When the trailer for Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin premiered during Square Enix Presents at E3 2021, it certainly elicited an animated response. However, the response was probably not what Square Enix was going for. Fans hoping for a modernized twist on Final Fantasy 1 instead received a nondescript, blonde-haired man named Jack, whose primary characteristic is an extreme hatred of Chaos. This prompted a lot of memes to start appearing online, all of which poked fun at Jack's desire to kill Chaos.
Chaos is the final boss in the original Final Fantasy game and is considered a quintessential villain in the franchise. Chaos has appeared as a boss in other FF games and spin-offs, so some hype for a Chaos-infused Soulslike with Final Fantasy Origin is to be expected. However, in the course of a two-and-a-half minute trailer, Jack says the word "Chaos" six times (with an additional two "Chaos" mentions from other characters). Jack's eyebrow-raising obsession spurs such profound lines as, "I only know one thing: I want to kill Chaos."
None of Jack's other dialogue was particularly redeeming, either. The only lines where he doesn't mention Chaos include, “The darkness is so thick, I can taste it,” and stereotypical battle cries like, "Feel the pain!," "I'll crush you!," and, of course, "Die already!" While Final Fantasy fans may justifiably wish Stranger of Paradise stayed its own franchise, the ease of making fun of the trailer quickly began to flood the internet. The memes were so populous, the trend became known as Chaosposting and earned its own page on Know Your Meme.
Hilarious Final Fantasy Origin Meme: Look at the Time
The Stranger of Paradise trailer says the word "Chaos" about once every 19 seconds. What's more, six of the eight mentions of Chaos come from Jack. Fans were quick to pick up on the one-note nature of Jack's character, and this clock meme capture's the absurd redundancy of the trailer quite nicely.
Hilarious Final Fantasy Origin Meme: The Next Smash Fighter
Nintendo revealed Tekken's Kazuya as the next Smash fighter to open up their own E3 presentation, so it will be a while before another fighter is announced. Nintendo usually announces Smash fighters with a picture of the character on the right, and "[character's name] Joins The Battle!" on the left. However, if Jack were to be in Smash he would naturally not be interested in any battles with the likes of Sephiroth, Bowser, or Kirby. He would be here to kill Chaos.
Hilarious Final Fantasy Meme: I Got A Fever...
Christopher Walken's "All I Need Is More Cowbell" sketch from SNL is the stuff of pop culture and meme legend. This meme imagines a PS5 cover in the style of a much older game, complete with a completely nonsensical review score from IGN. Tim Sköld, as mentioned on the cover, is a musician and record producer who most famously collaborated with Marilyn Manson to score the 2002 Resident Evil film.
Hilarious Final Fantasy Meme: The Demo Gone Awry
Stranger of Paradise launched a demo on the PS5 shortly after the premier of the trailer. But to make matters worse for the game's reputation, the Stranger of Paradise demo was unplayable upon release, as it was plagued with corrupted files. Players were finally able to play the demo two days after its initial release. This meme blends Chaosposting with the Fairly Oddparents "Dinkleberg!!" meme, wherein Timmy's dad would blame their neighbor Dinkleberg for mishaps.
Despite its incredibly rough start, the demo for Strange of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin illustrates its gameplay could actually be quite engaging. At the bare minimum, its debut trailer gifted the internet with excellent memes. Still, as long as there's Chaos to kill, Stranger of Paradise memes probably won't stop anytime soon.