I created a thread about this a while back here (
http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13211) , but this is what I posted there....
In the FF series, there are numerous recurring elements. The first being, of course, the Cid�s. Second, the sword Masamune. Thirdly, there is always a Ultima Sword, although it may be called under another name. Fourthly, there�s always been a Excalibur sword, somewhere in every FF game. Fifthly, there is always something called the ragnarok in every FF series. There are the recurring ultimate magic spells, ultimate black magic being either Meteor or flare, whilst the ultimate white magic is Holy. The forbidden spell Ultima, has been in every FF, except the first, and appears when everyone needs it. And of course, the currency is always Gil in every FF, except the original US versions of FF1, 4 and 6 had it translated as GP. The name Highwind has been used in earlier FF�s as well, FF 2 being the first. The character with this name, in FF 2 was called Richard Highwind a Dragoon/Lancer. In FFIV, The name of the Dragoon there, Kain�. HIGHWIND! In FFV, King Alexander, had Highwind as his middle name, Alexander Highwind Tycoon. And of course, the Highwind airship and her pilot, Cid Highwind. In FFX, the Highwind was the name of one of Kimahri�s weapons. Basically, any character with the name of Highwind were originally envisioned, by Square, as a loner.
Also in FFX, there is a sword called Matoya�s blade, a reference to the blind witch in FF1. The Rosetta stone in FFVIII is a reference to a key item you get in the original FF, which teaches you the Lefinish language, a race a spirit like beings towards the end of the game. The �bats� who encounter in various dungeaons in FF1 are actually the Lefinish people, turned into bats by the four guardians of chaos. Of course, they are references to earlier FF�s in most FF games. Example, the play at Gold Saucer, with a Princess Rosa was referring to the main female lead in FFIV. Also, Tiamat from FFVIII was not a dark Bahamut, contary to popular belief, but was referring to one of the four guardians of chaos in FF1, he was actually the Guardian of Air. The creator of Triple Triad, in FFVIII, look in the information section under triple triad, and it has the creator as Olan Durai. He was a character, an astrologer, a powerful magic user with the awesome spell called Galaxy Stop, which freezes every enemy in battle, and gives them status effects. What game? Final Fantasy Tactics that�s what! Of course, FFIX has a ton of references to earlier FF�s, unfortunately too many to list. Now, there is also a link, between FFV and FFVIII in the form of everyone�s favourite four armed maniac, Gilgamesh.
Now we all know of the four armed lackey of X-Death, Gilgamesh,, from FFV. However, is there any relation between the FFV and FFVII version? Well, the answer is, YES. Both Gilgamesh�s are the one and the same. Proof? Well, look at it like this. Towards the end of FFV, in the Cleft dimension, in a fight against Necrophobe, if you don�t destroy him in a certain amount of time, Gilgamesh will appear and wipe out Necrophobe for you. However his assistance is short lived, as he is dispatched to the realm of nothingness known simply as The Void or N Zone, meaning nothingness, by X-Death. He remains trapped in there, anger rising, until a certain blonde boof head, slices Odin in half (talk about a split personality), and Odin�s sword, Zantetsuken, is sent flying.
However, bad news coming. Zantetsuken actually slices the dimensional interval, creating a rift into the N-Zone, allowing a certain four armed sword collecting, and angry as hell, Gilgamesh to be freed. Of course, how does he thank his rescuer? By cutting him down. Thus Gilgamesh is freed from the prison he was cast into by his former master, X-Death. Now, Gilgamesh is trapped in the FFVIII world, with no hope of returning to his world of FFV.
If you�d like to check up on this yourself, check out
http://www.ffcompendium.com and have a look in regards to Gilgamesh and his appearance there, as well as any other references to earlier FF�s with the newer versions.