Rank the FF6 Characters!

[Jiro]

I could just use Lorem Ipsum?

[blackmage_nuke]

Characterwise I loved them all but battlewise I used Relm, Strago and Gau the least.

[ryanraze]

Final Fantasy 6 is my favorite game, hands down. As a gamer from 86 and on, I consider that a rather prestigious honor. I am currently in the process of another play through and cannot wait to experience all the best moments again. I will base this list on personal preference and use. When FF6 was released, I didn't pour over strategy guides or stats; so if one character was more powerful then the next statistically; I never really noticed. I focused on who I liked and who I wanted to be powerful. This will be a tricky list to put together...

1. Locke - Locke became my new nickname for myself once Final Fantasy 6 was released. As a note, it took the place of "Kain" from FF4 fame. Yes, dorky but aren't we all? At the time, I recognized that Locke was not the strongest of characters, but he was the one I considered the coolest. I will forever think the name Locke Cole is the best name of any character in any game. I can't even think of a characters name as cool as "Locke". So I enjoyed Locke through the entire game and even more as his back-story began to open up. His relationship with Rachel was touching and his interactions with Celes were awesome. I distinctly remember using him when I first beat the game, and digging everything about the guy.

2. Terra - FF6 marked the first true time there was a strong and complex female lead in a game. Yes, I know everyone will say, "METROID HAD A GIRL!" but you didn't know that until the end, thus making it a moot point. FF6, however, had a complex WOMAN. I should have been straight about that part. Terra had me fascinated from the get go and never seemed to lose her interesting story and features. Once she rejoined my party in the WoR, I don't think she ever left. She always used the Atma Weapon, and constantly felt like an unstoppable force. She was my first character to level 99 as well. As I consider FF6 to be the pinnacle of gaming, there is nothing I would have changed with her. She was just a really well designed character.

3. Edgar - Edgar seemed like the smooth, intelligent and cool character in FF6. I loved his relationship with his brother and that he was a noble king (at least I recall him being King of Figaro i think). In the early portions of the game, his Tools were incredibly powerful which meant he was ALWAYS on the battle field. I really liked that he always seemed to do right by his people and was "dashing" in his own way. Edgar, now, seems like the predecessor to Balthier, and I loved that guy. Edgar stands the test of time easily.
4. Cyan - I typically am not one to really get into the "noble knight" version of a character, Cyan was something entirely different. For some reason, I loved the chivalry that Cyan exhibited. Cyan also had a horrible back-story where his wife and child were poisoned, along with the rest of Doma by Kefka. (This happened to be the point that I realized Kefka was the best villain EVER). After their death, he goes on a murderous vengeful rampage against the empire until he encounters the spirits of his family and then becomes depressed. Cyan stays depressed until the WoR when he becomes a pseudo-father for Gau. Additionally, Cyan hangs out on top of a mountain writing love letters to a woman pretending to be her husband simply because he does not want her to feel the heart break of losing your "one". Cyan also has the coolest back-story event in which he travels into his own memories to make peace with what happened. Cyan is a Samurai Knight who is awesome.

5. Shadow - 1. He was a ninja. 2. He looked like Snake Eyes. 3. He had a cool ass dog. 4. He would randomly leave the group, only to reappear stronger. 5. He kills himself, though saving his dog, because he was tired of running from his past and dealing with his own demons. Shadow was just a really, really cool character. The greatest appeal of Shadow lies in the "adolescence factor". Ie: I was like 11 years old when it was released, so of course I'm going to love the Ninja. I'm also an avid dog lover, so having Interceptor randomly bash an enemy was awesome. I was glad I saved him during my first play through, and was very curious about the random dreams he'd have. Ultimately, it played out that he had some relation to Relm, and I really thought that was a cool inclusion for a character with a secretive past.

6. Sabin - Well, first of all Sabin reminded me of Guile from SF2, so that gave him bonus points. At this stage in life, I'm not a fan of the spiky hair/muscle shirt guy; but back then I loved Sabin. His Blitz attacks were incredibly strong, especially the fireball one. I can remember fighting Atma Weapon on the floating continent, having my party wiped out, and Sabin landing a blitz to kill the boss. That was my first "cheer out loud" moment for video games. He was incredibly strong as a character and as a person in this game. He did the right thing despite having some difficult decisions, and proved to just be a good guy.

7. Celes - Celes enters a tight race between 7/8, but her Opera moments give her the nod. While she always felt weak to me in the game, "Runic" is stupid, her character really stuck with me. She was sentenced to death and saved. Brandished as a traitor and confused about her feelings and thoughts on Locke. She was a MagiTek soldier who was genetically engineered, which gives her huge bonus points. She saves the party on a few occasions, and in the end does have a relationship with Locke. In the WoR, Celes plays as the main character initially. Her relationship with Cid (SHE TRIES TO KILL HERSELF!) is one of the most touching of the game. She also finds Locke's bandanna which proves her friends are still alive. Her strength in over coming all of this makes her incredibly likable in act #2. The opera scene is one of the most iconic of any video game EVER. It is touching, emotional and incredibly mature. I love this game, and Celes, while not one of my favorites, is part of a number of reasons for my love.

8. Setzer - Ahh, a character whom I wish was a little stronger. What's odd is I always remember him being equipped with the Miranda Dagger. Odd the memories that stick with me. He's a gambler by nature and was untrustworthy initially (he kidnaps Celes thinking she was Maria). Which brings me to a question, how is it that someone who wants to abduct an opera singer he's in love with isn't looked at in a negative light? I do like that he was tricked via Edgar and that he eventually comes around. His slots option was ok, but not ground breakingly cool. His story in the WoR was pretty cool. It really showed more about him and his relationship with Daryl. I really grew to enjoy Setzer at that stage in my FF6 playings. I think having Setzer as a main part of the WoR was very important in FF6, as he felt "weak" in Act 1. A brilliant move by Square.

9. Gau - I really wanted Gau to be "better" in the game. He never felt very strong, and I never really enjoyed having a character I couldn't control. He has a heart breaking story, and one that I'm very glad they developed and explained more in the WoR. Gau's ability to learn enemy spells feels like the type of thing I didn't really explore fully. I've read that Gau has the ability to be one of the strongest members of the group; but to me I could never get past his initial weakness, and the amount of time you'd need to spend in the Veldt. However, I did love his relationship with Cyan and again, rough back-story.

10. Relm - I wanted to love Relm, I really, really did. However, she felt incredibly weak and her ability did nothing for me. Her story was cool enough, and she was interesting enough; but ultimately she brought nothing to my groups. Because of this, it was hard for me to ever include Relm in my party unless I was forced to. She gets some bonus points for being Shadows daughter and loving Interceptor; but ultimately Relm felt a little tacked on to me with no real value.

11. Mog - Big points for being a moogle, big points for saving Tera and Locke, but mini-points for an interesting "Dance" ability. Other then that Mog was pretty pointless. He didn't do a lot for me, nor my group and also was just one of those characters to fit into a group towards the end. Sorry Mog

12. Strago - As with Relm, Strago felt like a late addition to the game that while cool, was entirely unnecessary. His back-story seemed weak, his character seemed weak, and his ability did NOTHING for me. I wish I could say more, but I really didn't care about Strago.

13. Gogo - It was cool to find him, and Mimic was pretty powerful when used under the right circumstances. Otherwise...

14. Umaro - See above. Just a bruiser, but otherwise pointless.

Great list to make and makes me want to play the game that much more.

[Beowulf]

I really liked Gau. He was one of my favorites for his story, and that he became SUPER powerful. one of the best characters, IMO.

[ryanraze]

What made him so powerful? I've always wondered what I missed with him.

[Beowulf]

Veteran|Roulette. Unblockable death. He has another skill that just Muddles each enemy, one at a time though. That and meteo. it's a PAIN to get him to know all the skills, but so worth it.

[The Man]

No matter where you are in the game, there is pretty much always a Rage Gau can learn that will make him substantially more powerful than most, if not all, other characters in the game. Stray Cat is a good example - Catscratch is one of the most powerful any attacks any character can have when you obtain him. I don't remember what all the really good Rages were because it has honestly been close to a decade since I really played around with Rages, but there were quite a few of them. I do remember that Retainer's Shock is another fantastic ability. If he's at a decent level, it will wipe out pretty much all enemies at once in most enemy formations you can encounter for most of the game. (Unfortunately it's not available until near the end of the game).

I can't possibly rank these characters in order. There are too many great ones in this game. I will say that Terra would probably top my list though.

[Greatermaximus]

[theman]No matter where you are in the game, there is pretty much always a Rage Gau can learn that will make him substantially more powerful than most, if not all, other characters in the game. Stray Cat is a good example - Catscratch is one of the most powerful any attacks any character can have when you obtain him. I don't remember what all the really good Rages were because it has honestly been close to a decade since I really played around with Rages, but there were quite a few of them.[theman]

It's actually Locke who can be quicker with Wing Edge or Double Wing Edge. He could jump or cast vanish/doom in the first version before any other character could respond.

Though the safety ring could also protect from doom I think. It depends on the occasion you play the characters. My sig isn't big enough to have an optimized list for all the characters so I have Terra.

[ryanraze]

No matter where you are in the game, there is pretty much always a Rage Gau can learn that will make him substantially more powerful than most, if not all, other characters in the game. Stray Cat is a good example - Catscratch is one of the most powerful any attacks any character can have when you obtain him. I don't remember what all the really good Rages were because it has honestly been close to a decade since I really played around with Rages, but there were quite a few of them. I do remember that Retainer's Shock is another fantastic ability. If he's at a decent level, it will wipe out pretty much all enemies at once in most enemy formations you can encounter for most of the game. (Unfortunately it's not available until near the end of the game).

I can't possibly rank these characters in order. There are too many great ones in this game. I will say that Terra would probably top my list though.

Thanks for the info, I Just never gave him a good shot then. And in response you can possibly rank those characters; you're just choosing not to. You've written a response well enough, take the time to rank. It's kind of funny and it may surprise you how your opinion changes.
For example: My initial ranking had Cyan much lower on my list, until I began re-reading everything he did and I started to remember how much I used him.
Give it a whirl.

[The Man]

Nah, I'm much too indecisive. I'm one of those sorts of people that can't even make a definitive top ten list of albums in several of my favourite genres because I like too many of them too much. The best I would probably be able to do is rank characters in tiers, which I'm currently too lazy to do. Plus I would have different rankings for gameplay and story.

[ryanraze]

Fair enough.

[Loony BoB]

I quite liked these guys
Umaro - I just love this guy. Bugger all story but fighting with him (and fighting was most of the game for me) never got old. Highest level character in my game!
Celes - Easily the best of the lead characters. Had a good story and just came across as a likeable character.
Shadow - These kind of enigma characters that finally have their story shown are always pretty awesome. Loved Interceptor, too.
Edgar - If this game were expanded upon so that every individual got to show off his full story, I feel he would be my favourite lead character. I just liked his general attitude throughout the entire story.
Gau - UWAOOOOOO! Incredibly charismatic for a wild child. Just really enjoyable, a very uplifting character compared to most.
Sabin - Like Edgar, I feel I'd like him even more if his story was expanded upon. He does make me glad that there is no voice acting because I feel that voice acting on him would probably make him terrible.

These guys weren't bad either
Locke - Had too much of an Aladdin thing going for him for me to really enjoy his character, but he was good and I wouldn't have minded seeing more of his story on occasion. I just felt that in a lot of situations the things he said didn't really suit the character I wanted him to be in my head.
Setzer - Had a decent balance to him, I guess. Nothing I didn't really like about him, and anyone who flies an airship can't be all bad.
Relm - She's got a likeable fire to her. I liked it.

They were okay, I guess.
Mog - He's a fun little dude.
Strago - Just didn't see enough of him in the game to really enjoy his little story, I suppose.
Cyan - The speech was amusing for a little bit, and a very noble guy which I always like, but after a while the gimmick got old.

Glad to not use these characters often
Gogo - This guy has absolutely nothing that interests me. Mimic was vaguely useful but not very often.
Terra - I found her offputting. She is a constant downer. I mean, I know it's story related and she has reason to be sad, but that doesn't make her any more likeable. I found pretty much nothing whatsoever that endeared her to me in any way at all throughout the story. There was probably something, maybe, somewhere in there, but I honestly can't think of it. The good memory was probably drowned by her emo tears. =|

[ryanraze]

I quite liked these guys
Umaro - I just love this guy. Bugger all story but fighting with him (and fighting was most of the game for me) never got old. Highest level character in my game!
Celes - Easily the best of the lead characters. Had a good story and just came across as a likeable character.
Shadow - These kind of enigma characters that finally have their story shown are always pretty awesome. Loved Interceptor, too.
Edgar - If this game were expanded upon so that every individual got to show off his full story, I feel he would be my favourite lead character. I just liked his general attitude throughout the entire story.
Gau - UWAOOOOOO! Incredibly charismatic for a wild child. Just really enjoyable, a very uplifting character compared to most.
Sabin - Like Edgar, I feel I'd like him even more if his story was expanded upon. He does make me glad that there is no voice acting because I feel that voice acting on him would probably make him terrible.

These guys weren't bad either
Locke - Had too much of an Aladdin thing going for him for me to really enjoy his character, but he was good and I wouldn't have minded seeing more of his story on occasion. I just felt that in a lot of situations the things he said didn't really suit the character I wanted him to be in my head.
Setzer - Had a decent balance to him, I guess. Nothing I didn't really like about him, and anyone who flies an airship can't be all bad.
Relm - She's got a likeable fire to her. I liked it.

They were okay, I guess.
Mog - He's a fun little dude.
Strago - Just didn't see enough of him in the game to really enjoy his little story, I suppose.
Cyan - The speech was amusing for a little bit, and a very noble guy which I always like, but after a while the gimmick got old.

Glad to not use these characters often
Gogo - This guy has absolutely nothing that interests me. Mimic was vaguely useful but not very often.
Terra - I found her offputting. She is a constant downer. I mean, I know it's story related and she has reason to be sad, but that doesn't make her any more likeable. I found pretty much nothing whatsoever that endeared her to me in any way at all throughout the story. There was probably something, maybe, somewhere in there, but I honestly can't think of it. The good memory was probably drowned by her emo tears. =|

Great list Bob. I laughed at the part regarding Sabin having a voice, as I always picturing him to have a very annoying voice. I could, shudder, almost picture him having a jersey shore style voice. What with the blown out hair and muscle shirts. Was surprised to see Cyan this low on the list considering he has one of the most evolved back stories, but I'm not bashing by any means.
Celes is one who I didn't care for my first time around, so I'm looking forward to re-evaluating when I get towards her again.

[Loony BoB]

Don't get me wrong - Cyan's story is one of the best of them. But as a character...

[Pezmerga]

Wow tough question. I went with Locke, but man it is close between him, Terra, and Celes.


Now
1. Locke - Locke is a rockstar. He swoops in, saves the girl, and just kicks butt. His back story with Rachel is touching and tragic. Even if he doesn't have a particular strong special, he transcends that with just being an awesome character. I always gave him Illumina and the Paladin Shield because I liked him so much.
2. Celes - Celes is amazing. The Opera scene is still one of my favorite moments in a video game. I also always save Cid! The first time I played FFVI, He died and the scene of her jumping off the cliff was tragic and touching. I wish they would have added a little more depth to her and Locke's love story. One can hope for that if they ever remake it I suppose!
3. Terra - I love her music, and back story, plus her relationship with Locke and the kids of Mobliz.
4. Gau - I just played a LLG, and wow I have to say I have a new found respect for this guy. The Io rage is just insane. Also, Oversoul is great vs. Death effect using bosses, especially undead weak vs. fire!
5. Setzer - Weak in battle, but I love the character. Even if he is introduced as a creep!
6. Sabin - Blitz is awesome!
7. Edgar - Just a fun character. Really strong in WoB too.
8. Shadow - Cool character, would have been in my top 5 as a kid since he is a ninja! lol
9. Relm - I always liked Relm, I wish they would have come up with a better ability for her though. Sketch or control would be better if magic was not learned by everyone. As it is though, magic trumps this special.
10. Mog - I loved Mog as a kid. He is ok, but really nothing special story wise. He can have max defense with snow scarf, which is cool.
11. Cyan - I hate waiting for the Bushido timer to fill up! Story wise he is a good character though. I used to like him more, but there are just better characters.
12. Strago - Lore would be so much better if every character couldn't learn every spell. He is good in a natural magic game though. I rank him so low just because I don't care for the character.
13. Umaro - Boring and as others have said, I don't like that he is always uncontrollable.
14. Gogo - Kind of wish they would have just let Leo live!

Who else as a kid was convinced they could find an Imp character due to the Imp equipment? lol I wanted that talking Imp at the auction house dang it!