Final Fantasy in popular culture

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

Other Square Enix projects

 * In Tobal 2 a chocobo is obtainable as a combatant.
 * In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game published by Square Enix, can be found on various walls.
 * In the manga version of the anime Hare+Guu, there is a running appearance of a young Aerith Gainsborough. She has her exact hairstyle and the outfit from Final Fantasy VII. When Hare goes to the city, there is a little girl in his class who looks like a younger version of Aerith. The first time she is shown, she is in a different outfit, but one can tell it is her by the hair. In every appearance after the first, she is wearing Aerith's traditional long dress and bolero jacket.
 * Ryukishi07, creator of the visual novel and manga Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, 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 Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, on Elicoor II, Fayt meets a flower girl named Ameena who is dressed like Aerith Gainsborough. Like Aerith, Ameena meets a rather unfortunate end.
 * An artwork of Cloud and Aerith by Yoshitaka Amano titled "" is shown on a wall in one scene of Parasite Eve. That picture was created by Amano to be used as a cover for the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack. A large banner picturing a chocobo hangs over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History. Inside, a chocobo skeleton can 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 Lockhart on the wall in Solaris. Her stance is the same as for Final Fantasy VII.
 * In Mario Hoops 3-on-3, a Square Enix developed game, Ninja, White Mage, Black Mage, Moogle, and Cactuar are unlockable playable characters. There's also 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 refers to Matoya and the fact her spells are simply written backwards. Finally, one of the antagonists 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 Akademeia students from Final Fantasy Type-0 and Raffaello from Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.
 * The avatar of Cloud in his Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children attire was released to celebrate the Japanese release of Advent Children Complete.


 * Avatars

Kingdom Hearts

 * As a crossover series, the first ' game and ' had Final Fantasy cameos through Squall (called 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 (shortened to Fuu), Raijin (shortened to Rai), Vivi, Setzer, 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.

Life Is Strange
There is an allusion to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in Life Is Strange, an episodic interactive drama graphic adventure video game developed by Dontnod Entertainment, and published by Square Enix. The protagonist wants to watch the movie, and claims it to be one of the best sci-fi movies made.

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.

Spelunker World
Between March 17th and April 13th 2016, the free-to-play PS4 game Spelunker World held a crossover event with Final Fantasy Type-0. Players were offered the chance to earn special equipment based on the characters Ace and Rem Tokimiya.

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.

3D Dot Game Heroes
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 the player to receive the "Ultima Book" (which is useless)—a reference to Minwu from Final Fantasy II.
 * Another scene in Ortega involves a man called Jose about to be crushed by a rock, a reference to Josef in Final Fantasy II.
 * A sign can be found that reads "D3sidlroweht"—a reference to a puzzle which involved writing "The World is Square" backwards in Final Fantasy VI.

Hyperdimension Neptunia series

 * The basic plot of the Neptunia series is about the four goddesses of four nations where they're receiving power from the crystal of their respective nation.
 * In the original Hyperdimension Neptunia, there is a character named "Zach Unfair", a parody on Zack Fair. He is a game developer who dreams to make a game like "GG7" but he is greedy, only caring for the money and not the passion of the game. Neptune mentions that he has turned into a hopeless, dreamless, passionless shell of a man.
 * Noire's item skills are Potion, Hi Potion, and Elixer, named after recovery items in the Final Fantasy series.
 * In Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart, there is a character named "Ein Al", she is a representative of the Final Fantasy series. Her name derives from "ain" and "aru" from "Fainaru Fantajī". Her design contains elements from Final Fantasy, such as crystals, a creature similar to moogles, and many zippers and belts, a design style associated with Tetsuya Nomura.
 * In Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1, the character Neptune may occasionally hum the "Victory Fanfare" when she levels up.
 * The last part of Purple Heart's victory pose is also the same as Cloud Strife's in Final Fantasy VII.
 * The twin sisters Rom and Ram have white mage and black mage outfits as alternate costumes.
 * The Warrior of Light appears as a minor NPC in Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1. His design is similar to the Warrior of Light from Yoshitaka Amano's artwork for the original Final Fantasy.
 * There is a sidequest in Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 involving the party of protagonists to hunt down an enemy called "Orthros". The client said that he searched on the internet for Orthros and got "a purple octopus thing", a reference to Ultros in Final Fantasy VI. However, the enemy is actually a giant wolf.
 * Another quest called "They're on the move!" with a client named "One-winged Angel".
 * There is a monster called "Kupokat", named and designed based on the Moogles.
 * There are monsters called "Choocoboo", "Bahamut", and "Shiva".
 * In Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II, a character named "S-Sha" is a parody of Square Enix. She is a grey-haired woman that often responds with "not interested" (Cloud Strife's famous quote). She has a history as a failed movie maker (a mock to Hironobu Sakaguchi's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), and has had a close encounter with death (popular cliché of the Final Fantasy series).
 * S-Sha uses various skills from the Final Fantasy series, including Omnislash (called "Omnislice Ver. S" in the game).
 * During her Omnislice attack, she also imitates Tidus's Blitz Ace pose.
 * After all the slashing combinations, she summons a meteor down onto the target(s).
 * S-Sha also hums "Victory Fanfare" while posing her victory pose. Sometimes she will say "This is my story" while posing.
 * S-Sha borrows "Don't mess with me" line from Cloud Strife, "I will never be a memory" from Sephiroth, "Go talk to a wall" from Squall Leonhart, "Keep your eyes front, I'll watch the rear" and "Now we live on, to greet a new dawn" from Lightning, and "Embrace your dream" from Zack Fair.

Koei Tecmo's Warriors series

 * Cloud Strife's hairstyle is available for custom characters in Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, Samurai Warriors 4-II, and Samurai Warriors 4: Empires.
 * Lightning's hairstyle (with side tail on the other side) is also available in both Samurai Warriors 4-II and Samurai Warriors 4 Empires.

Everybody's Golf
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan added multiple items themed around the series. A special chocobo cart designed by Toshiyuki Itahana was made available for purchase on the PlayStation Store, alongside a free cart adorned with the 30th anniversary logo. The "Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Collaboration Cup" tournament was held between February 26 and March 12, 2018. All players who participated received the Cactuar Outerwear and Cactuar Cap items. Players who performed well advanced to the finals, where they received the Collaboration Costume (Moogle) outfit.

Others

 * In Terraria there is a sword that resembles the Buster Sword, Cloud Strife's signature weapon, called the Breaker Blade, a synonym for Buster Sword.
 * Grand Theft Auto IV has a fictional anime show, Princess Robot Bubblegum, that parodies Final Fantasy among other things. "Sword Boy"'s large sword, and moody demeanor parodies Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife.
 * In the fan-translation of Mother 3, a pig sings a "musical fanfare". The text box implies 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 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 quote Edgar uses to describe Shadow in the SNES version of Final Fantasy VI.
 * In the Nintendo DS game Scribblenauts, three of the words that can be input 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 Lunar: Eternal Blue 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".
 * The Battle for Wesnoth 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, a Final Fantasy mascot, is parodied in the browser-based game Kingdom of Loathing 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" contains a zone called the "Penultimate Fantasy Airship", containing enemies like a spiky-haired protagonist wielding a ridiculously big (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 No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, 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 similar to Cloud's Buster Sword. He feels guilt over the death of his brother Helter Skelter, much like Cloud has over those he has lost. Additionally, his multi-tiered sword may be a reference to Kadaj, an antagonist in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Childten. 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 reference to the antagonist of Final Fantasy VI.
 * Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard contains a boss character by the name of Altos Tratus who is a 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 (a reference to the Final Fantasy series). 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 similar to Bahamut's summoning sequence.
 * The box art of the PlayStation 2 launch title Eternal Ring features the line "Who said fantasies had to be final?"
 * The incarnation of the technique, Tenha Kassatsu, from the game Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, resembles Ashe's Quickening, Northswain's Glow from Final Fantasy XII. Notably, the attack's Japanese name, Hokuto Kossaizan (lit. North Star Bone Crushing Slash), bears a similar naming convention with the attacks of protagonist Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken style; eg. Hokuto Juuhazan (lit. North Star Softness Piercing Slash).
 * The iOS game Draw Something has chocobo, Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough (called Aeris in the game) available as options to draw in the video game category.
 * In The Simpsons Game, the "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game" level has a Flying Boat at the end of the level similar in design to airships seen in the series, and there is an evil corporation known as the Rin-Sha company—a reference to Shinra Electric Power Company from Final Fantasy VII.
 * In Undertale, there is a musical scene that is an homage to the opera scene from Final Fantasy VI.
 * In Fallout 2, the companion John Cassidy, when in combat, will sometimes state that he wishes he had a Limit Break.
 * In Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, Living Bombs are used as a throwing weapon by the alchemists Escha and Logy. They resemble the Bomb enemies in the Final Fantasy series.
 * In Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings, there is a boss that resembles the Ultima Weapon.
 * In Enter the Gungeon, there is a gun named Machine Fist that resembles Barret's Gun-Arm from Final Fantasy VII. It's description is titled "Avalanche of Bullets", referencing Barret's membership of the AVALANCHE organization. The description reads "According to legend, two men were each fitted with one of these hands. One the left, and the other the right. The next time they met, only one walked away.", referencing Barret's history with Dyne.
 * In Guacamelee!, there is a statue of a Cactuar in the Desierto Caliente area.
 * Version 4.3 of Smite added a skin named "Final Boss" for the character Thanatos which resembles Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. With the skin equipped, Thanatos will also make references to One-Winged Angel and Jenova.
 * In Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, there is an achievement named "500 Little Pricks" that is obtained by shooting 500 cactus needles at enemies, a reference to Cactuar's recurring 1000 Needles attack.
 * In the English version of , during the final class trial, the character Monokuma references the series in a discussion about final boss transformations saying: "You know, like that one game. Final...".
 * In , the character Monotaro says "If square won, they wouldn't have got eaten by the competition!", to which Monophanie responds "After that terrible movie, they had no other choice!". This is a reference to the commercial failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and the subsequent merger of Square and Enix.
 * Final_Danganronpa.png In addition to this, the fifth season of Danganronpa is known as Final Danganronpa 5: Monokuma Returns. Its logo is reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII, while its subtitle is a reference to Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

Movies/Dramas

 * In Charlie's Angels, two boys are seen playing Final Fantasy VIII, pretending it is 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 credited at the end of the film.
 * In the 2012 Disney animated film Wreck-It Ralph, there is a graffiti that says "Aerith Lives" in Game Central Station (referring to Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII).
 * In a Japanese drama, Nou ni Sumaho ga Umerareta episode 2, when Soma ask Orimo did he play RPG games, Orimo replies that he used to play a lot and he played Final Fantasy XII too.
 * In the 2018 film Ready Player One, an avatar is briefly seen riding a chocobo during the assault on Castle Anorak.

Television, anime and cartoons

 * The TV series Robot Chicken 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 pay 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. Tifa's English voice actress, Rachael Leigh Cook, is one of the regular cast members on Robot Chicken.
 * 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 Saber gunblade from Final Fantasy XIII can be seen on a weapons rack among 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, 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 "Greatest Hits" Final Fantasy X box was shown as the "new" Final Fantasy, and at the end of the show, the theme that is playing is from Final Fantasy II, not Final Fantasy X.
 * One episode of the third season of Captain N: The Game Master is loosely based on the original Final Fantasy. Matoya, the Prince of Elfheim, and Astos are featured.
 * In the TV show Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island, Coconut Fred parodies Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, during the episode "Sir Nutalot". In the episode he must stop Butchy, who is depicted as Sephiroth.
 * In an episode of Comedy Central Presents, comedian Jackie Kashian refers to 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 Welcome to the N.H.K. 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 in love with.
 * In the first episode of series one of the BBC Three comedy, Coming of Age, 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 one 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 The Big Bang Theory, 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 the Final Fantasy games. Examples include how Hayate "disguises" himself as Locke from Final Fantasy VI, and Nagi commenting how her school seems about as big as Vana'diel (the world of Final Fantasy XI).
 * 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 Code Monkeys, Cloud can be seen walking across a street in Japan during Jerry's fantasy of life in Japan.
 * In the third episode of Sword Art Online II, a Gun Gale Online player is shown using an icon of a Cactuar in its iconic pose. The Cactuar is shown wearing sunglasses with a stalk growing from the top of its head.
 * In Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, 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 Dog Days, 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 "Chuck Versus the A-Team" of the television series Chuck, 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 Mad, 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 Haiyoru! Nyaruani, 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. Four 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 twentieth episode of Durarara!, there is a poster featuring Snow, Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille from Final Fantasy XIII.
 * WWE wrestler Xavier Woods is an avid gamer who runs a gaming channel on YouTube called UpUpDownDown. Woods is a fan of series, featuring it on the channel on several occasions and even owning a replica Buster Sword. He has on occasion incorporated his fandom into his WWE appearances alongside his stable The New Day.
 * On the September 7, 2015 episode of WWE Raw, Woods played the "Victory Fanfare" with a trombone. Woods played it again on Night of Champions pay-per-view show on September 20, 2015.
 * The New Day again referenced Final Fantasy as hosts of Wrestlemania 33, which was sponsored by Final Fantasy XIV, in particular the Stormblood expansion. To this end, Woods wore a Monk outfit, Kofi Kingston wore a Red Mage outfit, and Big E wore a Samurai outfit, representing the expansion's two new jobs and the also heavily featured Monk. They also carried around stuffed moogles and their ice cream cart was painted with a Fat Chocobo.
 * In ', an anime about video game developers, they were developing a video game titled "Fairies Story 3". The poster of this game looks very similar to Bravely Default. The logo of the game also resembles Hironobu Sakaguchi's ' ' logo.
 * In Boku Dake ga Inai Machi episode 2, a group of students talk about video games. Osamu, one of the student in the group, says that Hiromi is a "Final Fantasy" fan.
 * Episode 6 of Robot Girls Z has Gre-chan quoting the text accompanying Neo Exdeath's Grand Cross attack, "The laws of the universe mean nothing!"
 * In , Takasu Ryūji's pet parakeet says "kweh!" at the ending of episode 6.
 * In  OVA, a copy of Final Fantasy game was among the other PlayStation 2 games seen in Kyon's house where the members of literature club gathered to do their summer homework.
 * In  episode 6, Izumi Masamune made a joke about his rival Senju Muramasa that Masamune is stronger than Muramasa in Final Fantasy.
 * In the opening of the seventh episode of , a save menu similar to the Final Fantasy series save screen was presented.
 * Another scene from Gamers! episode 8, there's a bunch of copies of Final Fantasy XV on the used games shelf.

Books, comics/manga and magazines

 * In Great Teacher Onizuka, Onizuka borrows Final Fantasy VII, along with several other RPGs from Noboru in Chapter 14.
 * In the manga Midori no Hibi ("Days of Midori"), Chapter 57, Page 5, panel three shows two ugly "women" dressed in Yuna and Rikku costumes.
 * In the manga Angel Sanctuary 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 Descendants of Darkness Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Cait Sith and Red XIII appear in the background of Volume 3, Chapter 1.
 * In the manga Fruits Basket, author Natsuki Takaya 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.
 * In the Genshiken manga, several characters cosplay as Final Fantasy characters on different occasions, including Yuffie, Tifa, Beatrix and Steiner.
 * In the first chapter of the manga Cage of Eden, Sengoku Akira meets a giant bird "Diatryma" on the mysterious island and said that it looks like a chocobo.
 * Another reference from Cage of Eden, in chapter 4, Sengoku picks up a PSP and play Final Fantasy game on it. He also compares Akagami Rion to a red mage, Mariya Shirou to a black mage, Ōmori Kanako to a white mage, and thinks that he himself is a useless person who has no role in the party.
 * The comic book series Scott Pilgrim refers to 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.
 * Scott Pilgrim's flashbacks to him telling Kim (before the memory was corrected with Lisa) that he was moving to Toronto is reminiscent of the flashback Cloud has of telling Tifa he was joining SOLDIER.
 * 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, Garnet, Yuna that he posted on Pixiv.net.
 * The main character of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora is named after Locke Cole from Final Fantasy VI.
 * In Kissxsis, Yūzuki Kiryū is a big fan of the Final Fantasy series (called "Fire Fantasy" in the anime).
 * The manga Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches drawn some plot inspirations from Final Fantasy Type-0. The story is about a group of students of Suzaki High who have magical powers. The other key plots are including memory losses and a character with alias "Akashic Recorder" who keeps recording events happening in the school. Seiryu and Genbu highschool are also mentioned.
 * Itō Miyabi once shows a rock to her fellow Supernatural Studies Club members and claims it to be a "materia stone", a fragment of the "Crystal of Mystery" from the ancient civilization.
 * After Yamada becomes the Seventh Witch, Odagiri tries to become an assistant of the Seventh Witch of the opposite group, in order to gain the privilege to not forget about Yamada who she loves. This resembles when Machina Kunagiri becomes a l'Cie of the enemy nation so he will never forget about Rem Tokimiya.
 * In Deus Ex: Black Light, the prequel novel to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the character Francis Pritchard uses the password "Aerith Lives" to disable security in his hideout.

Ken Akamatsu

 * In Ken Akamatsu's acclaimed manga, Love Hina, Squall and Rinoa from Final Fantasy VIII make a guest appearance in Volume 3, page 33, frame 6. The pair is 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 astonishment.
 * One major recurring character, Mutsumi Otohime, resembles Final Fantasy VII character Aerith Gainsborough, and has even worn a similar dress during one chapter.
 * In Chapter 113, 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 Kimahri Ronso from Final Fantasy X, which absorbs a small amount of HP and MP and sometimes, the ability of a monster.
 * During the Molmol arc, Naru Narusegawa wears an outfit similar to Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII. 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.
 * Sometimes mistaken for a reference in the West, in Chapter 32 Page 2, Sarah is seen balancing a lot of artifacts on Keitaro's head, one of these being a haniwa, a clay figure the Cactuar is based on. In Chapter 39, page 6, Kaolla also ties a haniwa out of a cherry stalk.
 * Another of Akamatsu's works, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, 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 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.
 * Akamatsu employs several assistants who put out their own fanart and doujinshi with varying degrees of similar art styles. His former chief assistant, Magi, often gets his work misattributed to Akamatsu himself in the West where people cannot read the accompanying text. Since the assistants also contribute to character designs and backgrounds, there is some muddying in who is responsible for which reference.

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 comic is one of the most famous "unofficial" Final Fantasy products, and many North American fans, in particular, often attribute the personalities of the characters in the comic to the Warriors of Light from the original Final Fantasy (the Fighter/Warrior as a lovable, sword-loving oaf, the Black Mage going between being a voice of common sense and murderousness, the White Mage being the most grounded, etc.)
 * 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 from Final Fantasy X whose goal 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 from Final Fanatsy VI 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken, an American fast food fried chicken franchise.
 * The name of one of the characters in the online comic VG Cats, Aeris, refers 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, the world of Final Fantasy XI.
 * 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 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 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).

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", the opening theme of Final Fantasy VIII.
 * Professional wrestler Chris Sabin got his namesake from the Final Fantasy VI character Sabin.
 * Another professional wrestler Kenny Omega created his ring name based on Omega Weapon and his finishing move is called "One-Winged Angel".
 * Goaltender Kari Lehtonen, 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.
 * Six-piece American Post-hardcore band A Skylit Drive's CD Wires...and the Concept of Breathing 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 Still Remains has a song called "Avalanche" on their CD The Serpent. The lyrics, as well as the title, are based on Final Fantasy VII.
 * The Japanese metal band CROW'SCLAW have produced two 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 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 similar to that of Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children; he was the visual basis for, and Japanese voice actor of, the character Genesis Rhapsodos 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. It can be viewed 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 Blood on the Dance Floor 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.
 * In Tokyo, a Final Fantasy-themed cafe called "Eorzea Cafe" was open on July 31 2014, modeled after Gridania's Carline Canopy.
 * Michael Clifford of the Australian pop-rock band 5 Seconds of Summer has a tattoo of the Zanarkand Abes symbol on his elbow. Zanarkand Abes is a blitzball team in Final Fantasy X.
 * American heavy metal band Trivium has used "Divinity I" as an opener for their shows, followed by "One-Winged Angel" as an outro of their shows.