Poll: Who's the Best Final Fantasy Protagonist?

You made a mistake. The protagonist of Final Fantasy X is Yuna.

Cloud. He had the best hair.

I was gonna put Zidane, but just realized I never knew his last name. So feel like that disqualifies that vote from me.

Voted for cloud. Just so much history and his situation is so unfortunate. But he is the most iconic character in the series with the most iconic weapon.

So we're pretending I don't exist?

Cloud telling the flowers to learn to talk to Aerith sealed the deal on my vote. He's the right amount of cringe and badass for a protagonist.

Clive is going to go down as one of my favorite voices in FF, however. The VA knocked it out of the park with capturing the amount of rage it would take to voice someone like Clive.

Squall is my personal favorite and he’s who I voted for. As far as importance and who’s more “iconic” it’s Cloud, hands down.

Clive Rosfield is AWESOME but I haven’t finished the game completely yet. I imagine he’s going to go down as an all-timer.

If the poll was best overall Final Fantasy character, it’s gotta be Vivi. Love that little dude.

And you guys forgot Ace from FF type zero

For me it’s Tidus 😎

Every single character in FF9 is more interesting and has better character development than Clive.

Me in FFXIV ofc!

No love for Cecil...he was my second choice after Cloud. They should do a poll that has every mainline party member. Part of me thinks the overall favorite character wouldn't be the main protagonist

I refuse to accept the reality that vaan is the lead in ff12.

The monk, Carmen Esuna. My Warrior of Light.

I voted for Vaan because he's in the best game of the series, in my opinion.

I know Terra is the 1st character we play in VI but really, anyone in the game can be considered as a main character. The game lets you choose who you want to be the main character.

Also, Yuna is technically the main character in FFX and not Tidus.

That aside, I say Zidane got my vote and is my personal favorite next to Cloud. He's such a charming and optimistic character to the point that he has an effect to those around him and in return, they helped him in his dark moment.

Cloud is also my favorite because of his complex personality. I've come to love Clive as well. Someone who was hell bent in revenge to someone who wanted to save the world. He's far from the broodish archtype protagonist.

@ApostateMage I don't care what others say about Vaan but I really like him. He doesn't contribute much in terms of story but that's not to say that he hasn't grown as a character.

The Warrior of Light.

@Czar_Khastik I apologised to you in the article. Forgive me.

@AgentGuapo i would vote for Yuna as well.

@ChronoBreak777 I think Vivi may be the perfect final fantasy character and his story is one of the best in the franchise. That being said I voted for Titus. Bad laugh aside (which was obviously intentionally bad, btw) he's the one with the most personality, although he is a bit whiny. I don't full understand the love for Cloud. Most iconic maybe, best weapon, arguably. Although the gunblade from FF8 is better IMO. But he had zero personality until the remake

0% for Vaan, as it should be. Such a forgettable protagonist

Cloud by far.

@mariomaster96 Who?

@Ashina Agreed, I like Vaan too. Just tags along for the adventure and becomes a lot more grown up for it.

@Ashina @AgentGuapo I like Yuna as well but she's not the main character of FFX. Tidus narrates the story and you play as him when exploring — the whole game is told from his perspective.

@KaijuKaiser In that case she is!

Tidus is the only one I can think of that had a decent plot twist. As far as I am concerned, FFX was the last decent writing Final Fantasy ever had.

Gotta be Cloud for me, loved the way 7’s story unfolded. I do have a soft spot for Tidus though (laughing aside).

The best protagonist for me would be Squall, and not because FF VIII is my favorite FF, he has the best weapon, Gunblade, and his catchphrase is.. Whatever..

Clive if only for the fact there isn't a single instance of cliche remorse or doubt about killing the people that need killing. There isn't any inner monologue or someone telling him about how violence begets violence. It's just "I'm killing this man" and that's what he sets out to do. When someone tells him I'm killing this man, he says of course let me help you

I'd still probably say clouds my favorite but Clive, tidus, and zidane are up there

Its really a shame that square ended up using Vaan as the main protagonist for such stupid reasons.
Not only Ashe would be the better choice as a protag, Vaan would also stand out a LOT more as a side character than he does as the protagonist.

Cloud is the best, but Squall resonated with me the most. Especially at the point in my life when I first played FF8.

@ApostateMage That scene between him and Ashe is one of the best moments in XII as it really shows you how much Vaan has grown at that point.

@ShogunRok well, it IS his "story" as Tidus would put it so I'm giving him a pass on that.

@AgentGuapo The first thing you hear when you boot the game is "Listen to my story"

For me, it used to be Cloud until Clive took over.

Sadists picking Lightning. I even quite liked FF13 and FF13-2 for the battle systems, but come on.

@somnambulance you convinced me, I'm voting Noctis

Vaan was the protagonist in the prologue only.

I mean... it had to be Cloud, really? Haven't seen or played enough of 16 to speak of Clive... Tidus broke the mould with an actual voice, but Zidane was much more charismatic- read: likeable.

Nevertheless, Cloud is the poster boy, and the one most of us would have spent the most time with, so!

Now, if a FF9 remake/remaster happens... we all know the answer would be Vivi 😉

New poll please for overall best ff characters. Mine are Kupo, Chocobo and Malboro tentacle.

@kcarnes9051 well that's just silly, isn't it?

@KaijuKaiser exactly! I can't think of many less developed 🤣

@KaijuKaiser It's probably not clear but I'm exaggerating only to drive home my opinion that I think that Clive is actually quite shallow compared to past titles that had whole casts of interesting characters. Zidane, Vivi, Garnet, and Steiner especially all have more interesting central dilemma's that drive home the theme of fate (duty) versus free will and had deeper emotional impact with much tighter writing and focus. These character's also all have quirks and more anchoring character traits that make them stand out as individuals moreso than Clive who comes off as a quite one-dimensional do gooder. Aside for having an aggro hard on for screaming "Joshua!" as much as possible and lamenting killing him and wanting to destroy some crystals because some guy he met for a couple days convinced him to—I can't think much else that stands out about him. Like, he was depressed a little while and had to come to terms with maybe killing his brother. But he agreed to destroying the mother crystals pretty quickly and didn't seem to struggle with much else. I mean, I guess he found out he was a vessel but, again, that's not central to who he is as a person. Zidane was a selfish thief. Steiner was a knight obsessed with duty. Vivi was a mage who lacked confidence. Garnet was a princess trying to shed the obligations of royalty. Those are all interesting and anchoring central character traits that are interesting. FF9 is probably the FF I've played the most and I played it most recently last winter.

*Edit: What makes these anchoring character traits interesting, is that each one of them has to overcome the character trait I mentioned to help save the world. It gave each character internal conflict. And Clive, honestly, doesn't really have much internal conflict that is inherent to his personality, which makes him kind of dull.

Squall, whatever!

Was a tough choice between Cloud, Clive and Lightning. But I'm going with Clive as his story is more fresh in the mind and felt his had more emotion to it. And he's British 👍.

@IndoorEnthusiast
I was going to say the same thing

Cecil and Clive are equally great.

@Ashina Haha maybe he's just selfish!

Woah, look at Clive soaring high. He deserves it! Cloud is to be expected. I want to vote for him but I think he's well beloved enough so I gave it to Zidane. Also, that 1% who voted for Vaan, I just want to let you know, you have my support. 👍

@Corc11 Not silly at all. Read my next comment above with further elaboration.

Cloud strife is the best.word up son

The one with the prettiest hair…

I love Cloud but I just loved Clive's character throughout 16 and the voice acting just made it so much better(Especially without all the anime grunting, UGH)

@Sekijo I just love Ben's screaming for Clive, he sounds badass whenever he screams!

@somnambulance were in a agreement noctis got my vote to me it was between him and Lighting cause she was a great female lead and theirs not many of those in the mainstream ff games.

@ShogunRok Apology accepted, but you please forgive me because I didn't see your apology in the article.

I was busy defeating CHAOS, you know how it is.

Cecil from 4. Easily best growth and evolution of a character throughout out a FF game.

@Sekijo The way he delivered those lines sounded so real!

Tifa the real waifu ❤️

@RedRiot193 and the most iconic hair.

That laughing scene prevented me from voting Tidus.

I ended up going for Cloud Strife, but, I think you should do another article on the baddies(!) because Cloud as a character really has nothing on Sephiroth.

Unrelated... why isn't there a "Cloud's Theme" track on the FF7 soundtrack Original or Remake? All the other characters have one.

I voted for Tidus...

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha!"

Of course, it is...
Archduke of Rosaria.
Brother of Joshua.
Son to Elwin and Anabella.
Nephew of Byron.
First Shield of the Phoenix.
Dominant of Ifrit.
Wyvern of the *****.
Cid the Second.
Lover for Jill.
Vessel for Mythos.
Nemesis to Ultima.

My main man, Clive Rosfiled.

...

...

I...

...

...
voted for...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Clive...

Cloud will always be my favorite but Clive is the best.

@AdamNovice more like
Every FF Protag: has character development
Clive: "yes im a magical God killer who constantly eats your crap because im a spineless branded"

@PlasmaticSnake No the standard of the series copying other styles of gameplay and aping other games has been a thing for awhile.

If I'm forced to choose just one, then Lightning it is.

As far as favourite protagonist goes, my answer is probably Terra. But since this is asking for the best character, which is something different, then my answer would have to be Zidane, with Tidus close behind.
That said, I can’t speak about Clive, as I’ve yet to play XVI outside the demo, and apparently I missed Noctus’s character development while playing XV, so there’s room for change.

Missing Yuna for X-2, she is the best. Fight me.

Runs away

Clive's character development is so bad that halfway through the game, he pretends to be someone else. 🤣

I knew right away all the basics would pick Cloud despite the answer being Zidane. 😉 Against the emos like Cloud and Squall and the whiners Tidus and Vahn, Zidane is confident, tough, hilarious, soft hearted, and well rounded.
Anyway...there are many "right" answers to this question (Cecil, Terra, Squall, etc) but only one solidly wrong one: CRYBABY SISSY TIDUS. 😄

Where is the Warrior of Light?

@invictus4000 as my "fellow kids" would say 💯, no 🧢

It's pretty clear that the answer is the GOAT Cloud.

I voted for Clive. His arc ties in with the themes of the game so well.

As much as I adore 7, Cloud's pretty boring as main characters go. I voted for Zidane, since he has an abundance of personality and is extremely likeable.

Indeed there can be only one and it has to be Cecil Harvey. The original warrior of light, who gave meaning to the name and really lay the foundations for all who came after him.

Plus...

Cloud - Literally a clone
Squall - Emo kid
Zidane - I'd pick Vivi over Zidane any day.
Tidus - Brat
Vaan - Lol, bless...
Lightning - took the name from Cecil
Noctis - I've seen more personality on a leaf
Clive - Swearing doesn't make you cool.

@Czar_Khastik yes! Lol!

I swear, everybody takes that Tidus laughing scene out of context. He was forcing himself to laugh for Yuna and that's why it felt...forced.

I voted for Cloud but I also have a soft spot for Lightning, she is very cool. I also enjoy the character journey of Cecil

FF9 is my favourite game but I probably do prefer Tidus to Zidane. Cloud was always going to win this poll, though he is probablythe most iconic. I liked Clive but he can't really compare to the more classic characters (though FF16 has a strong cast overall).

Lightning needs more love

@dimi hear hear!!!!

@ApostateMage exactly this. It doesn’t make it any less cringe but it’s certainly as you describe!

In terms of art design, I’m a big Terra fan.

But in terms of characterization it’s all about Cloud Strife. He was one of gaming’s first unreliable narrators. That puts him high in my book.

@AgentGuapo True. They should've named the poll, player-controlled protagonist.

Cloud is number 1.
Top 5:
1. Cloud
2. Clive
3. Lightning
4. Squall
5. Terra

I see a lot of Cloud votes, and prior to playing FF16 I would have agreed. Clive is the most diverse and well developed character in any FF game. Clive laughs, cries, gets pissed off, and even expresses sarcastic banter with other characters. All future final fantasy games should hold Clive as their standard. Clive. Is. The. Best.

For me its a top 3
1: Tidus, just love the game and story to death.
2: Clive Rosfield, my god what a game if you haven't played final fantasy 16 buy a Ps5 its really worth it the story the characters my god.
3 Cloud Strife just beacuse i like the character and his hair haha 😄 🤣 but not the story hope the new remake is fixing the story🤣🤣🤣🤣
Don't judge my list it my opinion not yours and i won't judge your list of you have one, have a great weekend and be safe.😁👍👋

Balthier and Vivi were the best all around written characters.

Tidus is one that shows incredible growth throughout the game.

Cloud is clearly the most iconic.

But the most badass - Shadow & Interceptor

As far as I loved Clive (I did not like the combat system, but that's another topic), and off course Cloud back in the days... I must take a quick stand for Noctis.

I'll stay to my dying breath a huge advocate of FFXV, just because how this game managed to surprise me. Before playing the game, I really didn't like the character ("Geez, what are those guys who try so hard to look cool, all the time ?").

But I've learned, during my playtime, to look beyond the attitude. I've come to understand the theatric of this character, how gentle and carrying he was underneath. Just a frightened boy, abandoned by everyone except these three exceptional brothers of his, who know FROM THE START what he must do, what he's compelled to do, and exactly how his journey will end.

XV has the best ending of all, in my opinion. I love this series as a all, and I love many of it's entries, which I replay often, and often. But the story of Noctis is the only one which actually made me cry. Like, real tears and all.

That campfire scene, man. Those last lines. It just gets me everytime.

Clive. Just the name alone wins out.

Lightning will always be a fav tho.

I’m working my way through New Game + Final Fantasy Mode, and Clive just keeps getting better in my view when it comes to video game protagonists.

I’ve played all of the main entries, starting with FF1 on NES at 11 years old.

The characters that I hold in highest esteem are most of FF4 cast, most of FF6 cast, Basch and Balthier from FF12, all the bros from 15, several FF14 scions, and now we have a new best protagonist in Clive Rosfield. The very good boy Torgal is part of the package.