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First off, bear in mind I have not even PLAYED FF12. My only knowledge of Zalera comes from what I've seen in FFTA2 and on the Final Fantasy Wiki.

That said, I found this paragraph at the FF Wiki, and it gave me pause...

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    "Heretic scion who wrapped the world in dark energies, seeking to take the souls of all living things unto himself. Created in opposition to Emet-Selch, Angel of Truth, and scion of light. Originally tasked with the judging of men upon their deaths, his soul was tainted by the curses of those who raged against the heavens, and seizing one of the gods' servants, a shamaness, as a hostage, he rebelled against his creators. Even now, in defeat, he clutches the shamaness to him in his right arm, and with the aid of her death-wail does he summon the soul of darkness to do his bidding."
    —Clan Primer Bio

Let's go through this bit by bit, mm?

Heretic scion who wrapped the world in dark energies

Kefka certainly wrapped the world in darkness.

his soul was tainted by the curses of those who raged against the heavens

If resurrecting Magic after the Warring Triad tried to seal it away counts as raging against the heavens, then Kefka's soul was certainly tainted by Gestahl and Cid.

and seizing one of the gods' servants, a shamaness

This could refer to Terra; shamaness can mean witch, and we all know how he kept Terra enslaved.

he rebelled against his creators.

Something Kefka does twice-- both against Gestahl, and against the very Warring Triad themselves.

he clutches the shamaness to him in his right arm

Note how, in the final battle against Kefka, he keeps his right arm drawn up close to his body, while his left arm is extended, much like Zalera's.

and with the aid of her death-wail

Not as important as the others, but who could ever forget Terra's scream, when she first transforms?

Also, note Zalera's wings. One feathered and traditionally-angelic, one membranous and traditionally-demonic, just like Kefka's final form.

And, too, Zalera has that laugh. Not anything close to Kefka's, of course, but perhaps they were just trying to remind us that he had the laugh...

Don't know why they came up with a new name, though, instead of reusing Chaos, Mateus, Zeromus, and Exodus/Exdeath (Famfrit in place of Cloud of Darkness I can understand).

Or maybe I'm way off course. Thoughts?

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SuperHeroChat

Hmm, I never thought of that, but I don't think it is. The Esper stories are basically Paradise Lost redux. If you read it you'll see exactly where the ideas come from.

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I have (and Paradise Regained, as well). But if you have those other Espers who are other FF final bosses, and since one of them did have a name change (Cloud of Darkness -> Famfrit), it could happen here, as well...

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SuperHeroChat

I think it's an interesting theory, and there are some connections between the two, but I don't think there were any name changes. That's sort of stretching it...perhaps they were just hinting at it as a little allusion?

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I say what I wanna say, I play how I wanna play.

Isn't "Famfrit" a name change for the Cloud of Darkness? That's what I've seen everywhere on the Net...

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SuperHeroChat

I wouldn't be surprised if it were. I just meant that in this case, a name change probably didn't occur. (As in Zalera was Zalera in the Japanese release of the game.)

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I say what I wanna say, I play how I wanna play.

Oh, I know that, but I mean, wasn't Famfrit also Famfrit in the Japanese? I meant a complete name change from the "Final Boss" to the Esper/Scion.

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SuperHeroChat

Famfrit=Cloud of Darkness
Zeromus=Obvious
Exodus=X-Death
Mateus=Emperor Mateus Palamecia
Chaos=Also obvious

There you go.

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We make games. Period.

Right, so if Cloud of Darkness just sort of spontaneously mutates into Famfrit, couldn't Kefka do likewise to Zalera?

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SuperHeroChat

Quote (Thanos6 @ 14th July 2008 03:46)

I have (and Paradise Regained, as well). But if you have those other Espers who are other FF final bosses, and since one of them did have a name change (Cloud of Darkness -> Famfrit), it could happen here, as well...

I never noticed that before. Makes sense, Cloud of Darkness and the Darkening Cloud. 'Course, that also means that the Cloud of Darkness had a gender change...But it seems intentional now, and it's not *so* far fetched for Kefka being Zalera.

Seems to me that Zalera (Angel of Death, FFT) -> Zalera (Death Seraph, XII). Have a looksee. Some of the other XII's espers are based on Tactics' Lucavi, as well (Velius-> Belias, Queklain->Cuchulainn, etc., the others should be fairly obvious).

The Kefka reference is kind of a stretch, I think.

This post has been edited by Galsic on 15th July 2008 04:13

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Console RPG Cliches

i always went with what galsic said. a lot of the espers were taken from the lucavi (including Hashmal, Aldramalech (however you spell that) and Ultima)

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

Quote (Thanos6 @ 14th July 2008 22:16)

Right, so if Cloud of Darkness just sort of spontaneously mutates into Famfrit, couldn't Kefka do likewise to Zalera?

I don't think so. That's stretching it.

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//www.rpgmaker.net/
We make games. Period.

I guess i can see what you mean, even if it seemingly connects, but it is sort of a stretch (as many times mentioned). Would be kind of interesting to see Kefka again somewhere...

I really want to read paradise lost/regained now...sounds really interesting...

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Quote (Tryscal The Great @ 15th July 2008 07:56)

I don't think so. That's stretching it.

I have to agree, especially with the light of Galsic's earlier post. FFT is the only game I've ever played that had a Zalera, so I can't speak for its appearance in other games, but FFT's Zalera has no resemblance to any Kefka I've ever seen.

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Quote (Thanos6 @ 13th July 2008 23:36)

Heretic scion who wrapped the world in dark energies

his soul was tainted by the curses of those who raged against the heavens

and seizing one of the gods' servants, a shamaness

he rebelled against his creators.

he clutches the shamaness to him in his right arm

Also, note Zalera's wings.  One feathered and traditionally-angelic, one membranous and traditionally-demonic, just like Kefka's final form.

Sounds like Sephiroth too.

This sounds like an original creation to me.

Kefka wanted the world destroyed, not to collect souls. I doubt he'd keep Terra clutched to him in such a form and I doubt they'd represent Terra in that way.

I'm gonna go with the old Kefka refs for Zalera(you know like Chaos is ref'in Chaos from FF1)

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Quote (darkdragoon @ 23rd July 2008 20:51)

I'm gonna go with the old Kefka refs for Zalera(you know like Chaos is ref'in Chaos from FF1)

yeah, but the boss references in the Ivalice games end at FF5 (and include Tactics)

On top of that Zelera's zodiac sign is Gemini - The Twins. I think it is more based off that.