What is that, Ifrit? Diabolos? A random mook? I don't know! Third base!

[Death Penalty]

First, you're coming off a little needlessly aggressive here. I'm just having a discussion here, there's really no need to get your back hair up. The reason why I don't think that's Ifrit is because XIV's Ifrit is drastically out of the norm, whereas every Astral we've seen so far in XV has had a deeply traditional design. Titan, Ramuh and Leviathan would all fit squarely in a Final Fantasy from over a decade ago. The creature is also clearly reptilian and draconic and we know Bahamut is a shoe-in for XV. That being the case it makes more sense to me that that dragon-like figure is Bahamut alongside a couple other potentially unrevealed summons like Shiva and Odin. The reason Bahamut has those smaller wings rather than his usual giant wings in this particular piece is because he's in a group shot where he's sharing a lot of space with multiple summons. His wings would be obtrusive to the overall art, it's the same reason the summons aren't exactly to scale with one another. The wings are there, they're just artistically diminished. I've highlighted their outline as I see it. Unfortunately I can't find a high-res image of the Big Bang anymore, so bear with me! I used to have one but I must have lost it along the way.

The figure I think is Ifrit is right here:

He gets a little cut off in this crappy low-res shot, sorry again! This guy looks extremely in line with what one might expect Ifrit to be given his average looks across his previous incarnations- especially when you take his more classic designs into account.

And just to tackle the issue of stylization a bit more, let's remember that this is Amano's rendition of Fang, Vanille and Ragnarok:

 

[LeonBlade]

First, you're coming off a little needlessly aggressive here. I'm just having a discussion here, there's really no need to get your back hair up. The reason why I don't think that's Ifrit is because XIV's Ifrit is drastically out of the norm, whereas every Astral we've seen so far in XV has had a deeply traditional design. Titan, Ramuh and Leviathan would all fit squarely in a Final Fantasy from over a decade ago. The creature is also clearly reptilian and draconic and we know Bahamut is a shoe-in for XV. That being the case it makes more sense to me that that dragon-like figure is Bahamut alongside a couple other potentially unrevealed summons like Shiva and Odin. The reason Bahamut has those smaller wings rather than his usual giant wings in this particular piece is because he's in a group shot where he's sharing a lot of space with multiple summons. His wings would be obtrusive to the overall art, it's the same reason the summons aren't exactly to scale with one another. The wings are there, they're just artistically diminished. I've highlighted their outline as I see it. Unfortunately I can't find a high-res image of the Big Bang anymore, so bear with me! I used to have one but I must have lost it along the way.

The figure I think is Ifrit is right here:

He gets a little cut off in this crappy low-res shot, sorry again! This guy looks extremely in line with what one might expect Ifrit to be given his average looks across his previous incarnations- especially when you take his more classic designs into account.

And just to tackle the issue of stylization a bit more, let's remember that this is Amano's rendition of Fang, Vanille and Ragnarok:

I can't find a good image for the artwork either, it's annoying...

The figure you think is Ifrit, here's a better image of him (sort of), and it doesn't resemble Ifrit at all in my opinion.

It has a weird second face or something on its side... I'm not really sure. Then again, there's a lot of stuff in here I'm not sure about.

Another point I'd like to mention as well is that what is perceived to be Bahamut in the Genesis artwork takes on a human form. Either it's Bahamut or Diablos, as we know that all Astrals in XV are from past Final Fantasy games. If Diablos or Bahamut is in the game, then what does that make the Amano figure? We know that Titan and Leviathan match their Genesis artwork from the Amano artwork, and also what is assumed to be Shiva as well. We also know that Leviathan, Titan and Ramuh also all match how they look in game. There's a huge disconnect here between the two artworks where many other Astrals match up perfectly fine.

Here's an image someone made some time ago analyzing the Amano Big Bang artwork:

They assume that figure is Diablos, which I don't really agree with, but as you believe it to be Bahamut the lack of prominent wings would be intentional. However, it wouldn't match what is perceivably Diablos in the Genesis artwork again, as Diablos would be taking on a more human form.

Here's also a quote from Tabata about the Astrals:

There is a certain Eidolon, one of the ones that you've seen previously, which appears in a completely new form. It's a very different take on the same old character. There is also a very good story-based reason as to why we are sticking to more traditional, familiar Eidolons in this game. The reason for that is because this time around, the Eidolons play a very big part in the story and are very much an integral part of the game world. So we thought it would be better to have the traditional ones, the ones everyone is familiar with, to see how they fit in the story and what is the backstory behind these characters, rather than having completely new Eidolons.

Source: http://www.finaland.com/?rub=site&page=news&id=5516

To me, this lines up perfectly with Bahamut being depicted as a human form similar to how the Myth/Genesis artwork has depicted him. There are only a few summons in the game, Titan, Ramuh, Leviathan and Carbuncle all look normal, many have speculated Ifrit, Shiva and Bahamut as others that might be in the game. Looking at the Amano Big Bang artwork, Shiva would definitely look the same, so the only other options would likely be Bahamut or Ifrit. If it was Ifrit, he certainly wouldn't look anything like the black and red creature from the Amano art, nor would he look like the creature in the GIF from this thread. However, if it was Bahamut, he wouldn't look like the black and red creature, but would look like the human winged creature people think is Bahamut in the Myth/Genesis artwork.

Speaking more inline with the thread topic, I believe the creature in the GIF is actually one of the daemons depicted in the bottom of the Myth artwork:

It would make sense knowing that Niflheim is in control of these Daemons, and that they are depicted as skinny beasts. The prophesy stated that the King would do battle against the darkness and this seems to be mirroring that very same concept and would make sense. We even see a similar type creature to the one that attacked Noctis as a child and again in Brotherhood towards the bottom left near Ultros who is also again another beast from Niflheim. One of the creatures down here also has jagged horns as well, and might be connected, but we really don't know for sure.

There's also this from the Afrojack trailer:

Which many would suggest could be a fight against Ifrit, much like many suggested this image was from Shiva:

If this was Ifrit, you would notice the party is not dressed in the Kingsglaive attire they are in the GIF which would mean the beast depicted in the GIF isn't Ifrit. However, this is NOT conclusive evidence, as there's nothing to say the fire is from Ifrit and not something completely different.

The main point here though is there is clearly more to the story that people are leaving out in their analysis, this is why I tend not to speculate on something until there is more substantial evidence.

I am sticking to my point of view and I look forward to seeing the next reveal for XV and I hope we get to see more of the Astrals to confirm or deny my theory.

 

[Death Penalty]

You know I hadn't actually noticed the second face on the creature I thought was Ifrit. It's not 100% clear whether it's supposed to be a face or just a pauldron, but if it is a face the figure could definitely be a highly stylized rendition of the massive beast Niflheim employs against Lucis in Kingsglaive (which has great jaws on its shoulders) or even an entirely different beast altogether. I still think the dude really closely resembles Ifrit, though, and his positioning with the other Astrals in a group shot that seems to be nearly exclusively Astrals is suspicious to me.

Personally I don't think the serpent in the Genesis artwork is Leviathan though. The theory I like for that (which could be entirely wrong of course) is that the woman with the fish tail is actually depicting a highly romanticized version of Leviathan in the same way the winged man is a romanticized version of Bahamut. I speculate that Bahamut's true form will be that of a dragon in the same way Leviathan's is that of a sea serpent, but the Lucian depiction of the gods has them taking the forms of human beings with hints at their true divine forms. They may even have some form of human shape in the core game, which is what I believe Tabata is talking about with the comment that an Astral will have a "surprising new form".

This next bit is based off of nothing more than my hopes and dreams, but it would be really cool if the Kingsglaive badge depicted Bahamut. A more humanoid Bahamut with a sword would be just aces by me, even if it clashes with my supposition.

I do think the massive flame burst you pointed out muddies things up for me, because I think that's Ifrit as well. There are some potential if less likely explanations though. Ifrit could be a recurring enemy, met more than once throughout the course of the story. It could be an Astral that Noctis fails to save from Niflheim, since we see them trying to sink their claws into Titan. It's hard to say without more information.

Your stance on speculation is very reasonable though and I can admit like you that I'm just not sure and that it could go an entirely different direction from my take on it.

 

[Chocobocoholic]

After playing FFXIV today and seeing Ifrit again (I forgot what he looked like in that game) then I can see why some of you are saying this monster is Ifrit. He is pretty skinny in FFXIV compared to previous versions. However, the sword makes me think this isn't Ifrit.

 

[LeonBlade]

You know I hadn't actually noticed the second face on the creature I thought was Ifrit. It's not 100% clear whether it's supposed to be a face or just a pauldron, but if it is a face the figure could definitely be a highly stylized rendition of the massive beast Niflheim employs against Lucis in Kingsglaive (which has great jaws on its shoulders) or even an entirely different beast altogether. I still think the dude really closely resembles Ifrit, though, and his positioning with the other Astrals in a group shot that seems to be nearly exclusively Astrals is suspicious to me.

It might be a pauldron, it's a tough call really as the image isn't very clear to begin with. As for why I don't think it's Ifrit, it has blue flames and energy around it along with a blue mouth, it just doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

Personally I don't think the serpent in the Genesis artwork is Leviathan though. The theory I like for that (which could be entirely wrong of course) is that the woman with the fish tail is actually depicting a highly romanticized version of Leviathan in the same way the winged man is a romanticized version of Bahamut. I speculate that Bahamut's true form will be that of a dragon in the same way Leviathan's is that of a sea serpent, but the Lucian depiction of the gods has them taking the forms of human beings with hints at their true divine forms. They may even have some form of human shape in the core game, which is what I believe Tabata is talking about with the comment that an Astral will have a "surprising new form".

I did think of the idea of Leviathan being the female character actually, but then again we also don't see anything that would resemble Ifrit here either, which is why I can't be sure every Astral is even shown here, let alone depicted as their summon form.

If that were true, it could be that serpent could be Midgardsormr and the woman with the tail is actually Leviathan. The problem I have with this is that it shows Leviathan holding onto the winged man, which seems that there is a love interest or some sort of a lust. That's why most people speculated this to be Siren over Leviathan, as the idea of a creature of Lust fawning over a male being Siren makes more sense. Of course, Siren from Final Fantasy isn't often depicted with a tail, but in myth they are commonly associated with the sea, so there's a parallel there. Honestly, it's really tricky to piece together, things aren't really cut and dry.

As for the part about taking human form in the core game, I don't really think that's what he was getting at, it seems to me it was more alluding to the idea that the Astral itself just looking different entirely. I don't see the point of specifying that it looks different if it ultimately will take on a familiar form anyways.

This next bit is based off of nothing more than my hopes and dreams, but it would be really cool if the Kingsglaive badge depicted Bahamut. A more humanoid Bahamut with a sword would be just aces by me, even if it clashes with my supposition.

Maybe it's Bahamut in the gif (lol) but really I don't think so, as Niflheim seems to be connected with the region of Bahamut and not Lucis.

I do think the massive flame burst you pointed out muddies things up for me, because I think that's Ifrit as well. There are some potential if less likely explanations though. Ifrit could be a recurring enemy, met more than once throughout the course of the story. It could be an Astral that Noctis fails to save from Niflheim, since we see them trying to sink their claws into Titan. It's hard to say without more information.

Your stance on speculation is very reasonable though and I can admit like you that I'm just not sure and that it could go an entirely different direction from my take on it.

The flames could be anything, but I think it's intentionally a sequence much like the Titan ones we've seen in the past when they shield themselves from attacks from the Astrals. I also don't see Ifrit being a recurring enemy, as the Astrals are guardians of Eos that have existed since the beginning, not just some random enemies that you fight. Again, the Astrals are above human affairs, they don't really care about what people do, the reason you fight against them is simply to prove your worth to them and summon their power. Noctis is gifted, that's why he's able to communicate with the Astrals, so Niflheim attacking Titan for example doesn't mean they can somehow garner control over him, as they are not blessed in any sense to commune with the Astrals like Noctis is.

Niflheim isn't trying to control Titan either, they're trying to KILL him, probably because they know that Titan would try to stop them if they threatened the planet, especially if Noctis gets control of him.

I hope our next trailer we get to see all of the Astrals in the game in an action packed story trailer.

 

[Noctis_Caelum]

I can't find a good image for the artwork either, it's annoying...

well, there is a high res of that artwork, just take a screenshots of that official "big bang" trailer in full hd.

And those galaxies and stars has to something to do with the Astrals and Eos.
Hopefully we see something about it in the game.

Also after seeing that creature several times, I think it's Aranea or Anubis.
Because when I saw that for the first time, I thought it is Aranea, because the person has something white on the head (she has white hair) and also the figure looks like a woman.
So can she transform into Ifrit with those horns or a monster?
Remember, Tabata said that Aranea has many secrets.

But now looking at it, it looks like Anubis with these horns, that "dog" face and both are half naked.

Pretty sure it's not Ifrit and thought that from the beginning, too.
The Astrals are coming from those meteorites like Titan, Ramuh and Leviathan (perhaps it's in Accordo under water).
And the flames are just the destruction of Insomnia, perhaps "Anubis" caused that.
Not only that, Anubis is the god of death in the old egyptian mythology and Lucis has also the same meaning like the sculls and reapers (well, XV has still them, but less).

Also, It has similarities to the Lucis symbol

 

[LeonBlade]

well, there is a high res of that artwork, just take a screenshots of that official "big bang" trailer in full hd.

And those galaxies and stars has to something to do with the Astrals and Eos.
Hopefully we see something about it in the game.

Also after seeing that creature several times, I think it's Aranea or Anubis.
Because when I saw that for the first time, I thought it is Aranea, because the person has something white on the head (she has white hair) and also the figure looks like a woman.
So can she transform into Ifrit with those horns or a monster?
Remember, Tabata said that Aranea has many secrets.

But now looking at it, it looks like Anubis with these horns, that "dog" face and both are half naked.

Pretty sure it's not Ifrit and thought that from the beginning, too.
The Astrals are coming from those meteorites like Titan, Ramuh and Leviathan (perhaps it's in Accordo under water).
And the flames are just the destruction of Insomnia, perhaps "Anubis" caused that.
Not only that, Anubis is the god of death in the old egyptian mythology and Lucis has also the same meaning like the sculls and reapers (well, XV has still them, but less).

Also, It has similarities to the Lucis symbol

Interesting theory with Anubis, I certainly think the fire is created from it, although the Astral fire tends to burn a blue color, so I think it might be something different. I still hold to the theory it's a daemon. Regardless of what it is, where could it come from? Part of the Plague of the Stars? Are the Astral Shards part of the Plague of Stars? Remember that Titan has a giant shard that smashed through him, it's likely that the shard came down and hit him while he slept in the earth, or perhaps as I've heard @Bites the dust theorize before, that perhaps Titan was stopping it from colliding with the planet.

 

[DrBretto]

If you've read the original infamous "leak" this is safe to click. Otherwise, probably still safe if you're even in this thread, but I'll err on the side of caution.

Spoiler

Apparently, we won't have to debate this for as long as we thought.

A new leak from a source that has predicted quite a few things already is saying that the gameplay we will see in Gamescom is this actual battle. We'll see it for ourselves. They are stick with it being the chapter 0 Ifrit battle as described in the leaks. 10 years later and all.

If false, we can put all this crap to rest. If its true, I have to wonder how much of a spoiler it even is if they're going to demonstrate it like that.

 

[LeonBlade]

If you've read the original infamous "leak" this is safe to click. Otherwise, probably still safe if you're even in this thread, but I'll err on the side of caution.

Spoiler

Apparently, we won't have to debate this for as long as we thought.

A new leak from a source that has predicted quite a few things already is saying that the gameplay we will see in Gamescom is this actual battle. We'll see it for ourselves. They are stick with it being the chapter 0 Ifrit battle as described in the leaks. 10 years later and all.

If false, we can put all this crap to rest. If its true, I have to wonder how much of a spoiler it even is if they're going to demonstrate it like that.

More 4chan leaks of course...

Spoiler

I just read them and honestly I don't see how whoever is leaking this shit if it were real would even be able to get away with it. Problem with these leaks though is they kind of go against the whole thing about who the final boss is supposed to be...

We'll see what they show, wasn't it already mentioned we would see Leviathan next anyways...?

 

[Omegataco]

I really didn't think it was Ifrit the first time I looked at it more closely.

One thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the Type-0 team is working on FFXV, so understandably some designs from Type-0 may have carried over into FFXV.

For reference, here is Ifrit as shown in the Justice Monsters Five trailer:

And here is a render of his design from Type-0:

It's not hard to tell that these are the same design. So going under the assumption that this is the design that will be used for Ifrit in FFXV...

The legs of the creature in question look more slender and human-like and don't seem to arc backwards like the Type-0 Ifrit. There's also no evidence of flames jutting out of the wrists, thighs, or the head of the creature in the image. Also the figure in the image simply does not look masculine enough to be Ifrit. I also don't notice any arm gauntlets or leg bracelets on it. The only thing remotely similar from the two designs (that we can tell from the low quality image) are the horns, but even then the way the ends of the horns bend backwards looks different to me when I compare the two.

Another thing that I noticed from the footage is around this frame:

It's kind of hard to see, but the creature in question looks like it's holding out its arms in this shot as if it is wielding some type of weapon. If this is the case, then this seems even more unlike Ifrit because he has never wielded any type of physical weapon in any of the Final Fantasy games that he has appeared in (as far as I am aware). Not to mention, Ifrit being in Insomnia and fighting Noctis and the group kind of goes against the lore that they have established for the Astrals thus far - that they have no interest in the affairs of humans and are simply protectors of certain parts of the world.

On another note regarding the earlier leaks that many of these theories are all stemming from:

I'm not actually sure when IGN visited Square in order to get the footage for their documentary series, but I'm pretty sure it was before E3. In the IGN article showcasing the first video of the documentary, the guy who actually made the thing responded to some hurtful comments in the comments section by replying that he had been working on the documentary "for months". If that's the case, then it is possible that this 4Chan troll had some outside connection to someone at IGN and saw some of this documentary footage early. This might explain the source of this particular theory (which would be understandable given how large IGN is, and, in my opinion, there have been more than a few occasions when they have shown to have low ethical standards when it comes to gaming journalism). This could also explain how he learned the name of the E3 demo a bit early.

Anyways, just my two cents on this whole matter. I'm much more inclined to believe that it is just some demon boss as some others have speculated in this thread.

 

[LeonBlade]

I really didn't think it was Ifrit the first time I looked at it more closely.

One thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the Type-0 team is working on FFXV, so understandably some designs from Type-0 may have carried over into FFXV.

For reference, here is Ifrit as shown in the Justice Monsters Five trailer:

And here is a render of his design from Type-0:

It's not hard to tell that these are the same design. So going under the assumption that this is the design that will be used for Ifrit in FFXV...

The legs of the creature in question look more slender and human-like and don't seem to arc backwards like the Type-0 Ifrit. There's also no evidence of flames jutting out of the wrists, thighs, or the head of the creature in the image. Also the figure in the image simply does not look masculine enough to be Ifrit. I also don't notice any arm gauntlets or leg bracelets on it. The only thing remotely similar from the two designs (that we can tell from the low quality image) are the horns, but even then the way the ends of the horns bend backwards looks different to me when I compare the two.

Another thing that I noticed from the footage is around this frame:

It's kind of hard to see, but the creature in question looks like it's holding out its arms in this shot as if it is wielding some type of weapon. If this is the case, then this seems even more unlike Ifrit because he has never wielded any type of physical weapon in any of the Final Fantasy games that he has appeared in (as far as I am aware). Not to mention, Ifrit being in Insomnia and fighting Noctis and the group kind of goes against the lore that they have established for the Astrals thus far - that they have no interest in the affairs of humans and are simply protectors of certain parts of the world.

On another note regarding the earlier leaks that many of these theories are all stemming from:

I'm not actually sure when IGN visited Square in order to get the footage for their documentary series, but I'm pretty sure it was before E3. In the IGN article showcasing the first video of the documentary, the guy who actually made the thing responded to some hurtful comments in the comments section by replying that he had been working on the documentary "for months". If that's the case, then it is possible that this 4Chan troll had some outside connection to someone at IGN and saw some of this documentary footage early. This might explain the source of this particular theory (which would be understandable given how large IGN is, and, in my opinion, there have been more than a few occasions when they have shown to have low ethical standards when it comes to gaming journalism). This could also explain how he learned the name of the E3 demo a bit early.

Anyways, just my two cents on this whole matter. I'm much more inclined to believe that it is just some demon boss as some others have speculated in this thread.

I agree completely, these are the points I've made about a lot of things in fact. As for the IGN thing, I wasn't aware of any of that, but that would make a lot of sense.

 

[Death Penalty]

That design is the Crisis Core/Type-0 design and exactly why Ifrit won't look precisely like that in XV. The reason it was used for Type-0 at all is because it had already been modeled for Crisis Core- they were reusing assets to make the game on the cheap.

 

[Noctis_Caelum]

Interesting theory with Anubis, I certainly think the fire is created from it, although the Astral fire tends to burn a blue color, so I think it might be something different. I still hold to the theory it's a daemon. Regardless of what it is, where could it come from? Part of the Plague of the Stars? Are the Astral Shards part of the Plague of Stars? Remember that Titan has a giant shard that smashed through him, it's likely that the shard came down and hit him while he slept in the earth, or perhaps as I've heard @Bites the dust theorize before, that perhaps Titan was stopping it from colliding with the planet.

okay, I always thought that the Astrals were crashed along with the shards to the planet, because the big bang artwork showed the Astrals and enemies in the universe, so they are coming from another planet or were created by the god/goddess to protect the planet.
Therefore, where a shard is, there is an Astral.^^

 

[DrBretto]

More 4chan leaks of course...

Spoiler

I just read them and honestly I don't see how whoever is leaking this shit if it were real would even be able to get away with it. Problem with these leaks though is they kind of go against the whole thing about who the final boss is supposed to be...

We'll see what they show, wasn't it already mentioned we would see Leviathan next anyways...?

They get away with it by releasing half true and half false info.

In this case, there was the original leak, then someone else more rational came in a backed it up, saying they were true, just exaggerated (which has matched my instincts since the beginning). The same person that backed that original claim also made some other very much accurate predictions as well, including Iris a week before she was revealed.

I only say all this because despite the amazing work in this thread,I still feel like the most likely scenario here is that there is truth to these rumors. And I want to prepare people before the mass bridge jumping that will happen when Gamescom reveals it to be true.

And, as I say to everyone on this matter, it's not the end of the world (of Eos!). Take your favorite Final Fantasy game and boil it down to three or so basic facts. See how weird they all sound. If this thing is true, then it's not as big of a spoiler as people think since it's obviously also happening at the beginning of the game AND they're showing it before the game releases. That means all we'lll have is a few points to ponder with no idea how well (or poorly) it will be executed. Still 50 other hours of the game to play.

 

[DrBretto]

The full quote from the leaker (again, nothing new, just reconfirmation:

Spoiler

We got the planning 2 days ago.
Expect 100% :

-Old / Punished Noctis, great design as well as Ignis's.

-Meaty and spoilery story trailer

-The Gamescom Demo is not Trial Of Titan but Chapter 0, a jump of ten years later of the guys fighting Ifrit in Insomnia. This is what they were trying to tease with the latest making off video.

And yes, once again, the spoilers are true. [internet drama omitted]

And the game's optimisation improved greatly. I think they'll manage to pack it up for the release, i wouldn't be surprised if they don't even leave the office for now.

There are other things i may come to announce if i have the time. I also don't wanna ruin the whole thing so, see you maybe.

I actually find it a little bit encouraging.

EDIT FTR, I don't do 4chan, this was reposted elsewhere, so I have no idea what else has been said about it.

 

[LeonBlade]

The full quote from the leaker (again, nothing new, just reconfirmation:

Spoiler

We got the planning 2 days ago.
Expect 100% :

-Old / Punished Noctis, great design as well as Ignis's.

-Meaty and spoilery story trailer

-The Gamescom Demo is not Trial Of Titan but Chapter 0, a jump of ten years later of the guys fighting Ifrit in Insomnia. This is what they were trying to tease with the latest making off video.

And yes, once again, the spoilers are true. [internet drama omitted]

And the game's optimisation improved greatly. I think they'll manage to pack it up for the release, i wouldn't be surprised if they don't even leave the office for now.

There are other things i may come to announce if i have the time. I also don't wanna ruin the whole thing so, see you maybe.

I actually find it a little bit encouraging.

EDIT FTR, I don't do 4chan, this was reposted elsewhere, so I have no idea what else has been said about it.

I saw more of the spoilers and they were downright ridiculous in terms of who the final boss was and actually go against what was said in previous leaks, that's what I was referring to. Plus, there's more to all of this that I'm not going to get into, and I say this on behalf of anyone reading this not you.

 

[DrBretto]

On behalf of me as well. I haven't read any of the other leaks your'e talking about. I've heard of them, but haven't read them. I don't know that it's the same leaker, either. I'm only talking about the one that's the subject of this thread.

 

[Solid Sora]

I saw more of the spoilers and they were downright ridiculous in terms of who the final boss was and actually go against what was said in previous leaks, that's what I was referring to. Plus, there's more to all of this that I'm not going to get into, and I say this on behalf of anyone reading this not you.

can you pm me those spoilers? I'm curious.

 

[Nye]

Regardless of the leaks we've had so far, I have a few thoughts regarding that GIF.
In Amano's artwork I believe that this Monster could actually be Ifrit.

So if this was indeed Ifrit, it could actually mean that the guys are indeed fighting Ifrit in the GIF. However, something about that continues to bother me. He is still way too skinny, even according to this picture here, something just doesn't add up and makes me think that perhaps its something/someone entirely different than Ifrit. Something that's more like this:

I mean he seems to fit the traits of that mysterious boss in the GIF, both are skinny and have horns, and he seems relevant enough (being featured in the artwork).

 

[LeonBlade]

Regardless of the leaks we've had so far, I have a few thoughts regarding that GIF.
In Amano's artwork I believe that this Monster could actually be Ifrit.

So if this was indeed Ifrit, it could actually mean that the guys are indeed fighting Ifrit in the GIF. However, something about that continues to bother me. He is still way too skinny, even according to this picture here, something just doesn't add up and makes me think that perhaps its something/someone entirely different than Ifrit. Something that's more like this:

I mean he seems to fit the traits of that mysterious boss in the GIF, both are skinny and have horns, and he seems relevant enough (being featured in the artwork).

That's the one I mentioned in my post about being another Daemon from the bottom. It looks more like that with the horns than anything, and we know that the creatures lining the bottom cowering away from the Light are daemons, one of them resembling the creature we know that attacked Noctis as a child, as well as Ultros who we know are under Niflheim's command.

That's why I was under the impression that it makes more sense for a Daemon released by Niflheim outside of the Citadel makes sense as they want to guard it from being recaptured by any Lucian forces, including Noctis and the gang. It also makes more sense that it would have a sword or something in the GIF which we know other Daemons use weapons like the one shown in Brotherhood that attacked Noctis (it actually had several weapons in its hands). So, for this to be another Daemon released by Niflheim to guard the Citadel makes sense.

The artwork is shown while the lines are read about the King's battle against the dark at the end of days. This artwork depicts this very same scene, from the light of the Gods to the royal line wielding swords and the King fighting back against the darkness. I keep repeating myself over and over again with this, but it's just that it's so relevant to the plot of this game and is the actual description of the artwork itself to which this figure from the GIF more closely resembles.