Dead Fantasy

Dead Fantasy is a series of fan-made CG action movies created by Monty Oum, starring a cast of characters from the Final Fantasy, Dead or Alive, Ninga Gaiden, and Kingdom Hearts game franchises, fighting against each other, battle royal-style, in a number of different environments, including archaic ruins and modern cities.

Since the first installment of Dead Fantasy, the series has been well received by the fans of all four game series, with trailers, previews and the installments themselves being featured at several gaming conventions. Currently there are five movies in the series, and Monty Oum and has confirmed episodes VI, VII, and VIII. It is unknown how many more will be created due to Monty Oum's recent hiring at Rooster Teeth.

Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts Combatants

 * Yuna - Yuna is the female protagonist of Final Fantasy X and the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X-2. She is the first character to be seen in Dead Fantasy I. She appears again in Dead Fantasy II, continuing the fight with her friends against the Dead or Alive cast, and in Dead Fantasy IV, in which she fights one-on-one with Kasumi, summoning her Aeons to fight the Kasumi Alpha clones and is rescued by Cloud Strife.


 * Rikku - Rikku is an Al Bhed girl from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 and the maternal cousin of Yuna. Rikku is the fourth character to debut in Dead Fantasy, appearing early in the first installment to help Yuna fight against Ayane and Kasumi. Her last appearance so far is in Dead Fantasy II, being teleported into a underground cavern with Ayane.


 * Tifa Lockhart - Tifa Lockhart is one of the main female protagonists of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, making her appearance in this series in her Advent Children attire. As the sixth character to be shown in Dead Fantasy, Tifa arrives at the very end of Dead Fantasy I, aiding Rikku and Yuna against Hitomi, Ayane, and Kasumi for the remainder of the movie and of Dead Fantasy II. She later fights Hitomi in an abandoned cathedral in Dead Fantasy III but ultimately loses. Tifa is briefly shown in a flashback in Dead Fantasy IV. Dead Fantasy V picks up where Dead Fantasy III left off, and follows Tifa as she flees from Hayate and his ninja clan, who, in the end, manage to subdue and capture her.


 * Rinoa Heartilly - Rinoa Heartilly is the main female protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII and a highly powerful sorceress. She is the eighth character introduced in the movie series, appearing at the beginning of the last act of Dead Fantasy II, permanently in her Angel Wing Limit Break and wielding a fan-made Gunblade. She will appear in a later installment to battle against Rachel.


 * Kairi - Kairi is the main female protagonist and one of the representatives for the Kingdom Hearts series. She first appears near the end of Dead Fantasy II, during the fourth act alongside Rinoa, and is seen again briefly at the beginning of Dead Fantasy IV. She is shown wielding the Destiny's Embrace Keyblade and being able to use Oathkeeper & Oblivion in her Valor Form. Her appearance in the series came as a shock to fans, as it was thought that only characters from the Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive universes were to make appearances. She is set to make an appearance in Dead Fantasy VIII, fighting alongside Naminé against Ryu Hayabusa and Momiji.


 * Naminé - Naminé is set to appear in Dead Fantasy VIII where she will be fighting by Kairi's side against Ryu Hayabusa and Momiji. Though she doesn't wield a Keyblade in the series, it has been confirmed that she will be using a fan-made Keyblade called the "Lunar Eclipse".

Dead or Alive/Ninja Gaiden Combatants

 * Kasumi - Kasumi is a runaway shinobi from the Mugen Tenshin Clan who made her debut in first installment of Dead or Alive, and - in the series canon - she is the winner of the first Dead or Alive Tournament. She appears in the Dead Fantasy series in the first installment. Later in Dead Fantasy IV she fight with Yuna using the Kasumi Alpha clones, but teleports away after Cloud slays most of the clones.


 * Ayane - First appearing officially in the first Dead or Alive, Ayane is a shadow ninja of the Mugen Tenshin Clan, and the winner of the third Dead Or Alive Tournament, in the series canon. Ayane's debut in Dead Fantasy was in the first installment alongside Kasumi, fighting for the full length of the first movie, and for the whole of Dead Fantasy II. She will star in a later installment, battling against Rikku.


 * Hitomi - Hitomi is a German-Japanese karate master, who enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments to test her skill against the best in the world, first appearing in Dead or Alive 3. She first appears midway of Dead Fantasy I, aiding Kasumi and Ayane in battle. Later in Dead Fantasy III she fights against Tifa and slams all her materia out of her. Near the end of Dead Fantasy V she reappears and goes along with Hayate, Helena and the almost dead Tifa in a helicopter.


 * Rachel - Rachel first debuted in Ninja Gaiden: a prequel series to Dead or Alive. She appears near the end of the second act of Dead Fantasy II, destroying the rest of the temple the others were fighting on. At the end of the movie, she is teleported with Rinoa Heartilly for a one-on-one battle in a unknown location.

Other Combatants

 * Helena Douglas
 * Kasumi Alpha
 * Cloud Strife
 * Hayate
 * Ryu Hayabusa
 * Momiji

Dead Fantasy I
Release Date: October 2007

Running Time: 03:54

Characters Introduced: Yuna, Kasumi, Ayane, Rikku, Hitomi, Tifa Lockhart

Dead Fantasy I introduces the first six female characters of the series and the first fight of the series, taking place inside, and later outside, of an enormous, abandoned temple situated on top of a tower. This movie was labeled by Monty Oum as the one he "wanted to do the least", as it only served as an "introduction" for the rest of the series.

The movie starts with Yuna running through the temple, being pursued by two shadowy figures - Kasumi and Ayane. The three girls fight two-to-one; Yuna is initially able to hold her own, but is nearly overwhelmed. Before she is impaled by Ayane, Rikku comes to her aid, evening the numbers. The fight continues, destroying much of the interior of the temple as well. Hitomi appears midway through battle, aiding her fellow Dead or Alive fighters, and the fight moves outside of the temple. Ayane, Kasumi, and Hitomi start to overpower Yuna and Rikku in strength and number, before Tifa appears, evening out the sides. The film ends with the girls bracing themselves for another fight, along with Tifa, showing the glowing materia in her arm.

Dead Fantasy II
Release Date: March 2008

Running Time: 10:51

Characters Introduced: Rachel, Rinoa Heartilly, Kairi

Dead Fantasy II is the first segment to show the use of magic on both sides of the battle, and the first to feature a character not directly linked to the namesake franchises of the series: Kairi of Kingdom Hearts. The movie was featured at the Anime Boston convention on March 23, 2008.

The episode starts where Dead Fantasy I left off: a three-on-three battle with Tifa, Yuna, and Rikku against Ayane, Kasumi, and Hitomi outside the temple. Using different combo moves and team strategies, the girls of Final Fantasy easily overpower the Dead or Alive trio. Realizing they need to do something, Ayane goes to the top of the tower, charging her Ninpo power while Kasumi and Hitomi defend her. Yuna, Rikku and Tifa try to stop them but are unable to. Ayane destroys the temple with her magic—reflecting her ending in Dead or Alive 4—forcing them all to fight during a vertical fall.

Halfway down, Rachel, who has been waiting perched on her Warhammer, destroys the rest of the tower, making all of them fall towards a river of lava at the bottom. The fighting continues as the girls flow down stream on a slab of rock, until they hit a lava-fall. Rinoa freezes the lava over and she, along with Kairi, join in with the battle. Rinoa then teleports the girls to different locations throughout the world: Rinoa is sent with Rachel, Tifa with Hitomi, Yuna with Kasumi, Rikku with Ayane, and Kairi by herself. The movie ends with Rikku and Ayane, both of whom are unconscious, falling into a giant hole.

Dead Fantasy III
Release Date: July 2009

Running Time: 05:38

Characters Introduced: Helena Douglas, Kasumi Alpha

Dead Fantasy III, which shows the first of a series of one-on-one battles between the different sides, was released alongside Dead Fantasy IV. It is also the first installment to show physical repercussions from the battle, such as injuries, blood, and ripped clothing.

The episodes feature a Materia Magic battle between Tifa and Hitomi within a partially demolished cathedral, which is set on fire during the progress of the fight by Tifa’s fire spell. Towards the end of the fight, Hitomi manages to get the upper hand over Tifa, beating most, if not all, of the Materia out of her body to use against her. The fight ends with Tifa being blasted out of the cathedral by Hitomi onto the snow outside, and she is now seriously wounded. The movie ends with a short scene of Helena activating an army of Kasumi Alpha clones.

Dead Fantasy IV
Release Date: July 2009

Running Time: 05:16

Characters Introduced: Cloud Strife

Dead Fantasy IV was released only one week after Dead Fantasy III and features the series' first male character: Cloud Strife.

The movie starts with a brief scene of Kairi, waking up on a deserted beach alone and finding a white feather on the sand. The scene then shifts, with the words "Why am I here? Because... I trust her... and because... you remind me of someone... that I said goodbye to... a long time ago..." appearing on screen, reminiscent of the opening scene in Final Fantasy VIII, to a field where the one-on-one battle between Kasumi and Yuna takes place. As soon as the girls start to fight, the Kasumi Alpha clones appear and attack the two of them. Yuna transforms into her Summoner attire and tries to use her Aeons to defeat them; Kasumi herself attempts to aid Yuna in dispatching the clones. Ultimately the clones overpower the Aeons, and Yuna changes back to her Gunner dressphere.

Before the clones deliver the final blow to Yuna, Cloud suddenly appears, ready to aid Yuna in battle. Kasumi teleports herself and the clones away to fight them on her own. Cloud then drives Yuna to a city with him on Fenrir. On the way, Yuna falls asleep on his back, most likely because of the recent battle. The movie ends with a flashback of Cloud trying to stop Tifa from falling off the cliff near the ruins of Midgar.

Dead Fantasy V
Release Date: July 2009

Running Time: 08:12

Characters Introduced: Hayate, Ryu Hayabusa, Momiji

The fifth installment is a direct sequel to Dead Fantasy III, and shows what happens to Tifa and Hitomi after their one-on-one battle in the cathedral. This movie also introduces the first male Dead or Alive characters of the series.

Hayate and his ninja clan take over Hitomi's fight and pursue Tifa, forcing her to face many enemies at once while bleeding and exhausted. After being chased along a train, she makes a desperate jump, ending up in a warehouse. Cornered, she fights the entire horde of ninjas without the help of her Materia. She manages to defeat most of them, even while being impaled by arrows and losing more blood. During the battle, she has a flashback of her goodbye with Cloud and her arrival to the temple in Dead Fantasy I. (The exact scene that Cloud remembers in Dead Fantasy IV.)

Desperate, she resorts to more brutal fighting, disemboweling and outright killing her assailants while attempting to strike Hayate. He refuses to fight, instead teleporting right past her. In the end, Tifa succumbs to her injuries and finally collapses. When Hitomi catches up with them and sees Tifa in the bloody state, she slaps Hayate, visibly angry. Helena arrives on the scene in a DOATEC helicopter with a small squad of armed personnel and takes Tifa on board, where she could be treated or experimented on. Hitomi, after showing Helena the Materia in her arm, goes on the helicopter with them, leaving Hayate alone in the snow.

The scene then cuts to Kasumi, battling against the Kasumi Alpha clones in a lake. She has killed off most of the clones, but is exhausted from fighting and blood loss. Luckily for her, Ryu Hayabusa arrives, killing the last of the clones and catching Kasumi as she collapses. Momiji, who appeared alongside Ryu, reads Kasumi's mind, and sees all the events that have happened so far. The three then disappear, likely to get Kasumi aid for her wounds, and leave a bloody lake littered with dead clones behind. The movie ends with a scene of Cloud and Yuna watching the helicopter carrying Tifa fly towards a luxurious city.

Development and Production
The project for the Dead Fantasy series started in July 2007, after Monty Oum gained acclaim for the creation of the fan made CG movie Haloid, which featured Metroid series's Samus Aran fighting the Halo series's Spartan.

His intention for Dead Fantasy was to create a new CG movie which featured more human characters, instead of simply "humanoid" characters, as was the case in Haloid.

While Monty used the original voices of the Dead or Alive cast, but due to lack of voice clips, he used voices from different sources for the Final Fantasy characters.

Music

 * Some of the music used in the movies come from the soundtracks of well-known action games and movies:
 * In Dead Fantasy I, the music featured is from the fight in the Chateau from The Matrix: Reloaded, composed by Rob Dougan.
 * In Dead Fantasy II, the first theme featured is from the climactic final race in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The theme played during the last act is Showdown from War.
 * In Dead Fantasy III, the theme for Devil May Cry 3 - Devils Never Cry - can be heard.
 * In Dead Fantasy IV, the song Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII is played in the background.
 * In Dead Fantasy V, Monty Oum uses the tracks Assassin and Hitman from the Bangkok Dangerous soundtrack. Both are composed by Brian Tyler.

Contests

 * Monty Oum has stated that Rikku will be going through multiple Dressphere changes in her battle against Ayane and had set up a contest where artists would draw designs for the Dressphere changes Rikku could go through. Winners seen so far include a Ninja dressphere, a Spellsword dressphere and a Lolita dressphere . Although there were 3 selected submissions he created, Monty has announced he will be using 15 dresspheres, each one appearing for a short period of time in the battle.
 * Monty Oum has also set up another contest on DeviantArt, stating that he needs new design for Kairi's remaining Drive Forms, as well as new Keyblade designs. He also asked fans if they could come up with a better Valor Form.