Poll: Who Is the Best Final Fantasy Protagonist?

I think you should have included Yuna from X-2 and Serah from XIII-2. It's not like they are going to win, but it just looks bad leaving them out. Especially since there are so few female leads.

And the answer is Cloud, duh. As the poll is showing. Cause he's Cloud. And he's a bad ass.

You forgot WoL form FFI and Luneth from FFIII

but i voted for Zidane anyway

The real winner should be Btown Ninja from FFXIV! For real though, Lightning easily wins this one for me. Such a cool character.

Zidane hands down his trance form is unstopable

I always liked Bartz's cheerful wacky nature myself.

Crono by a country mile 😏

@XCWarrior Well, we did explain that direct sequels weren't going to be included.

@FullbringIchigo Warrior of Light partly only exists thanks to the Dissidia games, and let's face it, he's not exactly a fleshed out character. I'd say Luneth is one of four protagonists in FFIII, so he was left out, too.

Prompto

@ShogunRok Fair enough

I'm quite surprised no one's voted for Noctis yet. Maybe if we'd allowed multiple selections he would have got a few votes?

@ShogunRok I would have vote for him if it were multiple selections. I was actually divided between Tidus and Noctis.

I'm surprised at the number for Lightning given how few people seemed to like 13, and Lightning in particular.

@ShogunRok I'm surprised too, but I like the single selection poll.

Zidane is clearly the right answer. However, small caveat, I cant judge noctis as only just started 15. Squall goes on quite a personal journey and develops very well across ff 8, but he doesnt deserve to win. Zidane is much more rounded than cloud. Vaan is the most forgettable lead in ff history (wasn't balthier meant to be the true lead really?) but I look forward to being proved wrong when I replay 12 next year. Tidas loses points for THAT laugh 😉 but I did enjoy his story. Dont understand the hate for lightning to this day, even if she was a massive grump!

@ShogunRok @HungryWolf this, Noctis is great but you did ask for our favourite

not to mention we have had a lot longer to "get to know" the others than we have Noctis

No Zack Fair.

Therefore I abstain from voting.

I'm surprised I'm not the only one that voted for Lightning.

What these polls have shown is Final Fantasy 7 with Cloud is the one we like the most .

But we know this that is why they are making the remake.

Will it be better no and the reason is with Final fantasy 7 you felt you had your moneys worth besides gta san andreas and mgs3 snake eater all the rest have something missing.
In their time these games were ground breaking nobody breaks new ground any more I should include Mario 64 and Zelda ocorina in time Dark Chronicle and maybe witcher 3 Fallout 3.
There are more Gems I know there are the point I am making is No one is breaking new ground.

Meh can't decide, I think for the time Cecil was a pretty cool character but I also like cloud, tidus and noctis lol

@kyleforrester87 agree and he has a tail so there's that as well!

Of course Tidus . I want to choose Cloud but he's so gloomy..

@ShogunRok if you follow your III has four protganist leads, 6 has...well more than Terra, especially since while her powers are the focus she is by no means the lead. Id say it could just as easily be Sabin or Celes.

@kyleforrester87 Without Zack there would be no Cloud.
Me purchasing FF7Remake entirely depends on them acknowledging that fact.

Zack is the hero we needed, Cloud is the hero we got :/

Easy choice is Zidane. Very enthusiastic to help anyone that needs help, doesn't hold grudges and always looks after his friends. Great sense of humour too.

Cloud is incredibly tough and rides an awesome motorcycle but he's unreliable.

@Fight_Teza_Fight but Zack was NEVER the hero of the FFVII so as they said NO SPIN OFFS he wont be on the list

but yeah Zack was cool

Gave my vote to Cloud... because VII is actually the only FF game I've played and finished.

@ShogunRok I understand that, but having 100% FF X-2, it's a full fledged game that takes over 100 hours to complete and is just as much a game as the others. And its better than a number of the others. I'm fine with ignoring I,III,XI and XIV for the reasons given. But X-2,XIII-2, XIII-3 are full main line games.

I gave it to zidane, mainly because for me, most of the cast of FF9 shine compared to other games. Vivi, steiner, garnet, freya, and quina just ooze character. The gameplay itself is hard to get through nowadays, as is with most old rpgs, but it is the one i go back to more than the others.

@XCWarrior In that sense they are, but unlike the others games, you need to have played the first to fully understand the sequel, and so on. For me, the mainline titles are defined by the fact they take place in their own world with their own characters and story.

Voted Cloud, as I think he's the most iconic protagonist of the bunch, with his cool guy persona, giant buster sword, spiky DBZ hair and scrambled brains.

A tough choice between Terra, Squall and Lightning for me, but I'll go with our one and only Claire Farron - a soldier, a l'Cie and a demigoddess in all but name over the course of her eventful life.

@kyleforrester87 I simply feel they are just as much main line games. If they were fronted by males I'd still feel the same way.

@ShogunRok Rather than go down a deep dark hole, we'll just agree to disagree.

Noctis was okay but in my opinion the protagonist of FFXV was the whole gang, and collectively I do believe they are the best protagonist in the series. Despite my general disdain for Prompto.

@BLP_Software She may not always be the most important character in the story, but I think Terra is definitely the traditional 'protagonist'. She's the first character we're introduced to, she's the key to the story as a whole, and she has the world-ending powers. But yeah, as far as Final Fantasy goes, I think VI probably has one of the most balanced casts.

I've liked them all. My vote goes to the warrior goddess Lightning. I thinks she's a great character and very physically strong. People think she's cold but given her burden I think it is understandable and she did grow a lot as a character over the course of the game. I liked her in the sequels too.

I would've picked Celes from VI if she was an option because I view her as the true protagonist of the game. XII is a bit of an odd one given that you start as Vaan but I found myself actually occupying Balthier but could have easily "been" Basch or Ashe or any of the others (apart from Penelo haha). It didn't really matter.

Thats a tough one. I had to go with my boy Tie-dus (yeah thats right)

@SonuvLiberty Tee-Dus ^_^

I'll always have a soft spot for FFIV, so had to go with Cecil (although Kain was by far my favorite character).

Considering I've only played four main games (IV, VIII, X, XIII), I don't have a huge pool to choose from. I'll go with Tidus though. Yeah, he had his boneheaded moments, but I admittedly latched on to him quickly.

I just find Cloud awsome and i like Lightning because she is a female Cloud. Terra looks awsome but i never played FF6.

Cloud is one dimensional , a liar , he barely changes through ff7, squall at least has some character development. And lightening is more a female squall

@johnny30 Cloud was a smart arse that didnt care about anybody but himself at the start of the game and by the end he would do anything for his friends. Barely changes, bah, bah i say!!! On a side note i hate how square have made him sad and depressing in everything since FF7

On the topic of Noct, i thought he was okay for most of it, but near the end he came into his own

@ShogunRok If you do best villains im posting ExDeath memes. He is a fallacious tree.

I gave my vote to Cecil, because that character development tho. I feel 1 through 6 had characters with large arcs and they all formed a coherent party unlike later where it was a man and his side kicks.

Bit like xmen that...

I like 13 but I don't think is the best game in the series. However I vote for Lightning. Best and coolest character ever...

I liked the overall story of Cecil though. Before Dissidia that sort of established Terra as 6 main character I always thought that Celes or Locke are better suited as MC. Besides Terra is (SPOILER) not required to beat the game. (Do we have a spoiler tag system in the comments?)

Lightning - and only based on her base XIII exploits. I think Square had to really nail her due to Lightning being the first proper female lead in a FF game and they did, so kudos were its due. (Although the game isn't the best by far)

Apparently Lightning is a female version of Cloud updated. I remember reading it somewhere in a developer interview and again Cloud would feature in my top 3 with maybe Noct in 2nd. Its funny really my favourite FF game doesn't really have the greatest lead character, Squall was outclassed by Seifer and Laguna. Tidus outclassed by Lulu, Auron and possibly Khimari. Vaan well he was like Balthiers afterbirth.

Lets do another poll on best FF character ever!

@FullbringIchigo lmao you're wrong my friend! Wrong! Idc what his voice actor says either he is also wrong. Teedus jus sounds too weird to me. Tie-dus for life yo!

Terra is cute, I don't really have much more reasoning than that though.

I like Cecil also.

In terms of development, Cecil or Terra are the best choices. Zidane is also up there.

@kyleforrester87 As best lead I would say so. But to be fair most final fantasy games have amazing over arching stories, but the character interplay has never been that well developed due to cartridge limitations until the ps1 era (cutting out 1-6) - since then 7,8 and 9 had great characters, but this has more to do with imagination and filling in the blanks of the situation they were in rather than what was really said or acted out by that character. Vann and Tidus were fleshed out, but too annoying to vote for (Balthier and Auron stand out here). That leaves Only Lightning or Noct. There can be arguments for everyone on the list but I understood Lightning, her motivations, courage, strength and will to fight as it was explained in great detail - no doubt negatively impacting on the game itself.

@SonuvLiberty in my honest opinion it's which ever one you want to say it is, although Square says it's officially Tee-Dus

@ZurapiiYohane64 Activating Combat Mode in the comments section

Zack4Lyf

I voted for Terra because 6 is my favourite. Even though I never really felt like it had a true protagonist. Besides we all know Mog was the best.

@kyleforrester87 yes played 9, never to completion but far enough to make judgement. Vivi and Steinher were memorable, Zidane when thinking about it is a more rounded and likeable than cloud (I always thought he was just an avatar for whatever you felt at the time rather than his own character) and squall (moody and uncaring) so yup probably Lightning, Noctus, Zidane, Cloud, Squall, Tidus in that order for my top 6.

People who voted Cloud can't complain about Lighting it's the same person with a wig! Hope they reference this in the remake when he crossdresses.

I voted Terra! She has the most interesting story!
Tidus is also very likeable and he's a dream who plays soccer underwater... Not a person you meet everyday.

Noctis is surprisingly allright!thought I w as going to hate him...Must be the hairdo

P.s.Van is more the POV of XII'S events, the real protagonist is Ashe imho

I seriously can't understand why people vote for Cloud.FF7 is a great game but his character is just horrid, he has no growth at all and the personality of a cardboard box.

@FullbringIchigo. Yea yea yea I know, you're right.........and wrong

I know he is not the protagonist in ffx but auron is my favourite ff character he such a badass

I honestly thought IX was mediocre having played them all bar XV. I honestly am puzzled why so many people like it. I remember liking Vivi, Freya and Beatrix and the stetting , but that's about it, I've forgotten the story. What am I missing?

@Theamazing1 YES

My character I created in FFXIV.

Had to vote terra. I loved her journey. Zidane and cloud where my runners up

Squall all the way!!!

My bard or alternate monk characters from FFXIV.

I chose Zidane because IX is brill, even though FFXII is my favourite, Vaan is a wimp.

Zidane ftw...he feels like the only character that was normal, or grounded. Everyone else had some like teenage hangup problems. Even though he dealt with about as equally as much as other leads, he handled everything like an adult and was there for his friends every step of the way. Plus the guy was pretty funny too, and a thief! Always trying to make a move on the ladies ha.

Zidane all the way. A close second for me would be Squall for the darkness/development.

@Feena that's almost a good way of putting it (vaan being the POV for the game). But seriously....balthier or Ashe had wayyyy more interesting and developing things going on. Vaan was along for the ride lol. And this may be weird, but I always thought Fran was pretty hot :/

I voted Tidus, but I liked most of the choices!

My favorite game is VI, but I felt like Tidus was much more relatable as a lead.

Ones I liked: Cecil, Bartz, Terra, Cloud, Tidus, Lightning, Noctis

Ones I didn't like: Vaan, Squall - it also REALLY irritates me that he goes by "Leon" in Kingdom Hearts...can someone explain that one to me?

Zidane is the only main hero SNES era on I haven't experienced as I haven't played IX.

@kyleforrester87 Yeah...I knew that was his last name, but it's still pretty bizarre. I don't remember it saying but I'll have to look it up or something.

And I know! I completely missed it back in the day - I think I was so burned by FF8 - long story. And more recently I had the opportunity to buy it on ps3, but I was afraid a ps1 game just wouldn't hold up the same. I gave FF8 another shot at one point on the vita and just really still hated it. At this point, I'm selling my ps3 so it doesn't make sense to get it now. If that FF collection rumor is true, I will definitely get it and make a point to play IX as one of the first.

It's got to be Cloud if you just look at VII not the Compilation. I've played through VII about 4 times and I still don't fully understand the Lifestream scene but he goes through so much character growth that a polygonal face doesn't do justice. I hope so much that Squeenix doesn't change his personality for the remake. I like Tidus too even though he's an idiot. Btw its Tide-us like the sea tide. It's a bad pun. Squall is pretty good too but I hated Lightning cause she lacked a bit of personality. Cecil showed real character growth both physically and mentally which was cool. I didn't vote for Firion but I feel bad cause he was pretty good and showed real distress when you know Josef splat and the whole Leon thing.

@HeroOfTime32 I know right? They were surprisingly transparent about Van, though: he's been put in the game cause they felt Ashe and Bash wouldn't appeal to the younger demographic lol. It's like on wikipedia if you look it up. By no means I mean to insult the LGBT community, but I found it hilarious than when XII came out my brother, then in his early thirties, texted me "the game is mighty fine but the I am not sure about the protagonist, who is a gay child who goes around killing tomatoes."

@ztpayne7 you need to fix this. IX is my favorite in the series, by far.

Also, the mobile/steam port that was just done this year is the best way to experience it. Square Enix finally "touched up" a game without ruining the art style or botching core details/mechanics.

Better question: were any of them really good or memorable?

@Athrum Yeah I don't agree i don't want to spoil anything but him dreampart makes it for me.

Prompto... 🤣