Final Fantasy XIII allusions

The following is list of allusions in Final Fantasy XIII.

Final Fantasy

 * Lightning's sister's name, Serah, could possibly be reference to Princess Sarah.
 * At Nautilus Park, a woman standing next to a Chocobo says "Welcome to Nautilus, the city of Dreams", a reference to the quote "Welcome to Cornelia, the dream city" from the original Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy II

 * The airship Palamecia is named after the Palamecian Empire.

Final Fantasy III

 * Hecatoncheir first appeared as a late-game boss in Final Fantasy III. His name in the NES version is Hekaton, which is what Vanille calls Hecatoncheir.
 * The city Nautilus is named after the airship Nautilus.

Final Fantasy IV

 * The city Palumpolum is named after the twins Palom and Porom.
 * The weapon Kain's Lance is named after Kain Highwind.
 * Oerba Yun Fang may be a reference to Yang Fang Leiden.

Final Fantasy V

 * The Achievements/Trophies Kelger's Cup, Xezat's Chalice, Dorgann's Trophy, and Galuf's Grail are all named after the Warriors of Dawn.
 * Gilgamesh has a shop named after him, "Gilgamesh, Inc".

Final Fantasy VI

 * In Nautilus, a child chasing after other children shouts "Run, run, or you will be well done" when approached, a quote uttered by Kefka Palazzo.

Final Fantasy VII

 * The Proudclad is based off the Proud Clod boss. The spelling and pronunciation of the two words in Japanese are identical.
 * The fal'Cie Kujata is a reference to the summon Kjata in Final Fantasy VII.
 * One of Fang's spears is called Venus Gospel, Cid Highwind's ultimate weapon.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * The fal'Cie Eden and Cocoon's capital name are a reference to the GF Eden from Final Fantasy VIII.
 * Lightning uses a Gunblade like Squall; however, their uses are different. In addition, one of Lightning's weapons is called the Lionheart, in reference to Squall's ultimate weapon.
 * The Gigantuar makes its first appearance as the boss and summon, Jumbo Cactuar.

Final Fantasy IX

 * The Airship Lindblum is named after the Kingdom of Lindblum.
 * The fal'Cie Dahaka is based on the boss Taharka fought in Ipsen's Castle.
 * Garnet and Eiko join their force to summon Alexander to protect Alexandria, this was alluded by Vanille and Fang's uniting to summon Ragnarok to save Pulse.

Final Fantasy X

 * The fal'Cie Anima is named after the Aeon from Final Fantasy X.
 * The summon animation of Bahamut greatly resembles one of its Final Fantasy X counterpart.
 * A mechanical version of Valefor is seen at the Nautilus during the Pompa Sancta as one of the Eidolons from the show.
 * Vanille's final weapon, Nirvana, shares its name with Yuna's Celestial Weapon.
 * The animation sequence for Hope's full ATB skill, Last Resort, greatly resembles the White Magic spell Holy in Final Fantasy X.

Final Fantasy X-2

 * Events at the end of Nautilus are reminiscent of events in the Bevelle Underground from Final Fantasy X-2, where a summon is called before the party and a girl stands before her friends with her arms stretched to protect them. It should also be noted that both girls cry and are the same age during the events.
 * The Chain system is used in Final Fantasy X-2 to raise damage with each delivered hit. This was reproduced in XIII with the addition of the Stagger system.

Final Fantasy XII

 * All of Sazh's weapons are named after stars and constellations, similar in the way that all Guns of Final Fantasy XII are named after stars.
 * The name Undying is also used as the name of the final boss in Final Fantasy XII.
 * The Thexteron may be a reference to the Thextera enemy.

Allusions to the Number Thirteen

 * There are thirteen Chapters comprising the game.
 * The flashback sequences of the game consists of thirteen previous days.
 * There are thirteen Retail Networks.
 * The Datalog has thirteen submenus.
 * There are thirteen Analects.
 * There are thirteen groups in the enemy "Militarized Units" section of the Beastiary.
 * There are thirteen enemies registered under "Fal'Cie".
 * The threshold score for a 5-star battle rating is 13,000 points.
 * Although not stated in-game, l'Cie brands progress through thirteen stages.
 * In Nautilus, before the Pompa Sancta Parade, there are thirteen numbers on the clock.
 * In Nautilus, before Sazh confronts Vanille, there are thirteen platforms surrounding the bridge.
 * In Episode Zero -Promise-, it is revealed that the temple containing Anima was tended to by thirteen priests.
 * Cocoon was created thirteen centuries prior to the events of the game.

Chrono Trigger

 * The Fiendlord's Keep in Nautilus, where Sazh fights Brynhildr, is also the name of the castle of Magus, an early antagonist and later party member in Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Cross

 * Lake Bresha is very similar in appearance with the Dead Sea.

Kingdom Hearts

 * The final dungeon of the game, Orphan's Cradle, is similar in design to The Castle That Never Was in The World That Never Was from Kingdom Hearts II. The Castle That Never Was also serves as the last world in Kingdom Hearts II.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

 * Part of Chapter 4, where Sazh and Vanille go through the scrap processing plant, is called Loathing and Fear. Sure enough, the Gremlin enemies resemble bats.

Folklore

 * Many of Hope's weapons are themed around bird-like creatures from various world mythologies.
 * Hope's final upgraded weapon, Nue, is a reference to the Japanese chimera of the same name with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and the tail in the form of a snake's body.

Sumerian Mythology

 * In the Sunleth Waterscape, the two bosses Enki and Enlil are two gods of ancient Sumerian. Enki (Ea), the god of waters and wisdom and Enlil (Ellil), the god of winds and storms.
 * Edimmu is an evil utukku or specter.
 * Ugallu is a consort of Ninurta.

Roman and Byzantine Empires

 * In its first form, and second form's decorations, the face of Orphan's angelic half references the design of Sol Invictus, the Roman Sun God. Furthermore, the angel's posture and the color scheme of Orphan's first form (and Dysley's attire) reflect the art style and sacred "purple and white" coloring used by the Byzantine Empire.
 * All of the Undying are named after enemies of the Roman Empire.

Literature

 * Two bosses fought in Orphan's Cradle, Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch, are two creatures from Lewis Carroll's famous poem "Jabberwocky".
 * The name of Chapter 13, "The Cradle Will Fall" is a reference to the famous lullaby "Rock-a-bye baby".