Valisthea, a land similar to FF12's Ivalice. In FF16, Dominants are born with the ability to host the most powerful creatures, called Eikons, with one Eikon associating with each of the natural elements. While Clive is the older brother, and an obvious candidate to inherent his father's Eikon, the Phoenix, Eikon of Fire, Joshua was actually the one to gain the Phoenix and is set to be the future Archduke of their nation, Rosaria. However, a second fire Eikon emerges alongside the Phoenix, called Ifrit, shocking many who believed that only one Eikon could exist for each element. Ifrit seems to be a reminder of when Clive was separated from his younger brother, so Clive may feel a deeper connection to this second Eikon of Fire.
Throughout each of the new trailers, which show off Final Fantasy 16's earned Mature rating, the connection between Clive and Ifrit seems to deepen drastically, leading many to believe that he is the Dominant of Ifrit. First, Clive seems to possess a dark and fiery power when casting abilities that is very reminiscent of Ifrit. Although Joshua has imparted some power of the Phoenix onto his brother and bodyguard, these flames are very different from the ones shown to be tied to the Phoenix. On top of this, in gameplay shown thus far, Ifrit seems to be showcased as the controllable monster in most of its appearances in trailers, linking it heavily to the main character.
Gameplay & Story Suggest Clive is the Ifrit Dominant
An interesting note in both the Final Fantasy 16 FF16's major Attack on Titan vibes, is players are shown battles between the Eikons where Ifrit appears to be the main controllable Eikon in these large scale skirmishes. Due to the consistency that Ifrit is shown as the lead in these battles, it would only be fitting that the person wielding the Eikon would be Clive. On top of this, Clive's inability to receive the Phoenix Eikon, as well as Clive's connections to Ifrit, make him an obvious candidate to be Ifrit's Dominant.
FF16's trailers thus far have shown Clive to be a natural foil to his brother, which further lends credence to him being Ifrit's Dominant, opposite Joshua being the Phoenix's. Joshua, who most likely won't become an FF16 party member, is more sheltered, youthful, and naive which is in direct contrast to the vengeful and gruff attitude of Clive, something that's seen echoed in the Eikons. The Phoenix represents the renewable life-bringing powers of fire and light, while the Ifrit seems to be focused on the violent and destructive powers of the element. Solely focusing on the storytelling, it's easy to see how Joshua's connections with Phoenix, and Clive's parallels with Ifrit, it seems very likely that Clive will be the Dominant of Ifrit.
From all that's known about both the story and gameplay, Clive appears to be the Dominant of Ifrit, but due to Final Fantasy 16's biggest mystery surrounding Ifrit and the possibility of there being two, he may not be the only one. Many theories speculate that the target of Clive's vengeance will also be a Dominant of Ifrit, leading to a massive clash of identical Eikons. Whatever outcome the story brings, Final Fantasy 16 looks to be a very promising game for series veterans and newcomers alike.
Sources: Final Fantasy/YouTube ("AMBITION", "DOMINANCE")
