Akitoshi Kawazu, one of the developers behind the original Final Fantasy II, recently revealed the historical inspiration behind Minwu in a casual X post, much to the bewilderment of Japanese FF fans. Minwu is the game’s (temporarily) playable white mage and protagonist of the Soul of Rebirth bonus campaign. The revelation from Kawazu comes in response to the inclusion of the character as a special ability in Square Enix’s upcoming mobile game Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy.
While fans have long assumed that Minwu was based on Middle Eastern culture due to his turban and dark skin, Kawazu implies that his true origin is Chinese. When written in kanji, Minwu’s name (呉明) bears a close resemblance to Wu Qi (吳起), a Chinese general who lived from 440 to 381 BC and was known for his military tactics, political reforms and philosophy.
Despite not looking anything like his real-life counterpart, Minwu’s loyalty to Hilda and her father, the King of Fynn, mirrors that of Wu Qi’s role as Prime Minister of Chu as appointed by King Dao. Minwu and Wu Qi also meet similar fates, though this is best discovered by playing Final Fantasy II.
Kawazu’s comment took many by surprise, as it was delivered in such a manner-of-factly way that it could be easily overlooked. Minwu and Wu Qi’s relationship is very subtle, as the character’s name has generally been spelled in the phonetic katakana script (ミンウ) which doesn’t hint at the correlation like the kanji does. Now that fans know his full name is Min Wu (“Wu Min” if you follow the Japanese order where surnames are followed by given names), the connection is much more apparent.
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