Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy



Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy (ファブラ ノヴァ クリスタリス) is the collective name of a series of games made under the Final Fantasy XIII label by Japanese developer Square Enix. Made in the same vein as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and the Ivalice Alliance collections, Fabula Nova Crystallis, which means "the new tale of the crystal" in Latin, is nevertheless based on various worlds and different characters, but each game will be "ultimately based on and expand upon a common mythos".

The connection between the Fabula Nova Crystallis games could be partly compared to the one that exists between games like Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V - different universes but roughly the same crystal mythos. Officially, they have been characterized as "different titles based on variations of the Final Fantasy XIII universe". The figure shown in the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy logo is one of the gods of the mythos, but when asked by Famitsu, Yoshinori Kitase would not reveal which god it is.

Titles
Apart from Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2, which are made by the same team, each of the other games are being made by a different team of developers within Square Enix Product Development Division 1. The games within Fabula Nova Crystallis are:
 * Final Fantasy XIII
 * Final Fantasy XIII-2
 * Final Fantasy Type-0
 * Final Fantasy Versus XIII

In addition, a web novel, later made into a CD Drama, titled Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise- is also part of the Final Fantasy XIII expanded universe, while Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i- is a novella that was released with Final Fantasy XIII International Ultimate Hits in Japan, and acts as an epilogue to Final Fantasy XIII, covering direct events following the game's ending. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before is another publication that delves into the events that happen prior to Final Fantasy XIII-2.

The trademark Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII was registered in the United States on May 1, 2006; however there have been no announcements of any plans to make a game of that title, and the trademark was subsequently abandoned on April 25, 2011.

Square Enix registered a domain name for Final Fantasy XIII-3 on September 7, 2011. No development plans have been announced and a representative of Square Enix notes that the filing is to protect the Final Fantasy XIII IP and is not indicative of a new title.

Mythology
The Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology was revealed in a video shown at Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere event on January 18, 2011.

The universe of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series is divided in two — the Visible World, the world of the living, and the Invisible World, the world of the dead. In the beginning, the god Bhunivelze had killed his mother, Mwynn, in order to take full control of the Visible World for himself. As a result, Mwynn was sent into the Invisible World.

Despite achieving his goal of total control of the Visible World, Bhunivelze became troubled. He believed that Mwynn had placed a curse on the realm of the living so that it would one day be destroyed. In order to put a stop to the curse Bhunivelze sought to destroy his mother once and for all, but was unable to reach the Invisible World without giving up control of the Visible World. To find the entrance to the realm of the dead, Bhunivelze created the fal'Cie Pulse, tasked with searching the world for the door to the Invisible World.

To assist Pulse, Bhunivelze soon after created the fal'Cie Etro, but became distraught to discover that he unknowingly created her in the likeness of Mwynn. As a result, Bhunivelze gave Etro no powers. To replace Etro, Bhunivelze created the fal'Cie Lindzei, tasked with protecting the world and Bhunivelze himself. With the fal'Cie at work, Bhunivelze put himself into a deep crystal sleep, to be awoken only when the door to the Invisible World was found.

Though Pulse and Lindzei were given a task to fulfill by their creator, Etro became distressed over her lack of power and purpose in the world. Out of despair, Etro killed herself and disappeared from the Visible World. From Etro's spilled blood, humanity took root and grew. Etro felt a bond with these creatures she unknowingly created, as they, like her, were destined to die.

In the Invisible World, Etro discovered Mwynn being consumed by a strange energy mass known as Chaos, a byproduct of Bhunivelze's creation of the fal'Cie. With her last breath, Mwynn tasked Etro with protecting the balance of the universe, for if the balance between the Visible and Invisible Worlds was to be disrupted, the universe itself would collapse. The death of the Visible World was not a curse, but in fact, fate.

Despite this, Etro did not understand what Mwynn had asked of her as she was consumed by the Chaos. Etro became lonely, though she felt affection toward humans, who lived only to die. Etro thus placed a piece of Chaos within each human being, which came to be known as the "heart". So long as humans continue to be born and die, then the universe will remain in balance.

Pulse continued to craft the world as he saw fit, while Lindzei protected the world and crafted the floating paradise of Cocoon for the humans until they one day absconded from the world, never to be seen again. Many of the humans, in turn, worshiped -- and some abhorred -- these fal'Cie as gods. Etro, meanwhile, became known as the Goddess of Death, who waited to greet each human as they passed through the door to the Invisible World.

And Bhunivelze continued to sleep, forever and ever.

Development
Fabula Nova Crystallis was first announced in 2006. The series was originally called Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII, but the name was shortened to just Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy during the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere event on January 18, 2011. The "XIII" numeric was dropped because what was originally named Final Fantasy Agito XIII was renamed Final Fantasy Type-0.

A video of the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology was shown at the January 18th 2011 Square Enix Conference. The video details the story of the many gods from the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy series. The video was created by a team headed up by Yusuke Naora (art director of Final Fantasy Type-0). The text of the narration is arranged from the mythology book created by Kazushige Nojima (scenario writer of Final Fantasy Versus XIII). Yoshinori Kitase joked the mythology was written five years back and Nojima's book has been sealed away since, but they had to take it out just for the Premier event.

Etymology
Square Enix's page states that Fabula Nova Crystallis translates to "the new tale of the crystals". However, this is not quite accurate--the Latin word for crystal is "crystallus -i", which is second declension. Fabula Nova Crystallorum would mean "the new tale of the crystals". As it stands, the title more closely indicates "the new tale to/by/with the crystals", as crystallis is a dative or ablative plural. However, the translation is perfectly fine if crystallis is understood as a possessive dative.

Another possibility is that 'crystallis' is in fact singular, in which case it could be genitive, with the meaning, 'of the crystal'. Often in Latin literature the plural and singular forms of words are used interchangeably to rhetorical effect - one example of this is in the story of Scylla in Book 7 of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Trivia

 * Orphan makes an indirect reference to the series title with the line, "From shattered shards, a new crystal legend will arise".
 * The thirteenth Analect, obtained by defeating Vercingetorix in Mission 64, is called "Fabula Nova Crystallis".
 * In addition, there is a piece of music on the fourth disk of the Final Fantasy XIII: Original Soundtrack called "Fabula Nova Crystallis".
 * In Final Fantasy Type-0, one of the most ancient agreements in Oriense is known as the "Fabula Conventions."
 * The concepts of a cursed world and defeated goddesses hiding in an invisible world are highly similar to the creation myth of the, an ancient indigenous people from northern Japan.
 * Coincidentally, there is a character named "Fabula" in the Final Fantasy Unlimited series.