If you've been a fan of Final Fantasy as well as other Squaresoft games like Xenogears and Chrono Trigger, and have some knowledge of theology, mythology and human history you will discover so many parallels hidden within the context of words and names used in the Final Fantasy series. An intuitive investigation into even many of the events of the storyline of the Final Fantasy games, especially the Final Fantasy VII plot, will yield a veritable motherlode of philosophical and theological similarities to things we've all seen before. Perhaps if you were Jewish you might have instantly picked up on the word Sephiroth, an embodiement of the virtues of the Tree of Life, essentially the assembly of the steps toward becoming closer to god, Elohim....which brings my to Elhaym Van Houten from Xenogears, a game dripping with referances to Christianity (I am the alpha and the omega, I know the beginning and the end) , Bhuddism (reincarnation), and Norse Mythology (Yggdrasil anyone?). Furthermore, names of actual gods will reappear time and time again in Squaresoft Epics. Fenrir, Odin, Hiemdal, Shiva, Ifrit, Tiamat, Gilgamesh, Bahamut, Siren, Fuijin, Raijin, Deus, Quetalcotyl - these were real conceved dieties either worshiped by millions of humans of various background and races or agrandized by legend and folklore centuries ago. Essentially there were really guardian forces, and these people probably felt that they could in fact evoke or summon them, even fear them. To this day some people still pay respects to a few of these gods and many of the new gods that have sprung up in modern society both in western and eastern culture. I have discovered something very profound about the Squaresoft games - there is a very intricate web of meaning being delivered that saturates every aspect of many of their RPG's and whispers between the lines of spoken dialogue. I think some of it may be lost in the translation from Japanese to English, but I've seen things then when I did some real digging, I mean I had to hunt for a lot of this stuff way back in history and in sometimes obscure locations in the annal of anthropology, theology, and culture. There are times where there are even spelling alterations that I have to take into account and these open up more referances and more referances. When I take the whole of it into consideration, I have to say that it's almost mind boggling the level of depth Squaresoft is managing to achieve without even any average teenage gamer who plays the games would pick up on. The are almost commenting directly on history in an almost Homeric style of epic and granduer. Why?

The more I learned, and still there are things I have yet to have figured out, the more I became fascinated with this, almost obssessed to figure out where Squaresoft is going with all this. There's a code here. These games say something about the core inner sanctum of designers and storywriters of the games and their visions and expressions. The men who make these games are very learned, and know a great deal about what it is they are trying to bring to the world. They may be trying to express something very profound or merely emulating what's already been written upon the pages of humankind's diary. To be certain and to uncover all the secrets behind the Squaresoft RPG's I have taken the liberty of consolodating research on the subject here. This is a multi-part section that will continue to grow as I learn and uncover more.

As I poured over information, I found referance after referance, where I would stop when I found one and go, whoa, I remember that! That name, that story, I've seen it before in the RPGs of Squaresoft! - I would say. There were times, I would find one thing, and then open a plethora of other connections to events and characters. This has become a worthy task, and indeed I can achieve it, not only on my own voliton but with the help of readers like you. I know some online friends and colleages that have put in valuable input on these matters and this has partly been my inspiration to create this. Together I want to us to create the most comprehensive guidebook to Squaresoft's sources for the games. Not only will this be very interesting to see how and were it all fits together, but also anyone willing to read all this will learn a great deal about various aspects of human history.

I have to say one thing about Squaresoft and that is that they really do lean A LOT on Norse Mythology, even moreso than greek mythology. Furthermore, they have a tendancy to use words related to the Scandinavian region of the world as well as German sounding words, like Heidiggar, Ragnarok, Nibelhiem, Hilda Garde, Van Houten, Bugenhagen, Beatrix (Queen of the Neatherlands until 1982), Lindblum, for example. Why? Do Squaresoft writers work in Germany??? But not only this I have seen, especially recently referances to Spanish heritage and culture have cropped up with words like fira, firaga, Dagguerro, Rico Bandaras, Prima Vista. etc. Those are just off the top of my head. Is there a strong Spanish influence at Squaresoft Development HQ? This just scratches the surface of where I'm going with this. It just gets progressivly more mysterious the more I look at it.

As I progress further and further into the maze, I hope to someday find it's boundaries and know every secret Squaresoft is trying to convey in the next Final Fantasy. I would also play close attention to the new Final Fantasy Movie. There may be something here to watch for, another overlying message that only the strong of knowledge will understand. I like a challenge, and this is probably one of the most daunting I've seen in a long time. Bringing all those referances out of the woodwork and into the light will be a monumental undertaking but I accept the adversity in foresight of becoming better educated on the intent of the masters who make the games I enjoy so wonderful.

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