Heartwarming / Final Fantasy XVI

Warning: Spoilers Off applies to this page. Proceed at your own risk.

It's a Final Fantasy game, and though this game in particular is Darker and Edgier, it doesn't stop Square Enix from reminding us that even in the darkest of times, there are still many people willing to fight for others and that regardless of how flawed and dark a world is, there is still always hope that it can be better.

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Main Story

A Flame Summoned

• While the opening is a Downer Beginning, it's only so because there's a few moments of genuine tenderness and camraderie that occur within it.
  • When Clive collapses after the tutorial duel, Joshua heals him and is admonished by him for “wasting” the gift of the Phoenix’s flames. This is very much ‘’not’’ a case of sibling favoritism. Joshua’s Shields look after him, and he’s determined to return the favor.
  • After Anabella coldly ignores Clive in public while being her overbearing self to Joshua, two soldiers standing near them visibly express their disapproval for how she treated Clive; he may not be Dominant to them, but he has more than earned their respect.
  • Torgal is absolutely precious, acting a Precious Puppy while constantly jumping up in happiness to see Clive and Jill. Small wonder that he's Clive's most loyal companion, even after the Time Skip.
  • Elwin, Clive and Joshua's father, is a genuinely good father to his boys. Not only does he resent his wife Anabella for making Clive The Unfavorite, but he even encourages Clive to "shut [his] mother up" by showing how capable he really is in combat.
  • The relationship between Clive and Joshua is pure heartwarming. The two brothers care deeply for each other, as shown when Joshua cheers on Clive during his training, and Clive in turn vows to always be Joshua's shield.
• Clive is revealed to be Nice to the Waiter when he treats the Branded with compassion and respect, despite being under no obligation to do so. When a Branded servant drops an apple in front of him, Clive simply picks it up, puts it back where it fell, and thanks the Branded men for their hard work. Just before walking away, the Branded man gives Clive a smile and a nod, showing that even this small act of kindness is greatly appreciated.

The Hunter and the Hunted

• While trying to rescue Gav, the light finally returns to Clive's eyes when Gav's gasp for help makes him recall Joshua's cry for help, spurring him to grab Gav's hand before the latter falls. He's not going to fail again—not as long as he's still breathing.

A Bearer's Lot

• Martha revealing she uses the proceeds from her inn to buy any discarded Bearers to give them somewhere safe to spend their last days.
• Cid trying to convince Clive to not be a 'slave' to his fate like someone he once knew who is implied to be Benedikta. Despite his snarking, Cid genuinely shows he cares about Clive even asking Jill to look after him.

Holding On

• The sheer joy in Clive's voice and face when he and Jill see Lady Hanna Murdoch the widow of Lord Rodney who died at Phoenix Gate.

Back in the Day

• Clive willingly playing along with the old senile Bearer, who is moved to tears thinking he has finally been reunited with his beloved master, unaware that he is talking to Clive and not Lord Elwin.

Fire in the Sky

• Despite Anabella putting him through one hell of a life after the death of his father which she orchestrated, Clive's still a fundamentally good enough person that he doesn't want to see a person he hates suffer horribly for no reason. The same applies to Joshua. Neither one of the brothers even give her a "Reason You Suck" Speech.

Streets of Madness

• When Clive, Joshua, and Torgal encounter even more Akashic after already facing a grueling gauntlet, their allies arrive in true Big Damn Heroes fashion. Mid smashes the Enterprise into a wall, allowing Jill, Dion, and Gav to jump into the fray. After the cut scene fight, Clive and Jill hug tightly, while Joshua hugs Dion, who pats him warmly in return.

Of Gods and Men

• During the section of the final battle where Ultima and Clive are both using the Eikonic abilities against each other, players can hear various encouragements from what could be Clive's mental versions of friends and family cheering him on, alive and deceased.
• After Clive defeats Ultima, a flashback scene shows when Clive officially becomes Joshua's Shield. They hold hands before and after, and Clive gives a cheerful wink during the ceremony. The next scene is a 5-year-old Clive meeting a newborn baby Joshua, and one can feel the adoration Clive has towards his little brother.

Unsorted

• Byron is just as proud of his nephews as his brother is, and is supportive of Clive, willing to fight to try to convince one of the Dhalmekian ministers - Eugen Havel - to get help from the Dhalmekian forces when facing the Akashic forces despite his age.
• Despite Cid and Clive constantly bickering Like an Old Married Couple it is also clear the two men respect and care about each other. Especially as their growing friendship helps Clive slowly come out of his shell.
• After learning that Clive is the Dominant of the Eikon that killed Joshua, Cid doesn't react with hostility or suddenly treat him worse because of it. The worst he does is just to knock the berserk Ifrit out with lightning, then have Clive restrained in the Hideaway lockup, to keep him from doing something rash. After that, Cid unshackles Clive, returns his gear, and encourages him to find answers by following the mysterious man's trail. After what happened, Clive really needed a Reasonable Authority Figure like Cid, and Cid stepped up to the plate.
• As gruff as Clive is to most people after the first time-skip, he softens around Jill and she brings out his more compassionate side. After the second time skip Clive has now become the new "Cid" and leads the new Hideaway softening up even more to where it's clear the whole Hideaway trusts him and he has found his new family.
  • It's a little subtle, but most of the people in the first Hideaway are referred to in their dialogue indicators by description. Such as "Besotted Bearer" or "Cheerful Maid", things like that. In the 2nd Hideaway, everyone has a name, showing that Clive personally knows everyone he's leading.
• Dion shares a kiss with his boyfriend, Terence, while the two of them confide in each other in Dion's tent. It comes right after Dion talks about Bahamut being a Hope Bringer, culminating in the two sharing a kiss.
  Dion: Forgive me, Terence. Would that you were my master, but alas...
  Terence: I will always be your loyal servant.
• The reveal that Margrace is Joshua - namely, his hood falling down while he's rushing in to save Clive from Ultima's flame attack. Keep in mind that Joshua knows Ifrit is Clive and that were it not for Phoenix, he would have been dead by Clive's hand - and Joshua refuses to hold it against him, since Joshua knows his brother, and knows he would have never hurt Joshua of his own free will. Clive didn't kill him after all, and at the end of the game he gets to fulfill his duty as First Shield by saving the Dominant of Fire’s life.
  • Torgal remembering and recognizing Joshua, and sitting for pets.
• Any of the reunions between characters who thought their loved ones were dead after the Time Skip certainly qualify:
  • Clive reuniting with his beloved uncle Byron results in the latter breaking down in tears. Similarly, Byron reunites with Joshua later on and he is just as overjoyed. This man lost his brother and both nephews in the same night, likely believing himself to be the last Rosfield, but it turned out both of his nephews survived and becomes one of their staunchest allies from then on.
  • Once Jill wakes up after recovering from her wounds, she and Clive reunite, and the sheer joy and disbelief in their voices is palpable.
• After Torgal transforms into an ice-wielding canine to save Jill, Gav takes the first chance he gets to consult with Tomes about it, because he's concerned that Torgal might have a Bearer's or Dominant's power, and thus could be in the same danger of the crystal's curse.
• The fact that there is an achievement for petting Torgal a certain number of times will warm the heart of dog-lovers everywhere.

Side Quests

After first Time Skip

• The sidequest "Food for Thought" has Clive serving hot food to people in the hideaway. He realizes all the people he served the food to are Bearers like himself who rarely, if ever, get a decent hot meal, and as ordinary people at that.
  • The follow-up sidequest, which is set after Clive had a Heroic BSoD over turning into Ifrit, has Clive deliver more food, this time to the residents who serve important roles in the Hideaway, such as the chocobo keepers, the healers, and the lockup guard. In the case of the last, the conversation shows that there's Nothing Personal over Clive having to be locked up: Clive shows no ill will for the guard for doing his job when he hands over the food; and the guard accepts it, noting that his job isn't exactly fun but it helps the people of the hideaway sleep easier at night, and just reminds Clive with a smile to not cause trouble.

After second Time Skip

• Ambrosia not only managed to survive the events of Phoenix Gate, but raised a flock of her own, who all go out of their way to attack bandits waylaying travelers and townsfolk to the point of becoming local folk heroes as "Whiteheart and her flock". She is not only clearly ecstatic to be reunited with Clive, but recognizes and acknowledges Torgal as well. The merchant who gives the sidequest guesses that Clive had to had been a noble of some sort, given the rareness of white chocobos and her delighted reaction to Clive, but kindly doesn't push the matter, only equipping Ambrosia with a new tack and an eye patch out of gratitude. He also gives new tacks for the flock; so when Clive calls for Ambrosia, his traveling companions will also gain temporary moubts.
  • Jill learns of this and pens a letter for Clive, glad to know that he and Ambrosia have reunited, and that Ambrosia has carried her master's desire to protect others over the past eighteen years.
  • Given the cavalcade of heartbreaking events in the story at this point, Creative Business Unit III gave players a ray of hope with this sidequest, reminding them that there is still good to be found in Valisthea. In completing this quest, Clive saves a local Rosarian hero, defeats a band of bandits prowling around Martha's Rest, and is reunited with a long-lost friend.
• A pair of sidequests involves Torgal after the second timeskip. Charon is worried about his health, as he wasn't eating as much of the bones she'd give him, which turns out that he was mostly lacking additional nutrients due to being a frostwolf with awoken abilities. A following sidequest has him and Clive visit the old rookery that Clive used to go to as a teen to get a breather for himself. There, Clive finds a number of items that Torgal had retrieved from Phoenix Gate, including Clive's battered training sword, to which a tearful Clive gratefully thanks Torgal for not having forgotten him and not giving up over the years.
• During one of the side-quests, Clive helps Otto settle some debts with the creditors and learns a bit of his backstory. After he returns to the Hideaway and talks with him, Otto divulges that he was lost and desperate after his son was killed for being a Bearer and that Cid gave him a reason to continue living. While looking through ledgers, Clive finds a note from Cid addressed to Otto, where he claims the Hideaway wouldn't be able to exist without him. After reading the note, the surly steward says that both Cid and Clive are wrong: it's everyone involved in the Hideaway that keeps this haven running, no matter how small their contribution, and gives Clive Cid's prized goblet while keeping the note for himself.
  Cid's note: "Love you, you grumpy old sod."
• Once Charon's Dark and Troubled Past comes to light, she lets her surly demeanor fall a bit and lets Clive know how much he and the rest of the Hideaway, especially Goetz, mean to her.
  • Apparently, Charon came across Goetz being treated horribly by his Abusive Parents. Appalled, Charon effectively bought Goetz off of them, losing a great deal of gil in the bargain, but not regretting it one bit since she saw Goetz as being worth more than the money she lost.
• "Where There's A Will": After Clive and Joshua finally reunite, the brothers go learn of Elwin's last will and retrieve their inheritance (an equip-able wristband), and Cyril of the Undying later recommends that they go pay their respects to the deceased Elwin. The only thing that the Undying were able to find was their father's helmet, placed at a memorial for past Rosarian dukes and duchesses. Just as the brothers are leaving after paying their respects, Elwin - or his spirit - briefly appears behind Clive, prompting him to immediately turn around and wonder if he's just imagining things. Joshua later places Elwin's helmet at the memorial display in Clive's room.
• "Priceless": After completing the sidequest "Where There's A Will," Joshua is worried about Jill and wants to find snow daisies to cheer her up. After clearing out the monsters occupying a field of snow daisies, Joshua leaves it to Clive to take Jill back to the Royal Meadows. Both of them reminisce of how Clive had tried to take Jill to see snow daisies at Mann's Hill when they were kids, but he got sick in an unexpected thunderstorm. The two even share a kiss while discussing what might they do after. Jill later leaves behind a snow daisy garland in his room.
  Jill: You are my treasure.
• "Silver Linings": Gav wants to create a charm in preparation for Edda's baby, asking Clive to help find a silver chocobo feather. Gav turns into a sputtering mess when presenting the good luck charm to Edda, which she greatly appreciates. While celebrating with Clive at the bar, Gav eventually reveals that when he was 10 years old, his mother was pregnant again, which he was initially excited about on wanting to prove he could be a big brother. Unfortunately, Imperials razed his village just as his mother went into labor, and he lost his family alongside his new baby sister, leaving him the only survivor by hiding in the cellar. Clive cheers him up by noting about his resourcefulness as the Hideaway's best scout, as well his accomplishments in Rosalith on saving Clive and Jill. Gav leaves a flask of winter mead at the memorial display.
  Clive: Because you're our brother, Gav. My brother.
  (both men take a drink)
  Gav: Your brother...
  Clive: Which means...that when the time comes—
  Gav: I get your room. And your sword.
  (they chuckle and toast their tankards)

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