Why Hindu gods in video games might read differently than Greek, Norse or
The glow of Christmas has faded into the chill of winter, and I am marking the
occasion with an essay about Shiva, Final Fantasy’s blue-skinned mistress of
ice. But in doing that, I’m also discussing how the representation of Hinduism
in video games can differ from that of other major world religions. It gets
weird, basically, to the point that if you know a thing or two about Hinduism,
you might find yourself looking at a screen, seeing something that is
apparently named after a Hindu god, and asking, “Wait, why?”
The Final Fantasy IV version of Shiva.