FFVI - Lore Complete

Just an update. This isn't dead, I swear! Even if I haven't touched it since earlier this year.

Currently neck-deep in code on a contract project I've been stuck in since February, but the itch to get back to work on this is strong. It could be as late as November before I can give this my full attention again (gotta' make a living), but surprisingly, reviewing the code, everything still makes sense. So I should be able to jump right back in when the time comes.

I realized today that I do already have a git repo initialized for the project with a giant commit, so I just need to set up a remote, and push, to make the utilities public. I doubt anyone's itching to get their hands on it, but if so, just say the word, and I'll go ahead and do the legwork then post a link. If nothing else, people could get a peek at the included docs I made for myself to get an idea of what lore I plan to include.

Happy hacking!

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Actually, just for fun... some notes I made to myself during the research phase, ripped from the repo.

Most of what's mentioned is canon, lifted from various dev interviews and official books published about Final Fantasy. I wish I had cited sources for each bullet point... you'll simply have to trust me when I say I didn't just make this stuff up.

Apologies, a lot of formatting lost from copy/paste.

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Canon Characters Details (to generate more ideas):
- Locke was originally planned to have Runic (probalby won't do anything with
this).
- Locke hates mushrooms.
- Locke travelled the world with his father, a treasure hunter.
After his father's death, Locke was treated like a thief by everyone but
Rachel. Rachel's father didn't approve of him. He ventured into a dangerous
cave in search of great treasure to prove he was more than a thief.
Rachel injured while he was gone.
- Edgar lost his mother as an infant, and thus has strong attachment to women.
- Edgar's first crush was an older woman, one of his father's cousins.
She was very firm telling him he must grow up to be a good man, so Edgar
studied the art of chivalry with passion. She was killed in a political
rivalry, Edgar's feelings forever unrequited. Her spiritedness and lively
wit made a mark on him, creating his vision of the ideal woman.
- Sabin, Gau, and Cyan act as surrogate family. Sabin/Gau lost their fathers,
Cyan lost his son.
- Sabin recognizes an aspect of himself in Gau, and both share a connection
to nature and what is natural. Terra senses that when calling him a
"docile bear."
- Sabin was originally going to be able to die at the Tzen house in the WoR.
Edgar would trigger a cutscene, looking for Sabin in the middle of the night
through the rubble... "I'm coming to save you!"
Could have Sabin's heroism mentioned to Edgar, have Edgar say he would have
saved him.
- Figaro's sacred colors are yellow (the sun) and blue (water). Edgar wears
a blue ribbon against his yellow hair to symbolize this.
- Sabin is afraid of squirrels (one bit him as a kid while giving it a nut).
- Sabin was initially smaller and weaker than his brother.
- Vargas was Duncan's son, and thus meant to be his heir.
- Sabin made no contact with Edgar in the ten years they were apart.
- Edgar's hobby is rearranging furniture in his bedroom as a way to de-stress.
- Edgar sleeps with lion paw slippers.
- If Edgar had not taken the throne, he would have become an airship mechanic.
Probably explains the Tools ability.
- Only Relm knows Edgar's middle name (Roni).
Cyan and Gau know Sabin's middle name (Rene)
- When Sabin was 5, the brothers saw a tantalizing wedding cake at their
father and stepmother’s wedding. Edgar said to Sabin, “let’s get married so
we can cut the cake!” and Sabin replied, “Yeah!!”
- Using magic requires a great deal of mental energy, and the mental strain of
it caused Celes to become unhinged, prone to sudden outbursts of tears and
fits of hysteria... this state of mind strengthened her desire to find
someone she could rely on: Enter Locke, who speaks to and treats her kindly.
By the time she is supposed to betray everyone, Celes realizes she has
fallen in love with Locke, and the conflict tears her up inside.
- Setzer got his scars from accidents on the airship and gambling incidents.
- Setzer is very particular about fashion, and doesn’t like to wear the same
styles as everyone else. The bandana is Locke’s signature piece of apparel,
plus it looks really good on him. Once Setzer joins the party and sees this,
he loses his love for his bandana.
- Strago and Cid are the same age (71).
- Strago originally had a wife named Lara, age 65 and a Geomancer. They
constantly bickered. Scene never included by devs:
Strago: “Looks like I’ll be the one dying first… in heaven or hell,
I’ll be waiting for you!”
Lara: “Hey, you can’t leave yet, what about all this debt?!
I’m going first!”
- Gogo was originally going to impersonate the other main characters
throughout the game.
- Gestahl became Emperor at age 52, displaying uncanny charisma.
- A coup d'etat occurred in Gestahlian Empire when Gestahl was 13. Gestahl's
father heavily involved.
- During his time as Emperor, Gestahl researched ancient tales of magic and
sorcery, looking for truth behind the tales.
Explains some of his motivations.
- Mog is only 12 years old.
- Molulu is (was) Mog's girlfriend, and gave him the Moogle Charm.
So if she died in the WoR...
- Ramuh appears to Mog in dreams, and taught him to speak human.
- Mog states his blood type is "Black-Footed Duck Type."
- Umaro is only 4, and has a strong sense of honor. He feels like he owes a
debt to Mog, because Mog shared food with him when he collapsed from
exhaustion.
- Umaro hates caterpillars.
- Gau dislikes being on ships (hence why he probably didn't go to Thamasa).
- The Siegried imposter, Ziegfried, was likely Gogo.
- Cid is a member of the Marquez bloodline, a line of patriotic scientists
of the northern state that became Vector.
- Cid cultivated exotic flowers in a greenhouse, his favorite being roses.
As Celes grew, she would help him in the greenhouse, where Cid named his
favorite flower after her and eventually gave it to her to adorn her
quarters.
- The room with two soldiers in the Imperial Castle likely belonged to Celes.
- Terra was originally supposed to struggle and yell "No! Get away from me!",
while having the slave crown placed, revealing that she was not a willing
participant in the procedure.
- Terra loves animals, and "fluffing" moogles. Fluffing? Uh...
- Terra was effectively raised in entirety in the Magitek Factory.
- Wrexsoul, in the Japanese version, is an amalgam of souls that lost their
minds during the War of the Magi.
- Kefka was raised in an orphanage (unknown town).
- Kefka met Celes around age 8, and became interested in her due to her also
being an orphan. Used political influence to get her promoted to General.
- Kefka's mind snapped the same day Celes was promoted.
- After descending into madness, Gestahl demoted Kefka to Court Mage. This
is still a high rank, but lower than General.
- Kefka loves mirrors and playing with dolls.
- Shadow loves hard-boiled eggs.
- General Leo has an appreciation of music.

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World History:
- The symbol on the Imperial banner is likely the "mouth" of Magitek Armor.
- The Empire was formed 685 years ago, declaring independence from the world
as a military state, intent on creating a global police force.
- The First Gestahlian campaign took place 18 years ago, resulting in
conquering the southern continent. Establishment of the Magitek Research
Facility happened the same year, as well as Terra's birth (and kidnap).
Celes was also born the same year.
- The Second Gestahlian campaign took place 8 years ago, with the release of
Magitek Armor into combat. At this point, the western continent was
conquered, and Figaro formed an alliance with the Empire. Upon allying,
there was a small riot in South Figaro. Edgar/Sabin's father died a year
later (probably related).
- The game takes place during the Third Gestahlian Campaign:
The Gestahlian empire aspires to conquer the northern continent, clashing
with the Returners in the Sabre Mountains.
- Samurai started training at Doma 600 years ago.
- Skirmishes began between Doma and the Empire 3 years ago. The Third
Gestahlian Campaign began a year later. Doma sympathizes with the Returners.
- Industrial Revolutions and Artistic Revivals started 208 years ago.
- Figaro Castle constructed 202 years ago.
- The Narshe mines are a coal mine, from which Figaro and Narshe draw from.
20 years ago, Narshe refused to trade coal with the invading Gestahlian
Empire, using armed resistance. A pact for mutual peace was agreed upon,
however.
- Figaro's first castle submersion failed 72 years ago, during which a
temporary palace was build at South Figaro.
- Gestahl was born the same year to a military family (bad omen?)
- Figaro castle's third submersion was a success 4 years later (68 years ago)
- The Imperial Palace at Vector was completed 38 years ago.
- There are five ranks of Imperial soldier:
Green - Cadets.
Brown - Soldiers, commanders, corporals, sergeants.
Black - Field commanders.
Orange - Kefka's personal soldiers.
Imperial Elite - Gestahl's personal guardss, templars, officers, captains,
and generals.
- Don's are hounds bred with Magitek power.
- Tunnel Armor was likely made to find Figaro Castle.
- The Returners name refers to their desire to return things to the way they
were before the Empire's conquests.
- The Magi were Mage Knights, who learned how to wield magic. After the War
of the Magi, they were persecuted by non-magic-wielding humans, and fled to
Crescent Island to found Thamasa.
- Phoenix and Ragnarok died in the War of the Magi.
- In the original concept art, the Warring Triad are referred to as
Sophia (Goddess), Zuvan (Demon), and Sephiroth (Fiend). Note, singular of
Sephiroth is Sephirah. The also correspond to the main elements:
Lightning (Goddess), Fire (Demon), and Ice (Fiend). Crusader is very likely
a reference to the Triad, or is them
- The "damages friend and foe alike" from the PlayStation bonus section can
refer to the Warring Triad battling each other and mortals getting caught
among their fighting during the War of the Magi, and for this reason it
damages both parties.
- Zozo was founded by the lower-class citizens of Jidoor to the south, and
criminals in Zozo sometimes drift back to the city looking for work and
targets to steal from.
- Albrook was one of the first cities conquered by the Empire.

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Ideas:
- In Moogle cave, give them all names after the moogles in the early game battle.
Also allow them to be spoken to if Mog's in the party?
- Consider adding "signs" to the dialogue for Owzer's paintings, that describe
historical events.
- Have Strago mention that Relm is just as bad as his late wife, Lara.
Perhaps even use the same dialogue.
- Try to work in scene between Shadow and Strago. Extra dream sequence?
Strago: I have one request... Show me your face. Even if you are him, I have
no intention of wasting time trying to talk you into staying. I just
want to know... for Relm's sake...
Shadow: (back to player, takes off mask, presumably)
Strago: Thank you... Shadow. ...Come, let's have a drink.
- See if there's a way to link both Shadow and Relm's flashbacks in WoR.
- Have a bit of Amano's artwork in the game somewhere, as one of Relm's
paintings. Perhaps WoR only, at the Owzer's house?
- Control ability is apparently associated with True Names. Make a reference
to this in Relm's room. Or replace "Fake Mustache" with "Tome of Names,"
with True Names mentioned in the description.
- Consider adding a flower sprite near the raft in Cid's hut, and call it
Celes. Perhaps make it collectable, and have it activate the Magitek
ability for Celes. Perhaps only make it available if Cid is saved.
- Consider replacing Kefka's laugh in his final form with that of N64 Bowser.
- Try altering Kefka's sprite to have white paint/skin (DONE).
- Kefka was more childish in Japanese version. Try to emphasize this in his
dialogue.
- Rename the Ancient Castle queen to princess.
- Mention the Bomb Forest's location (west of river in Veldt).
- Consider adding Kappa the Imp somewhere in the WoR, and have him refer to
falling off a mountain during the world's destruction (from the cutscene).
- Make Wrexsoul defeatable with Raiden.
- Have the wounded soldier ask the players to "ensure the letters reach Lola,"
to encourage them to read the letters in Maranda (easily missed, otherwise).
- Have Duncan actually mention his goddamn son. Easily missed detail.
- Play up Edgar's attraction to Relm, as apparently he was more pervy in the
Japanese version.
- Figure out where Castle Figaro keeps its damn Chocobos. Map edit?
- Add a maid to Vector, to imply they're the one hit on by Edgar.
- Consider adding treasure to the hidden Chocobo stables (may not be doable).
- Have one of the characters mention that Setzer is still at the airship,
after the Gestahl banquet. Easily missed cutscene, otherwise.
- Consider putting the Warring Triad somewhere in the Esper World.
- After the end of the world, several people apparently washed up on Solitary
Island, but didn't make it. Add gravestones?
- When picking up the bandana on Solitary Island, have Celes initially think
it's Setzer's (see Setzer character details... he had a similar bandana).
- Perhaps have sand worms on Triangle Island, to elude to them evolving into
Hoovers in the WoR.
- The old man outside the Inn in Kohlingen, WoR, will unequip party members if
spoken to. After getting the Falcon, he shows up there. Add some dialog to
imply they're the same person.
- Mention that Kefka's tower is in the same place Vector used to be.
- Shadow will leave in the WoB if taken to the Opera house. Add some dialogue
that reveals Shadow hates opera (canon).
- Consider adding a + shaped tree formation around Duncan's house in the Wob,
to make it easier to find in the WoR.
- Releasing the Espers from the factory ultimately results in them not being
able to make more Magitek armor (canon). Maybe imply this somewhere after
the event. Perhaps at South Figaro in the WoR?
- Consider making Umaro controllable if Mog is in the party, or have him
auto-act in specific ways if given dried meat, green cherry, or tonic.

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Completely forgot that I had already done some sprite edits for this hack.

I was always a little confused by Kefka not having the white facepaint/makeup in his sprite.
Setzer's coat always looked more brown than black to me in his world sprite, as well. So I tried to make it look a little more like his concept art.