If you love Square Enix's super-popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, you've possibly watched the Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light live-action TV show on Netflix.
You may or may not know that the plot of the show was inspired by a real story, originally narrated in the blog “Ichigeki Kakusatsu” by Final Fantasy XIV player Maidy Maidy, who decided to invite his father to play the game to reconnect with him.
Regrettably, the show's director Kiyoshi Yamamoto, announced that the real father behind the character "Indey Jones" (named "Indy Jones" in the show) who inspired the story of the series has passed away.
In a long post on X (Formerly Twitter), Yamamoto-san revealed that "the Dad of Light has now departed on a new journey with Maidy." The real Maidy Maidy himself passed away in 2020 after a long battle with cancer, mourned by many within the community and by director and producer Naoki Yoshida himself.
Yamamoto-san mentions that he met "Indey" only a few times in the game and once in real life. He gave him the pictures he had shot of Maidy after he had passed away. Yamamoto-san adds that he's happy to have shot some photos of Maidy. Since they were both middle-aged men, taking pictures together was rare even when they met. Yet, it ended up turning into a good memory.
He hopes that those who learned about the father and son through the original blog, TV Show, and Movie (the story was adapted again in the Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV movie in 2019, but that one has never been localized for the West) will pass on their story and the fact that they were once alive. He also prays that the new journey of the Dad of Light will be a peaceful one.
We don't know much about the real person behind the Dad of Light, who played the amusingly named Indey Jones alongside his son Maidy Maidy on the Gungnir server of Final Fantasy XIV. Yet, their uplifting and moving story has touched many within the game's community, not only on their server, but also all over the world.
They have made us laugh and they have made us cry, and perhaps even reflect on our relationships with our loved ones.
They will be missed. Rest in peace together with Maidy, Dad of Light.
If you're unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIV, it's currently available for PS5, PS4, and PC. An Xbox Series X|S version is coming this spring with an open beta scheduled to start in February.
The game has recently surpassed 30 million registered players worldwide and will receive a new expansion titled Dawntrail in summer of 2024.
