I can not share my sorces but the dude you claimed was the mc of ff12 was orignaly planed to be the mc also ff12 took alot of inspiration from 3 movies #1 treasure panit,#2 pirates of the caribbean and #3 Sinbad if you look at the francs hubby his personality and traits are oddly uncanny match for all 3 mc from the movies I talked about Vann was thrown in roughly half way through development of ff12 and the story and mc was shifted to avoid possible coppy right infringement in other words Square didn't wanna fuck with the mouse😂 alot of the evedace and concept art and story plot was burned to try to cover the orignal story and Character concept art along with many other things that were dancing on the line of copyright infringement so yes I can confirm our 11 avid skypirate from finl fantasy 12 was actually planned to be the MC but Are you his character was changing moral longer lines of a narrator that's involved in his story he is telling we all know our suave Charming skypard has a knack for embellishing and lying bassicly he is telling the story from whag he learned after joining the crew/team and was kinda nessary for the story due to his ship the finished product of ff12 and its remaster ff12 zodic age the man himself claimed he was happy with the game he made but he always wanted to make the prognal story he planed for ff12 but for leguak reason he wasn't able to he was a big fan of the book and movie treasure planit and loved the Pirates of the Caribbean movie and loved Sinbad bassicky the sky pirate we got in ff12 was a mash up of 3 of the mc's from the 3 different moview/books and if im honest the orignal story bord for ff12 was far better then what we got but the orgnal story plot textured on being rated M by the US ESRB wich would cause sales to tank so the story mc and a good chunk of the game was remade from the ground up and vaan was designed to bc the mc but be the sole reason for the story to be driven forword the English voice actor of Vann was told Vann was the mc and Penelope was the supporting lead that's why players started playing as them 1st and they were so intertwined with stuff that happened in the story and yes frann and our sky pirate survived and and went into hinding had their own family and their were plans for a final fantasy gane to take place after ff12 where the cast of that game were planed ro be the kids of tye cast from the orignal ff12 cast and my god the story bord for that would have made the game 100% rated M😂 think of the best aspects of any ff game then thows in nudity and other adalt themed stuff and the dark subject and politics that would have made your question what is really good and what is really bad it would have made the players question both their life choices,politics, Philosophy believes and what really is the true difference between good and evil. Out of any ff games I've worked on this game I would if it was ever made would have been the crown jewel of all final fantasy games that how good the story was and the game got cancled due to it being way to deep and completed and dark for fans of the final fantasy franchise but their were talks in actualy making in in 2017 but once again it fell through their are plenty th of games that entire story and game Mechanics are designed or planned just for them to fall through and the public to never learn about them over the past 15 years there has been roughly around I want to say 18 separate final fantasy games that were canceled before the public even learned about these games were so early in development even after being green light for development even trade marks were never made and due to the dramma at square over the past few years and the financal truble they will never admit to the public or talk about all the ff games that would have been but never were due to some reason or another it's the one secret squad Enix will die trying to hide their were 3 kingdom hearts games that were greenest and development started just for them to be scraped and cancled about 3 week to a few months I to development and some of their story plots and chatiors were put into kingdom hearts games that were made so alot of the spin off non main story kingdom hearts games were a hogpog Frankinstine lkke game that oddly blended together to the point fans didn't notice the oddity and somthung feeling off to put it bluntly the 3 kingdom heart games that were cancled had surten Disney baddies playing a huge role and being more of a threat and being the main bad guy One of these canceled Kingdom Hearts games focused on maleficent being the bad guy as the final boss and players would have e been able to play as her and Pete and a handful of unique heartless and 4 weird nobodys as well as play as the main Cast from kmh2 and by having the story played out on different sides and learning why late follow Molafasen and the real reason why the laughing was such an evil person she was planned to have a very tragic backstory as well and the Reason why she turned a dark Magic swear Phoenix has had a lot of potential and amazing game for due to budgets lack of interest in past games killing off either franchise or stunting their growth all walked wstaff making such An amazing story for these games it was considered either too complex too dark or Or just outright just too raw and deem not fit for younger gamers the content with not necessarily 18 plus type not kid friendly but moral longer lines of a very dark philosophical way. Now that I've gone on this much I might as well the boy open the late Mat going by the people that's read this they should believe this post going by what I've said you can probably guess I've worked for spur and it's individual game that were made and some that were never made me and several staff worked for them for years b4 quiting and our NDA has lost its validity at this point so that why I'm saying this now between the sad state moraly and financaly square is in I think it fine for me Saying what I said and if my nda I sign is still legualy binding I'll delet this post of not ill leave it here😅 my best wishes for square and it employees but the state it was in when I left wast good it's staff love the work they do but due to poor work conditions and nit being payed well and being ober worked so so so many good games were cancled long b4 the public knew of them and labor laws and work conditions in Japan and socal standing is compleatky different here in America. Labor laws and socal standing and culture makes it so even if your boos or work conditions are ungodly bad it's looked down up for quiting a job no matter how bad it in even manga artest and manga writer work themselves so hard I'm mongeckian aka the ones who make manga have the live span of around 64 years wile the overall age live span for people in japan is one of the highest in the world in other words people are willing to shorten their life in presume of their dreams and their jobs so people in Japan who make manga literly die for their art/work almost 40 years b4 their adverage live Expectancy. Look at the past few decades where Manga artists have died and look at the rage and yes this study has been backed by both the US government as The Japanese government😢 so its scarry to think oda the maker of one peice is getting close to the adverage age manga makers die at
@@WilliamAung Ah I would say no. Its good but not that good. There are really well made scenes but since most of the game is boring side quests and these quests have poor voice acting. Main story missions are okay but side ones are horrible. Characters just felt robotic. Its like they were just reading the script without any emotion behind that voice lines.
At work I constantly have one Squall's quote in my head : "I've had it up to here with this leader thing" or more exactly the french version of this moment "ce rôle de chef me prend la tête"
@@selendile030 Totally! He has so many insecurities that's really relatable: "Am I doing enough?" or "Are my comrades okay with the order I gave?" and so many other quotes. He's one of the most human out there.
I played FF8 when I was a teenager and I really identified with Squall. It was that whole trying to appear mature, tough and 'together' while also juggling a lot of insecurities that come with growing up made him very relatable to me. Like Cloud you have to spend time with him before you start to see the person beneath what is initially presented to the player.
what i love the most about cloud is how much there is underneath that stoic cold facade he puts on. like yes he's very straightforward and can come off as rude but he also has many moments of vulnerability and kindness. i still remember how in the remake he sees aerith talking to the flowers and asks her why she's talking to them if they can't talk back and after she answers with how she believes it makes them grow faster and starts walking away, he looks at them and says "learn to talk to her" 🥺
The thing about Cloud's cold facade is that it's just "playing hero", him pretending to be cool (or rather, him acting the ideal imagine of himself). The real Cloud only surfaces when he recovers from the lifestream.
I love the duality of Terra and Celes. Terra is timid, and kind, and her arc leads her on a journey within which teaches her how to fight for those she loves and toughen up, while Celes starts battle hardened and must learn love and humanity, softening up.
Lmao me too, even though I despise FFXIII and love FFXII, Lightning is way better. Although, I'm struggling to understand how Cloud ended up at the top like that, AND Cecil...
Being fair Lightning > all, for everything that happens to her and everything she does, but he does not take into account XIII-2 and LR or Dissidia 012, but with Cloud everything must be taken into account...
@@JorgeXY for what it's worth, I actually enjoyed FFXIII. Admitedlly the game has some heavy flaws but the soundtrack carries it hard and once you understand the story it's actually pretty excellent. Too bad you have to listen to podcasts and watch videos to decypher the story. IE. Great story PREMISE, poor execution.
I really enjoyed XII, but there really wasn't a true "main" character (as was sort of pointed out). Penelo would be the least of the group, followed by Fran in my opinion. Vaan is sort of the POV character (with Penelo as a support), but hardly involved in the events that dictate the story as it unfolds.
Cecil is the top 1 character for me. The fact that he was estabilished in the fourth game in the franchise, so many years ago is what seals the deal for me.
Clive and Cloud are def way up there! I'm with ya on this list. Personally I would have swapped Tidus and Zidane tho. Only because I like Zidane's confidence as you start out. he grows into a more compassionate but remains confident from the start to the end. Much like Link in that respect. "Idk what the hell I'm doing, but I'm sure gonna go do it!"
For 12, it was Basch, Basch was supposed to be the main character but the producers didn’t think that would appeal to a young enough audience so they made Vaan! Worked on me it was my first FF I ever owned 😂
I think the best part of Cloud is that he's not "the coolest dude" he's actually a total little dork with a severe identity crisis that forces him to put up the power fantasy and beileve he's Zack, the SOLDIER he always dreamed of being. It's a beautiful deconstruction of the brooding heroic archetype and so many people, (not you Erek, you mention this stuff) miss this point and say he's "just an emo with a big sword".
Exactly people don't get that Cloud is only like Squall when he thinks he is a First Class Soldier. For the majority of the game he is more like Zidane or like Link from Zelda depending on the dialogue you chose.
Here’s the thing though. Cloud is actually capable of some insane world ending stuff while managing to look like a dork that tries to be a badass. It’s hilarious
@@francoblu9498 main character? Highly disagree. However he isn’t the best character to me in Tactics. Delita is and always will be that dude. But as a main character Ramza was outstanding
Tidus deserves to be up there with Cloud. Not only was he the first voiced character but he had a distinct personality. HE brought joy to others and not the other way around. He really broke the depressed teen trope despite suffering through issues himself. I hope the FFX remake does him justice.
Cloud : Anti social psycho Squall : Introvert dorks Zidane : Extrovert clown Tidus : A brat with superstar complex All of them suffered from a fatherless childhood.
Tidus was an actual superstar lol he's also a pretty good person for a superstar (although his journey through Spira does have him at a low point for a big part of it so maybe he wasn't that nice before)
For 10...It always made sense to me that his name is pronounced Tide-Us...since the game has so much water and even the final boss is a giant water creature...so it's his job to hold back the "Tide" that threatens Spira
also it's funny you mentioning Cloud being the most complex because Fei is even more complex. Xenogears was originally pitched to be final fantasy 7. Square was like "whoa this story is too dark to be a final fantasy game, here's some money go make a new IP with this script" lol
Vaan was intended as the main character of XII, director recently said he wasn't just thrown in to appease execs. I consider Vaan like a more uninteresting version of bartz in a way, just less fun. He was just a normal guy thrown into a war out of his depth, but stepped up to be helpful.
I think he was gentle, lol considering the more popular FF games (6 and ownwards), imo Squall is the worst protagonist among all of them, he is just so dated and ridiculous. The gunblade has some charm, but Squall is frozen in the "emo" era, the edgeboy leading a bad FF overall
@@RRRRRRRRR33 I don’t think you beat ff 8 if the emo bits bothered you. Not like it wasn’t understandable if you pay attention to the story. Strongly disagree.
@@RRRRRRRRR33 You either didn't beat the game, or you didn't do your research. Squall is an incredible realistic character with childhood trauma who ended up overcoming the crippling effects of socially distancing one's self from everyone. Unlike hype horses like Cloud or Terra, Squall was actually pretty relatable, and his edgy attitude had a very clear explanation.
Another great list. Never really considered Balthier as the main character but he is awesome. Little surprised with Zidane not being as high as I'd put him. Yes maybe he is not as deep as Cloud and doesn't really have a "character arc". He fits the Flat Character arc (something similar to Luffy) so he doesn't grow much, but he changes characters and the world around him with his infectious positivity. All characters grow thanks to him and just by being around him. It's really well done
You're right about Zidane. Not a huge amount of growth really until the end of the game when you find out his backstory, then he gets in a bit of a slump and his friends (who he helped through the game) come to help him. Really drives home the fact that he's the moving force of the party!
@@barbara5399 Yeah, I wrote "maybe" because it depends on your opinion, as some people think Cloud is the most deep character of all (not me). Zidane is super deep as well. I love this kind of character that doesn't really need to grow or change as a person, but he influences the world around him and make others grow. I think its beautiful and he is easily my favorite
Terra is still my number one character. I’d love to see a remake of final fantasy 6 one day as it’s a game that I still wish I could play again for the first time.
The FF9 fanboy in me wants to rage at Zidane’s placement, but the top half of this list is so hard to rank. You can argue for any combination and not necessarily be wrong. Disagreement aside, this was a great list and I loved hearing your reasoning for each choice.
Nah Cecil and Cloud are so overrated, Squall and Zidane are more interesting and enjoyable to watch than both of em, but I was super glad to see Clive getting the respect he deserves.
I think Cloud benefits greatly in personality from the remake otherwise he’d be pretty meh to me despite the depth he had in the original. The remakes and CC really help to connect with his story more. Clive is a great character from start to finish and didn’t suffer from moody too cool syndrome that some of the modern FF characters have. I also think characters like Zidane would benefit ridiculously from a Remake. A good voice actor would really bring his already animated personality to life even more.
I personally think Squall should've been higher. He is actually a pretty deep and relatable character that introduces concepts of childhood trauma in a more realistic way, and how it might change the way people react to the world around them when they grow up. You also see him grow out of his shell and open himself up, despite his fear of being alone or abandoned. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of the Cloud hyping too. Squall felt like he had more personality than Cloud ever did(And the whatever text people saw was not always translated perfectly into English as well). Cloud just was fortunate enough to start the 3d era of Final Fantasy with a big sword. Other than that, he felt like a choose your own destiny kind of character with a backstory that was convoluted enough to make him a bit more interesting.
Hard disagree. There are a lot of people with childhood traumas, many didn't turn out as much of a jackass as Squall did. You can reason that it is the cause of his behavior (coping with loss of mother figure), but not everyone with find it relatable. I don't have a great childhood myself but I still don't find Squall's behavior justified. Cloud's confession as well as total change in attitude felt far more reasonable and relatable, you can clearly see his personality change from selfish money loving merc (even if it's fake) to his softspoken gentle one. He even gives advice to Yuffie on motion sickness. P.S. Yes, English translation is flawed, 悪かった being translated to whatever isn't exactly accurate and some where even wrongly translated, but so is the case with FF7 (like I still think let's mosey does not do cloud justice.). And if anything a Sword with a revolver on it is far more eye catching than a big sword, imo.
@@SoysauceML With regard to how people cope with any kind of childhood trauma, everyone is different. Everyone has different responses and coping methods. So just because you might've handled life differently than Squall did, doesn't negate the fact that many people including myself sympathize with his social struggles.
@@alimichalkan8046 Yes, because both Cid and Edea knew Squall was the one who was going to defeat Ultimecia, and so they thrust him into positions of leadership to get him ready for his ultimate fate. FF8 is actually a pretty detailed and deep game, despite the first impression of it.
I loved 15 and noct I’d say it’s one of the most underrated final fantasy games due to its rough development phase and mediocre launch but it really became a special game to me in the end
To be fair to final fantasy XII, the team is divided in 3 main characters (Vaan, Ashe and Balthier) each associated to one side character (Penelo, Basch and Fran). Moreover, the story alternate its focus from Vaan to Ashe then later to Balthier. People don't get that Vaan is just a "point of view" character, that serves as entry point to the story and serves of mirror to Ashe later in the game (especially in the part of Ridorana lighthouse where it is the fact that Vaan gave up on revenge that helps Ashe clearly see through the Occurias' plot. But as the main story and moral choices always revolve around Ashe, who is manipulated by her allies (her uncle, her general), the empire and the occurias and has to find her own path and truth in all of those, I'd argue she is the main protagonist of the story, and what an excellent protagonist she was. With Yuna she is probably the more interesting and fleshed out female character I saw in the series so far
I actually think Vann is the most underrated main character after replaying recently as an adult. FF12's story thrives on subtlety and down to Earth characters and plotline, it's the most realistic FF, replacing science with magic and nukes with magicite. Vann along with Penelo is the actual heart of the party because they are the most mundane characters, a guy with a simple dream, and a girl who just wants to live day to day; Surrounded by the most important people in the world. And these important people seem to have lost their path and is trying to return to it, which they all eventually find because of Vann's grounded perspective pulling them out of the clouds and Penelo's empathy allowing them to open their hearts to the rest of the party. Ashe a princess who wants to take revenge using nukes, got reminded by her people, Vann and Penelo that she has a kingdom to protect, not destroy. Basch a soldier who was framed was forgiven by Vann whose brother died under his watch, found a second chance in life. Balthier and Fran, two "adults" who were actually people who didn't know their true place and purpose in the world, but Vann set Balthier straight by being the moral compass and Penelo's compassion resonated with Fran. These 2 kids became the party's driving force as they represent the future, the children that they as adults should be protecting and fighting for. And these 2 children are not backing down in the face of overwhelming odds, in fact they have a clear objective, to bring peace back to their home. Their simple motivations allowed the party to focus on what should have done and overcome their regrets and fears.
Thanks @GuyWithAnAmazingHat, I couldn't agree more. I really think FFXII's characters are really well written but more down to earth that most FF heroes. Penelo is probably the most underrated side character of the franchise
Great list! I also have Clive as my #2. The character development of this character in the game is really great, and I love the fact that you can play him on different stages of his life.
As someone how was introduced to FF from 7, Cloud will always be my favorite, but objectively i will say Zidane is the best from all FF games i've played, he just oozes positivity, confidence, embracing and have a sense of leadership and commanding, pretty much the qualities of a lead of a bunch should have. Being a negative person myself, i always wanted those qualities of Zidane.
Even though my list wouldn't match yours at all, I think your list makes complete sense, and I wouldn't argue with most of it. As much as I'd like to say that Terra should be #1, I'm instead going to give my slight gripe about Cecil. Cecil is a great character, and his development is great. My issue with him is that his transformation into a paladin happens way too early in the game, and it feels like he has basically nowhere to go after that. And even the scene at the very beginning of the game when he's in his bedroom, it seems like he's resolved to change, so there's not very much to his change in the long run. But, again, I still like the character, and his change feels impactful at the moment it happens.
You're right, I think Cecil transforms too early in the context of the game. Imagine if they re-did this game (like FF7 remake) it would be quite delayed in an effort to give a lot more context to the struggles Cecil is having in the beginning of the game. Great points, I honestly agree with that!
@ErekLadd There a few notes before and after his transformation that I really enjoy. In particular, before he becomes a paladin, and as much as he's trying to be a good guy, violence seems to always be his first option. He focuses entirely on whatever battle is ahead, kind of to the blindness of all else. Then, when he believes that all his comrades are dead, and we get the theme of sorrow, we have DK Cecil at the strongest and most overpowered he will ever be (instant death attacks, a veritable tank's worth of HP, comparative to the monsters around) all to be faced with foes he can't beat through force, but by relying on his allies. He embraces that light, and his demeanor changes. His decisions seem more based on helping his allies and the world than stopping Golbez or Baron. And then at the very end, he's faced with the decision to hold Golbez' crimes against him or forgive him, and we see a glimmer of that darkness still in him, until he chooses to forgive. He may have changed class in Act 1, but he didn't finish his transformation till the very end.
@@se7enist Thanks for that comment - I'll have to keep that in mind during my next replay to see if I find that. But I definitely do have a different takeaway each time I play a Final Fantasy game!
Also shout out to ff14. I love the scions of the seventh dawn. And the main heros from each of the expansions Y'shtola, lyse, estinein, alphinaud and thancred.
Finally someone noticed Clive story is TOP TIER. This guy is my favorite protagonist, story, design, his deep transformation is reminding me best mangas characters like Guts from Berserk or Thorfinn from Vinland Saga. Sorry for my English
I actually think Vann is the most underrated main character after replaying recently as an adult. FF12's story thrives on subtlety and down to Earth characters and plotline, it's the most realistic FF, replacing science with magic and nukes with magicite. Vann along with Penelo is the actual heart of the party because they are the most mundane characters, a guy with a simple dream, and a girl who just wants to live day to day; Surrounded by the most important people in the world. And these important people seem to have lost their path and is trying to return to it, which they all eventually find because of Vann's grounded perspective pulling them out of the clouds and Penelo's empathy allowing them to open their hearts to the rest of the party. Ashe a princess who wants to take revenge using nukes, got reminded by her people, Vann and Penelo that she has a kingdom to protect, not destroy. Basch a soldier who was framed was forgiven by Vann whose brother died under his watch, found a second chance in life. Balthier and Fran, two "adults" who were actually people who didn't know their true place and purpose in the world, but Vann set Balthier straight by being the moral compass and Penelo's compassion resonated with Fran. These 2 kids became the party's driving force as they represent the future, the children that they as adults should be protecting and fighting for. And these 2 children are not backing down in the face of overwhelming odds, in fact they have a clear objective, to bring peace back to their home. Their simple motivations allowed the party to focus on what should have done and overcome their regrets and fears.
I really don't mind Vaan and Penelo. But if you follow the game plot they are just there tagging along for the ride. And that is because in the early stage they planned Basch (not Balthier as is suggested in this video) as the main character. You still can find his early concept art online. Only to have Vaan and Penelo added in there later to appeal to younger players. Knowing this you can see the game sort of being reshuffled together and near the end being a race to finish because of a change in director and many delays. If I ever wanted to see a directors cut for a game it would be this one.
@@kurtnovells At first they were just tagging along, but later on Balthier realised that Vaan is literally the only person in the party with a clear mind and gave him the keys to his airship and trained him to fly. All the adults were broken with PTSD and hatred so they were clouded by their past and wants revenge. Originally Vaan was also vengeful towards Basch, which is shown by his attachment to his brother's death and him seeing the magicite illusion just like Ashe. But Vaan soon forgave Basch allowing him to detach from his brother's death and finally complete his mourning, which causes him to stop seeing the magicite illusion, he is no longer held back by his past and has a clear vision towards the future. This character growth allowed him to become the clear minded compass to guide the adults in the party towards a greater goal and eventually save Ivalice. Most importantly he was able to get Ashe to let go of her past as well and set herself free from the magicite and influence of the Occuria, ending the ancient cycles of war created by them. Vaan became the key figure in saving Ivalice.
Would not argue much on the list, but I would place Zidane on 3rd. He may be more comical than others but the way he interacted with the other 7 party members in different ways reflected a lot of personality and was something that made me recognize how important he was for the team to continue on (tough FF9 did have a lot of initial moment where members where split in their own agendas).
Agree... zidane and tidus are great characters because they make the world feel alive and undepresses every1. These are the characters i prefer. With squall and cloud it's the other way around, it's like they suck the energy out of their party members lmao. I just see them as weak tbh. Maybe cloud is different, i never played him but he doesnt seem like a downer but still treat their friends as therapists xD
I would have ranked Claire "Lightning" Farron a lot higher. But then, I really liked the FFXIII Trilogy a lot. And Squall I'd place a lot lower. 8 was one of the weakest installments for me. That said, I still have Squall's Gunblade hanging on my wall. Top 4 for me would be; #1 Cloud Strife #2 Terra Branford #3 Cecil Harvey #4 Claire "Lightning" Farron The rest of the list, eh, not going to argue too much, beyond Squall Leonhart near the bottom.
I've never understood the issue with 8. Even though my two favorites are 6 & 7, I thought 8 was a great experience even though I hated its enemy leveling system as some bosses would be extremely annoying if you were over leveled lol Story wise, it was weird, a little convoluted, and squall was a bit lackluster as a Mc even with the coolest weapon in a final fantasy to that point. Overall, though, the game certainly isn't bad or even worse than a majority of the final fantasy games. Heck to me 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, 13, 15 were easily inferior as the stories were rather bland, and the characters didn't really stand out much. Then there is 10, which excelled at a ton of things but was overly linear, and honestly, Tidus and Waka came off more annoying than anything else. It definitely benefited from when it was released more so than any other FF game as it looked amazing at the time. Haven't played 16 yet. As for 4 and 5, I never actually finished them.
FFIV was my first FF game and also the first game I ever played where I actually felt connected to the characters, so I'm happy to see that you appreciate Cecil as much as I do.
Cloud never replaced his memory with Zack's. The things he remembers are what he saw with his own eyes. He just thought he was the soldier that Zack was because he remembered himself as the first-class SOLDIER that Zack was. If he'd taken Zack's memories, he would have thought he was born in Gongaga or that his parents were Zack's. He also didn't know Aerith when they first met. Obviously, he never took on Zack's memories. Also, he adopted some of Zack's mannerisms and gestures to better fit the role of first-class SOLDIER...but personality-wise, he isn't like Zack at all.
Squall is my favorite, as a young introverted teen playing he was incredibly relatable, to a point where no other MC has been since. I wasn’t as taken with ff7 as a lot of people seem to be. And cloud never felt that relatable to me, he alright I guess. For me squall and cloud would probably switch places.
I completely agree with this sentiment. Squall is very relatable. Just like us, people misunderstood his initially cold demeaner without realizing the person he actually is. Cloud is hyped up way too much. Without his convoluted backstory, he would be as remarkable as Lightning lol.
@@japan100100 Squall is relatable because he's boring. He doesn't have strong emotions or ambitions, he's a passenger in his own story until late disk 2. Before that, he's just a soldier cadet who doesn't have any obvious reason for being one, a rival without any obvious reason except the other guy is a bully, and friends and teachers that have no reason to like him that push him to do shit and he's annoyed by it all, wanting to be left alone. The first time he seems to want to do something is when they realize who Edea is and decide to fight her, and then after that he realizes he has feelings for Rinoa who has been throwing herself at him for a while. He's passive and depressed and takes a long time to break out of it. It's a simple, boring story. Relatability isn't exactly making his story better. You could say Squall has childhood trauma from being abandoned, and that's why he's a loner and goes through character growth to rely on his friends, but the story gives him AMNESIA which is some goddamn convolution of its own, and means he doesn't even remember his trauma. He's just sour and doesn't know why, which is so weak. I agree 7 is overrated, but Cloud's a much better character than Squall. He has dreams and motivation, he has friendships and enemies that make sense. He is an onion with layers that get revealed by storytelling, sometimes done poorly in flashback dumps, but at least he's interesting and it sets up several reveals and resolves plot points like why he keeps getting manipulated by Jenova and why the memories are inconsistent. The crafting of his character is loaded with payoffs like that, despite the convoluted plot to get there.
@@Kira_liczan Who is best is subjective so your reasoning is irrelevant. When I say who I think is best only my reasoning matters, because its MY opinion.
I Absolutely Respect all Epic FF Main Protagonists/Heroes as Equally Best. 1. Warrior of Light (FFI) 2. Firion (FFII) 3. Onion Knight (FFIII) 4. Cecil Harvey (FFIV) 5. Bartz Klauser (FFV) 6. Terra Branford (FFVI) 7. Cloud Strife (Epic Badass Protagonistic FF Hero of the FFVII franchises throughout the years) 8. Squall Leonhart (FFVIII) 9. Zidane Tribal (FFIX) 10. Tidus (FFX) 11. Shantotto (FFXI) 12. Vaan (FFXII) 13. Claire Farron/Lightning (FFXIII franchise) 14. Y'Shtola Rhul (FFXIV franchises) 15. Noctis Lucis Caelum (FFXV franchises) 16. Clive Rosfield (FFXVI) These are ALL the Best Epic Badass Main Protagonists/Heroes of the FF franchises throughout the years I Absolutely Love, Cherish, Respect and Appreciate. I consider them all to be Equally the Best.
Great List brother, I actually wholeheartedly agree with your ranking, with one exception : I would have swapped cloud and Tidus but that's my FFX bias. Great placements for Cecil and Clive as well !
I'd bump Zidane way higher, and I'm not sure I'd count Balthier as the main character, but otherwise I agree. I think with Zidane, so much of his appeal is his kindness. He spends the first two-thirds of the game going out of his way to help the people around him, particularly Dagger and Vivi, because they're there and need help. He's the emotional core of the party, and of the game as a whole. And when his world gets turned upside down, those bonds that he's built come back around, and the other party members come in to return the kindness that he's always showed them (probably my favorite scene in the whole series, and "You're Not Alone" is my favorite FF song). He just such a fun, uplifting character, and I love getting to step into his shoes for FFIX, in a way that I just don't get with some of the moodier protags.
Zidane has always been underrated as an MC and I think, it's because of his chibi design. I mean, Cloud and Squall's design is just too cool compared to Zidane. But imo, Zidane is one of the most perfect main character for a jrpg. He's kind, cool, a little bit naughty, brave, loyal, and he cares a lot about his friends.
Wow people hate on Vaan so much. Balthier is not the main character/protagonist. Look at this definition of protagonist: "The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles." Vaan is 100% the main character. Without him the plot would be different. Balthier would have stolen what he came for, and f'd off with Fraan leaving Ashe no choice but to be captured by Vayne in the beginning of the game. Basch would have just rotted in prison. Without him, Penelo doesn't come along and form a friendship with Larsa that is key to bringing Dalmasca and the Archadian forces that stand against Vayne together. Also Vaan was heavily hinted at being a backup "Dynast King" for the Occuria but that's unproven so you can ignore that if you want. Point is the man is the Glue that holds that party together. The party is largely formed of three groups: Basch and Ashe, Balthier and Fraan and Vaan and Penelo with Vaan serving as the bridge between them all. He also represents what's at stake in all this, the common citizens. I used to hate Vaan too when I was younger but I came to this realization after doing a replay recently.
Glad to see my boy Cecil get the respect he deserves. Amazing redemption arc and the way he interacts with Rydia, Kain, and his beloved Rosa makes me respect him so much. I would strongly argue that Kefka is actually the main character of 6 like Thanos in Infinity War. The heroes jump around from person to person depending on what town your in, but no matter what FF6 is always the Kefka show.
You could go with Kefka, solid point. But if you were to pick a hero, its Loche. Loche is there the whole time, and a part of every major event or outcome. To me Terra is an extremely week character, and I dont know anyone who would consider her the main character even if the story is centered on her existence.
I think lightning is a better character than you said she was but I do also think that as a main character you need to be good at being integral to your stories plot overall plot (excluding character arcs), which isnt the case for lightning till the sequels. This also brings to mind how painfully obvious that the original plan for FF13 was for Vanile to be the main character, she's even the main Narrator of the game lol.
I hate seeing my boy Bartz so low, but I might honestly have to do the same. 5’s charm wasn’t its depth or character growth. It was that the main characters were just really likable, fun, and people you just wanted to be friends with. Galuf is high in my favorite FF characters.
I initially thought you was hyper critical on lightning, I really enjoyed her character, then as the list continues you realise how many awesome characters there has been! I don't begrudge you putting Clive so high on the list, as far as modern FF characters go he is by far the best
I love the fact that you didn't even for a second thought of Vaan as a main character. Also it's nice that Cecil gets some recognition, because his character arc is one of the best in the entire franchise.
Lightning deserved to be ranked higher, I feel like she was docked heavily for 13 being so poorly executed. The Onion Kids in 3 were given more personality on the DS and pixel remaster remakes. As for 12, Vaan is sadly the main character, even if Balthier IS the protagonist. In which case, I'd drop Vaan to dead last on the list, because the entire game would have been unchanged without him.
I'm biased as many of us are, I love FFVIII and Squall, I also love XIII so that may dissuade me from liking your list but if I take a step back I think your list is solid.
Good list. FF5, I guess Bartz had a moment where he flew the airship around the world like crazy after Ex-Death swallowed his town into the void. FF13. Lightning, I do love her line, "I'M NO ONE'S SLAVE!" And "Worst birthday ever." And I liked Lightning giving Hope the knife. Then she's like acrobatic Jodie Foster with natural pale pink hair. and her gunblade is like an actual gun (and few of the weapons in ff13 were foldable, that was an odd gimmick). FF12. I never heard of Balthier being planned as a main character, but your point about him always saying, "After all, I'm the leading man..." is a good point. I've only ever heard of Basch being planned as the main character, in more of a Vagrant Story approach, but apparently that was not true, as I thought I heard recently. My second FF12 playthrough, I had Vaan and Ashe leading my two party groups, at least for doing debuffs faster, but Ashe because she's the reason you need to go to all these places, but maybe insofar as Yuna and Aeris also are the major story-driving female magic users. But Vaan, I'm content with him being the main character, it's fine, he almost has an Aladdin kind of beginning in the game. He's a small person, who gets to be part of the bigger story, and is useful, has the hero's well-rounded stats, after all. By the end, he got to see the world, save his kingdom and avenge his brother, gets his own ship and gets to be a sky pirate and fulfill his dream. (The game is heavily Star Wars, and he hasn't got quite the destiny aspect of Luke Skywalker, they gave Vaan the whinyness and smalltown boy profile, and Ashe the destiny). FF8, I always see so many people say it was their first Final Fantasy, and it was mine, too. And despite much of the hate, I see a lot of love and nostalgia for it, and it's nice. I guess I found recently , at least in Japan, it sold the most , over 2.21 million units at launch, and 1 million units in the US. Coming off of ff7, of course. So that might be the reason so many say it's their first. Then there's the people who got ff1 as their first, or maybe ff2/ff4. FF9. Zidane is good, always positive, and even has his positive outlook challenged, it's good. He tries to make the simple points for life. FF10. Tidus. HCBailly made a good point about him, how he's actually top-tier athletic and could be a hero. FF4. Cecil! Definitely. I myself am conflicted about forgiving or thinking anything good can come from some of these people just ignorantly playing their role in following orders and ruining lives, and never recanting, always assuring themselves of their rightness in a matter, out of arrogance; but he really does have a conscience, and tries to do the right thing, and make good. And the music when it says he becomes a paladin, it just chokes me up. FF6 is almost hard to say who's the main character, too, because you don't need Terra to beat the game. But I generally consider how she's the character you start with, and who has the whole conflict of the espers, and her theme is the overworld music for the first half of the game, so is the main character enough. And Cloud, you gotta, he's probably indeed the most iconic final fantasy character other than the black mage with pointy hat and glowing eyes. And now that I think of it, Zidane and Tidus and Squall had a lot to deal with, too. I almost like the story arch with Squall the best, he really does have to undergo major personality change.
Squall is at the top for me. He was placed into leadership when he didn’t want to be but still rose to the occasion to save the girl and the world. His look and fighting style were soo cool. I like cloud but I think he was a little too gloomy.
I dont get the hate for vaan, he is supposed to be the every man. He is supposed to be the audience and our gateway or window into this crazy world. He is learning it as we are. Im sick of the slander
I immediately thought in FF12 that Balthier was the main character and it felt so wrong to make Vaan the main character. After playing, I also read somewhere that Balthier was actually the main character in an early concept, but was replaced by Vaan for marketing reasons to better suit the target audience
Heard this as well. FF12 is like one of the only games in the franchise I didn’t clock because I hated it. Gave it to my mate and he said Vaan has no impact in the story and there are other characters who have more impact to the plot, then remember reading up about how SE wanted target a younger audience as Balthier was deemed too old. If it’s not true I wonder where we all heard the same story from ?
If we include spin offs 100% Ramza The man is an absolute Chad that changed history whilst putting others above himself, yet still looks like a true war hero
I think Zidane is really underrated, even in this list, his presence and role in the story is not just "being the hero", he is the one who pull out other characters from their loneliness across the story, his confidence and altruism is what made the entire journey real, holding the party together, because here, every secondary character has their personal loneliness, Dagger is alone in his responsibility with the crown and her mother, Steiner is alone in his strong and misunderstood sense of duty, Vivi is alone in his trying to give a meaning of his life, Eiko is alone in his heritage, Freya is alone in his broken hope, Amarant is alone with his choice and he's toxic own belief that it is better to be alone, even Quina is alone in her ignorance and her childish behavior of who didn't do anything to grow up despite having 89 years, but Zidane grabbed everyone of them and made everyone... really be. The section in the game where the soundtrack "You Are Not Alone" plays, has a gigantic meaning often neglected. Also, Zidane is a positive character, and this is really fresh inside FFs, which have mostly tormented main characters. In my opinion, the more you analyze Zidane, the more you can appreciate his doing and his will, because he is not perfect, but he acts just like he is supposed to act, for his age, for his position, for his backstory, he is incredibly coherent and human, even in his passion and decisions. Think about it, they've all sense, for example, he cannot abandon the princess not just because he "is the hero" or he is just "in love", he cannot abandon the princess also because he grew up reading books and going to the theater in a world where chivalry is part of stories that elevate heroism and bravery for the sake of love of a woman, and, as a teenager, he is influenced by that. I think he is an incredibly well written main character, he deserves more.
Basic? Nostalgia? Who are you arguing with, because no one had mentioned other characters. Lightning is a poorly made and poorly received character and is the catalyst for the most controversial FF being panned as it rightfully is.
Personal opinion but I've always thought that Snow would've been a better main character for 13. Lightning just felt too Freya or Vincent or Faris to be the main character.
Yeah the only one I disagree with is Lightning. However you feel about the 13 series, she is one of the most well developed FF protagonists. Her journey from the first game to Lightning Returns is great and she transforms in some really interesting and subtle ways.
Cloud? I feel like everyone needs to replay 7 original, he’s very similar to tidus despite everyone saying lightning, who was similar to squall, he was a jock playboy and didn’t develop his “iconic” personality till after aerith dies. The man hair flipped so much it was insane and loved flexing his physical prowess.
