Naming conventions are a curious thing. They allow the observer to deduce useful information based on general semantics, regardless of the potential intent. The video game industry, in particular, has seen some rather unusual official and tentative titles throughout its colorful history. Among games whose name often leaves fans pondering its exact origins is Square Enix's Final Fantasy, the beloved RPG franchise that has spanned nearly a hundred installments since its inception over three ago.

For a series with a clearly defined and well-established designation, Final Fantasy's naming convention is surprisingly ambiguous. What started as seemingly baseless hearsay regarding the circumstances that led the game’s creator to crown this transformative "swan song" in such a peculiar manner quickly turned into an urban legend that somehow became a universally acknowledged truth. Although the myth persisted until it was debunked in the mid 2010s, the rumors circulating in the industry for decades incidentally held some water.

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One of the stories pertains to reports of Square (formally known as SquareSoft in North America) facing bankruptcy in the 1980s. Despite the idea itself being highly susceptible to hindsight bias, the climate was different back in the day, and developers Square and Enix were fierce competitors in the global market of video games. While Enix was busy riding the wave of Dragon Quest's unprecedented success, Square was performing miserably on all fronts. Since Final Fantasy was supposed to be its last-ditch attempt to turn the tide, the company counted its blessings and opted for a name that had "curtain call" written all over.

Image depicting cropped box art for the original Final Fantasy on Nintendo Entertainment System.

With a focus on Hironobu Sakaguchi, the genius mastermind behind the Final Fantasy franchise, the second story expands on the unfortunate events that almost brought Square’s presence in the industry to an untimely end. Several sources state that Sakaguchi's failure to produce viable content that would elevate the company's unfavorable standing nearly resulted in him willingly returning to academia. Before pulling the plug on game development, he decided to pitch one last title, ceremoniously donning it Final Fantasy. As divinely guided as these misconceptions may sound, the reality of the situation was slightly less touched by grace.

Perhaps somewhat disappointingly, Final Fantasy was actually supposed to be called "Fighting Fantasy." Much like the case with Sega renaming its Mega Drive console the Genesis in North America, the name belonged to a different medium that staked its claims on the intellectual property years before Final Fantasy came into being. The moniker belonged to a series of role-playing gamebooks that first emerged in 1982 and spanned multiple board games further down the line. Unable to proceed with its preferred naming convention, Square went on to explore different venues while operating within certain constraints.

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Screenshot depicting a battle sequence in Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster.

According to Sakaguchi, the team responsible for developing the game wanted a title that allowed for a simple abbreviation in the Roman alphabet and a four-syllable Japanese pronunciation. Settling on "fantasy" was an easy choice because of the game's theme and properties, but "final" could have been replaced with just about any adjective starting with the letter "F," as Square was open to suggestions learning that the word "fighting" was out of its reach. In a way, Final Fantasy got its name thanks to a random twist of fate that, strangely enough, also pulled the company out of the gutter.

It is hard to imagine the outcome Square's premature closure would have had on the gaming industry if Final Fantasy failed to take off. Not only was the game a blessing in disguise, but also an entry that contributed to the popularization of the RPG genre, effectively bringing it to new heights. As one of the largest and best-selling franchises in the broader history of video games, Final Fantasy is the epitome of success that many developers admire and look up to. While the moniker still alludes to the struggles of a bygone age and perseverance that eventually brought the idea of an interactive fantasy to life, the game's finality was, thankfully, never meant to be.