Throughout the storied history ofFinal Fantasy 14, there have been many phenomenal characters to meet and grow bonds within Eorza. While the vast majority of these characters are new to the series, some will be familiar faces to those who have experienced past games of the series.
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The legacy ofFinal Fantasyis expansive, varied, and immensely deep, with many of the games taking place in different worlds and universes, making it impossible for characters to meet up with one another.However, Final Fantasy 14 seems to be the one exception to this rule, bringing in characters from several of the biggest titles in the series, making for one of the greatest showcases of one of the best JRPG franchises ever.
8Matoya
You will first meet Matoya in the Heavensward expansion during the Main Scenario Quests inFinal Fantasy 14. She will be found deep within the Dravanian Hinterlands amongst frogs and animated brooms. It is here you learn that she was the former mentor of the one and only Y’shtola, one of the most beloved and vital members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
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However, despite how crucial Matoya is to the story of Heavensward and how deep her history goes with Y’shtola, her entrance into the series was actually with the very firstFinal Fantasytitle, where she is found in a cave, but cannot see due to her Crystal Eye being stolen. She also has enchanted, animated brooms here as well, and the track that plays in the original Final Fantasy is rearranged in Final Fantasy 14, which sounds exceptional.
Before Final Fantasy 14, you could also bump into her in Final Fantasy 9, 10, 11, and 13. She also appears in Final Fantasy Tactics and Dissidia Final Fantasy, making her one of the few reoccurring characters in the series.
7Unei
Unei is an interesting one, as she looks completely different in Final Fantasy 14 than her Final Fantasy 3 counterpart, where she made her first appearance. While we would normally chalk this up as a nod similar to the Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie characters found in the game, Unei’s appearance here is a bit deeper than that.
While she is far from the short, old lady that appears in every other game she’s in, she still plays a crucial role in guiding the Warriors of Light to the Crystal Tower. She helps them take down Xande during the Chronicles of a New Era questline, something she also helped with during Final Fantasy 3. Despite looking vastly different, this Unei is the same wise and ultra-powerful mage you all know and love from way back then.
6Doga
Similarly to Unei, Doga falls in the same camp, as he also made his first appearance in Final Fantasy 3 as a temporary party member that helped get the Warriors of Light to the Crystal Tower to defeat Xande. His appearance here is also much different than what’s seen in Final Fantasy 3, but it’s safe to assume this is not just a mere reference, all things considered.
Doga and Unei guiding the Warriors of Light to the Crystal Tower and helping them take him down are beat for beat what happens in Final Fantasy 3. Seeing it happen in Final Fantasy 14 is incredible and goes above and beyond a nod or reference. Though not the old hooded guy with a mustache, this Doga is clearly the same one you know and love, and that’s incredibly cool.
5Cait Sith
Love him or hate him, Cait Sith seems to pop up when you least expect it,and his appearance in Final Fantasy 14: Heavensward’s “Shadow of Mhach” Sub-Quest will be your first introduction to him in the game. Now, if you have playedFinal Fantasy 7, you will notice that he looks extremely different here. However, this is not the first time he has taken on this appearance.
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This design for Cait Sith was actually first introduced in Final Fantasy 11, where he could be Summoned into combat encounters as an Avatar via Summoners. If we had to assume, this Cait Sith is probably not controlled by Reeve here and seems like a sentient being… but we don’t know that for sure, so it is entirely possible that Reeve is controlling a toy cat from somewhere in the universe, helping our Warriors of Light to defeat Hollows.
4Cid
Here’s one that largely any Final Fantasy fan already knows but is impossible not to mention or at least acknowledge. And that’s Cid, who technically made his first appearance in Final Fantasy 2 but was retconned as a mention into remade versions of the first Final Fantasy to make him a reoccurring character in every mainline Final Fantasy title.
Though no two Cids are the same,all of them are handy when it comes to piloting, maintaining, or obtaining Airships or whatever its substitute may be in the game’s universe, such as The Regalia fromFinal Fantasy 15. Cid is the only character to make an appearance in every mainline game of the series and plays a crucial role in Final Fantasy 14 as well.
3Gilgamesh
Impressive as it is that Cid is the only character to appear in every mainline Final Fantasy title, Gilgamesh still beats him in terms of overall appearances in the series and is the most reoccurring character ever. Gilgamesh’s first appearance is in Final Fantasy 5 as an antagonist but was added in previous games via remakes or remasters.
Regarding Final Fantasy 14, Gilgamesh first appeared during Patch 2.1 (A Realm Awoken) of A Realm Reborn and was part of the Hildibrand Manderville and Nashu Mhakaracca sub-quests.While primarily an antagonist in most games he appears in, it is unreal just how many titles he’s in, and it’s always a treat seeing him pop in, even if it’s to be expected.
2Fran
Fran is a fan-favorite party member inFinal Fantasy 12, a Viera who excels at long-range encounters due to her bow. However, she is known as the Master of Weapons and can be switched to any weapon in the game, provided you have the proper license to do so. Fran is also the only non-Hume character of the party and possesses unique traits along with tremendous grace, intellect, and crafting skills as a result.
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In Final Fantasy 14, you first meet Fran during the Stormblood expansion in the “Return to Ivalice” Alliance Raid and returns for the “Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr” sub-questline in Shadowbringers. Despite being introduced in Stormblood, players could not play as a Viera until Shadowbringers, but it’s nice to see that Fran is one of the first Viera you can encounter in Eorzea.
1Noctis
Last and certainly not least, we haveFinal Fantasy 15’svery own Prince Noctis, who appears periodically as a crossover character into Final Fantasy 14 via timed events. Now while other characters from the series have crossover events too, such asFinal Fantasy 13’sLightning, Noctis' seems a bit more involved than theirs, so we decided to rope him in as well.
Not only do you get to fight alongside Noctis, but you get to camp with him and just hang out with him, eventually unlocking the ability to purchase The Regalia, which was the game’s first four-seater Mount. Noctis is a treat in Final Fantasy 15 and here, and we will take any chance we get to praise him and chill alongside him.
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