Final Fantasy XIII allusions

The following is list of allusions in Final Fantasy XIII.

Final Fantasy

 * At Nautilus Park, a woman standing next to a chocobo says "Welcome to Nautilus, the city of Dreams", a reference to the quote "Welcome to Cornelia, the dream city" from the original Final Fantasy.
 * The Tiamat Eliminator boss is named after Tiamat, one of the original Four Fiends. It has Wind-elemental properties just as Tiamat does.

Final Fantasy II

 * The airship, Palamecia, is named after the Palamecian Empire.

Final Fantasy III

 * Hecatoncheir first appeared as a late-game boss in Final Fantasy III.
 * The city Nautilus is named after the airship Nautilus.

Final Fantasy IV

 * The city Palumpolum is named after the twins Palom and Porom.
 * Fang's ultimate weapon, the Kain's Lance, is a reference to Kain Highwind. She also uses spears and lances in battle like Kain. Furthermore, her full ATB skill shares its name with Kain's last name, "Highwind".

Final Fantasy V

 * The Achievements/Trophies Kelger's Cup, Xezat's Chalice, Dorgann's Trophy, and Galuf's Grail are named after the Warriors of Dawn.
 * Gilgamesh has a shop named after him, Gilgamesh, Inc. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega it is implied the shop was actually operated by Gilgamesh himself. It sells strong weapons that have handicaps, perhaps an allusion to Gilgamesh's obsession with collecting legendary swords, but often ending up with counterfeit versions.

Final Fantasy VI

 * The fal'Cie Bismarck is a reference to the esper of the same name.
 * In Nautilus, a child chasing after other children shouts, "Run, run, or you will be well done!" This is a quote uttered by Kefka Palazzo.

Final Fantasy VII

 * Manasvin Warmech pays a tribute to Guard Scorpion by its appearance and being the first boss.
 * The Proudclad is based on the Proud Clod boss. The spelling and pronunciation of the two words in Japanese are identical.
 * The fal'Cie Kujata is a reference to the summon Kjata in Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * The fal'Cie Eden's name is a reference to the Guardian Force Eden from Final Fantasy VIII.
 * The Gigantuar makes its first appearance as the boss and summon, Jumbo Cactuar, in Final Fantasy VIII.
 * On several signs in Palumpolum and Eden, black silhouettes of PuPu are present.
 * The gunblade weapon was introduced in Final Fantasy VIII. One of Lightning's gunblade models is called Lionheart, Squall's strongest gunblade.

Final Fantasy IX

 * The airship Lindblum is named after the regency of Lindblum.
 * The fal'Cie Dahaka is based on the boss Taharka fought in Ipsen's Castle.

Final Fantasy X

 * The fal'Cie Anima is named after the aeon Anima from Final Fantasy X.
 * A mechanical version of Valefor is seen at Nautilus during the Pompa Sancta as one of the Eidolons from the show.
 * Vanille's ultimate binding rod, the Nirvana, shares its name with Yuna's Celestial Weapon.
 * The cut fal'Cie Nemesis was going to be named after the superboss of the same name from Final Fantasy X.

Final Fantasy X-2

 * During the opening of the Pompa Sancta parade in Nautilus, a series of discs spin in the same fashion and with the same sound effect as the discs in Sphere Break.

Final Fantasy XI

 * The enspell series (Enfire, Enwater, Enthunder, and Enfrost) are spells that were unique to Final Fantasy XI before being introduced in Final Fantasy XIII.
 * The weapons Hauteclaire and Mistilteinn first appeared in Final Fantasy XI as a sword and wand, respectively.
 * While it is a common idiomatic expression, the shop Up In Arms may be a reference to the battlefield of the same name.
 * The Verdelet and Zirnitra enemies may be references to the Notorious Monsters of the same name.

Final Fantasy XII

 * Sazh's weapons are named after stars and constellations, similar in the way that guns in Final Fantasy XII are named after stars.
 * Undying class of Cie'th shares its name with the final boss in Final Fantasy XII.
 * The Thexteron is a reference to the Thextera mark.
 * The Retail Network shop's name, Moogleworks, alludes to Ivalice moogles being hard-workers who occupied several branches of life, e.g. repairing old structures, maintaining airships, conducting Moogling, and selling location maps.

Allusions to the Number Thirteen
Being the thirteenth installment of the series, Final Fantasy XIII makes references to the number itself. Although many are not necessarily deliberate allusions to the number 13 (whether they are or not is speculative), they are nonetheless present.


 * The game comprises of thirteen chapters.
 * The game's flashback sequences consist of thirteen days.
 * When all party members are counted, along with their Eidolons (counting both Shiva Sisters), there are thirteen members of the party.
 * There are thirteen Retail Network shops.
 * The Datalog has thirteen submenus.
 * There are thirteen Analects.
 * There are thirteen groups in the enemy "Militarized Units" section of the bestiary.
 * There are thirteen enemies registered under "Fal'Cie".
 * The threshold score for a 5-star battle rating is 13,000 points.
 * Although not stated in-game, l'Cie brands progress through thirteen stages.
 * In Nautilus, before the Pompa Sancta parade, there are thirteen numbers on the clock.
 * In Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, it is revealed the temple containing Anima was tended to by thirteen priests.
 * Cocoon was created thirteen centuries prior to the events of the game.
 * Chance of receiving a shroud from an enemy in Orphan's Cradle is 0.13%.
 * In Eden, while standing on the Leviathan Plaza and looking at the Edenhall, there is a number "13" on the left wall of the entrance.
 * Alexander's HP reaches the maximum value available for a playable character at rank 13.
 * The clock tower in Nautilus has a thirteen hour face. It is later confirmed in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII that this is correct, as days on Pulse and Cocoon consist of thirteen hours before and after noon.


 * The Fiendlord's Keep in Nautilus, where Sazh fights Brynhildr, is also the name of the castle of Magus, an early antagonist and later party member in Chrono Trigger.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

 * Part of Chapter 4, where Sazh and Vanille pass through the scrap processing plant, is called Loathing and Fear. Sure enough, the Gremlin enemies resemble bats.

Folklore

 * Many of Hope's weapons are themed around bird-like creatures from world mythologies.
 * Hope's final upgraded weapon, Nue, is a reference to the Japanese chimera with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and the tail in the form of a snake's body.

Sumerian Mythology

 * In the Sunleth Waterscape, the two bosses Enki and Enlil are two gods of ancient Sumerian. Enki (Ea), the god of waters and wisdom and Enlil (Ellil), the god of winds and storms.
 * Edimmu is an evil utukku or specter.
 * Ugallu is a consort of Ninurta.

Roman and Byzantine Empires

 * In its first form, and second form's decorations, the face of Orphan's angelic half references the design of Sol Invictus, the Roman Sun God. Furthermore, the angel's posture and the color scheme of Orphan's first form (and Dysley's attire) reflect the art style and sacred "purple and white" coloring used by the Byzantine Empire.
 * Most of the Undying are named after enemies of the Roman Empire (Attacus is derived from the Japanese writing of "Spartacus"), except from Wladislaus, which is named after a Polish king.

Southeast Asian mythology

 * The name of the Penanggalan enemy comes from a vampire-like creature that originates in Malaysian folklore.

Literature

 * Two bosses fought in Orphan's Cradle, Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch, are creatures from Lewis Carroll's famous poem Jabberwocky.
 * The name of Chapter 13, "The Cradle Will Fall", is a reference to the lullaby "Rock-a-bye baby".
 * In the cutscene titled "Day 13: I Want to Be Purged", Sazh meets Lightning and sees her volunteer to be purged. Sazh comments, "You don't look ready to go quiet into that good night", This is an allusion to Dylan Thomas's famous villanelle, "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night".