to the world map in Final Fantasy.
- The Show Within a Show play "I Want to Be Your Canary" features a character named Princess Cornelia, a reference to Coneria (renamed "Cornelia" in later translations) from the original game. Since her father is named King Leo, this is also a reference to King Lear (see the entry on Shakespeare, below).
- The four elemental fiends fought in Memoria originally appeared in the first Final Fantasy, though Marilith's name is mistranslated as "Maliris" in Final Fantasy IX (this fiend was called "Kary" in the NES version of Final Fantasy, though later translations used the name "Marilith").
- Freya's can find a weapon named Kain's Lance, referencing Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV.
- In one scene in the Black Mage village, a couple of Black Mages are talking about naming a chocobo "Bobby Corwen". The first syllables of those two words, "Boco", refer to Boko, Bartz's chocobo from Final Fantasy V.
- The final boss, Necron, uses an attack called Grand Cross, the same name as an attack Exdeath uses in Final Fantasy V.
- Nova Dragon is a Woolseyism of Shinryu, a Superboss from Final Fantasy V. "Shin" can mean both "holy" and "new" (Latin: Nova), and "Ryuu" means dragon.
- Nova Dragon's design itself◊, appears to refernce the design of◊ Bahamut Zero◊, from Final Fantasy VII.
- Nova Dragon's design itself
- The Limit Break in this game is called "Trance", which first appeared in Final Fantasy VI as one of Terra's skills after she unlocks her Esper power. It was translated as "Morph" in the original SNES version of Final Fantasy VI.
- An NPC named Locke appears in Lindblum.
- Eiko's Moogle friend is named Mog.
- After the Prima Vista crashes in the Evil Forest, the Tantalus band play "Rufus's Welcoming March" in an Active Time Event.
- A little girl NPC in Lindblum is called Elena.
- One of Steiner's abilities is called Climhazzard, the same as one of Cloud's Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII. (Incidentally, the move was supposed to be called "Climb Hazard", but was mistranslated. Final Fantasy IX kept the mistranslation in the Shout-Out).
- Similarly, his strongest sword tech is called Shock, which was Leo's special ability back in Final Fantasy VI.
- Calling chocobos via chocobo footprints on the world map was first done in Final Fantasy VII.
- Amarant has a move called No Mercy, a reference to one of Seifer's Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VIII.
- Zidane's ultimate weapon is called Ultima Weapon, which is a recurring weapon in the series (it's also known as the Atma Weapon in the SNES translation of Final Fantasy VI).
- Three of the attacks that Carbuncle can use, Ruby Light, Emerald Light and Diamond Light, refer to Ruby WEAPON, Emerald WEAPON and Diamond WEAPON from Final Fantasy VII.
- Could be a coincidence, but one of the "SFX" moves during the stage fights at the beginning of the game (flashy moves that do no damage) is called "Meteo", which could refer to how the spell "Meteor" was shortened to "METEO" in the SNES and PS1 versions of Final Fantasy IV.
- The first full party you have is Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and Garnet/Dagger - in other words, Thief, Fighter, Black Mage and White Mage, the same as the default party in the remakes of Final Fantasy.
- Freya is dressed as a Red Mage from Final Fantasy (despite being more of a Dragoon/Dragon Knight), and Vivi obviously resembles the Black Mage from the same game.
- Eiko's horn (and Garnet's, which was removed) references Final Fantasy V, in which the Summoner class had horns.
- This and Final Fantasy V are the only two Final Fantasy games in which you can kill a stone enemy by using a Soft on it.
- Garland's goal is to assimilate Gaia, a red planet, into Terra, a blue planet, so that his people, a highly advanced race who were doomed to extinction, will survive. This is similar to the Final Fantasy IV Earth and the Red Moon, the the highly advanced Lunarians waiting to assimilate with humans, their planets even being opposite colors. Garland could also be seen as an evil counterpart to the Lunaria's guardian, Fusoya.
- The "Hero's Story" you must put together to tell Ramuh in Pinnacle Rocks is actually Josef's story from Final Fantasy II.
- Doga and Unei from ''Final Fantasy III' are referenced in the items Doga's Artifact and Une's Mirror. Take these items to the music player in the inn of the Black Mage Village, and Doga and Une's theme from that game will play.
- Some of the Tetra Master cards show stuff from older games, such as Namingway, Boko and the airship from Final Fantasy V, all in their original sprites. For extra reference points, show the Namingway card to a man in Daguerreo, and he'll offer to rename your party members.
- One of Freya's abilities is called "Reis' Wind", as a reference to Reis from Final Fantasy Tactics.
To non-Final Fantasy games and other media
- The Festival of the Hunt in Lindblum draws many parallels to the Running of the Bulls. Some of the locals' attitude towards it even suggests some Testosterone Poisoning has taken place.
- Lady Hilda breaking the spell and returning her frog husband to his true form with a kiss... What does that remind you of?
- Not only is I Want to Be Your Canary an obvious parallel to Romeo and Juliet, but the play is credited to a Lord Avon — as in Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. Also, one of the minor characters in the game is named Puck. One of the members of Tantalus is named Cinna, a name used by two different characters in Julius Caesar.Additionally, in the original Japanese, the king, played by Baku, was named King Lear. The female lead in the play is named Cornelia which is one letter away from the name Cordelia, the name of Lear's favorite daughter in Shakespeare's play.
- "I'm kupo for kupo nuts!", a reference to the slogan for Coco-Puffs.
- Steiner: "Bah! Only a flesh wound!"
- "A veritable emergency of terrible urgency!" Also counts as Waxing Lyrical.
- Zidane is an alien who was sent to the planet in order to wreak havoc, but lost his memory of his origin and ended up turning out to be a pretty nice guy. He then meets his more-or-less brother, who is also an alien and who is decidedly more willing to slaughter everyone on the planet. Oh, and Zidane has a monkey-like tail. Now where have I heard this story before?note .
- The sandstorm ritual in Cleyra is basically Riverdance. Sir Fratley's name is a reference to/mistranslation of Michael Flatley, a famous step dancer who is known for performing in Riverdance.
- Before the encounter with Final Boss Necron, it says "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda's famous line from The Phantom Menace. Additionally, Kuja uses the line "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," which was Emperor Palpatine's line in Return of the Jedi.
- When you talk to one of the NPCs in Lindblum, he remarks "Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!", which is a reference to Leonard "Bones" McCoy's catchphrase from Star Trek (although Bones never actually said "Dammit, Jim" in the show, just "I'm a doctor, not a _____.")
- Prior to the battle with Black Waltz No. 2 he will say "Resistance is futile."
- In Lindblum, examining a fountain has Zidane respond with "It looks like something fits in here". The fountain is otherwise completely useless, but it's a reference to Resident Evil 2, in which there is a fountain that leads to pretty much the same response, and the player needs to insert a medal to access a new area.
- In the French version, Tantarian is named "Lovecraft", referring to the famous author.
- Castle of Cagliostro featured a monkey-like thief who attempts to rob a corrupt kingdom, only to run into and help the princess as she tries to flee her own country. The princess carries an heirloom that triggers a giant mechanism within the castle. It also had a comically ineffective authority figure constantly failing to thwart the thief, but in time takes his side to fight the greater villains.
- Zidane's name is identical in Japanese to Lupin's choice of cigarettes, Gitanes, with signs pointing to this being the intended original spelling. He also refers to Steiner by a nickname similar to Lupin's for Zenigata, at least in the untranslated original.
- Steiner goes beyond inheriting Zenigata's personality and role to having the same face down to the eyelashes.
- Freya's hair, flaring coat, and perpetually held weapon give her the same silhouette as Goemon.
- Amarant has Jigen's face and hardboiled attitude.
- Cid's frog form bears a striking resemblance to Frog from Chrono Trigger.
- Zidane having a monkey-like tail is a possible reference to Dragon Ball. There are strong similarities in backstory between Zidane and Goku (both are aliens who were intended to wipe out life on the planets they were sent to, but instead became their planets' protectors. Zidane's Trance mode also bears some resemblance to both the Kaioken (it gives him a reddish glow) and Super Saiyan 4 (it makes his body become more hairy and ape-like).
- By extension, this doubles as a reference to Sūn Wùkōng of Journey to the West fame.
- Two workers in the Lindblum Synthesis Shop argue over whether or not it is better to have a strong weapon for power or a strong armor for safety. This is a reference to two officers from Parasite Eve (also made by Square) where they had a similar argument; one wanted stronger guns while the other wanted safer guns. Their names, Wayne and Torres, were reused for the characters in the synth shop.
- Remember Part Time Worker Mary and Jeff from your first visit to South Gate? Although the entire exchange is largely seen as a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, it is actually a reference to this Chinese fairy tale.
- Some of the achievements attainable in the Steam remake are Let the Bodies Hit the Floor, The One Ring, The B-Team and Firin' Mah Lazer.
- In the Steam remake, you can net an achievement called Kain's Legacy when you obtain Kain's Lance, a nod to the Square-published game Legacy of Kain.
- Other achievement related Shout Outs:
- Defeating 100 enemies nets the Let The Bodies Hit The Floor achievement.
- Obtaining a Madain's Ring via the Fossil Roo mining minigame nets the The One Ring achievement.
- Summoning Fenrir nets the Wolf Insanity (a clear riff on the Insanity Wolf meme) achievement.
- Summoning Ark nets the Firin' Mah Lazer achievement, another famous internet meme.
- Some of the names of locations are references. The town of Dali is named after Salvador Dalí. The library of Daguerreo derives its name from the Daguerreotype, a very early form of photograph.
- Quina says "What you say?" at one point.
- The Ark summon is a homage to an old Squaresoft game, Cruise Chaser Blassty, which would be later revisited in Final Fantasy XIV.
- Quan’s Dwelling has a grandfather clock which is stopped and irreparable, alluding to the 19th Century song "My Grandfather’s Clock" which popularised that name for said type of clock.
