New main character archetypes

[Dragon Mage]

Sylvieve is a white-haired ninja. She's certainly "not well endowed," can appear or disappear in a flash, and a terror with her Duos Blades. She wouldn't notice taking damage if driven into a frenzy which is very likely as she's actually somewhat psychotic early on.

.....And not insane or loses control. What i meant by not noticing when taking a hit, was that she has complete control over her emotions and can control her pain. Example: she gets shot in the shoulder-she doesn't stop and fall to the ground, she slices the guy's head off. She will finish the battle, and her wounds won't in any way hinder her.

[Mercen-X]

Oh! . . . hmm . . . okay, well I don't think I have a character like that yet . . . but I do have several titles in development. Somebody should find a way to submit these ideas to RPG makers . . . especially Square Enix (as this primarily concerns FF).

[Wolf Kanno]

I'd love to see a female Sephiroth type of strong (minus the darkness and evil). Like a gorgeous elegant (Tifa is NOT elegant) lady in her mid twenties that is an extremely good sword fighter, or something like it. (Hehe, I've written a novel already, and that's one of the main characters.) [quote by My_Car_Is_Faster_than_You]

"cough" Faris "cough" Seriously, with the exception of the localization(sp?) which how would I describe... horrendous. Faris was a very strong-willed, powerful female character who never liked to play by the rules of others (mostly men) and she was a warrior and a pirate to boot.

As for the whole "what makes a hero" debate. I would say that Wild ARMS 2 explores this concept very well. A hero is a sacrifice for the people. Since people cannot help themselves they place their hopes and dreams on the abilities of another individual to help them cause they refuse to help themselves. Ultimately, a "hero" is something that other people call you.

I don't believe you need any other prerequisite.
Look at Alex in Lunar:Silver Star Story, he's just a young boy living in a small backwater villiage who dreams of becoming like his hero, the Dragonmaster Dyne. Through the course of the game he overcomes many tribulations and heartaches, but he achieves his goal. He has no horrible traumatic past. Just a tale of a boy growing up and learning about the world while he tries to live his dream of adventure. Did I mention that BOTH his parents are alive and well, and nothing horrible happens to them.

Now I understand that the brooding loner who is trying to avenge the death of his lost love who was murdered by the main villian who happens to be his twin brother is far more interesting than young little dreamer who just happens to be the nicest guy around and wants to help everyone while he tries to achieve world peace because that would just be neeto for everyone (gasps for breath) but what I think we're all looking for here is a more balanced approach. Now personally, I can deal with emo and I can deal with the boy scouts (not as well though) but god knows I can't deal with whiny which is what always happens when the main character is Joe Somebody who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets dragged into the greater struggle that is unfolding in the world.

What I would really like to see is a main character that has more selfish reasons for doing what they do or one that actually doesn't completely disagree with the antagonist and may actually help them as the story unfolds. While we're at it, why not have a hero that doesn't mind playing as dirty as the atagonist?

...I'll shut up now...

[The Unknown Guru]

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.

Ever played Golden Sun/GS:The Lost Age? Kinda fits that description.

[Cloudane]

What about a bunch of ugly main characters

That one's been done already

[Nanteos]

Well, Ashe really doesn't fit the "clingy" stereotype. She's a strong woman who wants to fight till the end to restore her kingdom. And (at least in my game), I've made ashe a sword wielding powerhouse.

[Sorceress_Louella]

what about a game where you play an evil guy and all his minions and these 6 pesky "hero" people keep ruining your plans and killing your minions.

the final battle is you vs them 6

although that is somewhat interesting, what i had in mind was playing as the enemy and having an option/several options at once, to have fun bringing everything into chaos. going against a group of heroes who ruin your plans, are just like playing as the hero and ruining a certain enemies' plans repeatedly. not all that different really. it could be like one of those 'choose your own adventures' books we've read when we were younger. you know, turn to page so-and-so for this option, turn to page so-and-so for another option.

another interesting thing would be where you could choose to be good or evil. or maybe even choose to do good things sometimes and bad things other times lol, and whichever action you choose has an impact on future game events.

[Setzer Gabianni]

What about a bunch of ugly main characters

That one's been done already

LOL, I don't think so.

At least there's more eye candy in XII then there is previous FF's.

XII also has an older dishy male villain

[McLovin']

In 6 you could be a moogle. Mog could have been the true main character if that is how you want it.