Square Enix makes their bread and butter with RPGs. What’s an RPG without a good hero supported by allies and a good villain? ConsiderFinal Fantasy 6for example, as that has one of the largest playable casts in the series.
From young children to old men, the variety is astounding plus Kefka is an all-time great villain. Now, among those heroes, do any of them have flaws? Yes, plenty and so do these other Square Enix heroes. They may falter from the path of righteousness or have bad attitudes, but at the end of the day, they still get the job done.
Cloud goes to some wild places inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthdue to Sephiroth getting in his head. First, Sephiroth makes Cloud think Tifa is lying to him about being real. This all comes to a header when he almost kills her at the Gongaga reactor in Chapter 9. Thankfully Tifa survives, Cloud apologizes, and the team moves on.
It’s not just big moments like this that vilify Cloud though. He rejects a lot of ideas with scoffs as if he is too good for anyone. Becoming more human is part of his character arc so his nonchalant attitude does get fixed in some ways. He’s not a monster, but if left unchecked, he could become one.
Yuffie is a more realized character in the remake games, especially inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. She has some dark moments in that game but they pale in comparison to the originalFinal Fantasy 7. At one point Yuffie leaves the party for dead, stealing their Materia and letting Shinra soldiers surround them.
She was only following them around for Materia to help her nation, Wutai, get the upper hand over Shinra with powerful magic. She learns her lesson by the end of this arc and that Materia hunger does pop up inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthtoo. She just doesn’t go as hard in the remake as she does in the original.
Crono, like many RPG heroes in the 90s, was a silent characterinChrono Trigger. Players could immerse themselves as Crono and make decisions for the teen swordsman. The best example happens early on at the Millennium Fair. In this section of the game, some mini-quests will test the player’s morality.
For example, an old man has his lunch laying out that players can take as an item. They can also pick up Marlene’s pendant and attempt to sell it without even talking to her. All of this comes up during the iconic trial scene wherein Crono’s misdeeds will be brought up. This may be more the fault of players than Crono, but it’s still a funny example worth examining.
Riku is best friends with Sora intheKingdom Heartsseries. When their island world gets overrun by Heartless in the first game, Riku disappears and gets picked up by Maleficent. She manipulates him to become a rival to Sora, who steps on his toes throughout the adventure.
Even though Riku gets this darkness expelled from him by the end of the first game, he has to battle through this trauma for the rest of the series. This literal and metaphorical darkness will not go away, tempting him to do bad things over and over again. Thankfully, with friends like King Mickey and Sora, Riku can keep it together. But, for how long?
Neku fromThe World Ends With Youhas similar problems to Cloud. He’s a loner that doesn’t want to accept help from anybody. That’s why he wears his headphones everywhere as Neku wants to drown out society.
The plot of the game involves Neku and several others competing in a game of death in an in-between dimension. Even though his life is on the line, Neku can’t help but roll his eyes at his allies. Also like Cloud, this part of Neku goes through an arc, and by the end, Neku sees the error of his ways and apologizes to his friends for being uncaring and distant.
Frey is a normal girl living out the best life she can muster in New York City inthe gameForspoken. One night Frey finds herself falling through a tunnel into another dimension wherein she finds a talking gauntlet. This gauntlet, Cuff, wants to help Frey who dismisses him off the bat.
Frey’s attitude in the game is out of control as she is a snark machine. All she wants is to get back home and she ignores the plights of everyone in this new world. This uncaring attitude may turn players off Forspoken quickly, but Frey does evolve throughout the experience.
Zero has a similar attitude probleminDrakengard 3to Frey inForspoken. She’s the main heroine but she acts like a villain from minute one. Zero screams, cusses, kills and has not a care in the world for anyone. All Zero wants is revenge against a coven of witches who tried to backstab her.
Why? Well, a large portion ofDrakengard 3’sappeal is the story. Revealing too much would rob players of the discovery but let’s just say this. While Zero doesn’t pull a 180 completely on her attitude, she does at least get a bit more tolerant in her blood-soaked tour of revenge.
