Kain and Rydia Overrated?

[Ultima Shadow]

Sure, I suppose when compared to Rosa she seems that way, but there's plently of times when she breaks down such as casting Fire at Mt. Hobbes.

Already mentioned, but this isn't really a sign of a "weak female character" at all. If she didn't have some kind of trauma after what happened such a short while ago, she'd be one of those exaggerated badasses whom you can't even sympathize with. She'd basically be Conan the Barbarian or something, at the age of 7. Very realistic.

If Cecil had feelings for Rydia and not Rosa, Rydia would've been the one to be kidnapped

...plus Kain, since part of the reason Rosa gets kidnapped is related to Kains feelings for Rosa as well. So yeah... if you basically changed the whole story around so much that Cecil and Rosa didn't have any relationship from the start, and both Kain and Cecil fell in love with Rydia... then things would obviously have been different, since you've basically changed some of the greater plot-points around completely and reveresed the roles of two characters. What would have happened in such a fanfic does not change what happens in the actual game though, and the "damsel in distress" of FFIV is no doubt Rosa, not Rydia.

Also, people always seem to overlook Rydia getting knocked out by Titan's summoning (this one is understandable though) and having Cecil protect her from the Baron Guards.

As you luckily mentioned, a 7 year old girl getting knocked out by an earthquake plus using summoning powers beyond her limit is somewhat understandable. Somewhat.

I guess the same argument can be used for the guards too. If Rydia had been adult by that time, those guards would have been charged to crisps. But a 7 year old girl against a bunch of trained soldiers? That might be asking for a tiny bit too much again.

It's not Rosa's fault she gets the desert fever and gets kidnapped etc, but I think her cases are still more "damsel in distress-like" than the cases with Rydia. It still gives her a role in the story that I feel is less interesting than Rydia's. That's my take on it.

I liked them because of their high damage output!

You just said that to Rydia because you wanted to get in her pants.

Rydia does not wear pants.

I want to get in her panties!

[Forsaken Lover]

So my name is Kain and I'm a Dragooooooooooon

I love this girl. She has no brains or anything likable about her but I like her anyway

But then a man from da moon brainwashed this other guy who's from the moon and he brainwashed me

He only could do it because I liked the aforementioned brainless girl and didn't like she was slurping on my best friend's lance and not mine

I say all of this in maybe one scene and it's not even a very memorable scene and then the game proceeds just fine while I take up space story-wise.


Now I am the most belovedest character ever


And this jack-off is more popular than Tellah why...?

[DownDiagonalLeftA]

How wack do you have to be to get mind controlled by somebody that's being mind controlled?

[PoolHandMan]

I didn't know they were considered overrated (though I really think Kain's armor really cool)

Personally, I prefer Cecil to Kain, for his effort in becoming a Paladin and fighting his dark side.

About rydia, I prefer her to Rosa. She has a more interesting story and personality and it seems she has a crush on cecil and, she summons and casts black magic, so, more damage dealt. Rosa has a bow (meh.) and Holy.

[Spooniest]

I prefer Rydia cuz she's hotter than Rosa. This has been true since the very first time I played FF4.

[black orb]

>>> Rydia maybe... Kain, that guy doesnt even has a fanbase if Im not wrong..

[Forsaken Lover]

You are very wrong my friend. Kain is a ridiculously popular character. He was voted one of the most popular male FF characters just recently on a Japanese board.

I say it's all due to Jump and nothing more.

[NeoCracker]

A supernatural force took control of Kain's mind. How, in any way shape or form, can you possibly hold his actions against him?

[Evastio]

You are very wrong my friend. Kain is a ridiculously popular character. He was voted one of the most popular male FF characters just recently on a Japanese board.

I say it's all due to Jump and nothing more.

Yeah, I REALLY wish people would stop talking about Kain's Jump as if they had a gun pointed to their head and they'd be shot if they didn't praise it (doesn't happen as much here on EoFF, but it does happen on other sites), as well as people saying that Kain can beat "any pansy" by jumping, avoiding their attacks, and impaling them as he flies down. Yeah, cause jumping and leaving lower defense characters to take hits for you isn't at all pansy-like.

A supernatural force took control of Kain's mind. How, in any way shape or form, can you possibly hold his actions against him?

At first I didn't. But with the Kain fanbase praising him so much to the point that it actually sounds like his betrayal was a good thing (especially when there's characters out there like Cid that did more good than Kain could even comprehend doing), I've hated him ever since. Even so, I still hated him a bit for giving into his jealousy towards Cecil (Kain admitted he did have some consent to his traitorous actions after Rosa is rescued) and giving Golbez the idea of bartering Rosa for the Earth Crystal (because treating women like tools and currency is the quickest way to win them over, isn't that right Kain?) even before the Kain fanbase ruined him for me.

...I know I'm being harsh and letting the Nazi-like Kain fanboys that bash on every character that isn't Kain get to me, so I'll just stop here for now.

[black orb]

Japanese.

>>> Sorry, but I cant take that people seriously when it comes to popularity contests ..

[Freshmaker]

I love Kain, ever since my first playthrough, having never heard of Kain or FFIV before. I think people love him so much because he's a flawed and tragic character, someone many can relate to, a realistic character. He's an anti-hero and people love anti-heroes and anti-villians because of their dynamic nature; they have constant internal battles with themselves and go through such misery, you can't help but to hate them but feel sorry for them at the same time.

He's much like Walter White, Gustavo Fring and Mike from Breaking Bad; Snape, Wolverine, Vegeta, The Joker, Darth Vader, Sephiroth, all extremely popular and some extremely evil. It's not surprising the characters that are most popular are the anti-heroes/villains or villains themselves, you don't have to like them as a person to love them as a character.

Rydia is a hot and spunky summoner with very human weaknesses and strengths, the first job exclusive summoner in the series. Just the "coolness" factor of flashy summons and a mysterious spear wielding dragoon and their personalities draw people in. They only seem overrated because they are so popular, for good reason. If Kain was all goody goody or Rydia perfect and strong, that wouldn't make for a very good character or story.

[Ultima Spark]

Am I the only one who found Rydia's story, well, boring? I couldn't find myself "connecting" with her like I did with the Baron characters.

I don't hate her per se (although I do somewhat resent her constantly being in the limelight at Rosa's expense), I just don't care. To me, she's a walking nuke gameplay-wise and that's it.