Culex: Difference between revisions

Culex himself is an allusion to the ''{{wp|Final Fantasy}}'' series, as ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' is developed by [[Square Enix|Squaresoft]], who are the creators of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Culex has two different sets of game sprites, one for the overworld and a much larger one for battle, with the former being from a more top-down perspective instead of isometric like other enemies. His overworld sprite resembles enemy designs in the 2D ''Final Fantasy'' titles, and these sprites do not have as complex animations and frames, reminiscent of early ''Final Fantasy'' games. This is particularly pronounced in the Nintendo Switch remake, which reuses Culex's sprite from the SNES version instead of updating him to match the new art style. Moreover, the three music tracks associated with Culex are rearrangements of three music tracks from the ''Final Fantasy'' series: his battle music is a rearrangement of the boss battle theme from ''{{wp|Final Fantasy IV}}'', the music that plays when he is defeated is a rearrangement of the victory music present throughout the ''Final Fantasy'' series, and the ending conversation is an arrangement of the ''Final Fantasy'' "Prelude". In the Japanese version, Culex mentions「次元のはざま」(''jigen no hazama'', dimensional rift), which is the same as {{fandom|finalfantasy|Interdimensional Rift (Final Fantasy V)|a location}} in ''{{wp|Final Fantasy V}}''. Culex's English name appears to have a similar origin as {{fandom|finalfantasy|Golbez}} from ''{{wp|Final Fantasy IV}}'', who is named after the Golubaeser fly, as "Culex" is a genus of mosquito. His English Dark Knight title may also be a reference to {{fandom|finalfantasy|Cecil Harvey|Cecil}} from the same game. In the Nintendo Switch remake, his in-game description in the Monster List claims that he hails from the world of "Last Illusion", a play on the name "''Final Fantasy''", and that said world is based on "a story about crystals", a common narrative device in the earlier ''Final Fantasy'' titles. In addition, his defeat animation in the remake has him disintegrating in both his standard and 3D Culex fights, referencing a common defeat animation for final bosses in the ''Final Fantasy'' games.