Ancient civilization

The existence of ancient civilizations is a recurring element in the Final Fantasy series. They have often faded from current zeitgeist, and are the origin of artifacts and ruins, or have left behind written works the modern civilization struggles to interpret. Ancient civilizations tend to have been more powerful than the current civilizations, and their advanced technology or magic has been lost to the rifts of time, and is sometimes being rediscovered by modern peoples. 
The treasures and pieces of technology left behind by ancient civilizations are often beyond the modern peoples' understanding, and the ruins associated with these civilizations are full of complicated traps and arcane knowledge. Sometimes, the ancient people who populated these civilizations are viewed as different race altogether, usually meaning they employed a type of magic that has since fallen out of use.
Ancient civilizations being more advanced than the modern ones is a common RPG trope. It allows developers to design dungeons, and particularly bonus dungeons, with powerful mechanisms whose workings don't need to be explained, and adds to the mystery and discovery of the world. They also enable the use of plot devices, like new types of magic or powerful artifacts or pieces of legendary technology being discovered, airships being a common one in the Final Fantasy series. These discoveries can be made by antagonists who pursue world domination, and by the heroes who need a "trump card" to persist against the overwhelming power of the villains. Story and content wise, ancient civilizations may come to serve as a reminder or example of many things, be it the potential good that civilization can achieve, or the retribution brought onto the decadent and wicked.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy===
The Lufenians are descendants of a race called the Sky People who once lived up in the skies. At present, Lufenians live in the remote town of Lufenia. Four hundred years ago the Sky People were the civilization of the highest order. With their mastery of the Wind element, they created a floating castle in the sky. Some boasted that their civilization even reached beyond the skies. The Sky People had invented many types of technology, and a Lufenian called Cid invented the airship. After the Sky People's civilization fell apart, they passed on a legend that four hundred years later, four light-bearers will save them.
There also used to be an ocean-based civilization that was destroyed by violent storms two hundred years ago, and the shrine that served as the center of the civilization sank. The town of Onrac is implied to be a remnant of this civilization.
===Final Fantasy II===
Perseria was a city that existed ages before the main story, in a time where everybody had the ability to wield powerful magics. This led to endless wars until the world was on the brink of destruction. Eventually, it was decided that the most powerful spells, along with the magic power of the people, would be sealed, and society had to rebuild itself with only a select few having access to magic.
===Final Fantasy III===
An unnamed ancient civilization existed in the distant past, responsible for the creation of the Invincible, the Tower of Owen, the Ancients' Maze, and the location that would come to be known as the Ancient Ruins. In their hubris, they threw the balance of light and darkness out of equilibrium, causing a calamity known as the Wrath of Light and brought about the first known appearance of the Cloud of Darkness. Ashamed of the destruction they had caused, the surviving Ancients sequestered themselves in the Village of the Ancients on the Floating Continent, vowing to live off the land without relying on technology.
The guest party member Desch is an Ancient.
===Final Fantasy IV===
Long ago the Lunarians lived on a planet between the "Red Planet" (Mars) and the "Great Behemoth" (Jupiter). Their home planet was about to be destroyed, so they fled to the "Blue Planet" (Earth), and discovered humans still in the process of evolution. The Lunarians decided to await the day the humans could understand and live peacefully with them, so a second moon was created in orbit over the planet.
Eight of the sixteen Crystals the Lunarians possessed were taken to Earth, presumably to either speed up the evolution of the humans, or to harmonize the Red Moon with the planet to stabilize its orbit. The Lunarians went to sleep near the moon's core. One of the Lunarians, Kluya, built an airship known as the Lunar Whale to travel to Earth where he taught advanced technology, such as airship building and the Devil's Road, and the secret of magic, to the locals. 
===Final Fantasy V===
The ancient Ronka Ruins were built by the Ronka civilization who worshiped the earth crystal, the power-source of this flying city, around 500 years ago. The floating city was built because people believed the sun had the power to cure disease and wanted to live closer to it. The anti-gravity technology used to lift Ronka was the same as used in creating airships. The Catapult is an ancient underwater hangar of the Ronka civilization and holds within chambers a library and a laboratory. The Library of the Ancients is a library filled with books possessed by demons, and in current times is occupied by scholars who try to discern its wonders.
===Final Fantasy VI===
thumb|Ancient Castle.
The Magi were the people who partook in the War of the Magi 1,000 years ago. They were the humans who could wield magic, but after the war they were persecuted by non-magic-wielding humans, and went into hiding. The Ultima Weapon was created during the War of the Magi as a magical weapon said to reflect the power of who wields it, but this legendary weapon has since been lost.
Ancient Castle is a thousand-year-old ruin that was buried under a desert. It was was attacked during the War of the Magi, during which the esper Odin engaged an enemy army before an unnamed sorcerer petrified him, and the castle was defeated. The Queen of the Ancient Castle was also petrified in the basement.
===Final Fantasy VII===
The Cetra, also known as the Ancients, are a race of deeply spiritual humans, who are implied to be the origin of the modern humans. According to Sephiroth, regular humans were Cetra who forsook their migratory nature to form permanent settlements millennia ago. The migrations were a Planet-reverent pursuit of the fabled Promised Land conducted by traveling and cultivating life. The Cetra could commune with the Planet, an ability regular humans lost once they gave up their close relationship with it in favor of leisure and convenience. The Cetra could guide the flow of the Planet's spiritual energy, this being the means by which they cultivated life on the Planet's surface. The Cetra served as the Planet's caretakers until their race was nearly reduced to extinction. 
Despite said to have been migratory, the City of the Ancients hidden behind a magical forest is the remains of the Cetra's capital city. Many of the remaining houses still contain furniture and artifacts indicating the area appears just as it did when it was abandoned. The city contains a machine, which allows one to communicate with the Planet. The Temple of the Ancients was built by the Cetra thousands of years ago to house the Black Materia. Its interior is a maze-like cavern of staircases. 
===Final Fantasy VIII===
Centra was a civilization that flourished 4,000 years ago. Its people emigrated to other continents and founded the Dollet Empire to the west and Esthar to the east. The Centra civilization spanned the southernmost reaches of the world. The Centra built mobile shelters the size of small cities, able to hover and cross gentle terrain, and which plant in the ground. Centra was eventually destroyed by the Lunar Cry, but their descendants in Esthar became the next advanced civilization in the world. 
The Dollet Dukedom is the last remnant of the Holy Dollet Empire, which once governed most of the world. Dollet Empire was the first major settlement started by the people who emigrated from Centra. Most of what used to be part of Dollet Empire is currently governed by Galbadia.
The Deep Sea Research Center is an abandoned, half-sunken laboratory formerly used to research draw effects. Known as "Battleship Island", researchers working at this facility were attempting to develop another draw system, gathering different energy and materials for their study. They were in pursuit of a large draw point said to be found somewhere on the planet. It is said their research used Guardian Forces for their experiments. It is unknown for how long the site has been abandoned, but the technology used there seems unfamiliar to the rest of the world.
===Final Fantasy IX===
right|180px|Symbol of Terra.
Terra was a planet in the cosmos with a highly advanced magical civilization, and at its peak had flourishing cities. Terrans pursued immortality, and when their planet began to decay, they were desperate to preserve their culture and technology via the magical art Fusion. When Terra's crystal grew old and weak, the Terrans would seek out young planets whose cores had not yet grown and assimilate them. The last Fusion Terra attempted was a disastrous failure, and the planet of Terra is left empty and decaying with some of its landmarks becoming mysterious landmarks, such as Oeilvert and Ipsen's Castle.
Two other extinct civilizations include the summoners and the mole people. Hundreds of years ago the summoners lived on the Mist Continent with the other peoples, but after a failed summoning experiment, they migrated to Madain Sari, a town they established on the Outer Continent, where they dedicated their lives to researching summon magic. The remnants of the mole people civilization can be found on Mount Gulug.
===Final Fantasy X===
Zanarkand is a former metropolis at Spira's northernmost edge. It was annihilated by Sin at the end of the Machina War against Bevelle 1,000 years ago. Zanarkand was a city state whose people wished to enhance their lives using a mix of magic imbued within machina. The arts of summoning were prevalent in Zanarkand, referring to one's ability to manifest the dreams of the fayth in corporeal form. After Zanarkand's fall, the knowledge of how to petrify willing souls into fayth was lost, although a number of fayth statues remain in Spira, preserved in the temples of Yevon. 
Zanarkand was but one part of the machina civilizations that used to cover Spira, but its ruins are the main thing that is left of that era a thousand years later, although the effects of the Machina War are still visible in modern Spira from the machina ruins in Besaid, the Mi'ihen Highroad, Bikanel Island, and the Calm Lands. Other relics of these civilizations are found in the depths of the ocean. The Al Bhed salvage ancient technology to re-introduce machina to Spira, although it is forbidden by the teachings of Yevon.
According to the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega official timeline, machina was invented over 3000 years ago and became powerful enough to surpass magic.Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega, p.081 According to the Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania, the first development in Spira was brought about by the power of magic, but those who could use magic naturally had an advantage, while those who couldn't were discriminated against. Thus the age of the magic civilizations was an age of inequality. When machina was invented it was revolutionary and at first did away with the inequalities and things once thought impossible became an aspect of everyday life. Machina was supposed to be an alternative for those who couldn't use magic, but when it surpassed it new problems arose. Some nations possessed outstanding machina technology, while others didn't, and a new age of inequality began. 
===Final Fantasy XI===
10,000 years in the past before the creation of the five enlightened races, there were the Zilart. They built massive machines in an attempt to open a "Gate of the Gods" to eternal paradise, but the Kuluu sabotaged them, resulting in a meltdown that wiped out most of the race. Remnants of the machines remain in the form of Delkfutt's Tower on Qufim, the floating city of Tu'Lia, the celestial capital of Lumoria, and other remnants.
===Final Fantasy XII===
Numerous ancient structures remain on Ivalice, including those related to the Occuria, and those related to the Galtean Alliance. The Galtean Alliance was a moment in Ivalice's history when all the great countries were united and during it available technology was significantly different from the present Ivalice. Many references are made to relics of the ancient age that cannot be reproduced in the present time. The architectural style of Galtea is prominent in many locations within Ivalice. 
The Sage Knowledge suggests the Occuria used to live on Ivalice among the other races before withdrawing into their own realm. Structures left behind by the Occuria include the abandoned city of Giruvegan and the Pharos tower. 
There also exist ruins of unknown ancient civilizations. The ruins on Tchita Uplands for example are said to be studied by researchers from Archades who delve into the mysteries left by "whatever ancient civilization built them."
===Final Fantasy XIII===
Yaschas Massif is the site of the ruins of the city-nation of Paddra on Gran Pulse where the Farseers lived before it fell into ruin. Paddra was ruled by Paddra Nsu-Yeul as both its seeress and priestess with Etro as Paddra's patron deity. After civil war destroyed the nation, Yeul renounced her position and left to wander Gran Pulse. Some of the Paddraean architecture resembles the remains of modern skyscrapers. Paddra has long been abandoned, and only monsters and Cie'th wander its streets. The Haerii Archaeopolis is another ruined city on the Archylte Steppe.
It is suggested a lot of Gran Pulse was once populated. The village of Oerba is located at the northernmost edge of the mainland. Its villagers from several clans shared a communal lifestyle, but what remains of the abandoned village is overrun by Cie'th and in the process of being swallowed by an encroaching sea of ashen crystal sand dunes.
During Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII the surviving places from Nova Chrysalia still show ruins from Pulsian civilizations, such as in the Dead Dunes or the town of Poltae. Civilizations of Cocoon and Academia are in ruin with their advanced technology like the Antimatter Manipulation Principle being considered obsolete.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
Most residents of the modern world descend, in soul and/or in body, from a lost civilization whose denizens were simply known as the Ancients. Over twelve thousand years ago, the Ancients lived in the unsundered world of Etheirys. Their vast reserves of aether allowed them to will objects or even life into being, called the power of Creation. Though theirs was a grand and blissful civilization, it was not without faults, and fell to ruin in an event termed the Final Days, which made their Creation magicks go haywire. Their unconscious fears and negative emotions created monstrosities that ruined their civilization and biosphere, killing untold numbers of Ancients.
The Convocation of Fourteen, who ruled ancient society from their capital of Amaurot, prevented total annihilation by sacrificing half their surviving population to summon the elder primal Zodiark. He restored the star's aetherial currents by covering it in a shroud of Darkness, the aspect of dynamism and activity. Thereafter, obsessed with recreating their perfect world, the Ancients willingly sacrificed half of their remaining people, empowering Zodiark to restore what had been lost. Venat, a former Convocation member, disapproved and gathered allies to oppose Zodiark. She eventually became an opposing primal, Hydaelyn, through the sacrifice of this splinter group.
Hydaelyn defeated Zodiark by sundering Him and Etheirys into fourteen shards, the Source and its thirteen reflections. Every Ancient soul was also sundered, save three: Elidibus, Emet-Selch, and Lahabrea. They sought to restore their god, Zodiark, and the world they loved, founding the Ascians, a cult of dark harbingers of chaos. They sought to Rejoin the reflections into the Source via Umbral Calamities, cataclysmic events of mass death and destruction in the Source, paired with the dissolution of all life and aether in one of the reflections. Over the following twelve thousand years to the present day, the Ascians triggered seven such Calamities, after learning the mechanics of Rejoining from accidentally turning the Thirteenth into a Dark wasteland.
From this apocalyptic cycle, the world has entire layers of ancient civilizations. Mightiest among these was Allag, a cruel global empire from Third Astral Era and the most technologically advanced society in Etheirys's history. Despite being thousands of years old, many Allagan works remain functional even to the Sixth Astral era: the orbital station Dalamud, the floating continent Azys Lla, the Crystal Tower power facility, and the primal-absorbing Ultima Weapon. Their influence and knowledge is so widespread that their old data storage tomestones are collected as a form of currency. 
Most other notable lost civilizations are comparatively young, having been lost in the Sixth Umbral Calamity or the years since. These include Mhach, Amdapor, Nym, and Skalla of the Fifth Astral era; and Gelmorra, Belah'dia, and Sil'dih of the early Sixth Astral era. The recently re-discovered Lesalia and Goug are of unknown age, but presumably even older than the Fifth Astral era, having previously been thought to be mere legends. 
On the First, the nations of Voeburt, Lakeland, and Nabaath Areng were destroyed by the Flood of Light a hundred years before present, while the Ronkan Empire that had ruled in the Rak'tika Greatwood fell thousands of years prior. The First is also home to relatively well-preserved ruins of Amaurot, destroyed during the Final Days. While such ruins would theoretically be present on all shards, their absence on the Source is likely due to the many Umbral Calamities it has endured.
In the ninth reflection, that came to be called the Unlost World, several nations existed, such as Alexandria, Lindblum, and Cleyra. But the reflection was embroiled by constant thunderstorms, until the discovery of an ore called electrope. Electrope was capable of absorbing lightning and also transform it into usable elements through arcanima. Due to electrope's value, the reflection was engulfed in a war called Storm Surge, which saw the reflection and its nations brought to ruin, when Lindblum activated a superweapon, that caused lightning storms go out of control. Only Alexandria survived, thanks to the efforts of the Preservation, who covered the kingdom under a dome of lightning energy. Centuries later, Alexandria would be fused into the Source.
===Final Fantasy XV ===
Solheim was a legendary nation that existed two thousand years ago. It ruled over the lands of Eos during an era of peace and prosperity. It was destroyed in the War of the Astrals when a mysterious parasite caused the death of millions. Many of the ruins hold arcane technology linked to Solheim, such as Costlemark Tower and Pitioss Ruins. Final Fantasy XV Scenario Ultimania confirms that Solheim excelled in machine technology like airships and magitek armor. 
The Niflheim Empire's Aldercapt dynasty intends to recreate the Solheim Empire using magitek power, which was developed in Solheim. Niflheim thus excavates and explores Solheimian ruins, although lately it has been doing so mainly to capture daemons, at least according to Aranea Highwind.
===Final Fantasy XVI===
Throughout the realm of Valisthea lie massive ruins of an ancient civilization known as the Fallen that existed 1,500 years before the time of the game.
There are also several ruins belonging to the Ultima's civilization, such as Reverie, a tower in the kingdom of Waloed or Origin, the remains of an Ultima's ship buried beneath the capital of the Crystalline Dominion, Twinside.
===Final Fantasy Tactics===
Ivalice is littered with unexplored lands, ancient ruins and mystical regions. The Forbidden Land Eureka, for example, is a once prosperous capital of the Kashka Dynasty that was destroyed in the Cataclysm. It is now a necrohol, populated by spirits drawn to the shades of its past glory. The ancient cities are used in the game as Wonders, and unlocked as menu entries by sending out party members to errands. The Wonders allude to past Final Fantasy games, but also exist to give the sense of history and depth to Ivalice. 
Some of the ancient sites can be visited, but not much is known about the civilizations that had built them. Nelveska Temple is an abandoned temple off the beaten path guarded by Construct 7, suggesting it belonged to a highly advanced civilization, as the knowledge on building robots has been lost.
===Final Fantasy Adventure===
The unnamed world in which the game and its remakes take place had at least two ancient civilizations, the records of which are scattered throughout the Dime Tower on cryptic stone tablets. Marcie was programmed with the means to decode these tablets when Dr. Bowow created him fifty years ago. They speak of an ancient battle between the unseen Vandole Empire and the Gemma Knights assisted by the Mana Clan. Vandole nearly succeeded in seizing sacred mana power, but was stopped by the warriors before their plan came to full.
In apocryphal material, Julius was established as a descendant of Vandole who was discovered and subsequently reared by the Dark Lord of Glaive, who built his empire at the foot of Mount Illusia. The Dark Lord, however, was but a pawn in the face of Julius's unbridled ambition to restore Vandole as it once had been, seizing mana for himself. As others before him, Julius nearly succeeds by kidnapping Fuji and touching Fuji's Mother in the form of the Tree of Mana. Fuji is able to break free, which in turn allows Sumo to confront Julius and strike him down. This final battle ends the lines of both Vandole and the Mana Clan--until Fuji, the last descendant, volunteers herself to become the Tree of Mana. With the girl's ascension, Sumo must accept his destiny as the last Gemma Knight, and goes on a final tour of the world before assuming his post. 
==Citations==
ru:Древняя цивилизация
Category:Recurring story elements