Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light Original Author Passed Away

The Japanese Twitter account of Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light announced that the original author of the story and the Japanese Final Fantasy XIV player behind the female Miqo’te avatar Maidy has passed away due to cancer. [Thanks, DenFamiNico Gamer.]

Dad of Light—previously also known as Daddy of Light—is a real-life story originally written on Maidy’s blog. The avid FFXIV player invited his distant father to play the online game. The player first used the Maidy avatar to help and interact with the father’s avatar, Indy Jones, without revealing his true identity. Only after the players had gotten along well and defeated a powerful late-game boss did Maidy reveal himself to his father, restoring their long-strained familial bonds in real life.

The touching story was noticed by Square Enix, which then adapted the story into a novel and a TV show in 2017. Although the drama was first aired on Japanese television in 2017, it is also immediately available to watch worldwide on Netflix. It also received a newer movie adaptation in June 2019, with an all-new cast. (The actor Ren Osugi—who played the father in the TV drama—passed away in 2018.)

【訃報】「ファイナルファンタジーXIV 光のお父さん」シリーズの原作者・マイディー氏が逝去されました。
光の戦士としてエオルゼアの世界を愛し、劇場版の制作・宣伝にもご尽力いただきました。
心よりご冥福をお祈り致します。@Maidy_Maidy pic.twitter.com/9Y3ot0n3ya

— 『劇場版 FFXIV 光のお父さん』公式 (@hikarino_otosan) December 10, 2020

The player behind Maidy revealed in June 2020 that he had been struggling against colorectal cancer that re-emerged after undergoing surgery in Winter 2018. Although he continued posting updates on both his health and hobbies afterward, his last post appeared on November 21, 2020.

Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light is based on the online RPG Final Fantasy XIV, which is available on PCs and the PlayStation 4. It is also playable on PlayStation 5 with backwards compatibility. The game recently received a major update with patch 5.4.