YMMV / The Lion of Ivalice

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Several, usually for the ones that didn't join as party members.
  • Izlude: In game, a templar with very similar views of Ramza during his Hokuten days and killed rather suddenly by his father, with his death sparking Mel's vengeance towards the Beoulve. Here, a hired sword to the Nanten that meets Ramza as an ally this time and forms a Bash Brother bond with him and undergoes a well rounded transition from a blindly loyal soldier to a second Ramza in all but name.
  • Gafgarion: In game, a gruff mercenary that was willing to fight and kill for money, damn ideals on 'right and wrong'. Here, he fights for a chance of redemption out of an honor debt losing to Ramza (twice).
  • Celia and Lede: In game, two demons masquerading as assassins (or possibly possessed by demons somewhere along the line) under Elmdore's service as Body Guard Babes. Here, human assassins with a history with Valmafra and gradually grow into the hearts of a mechanic, an automation, and the readers.
  • Valmafra: In game, a magus with relatively little background other than being an agent keeping tabs on Ramza, Delita, and the war. Here, is convinced by Olan to help stop the demon invasion, and keeps a troubled past to herself, being a pupil to Kletian and helped committing terrible deeds.
• Anticlimax Boss:
  • Despite facing the heroes as a Dual Boss, Adramelk & Queklain are taken down with almost pathetic ease.
  • Same deal with Zalera, who gets one-shotted by Worker 8's Chest Blaster. In this continuity, though, justified in that Worker 8 seems to be a war machine specifically built and armed to destroy Lucavi by its long-dead creators.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Celia and Lede - even the author called them his personal "Darkponies" in some of his late Author's Notes.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • You know all those nice girl-on-girl interactions between Meliadoul and Alma, after they strike up a friendship? They take on a very unsettling turn when the girls become possessed by Morrigan (Shemhazai) and Ajora (Altima), two reincarnated lovers... Eurgh!!
  • Celia and Lede wanting to kill Rattletrap with fire out of fear (Played for Laughs, mind), when the golem sacrifices itself (it survived, but still...) in order to ensure their survival-from-falling, and they honour it like a dead comrade and friend deserves before re-entering the battle.
• It Was His Sled:
  • Anyone who has played Final Fantasy Tactics far enough would know that Ovelia is NOT really a princess, but it's treated even more casually by Cid and Ruvelia, and the two will probably never let that tidbit of knowledge known like Vormov/Hashmal did. Unless they already told her during her captivity...
  • Dycedarg is evil and killed his father. It was a major twist in the game, but here it's revealed almost offhandedly before Part I is over. But since this fic has its own shocking series of twists, this doesn't hurt the story in the least.
• Ho Yay: Alma and Mel, after they are possessed by Ajora and Morrigan.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: A quasi-meta example: nobody cared about Master Daravon (the droning old man who gives the Gaming Tutorials), not out of hate but just because he was regarded as a waste of space. When he appeared in Chapter 23 and pulled a Heroic Sacrifice so that Ramza and Meliadoul can escape (facing all of Vormav's forces alone in the process) he won the instant respect of the fic's readers.
• Tear Jerker: The final chapter. Just... the final chapter. Of the heartwarming variety as well as the sorrowful, that is.
• What Could Have Been: In the AN of Chapter 35, the author mentioned that among the plans which changed, he'd originally intended for Izlude to return to the Templars during Part 1 or 2, and end up paired with Wiegraf just like in canon (with unspecified plot differences as well). Instead, Izlude ended up being a key member of Ramza's Five-Man Band.
  • Word of Me: Here's a little more on that. After the Hokuten were slaughtered at Bethla, Izlude and Ramza were both originally intended to go to the Templars for aid. This arc was changed early on due to it seeming out of character for the more independent Ramza of the story, though it would have been interesting to see how it played out, especially with Wiegraf within the ranks as well.
• The Woobie: Really, any major character worth their salt is one at times, having moments of vulnerability and doubt. Ramza and Meliadoul are the strongest examples, but it's also seen in Izlude, Gafgarion, Agrias, Zalbag and Cid.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Of all people, Ruvelia. She never wanted the throne, and was in fact in love with Cid, who rejected her because according to him, they wouldn't have worked out. She even states that she only made a play for the throne along with her brother - Bestrald Larg - because she was led to believe that Goltanna would put Ovelia, "a fake princess", upon the throne otherwise.