I didn't even see the .dats for any of the other ones besides the one at the top of the page. The other pics were from past games.
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This just made me even more confident of it being something along the lines of Suzaku.
The FFXI versions of Axe-beak, Zu, Ziz, Cockatrice, Apkallau, Dodo, Colibri, Roc, Simurgh, Suzaku, among others, could all in be considered in the same vein of mythical creatures generally know as serpent-birds, for the most part. (also, among these are Basilisks (in some mythologies) and dieties like Colocolo, Quetzalcoatl, to name a couple.)
The reason I would assume it's an alternate iteration of Suzaku is the use of a lot of similar elements that were also predominately associated with XI's Suzaku.
http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy...%28FFXI%29.png
Same color scheme (flipped), exposed spines (on back instead of front), same type of mob (generally considered axe-beak), and being grouped with other obvious endgame baddies (from the XI's 75-cap era, as well as throughout FF history).
Final Fantasy has always tweaked and toyed with familiar elements to keep things fresh, even though they are re-incarnations of previous elements... The cockatrice family in XI were wingless and very different from there genus counterparts, the Weapons were a totally separate type of mob in XI than Ultima & Omega, and so on.
As they continue to bring (and plan to bring) elements from the legacy that is Final Fantasy, in its various incarnations, I can't help but think of this (my belief that it's a form of Suzaku) as another tip of the hat to FFXI and its fans. At least I, forone, hope so.
I think it's the way the arms look so, useless, that I wouldn't consider that a Suzaku lol. Suzaku's limb should look more effective rather then just 2 nubs that look like fans lol.
I wouldn't doubt it. And it would represent a new enemy genus... The Rocs or Greater Birds
About time too... the Avian variety in this game is kind of lacking
Apkallu, Cockatrice, Hippocerf and even Ixali, all cool, but incapable of flight
Sure Bats and Vultures can fly but they're pretty insignificant right now
Bring on Simurgh, Suzaku. Make the Zu's bigger than they were in FFXI...
http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy...%28FFXI%29.png
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...%28FFXI%29.png
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/563...1205181147.jpghttp://img15.imageshack.us/img15/563...1205181147.jpghttp://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8...1205181148.jpghttp://img571.imageshack.us/img571/8...1205181148.jpghttp://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8...1205181148.jpghttp://img577.imageshack.us/img577/3...1205181149.jpg
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/a...8&d=1337391445http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RPGpNo0r_u...oncept+Art.PNGhttp://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3...xivdragons.jpg
the colouring for the yellow dragons resembles the one from FF4
Sad part is that this is all going to be in instances only. So who cares?
BTW, why is every dungeon/raid in a cave? Other than the fact that the starting development team already built the dungeons they've used so far.