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I found a link at eyesonff.com and saw a topic that was describing so much about the plot and ex-death, I felt like sharing with you people. I think this truly will solve all your problems with FFV, probably, not all, but many..

http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=66409

Very interesting theory. I enjoyed reading it.

I still don't really like Ex-Death as a tree. It's so hard to take a tree that's trying to kill me seriously, even if he DOES represent the Tree of Life.

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Is PJ

I'm impressed, I never thought too deeply on what NeoX-Death is...I already knew about Sephirotica, but not at that level. This make remember about the "End of EVANGELION", which is a pretty interesting point of view. Returning the World to its original state.

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In truth, death may be the only absolute freedom there is.
Kaworu Nagisa

(my signature!)
How these words , connects with the idea of NeoXdeath is unbelievable, if you ask me , this speculation was excellent.


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"Its no cheating if you don't get caught"

Aside from the ironically "Wonderful" title of this thread and the fact that I don't get any of that "kabbalistic" or whatever it's called philoso-religious stuff...

1. I still don't quite sit too well with Exdeath being a tree, but...whatever. It's just a game, and I've assumed from the beginning that they just came up with stuff (as usual, just like in any other game) to make sense of the plot.

2. Unlike the author of that 'superpost', I believe (after reading his analysis) that NeoExdeath is a (the?) manifestation of the Void. The Void isn't "nothing"--you know that from the game itself. But in a sense, it's like Exdeath's evilness combined with the...nihilism, if you will, of the Void. This explains why it says aims solely to erase everything, and everything (including itself). In this sense, it also explains its name, since this would also be a new (Neo-) manifestation of Exdeath's evilness.

Nevertheless...that is one IMPRESSIVE post. TAKE THAT, FFVII FANN00BS!!!!!

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 7th August 2005 21:01

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 7th August 2005 16:01)

Aside from the ironically "Wonderful" title of this thread and the fact that I don't get any of that "kabbalistic" or whatever it's called philoso-religious stuff...

1. I still don't quite sit too well with Exdeath being a tree, but...whatever. It's just a game, and I've assumed from the beginning that they just came up with stuff (as usual, just like in any other game) to make sense of the plot.

2. Unlike the author of that 'superpost', I believe (after reading his analysis) that NeoExdeath is a (the?) manifestation of the Void. The Void isn't "nothing"--you know that from the game itself. But in a sense, it's like Exdeath's evilness combined with the...nihilism, if you will, of the Void. This explains why it says aims solely to erase everything, and everything (including itself). In this sense, it also explains its name, since this would also be a new (Neo-) manifestation of Exdeath's evilness.

Nevertheless...that is one IMPRESSIVE post. TAKE THAT, FFVII FANN00BS!!!!!

I think that Neo Ex-Death is a fusion with the monsters Enuo probably created from the Void when he was engulfed.

And I think that Ex-Death is the rebirth of Enuo (that would explain the new look on the final boss )

Yeah, take that FFVII fanboys!!11

That was a pretty intresting read. I've never went in depth with some of the things that were covered in that about FFV.

Quote (NeoExdeath @ 7th August 2005)

I think that Neo Ex-Death is a fusion with the monsters Enuo probably created from the Void when he was engulfed.
And I think that Ex-Death is the rebirth of Enuo (that would explain the new look on the final boss)

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought Exdeath was too. Though the whole "Exdeath is a tree" thing is kind of stupid, IMO.

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Though the whole "Exdeath is a tree" thing is kind of stupid, IMO.

Well.. Atleast they were being original.. I get tired of seeing "Demons" and "Magical Humans" in games. Trees is something new and interesting.. imo.

My only problem with the "deplorable" script was Faris' pirate-speak and the fact that they mistranslated Exodus into X-Death/ExDeath. And then came up with all sorts of dumb excuses like that it stands for "Exceeding Death" instead of just telling us that they made a mistake.

With the combination of the term "Exodus" as his name, the Tree of Life symbolism is probably the meaning behind his tree form. They went Biblical on us again!

Very informative stuff. I do like that he was flora. Flora people rock (Vash)

Quote (NeoEx-Death @ 9th August 2005 15:39)

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Though the whole "Exdeath is a tree" thing is kind of stupid, IMO.

Well.. Atleast they were being original.. I get tired of seeing "Demons" and "Magical Humans" in games. Trees is something new and interesting.. imo.

You forgot 'Evil Angels' and 'Gods in need of serious attitude adjustments'

But yes: I would like to see something simple such maybe a super-computer as a final boss, perhaps something completely inorganic, or something in a much larger scale such as a living Meteor or something, or even a living Planet. I'm sick of the 'Heaven and Hell' type of bosses, or 'One Man who wishes to control and/or obliterate everything' types of bosses. Exdeath, however, still falls under 'magical human' in many categories :c And Neo-Exdeath still falls under the second category of 'Man who wishes to control and/or obliterate everything'.

Sadly, these two instances usually make the most climactic battle scenes.

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"A little tight, but the price was right" - Locke
"Oh, what a Fuddy Duddy" - Relm
"..." - Shadow
"I'm a General, not some love starved twit" - Celes
"Although Edgar showers his attention on the ladies, most are smart enough to pay him no attention. Oh! King Edgar!" - Figaro Castle Inn Attendant

Yeah, I kind of made most of that stuff up, but whatever…

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THE HOFF

Quote (Locke_Cole @ 7th September 2005 16:25)

But yes: I would like to see something simple such maybe a super-computer as a final boss, perhaps something completely inorganic, or something in a much larger scale such as a living Meteor or something, or even a living Planet.  I'm sick of the 'Heaven and Hell' type of bosses, or 'One Man who wishes to control and/or obliterate everything' types of bosses.  Exdeath, however, still falls under 'magical human' in many categories :c  And Neo-Exdeath still falls under the second category of 'Man who wishes to control and/or obliterate everything'. 

Try playing the System Shock games, Phantasy Star 2 (the enemy in that one are a set of invaders, but if you've beaten the game then you'll know why I'm dropping the name), or Shadow of the Colossus. If you're in to those kind of uncovential enemies, that is.

And while that article was an interesting read, I don't think it changes my opinion of the game at all. Basically you're saying that if you analyze FF V's plot and the nature of ExDeath hard enough, ExDeath can be a really deep and complex character. Well sure, but you can do that with any RPG known to man and "deepen" any set of characters. I particularly think this has been done to hell and back with FF VII's and FF X's set of enemies, but it can be done for any set of villains. ExDeath was a fairly adequate villain in FF V, even if he was a tree; my beef with the game's important characters has to do with the main characters' lack of personality and growth more than anything.

My favorite RPG villains out there are Dhaos from Tales of Phantasia, Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, Luca Blight from Suikoden II, and the admirals (yes, all of them, but mostly Belleza and Gregorio) from Skies of Arcadia. Dhaos might seem like a generic "demon bent on world destruction/domination" type of enemy, but when you learn his true motives he becomes a much more human and even sympathetic character. Kefka and Luca Blight are very similar in some ways - they're both extremely evil and insane, but pull it off extremely well; it's easier to hate and/or fear that kind of enemy more than your typical dictator. Those two pull it off brilliantly. SoA's set of admirals is a mixed bag of the honorable, the pompous, the crazy, the straight-up evil, the determined, and the humorous. Those guys are such a colorful and amusing bunch at times that watching scenes of the seven of them in conference is very enjoyable, plus Galcian and Ramirez add a little badass factor to the mix.

Edit

And NED, if you think that ExDeath is such a great villain because he breaks convention by being a tree, then I have one word for you: Ferngully. The fact that ExDeath can sorta be put in the same reference as that movie is pretty sad.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 22nd October 2005 16:35

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

What’s wrong with Ferngully? I went back a saw it again a year ago, ten years or so since I first saw it, and I still found it to be decent as far as that sort of thing goes.

Quote (Laszlow)

I particularly think this has been done to hell and back with FF VII's and FF X's set of enemies, but it can be done for any set of villains.

Thus the point of the post…

This post has been edited by ThroneofDravaris on 22nd October 2005 16:57

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THE HOFF

Quote (ThroneofDravaris @ 22nd October 2005 11:56)

What’s wrong with Ferngully? I went back a saw it again a year ago, ten years or so since I first saw it, and I still found it to be decent as far as that sort of thing goes.

I bear no malice towards Ferngully, but when you're trying to defend the badassed-ness of a villain and it's possible to make a legit reference comparing him to a character in Ferngully, then said villain loses a lot of badass factor.

But I didn't think the movie was bad at all. Robin Williams was in it and that's probably reason enough to watch it.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

I don’t consider X-Death badass in the slightest; he was pretty much destroyed by the script. However, that evil tree spirit in Ferngully was pretty badass…

I realize that as an antagonist, X-Death can’t compete with the likes of Sephiroth or Kuja. However, I don’t think that the premise for the character is altogether terrible, and it is usually the idea of him being a tree that most people have trouble with.


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THE HOFF

I honestly had no problem with ExDeath being a tree. When I first found out, I thought, "A tree? Alrightythen." Then I continued to play the game. But, something as strange as a tree for a bad guy, there almost has to be some reason other than "Hey guys! Let's make the bad guy a tree!"

Dravaris, the comparison between FFV and the kaballah stuff(whatever, I'm not Jewish) makes perfect, if far fetched, sense to me. Take a look at this one: Kefka's tiers (final boss spoilers). That one was pretty fun too.

Also, isn't Enuo the name of an enemy in FFVI?

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"It is a part of human nature to be evil, and it is a part of human nature to destroy evil, therefore, when evil is destroyed, so will be the human race..."
- Atma

Yeah, Enuo is some sort of blob thing in FFVI. This makes sense really, since Enuo means "horror"...

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THE HOFF

I knew it. I remember thinking, wtf is that thing?

Also, I've given voice to my thoughts. Perhaps they meant ExDeath to be a mockery of the Tree of Life.

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"It is a part of human nature to be evil, and it is a part of human nature to destroy evil, therefore, when evil is destroyed, so will be the human race..."
- Atma

Wow, all this analysis just because ExDeath is a tree. I remember when I found out he was a tree. I sorta just thought: "A tree? Riiiiiiiiiiiight. I'm just gonna pretend I didn't read that part."

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Mercy?! I am the sixth phase of your world's destruction! would you like some evil pie?

My name is Fox, I am infinitely great, and I am the author of this comic strip..

Quote (Fox @ 30th October 2005 15:58)

"A tree? Riiiiiiiiiiiight. I'm just gonna pretend I didn't read that part."

My reaction was pretty close to that, although more like "I'll just take it as is, and try not to analyze it."

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Oh come on! Making him a tree was the best decision ever!

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Wow, even I am having a hard time swallowing that…

This post has been edited by ThroneofDravaris on 31st October 2005 04:40

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THE HOFF