the nique- your right garnet has a better past. but over all viva is more mysterious.

seriously though, imho, he is beaten by lots of characters in terms of depth, even in ff9(kuja, garnet, zidane) and nothing will ever touch shadows mysteriousness.

but viva was still very strong, i would have prefered him as the main character, even though zidane i thought was deeper, because viva was very modest, quiet, reserved and kind. its was his personality, rather then his past or other things, that made him so loveable.