Foil / Final Fantasy

Warning! Unmarked spoilers below.

The Final Fantasy games are fond of this. A lot of characters tend to be Foil of each other.^note There also Evil Counterpart/Good Counterpart, Shadow Archetype, Arch-Enemy, Red Oni, Blue Oni, Evil Twin, Generation Xerox, Cain and Abel, Sibling Yin-Yang, etc.

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Final Fantasy III

• Final Fantasy III has Luneth and Arc. Luneth is The Berserker, likes adventures, and Innocently Insensitive; while Arc is The Smart Guy, prefers reading, and a Shrinking Violet.

Final Fantasy IV series

• Final Fantasy IV:
  • Cecil and Kain. Both of them are Childhood Friends and are each other most trusted comrades and greatest rivals. Both of them are also good candidates for Trope Codifier for The Hero and The Lancer. Cecil is the noble and righteous All-Loving Hero to Kain is the dark and conflicted Anti-Hero. And while Cecil turns from Dark Knight to Paladin that fight as Golbez's enemy, Kain goes from Cecil's comrade then got Brainwashed and Crazy into acts as Golbez's Dragon. Although, Kain got better after being free from Golbez's control and trying to undo his wrongdoings in the past along with Cecil forgiving him.
  • Cecil and Golbez. they're both Red Wings commanders and are Black Knights, but Cecil leaves Baron uncomfortable with their methods while Golbez takes control of the kingdom for his own ends. In The After Years, they use opposing schools of magic, both have abilities that rely on drawing enemy attacks from allies, and Golbez's unique sword, Ebony Blade, draws a parallel to Cecil's Holy swords. In the original game, Cecil even reflects that since they share the same heritage, it could easily have been him that Zemus chose to control instead of Golbez. And also, just look at their renders.
  • Fusoya and Zemus. Both are Lunarians and both are alien Sorcerers that use extremely powerful magic. But while Fusoya believes both humans and Lunarians can coexist together in peace, Zemus wants to destroy humanity for his kind to colonize the planet.
  • Palom and Porom. Both of them are Badass Adorable Child Mage. But while Palom is brash, always getting himself into trouble, and uses Black Magic; His twin sister Porom is studious, dutiful, constantly smacking her brother upside the head to get him to behave, and uses White Magic.
• Final Fantasy IV: The After Years:
  • Kain and Dark Kain. While Kain already accepted the fact that Rosa only loves Cecil and sees him as a friend, Dark Kain wanted to kill Cecil and take Rosa by force. Considering Dark Kain is part of Kain, this is already known.
  • Ceodore and Ursula. While Ceodore attempts to avoid becoming Generation Xerox and has to learn to take pride in his parentage rather than rejecting it, Ursula is actively locked out of the family business until Yang finally realizes she's worthy of his time.

Final Fantasy V

• Final Fantasy V has sisters Lenna and Faris. Lenna is polite, diplomatic, astonishingly selfless, and a princess who is associated with the Water element. Faris is coarse, joins the quest mostly for answers about herself, was raised as a pirate (with no compunctions about ransoming princesses) and a man, and is associated with Fire. Lenna is also more mature about accepting death and other life-changing truths while Faris's instinct is denial. As the story progresses, Faris becomes more caring and altruistic like her sister and they love each other, but the differences in their upbringing continue to make them quite different people.

Final Fantasy VI

• Final Fantasy VI:
  • Terra and Kefka. Like Terra, Kefka was used as an Imperial experiment and has no friends or family and no real joy in his life. While Terra learned to control her powers and found love, Kefka's powers came at the cost of his sanity and he turned to destruction to give his life meaning.
  • Celes and Kefka. Like Celes, Kefka is an Imperial general with great magical power. While Celes has held onto her humanity and principles, Kefka's madness stripped away his, if he had any, to begin with.
  • Terra and Celes are foils of Kefka. All of them are fellow magitek knights and the main characters of the game. While Terra and Celes learn the value of human life over the course of the game, Kefka sees human life as more meaningless as the game wears on.
  • Celes and Terra. They have nearly identical equipment save for one armor piece and their exclusive weapons in the GBA version, and their stats are very similar. Their contrasts include outfits (green dress with white cloak, red dress with pink cloak), abilities (Runic with Ice and defensive status spells vs Trance with Fire and offensive status spells), and personalities. Terra is innocent, naive, and idealistic; while Celes is proud, snarky, and cynical. Not only that, Terra is much less reserved and more interested in understanding her emotions than Celes, who is an intellectual, reserved former general and initially averse to socializing and expressing her emotions.
  • Kefka and Leo, the two main generals of The Empire. Leo is a rational, principled general who treats everyone with respect, even the enemies of the Empire which makes him well-respected by imperial troops; while Kefka is a laughing mad psychopath who treats his soldiers like disposable peons which makes him universally hated by the troops. The two were more or less polar opposites in every way, the latter existing primarily as a contrast to the former.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

• Final Fantasy VII:
  • Cloud towards his Arch-Enemy and True Companions:
    • Cloud and Sephiroth are opposites or mirror images in just about every way. Even their appearances were apparently designed on this basis. Whereas Sephiroth was the absolute elite of SOLDIER apparently even as a teenager, Cloud never made it to their ranks at all. Both angsted at some point that they were the result of a terrible experiment. Sephiroth at first seemed to find out that it wasn't that bad after all, that he was merely built to be the last of the Ancients, but in fact, it was if anything even worse than he had thought at first. Cloud seemed to find out that he was nothing but a soulless clone, but actually, it was much less severe than that. Where through the course of the game we find out how Sephiroth progressively stops caring about humanity, the Ancients, and the Planet, Cloud goes from Only in It for the Money to caring about AVALANCHE, the Planet's plight, and everyone through the course of the story. And while Cloud was eventually able to accept himself, weaknesses and all, Sephiroth refused to settle for being anything less than the very best. For each, the time when they find out the whole truth is when they fully became the hero and villain they are. They also have different hairstyles and personalities, Cloud is pragmatic but unstable and has a golden blond shortish spiky hair while Sephiroth is otherworldly and collected and has really long and flowing silver hair.
    • Cloud and Barret. Cloud, while he'll show off whenever he gets the chance, is collected and thoughtful, with his flashiness being mostly a self-consciously cool persona. He's generally associated with purple, blue, white, or black, and comes equipped with Ice magic at the start of the game. Barret is a loud Hot-Blooded Large Ham who wears his emotions on his sleeve (there are several occasions where he's explicitly described as crying, while the closest Cloud ever comes is acknowledging that his eyes were burning). He wears mostly warm tones, uses bullets and fireballs as weapons, and has a tattoo featuring fire. Note also that Cloud's highly personal Duel to the Death quest is patterned after samurai tropes while Barret's is based on Spaghetti Western tropes, suggesting Samurai Cowboy.
    • Cloud and Vincent. Both of them are brooding loners haunted by the loss of a woman they loved at the hands of his Arch-Enemy. But the way they responded after it, is different. Whereas Vincent falls into depression and sleeps for two decades, Cloud falls into a coma for a week and was saved by Tifa. Vincent is what Cloud might become if he doesn't learn to cope with his issues. Word of God shares this viewpoint.
    • Cloud and Aerith. Both of them are heroes and raised by single mothers. But whereas Aerith is selfless, has spiritual nature, and grows accepting of her Cetra heritage, Cloud is Jerk with a Heart of Gold, an ex-SOLDIER, and has rising doubts over his identity. They even have different classes and weapons, Cloud is Heroes Prefer Swords and fights using broadswords and katanas while Aerith is White Magician Girl and fights using rods and staves.
    • Cloud and Tifa. Both of them are raised by single parents and from Nibelheim. But while Cloud has short blond hair, cool and collected when he's not being mind raped, Tifa has long brown/black hair, enthusiastic (but keeps a lot of secrets to herself, and suffers for it). They even fight with different weapons, Cloud with swords and Tifa with her fists.
  • Like Cloud above, Aerith towards her Arch-Enemies and True Companions:
    • Aerith and Sephiroth. As the game continues it shows Sephiroth is more foil towards Aerith, once Cloud's real history is revealed and more of Aerith's comes to light. Both Sephiroth and Aerith are children of Shinra scientists involved in the Jenova Project, both use angelic symbolism, both survive dissolution in the Lifestream, and both are linked to one of the Ultimate Magics, the Black and White Materia. Sephiroth believed that his mother was an Ancient whereas Aerith's mother actually was one. The novella "Case of the Lifestream" notes that in the events leading up to Advent Children, Aerith considered creating her own avatars on the surface to help fight Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, but decided it was more important to contact Cloud herself and let him handle it. During the development of VII, the developers even considered making them siblings or lovers, driving their connection deeper.
    • Aerith and Jenova are also foils in relation to their influence over Cloud and Sephiroth respectively. Both of them are seen as mother figures by the main protagonist and the main antagonist and encourage both sides towards the goals which lead to the planet's fate. But while Aerith encourages Cloud to care more about the planet's safety and help prevent the destruction that will come to it, Jenova encourages Sephiroth to destroy the planet and continue the destruction to another one.
    • Aerith and Tifa. Both of them are Cloud's two potential love interests, both of them are Action Girls and Nice Girls, both of them also share the role of The Heart, and both of them become fast friends once they meet and get along quite well. But while Tifa is Girl Next Door childhood friend, Aerith is Mysterious Waif energetic upbeat girl. Tifa is sweet, secretive, and caring, while Aerith is flirty, boisterous, and snarky. They also have different jobs and classes; Tifa is a bartender and a Cute Bruiser, while Aerith is a flower girl and a White Magician Girl with connection to the planet. They even show their feelings towards Cloud in different ways, Tifa immediately shies away about her feelings while Aerith shows her feelings openly. And they also have different dresses when they sneak into Don Corneo's lair, Tifa's blue dress and Aerith's red dress.
  • Cetra and Jenova. As both of them were treated as experiments by Shinra, thinking they're the same thing and believing they can take them to "The Promised Land". Not only that, but they also have magic or powers that Shinra wants. The key difference is: Cetra wants to protect the planet, while Jenova wants to destroy it.
  • Hojo and Gast. Both were scientists working for Shinra, but Gast was a kind man who used science to obtain wisdom when Hojo is an immoral Mad Scientist. Furthermore, Hojo is the father of Sephiroth, which is the evil counterpart to Aerith, Gast's daughter.
  • Dyne and Barret. Both of them lost everything to Shinra, both lost a hand, both replaced it with a gun, and both are filled with a lot of murderous rages. However, while Barret was able to maintain some decency within himself, in large part thanks to Marlene, Dyne was completely consumed by his anger.
  • Reno and Rude. Both are Turks or Badass in a Nice Suit that do all Shinra's dirty works and are Heterosexual Life-Partners. But Reno is loud, cocky, and foul-mouthed; while is nice, stoic, and quiet. They even use different weapons, Reno uses short metal rods while Rude uses his fists.
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII:
  • Zack and Cloud. Both of them are The Hero, The Ace, experimented with mako, and a Chick Magnet. Similarities between them are pretty much unavoidable. However, Zack's journey ends up mirroring Cloud's in ways far more extreme than Cloud's borrowed memories would suggest — for example, both Cloud and Zack end up accidentally falling through the roof of Aerith's church, doing squats to warm up their body temperature on missions in the snow, peering through keyholes, riding around on top of trains... But whereas, Zack's optimistic, vibrant, Hot-Blooded, more experienced than Cloud and (in the original game, anyway) goes out with women without letting them tell their mothers - but he is motivated by justice and heroism and uses the blunt edge of his sword. Cloud's pessimistic, thoughtful, sarcastically witty, and more innocent - but he can be ruthless, is motivated by revenge, and always uses the sharp edge of his sword. The same with Sephiroth above, they also have different hairstyles and personalities. Cloud has short blond spiky hair and is pessimistic and more innocent, while Zack has long black spiky hair and is optimistic and more experienced.
  • Genesis towards his fellow 1st Classes:
    • Genesis and Zack. His quest to become a hero contrasts with the same quest Genesis Rhapsodos undertakes, but whereas the latter's feelings of entitlement to the moniker of "hero" lead to obsession and downfall, Zack's quest to "become a hero" has less to do with personal glory and more with making the world a better place. Zack's will to become a hero motivated him to think for himself and to be guided by his moral compass and sense of justice, whereas Genesis's obsession with becoming a hero drove him to challenge those he saw as hindrances and a need to prove himself as superior to others. Both joined SOLDIER inspired by stories of the hero First Class Sephiroth, striving to emulate him, and both fall from Shinra's graces after learning of the company's corrupt ways. In an inversion of a typical hero-villain story dynamic, Zack dies whereas Genesis lives.
    • Genesis and Angeal. They are both SOLDIER’s of Project G, both were inspired by Sephiroth to join SOLDIER and both can create copies of themselves. However, Genesis and his copies are associated with black wings, whereas Angeal and his copies are associated with white wings, alluding to angel/fallen angel imagery. Both struggle with the man/monster dynamic, Genesis embracing it as it gives him special powers he can exploit to attain his goals, whereas Angeal begins to loath himself. Angeal and Genesis. While Genesis rebels against Shinra to heal himself, Angeal does it because he's torn between loyalty to Shinra and loyalty to his oldest and best friend. As well, while they're both experiments of Project G, Angeal is the "perfect" result of Hollander's efforts and has a different set of abilities than Genesis does.
    • Genesis and Sephiroth. They're both famous First Class SOLDIERs that go rogue from Shinra and seek divine power. However, Sephiroth does so because he comes to think he's an Ancient and should rule the planet; Genesis is trying to save his own life and is resorting to desperate stretches of reason to find a way. Even their designs play into this; Genesis is short-haired, right-handed, has a wing on his left side, and wields a massive straight-bladed sword that he infuses with magic, while Sephiroth is long-haired, left-handed, with a wing on the right side, and he wields a katana that he never empowers. Also contrast Genesis' demonic-looking Genesis Avatar form with the angelic Safer Sephiroth, and Genesis' belief that he is a monster with Sephiroth's Godhood Seeker.
  • As Minerva is a goddess who embodies the will of the Lifestream, she's this to Jenova and Sephiroth, false gods who try to corrupt the Lifestream.
• Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII has all of the Tsviets share something in common with Vincent. Shelke is immortal, Nero wields Darkness, Rosso has similar attire (red clothes, metal gauntlets) and fighting methods, Azul has the same shapeshifting powers, and Weiss is trying to attain the power of Omega, the antithesis to Chaos. Furthermore, he's the vessel for Hojo, who turns into monsters like Vincent, but has no morals or physical prowess to call his own. Oh, they also all use a combination of guns and martial arts, leaning towards guns. Except for Shelke. Rosso and Vincent lampshade this with their discussion on each other's "humanity."
  • Vincent and Weiss. Both are hosts of powerful ancient beings with Vincent as the host of Chaos, while Weiss is the host of Omega, but that is where the similarities end. Vincent was once a normal Turk who became a host of Chaos by being experimented on, While Weiss was a former member of SOLDIER who became the leader of Deepground and the host of Omega.
  • Weiss and Nero. Both of them are brothers, sadists, and experimented on by Shinra. But Weiss is way arrogant and brasher, while Nero is way quieter and more unemotional.
• Zirconaide and the Weapons from Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII. While Zirconiade is a Summon Materia that will destroy the planet, the Weapons exist to protect it. Zirconiade's name parallels the Weapons; while they're named after precious stones, Zirconiade takes its name from Zirconia, as in "cubic zirconia", fake diamonds.
• Final Fantasy VII Remake:
  • Tifa towards Barret and Aerith:
    • To Barret. While both are loyal members of Avalanche, Barret is so consumed by his hatred for Shinra that he dismisses any collateral damage that his group might cause, while Tifa frequently expresses discomfort over the group's methods and results.
    • To Aerith. Both have issues revealing their true feelings but cover them up in different ways. Tifa pushes them aside and finds work arounds while Aerith covers them up with positivity and keeps up the facade. Best represented by their attempts to high-five Cloud, Tifa doesn't broach the subject and celebrates without trying to engage Cloud again while Aerith doesn't hide her discomfort and keeps up the subject until Cloud reciprocates.
  • Also, Aerith towards Tifa and Sephiroth:
    • To Tifa. They are the main love interests and have different ways of keeping their feelings to themselves. Tifa bottles them up and finds other ways to liven the mood while Aerith is a Stepford Smiler that keeps up her smiling face in spite of how scared and lonely she really is.
    • To Sephiroth. Both are implied to have knowledge of what happens but both use that knowledge in opposite ways. Aerith accepts that she is fated to die but works to create a good future without her, while Sephiroth manipulates fate to create a world for himself.
  • Like in the original, Sephiroth shows himself as one to Cloud and Aerith.
    • Like Cloud, he was once a SOLDIER, being stronger, more durable and faster than any normal human- as well as being proficient with a giant blade. In gameplay, this even is translated as both sharing similar moves. Furthermore, both want to defy fate, but Sephiroth does so for his own sake, while Cloud does it for the sake of his friend Zack.
    • Like Aerith, he has special magic powers that stand out from regular Materia- his dark magic when compared to Aerith's holy powers. Also, they both have the knowledge of the fate of their original counterparts, especially their deaths. However, he seeks to undo his fate while she seemingly resigns herself to it and accepts what is to come.
  • Roche couldn't be any more different from Cloud if he tried. Both characters are SOLDIERS (or Ex-SOLDIER in Cloud's case), have blond hair, are master swordsmen and extremely skilled bikers, and some of Roche's attacks are mirrors of Cloud's own moveset. But in contrast to the stoic and silent Cloud, Roche is loud, bombastic, and over the top. Also, while Cloud gains a following of friends despite his antisocial demeanor, Roche's manic behavior and general disregard for the safety of others make him an outcast among Shinra troops.
  • As presented in Remake, Weiss is one to Sephiroth. Like Sephiroth, Weiss is arrogant and condescending and is one of the most powerful beings in Shinra's military. However, Weiss is much more emotive than Sephiroth and clearly enjoys himself as he fights. They are also similar in appearance and fighting style, but in ways that still contrast: they both have silver hair but Sephiroth's is long and straight while Weiss' is short and spiked; they both have the No Shirt, Long Jacket look, but Sephiroth wears black and Weiss wears white; they both wield katanas, but Sephiroth uses the long Masamune while Weiss dual-wields more traditional katanas with guns built into them; they're both capable of long-ranged attacks, but Sephiroth uses magic while Weiss uses gunfire.
  • Weiss and Nero. Both of them are brothers, sadists, Blood Knight, and experimented on by Shinra. But Nero is more emotional and more prone to kill scientists, while Weiss is way calmer and more cool-headed and simply indulged in whatever experiment they have in store. It contrasts with Dirge of Cerberus where the duo is reversed.
  • Reno and Rude. Again, Fiery Redhead who is loud, cocky, and foul-mouthed and Bald Head of Toughness who is nice, stoic, and quiet. And both of them is Heterosexual Life-Partners towards each other.
• In Final Fantasy VII Remake: Trace of Two Pasts has Elmyra's husband and Don Corneo. Aerith says that Elmyra's husband was basically the good version of Don Corneo. Both of them loved women or respectively Elmyra's husband only loves Elmyra and is devoted to her even tell that he's sorry that he can't come back home, while Don Corneo only cares about taking a new woman as his "bride" each night before feeding them to his pet monster Abzu when he's done having his way with them. It shows when comparing their houses, while lavish for the slums he is a humble two-story house surrounded by vegetation while Corneo has a gaudy brothel come S and M dungeon.
  • Again, it's Aerith and Tifa. The contrasting lives of the two heroines is put on display here. It's pointed out in the cover with the two standing at opposite sides of a corner clock, as Aerith is looking up while a bright red phone booth is right behind her while Tifa is solemnly looking down in a dark alley. Pointedly Aerith's name is in white and Tifa's is in black on the cover.

Final Fantasy VIII

• Final Fantasy VIII:
  • Almost the entire game revolves around the head-butting relationship between Squall and Rinoa. But that just makes it all the sweeter as the game progresses and the player witnesses Squall's multiple occasions of emotional 180. Also, THE ENDING SCENES.
  • Also features the prominent example of Squall versus Seifer. They're both top-grade students, specialized in a difficult (and slightly unconventional) to manage weapon, and stand out amongst the crowd going decidedly against the flow. They've also butted heads against each other since forever. However, Squall appears aloof while being introvertedly struggling with whatever issues that come to his mind, preferring not to be bothered by other people. Seifer is very much extroverted, enjoying exercising his status as Head of the Disciplinary Committee, being very vocal about his goals and ambitions, and clearly likes the leader role of his posse. They can both come off as rude, Squall because he doesn't get other people, Seifer because he likes being rude. As the game progresses, Squall grows closer to his party, while Seifer grows more distant from his posse. As Squall overcomes his past issues, Seifer becomes more obsessed and trapped in his. They both become Sorceress Knights, Seifer to fulfill his childhood romanticized dream, Squall as a natural step in the chain of events. Also, the stronger and more confident person Squall becomes, the more ragged and dragged down Seifer becomes. They also both had a relationship with Rinoa, Seifer had a brief summer romance, Squall had a longer relationship evolving from initial meh, to very real romantic feelings.
  • Zell is a big one for Squall. Zell is a Hot-Blooded and rather dumb (not totally, though) comic goof who looks like a sort of badass anime Marty McFly. I.E, he's pretty much Squall's exact opposite.
  • And Ultimecia is this to Rinoa as they are both sorceress’s and their appearances contrast each other: Rinoa has black hair, blue clothing, and white wings, while Ultimecia has white hair, red clothing, and black wings.
  • Fujin and Raijin. Both of them are Seifer's partners and only friends. Fujin is silver-haired, cool, fights with Fuuma Shuriken; while Raijin is brown-haired, enthusiastic, and fights with a staff.

Final Fantasy IX

• Final Fantasy IX:
  • Zidane and Kuja. Both are genomes and men of theater, but while Zidane is a lovable rogue with a heart of gold, whose motto in life is "Do you need a reason to help anyone?", Kuja is a selfish, vain individual that doesn't care about anyone but himself, using anyone as pawns for his plans. After the Awful Truth for each of them has been revealed, both of them deal with it in a different way. Zidane becomes a lot more responsible and thoughtful, while Kuja becomes an Omnicidal Maniac. Not only they're foil towards each other, they're also brothers which also make them Cain and Abel.
  • Ark to Alexander. The latter is a Holy-elemental, defense-oriented transforming castle while the former is a Shadow-elemental, offense-oriented transforming airship.
  • Steiner and Zidane: Steiner's self-seriousness and over-protectiveness of Princess Garnet is a contrast to Zidane's outgoing personality and when he's trying to encourage Garnet to interact with the normal world.
  • The children Eiko and Vivi: her confidence and authoritativeness makes Vivi uncomfortable at first, who is uncertain and shy. Vivi is a prototype for the black mages, one of the first of his kind whilst Eiko is one of the last survivors of hers.

Final Fantasy X series

• Final Fantasy X:
  • Tidus and Yuna. Both of them are each a prodigy (Tidus as a blitzball star, Yuna as a summoner) and the child of a famous hero, they both live in their shadows, both are adventurous and want to see more of the world and each of them wants to really make their mark on history. But whereas Yuna is very soft-spoken, proper, and self-sacrificing; Tidus is very brash, rude, and self-oriented. Also, Tidus hates Jecht and wants to prove himself better than him, Yuna on the other hand loved Braska and hopes to match his level of power and heroism. When the two discuss the idea of sacrifice, Tidus is both confused and horrified while Yuna feels any sacrifice is worth what little happiness it brings. Tidus himself says that Yuna changed his mind, and he sacrifices himself at the end. Ironically, this act changes her mind on the subject, also.
  • Jecht and Tidus. They're both ace blitzball players from Zanarkand that were transported to Spira and took part in a pilgrimage to help stop Sin. However, while Jecht is a boastful braggart, Tidus is much more level-headed and friendly. Jecht is cocky and arrogant, Tidus has a lot of self-doubts thanks to Jecht's treatment of him. Jecht eventually resigned himself to becoming a part of Spira's spiral of death, but Tidus refused to and insisted there was another way.
  • Yuna and Seymour — Both were born to one human parent and one parent of another race who grew up in a setting full of racial mistrust and hatred, both their mothers died when they were young, and both had fathers who made difficult choices that involved staying out of their children's lives for the sake of peace and their children's well-being. But whereas Yuna was treated kindly because of her father's heroism despite being half-Al Bhed and always had friends and people who cared about her, Seymour on the other hand was detested by humans and Guado alike and banished from Guadosalam by his own father for being half-Guado and grew up lonely and isolated. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Yuna grows up to be a kind and self-sacrificing humanitarian, while Seymour, embittered by his experiences, goes down a much darker path. They also have different philosophies about the meaning of life — Yuna came to believe that life was worth living even despite the pain, while Seymour came to believe that life was about pain and suffering.
  • Seymour towards Tidus. Both were reluctantly abandoned by their fathers and left in the care of their mothers and mentors who were friends of their fathers. Both were groomed to enter their fathers' professions. And both fell in love with Yuna. But, similar to the above, Tidus remained a fundamentally kind and optimistic person despite his pain while Seymour let his pain consume him.
  • Braska and Jyscal. Both priests of Yevon who was part of a Maligned Mixed Marriage that caused them a great deal of trouble and eventually produced a Half-Human Hybrid offspring. The key difference is how they responded: Jyscal decided to bow to the society around him and focused on what he saw as the greater good by banishing his wife and son so he could successfully convert his people to Yevon, while Braska allowed himself to be cast out by his people instead, and then decided to prove his naysayers wrong by showing that someone they'd curse and excommunicate could save them.
  • Yuna and Yunalesca. Both of them are Action Girls, heroic figures that care a lot towards Spira, and have romantic relationships towards guardians (Yuna with Tidus, Yunalesca with Zaon). After the revelation where all the sacrifices are useless because it didn't kill Sin but only made another Sin and continue the cycle of death. Yuna believes life is important, wants to end Spira's suffering without a Heroic Sacrifice, wishes to keep everyone safe, and finds another solution that will kill Sin permanently; while Yunalesca believes life is hopeless, wants to continue the cycle of death, attack that dares to defy it, and thinks other options are pointless.
  • Auron and Seymour.
• Shuyin from Final Fantasy X-2 is Tidus in every aspect; attack animations, critical HP animation, and his special attack are Tidus' Blitz Ace Overdrive, albeit renamed to Terror of Zanarkand. Same dedication, same motivation, but where Tidus was willing to die to protect Yuna, Shuyin got both Lenne and himself killed. They even look alike, and fans speculate the fayth deliberately modeled Tidus after Shuyin in their dream-Zanarkand.

Final Fantasy XII

• Final Fantasy XII:
  • Vaan and Ashe, Vaan paralleling Ashe in backstory and Character Development as a citizen of Rabanastre who lost a loved one to the Empire and desires vengeance. However, while Vaan eventually realizes how pointless revenge is and lets go of Reks' death, Ashe takes longer to get over Rasler. Atop the Pharos when he tells this lesson to Gabranth, Vaan's example inspires her to follow his lead and not use the Sun-Cryst's power.
    • Gabranth is also an antithesis for Vaan and Ashe who at the game emotional apex chose to Turn the Other Cheek on the man who destroyed their entire lives while he's spent his life letting his hatred destroy him from the inside-out.
  • Balthier and Reddas, in lots of spoileriffic ways. Had they each made some slightly different choices, they might have switched places in the narrative. They're both former members of the Archadian Empire, Judges even (though Reddas was a Judge Magister), who went rogue and abandoned their former lives and names when the Empire's warmongering went too far for them. However, Balthier would rather have nothing to do with the Archadia and nethicite and gets roped into things by chance, while Reddas proactively seeks to stop Cid from using nethicite on the scale of Nabudis and will fight to do it. Balthier went rogue to reclaim his freedom and became a sky pirate with little higher ambition than that, while Reddas went rogue to resist the Empire, which included becoming the de facto leader of Balfonheim and an ally of Ondore.
  • Basch towards Gabranth and Vossler:
    • Basch and Gabranth^note or by his real name Noah. Both of them are disgraced Failure Knight that keeps fighting, but while Basch fights by holding to honor, Gabranth is motivated by hatred. Gabranth is what Basch would have been having the failure to hold onto his principles and if he had chosen to serve Archadia rather than fight against it. Also, whereas Basch accepts the past for what it was, Gabranth constantly tries to cut ties with it, emphasis on 'tries'. Gabranth's actually a Deconstruction Evil Twin, having initially had good reason to hate his brother. By the events of the game, however, he was serving the country that originally assimilated his homeland. This may originally have been justified to him by his and Basch's mother being Archadian, but by the game's events, he's gradually falling ever further, whereas Basch was able to put his life back together and fight on even when all his honor seemed lost. That neither side is entirely right or wrong keeps this trope from being played straight, much like the treatment given to so many other tropes in this game.
    • Basch and Vossler, given their friendship despite coming from different stations in life. Taken further when, after Basch's absolute loyalty to Ashe is proven, Vossler himself becomes a traitor. It even displays their personalities in the game, when Vossler and Basch are searching for survivors of the Dalmascan escort for the King, Vossler is indifferent towards a foot soldier (namely, Reks)'s injury and urges Basch to move on, while Basch is more attentive. This quickly establishes the two men's personalities: Basch is a caring father to his men who puts what is good above all else, while Vossler is more pragmatic.

Final Fantasy XIII series

• Final Fantasy XIII:
  • Lightning is the foil of every main character for at least part of the game, although she becomes less of one as the group's purpose becomes more unified.
    • To Fang. Lightning is outwardly cold and professional with a former past in the military. Fang is flirty and cocky and comes from an ancient tribe of warriors. Lightning's outfit is white with a red cape, while Fang's outfit is black with blue sashes. The parallels extend to their Eidolons - a white knight and a black dragon. The game also plays with this in another way: Lightning acts cold and standoffish but her plan to save cocoon basically involved going nuts and killing anyone who stood in her way, whereas Fang acts hotheaded and impulsive but was the only l'Cie that had anything resembling an actual plan to save humanity.
    • To Hope. Both of them lost their family members (For Lightning is her sister Serah, while Hope is his mother Nora) and blame Snow for it. But, Lightning's confidence and strength contrasting Hope's doubt and fear is the driving force of the plot. Along with Lightning backed by Hope. In the early stages, before the entire group rejoins, they become an Action Duo with Lightning teaching Hope how to fight while Hope is the person that Lightning opens up to. Even after the team regroups, Hope will often be the first person to support Lightning's ideas when he's not coming up with his own. Gameplay-wise, they foil each other in fighting style and ability with Hope being a long-range support character and Lightning an up-close damage dealer. And They have different meaning in their names: Lightning's real name being Eclair, which is French for 'lightning'. In the English localization, it was changed to Claire, which is French for 'light'. Despite this, both are referenced very frequently in-game. She changed her name to Lightning when her parents died to be a stronger person for Serah, but ended up alienating her and ruining their relationship. While Hope, whose last name "Estheim" means "at home", combines both Latin and German respectively. His full name and his character development frequently lampshade the underlying meaning. He even spends a lot of the game battling between holding on to hope or giving into despair. Lightning even lampshades both her name and Hope's name at one point.
      Lightning: Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect. It only destroys.
      Hope: There is no hope. Not for l'Cie.
      Lightning: There's you.
      Hope: It's my name, not who I am.
    • To Vanille. Vanille's happiness and optimism are constantly clashing with Lightning's anger and cynicism. But both of them have their Dark and Troubled Past using their respective personality as a mask to hide it.
    • To Sazh. Sazh is foolish, kind, and cries easily Only Sane Man while Lightning is cold, stern, and cynical The Stoic. But both of them are almost in Despair Event Horizon if their Eidolons didn't give them Get A Hold Of Yourself Man fight when they lose their only family (Serah for Lightning and Dajh for Sazh) and their other companions accidentally made it worse (Like Hope clung to Lightning for help she couldn't provide and Vanille gets Dajh to turn into l'Cie).
    • To Snow. Both of them care a lot about Serah but failed to save her. But Snow is Hot-Blooded Nice Guy and insists on calling Lightning "nee-san/sis" even though Lightning hates him, while Lighting is The Stoic Jerk with a Heart of Gold and hates Snow to point punching him a lot.
    • To Serah. Both of them are sisters but have different personalities, whereas Lightning is stoic and cold, Serah is cheerful and big-hearted. Not only that, but they also have different jobs, Lightning is a Soldier while Serah is a Teacher.
  • Nabaat and Rosch. Both of them are PSICOM officers. At their first appearances, Nabaat seems to show some compassion and warmth as she watches over Sazh and the newly-branded Dajh, in contrast to Rosch coldly lecturing and reprimanding his underlings at swordpoint. However, Nabaat's empathy is a front to hide a cold sadistic streak and in XIII-2 shows she's unafraid to throw her underlings away, whereas Rosch is much more affected by what he has to do than he lets on and admits to Snow that he doesn't want to be involved with such actions as the Purge but has no choice and later regretting opposing the l'Cie despite their shared goals.
  • Snow and Hope. Both of them have people they care about taken away from them (Snow with Serah, Hope with Nora). Snow, the Hot-Blooded character in blue clothes, in comparison to Hope, the level-headed character in yellow and orange clothes.
  • Fang and Vanille. Vanille has pink-orange hair, wears pink, and is the more outwardly emotional, but it's she who makes the Needs Of The Many decision to abandon her Focus and let herself turn Cie'th for the sake of Cocoon. The blue-wearing Fang is generally more mature and level-headed, but it's she who is willing to endanger millions of lives in order to save Vanille.
• Final Fantasy XIII-2:
  • Noel towards Snow (Failure Knight with a brighter outlook) and Lightning (Serah protector).
  • Caius towards both Lightning and Noel, though more obviously to the former. He is everything she could have been, had she not called off her plan of killing the fal'Cie Eden and destroying Cocoon to save Serah in the first game - ever deeper into grief, anger, and eventually, madness in a desperate and ill-fated plan to save the one they love most (Serah for her, Yeul for him).
• Lumina towards Lightning and Serah from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
  • She's built as an antithesis to Serah, trolling Lightning and making fun of her, and referring to her as a sister. Her outfit is also a dark reflection of Serah's in the first game, black and red to Serah's white and red with a skirt, stockings, and jacket.
  • She also serves as one to Lightning, traveling Nova Chrysalis causing trouble as Lightning travels it trying to save souls. Her playful and joking demeanor also sharply contrasts Lightning's cold stoicism.

Final Fantasy XIV series

• The endgame quests from the Heavensward expansion of Final Fantasy XIV has the Warriors of Darkness, a group of five warriors siding with the Ascians against the Scions and the Warrior of Light. Subverted in that the Warriors of Darkness are not evil so much as desperate to save the world they came from and are willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means destroying another world.
• In a much lighter example, gentleman detective Hildebrand Manderville's Cloud Cuckoo Lander logic and inspectorial methodology are contrasted against the cool, calm, rational deductive prowess of Inspector Briardien. Much later in Endwalker, Hildebrand's artificial clone Brandihild also serves this role - whereas Hildebrand is impulsive and showboaty, Brandihild is modest to a fault but calculates with mechanical precision.

Final Fantasy XV

• Final Fantasy XV:
  • Noctis is foils towards two girls that earn Ship Tease with them, two guys who are his Arch-Enemies and one Jerkass God.
    • Noctis and Luna. In comparison to Luna—who is essentially a diplomat between mankind and the gods—Noctis embodies a more human, pragmatic side of Eos's power. After her attempts to negotiate with Leviathan fail, Noctis is empowered to force the issue.
    • Noctis and Sarah^note The Protagonist from Terra Wars. Sarah's personality and mannerisms are very similar to Noct's, albeit swapping his introversion for extroversion and black for white. Also, throughout the whole DLC, Sarah wields a single Royal Rapier compared to Noctis' own Multi-Melee Master-style.
    • Noctis and Ravus, both being princes who lost their homes and family to Niflheim. While Noct fights against the Empire, Ravus serves them; Noct hates Niflheim for invading his homeland, while Ravus hates Lucis for abandoning Tenebrae.
    • Noctis and Ardyn, both being members of the Lucian royal line who were chosen as the King of Light. Ardyn absorbed the Starscourge into himself, becoming immortal, and was denied ascension by the Astrals as a result, while Noctis sacrifices his life to destroy the Starscourge, and is rewarded with eternal happiness with Luna in the afterlife. Like Noctis, Ardyn too was in love with the Oracle of his time and was forced to watch her die before his eyes. Even his skill tree is one to Noct's, being named "Descension" in contrast to "Ascension".
    • Bahamut serves as this towards Noctis. Like Noct, he's the sword-wielding nobility of an entire race with ties to the Lucian Royal Family, is beyond human, and they even share the same face.
  • Bahamut serves as this towards Ardyn. Like Ardyn, he's the sword-wielding nobility of an entire race with ties to the Lucian Royal Family, is beyond human, and exists in both the physical and Astral planes.
  • Regis and Aldercapt, both being rulers of their respective countries; while Regis is a popular ruler of his country who wants to bring peace, Aldercapt is an emperor bent on world conquest.
  • Cid and Verstael, both of them are old Gadgeteer Genius, but the former is on the hero's side while the latter is on the villain's side.

Final Fantasy Tactics series

• Final Fantasy Tactics has Ramza and Delita. At the beginning of the game, the two characters are practically identical, being Squires with near-identical skillsets who care for their younger sisters, Alma and Tietra. But when Tietra is killed by Argath, their paths separate. Ramza, an acknowledged bastard, sticks to his ethics and ideals but suffers horrendously for it, becoming a mercenary and later a heretic in the eyes of the public because he refused to budge on what was right, ultimately dying forgotten. Delita, the lowborn commoner, compromises his ideals and burns friend and foe alike in his quest for power, becoming the new King of Ivalice and saving the land from civil war, but ultimately feels empty in the end despite his accomplishments.
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has Ritz and Shara. Both of them are Action Girl and Heterosexual Life-Partners. But Ritz is a human, a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, has three classes: a Fencer, a Red Mage, an Elementalist and has issues; while Shara is a viera, a Nice Girl, has two classes: an Archer, a Sniper and trying to help Ritz deal her issues.
• Final Fantasy Tactics A2 has Illua, the Big Bad of the game and Evil Counterpart to Luso who is The Hero of the story. Luso and Illua both have grimoires that have blank pages and are filling up with words as they go on their adventures. If Luso fills out his book, it will give him the power to return home, but if Illua fills out her book, then she gets to summon a great evil demon from another dimension to terrorize Ivalice with. Whether Illua succeeds in defeating Luso or not doesn't matter since once she is slain, her last efforts get recorded in the book and the demon gets summoned anyway.

Dissidia Final Fantasy series

• In Dissidia Final Fantasy has the characters's EX Bursts. Golbez, Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kuja, and Jecht all use the same input systems for their Bursts as Cecil, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, and Tidus. The most literal examples are Squall and Ultimecia (compare Squall's "Lion Heart" with Ultimecia's "Sorceress Heart"), and Tidus and Jecht ("Blitz Ace" and "Blitz King", where instead of a Blitzball, Jecht kicks a frickin' meteor!)
• Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia:
  • Ceodore and Tidus. Both of them struggle to live up to their parents' image, but they differ in that Ceodore has nothing but immense respect for his parents and the idea intimidates him. Tidus, on the other hand, has a less favorable view of his father (though their relationship is much better than it used to be) and relates to Ceodore in this way to help the latter become more sure of himself.
  • Ursula's relationship with her father is already compared with Ceodore's in their own game, but in the same way Ceodore and Tidus are Foils, so are Ursula and Yuna, completing the circle. Both Ursula and Yuna follow in their fathers' footsteps, but while Ursula gets to train with her father Yuna can only wish she could (and admits her envy that Ursula is able to do so).
  • Leon's comparison to Seifer is brought up in the story by Seifer himself. Both of them were "knights" used by the villain, and both desired more power to protect those important to them. However, Leon doubts himself afterward while Seifer continues on ahead without looking back to the mistakes he made in the past.
  • While it is not brought up, Cecil and Leon both have similarities to each other, appropriate for being the series' first Dark Knights. Cecil was manipulated by a king who he thought was good, but turned against him early on in his journey and never had high ambitions. Leon, on the other hand, allowed himself to be manipulated by the Emperor, who he knew was evil, so he could gain the power to overthrow him and use that power to protect his friends. Their foil extends to gameplay as well - while Dark Knight Cecil drains his own HP to empower his attacks, which also get stronger the weaker he is, Leon heals himself and the party with his Life Drain abilities. Eventually, Leon does meet Cecil (though he is a Paladin by this point), and the comparison is brought up. The group then helps Leon come to the conclusion that both light and darkness are necessary, and that there's nothing wrong with Leon's power as long as he doesn't use it for evil.
  • Firion and Leon both can deal battery-based damage with Leon healing the whole party up and being dark elemental with either AoE or splash damage with a debuff attached to it, while Firion is non-elemental and focusing on single targets on both skills (as well as having ranged damage mixed in with melee instead with Leon having magic to supplement his melee damage). Both of them also have a group-wide 100% HP damaging EX that can also become a + version when they're at 80% of their HP or higher.
  • In terms of gameplay she can be seen as one to Galuf; whereas Galuf is focused on tanking solely physical attacks to guard the whole party, Celes specializes in tanking solely magical attacks to provoke enemies with self-buffs. In terms of gameplay, he can be seen as one to Celes; whereas Celes is focused on tanking solely magical attacks, Galuf specializes in tanking solely physical attacks.
  • Once again, to Squall in a sense. Even in gameplay, where Squall focuses mainly on hard-hitting single-target damage that packs occasional area of effect (when awakened) that's primarily melee with self buffs, Seifer's focus is all about ranged party-wide damage that inflicts debuffs that make his own attacks hit stronger regardless of the types of debuffs landed.
  • Seifer himself draws a comparison between him and Leon, as they are both "knights" who were manipulated by a villain in an attempt to get more power. While Seifer is able to move on from this and forge ahead without any hesitation, accepting the fact that he wanted more power, Leon has trouble and worries that he may end up turning on his friends again.
  • Ultimecia has this with Squall gameplay-wise, given the coincidental concepts of her design. Her overall kit functions as a foil to Squall's, with both of them having a multi-hitting BRV Attack+, an AoE HP Attack+ via the chosen target taking the brunt of the damage, an AoE skill 1 ending in single target HP damage, and a second skill that ends with 100% undivided HP damage on all targets.
  • Seymour towards Tidus, gameplay-wise. While Tidus involves fast-covering physical damage in long-lasting fights with a solid focus on SPD with decent Initial BRV + Max BRV, Seymour deals long-lasting magic damage with high base Attack and Max BRV on the 5/5 end. Both of them are also debuffers with their second abilities paralleling each other (2-hit BRV+HP Attacks that inflict 3 standard potency debuffs at once. But Tidus has a Speed Down in his set of debuffs, Seymour opts for Max BRV Down instead).
  • As a character, Seymour is this to Rydia. Rydia's mother, the avatar of the Mist Dragon summon, was murdered by Cecil, yet Rydia chose to forgive Cecil and not allow herself to be consumed with hatred. Seymour's mother killed herself to become the Aeon Anima, but Seymour losing her caused him to go insane with grief and resentment.
  • Jegran to Sherlotta. Both have the ability to create crystals, but Jegran's are corrupted and he abuses their powers. He is surprised to learn she has the same ability and attempts to force her into making him more crystals.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius series

• Final Fantasy Brave Exvius:
  • Folka and Nichol - both are magic-focused strategists that favor water elemental magic, but they're on completely opposite sides at first and his humility and consideration for others contrasts sharply with her pride and disdain or later his calm observant nature contrasts with her ditzy cluelessness. Them being relatives completes the set.
  • The Blue to Rain's Red. While downplayed, Lid sometimes also acts like the Red for Lasswell's Blue.
• War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius has Dario and Sterne. Both are sons of a king and are kept behind the walls of a castle for most of their lives. While Sterne is resentful of this and wants nothing more than the chance to go out and fight for his kingdom, Dario has an aversion to fighting and is content with spending his time in the castle. When Fennes is poised to take Leonis castle, Oelde takes Mont and leaves behind Sterne, and when Hourne goes to war with Fennes one of Robb's first acts is to send Machérie to protect Dario.

Others

• Mobius Final Fantasy has a white-haired Wol, who is The Chosen One with Incorruptible Pure Pureness despite his mean streak, and Maia, a summoner, heretic, and witch.
• In World of Final Fantasy have the twin protagonists, Lann and Reynn inverted it. Lann is wearing blue but really focusing on fighting and rather Book Dumb. While his sister, Reynn is wearing red but focusing on the enemy's weakness before attacking and rather Smart.
• Final Fantasy Record Keeper:
  • Tyro and Shadowsmith. While Tyro enters the corrupted records to restore them and maintain the integrity of their continuity, the Shadowsmith is seeking the corrupted records to use them for his own ends, and he and his allies are interested in the events in the records that can be changed. His outfit also resembles Tyro's keeper robes, but are black and red while Tyro's are blue. It's also very heavily implied that he and Tyro have a direct connection of some sort.
  • Bahamut and Odin. While Odin is the master of the Magicite Records and a hostile force, Bahamut is the master of the Cardia Islands and is helpful.
  • Bahamut and the Magicites. While the party must defeat the Magicites to earn their summonstones to call them in battle, Bahamut gives the party the Historia Crystals when they meet him, but must battle to gain the materials to infuse them with power.
• Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light Jusqua's more intelligent and level-headed than Brandt. To Aire, he's both less obnoxious and less inclined to help strangers in need.