What if FFXVI's main character was a Mage?

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm not talking about characters like Terra and Yuna where one of them is basically an overpowered Red Mage and the other is a main character on a technicality. I'm talking about booting the game up and the character is an honest to goodness Firaga tossing, staff wielding, can't take a hit glass cannon Black Mage who can never leave your party.

It's just not a class you see too often as main character status, but I feel it would be interesting to see.

[Pumpkin]

I'd be happy. Mages 4 lyfe

[Formalhaut]

It depends on how hard you look. Virtually every main character is a 'mage' in so far that they can use magic, or be taught to use magic. Obviously, you mean mage to be like their primary 'job class'.

I think it'd be cool. The closest thing we've had to that was Lightning, who was more of a magic knight than anything else.

[Fynn]

Hell, I'd be cool with a White Mage or Blue Mage :D

[Ayen]

Only if I can name him Gandalf.

[Laddy]

I think this needs to happen. I'm sick of the protag being the designated balanced/speedy/strong character.

[Rin Heartilly]

That would be awesome, I'm tired of the main hero being a warrior class type with some magic sprinkled in. I want a squishy glass cannon mage! ^^

[Formalhaut]

From a gameplay perspective, they probably make the protagonist balanced because you gain them first, and often have to work with a limited number of characters in the early portions of the game. They have to be fairly balanced because the game dictates it: you don't want to be rocking the first town with your protagonist being an 'all offence, no defense' type character.

Having said that, I'd love for them to subvert this. FFVI kinda does with Terra, who is far more comfortable using magic than she is physically.

[Shiva95]

It would be cool to have a mage as main protagonist, I'd like a red mage :D

[maybee]

Another White Mage male like Minwu would be a unique main lead.

[Colonel Angus]

The Main Character Mage would have to have something extra to him/her that would help balance the character out.

If it's a White Mage, they probably would have to have some strong weapon, like a Hammer (homage to FFI). Maybe give them a decent Hit%.

If it's a Black Mage, they might have a high evade stat or something (Lulu homage).

Making it some other type of mage like a Time or Blue Mage would be cool. In a sense Tidus was a Time Mage who focused on quick attacks.

Having a Blue Mage as the Main would be cool, because they could start racking up spells from the very beginning. I'd like for them to have the ability to syphon the spells (a la Kimahri's Lancet), as well.

[Fynn]

Having a Blue Mage as the Main would be cool, because they could start racking up spells from the very beginning. I'd like for them to have the ability to syphon the spells (a la Kimahri's Lancet), as well.

Plus, Blue Mages are probably even more versatile than Red Mages, since they usually have a much bigger spell variety and don't just become a weaker white/black mage hybrid.

[Wolf Kanno]

We've technically have had Red Mages for the most part in the series. Terra, Cloud, and Lightning are overwhelmingly versatile fighters who can use all magic effectively; and characters like Squall, Tidus, Vaan, and Bartz are no slouches either with the right amount of leveling and customization. So Red Mages have kind of been done to death.

A White Mage would be unique for FF but for the genre not so much as Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest, and Suikoden have plenty of main characters whose primary role is to be the tanking healer.

A Blue Mage would be very interesting, especially if the gameplay shifted to accommodate their magic setup, but again, Blue Mages are traditionally jack-of-all-stat types like Red Mage, so I feel is would just be a gimmicky version of characters we've seen before.

I feel an actual Black Mage would be really interesting, especially if the battle system had to be built around the idea of having this glass cannon character in every battle.

[FFNut]

I love the idea of a glass cannon black Mage tossing spells early may need to get them some help in tank form right away but love the idea.