Final Fantasy in popular culture

The Final Fantasy series has had many pop culture references throughout its existance.

Movies

 * In Charlie's Angels, two of the characters are playing Final Fantasy VIII.

Television and cartoons

 * The TV series Robot Chicken had a parody of Final Fantasy VII called the Final Fantasy Burger Chain, featuring Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aeris and Yuffie. The restaurant is owned by Sephiroth and is ultimately destroyed by Cloud in a fight with Sephiroth.  The characters don't actually speak in this, as their dialogue is shown in a blue box at the top of the screen similar to games in the series from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy VII.
 * There are several references to the series in the Homestar Runner series of Flash Cartoons:
 * Videlectrix Films is a parody of Square Pictures, the company that produced Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
 * In Teen Girl Squad Issue 8, the Shark at the end looks like the Shark enemy from the original Final Fantasy.
 * In an episode of the TV show Two and a Half Men, Jake begs Charlie throughout the show to take him to the video store to rent the new Final Fantasy. When they are at the video store, the Final Fantasy X box was shown as the "new" Final Fantasy. But at the end of the show, the Final Fantasy II battle music is played, not Final Fantasy X's.

Webcomics

 * 8-Bit Theater is a Final Fantasy based webcomic which follows the story of the original game, starring a Fighter, a Thief, a Black Mage, and a Red Mage.
 * The Order of the Stick comic series Episode 388, the characters Elan and Thog disguise themselves as Locke and Mog from Final Fantasy VI so they can get aboard the Blackjack to head to Azure City. However, Terra and Edgar are suspicious of them when they use the term "Resurrect" to describe a Phoenix Down and throw them overboard
 * Neglected Mario Characters features many Final Fantasy characters, most notably Kefka and Celes in the "Mario Busters" series.
 * VGCats has several episodes relating to Chocobo raising, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XI, and Final Fantasy XII.
 * The comic Adventure Log is about a Mithra named Kiro's journeys in Vana'diel.
 * Three Panel Soul has a couple of comics about the writers' Final Fantasy XI characters.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

 * The Wizzrobe enemy looks suspiciously like a Black Mage.

Tales of Symphonia

 * A man in the slums is looking for a flower seller. This is clearly a reference to Aeris from Final Fantasy VII.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * Three of the random names that are chosen are Vivi, Lulu, and Odin.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

 * During the last case, after being compared to a spoon stirring a cup of coffee, the judge exclaims, "I'm a spoon!? I'm no spoony bard, I'll have you know!" This is a reference to the famous quote by Tellah in Final Fantasy IV.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3

 * Ninja, White Mage, Black Mage, Moogle, and Cactuar are unlockable playable characters. This is the first time Mario is playable with Final Fantasy characters. Also, there's a Bomb going around at Bowser Castle Court, and a Chocobo as basket in the Airship Court.

Secret of Evermore
Secret of Evermore is a game released by Squaresoft in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System featuring a young boy and a dog as its main characters. The game features several cameos by Final Fantasy characters, namely:
 * Cecil from Final Fantasy IV as a secret NPC,
 * Terra, Locke, Strago, Mog and Umaro, all famous from Final Fantasy VI, standing in the crowd at the coliseum,
 * An item called the "Chocobo's Egg".

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was a game developed by Squaresoft, featuring light cameos of the Final Fantasy series.


 * The playable characters have vague likenesses to Final Fantasy Job classes; for example, Princess Peach has the ability to heal and has weak attack power, similar to a White Mage.
 * Mallow is similar to a Black Mage, he is weak physically, but has very powerful magic attacks which allow him to control the weather. Even his blue-white striped pants reminds of Black Mage trousers (like Vivi's, or the Black Mage Artifact Amour from Final Fantasy XI).
 * Geno could be classified as a Time Mage, however, in name only. Due to his equal proficiency with spells and weapons, he could also be considered a Red Mage.
 * Some would say that Bowser is a rough example of a Monk, as he uses Claws for weapons.
 * Smithy has four Elemental Fiends, similar to Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy IV, and Final Fantasy IX. Mack is fire-Elemental, Bowyer is lightning-Elemental, Yardovich is ice/water-Elemental, and the Axem Rangers are "Jump"-Elemental.  The theme that plays in the Mushroom Kingdom is very similar to the castle theme in Final Fantasy V.
 * The concept of the final boss having an ultimate/stronger form is present.
 * Bahamut makes an appearance as a boss in Bowser's Keep as "Bahamutt".
 * Various Final Fantasy VI enemies also appear, including the CzarDragon, which was dummied out of the game, and Zombone, both as bosses. The Myconid enemy appears later in Final Fantasy IX.
 * A Final Fantasy tradition that ended with Final Fantasy VI (but returned in Burmecia in Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy XII) of having some monsters disguised as treasure chests continues in this game.
 * Similar to undead opponents being defeated by using Phoenix Downs and the Revivify, the "Pure Water" defeats the undead in this game, which consist of classic Mario enemies such as Dry Bones and Boo.
 * The concept of "Timed Hits" allows a player to hit the Attack button during the attack animation to cause a critical hit. This concept was repeated for the gunblade weapon in Final Fantasy VIII
 * The Elixir and Megalixir appear as items in this game.

The most obvious Final Fantasy reference is a secret boss named Culex. His claim to be a Dark Knight in the past implies that he was from the Final Fantasy IV universe. Like earlier Final Fantasy characters, he has a much larger battle sprite than an overworld sprite. In addition, the battle music played during the Culex battle is the Final Fantasy IV boss battle music. Culex is protected by the four elemental crystals from Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V. When Culex is defeated, the traditional "Victory Fanfare" is played. The Prelude also plays after the Culex battle. As well, Culex has many attributes of a super-boss: he has the second highest HP, with only Smithy having more, he and the crystals possess the strongest spells in the game, he is hidden and beating him is not required to beat the game, and beating him wins nothing more than a medallion to show the player's proof of their victory, similar to the Proof of Omega for beating Omega Weapon. Culex's parting words are that "in another life, another game, he and the player may have been mortal enemies".

Books

 * In Ken Akamatsu's acclaimed manga, Love Hina, Squall and Rinoa make a guest appearance in Volume 3, page 37, frame 6. The pair are seen walking out of a gaming plaza as Keitaro, the protagonist of the series, and Naru, the love interest, careen into a stack of plush mascot toys possibly meant for delivery to said gaming plaza. They proceed to regard the two and the devestation with bewildering astonishment.[[Image:Mutsumi.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Mutsumi Otohime, an Aeris lookalike]]
 * In the same manga, one major recurring character, Mutsumi Otohime, physically resembles Aeris, and has even worn a similar dress during one chapter.
 * Finally, in Chapter 113, when Keitaro defeats his admirer, the kendo girl Motoko, using the same technique she often deals to him, he compares it to the Lancet ability of Final Fantasy X's Kimahri Ronso, which absorbs a small amount of HP and MP and sometimes, the ability of a monster.

Real world

 * The 2004 Summer Olympics' women's synchronized swimming event had one team swimming to Liberi Fatali.
 * Professional wrestler Chris Sabin got his namesake from the Final Fantasy VI character Sabin.
 * The Goalie for the Atlanta Thrashers, Kari Lehtonen, has worn a helmet featuring Yuna and Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2.
 * Unfortunately, in 2000 in Spain, a 16-year-old boy killed his parents and his sister with a katana, proclaiming to be Squall Leonhart