Having just finished watching FFXVI, I can't help but go on with this little series of posts. I could do all in one, but I decided against it, for two reasons: shorter posts and better grouping of the information (and my ideas).

When I tell you this game is overflowing with symbolism (which I absolutely love to drown in), you better not doubt me, because I'm just going to speak of the Dominants, but even everyone else has their part in symbolism too. The Dominants of course just have more. Maybe everyone else will get one post, someday. Or maybe not, depends on the mood. And yes, be prepared for spoilers ahead.

This game really is something else, story wise at least. Though I did manage to pick a few things outside of that, but that ain't my focus today, or for the few next posts of mine.

Now, I could've started with speaking of each Dominant individually, and overall, perhaps that would have been better, as a sort of introduction for those not yet fully familiar with them, but the relationship between the opposite Dominants has been plaguing me as I watched the game go, so thank Benedikta and Hugo for that. They'll also be the last ones I'll talk about. Anyway, let's start with something simpler and fundamental, who are the Dominants and their Eikons and Elements:

• Clive Rosfield: Ifrit - fire

• Joshua Rosfield: Phoenix - fire

• Jill Warrick: Shiva - ice

• Cid Telamon: Ramuh - thunder

• Hugo Kupka: Titan - earth

• Benedikta Harman: Garuda - wind/air

• Dion Lesage: Bahamut - holy/light

• Barnabas Tharmr: Odin - dark(ness)

• And there's also Leviathan the Lost, the water element, but like they say, it's lost and has no Dominant

Alright, those are our subjects. Now to group them, following Final Fantasy standards:

• Clive, Joshua and Jill - fire and ice

• Hugo and Benedikta - earth and wind/air

• Dion and Barnabas - holy/light and dark(ness)

• Cid and Leviathan - thunder and water

And now we can begin.

1. Clive, Joshua and Jill - Fire and Ice, Creation and Destruction

Obvious pull, I'd assume. Fire and Ice have always been opposites. But they do say opposites attract. No suprise then that Jill is Clive's love interest.

Now, let's talk a bit of clothes. Rosaria is the land of the Phoenix, of fire, thus its color is red. Both Clive and Joshua wear it to symbolize, among other things, their fiery Eikons and their home. Jill, one the other hand, wears blue like ice, to symbolize Shiva. Easy things to pick.

On the matter of personalities, fire and ice often go hand in hand. Why, fire is hot, wild, stubborn, ever burning until one puts it down, destructive, while ice is cold, stationary, calm, breakable, creative. Clive especially shows signs of that fire description I gave. Hot-headed every now and then, especially at the beginning, always on his wild adventures, stubborn (a fact pointed out by other characters in the game), and thus only when another steps in is he stopped, if they can in fact put the fire down that is. Joshua doesn't go that far, he's a bit more collected, but stubborn as ever and hardly one of changing his mind. But this too is tied to their other symbolism that I'll talk about in just a moment. Then there's Jill, and while she isn't exactly a cold person, she is calm and thus able to put down Clive's fire and tame it. She can just as easily break, as seen a few times throughout the game, but nothing that a rest doesn't solve. And while Clive's fire destroys, her ice creates, and saves them more than once. As for the stationary part, well, she goes where Clive goes most of the time, otherwise stays behind to hold the fort, a reliable source of protection and company, and true to her firm beliefs.

Alright it ain't the best explanation ever done, but here's a summary: imagine a spectrum - Ifrit/Clive on one end and Jill/Shiva on the other. Joshua would be in the middle. Why? Well, he has fire's stubbornness with him, but creative flames and not destructive ones. He has a bit of both sides. Thus he is more of a mediator, albeit a rather missing one at times, while Clive and Jill, as complete opposites, draw themselves to each other.

An easy one to pick, this one. Or so I'd assume.

2. Dion and Barnabas - Light and Darkness, forever enemies

And while they do say opposites attract, they are, at the end of the day, still opposites, and thus ideal for rivalries as well. Such is the case here.

On one end, we have Dion, Holy Dragoon and wileder of light, Odin's Nemesis among his titles, wears white to represent said light, accompanied by his dragoons and mostly his lover Terence, and traveller of the skies. Then there's Barnabas, Dark Knight and wielder of darkness, Bahamut's enemy, wears black to represent said darkness, alone and walks the earth (though he can fly too, but all Eikons seem to to a degree). Yes boys, Cecil and Kain are plastered here for all to see, though most of what they are is in Dion. Barnabas only inherited the ability to make bad choices while manipulated from Kain, but at least still got something.

So well, you see, that's their opposition. Rivals to the end, and they never even spoke face to face in diplomatic ways, only on the battlefield.

One last thing to point out is that both have been manipulated by Ultima and there too lies an opposition. When Dion was manipulated, he succumbed to madness, Bahamut took over and started destroying the capitol. Heck, he even went to space and was ready to destroy the whole world! Of course, he completely lost himself for he did not choose what happened, let alone be manipulated. Barnabas, on the other hand, not only has he been under Ultima's wing for years, whereas Dion's was just a spur of the moment, he chose to do so, he willingly chose to be used, thus he was far calmer in those regards. But then again, darkness does have an easier time blending with more darkness than with light, but that's for another time.

3. Cid and Leviathan - the lost pair

Hard to bring symbolism when one of the parties is absent, but that in itself works for the symbolism of this pair.

Well, Leviathan being water has an opposite relation to thunder, aka Cid. However, Leviathan has no Dominant, is lost (if it's ever said why, it's not during main story, or at least not on a cutscene). Well, guess who was also, sort of, lost? Cid, though lost as in a dead man walking, mind. No wonder he lived in the Deadlands, eh? Besides, he never seemed too happy to have Ramuh. I mean, he's happy to use it to protect those he cares for and fight those who would harm them, but he does strike me as someone who would prefer Ramuh chose someone else.

And well, it doesn't take too many hours in the game for us to unfortunately lose him (only Cid, not Ramuh). But from his loss, the group gets ever closer to Leviathan, while still maintaining a close relationship to Cid and the skies. Surely you noticed how after the hideaway at the Deadlands fell to Hugo, they moved to the relics of an old airship of the Fallen, the Invicible, which now stands in the middle of water; closer to the skies for being in an airship, or at remains of it, and closer to Leviathan for one has to cross its water to reach the place. And then there's Mid, Cid's daughter. She works on a ship throughout the game, the Enterprise, and later on cruises the seas in it. Surely you can see the connection?

So, to summarize. It's true Leviathan is absent in the game, and yet Cid, or Ramuh, is still drawn to it as opposites would, or, in this case, his legacy is drawn to Leviathan, for we lose Cid early on. I must say, it's an interesting way of painting this pair. A mysterious aura always surrounds them this way, and I find that fascinating. Always loved mysteries.

Guess the upcoming DLC will have answers for the missing pieces of Leviathan's stories, but until then.

4. Hugo and Benedikta - the toxic relationship of Earth and Wind/Air

It was the relationship between this two and how it is reflected in their elements that first made me want to do this post. It has been plaguing me the entire time I watched the game and I just knew I had to write it down because earth and wind isn't a relationship that is often seen around, so of course I found it the most fascinating of them all.

Before going into the actual characters, let's dwell in the elements first and how their relationship goes. For most cases, opposite elements go both ways. Fire and Ice, Thunder and Water, Light and Dark(ness). There's only two exceptions (especially following Record Keeper standards): Earth and Wind and Non-elemental and Poison (yes, Poison can be an element). And that would be because, unlike the others, it doesn't go both ways, they aren't each other's weaknesses. Non-elemental does still cause damage, just not critical one, but can still bring Poison down if it fights hard enough (I dare say, toxic relationship, but interesting concept nonetheless. At least it's one you can walk off on, after losts of hardships). Earth, however, can't hurt Wind, at all. It's impossible. Take a look at when elements are explained in the games, say for example FFIX. You literally are given a list listing their oppositions, their weaknesses, how Fire is vulnerable to Ice and Ice is vulnerable to Fire. But while Earth is vulnerable to Wind, Wind is invulnerable to Earth. It's always presented like that; one can fight the other and the other can only succumb. It is this that is shown in Hugo and Benedikta as well.

Allow me. When we're first presented to their relationship, we see they're close, the really close kind. And we also see how Hugo easily follows Benedikta, all out of love, even though his loyalty was but another weapon to her, and nothing more. Benedikta is the most prominent antagonist for the first hour of the game, after that she's dead so only her ghost may serve us now. Still, while she's still alive, we know she's anything but loyal, she comes and goes, like the wind, and that is shown by the number of people she has bedded. Hugo, Barnabas, and even Cid in the past. She's also rather informed, as you'd expect from winds that can hear everything anywhere.

Finally, she's also Hugo's weakness, yet he is not hers. She cares not for him, but for how long and useful is he to her schemes, while he would unleash hell on the world for her if she commanded. And he kinda does.

I mean, like I said, she's his weakness, so of course receiving her beheaded head would absolutely break him to seek revenge. And that he does. He receives the information it was Cid that killed her and thus invades and wrecks his hideaway, all in the name of his beloved. Years later, with Cid dead, he sets his sights on Clive; if the killer's dead, go for those he cared for. And when he does fight Clive he comes to know that Clive is actually Benedikta's killer and not Cid (though, Clive was using Cid's name around anyway, so does it matter? Well, it does add to the symbolism, but not this one). This of course, makes him go completely feral as the battle goes on (the second one, namely).

How intriguing. Garuda and Titan were the only ones were the Eikon went completely nuts for something related to Clive. Hugo went feral for his lost love, while Benedikta went feral for not having Garuda anymore (since Clive absorbed it) and fearing being discarded away now that she's "powerless". What a wonderful display of what drives them: one cares for his beloved and only her, while the other seeks only power. Rob them of their drive and they go nuts (Dion went nuts from losing his father, whom he so much loved. That, and the guilt that came from having killed him, even if it was all manipulated by Ultima. And that's why Barnabas doesn't really goes as nuts in his fight, for the whole fight is his drive).

And there you go. The toxic relationship of Earth and Wind. Truly not a symbolism you see everyday and that just makes me like it even more.

And thus it ends. Hope you enjoyed, and mayhaps have something to add to what I said. As long it's just as far as opposites go, for now.