Mythological Roots

[cheezMcNASTY]

Mythological Roots

I've been replaying Final Fantasy 8 (yeah, sig related :lol.
All of the guardian forces ("GF"s) have a mythological root to their name. I know some of them, but I was hoping you all could help me figure out the rest of them.
Here they are in alphabetical order:

Alexander
Bahamut
Brothers
Carbunkle
Cerberus
Diablos
Doomtrain
Eden
Ifrit
Leviathan
Pandemona
Quezacotl
Shiva
Siren

 

[Tsuyu]

Re: Mythological Roots

Wikipedia


It is the shizzle.

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

Shiva is a Hindu Goddess, Quetzacoatl is an Aztec God, Siren and Cerberus are Greek Mythical beings, Ifrit is from an Arabian genie-esque tale, Bahamut is actually an enormous fish in Arabian mythology, Carbunkel is a Spanish legendary bird-like creature with a Gem in it's forehead (although 'a carbuncle' is a boil caused by bacterial infection) and Leviathan is a sea creature from the Hebrew Bible.

Alexander is probably a reference to Alexander the Great, Diablos is probably from the Spanish word "diablo" meaning devil and Pandemona is from the word "Pandemonium" meaning complete and utter chaos.

Eden actually is supposed to look like a living "Garden" i.e. Balamb Garden and Galbadia Garden and is obviously a reference to the Garden of Eden from the Bible.

I'm surprised you'd think Doomtrain to be mythological, but it is a reference to the Phantom Train boss from Final Fantasy VI.

You also forgot Odin who is a Norse God, and Gilgamesh who was an actual King of an ancient Sumerian region called Uruk.

By the time I finish typing this, I've probably been ninja'd but I hope I've answered your question.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Jumbo Cactuar and the Tonberry King, who are just bigger versions of regular enemies created by Squaresoft.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Re: Mythological Roots

Bahamut is actually an enormous fish in Arabian mythology

Interesting, I always thought Bahamut is derived from Behemoth, the land equivalent to Leviathan.

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite FF, probably some nostalgic connection to it.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Re: Mythological Roots

Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite FF, probably some nostalgic connection to it.

same here, it's the game we played all day long when i was 10 or so...same with VII and legend of dragoon :lol:

side note: just finished disc 1! :w00t:

 

[TRA Rotid]

Re: Mythological Roots

Mmmm... I`ve been wanting to try out FF VIII.
I`ve been looking for good JRPGs sfter playing Chrono Cross. I haven`t found any good ones on PC (except FF ofc) and PS1, there are lots on PS2, though, but I don`t have the console.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Re: Mythological Roots

Mmmm... I`ve been wanting to try out FF VIII.
I`ve been looking for good JRPGs sfter playing Chrono Cross. I haven`t found any good ones on PC (except FF ofc) and PS1, there are lots on PS2, though, but I don`t have the console.

Top 10 JRPGs for original Playstation

And according to this thread on escapist...
Grandia 2, Septerra Core, The Last Remnant...

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

just finished disc 1! :w00t:

You know quite recently I heard a theory about FFVIII storyline which shattered my world for a good 10 minutes or so. I soon rejected it and fell in love with it again.

Interested?

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Re: Mythological Roots

You know quite recently I heard a theory about FFVIII storyline which shattered my world for a good 10 minutes or so. I soon rejected it and fell in love with it again.

Interested?

will it spoil? it's been a decade since i played so the story is fresh right now.

if nothing gets ruined them i'd love to hear it!

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

Well if you've already finished the game and you loved the original storyline then I'm sure you will eventually just shrug this off. It is however, a very interesting angle during a second play through.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Re: Mythological Roots

Well if you've already finished the game and you loved the original storyline then I'm sure you will eventually just shrug this off. It is however, a very interesting angle during a second play through.

i wanna hear it.
i will absolutely get back to ya when the games beat!

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

Just send a PM my way when you feel like it.

 

[Arseface]

Re: Mythological Roots

I thought this said "Mythological Boots". I was so hoping for some magical footwear.

 

[Elusive]

Re: Mythological Roots

Interesting, I always thought Bahamut is derived from Behemoth, the land equivalent to Leviathan.

"In Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, Bahamut is a beast of Arabic mythology "altered and magnified" from Behemoth.
In Arabic myth, Bahamut is a giant fish, described as so immense that a human cannot bear its sight."

As someone above said, Wikipedia is the way to go

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

My descriptions were fairly vague as they were mostly from memory (I had to research Gilgamesh and Doomtrain :lol

Any further questions, post them in this thread.

EDIT: I realized that it must sound strange to remember all that - I had a similar conversation with a friend around a week ago by chance.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Re: Mythological Roots

EDIT: I realized that it must sound strange to remember all that - I had a similar conversation with a friend around a week ago by chance.

Not strange at all. I knew them all except Doomtrain, Carbunkel and Pandemona too so... myth geeks rule!

Gilgamesh is also Sumerian epic about a guy (named Gilgamesh, ofc), who goes on a journey to find immortality.
Gilgamesh is also a weapon in DMC4 - all unlockable Dante weapons are names of mythology (Gilgamesh, Pandora, Lucifer... I think there was at least one more)

As someone above said, Wikipedia is the way to go

Yes, but it`s much less fun.

 

[droded]

Re: Mythological Roots

The Sumerian epic tale about Gilgamesh was a story written about the Ancient King. Much of Gilgamesh's personality in the games (Particularly FFVI) is based on the Gilgamesh from this tale.

 

[Tyloric]

Re: Mythological Roots

Final Fantasy has always used real mythology in their games; it's one of the reasons they're so fuc*king awesome.

 

[Elusive]

Re: Mythological Roots

Final Fantasy has always used real mythology in their games; it's one of the reasons they're so fuc*king awesome.

^
Yep.
One of the many that is :lol: