Final Fantasy 16 Fan Theory: Clive is Ifrit's Dominant Explained

gamerant.com:

Final Fantasy 16 has been quiet for the past year or so, as COVID-19 and the general hardships of video game development have taken their toll. Despite this, fans do know thatFinal Fantasy 16is preparing for some Spring reveal, upon which they learn more about the game through news, trailers, and hopefully, a release date.

Final Fantasy 16 has received only one trailer thus far, as well as a few lore tidbits and there. This has led to a ton of speculation ranging from story elements and gameplay to specifics like Jill being Shiva’s Dominant. That said, there is another theory that has been debated off and on for the last year, and it is particularly interesting (if contradicting at times): Clive is Ifrit’s dominant.

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There are a few reasons that fans think Clive is Ifrit—the first is in his core character design, where his weaponized arm and sword share a design similar to Ifrit. Fans know that Joshua is Phoenix’s dominant already, meaning it would make sense if Clive hosted the Dark Eikon Ifrit (on the assumption that Dark Eikons work like regular Eikons). On top of that, the trailer is called Awakening—Joshua is already known to be Phoenix’s Dominant, so this could be Clive’s Awakening.

Thus, one interpretation of this trailer is that there is some form of rebellion or revolution, where Betrayer’s attack (as they all wear similar armor). These Betrayers seem to be after Joshua, killing Clive and his Chocobo in the process, causing Joshua to bring forth Phoenix and resurrect his brother. This would explain why Joshua is crying, and in theory, this could be how “Dark Eikons” become tied to a Dominant—through Death. Thus, Clive comes back to life and is