FFXIV Endwalker’s MGS homage “This is Thancred” has turned into a meme
Written by. Ryuki Ishii based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2021-12-14 19:13 JST)
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker is off to a good start, becoming the highest scored game of 2021 on Metacritic in terms of user score, and thriving enough to cause server congestion and long queue time. Meanwhile, “This is Thancred,” a line from Thancred, one of the expansion’s prominent characters, is gaining popularity as a meme.
For example, there’s a Reddit thread titled “This is Thancred” that’s gaining a lot of traction, and multiple tweets about this meme can be found on Twitter, at the time of this writing.
*Spoiler Alert: This article contains Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker story spoilers
Thancred Waters is a member of The Scions of the Seventh Dawn and had a close connection with Minfilia. After losing her in the storyline of Heavensward expansion, Thancred met Ryne, the Oracle of Light, in The First and became her protector. After gaining even more strength through the storyline of Shadowbringers, Thancred appears in Endwalker as a dependable Gunbreaker.
“This is Thancred” is a line of Thancred from one of the main scenario quests “A Frosty Reception.” It’s a stealth oriented quest where you play as Thancred to place explosives in an enemy camp. When the explosives are placed, Thancred will transmit a message saying, “This is Thancred. The explosives are in place.” This appears to be the origin of the “This is Thancred” meme.
Square Enix doesn’t explicitly say it is, but this line is most likely a homage to the Metal Gear Solid series. A Frosty Reception is a stealth infiltration mission, and judging from the content of the quest, it can be seen that “This is Thancred” is a nod to the famous “This is Snake” line.
There is also the fact that the phrase “This is (name)” has established itself as a Final Fantasy XIV staple over the years. When Minfilia called players over to the base back in the Realm Reborn era, for example, her signature line was “Can you hear me? This is Minfilia.” This line is often referred to as “Moshi Min” by Japanese players, short for “Moshi Moshi kikoeru? Minfilia yo.” (Can you hear me? This is Minfilia.)
* “Moshi moshi” is a fixed phrase used in Japan when picking up a phone.
This is a heavily known phrase among FFXIV players and even the developers poke fun at it. The fact that Thancred is now using this phrase, is likely one of the reasons why the meme has become so popular.
Thancred is a serious character for the most part, but the game does have some offbeat moments of him from time to time that show his comical side. For example, being forced to survive naked in the woods during the Heavensward storyline and getting drunk on Aether in Endwalker. Thancred is a one-of-a-kind character and that adds to the humorous nature of the meme.
A conclusion to Thancred’s long-running story is also included in the Endwalker expansion. If you haven’t reached the end of the main quest line yet, I urge you to do so and see what will become of him.
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