This is probably gonna get at least one troll reply and many joke replies, but just thought this would be a fun little discussion.


While we all know these games are known to have "race"s other than humans, it seems the humans of this game tend to have different races as well... so what characters in the games have been minorities?
The only ones I can think of are Barrett, Kiros, and Yuffie, though I'm sure there are more. And I'm sure there's gotta be at least one character who's "Jewish" (in theory of course). I almost want to say Steiner is, heh heh... well, his name seems it, as well as other traits of his that lead me to think that.

I also remember a thread a while back asking if Vincent was Turkish (no, not a "Turk", actually Turkish).

You mean real minorities? Or, uh, FF minorities? 'Cause I was thinking Al Bhed... but I've no idea if they'd count as a "minority".

You mean real minorities? Or, uh, FF minorities? 'Cause I was thinking Al Bhed... but I've no idea if they'd count as a "minority".

Considering the way they're looked at they probably are.

But I clearly stated how there are FF races (Ronso, Guado, Viera, Shumi....) seperate from humans, but within the humans (or "humes") in this game there are real minorities, and THAT is what I'm referring to.

As for Al Bhed, at first I thought otherwise, but now that I think about it they kinda CAN be considered a race seperate from humans.

Well, in FFX, there's Maroda, Isaaru's brother (for some reason, no one brings up why two brothers are pasty white and the other black as night); and Letty was also black, as was one of the Luca Goers. Maester Kinoc was asian, but whether that's a minority is contestible, considering every character was based off asian models.

Edit: Also Fran, the viera from FFXII.

But I clearly stated how there are FF races (Ronso, Guado, Viera, Shumi....) seperate from humans, but within the humans (or "humes") in this game there are real minorities, and THAT is what I'm referring to.

I meant if you asked about real-world minorities (AAs, Jews, etc) or minorities made up for the game. (Like Al Bhed - I wouldn't classify them as a race, I always of thought of them as humans, but ymmv. Eta: thought I should clarify: by "race" I mean "different species" here - like Viera, Shumi, Bangaa, IX's rat people, w/e they were called, etc.)

Anyhow, VIII's Raijin would be another one.

Oh yeah, forgot about Raijin.

Any other "JEWS" besides Steiner (I know it's not really a race, but usually they include that when they try to vary. And plus I'm curious which characters tend to most represent that stereotype, since I am one)?

Fujin was albino (I think), and there were plenty of Mexicans in FFVII

Hmm... well, what about Wakka? The information I looked up indicates that his accent can best be described as "Polynesian," or more generally Pacific Islander.

Wasn't one of the fellows in the Desert Prison black?

Hmm... well, what about Wakka? The information I looked up indicates that his accent can best be described as "Polynesian," or more generally Pacific Islander.

His accent is definitely more Jamaican/Carribean than Pacific Islander. Ironically, Wakka isn't actually black, but......

Anyway, there are literally tons of black NPCs in the later FF titles, but none in the earlier ones (iirc). I think in FFVII, Barret was the only black guy in the whole game, and the fact that Marlene was white a sheet makes his ethnicity an interesting point of discussion.

His accent is definitely more Jamaican/Carribean than Pacific Islander. Ironically, Wakka isn't actually black, but......

Anyway, there are literally tons of black NPCs in the later FF titles, but none in the earlier ones (iirc). I think in FFVII, Barret was the only black guy in the whole game, and the fact that Marlene was white a sheet makes his ethnicity an interesting point of discussion.

Marlene was adopted.

Of course, silly me. :facepalm:

Still, the lack of other black NPCs is pretty funny because it poses some serious questions as to how Barret came to be.

Don't you find it odd that Barret was black but his brother, Dyne, was white?

Hn, I always thought Dyne wasn't his real brother, more like a companion, if that makes sense... (sorry, ESL here). Then again it's been ages since I played VII, so I may be misremembering.

Incidentally, was VII the first FF to include a black character? Did they only start doing it when they started targeting western audiences?

Considering the way they're looked at they probably are.

But I clearly stated how there are FF races (Ronso, Guado, Viera, Shumi....) seperate from humans, but within the humans (or "humes") in this game there are real minorities, and THAT is what I'm referring to.

As for Al Bhed, at first I thought otherwise, but now that I think about it they kinda CAN be considered a race seperate from humans.

Actually, in the game if you get all the Al Bhed words it comes off as Al Bhed are indeed humans, they are just a sub faction of humans.

I agree with enenen regarding Barret / Dyne -- there's nothing to indicate tha Barret and Dyne were actually related.

Barret: "Dyne was my best friend. We was close ever since we was kids..."


Oh, and...


His accent is definitely more Jamaican/Carribean than Pacific Islander. Ironically, Wakka isn't actually black, but......
Hmm. I wonder why all those sites say "Pacific Islander," then. Ah well, I can't disagree with you as far as it sounding Jamaican/Caribbean. And yeah, I know he's not black, but if we're counting Yuffie as a minority, then I would think Wakka counts.

About Wakka... what's he sound like in Japanese? Does he speak Kansai-ben or sth?.. Anyone played X in Japanese? (ftr, I heard the original voices but I don't know shit about Japanese, so...)

Actually, in the game if you get all the Al Bhed words it comes off as Al Bhed are indeed humans, they are just a sub faction of humans.

I know how their language works, thank you. But it's not just the language that distinguishes them, they also have distinct physical traits that make them Al Bhed, like the eyes and such, which is why I'd put them separate from humans.

Of course, silly me. :facepalm:

Still, the lack of other black NPCs is pretty funny because it poses some serious questions as to how Barret came to be.

There's some black NPC's within the game. Not a whole lot. In the slums across the the 7th Heaven bar on the second floor there's a black guy who explains magic (?). There's Big Bro from Wall Market who is black...and also within the Honeybee Manor in Wall Market, there are the group of body builders that molest you in the hot tub (a few were black) . I believe a merchant in Junon is black as well. There is a black woman (I think) who gives you Barret's final limit break in North Corel too. That's probably about it though. Barret is indeed of the few black people within the planet.

Eh, depends on the game - XII, yeah, they look very much white. VIII, X - they looked distinctly Asian to me.

News flash, Japanese people's skin is white!

Who would have thought?

Srsly? I thought it was yellow. The more you know! ;)

I meant their facial features. No one in XII had distinctively Asian facial features - all of them looked very much Caucasian.

That's the case for almost everything they do. Even most typical manga and "japanime" don't portray the characters with Asian features (instead opting for some kind of conventional artistry which IS typical to them but not strictly Asian in look - big eyes, exaggerated expressions, and the likes) .

But yeah, FF X was a bit more Asian in style than all the others.

Mmm, yeah, agreed about the cartoonish VII and IX (not to mention any of the classics, though you have to admit wank over whether the sprites are azn enough would be beautiful), but in VIII's FMVs the characters did look like they they were going for Asian to me. Ah well, agree to disagree.

How about Dr. Tot from IX? Jewish possibly.