Final Fantasy Summon Origins: Cú Chulainn

One of the most grotesquely fascinating monsters of Final Fantasy Tactics is Cuchulainn. He appears as the first major challenge in the game as the Scorpio Lucavi of the Zodiac. He later appeared in Final Fantasy XII as an Esper that wasn’t necessary for the game’s completion. In both games, his form is that of an obese monster with many teeth and the ability to inflict a multitude of status effects. His surname is the Impure.

This bottomless pit of a monster’s name may sound familiar. The Esper shares his name with a Celtic warrior, whose feats are told in an epic story called The Tain.

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In many mythologies and legends there’s a hero, a hero who slays monsters, wins battles, hooks up with beautiful maidens and usually has connections to the gods in some form. In Celtic Myth that hero is Cú Chulainn, which is Irish for Culain’s hound. This warrior was known for having a bit of a temper in combat and facing impossible odds by himself. He wielded a powerful spear known as the Gae Bolg, which he could cast from his feet.

Doesn’t sound a whole lot like Final Fantasy’s Cúchulainn. . .

So how does this hero of myth become a monster with a belly mouth? Before we start making connections, let’s learn the stories of both monster and warrior.

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In Final Fantasy Tactics, Cardinal Delacroix seems helpful enough to the player’s quest. He is the one who reveals the grand plot that runs alongside the political story line. In Ivalice, the world of Tactics, there are powerful beings known as the Lucavi that seek magical stones known as auracite, each of which correspond to the twelve Zodiac. These stones allow them to take their true forms for immense, otherworldly power. Delacroix is simply a conduit for Cúchulainn, allowing the Impure to exist in Ivalice.

Considering the monster as symbolic, Cúchulainn’s form highlights the fact that Delacroix betrays Ramza, the hero of that game. The ugly inner self is revealed and its hunger goes beyond greed and gluttony. The monster is slain by Ramza and company and the Scorpio stone is apprehended.

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In Final Fantasy XII, Cúchulainn plays no special role in the story. In fact, there is no dialogue exchanged at all. The monster simply exists and if the player can defeat him, then his summon is unlocked. The King of the Impure aids the party in a couple ways. First, his melee attacks are efficient, capable of doing massive amounts of damage in just a few whacks. Second, he has the ability to poison enemies. His final attack does massive damage and poisons all enemies.

On the other side of the coin, the Irish hero Cú Chulainn’s story is vastly different. Our hero is born with connections to the divine as he is the son of the god Lugh and the mortal Deichtine. He is then taken in by the Ulster men, who teach him everything from fighting to poetry. His name is Setanta during these stories, as he had yet to earn his name. In early childhood, he was known for besting a whole group of boys at Emain Macha. Setanta just wanted to play with them, but he didn’t understand the rules and was attacked. Even though the boys were older than him, he beat all of them senseless and had to be drug away. Lucky for Setanta, his Ulster mentor Conchobar clears up the misunderstanding and the boys let Setanta play.

During these games, Culann the Smith is impressed by Setanta’s skill and invites him to a feast. The wide-eyed boy agrees, but asks to finish his game before joining the smith at the table. Swept up in the meal, Culann forgets he has another guest on the way and releases his massive hound to protect the house. Setanta arrives only to find a snarling beast and is attacked. It is here that Setanta shows his godly strength, killing the beast by throwing a ball down its throat. The smith hears the commotion and finds his prized hound dead and a bloody Setanta. Ashamed of his fury, Setanta honorably offers to replace the hound and protect the house until a new hound is raised. Thus Setanta earns his name Cú Chulainn, the hound of Culann.
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As an adult Cú Chulainn performs many impressive feats. His battle frenzy was unmatched and in one instance the people of Emain feared for their lives. Cú Chulainn was only calmed by an army of naked women, who distracted him so he could be doused in vats of cold water. The first vat exploded from his rage. The second boiled. Finally, the third vat was only warmed, thus calming him.

Cú Chulainn’s story goes beyond being a berserker as he must face more complex challenges. Throughout his life he must rescue his love, face his son in battle, and ultimately meet his end at a young age. However, I believe that it’s his battle frenzy that may have inspired his Final Fantasy design.

Imagine the Celtic hero’s battle lust is never sated or if the women of Emain never came to the rescue. He would continue to seek out fights, destroying all in his path. Eventually, this could lead to gluttony, explaining the Final Fantasy version’s plumpness.

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Another important feature to note is Cúchulainn’s face in Final Fantasy XII. At first I thought the red swoops to be an elaborate headdress. However, looking closer, I realized that this is a spear. The spear has been impaled through the beast’s skull from the top, so it wasn’t done as an act of self-mutilation.

The angle of the spear is incredibly important, for in Irish Myth, Cú Chulainn is mortally wounded by a spear. After this, he ties himself to a stone so that he may face his enemies standing. Once the fight leaves him and death approaches, a raven lands on his shoulder. It is here that his enemies behead him and a great light spills from the warrior’s body.

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My last theory on Final Fantasy’s design choices follow what could have happened next. The body of Cu Chulainn could have been reanimated, becoming the grotesque King we see in Final Fantasy XII. Since his godly light is gone, he would no longer be pure, but impure.

While at first it seemed like the connection was only in name, these two beings are in fact connected. There were some creative angles put on the Impure, but the subtle design elements scream Celtic.

Makes me wonder why Bahamut is a dragon in Final Fantasy and not a whale as he is in Arabic Myth. That’s a story for another time.

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Old Fashioned (2014) Review

It’s that time of year again. Love is in the air, and if you were looking for a not so conventional love story then Old Fashioned may just be the film you need. Old Fashioned tells the story of a romance between a solitary man, Clay (Rik Swartzwelder), a woman with a passion for life, Amber (Elizabeth Roberts); however, instead of dating like people do now-a-days, Clay and Amber attempt to court each other instead, which means no kissing or anything beyond that.

Clay won’t even allow himself to be alone with Amber at all unless they’re in public or in what Clay might define as an “acceptable” situation. In fact, on their first official date Clay takes Amber to the local church where they have a pre-marital counseling session. Old fashioned, indeed! It’s a bit of an extreme approach to dating, and many of the other characters in the film agree. Clay spends most of his time defending his beliefs to those who are closest to him.

The get more viagra vs generic users have experienced significant enhancement in erection, penetration and sustaining erection for the longer period. Certain cases are less severe where the patients show no symptoms and never viagra in uk davidfraymusic.com really require any surgical treatment. Symptoms specific to men:- Erectile dysfunction Infertility Reduced sex drive Symptoms specific to women:- Irregular menstrual periods Lack of menstruation Milky davidfraymusic.com commander cialis discharge from the breasts 4. Working out is good for our health, we all know that, it is a natural viagra purchase canada condition that all women encounter as they start to age. There were some performances in Old Fashioned that felt a little rocky, but I have to say that Clay’s aunt Zella (Dorothy Silver) is now one of my favorite humans. She’s funny, sharp and anything but timid, which is nice to see in an elderly character in a film. Instead of being a “sweet old lady” or just an old person who swears repeatedly for comic effect, Zella is just a strong character. She lets Clay know exactly how she feels about his dating and other life habits without any filter. I really enjoyed every scene she was featured in. Go Aunt Zella! Rik Swartzwelder and Elizabeth Roberts have a very natural on-screen chemistry. The interactions between the two characters feels sincere.

Aunt Zella SmilingWhat I enjoyed most about Old Fashioned is that it presents an alternative to how most people pursue relationships, but it also acknowledges that resisting every dating convention to an extreme can make it impossible to form a meaningful relationship. Like in the scene where Clay and Amber “get lost” (Amber’s idea for a date where they drive to a random destination) and Clay refuses to admit he wants Amber, and he resists her when she leans in for a kiss. Because Clay refuses Amber any sort of intimacy—even if it is something more conservative—she feels like Clay doesn’t really value their relationship at all. In a nutshell I think this film emphasizes the idea that most people move too quickly in relationships, but if one takes things too slowly in an attempt to have a perfect relationship it can be equally damaging. Overall, it’s refreshing to watch a film with this sort of outlook on relationships. Even if it is a view most people might not agree with.

The Many Versions of Final Fantasy IV

Square Enix has made some excellent games. Some of the greatest RPGs of our time have come from this Japanese developer. Over the years, the classic Final Fantasy games have received multiple remakes. None have more variety than Final Fantasy IV.

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Jupiter Descending into a Beautiful Tapestry of Crazy Ideas

After a six-month delay, the Wachowskis’ latest science fiction epic has hit theatres. Was it worth the wait? That depends on your suspension of disbelief.

A young woman (Mila Kunis) learns she is a member of an intergalactic royal family and has been targeted for assassination; however, a disgraced alien soldier (Channing Tatum) is determined to keep her safe at all costs.

(SPOILER WARNING!)

I’m a sucker for space operas. When I heard the Wachowskis’ were working on a film that looked to be equal parts Star Wars and Dune, I was intrigued. Well, perhaps “curious” is a better way to put it. The Wachowskis’ star—to use a space-themed metaphor—has been slowly falling since the release of the Matrix sequels. Even the first film of that trilogy, while revolutionary in 1999, has lost some of its luster and seems destined to be relegated to cult classic status despite its initial popularity. Regardless, I went into Jupiter Ascending with an open mind. Indeed, I wanted to like this film. Unfortunately, I find myself at a bit of a loss for words, but not because the film left me speechless.

As a speculative fiction aficionado and writer, I’m well-versed with the genre’s unique writing challenges. In particular, they require more exposition in order to explain its worlds and its rules. This is usually harder to do in a film because the format requires a more focused and streamlined story than, say, books, which have the advantage of being able to meander and explain things in more depth.

It’s in this department Jupiter Ascending falters. It constantly throws names, terms and concepts at the audience throughout its two-hour run time. Even for someone like me, I was a bit confused at points. Now, I was genre-savvy enough to figure out some things, and others were explained later. A small example: a character used the phrase, “Feed him to the void,” which baffled me until a few minutes later when another character was ejected out an airlock. With all the alien races, political factions and military organizations running about and their sometimes murky motivations and loyalties, it is easy to get lost. On one hand, it shows how expansive the film’s universe is, which is good. The best worlds in speculative fiction are ones that are larger than the stories at hand. It lends them a sense of verisimilitude. The problem is Jupiter Ascending gives the audience little time to process anything. Exposition is done best early on so the plot and characters take the forefront later (though with more exposition peppered throughout), but Jupiter Ascending spends most of its run time on exposition, especially in the first half. To its credit, it’s not so convoluted that the main plotline is indecipherable, but much of the minutia is confusing.

Like Steven Moffat does for his Doctor Who scripts, the Wachowskis stuff a multitude of ideas into Jupiter Ascending, but focus on only one; the rest are details. Unlike Moffat, the Wachowskis’ concepts aren’t as airtight. While it wasn’t necessary to explain everything, these details had so many holes it undermined some of this universe’s integrity. Case in point: after a harrowing mid-air chase through Chicago with alien spacecraft, the buildings are shown at a distance being quickly repaired. Caine (Tatum) explains that people’s memories will be wiped so as to perpetuate the illusion that nothing happened. While he said some would “slip through the cracks,” it’s assumed their stories wouldn’t be believed. Considering the particular aliens doing this looked like the infamous “greys,” the implication is that they inspired those stories. This raises too many questions that aren’t answered. What about footage on security cameras? How can they rebuild these skyscrapers this fast? How do they account for people who are injured or killed? Do they collect all the debris from their damaged ships? Simply repairing buildings and erasing (most) people’s memories isn’t enough to avoid detection. Ironically, the film illustrates this itself by having the “greys” overlook a photo taken by Jupiter (Kunis) with her smartphone when she spots them. Worse yet is there’s no clear reason given for the secrecy. It could be inferred that, given the Abrasax family’s genocidal plan for Earth (more on that later), it’s meant to avoid a rebellion, but given their vastly superior technology and supreme arrogance, it seems more likely they’d assume they’re unbeatable.

Another faulty idea is this concept called “recurrence,” which is essentially a scientific version of reincarnation. It’s said that on rare occasions a person is born with the exact same genetics as someone who has died, and this, apparently, entitles him/her to the same rights and privileges as the forerunner. Jupiter (Kunis) is being targeted for assassination because she is a recurrence of the Abrasax queen. This, the central conceit of the film, is ridiculous. I’m not a scientist, but by my understanding of genetics, the odds of the same set of genes coming together to make what amounts to a double of someone is near impossible, if not completely impossible, outside of identical twins or cloning. It’d be like making a naturally-born “reincarnation” of George Washington president by virtue of his genes. While the Abrasax siblings make frequent remarks about Jupiter looking like their mother and sometimes even ask if she has her memories, it’s clear that Jupiter isn’t the same person. What’s sad is this “genetic royalty” is the only thing that makes her special. Now, this intergalactic society places the highest regard on genetics and the manipulation of them, but this notion still borders on absurd.

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My apologies for spoiling a 1973 cult classic. :P

How this works is never explained. It wouldn’t have needed a detailed explanation, let alone a terribly scientific one, but I don’t understand why human beings are needed to make this substance or why it requires 100 bodies to make one bottle of the stuff. As it stands, it’s only a plot device to make some of the Abrasax siblings more villainous than others.

Also, bees were genetically engineered to sense royalty. Then why don’t they swarm the Queen of England? Or do they only detect “reincarnated” intergalactic queens?

Jupiter herself is a problematic heroine, though I use that term loosely. First, if I may nitpick, while her namesake is technically the planet, the name Jupiter is masculine. It’s the Latin name of Zeus and more or less means “shining father.” I suppose it somewhat ties into her true character, but even then it still seems mismatched. Regardless, the bigger problem is she hardly does anything despite being the intended protagonist. She makes a few choices that affect the plot and sort of joins the action during the climax, but for the most part she spends the film being the McGuffin, getting rescued and/or feeling useless. The supporting characters do most of the heavy lifting. I realize she’s a maid and not a fighter, but the Wachowskis could’ve done more with her.

It sounds like I absolutely hated this film, which isn’t true. There’s cool stuff here. The special effects are outstanding. Unlike the monochromatic Matrix trilogy, this film is full of vibrant colors. The creature, ship and technology designs are imaginative. The universe is lush with history and splendor. I’ve rarely seen this level of world-building in a film. In fact, the most recent example of competition I can think of is Avatar (and maybe the Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas). The villains, as mentioned, “wear hats” ranging from gray to black. Eddie Redmayne gives the most interesting performance as Balem, the youngest Abrasax, by giving him a breathy, quiet voice that always makes him sound a little off-kilter (though it does sometimes get annoying). There are a few memorable lines, like Stinger’s (Sean Bean) advice to Caine, which gets the hero to rush in and save Jupiter. The action is well-done and exciting. Too bad these were buried under an overabundance of faulty ideas.

Ultimately, Jupiter Ascending is a flashy film over-encumbered by its gee-whiz ideas. If you suspend enough disbelief, it’s a fun ride. Otherwise, you may find yourself asking too many questions.

Final Grade: C

Giga’s Community Game Night and Giveaway!

We are finally hosting our first Community Game Night on PC: Wednesday, February 18 from 8-10 pm EST! @4EverClassic105 will be streaming the event on our brand new Twitch channel.

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