I hated the red mage before they gained the ability to dualcast. They always get less and less useful as you get further in the game (FF1, FF3). They're useful in 5 and FFTA though.

I DO, however, like the idea of the red mage. How they learn both white magic, black magic, be a little more physical, but excel in none of these areas is pretty cool.

Nice write up though.