Useless characters

One complaint I've always had about this otherwise awesome game is that some of the characters get overshadowed by the rest of the cast as the game progresses. It seems like for most of the game the story is all about Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, and Steiner, and characters like Freya, Quina, and Amarant are only relevant when you first get them. Especially Freya and Amarant.

Even in a game with a huge cast like FFVI I felt that the characters all got fair treatment. This was probably because each one had at least one side quest that helped them develop. Yet I don't remember any end game quests that center around Freya and Amarant. Quina at least had the frog quest. Maybe there were some others and I forgot them. It has been a while.

It's a shame, because I really would have liked to get to know some of the less relevant characters more.

I never felt that about IX's cast except for Amarant, but I found that acceptable. I am extremely surprised though that you find the opposite with VI's cast.

Well it is my favorite game of all time so maybe I'm biased. But in the WoR the act of getting each character gave them an individual touch. And on top of that many characters had side quests tailored to themselves to acquire some ultimate ability, such as Sabin's Bum Rush, Cyan's dream sequence, etc.

I find it fitting that you didn't mention Eiko at all. The "other four" really are practically pointless. Freya was just along for the ride, looking for Fratley. Amarant just, well whatever his deal was. Quina wanted food, fair enough, s/he wasn't meant to be a deep character. Eiko was just kind of like "oh we need to make the summoners relevant" or something.

It was disappointing. And I do agree, FFVI made all of the characters seem important. Well, with a few exceptions, but for a cast that big, I think they did well.

Kind of hard to develop all the characters as well as carry on the main story arc within a 30-40 hour game. Although IX isn't nearly as bad as some other RPG's I've played.

Quina is the first character that I think of as useless in Final Fantasy IX. I wish that they had made a serious character instead of Quina as I find very little of what it does funny at all.

IX does a fair job compared to some other entries in the series. I do agree that some characters sort of just drop out of the plot (Freya, Vivi, Eiko) while others felt rather pointless and more like you were just filling up your party quota (Quina and Amarant) Steiner loses his relevance after the beginning of the third disc but it's because he resolves his issues rather early. I would say its not any worse than other entries. Even VII and X had some issues of you wondering why half the party was with you.

I dunno... My first reply was to say there ARE no useless characters, just because they are all useful for something... but...

I never, ever use Quina. There has only been one time I've gone through the game and actually tried to use he/she, and it was horrible. So... If I had to label any useless, I guess it would be Quina. /:

EDIT: I do find talking about this sad, though, just because nine is my favorite when it comes to characters. ;~;

I don't see how Freya, Vivi, or Eiko drop out of the plot.

Freya is affected by the plot when she meets Zidane. He is a former friend of hers and is integrated into the plot when Queen Brahne makes an attack on her home. The attack expands to the other Burme- rat home in Cleyra. Fratley her long lost love shows up saves Zidane's skin talks to Freya. Freya finds out he has lost his memory. The general Beatrix shows up steals the kingdom's ancient jewel, and Freya wants to get her revenge. They lose and Brahne is about to destroy Cleyra in minutes. There is barely any time to escape and there's no choice for her but to escape in one of those pods.

With both Burmecian homes destroyed Freya is bent on avenging her people. She is a Dragon Knight after all so she had some rank and dedication to her country. I can't remember clearly, but after the event in Alexandria I believe she and the others stayed to see Garnet's coronation. I sort of forgot how they wound up in Lindblum. Ultimately Freya continues on she wants to keep close to her friends and wants to protect her people and/or avenge her home by eliminating the person who started the whole mess, Kuja.

As for Vivi, well there's little need for any explanation for that. Black Mages is all you need and I believe Vivi had to be lonely as well and a bit afraid. He stayed in a secluded area with his grandpa and was alone for a few months after he died. So lonely people feel comfortable with company.

Eiko had to be the loneliest of them all though. She was the last survivor of her tribe and was living only with moogles for a time being. She also had to steal to eat. When she met Garnet, she was excited to see another summoner. The main point when she becomes a part of the party is when she breaks her promise to her grandfather and leaves the village so that she can see the world.

Amarant joined because he was interested in finding out what Zidane's deal was as he didn't believe anyone could be that noble and what made him so strong. He also had a bit of beef against since he set him up a few years ago. He was curious astounded when he saw the power of the Eidolons. When they went back to Alexandria...hmm, I guess he just continues because he's still not sure about Zidane?

As for Quina yes she was primarily meant to be a humorous character, but Quina also shows that the bizarre are actually not so bizarre and she shows that she cares more than just about food. As for battle purposes, maybe you don't know how to use her. She is a Blue Mage that acquires her abilities by eating weakened monsters. These abilties come with a wide amount of varities. I mostly used White Wind (healing), Magic Hammer (MP depleting), Earthshake (ground damaging), Twister (air damaging), Frog Drop (number, lvl based damage), Angel's Snack (erasing), and Matra Magic (Quick eating and boost for Pumpkin Head and Limit Glove) with her, but I also used Mighty Guard on occasion along with Limit Glove, Pumpkin Head, Frost, and Mustard Bomb for 1 hit kills. Quina's weapon deals random damage but there is a good chance for it to do a lot of damage and some of her weapons have excellent effects like Needle Fork which petrifies, Silver Fork which slows, and I can't remember if any others had effects attached. You can also use 1000 Needles to have her do consistent damage. Quina is also the only one who has the Gillionaire ability.

See? She has a lot of options.

I agree with you Del. It's especially disappointing because there's obviously so many things that were meant to be a big part of this game, yet they all seemed to have fizzled out, most likely due to release date issues etc..

Trance was clearly supposed to have a bigger part, the Freya/Fratley thing was obviously supposed to have more stuff happening as well. Amarant's revenge/redemption thing was barely touched upon, but when it was touched (lol), it was well done and seemed really intriguing.

I agree, since this game was supposed to be a throw-back, you'd think they'd try to weave more relevance for the characters into the plot like they did with FFIV and VI. But since the main four or five characters pretty much carry the game, you don't really need to think about the left overs that much. If they weren't there the game would still be just as fun. It just seems like a waste to have them there and not do much with them, story-wise. Especially when everyone but maybe Quina has so much potential for character development and stuff

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Originally Posted by Depression Man

As for Quina yes she was primarily meant to be a humorous character, but Quina also shows that the bizarre are actually not so bizarre and she shows that she cares more than just about food.

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How does Quina demonstrate this? I can only recall it talking about eating from my recent memory of the game.

Well ... she did seem pretty happy to marry Vivi.. Not sure if that counts as that was obviously meant to be funny more than demonstrating her character's "soul"

I pretty much agree with what Del said in the first post.

I think that although you could make an argument that, say, it was fitting for Amarant to have little development because he was 'just there for the ride,' I still think it would've been nice to give the other characters a little more to go off. I genuinely feel that Freya is given a disappointingly back seat role after Cleyra. Quina, I never really had a huge problem as I viewed her as a novelty character along the likes of Umaro and Mog in FFVI.

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Originally Posted by Roogle

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Originally Posted by Depression Man

As for Quina yes she was primarily meant to be a humorous character, but Quina also shows that the bizarre are actually not so bizarre and she shows that she cares more than just about food.

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How does Quina demonstrate this? I can only recall it talking about eating from my recent memory of the game.

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At the game's ending Quina says to the other chefs that the most important thing to do when cooking food is to cook with your heart. This is especially important among friends. From that statement Quina has shown that there are things beyond eating. Just simply eating isn't enough it is best accomplished only when someone has somebody to cook for or eat with that cares about them.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

One complaint I've always had about this otherwise awesome game is that some of the characters get overshadowed by the rest of the cast as the game progresses. It seems like for most of the game the story is all about Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, and Steiner, and characters like Freya, Quina, and Amarant are only relevant when you first get them. Especially Freya and Amarant.

Even in a game with a huge cast like FFVI I felt that the characters all got fair treatment. This was probably because each one had at least one side quest that helped them develop. Yet I don't remember any end game quests that center around Freya and Amarant. Quina at least had the frog quest. Maybe there were some others and I forgot them. It has been a while.

It's a shame, because I really would have liked to get to know some of the less relevant characters more.

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Exactly my thoughts.
Quina is probably the most useless character in the FF universe. She's also (at least in my opinion) the one whose reason to join your party sucks the most of them all.

Blasphemy! Quina is one of the best characters ever! S/he may not have had the personality and development of many other FF characters but s/he is an innovative character who provides comic relief and a variety of useful abilities in battle.

Sorry, but I didn't find him/her amusing except during the wedding with Vivi. And, though I definitely agree that his/her abilities are awesome, plot-wise he/she is useless. The one and only moment where she/he had the spot was in the marsh near Lindblum where you're looking for a way to the other continent. Might as well have made him/her an NPC.

Is quina the same gourmand from the start of the game?

yes

HOLY CRAP! Then Quina is a famous chef!

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

Blasphemy! Quina is one of the best characters ever! S/he may not have had the personality and development of many other FF characters but s/he is an innovative character who provides comic relief and a variety of useful abilities in battle.

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This. This x100!

YOU HAVE PROBLEM?

I found Quina pretty funny at times but certainly he/she is not really developed. This didn't annoy me though as I feel Quina's presence never detracted from the story.

Amarant is surprisingly well developed imo given how little he has to say. I find that a lot of his quotes throughout the game are quite meaningful and help give a good insight into how his character changes.

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Amarant: "Foolish."

Fire Guard: "What?"

Amarant: "Picking fights with strangers in a place like this... I used
to know someone like that. He was a loser... He refused to
find beneficial ways to use his power. Instead, he'd seek out
people to fight..."

Freya: "Amarant..."

Fire Guard: "What...are you talking about?"

Freya: "We'll show you what he means!"

Fire Guard: "Interesting...but you'll regret this!"

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For example, the above self-referential quote shows how Amarant matures throughout the game.

I also like:

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Amarant: "I'm beginning to understand why he won and I lost... I lost
against his way of thinking..."

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Freya is one character I'd like to have seen more developed towards the end of the game. But I think that was very difficult to achieve with the plot driving everything forward so fast.

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Originally Posted by WhiteStorm

Quina is probably the most useless character in the FF universe.

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Penelo from FFXII. At least Quina had a discernible character. Penelo could be replaced by a magical cardboard cut-out of her that retains her ability to fight and nobody would notice.

I think Amarant was developed in the game, but as he was so quiet and had so few lines, it wasn't something thrown in your face. I do think Freya was pushed aside early on. Eiko's development as a character was also a bit weak after you met her. And Quina has been mentioned. I'd also like to have seen more Beatrix and Fratley, because they are awesome.

Quina is the only useful character.

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Originally Posted by gyrus

Quina is the only useful character.

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I'm going to argue that Eiko is better. White Wind, Mighty Guard, and a big fork that had a GINORMOUS dmg range (sometimes next to no dmg, sometimes bunches) are pretty much all Quina had. The only thing I used her for in the game other than a 4th party member during certain parts of the game where youd normally only have 3 is for the frog game (DONT EAT THE GOLD ONES).

Carbuncle is better than Mighty Guard, Eiko can heal the whole team no problem, she has Pheonix and Holy, and she actually does stuff in the story.

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Carbuncle is better than Mighty Guard

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Don't know about all that and there's more too her that Del mentioned. Also what's the reason for not eating the gold ones? Does the game penalize you for it? I agree that Eiko is an all around better character because being a White Mage summoner she is more focused.

The gold frogs speed up the frog mating by super lots.

I'd say that in any game, there are always a core group of characters that the story revolves around with the others being relegated to extra characters after recruitment. How useless or pointless those extra characters are depends on each persons personal taste and interests.

I personally found Quina humorous, the way he kept jumping in rivers and trying everything, and how he just disappears from the party and they don't even really notice.

Amarant was good too. Silent but insightful and has a moral code in that he detested lani for taking a hostage.

VI, IX, and XIII always had the best casts for me. Everyone felt relevant, if not necessary. All the characters were likable, fleshed-out, and generally useful.

In response to Del's comment about VI doing a better job at not leaving characters behind, I find that true but there is a reason for it.

The game isn't really about one person going after something. IX was, at it's core, Zidane's story and him going out to save the world. In these stories, other people getting left behind plot wise happens, though really good story telling still keeps them all relevant and keeps you caring about them, which IX does a fine job at for the most part.

In the case of VI, it does start off with Terra running from the empire and the whole half esper thing, but really that is but a minor part of the actual story. It's people from all over the world rising up together to fight against the empire. The overall story isn't about any one character, but specifically about the group itself and it's struggles as a whole. They do give everyone their moments to shine which I greatly enjoyed.

I mean when you get down to it though, this story is just as much about the struggles of Banon and Cid as it is Terra and Edgar.

I'll admit not all of the characters got theor fair share of spotlight. But if you work with the abilities, none of the characters are useless gameplay wise. This is more like a underrated, overrated thread than a useless character thread.

I agree entirely. Even though it's a damn near perfect game, FF9 feels incomplete or rushed in some parts. The obvious Trance issues are another sign of getting the game done as soon as possible. Although, it's worth noting that rushed in this sense doesn't really have the same meaning as with games nowadays. It just means they cut a few corners, or at least that's how it seems to me.

I felt like Quina was the only pointless character if you ask me....

However I do see your point, after their story is done and dusted they don't evolve any further.

If I remember correctly though, there were two teams (of some sort or other) that made the game... I suppose there would be some uneven parts.

I always felt that Beatrix would have made for a better playable character than Amarant. She may have been similar to Steiner, but she had a lot more screentime than many of the other supporting characters in the game and was bloody brilliant to boot! Other than Amarant, I felt the game portrayed the playable characters rather decently. It would have helped a good deal if Amarant popped up earlier in the game, though.

>>> All the characters end up dealing 9999 damage in one hit/attack, so all of them are pretty much the same..:luca:

I think Freya, Amarant and Quina aren't relevant that much. But in a couple ATEs, Freya gets Amarant to talk about his past a bit, which was pretty cool I guess. IX definately makes the least effort to incorporate all the main characters in the story, but then again, it's hard to when it's mostly about Zidane, Dagger (with Steiner tagging along as her protector) and Vivi. Eiko, as one of the last summoners, is pretty relevant for most of the game.

Every character in FFIX at least has some good use throughout parts of the game. It's not as if one dreads having to use them as the story progresses.
Quina is very good through the first half of the game. Whenever she has to be in your party, one can make good use of things like the 'millionaire' ability and her blue magic.
She does become a bit obsolete through the second half. Freya is a strong player through the first half as well, but starts to lack later on.
The great thing baout this is that the developers were well aware of this and so when you are forced to use them, it is rather fun. You won't have to use Quina or Freya much as the game makes them less usuable.

However, if one wanted to, they could very well do so and still kick some ass.IX was very well developed.
Freya is a semi-popular character to use, actually. My strategy just doesn't work with her (never been a fan of dragoons).

Some say Amarant isn't good, but in my opinion, he is a must if one really wants to go all the way and max out. Healers will eventually become obsolete because of auto-regen, auto-life, etc. and Amarant has abilities that fill in the gaps, like revive. Since he is also really quick, he makes for a good support character. To boot, he hits pretty hard as well.

I was actually always sad about Freya's lack of development in the story. On the first disc and the beginning of the second she's super important; fighting for her kingdom she hasn't seen in years, searching for and finding her lost love, helping Cleyra protect the closest thing she has to home after the destruction of Burmecia...

then her story dies. WHAT? I thought it was BRILLIANT. I love her character (although she sucks in combat.) I wouldn't say as a character she's useless, but it felt like they forgot about her.

Quina and Amarant are completely idiotic and pointless characters, though.

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Originally Posted by Sum1sGruj

You won't have to use Quina or Freya much as the game makes them less usuable.

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Two of the most powerful and versatile characters in the game are "less usable"? They can both take the place of Healer while dealing out maximum damage for next to no cost, and Quina has a variety of attacks that dramatically weaken the enemy. Amarant can also act as a Healer, though to a more limited capacity (he does have Revive, however), and when paired with Vivi the Curse/Elemental Magic combo can be devastating, especially when Vivi enters Trance.

In my opinion, the only reasonably useless characters in terms of battle are Garnet and Eiko, as their abilities are expensive and unnecessary. Garnet isn't needed because her summon aren't even in the same league as Vivi, and her White Magic is unecessary due to the characters mentioned above. Eiko's summons are more useful, though still not that important, and her White Magic is only slightly better than Garnet's (with particular mention to Holy). Their uselessness in battle is offset by their integral role throughout the story, however.