The Rift(s)?

[LilimoLimomo]

This question might be a bit messy, so please bear with me. In short, I want to solidify my understanding of the FF14 universe as it pertains to planets, space, dimensions, and timelines.

From what I understand, FF14 contains a universe that contains planets (referred to as stars) that are separated by space. There are also reflections of Etheirys that exist in what seems best described as quasi-parallel dimensions, which are separated from the main "universe" by "the Rift".

There's also the "Interdimensional Rift" that seems to have been a temporary creation of Omega's, and there's also a place I'm unsure of where WoL, Cid, and Alpha are left after Omega deletes the Interdimensional Rift. It seems like it could be outer space, as we see planets. And it's a place where Hraesvelgr can fly to. But it seems like it might be something more because the Interdimensional Rift is initially entered via a chasm on the Source, so how it's deletion would put someone in space is unclear to me.

In The Twinning, notes suggest that those in the alternate timeline that experienced the Eighth Calamity studied Omega to learn how to traverse the Rift to get from the Source to the First. But I'm not sure how to interpret this, as while Omega created whatever the Interdimensional Rift is, from what I can tell he didn't actually traverse the Rift. Unless outer space is part of The Rift? Or unless the Interdimensional Rift existed in the Rift?

Nabriales takes Minfilia to the Aetherial Rift. This seems to be where the Ascians sometimes had their meetings, and where Elidibus sent the WoL at the halfway point of their fight. Is this the Rift between reflections? Or something else unrelated?

Is outer space considered to be part of The Rift? I feel like I recall people referring to it as such. But it also feels like it can't be, because if that were the case a dragon could just fly from the Source to the reflections. Is the term "Rift" being used to describe multiple, different things? Or is my memory just off? Is there a specific, FF14 term for "outer space"? I feel like I've heard it called both "the great expanse" and "the rift" at different points, though I could be mistaken.

Many thanks in advance for helping me wrap my head around all this!

[SilverArrow20XX]

The Rift is just interdimensional space.
Omega didn't create it. He merely created a space within it.
It's like Hyperspace.
You have to move through it to get to other dimensions, and it can also be used to freely move through time and space.
Bad guys also love to just hang out there so that they can have a safe space outside of existence.

The Aetherial Rift I think is just a thin Rift between the Shards, that are close enough to be touching each other in some spots. Basically just dipping your toes into the Rift, so non-corporeal beings like the ascians can cross there, even if diving into the deep end is probably out of their reach without aid.

Outer Space is The Great Expanse.

[LilimoLimomo]

Thank you for your reply! It's really helped me think about this.

The Rift is just interdimensional space.
Omega didn't create it. He merely created a space within it.
It's like Hyperspace.
You have to move through it to get to other dimensions, and it can also be used to freely move through time and space.

This got me thinking, so I went and scrubbed through some videos and found the following:

When locations in FF14 are introduced, the format is that they have the name of the specific place in big letters on the bottom, and then above it in smaller letters they have the name of the broader place name that the specific place is a part of. So in the image, we see that the specific place Old Sharlayan exists in the broader place The Northern Empty. Thus when the Interdimensional Rift is introduced, these titles tell us that the Interdimensional Rift is simply one place in the Aetherial Rift. So that's probably a big part of what's been confusing, is that when people say "rift" it can refer to different things. But at least this in-game introduction clarifies that while related, these are distinct concepts.

As an aside, "Interdimensional Rift" was probably a poor choice of names, since it seems like the Aetherial Rift is "interdimensional" as well...

Though that said, I'm now confused in a new way: when Omega "collapses the rift" (presumably this means the Interdimensional Rift), I would have thought that those inside would then be in the Aetherial Rift, since the Interdimensional Rift exists within the Aetherial Rift. And maybe that is what's happening? After all, Alpha can walk through it without having his feet on the ground, which doesn't seem like The Great Expanse. But in ways it seems like The Great Expanse, since we can see planets and the historical Omega records that are read over the scene reference Omega encountering asteroid belts.

I suppose regardless of whether this space is The Great Expanse or The Aetherial Rift, there's precedent for Hraesvaelgr to be there, since Midgardsormr was able to manifest uninvited in the Interdimensional Rift, which seems like it would suggest an ability to exist and travel through The Aetherial Rift?

Regardless, I'm feeling closer to understanding, so thank you!

[Cleretic]

Yeah, there's multiple things called 'the rift' or 'the void' in FFXIV.

1. There's the space between the shards, which we've travelled a couple times and the Ascians used to hang out in; The Crysalis took place here, as best we can tell.
2. There's the space between Final Fantasy universes, which is plausibly but not confirmably where the Omega raids took place in, and was introduced in FFV as the Interdimensional Rift (hence the name in Omega). FFXIV Omega likely crossed through here regardless, and thanks to Gilgamesh it's completely undeniable that it's canon to FFXIV's world.
3. There's the Rift that Omega took place in, if that's separate to 2, which again is unclear. It might just be a sub-area within the greater area that's got the same name. Omega pretty clearly doesn't have as much control over this as it thinks it does.
4. There's actual physical space, which at the very least has the common decency to work how we in the real world understand it to, plus or minus 'ability to breathe in it'. Thankfully I rarely see this one cause confusion.
5. There's the Thirteenth/the Void, which is sometimes confused for 1 just because of vague wording, but 2 and 4 have also been called 'the void' in non-FFXIV contexts so some people with more experience in other FF games like V get the wrong idea.

The main way I survive this weird ambiguity is by the fact that, with the debatable exception of 2 and 3, they all mostly stay out of each other's way; you're usually only dealing with one of these at a time, and the one time two of these actually did appear in the same story (4 and 5 thanks to 6.4) they were both present enough to be blatantly different things.

[SilverArrow20XX]

This got me thinking, so I went and scrubbed through some videos and found the following:
When locations in FF14 are introduced, the format is that they have the name of the specific place in big letters on the bottom, and then above it in smaller letters they have the name of the broader place name that the specific place is a part of. So in the image, we see that the specific place Old Sharlayan exists in the broader place The Northern Empty. Thus when the Interdimensional Rift is introduced, these titles tell us that the Interdimensional Rift is simply one place in the Aetherial Rift. So that's probably a big part of what's been confusing, is that when people say "rift" it can refer to different things. But at least this in-game introduction clarifies that while related, these are distinct concepts.

The Interdimensional Rift transcends space/time. All universes exist within it, but it can also be anywhere you open a door to it.
Rather than thinking of the Aetherial Rift as a bigger place that the Interdimensional Rift is inside of, it's more like it's just where Omega created his pocket dimension, with "Interdimensional Rift" being a generic term for any interdimensional space of a less specific "location".
Using an Ocean metaphor, I think the Aetherial Rift is the shallows where you can still touch the bottom, and so has a permanence of structure shaped by the nearby Shards.
As 3 dimensional beings, we can't perceive the entirety of the Rift and need pathways to see the connections. To go "deeper" you need to move through higher dimensions.

When he deleted his pocket space, we are still in the Rift (but in the deep), and Alpha is able to summon us back to an area where there is space. The Aetherial Rift.
Omega's portal to the Rift is still open, so Hraesvelgr is able to simply fly into the hole and get us.

[Catwho]

The Rift exists in other games, even if it's not explicitly called out as such, simply by the fact that characters from those games can make cameos in other games. (Dissidia can be an argument that it exists in all games to some extent.)

FFV: Gilgamesh travels to all other worlds/games where he appears via the Rift. With the exception of FFXI, all Gilgameshes in other games are the same as this one.

FFXI: Shantotto is a canonical dimension hopper, but so are other shards/shades/versions of herself, which is what the whole "A Shantotto Ascension" mini storyline was about in XI.

FFXIII: Lightning can canonically hop dimensions.

FFXV: Noctis got pulled into the Rift by accident during his XIV crossover.

Presumably anyone from XVI who travels to XIV would also do so via the Rift.

[Kaliesto]

The Rift pretty much connects every FF-verse, and the creatures that lay within the Rift are the most dangerous.