<–XII The Hanged Man XIV Temperance–>
This is my current Final Fantasy Friday post where I’ll be discussing which characters I think exemplify each card of the Major Arcana. If this is your first time here, please head over to my Final Fantasy Tarot page for explanation. Now onto the next card!
Source for picture of Sephiroth located here.
“For the Angel of Death spread his wing(s) on the blast…”
–Lord Byron, “The Destruction of Sennacherib”
Who else but Sephiroth for Death? He’s a fallen, one-winged angel who not only (arguably) killed the most innocent and important person in FFVII, but committed genocide while doing so. There’s a lot I can say about that, but I’ll leave it for my review/analysis of the game that will be longer than the 10k and growing post I have for FFIV.
The Death card does not always mean death, but it does warn of change, and death certainly incites some of the greatest changes any of us will ever face. The card is actually less about dying and more about how the individuals left deal with endings. This makes Aeris’s death by Sephiroth/Jenova’s hand/will even more fitting and quite meta as it occurs at the end of Disk 1, and Cloud spends not only the rest of the game feeling guilty and burdened by it, but an entire feature length film, too.
Death is the rider of the pale horse, which in game, is one of the once general’s attacks (subtle clue is subtle), and the thing to remember about Death is he is not his own master, but only does his appointed task. Though Sephiroth certainly did engender a change that reverberated not only through VII’s narrative but into our world transcending far beyond the game’s mien and era, it never deterred Aeris from her appointed task. Fate may lend Death a hand, but not even Death can change fate.
“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow
Die not…”
-John Donne “Death Be Not Proud”
Alternates: Kuja (IX)
Since Sephiroth most certainly inspired Kuja (just as Golbez certainly inspired Sephiroth and Kuja), they share quite a bit of that “Angel of Death” aspect with IX’s villain even describing himself as such at one point.
No correct guesses this week, but don’t give up! There are still plenty of weeks left.
The next card is Temperance, and the character who encompasses that has patience in abundance.
Happy guessing!
<–XII The Hanged Man XIV Temperance–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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Random stab-in-the-dark guess: Yuna
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Yuna not only had patience, she had bravery, strength, and such a deep sense of duty it was amazing. There’s really not enough said about her. Most people think of Tidus or Auron when FFX is brought up (ugh that horrendous laugh), but Yuna is similar to Aeris insofar as being the person with the ability to save them all through sacrifice. I would love for them to do a version of X that gives you the option of Japanese voice acting. That would fix so many problems *sighs wistfully*
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Some of the voice acting in video games can be cringe worthy. One huge exception for a certain badass, of course 🙂
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Well she has an awesome voice actress! My husband was watching a video of the beginning of Mass Effect 2 with the male Shepherd, and omg, there’s no comparison. Hale (?) is just far better without any doubt. I’m glad Squeenix went with her. That was move in the right direction. Voice acting has gotten a bit better from X. Tidus was just atrocious *cringes*
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What a great series! I’m really enjoying reading through all the tarot cards you’ve written about. This reminds me of a deck I recently acquired for Dragon Age: Inquisition (which assigned certain characters to certain cards). While not nearly as creative as what you’re doing, I enjoyed thinking about why each character corresponded with their respective card. Maybe I’ll have to post about that someday… Hm… 🙂
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Thank you so much! I actually started doing this last year when I was editing one of my fanfictions. Final Fantasy Tarot popped into my head again and I thought I’d give it a whirl. I’m not entirely using what I came up with a year ago, since my view has evolved, but it’s a nice guide.
I’m thinking of doing the same thing for Game of Thrones after I’m done with Final Fantasy and/or I may go through all the characters and figure out what card they could represent.
You should definitely post that! I’d love to read it. I’m not as big into Dragon Age as I am into Final Fantasy (or Mass Effect), but I know enough about it to be able to follow along. It’s another game on my to-play (or to-watch) list.
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That’s so awesome. I’d really be interested in reading about tarot cards using characters from different universes.
And Dragon Age tarot has officially been added to my “to post” pile (gee, I have a lot of piles, don’t I?). Mass Effect tarot…hm… that is instantly fascinating to me. Maybe I’ll dabble in that, too…
Definitely check out Dragon Age! I absolutely love it, and those games are actually the reason I got into Mass Effect (read: the reason I became a BioWare fan). With all my big plans, maybe I’ll eventually do a let’s play of that series, too 😉
Anyway, I’m looking forward to further tarot readings of Final Fantasy!
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BioWare is such an awesome company. Hm now I’m thinking what Major Arcana would Shepherd encompass. I suppose it would depend on how you play him/her. I’d love to see your take on that if you do it. Who’s your favorite character? I really like Wrex and Garrus is cool, too. I just started watching ME2 and Jacob is pretty awesome for the humans. There’s something about Miranda though that puts me off, and I’m hella curious about the Illusive Man.
Dragon Age is totally on my list! I’ve watched my husband play a bit similar to Mass Effect so I have some integral pieces of the story, but I want to know the whole thing.
More FF Tarot coming up tomorrow 😀
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You’re right… maybe there’s a card for “renegade Shepard” and “paragon Shepard…” I’d have to think about that one…
My favorite character?? That’s a tough one… Wrez and Garrus are awesome, of course, and I just wrote a whole post in defense of Ashley… Hm… Well, my VERY favorite Character won’t be introduced until ME3 (she’s a bit of a gamer herself…), but I love Thane and I love his philosophical chats. He’s such a lovely and complex character, and I would love to just sit and chat with him with a cup of coffee. I absolutely adore Tali; when the entire galaxy has an angle they’re trying to play, I always know Tali is going to be there with because she wants to be there. Her honesty is refreshing.
Yeah, Miranda has an air about her, but I like her. She’s a pretty complicated character, too. I didn’t trust her at first because she’s part of Cerberus and a lieutenant for the Illusive Man, but as I got to know her I came around to like her.
Yay, tarot! Checking it out 🙂
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After reading your stories, I definitely guessed this card correctly 😉 These are awesome! I’ve always had an interest in tarot cards. I have a few decks myself, but I haven’t messed with any of them in quite awhile.
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