Final Fantasy in popular culture

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

Other Square-Enix projects

 * In the manga version of the anime "Hare+Guu", there is a running appearance of a young Aerith. She has her exact hairstyle and the exact outfit from the original game. When Hare goes to the city, there is a little girl in his class who looks exactly like a younger version of Aerith. The first time she was shown, she was in a completely different outfit but you knew it was her by the hair. But in every appearance after the first, she is wearing her traditional long dress and bolero jacket.
 * Ryukishi07, creator of the visual novel and manga , is a self-proclaimed fan of Final Fantasy V. His pen name originated from Lenna — "07" in Japanese can be pronounced as "reinana", and "Ryukishi" means "dragoon". It's also loosely the basis for the Higurashi character, Rena Ryugu.
 * In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game published by Square Enix, posters for "Final Fantasy XXVII" can be found on various walls throughout the game.
 * In , on Elicoor II, Fayt meets a flower girl named Ameena who is dressed quite suspiciously like Aerith Gainsborough (as well as she bears a striking resemblance to his friend Sophia).
 * An artwork of Cloud and Aerith by Yoshitaka Amano titled "Tranquility"m is shown on a wall in one scene of Parasite Eve. That picture, which can be seen below, was created by Amano to be used as a cover for the original Final Fantasy VII soundtrack. Also, a large banner picturing a Chocobo hangs over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History. Inside the museum, a Chocobo skeleton can also be found inside an exhibit about primitive species.
 * In Parasite Eve II, there is a laboratory where Aya Brea tries to use a computer infected with a virus called "Fatekeeper". The anti-virus, "Cloud", is found inside the September issue of a magazine called "Aeris".
 * In an Easter Egg in Xenogears, the player can spot a poster of Tifa on the wall in Solaris. Her stance is the same as her artwork.
 * In , a Square Enix developed game, 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.
 * In The World Ends with You, several pins and their psychs are named for Final Fantasy summons and their signature moves: Tin Pin Golem, Tin Pin Shiva, Tin Pin Ifrit (and Tin Pin Hellfire), and Tin Pin Bahamut. There is also an item, "Black Cat Atlas, Vol. 10", which references Matoya and the fact that her spells are simply written backwards. Finally, one of the antagonists in the game has an attack called "Level i Flare", alluding to the range of level-targeting spells in the Final Fantasy series; its base number is the imaginary unit i = √-1.

Virtual World
Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as a random Final Fantasy Character: including the school uniforms of the Rubrum Peristylium Suzaku students from Final Fantasy Type-0 and Raffaello from Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.
 * The avatar of Cloud in his Advent Children attire was released to celebrate the Japanese release of Advent Children Complete.

Kingdom Hearts

 * As a crossover series, the first  game and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories had Final Fantasy cameos through Squall, with his name changed to Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Cloud. While not appearing in the manga adaption of the former, Sephiroth serves as an optional boss in both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.
 * In Kingdom Hearts II, Seifer, Fujin (with her name shortened to Fuu), Raijin (with his name shortened to Rai), Vivi, Auron, Tifa Lockhart, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine are added to the cameo cast. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the only Final Fantasy character involved is Zack Fair.

Legend of Mana

 * In Legend of Mana it's possible to fight Black Chocobos and have a Yellow Chocobo as a pet. If the game detects a save of Final Fantasy VIII in the Memory Card, the the player receives the Chocobo as the starting pet instead of the standard Rabite.
 * In Shiro Amano's manga adaptation, Quistis Trepe gets a recurring cameo as the main character's idol and fanboy obsession, but in the original translation her name was mistranslated into "Kistis Tulip". The main character of the manga, Toto, collects everything involving her including fake autographed photos and life-sized dolls. He even attempted to defeat three evil dragons with the request of meeting Quistis in person as payment.

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 and media:
 * Cecil from Final Fantasy IV appears as a NPC who runs Ebon Keep's inn and armor shop.
 * Terra, Locke, Mog, Strago, Relm, and Umaro from Final Fantasy VI are among the crowd at the coliseum of Antiqua.
 * A rare item called the "Chocobo's Egg" which can increase the protagonist's maximum HP level.

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:
 * Bahamut makes an appearance as a boss in Bowser's Keep as "Bahamutt."
 * The most obvious Final Fantasy reference is Culex, a secret boss found in Monstro Town. Culex seems to be particularly inspired by the Final Fantasy IV universe; he claims to be a Dark Knight, and fights alongside four elemental Crystals. During the battle with Culex, the theme "Battle 2" from Final Fantasy IV plays; the traditional Victory Fanfare plays after his defeat, and the Prelude plays as he departs from the world.

Movies

 * In the film , two boys are seen playing Final Fantasy VIII, pretending it was a two-player game.
 * In the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Scott says he learned the bass line from Final Fantasy II. Scott then plays the bass line of "Battle Theme 1" from Final Fantasy IV, which was once released as Final Fantasy II outside of Japan. Nobuo Uematsu is also credited at the end of the film.
 * In the 2012 Disney animated film , there is a graffiti that says "Aerith Lives" in Game Central Station (referencing Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII).

Television, Anime and Cartoons

 * The TV series ' did a parody of Final Fantasy VII. The first, called Final Fantasy Burger Chain, featured Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie as workers of a fast food restaurant chain owned by Sephiroth. A conflict Cloud has over forced overtime without, results in the establishment destroyed by a summoned Meteor. Like in the game, the characters' dialogue is shown in a blue box at the top of the screen and a parodied version of "One-Winged Angel" used. It's worth noting that Tifa's English voice actress,, is one of ''Robot Chickens regular cast members.
 * Robot Chicken made two more jokes using Final Fantasy VII: one in a skit of the episode We Are a Humble Factory, in a Ranma 1/2 parody where the Nerd fantasized himself with Tifa's body, and the other in the episode Fool's Goldfinger, in which Cloud's crossdressing and spa scenes are used as lyrics in a musical.
 * Lightning's Blazefire gunblade can be seen on a weapons rack amongst other weapons and guns in a live action video commercial for PlayStation, titled "Michael" - PS3 Long Live Play. Lightning herself can be seen listening to a story told by Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series.
 * In an episode of the TV comedy, ', 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 "Greatest Hits" Final Fantasy X box was shown as the "new" Final Fantasy, and at the end of the show, the Final Fantasy II battle music is played, not ''Final Fantasy Xs.
 * One episode of the third season of is loosely based on the original Final Fantasy. Matoya, the Prince of Elfheim, and Astos are featured.
 * In an episode of , several video games are parodied, including Final Fantasy VII. Coconut Fred is depicted as Cloud and must stop Butchy, who is depicted as Sephiroth.
 * In an episode of, comedian Jackie Kashian referenced the Creator from The Final Fantasy Legend, describing the game's final battle as "the worst premise ever of any video game", though stated that regardless she continued trying for eight months to defeat the boss.
 * In the anime series the show's main character discovers, and becomes obsessed with, an MMORPG that seems to be a parody of Final Fantasy XI. A further parody arrives in the form of a Mithra-like player whom the character falls head over heels for.
 * In the first episode of series one of the BBC Three comedy, , Matt's first line is, "Alright mate. Brilliant night last night. Level 14 of Final Fantasy XII, I'm a god" (based on the context of the line, it is possible the writer has mistakenly used the word "level" to refer to a stage such as a stage from old Mario or similar games rather than the level of a character gained via experience points that you would normally find in Final Fantasy games. This would explain the show's character Matt acting so pleased with himself).
 * In an episode of the CBS sitcom , Sheldon and Leonard are robbed. When Sheldon is listing out the stolen items to the police officer, he mentions that Final Fantasy I through IX were all missing, along with other video games and consoles.
 * The anime series Hayate no Gotoku! makes countless references to a lot of games and Anime, among them are the Final Fantasy games. Examples include how Hayate "disguises" himself as Locke, and Nagi commenting how her school seems about as big as Vana'diel.
 * The cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender features creatures called "Ostrich-Horses", which are used in similar manner to chocobos as well as similar appearance.
 * In several episodes of , Cloud can be seen walking across a street in Japan during Jerry's fantasy of life in Japan.
 * In the TV show Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island, Coconut Fred parodies Cloud through the episode "Sir Nutalot". He appears with Cloud's spiky blond hair, SOLDIER attire, and Buster Sword but goes under the name of Sir Nutalot.
 * In , an eyecatch parodies the classic Final Fantasy sideview battle. An episode also makes a minor mention about how the dresspheres in Final Fantasy X-2 are gaudy, overkilled decorations.
 * In the anime , chocobos are used by the Galette Lion Army as mounts. Their Biscotti Republic counterpart is the Cellkull, which also appears similar to chocobos.
 * Sephiroth has a small cameo in the popular fan parody "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series". When the other characters show off their favorite cards, Bakura (who is secretly a villain) holds up a card showing Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, before exclaiming "oops, wrong one", and holding up "Change of Heart", which depicts an angel.
 * In the episode "" of the television series , Chuck proposes that he and Sarah play Final Fantasy II on the SNES to help pass the time while they are without any missions to complete. Chuck also mentions that he and Morgan "devoured" the game one summer during their childhood.
 * In an episode of the animated sketch comedy series , The Straight A-Team / Gaming's Next Top Princess, Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII appeared as a contestant, but was the second one voted off.
 * In another MAD episode called ArTHOR / The Big Fang Theory, Final Fantasy appeared as "Finals Fantasy" with Cloud Strife, in his black wing costume from Kingdom Hearts, fighting homework.
 * In another MAD episode called WWE Bought a Zoo / 2 Broke Powerpuff Girls, Cloud advertises bran cereal.
 * In one episode from the web anime, Thanalan from Final Fantasy XIV can be seen in the background when Mahiro is talking about RPGs, complete with nannygoats and dodos.
 * Sephiroth made an appearance in the LeetStreet Boys music video for "Yuri the Only One" dancing to the repeated lyrics of "Sephy's Mom has got it going on", a parody of the song "Stacy's Mom".
 * In 2003, a Thai trio boy band "D2B" released a music video called "Jealousy", featuring one of the singers dressed as Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII. The MV also has other Final Fantasy elements such as airships and the famous Macalania pond romance scene from Final Fantasy X. The MV received a lot of hate from Final Fantasy fans in Southeast Asia. However, 4 months later, Apichet Kittikorncharoen who dressed as Squall was killed in a car accident in which he fell into a canal in Bangkok.
 * In the Genshiken manga, several characters cosplay as Final Fantasy characters on different occasions, including Yuffie, Tifa, Beatrix and Steiner.

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.
 * Cloud makes a brief cameo in two strips of the webcomic as a potential Light Warrior. He is represented by a Fighter sprite, modified to fit his color scheme and to include his distinctive hair. His attempts to prove his skills to Fighter include using an overly-long and flashy summon sequence to summon a Chocobo, and showing off the Buster Sword, which is too heavy for him to hold and falls on top of him. After the latter, Fighter rejects him as a Light Warrior.
 * 8-Bit Theater also includes a sport called Drownball, a parody of Blitzball in which the goal of the game is to be the first to drown. The preceding strip refers to winning a race in 0:00 seconds and playing 50 rounds of Drownball to obtain an ultimate weapon, parodying the means that two of the Celestial Weapon sigils are obtained in Final Fantasy X.
 * 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. There is also an episode where it is claimed that Chocobo meat, along with Moogle pom-poms are sold by an establishment called "Kentucky Firaga Chocobo", a pun on, an American fast food fried chicken franchise.
 * The name of one of the characters in the online comic VG Cats, Aeris, is a direct and intended reference to Aerith, based on her name in the English language version of Final Fantasy VII.
 * 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 flash comic Weebl and Bob on December 10th, 2002, released an episode that was a satire of Final Fantasy VII. It featured Cloud, Aerith, a Chocobo, and a random encounter.
 * The Webcomic Gameworld and its upcoming side series Gameworld Gaiden Re-Direct contain characters from many of the Final Fantasy games as main and secondary characters alongside several original characters called Outsiders. It also has references to other Square-Enix Properties.
 * YouTube user lasagnacat is known for his video parodies of Jim Davis' Garfield comic strip. One of the parodies is set on a Final Fantasy VI medley, complete with the battle scene and theme.
 * The webcomic Penny Arcade had one of the main characters dressing his hair in a similar manner that Cloud has his hair. This is clear evidenced by the other main character saying "Nice hair, Cloud".
 * The webcomic RPG World is a parody of JRPG games, mostly Final Fantasy VII. It focuses around what main characters think about most of the game mechanics. The comic ended in June 2007.
 * Greyscale copies of several notable Final Fantasy weapons appear in Homestuck, including the Buster Sword (referred to by name here), as well as the Revolver, Fusion Swords, Lion Heart (all here) and the Caladbolg (used to create the "Sord.....", which resembles a (deliberately poor quality) jpeg drawing of the Caladbolg).

Other Video Games

 * In Terraria there is a sword that looks very similar to the Buster Sword called the Breaker Blade.
 * GTA IV has a fictional anime show, Princess Robot Bubblegum, that parodies Final Fantasy among other things. "Sword Boy"'s androgynous appearance, large sword, and moody demeanor parodies Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife.
 * In Mortal Kombat Armageddon, the kharacter kreation system features two hairstyles resembling Cloud Strife (Anime 1) & Sephiiroth (Fantasy).
 * In the fan-translation of Mother 3, a pig sings a "musical fanfare". The text box implies that this is the Victory Fanfare. It is unknown whether this was in the original Japanese version.
 * In 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.
 * In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, there is a flower vendor in the city of Dalaran named Aerith Primrose.
 * In The Sims series of life-simulation games, it is possible to recreate Final Fantasy characters, amongst many other characters from video games, cartoons, comics, and movies; a list of Final Fantasy-related content can be found on this page at the Sims Wiki.
 * In Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 a TV commentator uses the phrase "I bet he'd slit his mama's throat for a five-yen piece!" to describe the character Tanaka. This is reference to the famous quote Edgar uses to describe Shadow in the SNES version of Final Fantasy VI.
 * In the Nintendo DS game , three of the words that can be inputted by the player are Black Mage, White Mage, and Red Mage.
 * In Tekken 6, a fighting game developed by Namco, it is possible for the player to customize their character's hair to look like Cloud's, as well as to choose a combination of hairstyles that resemble Sephiroth's hair.
 * In Soul Calibur IV, another Namco-developed fighting game, it is also possible to use Cloud's hairstyle; players who recreate Cloud in the game tend to base his fighting style on that of Siegfried Schtauffen, as both characters wield massive swords. In addition, when Sephiroth is recreated in the game, he is based on Mitsurugi, although his sword is not as long as Sephiroth's.
 * In  a blue Chocobo-like creature drives the wagons of the traveling circus, Caravan. The red dragon Ruby mentions it was a Chocobo, but quickly changed it into "Chuckoboo".
 * In  a Chocobo is obtainable as a combatant.
 *  features a "Chocobone" unit. The official unit profile on the Chocobone states that "Riding the bones of ostrich-like large birds once used as mounts by a lost civilization, the skeleton Chocobones can move faster than most cavalry units".
 * In Mortal Kombat Armageddon, both Cloud's and Sephiroth's hairstyles can be purchased as head parts for the game's Kreate-A-Fighter feature, a character creation feature similar to the ones in Soul Calibur III and IV, under the names "Anime 1" and "Fantasy," respectively. They are among many other video game character designs inspired by other video game characters, including one named after Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
 * The Chocobo is parodied in the browser-based game  as a familiar which can charge monsters to deal damage, heal characters by nuzzling them, run around monsters to confuse them, and dig in the ground to give the characters extra meat (in-game currency). The familiar (called a Cocoabo) is shaped like a Chocobo but is apparently made of cocoa or chocolate, hatched from a Cocoa Egg item. Now and then, the Cocoabo also is affected by a "Limit Break" which can double its damage, healing, or game point abilities. A stuffed version of the familiar (Stuffed Cocoabo) is also available and reportedly squeaks "Kweh!" when squeezed.
 * "Kingdom of Loathing" also contains a zone called the "Penultimate Fantasy Airship", containing enemies like a spiky-haired protagonist wielding a ridiculously huge (3-handed) sword (the items he may drop include super-spiky hair gel), a Burly Sidekick with a machine gun for an arm, a Quiet Healer, a "MagiTech MechaMech" and an "irritating series of random encounters". Additionally, an otherwise unrelated zone contains an enemy known as a cactuary.
 * In the hit online game AdventureQuest, there is a bird that the Moglin Dewlok rides on, which resembles a red Chocobo.
 * In , a character named Skelter Helter is based on Cloud Strife - his appearance and hair style is similar to Cloud and his Beam Katana is named the Buster Katana and looks very similar to Cloud's Buster Sword. He also feels guilt over the death of his brother Helter Skelter much like Cloud has over the deaths of Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough. Additionally, his multi-tiered sword may be a reference to Kadaj. The beam katana weapon Peony, also bares some features to the Ultima Weapon of Final Fantasy VI, which grows upon Travis' stats, although through the filling of the Ecstasy Gauge, and of Sephiroth's Masamune, its maximum length extremely long.
 * The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind contains a dungeon with a chamber labeled "Kefka Burial", a clear reference to the antagonist of Final Fantasy VI.
 *  contains a boss character by the name of Altos Tratus who is a direct parody of Cloud and Sephiroth. The character wields a large sword similar to Cloud's while having an appearance vaguely similar to Sephiroth's (including a single wing on his left shoulder). The main character states that Altos is from the Penultimate Illusion series (an obvious reference to the Final Fantasy series' name being a synonym of "Ultimate Illusion"). Altos battles the player by selecting attacks through his own turn-based menu while the player fights back and dodges in real time.
 * The Touhou series has a character named Utsuho Reiuji who has attacks called Mega Flare and Giga Flare.
 * In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, one of the stat-boosting accessories is a game called Never-ending Fantasy. The name is most likely a joke on how the series has many sequels and countless spin-offs, despite being called Final Fantasy.
 * In Tales of Symphonia, one of the NPCs in the slums of Meltokio will say that he heard about a cute flower-seller who used to live there.
 * In LittleBigPlanet 2, there are five downloadable costumes of Final Fantasy VII characters Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Vincent, and Sephiroth that were released on July 13th, 2011.
 * In Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel, the boss Ayatane uses an attack called "Mega Flare", and the sequence in which he casts it is remarkably similar to Bahamut's summoning sequence.
 * The box art of the PlayStation 2 launch title  features the line "Who said fantasies had to be final?", referencing the title of the Final Fantasy series.
 * The incarnation of the technique, Tenha Kassatsu, from the game Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, bears resemblance to Ashe's Quickening, Northswain's Glow. Notably, the attack's Japanese name, Hokuto Kossaizan (lit. North Star Bone Crushing Slash), bears a similar naming convention with the attacks of the protagonist's Hokuto Shinken style; eg. Hokuto Juuhazan (lit. North Star Softness Piercing Slash).

While not a Square Enix game, this game contains many references to RPGs in general and quite a few to various Final Fantasy games:
 * A character will give the player a Ribbon, saying that it "protects against diseases." This item is useless.
 * The inventor in Raejack is named "Dic" - Cid backwards. At the end of the game, he explains he's working on a flying ship.
 * The town of Colneria is a reference to Cornelia, a town in the original Final Fantasy.
 * After finishing the first dungeon and crossing the bridge below it, a scene plays that is reminiscent of the scene that plays after crossing the bridge in Final Fantasy.
 * A scene in Ortega has a mage named Newmin sacrifice himself to allow you to receive the "Ultima Book" (which is useless) - a reference to Minwu.
 * Another scene in Ortega involves a man called Jose about to be crushed by a rock, a reference to Josef.
 * A sign can be found that reads "D3sidlroweht" - a reference to a puzzle which involved writing "The World is Square" backwards.

Books, Comics/Manga and Magazines

 * In Great Teacher Onizuka, Onizuka borrows Final Fantasy VII, along with several other RPG-games from Noboru in Chapter 14.
 * In the manga "Midori no Hibi" ("Days of Midori"), Chapter 57, Page 5, panel three shows two incredibly ugly "women" dressed in very good Yuna and Rikku costumes.
 * In the manga  Kaori Yuki writes in her notes about her reaction to Final Fantasy VIII and her opinion on the graphics and Squall and Rinoa's relationship.
 * In the manga  Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Cait Sith and Red XIII appear in the background of Volume 3, Chapter 1.
 * In the manga Fruits Basket, author often writes about her video game fandom, especially of the Final Fantasy series, in side columns and author's notes, such as her reaction to Aerith's ultimate fate in Final Fantasy VII. During 2000, she often wrote about her anticipation of Final Fantasy IX being released that year.
 * The manga also features some Tifa and Yuffie cosplay. This time done by two of the mangas main characters.
 * The comic book series Scott Pilgrim references multiple video games, one of which being the Final Fantasy series. One specific occasion is when the hero, Scott, is depressed and lying on the floor of his apartment and his roommate Wallace says "Did you find out about how I accidentally saved over your game in Final Fantasy? No, last time that happened you were totally crying..." There is also a plot later in the series where Scott does not truly remember his own past and must come to terms with who he really is, reminiscent of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII.
 * In the Scott Pilgrim series, during a party a robot appears with the phrase "Robot-01 has joined the party!" A phrase commonly used when a new player character joins the group.
 * When gaining the power of understanding Scott Pilgrim's sword has an uncanny resemblance to Cloud Strife's Buster Sword.
 * In the first issue of the manga Excel Saga, at the end are two yonkoma (4 cell manga) titled 'Scenes from the Personal Life of Rikdo Koshi'. In the second yonkoma, the author talks about Tomb Raider first, and closes with the line "Goddamnit... This is keeping me from playing FF".
 * In the Brazilian Comics "Turma da Mônica Jovem" (Monica's Teen Gang) there is a MMORPG character by the name of "Céufiroti o anjo de uma asa só" (Ceufiroti the One-winged Angel), who is a parody of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.
 * In the second page of chapter 31 of Black Cat, Cactuars appear in the background when the main character Train is talking to Rinslet. The manga's artist, Kentarou Yabuki, also made his personal rendition of Rydia, Granet, Yuna that he posted on Pixiv.net.
 * The main character of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora is named after Locke Cole.
 * On the Japanese artwork website Pixiv.net, popular manga artists posted their renditions of following Final Fantasy characters:
 * The Warrior of Light and Garland by Hara Tetsuo, author of Fist Of The North Star.
 * Firion by Konomi Takeshi, author of Prince of Tennis.
 * The Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness by Eiichiro Oda, author of One Piece.
 * Cecil Harvey by Obato Takeshi, author of Death Note.
 * Bartz and Boco by Murata Yuusuke, author of Eyeshield 71.
 * Terra Branford and Kefka by Hirohiko Araki, author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
 * Cloud Strife by Masashi Kishimoto, author of Naruto.
 * Squall Leonhart by Tite Kubo, author of Bleach.
 * Zidane Tribal and Kuja by Akira Amano, author of Hitman Reborn.
 * Tidus by Takehiko Inoue, author of Slam Dunk.
 * Shantotto by Akira Toriyama, author of Dragonball and designer of the Dragon Quest series.
 * Vaan by Sorachi Hideaki, author of Gintama.

Ken Akamatsu

 * In Ken Akamatsu's acclaimed manga, , Squall and Rinoa make a guest appearance in Volume 3, page 33, 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 devastation with bewildering astonishment.
 * In the same manga, one major recurring character, Mutsumi Otohime, arguably resembles Final Fantasy VII character Aerith Gainsborough, and has even worn a similar dress during one chapter.
 * Finally, in Chapter 113 of Love Hina, when Keitaro defeats the kendo girl Motoko Aoyama, 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.
 * In Chapter 32 Page 2, Sarah is seen balancing a lot of artifacts on Keitaro's head, one of these being a Cactuar made out of clay. In Chapter 39, page 6, Kaolla also ties a Cactuar out of a Cherry stalk.
 * During the Molmol arc, Naru Narusegawa wears an outfit that is very similar to Rinoa Heartilly. Earlier in the same arc Kaolla Su also wears an outfit that bears strong resemblances to Rikku's outfit from Final Fantasy X.
 * There are some parallels that indicate that Shinmeiryu (God's Cry School) techniques are similar to Sephiroth's. Practitioners even wield a nodachi as their common weapon; a 1.5 to 2 meter long sword that Sephiroth's Masamune was based upon.
 * Another of Akamatsu's works;, shows Yue drinking a beverage called Last Elixir which has been noted as being a reference to Final Fantasy. Also in Negima, issue six, chapter 91, fifth page panel three, when Negi and Kotaro visit Chisame at a cosplay event, there are two cosplayers dressed like Tifa and Yuffie.
 * Also in Negima! Magister Negi Magi, the character Jack Rakan is very similar both in backstory, weapon choice and appearance to Jecht from Final Fantasy X.
 * Ken Akamatasu has also drawn various sketches of Final Fantasy characters; including a Mithra, a Tarutaru and the Final Fantasy VII cast.

Real world

 * Founder of thatgamecompany and game designer Xinghan Chen, famous for Flow and Flower, uses the name Jenova Chen in his work.
 * The 2004 Summer Olympics' women's synchronized swimming event had one team swimming to Liberi Fatali.
 * Professional wrestler got his namesake from the Final Fantasy VI character Sabin.
 * Goaltender, during his tenure with the NHL team Atlanta Thrashers, has worn a mask featuring Yuna and Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2. He admits he's never played a Final Fantasy game and just thought the characters "looked cool" when he saw them in a commercial.
 * In 2000, Coca-Cola in Japan released a limited edition glass bottle with the images of Squall Leonhart and Cloud Strife each drinking the product.
 * 6-piece American Post-hardcore band 's CD has multiple references to the Final Fantasy series:
 * The song "I'm Not a Thief, I'm a Treasure Hunter" is a quote from Locke Cole of Final Fantasy VI.
 * The song "Knights of the Round" is a summon in Final Fantasy VII.
 * The song "Balance" quotes the story Final Fantasy X in the chorus.
 * The song "All It Takes for Your Dreams to Come True" is a quote from the President Shinra in Final Fantasy VII.
 * The song "This Isn't the End" is a quote from Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII.
 * The song "In the Beginning There Was Void" and "Pursuit Lets Wisdom Ride The Wind" are quotes from Final Fantasy V.


 * American metalcore band has a song called "Avalanche" on their CD . The lyrics, as well as the title, are both based on Final Fantasy VII.
 * The Japanese metal band CROW'SCLAW have produced 2 albums of Final Fantasy remixes. These are their self-titled album and the album "Battlefield 1987".
 * In July 2009, TheSpeedGamers, an American charity group, conducted a Final Fantasy marathon in Dallas, Texas to raise money for children with severe Autism. They raised more than $50,000 USD.
 * Also in July 2009, Japanese rock/pop musician Gackt played the Victory Fanfare in his commercially very successful concert tour "Réquiem et Reminiscence II" during live performances of the song Koakuma Heaven.
 * Gackt has also had a long-standing relationship with the Final Fantasy franchise, most especially the Final Fantasy VII compilation; in the music video for his song Vanilla, his hair style is notably similar to that of Cloud Strife in Advent Children; he was the visual basis for, and Japanese voice actor of, the character Genesis in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, and as such, has appeared in many promotional materials and events for the game and series; and he performed two songs for Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. He has also allegedly collaborated with Tetsuya Nomura to create lines of high fashion, both inside and outside of the Final Fantasy series. Gackt's visual style, especially in outfits designed for specific songs, has often been seen as inspired by Final Fantasy characters, both loosely and directly.
 * The duo Duane and Brando created a rap song chronicling the events of the original Final Fantasy. You can view it here.
 * A user on YouTube known as brentalfloss has added lyrics to many video game themes, two of which include the Victory Fanfare and the Opening Theme.
 * Hyadain, a Japanese user on NicoNico Douga and YouTube, has made his own remixes to many video game themes, including those of Final Fantasy like the Four Archfiends Theme, Ultros Boogie, Rap de Chocobo and many others.
 * A number of pieces from Final Fantasy have been used in "Nico Nico Medleys" that originated on Nico Nico Douga. The opening theme and Kefka's Theme are the most popular.
 * Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics appeared in Smithsonian Art of Video Games exhibit held between March 18 and September 30 2012.
 * American band has a song called "The Untouchables" which features lines from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children: "Embrace your dreams-Protect your honor" and "Have faith in me, your Final Fantasy". One of the two singers also has tattoos of all the Final Fantasy VII characters on his left arm.
 * English Vloggers danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil often use Victory Fanfare and various other Final Fantasy VII pieces in their videos.