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[thewhitehawk]

Ramza is the game's protagonist, Delita is his foil. Although from a narrative perspective I do agree they should be treated as two halves to a greater whole, the game's focus is on Ramza as an unsung hero.

Then again, people here have been making liberal usage of the term "protagonist."

Fair enough. In my eyes, he is just as relevant as Ramza in the story, if not more so, but indeed he is not the main protagonist.

 

[Shogun1337]

IT SHALL BE ENGRAVED UPON YOUR SOUL. DIVINE ASSAULT... NIBELUNG VALESTIII

... You still breathe!?

Fucking fuck, Battle Maiden Lenneth Valkyrie will always be one of the coolest characters I've ever seen conjured up in any form of media, book, TV show, cartoon, movie. I want more Lenneth Valkyrie. Why the fuck don't we have more Lenneth Valkyrie? (I know, it's because Square-Enix would royally fuck it up).

 

[Max Knight]

I think I'm going to have to go with Bowser in Super Mario RPG. I don't think any JRPG character ever brought me greater joy. He's lightning in a bottle! He's an earthquake in a can! He's hilarious and bad ass all rolled up into one.

 

[Train of Midnight]

From a personality standpoint, this jackass from Grandia II:

In contrast to the DQVIII hero, this guy has plenty to say. I still laugh at his snarky "go-fuck-yourself" attitude from the start of the game, and I love how his personality develops over the course of it. Even his voice deepens.

My man

 

[QuantumZebra]

I was being polite in my previous answer. I only played the first game of the Final Fantasy XIII series, I admit, but I'm not going to endure two more sequels to a game I detested to find out that Lightning's paper-thin personality actually has the depth of a small puddle of water, if even that.

This isn't a singular opinion, part of the gaming press openly mocks this. I've heard that in Lightning returns her lack of personality is even part of the plot but that's as far as my interest for that game went.

If after 20+ hours of gameplay I still see no semblance of a personality in FFXIII, just a "character" being tough and cold to everyone around her, then you lost your chance to gain my interest.

I've seen better personalities in the Tales series, which I consider to be somewhat of the Mc Donald's of jRPGs. Or even in really mediocre jRPGs like, let's say, the first Legend of Heroes on the PSP which was an average cliche game that didn't stand out in any way.

If you've had a very limited exposure to games in general then I can understand why seemingly a powerful female character with nice hair could seem attractive to you as a character, but if you expand your jRPG knowledge a little bit and play a game with decent characters like the Last Story, as an example, and afterwards still believe Lightning is as good as you say, then I honestly think you have very poor taste and judgement.

I've played more JRPGs and other RPGs and games than I care to keep track of. Every FF outside of Tactics and 11 as well. I think Lightning is a good character that develops to a much greater extent in the trilogy. Is she the best? No. But JRPG best, IMO, yes, alongside Cloud. Second place would likely go to Terra/Alicia (Valkyria Chronicles)/Squall (Yes, Squall.)

I've noticed JRPGs often have more compelling side characters (Auron, Cid, Vincent, Locke, etc) than their main characters, which makes this a tougher question.

Again, to each their own.

 

[Purkake4]

 

[fader]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM8nsOiX7xg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bSS8FsNhZQ

ooohhhh... i completely forgot about that scene. Best Troll Ever

 

[ocean]

I'm assuming TPP's Red isn't an option.

Spoiler

Squall - nostalgia goggles galore.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Same answer I always have to this question:

Demi-Fiend from Nocturne. The strong silent type. Gives me an outlet to play out my godhood fantasies. Reshape the world in my image? Yes, please.

This, so much.

Yuri (both from Shadow Hearts and Tales of Vesperia, even if the second one (like the game) gets weaker in the second half of the game) are great also.

Last Story's cast is pretty amazing too, despite some (partially heavy) clichés.

 

[killatopak]

I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this, but this is my unpopular choice

Yeah and that murder face in DK2. Yum.

 

[Tye The Czar]

Yes! GattDAM you're awesome!

Anyone who loves JRPGs or B-Ball should do themselves a favor and play Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden!
It's free and won't take up much of your time(10-12 hours).

 

[SolVanderlyn]

The true rune trio from Suikoden III. I don't think a game series has ever made the transition from silent to spoken protagonist so well. Chris, especially, is an awesome main character. I like how the typical Suikoden protagonist - the Flame Champion - has already had his story told, and it's up to these three to carry on his legacy.

Zack Fair, mostly because I love the exposition that his game gives his character. He was always important to the FFVII story, but until Crisis Core he had very little actual screen time or spoken lines. It was really interesting to finally get to know him.

 

[Fandangox]

I was gonna make a lengthy post about what I liked about the Last Story cast and what I thought would have made for an even better game, but yeah nevermind, gonna go with this b-baller right here.

 

[BlastProcessed]

Welks from Valkyria Chronicles

Nier from Nier.

Not sure if they count but... Red Ring Rico and Flowen from PSO