Quote Originally Posted by Rydin View Post
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.



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.