The following is list of allusions in Final Fantasy V.
Upon being ported to Game Boy Advance Final Fantasy V received a new translation and plenty of new pop culture references were added. The more recent smartphone versions use the same script as the GBA version.
Final Fantasy series[]
Final Fantasy[]
- "Fanfare 1", which plays when obtaining an important item or completing an objective, is an arrangement of "Key Item Jingle".
Final Fantasy II[]
- Bartz's and Galuf's Mystic Knight costumes are an allusion to Minwu.
Final Fantasy III[]
- Krile's White Mage costume is an allusion to the Devout job.
- The geography of the area where Walse Tower is located is similar to the one of the Tower of Owen.
Final Fantasy IV[]
- Bartz's Dragoon armor is an allusion to Kain.
- Hide is a level 1 Bard ability. It is an allusion to Edward, the bard who has the same ability.
- Zephyrus's quote "Go forth, creatures of darkness!" is similar to Golbez's most famous quote, "Come, creature of shadow!", said when summoning the Shadow Dragon.
- There is a talking frog in Walse that refers to both a comic based on Final Fantasy III and the game Final Fantasy IV. There is a line in a 4-panel comic done by Yoshida Sensha back when Final Fantasy III for the Famicom was released where frogged party members discuss it not being so bad being a frog, and that they should forgo saving the world and opt living as frogs instead. Someone at Square decided to quote this comic in the next two Final Fantasy games. In Final Fantasy IV the player can interact with frogs in Troia castle moat. All the frogs in the Japanese version make frog sounds except for one, which says "It's nice being a frog..." This was translated in various ways for English. There is also a secret talking frog in Walse that says the same thing in Japanese. In the Final Fantasy V PlayStation translation this was translated as "frogs are lucky". The GBA translation makes a Kermit the frog reference with "It's easy being green, dig?"
Final Fantasy VII[]
- A 2D sprite of Cloud occasionally appears in the loading section of the Final Fantasy Anthology port of Final Fantasy V.
Historical figures[]
- Gilgamesh takes inspiration from Saitō Musashibō Benkei, a famous Japanese warrior monk. Benkei is said to have posted himself at Gōjō Bridge in Kyoto, where he disarmed every passing swordsman, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel, however, Benkei was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Gilgamesh also is a name of the king of an ancient Sumerian region called Uruk.
Real world locations[]
- The Big Bridge is inspired by Gojō Bridge in Kyoto, Japan.
- A Moai statue can be found on the sea floor in the merged world. However, this statue serves no purpose in the game.
Television[]
- The turtle sage Ghido says to Exdeath: "You think I sat around seven centuries munching on pizza?". This is an allusion to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the American comic and cartoon series.
- In the same scene, Exdeath disguises himself as a tiny splinter waiting for his chance. It is a pun on Master Splinter, the Ninja Turtles' teacher and father figure.
- Exdeath's line "You expected it to be a splinter, but it was me, Exdeath!" might also be an allusion to Dio Brando's "It was me, Dio!", a classic quote from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
- Mr. Clio (and how he talks) is a reference to TV psychic Miss Cleo.
- A boy in Lix says he is "S-M-R-T smart". This references an episode of The Simpsons "Homer Goes to College".
- During the battle with Gilgamesh on Xezat's ship he says "Ho? Let's return the trouble... ...and make it double! Come on!" a reference to Team Rocket's original motto from Pokémon.
- Gilgamesh yells "It's morphin' time!" before transforming to his second form, a recurring phrase from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
- A scholar says "Take a Look, It's in a Book" a reference to Reading Rainbow.
- A pirate in the Pirates' Hideout in the merged world says: "[...] I'll soon be tastin' the rainbow...". This is a reference to the Skittles commercials.
- Another pirate in the Hideout sings "Yar har, fiddle-de-dee," which might be a reference to the kids' show LazyTown, where a song involving these lyrics, titled "You Are a Pirate," was sung in one episode.
Movies[]
- Dorgann exclaiming "STELLA!!!" upon her death is a reference to Marlon Brando from the film, A Streetcar Named Desire.
- When the party beats the crab boss aboard the airship, Cid remarks "He got served," a reference to the 2004 drama movie You Got Served.
- The achievement for mastering Monk is called "Don't think, feel!", a reference to martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
- The achievement for Krile replacing Galuf is called "Not Dead Yet!", referring to a sketch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The enemy Ghidra is based from King Ghidorah, the enemy monster in the Godzilla series.
Music[]
- The whip's item description is "Best used when problems come along," a reference to a lyric from the song "Whip It" by Devo.
- The item description for the Diamond Armlet is "A girl's best friend", a reference to the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".
- The songs the party leader plays on the piano are of classical music: Lesson 5 plays Schubert's "Marche Militaire No. 1"; Lesson 6 plays "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster; Lesson 7 plays Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca"; and Lesson 8 plays Debussy's "Arabesque No. 1".
- The ability Dancehall Daze is based from the song "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung.