Final Fantasy VI allusions

The following is list of allusions in Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy

 * Shadow's past as a thief alludes to the transition from Thief to Ninja in the original Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy II

 * To get to the Rich Man's house in South Figaro, Locke must tell the password: "Courage". One of the other options is "Wild Rose" (changed to "Rosebud" in the SNES/GBA releases). This alludes to the Wild Rose Rebellion in Final Fantasy II.
 * Kefka poisoning the water supply of Doma Castle alludes to the Emperor Mateus poisoning the Deist wyvern water supply.

Final Fantasy III

 * Locke's ability to open locked doors in Narshe alludes to the Thief's ability to open locked doors in Final Fantasy III.
 * The Floating Continent refers to the location of the same name in Final Fantasy III.
 * A 16-bit sprite of Onion Knight occasionally appears in the loading section of the Final Fantasy Anthology port of Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy IV

 * In the GBA and mobile versions, the method for encountering Leviathan is similar to his first appearance in Final Fantasy IV where he attacks the party's ship while they are crossing the ocean.
 * The boss battle against the Behemoth Kings in the Cave on the Veldt alludes to the boss battle against Scarmiglione where the battle begins normally, but after being defeated, the boss attacks the party with Back Attack as an undead.

Final Fantasy V

 * Gogo shares the name, job, abilities, and appearance with the boss in Sunken Walse Tower.
 * The name of Gogo's Desperation Attack, Punishing Meteor refers to the Famed Mimic Gogo, who counters all attacks with an attack of his own, essentially "punishing" the party for failing to mimic him properly (i.e. doing nothing).
 * Gilgamesh appears as an esper in the GBA and mobile versions. One of Gilgamesh's attack has Enkidu appearing on the field. Both of them have the same sprite as the Gilgamesh and Enkidu from Final Fantasy V.
 * To obtain Gilgamesh as an esper, the player has to bet the Excalipoor at the Dragon's Neck Coliseum. When Gilgamesh is summoned in battle he will execute one of four attacks at random. One of these is the Excalipoor, which deals damage worth 1 HP. The Excalipoor originates from Final Fantasy V and also deals 1 HP damage.
 * Lone Wolf the Pickpocket makes a cameo appearance; the party encounters him in few similar ways by first meeting him while he is locked in prison, and later when he steals a treasure before the party can reach it.
 * Much like Bartz who gets a discount at the shops in his hometown Lix, Edgar also gets a discount in Figaro Castle.

Final Fantasy VI Japanese version

 * In the GBA version, a soldier in Figaro Castle mentions that there are Kefka worshipers who insist on spelling Kefka's name with "C's" which is both a reference to Kefka's Japanese spelling of his name, as well as poking fun at certain fans who insist on spelling Kefka's name the Japanese way.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * A 16-bit sprite of Squall occasionally appears in the loading section of the Final Fantasy Anthology port of Final Fantasy VI.
 * In the GBA and mobile versions of Final Fantasy VI, encountering Jumbo Cactuar is done the same way as in Final Fantasy VIII, with the party battling it in a fixed encounter, in the only desert Cactuar appear in.

Final Fantasy X

 * Neslug in Final Fantasy X is based on Ymir, the boss in Narshe Mines. In the GBA and mobile versions of Final Fantasy VI, Neslug is an optional boss in the Dragons' Den.

Games

 * Sabin's Blitz "Aura Cannon" ("AuraBolt") has the same button commands as the famous "Hadouken" from '. They are both ranged attacks, but Aura Cannon's appearance more closely resembles the more powerful "Shinkuu Hadouken" from the later X-Men vs Street Fighter and VS series games. The attack also resembles the Kamehameha from the ' series.
 * In the same vein, the "Raging Fist" ("Pummel") shares the button command and name of a special move in the  series, and is one of the signature moves of the Kyokugenryu style of karate, practiced by protagonist.
 * The Air Force boss boasts a wave cannon and a minor enemy called Bit that absorbs attacks, just like the R-9 starfighters in .

Star Wars
The Gestahlian Empire contains many allusions to the Galactic Empire from the Star Wars universe.
 * In A New Hope, Grand Moff Tarkin uses the phrase "Rebel scum." A common phrase Imperial soldiers use to refer to the Returners is "Returner scum," or "Scum! You're Returners!".
 * The Imperial soldiers tend to act like the Imperial Stormtroopers due to their perceived incompetence. When Locke rescues Celes, if he is dressed in an Imperial soldier's uniform, Celes asks him, "Aren't you a little short for an Imperial soldier?" an allusion to the line given by Leia Organa to Luke Skywalker.
 * Magitek Armor units are similar to All Terrain Personnel Transports.
 * Setzer says that "the Empire has made him a rich man" before joining the Returners. This alludes to The Empire Strikes Back, in which Lando Calrissian makes a deal with the Galactic Empire, though not for money but to save his city. Lando later joined the Rebel Alliance.
 * Biggs and Wedge are named after Star Wars characters, although the original characters are members of the rebel alliance, not the Galactic Empire.
 * Setzer tells the party that the Falcon is the fastest ship in the world, while Han Solo tells the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship in the galaxy.
 * Kefka's betrayal of Emperor Gestahl nearing the game's second act resembled Darth Vader's betrayal of Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Unlike Vader, however, Kefka remained evil.
 * The overworld sprite design of the Gestahl's personal guard resembles that of the Emperor's Royal Guard from Return of the Jedi.
 * The Ultima Weapon is likely inspired by the Lightsaber.
 * Owzer a rich obese man with a frog like face may have been inspired by Jabba the Hutt.

Historical Figures

 * Cyan's Desperation Attack, Tsubame Gaeshi, was a famous technique mastered by, a famed Japanese swordsman in the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. Kojirō was best known to have been slain by during a duel at the island of Funajima.
 * Celes Chere invites comparison to Medieval French heroine, who is popular in Japan and may even have been the inspiration for Celes being given a French name. Joan, who has been the subject of a number of operas, was a general at the young age of 18 and was opposed to morally-lacking tactics in warfare (including the poisoning of the water supply of a city under siege) and was captured as a result of her defiance of her kingdom's military policies (albeit more indirectly than Celes). Joan of Arc is a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, but secular sources have often claimed that she—like Celes—was psychologically unstable (a famous example being Luc Besson's 1999 film The Messenger), and she, too, threw herself from a great height purportedly in a suicide attempt. Finally, Celes's affinity for ice would suggest fire to be her nemesis; Joan of Arc was burned to death.

Norse

 * Siegfried was inspired by (known as "Sigurd" in ). He's the dragon-slaying hero of the German epic poem,.

Islamic

 * The esper Crusader's Japanese name is.

Christianity

 * The final series of bosses is a throwback to . The first tier of enemies consists of a demon shown from the waist up, symbolizing Hell with frozen up to his waist. The second tier is a menagerie of machinery, animals, and people representing . The third tier, the formerly overcast and dark background has beams of light shining through the clouds, and the two enemies look like  lying in 's lap, but with "Mary" as a disembodied head and "Jesus" looking like Kefka. The fourth tier, the heroes rise up from the overcast background to a sea of glowing white and gold clouds. The final part of The Divine Comedy has Dante meet God, who tells him the meaning of life. But here, Kefka descends from on skies appearing as a, and tells the main characters that life is meaningless.

Greek

 * Banon retells the story of to Terra.

Japanese

 * is translated as "Imp" in the English scripts. In the GBA and mobile release the exclusive Imp equipment is more obviously themed to them, including a cloak made of reeds and a saucer as a helmet.

Art

 * In earlier versions of Final Fantasy VI, before the player fights Kefka, he says "Life... hope... dreams? Where do they come from? And where are they going?" This may refer to the title of one of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings, 
 * Lady, known as Maria in the Japanese version, and Rest, allude to the, a sculpture that depicts the recently-deceased Jesus Christ post-crucifixion being cradled by the Virgin Mary, his mother.
 * Final Fantasy VI utilizes several elements and techniques from various operas making the game almost an allusion to opera form itself. It makes heavy use of leitmotifs in its music, utilizes Mad Scenes, and Kefka himself utilizes elements of both operatic Clowns and Harlequin. Some of the songs (e.g., "Dancing Mad") also feature vocalizations similar to that of an opera. The game ends with a curtain call showing who each character was "playing". Several of the characters' outfits (e.g., Terra and Kefka) resemble outfits from an Italian opera.
 * The last name Figaro alludes to Mozart's .
 * Relm has a brush weapon known as Da Vinci Brush alluding to.

Literature

 * During the raid on Thamasa, just before Kefka murders Leo, he says the latter was "always, always, ALWAYS such a Goody Two-Shoes!", referring to the of the same name.

Movies

 * Strago says, "And then I raised my staff, and POW! Right in the kisser!", a reference to .
 * When the Chainsaw's Death attack is used, Edgar and Gogo don a hockey goalie's mask in similar fashion to from .

Television

 * During the burning of Figaro Castle, two soldiers are heard saying "Fire, Fire!! Heh, heh heh heh heh." This refers to the pyromanical Beavis of .
 * The Three Dream Stooges names in the SNES version are named after the ; Moe, Larry, and Curly.
 * During the last battle against Ultros, he calls Typhon in with the famous  catchphrase, "Come on down!".

Music

 * At one point in the SNES translation, Terra states, "I want to know what love is... now!" "" is a 1984 power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner.
 * The theme titled "Johnny C. Bad" plays in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum. It refers to the well-known song "" by Chuck Berry.