Big Good / Final Fantasy

Warning! Spoilers below.

The hope-inspiringly popular Final Fantasy series have a considerable amount of characters who serve as Big Goods that guide other people throughout many stories. There are various types of these heroes: those that are the most overarching, those that are well-known, those that are promoted to the title, and those that can be surprising. In all, they appear in nearly every game.

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Main Series I-XVI

• Final Fantasy II
  • Hilda is the princess of Fynn and leader of the Wild Rose Rebellion. Likewise, she is the brains behind the operation, and sends the party on most of their missions, eventually retaking her throne in Fynn.
  • Gordon, a prince of the fallen kingdom of Kashuan, takes over the position once he overcomes his cowardice. He finds strength within himself later on in the story and grows into a respected leader of the Wild Rose Rebellion.
• In Final Fantasy III, two ancient Sages who trained under Noah, Doga and Unei, act as the Big Good duo for the final leg of the story, guiding the Light Warriors to their final battle with Xande and aiding them in various ways.
  • In the album Final Fantasy III: Eternal Legend of the Wind, Doga is said to be the voice of the wind, guiding the Warriors of Light in their journey.
• In Final Fantasy IV, Fusoya and Elder of Mysidia form the Big Good Duumvirate for this story. The former is the vanguard-type Big Good, as he uses his magical powers and knowledge to help the party on their quest to stop both Golbez and Zemus; whilst the latter is the leader-type Big Good, being the leader of the town of mages and caretaker of Palom and Porom.
  • Cecil Harvey occupies for the role in The After Years as he's crowned King of Baron and rules the kingdom, marrying Rosa and fathering a son, Ceodore.
• Final Fantasy VI
  • Celes Chere is a Magitek knight forged by the Empire and tempered in battle who takes up the role in the World of Ruin, when she recruits her party members back to fight Kefka and end his tyranny.
  • Banon is the leader of the Returners as well as the commander of those resisting the Empire's control.
• Regent Cid Fabool IX from Final Fantasy IX is the monarch of Lindblum who acts as an ally to the party, aiding them in fighting Queen Brahne's aggression against the Mist Continent.
• Final Fantasy X
  • Yuna occupies this role to the party, which is just as well, since she is the Messianic Archetype.
  • Auron turns out to be this, as he coaches the Gullwings on how to defeat Vegnagun in his resting place (the Farplane).
• Final Fantasy XI
  • Two of the political leaders qualify: Star Sibyl is the title given to one of the most noble leaders in Vana'diel, and made one public appearance in the years following the Crystal War, where she urged her people to maintain a peaceful relationship with the Yagudo and to never use Summoning Magic again; and Eshan'Tarl is the leader of The Armathrwn Society, and unlike Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche, her plans are benevolent, as she is trying to stop the resurrection of the Twilight God Promathia.
  • Grav'iton is an old scholar who lead the Kuluu during the war against the Zilart until she was transformed into a tornberry like the rest of the Kuluu.
  • Yve'noile is the leader of the Dawn Maidens during the Kuluu-Zilart wars. Despite being Zilart themselves, Yve'noile and the Dawn Maidens sided with the Kuluu and the Terrestrial Avatars, and were able to stop the Zilart from opening the Gate to Paradise, albeit at a terrible cost.
  • Altana is the creator-goddess as well as the most powerful, benevolent force in the Vana'diel multiverse. According to legend, she created a race called the Zilart, but after they destroyed themselves through their own hubris, she shed five tears that created the five Enlightened Races of Vana'diel.
• Marquis Halim Ondore IV from Final Fantasy XII is the leader of Bhujerba, and he is also secretly funding resistance movements against Archadia and seeks to reclaim Bhujerba's independence.
• Final Fantasy XV
  • King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII is the king of Lucis and guardian of its Crystal. He also emphasizes the most notable qualities of the trope: wise, courageous, loyal, a loving father to his son and a devoted leader to his people.
  • Dave Auburnbrie turns out to be the one who rallies the Hunters together to Lestallum to help keep the citizens and refugees safe from Ardyn and the daemons. He can be heard on the radio during chapter 13 offering asylum to anyone escaping Niflheim, Tenebrae, and Accordio.
• Final Fantasy XVI
  • Cidolfus "Cid" Telamon is the leader of an organization founded with the purpose of sheltering Bearers from the threat of persecution and Dominants from becoming pawns to the political players of Valisthea.
  • After being revived by the Phoenix and discovering the existence of Ultima, Joshua Rosfield takes up the Big Good mantle by donning the title of Margrace and becoming a spymaster in order to free his brother from enslavement and subtly free the world from the Mothercrystals.

Final Fantasy VII Compilation

• Aerith Gainsborough is the overarching Big Good of Final Fantasy VII and its compilations.
  • She arguably evolves into this role posthumously near the end of the original game. Being so powerful she can command the Lifestream to help protect the planet, the other heroes view her as watching over them and helping them from afar.
  • Aerith absolutely becomes this in Advent Children, despite mostly appearing in Cloud’s visions. When he fought Bahamut SIN, he saw a vision of Aerith as she took his outstretched hand and transferred energy to him to cut through the dragon's attack and destroy it. After Cloud defeated Sephiroth who had been reborn from Kadaj, Aerith called down healing rain over the city, curing most of the inhabitants of Geostigma.
  • In the remake, Aerith once again takes over the position when the party begins to pursue Sephiroth, being the one with the most knowledge of his plans and the power to alter them. Rebirth seemingly walks back on it at first, since the Whispers having taken her memories means she's reverted to being just as in the dark about Sephiroth's full plans as the rest of the party, but then it's played straight again by the alternate Aerith who helps Cloud by giving him an empowered White Materia to then deliver to her other counterpart, causing that Aerith, in turn, to awaken to a higher power by gaining control of her own White Whispers to combat Sephiroth's black ones, along with the return of her omniscient memories, as she comes to Cloud's side when he needs her the most to directly challenge Sephiroth himself.
• Despite his allegiance to Hollander and Genesis, Lazard Deusericus is the director of SOLDIER and is known and respected among the company's military branch for being a good leader.
• Minerva fulfills the position as the Guardian of the Lifestream, goddess of LOVELESS, and protector of the planet.

Final Fantasy XIII trilogy

• Lightning is arguably the proactive Big Good of the entire Final Fantasy XIII trilogy despite her character flaws. To wit:
  • In XIII, she leads the party to stop Barthandelus and Orphan from destroying cocoon and its inhabitants.
  • In XIII-2, Lightning becomes the chosen champion of the goddess Etro to stop Caius Ballad from killing the goddess.
  • And in Lightning Returns, she becomes the savior of the world by saving souls and bringing them to the new world, and even stops the God of light Bhunivelze from controlling the humans of the new world and turning them into his emotionless puppets.
• Etro is the Goddess of Death who serves this role in the first two games. Unlike the fal'Cie and her siblings, Etro loves humanity instead of viewing them as tools and will frequently step in to help them should her intervention be needed, such as when she reversed the parties Cie'th transformations and freed them from Crystal Stasis.

Final Fantasy XIV

• In Final Fantasy XIV, the Warrior of Light starts out as The Hero, being the great champion of the good guys and bane of the villains, noted even early on to have both the great strength and innate goodness to be a magnificent hero of the realm. However, starting with Heavensward, the Warrior slowly becomes the Big Good for Eorzea and Othard, when they prove to be a very effective Supporting Protagonist / Magnetic Hero / Hope Bringer and they grow much, much stronger. By the end of Stormblood, they have the unconditional trust and support of several head of states, have attained a 100% Heroism Rating with the citizenry of several nations and are now either the World's Best Warrior, The Archmage or both.
• Before his death, Louisoix Leveilleur was this due his knowledge, and because of his assumed sacrifice at the Battle of Cartenau, is held in very high esteem across the realm, even by Gaius.
  • Following Louisoix's sacrifice, Minfilia Warde takes over the position by leading the Path of the Twelve and the Circle of Knowing, now combined into the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, in their mission to defeat the Ascians and end the primal threat to lay the foundation for true peace in Eorzea.
• G'raha Tia, also known as the Crystal Exarch, is the leader of the Crystarium who leads the heroes' efforts to save the First in Shadowbringers, marshaling all of the resources of the Crystarium and pulling on every connections he's accrued over the past century to rid the world of the Lightwardens.
• Aymeric de Borel is one of the highest-ranking knights in the Holy See and firmly on the main party's side once he gets past the bureaucratic red tape. His efforts to reform Ishgard bring him into conflict with the conservative members of the nobility and clergy. Following Thordan's fall, he becomes the interim leader of Ishgard and is later elected the leader of the House of Lords, making him the country's de facto head of state.
• The Eorzean Alliance has three leaders who certainly qualify:
  • Raubahn Aldynn for the Immortal Flames Grand Company. He is fiercely loyal to his sultana and to his city, and is presented as one of the most righteous characters in the story.
  • Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn for Limsa Lominsa. As the Admiral, she is the commander-in-chief of the nation's Grand Company, the Maelstrom and the nation's executive leader in all its affairs. As such, she's the person everyone turns to when trouble is afoot in Vylbrand.
  • Kan-E-Senna for the Order of the Twin Adder Grand Company. She is the wise and powerful Elder Seedseer who leads Gridania and its Order of the Twin Adder, maintaining peace between the mortal denizens and the elementals that live in the forest.
• And there is Hydaelyn herself, the Goddess of the World that the adventurer fights to protect and the source of the Blessing of Light. Shadowbringers reveals that she was also this towards Ascians who felt threatened by Zodiark's power. Endwalker shows that she's a bit more pragmatic than she first appeared, but she remains firmly on the side of the heroes. Hydaelyn is also the Greater-Scope Paragon, as she is gravely weakened by the time A Realm Reborn ends and Heavensward begins, with her in need of outside help just to communicate with her chosen.

Spin-offs & Successors

• Final Fantasy Legend II: The Goddess is the most powerful deity, and a genuine force to protect the world.
• Final Fantasy Type-0: Dr. Arecia Al-Rashia is the Mother of Class Zero, and she opposes Gala, attempting to open Etro's Gate without using millions of deaths to do it.
• During Dissidia Final Fantasy, Cosmos fulfills the role, being the Goddess of harmony as well as the mentor of the heroes, who is opposing Chaos.
• Bravely Default
  • Braev/Brave Lee, the Templar (the Grand Marshal of the Duchy of Eternia, leader of the Council of Six, and holder of the Templar asterisk) serves this role as his intentions are for the betterment of the world.
  • The Astrologian is the asterisk bearer whom had shown to help the team. Even in his battle, he only fought the team so he can test their worth.

Sub-series

• Brave Exvius
  • Dark Fina, Fina's true self, a Really 700 Years Old Sage of Hess, serves the role over the course of Season 2, bringing Rain and the deceased Veritas Back from the Dead, and eventually forming a Vision of herself from the Earth Crystal, which culminates in her bringing a Bad Future version of Rain to the present and aiding him, Fina and Rain/Hyoh at the same time from afar.
  • Yuraisha serves as this for Hess's kingdom, being the main motivational force for their war on Aldore.
• Dimensions: Sophia is the closest figure to it in the story, thanks to being Elder of Mysidia and a knowledgeable, powerful ally with a hand in things from the very beginning of the story.
  • Dimensions II: Chronos fulfills the role in the story, as the person who guides the party on their journey.
• Record Keeper
  • Dr. Mog is the head of the Royal Archives, Tyro's mentor, and overall commander of the protagonists.
  • Bahamut is the ruler of the Cardia Islands, and master of the Torment and Dream dungeons. Likewise, he can create portals to record realms at will and is supportive of the heroes' quest to preserve the records.

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