Final Fantasy XI allusions

This is a list of allusions Final Fantasy XI, its servers, and all of its expansions make to previous Final Fantasy titles.

Final Fantasy Series

 * All of the roughly 36 known servers for Final Fantasy XI (including active, retired, and test servers) bear the name of notable or recurring Summons from the series at large.
 * Particularly famous weaponry and armors from across the Final Fantasy metaverse appear in the game, such as the Mythril class equipment, the Blood Weapons, and miscellaneous series staples such as the Masamune.
 * The Norg quest "Mama Mia" involves collecting a rare item from each of the original seven instanced Avatar battles. Each of these items is from a prior Final Fantasy Title:
 * Fighting Garuda yields the Bubbly Water, known as Oxyale in Final Fantasy.
 * Fighting Ifrit yields the Egil's Torch from Final Fantasy II.
 * Fighting Leviathan yields the Eye of Nept, which is Nepto Dragon's eye retrieved in Final Fantasy III.
 * Fighting Titan yields the Desert Light, known as Sand Ruby in Final Fantasy IV.
 * Fighting Ramuh yields the Elder Branch from Final Fantasy V.
 * Fighting Shiva yields the Rust 'B' Gone, known as Rust-Rid in Final Fantasy VI.
 * Fighting Fenrir yields the Ancient's Key, known as Key to Ancients in Final Fantasy VII.
 * The unique Artifact, Relic, and Empyrean class armors of each Job are meant to directly resemble the garb of the original Jobs from the NES era of titles.
 * Lilisette in Wings of the Goddess names your partnership with her "Future Fabulous", which shares the initials FF with the series.

Final Fantasy

 * The 6 starter Jobs available to players in Final Fantasy XI are that of the original Final Fantasy: Warrior, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Red Mage, and Black Mage.
 * There are two characters alluding to the kingdom of Cornelia from the original Final Fantasy:
 * Cornelia, the Mythril Musketeer.
 * Cornelia Karst, the daughter of the President of Bastok.
 * The Skeleton-type enemy Lich alludes to one of the original Four Fiends.

Final Fantasy II

 * Both the Notorious Monster Pandemonium Warden and the server Pandemonium reference the name of the final dungeon in Final Fantasy II.

Final Fantasy III

 * The test server Zande is named for Xande, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy III.
 * The lowest class of armors and weapons available in the game are the Onion Armors, Swords, and Shield. They allude to the Onion Knight Job from Final Fantasy III (Freelancer in later versions), which is the default starter job of the four player characters on the original NES version of the game.
 * The Hecatonchires subfamily of the Gigas beastmen is likely named after the late-game boss.

Final Fantasy IV

 * The Shikaree Sisters from the Chains of Promathia storyline are direct allusions to the Magus Sisters of Final Fantasy IV, each using the original characters' respective weaponry, executing combination attacks in the form of unique Skillchains.
 * In Wings of the Goddess, Lady Lilith's name alludes to the enemy Lilith from Final Fantasy IV.

Final Fantasy V

 * The server Gilgamesh is named for the villain of the same name.
 * The server Remora refers to a summon exclusive to Final Fantasy V.

Final Fantasy VI

 * The server Lakshmi is named after the esper exclusive to Final Fantasy VI.
 * The Rank 4 Mission for each starter nation involves the retrieval of Magicite, an item first introduced to the Final Fantasy vernacular in this game, later appearing in Ivalice Alliance titles.

Final Fantasy VII

 * In Wings of the Goddess, Cait Sith is based on the playable character of the same name from Final Fantasy VII.
 * The weapon skill Final Heaven alludes to Tifa's final Limit.
 * The weapon skill Knights of Round alludes to the summon materia Knights of the Round.
 * The Corsair Mythic Weapon Death Penalty shares the same name with Vincent Valentine's ultimate weapon.
 * Two Ninjitsu spells bear the name Hojo, possibly as references to the antagonist of the same name from Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * The Avatar Diabolos is named for the Guardian Force of the same name.
 * The Ahriman special ability and Blue Magic spell Eyes On Me is a reference to the song of the same name, played at various times and in different variations throughout Final Fantasy VIII.
 * The pirate cove Norg shares its name with the Garden Master from Final Fantasy VIII.
 * One form of the Notorious Monster Gorger is the Propagator.

Final Fantasy IX

 * Infamous airship engineer Cid of Bastok is in love with Hilda, owner of the Steaming Sheep restaurant in Port Bastok. This alludes to the strained marriage of Cid Fabool IX and Lady Hilda in Final Fantasy IX which becomes an integral plot device as the story unfolds.
 * In the story of the Shadow Lord's origin, Cornelia sacrifices herself to save Raogrimm from a fatal attack from Ulrich by letting herself be stabbed by his sword. In I Want to Be Your Canary, Princess Cornelia likewise sacrifices herself to save her father from being killed by Marcus.

Final Fantasy X

 * The Empyrean Great Sword Caladbolg shares its name with the English localization of Tidus's Celestial Weapon.
 * The Summoner and Black Mage Mythic Weapon staves, Nirvana and Laevateinn, are two of Yuna's more powerful rods.
 * The server Valefor is named for the aeon from Final Fantasy X.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

 * A sword weapon skill is named Spirits Within.

Allusions to the Number Eleven
Being the eleventh installment of the series, Final Fantasy XI makes some references to the number itself. Although they are likely not necessarily deliberate allusions to the number 11 (whether they are or not is speculative), they are nonetheless present.


 * There were eleven playable jobs in Final Fantasy XI when it was first released.
 * There were eleven Conquest regions available in Final Fantasy XI before Rise of the Zilart was released.
 * The Corsair Job utilizes Phantom Rolls to grant beneficial effects to themselves and fellow players in the same format as the playing card games Blackjack or 21. With each roll, a large card with a value appears above the Corsair, and the goal of the player controlling the Corsair is to get the cumulative value of multiple rolls as close to either a given roll's "Lucky Number" or the number 11.  Rolling a cumulative value over 11 will result in a "Bust", and party members in the area of effect of the Bust will receive no benefit at all. The Corsair will also incur a stat penalty.
 * The Hecatonchires subfamily of the Gigas beastmen has an ability "Mercurial Strike" that deals a random damage number whose digits are all the same, with varying additional effects depending on the repeated digit. The best possible result: 1111.
 * In the Wings of the Goddess expansion, ten Cait Sith entities are born from the Goddess Altana's tears: Cait Siths Aon, Dha, Tri, Ceithir, Coig, Sia, Seachd, Ochd, Naoi, and Deich. Later, they together form the eleventh, composite Cait Sith.

Anime

 * The NM Black Triple Stars is a reference to the Black Tri-Stars in Mobile Suit Gundam. The Black Tri-Stars are known for their Jet Stream Attack, which is also referenced by the fact that triple bats have a move called Jet Stream.
 * The title Vampire Hunter D Minus is a nod to the anime Vampire Hunter D.
 * The quest Dormant Powers Dislodged is a reference to Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The Tarutaru involved in this quest, Atori-Tutori, even says "Are you ready to sign a contractaru with me and become a magical g—er, a mightier, more majestic adventurer?", as a reference to Kyubey. Finishing this quest nets you the key item "Soul Gem".

Literature

 * At the ministry in Windurst Woods, the new Cardians are asked to repeat the phrase, "The rain in La Thiene falls mainly on the plain," which is a reference to the saying, "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain," from My Fair Lady.
 * In the Assault mission Bloody Rondo, players must defeat the NM Count Dracula, which is the title character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula.

Movies

 * The Immortal Molt, an item which drops off the NM Highlander Lizard has a description which says, "The molt of a highlander lizard, shed in a climactic battle with another of its kind. There can be only one!" This is a reference to the movie Highlander.
 * The Assault mission Saving Private Ryaaf is a reference to the movie Saving Private Ryan.
 * The Assault mission Desperately Seeking Cephalopods is a reference to the movie Desperately Seeking Susan.
 * The Windurst nation quest Snakes on the Plains is a reference to the movie Snakes on a Plane.

Music

 * During the 9th Annual Adventurer Appreciation Campaign, the moogle at the Tanners Guild will sing "I like smooth hides and I cannot lie~♪ You other moogles can't deny~♪", which is a reference to the song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
 * During the Wings of the Goddess Bastok storyline quest "Quelling the Storm", the goblin Blatherix will recite the magic words "Ooh Gobbie I love your way, every day~♪ I wanna be like you night and day~♪" as part of the process of making Goblin Dust (which temporarily changes the user into a goblin). This is a reference to the song Baby, I love Your Way by Peter Frampton (later covered by Big Mountain).
 * One of the possible Adventuring Fellows the player can have sings, "Heal the worrrld.♪ Make it a better place.♪ For you and for me, and the entire Mithran rrrace.♪" This is a reference to Michael Jackson's song, Heal the World.

Sports

 * One of the possible Adventuring Fellows the player can have sings, "She floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.♪ The grrreatest Mithra in the world--that's me!♪" This is a reference to heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who also called himself, "The Greatest".

Television

 * In the BCNM Charming Trio, the names of the 3 NMs are Prune, Pepper, and Phoedme, which are a reference to characters Prue, Piper, and Phoebe in the TV series .
 * The Assault mission The Price is Right is a reference to the TV game show of the same name.
 * Before parting from the player character at the end of the Wings of the Goddess storyline, Cait Sith says that he "had a gay old time." This is a reference to the end of the theme song of , which says, "We'll have a gay old time."

Video Games

 * In the Wings of the Goddess mission A Nation On The Brink, One-eyed Gwajboj says, "You press seal here. Then all your Jeuno are belong to us!", in a cutscene, and also, "You are on way to destruction," when he uses Battle Dance. Both lines are references to the video game Zero Wing and its infamous meme.
 * There are multiple references to items, games, and monsters from the Castlevania series:
 * The Assault mission "Bloody Rondo" is apparently named for Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.
 * Bloody Rondo has players setting out to destroy a powerful vampire: Count Dracula, the recurring end boss from the Castlevania series.
 * During the battle in Bloody Rondo, Count Dracula will create an enemy duplicate of one character at a time, who will fight the party. The name of this duplicate? Cursed Doppelganger, another recurring boss from the Castlevania series... who also takes on the form of the player's character for the fights.
 * Players may synthesize a piece of armor called Blenmot's Ring. The ring's name is a close anagram of Belmont, the name of a clan of heroic vampire killers (and usual player characters) from Castlevania. The ring's effect? It improves the effect of Holy Water... which happens to be a longtime subweapon from the Castlevania series.
 * There is an NPC Professor in Wings of the Goddess named Layton, seemingly named for the Professor Layton series of puzzle games for Nintendo DS and 3DS.