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Worst Character in a JRPG

Toth

Member
emil.jpg


Emil from Tales of Symphonia Knights of Ratatoskr. This is probably the worst RPG I've ever played. Awful story, characters and everything.

Nah, Emil actually has a really cool story behind him. There are loads of worse Tales characters. Legendia for example....shudders....
 

Cajun

Neo Member
I've tried to play through SO4 3 times now, and every time I get to the second world and get unreasonably pissed off the second Lymle walks on screen for the first time. I swear I am actually repressing my memories of this character. By the time I get to the second disk I've usually had enough and stop for another year. Also, she's named after the planet she lives on.

On another note, 90% of the people saying FF8 characters didn't get past the second disk right? Right? "Real character development? Well, they started off trash so I'll judge it based on that."

The characters started out terrible so they had a lot of room for improvement, and they actually improved. And if you still hate Squall, there's always fan theories with a good amount of evidence that could make you enjoy the story and characters a bit more.
 

Wazzy

Banned
230px-Rein.png


The main reason I couldn't enjoy Xenoblade. I literally wanted to kill every character.
Riki I understand, Melia I can even understand but Reyn, Shulk and Sharla?

I don't understand how those three could qualify as worst JRPG characters unless its the only one you've played.


The squall is dead theory makes no sense and doesnt make the story any better.
I agree. Such an awful theory along with the R=U one.

I enjoy VIII's story and characters however and don't think it needs to be justified with crappy fan theories like those two.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I've tried to play through SO4 3 times now, and every time I get to the second world and get unreasonably pissed off the second Lymle walks on screen for the first time. I swear I am actually repressing my memories of this character. By the time I get to the second disk I've usually had enough and stop for another year. Also, she's named after the planet she lives on.

On another note, 90% of the people saying FF8 characters didn't get past the second disk right? Right? "Real character development? Well, they started off trash so I'll judge it based on that."

The characters started out terrible so they had a lot of room for improvement, and they actually improved. And if you still hate Squall, there's always fan theories with a good amount of evidence that could make you enjoy the story and characters a bit more.
The squall is dead theory makes no sense and doesnt make the story any better.
 

MechaX

Member
To be honest, I can't even understand Melia. Yeah, REYN TIME got old pretty fast, but in the runnings for worst JRPG characters for Melia, Sharla, Reyn, and Shulk?
 

Cajun

Neo Member
The squall is dead theory makes no sense and doesnt make the story any better.

Oh trust me I don't think it makes any sense either. Just adds an extra layer of ridiculous on top of everything, you know, just for fun. The story is already beyond insanity, so why not? The real saving graces in VIII for me are the actual character development and the leveling system.

I do love the Laguna story bits though.
 

GarnetDust

Junior Member
ROFL YES! I could not play FF9 because of the stupid character design. I understand they wanted a more chibi/old school look but damn, horrible.

Really? I mean honestly? Pretty sad to had stopped playing for that reason. I guess not everyone has the same taste. However, Zidane had a great character development. I have to say it's one of my favorite Final Fantasies since Final Fantasy 6.

I don't understand how people can't play a game due to character design. I just don't understand...

That's like when I have seen people complain about One Piece because of its art. If the story has a great character development and it has an amazing story, what else could you possibly need?

Wow, i thought I was the only one! I also never played this game because I was so turned off by the design.

You'd be surprised by what kind of story you can find behind its cover.
 

gribbles

Banned
Riki I understand, Melia I can even understand but Reyn, Shulk and Sharla?

I don't understand how those three could qualify as worst JRPG characters unless its the only one you've played.

Every character in the game was utterly horrid and annoying, Shulk being the worst of the lot. I was literally praying and rooting for Shulk to die a horrible death to that huge unkillable mech every time it appeared. Alas, I was disappointed every time.

And no, this isn't the first time I've played a JRPG, I've been playing them since the '90s. I've played plenty of JRPGs where I didn't particularly like the main characters, but I never actually rooted for any of them to die. Xenoblade is the first game to do this to me. So that's quite an achievement, I guess.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
I'm kind of a Xenoblade hater (mostly the horrible gameplay), but even I didn't hate the characters that much, though I am still not very far (barely past Colony... 6, I think? Into that place where you wake up that comatose girl). The characters were not very good, but I can't say I actively loathed them, unlike the entirety of the FF8 cast.
On another note, 90% of the people saying FF8 characters didn't get past the second disk right? Right? "Real character development? Well, they started off trash so I'll judge it based on that."
lolno, I beat the game for some unfathomable reason. If anything, they get worse, especially Squall who turns into such a boring sap (I preferred the snarky brooding Squall, though just barely). Worthless cast for a worthless game. After kick-ass ensembles like FF4-6-7, it's a disgrace.
 
I'm not too far on Xenoblade, but come on. Worst characters? Anyone in FF9? FF12!? What's next? Mitsuru? Tifa? Kanji Tatsumi!?

Some people need to play some more JRPGs with truly horrific casts. Glad to see Enchanted Arms mentioned, oh God my friend brought that over. I had a great time with it because it was hilarious how bad the characters were. Star Ocean 4 level bad.

Anyone play Arc the Lad End of Darkness? Magna Carta?
 

Atlantis

Member
I'm talking about his section of the Sphere Grid, because otherwise all the characters would pretty much be identical if you finish the entire Sphere Grid with each character.

In my last playthrough, I actually did have him learn Steal and learn white/black magic, but it seemed so redundant since I had characters who already completed their parts of the grid and proved to be far more useful in battle. I only did it so that he wasn't totally useless.

Judging him on his section of the Sphere Grid seems pretty unfair to me. His section is extremely small and he has easy access to almost ever character's section through level one locks. He's obviously intended to branch out and be customized to the player's desire.

Once Kimahri learns Use is has access to equivalents of almost every ability in the game and if you wait and unlock the nearby level two gate he'll learn spells like Reflect, Curaga, and Holy way before Yuna does.

Personally I take him through Tidus's section though.
 

Burt

Member
OH NO I JUST SAW A VISION OF MY GOOD FRIEND GETTING SLAUGHTERED AND THESE VISIONS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN 100% ACCURATE IN BOTH PLOT AND GAMEPLAY BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHAT SHOULD I DO I SHOULD PROBABLY SIT HERE AND HAVE A STUPID ANGSTY MONOLOGUE ABOUT HOW MUCH OF A WEENIE I AM OVER IT UNTIL THE SLAUGHTER-VISION IS IN PROGRESS AND I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STOP IT.

AND WHY AM I WEARING THIS RIDICULOUS OUTFIT.



Shulk is the worst.

Riki is up there too as the worst attempted moogle ripoff in history.
 
Snowe Vingerhut from Suikoden IV was definitely a "love to hate" character for me. Actually, he was probably the best and most memorable thing about the game.

While I just straight up hate the main character (Lazlo) from IV. A mute character that was accused with murder by his best friend and cursed to die by a rune that chose him for no reason at all. YET he was emotionally dead about it all. He could have witnessed his mother being killed in front of him and he would've stood there like a wooden pole. Oh, and he has a bowl haircut. This game pretty much was the downfall of one of my favorite JRPG series, which only fuels the hate even more.
Snowe Vingerhut was amazing, one of the most memorable characters in that game.
 

Fuz

Banned
The cast of FFXV.

I don't understand how people can't play a game due to character design. I just don't understand...

I do. I won't be able to play a game with a "generic anime" or loli design, for example.

FFIX was amazing, tho.



Oh, didn't notice the thread was so old.
 
OH NO I JUST SAW A VISION OF MY GOOD FRIEND GETTING SLAUGHTERED AND THESE VISIONS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN 100% ACCURATE IN BOTH PLOT AND GAMEPLAY BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHAT SHOULD I DO I SHOULD PROBABLY SIT HERE AND HAVE A STUPID ANGSTY MONOLOGUE ABOUT HOW MUCH OF A WEENIE I AM OVER IT UNTIL THE SLAUGHTER-VISION IS IN PROGRESS AND I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STOP IT.

AND WHY AM I WEARING THIS RIDICULOUS OUTFIT.



Shulk is the worst.

Riki is up there too as the worst attempted moogle ripoff in history.

Its been a while since I played XBC but didn't Shulk stop doing that early on when Reyn noticed and called him out on it? If you want to shit on Shulk for being stupid, point to the scene where he
refuses to finish off Mumkhar
.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
LOL I made the mistake of hanging out on the GameFAQs Star Ocean 4 board when it came out. Seeing those people defend Lymle was probably the most pathetic thing I've seen on a gaming board.

Basically "Lymle isn't a bad character because they gave a REASON for having her talk/act that way! How would YOU react if you encountered a demon? Besides, that is how children talk! If you hate Lymle that means you must hate all children."

Oh and the old "the writing isn't bad, the LOCALIZATION is" defense.
 

sora87

Member
The entire cast of Final Fantasy XIII, especially the two leads in XIII-2. Never have I actually stopped playing a game because the characters annoyed me so much.
 

Boogybro

Member
The entire cast of Final Fantasy XIII, especially the two leads in XIII-2. Never have I actually stopped playing a game because the characters annoyed me so much.

Noel and Caius are the two best characters in the 13 saga, after Fang and Sazh.
 

Linkark07

Banned
The main reason I couldn't enjoy Xenoblade. I literally wanted to kill every character.
I honestly can't even understand why you don't like them, with the exception of Heropon.

Back on thread, I guess everyone already has the answer. So, no point pointing it again, kay?
 
Any kawaii anime girl whose voice registers at a frequency only dogs and teenagers can hear.

In terms of specifics, the entire cast of Xenosaga (the first, at least). It's been years since I played that but I can't remember another RPG that aroused such hatred in me. Xenoblade is pretty good but in that game I can't stand Riki.
 

Harmen

Member
Vaan was just there, kind of the Link of the player to FFXII so to say. I can understand people are dissapointed when they were expecting a cool lead, but I was not bothered by him at all. And I like most of the XII cast a lot. Maybe the game did not had a lot of dialouge and depth to the story, but the characters themselves were cool imo. One of the better FF casts even. A lot of the FF leads are actually quite terrible and make no sense at all or are just big man/womanchildren.
 

Ralemont

not me
Vaan was just there, kind of the Link of the player to FFXII so to say. I can understand people are dissapointed when they were expecting a cool lead, but I was not bothered by him at all. And I like most of the XII cast a lot. Maybe the game did not had a lot of dialouge and depth to the story, but the characters themselves were cool imo. One of the better FF casts even. A lot of the FF leads are actually quite terrible and make no sense at all or are just big man/womanchildren.

Vaan's only offense was being presented as a main character when he's really just the lens through which we see other cool people doing cool stuff.
 

rataven

Member
Squall Leonhart or Lionheart or Leon Leonhart or whatever that weenies name is.

I do like the Squall is Dead theory though, because, well, he's dead. So that's VIII's canon as far as I'm concerned.
 
People giving Shulk shit for being dumb and whiny? Not really, he's just a generic altruistic-but-angry shonen protagonist most of the time. He doesn't really run into any severe conflicts, and the one major conflict he even has in the first half of the story was hardly even a conflict. He showed no hesitation in sparing a mass murderer just because
he found out it was a human, even though that doesn't change the fact that the guy was still, you know, a mass murderer. If anything it might have been interesting to have Dunban talk Shulk out of it only to kill Metal Face himself.
I mean, the Mechon, and this asshole in particular, killed Dunban's entire family, and we basically get nothing out of it. Dunban, even as the most easily-likable character, is just too perfectly serene. How? The only character he gets to converse privately with in the main storyline is goddamn Riki, and he never talks about himself. What's the deal with Reyn, too? Is he an orphan? What's his deal?

If anything Xenoblade doesn't really give us anything to go on or dislike, instead presenting this cast of archetypes (protagonist, goofy sidekick, mentor) and just cruising along from there.

Riki is still annoying though.
 
OP I couldn't agree with you more.

I couldn't care less about how effeminate Vaan is, but the fact that he was a dead-weight, waste of space character (let alone a freaking protagonist) that brought nothing of interest to the table was a total deal breaker. He had like no impact on the game's plot. God I still can't get over how botched this entry was. Goddamit SE, put out an HD remake and fix this mess of a story.


260px-Shulk.png

230px-Rein.png

240px-Carna.png

Melia2.png

Riki.png


The main reason I couldn't enjoy Xenoblade. I literally wanted to kill every character.

You heathen. They gave us Reyn Time. And Rikki was derp-perfection.
 
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