The Top Ten

Here we go, the final post. The top ten. The post where I have to draw out the introduction as much as possible to build the suspense. And what better way to do that than to do a recap of the honourable mentions, and numbers 100 to 11? Here’s the list so far:

Honourable mentions
Angeal Hewley (CC)	Paddra Nsu-Yeul (XIII-2)	Al-Cid Margrace (XII)
Tellah (IV)	Gippal (x-2)	Chocobo (Various)
Luneth (III)	Jenova (VII)	Barthandelus (XIII)
Brother (X)	Edward Chris Von Muir (IV)	Penelo (XII)
No. 100 to 71
100. Emperor Mateus (II)	90. Eiko Carol (IX)	80. Rufus Shinra (VII)
99. Agrias Oaks (Tactics)	89. Odin (Various)	79. Wakka (X)
98. Rosa Joanna Farrell (IV)	88. Selphie Tilmitt (VIII)	78. Shiva (Various)
97. Cait Sith (VII)	87. Cid (X)	77. Amarant Coral (IX)
96. Garland (IX)	86. Rude (VII)	76. Bartz Klauser (V)
95. Barthello (X)	85. Ultros (VI)	75. Sabin Rene Figaro (VI)
94. Hope Estheim (XIII)	84. Cid Fabool IX (IX)	74. Cidolfus Orlandeau (Tactics)
93. Ultimecia (VIII)	83. Cid Raines (XIII)	73. Genesis Rhapsodos (CC)
92. Anima (X)	82. Golbez (IV)	72. Caius Ballad (XIII-2)
91. Leo Cristophe (VI)	81. Mog (Various)	71. Garland (I)
No. 70 to 41
70. Firion (II)	60. Quina Quen (IX)	50. Yuffie Kisaragi (VII)
69. Adelbert Steiner (IX)	59. Delita Heiral (Tactics)	49. Galuf Halm Baldesion (V)
68. Bahamut (Various)	58. Seymour Guado (X)	48. Snow Villiers (XIII)
67. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (XII)	57. Edea Kramer (VIII)	47. Paine (X-2)
66. Irvine Kinneas (VIII)	56. Gabranth (XII)	46. Noel Kreiss (XIII-2)
65. Faris Scherwiz (V)	55. Cid Pollendina (IV)	45. Freya Crescent (IX)
64. Vaan (XII)	54. Setzer Gabianni (VI	44. Zell Dincht (VIII)
63. Questis Trepe (VIII)	53. Reno (VII)	43. Basch Fon Ronsenburg (XII)
62. Edge Geraldine (IV)	52. Gilgamesh (V)	42. Serah Farron (XIII)
61. Cyan Garamonde (VI)	51. Edgar Roni Figaro (VI)	41. Kimahri Ronso (X)
No. 40 to 11
40. Oerba Dia Vanille (XIII)	30. Barret Wallace (VII)	20. Sephiroth (VII)
39. Kuja (IX)	29. Celes Chere (VI)	19. Kefka Palazzo (VI)
38. Seifer Almasy (VIII)	28. Rydia (IV)	18. Cecil Harvey (IV)
37. Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca (XII)	27. Aerith Gainsborough (VII)	17. Cid Highwind (VII)
36. Jecht (X)	26. Oerba Yun Fang (XIII)	16. Laguna Loire (VIII)
35. Ramza Beoulve (Tactics)	25. Rinoa Heartilly (VIII)	15. Tifa Lockhart (VII)
34. Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (IX)	24. Sazh Katzroy (XIII)	14. Rikku (x)
33. Locke Cole (VI)	23. Fran (XII)	13. Zack Fair (VII)
32. Beatrix (IX)	22. Red XIII (VII)	12. Terra Branford (VI)
31. Shadow (VI)	21. Tidus (X)	11. Vincent Valentine (VII)

Now, with that outta the way, here’s the top ten.

10. Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)

Ooo, soft...

Hey look, a monkey. How could anyone seriously think this guy is an Angel of Death? Zidane was created by Garland (NOT “Knock You Down” guy) to cause unrest and death, after branding his brother Kuja a failure. This infuriated Kuja, who left him in Lindblum in hopes he would never know of or even complete his purpose. He was raised by Baku, a member of the Tantalus Theatre Group. Zidane thinks of himself as quite the ladies’ man, hitting on many of the women in the game, even conducting an experiment to find out how soft Garnet’s butt is.

9. Lulu (Final Fantasy X)

"No matter how dark the night, morning always comes, and our journey begins anew."

Wow lady, who died? Other than your parents. And your summoner. And your boyfriend. Lulu is one of Yuna’s original three guardians. Yuna is her third summoner, after Lady Ginnem (died getting Yojimbo) and Father Zuke (quit in the Calm Lands). When Yuna decided to be a summoner Lulu was against it, but changed her mind because Yuna chose this path knowing what would happen. Despite the fact Wakka says she has a short fuse, Lulu is actually fairly patient with Tidus (whom she acts as a mentor for). No-one knows how she controls the dolls she uses as weapons.

8. Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

"Maybe Cocoon is past saving, but it's our home. And we'll protect it or die trying! We live to make the impossible possible! That is our Focus!"

Finally, a clear female protagonist. On Lightning’s 21st birthday, her sister Serah drops two bombshells on her: she’s fated to be a Pulse l’Cie and that she’s engaged to Snow (leader of NORA whom Lightning bitterly dislikes). Lightning refuses to believe either of these until she finds out there’s a Pulse fal’Cie in the Vestige. She tries to save Serah with the help of Sazh, but after attacking Anima everyone present was branded a l’Cie. Her real name is Claire Farron, but she changed it to Lightning because “it flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect. It only destroys”.

Please note: Of the ten characters from Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 to make the list, Lightning ranked the highest.

7. Balthier (Final Fantasy XII)

“Ah, the prison repository of wrested relics and raiments.” “So, our things are in here?” ”That's what I said.”

One of the perks of being the leading man is that you can never die. Ffamran mied Bunansa (or Balthier) is a sky pirate and ex-Archadian Judge (quite the career change). He is also the son of Dr. Cid, one of the game’s main antagonists. He speaks with a British accent, and has a tendency to be extremely calm in almost every situation (often making witty comments in the process). He is a kind-hearted person, though he tends to mostly be motivated by money or anything valuable. He is also “good friends” with Fran, despite the age and race difference.

Please note: Of the seven characters from Final Fantasy XII to make the list, Balthier ranked the highest.

6. Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV)

"I owe His Majesty much, but not so much I'd soil the Dragoons' name in his."

You know that fine line that separates good and evil? Well, this man plays jump rope with it. The first Dragoon of the series who can actually Jump, Kain is Cecil’s best frienemy. The two have been rivals since childhood, with Cecil usually winning (from the love of the king to the love of Rosa). At the start of the game when Cecil is being relieved of his duty as head of the Red Wings, Kain steps in to defend him, but gets demoted too. Throughout the game, Kain frequently gets possessed by Golbez, who is being possessed by Zemus.

Please note: Of the seven characters from Final Fantasy IV to make the list, Kain ranked the highest.

5. Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)

“Someday you're bound to lose everything. Everybody around will be gone. Then what are you left with? Nothing. Nobody... It's so miserable. And inevitable. It's so hard to recover from something like that. I never want to deal with that again. I can't. Even if it means being alone.”

“Hey Squall, you’re on the list of the most popular Final Fantasy characters of all time”. “Whatever”. Maybe this is where nearly every teenager gets their standard response to everything from. The gunblade wielding emo from the eighth instalment has some serious abandonment issues, stemming from the unexplained disappearance of his sister Ellone. However, he does still have emotions; they’re just being very heavily suppressed. Squall is the SeeD commander, and also has a long standing rivalry with Seifer Almasy, another orphan who uses a gunblade. During a fight between the two, they gave each other almost identical facial scars.

Please note: Of the ten characters from Final Fantasy VIII to make the list, Squall ranked the highest.

4. Yuna (Final Fantasy X)

“My father... my father wanted... to make Spira's sorrow go away. Not just cover it up with lies!”

Sweet and innocent. Those are the first words that come to mind whenever someone mentions Yuna. She is extremely kind-hearted and strong willed, though these traits are actually faults because she can’t say no when someone asks for help. Despite the fact she is constantly surrounded by death (on many occasions of those she cares for) there is only one occasion when she has been reduced to tears, when the group had just fled Bevelle as traitors and Yuna had been forced to marry an unsent Seymour Guado (her clenched fist as she kissed him is something I’ll never forget).

3. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)

"I pity you. You just don't get it at all... there's not a thing I don't cherish!"

Wow, Cloud made the list? Who’d have thought that would happen? At the start of the game, Cloud is a mercenary for hire, who has been hired by anti-Shinra group AVALANCHE to help take them down. He doesn’t really care about their goals, as long as he gets paid. That is, until he finds out that Professor Hojo experimented on him, making him think he was Zack, an old friend of his. Cloud’s rivalry with Sephiroth is not only the series’ most famous and bitter rivalry, but one of the gaming world’s most famous rivalries (sorry Pokemon’s Red and Blue).

Please note: Of the fifteen characters from Final Fantasy VII and related games to make the list, Cloud ranked the highest.

2. Vivi Orunitier (Final Fantasy IX)

How do you prove that you exist...? Maybe we don't exist..."

Aren’t you a little young to be here? Vivi is a black mage (in case you couldn’t tell from his clothes) created by Kuja for Queen Brahne. However, he escaped by falling off the cargo ship. He is first seen after getting a ticket to see “I Want To Be Your Canary”, which unfortunately is a fake. Vivi sneaks in, but is discovered in the crowd. He is chased onto the stage where he casts a fire spell to defend himself. However, it misses and hits Garnet’s cloak. While often unconfident about his abilities, he’s actually a powerful black mage.

Please note: Of the twelve characters from Final Fantasy IX to make the list, Vivi ranked the highest.

And now, the number one spot goes to...

1. Auron (Final Fantasy X)

“Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!”

Why can I smell death? Oh, that’s right, because not even the Grim Reaper can stop this badass samurai. Auron is easily Spira’s most famous guardian, not only defending Braska ten years prior to the events of the game, but then defending his daughter Yuna, who brought the Eternal Calm (spoiler alert). He is the strong, silent character of the game, partly to keep some of the dark secrets of Yevon from the rest of the party. However, he has no problem with telling Tidus these secrets, including that his father Jecht is Sin. He’s this game’s oldest playable character.

Please note: Of the thirteen characters from Final Fantasy X and X-2 to make the list, Auron ranked the highest. In case you haven’t been paying attention to the numbers.

There you have it everyone. Auron took out the top spot. Now that's it's over, what did you think of the list? Did it seem right to you? Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think. To all of you I say: Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and a Happy New Year...assuming the Mayans don't kill us on Friday. I'll see you in 2037 for the top 200 characters of all time.