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*** Eiko, a WhiteMage who also wields powerful SummonMagic, is only six years old. {{Justified}} as she's the LastOfHerKind, so the party don't exactly have the option of choosing an older, more experienced summoner to accompany them.
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*** Eiko, a WhiteMage who also wields powerful SummonMagic, is only six years old. {{Justified}} {{Justified|Trope}} as she's the LastOfHerKind, so the party don't exactly have the option of choosing an older, more experienced summoner to accompany them.
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* CapRaiser:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': The 3D remake has an Augment system that enables you to give characters abilities they wouldn’t ordinarily have. One of them is the Limit Break augment, which can only be obtained in NewGamePlus and enables which ever character equips it to break the game’s 9999 damage limit.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Character damage is normally limited to 9999, but custom weapons can be given a property that increases this to 99999 (and legendary weapons have it by default). Similarly, custom armor can be crafted that raises the HP and MP thresholds from 9,999/999 HP/MP to 99,999/9,999.
** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'': The normal caps for Damage, HP, MP, and AP are 9,999, 9,999, 999, and 999. Zack can find items that raise the caps of each one of these, allowing Zack to deal 99,999 damage and have 99,999 HP, 9,999 MP, and 9,999 AP. Especially for damage and HP, he's gonna need those caps lifted for the late-game missions.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** In the Eureka exploratory zone, you can acquire up to five magicite through the main campaign to increase your elemental power. But by gathering certain RareRandomDrop items in Eureka Pyros and Eureka Hydatos, you can obtain a sixth and seventh magicite to become even more powerful.
*** In-story, this is the focus of Cocobusi's research in the Thaumaturge quests. Due to being born the UnSorcerer, Cocobusi hoped to use alchemy to develop a potion capable of increasing his aetheric potential and achieve his dream of becoming a mage. The potion fails at its intended purpose, but it's potent enough to [[spoiler:revive Cocobuki after he offered his aether to Morno to draw the voidsent out of Cocobusi's body.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': The 3D remake has an Augment system that enables you to give characters abilities they wouldn’t ordinarily have. One of them is the Limit Break augment, which can only be obtained in NewGamePlus and enables which ever character equips it to break the game’s 9999 damage limit.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Character damage is normally limited to 9999, but custom weapons can be given a property that increases this to 99999 (and legendary weapons have it by default). Similarly, custom armor can be crafted that raises the HP and MP thresholds from 9,999/999 HP/MP to 99,999/9,999.
** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'': The normal caps for Damage, HP, MP, and AP are 9,999, 9,999, 999, and 999. Zack can find items that raise the caps of each one of these, allowing Zack to deal 99,999 damage and have 99,999 HP, 9,999 MP, and 9,999 AP. Especially for damage and HP, he's gonna need those caps lifted for the late-game missions.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** In the Eureka exploratory zone, you can acquire up to five magicite through the main campaign to increase your elemental power. But by gathering certain RareRandomDrop items in Eureka Pyros and Eureka Hydatos, you can obtain a sixth and seventh magicite to become even more powerful.
*** In-story, this is the focus of Cocobusi's research in the Thaumaturge quests. Due to being born the UnSorcerer, Cocobusi hoped to use alchemy to develop a potion capable of increasing his aetheric potential and achieve his dream of becoming a mage. The potion fails at its intended purpose, but it's potent enough to [[spoiler:revive Cocobuki after he offered his aether to Morno to draw the voidsent out of Cocobusi's body.]]
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* CatchPhrase:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
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* CharacterCatchphrase:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
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** The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise has always catered to this trope on some level, though only by including one or two "[[MrFanservice token]]" bishonen rather than a whole harem.
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** The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise has always catered to this trope on some level, though only by including one or two "[[MrFanservice token]]" bishonen {{bishonen}} rather than a whole harem.
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** The game: ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. Dramatis personae: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], older {{Bishounen}} ManipulativeBastard famous for the gargantuan amount of subtext between himself and his [[TheHero opposite number Cloud]] from [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover his original game]]--oh, and for [[EvilIsSexy dressing like a leather-loving bondage dom.]] VideoGame/{{Fi|nalFantasyII}}rion, teen rebellious spirit and friend of Cloud; another white-haired {{Bishonen}} whose gruff exterior belies an earnest and innocent nature. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior Of Light]], TeamDad of the heroes, shares a lot of traits with the AloofBigBrother and TheStoic. The scene: Warrior Of Light comes across the tail end of an encounter between Firion and Sephiroth, with the former obviously injured, winded, and in a bad way. Warrior Of Light covers Firion's escape, while Sephiroth mocks him about having done something [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]] Later, we discover...that Sephiroth had taken Firion's wild rose.
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** The game: ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. Dramatis personae: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], older {{Bishounen}} ManipulativeBastard famous for the gargantuan amount of subtext between himself and his [[TheHero opposite number Cloud]] from [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover his original game]]--oh, and for [[EvilIsSexy dressing like a leather-loving bondage dom.]] dom.
VideoGame/{{Fi|nalFantasyII}}rion, teen rebellious spirit and friend of Cloud; another white-haired {{Bishonen}} whose gruff exterior belies an earnest and innocent nature. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior Of Light]], TeamDad of the heroes, shares a lot of traits with the AloofBigBrother and TheStoic. The scene: Warrior Of Light comes across the tail end of an encounter between Firion and Sephiroth, with the former obviously injured, winded, and in a bad way. Warrior Of Light covers Firion's escape, while Sephiroth mocks him about having done something [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]] Later, we discover...that Sephiroth had taken Firion's wild rose.
VideoGame/{{Fi|nalFantasyII}}rion, teen rebellious spirit and friend of Cloud; another white-haired {{Bishonen}} whose gruff exterior belies an earnest and innocent nature. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior Of Light]], TeamDad of the heroes, shares a lot of traits with the AloofBigBrother and TheStoic. The scene: Warrior Of Light comes across the tail end of an encounter between Firion and Sephiroth, with the former obviously injured, winded, and in a bad way. Warrior Of Light covers Firion's escape, while Sephiroth mocks him about having done something [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]] Later, we discover...that Sephiroth had taken Firion's wild rose.
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* DisciplinesOfMagic: While each entry in the franchise tends to have its own take on how magic works and how it's categorized, it has established a few broad categories of magic that it uses fairly consistently:
** ''White Magic'' is magic that tends to directly benefit your own party: it includes spells that heal or revive teammates, spells that bolster attack and/or defense stats, spells that treat status conditions, and so on. However, White Magic does include a very small number of offensive spells, historically specialized at destroying undead creatures.
** ''Black Magic'', in the Final Fantasy universe, is generally purely offensive magic meant to destroy enemies. While there are some spells that benefit party members, they still tend to be crouched in harming the enemy, such as draining an enemy's HP and giving it to the caster.
** ''Summoning'' is the ability to summon magical creatures into battle for a large, impressive-looking spell. Summons can have offensive, defensive, or healing properties. Summons tend to have much higher MP costs than other types of magic, which may or may not reflect how much more powerful they are than standard spells.
** ''Blue Magic'' is a broad term for "magical abilities learned from monsters or other enemies." The spells in this category tend to be exclusive to Blue Mages, and they can be either offensive, defensive, or healing spells.
** There are other, lesser types of magic, like ''Time Magic'' (which affects time and the pace of battle, naturally) and ''Green Magic'' (mostly concerned with status buffs and ailments). However, these tend to be limited to individual games or subseries and don't appear consistently throughout the franchise.
** ''White Magic'' is magic that tends to directly benefit your own party: it includes spells that heal or revive teammates, spells that bolster attack and/or defense stats, spells that treat status conditions, and so on. However, White Magic does include a very small number of offensive spells, historically specialized at destroying undead creatures.
** ''Black Magic'', in the Final Fantasy universe, is generally purely offensive magic meant to destroy enemies. While there are some spells that benefit party members, they still tend to be crouched in harming the enemy, such as draining an enemy's HP and giving it to the caster.
** ''Summoning'' is the ability to summon magical creatures into battle for a large, impressive-looking spell. Summons can have offensive, defensive, or healing properties. Summons tend to have much higher MP costs than other types of magic, which may or may not reflect how much more powerful they are than standard spells.
** ''Blue Magic'' is a broad term for "magical abilities learned from monsters or other enemies." The spells in this category tend to be exclusive to Blue Mages, and they can be either offensive, defensive, or healing spells.
** There are other, lesser types of magic, like ''Time Magic'' (which affects time and the pace of battle, naturally) and ''Green Magic'' (mostly concerned with status buffs and ailments). However, these tend to be limited to individual games or subseries and don't appear consistently throughout the franchise.
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** ''XVI'': The power of bonds. Every human connection, no matter how small, gives power to continue living and fighting for what it is right.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' plays with the trope in various ways. Clive isn't chosen by the Phoenix to be its Dominant, thus being less important than his younger brother Joshua, [[spoiler:but during the story it's revealed that he's been chosen by the BigBad, Ultima, to be the vessel that would harness his power and remake the world completely, destroying every human life in the process]].
** Eikonic Abilities in ''XVI'' work on a cooldown system that prevents Clive from spamming his abilities and requires the player to be more tactical in combat.
** The main antagonist of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'', [[spoiler:Ultima]], serves mostly as this to his predecessor, [[spoiler:Ardyn]]. [[spoiler:Ardyn]] was a human who once used his ability to absorb the Starscourge for good but was demonized for it and eventually became the enemy of the world at the behest of his world's [[spoiler:Bahamut]]. [[spoiler:Ultima]] is an alien being and the creator of the Eikons [[spoiler:who created humanity in order to stave off the decline of his own people thanks to the Blight, only to then plot against humanity so that they destroy each other and he goes in and terraforms whatever remains]]. Many of his motivations, as well as his contempt for humanity, are shared with the ''XV'' incarnation of [[spoiler:Bahamut]], who became the true main villain of the story in the ''Dawn of the Future'' novelization.
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* ConstructedWorld: Every game takes place in its own constructed world.
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* DoubleEdgedBuff:
** The Berserk status often raises the party member's attack power, but in exchange, it makes them uncontrollable, and sometimes lowers their defense as well. It could be beneficial for physical fighters, who have [[UnskilledButStrong high attack stats and don't use many abilities]], but a hindrance for [[SquishyWizard mages]], who have low attack power and rely on magic to do most of the damage.
** When a character is inflicted with the [[ReviveKillsZombie Zombie]] status, in addition to being damaged by healing items and spells, they often receive the same resistances and abilities as zombies. In some games, they are immune to Dark-elemental attacks and [[OneHitKill Instant Death]]. In others, they can become immune to certain status ailments such as poison and blindness.
** The Reflect status can reflect any magic cast on the target back at the opponent. Unfortunately, that also includes healing and buffing spells, which means if a player attempts to cast Cure on an ally with Reflect, it will instead heal the enemy. The only way around this is to wait for it to wear off or use a healing item. Some enemies weaponize this by reflecting Black Magic off themselves to damage the party.
** The Berserk status often raises the party member's attack power, but in exchange, it makes them uncontrollable, and sometimes lowers their defense as well. It could be beneficial for physical fighters, who have [[UnskilledButStrong high attack stats and don't use many abilities]], but a hindrance for [[SquishyWizard mages]], who have low attack power and rely on magic to do most of the damage.
** When a character is inflicted with the [[ReviveKillsZombie Zombie]] status, in addition to being damaged by healing items and spells, they often receive the same resistances and abilities as zombies. In some games, they are immune to Dark-elemental attacks and [[OneHitKill Instant Death]]. In others, they can become immune to certain status ailments such as poison and blindness.
** The Reflect status can reflect any magic cast on the target back at the opponent. Unfortunately, that also includes healing and buffing spells, which means if a player attempts to cast Cure on an ally with Reflect, it will instead heal the enemy. The only way around this is to wait for it to wear off or use a healing item. Some enemies weaponize this by reflecting Black Magic off themselves to damage the party.
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FinalFantasy/TropesAToB |'''Tropes C To D''' | FinalFantasy/TropesEToH | FinalFantasy/TropesIToR | FinalFantasy/TropesSToT | FinalFantasy/TropesUToZ
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FinalFantasy/TropesAToB |'''Tropes | '''Tropes C To D''' | FinalFantasy/TropesEToH | FinalFantasy/TropesIToR | FinalFantasy/TropesSToT | FinalFantasy/TropesUToZ
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%%Before editing, be sure you've checked out Administrivia/HowToWriteAnExample.
[[foldercontrol]]
This page covers tropes in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''.
FinalFantasy/TropesAToB |'''Tropes C To D''' | FinalFantasy/TropesEToH | FinalFantasy/TropesIToR | FinalFantasy/TropesSToT | FinalFantasy/TropesUToZ
----
[[folder:C]]
* CactusPerson:
** Cactuars are enemies, usually found in desert areas, resembling stylized humanoid saguaros, with limbs resembling saguaro branches with a single right-angled joint each and faces consisting of two round holes for eyes and an elongated one for a mouth. They grow continuously over their lives, and particularly old and large ones, known as Gigantuars, appear from time to time as bosses. They're covered in needles, and fire them by the thousand as their signature move. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' also has them transform into Flowering Cactuars and flee from battle if not killed within a turn.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has Cactides and Cactoids, creatures resembling short cacti with stumpy legs and long, thin, ribbon-like arms; they're distinguished by the two stacked cactus lobes growing from a Cactoid's head, which Cactides lack. They're docile and won't attack unless struck first, and drop bundles of needles and cactus fruits on death. There's a stronger variant, the Flowering Cactoid, which despite its name is a Cactide with a flower on its head. This one is hostile, and unlike the regular ones can shoot volleys of needles as an attack.
* CameBackWrong:
** Defied in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. Dead people can remain as "unsent", essentially revenants that age normally (but can't die from old age), eat, sleep, and in all other ways appear exactly as a living person. As far as is shown in the game, they don't appear to behave differently than they did in life. Good people are still good, and bad people are still bad but don't actually appear to go "worse". It is still considered desirable for souls to move on, as many of the unsent characters do just that once their business in the world of the living is done.
** Various things in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** As revealed in the ''Heavensward'' expansion, [[spoiler:Primals are not creatures that are created through numerous crystals and the prayers of others, their figures warped and their negative traits ramped up. This can happen even if someone knew the being created, as the dragon Tiamat tried to bring back Bahamut and what she got was a demonic creature who would cause trouble for Eorzea centuries later]].
*** At the end of ''A Realm Reborn'', [[spoiler:Y'Shtola and Thancred escape the attacking Brass Braves and Crystal Braves through a DangerousForbiddenTechnique teleportation spell called "Flow", sending them spiraling into the aether. When they are pulled out, Y'Shtola is rendered blind and Thancred has lost his ability to use magic]].
*** In ''Stormblood'', [[spoiler:it's revealed the Qaiyana Tribe of Ananta snake women had this problem. The Ala Mhigan soldier for the Garleans, Fordola, had kidnapped the daughter of their queen, hoping to draw out a person known as the Butcher. Their attempt to save her ended badly when Fordola accidentally killed her, leading to the grieving queen to summon the Primal version of their goddess Lakshmi to resurrect her. She did, but without her soul, leaving her a husk of her former self.]]
* CannotSpitItOut:
** Faris of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' can't bring herself to admit that [[spoiler:Lenna is her sister until they're about to (make a failed attempt to) save the last crystal on their world]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did it, but it did it right. Cloud is convinced he used to [[spoiler: be a member of [[SuperSoldier SOLDIER]]]], and all evidence points towards this -- he has the uniform, the sword, the skills and the glowing eyes. However, [[spoiler: after leaving town to join SOLDIER, he failed to get in, and instead enrolled as a basic grunt. After a mission that took place in his hometown in which his idol Sephiroth, went insane and burned it all down, maimed the closest thing he had to a childhood friend, nearly killed his best friend, and stabbed him through the chest, he was patched up by EvilutionaryBiologist Hojo as part of an experiment. However, the combination of the drugs and trauma completely destroyed his mind, and when they escaped and his friend Zack died defending him he utterly snapped, adopting an elaborate system of FakeMemories and osmosed identity from Zack, who actually was in SOLDIER. And so Cloud relates the events of that day as if he was in Zack's position. The aforementioned childhood friend Tifa, is spooked by the fact that Cloud can tell the story accurately despite him apparently not being there. Little does she know that Cloud was with them on that mission, but disguised as a Shinra grunt. The discrepancy causes Tifa so much confusion, doubt, and worry for what might happen if she confronts Cloud over this that she chooses to bottle up her concerns. The end result of this is when Sephiroth starts telling Cloud various half-truths in order to drive him insane, Tifa's lack of understanding of the situation finds her unable to refute any of Sephiroth's claims.]]
*** On another note, Tifa's inability to tell Cloud her feelings for him is a definite Cannot Spit It Out as well.
** There's also Irvine's inability to mention [[spoiler: his past association with the other main characters and even the villain]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. He alludes to it for a while, but it takes a rather random event to make him open up with it.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', due to being just a [[TagalongKid Tagalong Kid]] in a series of horrible events and emotional trauma, Hope cannot bring himself to confront Snow about his mother's death for over half of the game's story.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys:
** The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise has always catered to this trope on some level, though only by including one or two "[[MrFanservice token]]" bishonen rather than a whole harem.
*** The all-star fighting game ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' includes the main hero and villain out of the first ten games in the franchise. This leads to 21 out of 24 male leads. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple The heroes only have one girl on their side]] (leaving out Shanttoto, who's a bonus character). By default, the game qualifies for this trope just for including Cecil and Kuja in the same cast. The female headcount goes down by one when you realize that Cloud of Darkness [[spoiler:is actually genderless and only takes the form of a beautiful woman.]]
*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' takes this trope and runs with it, featuring an all-male party that fans have compared to a boy band.
* CatchPhrase:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
* TheCameo: Two very {{Unexpected Character}}s from other Squaresoft games appear in ''Chocobo Racing'': Aya Brea, from the ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' games, and Jack, from ''VideoGame/The3DBattlesOfWorldRunner''.
* CentralTheme: Each game has an overarching theme presented in the story:
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII II]]'' - WarIsHell.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII III]]'' - LightIsGood and DarkIsEvil are fallacies; instead the world must have a balance of both.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV IV]]'': [[MustMakeAmends What does it mean to redeem yourself]]? How strong is guilt as a force in the world? How strong is guilt as a motivating factor?
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]'': Legacy. The old generation making room for the new one, most visibly by the deaths of the PrecursorHeroes.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI VI]]'': Our sense of fulfillment in life is drawn from others, and that love ''itself''--in all its forms--is the meaning of life. Meanwhile, selfishness such as the pursuit of power is self-destructive and leaves one feeling alone and nihilistic due to the awareness of everything's impermanence.
*** There's also taking responsibility for your past deeds and forgiving yourself, which is seen in Terra, Locke, Shadow, Setzer and Cyan.
** ''VII'': Learning to accept loss, be it the [[KilledOffForReal loss of friends and loved ones]] or [[TheAntiNihilist of purpose and identity]].
** ''VIII'': The importance of the PowerOfLove and the PowerOfFriendship. Distancing yourself to protect loved ones can hurt emotionally a lot more than being open with your thoughts and feelings.
** ''IX'': There is no fate but what we make. The circumstances of your birth or your beginnings does not dictate your purpose in life.
** ''X'': All traditions must be questioned, and [[BittersweetEnding victory never comes without sacrifice]].
** ''X-2'': Embracing newfound freedoms in the face of torn-down traditions, and how to reconcile the past and the future.
** ''XII'': The nature of nationalism and power. What does it mean to be loyal to your country - to its ideals, its people, its rulers, or the physical nation itself? What is power - military might, physical strength, spiritual strength, or the value of your lineage? Is power the only way to fight power, and what ways can you use power virtuously?
** ''XIII'': Free will and the power of the human spirit. It's pointless to run from your problems, you must confront them because they will catch up with you again sooner or later. The flaws of totalitarianism, theocracy, and propaganda - people from two different worlds are conditioned to fear and hate each other, only to meet and realize they have more in common than previously believed.
** ''XIII-2'': How far will you go to defy fate?
** ''Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII'': Having emotions and being true to yourself are not weaknesses.
** ''XV'': The rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, and the incredible burden that entails. But ultimately, you must remember that YouAreNotAlone.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' - Losing that which was most precious to you in your past/formative years, and learning to cope with and accept said losses as part of the neverending cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
%%*** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' - Legacy. The actions of one generation influencing the next and paving the way for a new age, either through genetics (Jenova cells) or inherited wills/morals (Angeal's honor and the Buster Sword). Do the circumstances of one's birth determine whether or not they're a monster? The price of freedom, what it takes to become a hero, and what it means to be one.
%%*** ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' - Environmentalism. Deeply buried corporate secrets (Deepground) returning to haunt the survivors of a global crisis brought about by said corporate power. The sins of the past being used to save the present world.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' - Predestination. Both in the sense of [[SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate destiny and all of its tropes within a narrative]], but also, and perhaps far more prominently, [[{{Postmodernism}} what predestination means in relation to a remake and how the nature of a remake influences a team's creative freedom]], as well as the safety and comfort of just going along with how things are supposed go pitted against [[PrescienceIsPredictable the excitement of letting things go in unexplored directions and the joy of not knowing what's going to happen next.]]
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' - The importance of ThePowerOfFriendship and how distancing oneself from others emotionally can be more damaging than forming bonds and being open. Predestination and [[YouCantFightFate the inescapability of fate.]]
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' - Self-discovery and what it means to "live". One's fate is not decided by how they are born or what their predetermined purpose is.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' - All tradition must be questioned. No victory comes without sacrifices.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' - An exploration of a world's culture and society experiencing significant changes and shift from tradition. The tensions between the old and new ideologies threatening to escalate into a war and repeat the mistakes of the past. Shaking off the constraints of the past and finding a strong and confident person within yourself by embracing your newfound freedom.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' - The cycle of revenge and forgiveness. Is power the only way to fight against power?
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' - [[FateVsFreeWill Free will]], the power of the human spirit, [[BeneathTheMask facing yourself]], forgiveness, and redemption. It's pointless in trying to run from your problems as they will eventually catch up with you and potentially get out of hand on a large scale. Theocracy, totalitarianism, and propaganda. The nature of people from two different worlds being brainwashed and conditioned over centuries to fear and hate each other, only to meet and realize they have a lot in common than previously believed upon getting to know each other properly.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' - [[PowerAtAPrice How far will you go]] to [[ScrewDestiny defy]] fate?
%%*** ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' - Having emotions and being true to yourself are not weaknesses. The downsides of immortality, even the illusion of it, and how death can become a desirable option. The rise of religious cults that aim to fill the void of absent leadership and use their power to influence who they believe deserves to live or die.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV: A Realm Reborn'' - Healing after the great catastrophe, and the power of belief to shape reality.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward'' - How the past influences the present, the terrible cycle of revenge, how people react to the upending of their beliefs, and how one deals with grief and loss.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood'' - Loyalty, the identity of a nation, retaining or regaining hope amidst overwhelming odds, and the lengths people go to be free.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers'' - Legacy, how the people and civilizations of the past shaped us. Also, despite our mortality, we should never give in to indolence and despair and always strive for a better tomorrow for our future generations. In addition to this, acts of heroism and villainy are defined by the victors and can be misconstrued by the opposing side.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'' - Hope in the face of nihilism and despair.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' - The rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, and the incredible burden that it entails. Fortunately however, [[YouAreNotAlone you don't have to go about it alone]].
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' - The consequences of seeking power and using people as tools.
%%*** Also: What is the difference between pride in oneself and arrogance? Will our actions exonerate or condemn us, both to ourselves and to others? And in either case, which is more important, the approval of ourselves for our conduct, or the approval of others?
%%----> Ramza: "A man who's lost his pride will never be free."
%%*** True heroism isn't always rewarded positively
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'':
%%*** Avoiding reality is not healthy.
%%*** Things aren't always as bad as you think they are. Doned may have been confined to a wheelchair, but his mother babied him while Marche was neglected. Ritz's confidence grows when she's no longer ashamed of her natural hair color, especially after she sees it in a completely different light. While Mewt had the most reason to want an escape, due to losing his mother and being bullied, ultimately his father and his friend did still care and try for him.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' - You must live life to the fullest, even the painful bits.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' - Memories are precious things that make us strong.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'' - A loving family can overcome anything.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'' - Evil conquers from within the heart.
* ChangingGameplayPriorities: Almost every game in the series contains a system of magic or [[LimitBreak limit breaks]] that fundamentally alters how the game plays. Often, these systems are not present in the first part of the game and only get introduced later. Even in games where the systems are always present, they almost always undergo a change in importance over time.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' presents a LoveTriangle variant, with Cecil and Kain both having known Rosa from their younger days, and both had feelings for her. But she only had feelings for Cecil, which caused Kain to briefly betray Cecil out of jealousy. The three eventually reconciled, with Kain finally accepting his friends' relationship.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Nibelheim, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. During the events of the game they confess their feelings for each other and start a family in the compilation.
** Irvine and Selphie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' grew up together in an orphanage (along with Squall, Zell, Quistis and Seifer), but due to exposure to Guardian Force summons Selphie didn't remember him at first. Whether they ended up together or not is up to interpretation, but it is assumed that something is happening.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', at first, it appeared that Wakka was an UnluckyChildhoodFriend. He had known Lulu since they were kids, but she had fallen in love with his younger brother. When his little brother died, it appeared that Lulu wouldn't accept anyone else into her life. We see in the sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', that they are married and have a boy.
** Vaan and Penelo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', though you have to work ''really'', ''really'' hard to see the scene where they kiss each other [[spoiler: in the secret ending of Revenant Wings]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Noctis and Lunafreya (called 'Luna' by Noctis) grew close as children when Luna kept him company while he recovered from a [[NearDeathExperience near-death experience]]. As young adults, they are betrothed to be wed in a political marriage, although Noctis is hesitant. By the end, it seems he's come to accept his feelings for her however.
* ChildMage:
** Rydia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is your white/black mage the first time she joins the party, though after being separated, she [[YearInsideHourOutside spontaneously]] [[PlotRelevantAgeUp ages several years]] before she rejoins later on; it's also specifically noted that children make good summoners because of their pure hearts. From the same game, Palom and Porom are about five (and twins), and serve as your major magic source for about the second fifth of the game. However, none of them lose their magical prowess (outside of the usual [[BagOfSpilling between-game level resetting]]) in the sequel, though none of them ''gain'' any physical prowess, either.
** Krile is introduced this way in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. When she's still an NPC, she's shown to fight with spells, and she has the second-highest raw magic stat. Spinoff games usually (though not always) give her a SquishyWizard build. [[spoiler:However, if you made Galuf your tank, she will become a tank herself once she inherits his abilities and joins the party.]]
** Relm of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the highest natural Magic stat in the game. At 10, she's the youngest playable human in that game.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'':
*** The party's BlackMage, Vivi, appears about eight or ten years old [[spoiler: but is actually less than a year old.]] This turns out to be an EnforcedTrope: [[spoiler: Black Mages in the setting are actually a kind of {{golem}} with [[WeAreAsMayflies a very short lifespan]]. Vivi is a SuperPrototype who might live longer than the rest, but still isn't likely to make it out of childhood.]]
*** Eiko, a WhiteMage who also wields powerful SummonMagic, is only six years old. {{Justified}} as she's the LastOfHerKind, so the party don't exactly have the option of choosing an older, more experienced summoner to accompany them.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' distills this trope into a ''race'', the [[LittlePeople Tarutaru]]. Tiny, child-like, wickedly magic inclined.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Hope, once he is given his l'Cie powers, is statistically oriented to become the party's SquishyWizard. He is the only character in the game to learn every offensive spell.
** Alphinaud and Alisaie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' are about sixteen years old and are the youngest members of the Scions. Both of them are powerful Arcanists, but their fighting styles change by the ''Stormblood'' expansion; Alphinaud further refines his class, allowing him to summon a more powerful Carbuncle that boosts the party's attack power while Alisaie becomes a RedMage where she mixes magic with sword fencing.
*** There's also Taynor the boy mage you rescue on the Shadowbringers expansion pack who wields some elemental magic and can open and close [[UnrealisticBlackHole Unrealistic Black Holes]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'': The party members are all depicted as youngsters no older than fourteen or so, based on interaction with their family members. This includes the magically-inclined Yukes, who despite their age, are around the same size as adults from other tribes...
* AChildShallLeadThem:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Balamb Garden trains students from the age of 5 to become mercenaries, with several students taking on positions of leadership by the time they reach their late teens. The results of this practice are VERY mixed. It eventually turns out that the reason for this practice is because [[spoiler: Edea Kramer knows that Squall will, in his teens, defeat an incredibly dangerous Sorceress from the future, so they ''have'' to train these kids into leadership positions at a young age to keep the time loop stable.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has Princess Garnet, who turned 16 at the start of the game and by the end, [[spoiler:she is ruling her kingdom after the death of her mother. She seems to handle the job quite competently, as it's implied she was able to rebuild her destroyed Alexandria in the span of only a few years.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has Larsa Solidor, who was picked to be the next emperor by his dying father because his older brother Vayne was ObviouslyEvil. Once both his brother and father realize that the {{Evil Chancellor}}s would try to manipulate him, they decide to have Vayne murder dear old dad and frame the council in order to protect him. Which causes Larsa to not become the emperor until the very end of the game.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' had Princess Ovelia and Prince Orinas, each set up with a regent and sent to lead troops. Ovelia was not quite 18 at the time while Orinas was 2 years old. Though the game kept an active calendar, and with a little [[LevelGrinding grinding,]] you could age the boy prince into his teens, twenties, or even sixties, thus destroying the story.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesMyLifeAsAKing'', you play as a 10-year-old king who took the throne after his father's disappearance.
* ChickMagnet:
** Cloud Strife from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a notorious offender. Despite being a jerk, nearly every woman in the game either falls for him on sight, develops a crush on him or ''can'' soften towards him if Cloud treats them nicely, ranging from romantic heroines to likable female sidekicks to FanserviceExtra [=NPCs=]. Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' where Echo is immediately (and [[AbhorrentAdmirer obnoxiously]]) crazy about him and can't understand why anybody else wouldn't be, trying to get him to go out with her on a date, and later set [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Wol up with him]].
*** Zack (Cloud's BestFriend and BigBrotherMentor) from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is almost as much as Cloud. Case in point: Aerith ''and'' Cissnei in the same game. Way to go Zack.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has Squall makes his own female teammates fall for his good looks and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy charm]] even though he doesn't care. [[spoiler:Although, Quistis and Selphie stop at the end along with Squall realize his love for Rinoa. Quistis realizes that her love for Squall is sisterly love, while Selphie falls for Irvine who loves her from back when they were kids.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' plays with this by casting a childlike wannabe ladies' man as the ''protagonist''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': Hope's become very handsome and tall over the years. Alyssa certainly seems to find him attractive. Many fangirls agree. Even though he doesn't seem to be interested in them (including his [[SexySecretary assistant]] [[HopelessSuitor Alyssa]]).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'':
*** Noctis. Luna is his fiancee, Iris has a crush on him, and ''Brotherhood'' often shows him surrounded by girls at school.
* ChildSoldiers:
** Since Celes Chere ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the rank of general at age of 18, it is safe to say that she falls to the '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', no one in the game seems to consider the idea of a fourteen-year-old Cloud Strife joining the Shinra Army unusual (Zack Fair also joined at a similarly young age) falls to the '''"Precociously Talented"''' type. And then there are people like Sephiroth, Shelke, and Cissnei who started their fighting careers as mere children, although not through any choice of their own. They falls to the '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is the mixture of '''"Precociously Talented"''' type and '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. The [=SeeD=]'s functions as a highly regarded military academy type institution and many students enter voluntarily. Students ''are'' enrolled before puberty, but typically aren't taught in combat until their teens, and don't see actual combat outside of the training room until their graduation. Upon graduation, the [=SeeD=] sometimes also work side jobs in policing duties and receive a regular salary. The I game encyclopedia outright states that any Garden student who doesn't graduate by the age of twenty is discharged from the school.
*** Despite being rather quirky, all of the protagonists except one are members of an elite fighting force trained from the age of 5, and also have their childhood memories erased by the special equipment they use in combat. Early on, it's made quite clear that inexperience and youthfulness significantly screw up their jobs and lives. [[spoiler:Seifer breaks the commander's orders and later betrays everybody out of pure ego; Quistis suddenly feels sorry for yelling at Rinoa and abandons her post; Irvine suddenly becomes doubtful of his sniper skill (he's actually more caught up over the idea of assassinating his adoptive mother)]]; Selphie breaks down crying from the destruction of her old school; and Squall, while the most professional, is pretty much the TroubledButCute trope incarnated. There's also Zell, who is easily set off by being insulted and who often has trouble keeping his mouth shut, letting key info slip.
*** Also the underlying function of the [=SeeD=] is to [[spoiler: be prepared to defend the world against [[BigBad an imprisoned evil sorcerer]]]]
*** However, see the below category to see the flip side of this.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', we have Eiko, a WhiteMage girl who can use SummonMagic falls to the '''"Precociously Talented"''' type. She happens to be six years old and is the SoleSurvivor of her tribe, apart from a bunch of Moogles, who keep her company. She is also WiseBeyondHerYears and not only understands the complexity of the world-threatening conflict when Zidane and his friends meet her, but willingly joins them to SaveTheWorld. The rest of the cast, while not nearly as young as Eiko, are also mostly teenagers and overall ''Final Fantasy IX'' has the youngest cast on average of any main game in the series.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' falls to '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. The PowerCrystal of the Fiefdom of Rubrum only grants the power of magic to the young and as the population ages, their skill with magic wanes. The protagonists are teenaged students of a combination WizardingSchool and MilitaryAcademy that is drafted to fight in the war.
** ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy 012: Duodecim]]'' falls to '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. In the game, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Vaan]], [[MythologyGag possibly in reference to the orphaned friends he had in his own youth in the slums of Rabanastre]], views the fact that the young [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Onion Knight]] is also part of the Conflict of the Gods as being a tragedy (despite the fact that the latter is very capable of holding his own, to the point that everyone else on the team ignores his age and sees him as a worthy peer), and so ends up inadvertently patronizing him for his youth. Onion Knight desperately wishes that Vaan would treat him as someone worthy of respect, until he realizes that it ''is'' Vaan's way of doing just that: Vaan never tries to stop him from fighting, after all.
* ChildSupplantsParent: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Tidus, TheHero, hates his father, [[JerkAss Jecht]], with a passion. Not only has his entire blitzball career played out in the shadow of his famous father, as a child he was also constantly competing with him for the mother's attention. The fact that his father was basically an insensitive, alcoholic bastard might also have had something to do with it, though... and of course, [[spoiler: Tidus ends up killing his father in the semi-final boss-fight--in the very best Oedipal tradition.]]
* TheChosenOne:
** The four protagonists (later retconed to a single protagonist) from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' arrival had been prophesied long before the start of the story. It had been predicted that the [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Warrior of Light]] would save the world from a group of monsters known as the [[FourIsDeath Four Fiends]], [[spoiler: and a never ending time-loop]].
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'' when [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Dark King]]]] tells you that the prophecy of a hero who would defeat him is false and that he made it up [[ForTheLulz for his own amusement]]. Then [[DoubleSubversion double subverted]] when you kick his ass anyway.
** Subverted with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s Sephiroth. He ''thinks'' he's one during his [[GoMadFromTheRevelation freakout moment]] but, as it turns out, this is all just delusions of grandeur on his part. He eventually decides to become a villainous example of TheUnchosenOne by fulfilling Jenova's role of destroying everything on the planet.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was a deconstruction. Yuna may be the only one who ultimately ''will'' save the world, but she's not the only one who is ''able'' to, and gets stiff competition -- and criticism -- from other summoners throughout her quest. And even if she succeeds, [[spoiler:she's only saving the world in the short term. If she does the thing she was chosen for, Sin will just come back to life anyway]]. Needless to say, the world gets saved regardless; Yuna's role in saving it just turns out to be a lot less singular.
*** From the same game, Tidus. [[spoiler:He was brought to Spira by Jecht who, upon becoming Sin, [[ChooserOfTheChosenOne decided]] that Tidus should be the one to defeat him]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, the descendant of Dynast-King Raithwall, is [[spoiler:chosen by the Occurria to set mankind's history on the "right" path. However, their idea of "right" involves mass genocide of the entire Archadian Empire, and even Ashe's hatred of said Empire falters at the prospect. Strangely, their usage of illusions indicates that Vaan was their Plan B for a time, but they gave up on him when he outgrew his hang-ups. It was this very growth that helped inspire Ashe to reject her "chosen destroyer" role outright.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has the l'Cie. They are chosen to complete a mission assigned by a [[PhysicalGod fal'Cie]], a mission which's nature is completely unknown to the l'Cie in question. They are distinguished by a [[PowerTattoo mark on any part of their body]], such as [[http://i50.tinypic.com/2i2kus.jpg this one.]] If a l'Cie fails to carry out its quest, s/he get turned into a Cie'th, BodyHorror incarnate, as punishment; and if the l'Cie succeed his/her quest s/he will [[TakenForGranite turn into crystal]] until the [[JerkassGods fal'Cie]] decides to give the l'Cie a new mission to carry out... It kind of sucks to be a Chosen One in Final Fantasy XIII's universe.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is a very interesting version of this trope. At the start of 1.0 and ''A Realm Reborn'', Mothercrystal Hydaelyn chooses the player character to be her champion, bestowing them the mysterious power of the Echo. No one ever bothers questioning it until it's all flipped on its head during the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:you are actually the reincarnation of a shard of an Ascian, the {{Big Bad}}s of the game and that Hydaelyn didn't need to choose you as the method she chose you with could be used to choose any other reincarnated Ascian shard!]]
*** [[spoiler:That said, it's heavily hinted that the Warrior of Light is the reincarnation of a ''specific'' Ascian - namely an individual known only as The Fourteenth, who had walked away from the ruling council of Amaurot in opposition to the creation of Zodiark and is implied to be the person who led the efforts to birth Hydaelyn - which is why they were chosen to be Her main agent.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'':
*** The main story has Noctis and his [[ChooserOfTheChosenOne ancestors]] whom decided he would be the Chosen King of Light, destined to banish the darkness [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]] and after the previous king, the BigBad, failed.]]
*** ''Episode Ardyn'' reveals [[spoiler:the aforementioned BigBad and titular character Ardyn Izunia is a horrific inversion. He was actually chosen by the gods to become the world's equivalent to Satan, and is told in no uncertain terms that he can go along with it or be ''made'' to go along with it.]]
* {{Chuunibyou}}:
** While a more complicated example, Cloud Strife of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' maintains a persona of being a cocky, detached hotshot former special forces operative that doesn't really fit with his actual personality or level of ability. While in the original ''VII (PSX)'' this comes off more as something Cloud does due to unresolved identity issues that started in childhood, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' focuses more on it being the consequence of his trauma, but has fun with it by having those around Cloud immediately clock his behavior as a childish affectation, comparing him to local children or outright calling him on 'bullshit'. In ''Remake'', he even spreads the syndrome to people around him, with young people in Sector 7 rushing out to buy "big-ass swords" and imitating his rude mannerisms, and the children of Sector 5 making homemade Buster Swords.
** A more overtone, however, is [[RivalTurnedEvil Seifer Almasy]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Unfortunately, he's more of a window of how dangerous this mindset can be with the wrong circumstances. Seifer's such an arrogant bully with delusions of grandeur, because of his obsession with the romantic dream of being a Sorceress' Knight, which, along with his OneHandedZweihander GangstaStyle of wielding his gunblade came from a movie he watched as a child. While mostly kept under control under Garden, even if his attitude wasn't, once he was given the chance to actually serve A Sorceress, [[BigBad regardless of whom]], it spiraled out of control, leading him to develop a TautologicalTemplar mindset, believing himself to be the heroic knight who must vanquish "the evil mercenary" and Balamb Garden "attacking like swarms", never mind that Seifer and Edea went after ''them'' first. While many have argued that he might just be BrainwashedAndCrazy, not only does he openly recognize this could be the case and doesn't ultimately care, so long as it lets him have a go at his rival, but given his character, [[MoreThanMindControl there probably wasn't that much that needed brainwashing to begin with]].
** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', where Ignis's persona is based on trying to appear more 'adult' than he really is by acting exaggeratedly mature, wearing glasses he doesn't really need, and making a point of drinking a lot of black coffee despite secretly not liking coffee.
* ClassicalChimera: The Chimera appears as a random enemy encounter in multiple games, with various depictions. Sometimes it is bipedal, sometimes it has wings and the amount of heads that is has and with animals they are, are different from series to series.
* ClassicalElementsEnsemble:
** The series frequently has four elemental crystals--Fire, Water, Air and Earth--and often there's the [[FourIsDeath Four Fiends]] to go with them: Scarmiglione (associated with the undead and Earth with DishingOutDirt attacks), Cagnazzo (a turtle-like creature associated with Water who uses MakingASplash attacks), Barbariccia (associated with Wind having a signature ability to create a [[ElementalBarrier wind barrier]]), and Rubicante (associated with Fire and uses PlayingWithFire attacks). Both pop up in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest''. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' brought the Four Fiends back but not the crystals, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' has the crystals but not the Fiends.
** Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', each of the four protagonists is associated with one of the four elemental crystals along with a personality trait associated with said element. Bartz gets wind and quest, Lenna gets water and kindness, Galuf gets earth and hope, and Faris gets fire and courage.
** Like the four main characters of ''V'', the four main characters of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s party all correspond far too closely to a cardinal element for it to be coincidental, although unlike ''V'' it is never relevant to the plot or highlighted:
*** Cloud -- Wind. Wind-related name, uses a sword (associated with Air in tarot), wind-themed attacks, compelled to wander, introspective and strategic, acts detached, and looks down on others.
*** Aerith -- Earth. Earth-related name ("[[SignificantAnagram I, Earth]]"), gardener, grew up in an underground slum, her magic is drawn from the Planet, practical, stubborn, nurturing, sensual. Cloud and Aeris's [[MeetCute first meeting]] even involves him falling down from the sky and landing in her flowerbed.
*** Tifa -- Water. Dolphin-themed hairstyle, uses water-themed attacks (both Waterkick and Dolphin Blow are in her Limit Breaks), bartender who pours drinks for the rest of the cast, giving and kind, fluid and accommodating, likes to act as group peacemaker. Her [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Journey To The Center Of Cloud's Mind]], where she gets him to see things her way, is caused when they both fall into (Lifestream-filled) sea. She is also associated with a Hearts motif (her surname is Lockhart, her ultimate weapon is the Premium Heart), the card suit analogous to the tarotic Cups/Water.
*** Barret -- Fire. Fire-themed tattoo, fire-themed attacks, associated with firearms, terrorist, HotBlooded, hot temper, impulsive, passionate, powerful.
** The ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles Crystal Chronicles]]'' subseries designed the four playable races this way. The clavats' down-to-earth nature, earth-toned hair and eye colors, and their reputation for farming represent Earth. Lilties, with their reputation as hotheads, propensity for blacksmithing, and their hairstyles that variously resemble flames, represent Fire. Yukes, with their wings and their reputation for being spacy, represent Air. Selkies, with their hair and eyes coming in various shades of blue and teal, having their only independent settlement being on an island, [[SelkiesAndWereseals and being named after a type of mythological water being]], represent Water.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' there's a rambling man in a cabin [[spoiler:whose the father of one of your party members.]]
** Laguna in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. That dude said the darndest things.
---> "We'll be killing two pigs with one stone!"
*** One of his better moments is, after throwing his TrueCompanions off a cliff to the water below so they can escape from enemy soldiers, he looks over the edge:
----> '''Laguna''': You guys are crazy. You know how tall this cliff is?
*** Selphie from the same game is arguably worse.
** Quina Quen in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. 7 of your team are out to SavingTheWorld from the {{Big Bad}}. Your 8th member (Quina) is out to discover ''yummy yummies''.
** Brother from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is about as weird as they get. Not only does he say outlandish things, he's almost always dancing in place or flailing his limbs while talking.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' gives us Vanille. Whether she's molesting sheep for their wool, cooing over Chocobos, or skipping around acting like a sugar-high idiot, she never seems to be much of anything beyond this trope. [[spoiler: By midgame, it becomes apparent that while this may have been her personality 500 years previously, at present time it's mostly just an act to keep her StepfordSmiler facade unnoticeable to the rest of the party, especially Fang]].
** Nothing describes Cinque from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' better than this trope. Her brain seems to work on a completely different wavelength than the rest of Class Zero, or even ''the rest of the world''. She's also strangely upbeat for a ChildSoldier sent on a massive world war. She does take her job seriously, though, [[BewareTheSillyOnes and has the strength to back it up]].
** The entire party in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' to varying degrees, although Yuri is a little more grounded after the TimeSkip. Most of Rebena Te Ra's population are at least a little loopy, too--in the case of the magicite shopkeeper, undergoing SanitySlippage as the church grows more oppressive.
* CombatantCooldownSystem:
** The Active Time Battle, used in games four through nine (and ''X-2'' and ''Dimensions''), succeeded the TurnBasedCombat of the first three games. The common feature of all ATB implementations is that each character has an "ATB gauge" that is emptied every time they act and fills up over time, allowing them to act again once it's full. The speed it fills up at depends on the character's stats (and the Battle Speed setting) and some powerful attacks have an additional delay before they are executed and the ATB gauge starts filling again. Whether the game pauses to let the player select commands or not depends on the Active/Wait switch (''VII'' introduced an additional Recommended mode).
** The Charge Time Battle from ''Tactics'' is similar to ATB, except that instead of the ATB gauge, it has the Charge Time meter that has to reach 100 before a character can act again. The CT meter is restored at a rate of the character's Speed stat per turn.
** Conditional Turn-Based Battle from ''FFX'' is an implementation that leans very heavily towards TurnBasedCombat. The order in which the characters and enemies act is determined by the [[VisualInitiativeQueue Act List]], and a combatant's position on it is determined both by their speed and by the cooldown duration of the ability they used last. The game pauses every time when it's a PlayerCharacter's turn, like in the ATB Wait mode.
** Active Dimension Battle from ''XII'' is similar to the ATB but eliminates the FightWoosh and adds the [[CommonTacticalGameplayElements tactical movement]] aspect to battles.
** Command Synergy Battle from ''XIII'' and ''XIII-2'' is ATB with a twist that the player can sequence multiple moves, which only consume parts of the ATB gauge (how much is consumed depends on how powerful the ability is), and does not have to wait until the ATB is filled completely--only until it has filled enough to pull off the desired action sequence. The game does not pause to let you choose commands and you can only control the party leader. Style-Change Active Time Battle from ''Lightning Returns'' is an evolution of CSB built around the single-player character idea: the player only ever controls Lightning but each one of her three available Schemas has its own ATB gauge.
** The Active X Battle system in ''XV'' does not have a strict cooldown system other than a technique gauge that needs to be filled up before using techniques. The way party damage works, however (all damage can be recovered, until the character gets to 0HP, then they start losing maximum HP that needs to be healed in other ways), does encourage the player to back Noctis off whenever he takes too much damage so he can recover.
* TheComicallySerious:
** Cyan Garamonde from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. Much humor is drawn from his interactions with Gau the feral child, his reaction to the flirtatious remarks of a cabaret dancer, and his embarrassment when his companions discover [[spoiler:his hobby of crafting beautiful silk flowers]]. There's also Celes and the "I'm a GENERAL, not some opera floozy" moment.
** Cloud Strife in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Despite being intended to be a stoic leader, nobody can take him seriously when [[DudeLooksLikeALady cross-dressing to save Tifa]], [[NotWhatItLooksLike giving mouth to mouth to a little girl]], and 'jumping with Mr. Dolphin'. Or telling the party "Let's mosey."
** Squall Leonhart of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', because ThereAreNoTherapists on his planet to tell him that getting over your missing sister by ''joining a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMC]] at five years old'' isn't a very good idea.
** Similarly, his RuleSixtyThree counterpart, Paine from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'':
--->'''[[GenkiGirl Rikku]]''': Doctor P is in the house!\\
'''[[KnightInSourArmor Paine]]''': Stop that.
** Lightning from ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' is a stoic, professional WeHelpTheHelpless savior working under a god. Her personality crashes hard with the main game mechanic which is, basically, [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman dressing]] [[AndYourRewardIsClothes up]]. This includes her wearing some skimpy outfits that can be recolored and some awkward-looking hats. A review from [[http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-review/1900-6415657/ Gamespot]] takes a jab at a crazy possibility.
---> '''[=VanOrd=]''': "If you'd rather giggle than ogle, you can always equip Lightning with an adornment, like a bushy goatee or a feline tail, and then change her clothing colors to a garish puce-and-pea-green combo. Lightning doesn't smile, so you can't laugh with her -- but at least you can laugh at her."
*** That said, the game does go for some giggles in a couple of sequences, one involving her and moogles and another in which she has to specifically dress up for the purposes of the plot and do a play.
** While he does crack the occasional joke, Ignis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is generally a pretty stoic and serious-minded character, who treats things like a Chocobo stealing his glasses as [[SeriousBusiness Extremely Serious Business]].
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: The series has done this from the beginning.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Chaos]] was TheManBehindTheMan who entered a mutual agreement with the Fiends.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII The Emperor]] made the fact he led his forces a fact and betrayed the Devil to go OneWingedAngel.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Cloud of Darkness]] is a natural force that come to pass and made its appearance at the very end.
*** Xande also merits mention: Unlike Garland and the Emperor, who were initially normal men who eventually craved power, Xande was an immortal whose [[ImmortalsFearDeath loss of immortality]] was the driving force for his actions. Additionally, unlike the aforementioned men who [[OneWingedAngel grew stronger]] upon tapping into dark powers, Xande merely dies after being defeated and is replaced by the Cloud of Darkness.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Zemus]] orchestrated the entire game from afar with mind control, and came back through [[ThePowerOfHate sheer rage]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]] is a centuries-old clump of demons stuffed into a tree that is now trying to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world with The Void]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] broke a lot of ground for ''Final Fantasy'' baddies by not only being completely [[AxCrazy cuckoo-for-Chocobo-Puffs]], but also starting off fairly weak. Midway through the game, you actually fail to stop him from playing his trump card and he gains [[PhysicalGod godly power]] through manipulation.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] used to be the hero to all. You also spend a lot of time [[UnwittingPawn doing things for him]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Ultimecia]] is a sorceress from the future who uses the present sorceresses as proxies. Her use of Seifer also foils Squall's relationship with Rinoa.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Kuja]] is a theatrical, misanthropic [[spoiler: artificially made]] young [[DudeLooksLikeALady man]] who goes mad when he finds out his true identity.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has a lot of villains, but the biggest foil is Jecht, JerkJock supreme who followed a path similar to [[ArchnemesisDad his son's own]] and [[TheAtoner now regrets what he does]]. Seymour was driven insane by a combination of parental abandonment and an addiction to magical powers.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Vayne]], like Kefka, isn't some great evil supernatural force, but a normal man. But unlike Kefka, he isn't completely insane. Instead, he is a brilliant politician and military tactician who decides to win the long war between two powerful empires by seizing control of the world's most important natural resource. He is calm, collected, and unlike most Final Fantasy villains, he comes the closest to [[NearVillainVictory winning in the end]] and in some ways, [[XanatosGambit does get what he wants.]] Also unlike many Final Fantasy Villains, he isn't [[ManBehindTheMan shown very often in game]], but his decisions are immediately felt worldwide.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' by contrast has Barthandelus, who is effectively one of the manipulating gods that Vayne would have opposed, and who seeks the destruction of those he is charged with protecting. And while his plan does eventually work, it doesn't occur the way he wanted and takes far longer to come to pass (around another 1000 years).
** Caius Ballad from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' rounds back around to being a man, albeit an enormously powerful one. In comparison to Barthandelus, who was a WellIntentionedExtremist based on the world, Caius only cares about one person, Yuel, and is willing to [[TimeCrash destroy time]] to preserve her. And while, like Barthandelus, he gets what he wants...it's not in the manner that he hoped for.
** The divinity phase is switched once again for the finale of the ''XIII'' trilogy, ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' with [[spoiler:Bhunivelze, who is presented as the BigGood initially and genuinely wishes to save everyone. Until it's revealed that while he does intend to do so, he also intends to filter humanity into soulless puppets, while Caius wanted to preserve Yuel]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', being an MMORPG, features a succession of antagonists over the course of its run.
*** In the original "Legacy" game, the BigBad was Legatus Nael van Darnus[[note]]actually his sister Eula wearing his armor, the real Nael having been long dead[[/note]] of the Garlean Empire. Believing that the threat of [[PhysicalGod Primal]] summonings in Eorzea was too great, and being corrupted by the presence hidden inside the moon of Dalamud, the Legatus enacted "Project Meteor" to bring the moon crashing down on the Eorzean nations.
*** In "A Realm Reborn", the reins were taken by Legatus Gaius van Baelsar who subscribed much more to a sort of PragmaticVillainy. Believing in conquest over destruction, Gaius sought to establish dominance and combat the Primal threat by piloting the [[LostSuperweapon Ultima Weapon]]. However, he ended up being an {{unwitting pawn}} of the Ascian Lahabrea, who caused the Ultima Weapon to blow up Gaius's own base before Gaius was defeated by the Warrior of Light.
*** The "Heavensward" expansion has a BigBadDuumvirate due to the ForeverWar between the Ishgardians and the dragons. The bulk of the story arc leads to a confrontation with Ishgard's ruler, Archbishop Thordan VII, who actually hijacks ''Lahabrea'' and devours the Ascian's energy in order to turn himself and his most loyal knights into Primals. The following updates, though, focus on the dragon Niddhog as the primary threat to peace. Having long ago lost himself to an all-consuming rage and lust for revenge against Ishgard, Niddhog is more of a force of pure malice than anything else.
*** In "Stormblood", the antagonist is Zenos yae Galvus, crown prince of the Garlean Empire. Unlike the previous foes, Zenos is a pure Blood Knight who doesn't actually care about anything other than finding an opponent to fight who will actually pose a challenge. He eventually decides that the Warrior of Light is both his greatest enemy and only "friend".
*** "Shadowbringers" has Emet-Selch, a.k.a. Solus zos Galvus[[note]]founder of the Garlean Empire[[/note]], a.k.a. Hades. One of the most powerful and manipulative of Ascians, Emet-Selch is the architect of incalculable suffering throughout the ages, yet presents himself as an AffablyEvil {{friendly enemy}} for most of the story arc. When you get toward the end of the expansion, however, you find out that [[spoiler:he views the world as "broken" by the BigGood, and every calamity he and his brethren have brought about has been for the purposes of rejoining the shard worlds with the source so that the utopian home he remembers from ages past can be rebuilt]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' features [[spoiler:Ardyn]]. In contrast to the previous villains, who either didn't have personal relationships with the heroes or did, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] wants to kill Noctis from the get-go; in comparison to Sephiroth and Cloud, who had developed enmity in their backstory; Noctis barely even knew who [[spoiler:Ardyn]] was initially. Rather than be embraced in a way by the gods like the fal'Cie and Bhunivelze would do with the heroes of the ''XIII'' trilogy, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] was spurned and shunned by them, and while they ultimately intended to save existence to a degree, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] makes no such claims; he only wants Noctis to survive so that he can kill him at his strongest, the world be damned. Finally, unlike most humanoid villains, he doesn't have an OneWingedAngel form and is fought specifically as a DuelBoss. [[spoiler:And on top of all that, he has ''his own personal Guardian Force Ifrit'', which he summons against a party that ''cannot'' control the appearance of their own Guardian Forces.]] Finally, for the very first time in the franchise's nearly half-century of history, the story's main villain [[spoiler:gets exactly what he wanted in exactly the way he wanted it - a fight with the fully-empowered Noctis, the devastation of the world, and end of the Lucian bloodline as Noctis dies with no heirs.]]
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: The series likes to vary its tone a lot:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'''s heroes were HeroicMime characters with [[HelloInsertNameHere no names]] and fixed Jobs, so ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' stars the main character with a CanonName (Firion), flexible skills and a whole game mechanic based around talking. Then ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is back to using something in the middle - the characters have dialogue but it isn't assigned to one character in particular, and while you can change their Jobs you are restricted to using specific Job classes instead of the more flexible approach taken by Firion.
** Cecil of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is an emotional man atoning for the sins of his past, a highly decorated soldier, and has dramatic and intense relationships with his party members. Bartz of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is a laid back IdiotHero with no particular qualifications beyond birthright, who has a [[{{Bathos}} bickering, 'normal' relationship with his party members]].
** ''VI'' and ''VII'':
*** Terra of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is an insecure former enslaved soldier, with amnesia from mind control, who has to come to terms with her repressed, monstrous inner strength to succeed. Cloud of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a swaggering former elite SOLDIER with monstrous physical strength, who [[FakeMemories remembers too much]] due to mind control and has to come to terms with his repressed inner weakness and [[TheMentallyDisturbed mental problems]] to succeed. (Cloud's personality draws somewhat from ''VI'''s deuteragonist Celes, another cocky and aloof magic soldier who was designed to contrast Terra in much the same way.)
*** Romantically, Terra has no real love interest, and her discovery of love ends up being platonic love. She's shown as being kind-hearted and, while she will hurt people for the sake of her cause, she is not naturally confrontational and tries hard to get on with everybody. Cloud is an AllGirlsWantBadBoys ChickMagnet ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and Guy Magnet at times]]) who is hated by a few male [=NPCs=] for his obnoxious girlfriend-stealing. He's caught up in a story-important LoveTriangle with two party members, can date four of them, can hit on every FanserviceExtra NPC the player runs into and acts like a jerk about it the whole time.
** ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'':
*** Zack Fair from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is more hotheaded, attitude-driven, laid back, and friendlier than the colder, thoughtful, insane Cloud Strife from the previous game. Various motifs are set up to contrast the two - Zack ''Fair'' and ''Cloud'' Strife, how the compassionate Zack uses the blunt edge of his blade while the intimidating Cloud always uses the sharp edge, and the AnimalMotif that compares Zack to a puppy and Cloud (in ''Anime/AdventChildren'') to a wolf.
*** The main characters of the original ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]]'' are Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Barret, with Cid getting a lot of important things to do towards the end. ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'''s protagonists are Vincent and Yuffie, who had been {{Optional Party Member}}s in the original, and Reeve, the alter ego of party member Cait Sith; Cloud, Barret, and Tifa appear only in a brief cameo and get a couple of lines each.
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' was intentionally written to be more 'human' and 'normal' than the ''FF'' heroes so far. Where Terra and Cloud's troubles are about self-identity, Squall's troubles are about his relationships with his friends and family, with his teenage identity problems more in the background. Previous ''FF'' heroes (even the most everyman ones) existed strictly in a fantasy world, but Squall goes to high school, rents cars and reads his classmates' blog posts.
** Zidane of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' was a lot more friendly and sociable than Squall. Zidane is also much more altruistic than the professional mercenary, his motto literally being "You don't need a reason to help people." Romantically Zidane is a flirt who slowly develops real feelings for Garnet when Squall had no history before Rinoa and spends a lot of time sorting his feelings out when he realizes he has them.
** Tidus from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is a FishOutOfWater in comparison to the experienced Zidane.
** Vaan in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' while a ray of sunshine compared to Cloud and Squall has a chip on his shoulder compared to Zidane and Tidus. And while Tidus and Zidane developed full-fledged romances with the High Summoner's daughter and a princess, Vaan has a very low-key relationship with his childhood friend.
** Lightning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is back to being moody and serious, with elements of her character and look designed to be a DistaffCounterpart to Cloud and Squall.
** Noctis of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has a MeaningfulName (Noctis Lucis Caelum) which is supposed to indicate his contrast to previous Creator/TetsuyaNomura-designed heroes - 'Lucis' (clear) to contrast with Cloud, and 'Noctis Caelum' (night heavens) to contrast with Sora (daytime sky). Note also that Lightning's name contains the word "Light" and she is themed around LightIsNotGood, while Noctis is themed around DarkIsNotEvil (with the usual Nojima idea that Darkness is an element of rest and peace; Noctis is laid-back and a little lazy, while Lightning is extremely highly strung and judgemental.) Both Lightning and Noct have promotional renders displaying them in the same pose, with Lightning bathed in shafts of white light and Noctis lurking in shadows. While Lightning had no official love interest Noctis begins betrothed to Lunafreya.
** After Noctis, we return to Cloud again with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. Noctis's most notable characteristic is the value he places on friendship, holding them close to himself even when separated from them, while Cloud's most notable characteristic is his detached, independent spirit, who retains his own personal freedom and agency even as he learns to truly value the group. Noctis reluctantly accepts his duty even if it goes against what matters to him, where Cloud chases after his own personal goals to the extent of being pretty irresponsible at times. Noctis is engaged, while Cloud an overpowering ChickMagnet. Some have commented that Noctis has a gothy appearance but [[PerkyGoth is upbeat, modest, and supportive]], while Cloud has an [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold adorable face and blond hair]] but is a cynical, intimidating {{Jerkass}} with an InferioritySuperiorityComplex even bigger than his sword.
* ConstructedWorld: Every game takes place in its own constructed world.
* CooldownManipulation:
** Many titles, beginning with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', use an ActiveTimeBattle system in which characters cool down at different rates. Several StatusEffects speed, slow, or stop the rate of cooldown: namely, Haste, Slow, and Stop.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has the attacks Delay Attack and Delay Buster, which increase the amount of time until the targeted enemy can take its next action, and Quick Hit, which has a much faster cooldown than a standard attack.
* CorruptChurch: If a ''Final Fantasy'' series has a religion in it with any sort of power or influence, chances are that it's going to be corrupted by the time the game's plot starts. It's also got a high likelihood of being a ScamReligion.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has the Church of Yevon. It teaches that Sin was divine punishment for using machina, that machina weapons are evil, that Sin will go away with enough prayer and repentance, and that the Final Summoning can free the world from Sin. While it's true from one point of view that machina brought about Sin (Bevelle won the war because of their superior weaponry, and Yu Yevon created Sin as his revenge), they are not inherently evil and Sin is not divine; the church uses this lie to keep the populace under control (no advanced weaponry = harder to overthrow the church). Sin will not go away with any amount of prayer or repentance, and the Final Summoning is actually how Sin is reborn; this lie is used to give the people false hope and keep them ignorant of the true state of things. It's made very clear that the Maesters are fully aware of the continued lies they spread. The church also has no compunctions using machina themselves--Bevelle's temple uses machina transporters, their soldiers wield machina rifles, and they use machina war machines even more advanced than the Al Bhed's.
** The main plot of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' revolves around this starting from the end of the second chapter [[spoiler:when you discover that the zodiac braves revered by the church are actually demons, and Saint Ajora was the worst of the lot bent on world destruction. The main character gets branded as a heretic in order to prevent this truth from coming to light, and the author of the in-universe book, the Durai papers, upon which the story of the game is drawn from is burnt at the stake to prevent the truth from being revealed.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The city state of Ishgard has the Archbishop of the local religion acting as both head of state and head of the religion. The Archbishop's job is to guide the people in their ForeverWar against dragons, and to help the people have faith. Except the Archbishop and his story are a SelfMadeMyth. [[spoiler:It was Ishgard that started the Dragonsong War, not the dragons, when the Ishgardians betrayed a dragon named Ratatoskr and stole her eyes for their power. A thousand years later, Ratatoskr's brother Nidhogg is keeping the Ishgardians trapped in a CycleOfRevenge for his sister's death. Nidhogg doesn't just kill them outright because he wants the Ishgardians to feel fear for as long as possible. Everything seems to be going fine, until [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light shows up]], killing both the Archbishop and Nidhogg in combat and forcing the truth to come out.]]
* CosmicPlaything:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': This time around, Cloud increasingly shows frustration with how he doesn't seem to have any control in his life, such as his monologue on the train. [[spoiler:It makes him an easy target for Sephiroth's manipulations since this Sephiroth makes sure to rub it in every single time Cloud fails. Despite hating Sephiroth for killing his mom, he briefly considers joining his enemy when Sephiroth offers to let Cloud make his own fate.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Sephiroth''']]: ''[after [[spoiler:Sector 7 is destroyed]]]'' You have failed again, I see.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': [[spoiler:Ardyn]] is methodically driven insane by [[spoiler:the gods, ''intentionally'']], in order to stop a plague through mass genocide.
* CostumePorn: Fancy outfits have been common in the series, even if it was just the artwork in earlier games.
* CowardlyLion:
** Gordon in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''.
** [[SpoonyBard Prince Edward Chris von Muir]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', any time actual work is proposed, a minor character named Zone immediately crouches by the wall and complains about stomach pains. Later, he goes off and buys emergency train tickets for himself, his leader, and the three main characters, not counting on there being one addition to the party. After a moment, he passes his own ticket to her, then immediately finds a corner to hug his stomach in.
* CoyGirlishFlirtPose:
** Aerith does this several times in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', usually with Cloud and usually for flirting purposes. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake The remake]] even adds new scenes where she does this. Looking at old recordings of her birth mother Ifalna indicates that she used to do the pose as well.
*** Tifa Lockhart is frequently shown in this pose during the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''.
** This is one of Rinoa's [[GoingThroughTheMotions stock motions]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. She mostly uses it when Squall is being standoffish, which is often.
** Rikku in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
* CuteBruiser:
** Krile from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' can fit this trope, especially if you give her physically-oriented jobs. [[spoiler:Which, given that she inherits her stats from Galuf, might be the jobs she has leveled up to start with.]] Her outfits seem designed to be as adorable as possible--for example, her bubblegum-pink Knight armor.
** While Relm Arrowny may not be a great physical fighter, many believe she is the most powerful pure mage in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. This in stark contrast to her grandfather, the Blue Mage, and ''half-Esper Terra'' means that game balance might be FridgeLogic retardant.
** As a counterpart to the [[{{Stripperific}} supposedly]] [[LadyOfWar elegant, graceful and druidic]] Viera, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' introduced the Gria, a race of dragon girls who focused on speed and raw power, wielding swords and [[{{BFS}} greatswords]] as well as bows and hammers.
** The Moogle Knight class is a male example - sword-wielding brawlers of a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cute fuzzy race]] whose other classes tend towards the FragileSpeedster and SquishyWizard archetypes.
** Tifa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' can beat down various monsters and other villains with her punches and kicks, including [[BigBad Sephiroth]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy]]'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Prishe]] is the TokenMiniMoe, a young BareFistedMonk with FrillsOfJustice and purple hair. Her punch combos, particularly One-Inch Punch and Howling Fist, are incredibly powerful, those two in particular can crush guards and deflecting attacks when charged up, and her ability to link two attacks together gives her impressive power. For example, her Dragon Kick to One Inch Punch link has a base power of 25-35 if both attacks are charged up, making it one of ''the'' most powerful combos in the game.
*** Tifa is also a playable character in this game, so once again, she counts as well.
*** In her [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI source game]], Prishe is just as much of a badass, as she's able to destroy the barriers that make a PhysicalGod invincible with her [[DeathFromAbove Nullifying Dropkick]].
** Tiny and sweet [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Penelo]] is naturally more proficient with magic, but feel free to give her a two-handed greatsword and watch her plough through enemies.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0 Cinque]] is the resident Cloudcuckoolander, naive and innocent to a fault. In battle, she swings around [[CarryABigStick a mace as big as she is]] and is easily capable of killing most enemies in only a few hits.
* CuteIsEvil: Tonberries and Cactuars. Oy very.
* CutenessProximity:
** Terra from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' seems to undergo a total personality shift from her normally timid self whenever she's within hugging distance of a Moogle. This, naturally, was brought up in the ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' games, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z-9G9PXXMU as seen here.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** On Mt. Corel, there's a nest of adorable baby birds. Cloud remains clinical, Yuffie's more interested in the treasure under the nest, and Red XIII assumes they're lunch - but Aeris and Tifa fall to pieces and Barret's rendered basically speechless.
*** After witnessing ScaryBlackMan Barret dressed in a ridiculous sailor uniform while in disguise on the ship, the player can either have Cloud tell him off or tell him that he looks adorable. Choosing to tell him he looks adorable results in you later finding him in the inn dancing around in front of the bathroom mirror for himself and talking about how he'll be wearing it when he goes to see his little daughter.
*** Mideel features an adorable baby white Chocobo that a woman is keeping as a pet. The player can talk to it, upon which the player character will suggest feeding it Greens. Depending on whether Cloud, Tifa or Cid is in charge of the party at the time, you can then be treated to a gruff chain-smoking astronaut or a magically enhanced, too-cool-for-school {{BFS}}-swinger giggling at it, calling it cutesy pet names like 'shorty' and 'peewee' and tickling it.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Prompto melts down around cute Chocobos. Seeing one give Noct a hug reduces him to "oh em gee".
* CryIntoChest:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': This happens between Cloud and Tifa in Chapter 14 [[RelationshipValues if your affinity rating with the latter is high enough]]. Tifa, who had until this point maintained a relatively [[IronWoobie strong]] and forward-thinking attitude following [[spoiler: the destruction of Sector 7]], [[BreakTheCutie finally breaks down and cries]] into Cloud's chest (note that the above incident marks the ''second'' time that [[spoiler: their homes and livelihoods]] have been taken from them). Cloud--himself being a StoicWoobie with trouble connecting emotionally--finally opens up and [[TearJerker hugs her in response]]; enough that [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Tifa soon has to interrupt him for holding her so tightly to the point of nearly hurting her]].
** Seen in [[http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/1/1a/Tidus_%26_Yuna-1.jpg this]] promotional image for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', depicting the scene in Macalania Woods [[spoiler:where Yuna is forced to accept her duty as a summoner, and that she cannot live the idealized normal life in Zanarkand that Tidus describes]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Vanille breaks down a second time after Fang tricks her into revealing [[spoiler:she lied about her amnesia]]. After ThatOneBoss and an emotionally draining scene, Fang (instead of punching Vanille as we're lead to believe) simply bumps her forehead playfully and draws her into a hug of reassurance as the scene ends.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:D]]
* DamagedSoul:
** NPC Enaremand in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' have you searching for a necromancer to make a mannequin with the likeness of his deceased wife Alsha more 'lifelike' by summoning the soul of the said wife into the doll. It ends with you having to deal with a crazed puppet that both attempts to hurt and heal you, before trying to end its own existence by casting Fire II on itself over and over. It's up to the player to survive AND deal the finishing blow to truly end the tragedy.
** Latov in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' is wounded in spirit by both the manner of his death, having been murdered in his own home to protect his children, and all the other tragedies he'd suffered by the Crystal Temple. Then he is possessed by the Lich, turning him into a being of rage and anguish. His children Yuri and Chelinka, along with his old friends Alhanalem and Meeth, first have to drive the Lich out and then dive into his past to heal him so that he can move on.
* DamselInDistress: Being a very popular long-standing franchise, it has many examples: ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Rosa]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Aerith]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Rinoa]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Garnet]]'' etc. The [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI very first game]] begins with a "SaveThePrincess from rogue knight" plot, before switching to saving the crystals.
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' with Yuna. Who, while kidnapped three times, managed to escape on her own the first time and actually made a plan to defeat one of the BigBad's the third time (which the heroes, while pulling off an impressive BigDamnHeroes, messed up) she still escaped on her own. And the second time, she was actually being "kidnapped" by [[spoiler: Rikku]], so there wasn't any real danger (other than being forced to end her pilgrimage and being held captive in Home), though the other characters think there is at the time.
* DamselOutOfDistress:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Tifa Lockhart is thought to be in distress early in the game but is instead undercover and investigating. Later in the game, she's shackled to a chair in a gas chamber and escapes on her own.
*** Aerith Gainsborough is separated from Cloud at one point in the game and pursued by SHINRA soldiers. The player has the option to fight them with only her.
*** PlayedForLaughs when Cloud goes on a date with one of the female party members and has to take part in a play, with Cloud as TheHero and Aerith/Tifa/Yuffie as the DamselInDistress. If the player messes up too many lines, the date will angrily slap Cloud so hard he passes out and then kick her dragon captor off the stage herself. The narrator hastily wraps up the story while the other actors just awkwardly stand there.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Yuna, the sweet, shy, innocent summoner is kidnapped a couple of times but pulls this trope off. [[spoiler: Escaping on her own just as her rescuers arrive and then attempting to send Seymour at the forced marriage; when that fails she jumps off a roof and escapes on an aeon.]]
*** During the Blitzball tournament in Luca, Yuna is abducted by the Al Bhed, who intend to use her as a hostage and force the Besaid Aurochs to throw the game against them in the elimination round. Tidus, Lulu, and Kimahri mount a rescue mission, fighting their way through waves of guard machina to the ship where Yuna is being held captive. [[spoiler: Upon defeating the Oblitzerator, they rush to open the door to belowdecks ... only for the door to open and an unconscious guard to slump out onto the ground as Yuna walks out.]]
---->'''Lulu:''' ''[tenderly]'' Did you hurt them?
---->'''Yuna:''' A little.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Seriously, [[DarkAndTroubledPast/FinalFantasy this series should probably get its own page]], judging by the number of examples there are ranging from heroes, villains, supporting cast, and even random [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], we could be here ALL DAY.
* DarkerAndEdgier: [[DarkerAndEdgier/FinalFantasy See here.]]
* ADarkerMe:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Cloud, new to a big city and shed of all his prior identity, spends the first few hours of the game acting like a rude, aloof, cooler-than-cool, violent asshole - something that's even an act ''within'' the context of his [[TheMentallyDisturbed delusions]]. Later we find out that he thinks of his real personality as weak and boring, even though what we see of it is quite friendly and sweet (if awkward and self-flagellating).
*** Red XIII. When we first meet him, he's being used as a research specimen by Hojo. He makes a point of acting like an impossibly old, alien being with some cool DeadpanSnarker moments - using complicated language and refusing to give his real name to the party, suggesting they call him by what Hojo designated him. Then you return to his hometown where it turns out that, despite being 48, his long-lived species means he's actually about 15 in human years. Oh, and he still lives with his beloved grandfather. After completing his quest, he drops the act, and his speech patterns and attitude become a lot more childish - in the Japanese, he even changes to a [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns childish pronoun]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Throughout the first "arc" of the Dark Knight class quests, your teacher Fray is constantly snapping at people who [[HoldingOutForAHero come to your for help]], and urge you to leave them to deal with their own problems. Yet for some reason, people seem to react as though it were ''you'' and not Fray talking to them. Then at the end of the arc comes TheReveal: [[spoiler:Fray ''is'' you. Specifically, s/he's the part of you that is absolute ''[[HeroicFatigue sick and tired]]'' of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome constantly being the hero]], helping people who won't help themselves and [[DudeWheresMyRespect getting nothing but a "thank you" (if even that)]] for it, while being restrained by laws and leaders. When you refuse to let that side of you take over and walk away from it all, it [[EnemyWithout manifests itself as a doppelganger]] and tries to beat you down into compliance. Once you emerge triumphantly, "Fray" gives up trying to take over forcefully, but promises to take over if you ever want it to.]]
* ADayInTheLimelight: Many characters, although Alexander seems to get the most throughout the series. To date:
** An FMV appearance in the PSX remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', attacking Kefka;
** An FMV appearance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', in which he [[spoiler: gallantly defends]] Alexandria Castle (and [[ThemeNaming Princess Garnet]]) [[spoiler: from Bahamut's attack]];
** An appearance as a HumongousMecha in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', being Hope's summon;
** An appearance as a [[spoiler:Verboten Eidolon]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0''; and finally
** Being the [[spoiler: BigBad and final boss]] of ''VideoGame/BahamutLagoon'', although he's entirely different from his other incarnations and takes the form of a serpentine 4-headed dragon.
*** And all this time, he hasn't said a single word.
** Interestingly enough, the [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080215143717/finalfantasy/images/thumb/a/aa/Amano_Giant_of_Bab-Il.jpg/180px-Amano_Giant_of_Bab-Il.jpg Giant of Bab-il]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' looks very similar to him as well. Not only does this give a possible origin on Alexander but this [[AMechByAnyOtherName Giant]] also has a limelight moment by [[spoiler: starting the destruction of the Blue Planet, among other things.]]
** As a ''raid boss'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', complete with a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YiBnxSIDhY catchy theme song]].
* DeadpanSnarker:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has Laguna Loire's ThoseTwoGuys best friends, Kiros and Ward. Given that Laguna is a front-to-end IdiotHero, their moments are very common.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Lulu is ''so'' deadpan, they created Paine for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' because if they'd gone with their plan A of using Lulu, most of the banter would be shut down brutally early.
*** Auron, so much.
---->'''Auron:''' (''seeing Evrae, the guardian wyrm of Bevelle'') The red carpet has teeth.\\
'''Auron:''' Once Lady Yuna fixes her hair, we leave.\\
'''Auron:''' That Kinoc, a Maester?
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Balthier has this in spades.
--->'''Ashe''': ''trying to warn the part about the dangers inside the Tomb of Raithwall'' Only his descendants are suffered within. If we enter without proof of such lineage-
--->'''Balthier''': There's no guarantee we'll make it out alive. Vicious beasts. Fiendish traps. Something like that?
--->'''Ashe''': (''nodding'') Mhhm. But you must consider the prize. The Dawn Shard lies within. And Raithwalls treasure.
--->'''Balthier''': And there was I thinking this was going to be hard.
** Wol in ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' spends most of his time reacting to his fantastical world of magical creatures with the relentless, resigned sarcasm of a teenage boy at a boring theme park. He even effortlessly outsnarks [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake Cloud]] in his cameo, mocking his attitude problems.
** Noctis in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is known for his sarcastic sense of humor. Such as this exchange here:
--->'''Prompto''': Hey Ignis, how's it feel being away from the wheel?\\
'''Ignis''': Positively frightening.\\
'''Noctis''': What are you saying...?\\
'''Ignis''': That I'm no stranger to His Highness's [[DrivesLikeCrazy driving habits]].\\
'''Noctis''': [[SarcasmMode 'Preciate the confidence]].
* DeadPersonConversation:
** A major plot point of ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' is Cloud having conversations with [[ItWasHisSled Aerith]]. Then again, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and its related spin-offs tend to run on the Trope of OnlyMostlyDead, to the point where there is a Japanese novella written entirely from the point of view of ''the dead characters in the TheLifestream''.
*** Even though he was heard in several scenes in the original cut of Advent Children, Zack now has a new major scene where, during the fight with Sephiroth, he is encouraging Cloud in a conversation as a SpiritAdvisor in Advent Children Complete.
** In a similar manner, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' raises this trope from Dead Person Conversations to [[ThePlan Dead Person Plans]].
** After being killed by Kuja in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX,''[[TheManBehindTheMan Garland]] starts talking to Zidane and the others, providing some much-needed information about Memoria before his soul [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence passes on.]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation:
** Setzer of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' takes on the personality and reputation of his mentor, Daryl, after she dies. There's also Cyan, who writes letters claiming to be a woman's long-distance boyfriend after her real boyfriend dies.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has Cloud's backstory revolve around this. [[spoiler: Since he was rendered mentally unstable by experimentation and trauma, and had little self-esteem before that point, he takes on the life story of his best friend, Zack. In the original, it was portrayed as Cloud finally snapping for good - in the remade scene in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', it was portrayed as a conscious, but the decision to live in Zack's honor. Either way, Cloud ends up genuinely believing that he was in SOLDIER, and the illusion comes apart in the [[HeroicBSOD most painful way possible]] later on.]]
*** They also have [[EldritchAbomination Jenova]] do this trope. Example:
*** Once the creature emerged from the impact site and approached the Cetra settlement, it read their minds and adopted the forms of dead relatives to get close to them.
*** Hojo duped Sephiroth into believing this thing is his real mother. Thanks to the Jenova cells in her body, Lucrecia was unable to die, though; instead, she fled, eventually winding up in the Crystal Cave where she turned herself to crystal (as penance and, perhaps, to stop herself from mutating).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has this as a reveal near the end of the 3.5 storylines when you learn that [[spoiler: Yda is actually Lyse, her sister, who watched her die when escaping the Ala Mhigan invasion, and took up her name and mantle as a member of the Circle of Knowing.]]
* DeathFromAbove:
** Dragoons/Dragon Knights with their "Jump" command.
** Comet and Meteor, dealing usually semi-random amounts of damage.
** Sometimes, Holy is shown as beams of light falling from the sky.
** Sometimes [[ShockAndAwe lightning]]-based magic comes from the sky rather than the caster.
** Final bosses are fond of using cosmic attacks that drop meteors on you, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII send meteors into the sun]], ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII chuck a planet at you]]'', etc.
* DeconstructorFleet: Started (sparingly) with general fantasy tropes as early as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', and later moved on to more specific RPG tropes that had sprung up in the years following.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Look back at all the ''Final Fantasy'' protagonists. There's a pretty good chance that one or both their parents are either dead, have disappeared or [[spoiler: die by the end of the story]].
* DefiantToTheEnd:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'': Galuf takes on Exdeath solo after the rest of the party falls, and doesn't let a pesky thing like running out of {{Hit Point}}s stop him until Exdeath retreats, even if it costs him his life.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': [[SkyPirate Balthier's]] reaction to a sword to his throat?
---> '''Balthier''': Well, at least your sword is [[{{Pun}} to the point]].
*** Balthier can also be heard snarking calmly when he's knocked out in combat:
---->'''Balthier:''' Is that your best?
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', the character Clasko says "I've got to find my place in this world". If you do a sidequest for him, he eventually finds his knack for chocobo ranching. There is some exploration of this theme in the case of the Youth League, New Yevon, and the Ronso as well.
*** In fact, it's a theme for the main characters too. Yuna having completed her supposed suicide mission is left with a lifetime of summoner training and no ability to use it. Paine is looking for a purpose, any purpose to distract her from what happened on the Crimson Squad, and Rikku (unbelievably, but accurately the most well adjusted of the three) just wants to have fun.
*** All of Spira seems to have fallen into this after Sin's downfall. It's still an improvement since the only "purpose" they had when Sin was around was simple survival.
** Vaan from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' is like this in the middle of the game. After shifting OutOfFocus following the first Act of the game's story, he admits to Ashe that even with his hatred of TheEmpire he had no purpose in life, making up stories like "I want to be a Sky Pirate" simply to stave off the feeling of being hollow and alone. He sticks with the party because he's hoping he will find his purpose in life with Ashe.
* DiabolusExMachina:
** Not quite the ending, but the climax of World 1 in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is rather like this. Against all odds, you finally managed to get to the last elemental crystal in time, unlike all the other ones that ended up breaking. The bad guy's possessed puppet gets beaten back, there's a lovely reunion with one of the characters and his granddaughter, where he gets his memory of her back, and a reunion of two of the characters and their long-lost father... and then Bartz realizes that throughout the long reunion, they'd forgotten to turn off the Crystal-draining machinery and the crystal shatters.
** Ultros of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is a Diabolus Ex Machina personified. Four times in the World of Balance, he comes out of nowhere to cause trouble for the heroes, including trying to drop a weight on Celes's head at the opera.
*** Kefka's rending of the world is a huge example of a famous Diabolus Ex Machina that was actually very well received.
** Disc 2 of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a Diabolus Ex Machina strewn throughout an entire disc. Aside from [[spoiler:[[ItWasHisSled Aeris dying at the end of disc 1]]]], the party chases Sephiroth to the Northern Crater, where they prepare to battle him once and for all, [[spoiler:until Sephiroth decides to [[MindRape break poor Cloud's mind]] and force him to learn that he's a [[TomatoInTheMirror failed experiment]]. This ends in Cloud handing over the Black Materia, and all hell breaking loose]]. So now, not only is Meteor looming, about to kill the world in one week, but the Planet has released its failsafe, a group of massive biomechanical creatures called the [=WEAPONs=] that are capable of wreaking serious destruction. The next time we see Cloud [[spoiler:He's alive, but totally catatonic.]]
*** It was revealed 20 years after the game came out that there was originally a ''really'' extreme one. Nojima had the idea that the entire party should be killed off except for the two characters the player brought with them, and planned to use the part where the party parachute into Midgar to kill off everyone. Mercifully, Creator/TetsuyaNomura talked them out of it, saying it was important to keep Aeris's death special by not just killing off characters at random.
* DidntSeeThatComing:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** ''No one'' seemed to see Yuna and her Guardians coming, least of all [[spoiler:Lady Yunalesca, who has never been challenged before and was certainly not expecting to get the shit kicked out of her [[OneWingedAngel horrifying medusa-head form]], thereby destroying the traditional (but not, as she claimed, "only") way to defeat Sin]].
*** Nobody predicted that [[spoiler:''Sin itself'', or rather Jecht, was capable of setting into motion events that would lead to its destruction]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', [[spoiler:Barthandelus']] plan to turn the l'Cie into the instruments of Cocoon's destruction hinges on them breaking when he slams them into the DespairEventHorizon, inducing them to follow their Focus and using the power of [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Ragnarok]] to kill Orphan. [[spoiler:Fang]] comes close in the end, but not close enough: [[spoiler:Barthandelus']] failure to recognize humans as more than mere tools is the undoing of his schemes, as the l'Cie ultimately save Cocoon ''[[LiteralGenie by subverting their Focus]]''.
*** Also, nobody thought that [[spoiler:killing Bhunivelze, the top god in the food chain, who uses the Fal'Cie's god as a ''weapon''.]] was possible. Guess what happens when you combine the efforts of one OmnicidalManiac with the strength and will of twelve heroes. Yep.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Sabin dives off a raft to fight Ultros, only to be swept away from the rest of the party by the strong current.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Rinoa, despite her good intentions, doesn't fully grasp the seriousness of the situations she's involved in, or the consequences her actions will have for others. She's fond of coming up with big plans but doesn't consider what will happen if they fail ''or'' if they succeed—they hijack the train car but she clearly doesn't have any idea what to do with "Deling" once they do. Part of her CharacterDevelopment is outgrowing this.
*** Later, Squall gets into a spacesuit and leaves the Escape Pod to rescue Rinoa, [[spoiler:who's floating out in space]]. Even though he succeeds, they're both stuck out in the middle of space, low on oxygen, and with no way to get back to the Planet. Fortunately, DeusExMachina saves the day.
* DishingOutDirt: Quake, whenever it makes an appearance. Also, the Titan summon.
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has an early scene of Kefka burning down Figaro Castle. Why? Because Edgar was unhelpful and mocking when Kefka arrived to ask him to hand over Terra, who had run away from him earlier. And this isn't counting the fact that Figaro and the Empire had a peace treaty going on.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** In the first disk, the rebel group AVALANCHE infiltrates and destroys two Mako Reactors. AVALANCHE consists of Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie. Six people. What does the Shinra Corporation do? Crash a sector of the city onto them while framing them for it. They even fail to kill half of the group. Indeed, at least two of the three were killed by Shin-Ra soldiers before the plate came down (as they tried to prevent Shin-Ra from sabotaging the plate support).\\\
Worst of all, the reason Barret took over the reins of AVALANCHE in the first place was that his hometown was burned down by Shinra... because one of their reactors there exploded and there was ONE person in the town who had been against the reactor being built, and ''he wasn't even home at the time''. So if you trace it back far enough and take the death and destruction totals into account, the Shinra corporation killed several villages' worth of people because one man once said that Mako reactors were a bad idea. And in a sick twist of fate, it's possible that they murdered an entire town and destroyed their own reactor intentionally to ''piss said guy off'' [[spoiler:because he's implied to be a Cetra descendant and singling out any of his family for Mako experiments would be a net profit]].
*** Sephiroth himself. "I was created from an EldritchAbomination because of a Shinra experiment, and my mother was their surgical masterpiece? Whelp, time to personally butcher the families of everyone who claimed they cared about me, and then raze down the towns they live in." Massacring villages seems to be a theme in this game. Veers off into MotiveDecay because [[spoiler:the ''real'' Sephiroth was stuck in a five-year hell of defying the lifestream, which required him to concentrate on a few core aspects to preserve a fraction of his personality]]. Turns out that meant his [[ThePowerOfHate hatred for Cloud accidentally killing him]] mutated into a thirst for [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum planetary obliteration]] and [[OmnicidalManiac mass-soul devouring]], and his original belief in his superiority as a Cetra was radicalized into [[GodhoodSeeker a god complex]] when he found out [[spoiler:Jenova is his mother. That's not strictly true -- he was injected with Jenova's cells in the womb -- but he doesn't find out the real truth.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a mission involving this. The Lang Bros. (back when they were with the Arbiters of Death) were enjoying drinks at a bar when something causes the drink to spill. One of the brothers ganked the guy responsibly, and when others came to restrain them, they subsequently got slashed. Then the Arbiters of Death themselves got involved and were shanked for their efforts. All of this is gone over in detail to Clan Gully. There's SeriousBusiness and then there's ''this''.
---> '''Luso:''' You knifed nearly thirty guys over a spilled drink?! You're a threat to society!
** Many of the villains in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. But, Kefka is the worst. [[spoiler:There also [[AlasPoorVillain Chaos]] and [[DealWithTheDevil Shinryu]].]] Examples:
*** When Kuja freed Terra from Kefka's mental control and later attempted to assist some of Cosmos's warriors in defeating Chaos, Kefka decided to wait until Kuja was killed during the cycle so he could tamper with his memories upon being revived in the next.
*** Killing the Cloud of Darkness after it told Laguna how to close the door to the rift.
*** Using Sephiroth's desire to get back his memories as a means to punish Cloud for simply not wanting to take part in the 12th cycle.
*** Once [[spoiler:Chaos]] learns the war of the gods was orchestrated by [[spoiler:his father, who now wants him dead]], he decides to destroy the world itself.
*** [[spoiler:Shinryu]] aids Chaos in the final battle with the Warriors of Cosmos as revenge for [[spoiler:Cid]] backing out of their deal. First by lending Chaos his power, and later by trapping [[spoiler:Cid]] in a nightmare realm he created.
* DistressBall:
** Lenna Charlotte Tycoon of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is notable for inflicting this on 'herself'' more than once. Yes, she gets kidnapped and possessed by external enemies, but she has become infamous in fandom for stubbornly ramming herself face-first into poison in order to save dragons.
** Adelle briefly leaves the clan in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. Guess what happens? The BigBad, who expressed interest in her abilities as a Gifted before, brainwashes her, of course.
** Rinoa Heartilly of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. She foolishly goes after the Sorceress intending to bind her powers with a PowerNullifier (a plan that could have worked if [[spoiler:Edea weren't being possessed by another Sorceress from the future who knows the item]]) but ends up in a trance and attacked by Iguions. Naturally she must be saved. This is balanced out somewhat by moments of competency such as leading an attack on the prison to rescue the others, [[spoiler: gaining Sorceress powers to become a GameBreaker and saving Squall from the TimeCrash during the ending.]]
* DistressedDude:
** Squall at the start of the second disc of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''.
** Prompto from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has two moments. The first time was when he gets grabbed by the Naga in Fociaugh Hollow, [[DamselOutOfDistress although he was able to save himself shortly after]]. The second time was when [[spoiler:he gets kidnapped by Ardyn after Chapter 11. [[ThatOneLevel Rescuing him however involves going through arguably the most frustrating part of the game]].]]
* TheDriver: Cid. Always.
** Except in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', but even then, [[spoiler:it's his son Ffamran/Balthier]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In almost all classes, the Summoner class wears a headband with a huge horn on it. In some pictures, the horn is even slightly curved.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Terra's second flashback, where she remembers Emperor Gestahl speaking to a crowd of soldiers clad in all brown about being the "chosen ones" meant to rule the world, while everyone sticks up their right hand in salute... For extra measure, the three generals behind him (Kefka, Leo and Celes) are all blonde.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': The names of [[MsFanservice Tifa's]] {{Limit Break}}s are highly suggestive. "Beat Rush", "Meteordrive", "Dolphin Blow" and [[TheImmodestOrgasm "Final Heaven"]]. The [[WebAnimation/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged abridged series by Team Four Star]] played this for laughs.
*** There's also Sephiroth doing ''MindRape'' to Cloud to the point where he could [[HeroicBSOD no longer function]]. He needed "rape counseling" from Tifa in a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before he was able to do anything at all. The way Cloud experiences resemble a [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape victim]] and needed therapy to recover.
*** There's even a scene in Gongaga where Cloud's lying on a bed, clearly severely traumatized, while the others try to convince him that what Sephiroth forced him to do wasn't his fault and doesn't mean Cloud wanted it. Let's add into this the way Sephiroth tells Cloud 'I am always by your side', and the bizarre sexual symbolism of Cloud being forced to find Sephiroth's Materia coffin in the center of a pink, pulsating, ring-shaped structure, and penetrating it to give him the Black Materia.
*** Several plot points from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' directly parallel events in ''Final Fantasy VII''.
*** In ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake Remake]]'' has Madam M's "massages." We see enough to know she ''is'' massaging Cloud's hands, but the atmosphere, the way she talks, Cloud's reactions to what she's doing, and the camera angles which conceal exactly where her hands are, all scream "this is a stand-in for [[HappyEndingMassage another kind of massage]] that we can't depict." After the massage is over, Aerith serves as the temporary playable character because [[PostCoitalCollapse Cloud is exhausted from the massage]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** For nearly a thousand years, the Al Bhed were persecuted and demonized for using technology, forbidden under Yevon's teachings, and have far less rights than other humans and even a handful of different races. Around the middle of the game, Yevon under Seymour's command attacks the Al Bhed using the kidnappings of summoners as an excuse ([[spoiler:which they ''are'' guilty of, but [[SenselessSacrifice for more moral reasons]]]]) and destroys their Home; it is heavily implied that the Al Bhed are being subjected to genocide.
*** The Ronso take great pride in their horns. "Hornless" is one of the biggest insults they have.
*** The infamous massage minigame ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''. Leblanc has just left a meeting with Meyvyn Nooj. A disguised Yuna must fumble her way through a back massage while Leblanc waxes poetic about how manly Nooj is. The colors indicate how close we are to one of Leblanc's knots ''a la'' Minesweeper, and once you hit it, Leblanc moans in ecstasy and does her trademark hand gesture, and the grid resets.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'':
*** The game starts with people who have been rounded up and put on a train. They have been told that they will be resettled, but they will really be executed.
*** Is Vanille having TheImmodestOrgasm on her Eidolon? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFTLDl9Cg2U Judge for yourself.]] Or not... they even cuddle at the end. And on a lesser note, considering the noises she makes throughout the game, it can ''sound'' like Vanille might constantly be having one.
*** Fang and Vanille's gasps together during [[spoiler:their saving of Cocoon.]]
*** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', when walking around talking to [=NPCs=] in Academia 4XX AF, one little girl will say "Ah! You're a scary adult! [[PaedoHunt Scary adults shouldn't talk to kids they don't know]]!"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** The quest "Not Easy Being Green" features two lovers, a Miqo'te and a Hyur, who were kicked out of their village for being "different", and go on a bit of a CharacterFilibuster on how cruel it is to treat people badly for "being different". While the dialogue strongly implies that their [[MalignedMixedMarriage differing race]] was the issue, the fact that they're both men brings to mind the obvious parallel in anti-LGBT discrimination.
*** Emet-Selch gives a speech to the player in which he says "Moral relativism and all that. Case in point - I do not consider you to be truly alive. Ergo, I will not be guilty of murder if I kill you" to explain the BlueAndOrangeMorality between you and the Ascians. This can ''easily'' fit into [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide genocide denial]], given that [[spoiler: he was behind ''multiple'' genocides and even helped ''create'' TheEmpire that ''wants'' to commit genocides.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':
*** The ''entire'' plot is, essentially, [[spoiler:the Pharisee theory regarding UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}]] lying at the center of the DarkSecret guarded by the CorruptChurch.
*** The War of the Lions can also be seen as a parallel to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses War of the Roses]].
** The game: ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. Dramatis personae: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], older {{Bishounen}} ManipulativeBastard famous for the gargantuan amount of subtext between himself and his [[TheHero opposite number Cloud]] from [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover his original game]]--oh, and for [[EvilIsSexy dressing like a leather-loving bondage dom.]] VideoGame/{{Fi|nalFantasyII}}rion, teen rebellious spirit and friend of Cloud; another white-haired {{Bishonen}} whose gruff exterior belies an earnest and innocent nature. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior Of Light]], TeamDad of the heroes, shares a lot of traits with the AloofBigBrother and TheStoic. The scene: Warrior Of Light comes across the tail end of an encounter between Firion and Sephiroth, with the former obviously injured, winded, and in a bad way. Warrior Of Light covers Firion's escape, while Sephiroth mocks him about having done something [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]] Later, we discover...that Sephiroth had taken Firion's wild rose.
*** [[TheImmodestOrgasm "IT'S FILLING ME UP!!!"]]
*** "That was titillating!"
*** After [[spoiler:Vaan managed to make off with Terra]], Kefka states [[ParentalNeglect "After all, she always comes running straight back into my arms anyway. What do I care!"]]
*** Similarly, when [[spoiler:Kefka proceeds to use ElectricTorture on Terra for her refusing to obey his commands to destroy things]], Kefka remarks [[DomesticAbuse "Sorry, babe. I only hurt you because you make me!"]]
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWSy7gHccqI That's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4rxJ9mfk_M totally]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAjuxRKo1k&feature=relmfu what she said!]]
* DoomedHometown: [[DoomedHometown/FinalFantasy See it here.]]
* DoWellButNotPerfect:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ([[VideogameRemake or at least the PSP version]]), this trope is in full effect when leveling characters. Due to the...unique nature of the game's StatGrinding system, the odds of getting a stat boost after any one battle is directly proportional to the ''length'' of the battle. The idea, one suspects, is to prevent players from grinding low-level monsters indefinitely, but the end result is being punished for fighting battles as efficiently as possible, whereas if you artificially prolong the fight (a common strategy is to put enemies to sleep to prevent them from running away, then abusing fellow party members), the odds of getting a stat boost increase almost to the point of guarantee. This can be maddening to a certain kind of gamer... which is to say a ''sapient'' one.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** There is a mini-game where you have to prevent soldiers from reaching a fort. Failing to do this causes a fight against the boss with the regular characters. Normally, you get the proper reward only if you complete the mini-game, and you lose it if you have to fight the boss, win or lose. However, the one time this mini-game is plot-mandated, the normal reward is given if you complete the mini-game ''or'' beat the boss. And as it turns out, you can get a rare and powerful piece of armor by defeating the boss at this point (and never before this point), and the boss is pretty easy. A savvy character will lose the mini-game on purpose the final time, since there's no benefit in winning.
*** Junon has two instances.
*** First, the parade. The gist of this is that you want to try to march out and fall in line while troops march past. The better you do, the higher the ratings. The higher the ratings, the better the reward. However, the "best" reward is simply 5,000 gil. The next best is 6 ethers. Ethers can be sold for 750 gil each, meaning if one sold all 6 of them, they would get 4500 gil, 500 gil shy of best reward. The catch is that ethers cost 1500 gil to buy and most players are going to end up needing to buy that many at some point anyway.
*** The "posing" minigame during Rufus' sendoff is also noteworthy. The second-best prize (60-90 points) is an HP Plus Materia (boosts max HP by 10% per level), while the "top" prize is a weapon for Cloud that you'll be able to buy in the very next town. HP Plus Materia, meanwhile, is not only generally more useful, but also doesn't appear in shops for a fair while after this, and is much more expensive.
*** There's also the entire endgame, where the first boss battle determines how the next two play out: Depending on how quickly the player beats the first boss, what levels the player's characters have and how many {{Optional Party Member}}s the player has found, the second battle will have the player split into one to three teams, with the main team continuing into the final boss battle solo. Both the final and penultimate bosses also gain HP boosts for every character in the game with maximum levels, and if the player uses [[LastDiscMagic Knights of the Round]] on the first boss.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'''s first task is to defeat Ifrit within a selected-by-you time limit. The catch is that the test is described as a "test of judgment", so completing it too soon means you could not accurately estimate your abilities and subsequently gave yourself too much time. In other words, scoring well on this test requires finishing with ''less'' time remaining -- a perfect score is reached if you finish with ten seconds or less remaining on the clock.
*** In the Japanese version, you have to kill Ifrit and ''escape the dungeon'' before you run out of time, making the whole experience more of a test of time management rather than rationality (plus it serves as a ChekhovsGun for something you'll be doing later in the story).
*** Even if you give yourself the lowest amount of time possible, your score will still drop if you kill Ifrit too soon. The best score requires you to finish with ''seven seconds'' or less on the clock, which means most people will end up letting Ifrit beat on them for a while (you can ''still'' get a game over if he's talking when the timer runs out, though).
*** However, you can cheat the system in the English version and avoid this trouble by taking note of how much time you have remaining when you defeat Ifrit. Then, when the naming screen comes up, stay on that screen and keep an eye on your watch until time's up, then continue gameplay as normal. There, now you have the best possible score, a giant hellbeast at your beck and call, and a smug sense of superiority.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': In "The Festival of the Hunt" minigame, the goal is to earn the most points of all the competitors by killing monsters in the streets. If you (playing as Zidane) win, you get 5000 gil. If Vivi wins, you get a useless Tetra Master card. Letting Freya win, however, nets you a decent elemental-absorbing accessory that teaches your characters a few useful skills. To let her win, just put the controller down for 12 minutes or kill yourself in the first battle you come across.
*** That said, the toughest monster in the Festival of the Hunt, the Zaghnol, has two items worth [[VideoGameStealing stealing]] and [[GoldenSnitch gives about enough points to single-handedly win the competition]]. By avoiding lesser battles, entering a certain area with 4:30 left on the timer, and making Zidane take a fall against the Zaghnol (or teaming up with Freya, which splits the points between them), the player can get all of the items.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'''s entire experience system revolved around this. If you use the right character and end a battle in one turn, you'd get 1/7 the maximum amount of AP, as only characters who act in battle get any AP at all, and it's not split or [[LeakedExperience leaked]] in any way. Conversely, if you waste six turns (using a different character each time) and use the seventh to end the battle, then every character gets full experience.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'':
*** The best culprit to pin during the Mi'ihen Mystery is [[spoiler:Rikku]] if you're aiming for 100% completion. One of the criteria for catching this person requires a certain cutscene that can only be seen if you ''almost'' catch the Chocobo during Chapter 2. If you catch it or let it get away without resistance, it becomes far more difficult (if not impossible) to accuse that person.
*** Later, during the massage minigame, you obtain a prize of a Gold Hairpin if you succeed on the first attempt. If you fail at least once, though, you obtain Heady Perfume, which is arguably a more useful accessory.
*** The first time you play the "Gunner's Gauntlet" minigame/mission, completion of the timed course and a score of 500 are necessary to pass the mission. It can be replayed to achieve a higher score and additional prizes. On a NewGamePlus, however, when you get to this mission again, the required score is now your high score from your previous playthrough[s].
*** Your characters earn 1 AP per battle, and an extra AP for every successful non-Attack action during the battle. You can quickly end battles for EXP and Gil by selecting the Attack command, or you can draw them out to master dresssphere abilities faster by using supplementary skills or items.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** This is part of the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. The [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Light]] is a servant of [[{{BigGood}} Hydaelyn]] and fights to prevent terrible calamities. A storyline in the ''Heavensward'' expansion, however, reveals that being ''too'' good at this results in Light aether growing out of control into a flood of light which annihilates all life in its path. The Warriors of Darkness are heroes from a world where this is in the process of happening, and the theme comes up again in ''Shadowbringers'' when the Warrior must become a Warrior of Darkness themselves. By the same token, the Ascians, servants of the dark god [[GodOfEvil Zodiark]], are trying to bring about the calamities which the Warrior is trying to prevent in order to free Zodiark. There is already an example of a world which fell completely into darkness as a result of them being too successful, creating a realm called "The Void" which their god has no use for.
*** When farming certain trials unsynched, so you can play them at the level cap, it's often faster to pause attacking the boss in order to do mechanics or avoid skipping phases. The former is because if a mechanic is skipped on some bosses, it causes them to enrage. The latter is because the boss has a transition phase where said transition phase makes them untargetable and is longer than the fight itself if phases aren't skipped.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendII'': You will want to have a TotalPartyKill at least once before [[spoiler: reaching Odin]] if you want to see a few extra scenes, as well as have a slightly easier boss fight.
* DownerEnding:
** The finale of ''[[VideoGame/CrisisCore Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core]]'' sees the protagonist, Zack, [[BolivianArmyEnding gunned down by the whole Shinra army]], just outside of Midgar, where he was going to see his girlfriend after being apart for five years, while his friends in the Turks searched vainly for him in order to save his life. If you've ever played (or even heard of) the original, you know it's a foregone conclusion (this game being a prequel and all), but it's still heartbreaking.
*** Especially when you consider that what Cloud and Zack suffered together sets the stage for Cloud's emotional dysfunction in the original game and provides Sephiroth with the ammo he needs to MindRape Cloud.
** While ''[[VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus]]'' itself has a happy ending, its online multiplayer mode certainly does ''not''. The nameless Deepground soldier PC defeats the tyrannical Restricter, but with his last breath, he lashes out at her, fatally wounding her. As she dies, the Tsviets appear and tell her that the entire time they were tricking her into killing the Restricter so they could commence their ''own'' plans for world conquest. The game ends with the camera showing the Tsviets laughing at their triumph from the PC's point of view as the screen slowly fades to black as she slowly bleeds out. And her dead little sister, whose death is what spurred her to fight the Restricter to begin with? She never existed. The Tsviets implanted the nameless soldier with FakeMemories so they could more easily control her.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': [[spoiler:Serah dies, Lightning becomes crystallized, Noel realizes that he just gave Caius [[TheBadGuyWins exactly what he wanted]], and he and Hope are trapped at the ground zero of a massive TimeCrash.]]
** The first iteration of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' had this happen in ultimate form.
*** First the BigBad decides to [[ColonyDrop throw the lesser moon, Dalamud, onto the planet]]. It is during that procedure that Bahamut breaks out of the [[SealedEvilInACan moon that it was imprisoned in]], and proceeded to devastate the world. And while The Path manages to get him re-sealed, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt a quarter of the world is already destroyed and another still on fire]]. Every single player is a Warrior of Light,[[ControllableHelplessness and all that they could do during that final quest was stand close to the battlefield]], watching the moon go down as a [[OneWomanWail woman's voice softly echoed in the silence]] and a timer counted down their last seconds. The most powerful people the world has ever seen could do nothing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgEg8kXmifo but stand there and watch]].
*** ''A Realm Reborn'' Doesn't fare much better as the final story patch before ''Heavensward'' has the player and their companions [[spoiler:being framed for high treason after a member of the Ul'dah Syndicate attempts to have the Sultana assassinated. The other City State leaders are unable to do anything to aid without making the situation even worse and the one who does ends up losing one of his arms and getting thrown in prison for his troubles. In this process each and every member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn end up vanishing as they attempt to flee the city-state until it's just the player, Alphinaud, and Tataru who are all forced to flee to Coerthas ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation though the player can still freely return to the other areas once the cutscene is over]]).]]
*** ''Heavensward'' doesn't let up in its post-game MSQ: [[spoiler:Fighting between the Empire and rebels in Ala Mhigo intensify as a result of Ilberd launching a FalseFlagOperation to facilitate a summoning. [[TheBadGuyWins He succeeds]] at the cost of his own life in summoning Shinryu, forcing Papalymo to perform a HeroicSacrifice to try and contain it. Papalymo only succeeds in buying the heroes enough time to find and activate Omega in the hopes of defeating Shinryu, but both disappear after their fight while the heroes are forced to deal with the growing unrest in Ala Mhigo.]]
*** ''Stormblood'': [[spoiler:Over the course of the late endgame MSQ, several members of the Scions fall into mysterious comas as fighting between the Empire and Ala Mhigo once again intensifies. During a pivitol battle, the Warrior of Light is contacted by a mysterious figure from another world, one in danger of being completely destroyed, and the destruction of which would lead to a Calamity of apocalyptic proportions on Hydaelyn. In order to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the Warrior will need to travel to this new world, leaving the outcome of the current war with the Empire in question...]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': On one hand, the Lucavi demons are destroyed, and mankind saved. On the other hand, everyone who fought them died doing it, and no one ever knew how close they were to a demonic end of the world because they were too busy fighting a civil war. The heroes MIGHT have been remembered had the one decent person who survived the entire ordeal and wrote an eyewitness account of such not been burned at the stake for charges of heresy because the revealing of what the heroes have done would reveal the falsehood the Church has been spreading for generations. And, if you're in the camp that sympathizes with Delita, he loses everyone dear to him, because the hero who slayed the demons had been his best friend, the princess he married and became King and Queen with decided that Delita had manipulated everyone and herself as well, and stabbed Delita, who, in turn, lethally stabbed her back. The man who had manipulated everyone else and became King lost his sister, his best friend, and his wife in rapid succession, and [[LonelyAtTheTop was forever alone, unloved, and misunderstood at the top of the kingdom]] even if he survived. On the bright note, though, decades after the events of the game, it is revealed that the narrator of the story, having already established himself as a credible historian of his time, is, in fact, the descendant of the eyewitness who was burned at the stake, and that he was successful in revealing the truth to the world. Also, Ramza and his party having died is just a fan interpretation. If anything, the ending (particularly the PSP version's) implies they did survive, if obliquely. Ollan isn't sure whether what he sees is really Ramza and Alma, but then, if they were ghosts, why would they be riding Chocobos? And the PSP version's credits show the two of them stopping off for water by a stream, very much implying they're still alive.
** This is ''subverted'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' (much to the joy of the player, albeit in a [[GainaxEnding slightly confused fashion]]), where the protagonists, after having endured [[BreakTheCutie numerous wounds]] at the hands of [[SinisterMinister Glades]], look to be set up for a miserable life...But accidentally achieve Glade's goal of becoming a god, and use it to [[RealityWarper rewrite reality]] so that they and their friends can live HappilyEverAfter.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'', unusually for a Game Boy Game (And a 1990s game at that!) has this. Most people assumed that the hero would get the girl as usual, but as it turns out he ''doesn't''... since she has to become the Mana tree, after Julius had drained all of it. The Girl becomes the mana tree, and the Boy is the last guardian of the Mana tree. Since both are the last of their kind, all they did was just buy the world some more time. This accompanies with some of the saddest music possible on the game boy.
* DudeMagnet:
** Tifa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is this. A lot of guys talking about how attractive she is and their plans to get her to notice them. Johnny believes Tifa's in love with him, while Rude will avoid attacking her. Even when she was younger, she was usually surrounded by boys. Even Cloud, TheHero of the story, leaves to become [=SOLDIER=] just to impress her and shows a much kind and caring side towards her in the present.
** Quistis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is known for her beauty and intelligence. To point have her own fan club known as "Trepe Groupies" or simply "Treppies". But she doesn't pay that much attention to them. Unfortunately for Quistis, Squall [[HopelessSuitor doesn't fall for her]].
** Princess Garnet or rather by her nickname "Dagger" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. A lot of people comment on how beautiful she is. Even Zidane, ChivalrousPervert AllLovingHero of the story, flirts with her before realizing that he's fallen for her.
** In ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' Lightning gets a lot of compliments from guys she meets about her looks throughout her quest. One even goes so far to ask her out on a date, which the player has an option to agree or not.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' Rem has a lot of admirers in the Academy for both her looks and her kind personality.
* DudeNotFunny:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has a moment near the end:
--->'''[[spoiler:Jecht]]:''' You've really grown.\\
'''Tidus:''' Yeah. But you're still bigger.\\
'''[[spoiler:Jecht]]:''' Well, [[spoiler:I am Sin,]] you know.\\
'''Tidus:''' That's not funny.
** In Chapter 10 of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', after the group finds a key to the generator in Fodina Caestino, Ignis asks where the generator is, at which point Prompto says "Didn't you read the sign, Iggy?" Since [[spoiler:Ignis recently went blind]], Noctis says "Not. Funny."
** This happens occasionally in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasyOperaOmnia'' when [[TokenEvilTeammate one of the series villains]] decides to make themselves available to the party in battle. This occasionally leads characters to make flippant remarks on their CardCarryingVillain status, to be met with coldness from the people who actually experienced the worldwide devastation wrought by people like the Emperor.
* DumbMuscle:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': Guy, a massive brute who is barely capable of speech. The Japanese-only novelization of the game's plot reveals him to be a former WildChild -- which is why he can talk to animals.
** Sabin from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. He seems a pretty clever fellow up until the point when he's taken to the opera.
--->[[MusicalWorldHypotheses "Uh. Why's everyone singing?"]]
*** Sabin is actually played as a tech-savvy, fairly intelligent character otherwise. He's got the book smarts, but he's culturally oblivious. Which makes sense given that he spent the last decade before the start of the game in the mountains learning martial arts from a hermit master.
*** Umaro is probably a better example, using HulkSpeak on the rare occasions when he speaks at all. His main solution when he sees something he doesn't like is to repeatedly bash away at it until he destroys it. This can be the enemies he beats with his giant club, or [[DungeonBypass the walls in Kefka's Tower that he smashes down to clear a path for his friends]]. [[FridgeBrilliance Which, in its own way, is almost clever]].
* DysfunctionJunction:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'''s main character, Cecil, spends most of the first half of the game angsting over the heinous crimes he committed at the behest of his king (who is also [[DaddyIssues his surrogate father]]), and wielding a weapon which is known to drive its users insane. His childhood friend Kain is an orphan [[spoiler: who hated his strict father]] and who is brainwashed into betraying his friends. Tellah and Edward both struggle with grief at the death of Anna, their daughter and fiancée, respectively, [[BreakTheCutie Rydia]] and Edge both saw their parents murdered in front of them, and not even [=FuSoYa=], [[spoiler: who resolved to guard his sleeping race completely alone for hundreds of years]], gets off lightly.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' also has universal tragic past syndrome. All of the characters are a) being hunted by the Empire (even before the story begins), b) are imprisoned by the Empire, c) are harassed or misused by the Empire, d) have lost a loved one to the Empire, or e) some combination of the above.
*** No, not all your party members were wronged by TheEmpire. Gau[[spoiler:'s mother died in childbirth and his father was so grief-stricken that he went insane and abandoned Gau on the Veldt]], whereas Relm[[spoiler:'s father is (very) heavily implied to be Shadow, who walked out on her because of his career as an assassin]]; even Shadow [[spoiler:has had plenty of problems of his own, even before selling his skills to TheEmpire and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness nearly getting killed for his trouble]]]]. Setzer is reasonably unhappy with TheEmpire, yet is considerably more unhappy with [[spoiler:the time his LoveInterest died in an airship crash]]. Since a large theme of the game is hope, and keeping that hope strong even in the face of hardship, most characters get better, but it helps that most of them have a lot of getting better to do.
*** Consider the team's angst levels doubled after [[spoiler:Kefka damn near destroys the world and separates the party]], thus kicking off the [[spoiler:World of Ruin]] phase of the game.
*** Celes is the one the player first controls in [[spoiler:the World of Ruin]], and she's [[spoiler:stuck on a tiny island with nobody around but her surrogate grandfather, Cid, who reveals that there used to be others on the island...until [[DrivenToSuicide they all flung themselves from the northern cliffs in despair]]]]. If [[spoiler:you don't feed the fastest fish to Cid constantly, he ''will'' die, and Celes will also try to end her life at the northern cliffs]]. [[EpilepticTrees it's possible that]] [[spoiler:the esper Quetzalli is the only thing that keeps her from dying then and there;]] her only hope comes from [[spoiler:the minute possibility that Locke is still alive as well]].
*** Strago is so distraught with the reasonable possibility that [[spoiler:[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat his adopted granddaughter is dead]] that he's next seen as a member of the cult worshiping the guy [[MonsterClown that did it]].]] Relm has to slap him out of it, since the intervention of a loved one is said to be the only thing strong enough to do so.
*** Even Mog, the cutesy moogle mascot of the game (and the whole series, some might argue), gets a ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean''-caliber level of tragedy tacked onto him when the party finds him [[spoiler:after the end of the world]]. Turns out [[spoiler:he's been in Narshe's moogle cave [[OffscreenInertia apparently for the whole year since the end of the world, alone, staring at the wall]];]] if you recruited him on your first chance, [[spoiler:he'll be amazed that you're even alive after all this time, and will re-enter the party on the assumption that he has nothing better to do.]] Searching the wall he was staring at yields an item that only Mog can equip that completely stops all random encounters, but FridgeHorror sets in when you realize that this "Molulu's Charm" [[spoiler:is likely all Mog has left of not just his girlfriend, [[LastOfHisKind but of his entire people]].]] And when the BigBad asks the party what it is they're fighting for, Mog's response is simply, "New friends, kupo!"
*** If one brings Cyan to Doma Castle in [[spoiler:the World of Ruin]], [[spoiler:a demon named Wrexsoul traps Cyan in an eternal nightmare, in order to feed off the despair Cyan still feels due to failing to save his family and his king from Kefka's poison]]. His grief is so great that not only is he the one that [[spoiler:Wrexsoul attacks]], but when he gets better, his confidence grows so much that he suddenly masters all of his Bushido skills.
*** The only party member who doesn't get better is [[spoiler:Shadow]]. [[spoiler:Shadow]] ultimately decides that he can't let go of his past and [[spoiler:stays behind to die in Kefka's crumbling tower.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' takes this far.
*** Cloud is a hopelessly deluded, mind-controlled TomatoInTheMirror with a borderline split personality recovering from a HeroicBSOD.
*** Tifa is too uncertain about whether or not she or Cloud was wrong about him being there when their [[DoomedHometown entire hometown]] was slaughtered to confront Cloud about the subject.
*** Barret is locked into hate and anger toward Shinra for destroying ''his'' hometown and family, which he disguises as a higher political moral when really he just wants revenge.
*** Aerith is an orphaned [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]] chasing after the memories of her long-lost [[LovingAShadow first love]] in the man who is unconsciously emulating him, as well as struggling with her heritage and duty and her own personal desires.
*** Cid is so obsessed with his crushed dream that he berates the woman he thinks is responsible on a daily basis.
*** Vincent is sick with guilt over being unable to stop the woman he loved from marrying the wrong man, leading to Sephiroth being born.
*** Yuffie is highly rebellious against her father, believing him to be an impotent weakling who sold out their hometown's proud culture.
*** Red XIII believes his father to have been a coward who abandoned his mother during a battle long ago that resulted in her death.
*** Cait Sith is a robotic cat with programming, but his controller, [[spoiler: non-corrupt executive Reeve]], is actually a decent, well-adjusted guy (except for the fact he apparently believes Cait Sith is somehow ''useful''). As far as the bad guys are concerned.
*** Sephiroth discovers he's a genetic experiment, suffers a complete mental breakdown, and becomes convinced he's [[AGodAmI God]].
*** Rufus is a ruthless, Machiavellian bastard who sides with the winners and then screws them over.
*** And lastly, Hojo is an Evil Scientist who commits atrocities with little or no reason.
*** If you believe the Compilation, some of the heroes (or even the villains) get better later through ThePowerOfFriendship. Aww.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' being set in a world where ''absolutely everyone'' has in some way been affected by a 1000-year-old EldritchAbomination roaming the earth and randomly snuffing out thousands (and perhaps millions) of lives, it's safe to say that the entirety of Spira is a DysfunctionJunction.
*** Among the main characters, Yuna lost both her parents at the age of seven and spends most of the game [[spoiler: on a suicide mission]], Tidus' [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] disappeared ten years before the events of the game and it's implied his mother [[spoiler: was thereafter DrivenToSuicide]], Wakka's entire family was wiped out by Sin, and Lulu is an orphan [[spoiler: whose lover Chappu was killed by Sin and who [[MyGreatestFailure is haunted by her failure to protect Lady Ginnem on the latter's pilgrimage]]]]. Rikku is a member of the despised Al Bhed race, Kimahri grew up shunned by his tribe and was eventually driven to a ten-year exile by fellow Ronso, and we haven't even mention [[TraumaCongaLine Auron]] yet...
*** Resident WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Seymour Guado takes the biscuit, however. Half-human, half-Guado, he was considered an abomination and banished as a child ''by his own father'' to Baaj, where he lived out his lonely childhood. Plus, depending on how you play the game, [[spoiler: his own mother helps to kill him]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', all the player characters have tragic pasts of some sort. Vaan's parents died of the plague when he was younger, and his only remaining family, his older brother Reks, was killed before the game started supposedly by his trusted commander Basch. Penelo's parents and ''eight'' brothers all died in the war. Fran was shunned by her village and her older sister for believing that there was a path for her outside the village, and slowly lost her ability to commune with the Wood, which to a Viera is like losing one of their senses. Balthier watched as his father was driven insane by the nethicite and neglected his family, until he couldn't take it anymore and ran away to become a sky pirate. Ashe's husband and father died at the age of 17, leaving her as the heir to a kingdom that was invaded soon after. Basch's original home country was invaded which lead to the death of his mother, and he failed to protect the lord of his adopted country and was then framed for killing the king and locked in solitary confinement for two years.
** Every single party member in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' are struggling with some sort of psychological issues and hates each other for it.
*** Lightning is a distant woman who, after her parents' deaths, was forced to become the sole guardian of her younger sister, Serah. She became a soldier to become a better protector for her sister, but believing that emotions would make her weak and vulnerable, she shuts herself emotionally. This pushes Serah away from her -- and when Serah was turned into L'cie, she became consumed with guilt and frustration.
*** Snow may appear to be overconfident and easygoing. Later, it was revealed that he's struggling with a lot insecurities and lack of self-worth, especially when he failed to protect Serah from being captured by the government and allowed Hope's mother to die during his mission to rescue Serah.
*** Vanille, who constantly behaves in an upbeat and positive manner, is actually hiding the fact that [[spoiler:she's a former L'cie from 500 years before the present timeline, and had fulfilled her Focus by almost destroying Gran Pulse alongside Fang]]. She fakes amnesia to protect her friend from this painful fact, but is clearly burdened with guilt from said past.
*** Hope has a lot of angst due to his father being constantly busy at work and rarely has time for his family. Then, during the beginning of the game's story, he and his mother was sent to the Purge while they were supposed to be enjoying a vacation, which eventually led to his mother's death. The grief drove him to seek vengeance towards Snow, who was responsible for his mother's death.
*** Sazh was already dealing with a lot of sorrow long before the events of the game, presumably due to his wife's death. His son Dajh was his only source of joy, until the boy was branded as a L'cie and was subsequently captured by the government to bait him and his friends.
*** Fang, like Vanille, is [[spoiler:a former L'cie who had become Ragnarok and destroyed most of Gran Pulse]]. She lost her memories [[spoiler:after her awakening]], but this has left her lost and confused as she tried to deal with the new situation. When she found out that Vanille actually knew what happened, and lied to her about it, she was understandably upset by this perceived betrayal (though it didn't last).
*** Outside the party there's Cid Raines. Supposedly the party's most valuable ally, he was revealed [[spoiler:to be a puppet forced by the fal'Cie to guide the party to eventually destroy Cocoon]]. Later, he tried to [[spoiler:defy his focus by killing the party, and prevent them from destroying the world]]. He was eventually defeated, [[spoiler:and turned to crystal, only for Barthandaelus to revive him, reinstate him as Primarch and use him as a fal'Cie spokesperson. He finally requested his subordinates to kill him, so that he'd be free from their control]].
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
This page covers tropes in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''.
FinalFantasy/TropesAToB |'''Tropes C To D''' | FinalFantasy/TropesEToH | FinalFantasy/TropesIToR | FinalFantasy/TropesSToT | FinalFantasy/TropesUToZ
----
[[folder:C]]
* CactusPerson:
** Cactuars are enemies, usually found in desert areas, resembling stylized humanoid saguaros, with limbs resembling saguaro branches with a single right-angled joint each and faces consisting of two round holes for eyes and an elongated one for a mouth. They grow continuously over their lives, and particularly old and large ones, known as Gigantuars, appear from time to time as bosses. They're covered in needles, and fire them by the thousand as their signature move. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' also has them transform into Flowering Cactuars and flee from battle if not killed within a turn.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has Cactides and Cactoids, creatures resembling short cacti with stumpy legs and long, thin, ribbon-like arms; they're distinguished by the two stacked cactus lobes growing from a Cactoid's head, which Cactides lack. They're docile and won't attack unless struck first, and drop bundles of needles and cactus fruits on death. There's a stronger variant, the Flowering Cactoid, which despite its name is a Cactide with a flower on its head. This one is hostile, and unlike the regular ones can shoot volleys of needles as an attack.
* CameBackWrong:
** Defied in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. Dead people can remain as "unsent", essentially revenants that age normally (but can't die from old age), eat, sleep, and in all other ways appear exactly as a living person. As far as is shown in the game, they don't appear to behave differently than they did in life. Good people are still good, and bad people are still bad but don't actually appear to go "worse". It is still considered desirable for souls to move on, as many of the unsent characters do just that once their business in the world of the living is done.
** Various things in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** As revealed in the ''Heavensward'' expansion, [[spoiler:Primals are not creatures that are created through numerous crystals and the prayers of others, their figures warped and their negative traits ramped up. This can happen even if someone knew the being created, as the dragon Tiamat tried to bring back Bahamut and what she got was a demonic creature who would cause trouble for Eorzea centuries later]].
*** At the end of ''A Realm Reborn'', [[spoiler:Y'Shtola and Thancred escape the attacking Brass Braves and Crystal Braves through a DangerousForbiddenTechnique teleportation spell called "Flow", sending them spiraling into the aether. When they are pulled out, Y'Shtola is rendered blind and Thancred has lost his ability to use magic]].
*** In ''Stormblood'', [[spoiler:it's revealed the Qaiyana Tribe of Ananta snake women had this problem. The Ala Mhigan soldier for the Garleans, Fordola, had kidnapped the daughter of their queen, hoping to draw out a person known as the Butcher. Their attempt to save her ended badly when Fordola accidentally killed her, leading to the grieving queen to summon the Primal version of their goddess Lakshmi to resurrect her. She did, but without her soul, leaving her a husk of her former self.]]
* CannotSpitItOut:
** Faris of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' can't bring herself to admit that [[spoiler:Lenna is her sister until they're about to (make a failed attempt to) save the last crystal on their world]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did it, but it did it right. Cloud is convinced he used to [[spoiler: be a member of [[SuperSoldier SOLDIER]]]], and all evidence points towards this -- he has the uniform, the sword, the skills and the glowing eyes. However, [[spoiler: after leaving town to join SOLDIER, he failed to get in, and instead enrolled as a basic grunt. After a mission that took place in his hometown in which his idol Sephiroth, went insane and burned it all down, maimed the closest thing he had to a childhood friend, nearly killed his best friend, and stabbed him through the chest, he was patched up by EvilutionaryBiologist Hojo as part of an experiment. However, the combination of the drugs and trauma completely destroyed his mind, and when they escaped and his friend Zack died defending him he utterly snapped, adopting an elaborate system of FakeMemories and osmosed identity from Zack, who actually was in SOLDIER. And so Cloud relates the events of that day as if he was in Zack's position. The aforementioned childhood friend Tifa, is spooked by the fact that Cloud can tell the story accurately despite him apparently not being there. Little does she know that Cloud was with them on that mission, but disguised as a Shinra grunt. The discrepancy causes Tifa so much confusion, doubt, and worry for what might happen if she confronts Cloud over this that she chooses to bottle up her concerns. The end result of this is when Sephiroth starts telling Cloud various half-truths in order to drive him insane, Tifa's lack of understanding of the situation finds her unable to refute any of Sephiroth's claims.]]
*** On another note, Tifa's inability to tell Cloud her feelings for him is a definite Cannot Spit It Out as well.
** There's also Irvine's inability to mention [[spoiler: his past association with the other main characters and even the villain]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. He alludes to it for a while, but it takes a rather random event to make him open up with it.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', due to being just a [[TagalongKid Tagalong Kid]] in a series of horrible events and emotional trauma, Hope cannot bring himself to confront Snow about his mother's death for over half of the game's story.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys:
** The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise has always catered to this trope on some level, though only by including one or two "[[MrFanservice token]]" bishonen rather than a whole harem.
*** The all-star fighting game ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' includes the main hero and villain out of the first ten games in the franchise. This leads to 21 out of 24 male leads. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple The heroes only have one girl on their side]] (leaving out Shanttoto, who's a bonus character). By default, the game qualifies for this trope just for including Cecil and Kuja in the same cast. The female headcount goes down by one when you realize that Cloud of Darkness [[spoiler:is actually genderless and only takes the form of a beautiful woman.]]
*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' takes this trope and runs with it, featuring an all-male party that fans have compared to a boy band.
* CatchPhrase:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Barret has a fairly long one in "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on 'til we get to the end of the line" - a line he borrowed from Cloud and makes his own. Spoofed later on when multiple characters [[YouAreWithMe say the line in unison]] before Barret can. Cloud will use the line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', if you prompt to kick him out of your party.
*** Cloud also uses "Not interested" and "Don't really care". In the original game this is mostly expressed through one of them being the "no" option when asked to choose Cloud's response to something, but it becomes prominent in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', this is [[{{Woolseyism}} retranslated]] to him saying "nope" in a distinctive, goofy tone, since "not interested" doesn't express the cheekiness and humour of the Japanese ''kyoumi nai ne''.
*** Aeris repeatedly says "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger."
*** In the ''Compilation'', Sephiroth has: "Good to see you, [Cloud/Zack]", and variants of "I bring you despair."
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is so uncommunicative that his catchphrases are "Whatever," and "[[VisibleSilence ...]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane: "Do I need a reason to help people?"
** Balthier of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' declares himself "the leading man," and reminds the other party members of his status quite often. Not that [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fans are arguing with him]].
*** The villains like to toss around "the reigns of History back in the hands of Man."
* TheCameo: Two very {{Unexpected Character}}s from other Squaresoft games appear in ''Chocobo Racing'': Aya Brea, from the ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' games, and Jack, from ''VideoGame/The3DBattlesOfWorldRunner''.
* CentralTheme: Each game has an overarching theme presented in the story:
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII II]]'' - WarIsHell.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII III]]'' - LightIsGood and DarkIsEvil are fallacies; instead the world must have a balance of both.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV IV]]'': [[MustMakeAmends What does it mean to redeem yourself]]? How strong is guilt as a force in the world? How strong is guilt as a motivating factor?
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]'': Legacy. The old generation making room for the new one, most visibly by the deaths of the PrecursorHeroes.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI VI]]'': Our sense of fulfillment in life is drawn from others, and that love ''itself''--in all its forms--is the meaning of life. Meanwhile, selfishness such as the pursuit of power is self-destructive and leaves one feeling alone and nihilistic due to the awareness of everything's impermanence.
*** There's also taking responsibility for your past deeds and forgiving yourself, which is seen in Terra, Locke, Shadow, Setzer and Cyan.
** ''VII'': Learning to accept loss, be it the [[KilledOffForReal loss of friends and loved ones]] or [[TheAntiNihilist of purpose and identity]].
** ''VIII'': The importance of the PowerOfLove and the PowerOfFriendship. Distancing yourself to protect loved ones can hurt emotionally a lot more than being open with your thoughts and feelings.
** ''IX'': There is no fate but what we make. The circumstances of your birth or your beginnings does not dictate your purpose in life.
** ''X'': All traditions must be questioned, and [[BittersweetEnding victory never comes without sacrifice]].
** ''X-2'': Embracing newfound freedoms in the face of torn-down traditions, and how to reconcile the past and the future.
** ''XII'': The nature of nationalism and power. What does it mean to be loyal to your country - to its ideals, its people, its rulers, or the physical nation itself? What is power - military might, physical strength, spiritual strength, or the value of your lineage? Is power the only way to fight power, and what ways can you use power virtuously?
** ''XIII'': Free will and the power of the human spirit. It's pointless to run from your problems, you must confront them because they will catch up with you again sooner or later. The flaws of totalitarianism, theocracy, and propaganda - people from two different worlds are conditioned to fear and hate each other, only to meet and realize they have more in common than previously believed.
** ''XIII-2'': How far will you go to defy fate?
** ''Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII'': Having emotions and being true to yourself are not weaknesses.
** ''XV'': The rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, and the incredible burden that entails. But ultimately, you must remember that YouAreNotAlone.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' - Losing that which was most precious to you in your past/formative years, and learning to cope with and accept said losses as part of the neverending cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
%%*** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' - Legacy. The actions of one generation influencing the next and paving the way for a new age, either through genetics (Jenova cells) or inherited wills/morals (Angeal's honor and the Buster Sword). Do the circumstances of one's birth determine whether or not they're a monster? The price of freedom, what it takes to become a hero, and what it means to be one.
%%*** ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' - Environmentalism. Deeply buried corporate secrets (Deepground) returning to haunt the survivors of a global crisis brought about by said corporate power. The sins of the past being used to save the present world.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' - Predestination. Both in the sense of [[SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate destiny and all of its tropes within a narrative]], but also, and perhaps far more prominently, [[{{Postmodernism}} what predestination means in relation to a remake and how the nature of a remake influences a team's creative freedom]], as well as the safety and comfort of just going along with how things are supposed go pitted against [[PrescienceIsPredictable the excitement of letting things go in unexplored directions and the joy of not knowing what's going to happen next.]]
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' - The importance of ThePowerOfFriendship and how distancing oneself from others emotionally can be more damaging than forming bonds and being open. Predestination and [[YouCantFightFate the inescapability of fate.]]
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' - Self-discovery and what it means to "live". One's fate is not decided by how they are born or what their predetermined purpose is.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' - All tradition must be questioned. No victory comes without sacrifices.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' - An exploration of a world's culture and society experiencing significant changes and shift from tradition. The tensions between the old and new ideologies threatening to escalate into a war and repeat the mistakes of the past. Shaking off the constraints of the past and finding a strong and confident person within yourself by embracing your newfound freedom.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' - The cycle of revenge and forgiveness. Is power the only way to fight against power?
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' - [[FateVsFreeWill Free will]], the power of the human spirit, [[BeneathTheMask facing yourself]], forgiveness, and redemption. It's pointless in trying to run from your problems as they will eventually catch up with you and potentially get out of hand on a large scale. Theocracy, totalitarianism, and propaganda. The nature of people from two different worlds being brainwashed and conditioned over centuries to fear and hate each other, only to meet and realize they have a lot in common than previously believed upon getting to know each other properly.
%%*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' - [[PowerAtAPrice How far will you go]] to [[ScrewDestiny defy]] fate?
%%*** ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' - Having emotions and being true to yourself are not weaknesses. The downsides of immortality, even the illusion of it, and how death can become a desirable option. The rise of religious cults that aim to fill the void of absent leadership and use their power to influence who they believe deserves to live or die.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV: A Realm Reborn'' - Healing after the great catastrophe, and the power of belief to shape reality.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward'' - How the past influences the present, the terrible cycle of revenge, how people react to the upending of their beliefs, and how one deals with grief and loss.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood'' - Loyalty, the identity of a nation, retaining or regaining hope amidst overwhelming odds, and the lengths people go to be free.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers'' - Legacy, how the people and civilizations of the past shaped us. Also, despite our mortality, we should never give in to indolence and despair and always strive for a better tomorrow for our future generations. In addition to this, acts of heroism and villainy are defined by the victors and can be misconstrued by the opposing side.
%%*** ''Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'' - Hope in the face of nihilism and despair.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' - The rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, and the incredible burden that it entails. Fortunately however, [[YouAreNotAlone you don't have to go about it alone]].
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' - The consequences of seeking power and using people as tools.
%%*** Also: What is the difference between pride in oneself and arrogance? Will our actions exonerate or condemn us, both to ourselves and to others? And in either case, which is more important, the approval of ourselves for our conduct, or the approval of others?
%%----> Ramza: "A man who's lost his pride will never be free."
%%*** True heroism isn't always rewarded positively
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'':
%%*** Avoiding reality is not healthy.
%%*** Things aren't always as bad as you think they are. Doned may have been confined to a wheelchair, but his mother babied him while Marche was neglected. Ritz's confidence grows when she's no longer ashamed of her natural hair color, especially after she sees it in a completely different light. While Mewt had the most reason to want an escape, due to losing his mother and being bullied, ultimately his father and his friend did still care and try for him.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' - You must live life to the fullest, even the painful bits.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' - Memories are precious things that make us strong.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'' - A loving family can overcome anything.
%%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'' - Evil conquers from within the heart.
* ChangingGameplayPriorities: Almost every game in the series contains a system of magic or [[LimitBreak limit breaks]] that fundamentally alters how the game plays. Often, these systems are not present in the first part of the game and only get introduced later. Even in games where the systems are always present, they almost always undergo a change in importance over time.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' presents a LoveTriangle variant, with Cecil and Kain both having known Rosa from their younger days, and both had feelings for her. But she only had feelings for Cecil, which caused Kain to briefly betray Cecil out of jealousy. The three eventually reconciled, with Kain finally accepting his friends' relationship.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Nibelheim, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. During the events of the game they confess their feelings for each other and start a family in the compilation.
** Irvine and Selphie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' grew up together in an orphanage (along with Squall, Zell, Quistis and Seifer), but due to exposure to Guardian Force summons Selphie didn't remember him at first. Whether they ended up together or not is up to interpretation, but it is assumed that something is happening.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', at first, it appeared that Wakka was an UnluckyChildhoodFriend. He had known Lulu since they were kids, but she had fallen in love with his younger brother. When his little brother died, it appeared that Lulu wouldn't accept anyone else into her life. We see in the sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', that they are married and have a boy.
** Vaan and Penelo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', though you have to work ''really'', ''really'' hard to see the scene where they kiss each other [[spoiler: in the secret ending of Revenant Wings]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Noctis and Lunafreya (called 'Luna' by Noctis) grew close as children when Luna kept him company while he recovered from a [[NearDeathExperience near-death experience]]. As young adults, they are betrothed to be wed in a political marriage, although Noctis is hesitant. By the end, it seems he's come to accept his feelings for her however.
* ChildMage:
** Rydia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is your white/black mage the first time she joins the party, though after being separated, she [[YearInsideHourOutside spontaneously]] [[PlotRelevantAgeUp ages several years]] before she rejoins later on; it's also specifically noted that children make good summoners because of their pure hearts. From the same game, Palom and Porom are about five (and twins), and serve as your major magic source for about the second fifth of the game. However, none of them lose their magical prowess (outside of the usual [[BagOfSpilling between-game level resetting]]) in the sequel, though none of them ''gain'' any physical prowess, either.
** Krile is introduced this way in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. When she's still an NPC, she's shown to fight with spells, and she has the second-highest raw magic stat. Spinoff games usually (though not always) give her a SquishyWizard build. [[spoiler:However, if you made Galuf your tank, she will become a tank herself once she inherits his abilities and joins the party.]]
** Relm of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the highest natural Magic stat in the game. At 10, she's the youngest playable human in that game.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'':
*** The party's BlackMage, Vivi, appears about eight or ten years old [[spoiler: but is actually less than a year old.]] This turns out to be an EnforcedTrope: [[spoiler: Black Mages in the setting are actually a kind of {{golem}} with [[WeAreAsMayflies a very short lifespan]]. Vivi is a SuperPrototype who might live longer than the rest, but still isn't likely to make it out of childhood.]]
*** Eiko, a WhiteMage who also wields powerful SummonMagic, is only six years old. {{Justified}} as she's the LastOfHerKind, so the party don't exactly have the option of choosing an older, more experienced summoner to accompany them.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' distills this trope into a ''race'', the [[LittlePeople Tarutaru]]. Tiny, child-like, wickedly magic inclined.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Hope, once he is given his l'Cie powers, is statistically oriented to become the party's SquishyWizard. He is the only character in the game to learn every offensive spell.
** Alphinaud and Alisaie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' are about sixteen years old and are the youngest members of the Scions. Both of them are powerful Arcanists, but their fighting styles change by the ''Stormblood'' expansion; Alphinaud further refines his class, allowing him to summon a more powerful Carbuncle that boosts the party's attack power while Alisaie becomes a RedMage where she mixes magic with sword fencing.
*** There's also Taynor the boy mage you rescue on the Shadowbringers expansion pack who wields some elemental magic and can open and close [[UnrealisticBlackHole Unrealistic Black Holes]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'': The party members are all depicted as youngsters no older than fourteen or so, based on interaction with their family members. This includes the magically-inclined Yukes, who despite their age, are around the same size as adults from other tribes...
* AChildShallLeadThem:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Balamb Garden trains students from the age of 5 to become mercenaries, with several students taking on positions of leadership by the time they reach their late teens. The results of this practice are VERY mixed. It eventually turns out that the reason for this practice is because [[spoiler: Edea Kramer knows that Squall will, in his teens, defeat an incredibly dangerous Sorceress from the future, so they ''have'' to train these kids into leadership positions at a young age to keep the time loop stable.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has Princess Garnet, who turned 16 at the start of the game and by the end, [[spoiler:she is ruling her kingdom after the death of her mother. She seems to handle the job quite competently, as it's implied she was able to rebuild her destroyed Alexandria in the span of only a few years.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has Larsa Solidor, who was picked to be the next emperor by his dying father because his older brother Vayne was ObviouslyEvil. Once both his brother and father realize that the {{Evil Chancellor}}s would try to manipulate him, they decide to have Vayne murder dear old dad and frame the council in order to protect him. Which causes Larsa to not become the emperor until the very end of the game.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' had Princess Ovelia and Prince Orinas, each set up with a regent and sent to lead troops. Ovelia was not quite 18 at the time while Orinas was 2 years old. Though the game kept an active calendar, and with a little [[LevelGrinding grinding,]] you could age the boy prince into his teens, twenties, or even sixties, thus destroying the story.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesMyLifeAsAKing'', you play as a 10-year-old king who took the throne after his father's disappearance.
* ChickMagnet:
** Cloud Strife from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a notorious offender. Despite being a jerk, nearly every woman in the game either falls for him on sight, develops a crush on him or ''can'' soften towards him if Cloud treats them nicely, ranging from romantic heroines to likable female sidekicks to FanserviceExtra [=NPCs=]. Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' where Echo is immediately (and [[AbhorrentAdmirer obnoxiously]]) crazy about him and can't understand why anybody else wouldn't be, trying to get him to go out with her on a date, and later set [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Wol up with him]].
*** Zack (Cloud's BestFriend and BigBrotherMentor) from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is almost as much as Cloud. Case in point: Aerith ''and'' Cissnei in the same game. Way to go Zack.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has Squall makes his own female teammates fall for his good looks and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy charm]] even though he doesn't care. [[spoiler:Although, Quistis and Selphie stop at the end along with Squall realize his love for Rinoa. Quistis realizes that her love for Squall is sisterly love, while Selphie falls for Irvine who loves her from back when they were kids.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' plays with this by casting a childlike wannabe ladies' man as the ''protagonist''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': Hope's become very handsome and tall over the years. Alyssa certainly seems to find him attractive. Many fangirls agree. Even though he doesn't seem to be interested in them (including his [[SexySecretary assistant]] [[HopelessSuitor Alyssa]]).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'':
*** Noctis. Luna is his fiancee, Iris has a crush on him, and ''Brotherhood'' often shows him surrounded by girls at school.
* ChildSoldiers:
** Since Celes Chere ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the rank of general at age of 18, it is safe to say that she falls to the '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', no one in the game seems to consider the idea of a fourteen-year-old Cloud Strife joining the Shinra Army unusual (Zack Fair also joined at a similarly young age) falls to the '''"Precociously Talented"''' type. And then there are people like Sephiroth, Shelke, and Cissnei who started their fighting careers as mere children, although not through any choice of their own. They falls to the '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is the mixture of '''"Precociously Talented"''' type and '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. The [=SeeD=]'s functions as a highly regarded military academy type institution and many students enter voluntarily. Students ''are'' enrolled before puberty, but typically aren't taught in combat until their teens, and don't see actual combat outside of the training room until their graduation. Upon graduation, the [=SeeD=] sometimes also work side jobs in policing duties and receive a regular salary. The I game encyclopedia outright states that any Garden student who doesn't graduate by the age of twenty is discharged from the school.
*** Despite being rather quirky, all of the protagonists except one are members of an elite fighting force trained from the age of 5, and also have their childhood memories erased by the special equipment they use in combat. Early on, it's made quite clear that inexperience and youthfulness significantly screw up their jobs and lives. [[spoiler:Seifer breaks the commander's orders and later betrays everybody out of pure ego; Quistis suddenly feels sorry for yelling at Rinoa and abandons her post; Irvine suddenly becomes doubtful of his sniper skill (he's actually more caught up over the idea of assassinating his adoptive mother)]]; Selphie breaks down crying from the destruction of her old school; and Squall, while the most professional, is pretty much the TroubledButCute trope incarnated. There's also Zell, who is easily set off by being insulted and who often has trouble keeping his mouth shut, letting key info slip.
*** Also the underlying function of the [=SeeD=] is to [[spoiler: be prepared to defend the world against [[BigBad an imprisoned evil sorcerer]]]]
*** However, see the below category to see the flip side of this.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', we have Eiko, a WhiteMage girl who can use SummonMagic falls to the '''"Precociously Talented"''' type. She happens to be six years old and is the SoleSurvivor of her tribe, apart from a bunch of Moogles, who keep her company. She is also WiseBeyondHerYears and not only understands the complexity of the world-threatening conflict when Zidane and his friends meet her, but willingly joins them to SaveTheWorld. The rest of the cast, while not nearly as young as Eiko, are also mostly teenagers and overall ''Final Fantasy IX'' has the youngest cast on average of any main game in the series.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' falls to '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. The PowerCrystal of the Fiefdom of Rubrum only grants the power of magic to the young and as the population ages, their skill with magic wanes. The protagonists are teenaged students of a combination WizardingSchool and MilitaryAcademy that is drafted to fight in the war.
** ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy 012: Duodecim]]'' falls to '''"Just Plain Tragic"''' type. In the game, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Vaan]], [[MythologyGag possibly in reference to the orphaned friends he had in his own youth in the slums of Rabanastre]], views the fact that the young [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Onion Knight]] is also part of the Conflict of the Gods as being a tragedy (despite the fact that the latter is very capable of holding his own, to the point that everyone else on the team ignores his age and sees him as a worthy peer), and so ends up inadvertently patronizing him for his youth. Onion Knight desperately wishes that Vaan would treat him as someone worthy of respect, until he realizes that it ''is'' Vaan's way of doing just that: Vaan never tries to stop him from fighting, after all.
* ChildSupplantsParent: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Tidus, TheHero, hates his father, [[JerkAss Jecht]], with a passion. Not only has his entire blitzball career played out in the shadow of his famous father, as a child he was also constantly competing with him for the mother's attention. The fact that his father was basically an insensitive, alcoholic bastard might also have had something to do with it, though... and of course, [[spoiler: Tidus ends up killing his father in the semi-final boss-fight--in the very best Oedipal tradition.]]
* TheChosenOne:
** The four protagonists (later retconed to a single protagonist) from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' arrival had been prophesied long before the start of the story. It had been predicted that the [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Warrior of Light]] would save the world from a group of monsters known as the [[FourIsDeath Four Fiends]], [[spoiler: and a never ending time-loop]].
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'' when [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Dark King]]]] tells you that the prophecy of a hero who would defeat him is false and that he made it up [[ForTheLulz for his own amusement]]. Then [[DoubleSubversion double subverted]] when you kick his ass anyway.
** Subverted with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s Sephiroth. He ''thinks'' he's one during his [[GoMadFromTheRevelation freakout moment]] but, as it turns out, this is all just delusions of grandeur on his part. He eventually decides to become a villainous example of TheUnchosenOne by fulfilling Jenova's role of destroying everything on the planet.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was a deconstruction. Yuna may be the only one who ultimately ''will'' save the world, but she's not the only one who is ''able'' to, and gets stiff competition -- and criticism -- from other summoners throughout her quest. And even if she succeeds, [[spoiler:she's only saving the world in the short term. If she does the thing she was chosen for, Sin will just come back to life anyway]]. Needless to say, the world gets saved regardless; Yuna's role in saving it just turns out to be a lot less singular.
*** From the same game, Tidus. [[spoiler:He was brought to Spira by Jecht who, upon becoming Sin, [[ChooserOfTheChosenOne decided]] that Tidus should be the one to defeat him]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, the descendant of Dynast-King Raithwall, is [[spoiler:chosen by the Occurria to set mankind's history on the "right" path. However, their idea of "right" involves mass genocide of the entire Archadian Empire, and even Ashe's hatred of said Empire falters at the prospect. Strangely, their usage of illusions indicates that Vaan was their Plan B for a time, but they gave up on him when he outgrew his hang-ups. It was this very growth that helped inspire Ashe to reject her "chosen destroyer" role outright.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has the l'Cie. They are chosen to complete a mission assigned by a [[PhysicalGod fal'Cie]], a mission which's nature is completely unknown to the l'Cie in question. They are distinguished by a [[PowerTattoo mark on any part of their body]], such as [[http://i50.tinypic.com/2i2kus.jpg this one.]] If a l'Cie fails to carry out its quest, s/he get turned into a Cie'th, BodyHorror incarnate, as punishment; and if the l'Cie succeed his/her quest s/he will [[TakenForGranite turn into crystal]] until the [[JerkassGods fal'Cie]] decides to give the l'Cie a new mission to carry out... It kind of sucks to be a Chosen One in Final Fantasy XIII's universe.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is a very interesting version of this trope. At the start of 1.0 and ''A Realm Reborn'', Mothercrystal Hydaelyn chooses the player character to be her champion, bestowing them the mysterious power of the Echo. No one ever bothers questioning it until it's all flipped on its head during the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:you are actually the reincarnation of a shard of an Ascian, the {{Big Bad}}s of the game and that Hydaelyn didn't need to choose you as the method she chose you with could be used to choose any other reincarnated Ascian shard!]]
*** [[spoiler:That said, it's heavily hinted that the Warrior of Light is the reincarnation of a ''specific'' Ascian - namely an individual known only as The Fourteenth, who had walked away from the ruling council of Amaurot in opposition to the creation of Zodiark and is implied to be the person who led the efforts to birth Hydaelyn - which is why they were chosen to be Her main agent.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'':
*** The main story has Noctis and his [[ChooserOfTheChosenOne ancestors]] whom decided he would be the Chosen King of Light, destined to banish the darkness [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]] and after the previous king, the BigBad, failed.]]
*** ''Episode Ardyn'' reveals [[spoiler:the aforementioned BigBad and titular character Ardyn Izunia is a horrific inversion. He was actually chosen by the gods to become the world's equivalent to Satan, and is told in no uncertain terms that he can go along with it or be ''made'' to go along with it.]]
* {{Chuunibyou}}:
** While a more complicated example, Cloud Strife of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' maintains a persona of being a cocky, detached hotshot former special forces operative that doesn't really fit with his actual personality or level of ability. While in the original ''VII (PSX)'' this comes off more as something Cloud does due to unresolved identity issues that started in childhood, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' focuses more on it being the consequence of his trauma, but has fun with it by having those around Cloud immediately clock his behavior as a childish affectation, comparing him to local children or outright calling him on 'bullshit'. In ''Remake'', he even spreads the syndrome to people around him, with young people in Sector 7 rushing out to buy "big-ass swords" and imitating his rude mannerisms, and the children of Sector 5 making homemade Buster Swords.
** A more overtone, however, is [[RivalTurnedEvil Seifer Almasy]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Unfortunately, he's more of a window of how dangerous this mindset can be with the wrong circumstances. Seifer's such an arrogant bully with delusions of grandeur, because of his obsession with the romantic dream of being a Sorceress' Knight, which, along with his OneHandedZweihander GangstaStyle of wielding his gunblade came from a movie he watched as a child. While mostly kept under control under Garden, even if his attitude wasn't, once he was given the chance to actually serve A Sorceress, [[BigBad regardless of whom]], it spiraled out of control, leading him to develop a TautologicalTemplar mindset, believing himself to be the heroic knight who must vanquish "the evil mercenary" and Balamb Garden "attacking like swarms", never mind that Seifer and Edea went after ''them'' first. While many have argued that he might just be BrainwashedAndCrazy, not only does he openly recognize this could be the case and doesn't ultimately care, so long as it lets him have a go at his rival, but given his character, [[MoreThanMindControl there probably wasn't that much that needed brainwashing to begin with]].
** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', where Ignis's persona is based on trying to appear more 'adult' than he really is by acting exaggeratedly mature, wearing glasses he doesn't really need, and making a point of drinking a lot of black coffee despite secretly not liking coffee.
* ClassicalChimera: The Chimera appears as a random enemy encounter in multiple games, with various depictions. Sometimes it is bipedal, sometimes it has wings and the amount of heads that is has and with animals they are, are different from series to series.
* ClassicalElementsEnsemble:
** The series frequently has four elemental crystals--Fire, Water, Air and Earth--and often there's the [[FourIsDeath Four Fiends]] to go with them: Scarmiglione (associated with the undead and Earth with DishingOutDirt attacks), Cagnazzo (a turtle-like creature associated with Water who uses MakingASplash attacks), Barbariccia (associated with Wind having a signature ability to create a [[ElementalBarrier wind barrier]]), and Rubicante (associated with Fire and uses PlayingWithFire attacks). Both pop up in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest''. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' brought the Four Fiends back but not the crystals, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' has the crystals but not the Fiends.
** Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', each of the four protagonists is associated with one of the four elemental crystals along with a personality trait associated with said element. Bartz gets wind and quest, Lenna gets water and kindness, Galuf gets earth and hope, and Faris gets fire and courage.
** Like the four main characters of ''V'', the four main characters of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s party all correspond far too closely to a cardinal element for it to be coincidental, although unlike ''V'' it is never relevant to the plot or highlighted:
*** Cloud -- Wind. Wind-related name, uses a sword (associated with Air in tarot), wind-themed attacks, compelled to wander, introspective and strategic, acts detached, and looks down on others.
*** Aerith -- Earth. Earth-related name ("[[SignificantAnagram I, Earth]]"), gardener, grew up in an underground slum, her magic is drawn from the Planet, practical, stubborn, nurturing, sensual. Cloud and Aeris's [[MeetCute first meeting]] even involves him falling down from the sky and landing in her flowerbed.
*** Tifa -- Water. Dolphin-themed hairstyle, uses water-themed attacks (both Waterkick and Dolphin Blow are in her Limit Breaks), bartender who pours drinks for the rest of the cast, giving and kind, fluid and accommodating, likes to act as group peacemaker. Her [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Journey To The Center Of Cloud's Mind]], where she gets him to see things her way, is caused when they both fall into (Lifestream-filled) sea. She is also associated with a Hearts motif (her surname is Lockhart, her ultimate weapon is the Premium Heart), the card suit analogous to the tarotic Cups/Water.
*** Barret -- Fire. Fire-themed tattoo, fire-themed attacks, associated with firearms, terrorist, HotBlooded, hot temper, impulsive, passionate, powerful.
** The ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles Crystal Chronicles]]'' subseries designed the four playable races this way. The clavats' down-to-earth nature, earth-toned hair and eye colors, and their reputation for farming represent Earth. Lilties, with their reputation as hotheads, propensity for blacksmithing, and their hairstyles that variously resemble flames, represent Fire. Yukes, with their wings and their reputation for being spacy, represent Air. Selkies, with their hair and eyes coming in various shades of blue and teal, having their only independent settlement being on an island, [[SelkiesAndWereseals and being named after a type of mythological water being]], represent Water.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' there's a rambling man in a cabin [[spoiler:whose the father of one of your party members.]]
** Laguna in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. That dude said the darndest things.
---> "We'll be killing two pigs with one stone!"
*** One of his better moments is, after throwing his TrueCompanions off a cliff to the water below so they can escape from enemy soldiers, he looks over the edge:
----> '''Laguna''': You guys are crazy. You know how tall this cliff is?
*** Selphie from the same game is arguably worse.
** Quina Quen in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. 7 of your team are out to SavingTheWorld from the {{Big Bad}}. Your 8th member (Quina) is out to discover ''yummy yummies''.
** Brother from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is about as weird as they get. Not only does he say outlandish things, he's almost always dancing in place or flailing his limbs while talking.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' gives us Vanille. Whether she's molesting sheep for their wool, cooing over Chocobos, or skipping around acting like a sugar-high idiot, she never seems to be much of anything beyond this trope. [[spoiler: By midgame, it becomes apparent that while this may have been her personality 500 years previously, at present time it's mostly just an act to keep her StepfordSmiler facade unnoticeable to the rest of the party, especially Fang]].
** Nothing describes Cinque from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' better than this trope. Her brain seems to work on a completely different wavelength than the rest of Class Zero, or even ''the rest of the world''. She's also strangely upbeat for a ChildSoldier sent on a massive world war. She does take her job seriously, though, [[BewareTheSillyOnes and has the strength to back it up]].
** The entire party in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' to varying degrees, although Yuri is a little more grounded after the TimeSkip. Most of Rebena Te Ra's population are at least a little loopy, too--in the case of the magicite shopkeeper, undergoing SanitySlippage as the church grows more oppressive.
* CombatantCooldownSystem:
** The Active Time Battle, used in games four through nine (and ''X-2'' and ''Dimensions''), succeeded the TurnBasedCombat of the first three games. The common feature of all ATB implementations is that each character has an "ATB gauge" that is emptied every time they act and fills up over time, allowing them to act again once it's full. The speed it fills up at depends on the character's stats (and the Battle Speed setting) and some powerful attacks have an additional delay before they are executed and the ATB gauge starts filling again. Whether the game pauses to let the player select commands or not depends on the Active/Wait switch (''VII'' introduced an additional Recommended mode).
** The Charge Time Battle from ''Tactics'' is similar to ATB, except that instead of the ATB gauge, it has the Charge Time meter that has to reach 100 before a character can act again. The CT meter is restored at a rate of the character's Speed stat per turn.
** Conditional Turn-Based Battle from ''FFX'' is an implementation that leans very heavily towards TurnBasedCombat. The order in which the characters and enemies act is determined by the [[VisualInitiativeQueue Act List]], and a combatant's position on it is determined both by their speed and by the cooldown duration of the ability they used last. The game pauses every time when it's a PlayerCharacter's turn, like in the ATB Wait mode.
** Active Dimension Battle from ''XII'' is similar to the ATB but eliminates the FightWoosh and adds the [[CommonTacticalGameplayElements tactical movement]] aspect to battles.
** Command Synergy Battle from ''XIII'' and ''XIII-2'' is ATB with a twist that the player can sequence multiple moves, which only consume parts of the ATB gauge (how much is consumed depends on how powerful the ability is), and does not have to wait until the ATB is filled completely--only until it has filled enough to pull off the desired action sequence. The game does not pause to let you choose commands and you can only control the party leader. Style-Change Active Time Battle from ''Lightning Returns'' is an evolution of CSB built around the single-player character idea: the player only ever controls Lightning but each one of her three available Schemas has its own ATB gauge.
** The Active X Battle system in ''XV'' does not have a strict cooldown system other than a technique gauge that needs to be filled up before using techniques. The way party damage works, however (all damage can be recovered, until the character gets to 0HP, then they start losing maximum HP that needs to be healed in other ways), does encourage the player to back Noctis off whenever he takes too much damage so he can recover.
* TheComicallySerious:
** Cyan Garamonde from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. Much humor is drawn from his interactions with Gau the feral child, his reaction to the flirtatious remarks of a cabaret dancer, and his embarrassment when his companions discover [[spoiler:his hobby of crafting beautiful silk flowers]]. There's also Celes and the "I'm a GENERAL, not some opera floozy" moment.
** Cloud Strife in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Despite being intended to be a stoic leader, nobody can take him seriously when [[DudeLooksLikeALady cross-dressing to save Tifa]], [[NotWhatItLooksLike giving mouth to mouth to a little girl]], and 'jumping with Mr. Dolphin'. Or telling the party "Let's mosey."
** Squall Leonhart of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', because ThereAreNoTherapists on his planet to tell him that getting over your missing sister by ''joining a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMC]] at five years old'' isn't a very good idea.
** Similarly, his RuleSixtyThree counterpart, Paine from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'':
--->'''[[GenkiGirl Rikku]]''': Doctor P is in the house!\\
'''[[KnightInSourArmor Paine]]''': Stop that.
** Lightning from ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' is a stoic, professional WeHelpTheHelpless savior working under a god. Her personality crashes hard with the main game mechanic which is, basically, [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman dressing]] [[AndYourRewardIsClothes up]]. This includes her wearing some skimpy outfits that can be recolored and some awkward-looking hats. A review from [[http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-review/1900-6415657/ Gamespot]] takes a jab at a crazy possibility.
---> '''[=VanOrd=]''': "If you'd rather giggle than ogle, you can always equip Lightning with an adornment, like a bushy goatee or a feline tail, and then change her clothing colors to a garish puce-and-pea-green combo. Lightning doesn't smile, so you can't laugh with her -- but at least you can laugh at her."
*** That said, the game does go for some giggles in a couple of sequences, one involving her and moogles and another in which she has to specifically dress up for the purposes of the plot and do a play.
** While he does crack the occasional joke, Ignis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is generally a pretty stoic and serious-minded character, who treats things like a Chocobo stealing his glasses as [[SeriousBusiness Extremely Serious Business]].
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: The series has done this from the beginning.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Chaos]] was TheManBehindTheMan who entered a mutual agreement with the Fiends.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII The Emperor]] made the fact he led his forces a fact and betrayed the Devil to go OneWingedAngel.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Cloud of Darkness]] is a natural force that come to pass and made its appearance at the very end.
*** Xande also merits mention: Unlike Garland and the Emperor, who were initially normal men who eventually craved power, Xande was an immortal whose [[ImmortalsFearDeath loss of immortality]] was the driving force for his actions. Additionally, unlike the aforementioned men who [[OneWingedAngel grew stronger]] upon tapping into dark powers, Xande merely dies after being defeated and is replaced by the Cloud of Darkness.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Zemus]] orchestrated the entire game from afar with mind control, and came back through [[ThePowerOfHate sheer rage]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]] is a centuries-old clump of demons stuffed into a tree that is now trying to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world with The Void]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] broke a lot of ground for ''Final Fantasy'' baddies by not only being completely [[AxCrazy cuckoo-for-Chocobo-Puffs]], but also starting off fairly weak. Midway through the game, you actually fail to stop him from playing his trump card and he gains [[PhysicalGod godly power]] through manipulation.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] used to be the hero to all. You also spend a lot of time [[UnwittingPawn doing things for him]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Ultimecia]] is a sorceress from the future who uses the present sorceresses as proxies. Her use of Seifer also foils Squall's relationship with Rinoa.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Kuja]] is a theatrical, misanthropic [[spoiler: artificially made]] young [[DudeLooksLikeALady man]] who goes mad when he finds out his true identity.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has a lot of villains, but the biggest foil is Jecht, JerkJock supreme who followed a path similar to [[ArchnemesisDad his son's own]] and [[TheAtoner now regrets what he does]]. Seymour was driven insane by a combination of parental abandonment and an addiction to magical powers.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Vayne]], like Kefka, isn't some great evil supernatural force, but a normal man. But unlike Kefka, he isn't completely insane. Instead, he is a brilliant politician and military tactician who decides to win the long war between two powerful empires by seizing control of the world's most important natural resource. He is calm, collected, and unlike most Final Fantasy villains, he comes the closest to [[NearVillainVictory winning in the end]] and in some ways, [[XanatosGambit does get what he wants.]] Also unlike many Final Fantasy Villains, he isn't [[ManBehindTheMan shown very often in game]], but his decisions are immediately felt worldwide.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' by contrast has Barthandelus, who is effectively one of the manipulating gods that Vayne would have opposed, and who seeks the destruction of those he is charged with protecting. And while his plan does eventually work, it doesn't occur the way he wanted and takes far longer to come to pass (around another 1000 years).
** Caius Ballad from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' rounds back around to being a man, albeit an enormously powerful one. In comparison to Barthandelus, who was a WellIntentionedExtremist based on the world, Caius only cares about one person, Yuel, and is willing to [[TimeCrash destroy time]] to preserve her. And while, like Barthandelus, he gets what he wants...it's not in the manner that he hoped for.
** The divinity phase is switched once again for the finale of the ''XIII'' trilogy, ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' with [[spoiler:Bhunivelze, who is presented as the BigGood initially and genuinely wishes to save everyone. Until it's revealed that while he does intend to do so, he also intends to filter humanity into soulless puppets, while Caius wanted to preserve Yuel]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', being an MMORPG, features a succession of antagonists over the course of its run.
*** In the original "Legacy" game, the BigBad was Legatus Nael van Darnus[[note]]actually his sister Eula wearing his armor, the real Nael having been long dead[[/note]] of the Garlean Empire. Believing that the threat of [[PhysicalGod Primal]] summonings in Eorzea was too great, and being corrupted by the presence hidden inside the moon of Dalamud, the Legatus enacted "Project Meteor" to bring the moon crashing down on the Eorzean nations.
*** In "A Realm Reborn", the reins were taken by Legatus Gaius van Baelsar who subscribed much more to a sort of PragmaticVillainy. Believing in conquest over destruction, Gaius sought to establish dominance and combat the Primal threat by piloting the [[LostSuperweapon Ultima Weapon]]. However, he ended up being an {{unwitting pawn}} of the Ascian Lahabrea, who caused the Ultima Weapon to blow up Gaius's own base before Gaius was defeated by the Warrior of Light.
*** The "Heavensward" expansion has a BigBadDuumvirate due to the ForeverWar between the Ishgardians and the dragons. The bulk of the story arc leads to a confrontation with Ishgard's ruler, Archbishop Thordan VII, who actually hijacks ''Lahabrea'' and devours the Ascian's energy in order to turn himself and his most loyal knights into Primals. The following updates, though, focus on the dragon Niddhog as the primary threat to peace. Having long ago lost himself to an all-consuming rage and lust for revenge against Ishgard, Niddhog is more of a force of pure malice than anything else.
*** In "Stormblood", the antagonist is Zenos yae Galvus, crown prince of the Garlean Empire. Unlike the previous foes, Zenos is a pure Blood Knight who doesn't actually care about anything other than finding an opponent to fight who will actually pose a challenge. He eventually decides that the Warrior of Light is both his greatest enemy and only "friend".
*** "Shadowbringers" has Emet-Selch, a.k.a. Solus zos Galvus[[note]]founder of the Garlean Empire[[/note]], a.k.a. Hades. One of the most powerful and manipulative of Ascians, Emet-Selch is the architect of incalculable suffering throughout the ages, yet presents himself as an AffablyEvil {{friendly enemy}} for most of the story arc. When you get toward the end of the expansion, however, you find out that [[spoiler:he views the world as "broken" by the BigGood, and every calamity he and his brethren have brought about has been for the purposes of rejoining the shard worlds with the source so that the utopian home he remembers from ages past can be rebuilt]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' features [[spoiler:Ardyn]]. In contrast to the previous villains, who either didn't have personal relationships with the heroes or did, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] wants to kill Noctis from the get-go; in comparison to Sephiroth and Cloud, who had developed enmity in their backstory; Noctis barely even knew who [[spoiler:Ardyn]] was initially. Rather than be embraced in a way by the gods like the fal'Cie and Bhunivelze would do with the heroes of the ''XIII'' trilogy, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] was spurned and shunned by them, and while they ultimately intended to save existence to a degree, [[spoiler:Ardyn]] makes no such claims; he only wants Noctis to survive so that he can kill him at his strongest, the world be damned. Finally, unlike most humanoid villains, he doesn't have an OneWingedAngel form and is fought specifically as a DuelBoss. [[spoiler:And on top of all that, he has ''his own personal Guardian Force Ifrit'', which he summons against a party that ''cannot'' control the appearance of their own Guardian Forces.]] Finally, for the very first time in the franchise's nearly half-century of history, the story's main villain [[spoiler:gets exactly what he wanted in exactly the way he wanted it - a fight with the fully-empowered Noctis, the devastation of the world, and end of the Lucian bloodline as Noctis dies with no heirs.]]
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: The series likes to vary its tone a lot:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'''s heroes were HeroicMime characters with [[HelloInsertNameHere no names]] and fixed Jobs, so ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' stars the main character with a CanonName (Firion), flexible skills and a whole game mechanic based around talking. Then ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is back to using something in the middle - the characters have dialogue but it isn't assigned to one character in particular, and while you can change their Jobs you are restricted to using specific Job classes instead of the more flexible approach taken by Firion.
** Cecil of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is an emotional man atoning for the sins of his past, a highly decorated soldier, and has dramatic and intense relationships with his party members. Bartz of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is a laid back IdiotHero with no particular qualifications beyond birthright, who has a [[{{Bathos}} bickering, 'normal' relationship with his party members]].
** ''VI'' and ''VII'':
*** Terra of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is an insecure former enslaved soldier, with amnesia from mind control, who has to come to terms with her repressed, monstrous inner strength to succeed. Cloud of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a swaggering former elite SOLDIER with monstrous physical strength, who [[FakeMemories remembers too much]] due to mind control and has to come to terms with his repressed inner weakness and [[TheMentallyDisturbed mental problems]] to succeed. (Cloud's personality draws somewhat from ''VI'''s deuteragonist Celes, another cocky and aloof magic soldier who was designed to contrast Terra in much the same way.)
*** Romantically, Terra has no real love interest, and her discovery of love ends up being platonic love. She's shown as being kind-hearted and, while she will hurt people for the sake of her cause, she is not naturally confrontational and tries hard to get on with everybody. Cloud is an AllGirlsWantBadBoys ChickMagnet ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and Guy Magnet at times]]) who is hated by a few male [=NPCs=] for his obnoxious girlfriend-stealing. He's caught up in a story-important LoveTriangle with two party members, can date four of them, can hit on every FanserviceExtra NPC the player runs into and acts like a jerk about it the whole time.
** ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'':
*** Zack Fair from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is more hotheaded, attitude-driven, laid back, and friendlier than the colder, thoughtful, insane Cloud Strife from the previous game. Various motifs are set up to contrast the two - Zack ''Fair'' and ''Cloud'' Strife, how the compassionate Zack uses the blunt edge of his blade while the intimidating Cloud always uses the sharp edge, and the AnimalMotif that compares Zack to a puppy and Cloud (in ''Anime/AdventChildren'') to a wolf.
*** The main characters of the original ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]]'' are Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Barret, with Cid getting a lot of important things to do towards the end. ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'''s protagonists are Vincent and Yuffie, who had been {{Optional Party Member}}s in the original, and Reeve, the alter ego of party member Cait Sith; Cloud, Barret, and Tifa appear only in a brief cameo and get a couple of lines each.
** Squall of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' was intentionally written to be more 'human' and 'normal' than the ''FF'' heroes so far. Where Terra and Cloud's troubles are about self-identity, Squall's troubles are about his relationships with his friends and family, with his teenage identity problems more in the background. Previous ''FF'' heroes (even the most everyman ones) existed strictly in a fantasy world, but Squall goes to high school, rents cars and reads his classmates' blog posts.
** Zidane of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' was a lot more friendly and sociable than Squall. Zidane is also much more altruistic than the professional mercenary, his motto literally being "You don't need a reason to help people." Romantically Zidane is a flirt who slowly develops real feelings for Garnet when Squall had no history before Rinoa and spends a lot of time sorting his feelings out when he realizes he has them.
** Tidus from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is a FishOutOfWater in comparison to the experienced Zidane.
** Vaan in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' while a ray of sunshine compared to Cloud and Squall has a chip on his shoulder compared to Zidane and Tidus. And while Tidus and Zidane developed full-fledged romances with the High Summoner's daughter and a princess, Vaan has a very low-key relationship with his childhood friend.
** Lightning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is back to being moody and serious, with elements of her character and look designed to be a DistaffCounterpart to Cloud and Squall.
** Noctis of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has a MeaningfulName (Noctis Lucis Caelum) which is supposed to indicate his contrast to previous Creator/TetsuyaNomura-designed heroes - 'Lucis' (clear) to contrast with Cloud, and 'Noctis Caelum' (night heavens) to contrast with Sora (daytime sky). Note also that Lightning's name contains the word "Light" and she is themed around LightIsNotGood, while Noctis is themed around DarkIsNotEvil (with the usual Nojima idea that Darkness is an element of rest and peace; Noctis is laid-back and a little lazy, while Lightning is extremely highly strung and judgemental.) Both Lightning and Noct have promotional renders displaying them in the same pose, with Lightning bathed in shafts of white light and Noctis lurking in shadows. While Lightning had no official love interest Noctis begins betrothed to Lunafreya.
** After Noctis, we return to Cloud again with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. Noctis's most notable characteristic is the value he places on friendship, holding them close to himself even when separated from them, while Cloud's most notable characteristic is his detached, independent spirit, who retains his own personal freedom and agency even as he learns to truly value the group. Noctis reluctantly accepts his duty even if it goes against what matters to him, where Cloud chases after his own personal goals to the extent of being pretty irresponsible at times. Noctis is engaged, while Cloud an overpowering ChickMagnet. Some have commented that Noctis has a gothy appearance but [[PerkyGoth is upbeat, modest, and supportive]], while Cloud has an [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold adorable face and blond hair]] but is a cynical, intimidating {{Jerkass}} with an InferioritySuperiorityComplex even bigger than his sword.
* ConstructedWorld: Every game takes place in its own constructed world.
* CooldownManipulation:
** Many titles, beginning with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', use an ActiveTimeBattle system in which characters cool down at different rates. Several StatusEffects speed, slow, or stop the rate of cooldown: namely, Haste, Slow, and Stop.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has the attacks Delay Attack and Delay Buster, which increase the amount of time until the targeted enemy can take its next action, and Quick Hit, which has a much faster cooldown than a standard attack.
* CorruptChurch: If a ''Final Fantasy'' series has a religion in it with any sort of power or influence, chances are that it's going to be corrupted by the time the game's plot starts. It's also got a high likelihood of being a ScamReligion.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has the Church of Yevon. It teaches that Sin was divine punishment for using machina, that machina weapons are evil, that Sin will go away with enough prayer and repentance, and that the Final Summoning can free the world from Sin. While it's true from one point of view that machina brought about Sin (Bevelle won the war because of their superior weaponry, and Yu Yevon created Sin as his revenge), they are not inherently evil and Sin is not divine; the church uses this lie to keep the populace under control (no advanced weaponry = harder to overthrow the church). Sin will not go away with any amount of prayer or repentance, and the Final Summoning is actually how Sin is reborn; this lie is used to give the people false hope and keep them ignorant of the true state of things. It's made very clear that the Maesters are fully aware of the continued lies they spread. The church also has no compunctions using machina themselves--Bevelle's temple uses machina transporters, their soldiers wield machina rifles, and they use machina war machines even more advanced than the Al Bhed's.
** The main plot of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' revolves around this starting from the end of the second chapter [[spoiler:when you discover that the zodiac braves revered by the church are actually demons, and Saint Ajora was the worst of the lot bent on world destruction. The main character gets branded as a heretic in order to prevent this truth from coming to light, and the author of the in-universe book, the Durai papers, upon which the story of the game is drawn from is burnt at the stake to prevent the truth from being revealed.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The city state of Ishgard has the Archbishop of the local religion acting as both head of state and head of the religion. The Archbishop's job is to guide the people in their ForeverWar against dragons, and to help the people have faith. Except the Archbishop and his story are a SelfMadeMyth. [[spoiler:It was Ishgard that started the Dragonsong War, not the dragons, when the Ishgardians betrayed a dragon named Ratatoskr and stole her eyes for their power. A thousand years later, Ratatoskr's brother Nidhogg is keeping the Ishgardians trapped in a CycleOfRevenge for his sister's death. Nidhogg doesn't just kill them outright because he wants the Ishgardians to feel fear for as long as possible. Everything seems to be going fine, until [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light shows up]], killing both the Archbishop and Nidhogg in combat and forcing the truth to come out.]]
* CosmicPlaything:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': This time around, Cloud increasingly shows frustration with how he doesn't seem to have any control in his life, such as his monologue on the train. [[spoiler:It makes him an easy target for Sephiroth's manipulations since this Sephiroth makes sure to rub it in every single time Cloud fails. Despite hating Sephiroth for killing his mom, he briefly considers joining his enemy when Sephiroth offers to let Cloud make his own fate.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Sephiroth''']]: ''[after [[spoiler:Sector 7 is destroyed]]]'' You have failed again, I see.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': [[spoiler:Ardyn]] is methodically driven insane by [[spoiler:the gods, ''intentionally'']], in order to stop a plague through mass genocide.
* CostumePorn: Fancy outfits have been common in the series, even if it was just the artwork in earlier games.
* CowardlyLion:
** Gordon in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''.
** [[SpoonyBard Prince Edward Chris von Muir]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', any time actual work is proposed, a minor character named Zone immediately crouches by the wall and complains about stomach pains. Later, he goes off and buys emergency train tickets for himself, his leader, and the three main characters, not counting on there being one addition to the party. After a moment, he passes his own ticket to her, then immediately finds a corner to hug his stomach in.
* CoyGirlishFlirtPose:
** Aerith does this several times in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', usually with Cloud and usually for flirting purposes. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake The remake]] even adds new scenes where she does this. Looking at old recordings of her birth mother Ifalna indicates that she used to do the pose as well.
*** Tifa Lockhart is frequently shown in this pose during the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''.
** This is one of Rinoa's [[GoingThroughTheMotions stock motions]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. She mostly uses it when Squall is being standoffish, which is often.
** Rikku in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
* CuteBruiser:
** Krile from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' can fit this trope, especially if you give her physically-oriented jobs. [[spoiler:Which, given that she inherits her stats from Galuf, might be the jobs she has leveled up to start with.]] Her outfits seem designed to be as adorable as possible--for example, her bubblegum-pink Knight armor.
** While Relm Arrowny may not be a great physical fighter, many believe she is the most powerful pure mage in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. This in stark contrast to her grandfather, the Blue Mage, and ''half-Esper Terra'' means that game balance might be FridgeLogic retardant.
** As a counterpart to the [[{{Stripperific}} supposedly]] [[LadyOfWar elegant, graceful and druidic]] Viera, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' introduced the Gria, a race of dragon girls who focused on speed and raw power, wielding swords and [[{{BFS}} greatswords]] as well as bows and hammers.
** The Moogle Knight class is a male example - sword-wielding brawlers of a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cute fuzzy race]] whose other classes tend towards the FragileSpeedster and SquishyWizard archetypes.
** Tifa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' can beat down various monsters and other villains with her punches and kicks, including [[BigBad Sephiroth]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy]]'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Prishe]] is the TokenMiniMoe, a young BareFistedMonk with FrillsOfJustice and purple hair. Her punch combos, particularly One-Inch Punch and Howling Fist, are incredibly powerful, those two in particular can crush guards and deflecting attacks when charged up, and her ability to link two attacks together gives her impressive power. For example, her Dragon Kick to One Inch Punch link has a base power of 25-35 if both attacks are charged up, making it one of ''the'' most powerful combos in the game.
*** Tifa is also a playable character in this game, so once again, she counts as well.
*** In her [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI source game]], Prishe is just as much of a badass, as she's able to destroy the barriers that make a PhysicalGod invincible with her [[DeathFromAbove Nullifying Dropkick]].
** Tiny and sweet [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Penelo]] is naturally more proficient with magic, but feel free to give her a two-handed greatsword and watch her plough through enemies.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0 Cinque]] is the resident Cloudcuckoolander, naive and innocent to a fault. In battle, she swings around [[CarryABigStick a mace as big as she is]] and is easily capable of killing most enemies in only a few hits.
* CuteIsEvil: Tonberries and Cactuars. Oy very.
* CutenessProximity:
** Terra from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' seems to undergo a total personality shift from her normally timid self whenever she's within hugging distance of a Moogle. This, naturally, was brought up in the ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' games, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z-9G9PXXMU as seen here.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** On Mt. Corel, there's a nest of adorable baby birds. Cloud remains clinical, Yuffie's more interested in the treasure under the nest, and Red XIII assumes they're lunch - but Aeris and Tifa fall to pieces and Barret's rendered basically speechless.
*** After witnessing ScaryBlackMan Barret dressed in a ridiculous sailor uniform while in disguise on the ship, the player can either have Cloud tell him off or tell him that he looks adorable. Choosing to tell him he looks adorable results in you later finding him in the inn dancing around in front of the bathroom mirror for himself and talking about how he'll be wearing it when he goes to see his little daughter.
*** Mideel features an adorable baby white Chocobo that a woman is keeping as a pet. The player can talk to it, upon which the player character will suggest feeding it Greens. Depending on whether Cloud, Tifa or Cid is in charge of the party at the time, you can then be treated to a gruff chain-smoking astronaut or a magically enhanced, too-cool-for-school {{BFS}}-swinger giggling at it, calling it cutesy pet names like 'shorty' and 'peewee' and tickling it.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Prompto melts down around cute Chocobos. Seeing one give Noct a hug reduces him to "oh em gee".
* CryIntoChest:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': This happens between Cloud and Tifa in Chapter 14 [[RelationshipValues if your affinity rating with the latter is high enough]]. Tifa, who had until this point maintained a relatively [[IronWoobie strong]] and forward-thinking attitude following [[spoiler: the destruction of Sector 7]], [[BreakTheCutie finally breaks down and cries]] into Cloud's chest (note that the above incident marks the ''second'' time that [[spoiler: their homes and livelihoods]] have been taken from them). Cloud--himself being a StoicWoobie with trouble connecting emotionally--finally opens up and [[TearJerker hugs her in response]]; enough that [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Tifa soon has to interrupt him for holding her so tightly to the point of nearly hurting her]].
** Seen in [[http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/1/1a/Tidus_%26_Yuna-1.jpg this]] promotional image for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', depicting the scene in Macalania Woods [[spoiler:where Yuna is forced to accept her duty as a summoner, and that she cannot live the idealized normal life in Zanarkand that Tidus describes]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Vanille breaks down a second time after Fang tricks her into revealing [[spoiler:she lied about her amnesia]]. After ThatOneBoss and an emotionally draining scene, Fang (instead of punching Vanille as we're lead to believe) simply bumps her forehead playfully and draws her into a hug of reassurance as the scene ends.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:D]]
* DamagedSoul:
** NPC Enaremand in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' have you searching for a necromancer to make a mannequin with the likeness of his deceased wife Alsha more 'lifelike' by summoning the soul of the said wife into the doll. It ends with you having to deal with a crazed puppet that both attempts to hurt and heal you, before trying to end its own existence by casting Fire II on itself over and over. It's up to the player to survive AND deal the finishing blow to truly end the tragedy.
** Latov in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' is wounded in spirit by both the manner of his death, having been murdered in his own home to protect his children, and all the other tragedies he'd suffered by the Crystal Temple. Then he is possessed by the Lich, turning him into a being of rage and anguish. His children Yuri and Chelinka, along with his old friends Alhanalem and Meeth, first have to drive the Lich out and then dive into his past to heal him so that he can move on.
* DamselInDistress: Being a very popular long-standing franchise, it has many examples: ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Rosa]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Aerith]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Rinoa]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Garnet]]'' etc. The [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI very first game]] begins with a "SaveThePrincess from rogue knight" plot, before switching to saving the crystals.
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' with Yuna. Who, while kidnapped three times, managed to escape on her own the first time and actually made a plan to defeat one of the BigBad's the third time (which the heroes, while pulling off an impressive BigDamnHeroes, messed up) she still escaped on her own. And the second time, she was actually being "kidnapped" by [[spoiler: Rikku]], so there wasn't any real danger (other than being forced to end her pilgrimage and being held captive in Home), though the other characters think there is at the time.
* DamselOutOfDistress:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Tifa Lockhart is thought to be in distress early in the game but is instead undercover and investigating. Later in the game, she's shackled to a chair in a gas chamber and escapes on her own.
*** Aerith Gainsborough is separated from Cloud at one point in the game and pursued by SHINRA soldiers. The player has the option to fight them with only her.
*** PlayedForLaughs when Cloud goes on a date with one of the female party members and has to take part in a play, with Cloud as TheHero and Aerith/Tifa/Yuffie as the DamselInDistress. If the player messes up too many lines, the date will angrily slap Cloud so hard he passes out and then kick her dragon captor off the stage herself. The narrator hastily wraps up the story while the other actors just awkwardly stand there.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Yuna, the sweet, shy, innocent summoner is kidnapped a couple of times but pulls this trope off. [[spoiler: Escaping on her own just as her rescuers arrive and then attempting to send Seymour at the forced marriage; when that fails she jumps off a roof and escapes on an aeon.]]
*** During the Blitzball tournament in Luca, Yuna is abducted by the Al Bhed, who intend to use her as a hostage and force the Besaid Aurochs to throw the game against them in the elimination round. Tidus, Lulu, and Kimahri mount a rescue mission, fighting their way through waves of guard machina to the ship where Yuna is being held captive. [[spoiler: Upon defeating the Oblitzerator, they rush to open the door to belowdecks ... only for the door to open and an unconscious guard to slump out onto the ground as Yuna walks out.]]
---->'''Lulu:''' ''[tenderly]'' Did you hurt them?
---->'''Yuna:''' A little.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Seriously, [[DarkAndTroubledPast/FinalFantasy this series should probably get its own page]], judging by the number of examples there are ranging from heroes, villains, supporting cast, and even random [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], we could be here ALL DAY.
* DarkerAndEdgier: [[DarkerAndEdgier/FinalFantasy See here.]]
* ADarkerMe:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Cloud, new to a big city and shed of all his prior identity, spends the first few hours of the game acting like a rude, aloof, cooler-than-cool, violent asshole - something that's even an act ''within'' the context of his [[TheMentallyDisturbed delusions]]. Later we find out that he thinks of his real personality as weak and boring, even though what we see of it is quite friendly and sweet (if awkward and self-flagellating).
*** Red XIII. When we first meet him, he's being used as a research specimen by Hojo. He makes a point of acting like an impossibly old, alien being with some cool DeadpanSnarker moments - using complicated language and refusing to give his real name to the party, suggesting they call him by what Hojo designated him. Then you return to his hometown where it turns out that, despite being 48, his long-lived species means he's actually about 15 in human years. Oh, and he still lives with his beloved grandfather. After completing his quest, he drops the act, and his speech patterns and attitude become a lot more childish - in the Japanese, he even changes to a [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns childish pronoun]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Throughout the first "arc" of the Dark Knight class quests, your teacher Fray is constantly snapping at people who [[HoldingOutForAHero come to your for help]], and urge you to leave them to deal with their own problems. Yet for some reason, people seem to react as though it were ''you'' and not Fray talking to them. Then at the end of the arc comes TheReveal: [[spoiler:Fray ''is'' you. Specifically, s/he's the part of you that is absolute ''[[HeroicFatigue sick and tired]]'' of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome constantly being the hero]], helping people who won't help themselves and [[DudeWheresMyRespect getting nothing but a "thank you" (if even that)]] for it, while being restrained by laws and leaders. When you refuse to let that side of you take over and walk away from it all, it [[EnemyWithout manifests itself as a doppelganger]] and tries to beat you down into compliance. Once you emerge triumphantly, "Fray" gives up trying to take over forcefully, but promises to take over if you ever want it to.]]
* ADayInTheLimelight: Many characters, although Alexander seems to get the most throughout the series. To date:
** An FMV appearance in the PSX remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', attacking Kefka;
** An FMV appearance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', in which he [[spoiler: gallantly defends]] Alexandria Castle (and [[ThemeNaming Princess Garnet]]) [[spoiler: from Bahamut's attack]];
** An appearance as a HumongousMecha in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', being Hope's summon;
** An appearance as a [[spoiler:Verboten Eidolon]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0''; and finally
** Being the [[spoiler: BigBad and final boss]] of ''VideoGame/BahamutLagoon'', although he's entirely different from his other incarnations and takes the form of a serpentine 4-headed dragon.
*** And all this time, he hasn't said a single word.
** Interestingly enough, the [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080215143717/finalfantasy/images/thumb/a/aa/Amano_Giant_of_Bab-Il.jpg/180px-Amano_Giant_of_Bab-Il.jpg Giant of Bab-il]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' looks very similar to him as well. Not only does this give a possible origin on Alexander but this [[AMechByAnyOtherName Giant]] also has a limelight moment by [[spoiler: starting the destruction of the Blue Planet, among other things.]]
** As a ''raid boss'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', complete with a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YiBnxSIDhY catchy theme song]].
* DeadpanSnarker:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has Laguna Loire's ThoseTwoGuys best friends, Kiros and Ward. Given that Laguna is a front-to-end IdiotHero, their moments are very common.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Lulu is ''so'' deadpan, they created Paine for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' because if they'd gone with their plan A of using Lulu, most of the banter would be shut down brutally early.
*** Auron, so much.
---->'''Auron:''' (''seeing Evrae, the guardian wyrm of Bevelle'') The red carpet has teeth.\\
'''Auron:''' Once Lady Yuna fixes her hair, we leave.\\
'''Auron:''' That Kinoc, a Maester?
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Balthier has this in spades.
--->'''Ashe''': ''trying to warn the part about the dangers inside the Tomb of Raithwall'' Only his descendants are suffered within. If we enter without proof of such lineage-
--->'''Balthier''': There's no guarantee we'll make it out alive. Vicious beasts. Fiendish traps. Something like that?
--->'''Ashe''': (''nodding'') Mhhm. But you must consider the prize. The Dawn Shard lies within. And Raithwalls treasure.
--->'''Balthier''': And there was I thinking this was going to be hard.
** Wol in ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' spends most of his time reacting to his fantastical world of magical creatures with the relentless, resigned sarcasm of a teenage boy at a boring theme park. He even effortlessly outsnarks [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake Cloud]] in his cameo, mocking his attitude problems.
** Noctis in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is known for his sarcastic sense of humor. Such as this exchange here:
--->'''Prompto''': Hey Ignis, how's it feel being away from the wheel?\\
'''Ignis''': Positively frightening.\\
'''Noctis''': What are you saying...?\\
'''Ignis''': That I'm no stranger to His Highness's [[DrivesLikeCrazy driving habits]].\\
'''Noctis''': [[SarcasmMode 'Preciate the confidence]].
* DeadPersonConversation:
** A major plot point of ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' is Cloud having conversations with [[ItWasHisSled Aerith]]. Then again, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and its related spin-offs tend to run on the Trope of OnlyMostlyDead, to the point where there is a Japanese novella written entirely from the point of view of ''the dead characters in the TheLifestream''.
*** Even though he was heard in several scenes in the original cut of Advent Children, Zack now has a new major scene where, during the fight with Sephiroth, he is encouraging Cloud in a conversation as a SpiritAdvisor in Advent Children Complete.
** In a similar manner, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' raises this trope from Dead Person Conversations to [[ThePlan Dead Person Plans]].
** After being killed by Kuja in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX,''[[TheManBehindTheMan Garland]] starts talking to Zidane and the others, providing some much-needed information about Memoria before his soul [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence passes on.]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation:
** Setzer of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' takes on the personality and reputation of his mentor, Daryl, after she dies. There's also Cyan, who writes letters claiming to be a woman's long-distance boyfriend after her real boyfriend dies.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has Cloud's backstory revolve around this. [[spoiler: Since he was rendered mentally unstable by experimentation and trauma, and had little self-esteem before that point, he takes on the life story of his best friend, Zack. In the original, it was portrayed as Cloud finally snapping for good - in the remade scene in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', it was portrayed as a conscious, but the decision to live in Zack's honor. Either way, Cloud ends up genuinely believing that he was in SOLDIER, and the illusion comes apart in the [[HeroicBSOD most painful way possible]] later on.]]
*** They also have [[EldritchAbomination Jenova]] do this trope. Example:
*** Once the creature emerged from the impact site and approached the Cetra settlement, it read their minds and adopted the forms of dead relatives to get close to them.
*** Hojo duped Sephiroth into believing this thing is his real mother. Thanks to the Jenova cells in her body, Lucrecia was unable to die, though; instead, she fled, eventually winding up in the Crystal Cave where she turned herself to crystal (as penance and, perhaps, to stop herself from mutating).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has this as a reveal near the end of the 3.5 storylines when you learn that [[spoiler: Yda is actually Lyse, her sister, who watched her die when escaping the Ala Mhigan invasion, and took up her name and mantle as a member of the Circle of Knowing.]]
* DeathFromAbove:
** Dragoons/Dragon Knights with their "Jump" command.
** Comet and Meteor, dealing usually semi-random amounts of damage.
** Sometimes, Holy is shown as beams of light falling from the sky.
** Sometimes [[ShockAndAwe lightning]]-based magic comes from the sky rather than the caster.
** Final bosses are fond of using cosmic attacks that drop meteors on you, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII send meteors into the sun]], ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII chuck a planet at you]]'', etc.
* DeconstructorFleet: Started (sparingly) with general fantasy tropes as early as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', and later moved on to more specific RPG tropes that had sprung up in the years following.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Look back at all the ''Final Fantasy'' protagonists. There's a pretty good chance that one or both their parents are either dead, have disappeared or [[spoiler: die by the end of the story]].
* DefiantToTheEnd:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'': Galuf takes on Exdeath solo after the rest of the party falls, and doesn't let a pesky thing like running out of {{Hit Point}}s stop him until Exdeath retreats, even if it costs him his life.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': [[SkyPirate Balthier's]] reaction to a sword to his throat?
---> '''Balthier''': Well, at least your sword is [[{{Pun}} to the point]].
*** Balthier can also be heard snarking calmly when he's knocked out in combat:
---->'''Balthier:''' Is that your best?
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', the character Clasko says "I've got to find my place in this world". If you do a sidequest for him, he eventually finds his knack for chocobo ranching. There is some exploration of this theme in the case of the Youth League, New Yevon, and the Ronso as well.
*** In fact, it's a theme for the main characters too. Yuna having completed her supposed suicide mission is left with a lifetime of summoner training and no ability to use it. Paine is looking for a purpose, any purpose to distract her from what happened on the Crimson Squad, and Rikku (unbelievably, but accurately the most well adjusted of the three) just wants to have fun.
*** All of Spira seems to have fallen into this after Sin's downfall. It's still an improvement since the only "purpose" they had when Sin was around was simple survival.
** Vaan from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' is like this in the middle of the game. After shifting OutOfFocus following the first Act of the game's story, he admits to Ashe that even with his hatred of TheEmpire he had no purpose in life, making up stories like "I want to be a Sky Pirate" simply to stave off the feeling of being hollow and alone. He sticks with the party because he's hoping he will find his purpose in life with Ashe.
* DiabolusExMachina:
** Not quite the ending, but the climax of World 1 in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is rather like this. Against all odds, you finally managed to get to the last elemental crystal in time, unlike all the other ones that ended up breaking. The bad guy's possessed puppet gets beaten back, there's a lovely reunion with one of the characters and his granddaughter, where he gets his memory of her back, and a reunion of two of the characters and their long-lost father... and then Bartz realizes that throughout the long reunion, they'd forgotten to turn off the Crystal-draining machinery and the crystal shatters.
** Ultros of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is a Diabolus Ex Machina personified. Four times in the World of Balance, he comes out of nowhere to cause trouble for the heroes, including trying to drop a weight on Celes's head at the opera.
*** Kefka's rending of the world is a huge example of a famous Diabolus Ex Machina that was actually very well received.
** Disc 2 of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a Diabolus Ex Machina strewn throughout an entire disc. Aside from [[spoiler:[[ItWasHisSled Aeris dying at the end of disc 1]]]], the party chases Sephiroth to the Northern Crater, where they prepare to battle him once and for all, [[spoiler:until Sephiroth decides to [[MindRape break poor Cloud's mind]] and force him to learn that he's a [[TomatoInTheMirror failed experiment]]. This ends in Cloud handing over the Black Materia, and all hell breaking loose]]. So now, not only is Meteor looming, about to kill the world in one week, but the Planet has released its failsafe, a group of massive biomechanical creatures called the [=WEAPONs=] that are capable of wreaking serious destruction. The next time we see Cloud [[spoiler:He's alive, but totally catatonic.]]
*** It was revealed 20 years after the game came out that there was originally a ''really'' extreme one. Nojima had the idea that the entire party should be killed off except for the two characters the player brought with them, and planned to use the part where the party parachute into Midgar to kill off everyone. Mercifully, Creator/TetsuyaNomura talked them out of it, saying it was important to keep Aeris's death special by not just killing off characters at random.
* DidntSeeThatComing:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** ''No one'' seemed to see Yuna and her Guardians coming, least of all [[spoiler:Lady Yunalesca, who has never been challenged before and was certainly not expecting to get the shit kicked out of her [[OneWingedAngel horrifying medusa-head form]], thereby destroying the traditional (but not, as she claimed, "only") way to defeat Sin]].
*** Nobody predicted that [[spoiler:''Sin itself'', or rather Jecht, was capable of setting into motion events that would lead to its destruction]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', [[spoiler:Barthandelus']] plan to turn the l'Cie into the instruments of Cocoon's destruction hinges on them breaking when he slams them into the DespairEventHorizon, inducing them to follow their Focus and using the power of [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Ragnarok]] to kill Orphan. [[spoiler:Fang]] comes close in the end, but not close enough: [[spoiler:Barthandelus']] failure to recognize humans as more than mere tools is the undoing of his schemes, as the l'Cie ultimately save Cocoon ''[[LiteralGenie by subverting their Focus]]''.
*** Also, nobody thought that [[spoiler:killing Bhunivelze, the top god in the food chain, who uses the Fal'Cie's god as a ''weapon''.]] was possible. Guess what happens when you combine the efforts of one OmnicidalManiac with the strength and will of twelve heroes. Yep.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Sabin dives off a raft to fight Ultros, only to be swept away from the rest of the party by the strong current.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Rinoa, despite her good intentions, doesn't fully grasp the seriousness of the situations she's involved in, or the consequences her actions will have for others. She's fond of coming up with big plans but doesn't consider what will happen if they fail ''or'' if they succeed—they hijack the train car but she clearly doesn't have any idea what to do with "Deling" once they do. Part of her CharacterDevelopment is outgrowing this.
*** Later, Squall gets into a spacesuit and leaves the Escape Pod to rescue Rinoa, [[spoiler:who's floating out in space]]. Even though he succeeds, they're both stuck out in the middle of space, low on oxygen, and with no way to get back to the Planet. Fortunately, DeusExMachina saves the day.
* DishingOutDirt: Quake, whenever it makes an appearance. Also, the Titan summon.
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has an early scene of Kefka burning down Figaro Castle. Why? Because Edgar was unhelpful and mocking when Kefka arrived to ask him to hand over Terra, who had run away from him earlier. And this isn't counting the fact that Figaro and the Empire had a peace treaty going on.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** In the first disk, the rebel group AVALANCHE infiltrates and destroys two Mako Reactors. AVALANCHE consists of Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie. Six people. What does the Shinra Corporation do? Crash a sector of the city onto them while framing them for it. They even fail to kill half of the group. Indeed, at least two of the three were killed by Shin-Ra soldiers before the plate came down (as they tried to prevent Shin-Ra from sabotaging the plate support).\\\
Worst of all, the reason Barret took over the reins of AVALANCHE in the first place was that his hometown was burned down by Shinra... because one of their reactors there exploded and there was ONE person in the town who had been against the reactor being built, and ''he wasn't even home at the time''. So if you trace it back far enough and take the death and destruction totals into account, the Shinra corporation killed several villages' worth of people because one man once said that Mako reactors were a bad idea. And in a sick twist of fate, it's possible that they murdered an entire town and destroyed their own reactor intentionally to ''piss said guy off'' [[spoiler:because he's implied to be a Cetra descendant and singling out any of his family for Mako experiments would be a net profit]].
*** Sephiroth himself. "I was created from an EldritchAbomination because of a Shinra experiment, and my mother was their surgical masterpiece? Whelp, time to personally butcher the families of everyone who claimed they cared about me, and then raze down the towns they live in." Massacring villages seems to be a theme in this game. Veers off into MotiveDecay because [[spoiler:the ''real'' Sephiroth was stuck in a five-year hell of defying the lifestream, which required him to concentrate on a few core aspects to preserve a fraction of his personality]]. Turns out that meant his [[ThePowerOfHate hatred for Cloud accidentally killing him]] mutated into a thirst for [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum planetary obliteration]] and [[OmnicidalManiac mass-soul devouring]], and his original belief in his superiority as a Cetra was radicalized into [[GodhoodSeeker a god complex]] when he found out [[spoiler:Jenova is his mother. That's not strictly true -- he was injected with Jenova's cells in the womb -- but he doesn't find out the real truth.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a mission involving this. The Lang Bros. (back when they were with the Arbiters of Death) were enjoying drinks at a bar when something causes the drink to spill. One of the brothers ganked the guy responsibly, and when others came to restrain them, they subsequently got slashed. Then the Arbiters of Death themselves got involved and were shanked for their efforts. All of this is gone over in detail to Clan Gully. There's SeriousBusiness and then there's ''this''.
---> '''Luso:''' You knifed nearly thirty guys over a spilled drink?! You're a threat to society!
** Many of the villains in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. But, Kefka is the worst. [[spoiler:There also [[AlasPoorVillain Chaos]] and [[DealWithTheDevil Shinryu]].]] Examples:
*** When Kuja freed Terra from Kefka's mental control and later attempted to assist some of Cosmos's warriors in defeating Chaos, Kefka decided to wait until Kuja was killed during the cycle so he could tamper with his memories upon being revived in the next.
*** Killing the Cloud of Darkness after it told Laguna how to close the door to the rift.
*** Using Sephiroth's desire to get back his memories as a means to punish Cloud for simply not wanting to take part in the 12th cycle.
*** Once [[spoiler:Chaos]] learns the war of the gods was orchestrated by [[spoiler:his father, who now wants him dead]], he decides to destroy the world itself.
*** [[spoiler:Shinryu]] aids Chaos in the final battle with the Warriors of Cosmos as revenge for [[spoiler:Cid]] backing out of their deal. First by lending Chaos his power, and later by trapping [[spoiler:Cid]] in a nightmare realm he created.
* DistressBall:
** Lenna Charlotte Tycoon of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is notable for inflicting this on 'herself'' more than once. Yes, she gets kidnapped and possessed by external enemies, but she has become infamous in fandom for stubbornly ramming herself face-first into poison in order to save dragons.
** Adelle briefly leaves the clan in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. Guess what happens? The BigBad, who expressed interest in her abilities as a Gifted before, brainwashes her, of course.
** Rinoa Heartilly of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. She foolishly goes after the Sorceress intending to bind her powers with a PowerNullifier (a plan that could have worked if [[spoiler:Edea weren't being possessed by another Sorceress from the future who knows the item]]) but ends up in a trance and attacked by Iguions. Naturally she must be saved. This is balanced out somewhat by moments of competency such as leading an attack on the prison to rescue the others, [[spoiler: gaining Sorceress powers to become a GameBreaker and saving Squall from the TimeCrash during the ending.]]
* DistressedDude:
** Squall at the start of the second disc of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''.
** Prompto from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has two moments. The first time was when he gets grabbed by the Naga in Fociaugh Hollow, [[DamselOutOfDistress although he was able to save himself shortly after]]. The second time was when [[spoiler:he gets kidnapped by Ardyn after Chapter 11. [[ThatOneLevel Rescuing him however involves going through arguably the most frustrating part of the game]].]]
* TheDriver: Cid. Always.
** Except in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', but even then, [[spoiler:it's his son Ffamran/Balthier]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In almost all classes, the Summoner class wears a headband with a huge horn on it. In some pictures, the horn is even slightly curved.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Terra's second flashback, where she remembers Emperor Gestahl speaking to a crowd of soldiers clad in all brown about being the "chosen ones" meant to rule the world, while everyone sticks up their right hand in salute... For extra measure, the three generals behind him (Kefka, Leo and Celes) are all blonde.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': The names of [[MsFanservice Tifa's]] {{Limit Break}}s are highly suggestive. "Beat Rush", "Meteordrive", "Dolphin Blow" and [[TheImmodestOrgasm "Final Heaven"]]. The [[WebAnimation/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged abridged series by Team Four Star]] played this for laughs.
*** There's also Sephiroth doing ''MindRape'' to Cloud to the point where he could [[HeroicBSOD no longer function]]. He needed "rape counseling" from Tifa in a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before he was able to do anything at all. The way Cloud experiences resemble a [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape victim]] and needed therapy to recover.
*** There's even a scene in Gongaga where Cloud's lying on a bed, clearly severely traumatized, while the others try to convince him that what Sephiroth forced him to do wasn't his fault and doesn't mean Cloud wanted it. Let's add into this the way Sephiroth tells Cloud 'I am always by your side', and the bizarre sexual symbolism of Cloud being forced to find Sephiroth's Materia coffin in the center of a pink, pulsating, ring-shaped structure, and penetrating it to give him the Black Materia.
*** Several plot points from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' directly parallel events in ''Final Fantasy VII''.
*** In ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake Remake]]'' has Madam M's "massages." We see enough to know she ''is'' massaging Cloud's hands, but the atmosphere, the way she talks, Cloud's reactions to what she's doing, and the camera angles which conceal exactly where her hands are, all scream "this is a stand-in for [[HappyEndingMassage another kind of massage]] that we can't depict." After the massage is over, Aerith serves as the temporary playable character because [[PostCoitalCollapse Cloud is exhausted from the massage]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** For nearly a thousand years, the Al Bhed were persecuted and demonized for using technology, forbidden under Yevon's teachings, and have far less rights than other humans and even a handful of different races. Around the middle of the game, Yevon under Seymour's command attacks the Al Bhed using the kidnappings of summoners as an excuse ([[spoiler:which they ''are'' guilty of, but [[SenselessSacrifice for more moral reasons]]]]) and destroys their Home; it is heavily implied that the Al Bhed are being subjected to genocide.
*** The Ronso take great pride in their horns. "Hornless" is one of the biggest insults they have.
*** The infamous massage minigame ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''. Leblanc has just left a meeting with Meyvyn Nooj. A disguised Yuna must fumble her way through a back massage while Leblanc waxes poetic about how manly Nooj is. The colors indicate how close we are to one of Leblanc's knots ''a la'' Minesweeper, and once you hit it, Leblanc moans in ecstasy and does her trademark hand gesture, and the grid resets.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'':
*** The game starts with people who have been rounded up and put on a train. They have been told that they will be resettled, but they will really be executed.
*** Is Vanille having TheImmodestOrgasm on her Eidolon? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFTLDl9Cg2U Judge for yourself.]] Or not... they even cuddle at the end. And on a lesser note, considering the noises she makes throughout the game, it can ''sound'' like Vanille might constantly be having one.
*** Fang and Vanille's gasps together during [[spoiler:their saving of Cocoon.]]
*** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', when walking around talking to [=NPCs=] in Academia 4XX AF, one little girl will say "Ah! You're a scary adult! [[PaedoHunt Scary adults shouldn't talk to kids they don't know]]!"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** The quest "Not Easy Being Green" features two lovers, a Miqo'te and a Hyur, who were kicked out of their village for being "different", and go on a bit of a CharacterFilibuster on how cruel it is to treat people badly for "being different". While the dialogue strongly implies that their [[MalignedMixedMarriage differing race]] was the issue, the fact that they're both men brings to mind the obvious parallel in anti-LGBT discrimination.
*** Emet-Selch gives a speech to the player in which he says "Moral relativism and all that. Case in point - I do not consider you to be truly alive. Ergo, I will not be guilty of murder if I kill you" to explain the BlueAndOrangeMorality between you and the Ascians. This can ''easily'' fit into [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide genocide denial]], given that [[spoiler: he was behind ''multiple'' genocides and even helped ''create'' TheEmpire that ''wants'' to commit genocides.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':
*** The ''entire'' plot is, essentially, [[spoiler:the Pharisee theory regarding UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}]] lying at the center of the DarkSecret guarded by the CorruptChurch.
*** The War of the Lions can also be seen as a parallel to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses War of the Roses]].
** The game: ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. Dramatis personae: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], older {{Bishounen}} ManipulativeBastard famous for the gargantuan amount of subtext between himself and his [[TheHero opposite number Cloud]] from [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover his original game]]--oh, and for [[EvilIsSexy dressing like a leather-loving bondage dom.]] VideoGame/{{Fi|nalFantasyII}}rion, teen rebellious spirit and friend of Cloud; another white-haired {{Bishonen}} whose gruff exterior belies an earnest and innocent nature. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior Of Light]], TeamDad of the heroes, shares a lot of traits with the AloofBigBrother and TheStoic. The scene: Warrior Of Light comes across the tail end of an encounter between Firion and Sephiroth, with the former obviously injured, winded, and in a bad way. Warrior Of Light covers Firion's escape, while Sephiroth mocks him about having done something [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]] Later, we discover...that Sephiroth had taken Firion's wild rose.
*** [[TheImmodestOrgasm "IT'S FILLING ME UP!!!"]]
*** "That was titillating!"
*** After [[spoiler:Vaan managed to make off with Terra]], Kefka states [[ParentalNeglect "After all, she always comes running straight back into my arms anyway. What do I care!"]]
*** Similarly, when [[spoiler:Kefka proceeds to use ElectricTorture on Terra for her refusing to obey his commands to destroy things]], Kefka remarks [[DomesticAbuse "Sorry, babe. I only hurt you because you make me!"]]
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWSy7gHccqI That's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4rxJ9mfk_M totally]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAjuxRKo1k&feature=relmfu what she said!]]
* DoomedHometown: [[DoomedHometown/FinalFantasy See it here.]]
* DoWellButNotPerfect:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ([[VideogameRemake or at least the PSP version]]), this trope is in full effect when leveling characters. Due to the...unique nature of the game's StatGrinding system, the odds of getting a stat boost after any one battle is directly proportional to the ''length'' of the battle. The idea, one suspects, is to prevent players from grinding low-level monsters indefinitely, but the end result is being punished for fighting battles as efficiently as possible, whereas if you artificially prolong the fight (a common strategy is to put enemies to sleep to prevent them from running away, then abusing fellow party members), the odds of getting a stat boost increase almost to the point of guarantee. This can be maddening to a certain kind of gamer... which is to say a ''sapient'' one.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** There is a mini-game where you have to prevent soldiers from reaching a fort. Failing to do this causes a fight against the boss with the regular characters. Normally, you get the proper reward only if you complete the mini-game, and you lose it if you have to fight the boss, win or lose. However, the one time this mini-game is plot-mandated, the normal reward is given if you complete the mini-game ''or'' beat the boss. And as it turns out, you can get a rare and powerful piece of armor by defeating the boss at this point (and never before this point), and the boss is pretty easy. A savvy character will lose the mini-game on purpose the final time, since there's no benefit in winning.
*** Junon has two instances.
*** First, the parade. The gist of this is that you want to try to march out and fall in line while troops march past. The better you do, the higher the ratings. The higher the ratings, the better the reward. However, the "best" reward is simply 5,000 gil. The next best is 6 ethers. Ethers can be sold for 750 gil each, meaning if one sold all 6 of them, they would get 4500 gil, 500 gil shy of best reward. The catch is that ethers cost 1500 gil to buy and most players are going to end up needing to buy that many at some point anyway.
*** The "posing" minigame during Rufus' sendoff is also noteworthy. The second-best prize (60-90 points) is an HP Plus Materia (boosts max HP by 10% per level), while the "top" prize is a weapon for Cloud that you'll be able to buy in the very next town. HP Plus Materia, meanwhile, is not only generally more useful, but also doesn't appear in shops for a fair while after this, and is much more expensive.
*** There's also the entire endgame, where the first boss battle determines how the next two play out: Depending on how quickly the player beats the first boss, what levels the player's characters have and how many {{Optional Party Member}}s the player has found, the second battle will have the player split into one to three teams, with the main team continuing into the final boss battle solo. Both the final and penultimate bosses also gain HP boosts for every character in the game with maximum levels, and if the player uses [[LastDiscMagic Knights of the Round]] on the first boss.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'''s first task is to defeat Ifrit within a selected-by-you time limit. The catch is that the test is described as a "test of judgment", so completing it too soon means you could not accurately estimate your abilities and subsequently gave yourself too much time. In other words, scoring well on this test requires finishing with ''less'' time remaining -- a perfect score is reached if you finish with ten seconds or less remaining on the clock.
*** In the Japanese version, you have to kill Ifrit and ''escape the dungeon'' before you run out of time, making the whole experience more of a test of time management rather than rationality (plus it serves as a ChekhovsGun for something you'll be doing later in the story).
*** Even if you give yourself the lowest amount of time possible, your score will still drop if you kill Ifrit too soon. The best score requires you to finish with ''seven seconds'' or less on the clock, which means most people will end up letting Ifrit beat on them for a while (you can ''still'' get a game over if he's talking when the timer runs out, though).
*** However, you can cheat the system in the English version and avoid this trouble by taking note of how much time you have remaining when you defeat Ifrit. Then, when the naming screen comes up, stay on that screen and keep an eye on your watch until time's up, then continue gameplay as normal. There, now you have the best possible score, a giant hellbeast at your beck and call, and a smug sense of superiority.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': In "The Festival of the Hunt" minigame, the goal is to earn the most points of all the competitors by killing monsters in the streets. If you (playing as Zidane) win, you get 5000 gil. If Vivi wins, you get a useless Tetra Master card. Letting Freya win, however, nets you a decent elemental-absorbing accessory that teaches your characters a few useful skills. To let her win, just put the controller down for 12 minutes or kill yourself in the first battle you come across.
*** That said, the toughest monster in the Festival of the Hunt, the Zaghnol, has two items worth [[VideoGameStealing stealing]] and [[GoldenSnitch gives about enough points to single-handedly win the competition]]. By avoiding lesser battles, entering a certain area with 4:30 left on the timer, and making Zidane take a fall against the Zaghnol (or teaming up with Freya, which splits the points between them), the player can get all of the items.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'''s entire experience system revolved around this. If you use the right character and end a battle in one turn, you'd get 1/7 the maximum amount of AP, as only characters who act in battle get any AP at all, and it's not split or [[LeakedExperience leaked]] in any way. Conversely, if you waste six turns (using a different character each time) and use the seventh to end the battle, then every character gets full experience.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'':
*** The best culprit to pin during the Mi'ihen Mystery is [[spoiler:Rikku]] if you're aiming for 100% completion. One of the criteria for catching this person requires a certain cutscene that can only be seen if you ''almost'' catch the Chocobo during Chapter 2. If you catch it or let it get away without resistance, it becomes far more difficult (if not impossible) to accuse that person.
*** Later, during the massage minigame, you obtain a prize of a Gold Hairpin if you succeed on the first attempt. If you fail at least once, though, you obtain Heady Perfume, which is arguably a more useful accessory.
*** The first time you play the "Gunner's Gauntlet" minigame/mission, completion of the timed course and a score of 500 are necessary to pass the mission. It can be replayed to achieve a higher score and additional prizes. On a NewGamePlus, however, when you get to this mission again, the required score is now your high score from your previous playthrough[s].
*** Your characters earn 1 AP per battle, and an extra AP for every successful non-Attack action during the battle. You can quickly end battles for EXP and Gil by selecting the Attack command, or you can draw them out to master dresssphere abilities faster by using supplementary skills or items.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
*** This is part of the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. The [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Light]] is a servant of [[{{BigGood}} Hydaelyn]] and fights to prevent terrible calamities. A storyline in the ''Heavensward'' expansion, however, reveals that being ''too'' good at this results in Light aether growing out of control into a flood of light which annihilates all life in its path. The Warriors of Darkness are heroes from a world where this is in the process of happening, and the theme comes up again in ''Shadowbringers'' when the Warrior must become a Warrior of Darkness themselves. By the same token, the Ascians, servants of the dark god [[GodOfEvil Zodiark]], are trying to bring about the calamities which the Warrior is trying to prevent in order to free Zodiark. There is already an example of a world which fell completely into darkness as a result of them being too successful, creating a realm called "The Void" which their god has no use for.
*** When farming certain trials unsynched, so you can play them at the level cap, it's often faster to pause attacking the boss in order to do mechanics or avoid skipping phases. The former is because if a mechanic is skipped on some bosses, it causes them to enrage. The latter is because the boss has a transition phase where said transition phase makes them untargetable and is longer than the fight itself if phases aren't skipped.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendII'': You will want to have a TotalPartyKill at least once before [[spoiler: reaching Odin]] if you want to see a few extra scenes, as well as have a slightly easier boss fight.
* DownerEnding:
** The finale of ''[[VideoGame/CrisisCore Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core]]'' sees the protagonist, Zack, [[BolivianArmyEnding gunned down by the whole Shinra army]], just outside of Midgar, where he was going to see his girlfriend after being apart for five years, while his friends in the Turks searched vainly for him in order to save his life. If you've ever played (or even heard of) the original, you know it's a foregone conclusion (this game being a prequel and all), but it's still heartbreaking.
*** Especially when you consider that what Cloud and Zack suffered together sets the stage for Cloud's emotional dysfunction in the original game and provides Sephiroth with the ammo he needs to MindRape Cloud.
** While ''[[VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus]]'' itself has a happy ending, its online multiplayer mode certainly does ''not''. The nameless Deepground soldier PC defeats the tyrannical Restricter, but with his last breath, he lashes out at her, fatally wounding her. As she dies, the Tsviets appear and tell her that the entire time they were tricking her into killing the Restricter so they could commence their ''own'' plans for world conquest. The game ends with the camera showing the Tsviets laughing at their triumph from the PC's point of view as the screen slowly fades to black as she slowly bleeds out. And her dead little sister, whose death is what spurred her to fight the Restricter to begin with? She never existed. The Tsviets implanted the nameless soldier with FakeMemories so they could more easily control her.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': [[spoiler:Serah dies, Lightning becomes crystallized, Noel realizes that he just gave Caius [[TheBadGuyWins exactly what he wanted]], and he and Hope are trapped at the ground zero of a massive TimeCrash.]]
** The first iteration of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' had this happen in ultimate form.
*** First the BigBad decides to [[ColonyDrop throw the lesser moon, Dalamud, onto the planet]]. It is during that procedure that Bahamut breaks out of the [[SealedEvilInACan moon that it was imprisoned in]], and proceeded to devastate the world. And while The Path manages to get him re-sealed, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt a quarter of the world is already destroyed and another still on fire]]. Every single player is a Warrior of Light,[[ControllableHelplessness and all that they could do during that final quest was stand close to the battlefield]], watching the moon go down as a [[OneWomanWail woman's voice softly echoed in the silence]] and a timer counted down their last seconds. The most powerful people the world has ever seen could do nothing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgEg8kXmifo but stand there and watch]].
*** ''A Realm Reborn'' Doesn't fare much better as the final story patch before ''Heavensward'' has the player and their companions [[spoiler:being framed for high treason after a member of the Ul'dah Syndicate attempts to have the Sultana assassinated. The other City State leaders are unable to do anything to aid without making the situation even worse and the one who does ends up losing one of his arms and getting thrown in prison for his troubles. In this process each and every member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn end up vanishing as they attempt to flee the city-state until it's just the player, Alphinaud, and Tataru who are all forced to flee to Coerthas ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation though the player can still freely return to the other areas once the cutscene is over]]).]]
*** ''Heavensward'' doesn't let up in its post-game MSQ: [[spoiler:Fighting between the Empire and rebels in Ala Mhigo intensify as a result of Ilberd launching a FalseFlagOperation to facilitate a summoning. [[TheBadGuyWins He succeeds]] at the cost of his own life in summoning Shinryu, forcing Papalymo to perform a HeroicSacrifice to try and contain it. Papalymo only succeeds in buying the heroes enough time to find and activate Omega in the hopes of defeating Shinryu, but both disappear after their fight while the heroes are forced to deal with the growing unrest in Ala Mhigo.]]
*** ''Stormblood'': [[spoiler:Over the course of the late endgame MSQ, several members of the Scions fall into mysterious comas as fighting between the Empire and Ala Mhigo once again intensifies. During a pivitol battle, the Warrior of Light is contacted by a mysterious figure from another world, one in danger of being completely destroyed, and the destruction of which would lead to a Calamity of apocalyptic proportions on Hydaelyn. In order to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the Warrior will need to travel to this new world, leaving the outcome of the current war with the Empire in question...]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': On one hand, the Lucavi demons are destroyed, and mankind saved. On the other hand, everyone who fought them died doing it, and no one ever knew how close they were to a demonic end of the world because they were too busy fighting a civil war. The heroes MIGHT have been remembered had the one decent person who survived the entire ordeal and wrote an eyewitness account of such not been burned at the stake for charges of heresy because the revealing of what the heroes have done would reveal the falsehood the Church has been spreading for generations. And, if you're in the camp that sympathizes with Delita, he loses everyone dear to him, because the hero who slayed the demons had been his best friend, the princess he married and became King and Queen with decided that Delita had manipulated everyone and herself as well, and stabbed Delita, who, in turn, lethally stabbed her back. The man who had manipulated everyone else and became King lost his sister, his best friend, and his wife in rapid succession, and [[LonelyAtTheTop was forever alone, unloved, and misunderstood at the top of the kingdom]] even if he survived. On the bright note, though, decades after the events of the game, it is revealed that the narrator of the story, having already established himself as a credible historian of his time, is, in fact, the descendant of the eyewitness who was burned at the stake, and that he was successful in revealing the truth to the world. Also, Ramza and his party having died is just a fan interpretation. If anything, the ending (particularly the PSP version's) implies they did survive, if obliquely. Ollan isn't sure whether what he sees is really Ramza and Alma, but then, if they were ghosts, why would they be riding Chocobos? And the PSP version's credits show the two of them stopping off for water by a stream, very much implying they're still alive.
** This is ''subverted'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' (much to the joy of the player, albeit in a [[GainaxEnding slightly confused fashion]]), where the protagonists, after having endured [[BreakTheCutie numerous wounds]] at the hands of [[SinisterMinister Glades]], look to be set up for a miserable life...But accidentally achieve Glade's goal of becoming a god, and use it to [[RealityWarper rewrite reality]] so that they and their friends can live HappilyEverAfter.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'', unusually for a Game Boy Game (And a 1990s game at that!) has this. Most people assumed that the hero would get the girl as usual, but as it turns out he ''doesn't''... since she has to become the Mana tree, after Julius had drained all of it. The Girl becomes the mana tree, and the Boy is the last guardian of the Mana tree. Since both are the last of their kind, all they did was just buy the world some more time. This accompanies with some of the saddest music possible on the game boy.
* DudeMagnet:
** Tifa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is this. A lot of guys talking about how attractive she is and their plans to get her to notice them. Johnny believes Tifa's in love with him, while Rude will avoid attacking her. Even when she was younger, she was usually surrounded by boys. Even Cloud, TheHero of the story, leaves to become [=SOLDIER=] just to impress her and shows a much kind and caring side towards her in the present.
** Quistis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is known for her beauty and intelligence. To point have her own fan club known as "Trepe Groupies" or simply "Treppies". But she doesn't pay that much attention to them. Unfortunately for Quistis, Squall [[HopelessSuitor doesn't fall for her]].
** Princess Garnet or rather by her nickname "Dagger" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. A lot of people comment on how beautiful she is. Even Zidane, ChivalrousPervert AllLovingHero of the story, flirts with her before realizing that he's fallen for her.
** In ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' Lightning gets a lot of compliments from guys she meets about her looks throughout her quest. One even goes so far to ask her out on a date, which the player has an option to agree or not.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' Rem has a lot of admirers in the Academy for both her looks and her kind personality.
* DudeNotFunny:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has a moment near the end:
--->'''[[spoiler:Jecht]]:''' You've really grown.\\
'''Tidus:''' Yeah. But you're still bigger.\\
'''[[spoiler:Jecht]]:''' Well, [[spoiler:I am Sin,]] you know.\\
'''Tidus:''' That's not funny.
** In Chapter 10 of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', after the group finds a key to the generator in Fodina Caestino, Ignis asks where the generator is, at which point Prompto says "Didn't you read the sign, Iggy?" Since [[spoiler:Ignis recently went blind]], Noctis says "Not. Funny."
** This happens occasionally in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasyOperaOmnia'' when [[TokenEvilTeammate one of the series villains]] decides to make themselves available to the party in battle. This occasionally leads characters to make flippant remarks on their CardCarryingVillain status, to be met with coldness from the people who actually experienced the worldwide devastation wrought by people like the Emperor.
* DumbMuscle:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': Guy, a massive brute who is barely capable of speech. The Japanese-only novelization of the game's plot reveals him to be a former WildChild -- which is why he can talk to animals.
** Sabin from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. He seems a pretty clever fellow up until the point when he's taken to the opera.
--->[[MusicalWorldHypotheses "Uh. Why's everyone singing?"]]
*** Sabin is actually played as a tech-savvy, fairly intelligent character otherwise. He's got the book smarts, but he's culturally oblivious. Which makes sense given that he spent the last decade before the start of the game in the mountains learning martial arts from a hermit master.
*** Umaro is probably a better example, using HulkSpeak on the rare occasions when he speaks at all. His main solution when he sees something he doesn't like is to repeatedly bash away at it until he destroys it. This can be the enemies he beats with his giant club, or [[DungeonBypass the walls in Kefka's Tower that he smashes down to clear a path for his friends]]. [[FridgeBrilliance Which, in its own way, is almost clever]].
* DysfunctionJunction:
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'''s main character, Cecil, spends most of the first half of the game angsting over the heinous crimes he committed at the behest of his king (who is also [[DaddyIssues his surrogate father]]), and wielding a weapon which is known to drive its users insane. His childhood friend Kain is an orphan [[spoiler: who hated his strict father]] and who is brainwashed into betraying his friends. Tellah and Edward both struggle with grief at the death of Anna, their daughter and fiancée, respectively, [[BreakTheCutie Rydia]] and Edge both saw their parents murdered in front of them, and not even [=FuSoYa=], [[spoiler: who resolved to guard his sleeping race completely alone for hundreds of years]], gets off lightly.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' also has universal tragic past syndrome. All of the characters are a) being hunted by the Empire (even before the story begins), b) are imprisoned by the Empire, c) are harassed or misused by the Empire, d) have lost a loved one to the Empire, or e) some combination of the above.
*** No, not all your party members were wronged by TheEmpire. Gau[[spoiler:'s mother died in childbirth and his father was so grief-stricken that he went insane and abandoned Gau on the Veldt]], whereas Relm[[spoiler:'s father is (very) heavily implied to be Shadow, who walked out on her because of his career as an assassin]]; even Shadow [[spoiler:has had plenty of problems of his own, even before selling his skills to TheEmpire and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness nearly getting killed for his trouble]]]]. Setzer is reasonably unhappy with TheEmpire, yet is considerably more unhappy with [[spoiler:the time his LoveInterest died in an airship crash]]. Since a large theme of the game is hope, and keeping that hope strong even in the face of hardship, most characters get better, but it helps that most of them have a lot of getting better to do.
*** Consider the team's angst levels doubled after [[spoiler:Kefka damn near destroys the world and separates the party]], thus kicking off the [[spoiler:World of Ruin]] phase of the game.
*** Celes is the one the player first controls in [[spoiler:the World of Ruin]], and she's [[spoiler:stuck on a tiny island with nobody around but her surrogate grandfather, Cid, who reveals that there used to be others on the island...until [[DrivenToSuicide they all flung themselves from the northern cliffs in despair]]]]. If [[spoiler:you don't feed the fastest fish to Cid constantly, he ''will'' die, and Celes will also try to end her life at the northern cliffs]]. [[EpilepticTrees it's possible that]] [[spoiler:the esper Quetzalli is the only thing that keeps her from dying then and there;]] her only hope comes from [[spoiler:the minute possibility that Locke is still alive as well]].
*** Strago is so distraught with the reasonable possibility that [[spoiler:[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat his adopted granddaughter is dead]] that he's next seen as a member of the cult worshiping the guy [[MonsterClown that did it]].]] Relm has to slap him out of it, since the intervention of a loved one is said to be the only thing strong enough to do so.
*** Even Mog, the cutesy moogle mascot of the game (and the whole series, some might argue), gets a ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean''-caliber level of tragedy tacked onto him when the party finds him [[spoiler:after the end of the world]]. Turns out [[spoiler:he's been in Narshe's moogle cave [[OffscreenInertia apparently for the whole year since the end of the world, alone, staring at the wall]];]] if you recruited him on your first chance, [[spoiler:he'll be amazed that you're even alive after all this time, and will re-enter the party on the assumption that he has nothing better to do.]] Searching the wall he was staring at yields an item that only Mog can equip that completely stops all random encounters, but FridgeHorror sets in when you realize that this "Molulu's Charm" [[spoiler:is likely all Mog has left of not just his girlfriend, [[LastOfHisKind but of his entire people]].]] And when the BigBad asks the party what it is they're fighting for, Mog's response is simply, "New friends, kupo!"
*** If one brings Cyan to Doma Castle in [[spoiler:the World of Ruin]], [[spoiler:a demon named Wrexsoul traps Cyan in an eternal nightmare, in order to feed off the despair Cyan still feels due to failing to save his family and his king from Kefka's poison]]. His grief is so great that not only is he the one that [[spoiler:Wrexsoul attacks]], but when he gets better, his confidence grows so much that he suddenly masters all of his Bushido skills.
*** The only party member who doesn't get better is [[spoiler:Shadow]]. [[spoiler:Shadow]] ultimately decides that he can't let go of his past and [[spoiler:stays behind to die in Kefka's crumbling tower.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' takes this far.
*** Cloud is a hopelessly deluded, mind-controlled TomatoInTheMirror with a borderline split personality recovering from a HeroicBSOD.
*** Tifa is too uncertain about whether or not she or Cloud was wrong about him being there when their [[DoomedHometown entire hometown]] was slaughtered to confront Cloud about the subject.
*** Barret is locked into hate and anger toward Shinra for destroying ''his'' hometown and family, which he disguises as a higher political moral when really he just wants revenge.
*** Aerith is an orphaned [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]] chasing after the memories of her long-lost [[LovingAShadow first love]] in the man who is unconsciously emulating him, as well as struggling with her heritage and duty and her own personal desires.
*** Cid is so obsessed with his crushed dream that he berates the woman he thinks is responsible on a daily basis.
*** Vincent is sick with guilt over being unable to stop the woman he loved from marrying the wrong man, leading to Sephiroth being born.
*** Yuffie is highly rebellious against her father, believing him to be an impotent weakling who sold out their hometown's proud culture.
*** Red XIII believes his father to have been a coward who abandoned his mother during a battle long ago that resulted in her death.
*** Cait Sith is a robotic cat with programming, but his controller, [[spoiler: non-corrupt executive Reeve]], is actually a decent, well-adjusted guy (except for the fact he apparently believes Cait Sith is somehow ''useful''). As far as the bad guys are concerned.
*** Sephiroth discovers he's a genetic experiment, suffers a complete mental breakdown, and becomes convinced he's [[AGodAmI God]].
*** Rufus is a ruthless, Machiavellian bastard who sides with the winners and then screws them over.
*** And lastly, Hojo is an Evil Scientist who commits atrocities with little or no reason.
*** If you believe the Compilation, some of the heroes (or even the villains) get better later through ThePowerOfFriendship. Aww.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' being set in a world where ''absolutely everyone'' has in some way been affected by a 1000-year-old EldritchAbomination roaming the earth and randomly snuffing out thousands (and perhaps millions) of lives, it's safe to say that the entirety of Spira is a DysfunctionJunction.
*** Among the main characters, Yuna lost both her parents at the age of seven and spends most of the game [[spoiler: on a suicide mission]], Tidus' [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] disappeared ten years before the events of the game and it's implied his mother [[spoiler: was thereafter DrivenToSuicide]], Wakka's entire family was wiped out by Sin, and Lulu is an orphan [[spoiler: whose lover Chappu was killed by Sin and who [[MyGreatestFailure is haunted by her failure to protect Lady Ginnem on the latter's pilgrimage]]]]. Rikku is a member of the despised Al Bhed race, Kimahri grew up shunned by his tribe and was eventually driven to a ten-year exile by fellow Ronso, and we haven't even mention [[TraumaCongaLine Auron]] yet...
*** Resident WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Seymour Guado takes the biscuit, however. Half-human, half-Guado, he was considered an abomination and banished as a child ''by his own father'' to Baaj, where he lived out his lonely childhood. Plus, depending on how you play the game, [[spoiler: his own mother helps to kill him]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', all the player characters have tragic pasts of some sort. Vaan's parents died of the plague when he was younger, and his only remaining family, his older brother Reks, was killed before the game started supposedly by his trusted commander Basch. Penelo's parents and ''eight'' brothers all died in the war. Fran was shunned by her village and her older sister for believing that there was a path for her outside the village, and slowly lost her ability to commune with the Wood, which to a Viera is like losing one of their senses. Balthier watched as his father was driven insane by the nethicite and neglected his family, until he couldn't take it anymore and ran away to become a sky pirate. Ashe's husband and father died at the age of 17, leaving her as the heir to a kingdom that was invaded soon after. Basch's original home country was invaded which lead to the death of his mother, and he failed to protect the lord of his adopted country and was then framed for killing the king and locked in solitary confinement for two years.
** Every single party member in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' are struggling with some sort of psychological issues and hates each other for it.
*** Lightning is a distant woman who, after her parents' deaths, was forced to become the sole guardian of her younger sister, Serah. She became a soldier to become a better protector for her sister, but believing that emotions would make her weak and vulnerable, she shuts herself emotionally. This pushes Serah away from her -- and when Serah was turned into L'cie, she became consumed with guilt and frustration.
*** Snow may appear to be overconfident and easygoing. Later, it was revealed that he's struggling with a lot insecurities and lack of self-worth, especially when he failed to protect Serah from being captured by the government and allowed Hope's mother to die during his mission to rescue Serah.
*** Vanille, who constantly behaves in an upbeat and positive manner, is actually hiding the fact that [[spoiler:she's a former L'cie from 500 years before the present timeline, and had fulfilled her Focus by almost destroying Gran Pulse alongside Fang]]. She fakes amnesia to protect her friend from this painful fact, but is clearly burdened with guilt from said past.
*** Hope has a lot of angst due to his father being constantly busy at work and rarely has time for his family. Then, during the beginning of the game's story, he and his mother was sent to the Purge while they were supposed to be enjoying a vacation, which eventually led to his mother's death. The grief drove him to seek vengeance towards Snow, who was responsible for his mother's death.
*** Sazh was already dealing with a lot of sorrow long before the events of the game, presumably due to his wife's death. His son Dajh was his only source of joy, until the boy was branded as a L'cie and was subsequently captured by the government to bait him and his friends.
*** Fang, like Vanille, is [[spoiler:a former L'cie who had become Ragnarok and destroyed most of Gran Pulse]]. She lost her memories [[spoiler:after her awakening]], but this has left her lost and confused as she tried to deal with the new situation. When she found out that Vanille actually knew what happened, and lied to her about it, she was understandably upset by this perceived betrayal (though it didn't last).
*** Outside the party there's Cid Raines. Supposedly the party's most valuable ally, he was revealed [[spoiler:to be a puppet forced by the fal'Cie to guide the party to eventually destroy Cocoon]]. Later, he tried to [[spoiler:defy his focus by killing the party, and prevent them from destroying the world]]. He was eventually defeated, [[spoiler:and turned to crystal, only for Barthandaelus to revive him, reinstate him as Primarch and use him as a fal'Cie spokesperson. He finally requested his subordinates to kill him, so that he'd be free from their control]].
[[/folder]]
