Top 10 Final Fantasy Characters

Top 10 Final Fantasy Characters

Written by Zeromage 64 Comments
Last Updated:: January 5, 2009

As most readers of Old-Wizard know, the Final Fantasy franchise is one of our favorite video game series of all time. Its with that in mind that decided to make a list of our top ten Final Fantasy Characters. Many readers will notice that most of these characters are from our favorite game in the series, Final Fantasy 3. Final Fantasy 3, yes 3, is one of the greatest RPGs ever made. We here at OW refuse to adopt the Japanese numbering order. If anything Japan should have to re-write their numbering to fit the order of release here. You see OW bleeds red white and blue. And as every true American knows we are the greatest country ever. If you don’t think so we’ll invade you and force our culture on you. Japan should truly decide whether the numbering they use is worth it or not. We’ve invaded bigger countries for less. Anyway I digress. Final Fantasy 3 is awesome, it’s one of the first games where the bad guy actually wins (sort of) and it also has an incredibly interesting plot, which is why the majority of the next ten characters come from that game.

10. Vivi

Vivi was a throw back to the original black mages form the first Final Fantasy. He was a kind-hearted little magician who was scared of his powers and wanted to know who or what he was. Much of the plot of Final Fantasy 9 is based on this idea, and eventually leads to Vivi learning he was designed to be nothing more than an evil weapon. Much like the Bush administration, his brethren are mindless machines of destruction who followed orders blindly and killed indiscriminately. We here at O-W liked the simple throw back this game offered, and truly loved the character of Vivi. Squaresoft took one of the simplest and oldest character types and added a depth not seen in FF games previous to this one. You couldn’t help but feel bad for Vivi, you wanted to reach through the screen and give the little bugger a hug and tell him everything will be all right. Not only that, but once he was leveled up he was one of the best characters in the game. Vivi may be overlooked, but he was one of the best characters SS introduced into the FF series.

9. Vincent Valentine

Vincent Valentine makes his first appearance in FF7. A former Turk with a mysterious past, Vincent’s hidden secrets tie him directly to several of the main antagonists of the game. At one time, though it has now been proven false, it was even rumored he was the father of Sephiroth. Although I’m not as big of a fan of his subsequent appearances, in FF7 he was a great character. His weapon of choice was a handgun and his Limit Breaks would cause him to shapeshift. He was a pretty minor character in the game, with very little of the story actually focused on him. But much like many other minor characters who would become fan favorites, it was inevitable that new games and books were released about him, ruining any mystique that he once had. This is the same thing that George Lucas did to Boba Fett, all because they wanted to make a little extra money. Nevertheless, he is still a great character, and one of my favorites from FF7.

8. Rydia

Rydia is a summoner and as a young girl, Kain and Cecil accidentally destroy her hometown, giving her a pretty good reason to hate them at first. She summons Titan to destroy Cecil and Kain but she gets injured shortly after. Cecil offers to help Rydia heal her wounds but she still can’t forgive him for what he has done to her hometown. Over time, she learns to accept Cecil’s company and joins him on his cause, and eventually, she learns the art of summoning. From here, Rydia becomes an essential part of your party. As a Summoner, she naturally has the ability to Summon monsters, however, she can also use Black Magic. She learns every spell, up to and including Meteor at Level 60, but she learns them later than Palom because of her emphasis on Summon Magic. As a child, she can also cast some elementary White Magic; however, she can only cast three spells: Cure, Sight, and Hold. When she returns to the party as an adult, she has forgotten these spells. But the reason we like her is not because of her black or white magic, but her ability to summon big baddies like Shiva, Ifrit, and Bahamut.

7. Sephiroth

Ask most fans of the Final Fantasy series who their favorite character from the franchise is, and they will probably tell you that its Sephiroth. While he’s not my personal favorite character, he definitely deserves a spot on our list. After all, how can you not like a lunatic whose main goal is to become a god and control the planet? While he may be delusional and arrogant, its not without reason. A prototype SOLDIER and the strongest one alive, Sephiroth is initially revered for his strength and hailed as a hero. Even after his fall into insanity, he is still a lethal and highly intelligent warrior. But he is also cruel and delights in mentally torturing Cloud. In Advent Children, in one of his iconic lines, he asks Cloud what he cherishes so he may simply take it from him. With lines like that, how could he not make this list?

6. Shadow

Shadow, much like my favorite characters in the movies, is a paid assassin and mercenary. He would join your party and then leave it as he pleased throughout the game. Also, did I mention that he’s a ninja? This fact alone qualifies him to be on this list. He is also accompanied by his faithful dog, Interceptor. I’m not sure how many other ninjas have dogs who follow them around, but I don’t imagine the number is very high. Anyway, Shadow’s special skill, Throw, allows him to throw any weapon in the inventory, such as swords, spears, shuriken, and skeans/edges/scrolls (which affect multiple foes). This attack ignores physical defense and often hits for high damage. In addition, Shadow possesses a secret status effect that causes his dog, Interceptor, to randomly negate damage from a physical attack aimed at Shadow. Because of his usefulness, and the fact that he is a ninja, Shadow is clearly one of the best FF characters of all time and well deserving of his spot on this list.

5. Mog

The moogles are an interesting race of creatures. A mixture of a number of cute animals with bat wings, who love to dance. Whose dances, furthermore, bring destruction based on the places where they have danced previously. Mog was a great character, and it was very exciting to find him again after the destruction of the world. He was cute and cuddly, and when he danced he crushed your enemies under his feet. Unlike most cute cuddly things, Mog was intelligent so you didn’t have to take him outside at varying intervals and I imagine he could also feed himself, though he may have curled up by you feet under certain circumstances (this, of course, is just speculation). It also concerned me whether or not Mog had an accent of any kind and what that might sound like.

4. Cecil

Cecil is an epic character, as his transition from an evil Knight to a heroic Paladin causes Cecil to be one of the most developed characters in FF2, and one of the most interesting characters in the Final Fantasy series as a whole, because his changes are realistic and actually make sense. From commander of the evil Red Wings to a celebrated hero, Cecil undergoes very significant changes in FF2. As a Dark Knight, Cecil’s stats are heavily weighted physically, and he has barely any Magic Defense. He can only equip special swords, shields, and armor designed specifically for Dark Knights. His weapons are ineffective against Zombies, Ghouls, Revenants, and Skullnants. His most powerful Dark Sword, the Deathbringer, can inflict instant death on his opponents. As a Dark Knight, Cecil also possesses the Darkness ability, which damages all opponents, but he takes a small amount of damage whenever he uses this attack. Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, he can use the Cover ability, which allows him to intercept physical attacks against the ally Cover is targeting. Cecil automatically uses this ability to protect any ally whose HP is low, making him not only one of the most interesting FF characters, but one of the most useful as well.

3. Locke

I’ve often wondered what my character class would be in real life. Typically I’ve always been a bit partial to rogues. I always thought that I’d be a ranger personally, but they have that slightly good aspect to them. I’d never make it as a ranger, so I’ve always played a rogue in roleplaying games. Which is why I like Locke so much. He is a Thief, but he prefers to be called a “Treasure Hunter.” A running gag is that people call Locke a thief and insists that he’s a treasure hunter. Being a Thief, Locke has high speed, evasion, and physical stats, but low magic stats. His equipment draw includes most daggers and swords, as well as several boomerangs. He can use all shields except the Gold Shield, lightweight vests and hats, and most heavy armor. If customized properly, Locke can be the strongest member of your party and can kill superbosses in a matter of seconds. Its for these reasons that he makes it on our top 10 final fantasy characters of all time list.

2. Kain

Cain was the brother of Abel in the Bible’s book of Genesis. He became the first murderer by killing his brother out of jealousy stemming from the fact that God chose Abel’s gift over that of Cain. Kain’s name, thus, is a reference to the events that happened between him and his adoptive brother, Cecil. Kain is a Dragoon Knight in training who one day dreams of becoming a true Dragoon Knight just like his father was and he remains one of Cecil’s most true and loyal friends. However, Kain is the source of FF2’s biggest plot twists, as he is constantly under the control of Golbez, who is the leader of the Red Wings after Cecil’s dismissal by King Baron. He betrays Cecil and his friends several times throughout the game. Another interesting fact about Kain is that he secretly shares Cecil’s love for Rosa and the three have great love triangle. But still, Kain is a good friend and a useful member of Cecil’s party during the course of FF2. Like Cecil, Kain hopes to restore peace to the world. Kain’s special battle command is the “Jump” command. It is quite effective for the most part and while it takes a few turns, Kain’s Jump is quite powerful and can be at least 2X more powerful than his regular attack in most cases.

1. Kekfa

Kefka may be the most evil villain in any of the Final Fantasy games. He is a raving madman who actually delights in murdering mass amounts of people. If you really think about it, no game previous to this one shows an entire city of people drinking poisoned water and dying. Not only that, we have to watch as one of the heroes of the game watches his wife and child die, then later in the game he has to go back to said city and face his demons. Which, if you’re not paying attention, was watching his wife and child die of poisoning. In most video games, the heroes work hard to stop the villain from destroying the world. Kefka actually destroys the world. Granted in the end you kill him, but for what, what’s left? The world is shattered, most people are dead, crazy mutant monsters are running around everywhere, and most people belong to a cult worshiping the very guy who destroyed the world. Is this really a victory? Doesn’t Kefka sort of win? Granted he dies in the end, but he accomplishes all of his schemes. At one point this lunatic pushes the emperor off a floating continent, which we can only assume leads to a rather terrifying death. Imagine the fear while falling, for what is probably several minutes, knowing that you are going to smash into the ground or water and die. Squaresoft out-did themselves with Kefka, if this game was made with today’s graphics the entire game would be terrifying, don’t let the 16-bit graphics fool you. Finally, I can’t help but make the comparison the Joker in the Dark Knight. If this game were to ever become a movie, Heath Ledger would have been the only man to play Kefka.

64 Comments

#1 RavenWolfx says:
March 19th, 2010 at 11:28 pm

Kefka was an awesome villian. Too bad he looked like a transexual hooker.

#2 George says:
March 19th, 2010 at 11:37 pm

That fucking clowns laugh sends chills down my spine. Scary bastard.

#3 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:12 am

OK, for a Final Fantasy fanboy site this is absolutely ridiculous!!! Why is Cloud Strife not no.1???

Seriously, if anyone Japaneese saw this list, they’d kick your ass.

#4 tim says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:38 am

Shahin, shut the fuck up, this is about FF, not your retarded ideas about how America sucks dick. This is the first Old-Wizard list I COMPLETELY agree with. I think it’s smart, not retro for the sake of it, and thank GOD it didn’t mention the two-dimensional characters of Aeris and Cloud. Kefka’s my favorite too.

#5 David Mcleod says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:53 am

Hmmm, its a hard list to argue with, i’m not sure if i could list my favorite Final Fantasy characters, as much as i love Final Fantasy as a whole Most of their characters are not as memorable as some in other franchises.

And all of your favorite video game franchises would not exist without Japan, really how many outstanding franchises has The United States contributed to the video game world?:P

I am Canadian and we all know how Canadians, oh Heck the entire world pretty much feels about the US. As the old saying goes, NO ONE loves the US as much as the US does:P

#6 Tifa Strife says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:15 am

Wow, this is the absolute WORST top 10 list I’ve ever seen. I’m not kidding. Whoever made this is a giant faggot who has no idea what they’re talking about.

I’m never coming back to this piece of shit site again.

#7 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:36 am

Tim – there’s a reason Final Fantasy VII still has a cult following to this day, there’s a reason a Final Fantasy VII remake would be a sure – fire goldmine……..and it’s not because Cloud is a two – dimensional character.

#8 Ed says:
March 19th, 2010 at 2:05 am

Okay, if your going to put Vincent and Sephiroth up there then Cloud has to place too. That is my opinion.

Also, Vivi is a good character, so overall good list.

#9 TheNoblePriest says:
March 19th, 2010 at 2:58 am

This list is just terrible. No Cloud no Sabin come on I could go on for days. This is pure crap……

#10 Daniel says:
March 19th, 2010 at 3:13 am

heh… I was expecting to see something ridiculous and shitty…like the last list I read. BUT… nice job… you kept me from staying away from you forever

#11 That Guy says:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:03 am

I totally agree. Cloud is shallow, useless, undeveloped character, and ultimately only memorable for his hair. This list is perfect!

#12 Ballsack says:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:35 am

This list sux, proof, Cloud, Tifa, Squall, Sephiroth at 4 or above assclown, Auron, Basch and this just names a few that should be considered! I wish I was Japanese so I could kick your ass! Quoting David.

#13 slipknotix says:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:41 am

i agree with this list 100% and for all the FF7 fanboys if you have not played these other games you have no right to comment on how you dislike this list.

#14 saminseattle says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:21 am

@shahin, Im sorry you hate America and Americans sooo much. And im sorry your jealous of are cool sodiers that are willing to put their lives on the line for the ones they love and their country.I will pray for you. Back on topic, why is Cloud not on this list, seriously even if hes #10 , he has to be on the list.

#15 saminseattle says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:25 am

Much like the Bush administration, his brethren are mindless machines of destruction who followed orders blindly and killed indiscriminately.
^

@ whoever wrote this article, this is your opinion, believe it or not, we ARE gaining Democracy for Iraq, and they have more of a say in their every day lives then they ever did, you cant truthfully speak on a suject in which you have no exp.

#16 saminseattle says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:28 am

Everyone is just jealous of America’s health care, and they are blinded by what the media and their Terrorist friends tell them.

#17 David Mcleod says:
March 19th, 2010 at 6:06 am

RPG’s are my favorite genre of video game and have been since i was around 8 years old i am nearing 30 now:P But i cant really think of many that Stand out as my favorite video game characters. As much as i may like some.

#18 kbot707 says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Hey Old Wizard, I don’t care what your political affiliation is, but you should be concerned about Islamic extremists using your comment page to spread their hate speech.
What is more troubling is that shahin’s fake website is the words of the Takbir, which translates into “God is Great” which Muslims use in all of their prayers, but also its what suicide bombers yell before they blow themselves up.
I’m no fan of the Patriot Act, but someone should probably look into that guy if they can.

#19 Mario Bros says:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:38 pm

The summoner is not that good to be on the list (in FF7 anyone could summon) I agree with that guy that mentions Sabin, the blitz tech is awesome.

Overall great list, I know that you have to limit it to 10, but I think that Terra being the protagonist (a female) was something cool plus her ability to turn an Esper looked cool also.

#20 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pm

Slipnotix – if you’ve only played FF 3 and never touched any of the Final Fantasy games on the Playstation consoles then you have no right to comment on how you agree 100% with this list.

SaminSeattle – that comment about America’s health care was a joke, right??? Every European country has better health care than America, heck, even Iraq has better health care than America and they don’t even have hospitals anymore (Thanks to you guys). Who’s the terrorist now???

#21 Lord Dan says:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:26 pm

I know everyone has their own preferences, but I would have liked to have seen Auron or Yuna from FFX.

#22 Bug says:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:42 pm

Want to see her happy tears?

#23 Zeromage says:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:47 pm

@kbot707:

If you’ve ever visited O-W you wouldn’t be surprised by insane comments from left field on our lists. But that one was a little too far. Its been deleted.

#24 Osama says:
March 19th, 2010 at 9:29 pm

So happy you didn’t add Cloud in there. Honestly, everyone who suggesting you add Cloud is probably 12 so just ignore them.

#25 Jose says:
March 19th, 2010 at 9:34 pm

@saminseattle:

#1. How do you know the author has no experience in Iraq? Not saying they do, but that’s a hell of an assumption.

#2. I think you are taking this site a little too seriously. People who have been here before know that the writers on this site will literally make fun of ANYTHING. Take it with a grain of salt man. And lighten up a bit.

#26 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:05 am

Osama – most 12 year – olds probably haven’t played Final Fantasy VII. It’s more likely their first FF game was X, unlucky but i’m afraid that’s self – ownage at it’s finest!

Seriously, the people who don’t know who Cloud is obviously aren’t as big a fan of the Final Fantasy games as they think they are……….

#27 Zeromage says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:07 am

David MacPhail:

It might interest you to know that you’ve been nominated for a Wizzie, in our “Best Fan of Old-Wizard” category. Check out the site the day after the Oscars to see if you’ve won.

#28 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:19 am

I got nominated for “Best Fan” even though i disagree with everything you say? Cool. If only i knew what day the Oscars were on………..

#29 David Mcleod says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:06 am

David Macphail the Oscars are on this sunday:P

#30 Filipe says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

PATHETIC NOOB IDIOT YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FINAL FANTASY WHERE IS CLOUD,SQUALL?,ONION KNIGHT?,SEPHIROTH SHOULD BE 3RD OR 2ND AND THESE ARE THE IDIOT CHARACTERS:LOCKE,SHADOW,VIVI,RYDIA,AND GO FUCK YOURSELF NOOB.

#31 Andreas says:
March 19th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

50% of my love for this site comes from the comments. Keep up the good work idiots.

#32 RavenWolfx says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:02 am

Honestly, how many of these comments are “You suck, I’m never coming back” yet here they are again, spreading their ignorance to the masses. And as for the all CAPS fucktards, please stfu.

#33 Party Time says:
March 19th, 2010 at 3:24 pm

i’d like to see a worst ff chara list…

#34 badfish says:
March 19th, 2010 at 11:41 pm

I knew this would be a shitstorm.

“# Party Time on February 21st, 2009 3:24 pm

i’d like to see a worst ff chara list…”

Only comment worth reading.

#35 GuruOfReason says:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:40 pm

Sorry FF7 fanboys, but Cloud sucks ass. Fuck that spikey haired motherfucker. Cecil and Cyan will pwn his bitch ass any day of the week. Fuck his oversized sword. And what kind of retard uses a sword when there are guns? Cloud is nothing more than a selfish emo asshole. And why couldn’t he save Aeris? It should’ve been him taking the sword, not Aeris. But no, she got killed because he would rather have that slut Tifa.

#36 Fraught says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

I know people are trying to be all retro and (in their mind) cool by hating the so-called “two dimensional” Cloud Strife, but no one’s even given any reasons why Cloud is overrated, other than just saying “he’s an emo fag (for being sad for a person dying, what obviously you guys aren’t)” and “fuck that spiky-haired under-developed motherfucker!”, which doesn’t actually explain anything.

Also, you people say that Cloud is only memorable because of his spiky hair, but it seems that the only thing YOU guys remember about him, is his spiky hair.

But I do agree, Kefka is fuckin’ awesome.

#37 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:23 pm

GuruOfReason – have you actually even played ANY Final Fantasy games or is your post the direct result of what you have have been told by friends/read in reviews? Cause that’s exactly what it sounds like.

Anyone with a working brain will tell you that a sword OWNS a gun any day of the week. Do you think films such as “Lord Of The Rings” would’ve been so successful if it were guns they were using??? Nope.

Also, Sir Auron from FFX uses a sword and if anyone thinks HE is a useless, two – dimensional emo character then it’s clear they don’t have a clue what Final Fantasy is.

Oh yeah and to answer your question “Why didn’t Cloud take the sword and die instead?” the answer is – if he did the game would’ve ended early.

#38 Alexx says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:29 pm

Just like FF7, Cloud is overrated. Im glad Shadow was on this list. I would have Seifer on the list. Also glad Squall and the fuckers in FF 10 with their terrible voice acting werent on.

#39 GuruOfReason says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:49 am

I don’t actually hate Cloud, but was annoyed by some of the fanboy comments. AHe’s not that bad, I just don’t believe that he deserves to be in the top 10. Defending my choice would be useless since it is a matter of opinion. Here are my favorites, not necessarily in order.

1. Cecil
2. Kain
3. Edge
4. Gilgamesh
5. Sabin
6. Kefka
7. Shadow
8. Mog
9. Ultros
10. Tellah

I also like the kid twin mages, Rydia, Locke, and more. Cloud would be much farther down the list.

And I am not retro because it’s “cool”. I will admit that being a retro gamer is cool as hell. I was merely around to play the old games, and never stopped liking them, just like a WWII vet never stopped listening to Swing (and dissing Rock and Roll), and the Boomer who believes that the ’60s and ’70s is the alpha and the omega of music. The period from 1985 – 1997 is the Golden Age of gaming to me. No other period matched it. It was truly magic. Miyamoto recaptured the magic in Mario Galaxy, but beyond that, most of the magic is long gone.

#40 jeweled says:
March 19th, 2010 at 11:25 pm

wow a lot of people hate Cloud and Final Fantasy 7 for some reason but hey it’s the only one that had it’s own movie so i think that makes it a pretty good game and the fact that if you try to find a Final Fantasy 7 game anywhere you have little chance to and yet all the others you can find easy.

#41 David Macphail says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:11 am

What made VII so special is because it was a turning point for the Final Fantasy franchise.

Without Final Fantasy VII the Final Fantasy series may NEVER have become mainstream. XIII and Versus XIII would not be in development right now if it wasn’t for Sony’s PSONE and Final Fantasy VII.

#42 Rich says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:05 am

great article.

#43 teshiku says:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:46 am

I’ll admit i like cloud, only because of his sword(s) and bike from Advent Children.

I personally would have liked to see Auron, Balthier, and if I add another badguy to the list, it would have to be Jecht.

#44 ya mum says:
March 19th, 2010 at 10:14 am

where the fuck is cloud on the list

#45 ya mum says:
March 19th, 2010 at 10:15 am

and i’d put sephiroth at number 1

#46 ROFLtank says:
March 19th, 2010 at 9:44 pm

Good list. I only disagree with Sephiroth and Rydia.( Rydia’s okay shes just not a favorite.) My top 2 would have to be Kain and Exdeath. Also i’m not a big fan of Sephiroth. (ff7 fanboys, don’t freak out. The game itself is good.)

P.S. Jecht is the only cool character in FF10!

#47 ROFLtank says:
March 19th, 2010 at 9:49 pm

Heres my full top 10
10. Bartz
9. Vincent
8. Zidane
7. Jecht
6. Chocobo…
5. Cecil
4. Golbez
3. Kefka
2. Exdeath
1. Kain

#48 ROFLtank says:
March 19th, 2010 at 9:57 pm

1 last thing… I will admit i never played ff3

#49 Skadojan says:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:49 pm

Cecil is my favorite.

Where’s Delita? Have you played FFT?

#50 Nexus says:
March 19th, 2010 at 12:47 am

Seriously this list sucks where is Laguna Loire, Balthier, Reno, Auron and Sabin.

You’ve seriously ignored a big chunk of FF games…includin 5,1,2,3,8,10 and 12.
It would nice to see more veriety in this list.

And yes Cloud should be on this list even if it was somewhere near the bottom just because of his iconic status within the series. Cloud is FF’s poster boy.

And please keep the political bullshit out of things like this it has no place here.

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Top 10 Final Fantasy Characters

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