Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an eponymous console role-playing game (RPG) developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise.The franchise has since branched out into other genres and platforms, such as tactical RPGs, portable games, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and games for mobile phones. As of March 2007, there are twenty-eight games in the franchise—including twelve numbered games and numerous spin-off titles.The series has spurred the release of three animated productions, two full-length CGI films, and several printed adaptations of the video games.

Most Final Fantasy installments are independent stories however, they feature common elements that define the franchise. Such elements include recurring creatures, character names, airships and character classes. The series has popularized many features that are now widely used in console RPGs, and it is well known for its visuals, music, and innovation,such as the inclusion of full motion videos, photo-realistic character models, and orchestrated music by Nobuo Uematsu. The series has been commercially and critically successful; it is the fourth-best-selling video game franchise, only bested by Mario, Pokémon, and The Sims,and Square Enix's best selling series, with more than 85 million units sold as of July 7, 2008.Many individual titles in the series have garnered extra attention and their own positive reception. In addition, the series was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006,and holds seven Guinness World Records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008.

The first installment of the series premiered in Japan on December 18, 1987. Each subsequent title was numbered and given a unique story. Since the original release, many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, IBM PC compatible computers, and mobile phones. Future installments will appear on seventh generation video game consoles; two upcoming titles include Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. As of March 2007, there are 28 games in the franchise.This number includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XII, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs. Many of the older titles have been rereleased on multiple platforms.

Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and compilations. Three Square games were released in North America with their titles changed to include "Final Fantasy": The Final Fantasy Legend and its two sequels. Final Fantasy Adventure is a spin-off to the Final Fantasy series and spawned the Mana series.Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was developed for a United States audience, and Final Fantasy Tactics featured many references and themes found in previous Final Fantasy games. In 2003, the video game series' first direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, was released.Square Enix has released numerous games featuring Chocobos, and the Kingdom Hearts series includes characters and themes from Final Fantasy.Vagrant Story, another Square game, is set in Ivalice, the same world featured in Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and Final Fantasy XII.Three Final Fantasy compilations—Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Ivalice Alliance, and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII—share many themes. another spin-off is "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles" released for the Nintendo Gamecube which spawned a prequel for the DS called "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates.

Avatar

An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games,a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities,or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. It is an “object” representing the embodiment of the user. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.

As used for a computer representation of a user, the term dates at least as far back as 1985, when it was used as the name for the player character in the Ultima series of computer games. The Ultima games started out in 1981, but it was in Ultima IV (1985), that the term "Avatar" was introduced. To become the "Avatar" was the goal of Ultima IV. The later games assumed that you were the Avatar and "Avatar" was the player's visual on-screen in-game persona. The on-screen representation could be customized in appearance. Later, the term "avatar" was used by the designers of the pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun (1989), as well as in the online role-playing game Habitat.

Despite the widespread use of avatars, it is unknown which Internet forums were the first to use them; the earliest forums did not include avatars as a default feature, and they were included in unofficial "hacks" before eventually being made standard. Avatars on Internet forums serve the purpose of representing users and their actions, personalizing their contributions to the forum, and may represent different parts of their persona, beliefs, interests or social status in the forum.

The traditional avatar system used on most Internet forums is a small (80x80 to 100x100 pixels, for example) square-shaped area close to the user's forum post, where the avatar is placed in order for other users to easily identify who has written the post without having to read their username. Some forums allow the user to upload an avatar image that may have been designed by the user or acquired from elsewhere. Other forums allow the user to select an avatar from a preset list or use an auto-discovery algorithm to extract one from the user's homepage.

Some avatars are animated, consisting of a sequence of multiple images played repeatedly (see image to the left). In such animated avatars, the number of images as well as the time in which they are replayed vary considerably.

Other avatar systems exist, such as on Gaia Online,WeeWorld or Meez, where a pixelized representation of a person or creature is used, which can then be customized to the user's wishes. There are also avatar systems (e.g. Trutoon) where a representation is created using a person's face with customized characters and backgrounds.

Avatars in video games are essentially the player's physical representation in the game world. In most games, the player's representation is fixed, however increasingly games offer a basic character model, or template, and then allow customization of the physical features as the player sees fit. For example, Carl Johnson, the avatar from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, can be dressed in a wide range of clothing, can be given tattoos and haircuts, and can even body build or become obese depending upon player actions.

Aside from an avatar's physical appearance, its dialogue, particularly in cut scenes, may also reveal something of its character. A good example is the crude, action hero stereotype, Duke Nukem.Other avatars, such as Gordon Freeman from Half-Life, who never speaks at all, reveal very little of themselves (the original game never showed the player what he looked like without the use of a console command for third-person view).

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are the source of the most varied and sophisticated avatars. Customization levels differ between games; For example in EVE Online, players construct a wholly customized portrait, using a software that allows for several changes to facial structure as well as preset hairstyles, skin tones, etc. . However, these portraits appear only in in-game chats and static information view of other players. Usually, all players appear in gigantic spacecraft that give no view of their pilot, unlike in most other RPGs.

Alternatively, City of Heroes offers one of the most detailed and comprehensive in-game avatar creation processes, allowing players to construct anything from traditional superheroes to aliens, medieval knights, monsters, robots and many more.

Kagome Higurashi

Kagome Higurashi is a fictional character and the female protagonist in the anime and manga series InuYasha created by Rumiko Takahashi. The series' protagonist, InuYasha, is her love interest and vice-versa.

Kagome is a young girl of this manga and anime series. Her grandfather is the keeper of the Higurashi shrine which is a Shinto shrine near Tokyo. On her fifteenth birthday, Kagome tries to save her cat from falling down the shrine well and she is pulled into the Bone Eater's well by Mistress Centipede. This takes her back into time to the Warring States Period of Japan, where she finds the half demon whose name is InuYasha.

Kagome and InuYasha had a rocky start. Being the reincarnation of Kikyo, Kagome has a very close resemblance to her in physical appearance and abilities. Consequently, the resentment InuYasha held for Kikyo at that time was carried over to Kagome. As the series progresses, however, the relationship between Kagome and InuYasha changes for the better. InuYasha’s tough guy facade slowly dissolves as Kagome helps him mature, and they even begin to fall in love. However, when Kikyo, InuYasha’s first love, is revived from the grave (using part of Kagome's soul) and InuYasha reveals that he still loves Kikyo. InuYasha encourages Kagome to stay in her own time so that he may save and avenge Kikyo, but Kagome, still in love, decides to stay with him anyway, knowing that she could never break their bond. In her own modern time, before she decides to stay with InuYasha, she strongly believed that she was second, and Kikyo was first. However, InuYasha is grateful to her and his love for Kagome grows while InuYasha still loves Kikyo. This intense love triangle becomes one of the main conflicts within the manga/anime. As kind-hearted as Kagome is, InuYasha can certainly test her nerves though it is not always InuYasha’s fault. Used as a comic relief, the two argue constantly throughout the anime, in some cases about Kikyo, which sometimes ends with Kagome saying osuwari ("sit" in the English dub) and InuYasha falling to the ground. However, as both characters mature the arguments slowly dissipate, something especially evident in the later chapters of the manga. Other characters, such as Miroku, Sango, and Shippo, often speculate that Kagome and InuYasha are in love. The two avoid discussing their relationship, but there are clear indications in the series of their bond. This includes displays of intimacy such as holding hands, frequent physical contact below the shoulder, and Kagome allowing InuYasha to rest his head on her lap. In Japanese culture, such gestures represent obvious feelings of love between two people. This is more evident after Kikyo's death when InuYasha asks Kagome to stay in modern Tokyo until Naraku is defeated, fearing that she will suffer the same fate as Kikyo. Kagome says that she will stay with InuYasha. In response to this, he holds her hand and tells her that he will protect her with his life. At this moment, they almost kiss, but are interrupted when Sota walks into the room.

Sesshomaru

Sesshomaru is a fictional character in the anime and manga series InuYasha created by Rumiko Takahashi. He is the older half-brother of the series' protagonist, InuYasha. Sesshomaru's role in the series has varied from antagonist, to hero, and most often an anti-hero, depending on his current situation, but he is consistently shown as InuYasha's rival and the two have fought many times. Their rivalry runs deep, influenced primarily by Sesshomaru's hatred for half-breeds and his blaming InuYasha for the death of their father. He also hates InuYasha for possessing their father's legendary sword Tetsusaiga, which he believes is rightfully his.

Initially portrayed as a cold, stoic character with a hatred of humans, Sesshomaru undergoes a series of trials throughout the series that reshape his beliefs and his relationships with those around him. These trials include his care for an orphan named Rin, and his possession of his father's second sword Tenseiga, which can revive the dead.

Sesshomaru is the youkai son of the powerful Inu no Taishou and another, yet unnamed inuyōkai known only as Sesshomaru's Mother.Since Inu no Taishou is considered to be a daiyoukai , Sesshomaru is a daiyoukai himself. In both the manga and the anime, he appears stoic and hard to read. He rarely smiles, and when he does, it is usually not a good thing; Jaken once wanted Sesshomaru to beat him rather than to smile because it was Sesshomaru's smile that he feared more.Sesshomaru believes that struggle is the only way for survival, and throughout most of the series, he shows his contempt for InuYasha, his half brother.

Although Sesshomaru inherited his father's Tenseiga, which can bring 100 people back to life with a single swing, he originally coveted InuYasha's inheritance, the powerful Tetsusaiga. However, a barrier was cast around Tetsusaiga so that full youkai cannot wield it without burning their flesh. Even knowing that he cannot touch the sword,Sesshomaru still desires to take it from InuYasha. He fights with InuYasha in their father's grave and by chance, InuYasha transforms the blade and cuts off Sesshomaru's left arm.It is not until his fight with Magatsuhi that his left arm returns.By the time he regains his left arm, however, he is no longer interested in obtaining the Tetsusaiga.

He is followed by his retainer, an imp-like yōkai with a small beak named Jaken, and later by a human orphan named Rin, whom Sesshomaru brings back to life using Tenseiga, which he tells Jaken was merely a test of the sword. He is also followed by a two-headed dragon that Rin names Ah-Un. Also, Sesshomaru later saves Kohaku from Byakuya, resulting in Kohaku's decision to join his retinue as they leave Sesshomaru's mother's palace.It is also revealed that none of his companions can again be revived by the Tenseiga since they have all died before and were already revived by Tenseiga.

Naruto