Are Chocobo based off the ancient dinosaur 'Citipati' ?

[Ghettobird52]

Hey all so ive been very intrigued by evolution and the liking, and have been watching alot of documentaries on the subject. I noticed a animal called "Citipati" which lived in the late Cretaceous period and looks quite like a chocobo!!! Anyone know where they got there motivation from?

[Wadoka]

There's a paragraph or so on the Wikipedia entry for "Chocobo"....

[Holyhunter]

Citipati was first discerned to be it's own species in 2001, Chocobos first appeared in 1988. Also chocobos look nothing like Citipati.

Chocobos were supposedly taken from Horseclaws from the movie "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind."


Horseclaws themselves were based on Gastornis

[Ghettobird52]

Ahh that was going to be my next guess . Under Citipati's wings look very familiar to Chocobo's. WOW i didnt know FF was that old.

[Enkidoh]

Haha, the FF series is actually older that that - the very first FF game was first released on the Famicom (the Japanese name for the NES) in Japan in 1987. The chocobo didn't appear until FFII a year later.

But yes, as Wadoka mentioned, the Wikipedia article explains it all (as does the FF Wiki article which is more in depth). It's basically Square Enix's corporate mascot now.