Top Fifty Final Fantasy Characters
Where do I even begin with this gorgeous little creature? Vivi is a popular character within the Final Fantasy fandom. I'm certain I'm not the only one who positively adores this little guy. Similar to my feelings toward Rikku, I feel tremendous love and respect for Vivi and explaining it in words might be a challenge... But let's go ahead and start typing it and see what I end up saying:
We meet Vivi very early on in the game, as he stumbles around Alexandria with a counterfeit ticket to the play everyone's going to. This is when I begin to love him. Right when we meet him, he's tripping over everything, he's lost, gullible, so sweet, and adorable. How could you not love him? He turns in this ticket he's really excited about and then finds out it's fake and is so clearly disappointed... He makes me want to cry already and I barely even know him at this point.
But that is only the beginning. Eventually we find out Vivi is a much more important character than he seems. He's not just this cute, unfortunate, gullible, little guy we love and need to feel protective over. He's so much more complicated than that. He doesn't understand where he came from, why he exists, how long he'll exist, or what happens after he ceases to exist. (These are all thoughts I think most people contemplate at various times in their lives. Everyone wonders why they are here and what life's all about, what their purpose is, if there even is a purpose for them, what dying will mean...) Vivi wants to understand the world and his place in it, just like everyone else.
In addition to all that, Vivi is a very powerful mage, but he fears these powers. He doesn't understand them and is at first reluctant to use his magic. But through the duration of the game, he learns to use his talents and becomes a very strong and powerful member of our party. I think this is so relatable to so many people too. Isn't everyone afraid of their talents to some extent? I'm at the age where I'm finally qualified to be considered for jobs that require responsibility, jobs that actually matter. I am capable of being a responsible adult, but it's so scary to accept this bit of power I have and to know I might mess up. This isn't as awesome as Vivi's powers, but it's a parallel to it for me at least. Everyone is scared of themselves and of messing up, if only just a little.
So we can relate to Vivi. But that's not enough reason to have him as my top favorite Final Fantasy character ever. Vivi deserves so much love and respect for much better reasons than his relatablilty.
This little mage is strong willed, brave, kind, and tells a beautiful, tragic story. The best part about the FFIX story, in my opinion, is Vivi's story. Within the game, he learns so much about life and friendship. He learns what it means to live and to die, which is a really difficult concept even for adults to fully grasp... And Vivi is just a baby. He was only just created... He also makes so many meaningful friendships and enriches the lives of everyone who knows him throughout the game, helping them with their own crises and being a kind friend along the way. At a certain point in the game, Vivi realizes his mortality, and it makes him and every one of his friends, and me, and you, and everyone in the world really really heartbroken, but instead of him lying down and crying and cursing the unfair world, he makes the most out of what time he has left.
Vivi has so many things to wonder about, so many reasons to feel cheated. Black mages like himself were created to be weapons. Some were killed mercilessly right in front of him. He finally met people like him and began to understand himself only to find out these people were all "stopping" (otherwise known as dying) at very young ages. Vivi knew that meant his time was likely limited too. But he kept living, kept helping people, and left his mark on the people who grew to love him.
We can all learn a lot from Vivi. All of our time is limited. You might live to be eighty. You might live to be thirty. You just don't know, but no matter how old you live to be, you definitely will die one day, so you should try to use the time you have wisely, just like Vivi did. Don't fear death. It's inevitable for us all.
He transformed from the beginning of the game to the end, from a scared, timid little creature who did not know his strengths, who feared the unknown and didn't understand life, to a strong, mature, brave person who made friends with nearly everyone he came in contact with and who taught them all valuable lessons about friendship and life and death as well. Characters grow up in Final Fantasy games all the time. That's a huge aspect of these games, but Vivi grew up so much, so fast. He sort of had to. And the changes between the beginning of the game and the end, for him, are huge, and so admirable. He's such a wise little mage.
This scrambled, confused explanation does not do him justice, but Vivi is one of my favorite fictional characters in existence. I love him so much it's hard to put it into words, obviously... Vivi will live on forever in the hearts of all of us who love him, and I'm certain there are so many Vivi-fans out there. So, so many. We love you, Vivi. Your memories will be part of the sky...
