Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion, Dawntrail, was finally unveiled to the world at the North American 2023 Fan Fest in Las Vegas. While director Naoki Yoshida revealed a ton of new details about Final Fantasy XIV 7.0 and the Dawntrail expansion during the opening keynote, some things were held back for future reveals. In typical XIV tradition, the new Jobs for Dawntrail weren’t announced, but Yoshi-P’s T-shirt contains a cryptic teaser for one of them.
FFXIV TMTN Shirt Teaser Explained
If you missed the Dawntrail keynote stream, then you missed out on Yoshi-P’s magnificent shirt reveal. He began the presentation wearing a black button-down, serving as an obvious coverup for the shirt teasers he’s become notorious for. After revealing the expansion, he unveiled a T-shirt for the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
While Yoshi-P could just be a huge TMNT fan (the film just hit theaters, after all), this is absolutely a teaser for one of Dawntrail’s new Jobs. Both Jobs are confirmed to be DPS classes, with one being a melee DPS and the other being a ranged magic DPS. Since the Dawntrail trailer showed the Warrior of Light taking on new enemies in Tural with a sword, most think the TMNT teaser is for the new magical Job.
For reference, Yoshi-P always teases one of the expansion’s upcoming Jobs at the North American Fan Fest before they get officially revealed at future events. Prior to Heavensward’s launch, he teased Dark Knight and Machinist with a Batman shirt and a James Bond shirt. Ahead of Stormblood’s launch, he teased Samurai with a Spider-Man shirt (Sam Raimi sounds like Samurai) and teased Red Mage with a Scarlet Witch shirt. The Reaper Job for Endwalker was teased with a Grim Reaper shirt, and the Viera race was hinted at by a Bugs Bunny shirt.
With that context, there’s zero chance that Yoshi-P wore this shirt for fun. Here’s what the FFXIV community is speculating about after that TMNT shirt teaser.
Painter
An artist-themed class is a popular guess based on Yoshi-P’s TMNT shirt since the four turtles are named after famous artists: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo. It would fit the theme of Tural, the continent formerly known as the New World, since its locales are brightly painted and inspired by Aztec culture.
In addition, Relm from Final Fantasy 6 was an artist who could copy enemies’ abilities with the Sketch skill. That’s very similar to how Blue Mages learn their skills, and in the universe of Final Fantasy XIV, Blue Magic was discovered in the New World. A Painter class could be a great way to expand upon the lore of Blue Magic (plus, Blue Mage is confirmed to receive updates in 7.0).
Chemist
Another popular theory, and the one that I personally believe, is that the TMNT shirt is teasing a Chemist class. The turtles were mutated by ooze, and that’s a clear sign of a Chemist Job. It fits with the ranged magical DPS role that we know is coming, too, and it would be a very unique radioactive/poisonous caster that would stand out among FFXIV’s magical roster.
The only issue with this theory is that it seems too obvious, but it wouldn’t be the first time Yoshi-P’s shirt was incredibly on the nose. Just think back to Dark Knight being teased by Batman, otherwise known as The Dark Knight.
Geomancer
Geomancer is another popular theory, especially since it’s been a fan-favorite request for quite some time. This guess leans into the turtle aspect of the T-shirt and pulls from an existing storyline in the game. In the Four Lords questline from Stormblood, there’s Kojin with magical abilities that closely resemble a Geomancer. The Kojin are turtle people, so it’s no surprise that FFXIV lore nerds are looking to them to decipher this teaser.
Time Mage
Finally, the Time Mage is another heavily requested Job that the TMNT shirt could be teasing. One of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ most popular video games is Turtles in Time, so much so that plenty of people immediately think of it when they see them. It’s a reach, but it’s still within the realm of possibility. Remember, Yoshi-P’s shirt teases aren’t always straightforward. Spider-Man has nothing to do with Samurai, but the connection there was Sam Raimi, director of the original Spider-Man trilogy, since his name sounds like Samurai.
