FF Little Kid Characters

[Miko]

From FFIV's Palom & Porom to Final Fantasy IX's Eiko, I just.... hate the little kid characters.

SO. OBNOXIOUS.


Ahem. But seriously, I've got a major bone to pick with nearly all of the significantly younger characters to join you on your mission to save the world. I feel like a lot of younger aged characters, even outside of Final Fantasy, often are portrayed by disobedient, bratty and/or sassy character personalities. And while I agree that not every 'little kid' in the Final Fantasy (or otherwise) series was terrible (I actually like FF5's Krile) I can't help but find serious annoyance with a few others.

I think Eiko particularly stands out to me, FFIX being a favorite of mine, but no doubt she has a huge personality that really comes at you. I think if I was in the same room as someone like her I'd have some serious eye-rolling going on. I also just finished up FFVI's story - and Relm in particular disobeys her Grandpa's wishes and follows after the party, causing a bit of a scene despite being nearly burnt to a crisp just a day/hours prior!

When will the children learn their lessons?!


I promise I do like kids (I'm a good okay mom!) but I do have a particular distaste for these kinds of characters. I'm curious to know if anyone else cringes when these kinds of kids come on screen or if you disagree with me and don't find them a bother at all! Or maybe the good kids just outweigh the bad. After all Vivi was a pretty nice kid! Do any other kids stand out to you? Lemme know!



Also, I think we can all at least agree that Marlene is way too young to be running that bar.

 

[Dionysos]

Interesting topic! I've not really considered the theme of kids in FF before outside of considering characters individually.

As you say, Krile and Vivi stand out as well-behaved kids who aren't irritating.

But even some of the bossy and loud kids have interesting stories to tell (Relm and Eiko in particular).
I have no issues with Marlene either. Her guardians probably have a lot to answer for by leaving her in charge of a bar! But that aside, the kid is incredible and deals with life so much better than most adults.
Barret's relationship with her is moving and pure and I look forward to its depiction in the Remake.

I can't think of many other examples of kids right now...

But recently in fiction in general there has been an increase in the hero travels with a kid trope. Usually a reluctant father figure and a kid and over the course of their journey they come to an understanding and bond and the kid becomes badass. Logan, The Last of Us, Punisher season 2, and many other examples of note but these spring to mind immediately.

So I wonder if FF would ever tell a tale like that in the future. There would be interesting character development in the kids with that.

 

[Ilyena]

I did find Eiko rather annoying personality-wise though I liked her trance better than Dagger's. I often wonder why the heroes are traipsing all over the world with little kids also since it's pretty dangerous. Palom and Porom were supposed to be around 9, I think and the elder just sends them off with you without thinking twice. "Here, take these two mages in training. What could go wrong?" Rydia was at least understandable.

Though I will say, all of them handled themselves better than Rinoa, whom you had to rescue approximately every five seconds. And, yes, leaving a four year old in charge of a bar is a terrible idea.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

But recently in fiction in general there has been an increase in the hero travels with a kid trope. Usually a reluctant father figure and a kid and over the course of their journey they come to an understanding and bond and the kid becomes badass. Logan, The Last of Us, Punisher season 2, and many other examples of note but these spring to mind immediately.

A great example of this is the film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, by Taika Waititi. Sam Neill (of Jurassic Park fame) plays the reluctant father figure to Julian Dennison (Firefist in Deadpool 2! Brilliant actor.) and it's such a heartwarming, sad, and funny film without all the gore and action of the examples you noted. Highly recommend giving it a watch!

Back on topic though, this hasn't been one of those things I found all that irritating to be honest. If anything, I found these characters quite quirky and charming, even if the idea of them tagging along on a quest to save the world to be kinda unrealistic. But then, it's Final Fantasy, so that kind of disregard for logic is fine. I might find some of them irritating if I met them in real life, but in the game they've made for incredibly useful party members for the most part.

I think I vaguely remember finding Hope from XIII to be really irritating, but there was a lot about that game that irritated me as well and I really don't remember much of it at all now because it's been a good few years since I played it.

As for Marlene running the Seventh Heaven while her dad is off fighting Shinra. I'm interested in seeing how they address that in the remake. Will there be a nanny involved? I'd actually like that particular father/daughter relationship to be explored much deeper in this game.

 

[Starships]

Some of them I don't mind. The Twins in FFIV are very annoying. Krile is alright, it's cute how she seems to be able to form a deep relationship and connection with animals and I find her having a strong relationship with her Grandfather very relatable.

Relm is a mixture of both, she can be hilarious sometimes, but also sometimes too annoying to handle. Same with Eiko.

The only ones I really hate and cannot stand though, are the twins. The rest are tolerable most of the time.


If Square Enix really wants to aim a gun at the Final Fantasy series and just quickly kill it, they should make all the main cast under the age of 15

 

[MachinaPrince]

Although I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy XIII, Dajh is my favorite child to appear to in a Final Fantasy game and I feel the least annoying kid in the series. It's just a pity he didn't age up in the sequel. Would've been interesting to see a slightly older version of him.

Other kids in the series who I found really cool were Relm from FF6 and Vivi from Final Fantasy IX. Especially Vivi who I always had in my party, he didn't only have awesome character development but I also feel he's one of the best characters in the game behind Zidane.

 

[Dionysos]

Although I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy XIII, Dajh is my favorite child to appear to in a Final Fantasy game and I feel the least annoying kid in the series. It's just a pity he didn't age up in the sequel. Would've been interesting to see a slightly older version of him.

I'm sad to say that I forgot about Dajh completely! Maybe because he's not a party member and mostly appears in flashbacks.

But you're right. Dajh is quite a believable character, I felt. He seemed like an actual kid instead of a 'fantasy kid'. He behaved like a child might behave in certain circumstances and wasn't too old before his time or anything. That's what I remember of him at least, though it has been many years since I played the game.

It does make me wonder what happened to Dajh after FFXIII. To my knowledge he doesn't appear much in either of the sequels (though I confess I have not played Lightning Returns yet). I would have loved to have seen more of him.