The year was 1989. SquareSoft's mailboxes were full of angry mail from Japanese mothers who'd bought their children Final Fantasy II and were now facing massive hospital bills because their kids were bashing themselves in the skulls with baseball bats and big sticks, thinking it would make them stronger. It was evident that while Final Fantasy II was a valiant effort, a bold stride into new territory for a blossoming genre, it would probably be a good idea to take a "back to basics" approach with the next installment.

Using a long piece of string tied to a 10,000 yen note, Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy/SquareSoft top dog) managed to lure Akitoshi Kawazu (Final Fantasy II's designer) away from the Final Fantasy division of the Squaresoft office building and set him up elsewhere, giving him the SaGa series to mess around with (like that Simpsons gag where Marge bakes a separate birthday cake for Homer to ruin). With Kawazu out of the way, Final Fantasy III's game plan wrote itself. Experience points and leveling up were back. The Light Warriors were to make an encore appearance, and the concept of having party members with distinct identities and personalities was to be put back in the freezer. The four magical crystals of the elements were in. The MP "charges" system from the first game was set back in place. Character classes were also set to return.

But then an intern who happened to overhear a couple of designer meetings had an idea. "What if you could change your characters' classes?" he asked Sakaguchi one day.

"What," replied Sakaguchi, "you mean like in the first game when we had the Thief changing into a Ninja? Yeah, that was pretty awesome."

"Something like that," the intern said. "But what if you could do that, like, you know...whenever you wanted?"

A prolonged silence followed. When Sakaguchi finally spoke, he rewarded the intern with a gigantic raise, a permanent position, and his own office. Before the intern had a chance to say "thanks," Sakguchi produced a chloroform-soaked rag from his blazer pocket (which he'd taken to carrying around in case his wife ever found out where he worked) and shoved it into the intern's face. Sakaguchi quickly notified office security and had them drag the intern's limp body down to the basement. A few phone calls were made, and about an hour later an unmarked white van pulled up to the SquareSoft building. A team of Yakuza doctors removed the employee's brain and placed it within a sophisticated life-support apparatus that would keep it alive (and in Square's employ) indefinitely. Sakaguchi knew that Square couldn't ever afford to lose this kind of visionary brilliance. Even then, he was keenly aware that this unassuming intern had just come up with the SINGLE GREATEST CONCEPT IN JRPG HISTORY: THE JOB SYSTEM.

Though Final Fantasy III's version of the job system isn't as sophisticated and doesn't offer the near endless customization options of its Final Fantasy V and Tactics incarnations, it's still the first instance of a console RPG that lets you change your characters' classes at will. Thief not pulling his weight? Turn him into a Dragoon or a Monk. Up against a boss with high magic defense? Turn your mage classes into physical classes, then change them back afterwards. Bored with the tried and true "Sword Guy/Fist Guy/White Magic Guy/Black Magic Guy" party? Toss in an Archer, a Geomancer, a Viking, and/or a Dragoon to mix it up a bit.

And that's how it all began. As for the poor genius intern? His brain soon proved to be one of SquareSoft's most valuable creative assets. Virtually all of Square's greatest accomplishments during the 90s were tied in one way or another to its input. "So we're making this new game where party members can combine their special attacks in battle," Sakaguchi asked the intern's brain sometime in 1994. "But we think it needs some extra pizazz. Whatcha got for us?"

"Time travel. It needs time travel," the brain spoke through a mechanical voice box connected via USB cable to his life-support machine. "And get Akira Toriyama on the phone. He'll be more than eager to help out." Chrono Trigger went on to become one of Square's greatest successes.

Among the brain's other ideas were the opera scene in Final Fantasy VI, Tifa's breast size, most of Parasite Eve, Einhander's electronic soundtrack, the Sprite character in Secret of Mana, and adding Final Fantasy VII characters to Ehrgiez, to name only a few. Unfortunately, at some point during Final Fantasy VIII's development, a jealous Kawazu began secretly adding ammonia to the brain's nutrient solution. Soon the brain was voicing new ideas about a Final Fantasy CGI movie to the company's higher-ups. Later, after Spirits Within proved to be the biggest mistake Square would ever make, they stopped consulting the brain altogether, and it is believed to have been lost in the shuffle during the company's merger with Enix.

But I digress.