10th Anniversary Amano key art [6.5+ Spoilers?]

[Kaliesto]

I'm kind of hoping this is a future character who's going to be relevant to the second story arc somehow.

Perhaps an actual god instead of a fabricated one...? We know the origin of the Sundered races, but not the Ancients and the star proper.

Good catch, we never got that answer.

[Enkidoh]

Well, we do know that Etheirys existed before the Ancients did (taken from comments made by a researcher at Elpis who stated that primordial Etheirys was an "untamed wilderness" prior to the establishment of the Ancients' civilization), so whether they evolved naturally from the planet's creation and their society developed over time accordingly, or whether they were like the Ancients from FFVII and were outright extraetheirysal that colonized the planet but originated from some other world, is a very good question.

Also, it was my understanding that Etheirys had no specific will or consciousness, it just was (this is why the Ancients gave it a will themselves in the form of Zodiark and then Hydaelyn as part of the plan to stop the Final Days, it had none itself originally - the Underworld/Lifestream/Aetherial Sea/whatever it is called just existed in a state of natural inertia prior to that with no consciousness or free will of its own (the Ancients were actually aethiests before they summoned Zodiark).

So hence I doubt we're going to see any "original will of the planet" show up now that Zodiark and Hydaelyn are gone.

[kaynide]

Wild theory: It's an interpretation of Azem (F gender), with Sun motif, somewhere along the way to what would eventually become modern Azeyma.

(Personally I'm leaning it's actually just an interpretation of Venat, but hey why not have wild theories)

[KageTokage]

The concept of gods at minimum is not foreign to them considering Athena's aspirations and use of phrases like "only the gods know".

The star itself was held with a certain reverence with how some mention viewing each soul as a drop of its lifeblood, destined to one day return to the flow and be born anew, so I thought it might be interesting if that held true in a more...literal sense with something in the planet awakening in the wake of all the changes that began with the advent of the first Final Days and ended with Hydaelyn's departure.

[Absimiliard]

The star itself was held with a certain reverence with how some mention viewing each soul as a drop of its lifeblood, destined to one day return to the flow and be born anew, so I thought it might be interesting if that held true in a more...literal sense with something in the planet awakening in the wake of all the changes that began with the advent of the first Final Days and ended with Hydaelyn's departure.

What you're describing here is very close to FFVII's Minerva, which was the planet's will personified. She was the goddess of which Genesis spoke repeatedly in Crisis Core -- the one that ultimately healed him of his degradation and gave him the strength for his final showdown with Zack. Zack himself could meet her if you were to complete enough side missions to unlock hers. While she was indeed the planet's will manifest, she was also a distinct entity unto herself rather than merely a mouthpiece for Gaia. Sephiroth eventually killed her off-screen, unfortunately.

At this point we know Final Fantasy XIV drew quite heavily from Final Fantasy VII for determining what souls and life energy are, how they come to be, how they interact with the planet, and what their ultimate fate is upon returning to it. There's nothing unreasonable at all about figuring they might decide to give the will of Etheirys its own Minerva equivalent.

[Cleretic]

What you're describing here is very close to FFVII's Minerva, which was the planet's will personified. She was the goddess of which Genesis spoke repeatedly in Crisis Core -- the one that ultimately healed him of his degradation and gave him the strength for his final showdown with Zack. Zack himself could meet her if you were to complete enough side missions to unlock hers. While she was indeed the planet's will manifest, she was also a distinct entity unto herself rather than merely a mouthpiece for Gaia. Sephiroth eventually killed her off-screen, unfortunately.

For clarification for everyone else (because I know I had a moment of 'what the hell is he talking about'): this is only in Crisis Core. This character isn't even implied by anything else in the VII games, including--at least so far--the remake.

She looks a little bit like the anniversary figure, if you replaced all the feathers and elegance with a conceptually ludicrous amount of gold armor.

[Absimiliard]

For clarification for everyone else (because I know I had a moment of 'what the hell is he talking about'): this is only in Crisis Core. This character isn't even implied by anything else in the VII games, including--at least so far--the remake.

She looks a little bit like the anniversary figure, if you replaced all the feathers and elegance with a conceptually ludicrous amount of gold armor.

I can't say for certain whether Crisis Core Reunion is meant to apply to the remake continuity as well or if it's still strictly part of the original Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, but I've a reasonable suspicion we won't be seeing her again regardless.

Can't say I noticed any kind of resemblance in the art. Granted, I haven't actually looked at Minerva in a very long time. Her lore just stuck out enough to live rent free in my memories because it was such an interesting addition to the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

[Enkidoh]

Having only played the original FFVII Crisis Core on the PSP years ago and not the recent PS4/PS5 rerelease, I'm not sure if anything was changed, but back then Minerva was just... a completely optional superboss with just some excuse plotting for her existence thrown in (as is typical of superbosses) - she was literally just something big and powerful for Zack to kill.

It was possible there was a link with her and the nameless "goddess" mentioned in the Loveless poem, but that in itself was just lore padding on something that was just originally just a cheesy romantic play Cid offhandedly mentioned at one point in the original FFVII (itself just a reference to an album by the band My Bloody Valentine no less), so I never bought the idea that Minerva was literally the goddess of FFVII's Planet and the will of the Lifestream. It's also then vaguely possible that Minerva was the figure worshipped originally in Aeris's church in Sector 5, and the angel figure above the archway into Edge's Sector 7 in Advent Children, but that is grasping at straws.

Which leads us back to the artwork for the FFXIV Anniversary page - it's not Minerva, it's clearly Hydaelyn. To claim it's anything or anyone else is just looking for things that aren't there.

[Absimiliard]

It was possible there was a link with her and the nameless "goddess" mentioned in the Loveless poem, btu that in itself was just lore padding on something that was just originally just a cheesy romantic play Cid offhandedly mentioned at one point in the original FFVII (itself just a reference to an album by the band My Bloody Valentine no less), so I never bought the idea that Minerva was literally the goddess of FFVII's Planet and the will of the Lifestream.

Which leads us back to the artwork for the FFXIV Anniversary page - it's not Minerva, it's clearly Hydaelyn. To claim it's anything or anyone else is just looking for things that aren't there.

I would note that Minerva does in fact directly appear to Genesis at the end of the game. In fact, thinking about it, she doesn't just appear; she saves him. This is spoken of in the Crisis Core Complete Guide. She and the lifestream recognized that he still had unfinished business. Genesis felt his duty as a SOLDIER was not yet complete, and so he was allowed to live on. Turned out Zack actually flatlined him at the end of their fight. He'd have been done if not for her intervention.

That above aside, LOVELESS itself is stated to have been derived from an ancient poem book. And to be clear, I mean ancient as in old, not ancient as in the Cetra. There's no telling who the goddess in the poem book was actually inspired by, but it's entirely possible (although, in my opinion, unlikely) it was Minerva all along. Whatever the case and regardless of what it may have been in Final Fantasy VII, the writers of Crisis Core chose to expand upon it. Tetsuya Nomura was extensively involved in the creative process, although not as a writer this time. Point being, he signed off on the game. It's an official part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, which means what it says kinda goes until something comes along to overrule it the way it did parts of Before Crisis and most of Last Order.

I might also note that no one in this thread is claiming the artwork is of Minerva.

[Elissar]

At first glance i thought it was Meteion or Hydaelyn. I see no reason to not be Hydaelyn, yellow represents not only the sun but gold and gold is the final state pursued by medieval alchemists. She is made whole again in the aetherial sea and her personal suffering found an end. Hydaelyn or Venat doens't appear in ARR trailer, they often doens't let key character exposed.


Relevant moments where final characters/manifestations were golden: