SO MUCH TO SAY SO LITTLE TIME
I personally feel like Squall was a wonderful protagonist. He was whiny and anti-social but it was because he is emotionally stunted and acts like... well someone who is emotionally stunted. And I don't mean in the way people use to insult others, I mean he is legitimately and literally emotionally stunted. That's the point. That is the entire point. And they show us this in a great way by slowly showing us his development and his thought process the entire time. He isn't just an ass and then suddenly he isn't and they were like "oh he had issues" and we're like "oh, okay." They showed us firsthand as the whole game went along and I thought it was awesome. I also think it showed great spirit and affection how his friends and companions interacted with him based off of this. One thing that always interests me is mental illness in video game characters. In this case, most likely BPD. To be diagnosed with BPD, one must fit 5 of these criteria:
- Fear of abandonment
- Unstable or changing relationships
- Unstable self-image; struggles with identity or sense of self
- Impulsive or self-damaging behaviors (e.g., excessive spending, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
- Suicidal behavior or self-injury
- Varied or random mood swings
- Constant feelings of worthlessness or sadness
- Problems with anger, including frequent loss of temper or physical fights
- Stress-related paranoia or loss of contact with reality
In case you haven't played the game, I would say he fits 6 of those, if not 7. I think it is very interesting to see a story told around a character like that, especially since I would say on the whole, mental illness is under represented in games even though I can think of a number of characters who would classify in to some of these issues.
As for Tidus, he does grow and develop but he is pretty annoying at first. I get that he has father issues. I get it. TRUST ME, I get it. But at the same time its just personally hard for me to identify with him. He ends up in practically a whole new world with new cultures, values and beliefs, and the rate at which he disrespects them is astounding and off-putting, even when he means well. He also asks very stupid questions. I get that he's like an avatar for the player to learn about the world but he needs to fill in the blanks and use context sometimes because I first played the game as a child and I understood more than he did because I PAID ATTENTION AND USED CONTEXT CUES. Like a normal person. I kind of disliked Lulu's attitude a lot of the time but I can also understand her getting frustrated because some of his questions were like... pay attention Tidus. Really. Pay attention.
I hate Lightning. I do. And I get that her punching people is a character flaw, but as maybee said, most FF characters have some issues and don't go around punching people in the face on a regular and repeated basis. Imagine if the roles were reversed. We wouldn't be like "oh ho ho, sure it isn't good but girl kinda needed some punches to the face because she's annoying". We would be like "Damn, that's not funny. That's not cool." and it would be portrayed about as seriously as it actually as opposed to "Haha that Snow sure is annoying." Especially since Snow, for all of his faults, really really cares about her sister and everyone else and gosh darn it is trying his hardest. It's not like he's even being a jerk wad or anything like that. I really dislike Lightning for numerous reasons.
Also I really like Zidane as I mentioned in this thread before I think because he's just a good, solid, caring guy. He does have his faults but at the end of the day he is very caring and self-sacrificing and I seriously admire his ability to put on a happy face despite his internal struggles. Same thing with Yuna.
That's just how I feel anyway
Edit: Also just to be super clear, I don't condone diagnosing real people if you aren't a professional. It's just fun to look at fictional characters in different lights like this!
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