Proof of a Connection between VII & X?

[Locke4God]

This is crazy I know, so don't throw tomatos. I'd heard somewhere, and I don't remember where, but there was a supposed spiritual connection between 7 & 10. Before you start cranking out the "Final Fantasy games aren't set in the same world's" commentary, please know that I'm aware of that. But still there was a statement that said symbolically they were linked.

I'd had a number of thoughts including how Arieth and Tidus both dissapear at the end, and the similarity between spheres and materia among other things, but I wasn't sure what that really meant.

But then I was just reading a clip from Wikipedia on Gaia on the use of Shina in both titles

"In Final Fantasy X-2, a member of the Gullwings named "Shinra" proposes the concept of extracting the life energy from peoples' lifeforces, like Shinra does in Final Fantasy VII.[5] In the Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania guidebook published by Square Enix, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X-2 scenario writer Kazushige Nojima stated that the character Shinra and his proposal are a deliberate nod to the Shinra Company of Final Fantasy VII, and also revealed that he envisioned the events of Final Fantasy X-2 as a prequel to those in Final Fantasy VII.[6][7][8] This connection had previously been hinted toward by Nojima and lead Final Fantasy developer Yoshinori Kitase during an interview in the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω guidebook, and was again detailed in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω — two other official publications of Square Enix.[9][10]"

And then I started to wonder. Are the two games actually linked more physically than symbolically? If 10 hypothetically comes after 7, then that could make the citizens of 10 the ancients mentioned in 7. And that idea got me to thinking about Spira.

I had wondered throughout my playing of 10, as many of you did, why there wasn't a proper airship. You couldn't really explore the entire world, and so you aren't really sure if Spira is the only landmass. In fact we know from playing the game that Dream Zanarkand existed out in the oceans, unbeknownst to the people of Spira, so it stands to reason there could have been an entire other continent.

And that thought led me to try to compare the Spira from 10 to any of the continants in 7.

Here are the maps.

http://www.ffshrine.org/ffx/ffxmap.jpg
Final Fantasy VII - World Map

Does Spira not resemble the Northern continent? Is it coincidense that the Ancients came from the one continent in 7 that resembles Spira? Is it coincidense that the Northern crater is exactly where the original Zanarkand would be?

Would it be silly to think that after Sins defeat, the people of Spira ventured out into the Oceans for the first time in a Thousand years and discovered other land masses, and perhaps other civilizations? Would it be silly to think that the Farplane, was a way of interacting with the Lifestream that we know souls return to in 7? After all during 10, several characters went out of their way to explain that they didn't understand how the Farplane worked. If in fact it was the Lifestream, 7 answers that quite well. Is it possible that as stated above, the child Shinra, began the process of harvesting that Lifestream for energy, leading to the foundation of the company known as Shinra, which over the following thousand years led to the world we see in 7?


I know this is complete conjecture, but I thought it was sort of fun. In truth you really don't know in 10, if there are any other landmasses outside of Spira. We did all feel a little odd that there was no airship to circle to globe with, and this could explain why. It was also very interesting that nobody, despite their devout faith, could explain the events that took place on the Farplane, and which similar events are clearly explained in 7.

I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why not to put any faith in this, but I was more interested in anybody who thought this could be a possibility. There are official statements suggesting that it could be. Any takers?

[Dodie16]

There have been threads like this made already. Funny thing is that YOU made one not too long ago.

Spiritual Link between FFVII & FFX

FFX FFVII Connection?

Connection between FF7 and FFX

Why don't you post your thoughts in one of these instead of making an entirely new thread about it?

[Locke4God]

Actually Dodie, the one I made just referenced the idea of the spiritual connection, so this is quite different. I will check out the other threads though, which may be interesting, but they're quite old, so I don't know that anybody is following them.

[Unknown Entity]

You make good points, but I could argue that a lot of things are similar in the Final Fantasy game series. For instance, chocobo's and moggle's. Even some names are shared among the games, like Cid. And don't even get me started on summons.

The maps look similar, I'll give you that. Maybe Square Enix just wanted to chuck it in to see if anyone would notice? A lot of games/movies have similar little hidden "perks" for the hardcore fans.

[EthanElephants]

well ofcorse its true, the writers confirmed it.

BTW i also posted a thread similar to this referring to any and all of the connections between the games, for example: VII to X, II to IV, III to IX... and so on

to unknown entity: the earth and spira are actually supposed to be 2 different worlds so any similarities in the map would be coincidental.

[Locke4God]

@ Ethan - Post a link to your thread. I'd like to check it out.

[EthanElephants]

plot connections

here ya go, its a bit dumb though, most people on this thread only made connections saying things like, "well some of the summons like alike so that must mean the games are related."

[Locke4God]

Yeah, you know, I fully don't believe the games are all related, and more than that I think it would be a blight on the series for them to be. The series is smart and succesful exactly because each game works on it's own. To even support the idea that they're all related would show that you have a complete lack of understanding for what makes this series great, nor for the history of how it was developed. Here you would have this monumental series that draws strength from the independance of it's titles, and you would be advocating dumbing it down by suggesting something so simple minded as asserting that it's just like every other series with connecting titles.

[Messiah]

I like to think that they are not related. That would mean that Square Enix are running out of ideas. which means bad news for future Final Fantasy's.

I can definetley see were your coming from with this connection though. All the evidence is there and it seems perfectly logical.

[Ether]

The thing with Final Fantasy is thet so many things are similar names, places ect... So it makes it easy to make connections between the games hell Cloud made an appearance in FF Tactics, FF VIII ect...So Its easy to see things that may not be true...But I like to think they are connected I like an endless story so it would be "cool" to me =)

[EthanElephants]

clouds apperence in tactics isnt supposed to be cannon though

[Locke4God]

@ Ether - You know I cringe when you say that you'd like them to be connected. No offense really, because you like what you like, but the beauty of this series is in the fact that they aren't connected. That's how it's been able to reinvent itself. If it were simply a sequel series, the producers wouldn't have felt as free to create new battle systems and stories. They wouldn't have felt the freedom to keep the series on the cutting edge, and instead would have been chained to ongoing plots and characters. You can go play a lot of games that connect as direct sequels. Any movie or book series too. The uniqueness and everything about the FF series is depedant on the idea that they don't connect. If you want them to you're really offending the nature of the series, and I think you don't understand the real quality that makes this series unique and always on the cutting edge of RPG's.

[Pete]

I think Square is just making a nod to itself and it's fans with something like that. Kind of like the ending speech/ play in FFIX when the actor (maybe it's Zidane, I can't remember) says something like "No Cloud, No Squall... blah blah blah". It's a little bit of fan service.

At the same time, I don't think that Square would really have that deep a connection between the two games. The only real major themes have always been crystals, a dude named Cid and androgynous male heroes, and at least one busty female party member.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Locke4God

@ Ether - You know I cringe when you say that you'd like them to be connected. No offense really, because you like what you like, but the beauty of this series is in the fact that they aren't connected. That's how it's been able to reinvent itself. If it were simply a sequel series, the producers wouldn't have felt as free to create new battle systems and stories. They wouldn't have felt the freedom to keep the series on the cutting edge, and instead would have been chained to ongoing plots and characters. You can go play a lot of games that connect as direct sequels. Any movie or book series too. The uniqueness and everything about the FF series is depedant on the idea that they don't connect. If you want them to you're really offending the nature of the series, and I think you don't understand the real quality that makes this series unique and always on the cutting edge of RPG's.

I didnt say I like everything being the same. I like the random connections it makes between the games so you get the feel of something deeper. Like names places ect....Oh yes do deny they dont do it because Shinra is in none of the games at all....
In ones mind they can make any connections they want. And if Final Fantasy really wanted to be inovative they wouldnt base new charecters on old ones with a genetic change =) They should be inovative so im mildly irked that the current story lines ,witch I happen to like better than looking more lifelike , are indeed crappy to me to say the least.
And you can have a deeper story than a spin off,because in general they tend to suck, but expanding something deeper is never bad.
It would be interesting if FF X and X-2 were the ancients in FF VII That type of connection I find interesting and to me its "cool" to connect in such a way without being a "spin-off" so one can keep developing new types of games without being sequels or spin-offs.

[Muramasa89]

Originally Posted by Locke4God

Is it coincidense that the Northern crater is exactly where the original Zanarkand would be?

Just thought I'd point out, that on those maps you provided, Mt. Gagazet in FFX is (give or take a few degrees) where the Northern Crater is in FFVII. The Zanarkand Ruins is slightly to the North-East.

[Tokimadoushi]

If any of the FF worlds were to be connected, there would have to have been hundreds of thousands of years between each one. A major plot hole in the X-VII connection is the fact that the Aeons, spirits of the fayth, vanished at the end of X. So where would the summon materia come from? Shinra only began drawing planet energy fairly recently in the VII world, give or take 50 years unless I'm missing details. There would simply not be enough time for the world to completely reform with new continents, new towns, etc in such a short amount of time. The only plausible reason is if the people of X - "the Ancients" came from another planet, as is speculated in VII. However, the Ancients never sought to use planet energy for their own selfish purposes, so it's unlikely that Shinra's idealogy would last for so long among humans and only come to fruition hundreds of years later. I agree with Pete's view, that it was simply a nod to a predecessor of the series and over-zealous fans perhaps took Nomura's passing comment a bit TOO seriously.
FFII and FFIV both have towns called Mysidia, dragoons and a Leviathan which swallows the team. Yet the similarities stop there.
FFI, FFIII and FFV all had the chosen or 'Light' Warriors (I've seen lengthy discussions trying to link FFIII's light warriors as being the same as I's light warriors, just older).
There are many seemingly connected places and events throughout the FF series but when you look closer it is merely a reference to a previous game or a tidbit for old fans.