In the week since Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s launch, fans have agreed they don’t care for the game’s take on the Moogles, calling their design “cursed” and “super creepy.”
The Moogles have remained an iconic aspect of the Final Fantasy series since they debuted in 1990’s Final Fantasy 3. While their appearances change from game to game, they have been consistently adorable to look at. But not so much the Moogles in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which seem to be aiming for a pseudo-realistic appearance that hasn’t gone down well with fans.
According to Genki_JPN on X (formerly Twitter), the FF7 Rebirth Moogles are a trending topic in Japan due to their “super creepy” appearance, especially compared to the more traditionally cute Moogles from Final Fantasy 16.
Social media is, unsurprisingly, filled with other disparaging yet hilarious takes on the Moogle design. Aniymouse calls them “Dreamworks koalas,” Vul_Shock makes excellent use of the “human resources” meme, and Briskitty uses the “these edibles ain’t shit” meme to make a comparison with the Moogles from the prequel game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7.
What’s extra funny is how this same Moogle design was used in the Crisis Core remake from 2022, yet I don’t recall any such discourse about it back then. Maybe that’s because a Moogle only ever appeared in Crisis Core as a summon whereas in FF7 Rebirth, they appear more frequently as vendors to exchange Moogle Medals.
While the fan response seems overwhelmingly negative, few defenders are out there, with Lady Emily and Franken_Sama expressing affection for them. To add my two cents, I think the Moogles look perfectly fine—they’re hardly as nightmarish as some people say. I will admit their realistic teeth are a tad off-putting and, as Ramez05 highlighted, bring to mind the original ugly Sonic design for the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie.
If you’re hoping Square Enix will take note of the criticisms and replace the Moogles with new designs in the eventual FF7 Rebirth sequel, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath. Square Enix will likely want to keep things consistent from game to game. Plus, why spend time and money making a new Moogle design when it’d be cheaper to re-use the one from Rebirth? Maybe Final Fantasy 17’s Moogle design will be more traditionally cute, though.
