FFX & FFVII's "Connection"

[The Witch]

Shinra is a boy who supports the Gullwings, the group which the main
protagonist, Yuna, belongs to. He carries a name that gives him an association
to the Shin-Ra Company, and he is researching a method that could utilize the
energy of "the life force that flows through our planet." The results of this
cannot be seen in FFX-2, but maybe one day his descendants will establish a
"company that supplies the energy of the planet"?

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
The words of Shinra, which can be heard at the end of the story. This world has something similar to the Lifestream that is worthy of attention.

**FFVII and FFX are connected?!**


--"Previously, with a conversation in the FFX Scenario Ultimania, you made
certain inferences, and since it's been about half a year since then, is there
anything new you'd like to clarify about FFX?"


Kitase
"That's true...... Now that FFX International is out and we're in the future,
I'm in a predicament; it really isn't that hard to think of another story
[set] in that world; room for expansion was left possible there without too
much difficulty, don't you think? Speaking conversely, FFX received a splendid
reception and made us think of adding to it."


Nojima
"After FFVII was finished, we were easily able to add Zack's open[-ended role]
into the International version. But, with X, there was an older story with a
partly-finished world and an opening that this new one could be added to and
[, in doing] so[,] complete it."


Kitase
"So, you could say [in terms of] time, Nojima-san decided to designate it to
act as a sequel to VII, if you follow me."



--"It's a sequel to VII!!"


Kitase
"Well, there was a joke right there. Simply put, in VII's ending, Holy came,
and the next thing you knew, it was over without closing things up, and then
it was the "500 years later" [scene] in the future. There's a large margin
buried there. A margin for the imagination. Nojima-san and Toriyama are going
to be filling something of that with VII, though, while they're at their best
and can do it."


--"So, will it become a sequel to VII's story?"


Nojima
"I have a strong feeling that they're going to be connected."




--"Huh, so VII and X ARE connected?"


Nojima
"Well, there's not many specifics to it. I know that what becomes of people
when they die is among them; you could say that it's basically the same. Both
[concepts came to] function along the same line of thought as I wrote the
stories. Sometimes my thoughts just flow out like that, even though pyreflies
distinctly aren't green."


--"When you speak of the dead becoming [something] green, do you perhaps
[mean]......?"


Nojima
"Yes. In my mind, pyreflies and VII's Lifestream are the same substance."


Kitase
"Nojima-san's even considering making use of an idea like this -- [with] an
addition to the idea of life origin -- in a sequel to FFX International.
That's just a little bit of the thought that's been going into what to do with
VII."


Nojima
"That's right. There's something like the Lifestream [in X's world
also]......."




--"'An addition to the idea of life origin'......does that mean you're going
to revise life origin concepts or something?"



Nojima
"I can't say......it's a secret (laughs)."


Kitase
"It's a surprise with how someone from the story conducts theirself with
regards to the Farplane."

**"So, what of this child, Shinra......"**



--"Among these latest stories, 'connected' is one of the key words becoming
applicable, isn't it?"


[Daisuke] Watanabe
"I personally like the word 'connected,' but there's one aspect where that
applies well."


Nojima
"During the game's progression, various vague things will be tied together to
reveal it."



--"For example, the name 'Shinra' suggests a connection with VII? There's
[what's said] in the 'Graduation Mission' scenario [ -- 'graduation'
referring to Shinra being soon to leave the Gullwings -- ], and the 'I am not
alone in my thinking' line from the 'Rin's Detective Work' scenario seems to
have some particular significance."


Nojima
"Actually, it does. After quitting the Gullwings, Shinra received enormous
financial support from Rin, and began trying to use Vegnagun to siphon Mako
Energy from the Farplane. But, he is unable to complete the system for
utilizing this energy in his generation, and in the future, when traveling to
distant planets becomes possible, the Shin-Ra Company is founded on another
world, or something like that....... That would happen about 1000 years after
this story, I think."




--"So VII's story is after that?"


Nojima
"Well, you could say the feelings I have are like that. When I think about the
characters, those are the kinds of feelings I already have. Shinra is a good
child, but his descendants are going to end up becoming like the president [of
Shin-Ra] (laughs)."


Watanabe
"With you said about VII, after seeing your episodes with Shinra, one of the
people on the [development] staff said that the first shot of the Bevelle
Underground 'gives the impression of somewhere else.'"


[Motomu] Toriyama
"Certainly; it looks like the opening shot of Midgar in VII."

GAMEFAQS






So...

• * Zanarkand existed 1000 years before Tidus and Yuna met.
• * FFVII exists 1000 years after X into the future.
• * Jenova first arrived on “Gaia” at the Northern Crater, 2000 years before FFVII starts.
• * Zanarkand was annihilated by Sin at the end of the Machina War against Bevelle 1000 years before Tidus and Yuna met.
• * Pyreflies and Lifestream are the same thing
• * Mako energy is found in the Farplane.
• * Shinra of FFX is an ancestor to Shinra of FFVII.

The only part I don't get is when he says Shinra's offspring (X) travels to Gaia and that's where his future-relatives learn to harness Mako energy.


I'm not sure if that's mistranslated, but it makes no sense.


Nojima and Kitase already confirmed that pyerflies and lifestream are the same thing, that mako is found inside the farplane, and that X's Shinra is an ancestor to VII's Shinra...so why would they have to travel to another planet to utilize it?


And does that mean there was an identical planet with the same type of lifestream/pyerflies as Gaia/Spira? That seems even more strange to me to think that there were 'twin' planets that had the same life-force and cycle of nature.




Or was "travel to distant planets" mistranslated and should be "distant lands" instead? Distant lands would make more sense, if you ask me.


WORLD COMPARISON:


Spira:

Gaia, 2000 years after Spira:

Random things to consider:


* If Spira and Gaia are the same planet (and Shinra didn't travel to another world) then that means that going by VII's story, Jenova crashed into Spira at the same time Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin.


* If Spira and Gaia are the same planet, then that means the Jenova/Cetra war took place at the same time as the "Machina War".


* Summoners control pyerflies just like Cetra can control the lifestream...
Does that mean that Cetra and Summoners are one and the same?


* Summoners date back 1000 years (when Zanarkand existed), as far as I know there is no origin date for how long the Cetra had existed on Gaia. In the Temple of the Ancients, Aerith only says that the 'spirit bodies' of the Cetra had been protecting the temple for "many years".


* Summoners are described as having "enhanced sensitivity to pyreflies", just as the Cetra have enhanced sensitivity to lifestream in order to cultivate Gaia.


* Summoners used pyreflies to fight against Zanarkand, and conjure magical weapons or creatures to aid in battle.


* We know that aeons are created when humans become fayth. "Fayth" are humans who willingly had their souls sealed in statues in a state of dreaming in Final Fantasy X. Their powers allow a summoner to coalesce the power of pyreflies to create physical forms from the fayth's dream, called aeons, or other magical phenomena.


* The fayth were created by the summoners themselves with the help of someone they shared deep feelings with, in a ritual implied to be sexual in nature, although it is said that is not the only way to make a fayth. The summoner and fayth must then share a mutual sympathy to summon an aeon.


* Fayth can only be seen and heard by people who are either made out of pyreflies (i.e. summoned people/unsent) or those who can summon.


* The Fayth dreamt up Tidus to defeat Yu Yevon in order for the Fayths to finally find rest in the Farplane.



* Summoners die when they perform the 'Final Summoning'. The game never explains why or how... but, "a lot of people believe when the Final Aeon merges with Yu Yevon, the bond between the summoner and aeon is severed and that is what kills the summoner. Others speculate that summoning the final aeon is what kills the summoner, however as you say Seymour is able to summon Anima at will, so the latter seems unlikely."


Another theory about why Summoners die: "I figure it's either the bond-breaking thing, or the first thing it does after being possessed is turn on its master, the only other being with influence over it. Another possibility is that, in order to be strong enough to defeat Sin, the summoner must use their own life force in the Final Summoning, so that the Aeon made from a person they had a close bond with combines with their own life force to defeat Sin. OR it could be something else altogether; we do not actually have details on the process." Duke Darkwood at gamefaqs


* Could summoning Holy be a parallel for the 'Final Summoning'?


* Elder Hargo of Cosmo Canyon tells Cloud that the Promised Land is believed to be the resting place of the Ancients, just as the Farplane is the resting place to the dead.


* Shuyin's 'shadow' controlled Nooj in FFX-2 to do his dirty work just like Jenova can control Jenova-clones.



I'll add more to the list as I think, but... this will do for now.


I just think this is a really interesting part of VII/X's story and I've always wanted to discuss it because it's really overwhelming with all of the possibilities.

 

[Razberry Knight]

I often speculate that this was a scrapped idea. No one truly accepted it and more people were comfortable with them being from their own individual dimensions.


Need I remind people the spirit within also did the same.

 

[Laro]

Nah, I personally don't see it as a connection of it being the same planet. It makes more sense if they're different. As far as I understand it, we have not been given reason for why Spirans had to travel to Gaia in order to establish ShinRa or whatever. It could be different things, maybe Spira had another Machina war or something? Or maybe Gaia was more like a place for ShinRa to experiment at first. There could be a number of reasons, and the maps look nothing alike to me. I mean we could theorise about it on and on - like how come there are chocobos on every single FF realm and all that. FFX-2 was by no means a serious and in-depth game, so I doubt they really thought through the connections before making the character first. It's excellent inspiration for a new FF storyline though???