***WARNING, SPOILERS FOR VII - X.***

Which type of hero do you prefer? Do you prefer the moody, I don't give a crap attitude of Squall and Cloud, or do you prefer the cheery, smiley, "I'll do what I can to help someone" hero in Tidus and Zidane?

To be honest, I don't think the heroes themselves are as different as people think. When you look at the storylines and the evolution of the characters, you start to see the characters reach new points of respect. Take Cloud. He starts off as a complete asshole interested only in money. Through the love of Aeris and the love of Tifa, and the remembrance of his memories, Cloud develops feelings and embraces his friends and has something worth fighting in. He fights because he wants to protect those close to him. He evolves beyond what he was and develops as a character.

Squall is a similar character. I explained this in a thread in FF8, so I'm gonna cheat and cut and paste:


Squall learns how to love. That is the key part of the story. At the beginning he is distant, and he shuns an offer of friendship and romance from Quistis because he just doesn't care about anyone other than himself.

Then he meets Rinoa.

Rinoa changes Squall's life. Disk 3 when he is carrying her unconscious form across the bridge to Esther because he wants to heal her. Going out into space in order to catch her. Holding her in his arms out there in space knowing they are going to die soon due to lack of air, until the Ragnarok goes past them. Sharing the moment on the Ragnarok. It's an awesome story bond between the pair that makes Squall human, that teaches him how to share his heart.

Running to go and save Rinoa from being imprisoned as a Sorceress, telling her that he will not let her disappear as Time compresses. All these moments stand out and embrace me.


This is gonna be a mega long post. My bad.

Let's look at the flip side of the coin. Zidane starts off as a happy thief without a care in the world, helping people he wants to help because it's the right thing to do. Then part way through the game, he is told by Garland that he is nothing but a shell to be used to assimilate Gaia to become the new Terra. (My memory of the plot is sketchy, so feel free to correct me.) Zidane snaps and is left bitter and broken, and he rejects his friends, until Dagger stands with him in battle, and he realises, just as Cloud and Squall did, that you have to fight for something to believe in, that there is always a way to win in spite of your problems.

And Tidus, of course, learns that the whole point of a Summoner's pilgrimage is for her to die at the end when the Final Aeon is summoned. He is left broken by this news. Despite the fact that the Al Bhed Home is crumbling to pieces around him, he doesn't care. Facing the fact that Yuna is to die reforms him and makes him also determined to do what he can to see that she doesn't die. To find a new solution. He again evolves what he begun as.

... I hope this is making sense...

***END SPOILERS.***




I felt like defending each of the main characters, because they all have their own reasons and their own motivations, and they all ultimately ending up making the right decision about which way to go. Even in the earlier games, you see Cecil evolve beyond what he was, you see Terra and all the cast of VI evolve beyond what they were.

Myself, I don't judge the main character by how moody they are when the game begins, or if they're happy go lucky. I wait until the game has finished and the hero has finished the story before I decide if he was worthwhile or not.

How about you guys? Moody Cloud / Squall hero, or Cheery Zidane / Tidus hero, or don't you care because you're too tired to answer after reading this post?

I personally liked Cloud, when Squall came out in FFVIII, he was basically just a copy attitude wise, so I didn't really like him... Same goes for Zidane, he was great, but then Tidus of FFX was just a copy, so I didn't care for Tidus either... I can really go for either, but I wish Square would have made some major changes to the main characters... As in most FF games, the main character either tends to be quiet, reserved, and angry, or cheerful, hyper, and clueless... Take Celes or Terra of FF6 for example, they would be middle ground between the two personalities shown in FFVII-X, and also happen to be my faveorite main-characters in an FF game...

Greetings.

For me, I guess I liked the moody, angst hero (Squall, Cloud) in comparison to the happy go lucky hero (Zidane, Tidus), as they are when you're introduced to them.

As the games progress, a lot happens to each character, which changes and affects them in ways they aren't accustomed to. Also, as you play the game, you can 'sort of' get a 'feel' of them, how their emotions are portrayed through what they say, or in the character is still, what their movement is (Although, it can be hard to figure out.).

Still, in the end, the moody hero is the type I like the best. I guess because I can associate so well, because I'm often a moody bastard. lol

Thinking about it though, the "anti-hero" was really popular in the late nineties. Take wrestling. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the biggest hero at that time because he was the guy who'd stand up for what he believed in, talk trash, swear on national TV and drink beer and flip the bird at the boss. People ate it up because they wanted to do the same thing.

Cloud and Squall were sort of "anti-heroes" in that they didn't really take to authority. (Cloud didn't like Shinra, the authority. He didn't really like Barret that much either to begin with.) Squall didn't really respect Quistis as a teacher that much, and only until he was thrown into a position of leadership did he begin to grow.

Then, in 2000, 2001, anti-heroes really weren't as popular, and the shift went to Zidane and Tidus. Dunno, maybe I'm just going off topic.

You know what would be really cool? Someone like Magus as a main character. He's evil, you know that, but he just happens to be on the right side because of personal vengeance. A dark, foreboding figure with a deep power that could and has abused others, but is just there to help out where needed.

i personally dont think that cloud is a moody i dont care guy. first off, u choose most of what he says. so you decide wheter he will be an ass or a cool guy. zidane and tidus are alike, yet tidus is more of a dumbass in the beginning, and then during the more serious scenes he is a lot more grown up and smart. zidane is just like-uh i pick what we do. i like squall, cause he doesnt talk much, opposed to the other mc's. as sed b4 (spoiler)
quote: Squall learns how to love. That is the key part of the story. At the beginning he is distant, and he shuns an offer of friendship and romance from Quistis because he just doesn't care about anyone other than himself.

Then he meets Rinoa.

Rinoa changes Squall's life. Disk 3 when he is carrying her unconscious form across the bridge to Esther because he wants to heal her. Going out into space in order to catch her. Holding her in his arms out there in space knowing they are going to die soon due to lack of air, until the Ragnarok goes past them. Sharing the moment on the Ragnarok. It's an awesome story bond between the pair that makes Squall human, that teaches him how to share his heart.

Running to go and save Rinoa from being imprisoned as a Sorceress, telling her that he will not let her disappear as Time compresses. All these moments stand out and embrace me.


this is pretty damn true.


end s


however, i like all the mc's, the only problems i had was tidus being dumb, zidane having a god damn tail, squalls stats for sucking, and cloud looking like my drawings of batman wen i was 4

oh and the magus i dea is totally cool

Nononono, Magus must never become the MAIN character!

Do not get me wrong. I love that man! (I really do.) A charismatic, powerful, fascinating, interesting character like him must be carefully handled so he does not lose his appeal. Over-using him would just suck!
He's better as the type you occasionally encounter, the guy about whose intentions you can never be 100% certain. That's, in my opinion, a way better way to use a character like him.


And now I really want a sequel with him. :sad:

magus trigger- deceiving people into doing the wrong thing.

yea its imaginery