Final Fantasy Main Casts Ranked
As I lead up to my personal ranking of the games as a whole, I'll be ranking the series based on certain aspects. First up is the cast of characters in each game. Basically, I'm judging these based on how well written the characters are, how memorable they are in terms of design and personality, and their character arcs and development.
I'll try to avoid major spoilers in this one, but be warned, minor spoilers follow.
13. Final Fantasy
The Warriors of Light have zero personality. No, really. They don't say a single word. So zero points for the heroes.
The villains are slightly better. I absolutely love the designs on the four fiends, especially Tiamat and Marilith. Garland is also a great villain, but that's pretty much it for this one.
12. Final Fantasy III
In the original, the heroes had zero personality, but I played the PSP remake, so they had... a little personality.
Xande sucks ass as a villain. Cloud of Darkness has a really memorable design, but she is probably my least favorite Final Fantasy villain just because she is not built up at all, despite being a fun final boss.
The side characters are pretty cool though. Aria, the Water Maiden was charming, as well as Cid, and those four dudes who claimed to be the warriors of light. It's not much of an edge over FFI, but I just remember the cast of this one a bit more.
11. Final Fantasy II
Emperor Mateus is a breath of fresh air compared to the other NES-era villains. In the main party, Leon had a pretty ambitious arc for a NES-era game. Firion and Maria are pretty unremarkable though. I do think Guy has one thing going for him that makes him super memorable.
The temporary party members also leave an impact, especially Josef, Minwu, Ricard, and Leila. They're all fun to spend time with and are absolute beasts during battle.
10. Final Fantasy V
The main cast is pretty fun in this one. Standouts for me were Galuf and Faris, but Bartz, Lenna, and Krile were pretty fun too. The villain, Exdeath, is pretty dull for my taste, but his second-in-command, Gilgamesh, is one of the greatest Final Fantasy characters ever. Cid and Mid were a pretty fun duo. FFV has a pretty small cast, but what little it has works pretty well.
9. Final Fantasy VIII
The main strength of this cast is in three characters: Squall, Rinoa, and Laguna. These three alone would honestly skyrocket this cast to #1 for me. Edea was a great villain in the first three discs and Ultimecia has an epic design and a pretty cool plan.
Seifer is an asshole though, and not in a fun way. Selphie, Zell, and Quistis are pretty bland. Irvine is pretty cool, but compared to the big three I mentioned, he pales in comparison. Ward and Kiros are great though. Julia and Raine have really small parts, but they helped make the Laguna storyline work so well.
This cast is a pretty mixed bag. There's nothing bad in it, but the unremarkable characters pull this down to #9.
8. Final Fantasy XII
This is a weird cast. On their own, Vaan and Penelo are actually really likable and charming characters. If they were in a different story, I could totally see them working #inb4revenantwings .
However, they're in this story, which is, if I'm being completely honest, Ashe's story. Ashe is my favorite heroine in the series. She has an amazing arc and a great design. Joining her on this trip are Balthier and Fran, who are basically Han Solo and Chewie, if Chewie was a sexy bunny. No legit, I found a comment thread on YouTube where someone asked "Am I the only one who kept Fran in my party all the time to stare at her bunny ass?" and there were like sixty comments agreeing. Weird.
Balthier is great. He's my favorite character in the game. He's smart, dashing, charismatic, and he also has a reason to be in this story, which I won't give away.
Also with them is BASCH FON RONSENBERG OF DALMASCA, who had a lot of potential for a great story arc, but I feel they didn't stick the landing. What they did give him justified his existence in the party.
So I return to Vaan and Penelo. As charming as they are in isolation, when put against Ashe, Balthier, Fran, and Basch, they just have zero reason to be there, but I'm not complaining because Vaan's DPS is insane so there's that.
As for the support and villains, this game does not mess around. Gabranth is an amazing character. Larsa has a great arc. Al-Cid has like 2 scenes but he steals the show for both of them. Judge Ghis and Bergan had one scene each but they were really memorable. Doctor Cid is honestly speaking one of the best villains in the series. Vayne Solidor, however, started out interesting, but I feel he didn't do enough evil acts to justify hating him in the end.
It's a pretty good cast, but I bet if Matsuno stayed, it could have been better.
7. Final Fantasy IV
Considering this was the first game in the series to really try telling an ambitious story, that would require an amazing cast, and I have to say, almost every member of this cast is amazing. Cecil has an amazing design, both in dark knight form and paladin form. Cecil also provided the deepest and most affecting story arc in the series up to this point, which would be the template for strong character arcs to come. Kain is that iconic dragoon, with a tragic story arc. Rosa, well, she's fine, I guess. Rydia is my favorite character in the game. The scene where she returns from a long absence is one of the most epic scenes in the game. Palom and Porom were fun to spend time with. Yang and Cid weren't given much to do, but they had their moments in the spotlight that cemented them as heroes. Edward and Tellah also had a tragic story. Finally Edge was amazing. He probably has the saddest story here, which I won't give away.
As for the villains, Golbez is just a memorable villain. His design is great and he provides some really fun boss battles. Zemus/Zeromus is really the weakest link, story-wise, but he makes up for it with an epic final boss fight. Overall, great cast.
6. Final Fantasy X
As much as Tidus annoys me, I have to say among the Final Fantasy leads, his arc is hands down the best. His relationship with Yuna is also one of the best parts of the game. Speaking of Yuna, she's great. The reason Tidus and Yuna work so well as characters, to be perfectly honest, is each other. They just bring out the best in each other, and I can think of no better scene that showcases this than the infamous Tidus laughing scene.
If you watch this scene in context, it's actually really sweet.
I'd be remiss to not mention the rest of the cast. Auron is my favorite character in this game. He's just the coolest guy ever. His place in the story is also really interesting. Rikku is so fun. I love her to death. Wakka and Lulu are pretty fun too, especially Lulu's snarkiness and Wakka's enthusiasm for Blitzball and Yevon. Even Kimahri gets an arc, even though I think he's the weakest character.
Seymour is a frickin amazing villain. One of the series' best. Seymour's scenes give me chills. Jecht is also a great character with a tragic story that is tied to our main character. It's no surprise a lot of people say FFX has the best story in the series, because it revolves around a cast this good.
5. Final Fantasy XIII
This was the first cast in the series, if I'm being perfectly honest, where I thought the main party had no weak link. I mean it helps that there's only six of them, but all six had great designs and great character arcs, some of which intertwined.
Lightning is just a badass. She spends most of the game trying to defy her fate as a l'Cie and save her sister, Serah. Her fate is intertwined with Serah's fiance, Snow Villiers, who is my favorite character in the game. Snow's scenes with Serah were just the sweetest scenes I've ever seen and it broke me to see them torn apart by fate. Snow's fate is also tied to Hope, who, if I'm being honest, I absolutely detested during the first six chapters. Hope was this annoying, useless party member who was angsty as hell, but along the way, I really started feeling sorry for him until he grew into one of the best party members. Hell, he ended up as my second favorite character in the game.
Sazh also has a tragic story which is tied to Vanille and, I won't give it away, but the climax of their arc is one of the best scenes in Final Fantasy, period. Vanille is also tied to Fang for reasons I won't give away here, but I gotta say, Fang is a certified badass.
The villains are pretty cool too. Cid Raines doesn't get much screentime, but he gets one standout scene. Jihl Nabaat is honestly underutilized, but the scenes where she's in command were amazing. Galenth Dysley is that villain you love to hate, and he also provides three of the best boss fights in the game.
This cast is amazing, and it earns its spot in the top 5.
4. Final Fantasy XV
Loving the main four protagonists of this game is kind of the point, isn't it? This game is one big road trip with your three best friends and they did everything they could to make sure you felt that brotherhood. Prompto could start to annoy you when he insists on sidetracking your quests to take pictures, but if you manage to unlock his special scene, he really has some depth to him. Ignis is just the sexiest man to ever grace Final Fantasy and is the best cook, support, and overall best boi in the game. Gladio is just a beast in combat and his greatest personality trait is his love for cup noodles.
As for supporting cast, they're all pretty memorable on their own. Cindy and Cid are charming. Aranea is this femme fatale dragoon with an epic boss fight. Cor is just a badass. Iris is just the best. I mean...
she's the best...
And I have to talk for a while about Ardyn.
Ardyn Izunia is just a despicable human being. I have not seen any supplementary material outside of Kingsglaive, but Ardyn is an asshole to the fullest extent. He starts out amicable, and then gradually just turns and turns into this enemy in the purest sense of the word. By the time you reach the end, it will bring you great pleasure to put him down. Ardyn is an amazing villain.
On the flipside, I gotta say I am just disappointed with what they did with Lunafreya. I couldn't care less about her. They had the potential to really hit the player if they just gave Lunafreya more relevance, but *sigh*, what wasted potential.
That's not enough to tank this cast though. This cast is just amazing.
3. Final Fantasy IX
I. Love. Them. To. Death.
Zidane is just such a fun character, which was a breath of fresh air after two "emo" protagonists in Cloud and Squall. I mean, I love Cloud and Squall, but I was glad Zidane was different when I started up FFIX. Garnet, on the other hand, might actually have my favorite character arc of the entire series. I won't give it away, but Garnet probably goes through the most suffering among all the characters in the series and how she ends up is really satisfying. Steiner is such a fun character, especially with the way he's animated. Vivi is my favorite character in the game. He also has an amazing character arc and the way his arc ends is one of the most poignant moments in the series.
The rest of the lead cast isn't bad either. Eiko, Amarant, Quina, and Freya are not bad characters but Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi's arcs are just so strong that they kinda pale in comparison.
The supporting cast is no pushover either. We have Beatrix, who is one of the best supporting characters in the series IMO. Queen Brahne is one of the most despicable characters in the game, but the way her character is handled was really effective. Garland is a cute reference to FFI. However, the standout in the supporting cast is Kuja. Kuja is just a chilling villain. Kuja probably causes the second most damage to an FF world next to Kefka; that is how dangerous Kuja is. Kuja also has a ridiculously epic boss battle theme.
This is a solid cast with memorable designs and amazing character arcs. If you haven't played this game yet, I highly recommend it.
2. Final Fantasy VII
What else can I say about this cast that hasn't been said before? Cloud has one of the most interesting, if confusing, character arcs ever. Aerith is just the sweetest love interest ever and if, for some reason, you don't know how her arc ends, I won't give it away. Tifa has an interesting dynamic with Cloud and is just badass in her own right, being the Monk class of the game. Those three are the main cast members where the story revolves around, but that doesn't mean the rest of the party members are neglected. What puts FFVII ahead of some of the newer FF games is that it doesn't forget to give the side characters some background. Red XIII has an amazing arc once the party arrives at Cosmo Canyon. Barrett gets one in the Gold Saucer. Yuffie and Cid also get meaningful arcs in their hometowns. Vincent, however, is kept a mystery, but his character design is just so cool that I'm gonna give that a pass.
Umm... Cait Sith sucks.
As for the supporting cast. The Turks and Rufus Shinra are really fun characters. Professor Hojo is a despicable villain. And of course, we have to talk about Sephiroth. He is just a frightening villain throughout. His character design is so distinct that even someone who has never played FFVII could probably recognize him. Also, for many people who started with FFVII, Sephiroth performed one of the most needlessly evil acts in the franchise. It was so brutal that many people consider it the greatest Final Fantasy moment ever. Any villain that has that much of an impact on the player is a great villain.
1. Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI did what FFVII did but with more characters and, honestly, a better villain. This game had fourteen playable characters, and only Mog, Umaro, and Gogo didn't have an arc. That means they gave 11 characters their own story arc, while still maintaining a good pace and telling an amazing main story. In particular, I really like Celes' arc, Locke's arc, Edgar and Sabin's arc, Cyan's arc, Setzer's arc, and Terra's arc... oh crap I just named half the playable cast. Oh well...
The supporting cast was, however, set aside to give more spotlight to the large main cast. Emperor Gestahl and General Leo were pretty underwhelming, but this could all be forgiven, because even if they told the story of 11 main cast members, this game was still able to give us one of the best villains in gaming history with Kefka.
The reason I like Kefka more than the other villains is just that he's so fun to watch. You hate him but you love hating him. He is just an asshole, but he's an asshole you can laugh at one second and be completely terrified of the next. He's unpredictable and completely insane.
If you haven't played this game, you are totally missing out.
Anyway, that's my list. Feel free to share yours in the comments. 'Til next time!
I'll try to avoid major spoilers in this one, but be warned, minor spoilers follow.
13. Final Fantasy
The villains are slightly better. I absolutely love the designs on the four fiends, especially Tiamat and Marilith. Garland is also a great villain, but that's pretty much it for this one.
12. Final Fantasy III
Xande sucks ass as a villain. Cloud of Darkness has a really memorable design, but she is probably my least favorite Final Fantasy villain just because she is not built up at all, despite being a fun final boss.
The side characters are pretty cool though. Aria, the Water Maiden was charming, as well as Cid, and those four dudes who claimed to be the warriors of light. It's not much of an edge over FFI, but I just remember the cast of this one a bit more.
11. Final Fantasy II
10. Final Fantasy V
9. Final Fantasy VIII
Seifer is an asshole though, and not in a fun way. Selphie, Zell, and Quistis are pretty bland. Irvine is pretty cool, but compared to the big three I mentioned, he pales in comparison. Ward and Kiros are great though. Julia and Raine have really small parts, but they helped make the Laguna storyline work so well.
This cast is a pretty mixed bag. There's nothing bad in it, but the unremarkable characters pull this down to #9.
8. Final Fantasy XII
However, they're in this story, which is, if I'm being completely honest, Ashe's story. Ashe is my favorite heroine in the series. She has an amazing arc and a great design. Joining her on this trip are Balthier and Fran, who are basically Han Solo and Chewie, if Chewie was a sexy bunny. No legit, I found a comment thread on YouTube where someone asked "Am I the only one who kept Fran in my party all the time to stare at her bunny ass?" and there were like sixty comments agreeing. Weird.
Balthier is great. He's my favorite character in the game. He's smart, dashing, charismatic, and he also has a reason to be in this story, which I won't give away.
Also with them is BASCH FON RONSENBERG OF DALMASCA, who had a lot of potential for a great story arc, but I feel they didn't stick the landing. What they did give him justified his existence in the party.
So I return to Vaan and Penelo. As charming as they are in isolation, when put against Ashe, Balthier, Fran, and Basch, they just have zero reason to be there, but I'm not complaining because Vaan's DPS is insane so there's that.
As for the support and villains, this game does not mess around. Gabranth is an amazing character. Larsa has a great arc. Al-Cid has like 2 scenes but he steals the show for both of them. Judge Ghis and Bergan had one scene each but they were really memorable. Doctor Cid is honestly speaking one of the best villains in the series. Vayne Solidor, however, started out interesting, but I feel he didn't do enough evil acts to justify hating him in the end.
It's a pretty good cast, but I bet if Matsuno stayed, it could have been better.
7. Final Fantasy IV
As for the villains, Golbez is just a memorable villain. His design is great and he provides some really fun boss battles. Zemus/Zeromus is really the weakest link, story-wise, but he makes up for it with an epic final boss fight. Overall, great cast.
6. Final Fantasy X
As much as Tidus annoys me, I have to say among the Final Fantasy leads, his arc is hands down the best. His relationship with Yuna is also one of the best parts of the game. Speaking of Yuna, she's great. The reason Tidus and Yuna work so well as characters, to be perfectly honest, is each other. They just bring out the best in each other, and I can think of no better scene that showcases this than the infamous Tidus laughing scene.
I'd be remiss to not mention the rest of the cast. Auron is my favorite character in this game. He's just the coolest guy ever. His place in the story is also really interesting. Rikku is so fun. I love her to death. Wakka and Lulu are pretty fun too, especially Lulu's snarkiness and Wakka's enthusiasm for Blitzball and Yevon. Even Kimahri gets an arc, even though I think he's the weakest character.
Seymour is a frickin amazing villain. One of the series' best. Seymour's scenes give me chills. Jecht is also a great character with a tragic story that is tied to our main character. It's no surprise a lot of people say FFX has the best story in the series, because it revolves around a cast this good.
5. Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning is just a badass. She spends most of the game trying to defy her fate as a l'Cie and save her sister, Serah. Her fate is intertwined with Serah's fiance, Snow Villiers, who is my favorite character in the game. Snow's scenes with Serah were just the sweetest scenes I've ever seen and it broke me to see them torn apart by fate. Snow's fate is also tied to Hope, who, if I'm being honest, I absolutely detested during the first six chapters. Hope was this annoying, useless party member who was angsty as hell, but along the way, I really started feeling sorry for him until he grew into one of the best party members. Hell, he ended up as my second favorite character in the game.
Sazh also has a tragic story which is tied to Vanille and, I won't give it away, but the climax of their arc is one of the best scenes in Final Fantasy, period. Vanille is also tied to Fang for reasons I won't give away here, but I gotta say, Fang is a certified badass.
The villains are pretty cool too. Cid Raines doesn't get much screentime, but he gets one standout scene. Jihl Nabaat is honestly underutilized, but the scenes where she's in command were amazing. Galenth Dysley is that villain you love to hate, and he also provides three of the best boss fights in the game.
This cast is amazing, and it earns its spot in the top 5.
4. Final Fantasy XV
As for supporting cast, they're all pretty memorable on their own. Cindy and Cid are charming. Aranea is this femme fatale dragoon with an epic boss fight. Cor is just a badass. Iris is just the best. I mean...
And I have to talk for a while about Ardyn.
Ardyn Izunia is just a despicable human being. I have not seen any supplementary material outside of Kingsglaive, but Ardyn is an asshole to the fullest extent. He starts out amicable, and then gradually just turns and turns into this enemy in the purest sense of the word. By the time you reach the end, it will bring you great pleasure to put him down. Ardyn is an amazing villain.
On the flipside, I gotta say I am just disappointed with what they did with Lunafreya. I couldn't care less about her. They had the potential to really hit the player if they just gave Lunafreya more relevance, but *sigh*, what wasted potential.
That's not enough to tank this cast though. This cast is just amazing.
3. Final Fantasy IX
Zidane is just such a fun character, which was a breath of fresh air after two "emo" protagonists in Cloud and Squall. I mean, I love Cloud and Squall, but I was glad Zidane was different when I started up FFIX. Garnet, on the other hand, might actually have my favorite character arc of the entire series. I won't give it away, but Garnet probably goes through the most suffering among all the characters in the series and how she ends up is really satisfying. Steiner is such a fun character, especially with the way he's animated. Vivi is my favorite character in the game. He also has an amazing character arc and the way his arc ends is one of the most poignant moments in the series.
The rest of the lead cast isn't bad either. Eiko, Amarant, Quina, and Freya are not bad characters but Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi's arcs are just so strong that they kinda pale in comparison.
The supporting cast is no pushover either. We have Beatrix, who is one of the best supporting characters in the series IMO. Queen Brahne is one of the most despicable characters in the game, but the way her character is handled was really effective. Garland is a cute reference to FFI. However, the standout in the supporting cast is Kuja. Kuja is just a chilling villain. Kuja probably causes the second most damage to an FF world next to Kefka; that is how dangerous Kuja is. Kuja also has a ridiculously epic boss battle theme.
This is a solid cast with memorable designs and amazing character arcs. If you haven't played this game yet, I highly recommend it.
2. Final Fantasy VII
Umm... Cait Sith sucks.
As for the supporting cast. The Turks and Rufus Shinra are really fun characters. Professor Hojo is a despicable villain. And of course, we have to talk about Sephiroth. He is just a frightening villain throughout. His character design is so distinct that even someone who has never played FFVII could probably recognize him. Also, for many people who started with FFVII, Sephiroth performed one of the most needlessly evil acts in the franchise. It was so brutal that many people consider it the greatest Final Fantasy moment ever. Any villain that has that much of an impact on the player is a great villain.
1. Final Fantasy VI
The supporting cast was, however, set aside to give more spotlight to the large main cast. Emperor Gestahl and General Leo were pretty underwhelming, but this could all be forgiven, because even if they told the story of 11 main cast members, this game was still able to give us one of the best villains in gaming history with Kefka.
The reason I like Kefka more than the other villains is just that he's so fun to watch. You hate him but you love hating him. He is just an asshole, but he's an asshole you can laugh at one second and be completely terrified of the next. He's unpredictable and completely insane.
If you haven't played this game, you are totally missing out.
Anyway, that's my list. Feel free to share yours in the comments. 'Til next time!
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