I've been thinking about making a club for quite some time now, and I think that this is my best idea. This club is for those who love characters that one may feel are not appreciated enough in the fandom. Feel free to post whatever admiration you have for any character you think needs more love. Art, discussions, fan creations, and even gushing is A-OK over here. "Not appreciated enough" is, of course, a matter of perspective. A character may be popular somewhere, but not popular elsewhere. Popularity can fluctuate depending on the character.
Here are just a few rules I wanted to have in place:
1.) No character bashing/hate, please. Even if one cannot stand a character posted here, please don't be mean.
2.) Please post the name of the character and which game they are from when they are introduced to this thread.
3.) Please give credit to the creators of fan work. If the creator is unknown/you don't know where the work is from, that is okay.
4.) Reposts of characters are fine. If this club takes off, I don't expect anyone to read through multiple pages to see if a character has already been mentioned.
5.) This is primarily a Final Fantasy club, but (if mods accept it) Kingdom Hearts characters are allowed too. I feel that they are "Final Fantasy" enough to deserve a spot on this thread.
That's pretty much it! I hope you all have fun posting here! <3
Since I started this thread, I'll kick off with a character I had in mind when I created this: Kam'lanaut from Final Fantasy XI.
I remember watching Korvana's FFXI story cutscenes on YouTube, and I was certain that Kam was going to overtake the Shadow Lord in the main story and become the "Big Bad". I was a bit surprised when it turned out that was not the case. He did, however, became an important character in Rise of the Zilart along with his brother, Eald'narche.
I like his character design with his Rapunzel hair and facial markings (tattoos?). He also has a fancy sleeve for his long hair in his Archduke of Jeuno outfit. His personality may be a bit flat, but his character archetype ("evil" ruler) is one of my favorites.
He was on my character wishlist for Dissidia NT, and I was thrilled to have him appear. I was hoping for his appearance to help boost his popularity (at least on Tumblr), but it looks like that didn't help at all. D: Oh well, he looks great in 2018 graphics and has a cool sounding English VA. I'm slowly trying to level him up in Dissidia NT so I can get more of his voice clips. I am also hoarding gems in Opera Omnia for his equipment after Vayne nearly wiped out the gems I saved.
His backstory is on the Vana'diel Tribune, and I'll link it here for those who want to know more about him. I've got two tickets to paradise and neither Kam'lanaut nor Eald'narche are invited.
I have decided to try my best to update this weekly, so here is my second character: Maria (Final Fantasy II).
I wanted to play Final Fantasy II for a while now, but the game mechanics seem daunting. Instead, I decided to watch a walk-through of the game to get the gist of the story-line. It was fairly interesting. I liked quite a few characters from it and it seemed like a huge step-up storytelling wise from the first Final Fantasy game. Perhaps Square Enix could remake the game like Final Fantasy III was remade? FFII seems like it has potential to be better in a remake.
Anyway, Maria is, in my opinion, one of the cooler characters from FFII. She is an archer who joins Princess Hilda’s rebel army to defeat the Emperor of Palamecia. She is also Firion’s and Leon’s sister. Another cool thing about her is that she is the first female playable character in the Final Fantasy series!
Even though FFII was lacking in characterization for pretty much everyone, I liked that Maria wasn’t portrayed as helpless. Maria, who had her home destroyed and her brother M.I.A., kept going to find her brother and take down the empire. Now that I think about it, Maria was Katniss Everdeen before Katniss was even a thought in Suzanne Collins’ mind.
Now, onto Maria’s design! I like that she has dark purple hair that also looks wavy. Her outfit has a nice color scheme too. Purple and yellow always look nice together in my opinion. While I’m not too crazy about the top of her outfit, I do like that she is wearing pants. Her shoes are pretty cool looking too, but having open-toed shoes would probably be painful in battle. If the top was changed a bit to cover up more, I could imagine someone wearing her outfit in real life.
TL;DR: Maria is awesome and I wish SE would remake FFII.
I love Penelo. I love all the FFXII characters, but I have a particular fondness for Penelo because she tends to get a lot of hate... Or if not hate, lack of appreciation. She's almost certainly the character most likely to get left out when people are putting their party together. I always equip Penelo with knives and then I make her a time mage. I have her in my party constantly because, in my headcanon, everyone else in the gang just really likes her. She's so genuine. She reminds Basch of everything he's fighting for. Balthier isn't nearly so cynical when Penelo's around. She brings out the chivalrous side in all the guys and the big sister in all the women. Fran takes her under her wing. Even Ashe can see that Penelo's the most un-fake person she's ever met, and she'll take criticism from Penelo that she might bristle at coming from anyone else. Penelo is honest and generous and unselfish, she cares about her friends, she has bags of energy and enthusiasm, and, in short, she reminds me of all the seventeen- year-old girls I've ever taught. She deserves to have a fricken FABULOUS adventure.
And when she's done sky-pirating and Larsa's grown up a bit, he'll marry her and they'll live happily every after. She can't stick with Vaan forever. She's so much smarter than he is.
So, yeah, I know she's not exactly the strongest or the one with the highest magic stats, but it's not like this is a hard game to beat. And I get such a kick out of having her in my party and imagining what an absolutely SICK time this little orphan is having, hobnobbing with royalty, fighting side by side with sky-pirates, jaunting around the world, winning the heart of an emperor-to-be.
And let nobody criticise that skin-tight boys-shorts lycra bodysuit she wears and those huge metal boots so inappropriate for Rabanastre's desert climate . She's not to blame for Nomura's fashion choices. Have you seen the potholder on Basch's chest? It looks like it was made by some kindergardener during craft time.
Penelo is so cute! I remember always putting her in my party in XII. I'm happy someone else likes her too. ^^ I wish they expanded on her backstory some more in the original game. She had brothers who taught her martial arts and wants to be a dancer? I want to know more about her!
Her commentary about the characters in Dissidia were funny too. Too bad that NT doesn't have sassy Penelo talking about the characters again.
One could make an argument that Cloud isn't as well known as he should be in his world. After defeating Sephiroth, one would think that people would be hounding him and the other party members, but their lives seem to be fairly normal considering everything.
The Turks, as a group, have made a name for themselves because of Shinra. 1st Class SOLDIERS had garnered enough attention to have fan clubs.
Cloud... doesn't really have anything? Unless I'm missing something, I don't understand why Cloud doesn't have more fans in his world.
It seemed to me that during the earlier days of the fandom, like when AC came out (I wasn't around before then), Vincent and Sephiroth (followed by Cloud) were by far the most popular characters of the series, and as the decade+ went by, the fandom gradually started to become more interested in Shinra characters - especially the politics thereof. I wonder if CoS had something to do with it?
Oh, that makes sense. I wasn't into Final Fantasy when AC was released. Whenever I would speak to people who liked FFVII before I joined this website, it seemed like Cloud and Sephiroth were the most popular. I knew Vincent was well liked, but I didn't know he was more popular than Cloud at one point. That explains why Vincent has his own game.
I didn't know the Shinra characters were that popular (other than Reno) because I've only seen people on TLS actively talk about them. Thanks, Ryvius, that clears things up for me.
It seemed to me that during the earlier days of the fandom, like when AC came out (I wasn't around before then), Vincent and Sephiroth (followed by Cloud) were by far the most popular characters of the series, and as the decade+ went by, the fandom gradually started to become more interested in Shinra characters - especially the politics thereof. I wonder if CoS had something to do with it?
I remember filling out a survey that (newly-minted) Square-Enix put out when they’d just announced Advent Children — does anyone else remember this? They were asking us which characters we most wanted to see, and what parts of the story we loved the most, etc. That’s how they came up with the story for the movie, they literally only had the concept trailer with Cloud and Kadaj before that. So I can only assume that screen time in Advent Children directly correlates to popularity (I also blame Rufus and Tseng’s survival on this survey)
I've never heard of that survey before. Was it something you can fill out online and SE wanted to know the West's opinion? Wow. I would like to know the results (excluding movie screen time) of that.
Edit: I found a link for the survey. Sadly they're not accepting any more responses.
I remember filling out a survey that (newly-minted) Square-Enix put out when they’d just announced Advent Children — does anyone else remember this? They were asking us which characters we most wanted to see, and what parts of the story we loved the most, etc. That’s how they came up with the story for the movie, they literally only had the concept trailer with Cloud and Kadaj before that. So I can only assume that screen time in Advent Children directly correlates to popularity (I also blame Rufus and Tseng’s survival on this survey)
Interesting. The fanbase seemed really antipathetic towards Tseng and Rufus like 12 years ago, focusing almost entirely on the LTD, Sephiroth, and Vincent, so I guess they were more popular characters in Japan, until they started becoming popular in the English speaking world at least. Things are really different now - initially, people (on ACF at least) didn't seem that happy or at most apathetic about SE undoing the apparent deaths of those characters and the fact that Rufus talking is like half the movie lol - now the Turks and co seem incredibly popular.. I for one have always been happy about bringing them back and love how they also fit into the Post-Meteor theme of redemption.
Faris is such a cool character! I liked her Amano design the most rather than her sprite design. Her cameo in World of Final Fantasy was fun too. One can never expect to steal a ship from the great pirate, Faris!
Gilgamesh's words to Faris were hilarious too:
Gilgamesh: And you, Faris! You must fall in love, or something, and try acting a little like a woman- if you still know how!
Faris: Hey...
I'm feeling tired today, so this post won't be as long as the previous ones.
The character that I am picking this week is Sage Ghido from Final Fantasy V. He is a tough, sarcastic turtle with a great sense of humor. He fits in perfectly with Final Fantasy V's silly nature. Forget Bartz, I'm sure Exdeath's enemy is Ghido. Ghido is so cool that he kept Exdeath sealed away for five hundred years.
"Sweet Christmas, it's a talking turtle!" - Bartz
His appearance in the game gives us these lines such as:
Bartz: Legendary Weapons?
Ghido: Sometimes I wonder if you say things like this to spite me... Yes, the twelve legendary weapons. They are weapons. They are legendary. There are even twelve of them.
Exdeath: Not bad, for a reptile!
Ghido: You think I sat around seven centuries munching on pizza?
Exdeath: Ha ha ha... Perhaps you should have taken the chance... You shall find no such tasty diversions in the afterlife!
Ghido: I maintained the seal on Exdeath for five hundred years... However, thirty years ago, the seal was broken.
Bartz: Thirty years ago... That was when he fought he Dawn Warriors...
Ghido: Yes. Don't interrupt.
He is the reason why we have the wonderful voice clip of Exdeath shouting "TURTLE!" in Dissidia. Here is the clip of Exdeath and Ghido fighting each other:
Even in Final Fantasy XIV, the Ghido minion and the Exdeath minion will fight each other:
May Ghido return in Dissidia NT and end this conflict with Exdeath once and for all.
Fantasy adventure stories on a save-the-world scale tend to bring together a party of disparate (often competing) cultures and races, because the threat is great enough to concern each of those cultures (and from a writing perspective it complements themes of togetherness and friendship). Final Fantasy IX is no different, as you see the conflicts wrought by the villain sweep over nation after strange nation, giving you a very unique-looking roster of allies against the tides of darkness. With one exception, I would nominate all of the main cast in IX for this club, but this character in particular gets more hate than love, and I think s/he deserves your consideration.
Yes! I'm talking about Quina Quen. The Falstaff of Final Fantasy. Love them or hate them, I don't think anyone is lukewarm about this clown-faced frog creature with the giant tongue. S/he* comes and goes from the story several times - in fact, you can miss the whole first part of her/his story, but she is plot mandatory: eventually the problems of the world escalate to the point where even the simple bog folk must take a stand, and thus Quina joins your party. I'm just kidding, that's not how it happens. You pass through her/his bog, and s/he starts following you around because you'll lead her/him to food. And that's not just the story of how you meet, that's their entire character!
When I played FFIX, I found her/his backstory, er, lacking. And I didn't do any of the optional content, so I didn't meet her/him until heading into my least favorite dungeon in the game, Fossil Roo. And s/he was replacing one of my fave party members, recently departed. I found Quina irritating and superfluous, and I was waiting for them to develop or get invested or for some dramatic hammer to fall and it never did! The game punked me so hard lol.
But Quina's lacking in investment or importance is not a bug, it's a feature! The game is so bloody dark, you know. All the cute little townspeople get squished or blown up or sucked into an Eidolon. The main characters grapple with betrayal and identity, their own mortality and the mortality of those they love. Then there's Quina, like a soothing balm, blithely led along by the id, on the merry road beside you, chef hat wriggling as s/he opens her maw to consume a wounded zaghnol.
Fantasy adventure stories with a party of disparate races, especially competing ones, or iconoclastic ones, or alien ones, tend to provide protagonists who are outliers or outcasts, but not Quina, she's a perfectly normal Qu. Maybe a bit slow in catching frogs, but her game improves over time. I like the Qu because of the unique way they encompass the theme of life. Here's a branch of the evolutionary tree with some similarities to the other bipeds, and many differences. And yet, all the cat-people and bird-people in FFIX's world seem to suggest massive convergent evolution anyway (unless, of course, I'm reading too much into a video game again). So it's just as likely that the Qu are in fact a plant species. We just don't know.
The Qu are intelligent enough to form tribes, build wooden houses, clothing, and iconography, but their leader Quale is too dumb to remember what s/he is lying about -- like, five seconds after saying the lie. The Qu seem to be hunter/gatherers, and are almost single-mindedly driven by the pursuit of food, their greatest delight in life being taste, as evidenced by the fact that the external part of their tongue alone is about 500% the size of their brain. Their leader refers reverently to "the art of eating." And Vivi's benevolent grandfather Quan was only raising Vivi so that he could eat him. I find that hilarious. Their existence is a testament to the variability of life on Gaia, and of the countless miracles that make up life as we know it. Taste is a thing that only alive things can experience, and there can be whole cultures built around it. It's their whole deal - Quina's blue magic literally derives power from consumption. I think that's neat! And, gameplay wise, you can get damn powerful.
As for her comic relief, it took me two playthroughs to start really chuckling at her. Most of the comedy comes out of everyone's sheer disinterest in her. If you don't like her, it's somewhat gratifying to know that you're not alone, and if you do like her, well then the joke's on them! #quina #weird4lyfe
My favorite example of this is the Disc 3 climax:
the party has been split and had to complete the horrible flesh dungeon in teams, with puzzles and monsters, and now the whole planet is exploding. Everyone's running except too-cool-for-school Amarant and dumb, unconcerned Quina. S/he stops and sighs, as everyone disappears.
Quina: [ to him/herself ]...I no find good food on Terra. [ looks around ] Maybe I eat eyeball over there... Freya: [ returns ] Quina, hurry up, or you'll be left behind! [ leaves ]
This scene comes hot on the heels of the famous scene where everyone refuses to give up on Zidane even though he was insulting them and pushing them away. This, by contrast, is such a great subversion of that very sentiment. The two moments are spaced far enough apart that this buffoonery doesn't ever undercut or outshine the drama (unlike the bathos used in a lot of movies these days) and even with the comedy, the danger still feels real. Freya knows that Quina has buggered off before, but this time the whole planet is collapsing, so she ran back to impress the danger upon her, in case she wasn't paying attention to all the other warnings. Freya knows that Quina does what she wants ("you have problem?") and there was every possibility that Quina could respond by blowing a raspberry and walking in the opposite direction. Freya didn't wait to find out. She gave the order, relayed the consequences, and took off back towards the ship. I laugh at that every time.
Because Quina is such a clown, s/he becomes a foil for pretty much everyone who interacts with her/him. You learn so much more about the other characters when you see them confronted with someone who means them no harm but doesn't give a single shit about them or what they're doing, they are in it for the yummy-yummies.
tl;dr FFIX's characters are all uniquely charming, and the story they tell is one of unbreakable bonds forged in the fires of strife. Friendship and love are worth saving the world for. And also Quina's there.
I'm glad you like Ghido too! He is the coolest fictional turtle ever!
Final Fantasy IX is such a great game. It's in my top five Final Fantasy games and the humor in it is funny from the get-go. I have to play IX again when I have the time. I remember not being too impressed with Quina at first, and then slowly getting used to him/her. There is something charming about that one-track attitude he/she has. Your writing about Quina is very good too. It made me remember certain scenes of him/her. I remembered Vivi's and Quina's "marriage". Quina was so happy to be with someone. lol
I was so busy that I didn't even have time to log in and see how everyone is doing. I hope everyone is doing well.
I've fallen behind on Remake news, and I need to catch up.
Well, my next character is Cyan Garamonde from Final Fantasy VI. He is the, technicalities aside,
last survivor of Doma
and a skilled Samurai to boot. When I first played FFVI, I didn’t think much of Cyan at first. The only things that stood out about him were his interesting word choice and glorious mustache. I quickly warmed up to him after I learned more about his character.
I liked how FFVI took the time to show the player Cyan’s guilt about being the only survivor of Doma. We get to see him visiting his wife and son for the last time on the Phantom Train and how much that affects him. He even goes as far as to write letters on Lola’s deceased boyfriend’s behalf because he could relate to what she has been through. That broke my heart. He was taking the time out of his day to make sure that someone else feels some sense of (false) comfort while everyone is living in a ruined world. I’m not joking when I say that this is one of the moments in a video game that has truly touched my heart. I was that surprised.
Another fun thing about his character arc is when the party enters the Dreamscape, Cyan’s dream world. Moebius, Laragorn, and Curlax are The Dream Stooges. Whoever made that localization decision needed to get a raise because that reference is beautiful. Throughout the Dreamscape, the player gets to see different flashbacks on Cyan’s life and eventually sees Elayne and Owain once again. Upon defeating Wrexsoul, Cyan manages to finally forgive himself and has now come to terms of the death of his family. I love exploring the minds of characters, so this was quite a treat.
Cyan has a "typical" outfit for Final Fantasy at the very least. He isn’t loaded down with armor, but I can see the samurai motif they were going for. I like the ribbon in his hair because I hardly ever see masculine characters wear ribbons. They should. It looks like he is still wearing his wedding ring in his character art too! I’ve never noticed that before. The cape he wears in some art adds a slight regal look to his character that I think looks nice.
As for his color scheme, the black in his hair matches the deep blue his outfit has. It’s not the flashiest color combination, but it’s still a pretty one.
Other than that, I don’t have much to comment about Cyan’s design. He looks how he acts.
TL;DR: Final Fantasy VI did a great job with its “main” characters and I would love to see this game remade someday. I also want to see better quality renders of the characters. Cyan’s mustache needs to be HD.
Her design really is cool as hell honestly.
