Quote Originally Posted by HumanNinjaToo View Post
Not sure you can count that really. Soul of Rebirth was added for 20 year anniversary re-release for FF2 when it hit mobile platform in 2012 (I believe). So that was far from the first appearance of Ulitma Weapon in FF numbered franchise.

EDIT: But you're absolutely right in that Ultima Weapon is not unique to FF7. But I think the OP was making the point that the Ultima Weapon we see in FF14 was inspired by the FF7 version of Ultima Weapon.
Ultima Weapon first appeared in Dawn of Souls (the FFI and FFII compilation), which was released in 2004.

The point I was really trying to make was more that it's a bit off-point to suggest that just because the appearance was apparently inspired by a specific incarnation (or incarnations, because the FFVIII version also has a similar look), the entire boss was inspired by a single prior game.

Ultima Weapon is, in that sense, no different from any other "legacy" encounter used along the course of the story such as Ifrit or Shiva who have also been fixtures in the FF-verse.