Something From ‘Final Fantasy’ Just Became Canon In ‘Star Wars’
Image Source: Final Fantasy Wiki
It is exciting to discover new elements in a beloved fandom on top of finding Easter eggs that pay homage to what came before. With the expansion of the Star Wars universe, it would make sense that Star Wars would cross over into other unrelated media, such as video games. Star Wars Easter eggs are already fun to find in films and television shows, but when they reference a well-known video game outside of their own realm and worlds in one of their novels, the potential is endless.
Though their inclusion has been called controversial, there were several Easter eggs in Mike Chen’s novel Star Wars: Brotherhood. One was a reference to blitzball, a water sport that is played in a lake. According to Comicbook.com, “Final Fantasy X happens to have an underwater sport by that name, and Chen has confirmed that the connection is an intentional one.” With the inclusion of two seemingly mismatched elements brought into the beloved and long-lasting world like Star Wars, some resistance is to be expected. However, it is not the first time unlikely references and elements outside of one genre have crossed over.
Image Source: Gamepressure
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Released in May of the year and already garnering positive reviews and praise, Brotherhood portrays the relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. It also details the interactions between enemies-turned-strained-allies Obi-Wan Kenobi and Asajj Ventress. The excerpt on the official Star Wars website only discusses the tension between Kenobi and Ventress as they made their own assessments over the damages on Cato Neimodia.
Blitzball is only mentioned in passing in the book, but nevertheless, it is now in Star Wars lore:
"Anakin saw it, from the younglings playing blitzball in the nearby lake to the elder Aqualish sitting in the remaining doorway arch of an otherwise vaporized building."
Think of blitzball as a combination of football, soccer, and water polo being played in an underwater sphere. You and your team can pass, dribble (swimming with the ball), and shoot the ball into a goal like that of a soccer goal. However, players pass the ball to other members of their team as opposed to kicking it. The player can kick the ball into the goal only when they are close to the goal. However, the options to execute these moves only appear when members of the opposing team are not nearby. If you are within reach of the opposing team, then you are faced with even more complicated options to execute. This greatly complicates gameplay in the Final Fantasy X minigame and makes blitzball so infamous among gamers. Many Final Fantasy X players will tell you they have never won a blitzball match. However, the love and respect for this underwater sport have made their way into another loved and respected fandom.
Image Source: YouTube
On the opposite end, Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter are referenced in several different Final Fantasy games. As stated by Marc Descamps of Comicbook.com, “After decades of seeing Star Wars referenced in the series, it's actually pretty interesting to see it go the other way!”
Image Source: Screen Rant
With references looking as though they are “going the other way,” it is safe to wonder how far other lores and fandoms are going to go for more references. Will Star Wars keep adding references from other unrelated video game franchises or continue to draw a parallel from Final Fantasy? It’s not known how much one franchise will borrow from another, especially when the respective franchises have so much of their own material to gather from. Considering the potential Star Wars has for expanding their universe, it is easy to forget how expansive their world-building is. Outside of the films, there are television series, books, graphic novels, and even their own line of video games. Time will tell what new things will become canon in Star Wars, and more.
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Source(s): Comicbook.com, For The Win, IGN, Starwars.com
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