Five years after the Crystal Wars, the Ex-Dark Lord, Golbez, must go back to the Blue Planet, a place he swore he'd never return. What he finds is a story of redemption, friendship and ultimately self-discovery. Once he learns his family's secret, can he use this new, greater power and to protect those he's come to love from the looming darkness?
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Author Notes on this "Retro Fanfic"
tl;dl version: The original draft of this story was completed in 2000, long before the changes presented in FFIV DS version, FFIV The After and anything in Dissidia. Though this fic was already AU, the newer game releases has rendered it completely non-canon. Please read with an open mind.
You can skip the rest if you like. I'm just going to go into greater detail below. Thanks for reading!
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The Story About This Story
I started developing/writing Coming of the Darkstar back in 1992-1993. That was years before the Internet existed for me, and long before I even heard the term "fan fiction" (or knew that anyone else in the world wrote such stories).
Back then, the Super Nintendo version of Final Fantasy IV (known as FFII), was the newest thing, and really my first serious RPG game. I think it may have been one of the first big RPGs on that console, and it had a major effect on my life.
I just couldn't stop thinking about the sad ending where the two re-united brothers, Cecil and Golbez, were now saying good-bye. I couldn't stand to think that it would be forever... and so I started to develop a little story around bringing Golbez back to the Blue Planet.
However, in those days nothing was known about Golbez. I mean, absolutely nothing other than what we saw of him as a Dark Lord. That gave me room to theorize and wonder what he might have been like under the dark armor. What I came up with, in my youth, was a somewhat non-orthodox, rather un-Golbez character... who needed a more human name. So I called him Benjamin (Ben).
Enter FFIV The After
Obviously, folks at Square/Enix also found this interesting to reflect on, though over 15 years later, because they delved into the Cecil/Golbez story in their DS remake, and later in the sequel and Dissidia. That's cool, I guess -- it's their story and they can do as they please.
For pre-DS fanfic writers such as myself, it completely shattered the legitimacy of the theories and doused creativity that was afforded by the more open-ended story of the original FFII/FFIV. In the end, I decided that I didn't give a flying float eye, and have changed nothing in my story to reflect any of the new stuff released.
I also haven't played The After or any of the Dissidia games, so any comparisons or likenesses between my story and those stories are completely coincidental.
To Sum It Up
If you're used to the lore introduced with the newer games, it may be a little difficult to swallow "my version" of the future of the FFIV world. There's no Ceodore, no holy dragoon, no Theodore-version Golbez, and my KluYa was imagined significantly different. In fact, I've introduced several completely original characters... I would even argue that Ben, aside from being slapped with the "Golbez" label, is my own creation.
But hey, with the number of reboots, alternate-this and alternate-that stories we see in all sorts of fandoms today, maybe this won't bother anyone at all. Who knows?
Just thought I'd document it and be honest up front. Thanks for stopping by to read, and feel free to drop your thoughts, questions and ideas.
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Coming of the Darkstar
FantasyFive years after the Crystal Wars, the Ex-Dark Lord, Golbez, comes back to the Blue Planet, a place he swore he'd never return. What he finds is a story of redemption, friendship and ultimately self-discovery. Once he learns his family's secret, can...
