Dive into a world of creativity!
Yuffie Kisaragi - Blog Posts
yuffie taking .5s of vincent and sending them to reeve in official channels
HELP THEY'RE SO CUTE.
This joke could be told 500 times and it would never be enough for me
i like to imagine reeve is embarrassed, a little, about using cait sith. everyone else on the team can use their real bodies, really be in the fight, physically put their lives and livelihoods on the line. aerith gainsborough dies, in their quest to save the planet from sephiroth. in dirge of cerberus, he holds himself as if he doesn't see himself as a real member of the group, only someone who helped out.
i think yuffie probably helps the most with this- recalling things cait sith did in battle, treating him as if he's been there the whole time. (she's probably got a little bit of it on her own, what with being the youngest member, and with different motivations than everyone else.)
when cid and vincent get clued in on reeve's imposter syndrome, they're probably much less subtle about supporting him. cid isn't exactly a subtle man in the first place, and vincent doesn't do a lot of nuance in his day-to-day life (autistic old man.). telling reeve how proud they are of the good he's doing, attending all his little team building whatchamacallits, just generally doing their best to be supportive. by being the best husbands they can be.
cid highwind having tea parties with marlene, denzel, yuffie, and shelke, on the demands that he gets to make the tea, and gets to sit in a comfortable chair. he is NOT sitting on one of those little kid stools or drinking shit tea.
thinking about final fantasy vii dads today...
cloud and tifa have a weird thing going with their parents, where cloud lost his dad very young/didn't grow up with his dad, only living with claudia, and tifa has the exact opposite, where her mom died when she was young (leading to the og nibelheim incident /hj) and she grew up mostly with brian, until both claudia and brian died in the (second) nibelheim incident.
brian lockhart was obviously very protective of tifa, not wanting her to go up mount nibel in the first place with sephiroth, zack, and cloud to check on the reactor. then he died in front of her up in the reactor a week later...
while barret doesn't talk about his parents, he is a dad, and he sure has complicated feelings about that!! what with dyne being his best friend, and myrna not being able to be there with him, caring for marlene through all that loss must be crazy.
aerith's dad literally helped create sephiroth. professor gast was a craaazy dude lowkey. and he's so irrelevant in her life it kills me a little. i hope we see gast in pt. 3. and tell him his daughter is fuckin' dead.
nanaki has a weird thing with seto, too, where he believed him to be a coward, just to learn that in all actuallity, seto sacrificed the life he could have had with his wife and nanaki to protect cosmo canyon, so nanaki wouldn't feel the need to make a similiar, self-sacrificing choice.
yuffie and godo... her anger at him in the remake trilogy has me hooked. sonon seemed to think he was a great guy, and yuffie adamantly argued the opposite. i cannot WAIT to see him in pt. 3. i cannot wait to find out what is going on. she hates him so much right now, for the sake of her country.
does cid have a dad thing? ...i don't think so. neither does reeve/cait sith... well. i didn't forget them. they're mentioned.
vincent and grimoire... another thing i hope they explore in pt. 3... or in a DoC remake (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REMAKE IT.) the literal 4 minutes of grimoire screentime that explains absolutely nothing about their relationship, or grimoire's research, or... ANYTHING. i'm so. curious. he came in, flirted with lucrecia, and died. ARGH TELL ME MORE!!!
also, not a party member, but the whole "president shinra having multiple illegitimate sons" thing always makes me hate that guy a little more. lazard and evan i love you guys. rufus i love you too but your daddy issues are a different flavor.
reeve being anxious about one thing or another but vincent and cid (and yuffie and shelke, sometimes) are always there to help him
always catching when he's overthinking something
dragging him away from wro hq to go out with them for dinner
being with him after some sort of scare, so he knows they're all okay
helping him get through panic attacks, if and when he has them
yuffie sends him updates when she's away in wutai, or on a mission
shelke updates reeve on cid and vincent, since neither of them are technology experts, and she's with them all the time anyway.
cid likes to have reeve "help" him bake (reeve just sits there, and they talk, mostly.)
vincent takes naps on reeve when he's home, since reeve always seems to worry the most about vincent.
cid highwind but he has chronic pain and that's why he's so grumpy all the time because he wouldn't be able to go to space at all now.
cid highwind but he has chronic pain and he has a cane that yuffie had custom made in wutai for him.
cid highwind but he has chronic pain so he and barret start a "disabled club" where they both mostly bitch and moan about their disabilities and gush about their daughters.
cid highwind but he has chronic pain and he lives with vincent who has his own physical issues (chronic exhaustion + light sensitivity) and they support each other best they can. (i also think they live with reeve, who mostly just suffers from anxiety, but. reevincid is not very popular LOL)
cid highwind but he has chronic pain.
update on rebirth hard mode: i hate that evil fish. terror of the deep?? who let it trap all 3 party members at once?? fuck that shit and shoutout to enemy skill plasma discharge on tifa, that shit saved my ass.
also i got to see one of my top 5 yuffie moments, where she waves and goes "thank you very much!" and barret mockingly goes, "you're welcome!" they're so dumb i love them. so found family core of them tbh.
are other people making "hopes and dreams in part 3" bingo boards?? i was thinking about it and made a list of like 30+ things to put on the board (a LOT of them are definitely only dreams and won't happen but i thought of them and want them to happen so...)
if other people are, or have ideas, pleeease let me know i'm so curious what other people expect or hope for from part 3
i finished the game and I'M RIGHT! WHERE IS MY DoC FOUND FAMILY CONTENT??? i gotta do it myself (i was doing it already but was i nervous shelke was gonna die so i left her out just in case but she DOESN'T!)
started dirge of cerberus, here's my main takeaway so far:
reeve, cid, and vincent have two daughters, yuffie and shelke.
three dads, two daughters.
am i close 🤨
now that i'm about halfway through dirge of cerberus, i went back and replayed remake intergrade, chapter 2...
the thing that stuck out to me the MOST is that the deepground lackeys or whatever the hell you wanna call them are totally outfitted for long range combat when they fight yuffie and sonon. i also remembered WAY more members actually being there- but in all actuality you probably only see 20 or so members, including the ones nero murders (out of boredom or for power? another day.)
but they're all equipped with their stupid like, range enhancing helmets that would fucking impossible to see out of at short range (hello security officer helmet, but at least that thing doesn't cover their whole head.) and they're all wearing pants, which begs the question. was it just a small sample size (~20 members) or did they change the deepground uniforms in the three years inbetween remake intergrade and dirge of cerberus? 'cause they're totally wearing different outfits depending on their gender in dirge of cerberus- their thighs are OUT if they're women. but all pants in intergrade. did we only fight men, or was there an outfit change...?
also nero has split pupils (cat pupils? idk the right word) like sephiroth... is that just a jenova thing? if so, why don't more SOLDIERs have eyes like that??
started dirge of cerberus, here's my main takeaway so far:
reeve, cid, and vincent have two daughters, yuffie and shelke.
three dads, two daughters.
am i close 🤨
on our way!!💚
it's already the 13th in japan, so... happy birthday Vincent Valentine!!! ⚰️❤️
But wait there's more
So I decided to do more of the Valentine's day scenes from Persona 5 and hoo boy
They gonna hurt him
So I was doing the data greetings in remind and I thought of a brilliant idea to recreate the Valentine scene from Persona 5
Honestly the data greetings are the best thing about remind
Bonus: I figured out how to make them lie down. But I don't feel like taking down this post. So here you go.
NEW ANIMATION SHORT OUT NOW!!!
FFVII + tumblr text posts (part 6)
The lack of Barret DILF jokes is appalling
[Previous parts]
FFVII AFFECTION MECHANICS LIST
Probably this article was better suited for Valentine's day but I'm not well known for my perfect timing... :)
I thought it could be useful to have a full list of the OG variables that affect the date mechanics, a description of the actual Remake mechanics and the differences between the two games all in one post.
I had initially planned to add here also the Wall Market dress mechanics but this post is long enough and the Remake dresses are just so amazing that they absolutely deserve their own post and my complete devotion💖
So...Let’s get to the list!
OG AFFECTION POINTS
A reminder before reading:
Not all the optional choices of the game affect the scores.
Not all the optional choices that affect the score are mandatory.
Only four characters are associated to the affection mechanics and they start the game with different pre-set scores: Aerith 50, Tifa 30, Yuffie 10*, Barret 0. Aerith and Tifa are the most probable outcomes for the date.
The two main events influenced by the affection points are the Gold Saucer date and the scene under the Highwind. The charcter who has the highest score will spend a night with Cloud at the Gold Saucer; the dialogue between Cloud and Tifa before the final battle will be more explicitly romantic if Tifa has at least 50 points.
The characters are not in competition with each others, most of the choices affect the points of just one character at a time and sometimes they even affect uniformly more than a character. As a general rule, the points increase when Cloud tries to be a kind person and decrease when he's willfully mean.
The outcomes for the date and the HW scene can be different: it's not necessary to achieve Tifa's date to get the high affection HW scene, nor dating Aerith automatically triggers the low affection version. It is perfectly possible to get both Aerith's date and the high affection scene with Tifa.
MIDGAR:
1. On the train after the attack at the Reactor No. 1, when Jessie tells Cloud about the IDs:
Jessie: I know! Next time, I'll give you one I made myself.
"Thanks anyway" (No change)
"Looking forward to it" (-3 Tifa)
2. [Optional] At 7th Heaven, if Cloud bought Aerith's flower:
Tifa: But...A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have... - Cloud: No big.
"Give it to Tifa" (+5 Tifa)
"Give it to Marlene" (+5 Barret)
3. [Optional] If Cloud talks to Tifa when she's behind the bar:
Tifa: Sit down. How about......something to drink?
"I don't feel like it" (No change)
"Give me something hard" (+5 Tifa)
4. When Cloud tries to leave Seventh Heaven:
Tifa: So! You're really leaving !? You're just going to walk right out ignoring your childhood friend !? - Cloud: What......?
"How can you say that!" (+5 Tifa)
"...Sorry" (No change)
5. [Optional] The morning of the attack on the No. 5 Reactor:
Tifa: Good Morning! Cloud! Did you sleep well?
"Next to you, who wouldn't?" (+5 Tifa)
"Barret's snoring kept me up..." (+5 Barret)
6. On the way to the Reactor 5, getting through the train without being caught by the security system
Succeed (+5 Tifa, +5 Barret)
Fail (No change)
7. When Cloud is hanging after the explosion of the Airbuster in the Reactor 5:
Barret: Hey, you gonna be awright?
"(Be strong)" (+2 Barret)
"(I don't know if I can hold on)" (-3 Barret, +1 Tifa)
8. After falling in Aerith's church, when the girl is trying to run away from Reno:
Push a wrong barrel (-3 Aerith)
Tell her to fight the troopers (-1 Aerith)
Tell her to run (No change)
Tell her to run, but she has to fight (-1 Aerith)
Push the right barrel (+1 Aerith)
9. At Aerith's house, when Cloud says he wants to go back to Sector 7:
"No way!" (+1 Aerith)
Aerith: Is Tifa......a girl? - Cloud: Yeah. - Aerith: A girl...friend? - Cloud: Girlfriend?
"Yeah, that's right" (-5 Aerith)
10. When Cloud and Aerith are going to split up after getting to Sector 7 gate:
Cloud: Thanks. I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home? Aerith: Oh no! 'What ever will I do!?' ...isn't that what you want me to say?
"See her home." (No change)
"Go on to Sector 7" (+1 Aerith)
11a. [Wall Market option A] Talking to Aerith if Tifa is chosen as Don Corneo's bride
"You alright?" (+3 Aerith)
"We gotta help Tifa!" (-2 Aerith)
11b. [Wall Market option B] Talking to Tifa if Aerith is chosen as Don Corneo's bride
"You alright?" (-2 Tifa)
"We gotta help Aerith!" (+3 Tifa)
11c. [Optional] [Wall Market option C] If Cloud is chosen as Don Corneo's bride and acts hesitant
Don Corneo: You don't like me? There...there isn't someone else, is there?
No, only you (No change)
Yes, his name's Barret... (+5 Barret)
12. When Corneo throws the group in the sewer:
Talk to Aerith first (+3 Aerith)
Talk to Tifa first (+3 Tifa)
13. [Optional] After the plate fall, if Cloud talks to Marlene at Aerith's house:
Marlene: Guess what? Guess what? Aerith was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!
"I don't know" (+3 Tifa, -3 Aerith)
"Let's hope so" (-3 Tifa, +3 Aerith)
14. At Shinra HQ, after meeting Red XIII and before fighting Sample H0512:
Cloud: We'll take care of that monster. Somebody take Aerith somewhere safe...
"Tifa, I'm countin' on you!" (-2 Tifa)
"Barret, take care of her!" (+2 Barret)
15. When party splits up to escape Shinra HQ:
Cloud: If all five of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up in two groups.
Whoever is in the party gets a +2 boost
16. [Optional] Talking to Tifa in the jail (this option can be repeated indefinitely):
Tifa: Psst (Can we get out?)
"Leave it to me" (+1 Tifa)
"Kinda hard" (-1 Tifa)
17. In the jail, when Cloud thinks about the other party members:
I wonder how [Barret/Aerith/Red XIII] is doing
The first one gets a +3 boost (no change for Red XIII)
The second one gets a +1 boost (no change for Red XIII)
No change for the last one
18. After leaving Midgar:
Barret: ^#$^%......awright. Go Northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, we'll meet up there. 'Sides, we can't have 5 people strolling down the fields. It's too dangerous. Split us into 2 parties...
Whoever is chosen to join the party gets a +1 boost (no change for Red XIII)
KALM
19. After Cloud's flashback when Barret decides to leave the Inn:
Barret: Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on!
"Right" (+1 Barret)
"Wait a sec" (Barret talks again) -> "Beautiful, just beautiful" (+3 Barret)
"Wait a sec" (Barret talks again) -> "Is that all?" (-1 Barret)
20. [Optional] If talking to the woman on the first floor of the house next to the Inn (the points change only if the characters are in the party. The dialogue can happen at any time before the GS dates):
Thanks to Mako energy, life's pretty darn convenient. Thanks to Shinra. Don't you think?
"Yeah, maybe" (-2 Barret, -1 Aerith, -1 Tifa, +1 Yuffie)
"You're full of it" (+2 Barret, +1 Aerith, +1 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)
21. [Optional] If talking to the woman on the second floor of the house next to the Inn (the points change only if the characters are in the party. The dialogue can happen at any time before the GS dates):
Mako energy's made things a lot more convenient......But seems like a lot of plants and animals have been disappearing at a rapid pace. I think the old life was better. Don't you think so?
"Yeah, maybe" (+2 Barret, +1 Aerith, +1 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)
"No way" (-2 Barret, -1 Aerith, -1 Tifa, +1 Yuffie)
FORT CONDOR
22. [Optional] If Cloud is the party leader and talks to the old guy (the choices affect everyone, even if the party hasn't recruited Yuffie yet):
It appears you have a problem with Shinra, too. After all, you climbed up here. Why not listen to what I have to say for a moment?
"I guess so" (+5 Barret, +3 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie)
"Not interested" (-5 Barret, -3 Aerith, -3 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)
23. [Optional] After the old guy tells Cloud about his problem (the choices affect everyone, even if the party hasn't recruited Yuffie yet):
What do you think? You want to join us in our fight?
"All right" (+5 Barret, +3 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie)
"Not interested" (-5 Barret, -3 Aerith, -3 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)
*MEETING YUFFIE
[Optional] The player can repeat the recruiting dialogue as many times as they want. Recruiting Yuffie on the first try will grant her 10 points, failing and repeating it will increase her points up to a max of 30 points (+2 for every correct answer).
CARGO SHIP
24. [Optional] Talking to Yuffie who asks for Tranquillizers for her motion sickness:
"Here, use this" (+4 Yuffie)
"Nope" (-2 Yuffie)
25. Talking to Aerith about the Highwind:
Aerith: That was REALLY something. Hey, do you think I could get on it?
"I'll take you someday" (+2 Aerith)
"I dunno..." (-2 Aerith)
26. Talking to Tifa about the war:
Tifa: ...But, you know what? I really hate this uniform. Uniforms, soldiers, war, I hate 'em all. They take away all the things and people you love... I wish they'd all disappear. Right, Cloud?
"Yeah..." (+2 Tifa)
"I don't know" (-2 Tifa)
GOLD SAUCER
27. After Barret leaves the group, Cloud can choose a partner. The choice will affect the score of the FIRST character he'll interact with. Only if the player declines Red XIII they'll still be able to affect one of the girls' score. If the player doesn't pick anybody, the character with the highest score will join him and the points won't be affected (Red XIII will join instead of Barret):
Go together (+3)
Don't go together (-2)
COREL PRISON
28. The character chosen to accompany Cloud and Barret to fight Dyne:
Cloud: So there it is, Barret. So I guess it'll be Barret, me, and......
(+10 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie, no change Red XIII)
GONGAGA
29. [Optional] After meeting Zack's parents:
Cloud can talk to Tifa and/or Aerith (if they are in the party).
Ignore them (-3 Aerith / -3 Tifa)
Talk with Tifa (+1 Tifa)
Talk with Aerith -> "Poor guy" (+1 Aerith)
Talk with Aerith -> "(...jealous...envious...)" (+2 Aerith)
COSMO CANYON
30. [Optional] During the first visit the party splits up. If Barret was in the party Cloud can have a conversation with him:
Barret: There was this guy who studied 'Planetary Life' here. He couldn't take things the way they were, so he went to Midgar to form AVALANCHE. Wanna hear more?
Not really (no change)
"Go on" (additional dialogue) -> "And then" (Barret +6)
"Go on" (additional dialogue) -> "Yeah, whatever..." (Barret +3)
WUTAI
31. [Optional] Completing the first quest in Wutai until Yuffie returns the stolen Materia (Yuffie +10)
***
REMAKE AFFECTION POINTS
Even though the Remake covers just the Midgar section, the developers payed homage to the Gold Saucer dates including a beautiful "Resolution scene" at the beginning of Chapter 14, where Aerith, Tifa or Barret will appear and talk to Cloud.
What determines the optional cutscene this time is the number of side quests completed during Chapter 3 and Chapter 8, namely the two chapters spent building up Cloud's merc reputation with Tifa and with Aerith.
The Remake affection mechanics are very simple:
Aerith and Tifa start as equals.
The player can complete 6 Odd Jobs and 1 final Discovery Quest, each one granting to the related girl +2 points.
The girl Cloud will interact first after landing in the sewers will gain an additional +1 point that will eventually serve as tiebreaker.
As you can guess, the girl with the highest score will lead the optional cutscene but if both girls have less than 5 points then Barret's scene will be unlocked.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
The Remake affection mechanics are significantly different from those of the OG. Funnily enough some free-answer dialogues still exist, however not only they don't affect the score but they're also illusory choices as the plot is very linear (see below).
The Remake mechanics are less romance-based. Sure, accomplishing the side quests can be seen as Cloud spending valuable time with the girls, anyway they spend the day doing rough and mundane activities like defeat monsters, rescue kids and search for cats. The focus will always be to improve Cloud's reputation as a reliable merc. Moreover, it doesn’t really make sense to consider Barret as being positively impressed by Cloud refusing to help people in need.
While in the original Cloud can have just one date and one of the two versions of the Highwind scene, the Resolution scenes are not mutually exclusive and it's perfectly possible that all of them take place during the same night.
***
OG AND REMAKE COMPARISON
Most of the situations linked to the affection points in the OG changed or were left out from the Remake. In general Remake-Cloud tends to be kind with both Aerith and Tifa and by the end of the game his relationship with Barret improves as well.
Wutai: etymologies and possible real-life references
As suggested by my profile pic, Remake Yuffie stole my heart. The DLC made a great job introducing her and giving her deep characterization and motivations for the following parts of the story. I have no doubt Wutai is going to be great, and I had a lot of fun trying to find the possible sources behind the creation of Yuffie's homeland, anyway, I'm not a sinologist nor an expert of eastern religions, so everything in this post has to be taken with a grain of salt.
The following post has been inspired by this post by@allsortsoflicorice and the following TLS thread (thanks!).
-
Wutai (ウータイ) is an island state in the far west of the FFVII world map. It had always been a proud and powerful nation, and when Shinra Electic Power Company menaced to establish its economical domain with the installment of Mako reactors on its soil, the nation wadged a war that lasted several years. In 0001, after the capture of Fort Tamblin, Wutai's leader Godo Kisaragi finally surrendered to Shinra and Wutai became a mere touristic attraction, even if resistance cells continued their work and became affiliated with Avalanche.
The village stands at the base of a mountain, immersed in a wide forest and crossed by a river. The architecture of the buildings is inspired by real-life far East style and there's a big statue of a local deity carved on the side of the mountain facing the village.
Wutai is the homeland of Yuffie Kisaragi. In the original FFVII, since Yuffie was an optional character, also Wutai was an optional and perfectly skippable location, nonetheless many cultural references were mixed to create this beautiful place.
Moreover, I think we can expect Remake Wutai to have a more influent role in the FFVII universe, since the shape of a pagoda already appeared in Aerith's mural painting, between Cosmo Canyon and the Cetras.
Final Fantasy games are well known to be based on a heterogeneus mix of cultural influences, from Polytheistic to Monotheistic religions and myths, up until Eastern religions and phylosophies that are especially prominent in Wutai.
One of the main themes of FFVII is the cycle of life, symbolized by the Lifestream as both the physical and metaphysical place where souls merge together and allow the rebirth of new life forms in a neverending cycle. This theme is reminiscent of the concept of Saṃsāra, originated in India and then exported to the far East lands through Buddhism (e.g. Melphie's pinwheel hair-clip could symbolize this theme).
Buddhim in particoular seems to have been a great source of inspiration for the creation of this amazing location.
-
Wutai is the real toponym of a Chinese holy mountain, referring to its uncommon shape and it is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism (and Taoism). Interestingly enough there's an old legend about this mountain that involves the King of Dragons.
To provide context, dragons are sacred creature in Eastern folklore. Most of oriental dragons stem from the Chinese version, called Long, traditionally depicted as a snake-like creature with four legs and/or wings. Unlike their western counterparts, Longs are benevolent beings, associated with power, good luck, fertility and rain. They use to dwell in rivers, lakes, seas, they roam the skies and control weather ("Raya and the last dragon" provides good and simple examples of this folkloristic creatures and their legendary powers).
It's not farfetched to see the nod between the Dragon King and the presence in FFVII Wutai of Leviathan, a dragon-like summon that could be achieved in the OG after completing the Pagoda side quest, and that serves as Wutai guard water-deity.
Leviathan was introduced for the first time in the franchise in Final Fantasy II as a monster, while with Final Fantasy III it became a recurrent Summon associated to water, often known as "Sea King" or "Lord of all Waters". The name comes from the homonymous demoniac creature, a fearsome evil sea serpent of the Middle Eastern mythology that symbolizes chaos. FFVII Leviathan preservs just the name of this biblical reference but embodies perfectly the iconography and symbolism of Chinese Longs. Indeed the village is built on a big river.
(from the Fort Tamblin section of Crisis Core: Leviathan fountain on the left, and Wutais banners, depicting a serpentine creature wrapped around a sword, on the right)
As we said before, there's a huge sculpture carved in the side of the mountain facing the town, called "Da-Chao statue", a water deity.
It's hard to establish the real etymology of its name, since it's written in katakana (ダチャオ), but it could come from the chinese
This word exists also in Japanese (pronounced oosho) and it could be roughly translated also as "big tide" (spring tide is a phenomenon occurring twice a month during full moon and new moon, when Earth, Sun and Moon are aligned, affecting tide's range that reaches its maximum). Worth noting that Leviathan can perform "Tidal Wave".
The statue is also formed by four figures. It could be a loose reference to the myth of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas: during a period of drought the four dragon managed to make it rain without the permission of the Jade Emperor, so he punished them imprisoning them all under a mountain, where the dragons decided to turn themselves in rivers.
The group has to use the "Scales of the Sea God" (or Leviathan scales) to extinguish the fire in the cave on Da-Chao mountain, and the item can only be found in Junon underwater reactor, which could refer to the legendary Dragon King that lived in an underwater palace.
Alternatively, since the central statue has four arms (six in the pagoda version), it could be a refernce to a Buddhist guard deity called Mahakala (derived from the Hindu Shiva). Notably, this deity is associated - at least in China - with sexuality and fertility, and Don Corneo made his last despicable attempt to choose a girl between Elena and Yuffie on this statue.
From Ultimania Omega: in the guest room there's a painting representing four Buddhist figures and a six-arm deity in the middle.
Among the enemies that can be found on Mount Da-Chao, there's Garuda (ガルーダ) a Hindu and Buddhist creature, while in Crisis Core there's another set of recurrent enemies called "Vajradhara", related to Buddhism as well, while the Wutaian organization "Crescent Unit" could refer to the lunar phases and so be linked to the aforementioned meaning of Da-Chao.
-
During the pagoda side quest, after which the the group receives Leviathan summon materia, Yuffie is forced to fight five warriors, one for each stage of the building.
The names of these fighters probably come from the names of western playwrights, with the ecception of Yuffie's father, whose name is anyway related to theatre:
Gorkii -> Maxim Gorky
Shake -> William Shakespeare
Chekhov -> Anton Chekhov
Staniv -> Constantin Stanislavsky
Godo -> Godot
In Japanese, each one of them has a different way of speaking.
This odd relation with theatre could be explained by the fact that the chinese word "wutai" (same tones) can be written in two different ways:
The word 舞台 (butai) in Japanese specifically means "theatre stage" or "theatre setting".
The inspiration for this part of the game could be the traditional Japanese Noh theatre. Usually Noh plays are composed of five standalone pieces selected from five different categories, and many of the plays include shapeshifting creatures.
As stated before, Godo is the only fighter whose name is not that of a playwright but a fictional character, Godot. It could be linked to the fact that the word ゴドー in Japanese is homophone to 悟道, a Buddhist term referring to the path to the enlightment.
As a boss, Godo becomes a monster that, in my opinion, is a reference to Asuras, Hindu demigods with three faces and four arms that appear also in Buddhism. In the latter, it is traditionally told that Asuras were dismissed by the heavenly world they shared with gods, which could be a loose reference to Wutai losing the war (in this case "Godo" could be linked also to the English "God").
-
Finally: Yuffie Kisaragi.
Yuffie is not a real name, especially not a Japanese one since the sound fi doesn't exist in that language. The only real-life connection I could find is a very similar Chinese female name, Yufei 雨霏, whose meaning is something like "happy even though it rains", which fits her personality.
Kisaragi is often mistankenly translated as February but in reality 如月 was the old name for the second month of the Japanese lunar calendar that, traditionally, marked the beginning of spring.
I'm totally clueless about the meanings of Melphie and Sonon's names.
-
Sadly I haven't found any hint about what could be the origin of Da-Chao beans, nor any further reason behind the name of "Fort Tamblin" (タンブリン->tambourine).
If anybody has suggestions or corrections they'll be very well appreciated!
