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The Top 5 Weirdest Religious References in Video Games By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman In the 1980’s Nintendo of America had very strict standards for the imagery used in games for their systems. Often times, things that could be considered “religious” such as crosses on tombstones and caskets were omitted from games before they hit American shores. However, those days are long gone and now it seems developers are using a copious amount of “theology” and religious references in their games; from using butchered Judeo-Christian doctrine in storylines to graphic religious images in their cutscenes and game design. While I could make this list just about Square Enix’s use of religion in games, I feel that would be too easy. Though I didn’t want to solely list Judeo-Christian references, I also didn’t want to use any Buddhist and Shinto references either (since there are slews of Japanese games based on the mythology of both religions… Okami, anyone?).
5) Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7): From what I gather his name translates into “the enumeration,” which is an allusion to the 10 attributes of the Hebrew god. Though his name is not a totally weird religious reference, Sephiroth is one of the most popular characters in video game history (or so the annual gamefaqs.com character poll says) and that’s enough to give him spot 5. I’ll admit there are a lot of other religious references in Final Fantasy 7 that may be better than this one; however, it’s been 10 years since my last FF7 play through and I’m not going to read some wikipedia plot synopsis just to pick out one stupid reference.
4) The Main Plot (Xenogears): I’m not going to lie, I never beat Xenogears. I borrowed it from a friend in high school and he asked for it back before I had a chance to get to the end. However, I played enough of it to tell you that this story is nuts. It’s nuts in an Evangelion sort of way. Where it’s like a drunken atheist trying to explain what went on in the stories of the Bible. The story has a strange Cain and Abel undertone to it and also speaks about redemption and creationism too. Though somewhat confusing and a bit convoluted, Xenogears’ story is a prime example of a Japanese game company butchering Christian lore.
3) Game Concept (Super 3D Noah’s Ark): You’ve probably heard of this on the Angry Video Game Nerd Xmas special in 2006. Because of that, I’m not going to go into detail explaining this game. Basically, this is a skinned version of Wolf 3D for the SNES. In Wolf 3D, you play as B.J. Blazkowicz and have to kill all the Nazis in the fortress. In Super 3D Noah’s Ark, you play as Noah (of Bible fame) and have to sedate all the animals in the Ark. Allegedly, Id Software just handed the game’s source code to a company that makes Christian games in order to get back at Nintendo of America for making them “tone down the violence” (a very stupid and pathetic campaign run by Nintendo during the Mortal Kombat era).
2) Islamic Music/Chanting (Zack & Wiki and Little Big Planet): The references on these aren’t very weird; however, the backlash sure is. About 2 years ago Capcom released a teaser trailer showing a few minutes of gameplay from their new point and click puzzle game, Zack & Wiki. In the trailer was a brief clip where some natives chant “Allahu Akbar” (praise god), which for some reason caused a lot of backlash from the Islamic community. Years later, Sony decides to pull several songs with Muslim centric lyrics from its highly anticipated game, Little Big Planet weeks before it’s due out in stores. Ironically, while they were trying to avoid the same criticism that Capcom received, the Islamic community speaks out against their decisions stating that “Sony is trying to keep Muslims silent.” This just tells me that the Islamic religion probably doesn’t do too much for people’s spiritual growth, since it seems like these people just want to complain about things.
1) Dracula’s Farewell Address (Castlevania - Symphony of the Night): Yes, of course a Castlevania game has to be on this list. If you’ve played Symphony of the Night, you may be questioning why I picked Dracula’s last words for the number one spot. However, this is one of the first (and I think only times) where I had seen a Bible verse used in a game (even though Xenogears does use a quote from Revelation, they never actually cite it). It’s such a fitting quote too; a slain Dracula gasping for breath quotes Matthew 16:26 to explain where he went wrong (Ah...sarcasm. "For what profit is it to man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?" Matthew 16:26 I believe). If I didn’t work so damn hard to get over 200% of the map explored, I probably would have felt really bad for Dracula at that point.
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