Which Final Fantasy character can you most relate to?

Mister Goober

Mister Goober

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Which Final Fantasy character can you most relate to and WHY?

Mine is Squall.

... Because his girlfriend is beautiful and he was initially anti-social. I myself was anti-social until I discovered beautiful girls.

And I kid you not. I don't know if this is some kind of Freudian-Jungian psychosexual whatever but... For some reason, after playing FF8 in childhood, I had this unusually powerful urge to become a leader in all aspects of life. At the workplace, in sports, in social settings, and in school. And then, when I finally bought my own laptop and started replaying FF8, I found the parallel between Squall becoming a leader and the whole story of my damn life up until that point. It was almost creepy and definitely fascinating.
 
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Great thread! I’m not sure myself about who I can relate to.

I’m not convinced there exists a Final Fantasy character (or any character for that matter) who truly fits me.
Maybe once I was like Kimahri in that I hardly said a word and when people forced me to smile it was very awkward. Or maybe like Squall (but without the ‘whatever’ attitude).

I now talk a lot more than I used to but some of the shyness and the embarrassment of being me still lives inside. I’m not sure if many characters are like that.
People like me tend to get killed off, I fear! :argor:

Maybe with my love of researching stuff I might be a bit like Urianger. Trying to figure things out, seeing connections between things, looking up where I've seen ideas before, etc. But that’s about all with that comparison. I didn’t think I’d ever say I have things in common with Urianger until a minute ago. Wow.

Although I'm quite different in character, perhaps the characters I can relate to the most are the ones which have a dose of humility to them. I don't have much in common with characters who believe themselves to be the best at everything. That said, I love characters that are like that if they are written well.


I'll have to give this some thought. I'm sure I'm overlooking a character who has impacted me greatly and I see myself in them but cannot for some reason recall them at this moment.
 
At most I can identify certain traits and aspects of a character and relate to them, but to me there isn't a single character I can think of who embodies enough of my personality or life experience so as to be sufficiently relatable. For instance, part of Prompto's backstory is dealing with his own insecurity and his worth so as to be what he considers to be a worthy enough friend to Noctis and crew, and ultimately part of his learning experience is he needn't wallow in that insecurity and fear of being inadequate, as Noctis is happy to be friends with the person he is. There's an aspect of that I can relate to when I think about my early teen years. Like many, I frantically wanted to feel accepted amongst peers but was gripped with mini anxiety about whether I was cut out for the cliques I wanted to be in or around. But that's the extent of it - I can't actually relate with the rest of Prompto's life and experiences.

To make a broad statement, I consider Final Fantasy characters to be by and large difficult to relate to on a human level. They're generally not that deep, or underdeveloped, or have life experiences utterly alien to that of the player behind the screen, or fall into a set of awful anime archetypes as a result of substandard writing. To repeat a point I made on Discord, I can definitely see how someone may initially relate to a character like Seymour Guado. Seymour's backstory is essentially a traumatic one of racial prejudice, abuse and being exiled by a closed and bigoted society. To be ostracised and abused on the basis of your race/ethnicity/culture is unfortunately much too commonplace these days, and insufficiently addressed, if at all. In another genre and with more sophisticated writing, a character like Seymour could find his full potential as a scarily prescient analogue of real life victims of systematic racism, but as this is Final Fantasy, he's relegated to a madman with a messiah complex hellbent on inviting global genocide.
 
I agree with the others - It's hard to find one sole character that I can closely identify with, but there are small relatable things that I can relate to for different situations in different characters. Especially through various stages of life, or even different settings such as at home (relaxed), work (quiet & reserved) or online (pending word :wacky:). FFIX is a particular favorite game of mine, and while Zidane is my favorite character and I can relate to some of his character development I can't say I can relate to his extroverted personality or his flirtatious ways with the beautiful babes :8F:



That said, if I had to choose, then maybe the closest character I could possibly relate and identify with is Nida from FFVIII.

Don't remember who Nida? Don't worry, no one ever remembers people like us. :lew:

Nidaking.jpg

NidaRan.jpg
NidaQueen.jpg
 
"I re-lay-ute 2 squal cuz im n emo n he is 2" - Paddy McGee

This was linked over on the FFF Discord by Dionysos and I said I'd reply so here I am! To address blunt: I don't _really_ relate to any of them past some rather shallow levels; I identify with Tidus and the clear lack of a father figure, but only so far as not having one around as a kid (and the pain you feel when they're gone), but I certainly don't identify with anything else in him.

This isn't related to simply Final Fantasy characters but rather the video game back catalogue itself; I find characters in the majority of video games (I've played, of course) rather shallowly developed. Protagonists always leave _something_ rather open so that people can connect and self insert themselves into their narrative, or they fit into a wide array of (focus grouped) appealing clichés or fads - outside of FF, I found Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima the most every-man "shallow appeal to everyone" character I've played in a while.

For me, many Final Fantasy characters sacrifice development to contribute to the plot - you might get _some_ sort of mini section of a game where "Character X" has a spotlight shown on themselves and it forms the crux of their character (Hope/Snow/Hope's mom in FF XIII is the first example that came to mind, the game haunts my mind like the most persistent ghost). However, these moments are tied up in a nice little bundle and pushed aside, at one point or another, to allow for the primary story to continue. This doesn't mean the characters are _bad_; I find most characters in Final Fantasy are iconic, remarkable, easy to remember; most fit a niche group - but that's doesn't mean they're relatable at a deep level.

Part of this stems from their reactions to situations encountered or dedications in life - most of it needs to give a certain result to prove more game content for people to play. That being said, I think many of the newer games from Naughty Dog have gotten the closest to this - Nathan Drake, Joel, Ellie are relatable characters... up until the ludo-narrative dissonance of Nathan Drake killing swathes of people.But yeah; I don't find game characters relatable so much as I find them enjoyable.

That's just how I see it.
 
Linnaete said:
To make a broad statement, I consider Final Fantasy characters to be by and large difficult to relate to on a human level. They're generally not that deep, or underdeveloped, or have life experiences utterly alien to that of the player behind the screen, or fall into a set of awful anime archetypes as a result of substandard writing.
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Couldn't have said it better myself. 😌🙏 I think that might be why I've always struggled to get into the Final Fantasy series, or maybe it's just because I've never really been much of a gamer to begin with...IDK. The only thing that has ever truly sparked my interest about the FF series is the music, tbh 😅

But nevertheless, I had a blast playing FF7 Remake, which is why Aerith is my new personal favorite video game character. I always thought she was too quaint and "motherly" in the original FF7; thus, I definitely prefer her Remake form over her OG form. They really got everything right with her, IMO ☺
 
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I think there are characters that are well-written, just not ‘realistic’. But this is fantasy so that in itself isn't something I would hold against a Final Fantasy character. Final Fantasy often dives into themes with their characters (Red XIII/Nanaki deals with the themes of animal endangerment and the displacement/disruption of Native Americans, Vivi deals with the theme of life and living, Terra's story deals with learning how to feel and care about people and so on). Sometimes that can be a bit reductive and generic, or only leave a few traces of something grand and don’t let us spend longer with them, but sometimes they do a relatively good job with it.

When it comes to books vs games, books do offer a clearer sense of the psychology and inner-thoughts of characters. This can sometimes be critical in letting us in and truly getting to know them as people, and therefore relating to them better.

In a game we only see what the game shows to us, which means we only see what they say while the player is present. Only in rarer occasions do we get to experience their thoughts, and then usually it would be dialogue boxes or quick comments and not a full, detailed description. We’d need a journal or something for that.

As Paddy McGee says, quite often we do get character development and side stories, but they are dealt with in short chapters/sections and then pushed to the sidelines again. I love the stories we see and these little moments are very memorable to me (Red XIII at Cosmo Canyon, for example, is a beautiful story) but I would be lying if I didn’t desire a more consistent presence for some of these characters. In the case of FFVII, I believe we are seeing more of that in the Remake.

But to be able to experience a deeper connection with characters we really need to hang out with them for longer, or access their minds. That can be difficult in a game.

I'd still say that Final Fantasy does a much better job than most games though. It'll always be imperfect, but that's where the imagination kicks in and continues the story.
 
Dionysos said:
Maybe with my love of researching stuff I might be a bit like Urianger. Trying to figure things out, seeing connections between things, looking up where I've seen ideas before, etc. But that’s about all with that comparison. I didn’t think I’d ever say I have things in common with Urianger until a minute ago. Wow.
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You play FF14 then?

I feel more like a Magnai Oronir. The arrogance, the grandeur, and the strength.
Except that Magnai turned into a comic relief when Y'shtola rejected his romantic advances.
 
Linnaete said:
At most I can identify certain traits and aspects of a character and relate to them, but to me there isn't a single character I can think of who embodies enough of my personality or life experience so as to be sufficiently relatable. For instance, part of Prompto's backstory is dealing with his own insecurity and his worth so as to be what he considers to be a worthy enough friend to Noctis and crew, and ultimately part of his learning experience is he needn't wallow in that insecurity and fear of being inadequate, as Noctis is happy to be friends with the person he is. There's an aspect of that I can relate to when I think about my early teen years. Like many, I frantically wanted to feel accepted amongst peers but was gripped with mini anxiety about whether I was cut out for the cliques I wanted to be in or around. But that's the extent of it - I can't actually relate with the rest of Prompto's life and experiences.

To make a broad statement, I consider Final Fantasy characters to be by and large difficult to relate to on a human level. They're generally not that deep, or underdeveloped, or have life experiences utterly alien to that of the player behind the screen, or fall into a set of awful anime archetypes as a result of substandard writing. To repeat a point I made on Discord, I can definitely see how someone may initially relate to a character like Seymour Guado. Seymour's backstory is essentially a traumatic one of racial prejudice, abuse and being exiled by a closed and bigoted society. To be ostracised and abused on the basis of your race/ethnicity/culture is unfortunately much too commonplace these days, and insufficiently addressed, if at all. In another genre and with more sophisticated writing, a character like Seymour could find his full potential as a scarily prescient analogue of real life victims of systematic racism, but as this is Final Fantasy, he's relegated to a madman with a messiah complex hellbent on inviting global genocide.
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Honestly I don't think I can agree with you with your assertion that Final Fantasy characters are NOT deep and/or are not written well. Perhaps it's a bit unfair to give this particular example since he came from a game that is LIGHTYEARS ahead in the timeline of the old school FF games, but I'd have to give the example of Emet-Selch in FF14. And to those who finished Shadowbringers, they will tell you that Emet-Selch is one of the best villains ever in all of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series.
 
Miĸo said:
I agree with the others - It's hard to find one sole character that I can closely identify with, but there are small relatable things that I can relate to for different situations in different characters. Especially through various stages of life, or even different settings such as at home (relaxed), work (quiet & reserved) or online (pending word :wacky:). FFIX is a particular favorite game of mine, and while Zidane is my favorite character and I can relate to some of his character development I can't say I can relate to his extroverted personality or his flirtatious ways with the beautiful babes :8F:



That said, if I had to choose, then maybe the closest character I could possibly relate and identify with is Nida from FFVIII.

Don't remember who Nida? Don't worry, no one ever remembers people like us. :lew:

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Miko, with you with your Nida thing, I'm the exact opposite of you.

Trust me. In most situations, being a Miko/Nida is a far less stressful life and a far more relaxing life than being the oddball of every situation. :awesome:
 
Paddy McGee said:
I don't _really_ relate to any of them past some rather shallow levels; I identify with Tidus and the clear lack of a father figure, but only so far as not having one around as a kid
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I actually don't believe you. I truly believe that you 100% relate to Squall and 100% relate to Tidus because you're an emo kid who didn't have a father. HAHAHA.

I'm kidding.

On a serious note, I do understand when you said that video game characters in general are not as well-developed. But for the standard of mere video games, a lot of them really truly are.
 
Interlude65 said:
Couldn't have said it better myself. 😌🙏 I think that might be why I've always struggled to get into the Final Fantasy series, or maybe it's just because I've never really been much of a gamer to begin with...IDK. The only thing that has ever truly sparked my interest about the FF series is the music, tbh 😅

But nevertheless, I had a blast playing FF7 Remake, which is why Aerith is my new personal favorite video game character. I always thought she was too quaint and "motherly" in the original FF7; thus, I definitely prefer her Remake form over her OG form. They really got everything right with her, IMO ☺

And as far as relatability is concerned, I think I'll have to go with Yuna because, despite my somewhat mixed feelings about her as a character, I could always identify with her mostly quiet and reserved nature, coupled with the fact that she tends to be a bit of a naive goody-two-shoes, and how she can be either quite charming and likeable at times, or off-puttingly cold and affectless otherwise, much like myself, so I'll leave it at that :-)
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How similar is Aerith to Yuna? I've never played FF7 yet at all, both the original and the remake. But I've played FF10.

Aerith your favorite game character? Is it because she's Cloud's romantic interest? And are you sure you're being able to relate to Yuna because of her reserved nature, or you just have the hots for Tidus. :grin:

Hah. Sorry. I couldn't help it. :ohoho:
 
Mister Goober said:
You play FF14 then?

I feel more like a Magnai Oronir. The arrogance, the grandeur, and the strength.
Except that Magnai turned into a comic relief when Y'shtola rejected his romantic advances.
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Yeah. I'm on Lamia (Primal).

I loved my time in the steppe. They definitely played Magnai for comic relief by that point later on, true. I'm not against comic relief, however, so it still worked for me. Y'shtola won that round, I'd say!.

I definitely agree with your point to Linnaete about Emet-Selch too. I played Shadowbringers this year and he swiftly became amongst my top three Final Fantasy villains. Like him or hate him, there's certainly a lot to discuss about him (either his motivations and the moral questions or the themes and mythological lore from our world which Square Enix have adapted and reshaped for him).
He made me actually start paying attention to both the Ascians and the Garleans. Before I had just written off the former as generic, ambiguous shadowy figures and the latter as a generic evil empire. Now I can see something which is much deeper and fascinating to me.
 
Mister Goober said:
How similar is Aerith to Yuna? I've never played FF7 yet at all, both the original and the remake. But I've played FF10.

Aerith your favorite game character? Is it because she's Cloud's romantic interest? And are you sure you're being able to relate to Yuna because of her reserved nature, or you just have the hots for Tidus. :grin:

Hah. Sorry. I couldn't help it. :ohoho:
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I'm actually a straight male, by the way. Which means that I have NO hots for Tight-ass at all...his and Yuna's relationship always makes me seethe with quiet resentment, especially considering how much of an insufferable dork he can be at times, but I digress.

Anyhow, I luv Aerith because of how sweet and good she is...not to mention she's just plain adorable, too. ☺ And, unlike Tidus and Yuna's relationship, I find Aerith and Cloud's relationship to be totally NOT insufferable in any way, shape, or form.

And I must add that I also have the hots for Tifa, because...well, who DOESN'T have the hots for her, if I'm being honest? 😅
 
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Mister Goober said:
I actually don't believe you. I truly believe that you 100% relate to Squall and 100% relate to Tidus because you're an emo kid who didn't have a father. HAHAHA.

I'm kidding.

On a serious note, I do understand when you said that video game characters in general are not as well-developed. But for the standard of mere video games, a lot of them really truly are.
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Lemmie clarify here - I did have a father. I loved him very much. He just wasn't around as much because he was obsessed and absorbed in his work, rather like Jecht and Tidus. That's what I mean. :lew:

Just want to make that very clear.

As for the latter point: I mean, yeah, some FF characters are better developed than the average video game - but it's the difference between a toy shovel and a garden trowel in how deep the hole is. The connections you can feel for a character are usually skin deep; in real life feelings are not resolved as tight little bundles like they are in FF games, the characters are able to be slot into little holes that fit focus grouped niches, yet vague enough to appeal to everyone - real people are not like that.

Their reactions are over-the-top and dramatic to fuel a plotline usually built on melodrama; usually, people are not like this. It's this sheer juxtaposition of the make believe and real life reactions that makes me enjoy video games (as for other mediums, I think romance in film and literature is very much like this - and it causes trouble for people in the real world when they cannot disconnect them). It's nice to see, for example, a fight against a brutal religious-based regime by a plucky group of 7 (FF XIII references all day yo) but I'm not going to pretend that I can connect with that by any means nor am I going to say that I can relate to someone in that environment - what I can relate to is, for example, the shallow need to crack a joke in a tense environment.

I would argue this links to a wider debate of "video games as art" and what art means to us, but that's off topic.
 
Mister Goober said:
Which Final Fantasy character can you most relate to and WHY?

Mine is Squall.

... Because his girlfriend is beautiful and he was initially anti-social. I myself was anti-social until I discovered beautiful girls.

And I kid you not. I don't know if this is some kind of Freudian-Jungian psychosexual whatever but... For some reason, after playing FF8 in childhood, I had this unusually powerful urge to become a leader in all aspects of life. At the workplace, in sports, in social settings, and in school. And then, when I finally bought my own laptop and started replaying FF8, I found the parallel between Squall becoming a leader and the whole story of my damn life up until that point. It was almost creepy and definitely fascinating.
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I have the personality of Zidane and the looks of Quina
 
Well, personnality-wise, I am closer to Zidane, I guess, but during both my XIII playthroughs I found Sahz quite relatable, and that was before I became a dad. He does whine quite a bit, though...
 
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