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Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light Project's Real-Life Father Dies

The live-action Final Fantasy XIV Dad of Light (Final Fantasy XIV: Hikari no Otōsan) series' director Kiyoshi Yamamoto revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that the real-life father who inspired the series has died. Known as "Indy Jones" in the blog and in the series' representation of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV Online MMORPG, he was the father of "Maidy," who was the creator of the original blog that inspired the series.

Yamamoto had posted a Tweet on Monday requesting that people who love Dad of Light take a second to think of Indy. He then revealed the next day that he had sent out the message while mourning for Indy, who he says has "embarked on a new journey with Maidy." Although Yamamoto had not met the real-life father much, he was able to give a picture of Maidy to Indy following Maidy's death.

Maidy died in December 2020. Maidy had been fighting an illness. Maidy had posted on his blog in June 2020 that he was a cancer survivor, and mentioned on the blog that he was hospitalized.

Maidy was the author of the "Ichigeki Kakusatsu SS Nikki" blog based on his real-life experiences. The blog chronicles a father who is over 60, and his son as they play the Final Fantasy XIV game together. The live-action adaptations followed both men as the game brings them closer together while each of them is also holding onto a secret.

The Final Fantasy XIV Dad of Light miniseries premiered in Japan in April 2017, and also streamed on Netflix. Netflix added the series in the United States in September 2017.

The film remake featured a different cast, and opened in Japan in June 2019.

Sources: Kiyoshi Yamamoto's Twitter account via Hachima Kikō, Game Watch