I personally haven't got too far in Final Fantasy IX just yet; but one thing I noticed and thought was really cool, is that there are some subtle little easter eggs relating to some other games.

Firstly, I saw the "there is no place to put the medallion" statue; that is totally a link to Resident Evil 2 when Leon or Claire tries the Unicorn Medallion on the statue in the lobby... cause the statues even look similar.

Secondly, I heard the music for Shinra's army playing amongst the bandit-players; when Baku was kind of imitating the fat guy in green from Final Fantasy VII (his name started with "H", you know the one).

And another one that I remember thus far is in the weapons shop in the business district, when Zidane mentions that the swords on the wall look like one's that a spikey headed guy used to wield around. So these is actually pretty fun to find.

Are there lots of these floating around? Don't give too much away, I'm just up the Qu's Marsh where that wield long-tongue thing joins the party. I noticed some chocobo tracks around there too... so I'm guessing the chocobo system will be like it was in VII, which was actually fun, hehehehehehe!!!

Actually, FF9 is FULL of references, and not just the usual "Final Fantasy staples" references, either. ^_^ It was a game that literally was supposed to be an homage to all of its predecessors, so it really is fun to try to pick out as many of the references as you can. :)

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So I won't spoil them the game too much, here's a few more references that have been in the game up until the point.

~ In the beginning of the game, in the "I Want to Be Your Canary" play, the name of the princess, "Corneilia" is also the name of the castle from FF1.

~ A small one, but one nontheless -- the battle theme's opening rift (dun da dun da dun da DUN da!!) is one that was used in many past FF's (FF1, FF6, for example), as was the victory fanfare. Neither one had been used since FF6.



Hmm... there's tons more, but I can't think of any right off the top of my head that aren't past the point you're at. ^^;; Anyway, glad you're having fun! FF9 is a great game, hope you keep enjoying it and finding out more of those refs! XD

References to ffs, movies and tv series, other games. Its real fun to find them all. There are a lot out there, until the end.

Do not go into Gizamalukes Grotto now, but go east to the Chocobo forest and start the subquest. Seriously.

FFIX contains *a ton* of references.

Oh and in Trents post, 2 down, there are spoilers.

U'll get tonds more! It's full of them, each one even more obvious than the other:p Ah well, good for a laugh.

* The presence of Wedge and Biggs, who appear in EVERY FF game (with exeption of the first 4) even in X they appear as blitzballers/ Luca guardians.

- Cornelia, the lead in the play "I Want To Be Your Canary" in FF9, has the same name as the first town in FF1 (Corneria). However, the name was more likely taken from King Lear.

- In Memoria, there is a secret sword - Excalibur II - that can only be found if you get to it in under 12 hours. When you find it this message will appear:
"To Brother Gil: Bro, I found the sword, like you told me. But there were two. One of 'em had a lame name, something II. It was a dingy, old thing with flashy decorations, something you'd probably like. So I went with Excalipur. I'll be back after I find the Tin Armor."
"Brother Gil" refers to Gilgamesh, as does the existence of an Excalibur along with an Excalipur that appears to be just as powerful. This is directly taken from the battle with Gilgamesh in FF5.

- Queen Stella shares a name with Stella from FF5... although I believe that's just coincidence.

- Terra's "limit break" move in FF6 (JP) was called "Trance". This is reflected in FF9's limit break system, which is also called "Trance".

- "Rally-ho/Lali-ho", the cry of the dwarves, is repeated in FF4, as well as FF5 and FF1 (PSX version).

- In Evil Forest, one of the Active Time Events (A.T.E.'s) is called "Orchestra In The Forest". It depicts the Tantalus orchestra playing a tune to keep their spirits up. The tune is Rufus's Welcoming March from FF7.

- One of Freya's skills is called "Reis's Wind". Reis was a Dragoner (turned into a dragon) from FF Tactics.
One of Freya's spears is called "Kain's Spear". Kain was a Dragoon from FF4.
One of Freya's attacks is called "Dragon's Crest". You also receive this item after beating Shinryuu in FF5 (although the reference might have been unintentional).

- The scene involving the antlion in Cleyra is reminiscent of FF4. In both games, people say the antlion used to be docile, and now it attacks a prince (Edward in FF4 and Puck in FF9).

- The Kupo Nuts given to the moogle in Gizamaluke's Grotto originated in FF7's "Mog House" mini-game.

- There's a sign in Lindblum at the start of the game showcasing Polom's action figure shop. Porom (spelled the same as Polom in Japanese) was a child white mage from FF4.

- There's an old man named Locke in Lindblum; Locke was a character in FF6.

- Zorn and Thorn can give each other Meteor and Comet attacks, which is very similar to Palom and Porom's "Twin" attack from FF4.

- The story Ramuh tells Dagger at Pinnacle Rocks about Joseph and Nellie is directly from FF2.

- Mount Gulug should have been translated as "Mount Gulg", the same place as in FF1 (they're spelled the same in Japanese). Even the Mount Gulug Theme is a remix of Mount Gulg from FF1. (The original theme starts after a minute into the song.)

- It's quite possible that "Madain" (as in Madain Sari), the summon Madeen, and Maduin from FF6 are all supposed to be the same thing.

- Many people have pointed out the extreme similarity of the Hilda Garde 1 to the Big Whale/Magical Ship from FF4.

- The old man who gives you the Excalibur in exchange for the Magical Fingertip is none other than Kokuro, the dwarven blacksmith from FF4. (You can find this out by getting the Magical Fingertip and talking to the innkeeper nearby *before* talking to the old man.)

- The four mirrors from Ipsen's Castle are very reminiscent of the four crystals from the earlier games.

- Garland, the ruler of Terra, is also the name of the primary antagonist in FF1. Mikoto mentions that "Garland once tried to take control of the cycle of souls by force, but failed". Guess she was talking about FF1. 8-)
Garland's castle, Pandemonium, was also the name of the last castle in FF2 (spelled slightly differently).

- The four beasts you meet in Memoria (Maliris/Malirith, Kraken, Tiamat, and Lich) were originally four fiends from FF1 (Maliris was called Kary in the NES version). In FF9, they're called Chaoses, and this translation is actually more accurate; in the Japanese version of FF1, they were indeed known as Chaoses, not fiends.

- Garland's airship, the Invincible, was originally the name of an airship in FF3.

- The secret monster in Alexandria Castle, Tantarian, is a reference to the monsters in the Ancient Library in FF5. His two forms were derived from Page 256, a monster that looks like a mask, and Page 64, which looks like a blue devil.

- One of the rare Tetra Master cards is the Namingway card. This was a character in FF4 who could change your name. Show the card to a man in Daguerreo and he'll be inspired to change your name too!
Other cards are Boco (a chocobo from FF5) and Airship (the airship from FF5).

- Dagger's real name (found via a secret in the eidolon wall in Madain Sari) is Sarah. There are two other Princess Sara/Sarah's in the series, one in FF1 and one in FF3. It says that Dagger's mother's name was Jane; in FF1, Jayne/Jane was Sarah's mother.

- If you visit Dragoos's weapon shop in Lindblum and examine the swords on the wall, Zidane will say "I remember a guy with spiky hair who used one of these...". He is referring to a buster sword used by Cloud from FF7.

- In the play in the ending, one of Zidane's lines is "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us". Cloud and Squall are the names of the protagonists in FF7 and FF8 respectively.

- The three potions gathered by Zidane to try to restore Cid all have descriptions from the Book of Matoya. Matoya was a witch in FF1.

- The comment on the Protection Bell is signed by Philosopher Minu. Minu (or Mindu) was a character in FF2.

- Doga's Artifact can be bought at the auction in Treno. Dorga is a character from FF3.
Une's Mirror can also be bought at the Treno auction. It is named after Dr. Unne from FF1 and Unne from FF3.
Une's Mirror has the words "The body may perish, but the spirit lives on" engraved on it. In FF3, these are Dr. Une's last words before you're forced to kill her.

- In Disc 4, if you take Doga's Artifact and Une's Mirror and talk to the Black Mage in front of the phonograph in the inn in Black Mage Village, the music will change to a track from FF3, Let Me Know The Truth.

- A Rat Tail can be bought at the auction in Treno. This was an important item in FF1 and a useful one in FF4.

- The Magical Fingertip can be bought at the auction in Treno and is attributed to Gogo, who could supposedly make extremely lifelike dolls. In FF5 and FF6, Gogo is a colorful character who can mimic other people.

- In Disc 4, you can play cards with ten people in Treno. One of them is named Gilbert, also the name of one of the characters in FF4 (Edward in NA, Gilbert in JP). Another is named Worker #9, probably the brother of Worker 7-new and Worker 8, from FF Tactics.

- After Alexandria has been destroyed, there is a pluto knight talking to a girl in an alley. The game calls her "Flower Girl" and if you talk to her she says that the knight is handsome, but doesn't have much of a personality. This may be a reference to Aeris from FF7.

- Althought not *necessarily* a crossover, Necron may have been inspired by Necrophobia from FF5.

Did you really have to spoil it?

Yes. ^-^

I think a lot of references are mis translated though.

I didn't get a lot of them at first, but there are so many i still saw enough to appreciate it.
I would have loved the game even if i didn't noticed any reference.

I think a lot of references are mis translated though.

I didn't get a lot of them at first, but there are so many i still saw enough to appreciate it.
I would have loved the game even if i didn't noticed any reference.

I did love the game with only knowing a few obvious references. Even if I did knew all, or none, for that matter, it wouldn't have changed how Final Fantasy IX appeals to me. =)

In Mognet Central, the theme that plays is Mog's Theme from FFVI (which actually originates from "Critter Tripper Fritter" from FFV.)

Final Fantasy IX also has the Fat / Chubby Chocobo. In earlier games, you could store excess items with this chocobo.

If you visit Dragoos's weapon shop in Lindblum and examine the swords on the wall, Zidane will say "I remember a guy with spiky hair who used one of these...". He is referring to a buster sword used by Cloud from FF7.

if you watched FF7 advent children & "last mission" you might notice that sword does not belong to cloud but rather the guy that died in the back of the truck in "last mission"- or i could be wrong i only watched both once - i dont even remember the guys name.

Given that Advent Children came out AFTER FF9, it's a pretty safe bet to say that FF9's comment wasn't exactly referring back to either one of those.

if you watched FF7 advent children & "last mission" you might notice that sword does not belong to cloud but rather the guy that died in the back of the truck in "last mission"- or i could be wrong i only watched both once - i dont even remember the guys name.

Even if it didn't belong to him, Cloud still used the Buster Sword.

That isn't even revealed first in Advent Children anyway. You can find that out in a sequence in Final Fantasy VII if you visit the basement of the Shinra mansion after a certain point. Oh, and the name is Zack.

For some reason, every thread I have posted in lately; always gets on topic of FFVII.

Damnit.

you're right agent0042 and i was gonna say the same thing when our server had a kernel panic. and your're right too joey...

and yeah can everybody get back to miss bunnies topic too much about ff7

and yeah can everybody get back to miss bunnies topic too much about ff7

Weren't you the one who got us on the FFVII kick?

Here's another reference that actually didn't make it into the English translation:

In the play "I Want To Be Your Canary," King Lear (Leo in English) says that once Cornelia and Schneider are wed, "The Kingdom of Sasun will be mine!" Sasun refers back to FFIII, as the kingdom Princess Sarah came from.

The proper name "Sasun Kingdom" was never translated in English, and King Lear instead says "his kingdom shall be mine."

King Lear is a reference to Shakespeare, no?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear

It seems like it. ^^

The name is written as "LEAA" in Japanese, so on first reading, I would have definitely thought the king's name was "Lear," rather than "Leo."

The whole play actually seems to have several references that may not be entirely coincidental to King Lear, and also to past Final Fantasy games.

Cornelia is the same in Japanese, and while it's the name of a place in Final Fantasy I, also is very close to the name "Cordelia," who is the Shakesperian King Lear's daughter.

King Lear's name in English (Leo) may also have been changed to refer back to General Leo in FF6 (one of my favorite NPC's), but that might be stretching it a bit. ^_^

Well, I don't know about that. Steiner / Beatrix do possess the attack Shock though --- which was General Leo's special attack. And as far as special attacks go, Climhazzard is also available in this game.

I'm talking about the name "Leo" being the only reference back to the character. The attacks Shock and Climhazzard would likely fall under "things carried through various Final Fantasy games," the same way summons like Bahamut, Shiva, etc. do.

* EDITED --- double post. :P *

^^ Found another one:

Zidane, talking in Black Mage Village about the baby Chocobo called Bobby Corwen: "Why do you keep calling it by its full name?"

Bobby Corwen / Boco, name of Bartz' Chocobo in Final Fantasy V. =D

Nicely found ^.^ But man, that's just too deep...

Oh, that's very good. I'm a big Final Fantasy V fan, but I never realized that before.

It's not too farfetch'd or anything, is it? ^^'


And for the rest..well, like I posted earlier, FFCompendium seems to have all the obvious ones noted down. But there's always room for more, if it actually make sense. ;)

Farfetched? Not at all. It's completely believeable, given that I haven't seen any other good reason posted before for why that chocobo's called "Bobby Corwen," and I also Googled it and found several other references to it.

it's not farfetched at all, i v always wondered about "bobby corwen" myself.

^^ Found another one:

Zidane, talking in Black Mage Village about the baby Chocobo called Bobby Corwen: "Why do you keep calling it by its full name?"

Bobby Corwen / Boco, name of Bartz' Chocobo in Final Fantasy V. =D

Boco was also the name of the chocobo you can rescue from some goblins in an particular battle in FF Tactics, which you can have join your party if you save him. Naturally, this was also a reference to FFV.

Yeah, and Boko (change of spelling, but still the same name) was the default name of the chocobo in Chocobo World in FFVIII and he could also rescue Koko, which was also from FFV. So it's obviously something of a recurring theme. They just decided to be a bit clever by giving this particular chocobo the name of "Bobby Corwen."