Some Final Fantasy Things

Top Fifty Final Fantasy Characters

5. Cid Highwind, FFVII

Cid Highwind is a man whose introduction in FFVII says a lot about him.  We first meet him in Rocket Town, where he's persisting in working toward his goal of constructing a rocket and making it into space.  He's passionate about science, loves to fly (which is very useful in the worlds of Final Fantasy,) and has no qualms about using colorful vocabulary and chain smoking as much as his heart desires.  During our first meeting with him he also graciously offers us some delicious tea!  How pleasant!

He seems like such a genuine person.  He says and does what he wants, and that's that.  He may swear and act kind of rude, but he's a nice person. He cares about his friends, but he doesn't feel the need to act all goody-goody about it.  Those kinds of friends who will tell you when you're being stupid are the best kinds.  Honesty is the best policy.  He may seem a little rough around the edges, like he might not really have much compassion for anyone, but damn it, if you mess with his friends, he's gonna kick your ass. He loves those guys!

Final Fantasy VII contains many comedic characters, but none of them make me laugh as much as Cid does.  Have I ever mentioned that I think swearing, to an extent, is hilarious?  People attach such a stigma onto it, so when someone is able to use swear words so casually, I get a kick out of it. Cid is so charming, in an unusual way.  I love how he is demanding and vulgar at the same time as he's being hospitable, and I also appreciate his helpfulness... Where would I be without the Tiny Bronco and The Highwind?

Cid is also one of the strongest characters in Final Fantasy VII, and always one of my top picks, if not my very top pick, for who to include in my party. (I almost always choose Cid and Vincent... and then Cloud is forced on me, but he's a really good fighter too, so I'd probably pick him anyway.) Cid fights with a spear and is a dragoon.  Remember me expressing my love for dragoons?  Probably not... I don't expect any of you guys to read and keep track of everything I ever write, but I do love dragoons, for the most part, and Cid is one of the best. There's only one dragoon I like more, and she's number four on this top fifty list...

Top Fifty Final Fantasy Characters

7. Vincent Valentine, FFVII

Vincent may be one of the most awesome, bad-ass Final Fantasy characters ever created.  Just look at him...  I don't really need to explain this, but I will anyway.  He is an optional character found in a coffin.  He wears a lovely, long, tattered, flowing, red cape and has the most beautiful hair I've ever seen.  One of his hands is an awesome golden clawed gauntlet and his limit break makes him turn into a fucking literal monster.  When he's not in his chaos mode, during which he attacks the fuck out of everything and you cannot control him, he fights with a gun, which is something mostly only cool characters do. They don't want to get right up close and personal with the enemy... They just kill it from a distance.  Less messy.

Okay... So clearly Vincent's got that cool vibe to him.  I love stuff having to do with death, so him sleeping in a coffin for years upon years is pretty awesome... He's almost like a reanimated corpse... He just laid there for ages like he was dead.  That's awesome. But lots of Final Fantasy characters are awesome (maybe not this awesome... but awesome still.) Vincent scored so high on this list for other reasons too.

Vincent Valentine is compassionate.  He helps people out and makes friends with people even though he seems to be a loner.  Being a loner myself, I know how hard it is to connect with people.  Vincent must really care about his friends to bring himself to be around them when he seems like he'd usually like to just sit in a coffin and pretend to be dead.

He's also easy to relate to, for me, and probably for a lot of people who play the Final Fantasy games.  He's a favorite character among many, not just me, so I'm clearly not the only one who feels a connection with him.  He's relatable because he seems to hate himself to some extent... I'm certain a lot of people are pretty critical of themselves.  Many of us are more judgmental of our own mistakes than the mistakes of others.  He has regrets about his past, and who doesn't?

In a way, he can be an inspiration for those of us who feel the same ways in our own lives.  Vincent has so many regrets.  He seems to loathe himself.  But we love him.  We see him and think, "No, Vincent!  You're amazing!  Don't hate yourself! No regrets, Valentine!  You're perfect!"  If we can see that Vincent is being too hard on himself, maybe we can begin to feel like we are being too hard on ourselves too... Maybe through loving Vincent, we can learn to love ourselves.

He's also one of many Final Fantasy characters I have a huge crush on. He's so pretty. :')

Top Fifty Final Fantasy Characters

15. Yuffie Kisaragi, FFVII

If you can forgive Yuffie from being a pain in the ass and stealing all your materia, it's easy to love her.  She's funny, cute, cheerful, confident, and generally friendly.  I've mentioned many times before that I love thieves in Final Fantasy games, because I love having at least one of every item that exists in each game and stealing is a great way to make that goal a reality.  Of course, anyone in FFVII can be a thief if you equip steal materia on them, but Yuffie is meant to be the best at it.

Yuffie has many opinions and is not afraid to voice them.  Because her opinions aren't generally stupid, I like this about her.  It's always good to be opinionated if you're also intelligent. If something's going down and Yuffie thinks it's unfair, she's probably going to say something.  The world benefits a lot from people who are willing to stand up for what they believe in. (Like I said, unless what they believe in is something stupid...) But Yuffie isn't stupid.  She's very smart.

I think a lot of players of Final Fantasy could probably relate to Yuffie.  She's got a sort of obsession with materia and will do whatever she can to get her hands on it.  Didn't we all feel the same way while playing FFVII?  I know I certainly stocked up on materia and would have been willing to do almost anything to get more.  I would have gladly murdered Cait Sith if it would have granted me more materia. But then, that's not much of a sacrifice...

Yuffie also cares about where she comes from.  It's always nice to remember one's heritage. She strives to restore Wutai to its former glory and to prove herself to her father.  She rebels against her family, but still wants them to respect and understand her.