Editing Final Fantasy (universe)

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|image            = [[Image:FinalFantasyLogo.png|200px]]

|caption          = [[Image:SpecialStagesSymbol.svg|50px]]

|developer        = Square Enix

|publisher        = Square Enix

|designer          = Hironobu Sakaguchi

|genres            = Role-playing game

|firstinstallment  = ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy}}'' (1987)

|latestinstallment = ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward}}'' (2015)

The '''''Final Fantasy'' universe''' ({{ja|ファイナルファンタジー|Fainaru Fantajī}}, ''Final Fantasy'') refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the world famous RPG franchise owned by [[Square Enix]].

Electrical engineering student Hironobu Sakaguchi became a part-time employee at Square shortly after it was founded as a computer game-centric division of a power line construction company named Den-Yu-Sha. He became a full-time employee as the Director of Planning and Development when Square later separated from its parent company, and had intended to create a role-playing video game modeled after the foundations of then-separate company Enix's ''Dragon Quest''. Thematically inspired by role-playing forerunners such as ''Ultima'', ''Wizardry'', and ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the game was later alleged to have received the name "''Final Fantasy''" because it was anticipated by the company to be its final project under the threat of bankruptcy. The outcome of the release starkly contrasted with expectations, however as the game's December 1987 release on Nintendo's Famicom sold more than half a million copies. When ''Dragon Quest'' later met success with its North American localization as ''Dragon Warrior'', Nintendo of America released a similarly localized version of ''Final Fantasy'' in July 1990, to modest success.

Though ''Dragon Quest'' was among the first to effect a divergence of styles in the role-playing genre that resulted in the formation of what is commonly known as the Japanese role-playing genre, ''Final Fantasy'' played a critical role in granting it its initial surge of popularity. However, the JRPG style would remain relatively obscure in the public spotlight throughout many years to come, even as many new JRPG properties were introduced both within Square's efforts and outside it, such as a legendary collaboration between Square and Nintendo that resulted in ''Chrono Trigger''. ''Final Fantasy'', under producer Sakaguchi's watchful eye, began to release a continuous succession of numbered sequels - which, in stark contrast to most other video game series, were never traditional sequels or continuations and rarely carried over characters. Much like in ''[[Fire Emblem (universe)|Fire Emblem]]'', each of the mainstream ''Final Fantasy'' games that were developed and released are self-contained works tied tangentially by shared thematic and design similarities, such as ''Final Fantasy II'' and ''III'' for the Famicom, and for a while, only some of the games received worldwide localization; ''Final Fantasy IV'' for the Super Famicom - which introduced the "Active Time Battle" concept to the series - was released worldwide in 1991 as "''Final Fantasy II''", and after ''Final Fantasy V'' remained a Japan-only Super Famicom release, ''Final Fantasy VI'' was released worldwide for Super Nintendo in 1994 as "''Final Fantasy III''".

Though ''Final Fantasy VI'' would become critically regarded in its own right as one of the greatest and most landmark JRPGs ever developed, the JRPG genre remained relatively niche in Western markets. As polygon graphics began to take root in the industry's landscape with the release of systems like the Sony PlayStation, Sakaguchi felt that the franchise might be left behind if it did not catch up to the 3D graphics used in other games - but because Nintendo's then-upcoming 3D-based console, the Nintendo 64, was based on cartridges and therefore lacked the memory storage needed for the project's scope, Square ended its relationship with Nintendo and developed ''Final Fantasy VII'' for the PlayStation. What resulted was the most expensive video game of its time, with a development budget of around $45 million - equivalent to $67 million in 2015. The game's international release - which was consistently titled ''Final Fantasy VII'' despite prior installments not having been released outside Japan at the time - was preceded by a heavy marketing campaign.

''Final Fantasy VII'' received widespread critical acclaim that was nonetheless eclipsed by its commercial success and impact on the games industry. Famously referred to by one publication as "quite possibly the greatest game ever made", the game - spread out across three PlayStation discs packaged together - was seen for its time as an unprecedented blend of gameplay, interactive movie elements, and character-driven narrative, the last of which included what was argued to be one of the most infamous character deaths in the medium. On the back of character designer Tetsuya Nomura's now-iconic cast, the game is viewed to have single-handedly vastly expand the conventional global audience for the JRPG genre, and ''Final Fantasy'' itself became one of the most popular video game franchises. The extent to which the game had become a killer app for the PlayStation led protagonist [[Cloud Strife]] to become an unofficial mascot for both his series and the console as a whole. Every main-numbered ''Final Fantasy'' to follow would receive enormous amounts of attention and sales success as a direct outcome of ''Final Fantasy VII''{{'}}s own.

''Final Fantasy VII''{{'}}s setting introduced a post-industrial science fiction element to the formerly medieval fantasy-grounded IP, and the involvement of science fiction in a ''Final Fantasy'' mythos was expanded with 1999's ''Final Fantasy VIII''. After 2000's ''Final Fantasy IX'' deliberately returned to the more traditional fantasy trappings employed in the oldest games, the series' first main-numbered appearance on the PlayStation 2 as ''Final Fantasy X'' aesthetically entrenched the series in a distinctive science-fantasy genre blend. The series had also begun to deviate from its turn-based and Active Time Battle-based roots and gradually adapt action-RPG elements in games such as 2006's ''Final Fantasy XII'', 2010's ''Final Fantasy XIII'', and 2016's ''Final Fantasy XV'', as well as release two of its main-numbered games - 2002's ''Final Fantasy XI'' and another title released in 2010, ''Final Fantasy XIV'' - as MMORPGs. But while every numbered game remains a separate story and setting from the rest, several of them receive their own sequels, spin-offs, and sub-series that utilize their respective settings and casts, namely ''XIII'', "XII", ''X'', and most prominently ''VII''.

None of this is to mention a veritable deluge of remakes, reissues, spin-offs, spiritually-related works, and involvement in crossovers that began after the turn of the millennium, as if spurred in response to the 2003 merger of Square and Enix into a single entity named [[Square Enix]] (which Sakaguchi had resigned from shortly prior). Several appeared as third-party works on Nintendo hardware as a result of renewed relations between the two publishers, such as the ''Bravely Default'' series for the Nintendo 3DS - which constitute a modernized presentation of the original turn-based battle system of the earliest ''Final Fantasy'' titles. Meanwhile, each of the formerly-Japan-exclusive main-numbered titles have been released to the rest of the world in some enhanced form or another. Among the more noteworthy ''Final Fantasy'' derivatives:

*''Final Fantasy Tactics'', released in 1998 for the PlayStation, was Square's first foray into the strategy RPG genre and is regarded as a cult classic; it saw an enhanced re-release for the PlayStation portable with the subtitle ''The War of the Lions''. Separately, a duo of more colorful, unconnected titles - ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift'' - were released for the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS.

*''Final Fantasy Type-0'' is an action-RPG that was released only in Japan for the PlayStation Portable in 2011, with an HD remaster later released worldwide early 2015 for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

*''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles'' was a separate action-RPG released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube, and has since spawned its own metaseries with the ''Crystal Chronicles'' name, all of which have been exclusive to Nintendo hardware.

*''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' and its sequel cross over the various disparate continuities of the franchise into a formula resembling a hybridized blend of the three-dimensional fighting and action-RPG genres, and make at least one hero and one villain from each of the main-numbered ''Final Fantasy'' continuities playable characters.

*''Theatrhythm Final Fantasy'' and its update, ''Curtain Call'', are 3DS rhythm titles that similarly cross over the many universes of ''Final Fantasy'', compiling music - both faithfully preserved and remixed - from almost every ''Final Fantasy'' title and spin-off.

*Among the many recurrent monster designs trademarked to the series is the Chocobo, a large, ratite-like bird that is often used as a mount in various ''Final Fantasy'' continuities. Square Enix uses it as a mascot for ''Final Fantasy'' as a whole, and has released a variety of more child-oriented ''Chocobo'' media based on it. There have been ''Chocobo''-themed entries of Chunsoft's ''Mystery Dungeon'' series of rogue-like games, and similar games were later made for ''{{uv|Pokémon}}''.

*''Kingdom Hearts'' is an action-RPG series that was conceived as an unorthodox crossover between the general aesthetic of ''Final Fantasy'' and the many universes of Disney animated films, with several ''Final Fantasy'' characters - such as Cloud Strife - appearing as guests and cameos. Under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura, the on-going series has become one of the most storied video game IPs in its own right.

Despite the many turns the ''Final Fantasy'' IP has taken, ''Final Fantasy VII'' remains its most well-known and popular extension. Years after its introduction, it became the subject of a metaseries of prequels, non-traditional sequels, and other various media titled the ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'', including a CG film titled ''Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children''. While there has yet to be a sequel proper for this particular continuity, a modernized remake was announced in 2015 to be in development for the PlayStation 4; it had been one of the most heavily requested video game remakes for over the course of a decade-and-a-half. In addition to his recurrent appearances in all of these works, Cloud Strife has made guest appearances in titles outside of ''Final Fantasy'', including a PlayStation fighter titled ''Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring'' and a small subseries of digital board games titled ''Itadaki Street''. To the surprise of many, Cloud was announced as a surprise post-launch downloadable content fighter for the Nintendo crossover fighting game ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', despite minimal presence of his own on Nintendo hardware up until that point.

In terms of the scenario of the game itself, ''Final Fantasy VII'' initially focuses on the efforts of an eco-terrorist group named AVALANCHE - among whom Cloud is a member - as they struggle to destroy power plants operated by an electric-power megacorporation that has become much of the planet's ''de facto'' government, Shinra, headquartered at the industrialized metropolis of Midgar. With the company having since shifted to a spiritual substance called Mako to serve as modern society's primary power source, Cloud and his allies operate under the assumption that Shinra is siphoning the life force of the planet itself. But between his encounters with the mysterious flower girl Aerith and the re-emergence of an incredibly dangerous and disturbed figure from Cloud's past - the former elite soldier Sephiroth - Cloud and his allies gradually find themselves taking on a more direct and urgent role as protectors of the planet than they could have anticipated... though he must also surmount formidable psychological obstacles ingrained within his own memories.

====Characters====

*[[Image:CloudIcon(SSB4-U).png|50px|right]]'''{{SSB4|Cloud}}''': The main protagonist of ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}'' made his debut in the ''Smash Bros.'' series as a [[downloadable content|downloadable character]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''.

====Stages====

====Music====

====Trophies====

==Media with elements from or in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]]==

===''{{s|wikipedia|Final Fantasy II}}''===

[[Chocobo|Chocobos]] appears as an upcoming [[downloadable content]] headgear. The [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Leviathan Leviathan] appears on the [[Midgar]] stage.

===''{{s|wikipedia|Final Fantasy III}}''===

[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Odin Odin], [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ramuh Ramuh], and [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ifrit Ifrit] appear on the Midgar stage.

===''{{s|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}''===

[[Cloud Strife]] appears as an upcoming playable downloadable content character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' alongside Midgar, an area from ''Final Fantasy VII''. [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bahamut_ZERO Bahamut Zero], which appears on the aformentioned stage, also originates from this game.

===''{{s|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children}}''===

===''{{s|wikipedia|Dissidia: Final Fantasy}}''===

Cloud's default Smash costume takes cues from the design used for his default costume from this game, including the more realistic proportions and loosely fastened boots.

*''Final Fantasy'' and {{uv|EarthBound}} are the only universes with playable characters that do not have a character from their original installment playable in ''Smash Bros.''

*Several ''Final Fantasy'' characters representing generic classes and creatures had previously crossed over with the ''{{uv|Mario}}'' universe in ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Hoops 3-on-3}}'' and ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Sports Mix}}'' both of which were developed by Square Enix. However, Cloud does not appear in either of them, and is in fact the first named ''Final Fantasy'' character to appear in a Nintendo crossover.

**''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars}}'' was also developed by Square Enix and includes references to the ''Final Fantasy'' series including an [[mariowiki:Culex|optional boss]] who was designed as an allusion to the ''Final Fantasy'' series.  

*''Final Fantasy'' and ''Mega Man'' are the only third-party universes to have debuted in a Nintendo system. In fact, both universes debuted on the NES.

*Xenogears from the [[Xenoblade (universe)|''Xeno'']] series started out as an early concept for Square's ''Final Fantasy VII''. The company deemed it "too dark and complicated for a fantasy", but Takahashi was allowed to develop it as a separate project.

*''Final Fantasy'' is the first universe to introduce a new company after the initial release of ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''.

*''Final Fantasy'' creator Hironobu Sakaguchi also directed ''[[List_of_minor_universes#The_Last_Story|The Last Story]]'' which is also represented in ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'' by trophies.

[[Category:Third-party Material]]