i think it was more of a passive manipulatoin by the emperor. his mind wasn't being controlled but im sure he was under some sort of magical influence. like in FF1, theres not much to like about the characters because they dont really have a character and they don talk much. or at least the 4 main characters dont, seems as minwu and ricard E.C.T get some good lines. so that also means there not much to hate about these basic characters. Leon was o.k and i sort of like his part in the story.