Final Fantasy IV allusions

The following is list of allusions in Final Fantasy IV.

Final Fantasy series

 * Final Fantays IV uses the mythology of the four elemental crystals just like Final Fantasy I and III.

Final Fantasy

 * The Rat Tail in IV is an allusion to the Rat Tail sub-quest from the original Final Fantasy.
 * Cecil's transformation is a subtle allusion to the class upgrade from Final Fantasy.
 * Golbez's Four Elemental Archfiends are an allusion to Chaos' Four Fiends.
 * The title screen of the game appears only after the players have completed a short prologue and cross a bridge to begin their journey. This happens as well in the original Final Fantasy.
 * Excalibur being obtained by handing Adamantite over to a famous blacksmith is an allusion to the same scenario from Final Fantasy.
 * Edge having the Steal command is an allusion of the Thief class upgrading to the Ninja class from Final Fantasy.
 * The Dark Elf's battle sprite is very similar to Astos' design from Final Fantasy.
 * Zemus being killed and then returning as a demon of hatred and revenge can be a subtle allusion to Garland being killed and coming back as Chaos.

Final Fantasy II

 * Kain Highwind shares the same job role and last name as Ricard Highwind. In the GBA and later ports, Kain's father's name was retroactively named Ricard as a shout out to the character.
 * Kain also holds several allusions with the character of Leon, both are childhood friends of the main characters, both betray the party and serve as powerful servants for the game's main villain, and both characters stories end with them departing from the cast to go on a journey of redemption.
 * Edward is an allusion to Gordon from Final Fantasy II, both are nobles who feel powerless as their kingdoms are destroyed by the villains, both characters lose someone they care about before they are met, both characters have a love story sub-plot, both characters are first met when the party requires a royal heirloom their respective kingdom owns, and both characters play a central role in rescuing the heroine of their games.
 * Mysidia is an allusion to the same town from Final Fantasy II
 * The party being attacked by Leviathan on their way to Baron is an allusion to Leviathan attacking Firion and his party on their way to Mysidian Tower.
 * Tellah's search for the forbidden black magic Meteor is an allusion to Minwu's search for the forbidden white magic Ultima. In both cases, they are respected spellcasters, both spells are located in a sacred place near the town of Mysidia, and both characters are ultimately killed by association with the magic.
 * Though no longer considered canon, the Settei Shiryuu Hen Guide book gives background details about FFIV's world that feature several shout outs and allusions to Final Fantasy II. This includes the founder of Mysidia being named Sage Minwu, and the name of the Dark Knight who left the Deathbringer in Fabul being named Leonhart.
 * The constant use of "death" or cataclysm to change the party roster is a subtle allusion to Final Fantasy II doing the same trick.
 * Barons use of the Red Wings airships to take the crystals is a subtle allusion to the Empire's use of the Dreadnaught.
 * Cid's new state of the art airship Enterprise is the same name as the airship used by the original Cid from Final Fantasy II.
 * In the DS remake, Cecil and Rosa's Twin Cast is Ultima, this is a shout out to II because its a white magic spell despite being non-elemental in both games.

Final Fantasy III

 * Cecil's Dark Knight sprite is an allusion to the Magic Knight Job class.
 * Cecil's Paladin class is based off the Knight class from III as both have similar though different color sprites, both use low level white magic and both have the ability to protect weakened party members from incoming attacks.
 * The ultimate weapons in both games are guarded by powerful bosses and can only be obtained by doing some optional searching in the game's final dungeons.
 * The party being defeated by the final boss and then revived by their allies is taken from a similar scene in Final Fantasy III.

Religion and Mythology

 * The Tower of Babil is a not so subtle allsuion to the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis.
 * Kain's name and his story holds several parallels to the Biblical Cain from Genesis. Both are figures who seek to murder their "brother" due to jealousy over being favored by God (Rosa) over them.

Folktales

 * In the DS version, the Hummingways new rabbit design may be an allusion to the popular children's story in Asia about Rabbits living on the moon.
 * Golbez's name is a reference to Golubac Flies from Serbian folklore. This is confirmed in the expanded scenes from the DS remake where Zemus directly references the Serbian legend of the flies being born from the decomposing body to weaken Golbez's mind and take over.

Literature

 * The names of Golbez and his four archfiends all hail from the book Devils by J. Charles Wall.
 * Corio's observation about the second moon having life on it, may be a subtle allusion to H.G. Wells War of the Worlds where the narrator opens the story with his observations of activity of life on the planet Mars. Similarly, Zemus' plan to use the Giant of Babil to wipe out all life on the Blue Planet is also an allusion to the giant attack robots the martians use in the same novel.
 * The Giant of Babil could also be an allusion to the robot Gort from the film The Day the Earth Stood Still