The First Epic LTD of TLS forums

[I Am Not Me]

Even though Aerith and Terra weren't seen much during the 'second half', their roles didn't change. The importance of the Cetra didn't fade after Aerith died, and the importance of the Espers didn't die when Terra wasn't present in the party. Aerith had Cloud and the others talking about her and remembering her, and the importance of her sacrifice was also still there, and made a huge impact on the players. That's why I think she takes lead role; and Tifa takes second. The plot of the game didn't unravel because of Tifa, but because of Aerith and the fact that she was an ancient.

I still refuse to take this whole 'Tifa is second to Aerith as heroine' thing. She isn't. She just isn't. Tifa is important, while not for the plot, for the hero. She helped Cloud see his real self, I do believe that is also important to the story, no?

I agree that Aerith's presence was there, as well as the impact of her sacrifice. But this doesn't shun away the fact that Tifa was physically present beside Cloud, in front of the players. She may not have done such a sacrifice, but the events unfolding around her and AVALANCHE showed that she wasn't just the second heroine. She fought as a heroine would fight, and supported the hero as a heroine would. I don't feel the need to explain this with examples and whatnot, but just because Tifa did not move the plot in Disc 1 or not at all anywhere does not mean she's already second heroine. Sometimes, things that happen in stories are far larger than the characters themselves. But that doesn't remove the heroes and heroines from their titles, no?

And I still stick to Aerith = Planet's heroine, Tifa = Cloud's heroine. No one's taking second place. NO ONE.

*sulks childishly in a corner*

 

[Channy]

I think Celes is trying to say that Aerith is a bigger heroine to the story (ala' the planet) because in the end SHE was the one who awakened the Lifestream which helped Holy defeat Meteor.

 

[Celes Chere]

Exactly, Channy. =)

I'm in no way trying to downplay Tifa's importance. Tifa is clearly a very important character to the story, for if it weren't for her, Cloud would be screwed.

 

[Channy]

Put it this way. If Tifa took the blow and died, we'd have the same grieving period, the same "I think Tifa wants us to go here..." But there'd be no Lifestream. Because Aerith would live to summon Holy sooner.

Tifa's important to game, yeah. But as far as game progression vs character growth... not so much.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Gees, and you hear VII fanboys claiming it's the most original game evuuuuur.

Well to be fair they're both from the same franchises and have the same producers and scenario writers

Not that surprising really.

 

[Channy]

Yeah but it's like looking at an 8 in the mirror. It still looks the same.

Then again the same formula can be said for VIII

Cloud Squall joins Avalanche Garden in order to go on a mission to stop Shinra The Government. Later, he becomes a body guard of Aeris Rinoa who falls in love with him. Soon, they discover a force much eviler than Shinra The Government, Sephiroth Edea! Sephiroth kills Aeris Ultimecia possesses Rinoa, so Cloud Squall goes after him her, he goes around the world trying to stop him her from bringing the Meteor her from bringing time compression. Then he finds the airship Highwind Ragnarok and goes to the center of the world the end of time for the final battle. Afterward, he mourns Aeris saves Rinoa and everything is A-ok.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Have you stopped and looked at how similar FF1 and FFIII is, too?

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU'VE FOUND A PATTERN AND REPEATING TREND! YOU WIN 200 INTERNETS!!!!!!!!! WOULD YOU LIKE THAT DIRECT DEPOSIT OR MAILED TO YOU?

 

[Channy]

NO BECAUSE I NEVER PLAYED FF'S I AND III. NO REASON TO BE AN INTERNETS TOUGH GUY ABOUT IT *bawwwww*

Cheque please.

 

[Rinoa]

Eh, Terra's role of being the come/go freakshow was waning long before the world of ruin. By the time Celes is leader of the bratpack, Terra becomes a barely there one-off quest, only to shine again in the ending with her ~hairs~.

As with FF7, Tifa was growing in importance the more you learnt about Nibelheim, Cloud's past and the main plot of the story in Disk 1. She's the first gal you come across but it's Aerith's being in pink and using magic being a pretence to throw you off. Sure, Aerith's talked about with reverence in regards to the plot in one or two places after she's gone, but Tifa's story took center stage to the point that she, like Celes becomes a temp leader of the brat pack.

It's not the issue of "there can only be one". More like one faded into the background while the other took the spotlight. That's exactly what Nomura says in the Dismantled interview and it's exactly how it happened in the game.

/night ramblings

 

[I Am Not Me]

*still sulking with Vincent and Squall in the emo corner*

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

I think Terra is more important than people like to believe. She's mandatory for the ending, even if one tries to ditch her she still shows up and plays an important role,

Spoiler

guiding her friends out of the tower and fufilling FFVI's storyline of hope in the face of destruction and the death of magic.

Yeah the Esper plot is not dead by the ending, certainly not

I completely agree with Celes about Aerith

 

[A]

Hey there, Maidenofwar! Welcome to the TLS!~

And I think both Aerith and Tifa take very large roles.

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Thanks Alise!

Tifa has a very important role too yeah, I don't think either of them can be undermined - just like Terra and Celes (I just like leaping to defences if they have been ) Square Enix definitely mediad Tifa as the main heroine of Advent Children though!~

However looking at the new info about the revised movie I think everything is being Zack/Clackified o_o

 

[A]

I love Clack, so I don't mind that. :3 :3

 

[Rinoa]

I think Terra is more important than people like to believe.

Once again, it's not about importance.

It's about her role having faded from the spotlight while another takes center stage.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Terra is important, but not vital to the telling of the story. Similarly, Tidus is not all that important for most of FF10, but is vital to the telling of the story.
Like Sheila says, it's a question of narrative focus, not of importance. Tifa and Aerith are both important to the story, they just get the spotlight at different times.

 

[Dawnbreaker]

FF6 is kind of weird like that. They spend the first half of the game focusing on Terra and the second on Celes. In a way I like that, the duality of the girl's natures and the stories, similiar yet different, they share. Being that I like them pretty much equally at this point (and probably one of the few that does) it always intrigues me what the designers were exactly intending.

 

[Rinoa]

Yes, but we never get to experience a first person perspective/narrative/play as Aerith (unless you count Maiden...), whereas we had Terra's in the beginning of and parts of the first half of FF6.

I think the intention of FF6 is to have an "ensemble cast". Everyone at some point gets a piece of the action and their story fleshed out to a degree where you can decide to care/not care about them.

 

[Dawnbreaker]

Oh, agreed. You definitely get the viewpoint from Terra, whereas you don't from Aerith. I'm not sure if I would have liked knowing it from Aerith's side, because she was full of mystery, and that might have ruined that. Terra, on the other hand seems like someone you're suppose to directly relate to, as oppose to wonder about like Aerith. As for the rest of the FF6, I agree that it waas arranged in such a way to allow the gamer to decide, because while some people had more development than others, most them had equal parts.

 

[Makoeyes987]

It really depends on how you evaluate FFVI's story. From an "in-universe" perspective, Terra is arguably one of the most important characters to the story. Her appearance and role as a half human and Esper is what drives the conflict between the Returners and The Empire and she's the first character you meet as you experience the events from her eyes. And then of course there's the end where she leads everyone out of the collapsing Kefka Tower and manages to not disappear like the rest of the Espers.

But FFVI as a whole story has many important characters and the perspective shifts many times. But I suppose as a whole if you had to choose Terra would be the best fit. She's on the logo, most of the artwork, and just is pretty much the symbolic character of FFVI. Hell that's what the creators seem to think too

 

[Ryushikaze]

Hence my point of narrative focus. Terra's undeniably very important, but as far as the story goes in the second half, piffle. Barely anything. She's no less important, but it's not her time in the spotlight any longer.

 

[Rinoa]

She's on the logo, most of the artwork

Actually, that's because she's Amano's favourite FF character design..

 

[Makoeyes987]

She may be Amano's favorite but that still doesn't change the fact that she's the driving force of FFVI and its titular character

Cloud is Nomura's favorite character to draw but that also doesn't change the fact that FFVII is mostly Cloud's story either.

 

[Rinoa]

But figuring out the driving force/titular character wasn't in question.. is what Ryu and I have been trying to say.

 

[Makoeyes987]

It wasn't?