Worst FF Main Character ever

[arus2001]

IX's story bored me to death, so Zidane gets my vote.

[Charismatic]

No, it does not.

If you removed Vaan, what is actually lost? Someone who sometimes also sees Rasler's apparition... or Reks'? Whooptie doo~
You say he's Ashe's "anchor," but he doesn't keep her grounded at all. It's inner turmoil. She doesn't need Vaan and Penelo around to remind her of her people. She's fully aware of her predicament and is weighing the pros and cons throughout the game.

The only scenes that actually involve Vaan outside of the introduction at all are based on him being a loudmouth moron. Jumping on Basch's cage to yell at him when they're trying to sneak around Nalbina Dungeon... or how about being a stubborn little brat about finding the Deifacted Nethicite in the Rabanastre treasure room and running off with it. What does he contribute after his final fuck-up of pulling said Nethicite out right in front of Judge Ghis?

Every scene Vaan has a role in is just a simple mechanism, based entirely on his stupidity, to move the player into a new area. He does nothing to the dynamic of the party once it's full. Him and Penelo are dead weight in the story. It could be easily rewritten to not have him in it (or Penelo) and it would play out no differently.

He's just a young, unassuming, nimble Alladin-style young male PoV character for the player to assume the role of instead of just watching scenes and not feeling in control one particular body. He's just a starting point from which you meet the real characters.

If it makes you feel any better, you could just as easily write Fran out of the story.

Reading this properly it looks like you agree that he isn't the main character but you are disagreeing with me.
I don't understand.

[AoE]

I love Final Fantasy discussions.

[miokomioko]

Reading this properly it looks like you agree that he isn't the main character but you are disagreeing with me.
I don't understand.

Holy shit, man, you don't even know what you're talking about.

I know he's the "main character" of the game. It's unfortunate, but he is, for whatever reason, the predetermined "hero" or face of the title.

You're the one who claims that Vaan has any importance in the story. That's where you're wrong. Game ≠ Story

He's the main character of the game, but not important to the story whatsoever. They wrote him into the beginning of the story and his existence in cinematics all but disappears 1/4 of the way through.

When he steals the Nethicite and runs, leading to Garamsyth Waterways = Could have been just Fran/Balthier stealing it themselves and unexpectedly crashing.
When he jumps on Basch's cage and yells = Could have been just Judge Gabranth coming back in the room to say something else witnessed them and they ran.
When he is holding the Nethicite in front of Judge Ghis = Could have been frisked off of Balthier.
Whatever few things Vaan does to advance the story = Someone else could have been written in to do it and it would have played out no different.

Hell, it was probably originally written as such and they just tacked on the intro bits of Vaan doing beginner quests to get into the palace.

[Charismatic]

Holy shit, man, you don't even know what you're talking about.

I know he's the "main character" of the game. It's unfortunate, but he is, for whatever reason, the predetermined "hero" or face of the title.

You're the one who claims that Vaan has any importance in the story. That's where you're wrong. Game ≠ Story

He's the main character of the game, but not important to the story whatsoever. They wrote him into the beginning of the story and his existence in cinematics all but disappears 1/4 of the way through.

When he steals the Nethicite and runs, leading to Garamsyth Waterways = Could have been just Fran/Balthier stealing it themselves and expectantly crashing.
When he jumps on Basch's cage and yells = Could have been just Judge Gabranth coming back in the room to say something else witnessed them and they ran.
When he is holding the Nethicite in front of Judge Ghis = Could have been frisked off of Balthier.
Whatever Vaan does to advance the story = Someone else could have been written in to do it and it would have played out no different.

No, you may wish to read the post I was responding to.
The quote said that regardless of what, Vaan is the main character. I disagreed with that and you're quoting me disagreeing with me on that point. How any of the other shit you're talking about is at all relevant to this line of discussion I know not.
You're annoying as hell though, I do know that.

[Souj]

Reading this properly it looks like you agree that he isn't the main character but you are disagreeing with me.
I don't understand.

Don't worry, I'm just as confused, even after his newest post

[miokomioko]

I did read this with the reply targeting the first part of the statement:

The fact that the story doesn't revolve around him and could be told without him doesn't disqualify him from being the main character.

Yeah, actually it does.

Which I admit was wrongly assumed, but I combined it with:

Vaan did add to the story, as stated.
He was Ashe's anchor, whatevs.

I like Vaan, he's not the main character but there's nothing bad about him aside from the fact that he doesn't have a shirt on. I have a feeling he's so high on this list because of bandwagoning and people not being able to understand what they see more than him being a poor character.

Regardless, it still appears that you believe Vaan plays some sort of integral part in the story.
Also, you like Vaan. There's a problem right there.

[shepardG]

let's define "main character"

because i didn't see a clear cute definition listed in this thread.

If multiple people can't agree on what that definition is, then this argument is useless and it's all just subjective opinion
and chari is wrong.

[Salodin]

I only just now got to read this. Snow is now in the top 10 for best ff character ever.

[Souj]

The main character of FF11 is the best character

[Charismatic]

and chari is wrong.

You say that but it has yet to happen ever. That's the greatest part about it all.

Regardless, it still appears that you believe Vaan plays some sort of integral part in the story.
Also, you like Vaan. There's a problem right there.

Only you said this. A part and an integral part are not the same thing.

[shepardG]

LOL

[Niiro]

How long can two people in agreement manage to argue?

Also who messed up the thread title?

[Silenka]

Tidus is the worst main character for me.

The rest of them have some redeeming quality/aren't nearly as annoying. I recognize that Tidus went through some shit and that he's a 'realistic' main character, but he has next to no character development. He's dumb as a brick and has daddy issues throughout the entire series. No matter what he goes through or what he learns, he's still the same whiny punk-ass bitch blitzball jock he was at the beginning of the game. The main character of a FF game is supposed to feel 'heroic' when you play him. I never felt that Tidus was heroic at all. He never did anything particularly heroic, he was pulled along by the supporting characters the entire time. They were literally supporting not just the story, but the main character through his trials, and he never grew up enough in the story to be the one to support them instead. Sure he had a go-getter attitude sometimes but that alone doesn't redeem him of his shortcomings.

Plus, he is the absolute worst voice-acted character in the history of voice-acted FFs. I wish to god they include the Japanese audio track or re-dub him or something for FFX HD.

I sort of understand the Vaan hate. He really isn't the main character, but he and Penelo are also incredibly bland. They are pretty much just a couple of orphans inserted in the party for extra warm bodies. I don't understand how people can say Vaan was a worse character than Tidus, though. Vaan at least never did anything offensive, whereas almost everything Tidus did was offensive to the senses in some way. Vaan's voice wasn't grating, he didn't have any particularly annoying character complexes and he did contribute at least a little bit to the story. He did heroic things a few times, and he clearly learned some things along the way, even though not much time was spent on him. I'm okay with that though because Balthier is one of the best characters in a FF game ever and most of the time was split between him and Ashe.

I don't get the Lightning hate either. She's a strong lead character who isn't particularly emo like Squall/Cloud can be misconstrued as, she's just ruthless. I understand that can be a turnoff for some but again, she never does anything really offensive. She's not dumb as a brick or particularly annoying, and she contributes all the things a main character should: driving the story and sometimes the other characters, having a clear cut goal, both inner and outer strength, etc. She's not the most likable character ever but she gets the job done and she definitely becomes warmer and more receptive to others as the game goes on. She rethinks her bad decisions, she regrets them, and she learns to deal with problems in ways other than "destroy it". Lightning has definite character growth and by the end is much more a likable character for me.

Not gonna go into previous FFs because main characters were much more important to driving the story when the graphics were more limited, not as many fancy things could happen, there was a definite formula and Sakaguchi was still writing shit. Those characters had to be strong and complex, at least plot-wise, to keep shit moving. The experimentation in the last few games really brought out some of the worst that's happened in the FF franchise, and that's why we're seeing these weak characters... in breaking out of the old systems and stereotypes, there's bound to be some new shit that just doesn't work out well.

I guess it's all down to personal preference, of course, but if there was such a thing as looking at these characters objectively, I really think the argument's in favor of Tidus being objectively the worst.

[Appie]

let's define "main character"

because i didn't see a clear cute definition listed in this thread.

I think most people on the "hate Vaan train" (including myself), looked at it like this:
1. Is he promoted as the main character of the game by being the main thing on the box of the game or put in front of everybody else in SE's (shitty) PR elsewhere (like the 25 years art)?
2. Do we start the game with him?

Vaan gets a "yes" for both questions. Now the fact he turns out to not be the main character in the story (everybody including the haters, know this) yet was promoted for the game as such by SE, is exactly the reason people hate Vaan.

[Elcura]

I think most people on the "hate Vaan train" (including myself), looked at it like this:
1. Is he promoted as the main character of the game by being the main thing on the box of the game or put in front of everybody else in SE's (shitty) PR elsewhere (like the 25 years art)?
2. Do we start the game with him?

Vaan gets a "yes" for both questions. Now the fact he turns out to not be the main character in the story (everybody including the haters, know this) yet was promoted for the game as such by SE, is exactly the reason people hate Vaan.

I guess that makes Snake the main character of MGS2.

[Appie]

Yup and exactly why I hated playing the rest as Raiden.

[noblemountain]

Squall was a badass who actually had some growth in his character. He also showed up big and at least made a heroic effort to finish a mission/save people. Fuck Tidus in his tiny asshole. I felt like I was babysitting an annoying teenager the whole game.

[Elcura]

Yup and exactly why I hated playing the rest as Raiden.

Clearly your logic is flawless and sound. No reason to doubt you.

[Appie]

Clearly your logic is flawless and sound. No reason to doubt you.

To make it flawless and sound, I'd have to hate Snake, which I can't. Raiden on the other hand...

On a serious note: MGS2 was a shitfest of marketing much like FFXII though.