Real-world, real-big Final Fantasy Black Mage hat on sale for fans of magical fashion and Vivi
It can be tricky to explain to non-fans how there are 16 games in the mainline Final Fantasy series, spanning 36 years, and yet none of them are direct sequels to another. But while the stories and settings of those mainline numbered installments are all independent of one another, the shared themes, gameplay systems, musical cues, and visual motifs tie the series' installments to one another.
For example, a recurring character class in Final Fantasy is the Black Mage, who, starting from the original Final Fantasy in 1987, can be identified by a tall, wide-brimmed hat that obscures the wearer's face while marking them as a user of offense-oriented magic. It's one of the most distinctive costume designs in the entire RPG genre, and now it's something you can make part of your wardrobe in the real world too.
While the Black Mage hat makes multiple appearances across the Square Enix franchise, dedicated Final Fantasy fans are likely getting an extra-strong hit of nostalgia here. The hat's design is modeled specifically after the one worn by Vivi, the shy, purehearted Black Mage with a tragic backstory from Final Fantasy IX, currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of its release for the original PlayStation and often cited by Final Fantasy original creator Hironobu Sakaguchi as his favorite game in the series.
Bitmapped graphics were still the norm in video games when the first Final Fantasy came out, and so the Black Mage hat wasn't originally designed with much concern over how the headwear would fit in three-dimensional spaces. That's something you'll need to take into consideration with the real-world Vivi's hat, however, which is listed as having a height of 72 centimeters (28.3 inches) and a brim width of 14 centimeters extending from the central cone, so you might want to be careful if your quest for the day is taking you somewhere with low ceilings or doorways.
Vivi's Black Mage Hat is available for preorder now through the Square Enix e-store here, priced at 17,600 yen (US$121) with shipping scheduled for mid-August, which suggests it should be in fans' hands/on fans' heads by Halloween.
Source: Square Enix e-store via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Square Enix e-store
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