Are the Primals really Primals?

[Enkidoh]

There's even a degree to which the primals we've seen match up with members of the Twelve, though not with their aetherial alignment. Rhalgr, whose summoning we actually stop during the MSQ, is so close to Ifrit they could be brothers. Lymlaen rules over the seas and navigation; in other words, she is responsible for the safety of all that live in the sea and all that sail across it (sound familiar?). Llymlaen's symbol is even the wave, the signature assault of a certain someone. Likewise, Thaliak is depicted as a scholar wielding a staff of ash (ash is a tree) and he rules over rivers (nothing is more important to a forest than the rivers that run through it). Halone's similarities to Shiva are obvious, even more so when you review the Defenders of Eorzea trailer and notice that Shiva wields a round shield.

The other two are trickier (Nophica<->Titan?) but the principle seems solid enough...

Someone mentioned this earlier but it's worth repeating again - on the surface that seems the case but after juxtaposing the Primals with the Twelve again and after thinking about it, that idea just doesn't add up, specifically when looking at it from an elemental alignment.

The Ifrit-Rhalgr comparison for example, doesn't work, as Ifrit is fire elemental while Rhalgr is lightning elemental (the two fire elemental members of the Twelve are Nald'thal and Azeyma). Likewise with Leviathan and Lymlean - Leviathan is water elemental while Lymlaen is actually wind aligned. Also given the general stories of the Twelve is as much removed from the Primals as you can get (for instance, Nophica is essentially a goddess of fertility and farming, not exactly the same as the stern, elderly sylphic god of thunder Ramuh is it?) so the Primal-Twelve comparison doesn't hold water to me really.

Personally, although it's an interesting comparison to draw, I'm more liable to simply apply Occam's Razor to this idea and just take it as nothing but coincidence (and the Shiva-elezen pic nothing but a red herring planted by Ferne deliberately to get us lore nerds discussing this. ). Or I could be totally, horribly wrong - in which case it will probably result in me going mad from the revelation and running around Gridania shouting gibberish with my subligar on my head.