What makes a Final Fantasy Hero: Part 1: Bizarre Origins

I'm going to make a three part series about the main heroes of each Final Fantasy. I be talking about the main series and their sequels/prequels/spin-offs. I was never into the MMO FF games so be skipping 11 and 14. I haven't played 15 or Type-0 yet so I won't discuss them.

I posted this as a joke to friends a long time ago. It was make fun of certain cliches that started to become noticeable with the main characters in the game.

One thing I notice is that most of these characters of these mind blowing and strange twists of their origins.

Be warned, there are major spoilers in every game I mention. So if you haven't played a certain Final Fantasy that you plan to play in the future. Skip the character entry.


From Final Fantasy 1 is The Warrior of Light.

The 1st game had a bare bones plot and the didn't have actual main characters with personality, they have generic characters based on jobs/classes.

The muiltversial fighting crossover game called Dissidia have a character based on the Warrior class called, The Warrior of Light.

So what's his bizarre origin? Well in Dissidia post game notes, it's revealed that he's a clone of Cid of the Lunfain that's made up of crystals. Everyone else is summoned away from their world to take part of in a war while this guy is artificially made.

 Final Fantasy 2 has the rebel, Firion.

The 2nd game had actual names and faces to the characters but their personalities were one dimensional. The main character himself only had less than 10 lines.

So what was his bizarre origin? Umm...the evil empire burn down his hometown. That's nothing special really.

 Final Fantasy 3 has the Onion Knight.

The third game did went back to nameless faceless characters. However the game allows you to change classes through out the game instead of picking out your party at the beginning of the game. The starting class of the game is Onion Knight.

According to FF12(a completely different game), they got the name from overcoming their fear of eating yucky veggies as kids.

The DS remake did give them names, faces, and distinct personalities. It didn't change the game's story too much.

Dissidia on the other hand went back closer to the original Onion Knight's appearance and gave him a unique personality compare to his DS remake counterparts.

So what was their bizarre origin? These orphans come from beyond the known world. When your a 1/3 done with the game and get an airship, you discover the whole world you know is a floating continent in a far larger world. (Think of Skyloft in Zelda: Skyward Sword)


 Final Fantasy 4 has the dark knight turned paladin named Cecil.

FF4 is when the series started giving their characters full personalities and deeper plots. Cecil's transformation into a paladin is a sign of his path of redemption to clear his wrongdoings from the 1st hour of the game. 

So what was his bizarre origin? He's half-moon man. That's right, at the end of the game reveals that his father came from one of the two moons.

Oh and this Darth Vader like villain is his bro.

 Final Fantasy 5 has the wandering traveler named Bartz.

Bartz was traveling the world when a meteor crashed down nearby. Shortly after, he was tasked to save the four crystals.

So what was his bizarre origin? He's half-different realm man. He found out that his dad came from another world or dimension. Later on in the game reveal that his world and his dad's was originally one world but got split to seal up a great evil.

Final Fantasy 6 is an interesting case. It doesn't has one main character, it has several. The game has this really huge cast. I will discuss the three that comes across as main characters.

The first one is the mysterious girl from the empire named Terra.

She was this mysterious girl from the evil empire that was brainwashed to do it's bidding. She got free but has no memories. She somehow uses magic without the use of Esper.

So what was her bizarre origin? She's half magical furry.

This is her Esper form. Her father and his people, the Espers were hiding in a secret place till the empire found them and force them into weapons

The other main character is the thief..excuse me, treasure hunter called Locke.

Locke is a part of a rebel force and help introduce Terra to other rebels.

So what was his bizarre origin? He basically lost his girlfriend due to an accident and later on an attack from the empire. It's not a shocking twist or anything. He mentions he lost people to the empire early on.

The next main character is this opera floozy.. I mean former general called Celes.

Locke freed her from her prison when she speak out against the empire's evil methods. She changed sides and joined the rebels.
So what was her bizarre origin? Nothing really. You learn she was a former general of the empire when she was introduced.
If anything, Terra was the one with the bizarre origin.

 Final Fantasy 7 has this ex-SOLDIER turn merc named Cloud.

He was hired by an rebel group to take down an evil corporation. Later on, he went on the hunt for the killer that burn down his hometown named Sephiroth.

So what was his bizarre origin? Turn out his memories of his hometown getting burned down may or not be real. He's constructed to be clone of Sephiroth and was injected with fake memories. He was a failed clone which is why he doesn't look like Sephiroth.

Then later on, a girl from his childhood home remembers him but didn't see him at the event where his home got burned. Meaning he's not a clone.

Then you learn that he never made it into the elite unit known as SOLDIER and became a mere guardsmen. He hid his face from his people from his village right before it got burned down. After the villain disappeared. The evil corporation found Cloud's body and experimented on him. He then escape with his best friend, only to watch him die. 

The experiments, his embarrassment of not being in the elite unit, and watching his friend die caused his personality to be altered where he think he is his best friend as a former member of SOLDIER.

Yeah, this was really complicated to write about.

In the mid-2000s, Final Fantasy 7 had several spin offs. They got a CGI sequel movie, a cellphone game based on the Turks that never came America, and several others.

One spinoff was called Dirge of Cerberus. It was a 3rd person shooter game starring Vincent. A mysterious quiet halloween-theme character. He was secret character in FF7. You have to a series of puzzles to find Vincent.

So what was his bizarre origin? If you enter a secret location with Vincent in FF7. You learn he was in love with Sephiroth's baby mama. Sadly, she dump him for a creepy scientist dude. The scientist dude shot him and did experiments on his body and stuff him into a coffin. This causes him to transform into Halloween monsters.

Nothing from Dirge of Cerberus itself other than the baby mama knew Vincent's dad.

Another spinoff is a prequel game called Crisis Core, starring Zack.

Zack is a man in SOLDIER who became best buds with Cloud. He got capture and experimented on but he escaped with Cloud. And he dies by getting shot down.

So what was his bizarre origin? Nothing really. It be weird to suddenly givea bizarre origin to a posthumous character who appeared in flashbacks in the source game.

Final Fantasy 8 has the gunblade merc, Squall.

He is a merc who is trained to fight evil sorceresses.

So what his bizarre origin? The moron in his dreams is his dad. Oh all Squall's friends grew up in the same orphanage as him but they forgot each other till recently.

One of the best line from FF8

Part way in the game, Squall and the gang had weird dreams of this goofball soldier. Squall said he dreamed he was a moron. It reveal later on that a girl with powers sent Squall's conscience into the past to hopefully change history (it didn't work). It was heavily hinted that man was his dad who was unaware he fathered a son.

The military group that Squall is in can link up their minds to powerful beings. There are rumors that causes memories to be forgotten. This turn out to be true since him and all his friends forgot they knew each other as kids.

Final Fantasy 9 has the theater actor/skirt chaser, Zidane.

He was hired by a princess to "kidnap" her because her mother is planning to wage war against the whole world since she met an evil arms dealer.

So what is his bizarre origin? He's an alien that was meant to destroy lives on the planet.

Oh and that feminine looking villain with feathers and thong is his bro.

Yes everyone, this is a dude

He found out late in the game that he was from another world and designed to be an angel of death but his older brother grew jealous and dump him on the planet when he was young.

Final Fantasy 10 has the star blitzball ace called Tidus.

Tidus was the star of a sports game till he woke up in a world where his city was destroyed a 1000 years ago and the world is terrorized by a godzilla-like monster.

So what's his bizarre origin?  He's a figment of an imagination of magical creatures trapped in stone.

Near the end of the game, he found spirits of magical creatures and they are force to dream about a city that was destroyed over 1000 years. Tidus and his entire world was nothing more than a dream.

The sequel, Final Fantasy 10-2 has summoner/treasure hunter, Yuna.

Yes, her going from a priestess getup to Lara Croft in the sequel is kinda jarring to some fans. 

She was the secondary main character of that game in FF10, whose on a journey to find magical creatures to summon to defeat the Godzilla-like monster. In FF10-2, she became a sphere hunter(basically a treasure hunter).

So what's her bizarre origin? Well main characters in sequels and spinoff don't really have one. Her origin is her priest-like summoner father marring a women from a shunned race. Really it's not that bizarre.

Final Fantasy 12 has the street orphan, Vaan

Vaan is a orphan who lost his older bro two years ago and hates the empire. He dreams of being a sky pirate.

So what's his bizarre origin? Actually noting. You play his bro for the 1st few minutes of the game before he gets betrayed in the war and killed. It skips to Vaan shortly after.

You know, I kinda of wonder if Vaan is the main character? He doesn't do anything worthwhile after he forgave the captain and learned he wasn't the one his killed his bro very early on.

Some people say main character is one of these two people.

1st we have the sky pirate, Balthier

Balither is a sky pirate that like to hunt for treasure and take jobs for money. He likes calling himself "The Leading Man". He's basically a Han Solo/James Bond type character. He was hired by Ashe to help her on her quest to stop the empire and restore her country.

So what's his bizarre origin? He was Judge for the empire and his dad was this game's Cid, who happens to be insane evil scientist.

The Judges are the elite armored dudes of the empire. They are judge, jury, and executioners(Think Judge Dredd).

He watch his dad go insane and Balither left the empire and became a sky pirate. It doesn't sound that bizarre but it was reveal late in the game and very shocking to learn he was once one of those armored dudes.

The other main character of FF12 is the fallen princess, Ashe.

Ashe was the princess of a kingdom before the empire came. She lost her husband, her father, and her country. She's taking part of a rebellion and on a journey to find a magical stone that can defeat the empire.

So what's her bizarre origin? Well her ancestor was this great king that united all the kingdoms with a magical stone he got from an ancient forgotten godlike race that wanted to control humanity path in history.

Final Fantasy 13 was said that it didn't have an actual main character. It was like FF6. 1st, I will talk about the spotlight character. Member of the Guardian Corps, Protector of the Goddess Etro, and The Savior at the End of World. She is Lightning.

She has a younger sister that was branded with an tattoo from the enemy side of a war 500 years ago. She tried to save her but she and her allies got branded and were hunted by the government. She soon went on a quest to save the world and her sister.

In the sequel, she was summon away to protect a goddess. The ending of that game ended with the goddess dying and time itself in the physical world went haywire.

The 3rd game has her as the actual main character who is tasked by another god to save as many souls as she could before the world ends and anything gets transfer to a new world.

Yeah, there alot to write about in her 3 different games.

So what's her bizarre origin? She doesn't have one really. You learn early on that when her parents die, she have to toughen up alot to protect her little sis.

Some say these two ladies are the main characters of FF13. These Aussie-accent monster hunters are Fang and Vanille.

So what's their bizarre origin? They're aliens that waged war 500 years ago and they can turn into a world destroying beast.

500 years ago, 2 planets waged war. Fang and Vanille were branded with tattoos that can turn them into world-destroying beast known as Ragnarok. They didn't like they were made into a weapon to destroy so many lives. They then turn into crystal statues and sleep for 500 years till they woke up again and accidentally got Lightning and her friends tattoos that made them enemies of the government.

 In 13-2, the main character of the game has this kindergarten teacher known as Serah.

Serah is the younger sister of Lightning and engaged to a giant called Snow. She was frozen in crystal in the original game but released by the end of the game. In the sequel, her sister mysteriously disappeared and her fiance went out to find her. She later encounter a man from the far future who told her that he will help her find her sister and stop the end of time.

So what's her bizarre origin? Again, talking about characters in sequels and spinoffs don't really have one. If you only started on 13-2 with no knowledge of the 1st game. Her being a crystal statue may be something.