Welcome to this list, kupo! It’s all about how many moogles can be found in each mainline (which is to say, numbered) game in theFinal Fantasyseries. If you’ve ever wondered just how many of us moogles populate these mythic worlds, then look no further, kupo. I doubt you’ll find a more comprehensive list on the internet. And if you do, don’t tell me about it. I want to believe, kupo!
I’ve written the intro as if I, myself, am a moogle, kupo. But don’t worry, I’ll drop the act as soon as the article begins in earnest. This is already tiring, kupo, and frankly, it’s not very funny. It’s certainly not original, kupo. But I can’t seem to stop. Send help, kupo!
16Final Fantasy
There arezero mooglesin Final Fantasy. Moogles had not yet been invented. Ergo, you’ll not find a single one. If anything, I’m a bit surprised that none of the re-releases have ever added any.
Then again, even if they had, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster would likely have gotten rid of them, anyway. I love the Pixel Remasters, but they have no sense of expanded fun. All that bonus content from the Game Boy Advance versions onward, vanished!
I’m not bitter.
15Final Fantasy 2
Moogles still aren’t a thing yet in Final Fantasy 2, but therearebeavers. As in, sentient beavers. Or rather, giant beavers, as the English script refers to them. They don’t speak the common tongue, but Guy, one of FF2’s main party members, casually reveals that “Guy speak beaver” when the team encounters them.
Guy proves he’s worth more than just his muscle in this scene, but I am, naturally, left wondering where the heck he learned this trick. In any case, I’m listing the giant beavers here because they’re something of a moogle prototype, and hey, that’s something.
14Final Fantasy 4
After debuting in Final Fantasy 3, moogles were nixed for Final Fantasy 4 in favour of Hummingways. These moonfolk are cute as a button, and I’m always happy to see the races of Final Fantasy expand into strange new corners. I was similarly glad when the Hummingways returned in Final Fantasy 14 - on the moon again, of course.
FF3’s moogles might have been a one-off, then; another one-game-only little experiment. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. But in the meantime, we got these rabbit-like cuties!
13Final Fantasy 10
Several of Lulu’s weapons in Final Fantasy 10 are moogle dolls, which I’m betting is the first thing most folks tend to remember about their appearances in Spira. Or maybe it’s the moogle doll that Yuna wears in an early story sequence in Final Fantasy 10-2. Or the Mascot dressphere aesthetic.
But there’s also, bizarrely enough, a “real” moogle that Yuna hallucinates far later in FF10-2’s storyline. It looks like a doll that’s had a bad time in life, which is one ofseveralreasons to strongly suspect that it isn’t truly real, but it presents itself as such. I’m not counting it, and you probably shouldn’t, either, but you do you.
12Final Fantasy 15
Final Fantasy 15 has heaps of moogle crossover fare, but again, no true moogles to be found. Iris can fork over a moogle doll to Noctis, there are moogle decals, and most importantly, the Moogle Chocobo Carnival has droves of folks dressed up as the beloved beastkin.
In true FF15 fashion, there’s a weird catch: the Moogle Chocobo Carnival was a live-service event, and it can only be accessed via PC mods now. I’ve never had a more extreme love/hate relationship than I do with Final Fantasy 15, man.
11Final Fantasy 8
At first glance, Final Fantasy 8 seems to have just one nod to moogles: the MiniMog card from Triple Triad. Dig a bit deeper, and there isperhapsa single real moogle. It’s tough to say for certain, but MiniMog himself is possibly real? Or possibly… just a spell? Or something?
In any case, using Chocobo World via the PocketStation add-on, you can go on an adventure to find MiniMog, who can then be used as a Guardian Force, AKA a summon spell. In Final Fantasy 8 Remastered, Chocobo World has been replaced with the Angelo Search mechanic, and while it’s a far less involved affair, I’m still glad it exists. After all, Chocobo World itself never existed outside of Japan, as the PocketStation was never brought overseas.
10Final Fantasy 16
There is exactly one real moogle in Final Fantasy 16, but one > zero, which puts Nektar ahead of no fewer than five mainline Final Fantasy titles. Perhaps even six of them.
Poor Nektar almost didn’t even make the cut, as there were concerns during FF16’s development that moogles wouldn’t match the darker tone of the game. Given how mixed a reception that grimmer-than-usual vibe has gotten, I dare say it’s for the best that they caved and included him.
Indications do exist that there are further moogles elsewhere in this universe. It’s a shame that we only ever encounter Nektar. But I’ll take the win.
9Final Fantasy 3
The Sage Doga has moogles for bodyguards, marking the first appearance of the creatures in the series. There are only a couple of them, but - wait for it - two > one. FF3 takes the narrow lead over FF16, and I salute the dev team for unwittingly bringing to life what would quickly become one of Final Fantasy’s most iconic elements.
8Final Fantasy 7
The original Final Fantasy 7 had few moogles, and none were real. This would have put it near the bottom of my list, but then Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came along, and with it, a paradigm shift on mooglekind. The legend of Mog and Mag - first learned through a Gold Saucer minigame in FF7 - remains poignant, as dsoes the Chocobo and Moogle summon.
Now, however, Mogstools (essentially the Mog House from the aforementioned minigame) contains Moogle Merchant, who probably has a name, but alas, who knows what the heck it is, as well as five “mooglets”: Mosh, Mokey, Molulu, Molala, and Moog.
There’s also Cait Sith, of course, who stands atop a large stuffed moogle suit, plus the other stuffed moogle chatterboxes throughout the Gold Saucer. From a purely mainstream POV, I suppose Cait Sith is the even more iconic moogle than Mog, but in fandom terms, it’s likely the latter.
There are six Mogstools strewn across the continents of Gaia which we have access to in Rebirth, which means there may be more elsewhere that we’ll encounter in the third and final game in the Remake trilogy. Blame it on moogle magic, I guess, but somehow, whenever Cloud entersanyof the Mogstools, he bumps into these six representatives of the moogle realm.
I’d say it’s extremely likely that there are more, unless Moogle Merchant is asexually reproducing, but I’m not going to continue this line of thought, because weird. Yes, this is atipdirected toward myself.
7Final Fantasy 5
In Final Fantasy 5, there’s a whole town’s worth of moogles, aptly entitled Moogle Village. Only six are seen here, but there’s also a moogle at Castle Bal, plus two in Moore Forest. FF5 is the first time that Square went all-in on ‘em.
When so few representatives of a species are seen in a game, but they’ve clearly got a society of sorts, I tend to figure there are more that we don’t see. Y’know, like how cities in older RPGs probably have more inhabitants than ten or whatever. But I’m counting in literal terms, so that makes nine in all.
In a couple of cases, I’m going partly on memory, here. If you remember more htan nine, let me know!
