I was going through the character dossiers when I noticed Ardyn's first entry looked a lot longer in JP compared to the EN one. And what do you know, it seems like the EN localisation left out some information.
I've cropped the above screenshots for a clearer comparison:
Notice how Ardyn's EN dossier is shorter (only 2 sentences long) and makes zero mention of how he joined Niflheim 30 years ago, let alone the other specific information featured in the JP dossier.
Here's the JP text, translated by google translate:
While I doubt any of this is news to FFXV fans, it seems remiss of the EN localisation team to exclude ANY lore that's present in the original text - much less lore related to the main antagonist, of all characters.
To me, the JP description leaves a somewhat different impression of Ardyn - he appears more influential, more important in the grand scheme of things (plus he's researching magic) - and it gives us a timeline. This timeline would've been particularly relevant to new players, especially those playing before Episode Ardyn's release, because it begs questions such as "If Ardyn joined Niflheim 30 years ago, then how old is he really?" and "Who, where, and what was he before becoming Niflheim's chancellor?"
It makes even less sense that they simplified Ardyn's entry when the official FFXV website did include some of the missing info in their overview (x):
As for Ardyn's other two dossier entries?
They don't appear to have any inconsistencies (other than Ardyn's 3rd entry being REALLY verbose in EN), but I've included them below for completion's sake:
so anyways xv has something to fucking Say about the kings of Lucis but it can't seem to actually form a fucking coherent thought to save its life.
The fact that all the kings we know the name of and see their faces are characterized by physically helping their people, either by sidequesting (Noct) sealing away daemons (Regis) healing (Ardyn) or performing quarantine (Somnus) seems to indicate that this is by design and intentional. This is further exacerbated by the main gameplay loop and draw of the game BEING the sidequests and exploring the open world, exploring every little thing and going around helping people.
So you would fucking think that this ties into how the kings of Lucis are perceived and how the game talks about them, right! You'd think that this would play into the fact that in XV the divine right of kings is worryingly literal with the fact that the Caelum house has access to magic and battle prowess that the normal person simply cannot have!
It's even worse too when you juxtapose Regis against Noctis because Regis is noted as being a rather conservative king. He's playing a losing game for the ~25 years of his rule and 'hiding' behind the New Wall, whereas the entire time you control Noctis as the new King (ch 2 onwards) he's defined by helping his citizens in times of need. He does menial tasks, and also hunting dangerous creatures that normal people can't have a hope of surviving against! A noble endeavor that highlights the themes of the game: ""many have sacrificed for the king now the king must sacrifice for all" right, right?
WRONG. This concept is NEVER FUCKING TOUCHED UPON, and yet it would be the easiest way to make the shitty plot point of Noctis dying make sense! Nevermind the fact that the game gives you very little reason to care about the world itself, let alone Insomnia and simply lacks weight about any of it's worldchanging events.
If they took even an onze of effort to connect the tie of the main gameplay loop to the narrative crux, it could've hit so much harder and better. Instead you just get told “hey Noct has to die to save the planet from the sick darkness lol” Make it his choice, rather than being told this is something he has to do by the questionable wisdom of a god who stole his face. (seriously bahamut looks almost creepily like Noctis take that as you will)
I still cannot believe the devs legit said oh yeah we knew the narrative was crap. hhh gnaws on this piece of media it sucks but i'm fucking obsessed with it.
I.... genuinely think ignis would die of a broken, weakened heart after the events of the game. I have extensive thoughts on this. But he's definitely the first to go.
Ardyn’s Kingship and Somnus’ Rulership: an Exploration of FFXV Lore and Etymology
This was not the meta I expected to be dishing out today but here we are. Buckle in folks, this might not be what canon intended, but it is indeed what just exploded from my brain.
(If it’s not clear or you have questions, please come ask me!)
FACT: Aera tells Somnus that Ardyn was to be king
FACT: Ifrit provides the same information to Ardyn
FACT: The Crystal rejects Ardyn as the one who is to be the Founder King of Lucis
Bad storytelling, or is there something more here? A common theory -one I’ve worked with myself- is that the Six are not in fact omniscient and chose Ardyn as their king without consulting the Spirit of Eos, represented by the Crystal, which either chose Somnus from the start or rejected Ardyn because of his corruption by the Starscourge and then chose Somnus as the next best thing. I tend to believe it chose Somnus from the start, because Ardyn gained that taint doing what he was supposed to be doing - curing people.
So, it could be that simple, Ardyn was the Astral’s Chosen, Somnus was Eos’ - but I would like to propose something different, and it hinges around three more facts.
FACT: Aera and Ardyn were engaged to be wed
FACT: Ardyn is Somnus’ older brother
FACT: The word “King” has some very interesting etymology
Let’s get nerdy, folks.
The word “King” comes from a contraction of the Old English word cyning meaning “king or ruler” - the source for all this is HERE if you’re interested, but I’ll be hitting the high points - so far, this isn’t a surprise. But here’s where it gets interesting because cyning doesn’t actually have clear origins. But the best guess currently is that it is at least related to cynn - another Old English word meaning “family or race” that, as you might’ve guessed, led to the modern word kin.
Now, assuming they’re related this means one of two things might be true - that “king” was either "a leader of the people" or "of noble birth.”
The second of those, we’re going to discard. One, because there was no King in the area prior to Somnus founding Lucis and so it would have been... difficult for Ardyn and Somnus to be of noble birth. The first one though... a king as a leader of the people... could that be?
There’s a lot of Ancient Roman vibes in what little we see of Ardyn and Somnus’ era, but enough that it feels reasonable to build from that. While not of noble birth as we think of it (though likely privileged) Ardyn was the older brother. Whatever their family did have, he was set to inherit and Somnus likely would have struck out on his own.
To be more clear here: Ardyn was the next leader of House Caelum. He was born to lead the family, and Somnus was to go out and establish, not only his own lineage, but a kingdom. This would not conflict with Ardyn, however, because Ardyn was also set to marry Aera Mirus Fleuret of Tenebrae which would have gone one of two ways: either the Fleurets were established as matriarchal even then, making him the Prince Consort to her Queen - or whatever equivalent terms they had in Tenebrae for “male married to the female ruler” - Or. Or he would have been King, which... well, I do have theories that suggest he could have been back then. If he was King of Tenebrae, though, that would certainly put him more as Somnus’ peer than necessarily competition.
Regardless, Ardyn remains the father of a very important lineage, and not just because they are the rulers of Tenebrae. Remember, there were two tasks given by the gods: 1) create a new nation 2) cleanse the world of Starscourge.
Establishing a nation seemed to go smoothly enough for Somnus to have succeeded - how much moreso without strained relations with Tenebrae at the start? But curing a WORLD of Starscourge? Two people even in a lifetime cannot possibly manage.
But if two people of exceptional magic, capable of passing it down through blood, had children.... say they had two. And their two children had two children. Etc etc. You’d have had over a thousand in the eighth generation, assuming no one had more than two at a time. And that’s not accumulative - the eighth generation alone would have over a thousand people capable of healing Starscourge, a solid 500 and some change in their parents in addition. Things weren’t dire until Noctis’ time as the one hundred and fourteenth.
They could have done it. Not without cost, no, but together, Ardyn and Aera’s family could have healed the world.
To make brief acknowledgment of the attempted Biblical themes in FFXV, I think it would be closer to the truth to say that he wasn’t meant to be Eos’ Jesus: he was meant to be Abraham, the father of a nation, the father of a race of healers whose descendant(s) would save mankind.
Ultimately the point is this: Ardyn Lucis Caelum was NOT the King of Lucis. He was never intended to be except possibly by misinformed Astrals. He WAS “King” as in the head of House Caelum, his right as firstborn. He was also “king” as a leader of people, his family first and foremost but likely a whole school of mages if things had gone on this more favorable route.
Ardyn was supposed to be a king, Aera had that right. But not of the nation of Lucis.
Unfortunately, no one told Somnus that, so we’re unlikely to ever see it play out.
This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while. I have to admit that Ignis’s choice of last words to Noct struck me as a bit odd- how can someone “take care” when they’re going somewhere with the full knowledge and intention of dying?
Anyway, I looked at the Japanese for this part, which is 「どうか、ご無事で」, which I think is equally as interesting as its English counterpart.
One thing I do want to say about “literal” translations is that they can actually take you further from the emotions and nuance that a character is trying to convey, or that a native speaker would interpret. For example, if we see a character sneeze, and another character reply with “God bless you”, would it be correct to assume that the second character must be religiously observant? Would it be correct to translate this as a reference to God in other languages? No- the best translation would of course be a phrase that the target language uses when someone sneezes!
This principle applies here, since Ignis is using two rather formal set phrases.
どう か
how, in what way question marker
どうか= “somehow”, or, when placed before a request or desire “Please”, “I hope” (It’s a rather intense way of saying please, as you’re expressing a wish for something to happen in any way possible).
ご 無事 で
honorific, your safety condition marker
ご無事で= “Be safe”
However, 無事（ぶじ buji）has a somewhat wider meaning than “safe”. You can say a concert 無事で終わった “ended buji”, that is, “ended without incident” or perhaps “went smoothly”.
Ignis’s request here has a rather formal, solemn tone, but what exactly is he requesting? Does it make sense to literally say “Please be safe” to someone who you know is about to die? Or is “I hope it goes well” a better interpretation of these words?
Honestly, I think the oddness and ambiguity is intentional. For that reason, I think “Godspeed and take care” is actually a pretty good rendering of this line, given timing constraints.
(But damn if Ignis’s last words to Noctis being “Somehow, please be safe” isn’t kind of a gut-punch.)
Man i need an excuse to write an essay about the religious, specifically Christian, allusions and metaphors in Final Fantasy XV. Like i could talk your ear off about that.
Like:
-Noctis is referred to as “King of Kings” by Gilgamesh. The phrase “King of Kings” has a lot of historical background to it but what’s important here is this title is used twice in the Book of Revelation as a title for Jesus.
-I can make arguments for both Noctis and Ardyn being Jesus figures.
-Noctis has to sacrifice himself to save humanity
-He’s gruesomely killed. like it isn’t a quick death it’s slow and painful.
-Tells his “followers” (the bros) he’s gonna die before he does
-Accepts his death, BUT the final campfire scene=Garden of Gethsemane
-Every past king of Lucis were tasked with making sure that when the King of Kings did come that the Ring and Crystal were safe and ready for him, and I see this as a parallel to the Prophets and John the Baptist
-Multiple moments in the game I can argue are metaphorical Second Comings
-In the game, a father sacrifices his son. yeah.
-Talk of blood sacrifices
-probably more that i’m forgetting
Characters sacrificing themselves and being metaphors for Jesus is nothing new, but i did not expect for this game to do it when i bought it ha. Not sure what to argue this does for the narrative other than it makes the ending all the more obvious.
youtube commentSee I was fine with Noctis dying, because at the end of the day it seemed to me like his entire arc was really leading up to his death. Selflessness as a virtue, and self sacrifice for the greater good of all are pretty big narrative themes in XV as a whole, and those themes influence how Noctis as a character develops. Noctis starts the game as someone who has been told about his duty as the Chosen King, but isn't really taking that duty as seriously as he should. At the start of the game, his main concerns are really just about what he has personally lost, be it his father, his Kingdom, or Luna. His father and Luna lived their lives as paragons of selflessness. They gave everything they had for the sake of the world and it's future, even when doing so caused them great pain and suffering, because they knew it was necessary to create a better world. Noctis isn't really thinking about that though. He's just thinking about how much he's hurting after losing them. It's only after Gladio gives him a reality check, and reminds Noctis that this is about more than just him and his pain, that Noctis begins to take his duty as The Chosen King to heart, as he strives to make sure that the noble sacrifices of his father and Luna weren't in vain. Noctis' arc then naturally concludes with him making the same choice that Luna and his father did before him. Rather than run from his duty, and selfishly protect only himself and those closeset to him, Noctis chooses to leave his friends and brothers behind, sacrificing all of himself for the sake of his world, and his people. He gives his life so that the world might be saved, and is then rewarded for his sacrifice when he is reunited with Luna in the afterlife.
Because apparently all it takes is for me to play this fucking game for 7 hours and my brain immediately just. Becomes Like That again.
Also I’m lying, it’s not a theory it’s just a long example of me rambling because I need to pull these ideas out of myself.
So what I was trying to say, yesterday, is that. At the very beginning, the whole fight scene with Ifrit is kept very vague, and it’s, of course, because they can’t just spoil the ending. But it means that, visually we have these boys running headfirst towards a giant, demonic entity sitting on a throne that just is in the middle of the void. Of course the whole thing’s main aesthetic is about Hell and Fighting Evil Incarnate, which works very well as a foreshadowing of The End, works very well with the general christian undertones of this game, and also very well works with the catchphrase that leads us to the actual beginning of the story, the one that says “Before The Fall”. What this entire sequence is telling us, is that this is going to be a story about falling in the christian sense of the term, it’s going to be a story about losing grace.
And the fact that this transitions to another Throne Scene. Where it’s Regis sitting on the throne, with what looks in his hair like an embryo of a horn similar to Ifrit’s ones. This, in cinema language, translates very easily into This Is The State Of Grace, especially since the throne room is also made to look like a church / a judgement day painting. And we could absolutely stop there and accept the idea that these are simply representations of Noctis’ general environment, that he, being the emotional core of the story, is the one that is going to get through a journey from Heaven to Hell. He’s leaving behind the white and luminous world of Goodness, and will end up having to fight Absolute Evil. This works for the kind of story this is. BUT it also kinda definitely makes it look like they’re the before and after versions of the same scene, and that the second image is going to, during the course of the story, slowly morph into the first.
And we could have a conversation about that alone, tbh. This is interesting in that it technically isn’t lying to us about the type of story we are about to experience, but just hints at something else if you squint? And it’s enough to make for some interesting fan conversations.
BUT I am obsessed with other things that I have just. Kept in a corner of my brain all this time because I didn’t see how they fit together, and now I have had A Revelation.
Which is why I also want to bring up that in other promotional material and in Kingsglaive, Regis is shown sitting on the throne holding flames in his hand. So there is, somewhere, a very distinct decision to make it look like Regis is maybe not the perfect incarnation of goodness. Lightsource from one side means shadows appear on his face, which is textbook level 0 of “making your character look morally ambiguous”. Which is super weird, because Regis’ only purpose as a character is to die so that Noctis’ is forced onto a path he doesn’t want to follow. Regis’ entire existence as a plot device does not leave room for moral ambiguity, au contraire, he is meant to be the character that makes the hard but right choice of dying to let the hero rise.
And I would also like to bring up whatever the FUCK the Omen trailer was? Like, let’s... simply ignore the part about Noctis’ internal journey that don’t actually fit the kind of journey he gets through in the game, that’s its own can of worms... I just want to talk about that weird ending with Regis, the one where he talks to someone off screen with a distorted voice, who says he wants “one more death, and then, I can rest”? You know, the part that talks about taking responsibility for your actions? Remember that part? Because I have been absolutely obsessed with this plan since I’ve first seen it:
The weird angle they’re choosing here, of revealing Regis by moving from behind the crystal, makes it look a lot like a reverse shot as one would use it to film, well, a conversation. Where the crystal is, we could instead have the shoulder and head of whoever Regis is talking to. So it’s made to look like this is who Regis is talking to, and like the weird, distorted voice, actually comes from the crystal.
Anyway the Omen trailer ends with Regis saying to himself “may the gods forgive me” which is straight up setting him up to be a morally ambiguous character about to make a morally ambiguous decision, which, again, doesn’t make any fucking sense.
And I couldn’t quite fully build a reflexion around that plan I was obsessed with because it felt to me like some sort of random, one-off occurence in which I was reading too much. I completely am still reading too much into all this. BUT. It is not a one-off occurence! There is continuity in the way the game and the latest derivative products around this game are trying to frame things as if Regis was the one who is falling from grace.
So. I don’t know where I am going with this, really.
I said yesterday I wasn’t going for an “abandoned plotline” angle. I’ll be more precise. Maybe there was an abandoned plotline here that got discarded, we know Regis was meant to be a lot different in previous versions of the story. It’s possible that all this is just a vestige of something that didn’t end up in the final product. But what I meant is that it doesn’t matter. It’s the year of the lord 2020, and nobody cares about this game anymore, and no developping team is going to come out of its hole to offer us a retcon dlc, and if they tried I would probably hit them on the head with a shovel without even thinking about it because how dare they. It’s just that I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT because I... I like it? I like the potential that this weird framing holds. Or rather I like how I can hold it up to the final product and see that it doesn’t fit, but maybe it could, and there in the space between the two there’s possibility for more brainstorming and holy fuck I’ve missed this game.
So. For the 5 people left in this dark corner of the cultural landscape with me, I give this as a gift, a conversation starter: there is, for no comprehensible reason, a consistent framing of Regis as a morally ambiguous character.
