Character Spotlight: Amarant Coral

[Unstoppable Pig]

He is rude, blue-skinned guy with a very long hair and he really doesn´t care about you. He is also Monk with Samurai and Ninja traits and he knows all migty chakra. So what do you think about Amarant?

I think he is great character both battle- and storywise. Though his story has very little part in FFIX game but I guess his mysterious life is some sort of reference to similar FF-characters.

He and Eiko Carol are probaly references to VI:s Shadow and Relm, considering their last names. But their relationship isn´t probably same.

I´m interested what he started to do after IX. Did he continue being bounty hunter with Lani or did he just continued his training and started understanding other philosophies. What I like about Amarant that he stays mostly same throughout the game and doesn´t turn into friendly person.

[charliepanayi]

I liked Amarant, he was always ready with a funny sarcastic remark and he has that aloof but is a good guy heart type of character that I like. And his character progression remains realistic, he loses some of his selfishness (and tendency to launch into a fight) but keeps that cynicism.

I always wondered if he got together with Lani after the events of the game.

[Rantz]

Amarant is a cool guy! He's not my favourite character—he and Freya could have been favourites if their stories were expanded upon—but I definitely like him. He added that Squall-esque apathy element to the party, without overdoing it.

Also: Appreciating these Character Spotlight threads! Keep it up

[Depression Moon]

Amarant is an all right guy. What abilities of him are Samurai? I found his curse and aura abilities useful. As a character he was all right, but like the rest of you said, just could have ben expanded a bit, but the character himself didn't seem to remember much of his own life. I thought Eiko was more of a Rydia reference considering her origin.

[RedPouch]

He added that Squall-esque apathy element to the party, without overdoing it.

I can't help but strongly disagree. I found him boring and pretty annoying, as if he was trying too hard with his longer/apathetic attitude, but I think I'm annoyed at these cliches in general because I see them way too often in video games and anime, so I admit some bias on my part. He came off more as a "wannabe-cool/loner/dark/trying-to-act-cool/apathetic" type than anything else, but I guess that's why it seems so cliche. Plus, he was plain ugly, and I also found him to lack some serious story. We learn that he was working some type of security, then he became a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. I would hardly call that a story.

I guess he was useful in battle though, but I still prefer other characters.

[charliepanayi]

Plus, he was plain ugly, and I also found him to lack some serious story. We learn that he was working some type of security, then he became a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. I would hardly call that a story.

God forbid a character in a video game should be ugly!

This whole 'Character X didn't get enough of a backstory' angle is something I sometimes get, but sometimes I think people are expecting too much. They don't have time to draw out detailed backgrounds and pasts for every playable character in these games, sometimes it's just easier to sketch out a few details. People seem to expect a complete history sometimes. I don't see what else people need to know about Amarant anyway.

[Heath]

I am tempted to agree with what Khalin said, but I think perhaps that he's a bit harsher than I would be. It would've been nice if his character has been fleshed out a bit more; not necessarily in a huge amount of depth but to give the player a better indication of what the character is actually like. As for whether or not the loner character or not is boring I think to a certain extent that's true, but Amarant is hardly in same the league as Squall. I never really used Amarant in battle except for when I had to use him and never felt he was particularly useless or dull or anything, just didn't feel a sufficient need to actually bother using him.

[Unstoppable Pig]

What abilities of him are Samurai?

Well money tossing is technically Samurai technique but there isn´t nothing that makes him Samurai.I guess he is just monk gone rogue. I never saw him anything like Squall, he is more like Magus from Chrono Trigger who is only in because of is own agenda.

I think it would have been good for character if they had shown his training place where other monks would have shown no love for him anymore.

[RedPouch]

God forbid a character in a video game should be ugly!

Well, I already listed reasons for my disliking him besides that. Him being ugly is just "yet another annoying aspect about him" that adds to an already alarming list of things that bother me about him. And as I've said numerous times, being an anime-style artist probably makes me a lot pickier about this kind of thing than most people. Don't think I'm too biased though, because I've still learned to love ugly characters.

This whole 'Character X didn't get enough of a backstory' angle is something I sometimes get, but sometimes I think people are expecting too much. They don't have time to draw out detailed backgrounds and pasts for every playable character in these games, sometimes it's just easier to sketch out a few details. People seem to expect a complete history sometimes. I don't see what else people need to know about Amarant anyway.

Well as I already said, my issues with Amarant were basically:

1) Annoying attitude [very cliche in video games/anime now]
2) Contributed very little to the story, almost as irrelevant as Quina
3) Almost no background information whatsoever
4) Nothing that really makes him preferable during battle over the others
5) He just looked plain ugly [Yes I'll add this one in here. Just for laughs]

Besides, we're talking about modern era games here. And yes, I do consider Playstation-era games to be modern enough. They had 4 discs for goodness' sake, and they had been working on this story for quite a long time, so I don't really buy the "they didn't have the time or resources to expand on this charater" line. If it's going to be a main character that's going to have some focus, then it needs some depth. I had similar issues with some of the Einherjar in Valkyrie Profile [and I did love this game very much, for the record].

I am tempted to agree with what Khalin said, but I think perhaps that he's a bit harsher than I would be.

Haha. I'm not actually trying to come off harsh, but I think it sounds that way because I'm very opinionated by nature. In any event, I didn't actually hate Amarant much at all, despite what it may sound like. I just wasn't very impressed with his character and found it to be yet another cliche thrown in my face, and it was rather annoying. The reason why I don't passionately hate him is because he had so little impact and contribution to the story, that he actually seemed almost completely irrelevant to Final Fantasy IX as a whole to the point where I could calmly ignore him. Now if you look at a character like Yuffie on the other hand, I do passionately hate her for obvious reasons, but I'd rather not turn this topic into a Yuffie discussion. Anyone that's interested in an elaboration on my rants about the cliche of Yuffie can check out the FF VII topics that I posted in.

[Shotgunnova]

He could have been a boombastic character if his backstory were fleshed out, but like Freya, he gets little development after joining and is thrown to the wayside. It's not that different from a lot of RPGs but it still detracts from what could've been a mold-breaking ally. As it is, he goes from a self-dependant loner to an ally-dependant loner -- not exactly a U-turn development-wise. Of course, who needs to be interesting when you can rip off a mandragora's face with a taloned dragon claw?

[NeoCracker]

Just to correct a couple things, Amarant didn't become a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. He simply wanted to have his fight to determine who was stronger.

And for Amarant, going from Security guard to Bounty hunter is no stretch, as he shows a strong desire to fight. Bounty hunter just allows for more mobility then Security guard, and gave him the chance for a fight he desired.

And I used him in battle.

Though yes, It is kind of sad he adds little to the actual story, other then a representation of some abstract concept like the other characters are.

[RedPouch]

Just to correct a couple things, Amarant didn't become a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. He simply wanted to have his fight to determine who was stronger.

Oh? I read somewhere that Zidane framed him or something when he was a security guard, and he went bounty hunter to get revenge on him for it. Maybe I was wrong.

[NeoCracker]

Just to correct a couple things, Amarant didn't become a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. He simply wanted to have his fight to determine who was stronger.

Oh? I read somewhere that Zidane framed him or something when he was a security guard, and he went bounty hunter to get revenge on him for it. Maybe I was wrong.

I couldn't remember if Zidane framed him or not, so I didn't mention it. Amarant could have wanted to fight Zidane for revenge, though its not honestly stated. It just fits Amarants character more to desire his fight with Zidane rather then revenge.

Though I guess that really is up to player interpretation.

[Breine]

I didn't really care much for him the first time I played through the game, but ever since that time I've grown to like him more and more, and now I actually think he's a cool guy. I use him much more in battle and such now, and he's actually got some neat abilities.

[Depression Moon]

Just to correct a couple things, Amarant didn't become a bounty hunter to get revenge on Zidane. He simply wanted to have his fight to determine who was stronger.

Oh? I read somewhere that Zidane framed him or something when he was a security guard, and he went bounty hunter to get revenge on him for it. Maybe I was wrong.

I couldn't remember if Zidane framed him or not, so I didn't mention it. Amarant could have wanted to fight Zidane for revenge, though its not honestly stated. It just fits Amarants character more to desire his fight with Zidane rather then revenge.

Though I guess that really is up to player interpretation.

Zidane did frame and poorly, but that didn't matter because the guards were idiots. He didn't have much of a choice for jobs then because he was a wanted man. He could've gotten a decent job in another city, but that's not his style.

A lot of characters in FF have little backstory especially going back to 16-8bit era and even Rikku doesn't have really any, but no one complains about that for some reason.