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I know we've seen a few topics similar to this but the purpose here is a bit different. What is the symbol the defines the FF series as a whole? What would be on the sail of the HMS Final Fantasy? I've got some ideas so you can vote for them if you like or if you think my list is a bit crappy then feel free to come up with your own choice. I want to ask this because I can't decide what the most memorable icon is from the series. To help I've thrown my reasons behind each of the items on the list, so don't laugh at Cloud just yet if you haven't already!

Moogles
Very straightforward not much explanation needed. They form a critical piece of binding material between each FF universe, but not in all it should be remembered. A good symbol if you believe that cuddly harmless cute little bear-cubs with wings are what FF is all about.

Chocobos
I think this is the official CoN FF symbol but I'm assuming this only from the logo. A lot like moogles except they're animals that have to be reared and bred by humans and moogles in some cases. So if you think FF has to be reared and bred by humans and moogles then. They are another vital linking image between FFs and therefore immediately relateable. Possibly moreso than moogles because of the spin-off games which points out that maybe they stand out more in their own right.

Cloud
I'm inclined to put Cloud as the overall symbol, but still unsure. To a great many people who haven't played FF Cloud is one character that people seem to know. He's popular both with FF fans who've played the game and those who've only seen the film or fanart or whatever. This is based on my experiences of people (always girls) asking "which one is Cloud in?" or "I like FFVII [but you haven't played it]" when I talk about FF, so I don't expect everyone to agree with me here. There are a great many fans that I know for a fact wouldn't put Cloud as the symbol because they don't like him, and, aside from FFT, he doesn't exactly cross throughout the series.

Crystals
A huge part of FF history. Usually they're central to the story, but in a few games they also give the characters their abilities. Another typical link between the games only this time it's not a loveable animal. There's no denying that crystals are major, but they're not unique to FF and I wouldn't even say they're ever used in a unique way.

Gilgamesh
At first he seems an unlikely candidate, but I think he embodies a lot of what FF is about. He has humour, swords, good music, and poses a challenge. I'd be happy thinking of Gilgamesh as the icon of the series. Surely just for fans though, unless he can carry it off by the way he looks alone, which he probably can.

Bahamut
Bahamut is just always Bahamut. He's a high-damage summon, he looks cool, he's powerful, and importantly you always feel like your team is getting strong in the game when you get him. Then in FFXII the last dungeon is named after him. I think he's a pretty strong candidate too, but perhaps moreso for fans rather than anyone else. I image a layman looking at it would reject it as a big cliché dragon monster... which he probably is now I think about it.

Caves of Narshe
This is a bit of a venture but sometimes I wonder if the site and by extension the mines in FFVI have taken over as the icon of the series now. As a whole, for me and hopefully others, it's like the collection lives on in this site by the guides, the staff and its members. Also I imagine that because it's the Caves of Narshe it's more like a hoard of information kept safe rather than other sites I've seen where the name doesn't give that effect. I'm guessing that's why the name is what it is, but I'll have to ask. Is it? Like I said, it's a bit of a venture, but I wonder sometimes. What do you make of it?

Nobou Uematsu
The soundtracks stand up by themselves as top-tier game music or possibly even music of any genre, and Uematsu would be the embodiment of it. Adding to that, he is a funky bloke too, with his jeans and his shirt and his interviews and his band and all that. His weakness is that he's not obvious enough, and again another fan icon rather than something more universal.

Ultima
Classic strongest magic, or one of the strongest magics. It's iconic, popular and relatively recurrent throughout the series, culminated, IMO, with Kuja's use of it in FFIX. I suppose you could say the same thing about Meteor or Haste or quite a few of the others, and I don't think it stands up as a major player because there is no one version of it.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

I had to go with chocobos, really. They're probably the most popular creation from game-to-game in the franchise and everyone knows them big yellow birds and what they belong to. They've been in every game, as far as I can recall, in some way shape or form, almost as much as Cid. I guess Cid only beats them out in The Spirits Within and Advent Children, cause they weren't in the movies at all.

As far as gaming goes, though, there's a little (or fat) chocobo for everyone.

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

i nulled vote because i always think of airships and exploration. there has been a pilot-able (or at least a personal) airship in every single one minus the spin offs and ff xiii for some reason (another reason why i dont like this game)


so yeah, airships for me

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I voted other. for me, Yoshitaka Amano is a Final Fantasy symbol. Everytime i think about final fantasy, one of his title arts or even concept of older games comes to mind. Those were good times...

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Live Long and Prosper!

Must be the crystals.

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

I was going to vote chocobos, since they are the most instantly recognizable feature of the franchise, but when I read the poll question again it said "your definative symbol" at which time I had to change my vote to Nobou Uematsu. When I think Final Fantasy, first thing that happens is I hear the overworld from FFVI. More than anything, I think his scores are the most appealing and inspired elements (not in all the games, but enough). That's just personally though.

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I fear my heart and fear my soul
Life goes on, it surely will,
Without me and I wonder:
Will I ever see light again?

Life goes on...

I went with the crystals.

Quote

Adding to that, he is a funky bloke too, with his jeans and his shirt and his interviews and his band and all that.

First and foremost, I laughed really hard when I read this.

I went and selected Chocobos as the symbol of the FF series, but then I realized that I was supposed to vote for my symbol of the FF series. The image that appears in my mind whenever I think of Final Fantasy is the opening scene of FFX: the warm-up pool, blitzball, Auron standing there being amazing. It's probably because that is the first glimpse of Final Fantasy I ever got. It definitely made its mark.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

To me, one symbol can truly represent FF as a series, as a whole. All the listed options are recurring elements, but none of them truly show what the series of games, the numbered main and the spin-offs, none of those symbols show what the series really is

What does?

A Roulette Wheel.

Why? Simple. The FF games are random. They may have mythology gags and shoutouts to previous games, some have similarities, but ultimately, each game is a different end result. Each result is good for some and bad for others.

And like compulsive gamblers, some of us come back to the wheel even after we lost big the last time. And every once in a while the Croupier throws it way too hard, the ball spins right off the bloody thing and ruins everything.

This post has been edited by Del S on 28th March 2010 09:32

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

Quote (Del S @ 28th March 2010 04:31)

And every once in a while the Croupier throws it way too hard, the ball spins right off the bloody thing and ruins everything.

Heh heh heh...

Out of the choices listed? I guess Uematsu...t'ain't a Final Fantasy game without the premier video game composer...but I suppose I'm a curmudgeon that way.

This post has been edited by trismegistus on 28th March 2010 17:12

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"If art doesn't risk upsetting expectations and challenging its audience, it can only stagnate."

I voted Bahamut, because he represents either the best and most powerful summon, a mighty ordeal of a dungeon or boss battle, or an important plot point. From his class-changing in FF1 to his mecha dragon ride thing in FF XIII, Bahamut is a huge effing dragon that represents the the peak of your characters' power in every game he appears in, which is every game other than II (which is basically a nasty skidmark of a game). The only other answer in the poll that would be sensible to me is crystals, since they're almost always featured prominently, if not always obviously or by name, but the crystal symbol is too generic and not unique enough to Final Fantasy to be its real symbol, I feel.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Guess it would be Sephiroth, it seems to be more poplaur and more liked than Cloud and almost everybody knows OWA and it's a fun song to sing along too in public, and Cloud has no funny song.. sorry Cloud..

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Currently playing Chrono Trigger !!
Currently looking forward to Don't Know.

I don't really like the idea of one symbol to represent all FF games since they have certainly changed focus over years. If I had to choose though, I'd go with Chocobos, since they're ever-present without being a late-game element.

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Wha? Thanks to me?

If it was any one thing, I'd feel it would be the crystals, period.

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We make games. Period.