Final Fantasy (universe)

Final Fantasy (universe)
Developer(s)	Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft)
Publisher(s)	Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft)
Designer(s)	Hironobu Sakaguchi
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	Final Fantasy (1987)
Latest installment	Final Fantasy Resonance (2026)
Article on Wikipedia	Final Fantasy (universe)

The Final Fantasy universe (ファイナルファンタジー, Final Fantasy), stylized in-game as FINAL FANTASY and FINAL FANTASY VII, refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties hailing from the long-running role-playing game (RPG) franchise created and owned by Square Enix. Together with Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts, it is considered one of the publisher's flagship franchises and a pioneer of the RPG genre.

The series's most acclaimed and popular entry, Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997, and is the primary basis for the series's representation in Smash; its protagonist Cloud Strife and antagonist Sephiroth are among the most recognizable characters in the Final Fantasy franchise and in gaming.

Franchise description

Logo of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy is one of the leading and most influential forebears of Japanese RPGs. Its numbered installments are largely unrelated, featuring entirely different worlds and casts of characters. The series is connected by overarching themes and motifs, including the Crystals, its character-driven stories of life, loss, love, and power, its bestiary of foes and summons, recurring magic spells, classes, and weaponry, and iconic species such as Chocobos and Moogles. Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi in 1987, the series was also initially known for its painterly promotion artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, and its music by Nobuo Uematsu.

The original Final Fantasy, inspired by both then-rival Enix's Dragon Quest and the likes of Ultima, Wizardry, and Dungeons & Dragons, was a turn-based RPG starring a party of 4 player-defined characters, each representing a different class. Named for Sakaguchi's then-belief it would be his final project for the industry, Final Fantasy became a breakout hit for Square upon its release for the Famicom. Beginning with its sequel, Final Fantasy II, which boasted a more involved plot and a party of fully-defined characters, the series distinguished itself from Dragon Quest through a reputation for rich, complex storytelling and presentation. Final Fantasy III introduced the series's popular Job system and Summons, while a trilogy of Super Famicom installments brought the series to even greater heights, becoming among the most acclaimed and best-selling games in Japan each year. The trilogy enriched these elements and introduced the series's Active Time Battle system, merging traditional turn-based gameplay with real-time tactics. Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI were localized in North America as Final Fantasy II and III, where they achieved particular cult renown during an era where JRPGs were niche internationally, while Final Fantasy V was popular in Japan for its massive expansion of III's Job system, granting unprecedented character customization.

The rise of 3D polygonal graphics, which Sakaguchi felt a necessary adoption to keep up with the industry, presented Square with an inroads. As Nintendo's then-upcoming 3D console, the Nintendo 64, boasted costly cartridges that lacked necessary storage for the project's scope, Square chose to end its long-running relationship with Nintendo and develop Final Fantasy VII exclusively for the PlayStation. Final Fantasy VII took the series to its greatest heights yet, not only in Japan but worldwide. Its release in 1997 achieved widespread critical acclaim, commercial success, and great influence on the game industry. Its gameplay, pre-rendered cinematics and environments, and character-driven narrative led it to become a killer app for the PlayStation and expanded the conventional global audience for JRPGs, solidifying Final Fantasy as one of the most popular video game franchises. Final Fantasy VII eschewed the series's medieval-themed fantasy aesthetics for a post-industrial, science-fantasy setting and characters. Its cast, designed by Tetsuya Nomura, became some of the series's most popular and iconic. Telling the story of Cloud Strife, a freelance mercenary initially recruited against the wicked megacorporation Shinra, Cloud's story takes him beyond the cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar into an intensely psychological battle for his memories, identity, and the life force of the Planet.

VII was followed up in 1999 by the sci-fantasy love story Final Fantasy VIII, its anticipation on the back of VII leading it to become the fastest-selling game in the series to that point. Its vocal theme, "Eyes on Me", was sung by Faye Wong and became a major pop hit throughout Asia. 2000's Final Fantasy IX returned to the series's retro roots and traditional fantasy trappings to cult acclaim, before the series debuted on the PlayStation 2 a year later with Final Fantasy X, a game which remains one of the franchises's best-known and most popular. X boasted full 3D graphics and backgrounds and fully-voiced characters for the first time in the series, depicting the love story between protagonists Tidus and Yuna amid the death-shrouded, Okinawan-inspired world of Spira. The most infamous moment of the series's millennium gold rush, however, was the box office bomb Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, a Square initiative that wreaked havoc on company finances, threatening their impending merger with Enix and contributing to Sakaguchi's resignation.

The greater demands of hardware and development time caused the main series's release cadence to slow down during the 2000s. 2002 took the series online with Final Fantasy XI, an MMORPG that is still officially supported to this day, while the Ivalice-set Final Fantasy XII closed out the series on PlayStation 2 in 2006. 2009's heavily sci-fi Final Fantasy XIII was contentious for its focus on raw battles and purely cinematic-driven story at the expense of free exploration, but nonetheless was hugely successful, and introduced a class-swapping "stagger" battle system. The 2010s and beyond have included an initially-failed second MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV. Famously rebooted from scratch in 2013 as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, its fortunes reversed to become one of the most popular MMORPGs to this day, and a key ongoing pillar for the franchise. 2016 saw the release of Final Fantasy XV, initially conceived 10 years prior as a companion project to XIII. Though a modest critical success, the game was commercially successful and carried the brand through the PS4/Xbox One generation. As of 2023, the series's latest numbered installment is Final Fantasy XVI, an offline project by XIV's creative team, taking a large swing into the series's most purely action-based direction yet.

Above all, Final Fantasy VII remains the series's most iconic entry. A multimedia project throughout the 2000s, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, expanded the stories of its world and characters. This included the CG-animated canon film sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and a prequel, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Through the 2020s, the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy has been a flagship project for Square Enix, serving as a ground-up reimagination and expansion of the game's original story with a real-time action battle system. The trilogy is set to conclude in 2027 with Final Fantasy VII Revelation. Its simultaneous multiplatform release includes a version for Nintendo Switch 2, taking the game full circle from its central role in the console wars 30 years prior. Other popular mainline games have received official sequels and spinoffs over the years, including Final Fantasy X-2, and the Fabulla Nova Crystallis mythos that gave way for Final Fantasy Type-0 and the "Lightning Trilogy" built off XIII.

Beyond the numbered installments, Final Fantasy has encompassed a number of spinoffs and side series across varying genres, including the strategy RPG series Final Fantasy Tactics, the crossover 3D fighter Dissidia Final Fantasy, the beginner-friendly monster-collector World of Final Fantasy where players can summon heroes from across the series, and the co-operativeFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. The series's beloved Chocobo birds have starred in the Chocobo Racing series and the dungeon-crawling Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, and a host of mobile installments have been produced - Final Fantasy Brave Exvius in particular was repurposed as the offline console RPG, Final Fantasy Resonance. Many of Square's other, wholly-separate RPG franchises have roots as spiritual successors to Final Fantasy and its spinoffs. These include Bravely Default, spun off from the DS game Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, Mana, spun off from the Game Boy's Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden, Octopath Traveler, inspired by the job systems and ensemble storytelling of its SNES era, and most famously, Kingdom Hearts.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is mentioned among the titles listed in the Chronicle in Western versions of Brawl.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Final Fantasy franchise makes its proper debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as a DLC franchise, marking the first time a third-party company was introduced to the series via DLC. Its content, almost entirely represented by Final Fantasy VII, encompasses one fighter, a stage, two music tracks, associated fighter trophies, and a Mii Fighter hat. All of the series's associated content was released on December 15, 2015.

The series had received numerous requests for a character in Smash. Cloud, as the series's most globally-popular character, was chosen decisively over options like Final Fantasy VI and V's Terra and Bartz for having received the most individual requests of anyone from the series.

Fighter

• 
  Cloud (DLC): Cloud Strife, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, makes his Super Smash Bros. debut as a downloadable newcomer. His default design is the Dissidia update of his classic appearance, with his design from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as an alternate costume. His fighting style centres his iconic weapon, the Buster Sword, as well as his Limit Breaks from the original game, incorporating many of its original sound effects. Cloud ranks 2nd on the Super Smash Bros. 4 tier list, owing to his high mobility, great range, moderately fast frame data, and Limit mechanic making him one of the most popular characters to have as a pocket choice. He is voiced in Japanese in all regions, despite having an existing English voice actor in his home series.

Stage

• 
  Midgar (DLC): The iconic cyberpunk conurbation where Cloud's journey begins appears as his stage. One of the several Mako Reactors and the main Shinra Electric Power Company structure can be seen in the background. Its layout is identical to Battlefield, but is influenced by the Summons who appear as stage hazards. Each sporting their own abilities which directly impact the stage, as in VII, they are called upon by the player who collects their Summon Materia.

Mii Costume

This Mii Costume was released in the fifth wave of DLC Mii Costumes on December 15, 2015. Unlike all other Final Fantasy content, it is not included with purchase of Cloud and must be bought separately.

Headgear

• Chocobo Hat (DLC): A headgear featuring the franchise's most popular mascot, the chocobo. The headgear's design is based on their cartoony appearance in the Chocobo sub-series, specifically resembling Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Music

Source Tracks

Tracks sourced directly from Final Fantasy VII.

• Let the Battles Begin! (DLC): The game's normal battle theme.
• Fight On! (DLC): The game's standard boss battle theme.

Victory Theme

• Victory! Cloud (DLC): Cloud's victory theme, a remix of Final Fantasy VII's incarnation of the series's recurring Victory Fanfare. Unlike other victory themes, this theme continues to play over the match results, as in its home series.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Final Fantasy returns, now part of the base game. While most of its content was unchanged at launch, far more was added as DLC. This includes a new stage, several new music tracks, over a dozen spirits, several Mii Fighter costumes, and a new fighter in the form of the antagonist Sephiroth. Once again, the vast majority of this content is pulled from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

All content listed below as DLC was officially released on December 22, 2020. Except for the Mii Costumes, which are sold separately, all of them are bundled with Sephiroth as part of Challenger Pack 8. Sephiroth, Northern Cave, and its associated music were made available for early access on December 17th to purchasers who completed the limited-time Sephiroth Challenge. This mode was permanently removed from the game on the official release day.

Fighters

• 61.
  
  Cloud (Unlockable): The former member of SOLDIER turned mercenary, in both his default and Advent Children designs, returns as a base-game unlockable fighter. One notable change is that his Limit mechanic has been nerfed; he can only hold on to his maxed-out Limit Gauge for 15 seconds without using it, and whenever he is attacked while manually charging it he will lose a little bit. Apart from this and some range nerfs, he performs similarly to how he did in Smash 4. The Limit Gauge is also persistently displayed above his character portrait at all times. Finally, as of version 10.1.0, his Final Smash in his Advent Children costumes was changed to Omnislash Ver. 5. He is once again voiced in Japanese in all regions.
• 78.
  
  Sephiroth (DLC): The formerly renowned SOLDIER and arch-nemesis to Cloud Strife arrives as the third downloadable newcomer in Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Armed with his signature weapon, Masamune, he strikes elegantly with exceptional reach. He also possesses a unique fighter ability; after sustaining enough damage, he will unfurl his black wing, granting him greater speed and strength, akin to Cloud's own Limit Gauge and Joker's Rebellion Gauge. His Final Smash, Supernova, transforms him into Safer∙Sephiroth and causes a variety of random status effects and damage to opponents. Like his rival, he remains voiced in Japanese in all regions. Part of Challenger Pack 8, a limited-time mode known as the Sephiroth Challenge was made available on December 17th, 2020, allowing victors to unlock early access to Sephiroth prior to his official release on the 22nd. On that date, the mode was removed from access.

Stages

• 
  Midgar (Starter): The City of Mako returns as part of the base game, functionally unchanged from Smash 4.
• 
  Northern Cave (DLC): A new stage based on the planet's core, the location of the final battle against Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. The stage itself is a simple flat arena with two platforms at each side. The background recreates and retells the original game's endgame sequence, including the Highwind airship descending into the planet's core, narrowly escaping the activation of Holy, and Meteor being stopped by the power of the Lifestream after Holy proves ineffective. This stage was released in December 2020 as part of Challenger Pack 8.

Mii Costumes

The Chocobo Hat did not return from Smash 4 in the base game, but did so as DLC along with three wholly-new Mii Costumes. Comprising the eighth wave of Mii Fighter outfits, they were released on December 22nd, 2020.

Outfits

• Barret Outfit (DLC): Barret Wallace's clothes in Final Fantasy VII.
• Tifa Outfit (DLC): Tifa Lockhart's clothes in Final Fantasy VII.
• Aerith Outfit (DLC): Aerith Gainsborough's clothes in Final Fantasy VII.

Headgear

• Chocobo Hat (DLC): The headgear from Smash 4 returns with a design update, now resembling the artstyle of Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!, the remake of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Music

There were two Final Fantasy songs in the base game. Nine more were added in December 2020 as part of Challenger Pack 8. This is the first time that a movie is represented in the Super Smash Bros. series with music, with three songs originating from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Original Tracks

Unlike most remixes in Smash, the Final Fantasy remixes are owned by Square Enix instead of Nintendo.

• Opening - Bombing Mission (DLC): A new arrangement of the theme that plays during the opening sequence of Final Fantasy VII. Arranged by Yuzo Koshiro.
• Aerith's Theme (DLC): A new arrangement of the theme song of Aerith Gainsborough, one of the key characters and party members in Final Fantasy VII. Arranged by Keiichi Okabe.
• Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY VII (DLC): A new arrangement of the main theme of Final Fantasy VII, which is used as the main overworld theme. Arranged by Motoi Sakuraba.
• Cosmo Canyon (DLC): A new arrangement of the theme that plays while the party is at Cosmo Canyon. Arranged by Yoko Shimomura.

Source Tracks

Tracks sourced directly from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

• Let the Battles Begin!: The standard battle theme from Final Fantasy VII.
• Those Who Fight (AC Version) (DLC): The remix of "Let the Battles Begin!" heard in Advent Children.
• Fight On!: The standard boss battle theme from Final Fantasy VII.
• Those Who Fight Further (AC Version) (DLC): The remix of "Fight On!" heard in Advent Children.
• JENOVA (DLC): The theme of Jenova, played in boss battles with her various forms and Helletic Hojo, from Final Fantasy VII.
• One-Winged Angel (DLC): The final boss theme from Final Fantasy VII, playing during the fight with Safer Sephiroth.
• Advent: One-Winged Angel (DLC): The version of "One-Winged Angel" heard in Advent Children. It was used in Sephiroth's reveal trailer.

Victory Themes

• Victory! Cloud: A remix of the victory theme from Final Fantasy VII, unchanged from Smash 4. As in the previous game, it loops infinitely and replaces the standard results screen theme.
• Victory! Sephiroth (DLC): A short snippet from the ending of "Advent: One-Winged Angel". An ominous droning note about as long as the main melody punctuates the piece, likewise overriding the results theme.

Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Bros. series

The Final Fantasy universe has a total of 13 games and media represented throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. The latest game represented in this universe is Final Fantasy VII Remake, released on April 10, 2020.

Nearly all Final Fantasy content in Smash represents Final Fantasy VII and its associated media. Earlier numbered installments are indirectly referenced for having originated the series's various recurring elements.

Final Fantasy

• Playable characters:
  • The Flare spell, used by Sephiroth, debuted in this game, as a Black Magic spell used by Black Wizards and originally localized as Nuke.
  • The spells of Sora's Magic (Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga), originally localized as Fir3, Bolt3, and Ice3 respectively, first appeared as Black Magic spells in this game, where they were used by the Black Mage and Red Mage classes.
  • One of Sora's taunts references the spell Curaga, which first appeared in this game as a White Magic spell used by the White Mage and Red Mage classes, and was originally localized as Cur3.
• Music:
  • "Victory! Cloud": The non-looping initial part of the victory theme is the series recurring battle victory motif, which debuted in this game.
  • "Aerith's Theme": Its arrangement features a brief harp part reminiscent of the series's signature "Prelude", first heard in this game.

Final Fantasy II

• Playable characters:
  • Chocobos appear as downloadable content headgear for the Mii Fighters.
• Stage elements:
  • The summon Leviathan appears on the Midgar stage.
• Spirits:
  • Chocobo appears as a spirit (combined with Moogle).

Final Fantasy III

• Playable characters:
  • Megaflare and Shadow Flare first appeared as attacks in this game.
  • One of Sora's taunts references the magic spell Aeroga, originally localized as Aero 3, from the game.
• Stage elements:
  • Odin, Ramuh, and Ifrit appear on the Midgar stage.
• Spirits:
  • Moogle (combined with Chocobo), Shiva, and Ifrit appear as spirits.

Final Fantasy V

• Playable characters:
  • Gigaflare first appeared as an attack in this game.

Final Fantasy VII

• Playable characters:
  • Cloud Strife, the protagonist of the game, appears as a playable character. All of his special moves and his Final Smash, Omnislash, originated as his Limit Breaks, a core mechanic of the game.
  • Barret appears as a costume for the Mii Gunner.
  • Tifa appears as a costume for the Mii Brawler.
  • Aerith appears as a costume for the Mii Swordfighter.
  • Sephiroth, the game's main antagonist, appears as a playable character.
• Stages:
  • Midgar, the setting of Final Fantasy VII's opening act, appears as a stage.
  • Northern Cave, the final dungeon from Final Fantasy VII, appears as a stage.
• Stage elements:
  • The designs used for Odin, Leviathan, and Ramuh originate from the game.
  • Bahamut ZERO, which appears in Midgar, also originates from the game.
  • The Highwind airship makes a cameo appearance in Northern Cave.
• Spirits:
  • Tifa, Barret, Aerith, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, The Turks & Rufus Shinra, and Bahamut ZERO appear as spirits.
  • Cloud, as of 10.1.0, and Sephiroth’s spirit artwork are sourced from this game.
• Music:
  • "Opening - Bombing Mission": Both the source track used in Cloud's reveal trailer for Smash 4, although it is not available in Smash 4, and an arrangement for Ultimate.
  • "Let the Battles Begin!": The main battle theme, sourced from the game.
  • "Victory! Cloud": An arrangement of the victory theme from the game.
  • "Fight On!": The main boss battle theme, sourced from the game.
  • "Aerith's Theme": An arrangement of Aerith's theme.
  • "Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY VII": An arrangement of the game's overworld theme, first heard on Disc One.
  • "Electric de Chocobo": The retrieved track, used in both the December 2015 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Final Video Presentation for Smash 4 and the "Mii Fighter Costumes #8" video for Ultimate when showing the Chocobo Mii Costume, although it is not available in the series.
  • "JENOVA": The boss theme for Jenova's forms, sourced from the game.
  • "Cosmo Canyon": An arrangement of the eponymous location, Cosmo Canyon.
  • "One-Winged Angel": The final boss theme against Sephiroth, sourced from the game.

Final Fantasy VIII

• Stage elements:
  • Ifrit uses its design from this game, rather than VII. This is the sole direct representation of a mainline installment other than VII.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

• Playable characters:
  • Cloud's outfit and Fusion Swords from the CGI movie appear as an alternate costume. A few variations of the outfit remove the large sleeve revealing his Geostigma-infected arm.
  • Cloud's alternate Final Smash, Omnislash Ver. 5, is sourced from the film.
  • Sephiroth's appearance and characterization, particularly in Winged Form, is primarily based on that of the film.
• Music:
  • "Those Who Fight (AC Version)": An arrangement of the original game's battle theme, used in the film during the Turks' fight with the Remnants of Sephiroth.
  • "Those Who Fight Further (AC Version)": An arrangement of the original game's boss theme, appearing in the film for the fight with Bahamut SIN.
  • "Advent: One-Winged Angel": A symphonic metal arrangement of "One-Winged Angel" that plays during Cloud and Sephiroth's final showdown. Used for Sephiroth's reveal trailer in The Game Awards 2020.
  • "Victory! Sephiroth": A short snippet of "Advent: One-Winged Angel".

Final Fantasy IV Advance

• Misc:
  • The "FF" logo used for the Final Fantasy series symbol, though abbreviated from the standard series logo present since the first game, is the same as the one used for the Finest Fantasy for Advance series of handheld remakes.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

• Playable characters: