What Motivates Them?

March 28, 2008, 11:49 PM

Which heroes and villains in Final Fantasy had the best reasons for doing what they were doing?

There were simple explanations on both side ie. I'm the good guy so I'll save the day and I'm the bad guy so I'll destroy the day. But then there were more well-explaiend reasons such as Kuja's quest for liberation, Cloud's quest to discover who he really was and to sever the physical and mental tie between him and Sephiroth, etc..

What do you all think?

March 28, 2008, 11:58 PM

Well Vayne wanted to break free from the tyranny of the Gods, saying that humanity's history was ever manipulated by the ancients. Though he let things get off hand, and also he was being guided by an Ocurria as well, Venath.

March 29, 2008, 1:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julius Argexis

Well Vayne wanted to break free from the tyranny of the Gods, saying that humanity's history was ever manipulated by the ancients. Though he let things get off hand, and also he was being guided by an Ocurria as well, Venath.

I have to agree with this, myself.

My Character Profiles · March 29, 2008, 3:58 AM

Can we just start anywhere...with any hero or villain?

I would like to input that one Hero(ine) that I thought had a lot of motivation was Celes. I haven't played the game many times, but she was driven to find the truth, to find reason, and even to find "herself". She was pretty driven as a heroine. ^.^

It's kind of hard to just pick random Heroes and Villains... I wish I knew where to start. X__x

March 29, 2008, 6:07 AM

Heroes are almost always just reacting to the antagonist's actions.

Like booger said about celes she was trying to find the truth.
The heroes may have other goals, but what they are really trying to do is to stop the villain.

And as for villains, normally they want to take over/destroy the world, normally what they want varies slightly.
Vayne however is an exception, he is more of an anti-hero than a villain though in my opinion.

But the thing with villains, is they are somewhat limited, in order for the game to have a point, they have to want to destroy things, thus giving our hero a reason to stop them

March 29, 2008, 8:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julius Argexis

Well Vayne wanted to break free from the tyranny of the Gods, saying that humanity's history was ever manipulated by the ancients. Though he let things get off hand, and also he was being guided by an Ocurria as well, Venath.

And Vayne's goal was much more admirable than Ashe's too, pissed me off you had to help the ungrateful skank

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sgt Pepper

Like boober said about celes she was trying to find the truth.
The heroes may have other goals, but what they are really trying to do is to stop the villain.

I'm guessing that was a typo, but I lol'd nonetheless. So um, back into discussion...I always liked Zidane's motivation. There wasn't any of that cliche badass hero stuff going on, he just wanted to help his friends. In the process he started to find out clues about his and Gaia's past, so that only strengthened his resolve. Of course at the very end you had the "i r savin teh werld!" stuff, but that was to be expected after Kuja's change of plans.

March 29, 2008, 4:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carnage

And Vayne's goal was much more admirable than Ashe's too, pissed me off you had to help the ungrateful skank

Yes, Ashe didn't even knew how to rule a kingdom properly, while Vayne was like the perfect ruler of Archadia. Vayne's philosophy was somewhat like "the ends justify the means", hence why he took actions, even against anyone who stood in his way.

Illuminated by an Ocurria itself, Vayne knew that humanity was never truly free, that they were eternally bound to the chains the Ocurria had created in order to control the world. The Ocurria were the true villains of the game, not Vayne. Vayne was just, as stated above, an opposing force defending his own beliefs, just like the hero party. Ashe was just motivated by revenge and hatred against the empire that murdered King Raminas, her father. Vayne only seeks freedom, to be the true Dynast King. Ashe was always doubting, while Vayne had his mine set on a goal from the very start.

Vayne Solidor: "I bid you welcome to my sky fortress, the Bahamut. I must apologize for my delay in welcoming you aboard my ship. Permit me to ask: who are you? An angel of vengeance? Or perchance a saint of salvation?"

Ashe: "I am simply myself, no more and no less, and I want, only to be free."

Vayne Solidor: "Such a woman is not fit to bear the burden of rule. Weep for Dalmasca, for she is lost. Observe well, Larsa. Watch and mark you the suffering of one who must rule, yet lacks the power."

The battle goes on, but Vayne clearly states his position during the battle with the following quotes:

Vayne Solidor: "Your lives are forfeit, and your insurgence with them. Dalmasca will again know order. For good and all I shall bring your futile attempts at rebellion to an end."

Also Bergan supports Vayne's point of view during his battle against the party:"A fitting blade for a true Dynast-King! Raithwall did but pretend the title... a cur begging Nethicite scraps from his Master's table! Hark! Ivalice hails her true Dynast-King, Vayne Solidor! He shall defy the will of the Godssee the reins of history back in the hands of Man and ! His time is Nigh! The new Ivalice holds no place for the name Dalmasca."

One way or the other, though Ashe was defending Dalmasca, she was also playing as the puppet of the gods. Even after his defeat, Vayne had succeeded to complete his mission: to cut down the chains that bounded the humans to the Ocurria, and to give the history back to human hands. He didn't lose, for he served his purpose.

March 29, 2008, 4:54 PM

Yeah, Vayne is a great villain/anti-hero. But I just have one question on my mind. Why was he trying to attack Rabanastre? At the beginning of the game, after Vayne's speech, the rabanastrans were cheering for him, then at the end he attacks Rabanastre.
Why did he attack Rabanastre, when the people of that city gave respect to him?

March 29, 2008, 5:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danijel

Yeah, Vayne is a great villain/anti-hero. But I just have one question on my mind. Why was he trying to attack Rabanastre? At the beginning of the game, after Vayne's speech, the rabanastrans were cheering for him, then at the end he attacks Rabanastre.
Why did he attack Rabanastre, when the people of that city gave respect to him?

The city was not his target, even though he knew part of the resitance was fueled by the hopes of rabanastrans. Seeing no other choice than to cut the resistance down from within its roots, Vayne opted to crush the Resistance once and for all, and what better battlefield than the skies of Rabanastre, a way to show his power and teach them all that no one could escape his rule.

Vayne's attack was not directed at the city, but at the resistance itself. As he stated when he was talking to Larsa and defending his reasons to attack which can be seen in the following quotes:

Larsa: "Why this?"

Vayne: "Once they see there can be no surrender, the resistance must come at us with all they have. We will attack head on and destroy them, before the eyes of all Rabanastre."

Vayne clearly wanted to make Rabanastre another of his territories, a simple addition to his giant chessboard in which he moves his pawns to accomplish his goals. Of course, when the "heroes" attacked the Bahamut, the flying fortress was losing control, thus bound to fall on the city. The Bahamut was never meant to crush Rabanastre, but since it was flying above the city, it was logical to think it would fall on it if the sky fortress was taken down.