[Addis Hellfire]

Lots of games, namely roleplaying games (be they video or tabletop) use myths and legends heavily as sources for their material. Sometimes you see famous characters, like Tiamat, make appearances and at others you spot other, subtler things, like Sephiroth's Masamune blade. I myself haven't done the research on them, but I am curious, so I very well may do just that . . what about all you? Any references that you'd like to know more about, or explain on your own? Here's the place!

Here's one I want to know more about: Tiamat and Bahamut. They've made appearances in both Final Fantasy and Dungeons & Dragons, and I'm sure those aren't the only places. Where are they from? Are those there real names? All those fun questions. I believe that Beowulf actually fought Tiamat though . . .

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I know the tale behind the One-Winged Angel's katana, along with another blade I see in lots of games, Murasama:

Two sword smiths, named Murasama and Masamune. These two were legends, and their blades were the best quality around. Masamune was calm, calculated, etc and it showed in his sword. Murasama, due to getting his life ruined, children killed, etc, is psychotic and, like with Masamune, it shows in his blades. It's said that once a Murasama blade is drawn in must spill blood before it is sheathed. It is also said that, in a myth, somebody put a Murasama and Masamune blade in a shallow lake, blade down. The flowers went around and even touched the Masamune without any problem, but the Murasama cut any flowers that came near. Now, I know that I probably messed something up with this story and/or left out important details, so feel free to correct me.

This post has been edited by Addis Hellfire: 27 March 2010 - 11:31 PM

[Ladybird]

I do agree that elements of Myths and Legends often occur in games, but that's part of the charm I think, and a way for the gamer to get more into the games themselves. Not that FF needs that, though.

In Tiamat's case, I find that the most odd, since Tiamat is always pictured as a dragon of the fire-element, but Tiamat was the Goddess of the Sea. Tiamat is mother to a lot of Greek deities, but was later killed by them in a war and her body was used to create the earth and the sky (yay, another 'how did the earth come into existence'-story!). Apparently, she only became a dragon in D&D, and from there on was used as a dragon all over the game-world (FF, D&D, Golden Sun, and that's just a few, as you said).

As for Bahamut, he's derived from Behemoth, which is basically the Leviathan of the land (rather than the sea where the Leviathan is from). Behemoth actually comes from the bible.

Just like those two swords =) I like tales behind items and things like that. This one sounds an aweful lot like Yin & Yang. I kind of wonder how it really went. What made people believe that Masamune's swords were good and Murasama's swords were bad? The error in the story is that the two lived in different centuries and never met at all XD

In cases like this, it's so easy to see how myths and legends come into existence. I wonder what legends they'll have of our time later on =)

[Chaos]

According to D&d, Bahamut and Tiamat are the two halves of the Dragon God Io, who was split in half during the gods war with the primordials. Both Bahamut and Tiamat are derived from lots of different legends, but they usually originate in the Norse religion, in some way or another. I dont think it was Beowulf that fought Tiamat, though it was probably another Mythological Norse hero.

[Aidan]

I often play the Shin Megami Tensi series of games which often refrences alot of Gods, Angels, Deamons and other Creatures from a wide veriety of religions. There are far to many for me to name though, but they do include the like of Lucifer, Satan, Thor etc. Its this aspect, along with its unique style that make the game stand out in my opinion. Not sure if that counts but I'll mention it anyway.