History Characters / FinalFantasyII

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KentaMiyake (''Origins'' opening FMV)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakayukiYamaguchi (''Origins'' opening FMV)

* BaldOfAwesome: You better believe it. He has one of the highest damage outputs in the game.

* MightyGlacier: Guy by default hits hard but moves slowly. He can be developed in other ways, but this is the path of least resistance.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: In artwork. Fits in with his design being clearly Arabic-influenced.
* ArabianNightsDays: His whole outfit.

* BecauseDestinySaysSo: He uses up all his life energy to break the seal on Ultima, but is surprisingly nonchalant about his own death, saying that it's his destiny.
* BreakoutCharacter: Very popular in Japan, remakes make him the main character of the Soul of Rebirth quest. His popularity in the West has improved with the game's increased exposure, and he's pretty much the game's poster boy alongside Firion. Heck, other games make reference to him ''more'' than Firion, even if just as a MythologyGag than an actual appearance. When ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' got a sequel, Creator/TetsuyaNomura said his first pick to be in as a new character was [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Kain]]. His pick for [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 the arcade reboot]]? Minwu.
* CombatMedic: He's primarily a healer, but can be trained into being a attacker.
* CourtMage: Hilda's right-hand healer and mystic.

* WhiteMage: He was the ''only'' male healer in the franchise until [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Hope]], though in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV FFXIV]]'' both Alphinaud and Urianger are healers among the main cast. The rest have been female.

* BareFistedMonk: So much so that equipping weapons on him at first will actually lower the damage he does. While the PSP release gave him an ultimate weapon in the Arcane Sanctuary, the earlier GBA release took note of his bare-handed proficiency; in Soul of Rebirth where the other three acquire unique weapons, Josef acquires a unique accessory instead.

* ATasteOfPower: To a lesser degree than Minwu, but bare-fisted fighters are a DiskOneNuke, so Josef is very powerful when available.

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]], being a dashing rogue with lots of charm. Also, she'd receive one as [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Faris]] a couple of years later.

* DistressedDamsel: Minimally invoked: she's kidnapped only once, and there are indicators that the Emperor had no idea she was even on the airship when he captured it. Pretty good for TheEighties.
* {{Expy}}: Of Princess Sarah from the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI previous game]].
* TheHighQueen: Has elements of it now, and is hinted to become this once the world is saved.
* NiceHat: Just look at her artwork. Interestingly, it mirrors the DevilishHairHorns of the evil Emperor.
* PimpedOutDress: Most obvious in the Amano rendition.

* RebelliousPrincess: In that ''she's'' the one doing ''all'' the leading.

* WhatTheHellHero: Gets angry with Gordon, saying that if he had opened the way to the Sunfire, Josef wouldn't have died on the way to the Goddess Bell.

* NiceHat: Just look at her artwork. Interestingly, it mirrors the HornedHairdo of the evil Emperor.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To Garland from the first game. Garland was a knight of the kingdom who was famous for his skills but he went mad when the princess rejected him, he sought to become the new king of Corneria and obtain immortality. The Emperor on the other hand, is already a tyrannical ruler of an empire, he is a powerful mage and seeks world domination, conquering several cities. While Garland is a DiscOneFinalBoss and absorbs the power of The Four Fiends to transform into a god named Chaos, The Emperor is the first main villain to be the FinalBoss and managed to achieve his godhood by overthrowing the rulers of both heaven and hell as the Light Emperor and Dark Emperor respectively.

* PhysicalGod: After his death as a mortal, his soul was split into two entities and both halves managed to defeat and overthrow the rulers of both Heaven and Hell respectively, and both halves become the new rulers of their respective realms as the Dark Emperor and Light Emperor.

* HairColors: Brown, and subsequently quite simple.

* EightiesHair: It's almost awe-inspiring.[[note: He was inspired by David Bowie's portrayal of Goblin King Jareth in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', who sported very similar hair for that movie.]]

* BadassMustache: He has a nice one.

* BigDamnHeroes: Saves Firion's bacon from the Lamia Queen.

* EightiesHair: It's almost awe-inspiring (he was inspired by David Bowie's portrayal of Goblin King Jareth in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', who sported very similar hair for that movie).

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: He has a name -- Mateus -- but it is only ever mentioned in the novelization, otherwise in all his other appearances he's simply "The Emperor."

* EightiesHair: It's almost awe-inspiring (he was inspired by David Bowie in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', who sported that hair for that movie).

* AmbiguousSituation: Was his first defeat legit, or did he [[ThanatosGambit lose on purpose to gain powers from Hell]]?

* ZeroEffortBoss: For an established, [[NominalImportance named]] villain in a game with very few, you'd expect him to put up more of a fight when you actually battle him. In reality? He's significantly weaker than the two [[WarmUpBoss Warm-Up Bosses]] who precede him.

* EliteMook: He's little more than just a stronger Palamecian soldier when he fights.

This is a trope sheet for the cast of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''.

* {{Bishonen}}: He's a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' hero. What did you expect?

* BlackMage: Of the four main characters, she has the best base Intelligence of the lot, making her the easiest character to build for this role.

** Can wield a bow in addition to her magic. However, arguably a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion in that equipping a bow gives a character a very large penalty to magic (specifically, -70 INT/SOUL).

* BladeOnAStick: One of his initial equips is a spear, as is his [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]].

* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:He’s advertised as the fourth party member but he’s an antagonist for most of the game and only joins the party near the end of the game the actual 4th party member is a revolving position.]]

* TheSixthRanger: An odd case in ''Memory of Heroes'': [[spoiler: Ricard is with the party when they recieve Ultima, and thus becomes one of the Warriors of Light. When Ricard holds back the Emperor to allow the party to escape, he [[LiteralChangeOfHeart transfers his Light to Leon]], effectively transfering his role as the fourth Warrior of Light over to him]]

* MagicWand: His [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapons]] are the Stardust Rod and Staff of Light.

* RedMage: Becomes this if taught any black magic. He's the only party member capable of learning Ultima in the Soul of Rebirth quest.

* WolverineClaws: Despite using nothing but his bare hands most of the story, the PSP, iOS and Android versions do give him an [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] in the Dragon Claws.

* MagikarpPower: His initial stats are pretty meh for the time he joins, but as with any other character he can train and level up to be perfectly effectively.

* BlackMage: He's the best member of the Soul of Rebirth crew to use black magic since Minwu is already kitted as a WhiteMage and Josef and Ricard are both {{Magically Inept Fighter}}s.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To Garland from the first game. Garland was a knight of the kingdom who was famous for his skills but he went mad when the princess rejected him, he sought to become the new king of Corneria and obtain immortality. The Emperor on the other hand, is already a tyrannical ruler of an empire, he is a powerful mage and managed to become the new ruler of both Heaven and Hell.

The villain of the story. The Emperor of Palamecia is so dedicated to furthering his aspirations of power, he even sold his soul to gain control of the LegionsOfHell to aid in the effort. He's also one of the least sympathetic and most evil ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' villains; don't look for a FreudianExcuse because there isn't one. He just wants to TakeOverTheWorld for the sake of ruling it. In the novelization, apparently the Emperor was able to actually kill Satan despite his powers [[DealWithTheDevil coming directly from a deal with him.]] He has appeared in the ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' series alongside Firion and returns as a boss character in ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy''.

* FlatCharacter: He's very likely the least developed ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' protagonist to have a name at all, and lags behind even the rest of ''II'''s playable cast as well. Even his overly well-rounded stats seem to enforce this. Part of the reason his scene of being briefly seduced by a lamia has become so associated with him is that it's pretty much the only scene he displays a trait besides "is the hero."

* JackOfAllStats: Of your initial party, his stats are the most evenly balanced. Where he goes from there, though, is up to the player.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Though he can be trained in the use of all weapons in the game, his initial equip and InfinityPlusOneSword are... well, swords.
* JackOfAllStats: Of your initial party, his stats are the most evenly balanced. By the end of the game, however, he'll wreck everything in your path.

* BootStrappedLeitmotif: Unlike his Famicom contemporaries whose BattleThemeMusic either [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI was given to them retroactively]] or [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII was there to begin with]], The Emperor never really had his own; In the Famicom version, every boss used "Battle Scene 2", including [[spoiler: both versions of]] the Emperor[[note]]There ''does'' exist an unused "Battle Scene 3" which presumably would have been used for the [[spoiler: Dark Emperor]], a theory bolstered when ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyBraveExvius'' reused it for that exact purpose[[/note]]. When the Wonderswan versions added new battle themes for the normal bosses, "Battle Scene 2" became the Emperor's [[spoiler: or rather, his final boss forms']] personal theme[[note]]until the PSP version, where he shares it with [[BonusBoss Deumion]][[/note]], which also extends to spinoffs.

* EightiesHair: It's almost awe-inspiring (he was inspired by David Bowie in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', who sported that hair for that movie).

** His battle sprites vary wildly depending on the version, with only the PSX and GBA being similar: His Famicom sprite depicts him with his scepter, the PSX/GBA versions have him wearing a mantle or cloak while the PSP version is based on his Amano artwork (the very page image, in fact) and lacks the GlowingEyesOfDoom or FaceFramedInShadow the other sprites have[[note]]These changes also apply to the "Imperial Shadow" enemy[[/note]]. [[spoiler: His Hell Emperor form is similar: The GBA and PSX versions depict him with a full body while the other versions only show him from the shoulders up and the Famicom sprite is, once again, wielding a scepter while the PSP one does not.]]

* TheEmperor: Hint: It's why he's ''called'' one.

* WhiteMage: He was the ''only'' male healer in the franchise until [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Hope]], though in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV FFXIV]] both Alphinaud and Urianger are healers among the main cast. The rest have been female.

* WhiteMage: He was the ''only'' male healer in the franchise until [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Hope]]. The rest have been female.

* PhysicalGod: After his death as a mortal, His soul was split into two entities and both halves managed to defeat and overthrow the rulers of both Heaven and Hell respectively, and both halves become the new rulers of their respective realms as the Dark Emperor and Light Emperor.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Together with Minwu in artwork, the first such characters in the series, and so far the only hero.

* DubNameChange: His Japanese name, フリオニール, ''Furioniiru'', is officially transliterated as Frioniel. This became Firion in English due to character limits, and has remained such likely due to a combination of inertia and euphony.

* SexyBacklessOutfit: Though it's not immediately obvious, her outfit is bare back there.

* AnAxeToGrind: His initial equip and [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] are both axes, although his ''Dawn of Souls'' artwork depicts him armed with a [[{{BFS}} very large sword]] instead, to similar effect.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:After the game, Leon leaves his family behind to go try and find a way to redeem himself for all the evil acts he did in the Empire's service as a Dark Knight]].

* ATasteOfPower: Despite being the first GuestStarPartyMember, Minwu has access to nearly every white magic spell, which is more than enough to ensure your survival.

* ATasteOfPower: To a lesser degree than Minwu, but bare-fisted fighters are a DiskOneNuke, so Josef is very powerful when available.

* KnifeNut: Her initial equip and [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] are daggers.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name in Japanese, リチャード, ''Richaado'', is quite clearly meant to be Richard, but character limits mean that in English, he's usually Ricard.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: This trope gets even more ridiculous when it's shown that Ricard sleeps at an inn still in his armor.

* EightiesHair: It's almost awe-inspiring (he was inspired by David Bowie in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', who sported that hair for that movie).

* OneWingedAngel:
** Turns into [[spoiler:the Emperor of Hell]] for the final battle.
** However in the novel, [[spoiler:it's just Satan taking his form]].

* RecurringBoss: You get to fight the Emperor twice in the standard game: first as the DiscOneFinalBoss, [[spoiler:then as the actual Final Boss.]]

* BonusBoss: Deumion is the strongest optional boss in the game, and can only be fought if the party asks for "destruction".
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Seems like a trend in this game, and, he's canonically blond, his mother even states it when you have to find him in the Oblivion dungeon.

* {{Stripperific}}: He's mostly clad in cloaks, and he's wearing a long skirt with a slit that shows his bare legs.