Final Fantasy XIV allusions

The following is a list of allusions present in Final Fantasy XIV.
==Final Fantasy series==
Final Fantasy XIV contains multiple references to other entries in the series. These references vary between allusions to story and character elements from other titles, enemies in the open world and instances, obtainable character items, and other miscellaneous features.
==Allusions to the number fourteen==
Being the fourteenth installment of the series, Final Fantasy XIV makes some references to the number itself. Although they are not necessarily deliberate allusions to the number 14 (whether they are or not is speculative), they are nonetheless present.
*The Garlean Army is divided into fourteen legions.
**Of these legions, Gaius van Baelsar is the Legatus of the XIVth Legion.
*At one point in the story, a guard in the Waking Sands will say, "My shift number? I don't know, fourteen?"
* Hydaelyn splintered the original world into fourteen parallel worlds, the Source and the thirteen "shards" along with fragmenting Zodiark.
* The Pygmaoi in the Palace of the Dead self-destruct with Heirloom Scream when attacked, dealing 14 fixed damage, a pitiful amount at any level.
*The Ancient city of Amaurot was led by a convocation of fourteen mages. Thirteen of these would go on to become the Ascian Overlords, while the fourteenth disagreed with their fellows' plans and vacated their position. The player character is a reincarnation of this individual.
==Other video games==
Final Fantasy XIV and its expansions include various references to other Square-Enix titles and other developer titles.
==Other media==
Final Fantasy XIV and its expansions include various references to other media such as movies, television, books, and music. These references are usually only present in the English localization, which are commonly used for quest names and certain NPC dialogue.
==Religion and Mythology==
====Christianity====
The names of several White Mage abilities are Christianity-themed. Cleric Stance, which was originally a White Mage cross-class, is otherwised referred to as "Crusader Stance," referring to the . Other White Mage abilities include , referring to the invocation at the conclusion of a service, and Plenary Indulgence, a particularly strong form of , which nullifies all temporal punishment needed to purify the soul.
Christian imagery is especially common in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, as Ishgard is heavily influenced by medieval Christendom. The official name of Ishgard is even "the Holy See of Ishgard," just as the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome is called the Holy See of Rome. The power structure of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church is loosely based on the Roman Catholic Church, and punishments are similar to those administered by the Catholic Church. This is thematic: The concept of is present throughout the story of Heavensward, wherein all Ishgardians are punished for the actions of their forebear. The allusion to original sin is made explicit by the second boss of The Aery, Gyascutus, which uses attacks called "The Serpent's Apple", "Fall of Man", and "Original Sin", in reference to the concept of Adam's fall in the Book of Genesis. Moreover:
*A room within The Vault is called "Saint Thordan's Basilica", after St. Peter's Basilica; it is located within the Holy See and named for an important figure in the founding of the denomination that worships there: Saint Peter was the first Catholic Pope and "Saint Thordan" could refer to one of seven Ishgardian figures, but most likely Thordan I.
*The Heavens' Ward is associated with Ascalon: King Thordan casts spells such as Light of Ascalon and Ascalon's Mercy, and the title for defeating the Heavens' Ward is called "The End of Ascalon". Ascalon was the site of the final battle of the First Crusade, and, according to a myth popularized in the Crusades, the name of the lance of Saint George, who slew a dragon. 
In addition to these two main examples:
*The titles of the two FATE's for the Behemoth battle, "Behold Now Behemoth" and "He Taketh It with His Eyes," are both quotes describing the behemoth from the Book of Job in the Bible: Job 40:15 and Job 40:24 respectively.
*A quest in Western La Noscea is titled "My Brother's Not a Keeper," in reference to the line Cain says of Abel.
*A quest in Outer La Noscea is called "Return to your Dust," which is similar to the phrase a priest says when giving ashes on Ash Wednesday.
*The field track of Alexander raid is titled "Sins of the Father, Sins of the Son". Sets of achievements related to the raid are also called "Sins of the Father" and "Sins of the Son".
===Greek===
*The true names of the Ascians are modeled after Greek gods in the case of Hades, Hermes, Gaia, and Artemis.
* Many of the serpentine monsters in the Binding Coil of Bahamut are named after Greek mythological snakes. The first boss is named after Hermes's staff, . Hermes's Caduceus has two snakes wrapped around it, just as the boss splits into two snakes. The Twintania adds are are named after , god of cure and son of Apollo, and , one of Asclepius' daughters, goddess of hygiene.
In addition to this main example:
*The Artemis Bow is the relic weapon for Bards.
*The first boss of the Void Ark, Cetus, is the name of the sea monster slain by the hero Perseus.
===Hinduism===
*The primal Garuda is inspired by the god in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. One of the deity's epithets is Raktapaksa, which inspired a fusion of The First's versions of Ifrit and Garuda.
*The primal Ravana is inspired by the character in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
*The energy known Akasha is inspired by the energy in the Southeast-Asian mythologies.
===Irish===
*The final boss of Amdapor Keep (Hard) is Ferdiad, a character from the Ulster Cycle.
*At the end of the Void Ark, Diabolos retrieves a coffin containing Scathach, the Shadow Queen. In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Scáthach was a Scottish warrior woman and martial arts instructor who trained both Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad.
===Japanese===
The setting of the eastern half of the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood draws inspiration from several Asian countries, but especially Japan. In particular, the mythology of the region involves worship of similar to Shinto mythology, including the following examples:
*The Primal Susano is based on , the god of the sea and storms who slew the , or Eight-headed Serpent, just as Susano faces the eight-player party. The Ama-no-Iwato referred to Susano'o's three ancient weapons, said to be the keys to open the stairway to heaven. In Final Fantasy XIV, Primal Susano was summoned by gathering three ancient weapons. There is a rare chance that Susano may drop an Amaterasu mount. is the goddess of the sun, and the sister of Susano'o.
*The Shisui of the Violet Tides dungeon referred to the Japanese folklore of , a fisher man who rescued a sea turtle and traveled to the underwater palace. When the party fights the Ruby Princess, the players can open trapped treasure boxes that transform the opener into an old man, the same fate that befell Tarō at the end of the folk tale. Another trapped box appears again at the end of the dungeon.
*The Primal Tsukuyomi is based on , the god of the moon in Shinto and Japanese mythology, although the Shinto deity is male. Tsukuyomi has a pair of bunny-like ears on her head, alluding to , the princess of the moon from another folklore and .
*Daidarabotchi appears as the second boss of Swallow's Compass, based on the in Japanese folklore.
*The Four Lords are based on the , four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations; in Stormblood, the Four Lords are referred to by their Japanese names: Genbu, the ; Byakko, the ; Suzaku, the ; and Seriyu, the .
In addition:
*The Xaela Au Ras believe that they were created by the sun. This is similar to the old belief of the ancient Japanese.
*The special F.A.T.E. boss Tamamo-no-gozen is based on , the legendary fox lady from Muromachi period.
*Ninja's ability Hellfrog Medium is a reference to , the ninja from a folklore who possessed the ability to ride on giant toads.
*Hanzo is likely inspired by , the ninja from the Sengoku era. Another ninja character named Sasuke the Shamed was mentioned in the Ninja job quests, possibly based on , a famous fictional ninja.
===Norse===
*"Ishgard" is named after "Asgard", the realm of the Aesir gods in Norse myth.
*While the Roegadyn's Sea Wolves and Hellsguard seem to correspond to the frost giants and fire giants, the Elezens' Wildwood and Duskwight branches are respectively based on the Light Elves (Ljosalfr) and the Dark Elves (Dókkalfr).
*Mjolnir is a giant hammer weapon wielded by Nero tol Scaeva.
*Midgardsormr, three of his children (Hraesvelgr, Nidhogg, and Ratatoskr), and two of Hresvelgr's own children (Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir), are named after creatures from Norse myth.
*The primal Odin was sealed in an area called "Urth's Gift," with a trial battle at "Urth's Fount." Urth, or Urðr, is the name of one of the three Norns that decide fate.
==Real World==
===Alchemy===
*A text known as the which was translated by Isaac Newton, purported to contain the secrets of alchemy and transmutation, begins with the line "'Tis true without lying." The alchemy achievements reference this.
===Astronomy===
*Multiple Astrologian weapons are named after stars: Altair, Capella, Vega, Aldebaran, Sirius, Deneb, and Canopus.
*In the FATE "It's Not Lupus", the boss crab Cancer is assisted by several aureliae minions called Acubens, the Alpha star of the Cancer constellation.
*The dragons serving Darkscale in various FATEs in the Churning Mists are named for stars from the Draco constellation: Thuban (Alpha Draconis), Etamin (Gamma Draconis) and Rastaban (Beta Draconis).
*Several diremites in Version 1.0 and A Realm Reborn are named after stars in the Scorpius constellation: Antares (Alpha Scorpii), Shaula (Gamma Scorpii), Graffias (Beta Scorpii), Dschubba (Delta Scorpii) and Girtab (Kappa Scorpii). The Anatares Dagger for rogues also also alludes to the first.
*Some bear and bear-related enemies are derived from stars of the Ursa Major constellation: Dubhe (Alpha) and Phecda (Gamma).
*The primal horse mount awarded from "The Striking Tree (Extreme)", Markab, a name given to various stars in the Pegasus constellation.
===Computer software===
*There's a sidequest called "It's Not a Bug, It's a Creature," a reference to "It's not a bug, It's a feature," a statement prevalent in the software development field as both a joke and as a legitimate statement.
*During the Anima Weapon quest "Some Assembly Required", the Processing Node confounds Ardashir when it states that " is required to proceed", and then asks him to "agree to the Terms and Conditions of Use" before it continues.
*The surname of Yugiri Mistwalker refers to Mistwalker Corporation, the video game development studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi.
===Roman Empire===
The Garlean Empire is loosely based on ancient Rome. In particular, the ranking system of the Garlean army is similar to the Roman Empire's chain of command, including units such as optios and centaurios. The XIVth Imperial Legion is inspired by the Legio XIV Gemina, the legion of the Roman Empire levied by Gaius Julius Caesar in 57 B.C., its leader even being named Gaius van Baelsar. Other prominent Garleans are also named after Romans from Caesarian times: Livia sas Junius was named after Livia Drusilla, the wife of Emperor Augustus, because both Livias were adopted into noble families; Nero tol Scaeva was named after Emperor Nero and Marcus Cassius Scaeva, a centurion in Julius Caesar's army.
=== Mongolia ===
The Xaela tribes in the Azim Steppe are based on real-world Mongolian tribes. They live in yurts or similar lodgings and constantly challenge each other over the resources in the steppe, much like the Mongolian tribes did before Genghis Khan united them. The Steppe's annual Naadam gets its name from the real-world Naadam, which is the Mongolian midsummer's festival, in which the people participate in three games: Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery. The title of Khagan is based on the real-world title of Mongolian Khan, who is the ruler of all the Mongolian tribes until another rises to take his place.
===Others===
*The Artifact equipment of Monks is a set of yellow Chinese-style clothes, referring to the martial artists of Shaolin Monastery.
*There's a FATE in Lower La Noscea titled "You Call That a Toad," the player has to kill a group of enemies called "Cane Toad" after local wheat farmers brought these toads from Cieldalaes to devour the locusts but the cane toads have no natural predators on Vylbrand and have taken over the region, leaving the farmers with no choice but to slay them all. This is an allusion to the similar situation in Australia where the government had to ask their citizens to eliminate cane toads to protect the environment and the food chain in Australia.
*A quest in Middle La Noscea is called "Orange Crush," like the soft drink of the same name.
*There's an achievement titled "Heaven Eleven", a pun on 7-Eleven convenience stores.
*The Vanu Vanu dance is based on the Haka tribal war dance of the Māori people in New Zealand.
*The Heavensturn 2016 event items "See No Helm", "Speak No Helm" and "Hear No Helm" are based on the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" of the three wise monkeys.
*The achievement "Air Force Won" is named after Air Force One, the name of the aircraft carrying the president of the United States.
*The term "Ijin" is used in Kugane to describe people foreign to Hingashi. This is an archaic term in Japanese meaning "alien" or "foreigner" that was commonly used before the Meiji era and is similar to how "" is used to describe people foreign to Japan today.
Category:Allusions
Category:Final Fantasy XIV