The 15 Best Final Fantasy Heroes Of All Time

A story is only as strong as its hero. Final Fantasy has a long history of great protagonists, and here are a few of Screen Rant's favorites.

[PhoenixUp]

No love for Zidane?

[Ranma1]

The best FF hero is Cloud.

The worst is Vaan and Lightning

[angelosam]

vaans brother should have been the main character, he more of a warrior. vaan for some reason is perceieved as wussy? maybe because his is flamboyant, he gives off a homosexual feeling. maybe thats why some people avoid him?

[Ranma1]

@angelosam

are you saying i am a homophobe because i dont like vaan?

[ShadowWolf712]

Disagree. Cloud's far from the best.

[-Foxtrot]

I don't know I liked Cloud but I found Squall better because I know some don't like to admit it as they wanted to hate the game or never finished but his character development was better

Squall went from a lonely, selfish jerk to a brave heroic leader surrounded by friends and the girl he loves. He finally got over his past which crushed him as a child.

The fact he's not mentioned in this list is ridiculous

[naruga]

i say with ease Cloud should be first ...BUT not the today manio-depressed emo freak Cloud , the Cloud as it was originally designed in FFVII ( not in the unlimited spin offs) , energetic , lighthearted, a bit goofy and somewhat seasoned and self-confident ... though later character creation was left alltogether to Nomura which is known for overdepressed chars following japanese trends

[angelosam]

Cloud being emo, i actually itnerpret him as being hard and not showing emotions or tears. i think thats how they tried to build him

[Irishguy95]

Hmm I guess, I haven't played FF13-2 or 13-3

But...she was nothing like cloud? At least in the first. Cloud is...quite a character. He's weak. Until he becomes strong. Happy, weird guy. Unless you count depressed Advent children cloud.

Lightning was..geez almost the opposite, in FFXIII.

Woah woah..cloud..hard? Emo? Not showing emotions?? Seriously? DId you even play FF7?

[Pozzle]

I'm replaying FFVII now and had completely forgotten how many funny lines Cloud has in the game. I was nearly rolling on the floor when he is dressed like a woman and Don Corneo's men are coming onto him, and he reveals that he is a man with the line, "I ain't INTERESTED in a buncha scrubs like you!"

He could have said anything badass to reveal himself, but instead he went with that haha. Oh, how I love the goofy Cloud from FFVII ("Let's mosey!"). It's sad how one-dimensional and pessimistic his portrayal in the sequels and spin-offs have been. He's actually pretty funny in the original game.

[FallenAngel1984]

Cloud is overrated. There are plenty of other FF protagonists that are better than him

[Ranma1]

Why is cloud over rated and which characters do you think are better?

[FallenAngel1984]

Vivi, Balthier, Cecil, Celes, just to name a few

[TC731]

@FallenAngel Balthier was an annoying know-it-all. Celes would've been completely forgettable if not for the opera scene. Vivi's meh and Cecil's decent.

[FallenAngel1984]

If you want to just casually dismiss all these characters you could easily do the same for Cloud.

I'm not saying Cloud is a bad character, but I'm not going to pretend he's the best thing this franchise has to offer

[Irishguy95]

Am surprised no Noctis folk here,

zidane, noctis, cloud for me. In no particular order.
Cecil was good too. Auron was excellent too.

To note, I kinda...dislike the stereotypical hero. Who has no faults.

[Ranma1]

I do not think Square Enix developed his back story enough. But Noctis is probably a stronger lead than Lightning

[Irishguy95]

Eh, whats to know, he's royalty, his mother died at a young age, hes pretty much...normal. In his backstory. Which makes the end of the game all the better. Hes not special. Hes not better than other people. Yet, he is what he is by the end.

[angelosam]

Auron all the way ! !

[DarkOcelet]

No love for Final Fantasy Xii or Final fantasy xv's cast.

Balthier should have been there easily.

[Ranma1]

The only good and main character in FF12 is Balthier

[DarkOcelet]

I loved the whole cast tbh.

[angelosam]

FFXII didnt have any good characters

[TC731]

Agreed. FF12's entire cast was terrible. ESPECIALLY smug-ass Balthier.

[xtheblackparade]

Squall. Seifer was cool as well but, you know.

[Ranma1]

I really wished Seifer was a playable character. Its a shame he wasn't.

The gunner was good as well, forgot his name.

But I think Adel and Ultemecia were terrible villians.

[Irishguy95]

Agreed, Edea and Seifer were good.

[Pozzle]

I didn't mind Adel, though a bit more backstory would have been good to see. She was supposed to be a terrifying and oppressive ruler 20 years prior to the game, but that wasn't really shown with her brief appearance. It would have been cool to see a proper Laguna flashback that actually showed how scary it was to live under Adel's reign, showing Laguna fighting in the resistance group, and ending in a boss battle against her where he finally sealed her in the Sorceress Memorial chamber.

Instead we got a short scene showing Adel falling for the stupidest trick imaginable, then becoming trapped in the chamber after Laguna kicks her in the back. Not a very climactic way for such a scary dictator to go.

[-Foxtrot]

@Pozzle

There should have been a CGI film with Laguna and co in a prequel story going against Adel or at least a prequel game.

That would have given her some development.

[DragonKnight]

Irvine? Or Laguna? Both used guns. Laguna is FFVIII's best character. Game could have easily been about him since his sequences were more interesting with better battle music.

[angelosam]

Shadow is probably one of the best ninjas in gaming. WatchMojo put him in their best ninjas in gaming list. some older characters are so under rated, its unfair

[Simco876]

I can't agree with this list, but to each his own. It has to be different than the 100s of other lists that has Cloud top 3 and all the staples in Top 10.

The real hero missing is Wakka, ya mon!

[Ranma1]

Hahaha.

Wakka was a good character, he felt like a brother to Tidus.

Why do you think Wakka is the best character?

[Ranma1]

Damn ! The older FF's had so many good characters. Golden Age

[Relientk77]

Cool they have Vivi, but wheres Zidane

[ShadowWolf712]

>Steiner making the list over Zidane

Screenrant, are you drunk again?

[TC731]

Tidus and Zell? nope.avi

[L1ghtz]

Zack Fair getting the proper credit he deserves. @$!# yes. High five to the creator of this post. I dont know everyone on this list. But theres a reason Crisis Core is my favorite game of all time and a PSP freakin' gem. "
The ending hits you like a freight train.
*Spoiler*
"How are you?
I wish I knew where you were.
Its already been four years now.
This is the 89th letter I've sent you,
But I dont even know where to send them anymore.
I really hope that this last letter I'm writing gets to you.
By the way, the flowers are selling very well.
They make everyone so happy - Thanks to you Zack!".
"Embrace Your Dreams".........

[GoldPunch-TR]

Tidus was best.