Rank the FF5 Characters!

[Rodney]

This is the fourth 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 fourth one. It's for FF5! This was another tough set, because the characterization in this game is decent, but not really all that strong since there are times when they all seem like the same character.

So here are my rankings:

1. Reina: What can I say? I love that she was a princess who was totally not a damsel in distress (all the time) and could actually be proactive in getting some things done. She could be self-sacrificial (as seen by getting herself sick just to get a dragon to eat), but not in an annoying manner. And she was just braver overall than most leading female characters. I also enjoyed the reveal of her relation to Faris and how she dealt with the fallout of that reveal. The one complaint I have about her is that she's just not the best in battle. I end up valuing Bartz, Faris, and Galuf (and later Krile) a lot more than I value her.

2. Faris: What can I say here? I love her sense of fun! She can call things as she sees them and not give a damn of how someone feels about it. I like when she toys with Bartz and Krile before helping them out of the hole they fall into, I like how she gets closer to Reina after their bond as sisters is revealed, and, although it bugged me the first time I played it, I quite enjoyed her pirate brogue. Plus, in battle, she was a beast. Probably the first female character in the series to be the strongest fighter in the party. Also, note the sequences where it starts to slip about her true gender. Bartz and Galuf starting to fall in love with her is worth it, and she brings that about by not concealing herself well enough!

3. Galuf: He actually could've been a funny, pervy old man (and he does have his moment of the latter with Faris, but never again). But Galuf actually turned out to be an interesting character. I loved him slowly remembering who he was, how he finally got the last piece of the puzzle when he reunited with Krile, and I loved how he went from a clueless, slightly goofy amnesiac to a bold and brave king. Sure, the hints were there (not falling for Siren's tricks and actually taking her on alone), but the big reveal was the best. And then, there was giving his life to (temporarily) destroy Exdeath and actually fight him as a zombie! Basically, the entire Warrior of Dawn background is what kept him interesting, at least when that part came out, and I found myself invested in seeing where the game went with his character. It was almost too bad he died when he did.

4. Krile: The first "perky young girl" character not to be in my top three (and there'll be one more in another game). I liked Krile a lot, but feel that she got greatly overshadowed by the first four characters we meet. Not her fault, to be sure, but it definitely hurt her development since she wound up being a latecomer. Hell, she didn't even join the party after we meet her until well into our time on World 2. Now, that said, I still somehow managed to find her more interesting than the one below her. The first character in the series ever to be able to talk to moogles and other animals, a quality I found intriguing. And I liked how she could keep the party's positive move afloat whenever Faris couldn't. She seemed to become the glue holding them together after a time. (Might've been Reina before she joined, but I'm pretty sure was afterwards.) Plus, I just thought she was kinda adorable, so . . . that's why she's here.

5. Bartz: The second main character I place at the bottom. But unlike with Squall, it's not that I don't like him. I actually do. It's just that personality-wise, Bartz never really jumped out at me too much for most of the game. Aside from his bond with Boko, I never found very many charming or stimulating things about him. It wasn't till his small fight with Kelger that ended up revealing his connection to Dorgann (apparently, the moment he was cemented and confirmed as FF5's protagonist) that he started to come alive, and even then, he was still being overshadowed by the rest of the party, which was proven by him seeming . . . not so alive again after the two worlds combined. I don't know. I think the Dissidia games characterized him a lot better than FF5 did. So he's last.

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

[Mirage]

Faris for sure

[Rodney]

Sigh. I said rank, not just say your favorite.

[Roogle]

I was a big fan of Reina and Faris for the reasons that you mentioned.

This is how I rank the characters:

1. Faris
2. Reina
3. Galuf
4. Bartz
5. Krile

Krile reminds me of a Mary Sue in a fanfic because she only seems to have positive attributes. She never acts recklessly and she always seems to know what to do. She displays special powers well before she officially joins the party.

[Mirage]

Sigh. I said rank, not just say your favorite.

1. Faris
2. The rest

[Rodney]

Krile reminds me of a Mary Sue in a fanfic because she only seems to have positive attributes. She never acts recklessly and she always seems to know what to do. She displays special powers well before she officially joins the party.

Well, the story never gave her much chance to show weakness or act recklessly. Not her fault.

[Wolf Kanno]

1. Faris - Probably the first female character that wasn't presented as a quiet and reserved mage character. Faris had an intriguing backstory and was just as tough (and sometimes tougher) than the boys in your party. She's also a pirate cross-dresser and I can't fathom anything cooler in the cast than that. She often got some of my favorite class designs and I laughed my ass off watching her run away from her duties as a princess. I also liked her pet sea monster Syldra.

2. Galuf - The first playable FF character to pull the amnesiac trick. I like Galuf cause the man is both hilarious funny with his zingers against Bartz and his "I'm not old" tantrums and misadventures. He's also a potent fighter and I loved his backstory proving he's been a badass for years. He's only ranked lower than Faris because he dies halfway through the game, and even death doesn't stop him (and the other Dawn Warriors +1) to come save the parties ass. His costumes are also quite hilarious.

3. Bartz - Kind of a goofball main character. I like the idea of a wandering drifter character and his relationship with Boko is quite sweet. He's also the character whom I feel has the best relations and chemistry with the whole cast. His backstory may not be as exciting as the two above him but its no less endearing. Bartz is also connected to two of my favorite themes in the game, Home Sweet Home and Music Box Memories. His costumes are pretty cool, though many are the updated standard class designs. At least when he's dressed as a Dragoon, I can dream that I somehow unlocked Kain Highwind and had him join the team.

4. Reina/Lenna - I never cared for her, she always struck me as being Rosa from FFIV without the romance. Her story is pretty interesting but I never cared for her personality or anything. She's just a princess who wears her heart on her sleeves and I can't say I really enjoy her spotlight moments. She's just kind of boring to me. She has some interesting story elements but her reserved sweet personality just gets overshadowed by the rest of the wacky cast, and I often feel she quickly falls into the background because everyone is more interesting and permissible.

5. Krile - I have two notches against her. 1) I've never really cared for the spunky hyperactive girl archetype and I wish SE didn't use it so damn much. 2) I completely agree with Roogle about her being a Mary Sue. She's basically a super version of Reina. They are both Princess' with flying dragons and a love of animals; but Krile is more outgoing, can talk to animals, gets more action packed screentime, can use magic (in cutscenes at least) to save the party's ass. Her special skills and level head allows the story to progress on multiple times when the party gets stuck. I swear to god, either Sakaguchi or Kitase must have had a baby girl born during the years this game was being developed. She's even the default narrator of the ending as long as she survives.

[Roogle]

Krile reminds me of a Mary Sue in a fanfic because she only seems to have positive attributes. She never acts recklessly and she always seems to know what to do. She displays special powers well before she officially joins the party.

Well, the story never gave her much chance to show weakness or act recklessly. Not her fault.

Given the variety of situations that the party goes through you would think that she would have some sort of problem. She was in the story long enough for the scenario writer to create some sort of situation for her to show a different side of herself. Instead, she is simply used as either a plot device with her telepathic powers or she is insightful in the same way that old characters should be, not someone her age.