Rank the FF9 Characters!

[Rodney]

Over the next few weeks, I'm gonna be putting up threads and polls like this, asking all of you for your personal rankings of the characters from each FF game in the numbered games. You can base them on personality, usefulness in gameplay, relevance to the story, general enjoyment of each character, or even frivolous things such as their character themes. Whatever you want to base them on. Also included is a poll on which you can vote for your absolute favorite from each game.

This is my first one. It's for FF9! I'm not putting them up in chronological order. Just by what I'm feeling like doing for the time being.

So here are my rankings:

1. Quina: I've always enjoyed Quina from the moment he arrives in the party. He's always so hilariously funny to watch. It's always a wonder to see whether or not he's going to comment on something relevant to the situation or something totally irrelevant to it. His broken English is another joy to behold. And of course, there's the matter of the item in Cleyra you can only get if you remember to recruit him prior to that point. I love the trouble he gets into over food, and I love his blue magic so much, I practically became a master at using it in the game. The one thing that frustrated me is his constant going in and out of the party at will. I always loved having him around. After he was permanently with the party, I never let him out of it unless I was forced to.

2. Eiko: I think, in each game, the "perky young girl" characters are always going to rank at least top three for me. (The one game for which that might not be the case for is FF6, but we'll see when we get there.) So Eiko's kind of up here by default, but also kind of up here because I dig her so much. I like her energy, I like how she calls the other characters on their bullshit, and I like how she doesn't back down when she wants to be heard. She speaks her mind, and I admire that about her. I also like her bond with Mog. And there must've been something about her that the designers must've seen to make her more important than she initially seemed to have her take top priority of the non-Zidane characters when it came to leading to the party whenever he wasn't around. My one low point with her? Her thinking she could get Zidane when it's clear he was far too old for her.

3. Vivi: The "energetic young boy" characters will also rank high for me, so Vivi's up here largely for that reason. However, I also just dig his character. I like seeing how meek he is, but then grows stronger and stronger as the game progresses. Even without a face, I find him generally adorable to look at. I think one of my favorite scenes with him was the FMV in which he nearly collapsed (but instead backed into Garnet) when he watched Black Waltz No. 3 destroy the other black mages, and then the later one when he knocked him away from the cargo ship with his own black magic spell. I also really appreciated the friendship bond between him and Zidane, and the bond of respect between him and Steiner. I actually don't think I disliked a thing about him. He was easily a great character.

4. Steiner: If there was anything to make me love Steiner, how could it not be his tendency to lose his temper and have his brief outbursts and tantrums? That, and his constant jumping up and down, shouting, and flailing his arms around (see the FMV when he's swinging on the rope and right into the tower). Being overly dramatic when he thought he'd been drugged (but hadn't been) was a lot of laughs, too. Aside from the hilarity, there's also the matter of his general nobility and courage. I don't think there's much that he fears throughout the story. It's all about protecting everyone he cares about, especially Garnet and Vivi. His bond with the latter is one of the high points for me, as well. Plus, his eventual romance with Beatrix always made me smile. The one think I can say I didn't like about him was lying about where the cargo ship was headed, though I can understand why he did it. But other than that, I really loved Steiner.

5. Freya: Here's where we get to the characters who didn't excite me nearly as much. If there's a reason Freya's higher than the bottom three, it's mainly for one moment of the story: when she said exactly what I was thinking. When Zidane signed Vivi up for the Festival of the Hunt without his knowledge, I just commented to my brother and to myself at the same time just how inconsiderate he was to have done that. And what do you know? "Inconsiderate" is the exact word that Freya uses for it! But that's just the initial reason I liked her. Later on, I liked when she was the only one to stick up for Vivi to the Burmecians when they verbally attacked him for being a black mage. And beyond that, I did admire that she was the only one who could get Amarant out of his shell, being the sole person with whom he could truly feel comfortable conversing. The one thing I didn't like about her wasn't really her fault -- her relegation to the back-burner aside from the points I made.

6. Garnet: Sixth and seventh place were kind of neck-and-neck for me, but Garnet just edged out the one below her. Mainly, her stealth sneakiness, seen both in her attempt to escape Alexandria Castle on her own, and then awesomely drugging Zidane, Vivi, Freya, and Regent Cid. With the one below her, you knew he was sneaky. Her moments of sneakiness were more surprising. Also, I enjoyed her relationship with Eiko and her cluelessness as to how she was seen as her romantic rival. Of course, she's also among the bottom three because she did have a few things I didn't like about her -- her period of speechlessness chief among them, as well as her near-constant role as the damsel in distress, and her dependence on way too many other characters. At least by the end, she was only dependent on Zidane and, to a lesser extent, Steiner.

7. Zidane: I'm actually really surprised that I put him this low. It's not to say that I dislike him. I just like the six characters above more than I like him. I liked his self-sacrificial streak, and I liked that he enjoyed helping people even without needing a reason to. And he could provide the snark when needed. I started playing FF games fairly late (not until FF7), so a cheerful protagonist was quite refreshing after the brooding of Cloud and Squall. But he loses points for his too-much-to-handle romance with Garnet, feeling like only he should save Garnet and Eiko when Alexandria Castle was coming down, his own temporarily-brooding phase, and not letting anyone else assist him in saving Kuja when the Iifa Tree was starting to have its reaction. But other than all that, I liked Zidane. Quite a bit more than the character below him.

8. Amarant: From a battle perspective, I liked him. A good monk is nearly always a necessity. However, looking at every other aspect I listed above . . . he just sucked. I hated his irrelevance to the story, I hated his tacked-on reason for joining the party, I hated him being the one dark cloud over the party's overall bright dynamic, and I hated his personality. I don't always hate the "silent loner" characters (I liked FF10's Kimahri enough that you'll see him pretty high when I get to that thread), but I did here. Pretty much his one redeeming quality was coming out of his shell by interacting with Freya. But other than that? Amarant gets an EPIC FAIL for me.

But these are just my rankings. How about everyone else's?

[Laddy]

1. Zidane-He's probably only my third of fourth favorite character in this game, but Zidane is probably the greatest Final Fantasy protagonist after Cecil and Terra (I actually think Lightning is fourth. Shoot me.). He has a legitimate desire to do the right thing and is truly heroic in that he is brave, empathetic, and generally wanting to do the right thing. His development is also essential to the plot, but unlike other RPG protoganist, he doesn't change his personality, he just learns more about himself, allowing him to keep his charm.

2. Vivi-It's a close one between Vivi and Garnet as I like both, but Vivi edges out. His role in the story is significant as his personal struggle is much like Zidane and Garnet's: a struggle of identity. He tries to recognize his own humanity yet knowing that he is merely a product. That struggle always amazed me and his revelations and inisghts about not only his, but everyone's, existence was one of the best messages in a game.

3. Garnet-Garnet is both a passive personality but different than many other RPG female leads in that she has an independent personality. She does not like relying on others yet never comes off as proud. She struggles with identity as well and tries to do what knows to be right in a see of wrong. She's diplomatic before confrontational, and above most other characters she is willing to sacrifice a lot more to do what she knows to be moral.

4. Steiner- Steiner's character is one of identity as well. Those who play a Lawful Good alignment in D&D knows what struggle it entails. When you are honorable and loyal, to what extent does it hold up? When does law cease to be justice? When does independence start and fealty end? Steiner's struggle is very relevant in a modern world and his development, while much more understated, is truly one of the better ones in an FF title.

5. Freya-Poor Freya, such a cool character underused. Pseudo-Celtic Proud Female Dragoon Furries are a niche character archetype, but I found her to be original and enjoyable. She's a 'badass,' but she has a sense of honor and humility in her pride. Her development is tragic, almost Shakesperean, and yet she continues on with the journey after she loses everything, partly for vengeance, partly for virtue.

6. Quina-Quina is a pointles waste of time but I love her. (I always though Quina was a woman I use 'her' as a habit.) But even Quina has an arc. It's not so much Quina, but those around her. In a sense, ignorance truly is bliss sometimes. And there's not alwys something wrong with it.

7.Eiko-Eiko falls into a certain RPG archetype that I tend to have a polarizing feeling to. I like Eiko and often found her charming and enjoyable, but sometimes her personality was a tad too over-the-top. Still a fun character, though.

8. Amarant-Amarant is not a bad character. In any other FF game, he'd be a fairly well-developed character, but his role in the story is relatively minor and poitnless. Also, his personality isn't very likable, either.

[Rodney]

I said rank them, Laddy. It looks like you just placed them in the order they appear in the poll.

[Laddy]

I said rank them, Laddy. It looks like you just placed them in the order they appear in the poll.
I did. That's just how they showed up. xD

[Rodney]

Then why's Zidane on top when you said he's only your third or fourth favorite?

[Hollycat]

Some of the bad guys he likes more, he said Zidane is his favorite protagonist.

[Laddy]

Then why's Zidane on top when you said he's only your third or fourth favorite?
I rated them based on how good of character I thought they were and how they filled their roles. I was trying to be more "objective" if that can in any way be used in this context.

[Rodney]

I see. I was looking more for an overall ranking of first place through eighth place, though.

[Freya]

Well that poll was easy to vote in! :D

[Depression Moon]

1. Zidane Tribal: Zidane my all time favorite FF character period. The dude isn't a brooder. He's a outgoing skirt chaser. He's also original in the sense that he's the only FF gangster of the series. I did find it a little weird with how he grew up he still feels the need to help people. I guess Tantalus only steal from the rich. Also his Goku-like origins was pretty interesting to me and speaking of that you see another side of Zidane in both Madain Sari and Bran Bal. Being the only guy in the world with a tail would of course make that person curious about their origins. His backstory of how he up and left the gang to find his home to come back empty handed and got the beating of his life from Baku was both funny and warming.

When first arriving in Bran Bal he held some of his emotions back of how he truly felt until he met old Garland who turned his world upside down. I don't think anyone would've accepted that fate, but it was still pretty cool how Zidane handled that. Also I like Zidane because he grabbed dat ass.

2. Vivi Oruntia: Vivi is a tragic of a character having to deal with the fact that he's a product of war and where that ultimately leads to. Try to save spoilers here.

3. Garnet Til Alexandros XVI: She was way more important and had more personality and independence compared to a lot of the females before her. Rosa, Lenna, Aerith, and Lenna were all so bland. Garnet may start off looking like the same old princess character you see, but indeed she isn't. She's somewhat naive, but she's courageous. Her backstory puts a tear in my eyes.

I'll complete this later.

4.Freya Crescent: My first intro the Dragoon class. Freya's resolve and visual design are what captivated me. Her romantic element was also quite unique.

5. Eiko Carol: Ms. Spunky with the moogles. She's remarkably intelligent for her age being able to read Shakespearean literature at 6 years old and she is quite mature as well, which puts an unrealistic element to her, but I didn't mind it in this case. I have to give it up to the girl. She was living alone with nobody but a bunch a moogles for a year. Before then was raised by her grandfather and watched him die. That's something that tears apart adults. Imagine being 5 and having to go through it.

6. Captain Aldebert Steiner: A character that functions as both comic relief and serious. A man of loyaltly and servitude that leads him to somewhere that I won't spoil for newcomers.

7. Quina Quen: Pure hilarity

8. Amarant Coral: Nothing special.

[Rodney]

There was a ranking option, too.

[Sum1sGruj]

1. Steiner and Vivi:

Steiner: Hard-hitting hard-hitter from hit-hard town.
Vivi: Pure black mage. 'nuff said.

These two are a tie for me because they go hand in hand in my opinion. You get a pure warrior and mage. Steiner also has the magic sword ability, and you can't take advantage of that without Vivi. While it's true that this can become obsolete late game, it is extremely useful for it's massive damage against elemental opponents.
Steiner doesn't fare well with getting hit by magic, and there's not much you can do about that except equip him with stuff that wards magic. As far as the physical goes, however, he's practically a tank. Vivi physical defense sucks, but you keep him in the back row anyway, so no real problem there.

2. Zidane

One thing about Zidane that I enjoy is that, for being in the thief class, he hits pretty hard. He's quick and evasive as well. Probably the most balanced character in the game, which is great for the main character.

3. Amarant

You either love or hate Amarant, depending on your strategy. He's a very good support character and has the highest status effect rate. As in, he has more of a chance of knocking an enemy with a status ailment. He's as quick and evasive as Zidane, and hits around the same later on in the game. Amarant's draw back is his universal defense.
He's sort of the Vincent of FFIX.

4. Garnet

I find her better then Eiko simply because I am not a big fan of the type of summons Eiko uses. I'm more about big, ass-kicking summons rather then the support type.

5. Freya

I like Freya for her classic dragoon class abilities, having decent weapons and being a good support character. Other then that, her stats are too mediocre which kind of just mars potential in my opinion.

6. Quina

Quina is the Cait Sith of FFIX.
He/She is a bonafide blue mage and has her uses for special situations. The thing I like the least about him/her is that she has a horrible hit rate. Using attack is a gamble- she's either going to nuke the enemy or pea shoot them.

7. Eiko

What to say about Eiko..
She's not a bad character imo, but she becomes obsolete rather quickly as far I'm concerned. At first, I enjoyed her magic, but that soon subsides as the game progresses.

[Freya]

OKAY now that I have more time I can rank them properly.

1. Freya
Obviously. Freya was my favorite because it was a strong female character that wasn't some princess or some blah healer blah. She was fighting for her country and for her love. I feel that while the first two discs focused a lot on her, they dropped the ball on her character in the last two discs. But she is by far, my favorite.

2. Zidane
I loved him because he wasn't the typical whiny Main character. There wasn't the daddy issues or mommy issues. He was a cocky fun guy who just got in a messed up situation and he rose to meet the challenge.

3. Vivi
I loved him. He was the one who was more of the whiny role but it wasn't handled like they have other roles like that. He was still a strong character, he was just a kid though and one that was completely alone in the world. He, like Zidane, rose to that challenge and accepted it and grew from it. His character development was great. Unlike stupid Hope in XIII.

4. Steiner
He's so lame I love it xD He's like that dorky friend who will always be there but he always messes things up or says the wrong thing and you can't help but just sigh at them. Yet they are still there for you when you need them and they'll help you out. They just need to learn some social skills.

I'm not a big fan of Quina, Garnet, Amarant, or Eiko. Eiko annoyed me, she was young too but Vivi was young and he handled being alone sooo much better. Quina I'm liking more recently. Garnet was blah to me her character was boring to me. And well I just didn't really ever use or pay too much attention to Amarant.

[Depression Moon]

Edited Post.

[Wolf Kanno]

1. Vivi - I love the little guy, he may even be my favorite FF character in the series. He's adorable, has excellent character growth, and is usual central to some of the most poignant moments in the games plot. He has my favorite story in the cast and he's actually one of the best Black Mages in the series IMHO. I love the little guy, and his moments in the games are often the ones I treasure the most.

2. Steiner - In my last playthrough, he finally overtook Freya for me. I love the bumbling knight, especially when I realized he is a bit of a Inspector Zenigata expy to Zidane's Lupin III. Its sometimes difficult to make a straight lace character into comic relief territory and yet keep them sympathetic but I feel Steiner's story and comical moments are well balanced. He's also a bitchin' fighter even at early points of the game if you bother to level him up. I just get a real enjoyment from him and he has a good story, even if it's resolved fairly early in the games plot.

3. Freya - Like Freya (the forum member) I like that Freya is a strong female role that isn't suck being the healer/summoner/mage like most are in the rest of the series. She has a good tragic story about losing her beloved and her homeland and I feel her personality bounces off well with the cast. She's also a pretty fun dragoon that has some highly exploited abilities, and if you manage to steak the Holy Lance away from Ark in Disc 3, she's pretty much a beast for the rest of the game.

4. Quina - Yes, I'm one of those guys that likes Quina, I just enjoy an occasional random character. I don't mind if a character doesn't have a good reason to be in the plot, but I do get annoyed when the story or fellow fans harp about said character being important. Quina does neither, it just shows up, says random things about eating and even when you bitch slap it's master, Quina's epiphany moment has nothing to do with anything. I can get behind that, too often games get bogged down with serious seriousness and its nice to have someone show up to make you just laugh at the oddest things. Quina is also a beast of a character once you acquire many of its Blue Mage skills, and god knows I have a serious soft spot for Blue Mages.

5. Zidane - Zidane is a fun character, though he definetly gives me a "been her done that" feel. Yet I love womanizer characters so Zidane was always fun to watch, he's also the best version of the thief class in the series. I just wish he didn't become the main character as the plot went along, or at least I wish his background wasn't so similar to Vivi's. It just kind of made him feel like a cheap knockoff, especially since I felt Vivi told the tale better. He works well with the cast and it was nice to have a more upbeat lead character after Terra/Celes, Cloud, and Squall. Still, those wristband cuffs irritate me...

I don't really care for Amarant, Eiko, or Garnet. Amarant just kind of fills up a slot and his big story moment is kind of silly when he gets all pissy at Ipsen Castle, had he got a little more screentime and if the build-up was better, it could of worked, but instead it just makes him look like a douche especially since by this point, its obvious the fate of the world is at stake so now wasn't a great time to whine about ideology. Eiko is luckily not nearly as obnoxious as her bizarre character design gives the impression of, but I never really felt she was terribly important to the plot much like Amarant. She's not a bad character but I don't exactly look forward to when she joins the party either, her design also just confounds me and its pretty hideous. Garnet suffers from Miyaka Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushigi_Y%C3%BBgi)which means she's a leading character who drives the story by clasping a death grip on the Idiot Ball. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushigi_Y%C3%BBgi) It's just irritating to know so much could have been avoided if Garnet had just listened to her Uncle Cid. She's also a pretty crappy summoner since she only gets most of her summons back almost 2/3rds of the way in the plot...

[Sum1sGruj]

Vivi is a great character both battle wise and story wise, but seriously- Steiner should have came out first on the polls.

I guess Steiner did take an unfortunate role of being goofy, but notice the badass side of him. Tis' great. And Beatrix is hott, and he owns that.If I were a 32 bit sprite, beautiful things would happen.
It's a win by default, esenstially.
You see a whole other side of Steiner as the game progresses. I guess I am impressed by how willing and militant he becomes via being the comander of a long forgotten order downsized to queen escorts.

[Trumpet Thief]

Great idea for a thread, by the way! :D

1. Zidane - My favorite Final Fantasy protagonist (beating out Squall by a small margin). It was a nice change to have an upbeat and positive protagonist who faces his 'emotional' stage later in the game. The whole 'You are not alone' meant that much more when you juxtaposed it with Zidane's interaction with his party throughout the first two disks.

2. Vivi - I'm surprised I didn't put him first, but what can you do. Vivi was just great through the whole game. I really feel like his whole narrative was the underlying driving force of the story. It was almost always in the background, but it tied into everything that was going on in the game. He also had chemistry with virtually everyone in the game.

3. Garnet - One of the greatest 'heroines' in a Square game. She was pretty much perfect in every sense of the word.

4. Steiner - I really want to put him higher, since I love him to death, but I think the other characters have earned their higher spots. Oh well.

5. Eiko - She was adorable as hell, and strong-headed just like Garnet. She added a really interesting dynamic to the party, and her story was a very fun one.

6. Freya - She would've been placed higher if the game didn't abandon her story after Disc 2. For all of the focus she received in the first half of the game, it was pretty depressing to see her relegated to the sidelines for the rest of it.

7. Quina - Funny and enjoyable, but I just didn't love her to the extent that everyone else did.

8. Amarant - Totally useless. Did not need to be in the game.

[James_Cub]

1- Vivi- given the result of the pole and considering he is my number 1 with the most votes, I think there are no explinations required. I'll just say that the one thing that attracted me the most to him was the fact that he is the character with the most character development that i have ever seen in ff history. he goes from being shy and powerless to confident powerhouse. i also appreciated the fact that he was looking for a sense of belonging and trying to understand what he really is, which is something i can relate to.
2- Freya- i'm partial to rat/rabbit like races, but apart from that i loved the fact how she was so loyal to her nation, a warrior yet graceful and how she was so devastated when she realized her boyfriend didn't remember her, but how she still fought on
3- Garnet/Dagger/Sarah- the hornless princess with three names, nuff said.
4- Zidane- i liked his tail and his shirtless yet with cuffs shirt style, but i don't tend to like thief characters. plus, he became annoying the same way tidus and vaan were annoying, so he went down from potential third to fourth place
5- Steiner- from here on out, i rank characters based on a factor of how annoying or stupid they are, so steiner came first because he's very loyal and powerful, but ultimately annoying. i absolutely love his love interest, beatrix and would have traded her for him as a main character, any day
6- Quina- she's an apprentice chef and so i am i, which is why she didnt come last, otherwise the frog thing and referring to oneself in the third person isn't enough to rank high in my books
7- Eiko- i just found her to be extremely annoying from beginning to end. i like her flutes and i like mog/maiden, but i dindn't really like her personality
8- Amarant- words fail me, just a second thief character with absolutely no usefulness and back story

[maybee]

I'll do a better version later on.

1 Vivi Because he is the most mentally strong and toughest characters despite his age to ever grace a Final Fantasy title. Cute and adorable to boot, also deadly in battle.

2 Zidane Kind, supportive and a good leader and main lead to the game. Final Fantasy IX without this monkey-tailed blow would be a huge blow and just wouldn't be so great.

3 Eiko This poor lonely girl. She can be annoying at times and she sort of reminds me of Amy Rose from Sonic in a way, expect more intellgient and has a better reason to be clingly towards her idol Zidane than just basically liking him just because. A awesome White Mage also.

4 Dagger or Princess Garnet. Garnet isn't exactly original in the slightest, we've all seen the independent princess type but she's still a nice character and she's a nice White Mage and Summoner fighter. Just wished that she felt well less, dull.

5 Freya. I feel sexist rating the girls mostly so high but Freya is a nice fighter and dragooner warrior and dragooner's are always welcome within any FF game. Though she felt a little depressive at times and it sort of brought the game down at times. I feel like she's the FF IX version of AC Cloud. Brighten up a little bit Freya ? It's only a bloke.

6 Quina. Weird heshe type monster looking creature. Though he or she can be good comic relief at times and can be quite surpising and adds some brightness into what is, quite a dark and depressing Final Fantasy game. Also he's a huge game breaker if you have the bother to train him up and learn his Blue Magic.

7 Amarant. He's not really the best character in the world, though he can be good in battle. Though Beatrix in his place would of been so much better and would of made so much sense. I think they wanted to show a character that tried to fight Zidane's views on life and show to the player by him defeating Amarant that Zidane is right; but it's done it a shallow manner. You would have to look really deeply at Amarant and Zidane's character to notice it. It's not really shown to the player in a clear manner.

8 Stiener. A dickhead.