History RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap / FinalFantasy

* 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 WideEyedIdealist personality became grating to many fans. He also had displayed some HolierThanThou 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 [[spoiler: 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 [[ItsAllMyFault 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, 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.

* 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 WideEyedIdealist personality became grating to many fans. He also had displayed some HolierThanThou 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 [[spoiler: 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 [[ItsAllMyFault 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, capable, and 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 is when fans are discussing how he used to be before character development kicked in.

* 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 GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Zemus had the effect of turning Golbez into a non-entity with no agency, and TheReveal 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 AntiVillain and GoodAllAlong. The ending of Cecil's story saw Golbez as [[NoPlaceForMeThere rejecting a chance at]] [[RedemptionRejection turning good after]] [[IveComeTooFar 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.

* Meliadoul in the "War of the Lions" remake. In the original, she was a TierInducedScrappy. 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 [[AttackAttackAttack 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''?"

* Like Cloud above, Sephiroth started out as ridiculously popular, but VillainDecay, ''terrible'' MotiveDecay and [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians cynical fanservice]] hit him hard, and fans begun groaning every time he showed up to spout the same six lines about despair so Cloud could hand his ass back to him. While the vanilla ''Dissidia'' fits perfectly with these trends, his quest plotline in the prequel ''Dissidia 012'' gives Sephiroth a CharacterRerailment. 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 [[SatelliteCharacter being a plot point accessory for Cloud]].
* Tidus was a major Scrappy for a lot of people in his [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX own game]] (even taking his CharacterDevelopment into account), and many were looking forward to beating the crap out of him in this game. But Tidus' voice acting (in [[Creator/MasakazuMorita Japanese]] and [[Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor English]]) [[VocalEvolution had improved a lot since the original game]], which made him a more appealing character. He also [[TakingTheBullet took the bullet]] in the second ''Dissidia'' game for none other than Yuna while [[HeelFaceTurn siding with the enemy at the time]].

* 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 WideEyedIdealist personality became grating to many fans. He also had displayed some HolierThanThou 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 [[spoiler: 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 [[ItsAllMyFault blames himself for the tragic events]] that conspired afterwards. He does grow from it and by ''Heavensward'' on, Alphinaud is a lot more humble, capable, and pulls his weight when it counts.
** As the series goes on, the hatred got weaker, and by Shadowbringers, it has practically died down. And at present is considered one of the better characters there is. It goes without saying, that every time someone talks about Alphinaud, they always make sure to bring up what an insufferable brat he was at the beginning as if to highlight how much better he has become.

* 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 [[ArcFatigue 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 EldritchABomination - and [[TakeThatUs lets the player call them out on their skewed priorities]] (Which [[CatharsisFactor 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.

* Genesis made his first appearance in a laughably terrible live-action cutscene in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', was a shallow Sephiroth {{Expy}}, and was promoted as an InkSuitActor for Creator/{{Gackt}}. While his next appearance in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' [[BaseBreakingCharacter remained contentious]] due to his constant recitation of awful poetry and his inclusion in [[MultipleChoicePast that game's version of the Nibelheim story]], he's got fans even amongst people who hate most of the Compilation due to the writers using him to allegorically discuss the good and bad of ''Final Fantasy VII'''s fandom, with his plot being based around overidentifying with a bad fantasy story and trying to find the truth behind its mysterious open ending. Some have also noted an element of StealthParody or even WriterRevolt about his portrayal, which is so over-the-top and full of uncool {{Bathos}} that it seems that the writers were mocking his forced inclusion.

* The Scions of the Seventh Dawn as a whole. Many people disliked them for the fact that they are constantly sending the player on [[FetchQuest]]s, 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 CharacterDevelopment - and eventually becoming the player character's canonical ''party members'' in ''Shadowbringers''. On occasion? They're even playable in solo duties.

* In general, most of the characters were pretty unliked in the beginning of the game, but improved as the story proceeded.
** 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, [[TookALevelInBadass stopped panicking over everything]] and [[spoiler: buried the hatchet with Snow, after confronting him]] in Chapter 7.
** Vanille's GenkiGirl personality and Australian accent made her difficult to like at first, but as it was revealed more and more that she's a StepfordSmiler and her major breakdown in Chapter 8, most people warmed up to her. Her awesome scene of standing up to the FinalBoss helped, too.

* Meliadoul in the "War of the Lions" remake. In the original, she was a TierInducedScrappy. 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 [[AttackAttackAttack attack]] with it while Cid, Beowulf, and even Agrias could hit enemies from further away. "War of the Lions" keeps her join time and redundant skillset, but the question of whether to even bother ''using'' Meliadoul in "War of the Lions" when you got Cid already is "Why not ''both''?"

* Golbez was seen as a DarthVaderClone and thoroughly less interesting than Kain and the Four Fiends. The reveal that Golbez was being mind controlled by GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Zemus had the effect of turning Golbez into a non-entity with no agency, and TheReveal 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 AntiVillain and GoodAllAlong. The ending of Cecil's story saw Golbez as [[NoPlaceForMeThere rejecting a chance at]] [[RedemptionRejection turning good after]] [[IveComeTooFar 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.

** As the series goes on, the hatred got weaker, and by Shadowbringers, it has practically died down. And at present is considered one of the better characters there is. It goes without saying, that every time someone talks about Alphinaud, they always make sure to bring up what an insufferable brat he was at the beginning as if to highlight how much better he has become.

* Edward, [[TropeNamers the original]] [[QuirkyBard Spoony Bard]], had [[UselessUsefulSpell horrible skills]], no decent parameters and was overall a very whiny character. But he was improved so much in each remake! The GBA remake increased the chances of status effects, making his skills actually be a legitimate threat; the DS remake included a pleasing design, genuinely useful abilities and [[Creator/RyoHorikawa a good]] [[Creator/SamRiegel voice actor]].

* Golbez was not loathed, but ''was'' seen as a generic Darth Vader ripoff and viewed as thoroughly less interesting than Kain and even the Four Fiends he commanded. The reveal that he was just being mind controlled by the GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere had the effect of turning him into a non-entity with no agency, and TheReveal that he's Cecil's brother is followed up by very little and is wasted (in part due to the technical limitations of the time making it impossible to include as much dialogue as they wanted). The DS remake re-added many of those scenes (in particular, a crucial early scene concerning his backstory is included). In ''Dissidia'', he's allowed to have a relationship with Cecil based on both of them knowing that they are brothers and having to reconcile being on opposing sides, allowing Golbez to come off as one of the more nuanced and developed characters in the whole game, and finally paying off on some good concepts that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen never got explored in the original]].

* 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, and a ConflictKiller who cuts short the more interesting struggle against Gestahl. But in the West, his 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'', let alone the series. This was so much an improvement that his American characterisation was ported back across the Pacific for ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''.

* Jecht was rather one-note as Tidus' opponent. In ''Dissidia'', however, his relationship with Tidus was made much deeper and improved voice acting has also improved Jecht's character to most people.

* 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 WideEyedIdealist personality became grating to many fans. He also had displayed some HolierThanThou 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 [[spoiler: 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 [[ItsAllMyFault blames himself for the tragic events]] that conspired afterwards. He does grow from it and by ''Heavensward'' on, Alphinaud is a lot more humble, capable, and pulls his weight when it counts.

* 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 "[[{{Wangst}} emo]]" characterization across his various cameos, an over-serious tone to media he was in, mild CreatorsPet status, and HypeBacklash. Sephiroth's MotiveDecay also hurt the character, as it meant his only real reason to be fighting his rival endlessly was [[PanderingToTheBase 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 ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' -- partly because it cut out everything about his later appearances that fans found irritating, keeping his nice-looking ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' design as an alternate costume while basing his aesthetic and powers strictly on [[MythologyGag his original appearance]], and partly because the increasing years had turned HypeBacklash into NostalgiaGoggles. Similarly, Cloud's appearances in ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015'' emphasize either traits of his that [[DeadUnicornTrope were forgotten over the years]] or the CharacterDevelopment he picked up in the original game (and after ''Advent Children'', [[CharacterRerailment to a degree]]), such as describing Cloud as an arrogant showboater or, in direct contrast to numerous post-''FFVII'' instances of being a PerpetualFrowner, showing him relaxed and relatively cheerful in battle. His ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' storyline continues these character trends and even contains some LeaningOnTheFourthWall subtext about this, having him disown both his previous 'moping' and the idea of emptily rehashing his past.

* Cait Sith was a damn near reviled creature by pretty much any player in the game (and very few people play him if presented with an alternative). But he was much more positively received as the [[ThePollyanna one bright spot]] in the otherwise very grim ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus''.

* Lightning was, and continues to be, disliked by some people, owing to the ''very'' divisive nature of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII the]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 Lightning]] [[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII 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 [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the Warrior of Light]], only furthered longstanding accusations about Lightning's status as a CreatorsPet.

* 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 "[[{{Wangst}} emo]]" characterization across his various cameos, an over-serious tone to media he was in, mild CreatorsPet status, and HypeBacklash. Sephiroth's MotiveDecay also hurt the character, as it meant his only real reason to be fighting his rival endlessly was [[PanderingToTheBase 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 ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSWiiU Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' -- partly because it cut out everything about his later appearances that fans found irritating, keeping his nice-looking ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' design as an alternate costume while basing his aesthetic and powers strictly on [[MythologyGag his original appearance]], and partly because the increasing years had turned HypeBacklash into NostalgiaGoggles. Similarly, Cloud's appearances in ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015'' emphasize either traits of his that [[DeadUnicornTrope were forgotten over the years]] or the CharacterDevelopment he picked up in the original game (and after ''Advent Children'', [[CharacterRerailment to a degree]]), such as describing Cloud as an arrogant showboater or, in direct contrast to numerous post-''FFVII'' instances of being a PerpetualFrowner, showing him relaxed and relatively cheerful in battle. His ''VideoGame/MobiusFinalFantasy'' storyline continues these character trends and even contains some LeaningOnTheFourthWall subtext about this, having him disown both his previous 'moping' and the idea of emptily rehashing his past.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'''s Golbez was not loathed, but ''was'' seen as a generic Darth Vader ripoff and viewed as thoroughly less interesting than Kain and even the Four Fiends he commanded. The reveal that he was just being mind controlled by the GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere had the effect of turning him into a non-entity with no agency, and TheReveal that he's Cecil's brother is followed up by very little and is wasted (in part due to the technical limitations of the time making it impossible to include as much dialogue as they wanted). The DS remake re-added many of those scenes (in particular, a crucial early scene concerning his backstory is included). In ''Dissidia'', he's allowed to have a relationship with Cecil based on both of them knowing that they are brothers and having to reconcile being on opposing sides, allowing Golbez to come off as one of the more nuanced and developed characters in the whole game, and finally paying off on some good concepts that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen never got explored in the original]].

* Genesis made his first appearance in a laughably terrible live-action cutscene in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', was a shallow Sephiroth {{Expy}}, and was promoted as an InkSuitActor for Creator/{{Gackt}}. Accusations of him being a CanonSue abounded and were not without merit. While his next appearance in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' [[BaseBreakingCharacter remained contentious]] due to his constant recitation of awful poetry and his inclusion in [[MultipleChoicePast that game's version of the Nibelheim story]], he's got fans even amongst people who hate most of the Compilation due to the writers using him to allegorically discuss the good and bad of ''Final Fantasy VII'''s fandom, with his plot being based around overidentifying with a bad fantasy story and trying to find the truth behind its mysterious open ending. Some have also noted an element of StealthParody or even WriterRevolt about his portrayal, which is so over-the-top and full of uncool {{Bathos}} that it seems that the writers were mocking his forced inclusion.