Not the Ivory Gates

by Reclining Tiger

This is a reply to an editorial by Evan Jenkins. In it, he claimed that Squaresoft was obsessed with angels and god, considering that alot of Squaresoft's game employ symbols from Christianity. Well, I'm not going to argue with that, because they do use alot of references from relegion, but it didn't start with Christianity.

Many gods are used in Squaresoft games, as characters, as items, and _especialy_ as summons. Here's some great reading material. It's a site detailing the many references made by Square, and even missed a whole bunch, and a majority of those references are to religon.

Examples? Bahamut is a reference to a fish in Babylonian mythology helping to hold up the Earth, adn he's in every Final Fantasy. Tiamat is a very important God in Babylonian mythology as well. Odin, who is another frequent character in Final Fantasy, is the head God in Norse mythology. Shiva, the summon used since Final Fantasy 3j, is the name of a very important god in India, and the summon Starlet was Lakshumi in the Japanese version, who is the wife of Vishnu, who I hear is also in Vagrant Story. And those are only a few of the examples, as there are _MANY_ more religious references.

Neo Exdeath from Final Fantasy 5 was _not_ just some tree. In Norse mythology, the world was created by Yggdrasil, the tree of life. Everything spawned from the tree, and life was formed around it. Neo Exdeath was most likely supposed to be irony to Yggdrasil, some sort of Anti-Yggdrasil, as the Muu was centered around the tree.

I think the Biblical references in Tactics and Xenogears are to imply a feeling of dystopia, as nothing is sacred, and everything is against the main characters. Plus it makes for a really cool storyline. Seraphim Sephiroth was just looked really cool and intimidating, and made him look really unbeatable, right before ya take him out in 2 minutes.

The point is, Square _does_ make alot of religious references, but it's not centered around Christianity. No, quite the opposite; Square games aren't focused on anything. They're full of cultural diversity, and you'll find at least thrice the Norse mythology in Final Fantasy games than you would Christianity. Numerous FAQs have been made on this subject. RPGamer has a Xenogears Names FAQ in their Possession, and I'm writing my own as well. I hope I've cleared this subject up for some people... I'd love to hear feedback, send me a message here.