The hero of the game. Firion is a youth from Fynn, who flees it as the Empire lays siege to and occupies it. Together with his adopted family Maria and Guy, they manage to make it to Altair, the base of the Wild Rose Rebellion, headed by the princess of Fynn. They convince her to allow them to join, and together work to defeat the Empire, take back Fynn, and save the world. Firion appears along with the Emperor in the Dissidia: Final Fantasy series and will be appearing in the Spin-OffTheatrhythm Final Fantasy.
Ambiguously Brown: Together with Minwu, the first such characters in the series.
Brown Eyes: Firion fits the down-to-earth and humble meanings of the trope—besides, this is simply rare for Squeenix..
Conveniently an Orphan: Even before his adoptive parents died in the siege of Fynn, he was already orphaned. Precisely why this is convenient is explained in Maria's section (see Not Blood Siblings).
Dark-Skinned Blond: Silvery hair, not blond, but the overall effect is much the same.
Depending on the Artist: Interesting, in that this is a one-artist variation on the trope — Yoshitaka Amano drew Firion quite differently from picture to picture, to the point where a lot of official art of the character has to be labeled as such in order to be recognizable as Firion. His face and his armor would remain the same but he frequently changed his headgear and color scheme.
Put it this way — in DissidiaFirion's◊ three◊ costumes◊ all have different hair accessories, different hairstyles, and differently styled and colored armor, and all three are based on different Amano arts.
Dub Name Change: His Japanese name, フリオニール, Furioniiru, is officially transliterated as Frioniel. This became Firion in English due to character limits, and has remained such likely due to a combination of inertia and euphony.
Firion's adopted sister, who fled Fynn with him when the Empire took it. She too joined up with the Wild Rose Rebellion, despite her angst and worry over what has happened to her older brother Leon, as last they knew he was with them, and then he disappeared.
Action Girl: Eager to join La Résistance and fight for her freedom, she can also be made one gameplay-wise due to the infinite customizability of the Stat Grinding system.
Black Eyes: Exactly like her brother's, likely functioning as an indicator of her grief and sorrow at both the state of the world and the state of her family.
Black Magician Girl: Of the main party, she has the best initial stats for black magic.
Squishy Wizard: Her HP is the worst of the initial party, putting her in the back row by default. Fortunately, especially in later remakes, Stat Grinding means she can become more durable, making her last longer.
Stripperiffic: Very tight clothing, bare back, and there is nothing covering one breast except for half a golden cup.
Impossibly Cool Clothes: The jury's out on whether or not it's "cool" but it's definitely impossible. How any of the fabric or metal covering her upper body stays on is beyond human ken.
Firion's best friend and, according to various Japan-only materials, also an adopted brother. Guy was abandoned in the wild as a baby, only being raised by humans from age ten onwards, and as a result is very... well, slow, and quiet. Nonetheless, he has a close bond with Firion, Maria, and Leon, and joins them in their quest to save the world from oppression.
Wild Child: Was one until kind people in Fynn took him in.
Younger than They Look: He's around Firion's age, but is quite large and... well, craggy.
Leon
Maria's older brother (this time, not adopted), who fled Fynn with them when it fell, but vanished along the way. When next he turned up, he was working for The Empire, but all may not be as it seems...
An Axe to Grind: Wields an Axe and sword when he rejoins the party.
The Atoner: After the game, Leon leaves his family behind to go try and find a way to redeem himself for all the evil acts he did in the Empire's service as a dark knight.
Black Eyes: Has them, just like Maria, but his probably serve as an indicator of his wavery moral compass as well as familial relation.
Cain and Abel: The Cain of this relationship, at least at first... though interestingly, in this case, while Firion and Guy would also qualify as Abels, Maria is the best Abel candidate.
Dragon Ascendant: Subverted. After the Emperor is killed in the Cyclone, Leon crowns himself Emperor, and it falls to the party to confront him and take him out, so clearly, he's the real villain, right? And this was all an elaborate scheme to grab the throne? Maybe so, but sadly, the Emperor's not put paid for yet, and trumps Leon quite soundly.
Dual Wielding: Yes, everyone can dual wield anything in this game, but Leon gets special mention because he dual-wields a sword and a axe upon joining the party.
Dub Name Change: His Japanese name is レオンハルト, Reonharuto, but he has always been called Leon in English releases due to character limits.
Easily Forgiven: Firion and Maria are willing to welcome him back, no conditions and no questions asked. Unfortunately, he can't forgive himself nearly as easily.
Face Heel Turn: In the beginning of the game, joining up with the Empire offscreen after the siege of Fynn.
Heel Face Turn: Near the end of the game, after the Emperor shows that he will not go down nearly as easily as they'd hoped.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Played straight. Leon, the mysterious Dark Knight, wears one during his stint as a Heel, but ditches it upon joining the party.
Heroes Prefer Swords: While his Infinity+1 Sword is, in fact, a spear, the other weapon he dual-wields when joining the party is a sword, and he is usually depicted as wielding one in artwork and FMVs.
Spell My Name with an S: Leon's not his original name (see Dub Name Change above), but lack of an "official" transliteration has led to people calling him Leonhart, Leonhardt, Lionheart, etc.
The Unfought: A boss fight with him is foreshadowed, but never happens, being interrupted by the Emperor's resurrection and Leon deciding it'd be a good idea to join up with the people against the Emperor now.
Other Playable Characters
Josef
A former soldier of the Palamecian Empire (according to the manual). He lives in the icy mountain town of Salamand, and aids the party after they save the men of his town from being forced into slavery. Sadly, though, he dies after heroically saving the rest of the party from a Death Trap.
A prince of the fallen kingdom of Kashuan. Gordon is anxious and has no self-confidence at first, constantly comparing himself to his deceased brother and coming up short. Later, though, he finds strength within himself and grows into a respected leader of the Wild Rose Rebellion.
Hair of Gold: Indicates how he is noble and true despite his self-doubt.
Joke Character/Magikarp Power: His initial stats are utterly pathetic... But if you stick with him, you can have a quite good character.
Non-Action Guy: Yes, he is a party member for some time, but he fits the personality type, and does better in a leadership position than actually doing the fighting.
A pirate captain. She's hired by the party to transport them to an island nation, but she betrays them—however, after the party kicks her and her crew's ass, they wisely change sides and join with the Wild Rose Rebellion.
Action Girl: Comes with the whole "pirate captain" territory; also she's initially geared as a fighter when she joins your party.
White Wizard of Mysidia, and apparent advisor to the Fynn royal court. He is the one who saves Firion and his party, and later fights alongside them in their quest to stop the Empire. He is tragically killed by the magic necessary to undo the seal on Ultima. He will be appearing as a playable sub-character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.
Ambiguously Brown: Fits in with his design being clearly Arabic-influenced.
Badass Long Robe: Real men wear robes with skirts and kick ass while doing so.
Because Destiny Says So: He uses up all his life energy to break the seal on Ultima, but is surprisingly nonchalant about his own death, saying that it's his destiny.
Bishounen: Probably, and even if he's not, in the hands of his fans, he is made into one.
Crutch Character: When he joins your party, he is amazingly powerful—true, a powerful healer more than a fighter, but still enough to ensure your survival.
Face Death with Dignity: He believes it is the fate of all who live to someday die, and when his own death comes, he accepts it.
White Mage: He is, as of yet, the only male healer in the franchise. The rest have been female.
Ricard/Richard
The last dragoon of Deist. Ricard (technically Richard, but no English version of the game has yet called him that) finds the party when they are swallowed by Leviathan, and together they break free and he joins their quest to stop the Empire. Dies nobly while covering the party's escape from the newly revived and powered-up Emperor.
Spell My Name with an S: His name in Japanese, リチャード, Richaado, is quite clearly meant to be Richard, but character limits mean that in English, he's usually Ricard.
Heroic Sacrifice: Killed by the Emperor when he raises Pandaemonium, he dies so that the rest of the party can flee.
Last of His Kind: Sort of, he's the only surviving dragoon warrior of Deist, and apparently one of few people left alive in the place.
Nice Hat: His helmet is shaped like a dragon's head, and is all kinds of awesome.
No Last Name Given: Averted, he's one of the few characters in this game to have a last name—Highwind, which would become a recurring surname in the series.
The Promise: Promises to return to Elina (his best friend's widow) and her son Kain when the war ends so that they can be a family. Unfortunately, he doesn't manage to keep it.
A prince of Kashuan, and Gordon's older brother. He dies of injuries sustained during the failed defense of Fynn, very early in the game... but in the Bonus Level of Heaven, he is playable, and is key to investigating the mystery behind why the afterlife is suddenly such a hostile place.
Continuity Nod: Asking Gordon about mythril will have him note that Scott had a prized sword made of the material. Guess what Scott's default weapon in Soul of Rebirth is.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In his dying moments, forgoes a final chance to tell his beloved his feelings so that she can move on.
Jack-of-All-Stats: Is this initially, having both black and white magic as well as skill with a sword.
Magikarp Power: Because he was never playable (and thus level-up-able) in the main story, his initial stats are... depressing. But once you start raising him, he turns into a powerhouse.
Crutch Character: On the other hand, having a character with set stats is very useful if you neglected the three characters that can be improved beforehand.
Posthumous Character: Has a handful of lines prior to his own death... then becomes a major character afterwards.
Princess of Fynn and leader of the Wild Rose Rebellion. Hilda is the brains behind the operation, and sends the party on most of their missions, eventually retaking her throne in Fynn. Although her father the king dies halfway through the game, she is curiously never upgraded to "Queen."
Big Good: The leader of the good rebels, by far the most important (as in irreplaceable) character on the side of good in the game.
Distressed Damsel: Minimally invoked: she's kidnapped only once, and there are indicators that the Emperor had no idea she was even on the airship when he captured it. Pretty good for The Eighties.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: The strategist and brains behind the Wild Rose Rebellion. Gets bonus points for going and camping with her troops before the assault to retake Fynn, instead of staying in Altair where it was safe.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He is given a position in the Emperor's army in return, but is quickly deemed worthless and isn't even mentioned after his death.
The villain of the story. The Emperor of Palamecia is so dedicated to taking over the world, he even sold his soul to gain control of the Legions Of Hell to aid in the effort. He's also one of the least sympathetic and most evil Final Fantasy villains to date. How evil? When he dies, as the remakes reveal, part of his soul is (somehow) good enough to get into heaven... and then proceeds to conquer thattoo. In the Novelization, apparently the Emperor was able to actually kill Satan despite his powers coming directly from a deal with him. He has appeared in the Dissidia: Final Fantasy series alongside Firion and is set to return as a boss character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.
Badass Boast:"You have braved the bowels of Hell to reach me. But the hand of man, which deals in false justice and forsaken love, can never hope to defeat the lord master of Hell!"
Deal with the Devil: The novelization heavily implies that his powers came from a pact with Satan. Also subverted in that unlike most characters in this trope, Satan pretty much didn't expect how much of a monster Mateus would become.
Also inverted in the interquel "Dawn of Souls", where the Emperor's light half (who's also just as bad) attempts to beg those of the party who ended up dead in the main game to forgive him for the actions that his dark half committed, and in exchange will give them eternal life. Of course, they don't buy it.
Everyone Calls Him The Emperor: He has a first name and a surname — Mateus Palamecia — but it is only ever mentioned in the novelization, otherwise in all his other appearances he's simply "The Emperor."
Follow the Leader: Pun aside, some of his actions were later repeated by later Final Fantasy villains. For starters, his action of poisoning the water supply of the Dragoon fortress was later redone with Kefka, the latter of whom managed to take it to an even new low by poisoning a civilian kingdom (Doma), and most of Mateus' personality and traits (even his coming back from the dead) were reused with Seymour Guado. In addition his using a flying fortress capable of generating a cyclone and then being killed in it (not to mention having the title Emperor) is later repeated with Vayne in Final Fantasy XII and his use of the Sky Fortress Bahamut in the final battle before being killed, although unlike Mateus, Vayne doesn't come back from the dead.
Freudian Excuse: Surprisingly enough, the official (Japanese-only) novelization attempted to give him one. Apparently, his unsatiable greed is caused by an even worse demon sealed in a stone taking him over to wreak vengeance against humanity. It's also hinted that every single Emperor before Mateus were this demon's human proxies. He also exiled his mother under the influence of this demon, and she was trying to get him back to the good side. In a way, he seems very tragic in that respect. Though its unclear if the novel is part of the game continuity as the game series (although it should be noted that the novel was written by the same guy who wrote the story of the first three games).
God Emperor: By the end of the game, he pretty much is one.
Let's You and Him Fight: Why do you think he's surrounded by all those mooks? To let him do the fighting? I don't think so.
Light is Not Good: His Light half is every bit as evil as his Dark half. Although he tries to hide it at first.
Like a Badass out of Hell: A Type 4 — he took it over and came back to Earth to finish what he started.
According to the Japanese-exclusive novelization, Mateus made a pact with Satan to summon demonic minions to help him conquer the world, and when Mateus dies and Satan tries to collect his soul, he defeats him to become the new ruler of Hell. Really drives home the Badass part of this trope.
Nietzsche Wannabe: Granted, it was not enough to actually make him destroy the world, but he does mention in both his Dark Emperor form and Light Emperor form his belief that Humanity is good only at executing flawed justice, forsaken love, and having inherently violent tendencies.
Purple Eyes: A special and magical character has special and magical eyes.
