Wow, I didn't realize at first how many horrible things have happened to the heroines in this series. I think Terra might objectively have suffered the most, being treated barely human for much of her life, but the one who hit me the hardest is Ashe. She's such an angry and forceful character at first, but when you get to the Phon Coast (I believe) and see the flashback with her and her fiance, you see what a tragedy happened that completely changed her and forced her to become an entirely different person.

The awesome voice acting of FFXII obviously helps a lot.