Hated characters from the Final Fantasy franchise who've subsequently been Rescued from the Scrappy Heap. This includes characters who were hated due to play balance (High-Tier Scrappy or Low-Tier Letdown) as well as those who were unintentionally hated for narrative reasons (The Scrappy and its related tropes).
A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. This is measured from the point when the character was introduced or became hated.
- Examples that were a High-Tier Scrappy or Low-Tier Letdown due to gameplay issues shouldn't be added for 1 month.
- All other examples (e.g. characters who were The Scrappy or related tropes such as Ethnic Scrappy or Damsel Scrappy) shouldn't be added for 9 months.
- Edward, the original Spoony Bard, had horrible skills, low stats overall, and was seen as annoying for being a Dirty Coward. The GBA remake increased the chances of Edward's weapons inflicting status effects, making him a legitimate threat; the DS remake included a pleasing design, genuinely useful abilities with his Bardsongs, and a good voice actor, all of which helped his perception.
- Then there is The After Years, where Edward was polished up and got some steel cajones. Just look at the Awesome page to see the details of his rescued and improved state.
- Edward is the weakest character at low levels (which in the original game, was the only time you could play as him). Once properly leveled (which is really only exploitable in IV Advance), he's the strongest AND the fastest.
- Golbez was seen as a Darth Vader Expy and thoroughly less interesting than Kain and the Four Fiends. The reveal that Golbez was being mind controlled by Giant Space Flea from Nowhere Zemus had the effect of turning Golbez into a non-entity with no agency, and The Reveal that he's Cecil's brother is hardly followed up on. The DS remake re-added many of the scenes that had to previously be cut for space — in particular, a crucial early scene concerning his backstory is included where Zemus takes control of Golbez's mind. In Dissidia, he has a relationship with Cecil based on having to reconcile being brothers on opposing sides. Golbez more properly comes off as one of the more nuanced and developed characters in the whole game (especially for the villains) as an Anti-Villain and Good All Along. The ending of Cecil's story saw Golbez as rejecting a chance at turning good after feeling like he's done too much in darkness to be allowed in the light, an Anti-Villain characterization that was received very well by the fandom and made Golbez much more popular.
- Kefka was considered a boring, underwhelming villain in the Japanese version of the game, where he comes across like a fool with no idea what he's doing, a Straw Nihilist with no goal except destruction for its own sake, and a Conflict Killer who cuts short the more interesting struggle against Emperor Gestahl. But in the West, Kefka's dialogue was rewritten extensively to make him into a monstrous, nasty sadist with a genuinely charming sense of humour, who's still regarded as one of the best villains ever to appear in the medium of video games, let alone the Final Fantasy series. This was so much an improvement that his American characterization was ported back across the Pacific for Dissidia Final Fantasy and subsequent remakes of Final Fantasy VI.
- Yuffie was somewhat of a Base-Breaking Character originally, but after her appearances in Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children, which included a new look and the less selfish personality she gained at the end of FFVII built up upon, Yuffie became more likable among the general fandom.
- Cait Sith was despised by most players (and very few people play him if presented with an alternative). But he was much more positively received as the one bright spot in the otherwise very grim Dirge of Cerberus.
- Cloud started out as ridiculously popular and being considered one of the greatest game protagonists ever, before losing a lot of his rep due to "emo" characterization across his various cameos, an over-serious tone to media he was in, mild Creator's Pet status, and Hype Backlash. Sephiroth's Motive Decay also hurt the character, as it meant his only real reason to be fighting his rival endlessly was shallow pandering that even fans of the relationship found boring. But even the fans who'd grown to loathe him were overjoyed to see him in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U — partly because it cut out everything about his later appearances that fans found irritating, keeping his nice-looking Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children design as an alternate costume while basing his aesthetic and powers strictly on his original appearance, and partly because the increasing years had turned Hype Backlash into Nostalgia Goggles. Similarly, Cloud's appearances in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) emphasize either traits of his that were forgotten over the years or the Character Development he picked up in the original game (and after Advent Children, to a degree), such as describing Cloud as an arrogant showboater or, in direct contrast to numerous post-FFVII instances of being a Perpetual Frowner, showing him relaxed and relatively cheerful in battle. His Mobius Final Fantasy storyline continues these character trends and even contains some Leaning on the Fourth Wall subtext about this, having him disown both his previous 'moping' and the idea of emptily rehashing his past. Final Fantasy VII Remake completed this trend by reverting Cloud back to a Played for Drama version of his 1997 characterisation, keeping the added drama and the beautiful appearance from the sequels but combining it with the insecurity and humour that made him likeable - many fans who had stopped bothering with VII sequels and spinoffs found themselves coming back on board.
- Squall was often referred to as nothing but emo and whiny (and had the misfortune of headlining the game that followed the massively-popular VII), but thanks to his role as a leader who actually helps the protagonists and good voice acting in Kingdom Hearts, Squall has become a deeper character. Compared to the below-mentioned Dissidia examples, it's hard to say whether the series improved Squall there, too, since the first game went with his originally anti-social personality and the voice sometimes didn't match his lines. (The second, however, had Squall play off of his old man Laguna in one of the new cutscenes, where his voice actors made an effort to sound younger and better match Squall's age in FFVII.)
- Ultimecia. Early on regarded as a bland Giant Space Flea from Nowhere, managed to be rescued from the Scrappy Heap by Fridge Brilliance as people came to better understand the game's Mind Screw story. Dissidia in particular gave her a more direct presence compared to the background role in her original game, making her motives more clear.
- Vaan is one of the more disliked Final Fantasy protagonists outside of Japan. His attitude is unlikable, he's got almost no stake in the plot of the game outside of being Ashe's Morality Pet, and he's Captain Basch fon Ronsenberg of Dalmasca. (Don't listen to Ondore's lies!) His rescue was two-fold. First, there was the release of Final Fantasy XIII, which became divisive and retroactively redeemed Final Fantasy XII from being a rather bland game you can leave on overnight to play itself to now being recognized for a Game of Thrones-esque plot and its very well-done late game. Second, there was his inclusion in Dissidia 012, where he took a more active role in the 12th Cycle and even rescued Terra from Kefka's clutches. And this time, there was no "I'm Captain Basch!" mini-game involved.
- Hope was hated by fans because of his constant wangst over the death of his mother. However, he began to mature over the course of the story, stopped panicking over everything and buried the hatchet with Snow, after confronting him in Chapter 7.
- Vanille's Genki Girl personality and Australian accent made her difficult to like at first, but as it was revealed more and more that she's a Stepford Smiler and her major breakdown in Chapter 8, most people warmed up to her. Her awesome scene of standing up to the Final Boss helped, too.
- Bartz, while not a bad character overall, was seen as dull, even by the standards of preceding Final Fantasy protagonists. His adversary being, well, a tree... didn't help. In Dissidia, Bartz was given a balanced appearance between his forgettable sprite and Amano design, he became a much more likeable character, and his fighting-style involves dual wielding two of the most badass weapons in the series. And Jason Spisak does an amazing job at voicing him, along with imitating other character's voices, when using their weapons.
- Exdeath himself was originally rather bland, a forgettable Tin Tyrant Evil Overlord bent on taking the power of the Void, but was ultimately turned into the Large Ham Barrier Warrior and had his desire to take the Void's power for himself morphed into an outright obsession with the Void itself.
- Like Cloud, Sephiroth — the villain from Final Fantasy VII — started out as ridiculously popular. But Villain Decay, Motive Decay, and cynical fanservice hit Sephiroth hard, and fans began groaning every time he showed up to spout the same six lines about despair so Cloud could hand Sephiroth a beatdown. While the vanilla Dissidia fits with these trends, his quest plotline in Dissidia 012 gives Sephiroth a Character Rerailment. A lot of fans regard his suicide in this game as one of his best character moments in any of his appearances, since his reasons for doing it have a lot to do with his own personal character and nothing to do with being a plot point accessory for Cloud.
- Tidus was a Scrappy for a lot of people in his own game, even taking his Character Development into account. Many were looking forward to beating the crap out of him in a fighting game. But Tidus' voice acting (in Japanese and English) had improved a lot since the original game, which made him a more appealing character. He also took the bullet in the second Dissidia game for none other than Yuna while siding with the enemy at the time, which made the hatred for Tidus cool off a bit.
- Lightning was, and continues to be, disliked by some people, owing to the very divisive nature of the Lightning Saga. In Dissidia 012, her personality is based more on how she was in the second half of XIII: she doesn't tend to punch people and, while still depicted more as a loner, is much more open to depending on others when necessary and ready to trust in teamwork. Unfortunately, her role in the 12th Cycle and treatment as the main hero of the story, thus supplanting the Warrior of Light, only furthered longstanding accusations about Lightning's status as a Creator's Pet.
- Alphinaud is the grandson of the late Louisox and, like his grandfather, aims to bring peace to Eorzea. Throughout the A Realm Reborn story, he's constantly tagging along with the player character and his Wide-Eyed Idealist personality became grating to many fans. He also had displayed some Holier Than Thou attitude towards others (especially the city-state leaders) when people didn't want to act upon his ideas. His all too trusting attitude and haughty personality blows up in his face when the very same Crystal Braves faction he formed turn against him thanks to one of the Syndicate members paying them off. Alphinaud then breaks down and blames himself for the tragic events that conspired afterwards. He does grow from it, and his character focus in Heavensward is about becoming a lot more humble and capable, and knowing when to throw his weight around as opposed to doing it all the time. Players responded very positively to this change, and the writing staff kept this direction for him. By Endwalker, Alphinaud has found his niche as a diplomat of the Scions, and about the only times he's referred to as a hated character are when fans are discussing how he used to be before character development kicked in.
- The Scions of the Seventh Dawn as a whole. Many people disliked them for the fact that they are constantly sending the player on Fetch Quests, needing to be rescued (Minfillia in particular), as well as needing to have events constantly contrived to put them into "Time out" so that the hero can accomplish almost everything on their own. Players started to warm up once the Scions started to show their actual personalities and Character Development - and eventually becoming the player character's canonical party members in Shadowbringers. On occasion? They're even playable in solo duties.
- The Company of Heroes were despised by many in A Realm Reborn for being the people you needed to talk to in order to get intel on a Primal named Titan. And they want you to... collect stuff for them so they can throw a banquet. At the end of a questline that went on way too long for many players, the only advice against Titan they could give was "Do your best". Endwalker's Physical DPS role quest involves getting the Company of Heroes back together to help fight an Eldritch Abomination - and lets the player call them out on their skewed priorities. Which many players took. But they are able to back up their status as being a company worthy of the name of "company of Heroes" by helping the player out and demonstrating the proper teamwork needed to overcome the obstacle facing Limsa Lominsa.
- Meliadoul in the "War of the Lions" remake. In the original, she was a Low-Tier Letdown. Sure her Divine Knight skills were useful against human enemies (The bulk of who you face), the problem was you get her after Cid who can do everything she can and more. Sure, she could equip some female-only equipment (Ribbon or Chantage) and was the best candidate to use the upgraded Javelin spear, but she could only attack with it while Cid, Beowulf, and even Agrias could hit enemies from further away. "War of the Lions" expands her usefulness greatly by letting her abilities hit non-human enemies. Even though the game keeps her join time and redundant skillset, the question of whether to even bother using Meliadoul in "War of the Lions" when you got Cid already is "Why not both?"
