Support NeoGAF

[DXB-KNIGHT]

I just thought about one more Square character I really liked: Layle

It's a shame what they did to the game, but I thought the character was awesome.

Hated Belle, though. She could have died in a fire and no one would have cared.

Such great characters wasted on a so-so game

 

[Throavium]

I meant to put "Best", my bad

Best:

He's still asinine, interesting, but also a bit creepy.

 

[ResidentDante]

Literally the worst character name in a video game ever:

What? I really liked Lightning and Sazh (apart from his generic afro) in FF13, I thought their conversations and voiceovers were really good and felt more "grown-up". Vanille should be mentioned, she was truly terrible, but I'm guessing weaboo's love "cute" teenage girls acting like five year olds and being socially retarded in their behaviour.

 

[Frost_Ace]

Best: Cecil.

Worst: Zell.

 

[Sadist]

Best characters

Best villian in a FF game ever. He just doesn't give a single fuck.

Poor Vivi. The whole Black Mage story while visiting Black Mage Village is touching.

Hey I found a key! *Two seconds later* "I, I er-lost it..."

Other personal favourites are Layle (FF the Crystal Bearers) because he's the first confident (and doesn't have an emo moment) character in a FF game. Shame the game blows though. Ashley Riot from Vagrant Story is a good pick and... uh... I kinda liked Squall. ... whatever.

Worst

I know, this game has a kids feel, but it's fun. The shitty voices however... my god my ears!

I'M SO CONFIDENT WITH MY SHARPSHOOTER SKILLS. Oh wait, I couldn't tell you guys something important you should remember so I decided to wait. Yup. Also Selphie hnnnggggg etc.

He is annoying. Period.

 

[Roxas]

FUCK THIS....THING! Absolute shithouse of a character

 

[Luthos]

Best:

 

[Mista Koo]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Neku as the worst, I guess he isn't that bad by SE standards (I didn't mind him, but saw a lot that loathed him).

It's impossible to pick my favorite from Final Fantasy Series.... so I will pick one from all the others of SE games and that would be:

http://images.kaneva.com/filestore4/3496341/4092130/g02.jpg[IMG]

"Mint" from Threads of Fate..... so freaking adorable and funny and mean <3

The worse, hmmmm... this will take a while :p[/QUOTE]
Ugh I hated her, she was so annoying.

[QUOTE=Raging Spaniard]I hate the "that looks effeminate" crowd. Its hypocritical, its the same bunch that love Amano's designs (as they should) eventhough his style is even more pronounced towards fragile shapes and features.[/QUOTE]
While I'm more in favor of Japanese character designs, I hate Amano's (and Kojima's) style. I agree that it's artistically better/more original and I appreciate it, but I still don't like it (it's more about how they draw the faces rather than the character designs).

[spoiler]I prefer it 100x over Dawn of Sorrow art of course, but that's only because the latter is super generic.[/spoiler]

 

[Petrichor]

Best:
Vivi and Dagger (FF9), Yuna and Auron (FF10)

Worst:

 

[Hypereides]

FUCK THIS....THING! Absolute shithouse of a character

Im almost sure she/he?? was purposely made to be like that lol.

 

[Voyevoda007]

Best
Lynx - Chrono Cross
Fargo - Chrono Cross
Glenn - Chrono Cross
Harle - Chrono Cross
Grahf - Xenogear

Chrono Cross had some badass characters. Wish I could play that game again

Worst
The entire cast of Final Fantasy 13.

 

[Hypereides]

Looking at this thread right now is kinda depressing. I could really go for some HD remastered versions of FF6 to FF9.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Best:

Auron from FFX
Balthier from FFXII
Vincent from FFVII
Vivi from FFIX
Cecil from FFIV

Worst:

The entire FFXIII cast (with the exception of Fang)
Vaan from FFXII
Seymour from FFX

 

[CadetMahoney]

FUCK THIS....THING! Absolute shithouse of a character

lol

 

[Tobinishi]

Best:

Vincent from FF VII
Rikku from FF X

Worst:

The entire FF XII cast

 

[ScionOfTheRisingSun]

At least they aren't effeminate.

No, but they do look like patients of a lethal disease, and very angry about it too.

 

[Correctomundo]

I'M SO CONFIDENT WITH MY SHARPSHOOTER SKILLS. Oh wait, I couldn't tell you guys something important you should remember so I decided to wait. Yup. Also Selphie hnnnggggg etc.

This thread is a testament to just how bad Nomura's design sensibilities are, but Irvine ... Irvine just takes the cake, and in more than his ridiculous "only cowboy on the entire planet" style. For starters, the dude looks like he's wearing eyeliner. A cowboy that wears eyeliner? Yeah, that's cool. Also, he's the most obscenely poorly written character in a game that's filled with poorly written characters.

I toiled for a while thinking about who I could possibly rail on as an atrocious design for this thread, but I had successfully blocked my memory of this total dud from my memory - something I've tried to do with FF8 since I had the misfortune of playing it.

In all honesty, the only time Nomura came close to creating good characters was with FF7, and even then only because the technological limitations imposed by the game's design forced him to create easily identifiable visuals. Okay, maybe I'll concede TWEWY.

Square's best? I'll get back to you ...

 

[faridmon]

Best: Either

''Oh you'll have your reward for finding me...and don't think about running off without collecting. My shot is faster...or my name's not Balthier."
or

''SOH CAH TOA You're out of your vector''

Worst: I am playing FF XIII for the first time so I'll have to say:

 

[Ferga]

Bullshit, Axel is great.

yeah don't hate on axel

but he won't be my favourite.

The best in my opinion is Joshua from World Ends with you

After i finished the game, i just sat there and thought about the events for a minute then i realised that the game is just pure brilliance

 

[storafötter]

Best

Worst
FFVIII's cast, everyone's pretty much thrown aside to make room for half-assed romance.

I agree with some of this, However I didnt dislike most of FFVIII casts, it is just it got so much worse half through with the forced romance focusing on two bad characters.

Auron is one of my favourite characters alongside with Yangus. The OP nails it.

The worst however has to go to Final Fantasy XIII cast. There was nothing engaging or encouraging about the characters at all. Sazh was the least offensive from the lot, but it didnt help that I didnt care for the characters most of the time. What I dont like with the modern FF trend is how they got rid of goofy moments and a sense of humour you could find in FF characters. To be fair FF XIII wasnt the first game with the super serious characters, I think it started at FF X.

 

[electroplankton]

There are so many characters to consider that it's almost impossible to pick just two to say who's the best and the worst. Anyway, I'll try.

BEST:

Locke from Final Fantasy IV

Aesthetically, he's handsome in a very particular way (if it had been designed nowadays, it would have been totally different), it seems it has Scandinavian origins; it has a great style in terms of clothes. Concerning his characterization, he's pretty much the perfect character to break dramas, even if he's able to show very deep feeling and understandable behaviours, such as when

Spoiler

he doesn't greet Celes when he has to get off from the ship with Terra

.

Other mentionable characters in this category are the Final Fantasy IX's cast as a whole, Ashley Riot from Vagrant Story and Frog from Chrono Trigger.

WORST:

Squall from Final Fantasy VIII

Even if I like him under an aesthetic point of view, and I appreciated him at the time, now I must admite he's no more than a hang-ups boy who his movements in the story are just driven by an external puppet master.

 

[Clear]

Hmmm...

Favourites:

Auron (FFX/FFX-2) - Visually, I think Nomura nailed the whole badass ronin look, and although for the most part he's a one-note character story/dialogue-wise, the flashback scenes with him as Braska's loyal second rounded him off nicely.

Laguna (FFVIII) - Despite his very traditional heroic look, I absolutely love the way he's used as a counterpoint (to Squall) throughout the story. He's broadly drawn as a lucky fool but at the same time provides real charisma and sympathy, particularly during the scenes in Winhill.


Wakka (FFX/X-2) - Like so many characters in the FF franchise, you can clearly see Wakka conceived to fit a particular set of dramatic tropes; he's clearly an evolution of the Zell persona from FFVIII, being the loyal but thick-ear buddy figure. What I liked about Wakka was rather than simply presenting him as a bit dumb and unworldly, they pushed forward his religious fervor as the source of his agitance within the group.

Least Favourite:

The entire forgettable cast of FF9 aside from Vivi (good) and Steiner. Seriously, I've played it through (100% including friggin' Ozma) at least 3 times over the years and I'm still yet to see the appeal. My loss I suppose.

 

[chaosblade]

Zack is pretty easily the best character they've introduced in my opinion. I didn't like Crisis Core, but this one character was enough to keep me playing it. And that ending, even when you know it's coming...

Hard to say what the worst is. Genesis immediately comes to mind. Vanille was also really terrible.

 

[Dunan]

Good: Balthier, Larsa (a 12-year-old kid who isn't whiny and immature!), and maybe Reddas from FFXII; Sazh from FFXIII; Ashley and Sydney in VS; Aya Brea in Parasite Eve

Dark horse vote:

Old Dalan from FFXII. He's only got a bit part but his voice actor really seemed to be enjoying himself, and he's got some great lines that sound even better in the English translation.

Bad: Luso from FFTA2. What a thoroughly ridiculous character design. He's got this giant pizza cutter (and two pizzas surrounding that grimoire), a giant pair of overalls with no shirt under them, high-heeled boots with a leather cover over them and then some blue sock-like things under them and then brown tights under that; belts and chains all over the place; thin plate-like things that don't look like they work too well as armor (but you could probably serve pizza on them); various sashes and bits of fabric all over the place. And a shamrock pin. How did the designer of this hodgepodge not get laughed out of the room?

 

[JumpingTheGun]

First thing to come to mind was Hope's mom. Yeah she's a MILF but the whole "Mom's are tough" thing totally killed me.

 

[Rad-]

Best and worst in one picture:

 

[RPGCrazied]

Worst:

 

[milkyjay20]

Worst: I am playing FF XIII for the first time so I'll have to say:

lmfao @ the high heels. the cherry on top

 

[Taoofberg]

Completely agree, great cast of characters.

 

[Dreamer RD]

That's from Crystal Chronicles though right?

CC had completely different design of him. It's obviously FF9 one.

 

[mr_chun]

Not sure where I've been all these years, but I had no idea so many people hated Organization XIII. I actually like Axel a lot, and I really enjoyed 358/2 Days. Hmm. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

And lol, I don't see how anyone could say Lightning is the worst S-E character ever... she and Sahz were easily the best characters in FFXIII. Anyone else from that game could be dead last, though.

And to the Zack fan on the previous page, I love him. One of my favorites for sure.

 

[ULTROS!]

Worst: I am playing FF XIII for the first time so I'll have to say:

Hey, that's my work of art.

 

[Seda]

Not sure where I've been all these years, but I had no idea so many people hated Organization XIII. I actually like Axel a lot, and I really enjoyed 358/2 Days. Hmm. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

And lol, I don't see how anyone could say Lightning is the worst S-E character ever... she and Sahz were easily the best characters in FFXIII. Anyone else from that game could be dead last, though.

And to the Zack fan on the previous page, I love him. One of my favorites for sure.

Axel is a good character, imo. But other than the main 3, the rest of the cast is quite poor otherwise, except maybe Aqua.

 

[Maddness]

I know this is probably a technicality but...

Best:

Worst:

 

[Satoho]

Best [Design]: FFVI:Terra, Kefka. FFX: Kimahri. FFXIII: Fang. FFVII: RedXIII, FFIX: Vivi, characters from Code Age Commanders (game), they all stood out...

Worst [Design]: FFXII: Vaan? his topless clothing was somewhat of a relation to Vagrant Story's Ashley Riot (I personally felt an Ivalice connection there...), FFIX:Zidane, Kingdom Hearts, anyone from "lollipop hair gel zipped-chibi crew".

FF7? Best Characters?

Why? (only people who finished FFVII would understand me fully) I WILL SAY WHY WITHOUT ANY SPOILERS that they all renew each other's hope, in different ways. The crew starts off as the scum of society/heroes of the underground. That is the basis of a character I can relate to, a misunderstood one. This is one of the few reasons going from this colourful cast to the drab FF8 cast who are a bunch of preps in school is making it the hardest FF I am going to have to force myself to eventually finish (Yes I know he has a Gunblade so what) I hope the next one (FFXV) has an XL swiss-army knife for the gunblade fans!!!
ALSO:
FFX:Auron & Wakka FFXII:Basch, Balthier, & Dalan. FFVII: Sephiroth Clones[Reunion], Turks (Hard to know where they stood). Parasite Eve:Aya Brea, VS: Sydney Losstarot

Hence, worst characters
FFVIII:Squall, FFXII: Vaan, ALL FFXIII (Sazh & Fang discluded), FFVII:CC's Genesis (It hurts watching some musician you hear come into your favourite franchise beside Sephiroth as HIMSELF visually [GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!])

 

[AAK]

Wow, this thread is full of posts of just some random images with no name or game from which they're from

 

[Murkas]

Best

Parasite Eve 1 Aya

Just a cop with powers doing her job. Probably the most well respectable female video game character I've seen. Shame what they did to her

Final Fantasy Tactics characters

Can't think of a single bad character.

Final Fantasy 7 characters

Same reason as tactics, of course everyone is like "lol emo cloud!" after Kingdom hearts/Advent Children


Worst

WTF are you...

 

[charsace]

Final Fantasy 6 characters were all great to me.

Terra pictured.

 

[Plywood]

Worst:

Go away Delita, no one likes you.

Tis' your bad taste that wrong you, not him.

 

[Dunan]

Best: FFX:Auron & Wakka FFXII:Basch, Balthier, & Dalan.

Yes! My write-in candidate is gettin' some love!

And I forgot to put Wakka in on the good side. His unplaceable island accent worked really well, as did the unorthodox (for a video game) combination of his sunny disposition and his religious devotion. Also, he's the only video game character I know of to have a name in the Ainu language -- it means "water", and for some reason everybody knows about Tidus' name being "the sun" (tiida) in Okinawan, but not about Wakka. I liked the guy.

 

[Jigsaw]

best

kaine - nier


ravness - tactics ogre


worst

the whole crew,fuck toriyama

 

[Plywood]

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss297/Ashdate/Battle 41/Orlandu.jpg

Most overpowered RPG character of all time. Completely breaks the game, but his sheer badassery makes it ok.

When your name is Thunder God Cid you're allowed to break the game.

Best

http://www.iocaster.com/webshots/emma.jpg

Badass through and through and I love her armor design.

Nobody likes Zack?

http://static.wix.com/media/86a28d6d904d02e8ecbd3d2e8d94407d.wix_mp

He wasn't complex or anything crazy, but he was brave, and one of the least annoying main characters in the FF series. He was light-hearted, never said no and I just felt badass playing as him. All leading up to the very sad ending

Zack was great, Genesis bogged down the game however.

 

[TheFightingFish]

For ones that I have not seen mentioned I always liked Agrias Oaks.

Tough, loyal gal. No emotional breakdown moments or fanboy pandering outfits.

After her I'd probably list Edgar from FFVI and Cid from FFVII as a couple of other favorites. A couple of the cast from TWEWY could make my list as well.

For the worst I'd have to go with Quina, just a terrible, terrible character.

 

[Dreamer RD]

Best
Parasite Eve 1 Aya

+1 mentioned her too. She is amazing, currently replaying it on PS3 for like 20 time already. Parasite Eve 1 has the best plot, music and atmosphere, also incredible weapon/armor customize options. And definitely the best Aya design and story. I havent played 3 birthday, but recently read an article about it. And was like WTF? SE just fucked up one of their best characters. In PE2 they already did a lot of shit to her, but she was still very nice, especially in the shower scene. Like both games pretty much.

 

[gwarm01]

This thread is fun.

Does anyone know when and why Nomura went off the deep end? He did the character designs for FFVII, right? Most of them seem more down to earth than anything he makes these days. Was Kingdom Hearts the point where his career transitioned from WoB to WoR?

 

[faridmon]

Hey, that's my work of art.

Granted, i have been playing the game for 3 hours, but why do I not hear any complaint about Vanilla? I really don't understand this, dat awful voice acting...

 

[Concept17]

Best:

Only character I disliked in 7 was Caite Sith. Otherwise the entire cast is ace. It sucks that Square has never been able to create such memorable characters since.

Worst:

These guys ruined both games for me. Well other things did as well, but these two just made it hard to care.

 

[vareon]

I just thought about one more Square character I really liked: Layle

It's a shame what they did to the game, but I thought the character was awesome.

Hated Belle, though. She could have died in a fire and no one would have cared.

Seeing this picture breaks my heart. Best main character I've seen this generation, years of waiting an open world Crystal Chronicles game.

And then I actually played the game ;_;

 

[ctrayne]

Best and worst in one picture:[/QUOTE]
Damn. FFXII still looks so good. PCSX2 is a wonderful thing.

To those mentioning Locke among the "best" category - you're right. Forgot about him.

 

[Zee-Row]

God