Tetsuya Nomura
According to Japanese video game artist, game designer and director at Square Enix Tetsuya Nomura, the concept of the Cactuar is based on a doodle he drew on a notebook when he was attending high school as a teenager. The design of the Cactuar's face resemble "haniwa", a type of terracotta clay figure traditionally used for ritual and funerary purposes during the Kofun period in Japanese history.