I always took the scholar symbol to be a curvier Libra (♎) symbol. Libra being a skill in most FF games which allows you to study the enemy to learn their strengths and weaknesses, it suits a class all about knowledge.
It may be an abstracted combination of both a scholars glasses (probably from too much reading in dim light...) And the libra symbol (representing knowledge and strategy). Additionally Libra is derived from the latin word for book "Liber" which probably is no coincidence considering a scholars weapon of choice.
The Dancer’s pink hues and shape come from flower petals, and its gear which by extension is also inspired by Thavnairian blooms. Hence the more flowey nature for both males and females.
For me it's a play words, but with colors. Dancers are inspired by real flamenco dancing. The word Flamenco sounds similar to Flamingo, so they toke the color from the bird
DRK Stone is not just edgy. It's in the shape of a heart bc in the quests they go on and on about how a DRK's power is not from rage and hatred, but out of love for yourself and for the people around you. Also a nod to how Fray always says to keep it close to your heart and listen to your heart beat... I like DRK.
While the DRK crystal is very dark and edgy (quite literally), it’s also… shaped like a heart. Which, if you’ve done any of the DRK quests with moogles in them, makes a lot of sense.
@@Morscrow given the lvl60-70 quest happen after Heavensward where the success of WoL ending Dragonsong war is build upon the death of WoL's 2 particular friend. And given DRK is one of the Dynamis heavy job, the guilt WoL possess is so strong that it broke the DRK job crystal, due to the common nature of job crystal are dynamis based.
Super glad someone said this. Because while edgy the shape of it is incredibly important to the overall theme of the class and it's a little sad that there wasn't a mention of that. (Even just a no spoilers "it's shaped like a heart for reasons you'll have to play to find out")
It's become funny to me seeing people describe DRK as "It's the edgy brooding job" after doing the quests. Not that it's incorrect, of course, but maybe "The tsundere job" is a better reductionism 😂
Funnily enough, I always interpreted Gunbreaker's icon as a slash with an explosion. The line being the slash itself, and the circle around being an explosion resulting from said slash and resultant cartridge usage.
2 weeks late but I’ve assumed the icon as a Z, from Bozja. But I don’t think that’s exactly accurate and see both this video’s and your interpretation being more proper.
Very late but, the Z shape of the symbol also brings to mind Zorro who passionately emblazens it in various places as both a warning and calling of his presence. The reputation preceeding them as a wandering, stylish knight of justice and their lack of adherence to any one nations rules and governments but rather an immutable code of ideals and virtues being carried down in one simple symbol. The cut and make of the crystal also brings into mind its origins and recent history. the profession being formed in The Third Astral Era as a response to the height of the Allagan Empire's campaign of war by the besieged Hrothgar queensguard and natives of Northern Ilsabard. The chunky and uneven cut helps call to mind, to me at least, a sense of ingenuity and defiance in the face of adversity with the crystals most likely being hurriedly mined and minted to be given to its assigned knight as quickly as possible. This demeanor of ingenuity and dogged endurance has also served the profession and its succeeding teachers of the practice very well in recent history. With many of the practices few remaining predecessing teachers and masters living in Bozja and its capital its very likely that the role of Gunbreaker could have met a swift and sudden end. This was thankfully averted by a few scant surviving successors being able to escape from The Garlean Empire's subjugation of Bozja and the sudden destruction of the Bozja Citadel thanks to events caused by the housing of the Meteor Project there, now aptly titled as the Bozja Incident. Such a low amount of able masters and teachers in the art are due in part to its old traditions of inheritance by rank and country, with successors being specially chosen and usually being native to Bozja. So, These remaining survivors, now breaking tradition with the coming of these desperate times, have now begun passing on the title and rank of Gunbreaker to any who are deemed worthy, wether by wielder or soul crystal, and not by rank, or allegiance to queen and country. Such extreme parting of tradition only being due in part to the potential threat of its knowledge and techniques being lost to the annals of history. With this the soul crystal's rugged and barely cut appearance once again has come to represents its most recognized traits. It's stubborn and ingenuity in the face of opposing odds, it's adherence to code guided by one's own principles and virtues linked to the standards set by Queen Gunnhilder and followed by the Gunbreaker's predeseccors, and it's keen sense to adapt to any situation or difficult periods of time.
I always thought the MNK job stone represented the claws of a coeurl (a leopard). In the "temple of fist" dungeon, you undergo the trials of the MNK and you fight Coeurls and the final boss is Ivon Coeurlfist. If you look at leopard's claws (aka coeurl), they have 3 front claws with a thumb like side claw. As such, a coeurl strike (i e. a punch) will result in 3 straight tearing lines as the job stone symbols.
@@Gshadin True. But it does not make any sense lore wise. I reckon some of these in the video are completely off the poiny like that of thr Gun Breaker for exampss
The thamaturge symbol could represent the origin of thamaturges being that they were meant to burn the bodies of deceased and be grave keepers, which is shown as a pot(or tomb if we assume it's elongated along the axis we can't see) with fire in it
The Lalafell in his cups makes a good point! I can totally see the scholar symbol of an upturned book which is bent backwards, though I don't imagine any true scholar in their right mind would do that to a book.
The bright yellow on GNB is actually a reference to them hailing from a lion like race, its the same shade of yellow used for the Lion atma crystals from the old ARR relics
My first thought on the color was "brass", like the shells of the bullets loaded into it. Who knows, maybe it's both, or there's yet other possibilities, or none of the above.
If im not wrong, in the Blue Mage quests, a person from the new world talks about a "lazuli" canyon made of ceruleum that is sacred for their tribe, maybe that's why the jobstone is blue.
Personally, I've always seen the Scholar's job symbol as a scroll rolled up from both sides meeting in the middle-albeit upside down. It made sense to me considering the Scholar's nature of being an academic and tactician. And the scroll is definitely the very first iteration of books and tomes known today
I may have a reason for the pot in the thaumaturge class logo. In the thaumaturge class quests, you deal with voidsent possession from a powerful voidsent housed in an ancient pot. The voidsent promised the possessed lalafell great power, and that was how the lalafell was convinced to “let them in” The connection with the voidsent isn’t minor either: the reason for both Mhach and Nhim’s downfall is voidsent; the latter from Mhach’s malice and the former from Mhach’s incompetence. The school of thaumaturgy is loosely based off of Mhach’s school of black magic, and I’m pretty sure the pot I mentioned earlier was a Mhachi relic. In other words, it could be symbology for power coming from the pot - both in regards to the specific class quest and the history of the school itself
DRK's crystal also looks like a heart in shape which is fitting as the class is actually powered the love wielders hold for those they desire to protect and the angst that comes from falling short of that goal.
Another interesting thing to note about the Sage’s job crystal, is that the formation of the nouliths- specifically the three arching ones- make the shape of a traditional Sage’s cap. :D
I like to think that the Ninja Symbol has three points to represent the mudras; ten, chi, Jin. Also the points are curves to represent how there's a fluid cycle in its order of operations. Ten chi Jin Chi Jin ten Jin ten chi
The monk Symbol also represents the atk animation of monk-like characters in former ff games (while using claws) often followed by their elemental influence
While this is a great video I feel you may have missed something I noticed on two of the job crystals. That being DRK and RDM. While yes DRK is spiky and pointy to show how its edgy and aggressive it's soul crystal is nonetheless in the shape of a shield showing that it is above all else a protector of the weak, a decent reflection on PLD soul crystal as they are meant to be mirrors in a way, and RDM shape and color giving it the appearance of a drop of blood, a decent hint at the darker side of red magic and to show that Red Mage draw their power from within, and not from the land surrounding them.
Never thought of it as a shield. I see it as a heart which is fitting for the job story. Since the story revolves around emotional state of the warrior of light. It even shatters due to the characters sadness and regrets like a broken heart.
I’ve always taken the Scholar symbol as a depiction of the Scholar’s Mortarboard hats, which have been in quite a few of their AF armors. Since I’ve also always assumed the Summoner symbol is a depiction of the Summoner’s Horn. I figure that the parallel of both of their symbols is based around their headpiece, ties the two classes together.
The way I interpret it, the Dark Knight's soul crystal is in the shape of a heart representing the darkness we harbor within ourselves. This also correlates to the Blackblood which symbolizes the DRK's Grit. The Dark Knight's power comes from his shadowed self, the darkness that spills from the dark heart.
I didn’t expect to get much out of this video, since the job icons all seem pretty obvious (albiet confusing to a new player) and the meaning is usually fairly direct. But there was a lot more here than I expected, and I really enjoyed this. And I was especially surprised by the idea that RDM contains both WHM and BLM, that’s a wonderful design that’s so subtle I imagine most people wouldn’t pick up on it. All in all, good stuff.
I always thought the Monk lines represented the balance between the mind, the body, and the spirit, being that they use chi and that focuses on balance of your inner energies
I thought that the Ninja's icon also represents the winds, since they are described to hit hard and fast. The winds also tend to find the gaps in everything. This is mirrored in finding/creating gaps in the enemy's armor through Mug and Trick Attack They also have some signature wind-based moves like Aeolian Slash and Huton, which are both prompted with whirlwinds
I always thought the Scholar symbol was their hat. The top part is the top of the hat and the bottom part is the hair sticking out and flipping up to the sides from underneath the hat. That's what i got looking at their concept art from the ARR artbook. It reminds me of the type of the scatterbrained smart person who can recite formulas in their sleep but will forget to eat or brush their hair. Glasses makes a lot of sense and it does look like that more.
another way i always looked at the summoner's job symbol was a death flare impacting the ground, with the pointed end being a 2d representation of the flare stretching into the sky
I always saw the DRG crystal shape as a dragon wing. And for the SMN/SCH crystal shape, it combines the two icons, with the curved side being the glasses and the pointy bit being the horn. The upright part of the shape denotes which job it is. If it's SCH you have the curved side with the deeper concave pulling up to denote where glasses sit on the nose. When flipped for SMN you have the horn pointing up and out as if being worn on ones head. Despite how much CBU3 has tried to separate the jobs over the years, all their initial design really leans into their duality and how one is the coin flip of the other.
Cool video! I never noticed all the detail in these stones. It's so cool how much these simple shapes and symbols line up with their job's lore and such.
I never looked at the SAM symbol like that before! It's a perfect match. But I always interpreted it as a samurai (the triangle in the middle) swinging their blade, the arcs on either side being the curves of the moon. Also, the Black Mage soul crystal has also been called the "Gem of Shanttoto".
I always thought the gunbreakers yellow gem was suppose to be like brass a common crafting material for bullets and the design designating the history as it looks similar to a chipped spear tip
It's worth noting that the Monk symbol also has history in the FF series! Those 3 slashes are often used in the older games, FF 1-9, to represent when someone attacks with a Claw weapon. So while you did touch on it, it's an interesting bit of history!
Scholar's and Summoner's symbols can both be indeed seen as part of their clothing, but also as abstract forms of their main weapon, the tome. The same way their crystal stapes are upside down in contrast to each other, so are the shapes of their tomes in the crystal. The scholar having the down flipped wide arched tome and the summoner having the upwards pointed inward carved tome from which they "shoot/cast" their spells. (look for combat animations) Thus again similar to Blue Mage, the symbol actually unifies gear with weaponry in their symbols' design. The colors of the stones also shows they're connected, yet opposites. With the Scholar dawning the dark, mystic and foreboding purple that would surely better suit a Summoner, while the Summoner's crystal is a vivid, shining bright green. (they are complimentary colors in color theory)
Point out the RDM crystal shape is a rose petal. Also I also think the SCH symbol is a book. Like its been dropped open on the floor after a long night of studying.
The shape of the blue mage is a reference to the iconic square magic effect, which plays before every move of theirs. It was an indicator of Blue Magic as far back as FF5.
One thing you didn’t mention is the dragoon soul crystal also looks like a dragon scale. That said this is an amazing video it clearly took a lot of work and it paid off well.
For me, I always interpreted the Monk symbol as one that represented the claw swipes of a Couerl, the species most associated with the aesthetic of the Monk. But hey, that might just be me smoking something.
this is such a neat video! for me, white mage's soul crystal always looks like an egg or seed, mirroring how their healing fosters growth and gets their power from nature
Once, for a brief moment, I saw the Summoner symbol as a stylized closed book (more like a binder I guess) and then I realized it is much easier to see as their horn
I've always equated the mask of the Blue Mage symbol as a masquerade mask, a symbol of anonymity and adaptability, representing the Blue Mage's ability to copy and use spells from other sources, while also not having any inherent spells of their own.
In the intro it shows the old sage crystal with three holes. SE removed those holes from the job icon before launch because it caused issues for people with trypophobia.
For Summoner and Scholar, I also interpreted their symbols as books. Scholar being a book from above, facing down. And Summer, also a view from above facing diagonally with a spell coming out from the book. It's really cool to think that all of our views could be pretty much valid. Being able to see these abstract symbols and take our own interpretations of it is actually quiet fun rather than the game just stating what they're supposed to be.
I think what you said about ACN hints what Summoner is supposed to be. It is one of those Precision Compass things, you know what they use on maps long ago to help with finding directions and degree angles.
In case of SCH, glasses are actually shown many times in game as instruments in which to see invisible aether energies. Even if your eyesight is just fine, most people cannot see aetheric energies. SCH also has the aetherflow gauge, further cementing that the job is closely linked with raw aetheric energies in the immediate environment.
To add to the monk symbol, I haven't levelled it too far yet, but I think the lines could also represent the three main forms of the job you cycle through as you fight
Thought the circle on the reaper job stone was a soul, you can see similar looking red orbs floating towards you when you use either Soul Scythe or Soul Slice
The Gunbreaker crystal being golden-yellow could be indicative of the color of bullet casings. Edit: the lines on the cards are probably movement since the cards float around the astrolabe in a circle. Edit 2: The color of Sage's soul crystal almost identical to the Elpis flower in it's base color. The crystal also has the mild ability to react to strong emotions, so the color might not be a coincidence.
TH-cam just recommended this to me and I got to say, amazing! I love your content style. I just subbed and will be looking through your older stuff. Keep it up!
Thaumaturgy's use of a pot, may correlate to its class quests; as you help keep something sealed within. As well could be the increase or potions/ethers they make use of Red Mage, being red, may just be from the blood spilled, as it is a melee as much as it is a caster style job/class
I always saw samurai as the shape one makes, if looking from above, after drawing their sword. Say they are holding the sheath in their left hand and use their right hand to draw the sword, then their right hand is in front of them with the sword pointed to the left, and their left hand is behind them with the tip of the sheath pointed to the right. It's clearly also an image of the hilt as you said, but maybe this second meaning I see is why the breaks in the circle are there.
Fun fact. The icon of the thaumaturge is called a censor. It's the insense brazier that on a chain used by catholic priests during eucharists. The man in the front with the censor is called the prosessional thaumaturge.
I always saw the Warrior's icon as the head of a double-bitted axe (aka a labrys), and the Gunbreaker's as being a gun BARREL being slashed in half. With GNB you can kinda see two posts that would make up a front sight on the top and bottom 'halves' of the barrel.
The slash across the cards in astrologean is the slash that the astrologean does when they draw a card. They slash their arm across as they reveal a card
This was a delightful video and I was pleasantly surprised to see an Elezen on the screen. And for that reason, dear sir... You shall get a thumps up and sub!
I always thought SCH’s stone was a book upside down and open too. I figured that because SMN’s looks like an open book having its pages quickly flipped through (kinda like the concept art for FFXI’s SCH using magic to flip through her book when attacking).
I could also see the Dragoon's job crystal as an abstracted side profile of a dragons head, facing left. That's what immediately jumped out at me (pun intended).
If I remember correctly, I think somewhere it was mentioned that a soul crystal for a new discipline is inherently blue. Both Machinist and Blue Mage are new Jobs in the world, hence both of them being blue. Blue Mage is probably a deeper blue due to the place of origin containing a lot of cerulean
Probably already been said, but just in case, the Thaumaturge symbol is an Urn, as Thaumaturgy is also used in funeral rites: freezing magic for the preservation of the body, fire magic to purify the body, and then lightning magic to purge the sin from the body.
I'd like to mention that purple/violet is consistently used in fiction as a colour of something that is mysterious or elusive in nature, which is pretty fitting for the scholar job.
9:00 The job crystal of Dragoons could also be a hint to their archenemy as it is shaped like the scale of a dragon's hide (like on the artifact armor you get on level 50 incorporates the same design shape to allure towards Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV)
Points I didn't see: Warrior's crystal color might also be a nod to its origins with the Hellsgaurd, who are generally red skinned and come from a volcanic mountain range. DRK's crystal is vaguely heart shaped, which really works for its whole focus on powering itself off of "dark" emotion. Gunbreaker's crystal shape reminds me of seeing a bullet once its been fired into something solid and smushed. BLM's comet symbol could also be a meteor, as in their LB3.
So, something about the Reaper Soul crystal that's interesting is, It ISN'T actually black. Its easy to mistake it for black due to the limited assets in game, but, its actually a very deep, blood red, which can be seen when held up to the light and looking through the crystal. I take this as a representation of the blood spilled of the Garleans who fled north and eventually became the reapers. Could also represent the dark red hues of the Voidsent avatar, as well as the color of the reapers empowered abilities.
I like to think the DRK crystal shape is trying to emulate a heart, considering how the questline is and that our shadow comes from deep inside us, I find it fitting
The DRK job crystal is shaped in the form of an edgy heart to show that DRK's draw strength from their emotions, and the strongest emotion of them being both love and anger.
Great guide! If I may add something, I believe the AST symbol's lines may refer to the astrolabe itself, since it is the weapon by which you wield the cards. Perhaps unintentionally, you left out the GNB job stone. So why do you think it's yellow, and what do you make of its rough square shape? Also, what do you think the teardrop shape of the RDM stone represents? Just a small correction btw: the discipline from which SMN and SCH are born is called arcanima.
Personally, for fun, I like to imagine Monk as Wolverine inspired, with three slashes being incredibly iconic for Wolverine and with the crystal even being yellow, it's fun to imagine. Also uniquely, Wolverine as a western comic-book character spent much of his time in East Asia, in the fictional Island-city of Madripoor and even more so in Japan and thus made him more popular (though still obscure) in Japan
I always thought the Scholar symbol looked more like their hats tbh, but maybe that's just me. As for Dark Knight, the shape of the crystal itself is like a prickly heart. They walk a lonely road of pain and hardship, lashing out at evil with their anger and passion, but at the core of a Dark Knight's ethos and power is a profound love for those around them. That's the fuel for their power, as the anger at their loved ones' misfortune is the spark. Hence, prickly heart.
To me the ninja symbol can also be a vortex like Huiton. Vortexes also bring to mind the feeling of convalescence, perhaps like how the ninjutsu build power before unleashing it, or how ninja can use shikuchi, assassinate, raiju, and increased run speed to close in on foes. A vortex could also bring to mind the idea of being completely surrounded by only a single enemy, which can be expressed through their bunshin clones or doton.
my favorite era is also the 5th astral era, but mhach being my favorite city. i too always shoehorn in explanations about mhach or 5th astral era when i can (totally love the unneeded extra infos for arcanists there)
I'd also like to point out the dancer symbol seems to emulate their symbols for their dance steps...I can't recall which one, but one of them is very similar...
For me, the roundness of the Astro crystal always reminded me of their weapon. Or a crystal ball which matches the whole fortune teller look the have going on.
I believe that for sage, they intentionally connected the fourth Noulith to the middle one. So it may also represent the three skills someone must master to become a full Sage. That being, aetherology, sorcery, and medicine. :)
The red mage job stone reminds a rose petal in both shape and color, and some of it's signature spells also use roses as a theme, so i guess there is the connection
As a player since arr, good disection and pointing out the red mage symbol being a mesh of whm and blm gave me that *click* "ooooooh" moment. Very cool and informative vid!
I always took the scholar symbol to be a curvier Libra (♎) symbol. Libra being a skill in most FF games which allows you to study the enemy to learn their strengths and weaknesses, it suits a class all about knowledge.
It may be an abstracted combination of both a scholars glasses (probably from too much reading in dim light...) And the libra symbol (representing knowledge and strategy).
Additionally Libra is derived from the latin word for book "Liber" which probably is no coincidence considering a scholars weapon of choice.
yea thats what i thought at first too
but the devs actually confirmed its glasses lmao
But when you have Scorpio Venus you turn into Summoner. Xoxo a Libra with Scorpio Venus HAHAH
Good answer!
I always saw it as an abstraction of the mortarboard hats they often wear.
The Dancer’s pink hues and shape come from flower petals, and its gear which by extension is also inspired by Thavnairian blooms. Hence the more flowey nature for both males and females.
I always thought the symbol of dnc looked suspiciously like a viera butt
For me it's a play words, but with colors. Dancers are inspired by real flamenco dancing. The word Flamenco sounds similar to Flamingo, so they toke the color from the bird
@@aurumvale9908 I’m team it’s a butt
Plus that symbol is echoed in their feathers thst make up their primary resource
i thought it was a heart. the shape reminds me of the KH logo :D
DRK Stone is not just edgy. It's in the shape of a heart bc in the quests they go on and on about how a DRK's power is not from rage and hatred, but out of love for yourself and for the people around you. Also a nod to how Fray always says to keep it close to your heart and listen to your heart beat... I like DRK.
Same!! It's my favorite tank. It's not just edgy.
While the DRK crystal is very dark and edgy (quite literally), it’s also… shaped like a heart.
Which, if you’ve done any of the DRK quests with moogles in them, makes a lot of sense.
and in Stormblood where the stone is broken... broken heart anyone???
@@Morscrow given the lvl60-70 quest happen after Heavensward where the success of WoL ending Dragonsong war is build upon the death of WoL's 2 particular friend.
And given DRK is one of the Dynamis heavy job, the guilt WoL possess is so strong that it broke the DRK job crystal, due to the common nature of job crystal are dynamis based.
it can also simply represents the darkness in your heart, since everyone has darkness inside of them. And also, your dark simulacrum.
Super glad someone said this. Because while edgy the shape of it is incredibly important to the overall theme of the class and it's a little sad that there wasn't a mention of that. (Even just a no spoilers "it's shaped like a heart for reasons you'll have to play to find out")
It's become funny to me seeing people describe DRK as "It's the edgy brooding job" after doing the quests. Not that it's incorrect, of course, but maybe "The tsundere job" is a better reductionism 😂
It never occurred to me that the Red Mage symbol was a combination of Black and White Mage.
I can't unsee it now
Funnily enough, I always interpreted Gunbreaker's icon as a slash with an explosion. The line being the slash itself, and the circle around being an explosion resulting from said slash and resultant cartridge usage.
Right, that makes the most sense.
And also that exact thing happens in the Shadowbringers trailer while Thancred fights Forgiven Cruelty
2 weeks late but I’ve assumed the icon as a Z, from Bozja. But I don’t think that’s exactly accurate and see both this video’s and your interpretation being more proper.
Very late but, the Z shape of the symbol also brings to mind Zorro who passionately emblazens it in various places as both a warning and calling of his presence. The reputation preceeding them as a wandering, stylish knight of justice and their lack of adherence to any one nations rules and governments but rather an immutable code of ideals and virtues being carried down in one simple symbol.
The cut and make of the crystal also brings into mind its origins and recent history. the profession being formed in The Third Astral Era as a response to the height of the Allagan Empire's campaign of war by the besieged Hrothgar queensguard and natives of Northern Ilsabard. The chunky and uneven cut helps call to mind, to me at least, a sense of ingenuity and defiance in the face of adversity with the crystals most likely being hurriedly mined and minted to be given to its assigned knight as quickly as possible.
This demeanor of ingenuity and dogged endurance has also served the profession and its succeeding teachers of the practice very well in recent history. With many of the practices few remaining predecessing teachers and masters living in Bozja and its capital its very likely that the role of Gunbreaker could have met a swift and sudden end. This was thankfully averted by a few scant surviving successors being able to escape from The Garlean Empire's subjugation of Bozja and the sudden destruction of the Bozja Citadel thanks to events caused by the housing of the Meteor Project there, now aptly titled as the Bozja Incident.
Such a low amount of able masters and teachers in the art are due in part to its old traditions of inheritance by rank and country, with successors being specially chosen and usually being native to Bozja. So, These remaining survivors, now breaking tradition with the coming of these desperate times, have now begun passing on the title and rank of Gunbreaker to any who are deemed worthy, wether by wielder or soul crystal, and not by rank, or allegiance to queen and country. Such extreme parting of tradition only being due in part to the potential threat of its knowledge and techniques being lost to the annals of history. With this the soul crystal's rugged and barely cut appearance once again has come to represents its most recognized traits. It's stubborn and ingenuity in the face of opposing odds, it's adherence to code guided by one's own principles and virtues linked to the standards set by Queen Gunnhilder and followed by the Gunbreaker's predeseccors, and it's keen sense to adapt to any situation or difficult periods of time.
Sorry for the Necro, But... The yellow Reminds me of *Sulfur* Which is a Key Component in Gunpowder.
I thought I knew them all but the mix of WHM and BLM symbols in the RDM one kinda blew my mind
In my eyes the job icon for the Reaper is a scythe and a voidgate, referencing to their pacts with a voidsent.
Agreed. Never even considered it being a head, lol
I always thought the MNK job stone represented the claws of a coeurl (a leopard).
In the "temple of fist" dungeon, you undergo the trials of the MNK and you fight Coeurls and the final boss is Ivon Coeurlfist.
If you look at leopard's claws (aka coeurl), they have 3 front claws with a thumb like side claw.
As such, a coeurl strike (i e. a punch) will result in 3 straight tearing lines as the job stone symbols.
also if you make a fist, you make three lines in your hand
@@Gshadin True. But it does not make any sense lore wise.
I reckon some of these in the video are completely off the poiny like that of thr Gun Breaker for exampss
The thamaturge symbol could represent the origin of thamaturges being that they were meant to burn the bodies of deceased and be grave keepers, which is shown as a pot(or tomb if we assume it's elongated along the axis we can't see) with fire in it
the pot is called an Urn
The Lalafell in his cups makes a good point! I can totally see the scholar symbol of an upturned book which is bent backwards, though I don't imagine any true scholar in their right mind would do that to a book.
You would too if you had to deal with the axe wielding fool of a military.
In those terms, you could also interpret the Summoner symbol as an open book with a spell or summon in the process of being released from the pages.
Scholars are very ruinous with their books, we rip a page out every time we excog someone
The bright yellow on GNB is actually a reference to them hailing from a lion like race, its the same shade of yellow used for the Lion atma crystals from the old ARR relics
My first thought on the color was "brass", like the shells of the bullets loaded into it. Who knows, maybe it's both, or there's yet other possibilities, or none of the above.
I think it'd sulphur. A critical component in gunpowder.
If im not wrong, in the Blue Mage quests, a person from the new world talks about a "lazuli" canyon made of ceruleum that is sacred for their tribe, maybe that's why the jobstone is blue.
Personally, I've always seen the Scholar's job symbol as a scroll rolled up from both sides meeting in the middle-albeit upside down. It made sense to me considering the Scholar's nature of being an academic and tactician. And the scroll is definitely the very first iteration of books and tomes known today
It's a mortarboard.....
makes more sense
@@UmatsuObossa Actually, it was confirmed to be spectacles by the developers.
I may have a reason for the pot in the thaumaturge class logo.
In the thaumaturge class quests, you deal with voidsent possession from a powerful voidsent housed in an ancient pot. The voidsent promised the possessed lalafell great power, and that was how the lalafell was convinced to “let them in”
The connection with the voidsent isn’t minor either: the reason for both Mhach and Nhim’s downfall is voidsent; the latter from Mhach’s malice and the former from Mhach’s incompetence. The school of thaumaturgy is loosely based off of Mhach’s school of black magic, and I’m pretty sure the pot I mentioned earlier was a Mhachi relic.
In other words, it could be symbology for power coming from the pot - both in regards to the specific class quest and the history of the school itself
It has a lot of links to the 1.0 concept for the job too
I assumed the line on the Astro was the path of the cards around the astrolabe.
DRK's crystal also looks like a heart in shape which is fitting as the class is actually powered the love wielders hold for those they desire to protect and the angst that comes from falling short of that goal.
Another interesting thing to note about the Sage’s job crystal, is that the formation of the nouliths- specifically the three arching ones- make the shape of a traditional Sage’s cap. :D
great catch!
I've always seen the summoner symbol as a compass because of their association with geometry.
I thought it was a witch hat and kept confusing it for Black Mage up until today.
Summoner Horn.
Me too!
i always thought a summoners symbol was a side view of an eye
I keep seeing the summoner symbol as a weird looking meteor
I like to think that the Ninja Symbol has three points to represent the mudras; ten, chi, Jin.
Also the points are curves to represent how there's a fluid cycle in its order of operations.
Ten chi Jin
Chi Jin ten
Jin ten chi
The monk Symbol also represents the atk animation of monk-like characters in former ff games (while using claws) often followed by their elemental influence
While this is a great video I feel you may have missed something I noticed on two of the job crystals. That being DRK and RDM. While yes DRK is spiky and pointy to show how its edgy and aggressive it's soul crystal is nonetheless in the shape of a shield showing that it is above all else a protector of the weak, a decent reflection on PLD soul crystal as they are meant to be mirrors in a way, and RDM shape and color giving it the appearance of a drop of blood, a decent hint at the darker side of red magic and to show that Red Mage draw their power from within, and not from the land surrounding them.
Never thought of it as a shield. I see it as a heart which is fitting for the job story. Since the story revolves around emotional state of the warrior of light. It even shatters due to the characters sadness and regrets like a broken heart.
@@deckire I do agree with you, it does looks like a heart, since the source of the drk's power is their emotions
@@IceboyMyName or more precisely, dynamis
As for the Sage, the cubed shape of the crustal likely symbolizes the Eukrasian barrier it uses to protect themselves and others, such as the Haima.
I’ve always taken the Scholar symbol as a depiction of the Scholar’s Mortarboard hats, which have been in quite a few of their AF armors.
Since I’ve also always assumed the Summoner symbol is a depiction of the Summoner’s Horn.
I figure that the parallel of both of their symbols is based around their headpiece, ties the two classes together.
The way I interpret it, the Dark Knight's soul crystal is in the shape of a heart representing the darkness we harbor within ourselves. This also correlates to the Blackblood which symbolizes the DRK's Grit. The Dark Knight's power comes from his shadowed self, the darkness that spills from the dark heart.
I believe for the reaper the circle is supposed to be the voidsent itself.
I didn’t expect to get much out of this video, since the job icons all seem pretty obvious (albiet confusing to a new player) and the meaning is usually fairly direct. But there was a lot more here than I expected, and I really enjoyed this. And I was especially surprised by the idea that RDM contains both WHM and BLM, that’s a wonderful design that’s so subtle I imagine most people wouldn’t pick up on it. All in all, good stuff.
For the thaumaturge pot, it might be linked to nald'thal, and the depiction of a pot they sometimes have.
The Monks symbol also leads back to the 3 main forms, around which their fightings style revolves
I always thought the Monk lines represented the balance between the mind, the body, and the spirit, being that they use chi and that focuses on balance of your inner energies
I thought that the Ninja's icon also represents the winds, since they are described to hit hard and fast.
The winds also tend to find the gaps in everything. This is mirrored in finding/creating gaps in the enemy's armor through Mug and Trick Attack
They also have some signature wind-based moves like Aeolian Slash and Huton, which are both prompted with whirlwinds
I always thought the Scholar symbol was their hat. The top part is the top of the hat and the bottom part is the hair sticking out and flipping up to the sides from underneath the hat. That's what i got looking at their concept art from the ARR artbook. It reminds me of the type of the scatterbrained smart person who can recite formulas in their sleep but will forget to eat or brush their hair. Glasses makes a lot of sense and it does look like that more.
Its not a bad Idea, I thought it was a scroll seen from the top, and the summoner as a book half closed
i thought it was the hat too befor this video
I always wondered why the symbol for summoner is a cornet and why the job gear had a horn. Both questions answered, thanks!
The summoner's horn is also a staple of final fantasy, as it's a thing in FF9 and FFX-2 for example
another way i always looked at the summoner's job symbol was a death flare impacting the ground, with the pointed end being a 2d representation of the flare stretching into the sky
Same. It looks a lot like the big “FROOSH” of fire breath coming from a summoned entity, bursting upon the ground.
I always saw the DRG crystal shape as a dragon wing.
And for the SMN/SCH crystal shape, it combines the two icons, with the curved side being the glasses and the pointy bit being the horn. The upright part of the shape denotes which job it is. If it's SCH you have the curved side with the deeper concave pulling up to denote where glasses sit on the nose. When flipped for SMN you have the horn pointing up and out as if being worn on ones head.
Despite how much CBU3 has tried to separate the jobs over the years, all their initial design really leans into their duality and how one is the coin flip of the other.
Cool video! I never noticed all the detail in these stones. It's so cool how much these simple shapes and symbols line up with their job's lore and such.
I never looked at the SAM symbol like that before! It's a perfect match. But I always interpreted it as a samurai (the triangle in the middle) swinging their blade, the arcs on either side being the curves of the moon. Also, the Black Mage soul crystal has also been called the "Gem of Shanttoto".
I always thought the gunbreakers yellow gem was suppose to be like brass a common crafting material for bullets and the design designating the history as it looks similar to a chipped spear tip
It's worth noting that the Monk symbol also has history in the FF series! Those 3 slashes are often used in the older games, FF 1-9, to represent when someone attacks with a Claw weapon. So while you did touch on it, it's an interesting bit of history!
i like to think the green of the bard’s crystal is reminiscent of nature, and how bards are connected to nature not unlike white mages!!
Scholar's and Summoner's symbols can both be indeed seen as part of their clothing, but also as abstract forms of their main weapon, the tome. The same way their crystal stapes are upside down in contrast to each other, so are the shapes of their tomes in the crystal. The scholar having the down flipped wide arched tome and the summoner having the upwards pointed inward carved tome from which they "shoot/cast" their spells. (look for combat animations)
Thus again similar to Blue Mage, the symbol actually unifies gear with weaponry in their symbols' design.
The colors of the stones also shows they're connected, yet opposites.
With the Scholar dawning the dark, mystic and foreboding purple that would surely better suit a Summoner, while the Summoner's crystal is a vivid, shining bright green. (they are complimentary colors in color theory)
Point out the RDM crystal shape is a rose petal. Also I also think the SCH symbol is a book. Like its been dropped open on the floor after a long night of studying.
The shape of the blue mage is a reference to the iconic square magic effect, which plays before every move of theirs. It was an indicator of Blue Magic as far back as FF5.
One thing you didn’t mention is the dragoon soul crystal also looks like a dragon scale. That said this is an amazing video it clearly took a lot of work and it paid off well.
For me, I always interpreted the Monk symbol as one that represented the claw swipes of a Couerl, the species most associated with the aesthetic of the Monk. But hey, that might just be me smoking something.
Ok mind blown for today, I never looked at the red mage symbol that closely, just thinking “yup a rapier and focus”. Dang.
this is such a neat video! for me, white mage's soul crystal always looks like an egg or seed, mirroring how their healing fosters growth and gets their power from nature
When you got to scholar in your video, it hit me. Their symbol looks like a scroll rolled up at both ends.
Once, for a brief moment, I saw the Summoner symbol as a stylized closed book (more like a binder I guess) and then I realized it is much easier to see as their horn
Great video and details. Also love the transition with the clips from the job action trailer
I've always equated the mask of the Blue Mage symbol as a masquerade mask, a symbol of anonymity and adaptability, representing the Blue Mage's ability to copy and use spells from other sources, while also not having any inherent spells of their own.
In the intro it shows the old sage crystal with three holes. SE removed those holes from the job icon before launch because it caused issues for people with trypophobia.
I interpret the line in the AST symbol, which curves slightly if you pay attention, as the horizon/outline of a heavenly body seen from space.
For Summoner and Scholar, I also interpreted their symbols as books.
Scholar being a book from above, facing down. And Summer, also a view from above facing diagonally with a spell coming out from the book.
It's really cool to think that all of our views could be pretty much valid. Being able to see these abstract symbols and take our own interpretations of it is actually quiet fun rather than the game just stating what they're supposed to be.
I love Dark Knight, you'd honestly expect it to be edge as heck from the darkness aesthetic, but the job quest is just so wholesome
I think what you said about ACN hints what Summoner is supposed to be. It is one of those Precision Compass things, you know what they use on maps long ago to help with finding directions and degree angles.
In case of SCH, glasses are actually shown many times in game as instruments in which to see invisible aether energies. Even if your eyesight is just fine, most people cannot see aetheric energies. SCH also has the aetherflow gauge, further cementing that the job is closely linked with raw aetheric energies in the immediate environment.
You forgot the Discipline of Hand and Land jobs. They have their own symbols too even if they lack soul stones.
The Monk crystal I always thought was simple fist from the top perspective, but it's cool that you made the connection to the hora!
To add to the monk symbol, I haven't levelled it too far yet, but I think the lines could also represent the three main forms of the job you cycle through as you fight
Thought the circle on the reaper job stone was a soul, you can see similar looking red orbs floating towards you when you use either Soul Scythe or Soul Slice
isnt the sholar's logo a scale? like libra scale.
Cool its nice to have another channel that explains lore its great to see different story telling styles
The Gunbreaker crystal being golden-yellow could be indicative of the color of bullet casings.
Edit: the lines on the cards are probably movement since the cards float around the astrolabe in a circle.
Edit 2: The color of Sage's soul crystal almost identical to the Elpis flower in it's base color. The crystal also has the mild ability to react to strong emotions, so the color might not be a coincidence.
TH-cam just recommended this to me and I got to say, amazing! I love your content style. I just subbed and will be looking through your older stuff. Keep it up!
Thaumaturgy's use of a pot, may correlate to its class quests; as you help keep something sealed within.
As well could be the increase or potions/ethers they make use of
Red Mage, being red, may just be from the blood spilled, as it is a melee as much as it is a caster style job/class
I always saw samurai as the shape one makes, if looking from above, after drawing their sword. Say they are holding the sheath in their left hand and use their right hand to draw the sword, then their right hand is in front of them with the sword pointed to the left, and their left hand is behind them with the tip of the sheath pointed to the right. It's clearly also an image of the hilt as you said, but maybe this second meaning I see is why the breaks in the circle are there.
Fun fact. The icon of the thaumaturge is called a censor. It's the insense brazier that on a chain used by catholic priests during eucharists. The man in the front with the censor is called the prosessional thaumaturge.
I always saw the Warrior's icon as the head of a double-bitted axe (aka a labrys), and the Gunbreaker's as being a gun BARREL being slashed in half. With GNB you can kinda see two posts that would make up a front sight on the top and bottom 'halves' of the barrel.
The slash across the cards in astrologean is the slash that the astrologean does when they draw a card. They slash their arm across as they reveal a card
This was a delightful video and I was pleasantly surprised to see an Elezen on the screen. And for that reason, dear sir... You shall get a thumps up and sub!
I always thought SCH’s stone was a book upside down and open too. I figured that because SMN’s looks like an open book having its pages quickly flipped through (kinda like the concept art for FFXI’s SCH using magic to flip through her book when attacking).
I could also see the Dragoon's job crystal as an abstracted side profile of a dragons head, facing left. That's what immediately jumped out at me (pun intended).
If I remember correctly, I think somewhere it was mentioned that a soul crystal for a new discipline is inherently blue. Both Machinist and Blue Mage are new Jobs in the world, hence both of them being blue. Blue Mage is probably a deeper blue due to the place of origin containing a lot of cerulean
Probably already been said, but just in case, the Thaumaturge symbol is an Urn, as Thaumaturgy is also used in funeral rites: freezing magic for the preservation of the body, fire magic to purify the body, and then lightning magic to purge the sin from the body.
I'd like to mention that purple/violet is consistently used in fiction as a colour of something that is mysterious or elusive in nature, which is pretty fitting for the scholar job.
Warrior... is... CODE RED!!! \m/ Great video, archons!
9:00 The job crystal of Dragoons could also be a hint to their archenemy as it is shaped like the scale of a dragon's hide (like on the artifact armor you get on level 50 incorporates the same design shape to allure towards Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV)
Points I didn't see:
Warrior's crystal color might also be a nod to its origins with the Hellsgaurd, who are generally red skinned and come from a volcanic mountain range.
DRK's crystal is vaguely heart shaped, which really works for its whole focus on powering itself off of "dark" emotion.
Gunbreaker's crystal shape reminds me of seeing a bullet once its been fired into something solid and smushed.
BLM's comet symbol could also be a meteor, as in their LB3.
dancer's symbol is of their four-fold feathers that they use for fan dance. its part of their job gauge
So, something about the Reaper Soul crystal that's interesting is, It ISN'T actually black. Its easy to mistake it for black due to the limited assets in game, but, its actually a very deep, blood red, which can be seen when held up to the light and looking through the crystal. I take this as a representation of the blood spilled of the Garleans who fled north and eventually became the reapers. Could also represent the dark red hues of the Voidsent avatar, as well as the color of the reapers empowered abilities.
I like to think the DRK crystal shape is trying to emulate a heart, considering how the questline is and that our shadow comes from deep inside us, I find it fitting
The DRK job crystal is shaped in the form of an edgy heart to show that DRK's draw strength from their emotions, and the strongest emotion of them being both love and anger.
Great guide! If I may add something, I believe the AST symbol's lines may refer to the astrolabe itself, since it is the weapon by which you wield the cards.
Perhaps unintentionally, you left out the GNB job stone. So why do you think it's yellow, and what do you make of its rough square shape? Also, what do you think the teardrop shape of the RDM stone represents?
Just a small correction btw: the discipline from which SMN and SCH are born is called arcanima.
About the samurai, I would say it can be the moon cut in half, like the blue sticker they have in the abbilities.
The Thaumaturge symbol is a funerary urn. The Thaumaturge guild in Ul'dah oversees the funerary rites (often involving cremation) of the dead.
Personally, for fun, I like to imagine Monk as Wolverine inspired, with three slashes being incredibly iconic for Wolverine and with the crystal even being yellow, it's fun to imagine.
Also uniquely, Wolverine as a western comic-book character spent much of his time in East Asia, in the fictional Island-city of Madripoor and even more so in Japan and thus made him more popular (though still obscure) in Japan
I always thought the Scholar symbol looked more like their hats tbh, but maybe that's just me. As for Dark Knight, the shape of the crystal itself is like a prickly heart. They walk a lonely road of pain and hardship, lashing out at evil with their anger and passion, but at the core of a Dark Knight's ethos and power is a profound love for those around them. That's the fuel for their power, as the anger at their loved ones' misfortune is the spark. Hence, prickly heart.
To me the ninja symbol can also be a vortex like Huiton. Vortexes also bring to mind the feeling of convalescence, perhaps like how the ninjutsu build power before unleashing it, or how ninja can use shikuchi, assassinate, raiju, and increased run speed to close in on foes. A vortex could also bring to mind the idea of being completely surrounded by only a single enemy, which can be expressed through their bunshin clones or doton.
my favorite era is also the 5th astral era, but mhach being my favorite city. i too always shoehorn in explanations about mhach or 5th astral era when i can (totally love the unneeded extra infos for arcanists there)
The dancer's logo is a Viera butt upside down you can't change my mind about it
2:40 “cherry-flavored” makes me now look at all job stones as forbidden hard candies
I'd also like to point out the dancer symbol seems to emulate their symbols for their dance steps...I can't recall which one, but one of them is very similar...
The Scholar's symbol I always thought was a scroll, with the two ends wound up and the part you're reading flat in front.
For me, the roundness of the Astro crystal always reminded me of their weapon. Or a crystal ball which matches the whole fortune teller look the have going on.
I believe that for sage, they intentionally connected the fourth Noulith to the middle one. So it may also represent the three skills someone must master to become a full Sage.
That being, aetherology, sorcery, and medicine. :)
The red mage job stone reminds a rose petal in both shape and color, and some of it's signature spells also use roses as a theme, so i guess there is the connection
I’m so excited to see the Pictomancer crystal. It’s probably gonna look like a palette, with the brush as the symbol. That’s my guess for now.
As a player since arr, good disection and pointing out the red mage symbol being a mesh of whm and blm gave me that *click* "ooooooh" moment. Very cool and informative vid!
I feel like the Bard job stone being an abstracted eighth note to be a bit of a stretch. It seems like its more reminiscent of a quarter rest to me.
Quarter rest works. Or a particularly chunky treble clef.