War of the Magi (Final Fantasy XVI)

The War of the Magi (魔導大戦, Madō Taisen?, lit. Magitek Great War) is a historical event in Final Fantasy XVI. It was one of the many wars that heralded the end of the Fallen civilization 1,500 years ago. Details of the war have become lost to history among the modern populace of Valisthea.

During the War of the Magi nations wielding "clockwork armies" fueled by powerful magicks fought for control of the Mothercrystals and the power of the gods themselves, hastening the drain of aether from the land, giving rise to the Blight.

A woman upon whose story Goddess Greagor is based on lived during the War of the Magi, when various nations waged war for aether resources from the Mothercrystals with formidable magicks. A female knight using magicks to create a dragon-shaped weapon became a prevalent tale in the modern day Greagorian church, creating the symbol of Goddess Greagor, who rides on the back of a wyvern.

By the time peace was restored, the wounds suffered by both humanity and the land had grown too deep to heal, and civilization deteriorated, all knowledge on how to build "magitek" or the "indestructible" ceramics that the Fallen ruins are known for faded.

The "clockwork armies" of the Fallen are known as echoes in modern day, some still remaining and operating; they are possible remnants of the War of the Magi.

Etymology

The War of the Magi was an ancient war that spelled the end of an era in Final Fantasy VI, and was the point in history where magic fell into disuse. Further uses of the term in the Final Fantasy series allude to Final Fantasy VI.

[view · edit · purge]In Latin, Magi is plural of Magus, which means "wizard". Magi is also a term used since at least the 4th century BC to denote followers of Zoroaster, or rather, followers of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which was—in the main—the ability to read the stars, and manipulate the fate that the stars foretold.