Rank the FF8 Characters!

[Rodney]

This is the second of my series of threads and polls, asking all of you for your personal rankings of the characters from each FF game in the numbered games. You can base them on personality, usefulness in gameplay, relevance to the story, general enjoyment of each character, or even frivolous things such as their character themes. Whatever you want to base them on. Also included is a poll on which you can vote for your absolute favorite from each game.

This is my second one. It's for FF8! And I'm only ranking the six MAIN characters, not the other three. And I ask that you all do the same.

So here are my rankings:

1. Selphie: This was actually a hard game to rank because it's probably the one game in the whole series in which I don't really love anybody, though I like most of the characters. But Selphie gets the benefit of being the game's "perky young girl" character, so she gets to be on the top. I like her spunk, I like her energy, I like how she can find a way to make light of any situation, and, hell, I even like her love of trains! And yeah, I even like that she's an archetype destroyer -- she's the first true female main character to have a male love interest after all of these male characters having female love interests! Except for a few situations, Selphie made me smile each time she came on-screen, and I generally enjoyed her. So I put her first.

2. Zell: First and second were actually neck-and-neck for me, but Selphie barely edged Zell out. But I liked Zell's own energy. I liked his funny movements and reactions (especially when he was surprised, and particularly when he realized he recognized the D-District prison). I liked his overexuberant celebrations ("OHHHHHHHH, YEEEEAAAAHHHH!"), and I liked seeing him get screwed out of hotdogs every single time. But I also liked his arc, in which he went from immature firecracker who couldn't lead to save his life to . . . well . . . less immature firecracker who could at least be trusted to lead. I even liked both times he was the leader! I basically liked his general positivity (which turned into negativity each time Seifer was around), so he's in second place.

3. Quistis: Yeah, from a story perspective, she was useless after a while, except for the time she led in the Deling City sewer. I just liked her understated calmness and maturity she showed in the face of her mostly immature friends. And I liked how a lot of it just rolled off her back, basically. Plus, there was her simple "Not anymore," given when Seifer asks her if she's still his dearest student. No anger, no resentment, just basically saying, "You suck, Seifer" in her own, calm, Quistis way. My only beef with her is that any real potential for an actual character arc for her was wasted. Not her fault, but simply the designers', but still, Quistis's potential was wasted, so she's down here in third place.

4. Rinoa: Given my resentment of her and Squall pretty much eating the remainder of the story from the end of disc two and on, I am actually very surprised I'm being so generous and putting her here. But I am. I quite enjoyed Rinoa and the two sides of her -- her tough-as-nails, no-nonsense side, as well as her softer, typical-teenage-girl side. It seems like nothing can bring her down. And then, she becomes a feared sorceress and faces an imminent sealing, and we can finally, finally see her vulnerable side. While I didn't care much the first time I watched it, my heart broke for her the second time when it finally hit me how scared and distraught she was over it. Beyond that, I liked her unique Limit involving Angelo. I don't think anyone ever used a dog in battle before, and no one has since. So yeah. Liked her enough to save her from the bottom two. Fourth place for her.

5. Irvine: Really not a whole lot to say here. I did like Irvine, but not as much as the three above. I enjoyed his ladies' man moments, and his attempts to woo Selphie. One reason he's down here, though, is because there really isn't much to him, aside from the things I mentioned. Other than his assassination screw-up, he's got ZERO storyline of his own. That said, his personality was at least a pleasant one, compared to the one below. So he's in fifth place.

6. Squall: Is it any surprise? I'll start off with his good qualities. He has a well-rounded character arc, for sure, and he's a beast in battle, which is fitting for the protagonist. But . . . I just don't like him. I'm not into the brooding, emo types of heroes (and you'll see another hero just like that on the bottom of a later poll). Turning into such a loner just over losing his "Sis," trying to brush off any attempt at anyone trying to be friends with him, not keeping up well with conversations, suddenly yelling and running out of a room in the middle of a conversation, his basic negativity . . . ugh. His love story with Rinoa was pretty much the only redeeming quality about him, but other than that, I just didn't like Squall. Still don't. At least I don't hate him anymore (and the love story is the reason why), but as of now . . . he's still the one character in this game I didn't like. So he's sixth and last.

But these are just my rankings. How about everyone else's?

[Clyde]

Honestly I hated every character except Squall, he was the only good character in the game. I won't even get into Rinoa and Zell.

[Rodney]

Only good character? Ha! Tell me another one!

[Tigmafuzz]

...My list is the exact opposite of yours. For almost the exact same reasons you seem to like/dislike those characters.

[chionos]

I didn't particularly like any of them really. Zell, Irvine, Quistis, and Selphie were less annoying than the other two. I couldn't begin to put them in order.

[Wolf Kanno]

This one is tough because VIII doesn't have my fave cast and many of them are in neutral territory for me.

1. Squall - I liked Squall, and I actually felt his story of finally opening up and learning to love others was actually well done for the most part. I also feel that it is Squall's involvement that makes some of the other chracters shine because its their relationships that make it amusing to watch. This leads to my next fave thing about Squall, he's the funniest character in the game due to his deadpan snarky attitude. While the rest of the cast are mostly goofballs, it is hilarious to see Squall's internal monologue usually say some wonderful smartass comment I usually agree with. Speaking of his internal monologue, I really liked how it gave you awesome insight into the character. Squall was also a pretty badass party member both in battle and in the story. I felt he was one of the more realistic characters in the story concerning child soldiers.

2. Laguna - Laguna is just awesome and fun to watch. His antics and story is the most reminiscent of the more wacky stuff in the older games and I really liked the contrast between him and Squall in both personality and in there stories. He's just a fun loving guy and he has easily one of the best battle themes in the series.

3. Ward - Is it kind of sad that a character who doesn't talk after his second appearance is my third favorite behind the games two main characters? Ward is the games dragoon which puts him in good standing in my book anyway but I find it amusing to watch a big tough silent character find ways to be expressive without saying anything. It's harder to do than you would think as well.

4. Kiros - Rounding out the Laguna team is Kiros, who is the voice of reason in Laguna's merry band of soldiers. His humor is similar to Squall where I am often laughing due to his reaction to Laguna's hi-jinx. He's a pretty badass fighter and I appreciate he's a black character that isn't as cartoonish and stereotypical like Barret was.

*at this point, most of the numbering could be "everyone else" but I think I got a decent hierarchy here.

5. Irvine - I have a soft spot for "ladies men" characters that can be traced back to Edge from FFIV. Irvine was a powerful character in your party and his moments trying to get into Selphie's pants were kind of amusing. He has his annoying freak out moment, and he is the biggest coward in the cast, but he was at last fun to watch.

6. Zell - Zell is a typical hot headed youth who is played for laughs. The sad thing about Zell is that hints in he game make it sound like he could have had a more interesting story if the game bothered to address his adoptive grandfather more. He does get a pretty amusing sidequest even if it is hindered by having little to no heads up on how its suppose to be done. Guide Dang it all. He's a fun character who missed his mark but at least he's a beast in battle.

7. Quistis - Quistis had so much potential for awesomness but damn does the writer drop the ball with her. A prodigy student turned professor at the academy, who looks like a hot librarian, and she's the party Blue Mage? She starts out as cool, but quickly turns into an emotional mess, and quickly gets fazed out of the spotlight after her incredibly out of character debacle during the Edea Parade Mission. She could have been a cool love triangle or kept the unrequited love angle but its quickly dropped as it appears in the plot. Despite being the veteran member of the party, she screws up more than the other characters where it counts. She's not bad as a blue mage, but in a game where most of the cast have overpowered multi-hit attacks and ridiculous customization options, her strategic Limit Break is kind of overshadowed in the long run. She was a character with huge potential, and I felt the writers squandered it to make way for Rinoa. I still like Quistis, even if she does pull one of the biggest Idiot Ball moments in the game.

8. Selphie - She's the game's token hyperactive spunky girl, which automatically means I'm not going to like her, though in comparison to selfish bitch Yuffie, stalker Eiko, obnoxious and ineffectual Rikku (Yunie~~~~!!!), wallpaper Penelo, and useless, whiny, walking plothole, fetish toy Vanille; Selphie is actually likable, in small doses. She has her moments and I did like reading her Diary entries. She still too much of a spaz for my taste but she's less in your face like the others I listed. I never cared for her as a party member though. Like Quistis, the Junction system and overpowered fellow party members makes her Limit rather useless. Hell ATB, makes her Limit useless but it is fun to watch The End every once in awhile.

9. Rinoa - Despite being in the bottom of my list, I don't necessarily hate Rinoa. She's actually one of my main party members for most of the game. I don't mind her sunny disposition and I actually like her exchanges with Squall. I do feel she's a spoiled brat, and she does spend most of Disc 3 in a coma which made her lose valuable screen time. I just never cared for her love story with Squall, which does feel rather forced, and I kind of felt that for several points in the game, she really never had a good reason to stay with the party. Her resistance movement is kind of overshadowed once Edea shows up and I never quite understood why someone who is really aversed to fighting would stick around the party, let alone lead a resistance movement. She also has to get bailed out a lot which is annoying. I still love her Limit Breaks but her weapon is a bit lame.

I will fill in the blanks later, I keep trying to write this one up but keep running out of time to do so. Here's the basic order though.

[Sylvie]

Final Fantasy VIII's cast was atrocious. I hate every single one of the characters besides Quistis, because for the most part, she keeps her damn mouth shut and doesn't act like a smurfing 13-year-old.

Zell is probably the most rage inducing piece of trout in the entire game. I was genuinely angry when he was saved from choking on his hot dogs. Zell's character arc is non-existent. It begins and ends with hot dogs, and he does not once cease being an annoying jackass.

Squall is autistic.

Selphie serves no purpose in the game other than being the obligatory subject of sex fantasies involving a peppy preteen-flavored schoolgirl.


smurf it, I could keep going, but there's too much to hate about the characters and storyline in this game.

[Rodney]

Wolf Kanno, I just mentioned -- didn't I? -- that I asked for only the SIX MAIN CHARACTERS. I don't give two sh*ts about Laguna and his boys, and neither should anyone else.

[Sylvie]

*snip*

You should know better than to troll/ ~ WK

[Wolf Kanno]

Wolf Kanno, I just mentioned -- didn't I? -- that I asked for only the SIX MAIN CHARACTERS. I don't give two sh*ts about Laguna and his boys, and neither should anyone else.

As you can tell from my list, I do care seeing how they rank higher than five of the six main characters, besides, Laguna's party is actually part of the main cast, I don't see why we need to ignore them.

[Rodney]

Hmm. Because ultimately, what they do doesn't matter to the story at all? Because they're not at the end? Because of the three, only Laguna gets any real development?

I could go on for a while.

[Wolf Kanno]

Hmm. Because ultimately, what they do doesn't matter to the story at all?

Besides being responsible for the end of the previous war that made the main cast orphans, capturing Adel who is vital to Ultimecia's plan, her cell causing the entire Dollet mission to even happen, and the events of their story is ultimately what allows the party to learn who Ultimecia is because of tracing it back to Ellone who was trying to change history from them. Not to mention Seifer's character development is actually based on that silly movie Laguna made. I can go on here as well.

Because they're not at the end?

Neither is most of the FFIV cast but you counted them in that poll. As well as Galuf in the FFV one.

Because of the three, only Laguna gets any real development?

I'd argue no one but Squall, Rinoa, and Laguna get any development in the plot.

[Rodney]

Point is, I was considering the six characters who the game itself considered the main characters. Laguna and his boys were just part of a flashback to a different plot entirely, and it's clear the game considered them to be a group of, say, extended guests.

[Wolf Kanno]

Except Nojima (VIII's Scenario Writer) Nomura (Character Designer) and Kitase (Director) all confirm that Laguna is also a main character. The initial premise of the game was to have two contrasting main characters playthrough their own story's until their plots came together. He's not a guest character like Seifer and Edea.

[ReloadPsi]

As with the one I did in your FF4 thread I'm doing them by gameplay. Here goes...

1. Rinoa. Angel Wing + Meteor + nothing else but defensive spells to buff all her other stats = dance all frakkin' night. It almost seems wrong that I should like a character I can leave to stand around and do 60,000 damage per round without me pushing a single button but given that this is a pretty damn easy game once you learn to break it, then to me it's just buying more time to get the best use out of...

2. Selphie. With Rinoa spamming Meteor you have plenty of time to rifle through her Slot command and use whatever you want. If you need more time, you can always use...

3. Quistis. Her Blue Magic is extremely versatile, though it can be a pain to locate it all. Once you do, though, she's as overpowered as the other ladies.

4. Squall. Well he's mandatory for most of the game so it's just as well his Renzokuken does very good damage. I always sigh when he runs directly at the camera though because that's how you know he's only gonna hit four times ¬_¬

5. Irvine. And even though I ranked him fifth I still find him very useful. The only downside is having to have ammunition in your inventory. Using Dark Shot on bosses and ruining their crap is awesome though, and very nice to have if you haven't got Bad Breath for Quistis yet, but if you're like me you'll get it out of the card game right at the beginning :P

6. Zell. His Duel is just too time-consuming. As much as I found it quite fun to do the first few times, I got tired of it after a while, and while it has the most reliable level of damage-per-turn output out of anything in the game, it's hindered by the fact that alternating the same two attacks for it is a real chore. He's not a bad character, I just can't be arsed to execute his limit break any more.