Who are your top 3 FF charecters and why

[Rocket Edge]

1. Squall - I loved how you could read this thoughts and see where his actions would come from. I really got involved with the character, and for that the game.

2. Zell - I remember thinking he was just stupidly funny, and very likeable.

3. Auron - Cool old guy.

Honourable mentions: Basch, Rinoa, Lulu

[Hot Shot]

Barret: The best and most underrated character. He was a cool tough guy who had a heart of gold. He cared about Marlene and his AVALANCHE buddies a lot. VII was the first FF (and proper RPG) and Barret stood out the most. His gun-arm was unique and awesome and he was a black guy (he's the first black guy I can remember in a video game) And he looked like Mr. T too

Steiner: The goof-ball of IX. He represented justice and all that is right but also brought I light-heartedness and idiocy which was quite endearing. And throughout the game, you actually see him grow as a character (even though it might not be as obvious as the other characters throughout the series).

Tidus: The most well-rounded character imo. He's not like those idk emo 'cool' guys (Cloud and Squall obviously). He's a bit hopeless and clueless throughout the game and I felt the most connected to him than most other FF characters. I liked the fact that he narrated the game and he is one half of my favourite FF couple ever. (SPOILER)When Tidus and Yuna kissed, I was like "Yes, finally!". And out of all the main protagonists, I feel they developed him the best.

Cloud and Squall weren't developed that well. With Cloud, he's all " I don't give a " and within the first couple hours he's like "Let's save the planet!" And Squall was all emo throughout the game and then he just suddenly changed, there was no progression and development imo, he just changed instantly at one point.

Zidane, Red XIII, Edgar and Setzer get honorable mentions.

[MJN SEIFER]

And Squall was all emo throughout the game and then he just suddenly changed, there was no progression and development imo, he just changed instantly at one point.

No offense, but you really missed the point on this one. For starters, Squall is not emo, and while we're on the subject being depressed about something does not automatically make you an emo, and emos aren't always depressing either, it's just a culture nothing more.

Squall is a very well developed character. He has lived a life full of despair and loss, he is not just acting that way to fit into a culture, he never had a family (that he can remember) he has spent his life in an orphanage, and from then on everyone ever mattered to him left in some way - he grew up surrounded by disappointment, and had no one around to support him, he wasn't emo, he was genuinely angry about all that had happened in his life. Because he knew how much it hurt to lose someone important to you, he eventually just gave up on the whole thing and decided that he wasn't going to get close to anyone anymore, if they just leave you (be it through death, or desertion, or whatever) then what's the point of being friends with anyone? However, he still has his emotions deep down, which is why we see his thoughts on screen.

Also he didn't "suddenly change at one point" - he stayed the exact same person throughout, he just became more open. When Rinoa comes on to the scene, Squall is in love, he may not realize it at first, but that is what's happening, and can be seen as early as disk 1. Throughout their scenes together, we can see from his thoughts that the more he gets to know her, the more he wants to open up to her, to tell her he loves her, but he can't, because he's afraid, simple as that, he's afraid that something will happen again that will pull them apart. The whole thing goes on while he is still the Squall that you wrongly describe as emo; he can't risk getting close to her, because he knows how painful it will be when he loses her.

If you look, during the FH scene, he is trying to open up more (again look to his thoughts for this) but the personality he has given himself is stopping him from doing so. You may also notice that he becomes slightly more open after the orphanage scene, it's like he feels more connected to the others now, seeing as they've had the same experience he has, and have all turned out alright, and furthermore, he hasn't lost anyone after all - they're all still here. The scene were Rinoa goes into a coma is also a revelation for Squall - he realizes that even when he refuses to allow Rinoa into his life, he still cares about her, and it will still hurt if she dies, and furthermore if she does it will be far worse than it would have been if he had allowed her into his life, at least then he would have had something out of it, to remember when she's gone.

Finally there's the "Eyes On Me" scene where he finally opens up about everything - this is one of the most powerful moments in Final Fantasy, and if you listen to the lyrics they actually match Squall and Rinoa's relationship perfectly (even though in storyline the song was written by Julia, it was written by someone in our world, so they may have intended this) I didn't see it as sudden at all, I felt like the whole game was building up to it, it just made sense to me.

Sorry to go off topic, but I needed to say this.

[Jiro]

Balthier, Edgar and Vivi.

Balthier is the leading man. He's just cool. But then you learn about him and it's even cooler.

Edgar is a king and a kickass mechanic and he has all the ladies! What's not to love?

Vivi is a character who struggles with deep concepts earlier than most. It's a bittersweet story but I do love his courage.

[Jaffer]

Cloud Strife
Edgar Figaro
Cecil Harvey

[hhr1dluv]

This is a difficult one...

Well, Yuna is my clear favorite. You spend two whole games with her and I just grew really attached to her and her story of love found, lost, and found again. Oh, and you know, her journey and all that.

Otherwise, there aren't many characters that really stick out to me. That's not to say that there aren't characters that I love, but no one is really stepping up to that plate as "favorite character."

I suppose if I had to choose...maybe Quistis at number two (I want to BE her) and...er...Bartz at number three. He was kind of roguish in a cute way (or cute in a rogue way) and it was fun to adventure with him.

Honorable mentions: Ingus, Rydia, Faris, Terra, Celes, Kefka, Aeris, Tifa, Cloud, Squall, Zell, Seifer, Zidane, Garnet, Beatrix, Kuja, Freya, Tidus, Rikku, Lulu, Paine, Gippal, Basch, Ashe, Fran, Balthier, Lightning, Jihl

[Carl the Llama]

Cloud Strife - what can I say... his swords, his limits, his awesome spiky hair, and he started off as a run of the mill grunt working for Shin-Ra and goes on to fight 1 on 1 with probably the toughest SOLDIER 1ST class ever in Shin-Ra's history, a true role model for the underdog.



Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca - Strong willed, committed, knows how to achieve her goals no matter what the cost, bears well under the loss of her husband.



Aerith Gainsborough - Died while trying to save the world... I honestly don't get why people hate her so, to me she was kind, committed and she has (to me at least) the most moving moment in any game I have ever witnessed. She saved the world from destruction.

[Hollycat]

cid- nuf said
basch- nuf said
zack fair- he is god!

edit: to kaiserdragon
cloud never fights zack. I'm guessing u meant sephiroth, but if you look at it, cloud beat sephiroth, but can no way beat ruby alone. Zack beat sephiroth, and he beat angeal, and he beat genesis, and he went on to beat minerva, who created every beast, including ruby and emerald, and is considered by many the toughest superboss eveer created.

Sorry for my rant, I am the biggest Zack Fair fan ever born

[Carl the Llama]

cid- nuf said
basch- nuf said
zack fair- he is god!

edit: to kaiserdragon
cloud never fights zack. I'm guessing u meant sephiroth, but if you look at it, cloud beat sephiroth, but can no way beat ruby alone. Zack beat sephiroth, and he beat angeal, and he beat genesis, and he went on to beat minerva, who created every beast, including ruby and emerald, and is considered by many the toughest superboss eveer created.

Sorry for my rant, I am the biggest Zack Fair fan ever born

In the original FFVII Zack was defeted by Sephiroth, it was only after squeenix decided to milk the ffvii cow that they suddenly decided to change all that, oh and IMO Ruby was much harder then Minerva (who I beat having an easier time then I did with Ruby).

A week later, Sephiroth sets Nibelheim's town ablaze and goes to the Mako reactor to take Jenova's body. While Zack fails to stop Sephiroth, Cloud throws Sephiroth into Mako, causing his body to disappear.

As I said, Cloud beat Sephiroth no doubt about it, hell you even get to see it happening in FFVII, also I submit this:

Nomura later called Sephiroth "the ultimate antagonist in the Final Fantasy VII saga. There can't be anyone else." and regarded him as an enemy from a previous generation in contrast to his "remnants" that later appear.

I would also like to point out that even if that were not so Sephiroth gained considerable power while surfing the Lifestream, thus no comparison can be made between Zack Fair and "the ultimate antagonist in the Final Fantasy VII saga" Cloud beat Sephiroth when he was at his absolute peak, Zack did not.

My source Wikipedia

[Hollycat]

cloud just stabbed a weak sephiroth

[Carl the Llama]

cloud just stabbed a weak sephiroth

How was he weak? from his fight with Zack? all 30 seconds of it? mere moments pass in the flashback, you will also take into consideration that Sephiroth used to spar with both Angeal and Genesis and hold both of them back with ease, to Sephiroth Zack was just a mid afternoon snack, Cloud on the other hand beats Sephiroth at his most powerful (FFVII:AC), Cloud get stabbed by Sephiroth and then goes on to pick up Sephiroth with a massive sword sticking through his chest and throw Sephiroth the way Sephiroth threw Zack against the wall in the original flash back.

Don't get me wrong, I think Zack was an awesome character and I loved playing CC but he isn't as strong as Cloud IMO.

If you wish to discuss this further can I suggest we take it into PM, don't want to derail this thread.

[Rocket Edge]

And Squall was all emo throughout the game and then he just suddenly changed, there was no progression and development imo, he just changed instantly at one point.

No offense, but you really missed the point on this one. For starters, Squall is not emo, and while we're on the subject being depressed about something does not automatically make you an emo, and emos aren't always depressing either, it's just a culture nothing more.

Squall is a very well developed character. He has lived a life full of despair and loss, he is not just acting that way to fit into a culture, he never had a family (that he can remember) he has spent his life in an orphanage, and from then on everyone ever mattered to him left in some way - he grew up surrounded by disappointment, and had no one around to support him, he wasn't emo, he was genuinely angry about all that had happened in his life. Because he knew how much it hurt to lose someone important to you, he eventually just gave up on the whole thing and decided that he wasn't going to get close to anyone anymore, if they just leave you (be it through death, or desertion, or whatever) then what's the point of being friends with anyone? However, he still has his emotions deep down, which is why we see his thoughts on screen.

Also he didn't "suddenly change at one point" - he stayed the exact same person throughout, he just became more open. When Rinoa comes on to the scene, Squall is in love, he may not realize it at first, but that is what's happening, and can be seen as early as disk 1. Throughout their scenes together, we can see from his thoughts that the more he gets to know her, the more he wants to open up to her, to tell her he loves her, but he can't, because he's afraid, simple as that, he's afraid that something will happen again that will pull them apart. The whole thing goes on while he is still the Squall that you wrongly describe as emo; he can't risk getting close to her, because he knows how painful it will be when he loses her.

If you look, during the FH scene, he is trying to open up more (again look to his thoughts for this) but the personality he has given himself is stopping him from doing so. You may also notice that he becomes slightly more open after the orphanage scene, it's like he feels more connected to the others now, seeing as they've had the same experience he has, and have all turned out alright, and furthermore, he hasn't lost anyone after all - they're all still here. The scene were Rinoa goes into a coma is also a revelation for Squall - he realizes that even when he refuses to allow Rinoa into his life, he still cares about her, and it will still hurt if she dies, and furthermore if she does it will be far worse than it would have been if he had allowed her into his life, at least then he would have had something out of it, to remember when she's gone.

Finally there's the "Eyes On Me" scene where he finally opens up about everything - this is one of the most powerful moments in Final Fantasy, and if you listen to the lyrics they actually match Squall and Rinoa's relationship perfectly (even though in storyline the song was written by Julia, it was written by someone in our world, so they may have intended this) I didn't see it as sudden at all, I felt like the whole game was building up to it, it just made sense to me.

Sorry to go off topic, but I needed to say this.

Great post. You summed up his progression perfectly.

[Roogle]

1 Delitia, - FFT
I firmly believe he was a hero who saved Ivalice at the expense of his own soul. The fact that people debate if he is one of the games heroes, major villain or something in between just shows how complex his action are to judge.

Is Delita really a hero? The story of the game shows us that it was Ramza who prevented the supernatural threat from encompassing all of Ivalice. Delita only took advantage of the ensuing chaos to set himself up as a monarch at an incredible personal cost. I guess, in the end, he led Ivalice into a new era, but this is not what we see during the game.

[Hollycat]

1 Delitia, - FFT
I firmly believe he was a hero who saved Ivalice at the expense of his own soul. The fact that people debate if he is one of the games heroes, major villain or something in between just shows how complex his action are to judge.

Is Delita really a hero? The story of the game shows us that it was Ramza who prevented the supernatural threat from encompassing all of Ivalice. Delita only took advantage of the ensuing chaos to set himself up as a monarch at an incredible personal cost. I guess, in the end, he led Ivalice into a new era, but this is not what we see during the game.

He never got to lead, the princess stabbed him

[AstonMartin]

well you can just about classify this as rocket science. but I have to say
#1 lighting. because she is awesome and its funny when she slaps people in the face.
#2 cloud. everybody likes cloud! duh! hes just awesome like that ya know
#3 sephiroth. i couldn't put him before cloud cuz cloud beat him. twice. burn.
then theres zack, genesis, squall, snow, hope, tidus, yuna, angeal, vincent, aerith, tifa, cecil, zidane, and vaan that i will point out that i also like