Board 8 > Who is the main character in Final Fantasy VI?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I had assumed everybody agreed it was Terra, but apparently not!

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I picked Kefka to be a contrarian but you could hypothetically beat the game without caring about orphans

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Why does the story start with Celes in the World of Ruin?
Staff: Theres no central main character in FF6all 12 of them are equally the main character, so starting with Celes then just made sense in the overall flow of the story. We were concerned that if we started it with Terra, it would place too much relative importance on her story. Also, we wanted to give Terra some extra backstory, and show what she had been up to since the world had been destroyed.

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I appreciate that idea, but saying that Mog is equally the main character that Terra/Celes/Edgar/Locke are is a bunch of LOL.

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You accidentally put Ultros as the poll question instead of an option

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I know it's the "official" statement but to say they're all "equally" the main character is silly

Gau is not as important to the story as Terra or Celes

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GuessMyUserName posted...

all 12 of them are equally the main character,

OK but this is a lie. If it's 12 then they're either counting Umaro, Mog or Gogo as a main character, which is clearly not the case!

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Main character Umaro waiting to be picked up in the cave to fight some clowns

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If you go on overall story relevance/party availability between both World of Balance and World of Ruin it's actually Edgar so I'm glad he was on the poll

Even if I am the only Edgar voter.

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Anyway Dissidia confirms Terra. And the villains who didn't make the cut to represent their series first in Dissidia can suck it up.

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Kefka is the main character of FFVI in the same way that Jason Voorhees or Godzilla are the main character of their respective franchises; he is both physically and thematically what drives the story forward and presents the thesis of the game to the player via its contrarian viewpoint (every action and story being meaningful vs the big picture is horrible so let's burn it all down).

Otherwise still probably Celes due to, at least, requiring her to unite everyone (or at least Edgar and Setzer).

Terra's 100% the protag of WoB though.

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agreed that they aren't actually equal

but there's still the fact they literally took roles away from Terra because they didn't want her to be too important -- which I think might've succeeded to well in because she really doesn't have much presence in the game beyond some WoB plot devices that she's not even actively participating in

I really can't imagine playing through FF6 and seeing her character as the protagonist - she's dragged along by the Returners, doesn't really want to be involved in any of it, then quits to play with orphans

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FFVI is the story of Terra discovering her past and learning how to love

The clown stuff is all a minor subplot by comparison
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The very end is what cemented Terra being the main for me. The final confrontation is centred on her, and her freedom as her hair blows in the wind on the ship just felt like the conclusion to her story which began in the first scene of the game. I get why people don't treat her like a 'true' lead with how passive she is throughout much of the plot, but I can't see anyone else as the main over her.

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Considering Terra the main character of FFVI is like considering Aeris the main character of FFVII or River the main character of Firefly.

Like you can have a lot of intrigue in the plot be centered around a character and give them moments, but honestly to me if they're not actually the driving force behind anything that can't really make said character the main. It makes them either a glorified plot device or a supporting character depending on how well they're written.

I honestly see Kefka as a legitimate argument for main as he's unanimously driving the antagonistic force which is the focus of the story, but Edgar is the unifier that allows the so called 12 main characters be a unit to stand against Kefka. In both worlds he's the biggest or tied for biggest catalyst for everyone grouping up. In WoB he's the guy who runs the Returners with Locke's help and in WoR while Celes is the first one we really see making strides to getting the band back together, Edgar is doing things offscreen and it's not until Celes meets up with Edgar that the recruiting really starts to happen (Setzer is also important, but he's kinda just moping until the party gets to him-- and Sabin is technically 100% optional)

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Strago

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I'd have to say Cloud is more significant to the story than Aeris. She's kind of on the same level as Tifa and Barret if anything. And before you say "Gold Saucer," Yuffie is not on this level.

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It's an ensemble, but the main character is clearly Gau
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andylt posted...

but I can't see anyone else as the main over her.

but that's the thing though - you don't have to

Although I could definitely point to Celes's more intentioned drive against Kefka which people very mistakenly believe starts at WoR because of a need to split the game into two pieces, WoB vs WoR, when Celes truly started taking priorities shortly after joining the party, insisting to take charge with Locke following the events of Zozo, and exploring her history with the Empire as the party delves into Vector all while Terra takes a back seat.

It's definitely understated how central a character Celes already is in World of Balance, again taking the spotlight as th Empire sends her with the party into Thamasa, leading again to the Floating Continent that pushes Celes's history and opposition to Kefka in the climax of the game. For all people talk about the ending bringing Terra back if you skipped her, WoB does the same thing with Celes even if you don't take her along there either.

Again I get why people try to split FF6 to WoB-Terra WoR-Celes, but honestly I feel people might give Celes too much WoR credit that's moreso owed to her strong role in WoB - but as people did with Terra in WoB they take the game starting out with x character to mean that character is the lead, which the scenario writers explicitly wanted to avoid. Not to say Celes doesn't continue a strong role in WoR, because yeah she remains a stronger driving force than Terra ever was by actually seeking out the party to challenge Kefka. But I very much view WoR as a truly ensemble scenario that was more in line with what the writers wanted to begin with, where everyone actually just gets their own little stories to tell.

WoR is also definitely not half of the game, which is another issue I have with people viewing the game as two halves. As much as it would pain me to compare the two, there's actually a lot similar with XIII's structuring, where WoR is basically Chapter 11. (XIII also being an ensemble title, one that I'd even say accomplishes the concept more successfully than VI)

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I came here to vote for Terra and I'm pleasantly surprised that she's winning comfortably even with "The game has no main character" as an option
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GuessMyUserName posted...

(XIII also being an ensemble title, one that I'd even say accomplishes the concept more successfully than VI)

I'd say it does, but that's also partly because the cast is smaller. It's harder to call FFVI an ensemble title when you have 4-5 essentially meaningless characters.

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yeah the "even" is moreso me just say "despite me vastly preferring VI, XIII did actually accomplish what it failed to"

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Hm I like your analysis GMUN- I don't deny that plotwise Celes is perhaps a more important figure to the gang and the events that take place within the world, I just think that Terra is the primary connection to the player and it's her personal arc that begins and concludes the game. And I think that in the final confrontation it's Terra whose ideals run directly counter to Kefka's, more obviously than with anyone else. She just 'fits' the hero trope there for me. (FWIW Celes is my fav character)

Out of curiosity, who do you consider the main character of XII? It could be a similar question, though Terra is more relevant than Vaan.

And XIII does indeed do it well, though I think Sazh is the odd man out and the least connected to the plot.

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Sazh has the whole Dajh emotional hook though, he's at least plenty invested in their struggle
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Balthier is the leading man.

it's really Ashe though

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Honestly while Terra is more relevant to FF6's plot, Vaan as a protagonist at least offers a perspective and an acting role which Terra simply does not bother do, so I actually accept the position of him as a player perspective protagonist as understandable.

Although to me the story certainly belongs to Ashe and she's very much committed to her actions and purpose driving the story. It's been a long time and I'm incredibly hazy on my FF12 details though.

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Vaan is the viewpoint character, but that's not necessarily the same as the protagonist (think "To Kill a Mockingbird," where the story is told from the perspective of his daughter, but Atticus is the protagonist).

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I voted Celes without even thinking it through

....GMUN's influence on me, no doubt

should clarify that by "accept the position" I do mean understand it rather than agree with it

since yeah by it's Ashe's story I mean she's the acting protagonist

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Well, Terra is indeed dominating as predicted. Kefka with more votes than Celes tho!

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paperwarior posted...

I'd have to say Cloud is more significant to the story than Aeris

Cloud is the clearcut main character of FFVII yes.

So the problem is FFVI doesn't have a Cloud. Terra is basically like Aeris in terms of plot significance is what I was saying. And then Edgar is more like Barret early game being the party unifier. Which I mean I think most would say Aeris is probably more of a major character than Barret but I'd say Edgar is relatively speaking more significant to the story than Barret too in that he remains relevant throughout unlike Barret who the game kinda just forgets exists for the most part after Disc 1.

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Is the main character of Chrono Trigger somehow not Crono, but Magus?

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No.

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Adlai Stevenson

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I think as time goes on this FF6 question makes less and less sense to me. The question tends to become "who is most plot relevant" which is fun to argue about but is an entirely different discussion! There's no doubt imo that it's an ensemble cast, and I think trying to force it into a "main character" box just flattens it. Though, saying it's the whole party is also laughable, there's a core of like...5 or 6 characters before you start hitting the B-listers, and that's fine.

I used to be a Terra person but I've changed my mind. Though I will say, Terra is the single most representative character of FF6 which I think is why people view her as the main. Thematically, Terra's story has a lot of overlap with the major themes of the game as a whole. This is true of Celes too, but Terra has an advantage because her backstory is so important. Almost the entire world and plot details of FF6 are defined in Terra's personal backstory! If you were to pick an individual character's arc and follow it beginning to end, choosing Terra basically gets you a Wikipedia summary. But that's not what the story actually does, and it deliberately pivots away from her all the time. So she's not THE main character, but it makes sense why she gets treated that way.

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Stories where there isn't a single clear-cut protagonist don't need to have one defined as such, though.

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Setzer because you can't travel across the world without the airship

(just kidding)

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paperwarior posted...

Stories where there isn't a single clear-cut protagonist don't need to have one defined as such, though.

That's my point, why are we so obsessed with trying to do that?

(using "protagonist" and "main character" loosely here - stories often have multiple protagonists but the FF6 discussion is always framed as who is THE singular main protagonist)

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The answers are either "none" or "Terra".

Of the main characters the story still chooses to start and end with her.

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