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I hope this isn't considered a rant...*crosses fingers*

I was refreshing myself on the (extremely limited) support for the Rinoa=Ultimecia theory that pretty much every major FF site has debunked or supported a debunking for several years. But I kept asking myself, "Should a theory really require a definite answer?" It seems like everyone wants to know "The Truth"

Classic, I say, because this is a technique used by artists, writers, and creators for centuries. Certain things are left entirely vague because the author wants the reader to think a bit, to conclude things for themselves, whether the author intended a specific solution or not. If Square were to miraculously release a statement solving the Rinoa=Ultimecia theory, the Gogo=Daryl theory as well as many others, part of the storylines of these games would be missing.

People play FF for their fantastic story lines. It's obvious that Square's writers work hard to provide a rich, believable and original story. However, if their story had every plot end tied up, every single facet explained...well, honestly, what would there be to discuss?

My point is what many have said before me. Gogo will be a mystery, Gogo. Rinoa will remain Rinoa and Ultimecia will be Ultimecia, no matter whether they cross paths or not. Did you enjoy the game and get your money's worth? That's what's important.

This also got me thinking about other FF final bosses. In each of the games I have beaten (4, 7, 9 and 10...it's horrible, only FOUR) the final boss was never 'human'. I think in each Final Fantasy, having a 'human' as a final boss would mean it is weak and has weaknesses. In my opinion, each of the final bosses is a concept or an idea. In FF4, Zemus transforms into Zeromus, which can be inferred to be absence or the object representing nothingness. In 7, Sephiroth isn't human, but the one who causes much of the game's problems is simply a ghost and or memory. In 9, well, Kuja wasn't human, but Necron was behind it, simply the cliché "Evil"? And in 10, Yu Yevon, the source behind the supposed religion was in the end, only "blind faith"?

I welcome thoughts and opinions on what I've said here. Hopefully someone else finds something valid or at least passable

Realistic Rain

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"I'm on a caffeine buzz!"
"No, you're on a sugar high."

I think Necron is just the throw-back to the Deus-Ex machina final bosses.

Neo X-Death could represent nothingness. I think he made that pretty clear. xD

So far, Vayne in FFXII seems very human. But I'm not at the end of the game yet, though one of the main themes is how power corrupts humans, so meh.

At least, I hope I'm doing this right. You're asking what we think the final bosses of the games represent?

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

Yeah, more or less, I'm just looking to see if my ideas are plausible and yes, if you've beaten another FF, what does the final boss represent to you?

FF8's Ultimecia some people have an issue with, mainly because she isn't brought into the story until quite late. Although I really don't know much about her, it'd be interesting to get opinions on her and also Kefka who is indeed a human and you meet from quite early on but he never really has another motive than world domination?

Thoughts?

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"I'm on a caffeine buzz!"
"No, you're on a sugar high."

I think Ultimecia obviously (though alot of people seem to think she's just Deus Ex Machina'd, it's just a matter of paying attention) represents persecution, especially given that theme's major place in the story and Ulty's little speech in Galbadia.

Unfortunately, the way Ultimecia was executed made her fall to the level of 'omg I must destroy everything!!!one' type of villain that plagues so many other FFs. It's a shame.

Kefka was probably the first experiment with this archetype that even had somewhat of a backstory, considering FFVI was the first game where the focus was moreso on a cinematic storyline than gameplay, it helps that the villain has somewhat of a motivation. But unfortunately Kefka's just crazy.

This post has been edited by Zeromus_X on 13th November 2006 05:32

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

i have nothing against the ´´omg i wanna destroy everything´´ kind of arch enemies, as they mostly give a pretty cool speech before they attack the party, telling the party how useless life is etc etc. ><

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All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Broccoli to die.

Okay, This goes for a longer talk...or maybe not. We'll see.

Final Fantasy

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

The final boss - Chaos, is the first boss, Garland, who created a time loop to make himself infinitely powerful and get vengance on the Light Warriors.
He could be taken as personification of Wrath and Vengance, although he doesn't have much plot time.

Final Fantasy II

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The entire plot is painfully/wonderfully (choose your own. Mine is the latter) StarWars-esque, with an evil empire, the rebellion, doing missions etc (my favourite part being the Warship/Dreadnought story-arc).
During the game, you kill the Emperor and seem victorious. However, the Emperor comes back from the dead, as he has done deals with the forces of Hell and still wants to conquer the world.
Megalomania much?

Final Fantasy III

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Until IX, III was the most..."colorful" of all FFs. The final boss is "The Dark Cloud" - the ultimate evil summoned by the main villain after you defeat him.
Deus ex machina, I guess.

Final Fantasy IV

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Well...again, you are faced with the last boss who isn't even the "behind-the-scenes evil" you are informed about near the begginning of the game. Dunno what to say

Final Fantasy V

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First of a row of FFs, to have you meet the main villain somewhere mid-game and chase/run into him for the rest of the game.
ExDeath had a silly name, a cliche'd motivation, but served for enough plot drive to have me beat the game.

Final Fantasy VI

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Kefka was human. Or at least started out as one. You can see from the start, that he's what you fight in the end, and you're not disappointed (well, maybe except the fact, that he is an utter weakling...but that may be the point: he's weak, ergo, he's compensating). I wish we'd have insight into his slide into insanity.

Final Fantasy VII

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With Sephiroth we get what we didn't with Kefka: flashbacks that show us how a great hero became the great (or not so) villain. His obsession with his "mother" and how he keeps moping (because I think he's moping, rather than plotting) makes me think, that he doesn't deserve the great music he gets.

Final Fantasy VIII
...
I'll just skip it.
...

Final Fantasy IX

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I see Zemus/Zeromus in Necron, although I loved having Kuja as the villain. Vanity, anyone?

This post has been edited by SilverMaduin on 13th November 2006 08:55

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

well in IX, you dont even know who, or what Necron is. he just sort of happens, with no explaination....im still confused at what he served to the plot, if anything, or was he just a boss Square didnt know what to do with, and at 3 am they just decided to make him the 'last boss'

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

FF9 had the worst
final
boss
ever.

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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Well, I wouldn't agree with Realistic Rain that Sephiroth isn't human...Sephiroth is a person who someone else does a terrible wrong to (unklike the other bosses), but instead of choosing to make things right, he feels that he has license to repay everybody for what a few truly evil people did to him, in the end sinking below their level.

This post has been edited by BDZ on 14th November 2006 04:05

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Status:
FF6 -- Finished! Yeah!
FF7 -- Finished (easily, and without KOtR)
FF8 -- End of Disc 3
Secret of Evermore--Leveling up for Salabog

"Go sit over there. Put your seatbelt on."--Squall

Square's "last boss transformation" is almost a foundation of the series, iconic and quite expected by loyal fans. It would be nice to see an enemy that's somewhat more tangible, but then it wouldn't really be Final Fantasy.

Even Tactics had this. And it had some of the best down-to-earth villians.

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Visions of Peace - Four Generals, One Empire, and the Returners caught in the middle.

Yeah, I was like 'oh. wtf. This game has the best villains ever and now I get this?! *dies*<_>'.

And then I read the Germonik Scriptures.

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

Chaos (FFI) - Vengence

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I'll have to agree with SM on this one. Can't think of anything better.

FFII and FFIII I'll leave, since I've never played them extensively.

Zeromus (FFIV) - Hatred

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The story explains that he is Zemus' hatred, manifested. All the pent up rage of being forced into hibernation had only grown once he was killed by Golbez and FuSo-Ya. He even says it himself. "So long as evil exists in the heart of man..." Of course, that was on his dying breath, so...I'm not sure we can take him seriously on that.

Exdeath was a substandard character to begin with. I'm not about to try to psycho-analyze him.

Kefka (FFVI) - Spite

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Yes, I said it. Spite. It just seems to fit for me. It's a bit better suited for Kuja, especially since he did it better, but still.

That's as far as I go, though.

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"Some fight for justice. Some fight for law . . .
. . .Cecil, what will you fight for?"
~KluYa

I think that Necron did play an important part, but I don't know if I can explain it. I think he symbolizes despair. He represents a part of people that's afraid of death, the part that would do anything to stay alive. He tries to convince people that they would be happier dead, but ultimately fails because everyone conquers their fears. He sort of emphasised Kuja's problem towards the end of the game.

I don't know if I'm making any sense or if it means anything, just bear with me.

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Why, hello guys! Haven't been around here in a loooong time!
http://dragcave.net/user/LadyTwi
http://www.backloggery.com/ladytwi

I think necron made a fair pint

without life there would be no despair

there is less happy people in the world than people suffering and if all was wiped out the cycle of misery would end

This is my take on them:

FFI:

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Garland represents the first real "twist" in an FF series. The first boss you beat is also the one who's been behind everything the entire time.

FFII:

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The Emperor is made out to be the villain at the beginning, and the Emperor REMAINS the villain at the end of the game. Unique among FFs, as far as I can remember.

FFIV:

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The "boss out of nowhere" concept. OK, we learned about Zemus maybe a few hours before the end of the game. Still, afer hours of chasing Golbez I felt he was a pretty crap and unexplained villain.

FFV:

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I like Ex-Death. I agree with SilverMaduin, he's the first villain that you meet halfway through that engages you throughout the game. He's still very cliche though. The "ultimate evil."

FFVI:

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Kefka is by far the most unique villain in the series. He starts out a henchman, and I for one didn't suspect he would be the final villain until almost the end of the WoB. As for what he represents? HATE HATE HATE. Totally lacking in reason or motivation. He's just nuts. Truly a landmark villain in any video games series as far as I'm concerned, despite the obvious homage to the Joker.

FFVII:

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Yes, he has fanboys, and yes, plenty of people think he's overrated. But Sephiroth is also a great villain. He is the first "tragic villain" that I can remember in video games. You almost feel bad for him (almost) because you realize he's been thrown into this situation. Kefka you get the sense was a nut before the Magitek experiment gone wrong. Sephiroth you KNOW was a hero. His fall from grace and his subsequent emergence as the true evil is another great pinnacle of video game villains.

FFVIII:

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Lame, lame, lame. Villain out of nowhere, but with some weird-ass explanation that made little sense. Very Zemus-like, but Zemus was only a poor ending villain to an otherwise great game. Ultimacia was a poor ending villain to an otherwise bad game.

FFIX:

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Square used FFIX as a vehicle for old school references, and I agree with SM again that he was probably a Zemus reference. For a more analytical but still plausible explanation as to what he is, see: http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/forums/ipb/in...=5959&hl=necronhttp://www.cavesofnarshe.com/forums/ipb/in...=5959&hl=necron.

FFX:

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I like the concept of Jecht as the final boss. He definitely represents Tidus' struggle with identity, and of course his ultimate confrontation with the father who abandoned him. A great ending concept, I thought.