Phi thuyền

Enterprise DS Opening — The airship Enterprise. This airship largely resembles a masted wooden ship and possesses wings and a number of rotors.

"Recent technological advances have produced the airship. Should these technical arts proliferate, they could one day drive magic from the world."

—Bookshelf at Mysidia, Final Fantasy II

Phi thuyền (飛空艇, Hikūtei, "Phi Không Đĩnh") là một yếu tố xuất hiện nhiều lần trong Final Fantasy seri, hầu như trong tất cả các game. Như tên gọi của nó, phi thuyền là dạng phương tiện di chuyển trên không, dù ngoại hình của nó trong các game khác nhau khá nhiều.

Usage[]

Ragnarokairship — The hi-tech airship *Ragnarok* has the ability to travel through space.

The airship is generally received towards the middle or end of the game, opening up the entire world to exploration by the player. This allows the player to both advance in the game's plot, and revisit places they've already been. Receiving free access to an airship is often a major event in the plot and opens up many new sidequests to the player. Depending on the game, airships may be in common usage over the world, or the player's may be the only one. Some games in which they are more common, such as Final Fantasy XII, provide the player with ferry services using airships, but this is much more restrictive compared to the player flying anywhere they wish.

Exactly how the player controls the airship has varied. In the games up to and including Final Fantasy V, the player could only fly the airship in four directions, except for the DS release of Final Fantasy IV, which allowed piloting in eight directions. In Final Fantasy VI up to Final Fantasy IX, the player could fly the airship in three dimensions, and could turn, bank, dive and climb in any direction they wished. In Final Fantasy X and up to Final Fantasy XII, the player cannot manually control their airship - while aboard the airship, they are shown a map and input a destination, and they are immediately transported there.

In the first two titles, airships did not include any facilities, and were simply a way for the player to travel around more quickly. Beginning with Final Fantasy III, airships frequently feature shops, save points, and some sort of bed or healing service for the party. The airships in Final Fantasy VI are shown to include gambling tables for roulette and craps, though they cannot be used by the player. Beginning with Final Fantasy VI, the playable characters not in the party can often be found wandering the airship awaiting their turn in battle.

Nature[]

Lunar Whale DS — The *Lunar Whale*, built by Lunarians.

Often, a character named Cid is in charge of the airship, such as Cid Highwind and the Highwind in Final Fantasy VII, or Cid Pollendina and the Enterprise in Final Fantasy IV, among others. In fact, all Cids in the main Final Fantasy series are connected to airships in some fashion. If Cid actually manufactures the airship, or if he simply owns it, varies. Besides the game's Cid, airships are often built by ancient civilizations and must be resurrected by the player, as was the case in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X.

Some airships can be used as a means of transit beyond flight. The airship from Final Fantasy V can not only fly, but can also be used on the surface of the water like a normal boat, and can even double as a submersible should it be required. The Ragnarok and the Lunar Whale are capable of being used for space travel. The Enterprise in Final Fantasy IV is given a special attachment that allows it to pick up and carry the Hovercraft. In Final Fantasy VII, Chocobos can be transported in the airship, and the player can board and then exit the Highwind riding a Chocobo.

FF6Deathgaze — A battle aboard an airship.

In some games, flying monsters can attack the airship and battles can occur on the main deck. The first instance of this was in Final Fantasy IV, where Cecil must fight some monsters that attack the Red Wings on the deck of an airship. Most games since then have featured some fights taking place aboard airships: in Final Fantasy VIII, Propagators are fought inside the Ragnarok and not on its main deck as in most other games, while in Final Fantasy XII and Revenant Wings, battles are fought inside and outside airships. In Final Fantasy III, while flying the airship the player will meet random encounters as if they were walking on the ground, and fight these battles aboard the airship's deck.

Airship fuel is often not mentioned, but when it is addressed the power sources are as varied as the crafts themselves - the Lunar Whale is powered by Crystals, the Highwind is powered by Mako, in Final Fantasy IX most airships are powered by Mist, and airships in Final Fantasy XII are generally powered by skystones, but also by Nethicite in some instances, the difference being that Nethicite allows one to fly over Jagd, while skystones do not.

Appearance[]

Highwind 5 — The twin boom airship *Highwind* bears a resemblance to dirigibles.

In the earlier games, airships appeared very much like carracks or galleons—wooden boats, but with propellers to give them lift, fashioned like helicopters. Generally propellers set vertically along the sides provide lift while the bow or stern rotors are used for maneuvering and propulsion. The craft may also possess wings on the sides to assist in lift. In essence, they were simply normal boats with wings and propellers, literal "air-ships". Airships of this type feature prominently in earlier Final Fantasy games but do still appear in newer titles such as Final Fantasy XI.

Another type of airship seen in only a few of the series's installments actually resembles and occasionally behaves like real-life dirigibles. The two airships of Final Fantasy VI, the Blackjack and the Falcon are such, along with the Highwind of Final Fantasy VII. The Falcon and the Blackjack are large zeppelins, with a balloon-like cavity filled with air and the actual airship hanging from below, propellers on both the balloon and the craft providing thrust. As with real airships, the Highwind utilizes moorings to "land", essentially remaining floating but tethered to the ground.

Vaan airship — The exotic airship Galbana.

In a few of the more recent games the airships have taken on more technologically advanced appearances, with elements of sci-fi, steampunk, and fantasy being reflected in the hull architecture (e.g., the Ragnarok from Final Fantasy VIII, the Fahrenheit from Final Fantasy X, and the Galbana from Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings).

Limitations[]

The airship provides a quicker, easier way to travel throughout the game world, enabling the bypass of large expanses without encountering any enemies. Some areas are altogether unreachable without the use of an airship, which may be needed to progress the game further. Most airships can also only land on certain terrain, restricting access to some areas - they can only land on grassland and cannot land in mountains, deserts or forests. In Final Fantasy III, the Enterprise can only land in water, because it was originally a boat. Often when an airship cannot cross these areas, a Chocobo may be needed to so, or the player may have to walk on foot. In Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII, the player cannot fly their airship freely, so this restriction doesn't apply.

Depending on the game, other airships have other limitations. In Final Fantasy IV, at first the Falcon cannot fly over magma until it is remodeled, and the Lunar Whale cannot enter the Underground because it is too large to pass through the crater. In Final Fantasy IX, airships are common but all are powered by Mist, so they only function on the Mist Continent and cannot fly elsewhere. In Final Fantasy XII, airships are powered by skystones, which do not work when flying Jagd, and thus airships cannot travel over such places.

Tetra Master[]

The airship appears as a Tetra Master card in Final Fantasy IX. Its appearance is based on the unnamed airship in Final Fantasy V.

Card 100
Location: Memoria