I could say Vaan was a lucky bastard that could hang-out with a Princess, Sky Pirates, ex-General, etc, and goes on a full adventure with them.
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Who are the "least special" Final Fantasy Protagonists?
- Thread starter AnansiThePersona
- Start date
He's a summon. An artificial being created by the faythe.
What? He's fated to be the chosen one because of the time loop. He went back in time and told Edea and Cid about the future and they groomed his past self to become his future self. He created Garden.
Yes. The powers of the MC (The Echo, which is bestowed by the mother crystal Hydaelyn) are fleshed out in later FF14 expansions (there is an Inception type sequence in latest patch with a certain sleeping character) and the true nature of the world and the enemy are slowly revealed.
Different people are granted the powers of The Echo, but they all manifest differently in each individual. The MC in FF14 is currently beyond that previously established power level. I won't mention it here since it's a spoiler, but it's beyond any other FF protagonist or villain. It's an easy comparison to make because some of the most recognizable villains in the Final Fantasy series have been defeated in FF14.
I would say Cloud was less special than Vaan. Vaan has a connection to the conspiracy because his brother was stabbed and killed. Cloud has no connection to anyone, just a kid from Nibelheim who joined Shinra's army.
People got it all wrong. Vaan is the most special in the sense that he is the least special protagonist ever.
Cloud befriended Zach, he was present during the Nibelheim incident, directly confronted Sephiroth, and became Hojo's test subjects for four years. How is he not special?
Well, they issue do that to keep the bloodline "pure". Not that I'm condoning inbreeding but most European royal famil...
Oh, I totally misunderstood what you meant. Carry on.
When I think of 'special' I think of destiny or pre-emptive conditions. Cloud chooses to join Shinra's army, and one thing led to another. When Vaan meets Basch, the knight of the queen, he knew his brother and helps him along the path of revenge, there's a pre-emptive condition. Cloud had more choice in comparison, in a way, which makes his origin less special.
His brother was a random soldier killed in a war I don't think that's anywhere near special.
And through the progression of the game, Cloud became more important to the story while Vaan is pretty much the same.
I would still say that make him more special, in comparison to Cloud, who had to establish a connection to Shinra and Zack, by joining their army. Vaan, already had a direct connection, before he could make a choice, because of Basch and Gabranth, and to Vayne who ordered his brother to be killed.
Vaan is the right answer
Im no FF13 lore expert but wernt the cast of 13 basically regular people too? Like Lightning was just a regular soldier before she became a l'cie. There was nothing speical about them and their power/destiny just came because the Gods forced it onto them and weren't they not even special in that case because the gods did that to a lot of people?
Im no FF13 lore expert but wernt the cast of 13 basically regular people too? Like Lightning was just a regular soldier before she became a l'cie. There was nothing speical about them and their power/destiny just came because the Gods forced it onto them and weren't they not even special in that case because the gods did that to a lot of people?
Royalty with a kekkei genkai straight out of Naruto.
Cool kid but he doesn't belong in the thread.
Lightning is a sergeant. Vanille and Fang have epic back stories. Snow is leader of a resistance.
This would be the final fantasy equivalent of two children slap fighting at recess
Vaan doesn't do that much but I like him, he is a friend. Because he's basically just there to ease the player into the world. I also like him because he shows that the game's conflict directly impacts the common people, and it isn't just squabbles between royalty.
He's not my favorite character or anything but he is chill enough.
He's not my favorite character or anything but he is chill enough.
Everyone mentioning Vaan completely forgets his relation to Reks, and how that ties him to one of the major players of the war, and the King's assassination. He's special in that sense alone.
It's hard to see any FF protagonist who isn't special, maybe the onion kids from FFIII, since they weren't chosen ones before stumbling over the crystal. Any other mainline FF Protag is in some way still directly related to either the big bad or other important figures once the game begins. Arguably Firion may not be.
It's hard to see any FF protagonist who isn't special, maybe the onion kids from FFIII, since they weren't chosen ones before stumbling over the crystal. Any other mainline FF Protag is in some way still directly related to either the big bad or other important figures once the game begins. Arguably Firion may not be.
Of course, they're the main characters. They're special by definition. But TC's asking for least special and it's gotta be either Vaan or Firion, no question.
Poor Vaan, always getting dismissed as a glorified errand boy. Yeah, to me Ashe is the one that carries the plot, but vaan is us!
So I'd say Zidane (aka Yitan for us european/spaniards), who was just blabbing all the time and had to be saved by eiko, dagger, vivi or steiner.
So I'd say Zidane (aka Yitan for us european/spaniards), who was just blabbing all the time and had to be saved by eiko, dagger, vivi or steiner.
That's the thing, though, Vaan isn't really less special because he's linked to the whole thing from the very beginning. You could argue that he has about as much of a reason to be there as Balthier and Fran do.
I'd say Firion and the Onion Kids really are the only ones that "least special" can work with.
Zidane is in no way, at all, "less special", in fact he's one of the more special protags since he's absolutely irrevocably tied to the core plot of the game.
Yeah, he is. In a pretty nonsensical way, and with a lot of the worst anime tropes FF uses, but I guess you are right. My dislike for him gets the better of me...
Vaan, Squall and a lot of FF6's cast, even if the first 2 are some of my favourites.
People saying Noctis couldn't have played the game. Dude goes super saiyan at points.
People saying Noctis couldn't have played the game. Dude goes super saiyan at points.
There's nothing nonsensical about how Zidane s special. I don't really see any "anime tropes" there, that was FF8's thing. Zidane and the way he behaves during early game is entirely linked to the theme of the game, and the way he develops is absolutely meaningful.
If you wanna be down on characters for being womanizers and flirty, be down on Edgar and Locke, they didn't even grow from it.
Isn't that basically similar to how Cloud's village is massacred by the number one hero, resulting in a cover-up by the big bad company?
Then he becomes the only person - out of all the Nibelheim survivors who got experimented on - who manages to regain lucidity. Then said number one hero becomes obsessed with him specifically.
Vaan takes the cake.
Squall might actually be in second place. He's connected to an orphanage Edea ran but everything he has was partly due to luck and partly because he trained really hard for spite.
Tidus' existence is sort of wild actually.
Cloud was a classic mope with dormant potential and wandered into the right place with the right company at the right unfortunate time.
Squall might actually be in second place. He's connected to an orphanage Edea ran but everything he has was partly due to luck and partly because he trained really hard for spite.
Tidus' existence is sort of wild actually.
Cloud was a classic mope with dormant potential and wandered into the right place with the right company at the right unfortunate time.
Zidane/Yitan is basically a weapon created to destroy an entire planet. How is that not special?
Yea I'm joining the Vaan dogpile, sorry.
It was bad enough that he was a nobody and just "there" for basically the entire time, but it's worse than he's pretty much the same person from the beginning to the end. It's a shame since the world and backdrop are very interesting and Ashe, Basch and Balthier would all have made much more interesting MCs. There's so many different party members from the non playable races in the game (Seeqs, Bangaa, Moogles, Gria, Nu Mou ect) they could have put in but they stuck us with a couple of boring kids. Oh well.
It was bad enough that he was a nobody and just "there" for basically the entire time, but it's worse than he's pretty much the same person from the beginning to the end. It's a shame since the world and backdrop are very interesting and Ashe, Basch and Balthier would all have made much more interesting MCs. There's so many different party members from the non playable races in the game (Seeqs, Bangaa, Moogles, Gria, Nu Mou ect) they could have put in but they stuck us with a couple of boring kids. Oh well.
tidus was just a memory of a dream of a whim of a phantom of a promise of a jerk who was trapped in some limbo future-past hellscape
also he kicks a blitzball and his head blows off
Never thought I'd have seen a Rangers related gif on ResetEra. Every day has it's own unique surprises.
For the topic at hand - Cloud not being a special protagonist is a bit of a hot take. Not sure if you haven't played the original but he's heavily involved in the events which turn Sephiroth into what he's become and isn't just a guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Like many others in the thread, Vaan and Squall are prime choices.
This I can't agree with, imo he has the biggest character arc in the game. I can't think of how Ashe and Balthier change from when they're introduced to the ending.
Vaan, was added just to appeal to the Japanese. It was originally suppose to be Basch as the main character, but he's too masculine for the targeted audience.
He is the least special by virtue of being the focus to appeal to weebs.
He is the least special by virtue of being the focus to appeal to weebs.
Please remind me of what changed between him and the ending? I literally don't remember. Ashe had to deal with her dead husband, Vossler's betrayal, losing her entire kingdom and its legacy relics like the Dawn Shard (seriously half of the plot is carried by Ashe, most of the game is about her regaining her homeland and being crowned queen). And Basch is literally pretending to be his own brother and guard Larsa by the end! Balthier didn't need to change much because he openly stated that he was looking for treasure the whole time as an opportunist, this was another job for him (it helps that he actually had a personality going in so I'm giving him more of a pass than I would otherwise)
I mean, I guess Vaan did get an airship of his own finally, but that seemed realllly lame in comparison to pretty much everyone else. Him and Penelo were always an item so nothing changed there despite how "coy" they were about it (Penelo is quite the trooper for following Vaan across the continent while a war is going on all game waiting for him to notice her availability, thanks Penelo).
Those are things that happen to Ashe and Balthier, they're not really tied to their growth as characters. Ashe basically succeeds in what she sets out to do from the moment you meet her in the sewers. Balthier already knew who we was, he just gets closure.
Vaan matures greatly from his initial thirst for revenge and learns a lot about the world. It's not like he ages 20 years and becomes this worldly sage, but he definitely shows the most personal growth.
The only notable thing on top of my head is that conversation between Ashe and Vaan, which I guess help influence Ashe's decision later in the story ?
This is the (only) Vaan scene I like and wish the game had more of.
I'm not too sure about that. He went from being an incredibly boring one-note character (You killed my brother raaw!) to a slightly less but still incredibly boring character. Unlike Ashe and Basch, what personal history he has (Rex) is almost completely irrelevant to the game when the opening act is done, and unlike Balthier and Fran he doesn't (or shouldn't) have any reason for the group to take him along for their skills. Vaan and Penelo *should* be liabilities with no formal training or special abilities to help the group, and that's what still grates at me to this day. Why they had time to let a rando kid with issues "see the world" and get over himself when an infamous escaped convict, a notorious sky pirate, a viera exile and the would-be Queen they are all protecting are trying to deal with their own crap (aka a massive insurrection between multiple kingdoms entwined with the power to destroy the entire continent) is still a headscratcher to this day. And the end of him getting over himself was getting the FFXII version of a somewhat fancy car. Woo? Believe me when I say I would have complained just as much if Ashe's character consisted solely of avenging her dead husband, for example (and even then she still would have had more reason to be there than Vaan)
Ashe and Basch are both showing their growth the entire game by falling from their former graces and clawing back up to prove their worth despite everything thrown at them. Bathier is showing off cause he can I guess.
Actually, you know what? I did forget this and it wasn't bad at all.
We also have the "I'M CAPTAIN BASCH" meme, though I never thought that was as timeless as Tiduslaugh
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I disagree. I don't see how Reks motivation would be better or more fitting than Vaan's. Vaan's desire for revenge and hatred of the Empire due to Reks's death ties him to Basch and Ashe. Vaan's desire to be a Sky Pirate also originates from Reks's death and ties Vaan to Balthier and Fran. Reks would be far more detached from the story's themes and characters as he's just a do-good soldier who wants to protect his brother.
I'm always confused by the insistance that Vaan is the main character throughout the game cause you can drop Vaan early on and then the story stops revolving around him. FFXII moves the main character from him to Ashe (followed by Basch and Balthiar) after Penelo is rescued. Like yes, he stops mattering in the grand scheme of things...but also that's the point of him by that point. He stops being the main character by that point so all this "why is he the main character" is just baffling to me.
Well...wouldn't LIghtning be #2? At least before we go into sequel territory and becomes
I mean she was just a cop/military girl (?) before XIII starts.
the Knight of Etro for reasons?
I mean she was just a cop/military girl (?) before XIII starts.
I mean Tidus is pretty involved in the entire story...
It is definitely Vaan. If we count non-mainline games then most of the protagonists from Tactics such as Ramza count too I think.
I think you could perhaps make an argument for Squall in that he was a regular kid who (among others) were raised to fight sorceresses. His entire life was sort of guided through the school/training and he eventually makes it. While he is not really any sort of special chosen one with great power he was still lead up to the moment by various powers including the Gardens & Elone. In fact, Elone alone probably disqualifies him somewhat even if the rest of the party gets similar treatment. He is, I suppose, chosen by Rinoa.
Cloud is a it of a nobody but I'd argue that the lifestream has chosen him as a champion of sorts. Especially given that he gets visions from Aeris and Zack in Advent Children while he is straight up cured as he fights. I think only looking at the protagonist's origins is likely a mistake.
I think you could perhaps make an argument for Squall in that he was a regular kid who (among others) were raised to fight sorceresses. His entire life was sort of guided through the school/training and he eventually makes it. While he is not really any sort of special chosen one with great power he was still lead up to the moment by various powers including the Gardens & Elone. In fact, Elone alone probably disqualifies him somewhat even if the rest of the party gets similar treatment. He is, I suppose, chosen by Rinoa.
Cloud is a it of a nobody but I'd argue that the lifestream has chosen him as a champion of sorts. Especially given that he gets visions from Aeris and Zack in Advent Children while he is straight up cured as he fights. I think only looking at the protagonist's origins is likely a mistake.
