So What's the Deal with Moogles?

[Wolfandre]

We know that they are beastmen of a sort. We know that only a select few can see them, and even fewer can understand them. We know that they have some sort of hierarchy. We know they only stay in the Black Shroud. They also, apparently, spoke on behalf of the Elezen of Gelmorra in order to gain them passage to the Twelveswood (I read that somewhere, but can't remember where. Feel free to correct me.)

However...so many of these things are inconsistent. NPCs talk to and about moogles all the time. Moogles interact with objects (non-Legacy opening cart ride, for example) but other people never see what they do. The moogles also talk of helping those of Eorzea in their time of need (the beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era), but if only a few can see, interact with, etc. with them, just how do they help? Are they a game mechanic only in that regard? Did the devs forsake continuity in favor of reviving the Mog Net? The Padjal were the ones that asked the moogles for help, which they only did very begrudgingly.

Do the moogles have a sort of glamour that they use to deceive others? What is it about certain people, making them "special" (according to the moogles), allows them to see the moogles? And just why are they so darn happy about being potentially endagered?!

They have also been seen in the service of Padjal. White Mage quest NPC Raya-O-Senna is seen ordering her moogle acquaintances around, even inciting fear in them.

Now let's talk about Good King Moggle Mog XII. According to game legend, he, and all the other moogles, resided in another realm before migrating to Eorzea after a terrible war. What that war was, and who it was against, is unknown...I think. He was left behind in that realm after helping his moogle followers to Eorzea, but was summoned here using the same method the beast tribes use to summon their Primals. Does this mean he is a Primal himself? Is this other realm the same realm the consciousnesses of the Primals resides in? If that's so....did the moogle fight a war with the Primals? Why don't the moogles need to constantly feed on aether...or do they already?!

This makes my brain squiggle a bit. If we assume the moogles have been in Eorzea for a long while, how is King Moggle Mog XII still alive? The moogles refuse to crown a successor in honor of him. So unless moogles have a ridiculously long lifespan (spanning multiple Eras), I don't see how he isn't a Primal. That would make the moogles, by extension, beings of aether, similar to plasmoids....right?


PERSONAL SPECULATION AHEAD

I dunno, man. I think he's a Primal. He even tempered his followers. Kupdi Koop is uncharacteristically fierce for a moogle....I also think the moogles secretly hoard crystals and consume them. The bard quest line mentions the moogles hoarding Soul of the Bard crystals. Granted, they were doing so in order to selfishly preserve the bardic tradition, but it still sort of serves my point.

However, I don't think they malevolently consume. I think there might be some sort of...for lack of a better term...Aether Cycle going on, in which the actions of the moogles actually perpetuate aether, despite having consumed it. Hence the hoarding of Soul Crystals.

The rest of the inconsistencies....I dunno. I'd be, admittedly, a little miffed if there was such an inglorious oversight in such a staple of the Final Fantasy series.

So...what's your take? What do you think is up with the moogles?

Also...how much do I have wrong or have I mistaken?

[Enkidoh]

Well, if you did the original Gridanian storyline in 1.0, it mentioned that moogles were usually very rarely seen (various npcs remarked with amazement at how the player seemed to have amazing luck at constantly meeting them), and were almost regarded as mystical - Lifemend Stump was so named because Gridanian children would leave broken items there for the moogles to supposedly repair, even if adults dismissed it as a fairy tale (for instance, during one 1.0 story quest the Hermit of the Wood told two kids in particular: "didn't your parents tell you asking favours from the moogles is pointless?").

Not to mention in 1.0 also it was stated early on that moogles usually spoke an unintelligible language that very few people understood (other than padjal like E-Sumi Yan; Archons like Yda and Papalymo - the later used for humorous effect in Gridania's original opening scene in 1.0 when a moogle insulted Papalymo mistakenly believing him not to understand mooglespeak, which Papalymo angrily rebuked, something even E-Sumi Yan found unusual; and of course, the player, due to the Echo).

So I presume how moogles are shown in ARR is an extension of this - they can use glamour to make themselves invisible or visible at will - after all, in 1.0 even the sylphs were shown to be able to use magic to turn themselves invisible, so it's likely moogles also possess this kind of ability.

[Jinrya-Geki]

I hate moogles after that fight with the King. They cause me so much stress> The only way I could sustain my rage until I beat them was to draw this.

[Limefrog]

I can't remember exactly what he said but after talking to the delivery moogle, I got the idea that moogles can reveal themselves to others should they want to. If that is correct, then the whole cart ride scene can be explained as only a rare few can see moogles who haven't revealed themselves.

[Meliae]

the part of moogle being rare is explained in V1.0 and what makes them even rarer was the fact that moogles were sold as pets after being poached from forest to people in uld and other places, this was in one of the missions in V1.0 where you get to talk to a moogle you save from poacher/trader who captures one to sell it to uld, saying that "it" makes the trip to grid quite profitable.

and as for moogle speak it seems only "hearers" are able to understand what moogle says, just as they are able to understand the voices of elementals, as player is counted as hearer they can understand moogles, but not everyone who is a hearer is a conjurer for grid either, as far as padjal are concerened the ones shown in game so far (A.K.A. Seedseer sublings) are all hearers so not sure if by default they can hear moogle speach as a racial thing.

so going by this theory I would count them akin to spirits but what kind I cannot say, as they have shown some of the similar abilities as the spirits as well, as for bard soul thing its because they love music and are very powerful when it comes to using magic, if I remmeber correctly they save player using time stop/slow magic and then charming the trent away, in orignal grid opening from a trent that actually ate the pack of wolves you were fighting the moments before.

[Wolfandre]

the part of moogle being rare is explained in V1.0 and what makes them even rarer was the fact that moogles were sold as pets after being poached from forest to people in uld and other places, this was in one of the missions in V1.0 where you get to talk to a moogle you save from poacher/trader who captures one to sell it to uld, saying that "it" makes the trip to grid quite profitable.

and as for moogle speak it seems only "hearers" are able to understand what moogle says, just as they are able to understand the voices of elementals, as player is counted as hearer they can understand moogles, but not everyone who is a hearer is a conjurer for grid either, as far as padjal are concerened the ones shown in game so far (A.K.A. Seedseer sublings) are all hearers so not sure if by default they can hear moogle speach as a racial thing.

so going by this theory I would count them akin to spirits but what kind I cannot say, as they have shown some of the similar abilities as the spirits as well, as for bard soul thing its because they love music and are very powerful when it comes to using magic, if I remmeber correctly they save player using time stop/slow magic and then charming the trent away, in orignal grid opening from a trent that actually ate the pack of wolves you were fighting the moments before.

I'll disagree. Those that can understand the elementals are different from those who can understand mooglespeak. That is to say, a Hearer might understand mooglespeak, but not all who can understand mooglespeak are Hearers, and vice versa.

The player is also not a Hearer, as is explained in the Conjurer quest line (we would have heard them the same time the NPCs did). We have the Echo, which is why we are able to understand moogles (though it doesn't cover why we can see them). Whether or not the Echo extends to the Elementals in ARR remains to be seen (we could speak with them in 1.0, via the White Mage quest line but it was never explained how), as the Elementals do not manifest the same way as they did in 1.0.

[Artamie]

They also seem to be able to make objects invisible and sounds inaudible. That bottle of wine was clearly in the peripheral vision of Brendt so he should have saw it hovering up and down and everyone should have heard the moogle playing its instrument. The moogle in the cutscene also seems to dematerialize his instrument too. The way it did it though showed it twirling while giving off what looked like sparkling powder reminiscent of pixie dust from its fur. Mayhaps the moogles have fashioned their own silent oil and prism powders? Whatever the explanation though, it will have to account for how the moogle in 1.0 was assaulted so easily. Poor thing