Hide your materia, folks! The thieves are on the loose! That's right. Today we're going to look at the thieves of the Final Fantasy series! These quick and nimble characters can take money and items from you if you don't hurry. But don't worry, because the thieves who are on your team can steal their fair share of gil and rare weapons themselves! They have a nifty ability called "steal" which is sure to increase your inventory in no time. To add insult to injury you can "mug" your opponents by stealing from them and attacking them at the same time! Want to end a battle in a hurry? That's no sweat either, because their great "flee" ability will ensure a safe exit. It might not be safe to have your back to the enemy, so make sure you're "alert" so that doesn't happen! Don't get me wrong, though. This is not to say the thief doesn't have any faults. While they do have great agility, accuracy, and evasion, they have a lack of defense and magic stats. Not to mention that they tend to only wear lightweight armor and carry daggers, small swords, and the occasional boomerang, so this gives them all around moderate physical stats at best. The class is about give and take. Notice the double entendre on the "take" part ; ) So without further delay, let's take a look at some of the high profile thieves in the series!
Thieves have been a staple in the series since the original Final Fantasy. It was one of the classes you could choose to play as one of your four Light Warriors who would eventually challenge Garland. I myself have always made the thief the lead character in this game, as a young person playing this game (PlayStation version) the green outfit reminded me of Link from The Legend of Zelda and I was really in to it! Despite "steal" being a staple move for thieves in Final Fantasy, the thief in the first game did not have this move. Still, it would be a wise decision to choose a thief for your party for their quick speed and their ability to change into a Ninja later on in the game. The job class change to Ninja is the most drastic change of all the classes in the game. But that is another story for another time!
Let's take a look at one of the most loved thieves in the Final Fantasy series. Pictured up top, Locke Cole!.....Wait, did I say thief? Sorry! I meant treasure hunter! We first meet Locke (and a group of moogles) coming to the rescue as Terra is ambushed by Narshe guardsmen. Terra can't remember anything about her past and he takes it upon himself to protect her from their first encounter onward. Though he's not as much of a ladie's man as Edgar, he has a soft spot for women....let's just say he knows more than one woman who can't remember a whole lot about her past. Anyway, he's with the party to the very end when they finally defeat Kefka, proving himself to be a dedicated ally and a much loved friend along the way. His interactions with Celes are very memorable. You know, he kind of reminds me of someone. Loyal? Treasure lover? Ladie's man? He kind of sounds like....
Zidane Tribal from Final Fantasy 9. We first meet our lovable hero aboard the Prima Vista theater ship. What starts out as a mission to kidnap Princess Garnet quickly escalates into something more, and we're thrown into the diverse world of Gaia. You never know what could happen. Your ship could crash, your good friend could get petrified, you could unknowingly be an experimental angel of death....wait, what? Anyway, despite all the ups and down of his journey Zidane proves himself to be a top notch guy and loyal friend to all of his companions. "You don't need a reason to help people", he says. While he is easy going and laid back, he's serious when he needs to be. His ability to keep morale up was certainly a big help to the party, not to mention it kept the games script interesting. His interactions with Kuja and Garland bring out the emotions of the player and you're really pulling for him through the game. You want this thief to succeed.
Here's a view of the Thief class in other games in the series:
-In Final Fantasy 3 you can obtain the thief job class via the Fire Crystal (or Wind Crystal if you have the DS remake).
-In Final Fantasy 4 Edge has the steal ability, he is, however, classified as a ninja.
-As in Final Fantasy 1 and 3, the thief class makes an appearance in Final Fantasy 5 as a job you can partake in (from a shattered Wind Crystal shard.)
-Yuffie in Final Fantasy 7 appears to be both a thief and a ninja. She was close to getting a spotlight in this article. Perhaps a topic of interest for a future ninja article?
-Rikku from Final Fantasy 10 is a thief, but she's also a chemist as well. She can mix the items she steals. That's pretty cool!
-In Final Fantasy 10-2 thief is one of the many dresspheres in the game (and Rikku's default costume).
-Final Fantasy 11 lets you use a thief as your starting character if you choose.
-In Final Fantasy 12, Vaan is a street thief. And Balthier...no, Balthier is no thief. He's a Sky Pirate!
-The thief is a class available to play as in the Tactics side games, often with the same abilities and characteristics as thieves in the main title.
In The 4 Heroes of Light, thieves make an appearance as bandits.
-The thief job is present in Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, Airborne Brigade, FF Dimensions, Crystal Defenders, Chocobo's Dungeon....basically any side game with playable classes
-Thief is a job card in the Dissidia games
I'd like to give a big thanks to my readers for their continued support. You can expect to see another article of this nature in two weeks featuring a different class. Which one will it be? You'll just have to wait and see! So, until next time, keep your wallets and purses secure. You never know when some gil will come up missing. Watch your valuables!
You know what else is valuable? Time. Thank you for spending yours with me.
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