History Foil / FinalFantasy

** Basch and Gabranth [[note]]or by his real name Noah[[/note]].

** He and Nabaat [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this as PSICOM officers. Going by their first appearances, Rosch seems to be the Blue Oni to Nabaat's Red, keeping his cool even while reprimanding his underlings at swordpoint, while Nabaat is warmly watching over Sazh and Dajh after the latter's branding as a l'Cie. However, Rosch is much more concerned by what he's doing than he seems at first, admitting to Snow that he doesn't want to be involved with such actions as the Purge but has no choice [[spoiler:and later regretting opposing the l'Cie despite their shared goals]], whereas Nabaat's empathy is a front to hide a cold sadistic streak.

The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games are fond of this. A lot of characters tend to be {{Foil}} of each other.[[note]]There also EvilCounterpart, ShadowArchetype, ArchEnemy, etc.[[/note]]

* Caius towards both Lightning and Noel from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', though more obviously to the former. He is everything she could have been, had she not called off her plan of killing the fal'Cie Eden and destroying Cocoon to save Serah in the first game - ever deeper into grief, anger, and eventually, madness in a desperate and ill-fated plan to save the one they love most (Serah for her, Yeul for him).

** Whereas Yuna is very soft-spoken, proper, and self-sacrificing, Tidus is very brash, rude, and self-oriented. When the two discuss the idea of [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]], Tidus is both confused and horrified while Yuna feels any sacrifice is worth what little happiness it brings. Tidus himself says that Yuna changed his mind, and he sacrifices himself at the end. Ironically, this act changes ''her'' mind on the subject, also.
*** Whereas Tidus hates Jecht and wants to prove himself better than him, Yuna loved Braska and hopes to match his level of power and heroism. Also, Yuna believes that any amount of happiness, no matter how small, is worth whatever sacrifice it takes to make it happen whereas the concept is horrifying to Tidus. Losing Tidus changes her mind on this subject come to the sequel.

* Cecil and Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Both of them are ChildhoodFriends, both of them are also good candidates for TropeCodifier for TheHero and TheLancer, and both of them are each other most trusted comrades and greatest rivals. Cecil's noble and righteous [[TheCape Cape]] to Kain's the dark and conflicted AntiHero. %%And the last part, Cecil turns from [[BlackKnight Dark Knight]] to [[ThePaladin Paladin]] that fight as [[ArchEnemy Golbez's enemy]] while Kain goes from Cecil's comrade then got BrainwashedAndCrazy into acts as [[BigBad Golbez's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]].

* Cecil and Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Both of them are ChildhoodFriends, both of them also the good candidate for TropeCodifier for TheHero and TheLancer, and both of them are each other most trusted comrades and greatest rivals. Cecil's noble and righteous [[TheCape Cape]] to Kain's the dark and conflicted AntiHero. And the last part, Cecil turns from Dark Knight to Paladin while Kain got BrainwashedAndCrazy acts as [[BigBad Golbez's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]].

* Cecil and Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Both of them are ChildhoodFriends, both of them also the good candidate for TropeCodifier for TheHero and TheLancer, and both of them are each other most trusted comrades and greatest rivals. Kain's the dark and conflicted AntiHero to Cecil's noble and righteous [[TheCape Cape]]. And the last part, Cecil turns from Dark Knight to Paladin while Kain got BrainwashedAndCrazy acts as [[BigBad Golbez's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]].

* Cecil and Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Both of them are ChildhooodFriends, both of them also the good candidate for TropeCodifier for TheHero and TheLancer, and both of them are each other most trusted comrades and greatest rivals. Kain's the dark and conflicted AntiHero to Cecil's noble and righteous [[TheCape Cape]]. And the last part, Cecil turns from Dark Knight to Paladin while Kain got BrainwashedAndCrazy acts as [[BigBad Golbez's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]].

** Noctis and Ravus[[note]]Luna's Brother[[/note]], both being princes who lost their homes and family to Niflheim. While Noct fights against the Empire, Ravus serves them; Noct hates Niflheim for invading his homeland, while Ravus hates Lucis for abandoning Tenebrae.
** Noctis and Ardyn[[note]]Noctis's Great Uncle from many generations past[[/note]], both being members of the Lucian royal line who were chosen as the King of Light. Ardyn absorbed the Starscourge into himself, becoming immortal, and was denied ascension by the Astrals as a result, while Noctis sacrifices his life to destroy the Starscourge, and is rewarded with eternal happiness with Luna in the afterlife. Like Noctis, Ardyn too was in love with the Oracle of his time and was forced to watch her die before his eyes. Even his skill tree is one to Noct's, being named "Descension" in contrast to "Ascension".

** Noctis and Ardyn[[note]]Noctis's Great Uncle from many generations past[[/note]], both being members of the Lucian royal line who were chosen as the King of Light. Ardyn absorbed the Starscourge into himself, becoming immortal and was denied ascension by the Astrals as a result, while Noctis sacrifices his life to destroy the Starscourge, and is rewarded with eternal happiness with Luna in the afterlife. Like Noctis, Ardyn too was in love with the Oracle of his time and was forced to watch her die before his eyes. Even his skill tree is one to Noct's, being named "Descension" in contrast to "Ascension".

The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games are fond of this. A lot of characters tend to be {{Foil}} of each other.

** Noctis and Sarah[[note]]from ''Terra Wars''[[/note]]. Sarah's personality and mannerisms are ''very'' similar to Noct's, albeit swapping his introversion for extroversion and [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] for [[LightIsGood white]]. Also, throughout the whole DLC, Sarah wields a single RoyalRapier compared to Noctis' own MultiMeleeMaster-style.

** Noctis and Ardyn, both being members of the Lucian royal line who were chosen as the King of Light. Ardyn absorbed the Starscourge into himself, becoming immortal and was denied ascension by the Astrals as a result, while Noctis sacrifices his life to destroy the Starscourge, and is rewarded with eternal happiness with Luna in the afterlife. Like Noctis, Ardyn too was in love with the Oracle of his time and was forced to watch her die before his eyes. Even his skill tree is one to Noct's, being named "Descension" in contrast to "Ascension".

** The [[ArchEnemy Arch Enemies]] [[TheHero Cloud]] and [[BigBad Sephiroth]] are opposites or mirror images in just about every way. Even their appearances were apparently designed on this basis. [[spoiler: whereas Sephiroth was the absolute elite of SOLDIER apparently even as a teenager, Cloud never made it to their ranks at all. Both angsted at some point that they were the result of a terrible experiment. Sephiroth at first seemed to find out that it wasn't that bad after all, that he was merely built to be the last of the Ancients, but in fact, it was if anything even worse than he had thought at first. Cloud seemed to find out that he was nothing but a soulless clone, but actually, it was much less severe than that. Where through the course of the game we find out how Sephiroth progressively stops caring about humanity, the Ancients, and the Planet, Cloud goes from OnlyInItForTheMoney to caring about AVALANCHE, the Planet's plight, and everyone through the course of the story.]] For each, the time when they find out the whole truth is when they fully became the hero and villain they are.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVII''

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVIII''
** Almost the entire game revolves around the head-butting relationship between [[LonersAreFreaks Squall]] and [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Rinoa]]. But that just makes it all the sweeter as [[spoiler: the game progresses and the player witnesses Squall's multiple occasions of [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold emotional 180]]]]. Also, THE ENDING SCENES.

** Balthier and Reddas, in lots of spoileriffic ways. Had they each made some slightly different choices, they might have switched places in the narrative. [[spoiler:They're both former members of the Archadian Empire, Judges even (though Reddas was a Judge ''Magister''), who went rogue and abandoned their former lives and names when the Empire's warmongering went too far for them. However, Balthier would rather have nothing to do with the Archadia and nethicite and gets roped into things by chance, while Reddas proactively seeks to stop Cid from using nethicite on the scale of Nabudis and will fight to do it. Balthier went rogue to reclaim his freedom and became a sky pirate with little higher ambition than that, while Reddas went rogue to resist the Empire, which included becoming the de facto leader of Balfonheim and an ally of Ondore.]]* GuestStarPartyMember: For the last dungeon of the game.

* Caius towards both Lightning and Noel from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', though more obviously to the former. He is everything she could have been, had she not called off her plan of [[spoiler:killing the fal'Cie Eden and destroying Cocoon]] to save Serah in the first game - ever deeper into grief, anger, and eventually, madness in a desperate [[spoiler:and ill-fated]] plan to save the one they love most (Serah for her, Yeul for him).

** Noctis and Ravus[[note]]Luna's Brother[[/note]], both being princes who lost their homes and family to Niflheim. While Noct fights against the Empire, Ravus serves them; Noct hates Niflheim for invading his homeland, while Ravus hates Lucis for abandoning Tenebrae.

'''Warning! Unmarked spoilers below.'''

* Vaan and Ashe from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXII'', Vaan paralleling Ashe in backstory and CharacterDevelopment as a citizen of Rabanastre who lost a loved one to the Empire and desires vengeance. However, while Vaan eventually realizes how pointless revenge is and lets go of Reks' death, Ashe takes longer to get over Rasler. Atop the Pharos when he tells this lesson to Gabranth, Vaan's example inspires her to follow his lead and not use the Sun-Cryst's power.
** There also Ashe's bodyguards, Vossler and Basch, given their friendship despite coming from different stations in life. Taken further when, after Basch's absolute loyalty to Ashe is proven, Vossler himself becomes a traitor.

** Noctis is also {{Foil}} with another girl named Sarah from ''Terra Wars''. Sarah's personality and mannerisms are ''very'' similar to Noct's, albeit swapping his introversion for extroversion and [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] for [[LightIsGood white]]. Also, throughout the whole DLC, Sarah wields a single RoyalRapier compared to Noctis' own MultiMeleeMaster-style.

* Noctis and Luna from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXV''. In comparison to Luna--who is essentially a diplomat between mankind and the gods--Noctis embodies a more human, pragmatic side of Eos's power. After her attempts to negotiate with Leviathan fail, Noctis is empowered to force the issue.
** Noctis is also {{Foil}} with another girl named Sarah from ''Terra Wars''. Sarah's personality and mannerisms are ''very'' similar to Noct's, albeit swapping his introversion for extroversion and [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] for [[LightIsGood white]]. Also, throughout the whole DLC, Sarah wields a single RoyalRapier compared to Noctis' own MultiMeleeMaster-style.

* Noctis and Luna from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXV''. In comparison to [[AllLovingHero Luna]]--who is essentially a diplomat between mankind and the gods--[[AllLovingHero Noctis]] embodies a more human, pragmatic side of Eos's power. After her attempts to negotiate with Leviathan fail, Noctis is empowered to force the issue.

** There also Ashe's bodyguards, Vossler and Basch, given their friendship despite coming from different stations in life. Taken further when, after Basch's absolute loyalty to Ashe is proven, Vossler himself becomes a traitor.

* Vaan and Ashe from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXII'', Vaan paralleling Ashe in backstory and CharacterDevelopment as a citizen of Rabanastre who lost a loved one to the Empire and desires vengeance. However, while Vaan eventually realizes how pointless revenge is and lets go of Reks' death, Ashe takes longer to get over Rasler. Atop the Pharos when he tells this lesson to Gabranth, Vaan's example inspires her to follow his lead and not use the Sun-Cryst's power.

*** [[NumberTwo Zell]] is a big one for Squall. Zell is a HotBlooded and [[IdiotHero rather dumb]] ([[HiddenDepths not]] ''[[MrExposition totally]]'', [[HiddenDepths though]]) comic goof who looks like a sort of badass anime [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Marty McFly]]. I.E, he's pretty much Squall's exact opposite.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games are fond of this.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has sisters Lenna and Faris. Lenna is polite, diplomatic, astonishingly selfless, and a princess who is associated with the Water element. Faris is coarse, joins the quest mostly for answers about herself, was raised as a pirate (with no compunctions about ransoming princesses) and a man, and is associated with Fire. Lenna is also more mature about accepting death and other life-changing truths while Faris's instinct is denial. As the story progresses, Faris becomes more caring and altruistic like her sister and they love each other, but the differences in their upbringing continue to make them quite different people.
** ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVI'' had Kefka and General Leo, the two main generals of TheEmpire. Kefka was a BadBoss, whereas Leo was a WorthyOpponent. The two were more or less polar opposites in every way, the latter existing primarily as a contrast to the former. Terra and Celes, fellow magitek knights and the main characters of the game, also are foils of Kefka...while Terra and Celes learn the value of human life over the course of the game, Kefka sees human life as more meaningless as the game wears on.
** ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVII''
*** The [[ArchEnemy Arch Enemies]] [[TheHero Cloud]] and [[BigBad Sephiroth]] are opposites or mirror images in just about every way. Even their appearances were apparently designed on this basis. [[spoiler: whereas Sephiroth was the absolute elite of SOLDIER apparently even as a teenager, Cloud never made it to their ranks at all. Both angsted at some point that they were the result of a terrible experiment. Sephiroth at first seemed to find out that it wasn't that bad after all, that he was merely built to be the last of the Ancients, but in fact it was if anything even worse than he had thought at first. Cloud seemed to find out that he was nothing but a soulless clone, but actually, it was much less severe than that. Where through the course of the game we find out how Sephiroth progressively stops caring about humanity, the Ancients and the Planet, Cloud goes from OnlyInItForTheMoney to caring about AVALANCHE, the Planet's plight and everyone through the course of the story.]] For each, the time when they find out the whole truth is when they fully became the hero and villain they are.
*** To another extent, Aerith and Jenova are also foils in relation to their influence over Cloud and Sephiroth respectively.
** ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVIII''
*** Almost the entire game revolves around the head-butting relationship between [[LonersAreFreaks Squall]] and [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Rinoa]]. But that just makes it all the sweeter as [[spoiler: the game progresses and the player witnesses Squall's multiple occasions of [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold emotional 180]]]]. Also, THE ENDING SCENES.
*** Also features the prominent example of Squall versus [[TheRival Seifer]]. They're both top-grade students, specialized in a difficult (and slightly unconventional) to manage weapon, and stand out amongst the crowd going decidedly against the flow. They've also butted heads against each other since forever. However, while Squall appears aloof while being introvertedly struggling with whatever issues that comes to his mind, preferring not to be bothered by other people. Seifer is very much extrovert, enjoying excersizing his status as Head of the Disciplinary Comittee, being very vocal about his goals and ambitions, and clearly likes the leader role of his posse. They can both come off as rude, Squall because he doesn't get other people, Seifer because he likes being rude. As the game progresses, Squall grows closer to his party, while Seifer grows more distant from his posse. As Squall overcomes his past issues, Seifer becomes more obsessed and trapped in his. They both become Sorceress Knights, Seifer to fulfill his childhood romanticiced dream, Squall as a natural step in the chain of events. Also, the stronger and more confident person Squall becomes, the more ragged and dragged down Seifer becomes. They also both had a relationship with Rinoa, Seifer had a brief summer romance, Squall a longer relationship evolving from initial meh, to very real romantic feelings.