Phantom Village, also known as Mirage village, is a town in the merged world in Final Fantasy V. Time in the town stopped, as the town was caught in the Interdimensional Rift for over 1,000 years.
Phantom Village is the only town not represented by a town icon on the map, instead just being situated in the center of a patch of forest. When trying to enter the village, sometimes a battle intro may play with sound and visual effects, but if the player was lucky at the moment of search, they are taken to the village instead of the battle. As well as the black chocobo, the best items, weapons, armor, and magic can be bought here. Each establishment has two vendors, one which sells fair items, the second selling rare items. The catch is in locating the second vendor, as they are hidden and difficult to get to.
History[]
When the world was split 1,000 years before the events of Final Fantasy V following the defeat of Enuo,[1] Phantom Village went to neither world, and was left floating in the Rift, trapped in the space between dimensions, with time stopping as a result.[2][note 1]
When Exdeath merged the worlds in Final Fantasy V, the village reappeared in a forest on the southern end of the world. A few in Crescent were aware of its reappearance in the forest,[3] and a black chocobo wandered through.[2][note 2] Bartz Klauser and the Light Warriors arrived to pick up items and spells, as well as fetch the black chocobo to travel to other parts of the world.
While facing Exdeath in the Interdimensional Rift, Bartz and the Light Warriors passed through the village again, though time had frozen entirely.
Geography[]
Overworld
The Phantom Village is geographically located within a forest on the southern tip of the merged world. The village does not appear on the world map at all, suggesting it is well-hidden.
The Phantom Village resembles villages throughout the world architecturally. What separates it from the others is two things: each shop has two merchants with one being reached via a hidden passage, and all villagers wear turbans and entirely different attire to those from other villages.[note 3]
Gameplay[]
Shops[]
- Weapon shops
| Name | Cost |
|---|---|
| Fuma Shuriken | 25,000 gil |
| Shuriken | 2,500 gil |
| Twin Lance | 10,800 gil |
| Moonring Blade | 1,100 gil |
| Fire Scroll | 200 gil |
| Water Scroll | 200 gil |
| Lightning Scroll | 200 gil |
| Flametongue | 10,000 gil |
| Icebrand | 11,000 gil |
| Gaia Hammer | 12,800 gil |
| Morning Star | 7,800 gil |
| Rune Bow | 10,000 gil |
| Kiku-Ichimonji | 14,800 gil |
| Partisan | 10,200 gil |
- Armor shops
| Name | Cost |
|---|---|
| Crystal Shield | 9,000 gil |
| Crystal Helm | 10,500 gil |
| Black Cowl | 6,500 gil |
| Circlet | 4,500 gil |
| Crystal Armor | 12,000 gil |
| Black Garb | 9,000 gil |
| Black Robe | 8,000 gil |
| White Robe | 8,000 gil |
| Hermes Sandals | 50,000 gil |
| Angel Ring | 50,000 gil |
| Flame Ring | 50,000 gil |
| Coral Ring | 50,000 gil |
| Lamia's Tiara | 2,500 gil |
| Angel Robe | 3,000 gil |
- Magic shops
| Name | Cost |
|---|---|
 Mini
|
300 gil |
| Toad
|
300 gil |
 Speed
|
30 gil |
| Float
|
300 gil |
| Teleport
|
600 gil |
 Chocobo
|
300 gil |
| Sylph
|
350 gil |
| Remora
|
250 gil |
 Arise
|
10,000 gil |
| Dispel
|
10,000 gil |
| Death
|
10,000 gil |
| Osmose
|
10,000 gil |
| Quick
|
10,000 gil |
| Banish
|
10,000 gil |
- Item shops
| Name | Cost |
| Potion | 40 gil |
|---|---|
| Hi-Potion | 360 gil |
| Phoenix Down | 1,000 gil |
| Maiden's Kiss | 60 gil |
| Antidote | 30 gil |
| Eye Drops | 20 gil |
| Gold Needle | 150 gil |
| Mallet | 50 gil |
| Elixir | 50,000 gil |
| Ether | 1,500 gil |
| Holy Water | 150 gil |
| Goliath Tonic | 110 gil |
| Power Drink | 110 gil |
| Speed Drink | 110 gil |
| Iron Draft | 110 gil |
| Hero Cocktail | 110 gil |
Items[]
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Thief Knife | In the Pub, hidden in the barrels behind the counter. |
| Mirage Vest | Person under the Pub; the player must ride Boko around the world once and then talk to the person. |
Quests[]
Visiting the Phantom Village is optional, but worthwhile to obtain equipment and spells. It can accessed from a forest in the southern-most end of the map at any point after the airship is obtained, and must be visited to fetch the black chocobo and travel to the Phoenix Tower and North Mountain.
A building in the town contains a door that appears sealed. When exploring the Interdimensional Rift, the player enters the time-frozen town through this door. A healing pot that fully restores the party can still be used, though the villagers cannot be interacted with, and the player must simply leave through its entrance on the right to proceed through the dungeon.
Secret vendors and entrances[]
The armor shop's hidden vendor in Mirage Village.
The shops (see below) and almost all areas in Phantom Village have hidden passages, leading to hidden vendors. There is a secret door in every building, except for the inn. The secret vendors sell rare items.
- Pub - The player must go around the top of pub outside; there is a secret entrance behind the building.
- Armor shop - Inside the building, the player must press Confirm on the box to the left of the entrance, and the counter will open up, revealing a secret path.
- Weapon shop - The player must take the secret entrance to the pub, go south of town after using a secret exit, and enter the small building southwest of town. The player must go down the stairs, then go down to a locked door, and go north on the path to the right.
- Magic shop - Instead of going into the shop, the player must go left from the entrance, and go around back to find a secret entrance.
Piano[]
The party leader can play a piano at the village. Playing all the pianos in the world acquires the last song, Hero's Rime, after showing the newfound pianist skills to the bard in Crescent.
The last piano is in Phantom Village. The player must head to the pub but not go in, instead, head behind it, and go down to get behind the pub's counter. The door on the left leads outside, and heading down will come to a door. Inside, the player will arrive at some steps. The player should head down to reach the wall and turn left and press against the wall to reach a room that has steps leading up. It leads to the black chocobo. Before getting on the chocobo, the player can press against the left wall of the room that leads to it, and the last piano is in the next room.
If the player played all the previous ones, the party leader will play an excerpt from Debussy's "Arabesque No. 1".
Musical themes[]
The background theme that plays in Phantom Village is called "Sealed Book".
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
A phantom is a ghost, a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person.
Mirages are naturally-occurring, optical phenomena in which light rays are bent to produce displaced images of distant objects. The word "mirage" is of French origin and derived from the Latin mirari, which means "to look at" or "to wonder at".
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ One of the villagers in Phantom Village mentions that time passed differently in the village, and that "a thousand years pass as if a single day",[2] suggesting the events from when the worlds split to when the village returned could have felt like no time at all. However, other villagers also notice that time has returned based on Bartz's presence there, suggesting they were at least somewhat aware of outside events.[2]
- ↑ It is likely that the black chocobo that wandered through to the forest is the one from Bartz's world that Bartz and the Light Warriors rode previously, due to Phantom Village's proximity to Crescent.
- ↑ Villagers with the same attire appear in the Sealed Temple, suggesting that the villagers have a connection.