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One thing that makes Final Fantasy heroes such interesting characters is the decisions they make over the course of the game they star in. Even the noblest of heroes have made some truly monstrous decisions, but it is important to note that this does not make them monsters or evil.
Some of these characters made the decisions they made because they felt they had no choice or that there was no other recourse to save the rest of the planet. No matter the reason, some of these heroes have truly checkered pasts. In some cases, there is redemption for the acts committed; other times, it’s the end of a game, meaning there’s no justice delivered.
Final Fantasy heroes occasionally make terrible decisions, making fans question their hero status
The Final Fantasy franchise would not be complete without some drama and terrifying, awful acts. Most of these come from villains. For instance, Kefka obliterated the planet on little more than a whim.
But then there are characters from the same game, like Shadow. He’s a solid example of a character that does help save the planet, but that doesn’t change the fact that he made extremely poor decisions. In Shadow/Clyde Arrowny’s case, he abandoned his newborn daughter with an old man. He also left his best friend to be apprehended and executed.
5 heroes and the choices they made
- Marche Radiuju (destroys an entire reality)
- Barret Wallace (murder, terrorism)
- Auron (accessory to murder, patricide)
- Cecil Harvey (multiple counts of murder involving innocent people, burned down a village)
- Delita Heiral (kidnapping, treachery, murder)
It’s important to note that this is not a condemnation of the characters above. Being on this list does not make them a bad character. On the other hand, these characters have depth and were willing to take extreme measures in their lives for one reason or another. This makes them far more interesting characters than some of their counterparts.
5) Marche Radiuju (destroyed reality)
Marche Radiuju, the hero of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, found that he didn’t really fit in the new town he wound up in.
Marche is a part of a fictional world that is much better than the one he originally called home. He winds up destroying this world by leaving it at the end of the game; he destroyed an entire reality, a whole existence, simply because it wasn’t his.
This world he was in was much better than the real world, too. There was no fighting, no bullying, and people did not die in combat in this world. Alcoholism is functionally cured, and parents never neglected their children. That sounds terrific, right? Sure, it’s escapism to stay. But that, in no way, erases the fact that Marche destroyed a whole universe because it wasn’t the one he called home.
4) Barret Wallace (murder, terrorism)
In fact, most of Final Fantasy VII’s cast are criminals. Yuffie’s a thief and a traitor, whereas Cloud Strife just exaggerates a bit on his CV. Barret Wallace’s goals are noble ones; he wants to save the world from the devastation that Shinra is putting it through. But in order to do that, he has to make some horrifying choices.
An eco-terrorist, Barret openly and willingly destroyed the Mako Reactors, leading to further deaths. The destruction of the Mako Reactors led cost thousands of deaths in the FFVII Remake.
On top of that, the actions of AVALANCHE led Shinra to drop the plate, killing possibly tens of thousands. An entire community was wiped off the map. While he did not initiate that plan, his actions paved the way for more acts of terrorism.
Even if it’s not fair to blame the dropping of the plate on Barret, he did participate in terrorism when he blew up two Mako Reactors, regardless of the reason why.
3) Auron (accessory to murder, patricide)
At first, it seemed like everything Auron did in Final Fantasy X was on the up and up. He brought Tidus to Spira in order to do battle with Sin. And that's where things start to get complicated, though.
Auron was well aware that Sin was Tidus' father, Jecht. He knew it would be an awful thing to put a boy, but he did it anyway.
On top of that, Auron was armed with the knowledge of how the Final Summoning worked. He had visited Yunalescka before and knew that he was perpetuating a cycle that would continue to kill thousands of people.
In Final Fantasy X, Auron knew that bringing Tidus to be Yuna's guardian would ultimately put entire cities at risk. Sin would hunt down Tidus and unleash wanton destruction upon Spira.
Wherever Tidus would go, Sin wouldn't be far behind.
Auron's actions were reckless and monstrous. He had no way of knowing that Tidus and Yuna would find a way to break the cycle of violence, and he allowed it to continue unchecked.
2) Cecil Harvey (multiple counts of murder, burned down a village)
Cecil Harvey is another case of someone good doing bad things. In Cecil’s case, he was brought up to be a Dark Knight in Final Fantasy IV and was likely slowly being corrupted by the dark power he wielded.
At the beginning of Final Fantasy IV, the Dark Knight led the Red Wings, Baron’s air force. They would go on to pillage the magical village of Mysidia. At least two innocent mages were murdered, likely more, as they moved through the town.
Some of Cecil’s crimes are unintentional, though. He murdered the Mist Dragon, which resulted in the death of Rydia’s mother. The package he brought to the village of Mist also led to the Dark Knight burning down a village, killing nearly every summoner that lived in the town.
The hero regretted his actions, though, and worked hard to repent. He would climb Mt. Ordeals and give up the sword of darkness in order to become a Paladin. He found redemption and saved the world, but he committed some major crimes along the road.
1) Delita Heiral (Kidnapping, treachery, murder)
Delita Heiral, lifelong friend to Ramza Beoluve in Final Fantasy Tactics, commits some pretty heinous acts on the way to becoming King. He’s loyal to one person, and that’s himself. He would ultimately betray the Order of the Southern Sky and the Church of Glabados. Early in the game (which is Chapter 2 of the story), he also kidnaps Princess Ovelia.
This ultimately wound up being helpful because Gafgarion Gaf’s goal was to betray Ramza and slay Ovelia. That way, Duke Goltana couldn't use her to try and get the throne. Delita was also manipulated by the Church, who wanted more power in the land of Ivalice.
Ultimately, Delita would marry Princess Ovelia and become the King of Ivalice in Final Fantasy Tactics. His past deeds would come back to haunt him, unfortunately.
Ovelia realized early on that she was just a pawn, used by more powerful men. On her birthday, she murdered Delita, who responded by killing her as well.
His final thoughts were wondering if Ramza’s choices in life led to him being happy. There was no happiness in Delita’s life, only double-dealing and double-crossing others to reach the pinnacle of the political world. His goals may have been just, but he lived a life of treachery.
There are so many heroes in the world of Final Fantasy that committed pretty heinous acts, and this list mentions just a few of them. It also does not consider the various monsters that are slain either, just acts the characters carried out against their fellow man.
These characters are still heroes at the end of the day, but through their choices, they are shown to be flawed tragic characters.
