New main character archetypes

[playaGAW]

I know what Elmo is but what's an Emo???

[drunkymonkey]

I know what Elmo is but what's an Emo???

If this is a serious question, look here.

[mesmerized]

i think that the way that characters are built is a very important ingredient that makes final fantasy unique

[playaGAW]

I know what Elmo is but what's an Emo???

If this is a serious question, look here.

Never saw those in school so I can conclude we didn't have them. Maybe I'll meet an Emo in college.

Anywho back on subject I do want to see a main character that specializes in something other than a giant sword. Magic, spear, something other than a giant sword. We haven't had the option since the old FFs.

[Nakor TheBlue Rider]

i didnt mean that a hero has to be "Emo" or have a "dark/mysterious past" but rather that the hero must have suffered in thier life. A hero who goes through no tribulations is not a Hero at all.

[playaGAW]

The tribulations can happen in the present instead of the past.

[Nakor TheBlue Rider]

but since they wont be a hero until after the tribulations, that really would be the past.

but i know what you mean.

Also...

playaGAW: I do want to see a main character that specializes in something other than a giant sword. Magic, spear, something other than a giant sword. We haven't had the option since the old FFs.

In Final Fantasy Tactics you could choose, in FFIX your main Character used a Dagger, and also in Final Fantasy XI you choose, also in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals, and Most Recently in Final Fantasy X-2

the only games that are relativly recent that force you to use a character who wields a large sword would be FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX.

although i agree that its more fun being able to choose and see some diffrent weapons, it looks like SE is done with swords anyways, FFXIII has shown that Guns are gonna be the new over used weapon of choice.

[drunkymonkey]

i didnt mean that a hero has to be "Emo" or have a "dark/mysterious past" but rather that the hero must have suffered in thier life. A hero who goes through no tribulations is not a Hero at all.

Rubbish. Thinking like this is derogative for creativity, and certainly unoriginal and likely to bore the player. They'll very likely be unimpressed or bored finding out about the past of the hero because they've heard the same (similar) dribble 500 times before.
What you are basically saying is that someone who ends up fighting a dragon because he feels like doing it to save people, and not to aveange the death of his dear old father who died at the breath of the same dragon doesn't qualify to be a hero. And I thought selflessness was pretty heroic.

but since they wont be a hero until after the tribulations, that really would be the past.

I don't think you read that properly. What he is saying is that the hero could get this tribulations during the course of the game, and not from before it started.

As I said before, any look at the world of books would confirm my argument that heroes can be ordinary people, or extraordinary people, who do not have dark, mysterious pasts, or ones full of tribulations.

[Nakor TheBlue Rider]

someone who goes and slays a dragon, who is doing so for a reason like the felt liek it or simply to challange themselves is not really a hero.

example:
an evil sorcerer kills a dragon to get an amulet that has some magic power, hes not a hero for killing the dragon, because he then uses the amulet to destroy thousdands of innocents.

to whom would he be a hero, to the villages he saved from the dragon, and then destroyed himself?

however if the sorcerer has experinced turmoil in his life, perhaps at the hand of the peasants who shunned him as a child for using magic, he may be a hero.

[Prancing Mad]

In my game that I worked on a lot when I was younger, you kill the good guy in the end. You spend the whole time trying to kill the "dark god" only to find out he was the only one who knew what was going on behind the scenes, and he could have stopped the real evil. In the sequels, you have to right the wrong and do it yourself. My story was frickin' wicked.

[King-Killer]

Why don't they try something different when making characters for the mainstream FFs. What about a bunch of ugly main characters while the villains age good-lookin. How about playing as somebody who wants to take over or destroy the world but you don't find out its a good reason until the end. What if the main character wasn't even human? A Mog like character but main instead of background. Shoot I'd even like to play as a monster for once or even one of the countless pawn soldiers killed in a random battle. Except I don't die and the story involves the scrutiny of the battle of the big boys (as in world saving hero v.s. villain). While you watch it out. Gotta think of a way to explain that clearer. The character can go through his own battles that are climatic and changing but in the end you can see how the world altering effect ot the big hero/villain battle effects his/her life and that of the civilians. That can still be done with action and an intriguing story.

There are many more ideas that can come out of my head but most RPGs have the same character types. Does anyone else want a change in the way the stroies and characters are potrayed within the same constricts in most RPGs and Final Fantasy (6 being kind of an outsider in my opinion because the lead character was up for debate).

...
Metal Gear Solid 4

it's not an RPG, but it's just what you've said.

[drunkymonkey]

someone who goes and slays a dragon, who is doing so for a reason like the felt liek it or simply to challange themselves is not really a hero.

example:
an evil sorcerer kills a dragon to get an amulet that has some magic power, hes not a hero for killing the dragon, because he then uses the amulet to destroy thousdands of innocents.

to whom would he be a hero, to the villages he saved from the dragon, and then destroyed himself?

however if the sorcerer has experinced turmoil in his life, perhaps at the hand of the peasants who shunned him as a child for using magic, he may be a hero.

But you are assuming that the person slaying the dragon either has to have a dark past that tells him to kill the dragon, or a material/evil need. Someone could just go up and kill the dragon because he feels it is the right thing to do. Sure, s/he may get a reward for it, but s/he would still be doing it because s/he believed it was the right thing to do. Perhaps 'feeling like it' does not make you a hero, but 'feeling like it because it is the right thing to do' is a lot more plausible.

Here's an example of my own.

A warrior goes off to kill a Necromancer because he quite wants the sword the necromancer guards because it's shiny and it will definitely help him in battle. He also knows that the necromancer is quite an evil bloke and not at all about to talk through things in a logical manner or kiss a small baby or do anything sporting. He knows that the village next to his cave suffers horribly from it. That gives him extra incentive, and a lot more reason to do something than if another necromancer with the same sword lived a few hundred miles away from civilization.

That, to me is a hero. He does things not because he has a past that tells him to, and not because he's a machine of war turned good, or anything like that. He is doing it plainly because he thinks it is the right thing to do. If written about well, and if given another character, then a hero like this can be just as compelling as a hero who has a bad past.

[Quifinator]

Why did they have to make a women " the main character " like bring back the good old days with Cloud n Tidus.....No offence to any females it's just i can't really idolize a female character

[Nakor TheBlue Rider]

dude quite complaining, there are like 95% of games with male main characters.

Even the newest final Fantasy games that have lead females seem to have lead males who play an equal part in story and battle.

For example FFXII you might say "Ashe" is the main character but id say "Vaan" is just as much a main character as she is.

And im sure the same type of thing will hold true for FFXIII

so the only FF where your really forced to have a female main character is FFX-2 and that is really nothing to complain about since it suits the story and its a minority as far as games are concerned.

personally id like to see some shift in the ratio of sexes in games to reflect the current shift in the video game audiance. Many more girls are getting into games and i dont think its fair to have such a high percent of male lead characters.

Also having a female love interest for the main male character who is either helpless or ends up being the whm/blm/smn is just getting too old.

[Roto13]

In Baten Kaitos, (SPOILER)Kalas is an orphan, sure, but he's also evil for the first half of the game.