1. Vivi - I love the little guy, he may even be my favorite FF character in the series. He's adorable, has excellent character growth, and is usual central to some of the most poignant moments in the games plot. He has my favorite story in the cast and he's actually one of the best Black Mages in the series IMHO. I love the little guy, and his moments in the games are often the ones I treasure the most.

2. Steiner - In my last playthrough, he finally overtook Freya for me. I love the bumbling knight, especially when I realized he is a bit of a Inspector Zenigata expy to Zidane's Lupin III. Its sometimes difficult to make a straight lace character into comic relief territory and yet keep them sympathetic but I feel Steiner's story and comical moments are well balanced. He's also a bitchin' fighter even at early points of the game if you bother to level him up. I just get a real enjoyment from him and he has a good story, even if it's resolved fairly early in the games plot.

3. Freya - Like Freya (the forum member) I like that Freya is a strong female role that isn't suck being the healer/summoner/mage like most are in the rest of the series. She has a good tragic story about losing her beloved and her homeland and I feel her personality bounces off well with the cast. She's also a pretty fun dragoon that has some highly exploited abilities, and if you manage to steak the Holy Lance away from Ark in Disc 3, she's pretty much a beast for the rest of the game.

4. Quina - Yes, I'm one of those guys that likes Quina, I just enjoy an occasional random character. I don't mind if a character doesn't have a good reason to be in the plot, but I do get annoyed when the story or fellow fans harp about said character being important. Quina does neither, it just shows up, says random things about eating and even when you bitch slap it's master, Quina's epiphany moment has nothing to do with anything. I can get behind that, too often games get bogged down with serious seriousness and its nice to have someone show up to make you just laugh at the oddest things. Quina is also a beast of a character once you acquire many of its Blue Mage skills, and god knows I have a serious soft spot for Blue Mages.

5. Zidane - Zidane is a fun character, though he definetly gives me a "been her done that" feel. Yet I love womanizer characters so Zidane was always fun to watch, he's also the best version of the thief class in the series. I just wish he didn't become the main character as the plot went along, or at least I wish his background wasn't so similar to Vivi's. It just kind of made him feel like a cheap knockoff, especially since I felt Vivi told the tale better. He works well with the cast and it was nice to have a more upbeat lead character after Terra/Celes, Cloud, and Squall. Still, those wristband cuffs irritate me...

I don't really care for Amarant, Eiko, or Garnet. Amarant just kind of fills up a slot and his big story moment is kind of silly when he gets all pissy at Ipsen Castle, had he got a little more screentime and if the build-up was better, it could of worked, but instead it just makes him look like a douche especially since by this point, its obvious the fate of the world is at stake so now wasn't a great time to whine about ideology. Eiko is luckily not nearly as obnoxious as her bizarre character design gives the impression of, but I never really felt she was terribly important to the plot much like Amarant. She's not a bad character but I don't exactly look forward to when she joins the party either, her design also just confounds me and its pretty hideous. Garnet suffers from Miyaka Syndrome which means she's a leading character who drives the story by clasping a death grip on the Idiot Ball. It's just irritating to know so much could have been avoided if Garnet had just listened to her Uncle Cid. She's also a pretty crappy summoner since she only gets most of her summons back almost 2/3rds of the way in the plot...