5.5 is by far my favorite patch in the entire game [Spoilers]

[Cilia]

Personally, as a Dungeons & Dragons player I just find it funny how Bahamut and Tiamat have effectively swapped their traditional fantasy roles in this game.

5.5 was OK, but I'm pretty sure they're saving the juicy bits for 5.55, when shit really hits the fan.

[Bright-Flower]

Personally, as a Dungeons & Dragons player I just find it funny how Bahamut and Tiamat have effectively swapped their traditional fantasy roles in this game.

5.5 was OK, but I'm pretty sure they're saving the juicy bits for 5.55, when shit really hits the fan.

Even in earlier final fantasy games it's swapped I believe. In the first FF game I think bahamut was an npc that guided you on part of your quest, and Tiamat was one of the four fiends you had to kill. The original FF took a lot from D&D, even the spell level/sot system in a sense in its original release.

[Vyrerus]

Even in earlier final fantasy games it's swapped I believe. In the first FF game I think bahamut was an npc that guided you on part of your quest, and Tiamat was one of the four fiends you had to kill. The original FF took a lot from D&D, even the spell level/sot system in a sense in its original release.

In FF1, Bahamut gives you the class promotion when you bring him the proof of courage from the Castle of The Ordeal. The ordeal being either sailing and then canoeing or flying and then walking to the castle through hordes of wyverns, rakshasas, basilisks, and other nasty beasts, only to have to wade through Medusas, Red Gargoyles, Nightmares, and a Zombie Dragon. All in order to claim your proof beside the throne at the top, which has taken the form of a Rat Tail.

Tiamat is the fiend of the Air, and resides in the Lufeinian's Floating Fortress, which in the original version was a highly advanced satellite station with robot NPCs. Tiamat was so mighty narratively, that she drove the Lufeinians out of their own capital. The Lufeinians are masters of magic, selling the highest levels of black and white magic in their isolated town. It would also seem that Tiamat somehow turned their own machines on them, though that is never explained, but aside from the NPC robots who help you to access the fort, all other robots are inherently hostile. Including the infamous WarMech, which is capable of firing radiation beams more powerful than any magic, more powerful than Tiamat herself.

So yeah, they definitely swapped in their roles.

[MistakeNot]

Personally, as a Dungeons & Dragons player I just find it funny how Bahamut and Tiamat have effectively swapped their traditional fantasy roles in this game.

You do know that neither of them were invented by Dungeons&Dragons, right?
Tiamat is from ancient Babylonian mythology, where she was some kind of sea goddess who may or may not have had dragon shape, but who did, in at least some versions of the myths, give birth to a host of monsters including dragons and sea serpents.
Bahamut is from Arab legends, where he is a giant fish supporting the Earth. No association with dragons at all. The name Bahamut is probably derived from the biblical Behemoth.

[Vyrerus]

You do know that neither of them were invented by Dungeons&Dragons, right?
Tiamat is from ancient Babylonian mythology, where she was some kind of sea goddess who may or may not have had dragon shape, but who did, in at least some versions of the myths, give birth to a host of monsters including dragons and sea serpents.
Bahamut is from Arab legends, where he is a giant fish supporting the Earth. No association with dragons at all. The name Bahamut is probably derived from the biblical Behemoth.

As with many fantasy games, D&D co-opted cool names and myths and re-imagined them for its setting. The D&D Bahamut is the first time it's represented as a dragon, and D&D is the big inspiration for Final Fantasy at its roots, so that is the Bahamut being referenced.

Tiamat is represented as a sea serpent, since she is a goddess of the sea and primordial chaos. She too, had her name co-opted by D&D, and she fits the bill even more for a dragon. Yet, when referenced by Final Fantasy, they are largely referencing the D&D counterpart.