Final Fantasy Creators

[Dark Master]

Were the creators of FFX primarily Middle Eastern, or did they like the culture or something? Lots of things from the game have a Middle-Eastern theme. Zanarkand, from the old ME province of Samarkand, Al Bhed, don't know much of what it sounds like, but the name sounds very Arabic, having the article 'al,' and the city Guadosalam. I think there might be more, too. Anyone else notice this? What do you think of it?

[SesshomaruTenseiga]

I've noticed alot of eastern themes in the game. I wouldn't go so far as to say Middle Eastern though. But yes, east is a big theme in the game.

[Stedfel]

I've thought about this myelf, and I've found this theme in a lot of games. I'll do a little run down of what I believe or figured out.

Sin: Of course, there is the fact that there was a Sumerian god by the name 'Sin', and the concept plays an important role in the surrounding areas. Sin could also represent the Leviathan.

Names: There is what Dark Master pointed out in the names of places. Another one I considered was this: Macalania/Macedonia. I know Macedonia isn't in the middle east, bu it has an influence on the area.

More to come......

[Dark Master]

Look here: here. Should definitely help.

Proof from the site:
From FF10:

Baaj Temple: Moogle Fan mentions that it means "to remove" in the Urdu language.

Besaid: Exec thinks it may come from "Betsaida", a village in Galilee where the apostle Peter was born. Jemma Kupo adds: Just as Peter, the follower of God was born, so too Yuna, the follower of Yevon was born. Both were religious figures and both journied from their home towns.

Djose: From Chozo: The temple by Luca is called Djose after the Egyptian city of Djoser.

Macalania: Moogle Fan says it may come from the Macalani palm tree (doubtful).

Mi'ihen Highroad: From timothy: Mi'ihen may come from Mehen, the Egyptian god of serpents. Possibly in reference to Mi'ihen's long, windy path?

Zanarkand: From Sir Percival: "This probably takes its name from Samarkand, an ancient (2,500 years old) and still inhabited city in Uzbekistan."

Sin: I want to note first that I don't think there's any big reference behind his name other than its immediate meaning of little-s "sin". But I've gotten enough letters about it to at least post the idea that I don't agree with. 8p The latest is from Michael Robinson: "Sin (Babylonian/Akkadian/Sabaean) The moon god is the husband of Shamash to the old Persians. He is symbolized by the lying sickle of the quarter moon & is equal in essence with the Sumerian Nanna. His worship centres were at Assur and Harran (Syria). Might be the god which was worked over into Allah by Muhammad."

Zaon: From Moogle Fan: Zaon is an ancient name for the sun in Sanskrit. The relationship between Zaon (sun) and Yunalesca (moon) parallels that between Tidus (sun) and Yuna (moon).

Ma'at's Feather (Ability, FFX-2): From Moogle Fan: Ma'at is an Egyptian god of truth and balance. When someone died, their heart would be weighed on one side of a scale, and the other side would contain Ma'at's feather. If the heart was free of sin, it would weigh less than the feather.

Megiddo Flame (FF8, FF10): From WTG3: According to the Bible (the Book of Revelations I think) Megiddo is a mountain range where the final battle between good and evil is supposed to take place; we get the word 'armageddon' from this.

Ashura is Indian; it was originally spelled "Ashur". Ashur was the chief god of war and empire. He was always spoiling for a fight, was very mischevious, and was constantly getting in trouble with the other gods. Also, is the origin of the Japanese term "shuraba", where everything is so chaotic that you can't tell what's going on ('shura' from Ashura, and 'ba' = place). See also Asura.
Wilfredo Martinez notes: "Ashura means "demon" in Hinduism; it also means "angel" in the Zoroastrian religion (!?)."

Eden: It's been postulated by a correspondent that Eden is a Garden like Balamb Garden, which would fit in with the name "Eden", as in the Garden of Eden (aka Heaven) from the Bible.

Garuda (2): The bird that Vishnu rode on in Hindu legend. Garuda is the king of all birds and supposedly can carry several gods without impediment. Garuda represents good, and can sense evil in its vicinity.

Golem: Jewish mythology tells us that a golem is a creature made out of mud and brought to life when a righteous person inscribes a certain word on it. They are destroyed by rubbing out one of the letters, making the word "fire" which dries mud and makes the golem fall apart. The most famous golem, and indeed the one usually referred to as the Golem, was purportedly created by Rabbi Judah Loewe of Prague, also known as the Maharal, to fight against the anti-Semitism of the time. It's said that the Golem, once it had fulfilled its duties, became a janitor in the Altneushul ("Old-New" synagogue) in Prague, and after the Maharal's death it went up to the attic of the synagogue, and never came down.

Ifrit: Originally spelled "Efreet". Efreeti are fire djinns from the elemental plane of fire who lived in the City of Brass. Joe Mirza says Ifrit means "the devil" in Arabic.

Indra was the chief of the Vedic gods and controlled rain and thunder. He flew through the sky on his solar chariot.

Jihad (Crusader in FF6a) - In the original FF6 this Esper was called Jihad. Jihad means sort of like "crusade", thus the English name "Crusader". Sometimed "Jihad" is translated as "holy war". The reason the name was changed for the US version is probably that some Americans think of the group Islamic Jihad when they hear the name. But in reality, Jihad doesn't imply anything evil. Joseph Lenhard clarifies: "Jihad" in Arabic means "The cosmic battle between good and evil." According to Islam, all people fight this battle within their minds. It originates from Zoroasterianism. Ahura Mazda was composed of Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu, the Holy and Evil Spirits. -- Cidolfas would like to point out that extremists such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad do translate it in the literal sense, hence all the violence.

Leviathan: The Leviathan was a legendary sea monster, gigantic in size, that would send ships to a watery doom. "Leviathan" is of Hebrew origin. Being more specific, the Leviathan is supposed to surface in the times of the Messiah. The Messiah is supposed to kill it and make a sukkah (a kind of hut or as they call it in fancy language "tabernacle") out of its skin. Some say that the fish that swallowed Jonah was a leviathan, but they're mixing up two legends. Mako Gen cites a book called The Encyclopedia Of Angels which lists Leviathan as: "One of the demonic angels who is associated with the primordial deep of the sea. Leviathan (a Hebrew name means "that which gathers itself in folds") is associated with Rahab, angel of the sea. Leviathan is personified as and enormous whale who is impervious to all weapons."

Ramuh: Could be Rama, the hero of an epic Indian poem, the Ramayana. He is handsome, brave, and a model individual. After many trials and tribulations, he becomes king, and it is revealed that Rama is actually the god Vishnu in human form. Maou thinks the intended creature is the god Lahmu (alternately Lamu). No Ramuh exists, but Lamu is fairly widely-known. Note that Ramuh and Lahmu would be spelled identically in Japanese.
Marco Bastianello writes: I've read some documents (I don't remember the site, it's probably misteri.it, but it's moved and I don't know where...) about the legend of Atlantis, in which Ra-mu is the name of the wise king of Mu, the empire rival to Atlantis in those ancient times. According to this tale, mainly based on a free interpretation of the indian poem Mahabaratha, these two great nations declared war to each other millennia ago. They both possessed high technologies (thousands of years before Christ!) through which Atlantis ruled the western part of the world and Mu the eastern. They both could develop atom bombs, used flying ships and had powerful weapons, so the war between them was destructive. A world-scale atomic conflict made Atlantis fall in the depths of the Ocean and completely annihilated Mu, so humankind had to slowly regain scientific discoveries,no one survived to teach the others the amazing Atlantidean techs and the ancient artifacts from those times were considered magic tools of the gods. Probably Ramuh (a wise old man who possesses awesome powers) is the 'japanese version' of Ra-Mu."

Shiva: Shiva is a god from Indian myths which had multiple heads and arms. Shiva was called "The Destroyer" and had lots of powerful weapons. But in the mythology, Shiva has many other powers besides the Ice attribute in Final Fantasy. A member of the triad that includes Vishnu and Brahma. Note that the Hindu Shiva is a male. Skylark tells me that the original Japanese spells her name "Siva"; Siva is also a Hindu deity, but a female one (and hence more believable as to the real name). However, Deeban Sivanesan disagrees and says that there's only one Hindu deity. It can be spelled either Siva or Shiva, but should be pronounced Shiva. It's male, but can appear as a female. Leviathan_Garden sent in yet another view from this website that indicates that Siva is actually a Slavic goddess whose name is nevertheless pronounced "Shiva" or "sheeva", and whose name means "living, being, existing".
Nick pipes in: "To clear up any questions about the Shiva/Siva thing: Often in Hindi words the S is pronounced as "Sh", hence how you say "Ashura" rather than "Asura." Shiva is often spelled as Siva, but for those who are unfamiliar with the old spelling, the name "Shiva" is usually used instead. Shiva did have a female form, but it mainly recognized by certain sub-cultures of Hinduism (Mainly practiced in southern India, I believe). It's easy to see why they thought Shiva was a woman, because of his long hair and face. Men and women's faces often look the same in Hindu art. You have to look at their clothes and bust (Obviously ) to tell. I hope this helps."

Starlet (Lakshmi): In FF6j, this Esper is called Lakshmi (Rakushumi). Lakshmi is the goddess of good and bad fortune in Indian mythology. She sat on a giant floating lotus watching people. When she looked at you with one eye, it meant that you would have good luck, and the other eye meant bad luck. "Starlet" has a double meaning - a small bird or a young star (TV, music etc). psuban1 adds: Lakshmi was Rama's brother in the story of Ramakien/Ramayana. When Rama (who was the human incarnation of Vishnu) was exiled from his kingdom for fifteen years, Rama and his wife, Sita, went to the forest. Out of loyalty Lakshmi also went with his brother to the forest. I'm guessing Lakshmi was also a incarnation of a deity as the rest of the trio was. Lakshmi was probably the human incarnation of...er...Lakshmi?
Nick adds: "To clarify, Rama's brother was "Lakshman," not "Lakshmi." Lakshmi was Vishnu's wife. Lakshman isn't directly related to Lakshmi."

These are "just a few" Elements from mostly ff10, and also a few other ff games, which relate to languages, religions, or cultures ranging from Turkey to India. I also noticed several derived from Latin, Greek and Norse mythology, Italian, and obviously Japanese. I found the site quite interesting, check it out.

[SesshomaruTenseiga]

Wow! I noticed the "un-usual" names in FF, but I didn't look into them. Thats actually very interesting Dark Master.