FFVI takes pride on there being no "true" main character, but if you had to choose...

Based on a serious decision, and not just ruling out characters that I like more than the rest, I say either Terra or Locke are most likley to be concidered the main character. Terra is the main focus during most of the storyline - the Espers, and the like, and the game begins and ends with her. Locke is the second character to join, but he kind of seems like a "stereotypical" main character to me - he's got the whole "I'll devote my life to saving you" thing going on, his theme sounds "main character-ish", he often seems to be put in situations which an RPG main character would normally be put in. However in WoR he is less of a central role, and is just another character.

Celes probably comes fairly close to being the main character, exept she joins too late to really be concidered the main character, unless you count the WoR as a seperate story - in which case, she is the main character for that part of the game, as she is the one recruiting everyone. If Locke is to be concidered the main character, then Celes could be concidered the "interest" of the storyline...

All the other characters either join to late, or just don't have enough bearing on the storyline to be concidered the main character - like all FFs each character has their own background and storyline, and at some point that will be adressed, but they remain characters when it's done, e.g. Cyan's storyline is Doma, and recovering from the pain of his family dying, once that's done his story ends, but he is still part of the main team - he is not the main character, but rather a story within a story, as are most of the team. Obviously Gogo and Umaro can't count, as they are secret characters.

This is not intended to be acurate, it's just my view - after all there is no official main character in FFVI - if there was we would be forced to use him or her at least 95% of the game.

I think this might be one of the things that appealed to me a lot. No real main character. Just a bunch of central characters

Terra is the game's primary character despite it not being entirely "her" story.

It's a toss up between Terra and Celes, I'll have to go with Terra

I've always seen the WoB as Terra's story, and the WoR being Celes'. It's a lot less concrete in the WoB though, you could almost pick anyone and say "that's the main character".

I agree with the Terra WoB, Celes WoR.

It was great that FF6 went this way, because in real life how often is there a main character? I only wish FF12 & 13 had the balls to go this way.

Square says it's Terra.

The developers of the game have commonly supported that the game has an ensemble cast without a main character.

I feel that the main character of the World of Balance is Terra and that the main character of the World of Ruin is Celes. I imagine that if the World of Ruin was more linear that Celes would have had a much larger role aside from her beginning scenario.

Like most people, Terra is main in WoB and Celes in WoR. But if I have to chose one it would be Terra as primary and Celes as secondary with Locke following in third.

Gogo, obviously.

My friend who recommended this game to me vehemently made the point that is a game with a big cast for a reason: the fact that there isn't a "main character" per se but little stories to make up a big one. I would say Terra is the central character in the heart of the story (esp. in WoB and the Mobliz side story) and Celes' segment in the WoR is significant to the plot as she begins to round up the cast again a year later after the disaster. But the characters each have their own contributions to make the beating heart of the plot, their reasons to fight etc etc. That's what makes FFVI wonderful, especially when on the buildup in returning to Narshe, you get to see the scenarios of Locke, Terra/Edgar/Banon and Sabin. I think that part works perfectly in not focusing too much on just one character and giving everyone their moment in the limelight.

What I was thought was bizarre and interesting was how the game introduces the player to Terra first. Naturally, the player would think Terra is the main character surrounded by some equally important secondary characters. However, once the huge plot twist hits, you're in control of Celes and Terra becomes an optional pick-up of sorts. I don't think there's a single other FF game where the first playable character isn't the main one.

EDIT: FFXII! Although way different in structure than VI, XII starts you off with Reks instead of Vaan.

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Originally Posted by Flying Arrow

What I was thought was bizarre and interesting was how the game introduces the player to Terra first. Naturally, the player would think Terra is the main character surrounded by some equally important secondary characters. However, once the huge plot twist hits, you're in control of Celes and Terra becomes an optional pick-up of sorts. I don't think there's a single other FF game where the first playable character isn't the main one.

EDIT: FFXII! Although way different in structure than VI, XII starts you off with Reks instead of Vaan.

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And really Ashe is the main character of that game.

^ Yep. That was my impression throughout as well. I always had Ashe leading my party. Saying Vaan is the main character of FFXII is like saying Setzer is the lead in VI. VI does have a lot of potential "leads" that one can argue but Setzer probably isn't one of them.

locke, celes or terra. Locke haz bit things, and so on...
But I mostly agree with terra WoB and celes WoR

The way I see it, the game is split into three parts, with three of the characters taking center stage.

The first part is with Terra and follows her from the beginning to the battle of Narshe (with the exception of the "choose a scenario" segment). During this time, Teraa questions her existance and tries to learn what it means to be human.

After Terra turns into an Esper and flies away, Locke decides to look for her in order to keep his earlier promise. During this time frame, we learn about Locke's past and his quest for atonement. We also observe his growing relationship with Celes, both before and after Locke finally finds Terra. Of course, Locke's predominance in the plot doesn't last for the rest of the WoB arc, but it's safe to say he was prominent in the plot for the majority.

And finally, in the WoR, Celes sets out and reunites the group for the fight against Kefka. While the WoR maintains ambiguity on the identity of a dominant role, Celes is the character you start out with, which points her to being the leading lady in the third act.

I agree with Edge7, although I do think for most of the game Terra is the main character, as the story focuses on her association with the Empire and later on her Esper abilities.

Terra and Celes are my favorite Main characters,
I heard somewhere that Celes was not intended as a main character,
but one of the game's producers got taken away with her.

Terra is just so... final fantasy, you know?

I like Edge7's assessment. I always saw Terra and Locke as the main characters of the WoB and Celes as the main character of WoR.

If you go purely by who is forced into your party the most, celes wins. Even though terra is a main character in my eyes, she's actually out of your party a lot.

THE JACKEL

It looks like it depends on what aspect you value more. What about Kefka as the main character? Since when did the main character have to be the hero/ine?