Your Character's Story Role In a Final Fantasy Game

[Aaron]

Actually after pondering it over I'd like to change mine.

 

Aaron would be that unlockable permanent party member if you do his sidequests, but he'd be a story (if you didn't do the quest) one time only party member who would be unplayable, probably have stats rivaling the PC strongest character due to story hax and was played by the computer.

 

He'd be the character who'd always be the one who just deals with whatever happens and only gets involved (that one time) if its to the point he can't ignore it anymore such as a final boss. Outside that he'd be the one you meet at random intervals who'd tell you information on your destination or goal and then be the "off screen" helper for the most part.

 

When I think about it he'd be more like Vincent Valentine than Squall

[Leggerless]

Elise starts out as a temporary character with much higher stats than your character in the beginning stage of the game, much like Auron in the beginning of FFX.

 

In Disc 2 (of a 3 Disc game), the player may receive a side quest for her to join your party if you can best her in one of two challenges; a battle of wits or a trial by combat. The former goes through a lengthy dialogue while the latter is a fight between her and the hero/heroine.

 

As a party member, Elise uses the abilities of both a Samurai and a Ninja.

[Kaiz]

Kaiz would be Red XIII if anyone could speak his language.

 

Alas they can't so he's more like Gau.

[Ryanti]

Ryanti would probably be the guy that pops up in and out or the storyline either to help you or cut you off. Then fades away again because he is walking a different path than the main party. The main character may have their disagreements with Ryanti, maybe even fight him once, but Ryanti would not be a bad guy. He would just walk his own path, though perhaps he would finally end up joining the party in the second half of the game.

 

 

Or he would be a main supporting character that serves as a primary liason between your sanctuaries/goals and you.

 

I can see Ryanti being a grown up Hope in XIII-2.

[ZoktaiKhor]

Definatly traveling merchant. Zachary qould be at every outpost or small vilalge town with his wares. He might also have a quest where he's a temporary party member as summoner class.

[Martiallais]

I'm actually not sure where Martiallais would fall, somewhere between party diplomat and the shining knight/paladin type tank. He's the good character who actually IS as good a person as they portray with a few mandatory secrets. And if recent RP is any indication, he also serves as the occasional listening ear to the main character, offering sage advice.

 

Aedan is without a doubt the big brother/teddy bear bruiser of the party. He joins up with the group early on and will stick with them through the entire game. He serves as the one who never lets the party's spirit fall, despite how dark things seem. Eternal optimist with a big persona and big axe, he could become a fan favorite.

[Andromeda]

Iris would probably be a Blue Mage or a Summoner who is a temporary party member, maybe a secret recruitable character? I see her as being an expert on a topic the party needs to turn to for assistance with a very Quistis-like educated and prim personality. If a Summoner, she would have some of the less common FF summons like Griever, Madeen and Valefor. If a Blue Mage she'd probably come with White Wind and Thousand Needle. 

If not a party member, Iris would be a shopkeeper most likely, but again one the party must turn to as she's an expert on a given topic. She also would be the character to explain the game's item creation system and would give the player access to a Synth Shop. If the game follows a traditional Limit system, Iris' would be Rikku's Mix entitled Rapid Synth.

 

Beatrix herself was loosely inspired by Beatrix from FF9, so she'd be a Paladin with a few more White Mage abilities. Based on the adaptations I've made to the character to fit my purposes, Bea would be a roaming knight who likely would need to be recruited by defeating her in battle multiple times. Her reason for joining the party will be similar to Amarnt or Red XIII in that it's not really all that clear-cut. In a traditional Limit system hers would be a move that deals moderate damage to all enemies and gives other allies Protect called Astral Cross.

[Rathen_Iriq]

Rathen would fill a deus ex machina role, offering the main party a chance to escape on the back of his Chocobos that he breeds. Naturally he would be joining the party after since doing this puts him in bad with whoever/whatever is chasing the party. In all honesty, it works out well because he was getting bored of that place anyway, and now we all have Chocochickens!

 

Aside from that, he fits a very neutral role, following the party not because it's the 'right thing to do', but mostly because it gives him something interesting to do... for now (and he can keep on eye on his kwehing/warking buddies and make sure they're not being treated unfairly). 

 

If we're talking about some of the newer RPGs that give morality and romance options... maybe the main character's interactions with him can point his moral compass north or south, but it would take a lot of that campfire talk time to do so. He is a brawler, preferring to get up close and personal when fighting, eschewing weapons for his fists, knees, elbows, feet, head, etc. He'll follow the party into a fight if it comes down to it, but isn't going to try to force a fight when there are other options available. He would be a romance option if certain criteria were met.

 

For the bonus questions, his role sorta fills Cid from 7 with the deus ex machina escape mechanism, and he would fit the classic Black Belt job.

[Xehna]

Xehn'a would most definitely /think/ he was the main character. He would fill the role of the rabbit's foot basically. A character that is far more lucky than his distracted sensibilities would lead on.

 

He would be the side character that comes into the part seemingly on a whim, and just sticks around because it seems fun. However, behind the scenes, it turns out he is far more connected to the overall whole than he leads on.

 

He pretends to hog the spotlight while at the same time completely keeping his involvement in the story a secret until the actual main character finds out and there is a big emotional tiff of some sort... But they come out of it better people.

 

Basically, he's just they guy whose there, and no one knows quite why. But he brings a smile to their face none the less.

 

Similar characters from Earlier FF games: Setzer, Balthier, Edward

[Marisa]

Okay, so imagine you've got this random NPC who thinks she's the main character. You come across her in town, sometimes out in the field, and she's always doing something ranging between slightly off, to downright stupid. She regards you as a colleague, despite the fact that she's accomplished nothing and you're the goddamn warrior of light. But whatever, you don't have time for this silliness. So you carve your way through some hellish dungeon, and defeat the big ol' dragon at the end. As you're standing over its bloody corpse, admiring your work, Marisa hops across the room behind you, picks up some object of no measurable value, and starts singing the victory fanfare to herself. "Buh-buh-buh-bah dah-dum doo-do-doo!" she proclaims, holding whatever trash she's found above her head for all to see. She hops away with her prize, quite possibly not even noticing you or the behemoth you've just slain. 

 

This will happen in every. single. dungeon. She won't show up after the final boss because, y'know, don't wanna kill the mood, but if you watch to the end of the credits, there's a hidden cutscene where she finds the Ancient Relic of Infinite Power that you stopped the bad guy from using, and proceeds to wear it as a hat.

[Lavi Levlavi]

My character would be a friend of the main heroine, or perhaps one of the other party members.  Not the main character though, unless perhaps the main character was female like Lighting or Terra.

 

She would be really supportive of their goal, but then sulk once they'd left her behind, and be incredibly happy when they came back to see her.  She'd have a sidequest at somepoint where you'd have to bring some tasty dessert she'd always dreamed of eating.  If shes part of a larger supporting cast, something like the Tantalus peeps in 9, she would probably be the object of good natured jokes about her weight.

[-no longer matters-]

Dinah would be that silly member you grow to trust and love that ends up actually being a traitor. Killing another party member you've grown to love.

[ZoktaiKhor]

Zachary Would literally be the "Adventurer" from The 4 heroes of light , and bravely defualt. Always at your side letting you save and selling you important items. (secretly the post game super secret final bosses of bosses with obscene attacks.

[Zelmanov]

There is no coincidence that Orrin is a Dragoon, and much like his job, he'd fit the stereotype to a T when it comes to Dragoons of the past, fitting in along side Cid, Fang and Kain, or Kimarhi.

 

That means that he'll be a party member, you acquire him naturally, how quickly depends on the story being told. He would have his own backstory and motivated for his own reasons more so than because the typical "Friendship and love" espoused by the main character. He would have an elongated optional back story sidequest akin to Yuffie.

 

He would end up being part of the final party composition in older games like FFVII and FFIV  At the end of the game and most likely he'd be useful enough that if you are playing a game like FFX or FFXIII that you wouldn't have him disappear and feel obligated to keep him (Like Auron or Yuna). However, he may leave or be separated at times for personal goals.

 

 

I feel this position fits the best due to what I call "Jack Sparrow Syndrome" essentially, Orrin is good in small doses, he's a character that works well when the plot doesn't exactly focus on him moving things forward, so he gets to do whatever awesome thing he wants. Chaining him with "main character" responsibilities slows him down and makes him less engaging because he doesn't have much room for growth for your typical FF game, he's 30 and skilled and currently possesses a mindset that I think will be the one he will carry to his grave. Need a damn young whippersnapper to do things.

 

Some "out of FF" flavor would come from aspects akin to Wrex in Mass Effect, where player action/inaction may force a conflict or fight to kill/keep him in the party

[Volk]

I see Edelweiss as the "disc 1" villain that you hate to like. Is she the real villain ? No !!! She is not ideologically invested with the bad people. She is a thorn in your side that you will eventually work out. Who knows ? She may even turn into someone you would hardly call ally but share a common enemy or interest with by the end of the game.

 

The best example I could give would be the Turks from FFVII (sorry ! i have only really played like 3 FF games so maybe there is a better example) - they are just silly rivals squabbling with the protagonist, not true enemies.

[FreelanceWizard]

L'yhta is a minor NPC that randomly shows up in a town's tavern. You don't have to talk to her, but if you do, she offers some advice on where you currently are -- nearby monsters, treasures, and so on -- a hint about how to progress the plot, and a hint about where to find the nearby optional side boss. Should you happen to kill one of those optional side bosses, she'll take the item it drops from you in exchange for some supposedly incredible item that, while awesome at the time, is ultimately just used with the Throw command on the final boss because the last dungeon has something marginally better (yes, I'm still bitter about Excalibur in FFIV ).

 

So, she's basically half Kokkol/Smyth/Watts and half random adventurer NPC.

[CleverBlitz]

Striding Wolf...he's the party member with the strong personality that people might look to for level-headed (or occasionally hot-headed) advice or other guidance.  He's not the main character because his past and personality are not complicated or mysterious enough, but he has enough of his own story that he could have been a minor boss in the beginning of the game, perhaps hired to kill the main character for a good amount of gil, who ends up joining the party because he respects the people involved and wants to see what happens.

[Kellach Woods]

L'yhta is a minor NPC that randomly shows up in a town's tavern. You don't have to talk to her, but if you do, she offers some advice on where you currently are -- nearby monsters, treasures, and so on -- a hint about how to progress the plot, and a hint about where to find the nearby optional side boss. Should you happen to kill one of those optional side bosses, she'll take the item it drops from you in exchange for some supposedly incredible item that, while awesome at the time, is ultimately just used with the Throw command on the final boss because the last dungeon has something marginally better (yes, I'm still bitter about Excalibur in FFIV ).

 

So, she's basically half Kokkol/Smyth/Watts and half random adventurer NPC.

Rather, the sword you dupe in the step route for any% no-64 in order to throw multiples of it. (Prior to step route, you'd use blood lance)

[FallenFedora]

Stroud would be a well spoken and charismatic influence on the party, likely driving the needlessly complicated plot (Don't deny it SE. It's your gimmick.) He would often provide critical or key information - but only at times it was immediately required. He would be a powerhouse with a high leveling curve encouraging players to use him - only to do a 180 towards the end, leave the party - snatching whatever plot specific object it was the party was seeking to avert some catastrophe just to cause it himself - and ending up as a three phase boss fight.... Where it would be revealed that he was only the penultimate boss paving the way for the final boss that you've never even seen or heard of. :dazed: (SQUARE!!!!)

[Meishali]

The Bard. A mysterious side companion you get really early on in game to introduce the "healer" role, with minor healing/buff spells and maybe an esuna. She does shit damage, but has really good character banter during cutscenes. As the game's story unfolds, she's probably going to reveal herself as some kind of royalty or nobility not wishing to go back to their kingdom, but they'll do it anyway. For the greater good. Not that it matters much, because you stopped playing with her when she reached level 23.

 

See: 

 

 

 

 

Although seen/or mentioned again through disc 2 and disc 3 in minor roles, if you really want her back as a Red Mage, you can do a super secret side-quest come disc 4. Getting her to level is hard af, but come level 60+, she basically is one of the most OP chars in the static. People get really annoyed when she is praised on forums, because most people don't even bother level her or fetch her in said mini sidequest.

 

She will probably be the character that saves you from the side Ultima boss fight. She'll survive with 1pv because of a secret item preventing one-shots, cast a shit attack, do a critical, and kill the game's hardest boss you've been on for hours just like that.

 

 

Nice thread, OP.

[Steel Wolf]

Steel would be like the bard in FF IV, except a Dark Knight. But with the same levels of ineptitude.

[Thimble Fire]

Retired parent that keeps his kids and family (FC) happy by giving life lectures and occasionally helping them with making stuff.

[Lost River]

Lost River would be an optional boss fight as Lady Blackheart; and if completed she could be recruit-able after a series of other fights.

 

Possibly a hybrid mix of a Black Mage and some sort of Melee component as far as class would go.