Peter1986
05-21-2016, 01:40 PM
According to SquareSoft, FF6 isn't supposed to have any actual protagonist, and the characters are intended as an "ensemble cast" - and sure, if SquareSoft themselves say this, then that's the way it is.
But the way I personally see it, there are several clues in FF6 that point out that Terra should count as the main protagonist, or at the very least one of the central main characters;
she is the one who brings hope to the human race and is asked to join the Returners, she is the one who is being chased by Kefka, she is the one who has a flashback of her own birth in the Esper World, she is the one who is required when you visit Sealed Gate, and she is the only character who actually appears after the final battle regardless of whether you recruit her or not.
There are also other minor clues, like for example the fact that you start off as her and are introduced to her, and also that her own theme is playing on the world map of WoB.
So the way I see it, the story is most definitely focused a lot on her.
So what makes Terra so different from other FF protagonists?
Think about FF Tactics, for example;
it seems like that game is about both Ramza and Delita, yet Ramza is considered the "actual" protagonist.
Also, the protagonist in FF9 is apparently supposed to be Zidane, but isn't that game just as much about Vivi and Garnet?
And what about FF10?
The official protagonist of that game is Tidus, but isn't that game also about Yuna and her life as a summoner?
What exactly is it that makes Ramza, Zidane and Tidus count more as "protagonists" than Terra?
I would have been more ready to accept that FF6 doesn't have a main protagonist if the characters had more equal roles, like the characters in Chrono Trigger for example, but there is a significant difference between characters like Terra, Locke and Celes as opposed to less prominent people like Gau, Strago and Relm.
So if FF6 actually has an ensemble cast, it is certainly a very uneven one.
But the way I personally see it, there are several clues in FF6 that point out that Terra should count as the main protagonist, or at the very least one of the central main characters;
she is the one who brings hope to the human race and is asked to join the Returners, she is the one who is being chased by Kefka, she is the one who has a flashback of her own birth in the Esper World, she is the one who is required when you visit Sealed Gate, and she is the only character who actually appears after the final battle regardless of whether you recruit her or not.
There are also other minor clues, like for example the fact that you start off as her and are introduced to her, and also that her own theme is playing on the world map of WoB.
So the way I see it, the story is most definitely focused a lot on her.
So what makes Terra so different from other FF protagonists?
Think about FF Tactics, for example;
it seems like that game is about both Ramza and Delita, yet Ramza is considered the "actual" protagonist.
Also, the protagonist in FF9 is apparently supposed to be Zidane, but isn't that game just as much about Vivi and Garnet?
And what about FF10?
The official protagonist of that game is Tidus, but isn't that game also about Yuna and her life as a summoner?
What exactly is it that makes Ramza, Zidane and Tidus count more as "protagonists" than Terra?
I would have been more ready to accept that FF6 doesn't have a main protagonist if the characters had more equal roles, like the characters in Chrono Trigger for example, but there is a significant difference between characters like Terra, Locke and Celes as opposed to less prominent people like Gau, Strago and Relm.
So if FF6 actually has an ensemble cast, it is certainly a very uneven one.