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!