Top Five Ladies of Final Fantasy

We’ve all spent some time playing the Final Fantasy franchise, whether it was just playing half way through FFVII once to see what all the hype was about, or playing through FFIII (the real one) for the fifth time while you wait in line to get your hands on FFIV for your Game Boy Advance. Every Final Fantasy game has had its share of strong men and women, and while we often poke fun at how difficult it is to tell them apart, it’s time the actual ladies of Final Fantasy got some recognition for their awesomeness.

5. Quistis Tsipis, FFVIII. We’ve all had a really cool young teacher at some point in our lives, and their passion for their subject made learning genuinely interesting and fun. Imagine if that really cool young teacher was teaching you how to suck the magical essence out of creatures after you brutalize them beyond recognition with your weapon of choice? There would be a waiting list a mile long even for Quistis’s 8AM class. Fun side note: she has developed something of a cult following by a group who call themselves “trepies” which was inspired by her in-game fan club of the same name.

4. Lulu, FFX. Given how magnificently fleshed out all the characters of Final Fantasy X are, it’s pretty much a toss up between Lulu, Yuna and Rikku because all are exceptionally cool in their own regards. Yuna’s tormented love story with Tidus is actually interesting (unlike most FF love stories) and Rikku’s ability to tinker with items gives the game an intriguing layer of depth. Lulu edges out both of her contenders, though, because she is so powerful that she is goes into battle wielding a doll and still dominates. It doesn’t hurt that she wasn’t in X-2, either. Let’s just not talk about that one…

3. Tifa Lockhart, FFVII. It’s safe to say that every twenty-something nerd-man who went through hormonal fits at the same time Final Fantasy VII hit shelves has probably dreamt about Tifa at some point in their life, but that’s not why she’s on the list. At a time when women in RPGs tended to be physically weak magic users, Tifa proved that chicks could kick ass, and she did it with her bare fists, no less. It doesn’t hurt that she is also part of one of the best fan-service fight scenes to appear in the franchises’ history as she squared off against Loz in Aerith’s flower garden.

2. Celes Chere, FFVI. Celes isn’t one of the overly celebrated characters in the Final Fantasy universe, despite the fact that she appears in one of the series’ most beloved titles. She fits neatly into an exceptionally large cast and, as a result, gets very little time in the spotlight. The time that she does spend there, however, is awesome. Her ‘runic blade’ power is possibly the most badass ability in the entire franchise, because it allows her to absorb magic damage against the party as MP. Anyone who can literally eat Flare for breakfast deserves some props in my book.

1. Aerith Gainsborough, FFVII. Aerith (or Aeris, as she was originally known in America) is one of the strongest casters in the franchise. Of course, it’s really easy to make a character overpowered without breaking the game when they don’t continue past the game’s first disc. Oh yeah, if any of you reading this haven’t heard: OBSOLETE SPOILER WARNING: Aerith dies. And the fact that she dies gives the rest of the stories told in that universe a realistic darkness unlike anything we had seen at the time. Cloud’s torment over his inability to save her fleshes his character out and taints the bizarre quasi-romance he has later with Tifa. Even after her death, she is one of the most fascinating characters in the series.

This list was hard to put together because all the ladies of Final Fantasy are fantastic in their own right, whether it’s because of their additions to the story or their ability to rock a tonberry’s face off, Square Enix has a way with the ladies… at least when it comes to creating them.