Final Fantasy / Alternative Character Interpretation

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/FinalFantasy

The bone-crushingly popular Final Fantasy series has plenty of complex characters, ripe for Alternative Character Interpretation.

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Final Fantasy II

There's a bit of a split whether Minwu died offering his life to unlock the seal to Ultima or he died because breaking the seal exhausted him. The NES prototype translation leans more to the latter while the remakes left it vague.
Did the Emperor really lose to the party and just come back from Hell by accident, or did he throw the fight in order to die and come back with greater power?
How exactly did Leon come to be the Dark Knight after his capture? The parsimonious nature of the script gives no indication of whether Leon was tortured, brainwashed, or honestly persuaded. Given that he attempted to seize the throne after the Emperor's "death" and his speech about power, it seems that magical coercion was at least More than Mind Control. (Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia portrays him as "mind controlled, but very susceptible first"; however this takes place after the events of the game itself.)
- The Ultimania's description of him implies that it may have been a coping mechanism due to the prior Trauma Conga Line that was the invasion of Fynn.

Final Fantasy III

Did Xande turn evil out of fear and disappointment after Noah gave him the gift of mortality, as the game tells us? Or did Noah already suspect there was something off about his third disciple, and decided it would be a bad idea to give him ultimate magic power or control of his own dream world? In other words, was Xande always evil, or did he only become so due to his fear of death combined with the Cloud of Darkness's influence?
- With what little we actually know about the real Noah, it's also possible he knew full well what would happen when he gave an incredibly powerful wizard the "gift" of a shortened lifespan, and may not have been as altruistic as Doga and Unei make him out to be.
- Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia posits a theory from Gabranth that the real reason Xande loathed the gift was because Noah had effectively chosen the path that Xande's life would take for him. Even though Doga and Unei were both quite sure mortality was the best gift of the three, Xande did not like having his freedom stolen from him.

Final Fantasy IV

Whether or not Kain was sincere about killing Rydia in Mist. On the one hand he seemed pretty serious while he was saying that the king ordered them to Leave No Survivors, and after Cecil protests, Kain adds that they will be killed if they disobey the king. On the other, he replies "I thought you'd say that" and lays out a detailed plan for defecting from Baron the instant Cecil decides on opposing Baron.

Final Fantasy V

Faris is rather uncomfortable about the idea of being a princess, although she eventually comes to accept King Tycoon as her father and Lenna as her sister. To what extent is this because of her upbringing among pirates clashing with the expectations of how a princess should behave, and to what extent is this because of her identifying as a male? Faris occasionally slips up and refers to herself with male terminology at a few points, but is fine with Lenna calling her "Sister" after initially mocking the idea of being related to a princess, which could imply that she not only accepts Lenna as family, but also the gendered sibling terminology.
Did Kelger really think that Galuf's new allies were servants of Exdeath? He openly states that he wants to fight Bartz even if they're not affiliated with Exdeath. He may have realized that a new generation of warriors was needed to settle things and was trying to test them.

Final Fantasy VI

Locke Cole: Tragic Hero or creep with attachment issues? How much does he care (initially or later) about Celes and Terra as people versus generic women he can use to make up for his perceived failure? Even if he is keeping Rachel preserved in hopes of someday finding Phoenix, the whole sequence with her body and the obviously unhinged undertaker is still pretty weird. There's also a discrepency between the first and second translations for how well he takes Rachel's final wishes to heart. In the SNES version, his line in the "self-help speech" to Kefka implies that he does intend to move on with his life, but in the retranslation he simply repeats his commitment to protecting "someone" (Celes), indicating that he's still trapped in his Dulcinea Effect complex. In Narshe, Edgar warns Celes that "Locke has a complicated past," and wasn't protecting her out of love, prompting Celes to get annoyed, and the speed at which Edgar drops the subject implies that, while he may not be wrong about Locke's character, he was hitting on Celes.
Some players have facetiously noted that Cid's Heel–Face Turn happened while three large, angry men were asking him questions about his esper experiments in a moment where he was isolated from any guards. (He does stick with his defection, but the optics of the initial switch are noticeable.)
Gestahl's reactions to your behavior at the imperial banquet offer a lot of ways to interpret his character. Toasting the Empire or the Returners, it's obvious there which he'd prefer, but "To our hometowns!" gets the best reaction, particularly interesting since Vector is his home. Is he approving of your choice because he appreciates you're fighting to defend your homes, or because he's already planning to abandon the remaining Imperials and take power on his own? The best reaction to the question of Celes' loyalties is to declare total trust of her. Is he pleased you trust an ally and didn't turn on them because of what Kefka said, or does he think you're foolish for trusting her so easily after all that she's done and that means his next plan will go well?
- To what extent is Gestahl complicit in Kefka's actions? The siege of Narshe was most certainly a sanctioned act, but everything else is ambiguous. Terra is a valuable asset to the Empire, but to the extent that they would set fire to Figaro Castle and make an enemy of them? Was Kefka just lashing out or did Gestahl authorize aggression against Figaro? Celes had heard about Kefka's intent to poison Doma, so Kefka seems to have been planning it for a while, and then Leo is called away shortly after the latest attack fails, leaving no one to stop Kefka. Was Gestahl sincere at the banquet when he claimed he had no idea what Kefka was doing, or did he fully know and purposefully called Leo away after his latest effort to take Doma failed so Kefka could do his dirty work? At the Sealed Gate, Kefka laughs that letting Terra escape and fall into the Returners' hands was deliberate on Gestahl's part to trick them into opening the Sealed Gate — he's almost certainly lying, but if Gestahl considered opening the gate himself too risky, perhaps he would try a Xanatos Gambit to get his enemies to do it for him. He certainly made the fall of Vector work to his advantage either way.
Terra. Is her Esper form just a simple transformation, or does the Esper have its own will and mind separate from the human side? In the case of the latter, is it an entirely different person from Terra, or just another side of her personality?
Kefka: Destroys everything he can because he thinks it's fun and believes love and friendship are just temporary diversions from the inevitability of death, or a very dark Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds so twisted by Magitek experiments that he actually can't feel love and friendship anymore and destroys because it's all that gives meaning to his life now? Dissidia Final Fantasy actually nudges towards the latter, with one of Kefka's iconic nihilistic speeches being voiced with a very sorrowful and melancholy tone...only for the prequel to nudge back towards the former where he's a shining Manipulative Bastard. Chronologically, Dissidia shows him becoming more pitiful in death than he ever was in life. One thing that can't be denied is that, monster or woobie, Kefka's a mad dog whose very existence and reason for living run counterpoint to the world he exists in.
- What makes Kefka a very interesting villain is the contradiction in his actions before he unleashes untold damage against the world. If Kefka really was such a person who wanted to destroy the world without no chance of survival, why are people still around after a year's worth of time? If his goal is to destroy the planet and all life, with nobody really rising up against him for over a year, then why is he hesitating to wipe out all life? He's got the chance to wipe out all remaining life on the planet, yet he doesn't. Was he so distraught from Celes's wound that it stopped him from attacking? Did the wound make him appreciate the value of human life as he nearly lost his? Did Kefka perhaps try desperately to find ANY meaning of life that wasn't a stereotypical self-help booklet answer? It could be that the interpretation of Kekfa in Final Fantasy VI and Dissidia Final Fantasy aren't so far apart...
- Was Kefka always planning to betrayal Gestahl and seize power for himself when he saw the chance? Or was his usurpation on the Floating Continent a spur of the moment decision made when Celes had angered him? Putting aside the mentioned ambiguity of how much Gestahl sanctioned his misdeeds, Kefka doesn't seem the kind to want to rule the empire, and everyone within it hates him anyway. He seemed content enough playing second fiddle to Gestahl right up to the moment Celes attacked him, and if he was planning to backstab Gestahl he had ample opportunity after raising the Floating Continent but before the Returners caught up to them. On the other hand, Kefka has been interested in acquiring more personal power for himself all along, he mentions wanting to restore the Warring Triad in the Magitek factory, and in Thamasa he talks about building his own Empire. All these point to the interpretation that he was just playing along with Gestahl until it suited him to betray him.
And from the same game we have Setzer. Happy-go-lucky thrill seeker who Jumped at the Call just for the kicks, or world-weary nihilist who, after his Despair Event Horizon, simply didn't care whether he lived or died? Your call.
Locke: I can't believe this clunky old thing can fly... You sure it'll stay in the air?
Setzer: When things fall, they fall... Life's a game of chance. You play your cards, and Fate plays hers...
- How about both? He treats everything as a game, and with any game, there's always a chance to either win or lose. Win, and you get to accomplish something and have some fun in the process. Lose, and all you have to lose is your life, which wasn't very much worth living anyway. In a weird way, this makes Setzer almost a sane counterpart to Kefka. What do you do when you have almost no inhibitions and see no meaning in life? You either become a gibbering nihilist bent on random acts of destruction, or you seek your own meaning in life through random acts of altruism.
- It may be worth noting that Setzer and Kefka are the only characters in VI to have AB blood type, a personality indicator in Japan.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII

Cloud, one of the most popular characters in the genre and with a complex story, tends to inspire a lot.
- Cloud's childhood history with Tifa touches on some topics that many of the game's fans have personal experience with and is only touched upon vaguely, meaning many people project onto it and find personal readings that can easily become Flame Bait. Was Tifa ignorant of how badly Cloud was being bullied, or aware but too powerless to do anything about it, or an active participant in his abuse (who Cloud forgave due to his internalised self-loathing)? Was Cloud the cause of his own bullying by developing an Inferiority Superiority Complex and picking fights, or was he lashing out as an attempt to protect himself from a toxic situation? Was his interest in Tifa based on a genuine interest in her nature, or a fixation based on a creepy and pathetic imaginary version of her, or even a desire to prove his worth to the person responsible for his mistreatment? Cloud/Tifa is a popular pairing, but people who subscribe heavily to a less sympathetic reading of either character might view the ship as Romanticized Abuse. This is at least partly due to the English translation, as explained here. The original English translation made it sound like Tifa bullied him, which does not match the Japanese text; Remake made it clear that it was Cloud who ignored Tifa, even in English.
- Is Cloud's SOLDIER 1st Class persona a completely fake personality based on what a Nice Guy imagines a cool SOLDIER would be, or did Cloud's belief he was an elite lead to him indulging an inner contempt for others he'd had all along, but been too repressed to express? Or perhaps he was trying to emulate Sephiroth and did a poor job because Cloud didn't know him well?
  - It's implied by Ultimania guides and Word of God statements that at least part of Cloud's fake persona was influenced by Zack, even though Cloud acts nothing like Zack. Could it be that Zack was Innocently Insensitive towards the rookie Shinra trooper and Cloud misunderstood him as arrogant and aloof? It's also been postulated that Cloud may have absorbed some of Zack's memories through their connection to Jenova, though nothing in the canon suggests this occurs.
The interpretation of Aerith as a cheerfully kinky Granola Girl—forcing Cloud into transvestitism, anyone? The statement is an alternate interpretation in itself. Aerith is friendly, kind and sweet, but is also a bit flirty. Tifa may be a little clingy, but she is also brave, loyal and a good friend and eventually, a mother figure to Marlene and Denzel.
- Did Aerith genuinely fall in love with the real Cloud before her death, or was she purely attracted to his false persona leading him to act like Zack?
Sephiroth. How much influence or control Jenova had on Sephiroth are still interesting (despite being Jossed,) considering he had her cells injected into him in utero. Is Sephiroth subconsciously following Jenova's goals, or were they perhaps merged together into one being? Did Sephiroth gain control over her only to become the new incarnation of a world-destroying parasite? Did Sephiroth just go bugfuck crazy from being injected with alien cells, or do something similar to Cloud's fractured psyche and subsequent false persona (of being a "descendant of the Ancients") to cover it up? On and on it goes.
Jenova. While she mostly played the role of supplying the Phlebotinum and boss fights, people wondered just how involved she really was. Some put forth the idea that she subtly manipulated Shinra into weakening the planet and creating Sephiroth, others that she was a hyper-intelligent being who was subjugated by Sephiroth, or that they were actually working together, a mindless virus that acted only on instinct (like The Thing (1982)), or simply an alien creature unable to exist peacefully on the planet and exploited by its scientists. To a lesser extent, the idea of what the physical body of Jenova actually is: a human body corrupted by the DNA of a spacefaring virus, or an alien body infected by a spacefaring virus.
Cloud and co. go out of their way to try and stop Shinra from enacting their plan to save the world from certain doom by meteor. They have no plans on how to save it themselves, or any real clues to follow up on at the time. It's easy to see them as Glory Hounds who would sooner have the world be destroyed than saved by an enemy. The intended interpretation being that they thought the plan wouldn't work (and if the player screws up the mission, which is possible and allows the game to continue anyway, Shinra's plan doesn't work, though there's no way the heroes could have known that in advance) — and if it did, it would sacrifice the Huge Materia, which are story-wise an important tool for protecting the planet.
Both Lucrecia and Hojo in the original game come off slightly differently compared to their compilation counterparts. For the former, her feelings (if she had any) for Vincent are far more ambiguous, and at the end of the game he says 'Lucrecia chose him [Hojo] trying to protect him', but doesn't clarify what she was protecting him from. It could be read as protecting him from himself, given how even in the original he was obviously a Mad Scientist. For Hojo's part, he is arguably more complex than later depictions (his envy of Professor Gast and complex relationship with Sephiroth), but there are some ambiguities in his attitudes towards others. He is notably saddened when he hears from Aerith at the beach that Ifalna has died - was this due to genuine respect for her, or regret that the last pure blooded Ancient is now dead? It's notable he seems to remember her name, where he referred to Lucrecia, his wife, as just 'that woman' and is bad at remembering names generally. His beach holiday episode at Costa del Sol also begs the question whether he intended to quit science for good, or was just taking a spontaneous holiday after possibly being fired/leaving Shinra for good.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

While it's definite that Aerith is helping them from beyond the grave with her Great Gospel limit break, the conversations Cloud has with her (and Zack in Complete as well) could be real. Or they could be his imagination, as a way of trying to forgive himself.

Dirge of Cerberus

Depending on your point of view, Lucrecia can come across as either a remorseful victim of Hojo's insanity looking to make amends for harming the only man who ever really loved her, or as a callous Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who strung Vincent along for years, accidentally killed his father, dumped him for Hojo, and then experimented on her own son in utero, only to seal herself inside a crystal because she just couldn't live with herself any more. And Vincent still loves her.
- Lucrecia's feelings for Vincent. While much more affectionate toward him than she was in the OG, it's possible to read her feelings in a lot of different ways: that she did love him but was too guilty over the death of his father and what she & Hojo did to him to ever admit it, that she just wanted to save his life to assuage her guilt, or that she was him as some level of Replacement Goldfish for his father. Do C seems to lean towards the first one ('I never wanted to lose you', her making her sickness worse by pushing herself to find a way to save his life), but it could be some level of the other options, also, given she explicitly mentions Vincent having eyes similar to his father's. Flashbacks imply she also just went with Hojo to avoid her feelings of guilt, but that still leaves open the question of if she had any respect or professional regard for Hojo at all, since she did have a child with him.
The Tsviets. Are they only monsters who committed atrocious actions for purely selfish motives or are they sympathetic people who were raised that way and driven insane due to the inhuman treatment they suffered? Well, it depends when you come to the characters themselves one to one.
Weiss in the online game: a Nominal Hero who did it right to kill the Restrictors or a monster?
- In general, due to the lack of appearance of the latter (save for the online mode) Weiss being either good or bad is quite a matter of debate. On one hand, Weiss shows no regret in manipulating people (especially the Player who is haunted by false memories of a supposed lost sibling), using them against each other to get to his own objectives and doesn't even flinch when the Player is killed. The fact that Genesis refused to help him against Restrictor seems to imply that helping Weiss would have been a bad thing. At the end of the game, Weiss also fights Vincent/Chaos as Omega and he seems to take some delight in it. On the other hand, Weiss is quite determined to take Restrictor down and freeing his fellow Tsviets and before the Player is killed by Restrictor he shows being quite supportive and clearly didn't expect the Player to die. While he displays contempt toward humans, the online mode doesn't seem to imply that Weiss is willing to slaughter them like it happened in the original game. He is also retrieved by Genesis, who had been confirmed to come to save the Planet by Word of God. The debate is still up in the air.
- The game Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia seems to go with the interpretation that Weiss is a villain of the same level of Sephiroth in power, but on a more Chaotic Neutral way, obeying to his own agenda and not above 'helping' heroes if it helps his goals. Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia also explains that he was in control of Omega at the end of Dirge of Cerberus and basically went up for the plan of flying away with Omega because he could be together with Nero.
Nero: Were his feelings for Weiss simply an extreme form of brotherly love or were they incestuous feelings? ^note Nero's Japanese voice actor confirmed via Twitter that Nero is a "Yandere brocon" meaning that Nero's feelings are in the "brother complex area", meaning in the area between sibling love and incest .
- Nero's attitude during his meeting with Shelke on the Shera. At one point, Shelke told him that she will not let people down who count on her. Nero briefly pauses for a moment before pretending it's just pure nonsense. Was he actually considering her words before resuming to attack her? Or did he actually relate to her during this moment because he behaves the same way toward Weiss?
Did Genesis come back as a new antagonist or for the purpose of saving the world? ^noteWord of God is that it's the latter.
In the online mode, while it's pretty clear that Tsviets manipulated the Player into killing Restrictor and getting revenge for them, some scenes involving their interactions with the player raises some question. For example, Rosso's attitude when the player dies isn't mockery. She is quite disappointed because the player worked hard to get to the Tsviet position. Not to mention after their fight, Weiss also whispers to the player that "they will get avenged" in an oddly compassionate way. Compared to their usual behavior in the original game, it may imply a level of comradeship there.
Is Shelke's Defrosting the Ice Queen attitude toward Vincent only due to the fact that she collected Lucrecia's data to help Vincent, or does she genuinely like him?

Final Fantasy VII Remake

In-game example. Outside of their small personal character arcs, the original didn't delve into many of the characters' overall personal mindsets that much, but it's more obvious in this game that Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith all suffer from some form of PTSD:
- Cloud is emotionally guarded, and while snarky, his flashes of memory seem closer to PTSD triggers this time around. While the original presented his visions as pretty much all being magical in origin, this game makes it more ambiguous. Some of them are clearly supernatural but others could make a good argument that they are legitimately PTSD episodes.
- Tifa as well has developed a much clearer attachment to Cloud, due to their shared Tragic Backstory and AVALANCHE, but is also clearly overwhelmed with the actions of the story to the point she is shaking at the thought of more problems. She also seems to have a major Guilt Complex, and repeatedly tries to shoulder the blame for bad things that happen even when it couldn't possibly be her fault.
- Barret's case is more subtle, but his boisterous personality in-game is made more obvious to be a cover for a deeply scarred man trying to do the right thing, but has been pushed to extremism and is trying to justify his actions to himself.
- Aerith's case as a Stepford Smiler was hinted at in the original game, but the highly detailed facial animations and vocal performance make it easier to spot the very subtle clues she is trying to hide. She has a deeply-seated fear of abandonment (made more apparent by the addition of the greatly expanded Train Graveyard segment) and struggles more with the burden of being the last Cetra. This is on top of the fact that she is also strongly implied to have knowledge of the future and is aware of her impending death.
Speaking of Aerith, her exact motivations for wanting to abolish fate could be interpreted as saving her first love: Zack. It's implied that Aerith has some conception of the events of the original game, which seems to explain why in the dream she advises Cloud not to fall in love with her. However at the end of the game, she seems aware that the party's actions in defeating Whisper Harbinger has allowed Zack to live. If you take the extra scene at the end of Intermission as Zack being thrust into the end of the first Remake installment, then that means he and Aerith have a chance of reuniting. This would come at the possible expense of Cloud's romance with her (which has yet to fully blossom), and so Aerith advising Cloud not to fall in love with her in the dream scene could be interpreted as her leaving the door open for Zack. This would be rather selfish behaviour on Aerith's behalf, but defeating Whisper Harbinger was required anyway purely to keep up with Sephiroth, who already appeared to not by bound by the Whispers' enforcement of fate and was aware of the fated storyline, putting the heroes at a severe disadvantage were they to remain bound to it.
- Expanding on the previous example, given how it's heavily implied that Aerith is also aware of her impending death in the original timeline, her wanting to abolish fate and helping Cloud and co. defeating the Whisper Harbinger could also be interpreted as not only wanting to save Zack, but to save her own life as well, in addition to other lives that couldn't be saved in the original timeline.
- It's also possible to read her as wavering between her feelings - knowing what fate should be and wanting to fight against it. So she knows the plate will fall but encourages Tifa that the future isn't set in stone and does everything she can to help people evacuate in the meantime. Her speech to Cloud implies she's trying to save him from the pain of losing her if she dies, but she genuinely enjoyed spending time with him and wanting to be with him, so she struggles to reconcile the two.
Don Corneo's facial expressions and subsequent line when Cloud reveals he's a man are just vague enough that you have to wonder if he's disgusted at being tricked or pleasantly surprised by this turn of events.
Sephiroth's attitude towards Cloud. While he acts just as sarcastic and cruel as we expect him to be, there is a single moment where he actually loses the attitude a little bit: After the collapse of the Seventh Sector's Plate, all that Sephiroth says is a simple acknowledgement that Cloud failed and rather than give him any further sadistic kick, he actually shows him a bit of sympathy, which is saintly compared to his usual demeanor. And the words he said "But through suffering, you will grow strong. Isn't that what you want?" Was it a slight moment of empathy. Considering how Sephiroth went insane, was there enough humanity in him still to recognize the similarities between his crushing discoveries and Cloud's failure, explaining why he gave Cloud a Pet the Dog moment?
- Not to mention Sephiroth seemingly letting Cloud revive Zack. Considering Zack's level of strength and how well he fared against Sephiroth in Nibelheim, he would have been perceived as an actual threat to Sephiroth, which Hojo even admitted was quite likely, and given his standards and obsession with Sephiroth, it's quite a huge deal, and given that Cloud here is nowhere near Zack's level, given he's only relying on the memories Zack has to give him the skill, was it because Sephiroth wanted a greater challenge, given his Blood Knight tendencies, or maybe it's exactly because Zack IS that much stronger than Cloud that Sephiroth wants him back, considering we have no idea about what fates befell Genesis and Angeal in the Remake continuity and whether or not Sephiroth knows Genesis is alive if events unfolded the same as the original Crisis Core. Given that Sephiroth has repeatedly acknowledged Zack as a Worthy Opponent, it wouldn't be uncharacteristic for him to have manipulated events so Zack is back and alive and he can use Zack rather than Cloud, who is nowhere near being able to fight him currently.
Is Jessie really interested in Cloud? She flirts with him a fair amount, but there are also moments where she clearly enjoys getting a reaction out of him and Wedge warns him not to take her advances seriously. So does she actually harbor romantic feelings for Cloud or does she just enjoy flustering the stoic mercenary? Both?
While Barret's reasons for (initially) benching Cloud for the Reactor 5 mission are almost certainly Cloud's lack of belief in the cause, the other members of Avalanche seem rather fond of him. However, Tifa apologizes for asking Cloud to take part in the first mission and after Cloud is told he's not coming on the next one Jessie says they don't want to involve him in Avalanche's problems. What was their reaction to Barret's decision? Did they argue against not bringing Cloud and were overruled, or did they agree with Barret, albeit for different reasons?
Nero killing Sonon might be viewed as a Kick the Dog moment and showing him crossing the Moral Event Horizon, especially since Sonon relived the death of his younger sister. However, it is worth noting that unlike the Deepground soldiers and scientists that Nero killed, who basically painfully died while screaming in horror, Sonon died while having a peaceful Dying Dream of his sister Melphie before Nero finished him off. Nero also treated Sonon's body with utmost care before absorbing him in the darkness. Not to mention that Nero did not chase after Yuffie despite Sonon's sacrifice and stopped laughing after watching his memories, giving him a moment of silence to enjoy the visions first before finally finishing him off. For some, knowing it is Nero we talk about, it could be almost viewed as a twisted Pet the Dog moment.
- There is also the interpretation that the so-called Pet the Dog moment is actually due that Nero did not really intent to kill Sonon after their fight, and that he went easier on him to keep him alive or revive him and using him later as a pawn for he and Weiss.
Nero's Adaptational Jerkass aspect in Intergrade could be explained: three years happened between Intergrade and Dirge Of Cerberus. One theory was that Nero's behavior changed after Final Fantasy VII events, most likely after Weiss's death.
The ending of Weiss's VR boss fight. Had Hojo already took possession of Weiss yet (albeit through his digital copy rather than the real body) or is it a "memory" from the original time Weiss remembers, implying that Weiss is aware of the future at one extent ? The line about transcending flesh may lean to the former. However, the sepia-tone color used for reminiscence as well as Weiss's line "See you in Deepground" implies that Weiss is still himself, leaning more to the latter. Or is it just a callback to Dirge ?

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

The game re-ignited the old debates over if Sephiroth was controlling Jenova or if it was the other way around. While Word of God is that it was the former, the reason people began discussing it is that Rebirth gives a few nudges to the latter, particularly with how the expanded lore of Jenova emphasizes that she is (or was, anyway) an intelligent, thinking creature that preyed on the Cetra and almost wiped out their civilization. Also lending credence to the theory is Sephiroth's sudden turn to madness during the Nibelheim Incident; as he talks to Cloud in the Shinra Manor about being Jenova's son, he has flashes of images of her chamber in the mako reactor and Jenova herself, his pupils dilate, and his demeanor changes suddenly from visible anger to Tranquil Fury, and he then says "I should go. Mother is waiting". Some have interpreted this as Jenova activating Sephiroth's reunion instinct to push him over the edge or take control of him, particularly since Cloud's pupils also dilate in the same way throughout Rebirth when Sephiroth exerts his influence over him. Sephiroth's sudden turn to madness overall comes across as someone who got possessed and his own will overwritten, much like how the rest of the Jenova carriers respond after succumbing to degradation.
Did Cait Sith join Avalanche under orders to act as The Mole for Shinra and spy on them, or did he join of his own volition and was coerced into betraying them for the Keystone? All that's clear is that Tseng knew, or at least suspected, what he was up to, but the framing of their conversation leaves it ambiguous otherwise.

Final Fantasy VIII

Squall is not only depressed, but also a Death Seeker. He does some idiotically dangerous things throughout the game, which most view as a result of his sheer determination and instinct towards heroism, but in Disc 3, he basically says he never intended to be a SeeD and he doesn't really like it. There's a very likely chance that in his subconscious he's more than willing to do things like jump down multiple stories to save friends and carry a girl on his back across a bridge spanning a body of water the size of the Atlantic Ocean because those actions will very likely result in his death.
As well, the romance between him and Rinoa could be seen not as love but as simple emotional needs the other fulfills. Rinoa is a rebellious teenager who hates her father and is estranged from him, and Squall is a cold and distant but also protective and strong authority figure she can latch onto as a replacement. Meanwhile, come Disc 3 when the romance subplot takes center stage, Squall is in more emotional turmoil than ever because he's used to focusing on his mission and not thinking about his own feelings to avoid dealing with them, but now the mission is stalled and he's sitting on his hands, and the mission has become a personal one due to Ellone being involved and the reveal that Edea was his foster mother as a child. Thus he turns to helping Rinoa as a coping mechanism to avoid having to deal with these things, and he becomes obsessed with helping her in order to justify his decision to abandon his mission and go off alone with her.
When they first meet at the SeeD graduation ball, Rinoa behaves a bit weird, trying fake hypnotism and dragging him to the dance floor... but if you think about it, her behavior could be due to her trying to cheer up the gloomy kid standing alone after a very rough day. Squall's scar is also pretty fresh at this stage, and Rinoa's first words to him are that he's the best looking guy there.
Why does Ultimecia wish to compress time? Is she trying to return to her childhood to recapture the happiness of her youth after a miserable life? Does she want to create an ideal world where everyone will love and worship her? Does she want to create a world where she rules humanity as an Evil Overlord? Or is she an Omnicidal Maniac trying to cause a Time Crash? Changes to the translation between English and Japanese versions, and her dialogue in the Dissidia spin-offs, only add further layers to the discussion.
Julia and Laguna are subject to this. We only see one scene with them together, and it's not known if they saw each other after that and dated for a while. Julia's song is mainly about Laguna watching her from the bar, implying she didn't know him that well. And compare Laguna's interactions with her to Raine; he stutters and gets tongue-tied around Julia, but is fiercely loyal and protective of Raine. It's entirely possible that Julia was just a crush that never went anywhere. Or perhaps, given the subject matter of the song, that the attraction was more on Julia's end than Laguna's.
The nature of Seifer's sudden Face–Heel Turn, where he seems to take joy in the idea of hunting down his former classmates one by one in the name of the Sorceress, leave some wondering if there's some sort of Mind Control going on. And if there isn't, then how Seifer really feels about his other SeeD members and being overlooked for graduation needs further examination.
Rinoa. Hoo boy, Rinoa. Depending on how you feel about the romance plot, Rinoa is one of two things: A) an innocent, cute and childlike girl who's gotten in over her head, but tries her best, and falls in love with Squall despite her conflicted feelings for Seifer as she helps him work through his trauma and struggles with her new identity as a Sorceress, or B) a shallow, spoiled brat who thinks war is a fun way to get back at her dad and is whining way too much about getting godlike magic powers that guarantee the boy she likes will never leave her. The translation didn't do her any favors either, and the Western audience tends to equate "childlike" with "immature" in a way that the original doesn't, leaving us with one of gaming's most divisive characters of all time.
Quistis has a moment late in the game when Rinoa is taken by Esthar due to being a Sorceress that could be possessed by Ultimecia. When Squall reveals he let her go without a fight per her wish to do so, she rips him a new one, essentially calling him a complete dumbass. Did Quistis do this because, as his ex-teacher and friend, she truly thought he was letting a good thing slip out of his grasp? Or, given how many players feel that the Squall/Rinoa relationship is forced due to HEAVY shipping by his companions, is she a shipper pissed off that he's letting her ship sink, much how real-world fan shipping can get ugly? Granted, Quistis herself had feelings for Squall herself, so there is also the possibility she's a bit scorned that he seems willing to ditch someone who's developed feelings for him.

Final Fantasy IX

How much influence did Kuja have over Brahne? Was Brahne's plan to take over the world her idea from the beginning or is Kuja the main instigator? Was even some magical mind-control involved at some point, before Brahne broke free? Garnet claims that her mother was a good person and only turned bad because he corrupted her, but she could very well be in denial. Kuja insists that the plan was Brahne's idea all along, but we know we shouldn't trust him. So the question remains open.
It's widely thought that Garland destroyed Madain Sari and the summoner tribe because he saw their power as a threat to his plans. But according to extra material in the game, the summoners' first attempt at summoning Alexander resulted in so much destruction that they moved to the Outer Continent in order to avoid hurting more people while they studied their magic. So Garland may have destroyed the tribe because he feared they would, in fact, destroy Gaia before he had a chance to assimilate Terra to it. Or perhaps both.
According to the timeline, Steiner became a Knight of Pluto when he beat Beatrix in a fair fight. This adds a new interpretation to her constant undermining of him (he refers to her as "always trying to one-up me"), as well as the Knights of Pluto being looked down on. Perhaps it's a smear campaign from a bitter general who resents that she was defeated by a man?
Freya forgives Beatrix rather easily, despite the general's hand in destroying half her people. But since Beatrix has a Heel Realization for everyone to see, and it's the torture and planned execution of the innocent Garnet that brings her Heel–Face Turn, could Freya recognise a soldier following orders out of fear of retaliation? Or does Freya not forgive her, but realise after three battles with Beatrix, that the general is better to have on their side? Or is she darkly hoping that Beatrix may get Laser-Guided Karma in battle when she turns on her own queen?
An ancient one in fandom, Garnet's naming scene. Garnet having to ask Zidane what a dagger is called probably the first deciding factor in how the player sees her for the first half of her character arc: a novice diplomat making tough calls in a crisis, or a well-meaning but oblivious and sheltered princess. The line in English is "What is this called?" and serves as the device for naming the character whatever the player wants, but the default answer from Zidane is "a dagger", with a bit of an overly-wordy explanation. The way the scene is framed, Garnet seems to be asking for the name of knife but is too polite to tell Zidane he's not impressing her like he thinks he is, but the way the dialogue is written, she literally doesn't know what a dagger is and Zidane is explaining the way he would to a child. Either way, she listens patiently and names herself whatever Zidane says the weapon is called, and it's up to the player to decide her reasoning.
Steiner doesn't believe Brahne is committing evil until learning the truth later on. Before his epiphany, it's not clear if Steiner genuinely doesn't believe Brahne is doing evil, if she really is but has a "good" reason for her actions or maybe deep down inside, Steiner knows that Brahne is evil but is in denial about it.

Final Fantasy X and X- 2

Final Fantasy X

A very common one is debating over who the real protagonist is: Tidus, or Yuna. There are enough ways to look at the story that both seem valid in terms of being presented as the main character, such as how Tidus has the longest character arc in the game, how Yuna is more important of a figure to the setting, to even how they handle both of the games main antagonists Seymour and Sin. If you chose to look at one as the main character, and then view the game from that angle, you'll find the game to feel different than if you focus on the other. For example; if looking at the world from Tidus' angle, a player might find Seymour an obvious villain, but if you do so from Yuna's perspective, Seymour can be seen as a complex character who isn't as outright evil as one might think.
Is Lulu a somewhat condescending jerk to Tidus and Wakka, who takes her job too seriously, and whose character arc is more so about being more friendly and approachable? Is she the only one trying to help Yuna, whom she practically raised and who is about to give her life to protect everyone in the world, while at the same time having to put up with immature behavior from Tidus and Wakka, who either don't understand or don't want to face the bleak circumstances of their journey. Or is Lulu so broken by her traumas that she hates their light-hearted antics because she doesn't want to feel happy when Yuna is going to die and make them heartbroken again?
Lulu's attitude towards Tidus is considered a standard Defrosting Ice Queen, but if you look at her first impression of him - it's breaking sacred traditions to interrupt Yuna praying to the Fayth, and she outright assumes that Wakka thought she couldn't handle it on her own (possibly bringing back bad memories of Lady Ginnem's death). Tidus also behaves like an irresponsible goofball, so she may have disapproved of him potentially distracting Yuna from her pilgrimage. But after she gets to know Tidus, she learns he's much more serious and dedicated than she thought.
Did Rikku become Yuna's guardian in the hopes that she could convince her to reconsider the pilgrimage? Or was she more motivated to spend what limited time she has left with a cousin she's not had a chance to know?
Did Yunalesca sincerely believe that there is no other way to beat Sin besides the Final Aeon, or she does know an alternative way, and was withholding it from the heroes so that they can give in to despair?
- This can apply to Yevon as a whole. Make no mistake, they used the religion and the threat of Sin to amass power; that's not up for debate. But, what can be is whether or not they all knew of a different method against Sin or if none of them really knew what could be done. Even those like Yunalesca and Mika didn't know what could be done regarding Sin.
Tidus's mother only features in two scenes, but is ripe for interpretation. Jecht is often taken to be the worse parent, since Tidus's anger is directed at him. But in one flashback, it's in fact Tidus's mother who ignores him, and Jecht is the one telling her to pay attention to their child. Some fans have taken that to believe she was an abusive parent too, or at least neglectful. Maybe Tidus's anger at Jecht could be interpreted as leaving him alone with a neglectful mother. Jecht actually tells Auron to keep an eye on Tidus for him, suggesting he was aware that the mother wouldn't be too hands on. Then there's Yuna's statement that "she must have accepted death while she was still alive". Does that mean she was so heartbroken that she was unable to care for herself? Or did she commit suicide in the hopes of being Together in Death with her husband?

Final Fantasy X-2

Gippal isn't as broken by Nooj shooting him as Baralai is. A possible reason could be that, as an Al Bhed, he's probably used to being treated like a heathen. So the betrayal might not have come as big a shock to him. Or else Gippal knows what it's like to be in a difficult situation and could have accepted Nooj simply going mad from the events. A third interpretation is that, right after it happened, Home was destroyed. Gippal was then forced to help the Al Bhed regroup and work out a new way of life. Being forced into that situation could have taken his mind off it, rather than having the time to think too much about it. Baralai meanwhile appears to have lived a rather sheltered life in Bevelle, making the Break the Cutie affect him in such a bad way.
Does Tromell really regret what Seymour did in the Guado's name and what he himself allowed to happen by preventing Yuna from sending him and destroying the evidence that he killed his father, or is he mainly taking on his Atoner stance out of fear that the Ronso will annihilate the Guado?
- Rather unlikely actually, as evidence points to Tromell and the other Guado actually WANTING to be annihilated by the Ronso. Especially if you actually let it happen, the Guado are strangely at peace...even if they have suffered Genocide and there are no Fiends made from them as they actually willingly go to the Farplane. They must have REALLY wanted to Atone for the horrible stuff they did in FFX to go "that" way.
Just how much of Nooj's actions throughout the first half of the game his own will, or that of Shuyin influencing him? The game itself seems to have no clear idea.
New Yevon. An early visit to Bevelle has members explain that they've retained the name of a proven false god as a way to remember and repay the wrongs that Yevon visited on Spira, and the game frames New Yevon and the Youth League as ethically equivalent, just opposed in method (whichever side Yuna hands the sphere to, the other will become hostile for a period of time). But if Yuna sides with the Youth League, various New Yevonite NPCs call her a heathen and a heretic—terms that shouldn't apply in today's Spira, but which Yevon did hurl at her after her trial during her pilgrimage. Given that the group is largely made up of ex-churchfolk, one has to wonder how many of them have really given up their beliefs and how many resent her personally for destroying the hierarchy they'd belonged to (and profited from) their whole lives.

Final Fantasy XII

Vayne, the Big Bad, sparks a lot of debate due to his nature as Ambiguously Evil.
- Is Vayne a pro-active patriot doing what he needs to do to secure Archadia's future and free mankind from the control of Occuria, or is he a power-hungry autocrat out for world domination and willing to get rid of anyone or anything in his way? In the same stroke, did he kill Gramis to seize power and give himself an excuse to dissolve the Senate that would have opposed his rule, or did he take drastic but necessary actions to stabilize Archadia's uneasy political climate in the face of impending war rather than let the Senate muck things up?
- Carefully analyze the scene where Vayne and Gramis talk, the last we see of either of them not long before Gramis' death. One could take their interactions to imply Gramis knows Vayne will kill him and frame the Senate for it. Heck, we never see the end of the conversation — what if it was even his idea? After all, Gramis knows he's sick and dying anyway, he hates the Senate as much as Vayne does, he agrees with Vayne that he should be the next Emperor, and he makes a point to bring up Vayne's persecution of his two brothers in the past and asks if he regrets it. It isn't entirely out of the question for Gramis to ask Vayne to deliver him a Mercy Kill, so he can use the "murder" as pretense to frame and dissolve the Senate while simultaneously ascending the throne as emperor. The ultimate Thanatos Gambit.
- In the same note, Vayne telling his dead father "And so House Solidor lives on.", which is a Meaningful Echo of Gramis' own words. Is this a proof that, as mentioned above, Gramis' murder and framing the Senate for it were actually a plan devised by both Vayne and his father to secure the power of House Solidor? If not, was Vayne showing remorse for killing his father? Or was he only trying to keep up appearances?
  - In the final scenes of the game, Vayne refutes Larsa's idea of showing mercy and tells him that if Larsa thinks what he is doing is wrong, "then [he] had best find the strength [he] needs to correct him, then." Is Vayne taunting his brother for his hesitation and perceived cowardice, or is it a Secret Test of Character to push Larsa to finally stand up to him and in doing so prove his strength and worth as a leader?
On the subject of the Occuria, are they Well-Intentioned Extremist Gods who wanted what was best for mankind or royally Jerkass Gods who wanted to abuse their power over mankind and continue to keep them on a tight leash? It very well may be both, reading the scriptures from the Tower of Pharos has them acting both encouraging but also incredibly condescending as well, seeming to turn on a dime. The Occuria may only so tightly retain their power because they have absolutely no faith in humanity, and feel they can only be coerced back onto the 'right path' through blatant ego-stroking (calling their chosen a saint and a savior) and bribery (giving royal line their respective swords, not to mention the nechicite). Heck, the game even raises the idea they aren't even Gods, which further adds to the mystery of their motives and plans for mankind.
Does Fran truly regret leaving the Wood and becoming an exile and outcast from the Viera in exchange for freedom, or is she exaggerating her isolation to convince her sister not to follow the same difficult path she did? Immediately after, did Jote tell the truth about the Wood wanting Fran back, or was it "a pleasant lie, that" to make her feel better? The fact that the group encounters a monster that is stated to be the Wood wanting Fran to return indicates that Jote is being truthful, but the game leaves it ambiguous enough for speculation.

Final Fantasy XIV

Zenos is an extreme Blood Knight who doesn't care about the politics of The Empire, casually kills off people when they fail him, approved of horrible experiments on people, is dismissive of the lives of people he directly and indirectly kills, and only lives to hunt. When the player character meets him, he soundly defeats them twice during the main story. When you finally do defeat him at the very end, he confesses to feeling alive for the first time in his life, now happy that he was able to be bested by someone who was as strong as he was. He bids farewell to the player character by calling them his first friend before he kills himself. That single line alone sparked a huge debate among fans over whether Zenos is a crazy bloodthirsty killer or if he had a sad life growing up. Even though the developers stated they designed Zenos' character to be as unlikable as possible so that no one can sympathize with him, people still wound up feeling sorry for him anyway.
- Confirmed in his canon, dev-written backstory in the Chronicles of Light book, titled 'The Hunt Begins.' He was essentially left emotionally neglected while suffering from some sort of anhedonia or depression, his mother dying soon after he was born from an illness. He preferred to be left alone with books; he was incredibly gifted both martially and mentally, but his servants gave him no sort of emotional support, and his father all but ignored him except to hand him over to an abusive trainer who tried to kill him to get revenge on his father. On top of this, it is now being heavily implied in game after 5.2, due to Fandaniel's dialogue, that Emet-Selch may have messed with him at some point, given he had dreams about the literal End Days of the Ancients, in his words, 'always'.
Emet-Selch, one of the three "whole" or "unsundered" Ascians and also Solus, the founder of the Garlean Empire tells the Warrior of Light's party that he tried to let go of Aumarot and his people, tried settling down as a normal human, getting married, raising children, and dying of old age. But he just couldn't do it, he couldn't let go of everything he lost. He also, while explaining the true natures of Zodiark and Hydaelyn casually drops that he and all Ascians like him have been tempered, saying that it was only natural to happen. The game doesn't directly connect the two, but what if Emet-Selch wasn't able to let go of his people BECAUSE of being tempered by Zodiark rather than simply because he personally couldn't get over it? Zodiark no doubt wants to be free, and even if his tempering is less blunt and overwhelming as the standard primal's tempering, which makes its victims do nothing but kidnap potential "followers" and bring their primal aether crystals, Zodiark's tempering would still presumably influence his subjects' wills.
- At a point late in the main arc of Shadowbringers, he bluntly tells the heroes that he doesn't believe the current inhabitants of the world are "real people," instead being pale imitations of fully realized beings such as himself. While it's easy to see it as a cold dismissal of the insignificant feelings of inferior beings, he also earlier stated that he wanted to find "a path of lesser tragedy". Depending on how sympathetic the player is feeling, these two seemingly contradictory statements may indicate he does, on some level, know those around him are "real", and claiming otherwise is more a rationalization he uses to justify the many acts of incredible devastation he and his colleagues have inflicted on the world. Endwalker gives more weight to the theory that he knows the inhabitants of the Sundered shards are people in that the residents of his phantom Amaurot mistake the Scions for children, but when you bring up the idea of passing as a child to Emet-Selch in Elpis, he immediately dismisses it due ot the fact that anybody could tell their aether is too thin to be a person.
- Adding to this, to what extent does he see the Player Character as Azem? As the Scions depart to Il Mheg, he comments on the Warrior having "a soul such as that," implying he recognized it, focuses intently on the WOL whenever he speaks to the group, and speaks privately to them about the Ancient world. Yet in the end of 5.0, he dismisses the vison of the Ancient Arbert and they once were as a trick of the light; Is this because he knows the WOL is a separate person from his old friend? If he believed you were truly their reincarnation, would he be forced to acknowledge that you are just as much of a person as they were, or even rendered unable to fight—either due to lingering affection or due to Zodiark not allowing him to abandon the Ardor? Or was the whole thing a gamble to rid you of the Light destroying what was left of his friend's soul?
The game allows the player to select different dialogue options in order to roleplay the Warrior of Light as they would like. These tend to range from serious, heroic responses to humorously stupid or out-there ones. However, NPC reactions to those options tend to vary from seeing the Warrior as a genuine Bunny-Ears Lawyer or someone with a bad sense of humor, making it ambiguous whether the Warrior is saying such things sincerely or as jokes.

Final Fantasy XV

Ardyn is rife with this given his role. Despite turning Niflheim and later most of the world into Daemons via the spread of night and the Starscourge, was he just trying to raise the Chosen King (Noctis) to a proper position to be able to finally be put to eternal rest, or was he truly hellbent on destroying the Lucis line even if it meant the end of the world in the process? Was Noctis finishing him off in the Spirit realm even necessary? The story's also extremely ambiguous about his relation to Ifrit, with the guide stating him as the Astral's servant, though in spite of Ifrit's Greater-Scope Villain status, Ardyn still seems to be the one pulling the strings.
- His final fate: Sure, his soul gets a Deader than Dead beatdown; but does he really undergo Cessation of Existence, or is he just purged of his Daemonic influence and finally allowed to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence (especially given how Noctis himself vanishes in a similar manner afterward, yet still manages to enjoy Together in Death status with Luna as of the epilogue)?
- How truthful he was about his backstory. Ardyn tells Noctis he was a healer who took daemons into his body to save people from the Starscourge. He claims he was repaid for his efforts by being deemed impure by the Astrals and denied ascension, and ostracized by the people. However, Bahamut refers to Ardyn as the "Usurper", and others (himself included) refer to him as being utterly corrupted in mind, body and soul. Was Ardyn simply a tragic hero turned villain? Or was he warped before the Crystal and his people rejected him?
- There are disagreements amongst fans about how much of Ardyn's actions are the result of his resentment towards being rejected from ascension and erased from history or even whether Ardyn himself is upset by this. There are some who believe that only fragments of the first chosen king's personality are present in the Ardyn we see, and that his body and mind has been usurped by the Starscourge. There are others who feel that it's something in between: the original Ardyn wanting to pass on, wishing to bring about the Ascension of the Chosen King and purge the world of the Starscourge. The Starscourge itself has twisted his ultimate desires and emotions into the most horrific and extreme variation it could conjure up from Ardyn.
- Episode Ardyn expands on some of the points above: his final scene firmly indicates he has truly become an Omnicidal Maniac, he's the one pulling Ifrit's strings during the game itself, and his backstory was mostly truthful. In addition, it gives the very interesting reveal that the Six intended from the beginning for him to become the Big Bad and deliberately played Somnus against him to make it happen, bringing his own moral agency into question as a pawn of the gods.
Gladiolus, being the least developed member of your party, gets a lot of this.
- His general lack of reaction to the death of his father Clarus in the fall of Insomnia, in stark contrast to Noctis's. Was he emotionally distant from his father? Was he long resigned to the possibility of his father (and possibly himself) dying in the line of duty? Does he just believe Men Don't Cry given his general intolerance for what he sees as emotional weakness in others? The game itself doesn't go into much detail about his relationship with his father.
- Speaking of which, his characterization in Chapter 9 and onward. Were his outbursts and jibes towards Noctis the completely justified outrage of the only one in the room with proper priorities at the moment? Or is it nothing more than a bully throwing a temper tantrum and having a lack of empathy towards others' grief? Is it a case of reasonable frustration expressed poorly? In that case, is he aware that his approach is not the best, but is in too deep to back out? Is it result of him finally letting loose on the pent-up angst over his father's death? And is he actually concerned about the harm to Ignis for his own sake or is he mostly bringing Ignis up as an excuse to browbeat Noctis more, considering he later goes against Ignis's own wishes in trying to get the party to leave him behind? Does he ever feel any remorse for it? The fact that his behavior isn't really revisited after the timeskip does not help.
The game makes it very clear that out of Noctis's three friends, Ignis is the most loyal to him. Episode Ignis reveals he takes this devotion to fanatical levels, willing to throw his own life away to protect Noctis and outright admitting he would rather see the entire world burn than let anything happen to Noctis, even trying to persuade Noctis to stop on his quest since doing so would lead to his death, despite the fact that his death is stated to be the only thing that can stop the apocalypse. Why exactly is he so dedicated to Noctis? The game doesn't give an explicit answer for what exactly motivates him to be like this. It's possible he's an extreme believer in Honor Before Reason, since he did swear an oath to protect Noctis, and is unwilling to shirk his duties no matter the cost to anyone else. Regis did ask him to serve as a brother to Noctis so it could also be familial protectiveness. It's even possible that Ignis is in love with Noctis, given the length that Ignis is willing to go through solely for the sake of Noctis's happiness, as well as a slew of suggestive comments from not just himself, but also Ardyn.
- The Final Fantasy spinoff Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, which is official albeit noncanon, goes with the interpretation that Ignis is motivated by love for Noctis as a person rather than loyalty or duty, with him dismissing the latter and admitting he wouldn't have done the same if anyone else was king.

Final Fantasy XVI

How complicit was Barnabas in Ultima's plan? Was he being manipulated into doing his bidding somehow? Did he realize the full implications of his master's schemes and was all for it, or was he tricked or lied to? Or was Barnabas so delusional and devoted to his religion that he actually thought that in some twisted way, he was doing the right thing?
How does Anabella truly feel about her family? While her contempt for Clive is obvious, her relationships with Elwin and Joshua are less clear-cut. The scene of her and Elwin in their bedroom can be interpretated as her trying to win him over to her line of thinking, with the subsequent implication her betraying the Duchy to the Empire only came about because she was unsuccessful. For Joshua, it's clear she cares about him and is heartbroken at his death, but is that out of geniune love for him or a vicarious attachment to his status as the Phoenix? Was her having Olivier with the Emperor proof all she wanted was a powerful son, or had she simply moved on in the decade between Joshua's death and Olivier's birth? The confrontation with her at Twinside supports both views, as she claims her motives for betraying the Duchy and joining the Empire were to produce a son from both the lines of Bahamut and the Phoenix who would be the world's savior, meaning she intended to replace Joshua with a 'better' son even before he died. But she's also clearly saddened at the mention of Joshua and hasn't gotten over his death nearly twenty years later.
When the game was first released, it was generally assumed that the love between Benedikta and Cid was romantic. However, after the Final Fantasy XVI Ultimania confirmed that Cid was 44 years old after the first timeskip whereas Benedikta was only 28 years old, many have started to interpret their love as familial, specifically a surrogate father-daughter relationship, rather than romantic, due to their 16-year age gap, especially since Benedikta was only 15 when she first met Cid, who would have been 31, more than twice Benedikta's age at the time and well into adulthood while Benedikta was still a minor. Others choose to interpret that Benedikta's feelings were romantic while Cid's were familial.

Final Fantasy Tactics Series

Final Fantasy Tactics

The Durai Reports offers one for just about everybody involved in the events surrounding Delita's rise to power: The Church is corrupt, Delita is a Magnificent Bastard who manipulated everyone to get what he wanted, Ramza is a hero who slew demons...
Delita may well be the most notorious example in video game history. He's either a tragic Anti-Villain who rises above prejudice and heartache only to find the world hasn't changed for the better and is forced to kill someone he cared deeply for in self-defense to boot or a vaguely repentant Manipulative Bastard whose mistreatment by the nobility leads him to equally evil actions, including the murder of his wife, who suspects he intended all along to kill her to consolidate his power - which, conveniently enough, he does. There's rarely a middle-ground between these views, either.
There's also the question of whether Ovelia loved him back, or if that was just Stockholm Syndrome at a time when she was already emotionally vulnerable from learning about her true origins, plus sympathy for Delita's noble outward ambitions which faded gradually as she started to see what Delita was capable of doing to bring about those ends. There's pretty much no question that Delita was manipulating her, even if he really did love her. Very few healthy relationships start with a kidnapping, after all. All things considered, perhaps the poor girl's name would be better spelled as "Ophelia?"
There are a few places in the game where the player can give Ramza different motivations for his actions, for example, choosing to focus on killing the bandits instead of saving Algus or Mustadio. These choices have very little impact on the rest of the plot, but whatever decision you make is commented upon, essentially allowing an in-universe version of this.
Also, did Olan/Orran really see Ramza and Alma at the end of the game, or did they perish and all he saw was their ghosts? There is enough evidence to support both their death and their survival, and while Word of God has stated he did see them, the nature of the ending leaves it still a bit murky if that is true.
St. Ajora Glabados - besides the conflicting sources about his history in-story, there's so much contradictory information about him that what he was actually like is impossible to determine. The character portrait hidden in the game suggests it might have been intended for there to be a flashback into his past, but since we never actually got any such thing... yeah.
Was Folmarv telling the truth that Ovelia was a fake who was raised to believe she was the real Princess Ovelia so Duke Goltanna could use her to seize power for the throne or he was lying as a Kick the Dog to break Ovelia will? Furthermore, Folmarv is the only one to make this accusation and almost nobody in game really mentions this claim either.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

There are those who believe that Marche is really the villain and that he is essentially killing off a world full of people and stripping his family and friends of their hearts' desires in a selfish wish to go home. While the sequel more or less confirms that things worked out pretty well for everyone, he didn't know this at the time.
The above create an alternate interpretation for Mewt, Ritz and Donned's defense of Ivalice however. Are things really better for everyone in this world, or are things better for them specifically and that's all they really care about? Remember, outside of those three, Cid and Marche, the only other characters from St. Ivalice we see in Ivalice are the three bullies from the prologue, who have since been zombified, either as the result of the world changing or dying and being resurrected post-mortem. Does Mewt's fantasy world really improve everyone's lives or just the people he can be bothered to care about?
Also, for Ritz: is her reason for staying only about her hair? She says as much, which seems shallow, but given that Kids Are Cruel maybe it's not so odd that she wants to stay in a place where she's not an object of scorn. She's also the class president and gets made fun of for being that too. In Ivalice, she's a clan leader, in fact, a clan leader in a matriarchal society where a girl being "bossy" and assertive is a positive thing. She goes from being an outcast to a respected leader in her favorite video game. Childish, maybe, but shallow? Not so much.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Dissidia Final Fantasy

After fighting with Terra in Shade Impulse, Kefka claims that "destruction is what makes life worth living", which prompts Terra to think that he tried to fill his "broken heart" with it. Contrast his original game, in which after ruling the world for a year (coupled, possibly, with the knowledge in the back of his mind that, despite his power, he was still a mortal man) convinced him of life's ultimate futility, followed by the heroes' self-help book speech and complete refusal to accept his nihilist stance prompted Kefka to try to destroy everything in order to prove his point. He more or less went from destroying everything because he didn't see the point of life, to destroying everything because he thinks that's the point of life.
Ultimecia's pre-battle quote towards Terra in Dissidia 012 has her utter "It's okay to cry" to her. Is she taunting Terra over her timid and sensitive nature, or is she offering her a shred of pity due to Ultimecia knowing what it's like to be ostracized and feared for having magical powers?

Others

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

The banter between Neil and Jane is either just friendly, or he could be flirting with her. Notably when she tells him to get a girlfriend, he winks and says "I'm working on it" - and alludes to Jane always picking on him in a Tsundere way.
General Hein stopping at nothing to continue firing the Zeus Cannon into the Phantom Crater, even when his own workers warn him that it's overheating. Ostensibly he hates the Phantoms and wants to exterminate them at all costs. But what if there's more to it than that? After the Phantoms overrun New York thanks to his plan, he goes My God, What Have I Done?, so it's possible he's so determined because he thinks he can justify going to such extremes if it results in wiping the Phantoms out? Or does he think he'll be found out eventually and this makes for a Suicide by Cop scenario that'll hopefully take out the Phantoms too?

Final Fantasy: Unlimited

Aura is portrayed in every way from Mysterious Waif to The Lad-ette in fanworks simply because she has so very little screen time. The way Kaze acts around Lou implies that the two of them are similar in some way, though.
- Finally, we're allowed to see a little bit of what Aura is like in Before, where she's shown as a stubborn girl who's also kind and self-sacrificing.

Final Fantasy Dimensions

Did Baugauven know that Elgo was his Emperor in the middle of a scheme, or was he serious about killing some random red mage?

World of Final Fantasy

Lann. Is he a cute dork or an irritating dumbass?
Reynn. Is she the only voice of competence in a group of morons, or a Know-it-all Jerkass who's abusive towards her brother? ^note
Enna Kros. Is she a Trickster Mentor, or is she hiding important stuff from the twins? She never bothered to inform Reynn and Lann about the fake prophesy, or give them full details about their parents.

Alternative Character Interpretation / Final Fantasy