I didn't get what Jeff was saying about the "true nature" of Phoenix Downs. Can someone enlighten me? I feel like an idiot.

Its the down(lower parts) of a Pheonix...
It could also mean that its a Pheonix feather(down), appearantly Jeff thaught that it was some kind of potion or similiar

it never occured to Jeff (and quite a few of us apparentaly) that the Down part of Phoenix Down is referencing the Tail Feather of a Phoenix.

Oh fuck! DOWN, as in feather! Jesus Fucking Christ...
 
Exuse me while I go hang myself.

It makes sense when you realize what a phoenix is. Also what down is.

Didn't one of the FF's have a feather icon for the item?

The true nature of the Phoenix Down is no surprise. The Fenix Down however, comes from an entirely different creature.

" The true nature of the Phoenix Down is no surprise. The Fenix Down however, comes from an entirely different creature. "

I remember being confused by this as well back in the day when it was shortened to Fenix Down in FF6. I didn't realize that 'Fenix' was supposed to be 'Phoenix' until FFVII came out and didn't have to shorten the item name.

Phoenix down is the down of a feather of a Phoenix which is why it revives a downed team member. 

Phoenix Down was always a feather for me. 
 
(Though "Daune" is a common word for such feathers in German, so that might've helped)

After 13 years of playing Final Fantasy, I also just figured this out from the podcast.

" After 13 years of playing Final Fantasy, I also just figured this out from the podcast. "

Found this thread while googling "Phoenix Down" while listening to the 4/19/2016 episode of the Giant Bombast.. ~13 minutes from the end, they're talking about not realizing the significance of names (e.g. someone's last name of Hatcher being about eggs), and Dan said "Everybody has their 'Phoenix down moment'", which led me to google it to figure out what the heck they're talking about.

Also, I'm not sure if they all realize the mythological basis of phoenix in the first place.

(BTW, I've never played a FF game.)

@mattack: Of course they do. Everybody knows what a phoenix is. His whole thing (and mine) was not getting that down was referring to the "plumage" of the bird instead of a weird mistranlation.

@strife777: You say of course, but others would say the same thing about the "oh duh!" moment in general. I mention the mythological basis since (obviously to me and you) phoenix down resurrects someone because of the mythological phoenix. (Being burned, dying, and then coming back to life..)

Ohhh, HATCHer. Like an egg hatching. Wow

So if it resurrects people, why not use it in the actual story beats when people die?

End of Disc 1 FFVII would be wayyyyyy different.

Simple. Phoenix Down always cures KO, not dead.

I was more surprised at Brad's realization about Billy Hatcher.

This thread just used a Phoenix Down

I mean, right? When Jeff said it back on that old podcast I hit my forehead. All these years I figured my battle buddy was down (ex. wounded/killed), so you need a phoenix to resurrect them. The 'down' feathers analogy totally went over my head.

Ha. Funny that all the characters can sustain pretty much fatal injuries then and still only be KO'd. The Squall is Dead theory may apply to every freaking game in the series then.

I always knew it was referring to phoenix feathers, i just don't know why a phoenix feather resurrects you, is it explained anywhere in FF lore?

@cikame: Thats explained in mankind lore.

"Ooooh, down." will never get old. I had the exact same reaction during that bombcast.

Fuck, that was six years ago.

It doesn't bring you back to life, it just revives you from a KO status.

So, I like to think the feathers smell. Real bad. Like those salts they had on UPF a while back.

To anyone that doesn't understand the sudden realization of so many people It's important to remember what video game translations were like back then. "You're down and it brings you up" has more thought put into it than most game text.

Times were wack.

Phoenix being a symbol of rebirth and resurrection is fairly ingrained in western mythology.

Growing up, I never heard anyone say "down" when referring to plumage, so my mind didn't immediately make that connection when introduced to that item. Just wrote it off as random nonsense like 75% of most item names were in that era. Then I just stopped thinking about it until the item iconography made it overt enough to refresh my conclusion.

So no down jackets? No down pillows? Down comforter? My father has a goose feather pillow, which was referred to in my house as as a 'down pillow'. But even knowing what 'down' was on fowl, I never made the connection. The English language is weird because it has so many 'true homonyms' (spelled and pronounced the same, but have different meanings.)

What are these words you're saying?

It's probably regional. I, too, never heard the word "down" in reference to bird feather stuff until Final Fantasy VII itself.

Also what the fuck is a down comforter? I really need to know.

I always thought it had something to do with arizona...

@gunslingerpanda: A comforter is just a big blanket that you would put on your bed, a down comforter obviously having down as the insulation rather then something else.

My first final fantasy game was VIII, where the Phoenix down animation involved a bunch of feathers.

Well you seeee, Alucard is actually Dracula backwards.

I never even questioned that "Fenix Down" meant anything other than the feather of a phoenix. I mean, when you use one in FFVI, a bunch of feathers flutter around your dead companion. Locke's whole second-half quest involves trying to find the phoenix. Final Fantasy is about as subtle as a baseball bat.

I usually post this in threads that have been necroed, so it seems doubly appropriate here.

And Miles Prower sounds like Miles Per Hour.

We would just call it a pillow. No distinction was ever made about what was inside that I can remember. I did know what "down" was, but I never really think about items in games like that. First time I saw "phoenix down" I never thought about it. I just kept playing the game, so I never really realized what it was until that podcast years ago.

That's the one that made me shit a taco. I never questioned Tails having a weirdly mundane human name.

Took me way too long to get Phoenix Down as well, since I immediately jumped to "weird translation" over "feathers". (to be fair, I don't really do Final Fantasy)

Yep, mark me down as another one where it took years for the penny to finally drop on 'PHOENIX down' and not 'phoenix DOWN'.

You used the risey-up phoenix thing when your characters were down. Right? Right?

Don't think my FF-loving friends said it any differently, either. Words are weird.

As soon as Brad said "a tuft of" I immediately made the connection and had several years of feeling like an utter fool occur to me in an instant.

Man down.