Hydaelyn and Zodiark

[Saikou]

Moose, what the hell am I looking at? I'm sure evoking my very response is why this scene is in the trailer. But seriously. It's been a while since I played any of the ivalice games. Anyone present know if this thing before Eldibs in the trailer resembles anything from previous Final Fantasies?

Its so out of focus, but... I recently read the article for Shinryu on FF Wikia. There's more than a passing resemblance. It's certainly closer to him than the portrayals of Zodiark on the same wiki. Look closely, you can see his wings, his claws, his tail. If it is the case, then we've certainly been given another great threat for a post-Bahamut world.

Closer examination exposes some seeming human features. This gives "him" some greater superficial resemblance to the FFXII versions of some of the Ivalice Espers. Mateus and Zalera in particular, due to their wings and dark coloration. The more I look at the full size of moose's picture, the more I see a dark man on a dark throne... which sounds like a prophecy from a completely different fictitious world. If this = Mateus = Lahabrea... Due to what Eldibs said in 2.1, you can't help but entertain that thought on the basis of what little information we have.

This place, seemingly in the void, has an uncanny resemblance to The Hall of The Gods in FFXI. I once took a pilgrimage to that place. Before I had gotten that far in Zilart. Before I had defeated Promathia. It was just such a big monument to Vana'dielian religion having basis in Vana'dielian history that I had to go see it for myself. To those who had progressed far enough in Zilart, it was merely the gateway to a land of loot pinatas. It always struck me that once the gate had been unlocked, there was no reason to remain in the hall. The statue of Altana was above the entryway to the floating island of Tu'Lia. The statue of Promathia was above the entryway from Vana'diel.

12 great pillars aligned in an oblong formation. A dark creature at one end. Seemingly nothing at the other end. Elidibus stands on a platform at the center of this elaborate edifice, beholding this dark creature that appears to be perched upon a frozen starbust of darkness. If that's just not the definition of ominous. Zodiark? Lahabrea? Something completely different? The next few weeks will have my mind racing with speculation...

Edit: I find whether or not Hydaelyn is pre-Ivalice or not to be highly irrelevant regardless of what The Yoshida said. On the contrary, there are very clear connections in names and likenesses. Which is why people like me speculate on perceived similarities. I believe Yoshida meant to say that XIV is its own game with its own lore and it's own story and it is not bound to play out in any way like any of the previous or future installments in the series. On the other hand... Lahabrea. Zodiark. Elidibus. Crystal fucking Tower. Xande himself. And a Cloud of Darkness on the horizon. Indeed, no connection.

[Eltaire]

Edit: I find whether or not Hydaelyn is pre-Ivalice or not to be highly irrelevant regardless of what The Yoshida said. On the contrary, there are very clear connections in names and likenesses. Which is why people like me speculate on perceived similarities. I believe Yoshida meant to say that XIV is its own game with its own lore and it's own story and it is not bound to play out in any way like any of the previous or future installments in the series. On the other hand... Lahabrea. Zodiark. Elidibus. Crystal fucking Tower. Xande himself. And a Cloud of Darkness on the horizon. Indeed, no connection.

Exactly. If it is indeed that the world bears resemblance to Ivalice, Yoshida isn't going to outright say that's the case - especially if that's part of the behind doors concepts.

I am just really excited to see that we'll get some more Ishgard story, and it appears a visitation with the Holy See, perhaps.

[Anonymoose]

Anyone present know if this thing before Eldibs in the trailer resembles anything from previous Final Fantasies?

Vaguely. It's all about the rounded shape. They're not direct correlates, however. Put the image below (one of FFXII's forms of Zodiark) next to the image seen in the Defenders of Eorzea trailer. Notice how many of the shapes are shared between the two forms. These are two different manifestations of Square Enix's concept of Ophiuchus (Serpentarius), the 13th constellation of the Zodiark. I mean Zodiak. I mean Zodiac.

I believe Yoshida meant to say that XIV is its own game with its own lore and it's own story and it is not bound to play out in any way like any of the previous or future installments in the series. On the other hand... Lahabrea. Zodiark. Elidibus. Crystal fucking Tower. Xande himself. And a Cloud of Darkness on the horizon. Indeed, no connection.

The connections are thematic alone, is what he means. Final Fantasy is all about taking names and concepts from history and mythology and using each as an abstract theme that manifests differently in every installment. Over time, the franchise has added its own fictional creations to the pot of real-world ones. For instance, Excalibur of FFXIII is not the same Excalibur that was in FFXII, which itself is not the same Excalibur that was in FFXI, which itself was not the same Excalibur that was in FFXI, and so on. These swords share a name, and sometimes a theme, but have no connection to one another whatsoever. Likewise, the Crystal Tower of Final Fantasy XIV has no connection to the Crystal Tower of Final Fantasy III. They have a shared theme and the former takes inspiration from the latter. The rare exceptions to this are the dimension-hoppers; Gilgamesh, Shantotto, and Lightning, so far.

There's a shared theme between the Scions of Light and the Ascians, though we don't fully understand how deep that goes, yet. It could be that they wanted something lining up with astrological mythology and decided to keep the lore "in-house" by using the same structure and fictional connections they used for FFXII, as an homage, or it could be that there are meant to be hints in the present links to foreshadow what's coming. Homage, foreshadow, you never can tell with Squenix.

Also, they seem to have spelled his name wrong on that page. Xande was a character in Final Fantasy III. The first Emperor of the Allagan Empire has been named as Xandes by everyone to mention him in FFXIV thus far.

[Xmbei]

Then this world is a post war of magi ffvi world of balance world!!!! Seriously been playing ffvi and seeing even more ffvi connections then ivalice. You have an empire that farmed primals, a new empire using magitech and destroying a kingdom of Doma. A seal that broke in the silverfall battle releasing the primals. Just as the espers sealed themselves away in seperate world. An empire (Garlean) that sprang up over night with new powers and conquered the world. Seriously you can make many ff connections in ffxiv.

[lilirulu]

Also, should be noted that any design similarities may also be because Akihiko Yoshida worked on FF14 and 12 (as well as Bravely Default; and you may have noticed in hartschild (in BF) the women wear outfits similar in design the to Bliad in ffxiv).

[Morningstar1337]

Also, should be noted that any design similarities may also be because Akihiko Yoshida worked on FF14 and 12 (as well as Bravely Default; and you may have noticed in hartschild (in BF) the women wear outfits similar in design the to Bliad in ffxiv).

That explaisn why there are FF XII monsters (in a doylist sence at least) Nor can anyone ask YoshiP if he can add the Mimics from that game in?

[Alenore]

That explaisn why there are FF XII monsters (in a doylist sence at least) Nor can anyone ask YoshiP if he can add the Mimics from that game in?

There's already Mimics, in Lost City of Amdapor.

[Morningstar1337]

The Mimics there looks more closer to the traditional mimics than what I have in mind.

This is a mimic from XII


Here is some variants of that monster






There's also The Clockwork Bug. A variant introduced in XIV in Turn 4. I was referring to those monsters. But I digress, this is supposed to be about Hydaelyn and Zodiark right?

[Anonymoose]

Nor can anyone ask YoshiP if he can add the Mimics from that game in

There's already Mimics

The Mimics there looks more closer to the traditional mimics than what I have in mind.

If a treasure chest mimic mimics a treasure chest that doesn't look anything like the treasure chests of the land the mimic is in, is it still a mimic?

Truly a question for the philosoraptor...

Perception is everything. FFXII mimics are in Eorzea, but considering they look nothing like our coffers, we can't very well say they're they're meaningfully mimicking anything. Their mimic state has thus been re-imagined as a sort of stand-by mode, by the looks of things. The mimics in Amdapor keep seem to be the only ones worthy of the name in Eorzea so far. Unless the Allag have clockwork bug chests in the later turns... Oh, god, do they!? DO THEY!? WHAT IF THEY DO!

But I digress, this is supposed to be about Hydaelyn and Zodiark right?

Also, yes.

[Saikou]

You can get around the character limit by editing your post.

Its a bit of a stretch to say that this looks like the FFXII version of Zodiark. This guy looks a bit more human, which is why I suggest the other Ivalice Espers. Looking at freezeframe at 1080p, this monstrosity looks likei t has wings and a human head. I suppose its his giant arms and the red crest that make him look closer to Zodiark.