I actually found this last summer, and dug it up again a few days ago. I thought it was so funny that I might as well post it. Some guy on Gamefaqs came up with this theory a while ago, and it seems far too accurate to be mere coincidence. Anyway, it's plainly obvious that Gogo (from Final Fantasy 6) is deceased politician (ex-governor of Illinois, failed presidential candidate) Adlai Stevenson. Here are five quotes to back the theory up.
Quote #1
I am always amazed by the resistance offered to progress, even the most inocous progress. Imagine, if you will, jumping from one rickety bridge to another, with blind men running back and forth trying to push you off, and you will have some idea what legislating progress is like. The good news is that if you're pushed off, you can always climb back up and try again.
- from his book ''What I Think''
(A reference to the room in the Triangle Island dungeon in which you must jump from bridge to bridge whilst avoiding the fools trying to knock you down.)
Quote #2
I suppose I could wear a hat, but them my teeth would fall out to spite me. I could get false ones, but doubtless then I would get fat just to prove my teeth work. The easiest course is to drape my whole body in robes and shawls and hope no one recognizes my eyes.
- Commenting about his baldness to an NBC reporter in 1952
(Gogo dresses entirely in long, flowing clothes leaving only his eyes exposed.)
Quote #3
President Eisenhower continues to amaze me. He appears to be an ungainly and graceless man, but when [senator Robert] Taft makes a move, no matter how ridiculous, Eisenhower copies it with the skill of [French mime] Marcel Merceau. I haven't achieved such levels of mimicry with my own party, but I'm working on it.
- 1952 interview
(Gogo is a master mime.)
Quote #4
The legislature is a frightening thing. To this day the state capitol building seems to me a beast ready to swallow me up; the very walls and ceilings seem to crush you as you walk through it.
- from his book ''Friends and Enemies''
(There's a room in the Triangle Island dungeon in which the ceiling periodically crashes down; you have to time your steps carefully to get through.)
Quote #5
Today we are plunged into a battle that is familiar to us. the enemies and the problems are the same. But the terrain is different. The world around us has changed and shifted so much we no longer recognize it.
- Giving a speech at Charlottesville, 1960
(You can only recruit Gogo in the World of Ruin.)
Also:
When you first meet Gogo, he says "I have been idle for too long." Possibly referring to the fact that Stevenson had been dead for 30 years when Final Fantasy VI came out.
A number of years ago a bill was passed regarding the transfer of funds among government-owned, government-operated (GOGO) laboratories. What was the name of this bill? The STEVENSON-Wydler Act, of course.
IT MUST BE TRUE OMG ROFL
Seriously, though, thats pretty cool. The person who cmae up with that is pretty creative.
Consider this:
Most people haven't heard of Adlai Stevenson, and rightfully so. The man was a politician in the USA who never reached the Presidency. He was a Governor of Illinois, so residents of Illinois (hi Acheron) may have heard of him.
But honestly, he wasn't that famous, especially on a global spectrum.
Final Fantasy VI was developed in Japan, if I'm not mistaken. What are the odds of a group of Japanese guys just happening to know about this guy who was a governor of Illinois, that long ago? Chances are, the developers of FFVI had never heard of too many "failed Presidential candidates". They'd certainly know a bit about US Presidents, but to know something about a guy who never made it? Do you British guys know who Michael Dukakis is? He lost in 1988 to George Bush, and most people only know that because of how recent it was. No one will be talking about the loser in 30 years, unless s/he is another Strom f*cking Thurmond.
Basically, I'd dismiss it as coincidence. FF games have all kinds of crazy mysterious stories about them, and while it is intriguing, consider the odds...