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The War of the Magi was the cause of the Sixth Umbral Calamity.
It was a 3 way war between the Black Mages of Mhach empowered by their voidsent, the White Mages of Amdapor, conjurers of stone golems infused with the light (not that unlike Sin Eaters), and the mostly neutral Green Mage Lalafells, masters of protective magics.
Nym was the first to be wiped out by a plague called "The Green Death" which those that survived were transformed into Tonberry. Which explains a great deal...
While it was named the War of the Magi - Nym were represented by Scholars, and not Green Mages.
Roegadyn come in two playable varieties - Sea Wolf and Hellsguard. While others exist in the world, such as in Othard, most primarily come from these two clans. You can easily identify a Sea Wolf by their very difficult names that looks like someone smashed their keyboard, but this is because their names are in their native Roegadyn tongue, whereas Hellsguard have since adopted the more common tongue of Eorzea.
Hellsguard actually do speak Roegadyn still, and their names are absolutely no different from Sea Wolfs, they just have translated them to be more understandable towards other people.
If Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn was Hellsguard she would go by "Moon Bride" for instance.
Everyone remembers their time as a sprout, creating their character and selecting their starting class, it was a little overwhelming.
You could of picked from Pugilist, Gladiator or Thaumaturge and start in Ul'dah, or pick Marauder, Arcanist or Rogue and start in Limsa, or choose Archer, Lancer or Conjurer and start in Gridania.
You can't pick Rogue at character creation, and it uniquely isn't available until you reach level 10 and take it as a new class.
They said the name!
It has been a tradition, that the final quest of the MSQ has always been the name of the current expansion, and provided a unique reward that only shows up as a "?" until you complete the quest, like the Magitek Armor in ARR, and Argos from Endwalker.
There is actually no quest named "A Realm Reborn" - They do however say it in the cutscene at the end
In Dawntrail we reached level 100 as the max level, but this came as a surprise to some.
In all of the other Final Fantasy games, the max level has at most been 99, and has been a staple of the game series. This marks Dawntrail as the first time this has been broken, and with the future expansion, were sure to see either higher levels, or a level squish.
Contrary to popular belief, you can obtain level 100 in Final Fantasy 8, where it was the first time this cap has been broken.
In Shadowbringers we had an unusual inclusion of 2 new races, but... they were unisex - specifically H'rothgar and Viera, or at least as they were known on the Source.
While we did get to see Hrothgar on the Source, specifically in Bojza, Viera were not seen until Endwalker.
Later in Endwalker and Dawntrail Male Viera and Female H'rothgar were included, but neither were seen on the First. Female H'rothgar are mentioned however, in that Magnus' wife is mentioned as existing off camera, however male Viera are not mentioned once.
Fran from FFXII is present in the Return to Ivalice raid series in Stormblood.
While many races have a minor cosmetic change between their clans, such as the colour of their scales and skin with Au'Ra or having either cat fangs or cats eyes with Miqo'te, Hyur actually have considerably drastic changes between Highlanders and Midlanders.
Some of these changes for Highlanders are very strange, such as the Female Highlanders get a uniquely modified cotton chestpiece different from all other races for instance, and having different animations for certain actions from their Midlander counterparts. They also have lore specific differences such as Highlanders are considerably larger than Midlanders - everywhere - because they adapted to live in arid mountains with thin air, that Highlanders genetically can not grow eyebrows, and that they wear jewelry inside their underwear.
Highlanders actually can grow eyebrows, they all just choose not to. Or rather culturally they shave their eyebrows off constantly, because they believe it makes them look more intimidating.
And no, you do not get to choose an option to have eyebrows - Sorry Rohnin
In the lore of the game ever since ARR every Job that has been included has been a practice from a different land that has been introduced to the Warrior of Light.
Sure the first Jobs we unlocked were all based on a different class we could get from one of the three starting cities, but ever since Heavensward we could simply obtain a job stone and start our journey as that Job.
In the lore, all Reapers originally were Botanists, making Reaper technically the first Job since ARR that evolves from a class
"Tell me. For whom do you fight?"
Gaius' speech in Praetorium often gets players to alt tab back to their Youtube videos on their second monitor because it is completely unskippable. It probably was epic at one point, but is now a complete meme. People often mock lines like "How Very Glib", "Such Devastation, this was NOT my intention" and "Are the "Twelve" otherwise engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors." including in a prominent UWU version
"Such Devastation" is actually now split into the trial "The Porta Decumana"
Everyone knows that Final Fantasy II wasn't ACTUALLY Final Fantasy II.
Or rather that is how it was in North America, where Final Fantasy II was actually IV, and III was actually VI. The Fourth game we got was actually VII, and the Fifth game was VIII... and for some reason Final Fantasy III wasn't released until after Final Fantasy XII
We actually got the real Final Fantasy II before FFVIII on a Playstation collections disc.
Amongst all of the horrific things we see in Shadowbringers, Il Mheg quite possibly was home to some of the most fearsome.
Sure its pretty, and often cute - but don't be fooled, it is a horrific place.
The Pixies for instance, who are born of the remains of the souls of children killed in the flood of light, play with their prey, teasing them before turning them into Leafmen. Leafmen, who are fully aware of their surroundings, feel pain and can not communicate.
Or the Fuath, spirits of drowned creatures, who desire to make others experience the same, such as by using the Kelpie, horse like creatures who's skin will fuse to their own, and slowly trot into the water to slowly drown their rider.
But the worst of all, the apex hunters of Il Mheg, that strikes fear in all that live there - Beavers. Beavers are known for their ability to split a Man, Pixie or any other being in half with their vorpal teeth, and unmatched speed.
Beavers are in fact the apex hunters of Il Mheg, but they actually hunt using mind control powers as soon as they are within range of another being. Their mind control is so powerful that they can force one's body to breakdown, and transmogrify into another beaver, in a painful transition of breaking bones and rupturing organs.
Cute.
We visit the Xaela tribe of the Steppes in Stormblood, and interact with quite a few notable tribes such as the peaceful crafters of the Mol tribe, the devout and fearless Dotharl - believers of reincarnation who do not fear death, and the Oronir - descendants of Azim the sun god.
But did you know there are more than 50 tribes that are in the lore, but couldn't all be represented in game? Such as the Goro, who marry their horses, the silent Qestir who never speak and only communicate with subtle facial expressions, or the Sagahl who view all animals as equal to themselves with exceptions for bugs.
Mol are actually shamanistic worshipers of the elder gods, not explicitly crafters by trade.
Throughout FFXIV they have included NPC representation of all the Combat Jobs you may not have unlocked or played so you are at least aware of their existence in game. Sure you see them in your Job Quests, but how about outside of them?
Some are very common such as Paladins, Gunbreakers and Machinists, but there are a few Jobs tied for the least representation with just 1 NPC existing in game: Dancer, Red Mage, Blue Mage, and Summoner
There actually are 0 Dark Knights outside of the Dark Knight job quests, and arguably only 2 Dark Knights exist in game: The Warrior of Light and Sidurgu, who isn't even introduced until after the Warrior of Light has been a Dark Knight for some time.
Sorry Keaira.
Dawntrail has been divisive to say the least, and at the center of most of the complaints lays Wuk Lamat. Somehow despite being in only one expansion (outside of her introduction in few post-patches in Endwalker) she has managed to have the third most lines of any character in the game's MSQ.
She has had more lines than the likes of Thancred and Y'shtola who have been explaining the story to us since ARR. Krile has used the words "Wuk Lamat" more often than "Sharlayan" "Eureka" and "Grandfather" combined. The only characters that have had more lines than her are the two most verbose in the entire game - Alphinaud and Urianger.
Surely this is because we just simply had more talking in Dawntrail than any other expansion right? NOPE! Endwalker had nearly 150% as much dialogue and both Shadowbringers and ARR were within a couple of hundred words of Dawntrail.
Yikes
Urianger despite how he speaks, doesn't actually have nearly as many lines as you might think, and is only the 7th most common. Alisaie is actually the most talkative, with her brother Alphinaud being the first.
Also, fun fact! Dawntrail is the first expansion where "Warrior of Light(Darkness)" isn't the most commonly used term, where it dropped from First to 11th place. And yes, Wuk Lamat took first.
The original Final Fantasy famously almost never came out. At the time then developer Square was in financial trouble after releasing previous games to mediocre reception such as King's Knight a 2d fantasy shooter, and Cruise Chaser Blassty (yes spelled correctly) a first person Mecha RPG, the company turned its attention to the successful RPG Dragon Quest, and decided to make one of their own.
Naming it Final Fantasy, as it was the last hope for the company before bankruptcy it released to great success, and saved the company. Since then the franchise has continued under this name.
The name Final Fantasy was not selected due to it being the last chance for the company. It was originally called Fighting Fantasy, but another game had taken the name before it could be released, and they wanted to keep the recurring F.F. title, and made a quick switch.
Did you know that Hildebrand's inclusion as a mainstay of the game is actually due to the response to a mostly unimportant sidequest?
In the original FFXIV Hildebrand and Nashu were included as part of a side quest to unlock access to inn rooms which were added in a patch. Since the loveable goofs were so enjoyed partaking in mysteries such as "Who stole the ink out of my inkwell" and "Someone stole my weapon when I was drunk" they became a recurring presence in the game.
It finally culminated with Hildebrand, after learning of Dalamud's inevitable fall (from a poorly disguised Urianger handing out pamphlets as a doomsayer) he decided to use and explosion to jump to the moon to try to intercept the moon's fall.
He then went missing, that is until ARR, where he was found with amnesia, and thinking he was in fact a zombie.
Hildebrand actually didn't PLAN on using an explosion to travel to the moon - that was entirely on accident.
Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te have very specific naming conventions, which most players have at least a surface level knowledge of but it goes deeper than you might think.
The first letter of their name before the apostrophe denotes what tribe they come from, there being 26 tribes, one for each letter in the Eorzean alphabet (how fortunate), but are actually in reference to a Beastkin. Next is their actual name, such as Shtola, or Raha. Then their surname actually splits in meaning for females and males, where the female's take their Father's name, and males take either "Nunh" meaning the tribe's leader, or "Tia" for all others.
"Nunh" actually denotes that they are the 'breeder male' of a tribe harem. Tribes can have multiple harems, and while many are lead by Nunh's some aren't. Males can also later have their name's changed if they are selected to become a Nunh.
Sorry G'raha, but hey good news - he is on the market.
Did you know that different Jobs actually have strange effects on the Warrior of Light after combat has completed in their lore?
Such effects are Dark Knights tend to be passive-aggressive and snap at their allies, Warriors get really really hungry, Red Mages get goosebumps and tingles all over their body, and Dancer often cry or get extremely happy depending on the mood of those around them.
Warriors aren't the ones that get very hungry, it's actually White Mages. After excessive use of their powers, it is the most draining on their personal Aether of any job, and they have to eat a TON of food to recover it right after combat.
The Ascians have been present since the very beginning, but have you been keeping track of them all?
Formerly the Convocation of Fourteen, sparing Azem, all became Ascians in turn, and many of them have perished by our hands.
There was Emet Selch, Keeper of the Underworld, Elidibus the Emissary, Fandaniel the Observer, Lahabrea the Creator, Nabrialas the Contender, and Igeyorhm the Rhetorician which all bit the dust.
But what about the rest? Well we have befriended Loghrif the Pastor, or at least what remains of her. We saw that Altima the Composer and Deudalaphon the Innovator was killed offscreen by Gaius, and their masks taken as trophies on his hip. Mitron was struck down by Ardbert, and was transformed into the first Sin Eater and began the flood of light, until Minfilia stopped the flood and sealed Mitron for centuries into what became Eden. Lastly there was Emmerololth the Mender, who was responsible for the Primal Eureka, and in theory should have been dealt with, but was later seen in a later voiced line in the MSQ (oops!)
As for Pashtarot the Arbiter, Halmarut the Sower, who knows - They exist, and should still be alive somewhere...
Lahabrea and Igeyorhm formed the Ascian Prime we fight in Heavensward - and we don't kill them, we just beat them. King Thordan ultimately was the one to destroy them.
Everyone know Cid. And I mean EVERYONE.
Cid has been in the most Final Fantasy games of any named characters. More than the Warriors of Light, Mog, and Biggs and Wedge combined. He's been an Airship Engineer, a Surly Drunk Astronaut, a Dominant of an Eikon, and even a frog.
He was first originally seen in Final Fantasy II, but has been included in every Mainlined Numbered Final Fantasy game since.
Cid isn't the most common character across all of Final Fantasy - Bahamut has been in every single game, beating Cid by 1.
At the end of Endwalker, the Beast Tribes (now Allied Societies - nice try) came to our aid to summon benevolent versions of the Primals to help power The Ragnarok to reach the ends of the universe to confront Meteion.
Or at least most of the Primals that is.
Of course, it only included those that were part of the MSQ, and not any side content for spoiler reasons, but what's interesting is that all of the Primals that were used are those that are solely composed of Aether. What's also interesting is the ones that were not used: Shiva, Tsukuyomi, Pheonix, Thordan and Bahamut all have a few things in common.
First of all, they all used a host being: Ysale, Yotsuyu, Louisoix and, uh Thordan and Bahamut respectively.
Second of all, they all either were incapable of, or simply by coincidence did not temper anyone.
When comparing these facts against the original magical arts the Ancients used of Creation Magic and Transformation it begs the question: Are these types of Primals different from the others in the same way? Are they not completely different things?
A question never to be answered it would seem.
Bahamut died and is gone, the Bahamut Primal is composed entirely of Aether and not at all like the original
Lalafells have it rough.
Not so much in the lore department, but more so the staggering amount of commonly spread but false rumours online with no in game lore to support it such as: Lalas don't have knees, Lalas are born from eggs, Lalas are genetically altered flesh pods, Lalas are less likely to be hit by AoE heals because they are smaller, Lalafell children do not exist and are born full sized, and finally Lalas are more Aetherically dense and are stronger because of it.
There is actually several lore entries in Azys La that quite explicitly imply that Lalafells were fused together by multiple different Allagan mutations on flesh like compounds.
We all know that different jobs have different Attributes(Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Intelligence and Mind) right?
But did you know that the Disciple of Hand Jobs also have varied Attributes as well!
Like Blacksmith has the highest Strength by 66 over all other DoH Jobs other than Armorer, which it's only 22 over.
As for Vitality, Armorer, Leatherworker and Carpenter has the highest, and Blacksmith has the small bonus.
Weaver has the highest Dexterity by 66, and Alchemist has the highest Intelligence, and Culinarian has the highest Mind by the same.
And if you add them all up together, for whatever reason Alchemist and Culinarian have the least Base Attribute Total by 44.
And yes, this has absolutely no impact on crafting whatsoever.
Weaver is tied for highest Dexterity with Goldsmith
In Shadowbringers we visit the First, a world on the brink after the Flood of Light, marred by eternal daylight. We become the Warrior of Shadow, to bring peace to this world, but that wasn't why we initially went there.
In an attempt to bring us specifically to the First, the Crystal Exarch summoned Thancred, Y'shtola, Urianger, Alphinaud and Alisaie in spirit, but not body. When we finally are able to reach the First, we had the unique ability in that we were the only one of our allies to be able to travel back and forth between realms, while all the others remained stuck - at least up until the post patches.
The ability to travel back to the Source was not unique to the Warrior of Light, as Feo Ul was able to also travel between the two and interact with our retainers.
The original Final Fantasy game was rife with stolen ideas and properties. After the success of Dragon Quest they made their own game, and decided to take things directly from Dungeons and Dragons.
Things like spell slot levels were used instead of MP, and equipment options matching D&D counterparts. Enemies like Sahagin, Wizards, Lich, Giants, were not only lifted from the monster manual, but sprites that look identical to images in the book. They even the used of dragons from Dungeons and Dragons like Tiamat and Bahamut.
Wizards in Final Fantasy, while stolen from D&D aren't actually Wizards. They are Mind Flayers, and were completely incapable of casting any sort of magic. They simply hit very very hard.