Chocobos have always been a fixture of the Final Fantasy series. They first appeared in Final Fantasy II and they’re adorable birds that help you out on your journey. I remember in Final Fantasy VI where they joined your party briefly and then in Final Fantasy VII you could actually keep them and raise it (you can also race them, breed them and get better chocobos out of it). 

It was around Final Fantasy XII where things got a little extreme. With the plot being centered around war, we saw them in a different, more aggressive light. Gone was the cute little bird mascot that ‘kweh’d into our hearts. 

As you all know, I recently started playing Final Fantasy XIV and the first real grind was getting the chocobo. I remember it took 30 in game hours to do so (I remember because that was the same amount of time it took to complete the Final Fantasy VII remake). WIth the chocobo, you could ride to your destination without getting attacked, and if you were attacked you could easily get away. Your chocobo also gets faster as you complete more quests. 

Eventually it could join you in your fights as well. 

Your chocobo can also die in battle, but it will automatically revive (kinda like how Pokemon faint). FFXIV isn’t that cruel to kill off your winged friend. 

Or is it? 

I recently completed a side quest called A Faithful Companion, it starts out pretty normal. The quest-giver tasks you with finding a messenger because they haven’t heard from them in awhile. You find the messenger, who is alive but injured. He tells you that he was attacked by a yeti and thrown off his chocobo (named Amberbeak). Amberbeak saved the man’s life and drew the beast away and now the man tasks you with finding the chocobo. 

I immediately thought that this chocobo is going to be dead, and I will have to deliver the heartbreaking news to this nameless NPC. So I flew into this canyon area, where Amberbeak lay dead. Here’s an excerpt from the journal entry regarding this quest. 

• You find the chocobo– or rather, its corpse. You pluck a feather from its slowly freezing body, a token from the fallen bird. Take the feather back to the Convictory and break the grim news to Amberbeak’s fretting owner.

I picked the feather and started my journey back to this sad village and met with Amberbeaks owner. 

• The hope fades from the man’s eyes as you hand him the feather. He is heartbroken to have lost his loyal companion, but appreciates you retrieving this memento of his cherished steed.

After beating the mission I just stopped playing for a few hours. Later on, I went back to the main story quests in the Dravanian Forelands and immediately got ambushed by wild chocobos. And I ran, because I was about to die. The cuteness faded away as I ventured out to the nearest settlements and saw the hunters trapping them in cages. 

I also saw a whole ass dead chocobo in one of the far out settlements. It might have been moving, but then it could have been the wind moving the feathers, or my computer might have been glitching out. 

It’s interesting to see the vulnerability of a mascot character, seeing them help you out, but also viciously ambushing you in a forest. I hope I don’t have to kill any moogles later on in this game (Thornmarch doesn’t count). 

Anyways, I just thought I should share these thoughts. Thanks for reading. Hope you all have a great day!