Final Fantasy V/Characters

Bartz Klauser
Bartz is a wanderer from the town of Lix, accompanied by his chocobo Boko. His mother Stella died when he was a child, and his father Dorgann died three years before the series. He has a fear of heights gained from falling from a rooftop, staying there all night. He was chosen by the Wind Crystal, symbolizing passion. Bartz also appears as a playable character in Dissidia Final Fantasy and is set to appear in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

"Ghido: [You'll need] the twelve legendary weapons used to defeat the warlock Enuo a thousand years ago.
 * A Boy and his Chocobo: Boko.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Towards Krile.
 * Bishonen: Amano's art shows him as this, and so does his 3D model in Dissidia
 * Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: With Ghido.
 * Cool Chocobo: Boko, again.
 * Drives Like Crazy: Does this late into the game. He does have somewhat of an understandable excuse for doing so, however: See Heroic BSOD.
 * The Hero
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: Played with. Given the mechanics of the Job System, Bartz doesn't need to use swords, but he does start out with a Broadsword equipped. And he uses the Brave Blade in Dissidia.
 * Heroic BSOD: When Exdeath . Bartz nearly destroys the airship in rage-filled agony before Faris and Lenna snap him out of it.
 * Idiot Hero: Every so often. It's exaggerated in Dissidia.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Nice Guy: Despite his reluctance to get involved with the quest, he's never anything but a man who does the right thing, and he is amazingly easygoing.
 * Parrot Exposition: Again, with Ghido.

Bartz: The twelve legendary weapons?

Ghido: Sometimes I wonder if you say things like that to spite me... Yes, the twelve legendary weapons. They are weapons. They are legendary. There are even twelve of them."


 * Parental Abandonment: His mother died when he was a child; his dad when he was in his late teens.
 * Refusal of the Call: He declines Lenna when she asks if he wants to go with her on their quest. Boko makes him reconsider that decision about ten seconds later.
 * Ridiculously Average Guy: Possibly the most normal-looking major character in the entire series. And this is Final Fantasy we're talking about here...
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: The only one who isn't.
 * Secret Legacy: Everyone else in the party are except Bartz, the hobo on a chocobo..
 * Unfortunate Names: Called "Butz" in non-English versions, which makes this one of the few name translations across all media that generally isn't disputed.
 * Clean Dub Name
 * Walking the Earth: Before the game. He's pretty content with it and goes back to doing so at the end.
 * Why Did It Have To Be Heights?: Bartz has suffered from acrophobia ever since a childhood incident in his home town where, in a game of hide-and-seek, he somehow managed to get stuck on the roof of a house. Not that this ever seems to stop him from climbing mountains, ascending towers, flying airships... though it compromised with his first time riding a Wind Drake. He hesitates long enough for Galuf to be ticked, and proceeds to throw the poor boy into Hiryu's back.

Lenna Charlotte Tycoon
Princess and heir to the throne of Tycoon, Lenna is a caring young woman, to the point of putting the life of others before hers. This made the Water Crystal choose her, as its essence was that of devotion.


 * Action Girl: Not as much as Faris but is still quite determined to fight and protect the world.
 * Badass Princess
 * The Chick: Well-raised, well-spoken, and full of kindness.
 * Cute Bruiser: Hard hitting jobs like monk and knight turn her into this.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Oh so much. She'll put her life on the line to save Wind drakes, and that's just a part of it.
 * Green Eyes: Ingame sprite only. They're not a personality indicator,.
 * Hair of Gold: In her artwork where she is also an example of a Woman in White.
 * Heroic BSOD: A small one after.
 * Lady of War: Depicted with a sword in Amano art as well as the PSX's FMV stills and does not hesitate to take up arms against the forces destroying the crystals. Hard-hitting jobs like Knight and Monk turn her into this as well.
 * Leitmotif: Lenna's Theme. She's the only one besides Exdeath to have one named after her.
 * Leotard of Power: Her in-game sprite.
 * Naive Newcomer: Her idea to request pirates for a ride. Not that Galuf's brilliant plan worked any better.
 * The Girly Girl to
 * Princess Classic
 * Rebellious Princess: She disobeys her father right at the beginning of the game.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something:
 * Rose-Haired Girl: Only in the in-game sprites (Her Amano art has her as a blonde). However, the pink hair is far more favored by fan artists.
 * Ship Tease: Her initial dialogue with Bartz (especially the PSX translation) and the Amano art of them embracing in moonlight. Doesn't really happen in-game.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: She may be a Lady of War but she's also so kind and sweet and well-spoken and princessy.
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Initially translated as "Reina".
 * Squishy Wizard
 * Squishy Wizard

Galuf
Galuf is an amnesiac old man, who was found near a meteor. It seems that his mission is protecting the crystals, and he takes along Lenna (and eventually Bartz) along for the ride. The Earth Crystal chooses him, symbolizing hope.

"Galuf:...Ohh, my aching head! I can't remember a thing!
 * Authority Equals Asskicking:
 * Badass Grandpa: Damn right he is.
 * The Big Guy, with a hint of The Lancer: He's only 5'5", but his personality sure is big.
 * Berserk Button + Papa Wolf: You don't mess with his True Companions or attack his granddaughter in front of him unless you have a legitimate death wish.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Determinator: . It's to the point that Exdeath actually begins to freak out over it.
 * Easy Amnesia: Initially, he can't remember anything save his name, because he hit his head when landing his meteor in the beginning of the game. He tries to use it to get off blame when his "steal Faris' ship" plan goes south.
 * Easy Amnesia: Initially, he can't remember anything save his name, because he hit his head when landing his meteor in the beginning of the game. He tries to use it to get off blame when his "steal Faris' ship" plan goes south.

Bartz: And your amnesia oh-so-conveniently returns."

"Galuf:...Don't push it, kid. Here in Bal, bad jokes like that will get you PUNished..."
 * Eccentric Mentor
 * Grandpa, What Massive Hotness You Have: He pulls off a Walking Shirtless Scene fairly well for someone his age in his Monk sprite.
 * And his Dancer costume is positively Stripperiffic.
 * Large Ham: Especially when he gets together with his Dawn Warrior pals.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Galuf is an irreverent, smart-mouthed, amnesiac old coot. Expect that to change the second the party's life is in his hands or Exdeath arrives.
 * Modest Royalty:
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now:
 * Old Soldier: Acts like this. Especially his
 * The Obi-Wan:
 * Pungeon Master
 * The Obi-Wan:
 * Pungeon Master
 * Pungeon Master

""We crossed burning sand every day and liked it!""
 * Stone Wall: Before getting job-classed up.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Faris.
 * What You Are in The Dark: Near the beginning of the game, the Siren offers him the chance to flee if he lets her devour everyone else's souls. It's really not much of a question to him.
 * When I Was Your Age: When confronting the Desert of Shifting Sands.
 * When I Was Your Age: When confronting the Desert of Shifting Sands.

Faris Scherwiz
Faris is the leader of a band of pirates, who catches the party trying to steal their ship. Faris eventually lets the party use their ship, which can move without wind due to Faris' sea creature friend, Syldra, moving it. Faris is chosen by the Fire Crystal, symbolizing courage. It is revealed quickly that Faris is in fact a girl,. She will be appearing in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a playable sub-character.


 * A Pirate And Her Sea Creature Friend
 * Action Girl: Oh yes.
 * Anti-Hero: Initially Type IV; she intends to hold Lenna for ransom early on, and only joins the quest to find out about her past, not because she cares about the crystals or worldwide devastation. This changes, and by the end of the game she's Type II.
 * Badass Longcoat: In her official artwork.
 * Bifauxnen
 * Big Sister Instinct: Towards Lenna, even before Faris came to terms with their relation.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: She refuses to admit that
 * Character Development: Starts off as a pirate captain whose main interest is in ransoming Lenna back to Tycoon. By the end of the game, she declares that she won't stand by as more lives are lost to Exdeath.
 * Green Eyes: For her ingame sprite. Her artwork gives her Brown Eyes instead.
 * Hair of Gold: In her artwork, combined with a Tomboyish Ponytail.
 * Informed Attractiveness . additionally, during the reveal of her gender, Galuf and Bartz go ga-ga over her. There isn't any real way to tell, since she's a 16-bit sprite after all.
 * Jack of All Stats: Bartz and Galuf have slightly (it won't mean anything after the very early game for the most part) higher physical attack and constitution, Lenna has slightly (though the agility boost will at least decide what order characters with the same set up move in here) higher magic and agility, Faris has the best of both.
 * The Lancer: Somewhat. She's more on the ball than Bartz is, in general.
 * Pirate Girl
 * Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Averted. Her first reaction to finding out she has a princess aboard is to hold her for ransom.
 * Played straight by the rest of her crew, though; the moment they reach the nearest town, they rush to the pub and just start drinking.
 * Raised By Pirates
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Bartz becomes even more smitten with her . Seems to apply when she's asleep, too.
 * Sweet Polly Oliver: Not so much on the sweet, but she fits.
 * Sweet On Polly Oliver: There's an optional scene before her outing where Bartz and Galuf fawn over "his" looks.
 * Also, if you talk to one of "his" crew at the start of the game in the Tule pub, he will say "Captain... so dreamy..."
 * Talk Like a Pirate: It's done horribly in the PSX version, with nearly every line beginning with "D'garr!" The GBA simply (and less annoyingly) makes her talk like a thug with very old slurs.
 * Tall Purple And Bishoujo
 * The Tomboy to
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair: Like Lenna, the Amano art has her as a blonde.
 * Unfortunate Names: The PSX release translated her real name as "Salsa."
 * Tall Purple And Bishoujo
 * The Tomboy to
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair: Like Lenna, the Amano art has her as a blonde.
 * Unfortunate Names: The PSX release translated her real name as "Salsa."

Krile Mayer Baldesion
Krile is the granddaughter of Galuf,  A bright and optimistic girl, Krile is an extremely knowledgeable girl and helps the others in their quest to defeat Exdeath and save the worlds.

""We must stop Exdeath. The people around the world need us... No, not only the people, but all life..."
 * Action Girl
 * Aside Glance: Constantly. All of her battle sprites have her looking straight out at the audience instead of at the monsters like the rest of the party.
 * It should be noted that this was how younger characters' battle sprites were rendered back then; the Onion Knights and Rydia, Palom, and Porom did this too.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass Princess
 * Big Damn Heroes: The first time the party meets her is when she busts into the Ronka Ruins on a meteor and knocks out an Exdeath-controlled King Tycoon.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Her first appearance is as an illusion the Siren creates to lure Galuf, but he has no clue who she is..
 * Cute Bruiser: It seems that she was designed to be as adorable as possible. She also wins a fist fight against Bartz once.
 * Friend to All Living Things: She's less suicidal about it than Lenna, fortunately.
 * Genki Girl: Perhaps the first one in the series.
 * Hair of Gold: In all artwork.
 * I See Dead People: If there's a ghost around, she's the one who will talk to him/her/it.
 * Little Miss Badass
 * Plucky Girl: Krile has by no means had an easy life, but that hasn't put a dent in her spirit.
 * Psychic Headache: Gets one thanks to Ghido's mind-call.
 * Raised By Grandparents: One grandparent, anyway. Her parents vanished in the desert when she was little.
 * Rousing Speech: After everything has become so much worse, Krile gives a brief one at the Guardian Tree.
 * Raised By Grandparents: One grandparent, anyway. Her parents vanished in the desert when she was little.
 * Rousing Speech: After everything has become so much worse, Krile gives a brief one at the Guardian Tree.


 * Speaks Fluent Animal / Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: She can talk to moogles. And wind drakes. And chocobos. They never really explain this except for one NPC in Bal that said her ability started to appear after her parent were missing in desert.
 * Token Mini-Moe
 * You Are Not Alone: The others tell her this during the ending.
 * Token Mini-Moe
 * You Are Not Alone: The others tell her this during the ending.
 * You Are Not Alone: The others tell her this during the ending.

The Job Classes
The cornerstone of Final Fantasy V's gameplay, these warrior spirits are acquired from the Crystal Shards that appear after the breaking of each successful crystal.

The Freelancer
The "base" job of the game; all of the characters start out as one.


 * Magikarp Power: While this job starts out fairly weak Statistically Speaking, it eventually gains the stat boosts of all mastered jobs without taking on stat penalties. It also acquires the innate abilities of mastered jobs, such as the Ninja's Dual-Wielding or the Monk's ability to Counter Attack.
 * Weapon of Choice: Averted; this class can equip any and all pieces of equipment. Being able to do so actually makes it one of the best jobs in the game, even before it inherits stat boosts.

The Knight


These brave warriors take physical attacks for weakened allies. Their class ability, Guard, allows them to nullify all physical damage until their next turn.


 * Mighty Glacier: They're actually faster than a Freelancer, but their use of Heavy Armor tends to make them slower.
 * No Sell: As stated above, Guard nullifies damage from all physical attacks.
 * Self-Imposed Challenge: Use of the above and below in combination makes them quite useful for them.
 * Taking the Bullet: Has the signature Cover ability.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, swords, knight swords, and shields.

The Monk


These bare knuckled fighters can take down even powerful monsters with but their fists. They have the highest Strength and health among all jobs, making them sturdy.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Goes without saying.
 * Counter Attack: Their innate ability.
 * Critical Hit: Bare fists are one of the two ways to trigger critical hits without consuming MP.
 * Disc One Nuke: Like Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy Tactics, your bare hands do rather high damage early in the game.
 * Heal Thyself: Chakra heals some HP and some Standard Status Effects.
 * Herd Hitting Attack: Their command Kick lets them hit all foes for reduced damage.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Is fairly fast, though they have the same speed bonus as a Knight, yet is not encumbered by heavy armor.

The Thief


These nimble rogues run circles around foes, whilst pilfering valuable items from them.


 * Fragile Speedster: Fastest job in the game, yet has mediocre strength and health.
 * Video Game Stealing
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives. They also have access to throwing weapons and the Twin Lance.

The Blue Mage


Final Fantasy V introduced these unique mages, having the ability to learn certain magic used by enemies. Their skill set is fairly diverse, ranging from offensive magic like Goblin Punch and Flame Thrower, to defensive buffs like Mighty Guard.


 * Blow You Away: Has access to the Aero series of spells.
 * Difficult but Awesome: Not an easy class to master, yet veteran players swear by Blue Magic.
 * Enemy Scan: Possibly reflecting their origins in the Scholar class.
 * Jack of All Stats: Has the most balanced stats among Wind Crystal Jobs, yet they are lacking in physical strength.
 * Mask Power: All party members wear a domino mask.
 * Nice Hat: Lenna and Krile also get stylish berets.
 * Mega Manning: Codified the Final Fantasy version.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, swords, rods, and shields.

The Black Mage


Masters of offensive magics. They do tend to be outclassed later on by Summoners and Mystic Knights, but they are fairly useful to the end.


 * Black Magic
 * Crutch Character: They seem to be this, since as more jobs are unlocked their offensive power wanes.
 * The Faceless: As per Final Fantasy tradition, but an interesting case given that other than using this job, each character has a face.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: Every odd level of Black Magic has this.
 * Nice Hat: Steeple hats as usual.
 * Non-Elemental: Their ultimate spell, Flare.
 * Squishy Wizard: High Magic, low strength and health.
 * Standard Status Effects
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives and rods.

The White Mage


Masters of defensive magics. Unlike Black Mages, they remain consistently useful throughout the game.


 * Holy Hand Grenade: Their ultimate spell, Holy.
 * The Medic: Obviously.
 * Squishy Wizard: Slightly less squishy than a Black Mage, yet still fairly frail.
 * Weapon of Choice: Simple Staffs, though they also get an Epic Flail or two.

The Mystic Knight


These warriors have the ability to enchant their weapons with magic, allowing them to exploit elemental weaknesses, inflict status effects, drain HP or MP, or just deal heavy damage.


 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: Given that their skill set is closely linked to a Black Mage's...
 * Lightning Bruiser: Tied for second fastest job with Ninja, and is one of a handful of jobs that get no stat reductions whatsoever. They can also equip heavy armor and can swing swords with enough strength.
 * Magic Knight: Sort of. They still use physical attacks, yet can imbue their weapons with magical effects.
 * One Hit KO: Firaga/Blizzaga/Thundaga/Holy Spellblade does this to foes weak against their respective elements, provided they aren't immune to this trope.
 * Shout Out: Bartz's and Galuf's outfit resembles Minwu.
 * Standard Status Effects: Poison, Silence, Sleep, Bio, Break, and Death Spellblade.
 * Stripperific: Lenna and Faris both resemble belly dancers in this job.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, swords, and shields.

The Berserker


These fur-clad heroes destroy enemies with their axes and hammers, without pausing for commands.


 * The Berserker: Obviously.
 * Mighty Glacier: Slowest job in the game, yet they hit hard.
 * Nemean Skinning: All of them wear animal skins.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, axes, hammers, and shields.

The Red Mage


These scarlet-clad, tabard-wearing wizards take up magic and fighting equally, resulting in a Jack-of-all-trades that is also a Master of None. Final Fantasy V gives them the Dualcast ability, making mastering this job ultimately worth it.


 * Crutch Character: They're very useful upon first acquisition due to their versatility, then fall behind as other jobs become more useful. However, see Magikarp Power below.
 * Jack of All Stats: Balanced stats (including both increased Strength and Magic), yet have no outstanding stats and actually lack in health.
 * Magikarp Power: They gain the great Dualcast ability, after acquiring the most ABP required to master a single Job, standing at 1179 ABP total.
 * Master of None: Bar dualcasting this job has few niches to fill, and Dualcast is used better by Mimes.
 * Nice Hat: Par for the course.
 * The Red Mage: Of course.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, swords, rods, and staves.

The Time Mage


These are masters of time and space, able to speed up allies, slow down foes, rewind time to the beginning of a battle, and even summon meteors.


 * Death From Above: Comet, and their ultimate spell, Meteor.
 * Gravity Master: Gravity and Graviga are Percent Damage Attacks, as is typical in Final Fantasy.
 * Nice Hat: A conical hat with a star on it.
 * Reset Button: Return does this for an entire battle.
 * Time Master: First specialized Time Mages.

The Summoner


These mages call upon magical creatures, ranging from the humble Chocobo to the Dragon King Bahamut.


 * Elemental Powers: They have more elemental coverage than Black Mages, even.
 * Blow You Away:, though the animation suggests otherwise.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Titan.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: The level 2 summons Shiva, Ifrit, and Ramuh.
 * Making a Splash: Leviathan.
 * Non-Elemental: Chocobo, Sylph, Odin (when using Gungnir) and Bahamut.
 * Playing With Fire: Apart from the aforementioned Ifrit, Phoenix.
 * Life Drain: Sylph damages a single enemy and heals all living party members.
 * Single Stroke Battle: Odin, provided he uses Zantetsuken.
 * Taken for Granite: Catoblepas petrifies a single target.
 * Taking the Bullet: Golem takes physical attacks for the party.
 * Weapon of Choice: Largely the same as a Black Mage: Knives and rods.

The Mime


Although a Water Crystal job, plot events make it unavailable until. Though by themselves they can't do anything but Mimic the last move by a party member, they are stronger than expected.


 * Badass Cape: Their outfit is largely the same as the Freelancer outfit, save for the addition of a cape.
 * Magikarp Power: See Freelancer. In fact, this is the best job for a magically inclined character, as they can have three commands apart from Mimic, and this class lack of weapons does not hamper them thus.
 * Mega Manning: This is their default job command.
 * Weapon of Choice: Has the weapon set of the Thief and Ninja, but with the addition of rods, staves, and shields.

The Ninja
Stealthy warriors who can Dual Wield, throw weapons, create images to distract physical attacks, and flee with the use of a smoke bomb.


 * Dual Wield: Their specialty.
 * Glass Cannon: Tied for second highest speed with Mystic Knight, and possesses good strength to go with Dual Wield, yet has a lack of health.
 * Smoke Out
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: In this case, throwing Excalipoor is one of two ways to effectively use its good 100 nominal attack power.
 * Weapon of Choice: Same as the Thief's.

The Beastmaster
These are masters of keeping monsters under control, as well as the ability to catch and release monsters for powerful attacks.


 * The Beast Master
 * Mighty Glacier: Good strength, good health, mediocre speed.
 * Weapon of Choice: Other than knives, they are principally whip users.

The Geomancer
Magi of the earth, they use the environment to wreak havoc on foes. They, oddly enough, use bells in battle.


 * Convection Shmonvection: They can ignore damage from lava floors and similar conditions.
 * Geo Effects
 * Weapon of Choice: Bells, apart from the universal knives.

The Ranger
Although this job and the Bard are also of the Fire Crystal, they are found separately, coughed up by a Black Chocobo rather than being retrieved after the breaking of the said crystal. This job specializes in ranged assaults and the alliance of woodland creatures.


 * The Archer
 * Forest Ranger
 * Glass Cannon: Good strength, decent speed, hampered by low health. Mitigated however by this class's usefulness in the back row.
 * Spam Attack: Rapid Fire.
 * Summon Magic: In the form of Woodland Creatures.
 * Weapon of Choice: Apart from knives, see The Archer.

The Bard
This job is acquired alongside the Ranger. Bards use their songs to either bolster a party or mess with foes.


 * Expy: Starting a series tradition, the Bards in this game have a moveset based on that of Edward from Final Fantasy IV, including Edward's signature ability to hide from sight.
 * Lethal Joke Character: While their stats are nothing to write home about, their song repertoire includes abilities to increase strength, magic, or even level over time, heavily damage undead, or stop even a mechanical bringer of death in its tracks.
 * Revive Kills Zombie: Requiem does massive damage to undead. And then there's Apollo's Harp, which deals greatly increased damage to Undead and Dragons - of which the latter includes one of the two original Bonus Bosses.
 * Spoony Bard: Somewhat, but see Lethal Joke Character.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives and songs complemented by harps.

The Samurai
These honorable warriors from a faraway land can block attacks with their bare hands, as well as throw money at the enemy for good damage.


 * Barehanded Blade Block: Their Shiriharadori skill does this, even for non-sword attacks. It notably stacks with equipment such as shields and the Elven Mantle, allowing Samurai to dodge many physical attacks.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: The katana weapon class is the only one that inherently has a Critical Hit chance, and the Legendary Katana, the Masamune, allows its wielder to go first in a battle regardless of his/her speed.
 * Mighty Glacier: A Heavy Armor job in the Knight's mold, with slightly less strength but slightly more speed.
 * Money to Throw Away: Zeninage lets you throw money at enemies.
 * Single Stroke Battle: Their Iainuki ability allows them to do this, though its chance of success is minimal against more powerful foes.
 * Weapon of Choice: Apart from the aforementioned katana, they also have access to knives and shields.

The Dragoon
High jumping champions, they wield spears into battle.


 * In a Single Bound/Jump Physics: Their Jump skill deals double damage when used with spears.
 * Life Drain and Mana Drain: Their Lance skill allows them to recover HP and MP from a foe.
 * Mighty Glacier: Yet another Heavy Armor job, yet again slightly weaker than a Knight and slightly faster.
 * Shout Out: Bartz's Dragoon outfit very closely resembles Kain Highwind.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives, spears, and shields.

The Dancer
These warriors use deadly dances to defeat foes.


 * Dance Battler: First ever in Final Fantasy. Dance is a surprisingly good ability, especially when used with certain equipment.
 * Life Drain/Mana Drain: Two possible effects of Dance.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Decent strength and agility, with their Stamina surprisingly being their best stat.
 * Quad Damage: with Sword Dance being the most effective...
 * Standard Status Effects: and Tempting Tango causing confusion (though Tempting Tango is superseded by Sword Dance when wearing certain equipment).
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives.

The Chemist
These intrepid item users and mixers are a rather oddball job, in that they tend to rely heavily on item use.


 * Chemistry Can Do Anything
 * Difficult but Awesome: Even more so than Blue Magic, yet Mixes are invaluable for more strategic players, particularly those doing a Low-Level Run.
 * Item Caddy: Potions and ethers are doubly effective when used by a Chemist. This is an innate ability, so mastering it will pass it to Freelancers and Mimes.
 * Jack of All Stats: Despite the more magical nature of their abilities, they don't get appreciable stat boosts or deductions, and they have Magic as their lowest stat (though not by much).
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives and staffs.

The Gladiator
Masters of combat, this class has the second most diverse weapon selection behind the Freelancer. They hit hard, and their abilities are geared towards combat.


 * Cap: The Elemental Attack of Finisher will always do 9999 damage... provided the target does not resist the element.
 * Critical Hit: One of the possible effects of Finisher.
 * Elemental Powers: This is the only part of the game where the elemental essences granted to the party make a difference in game play. The Elemental Attack of the Finisher ability has its element dependent on the character.
 * Blow You Away: Bartz
 * Making a Splash: Lenna
 * Playing With Fire: Faris
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Krile
 * Foil: See the Oracle entry.
 * Glass Cannon: Tied with Monk for highest strength, yet has rather low health. This is mitigated through the class' Long Range ability (allows attacks to deal full damage from the back row), and access to Heavy Armor.
 * Herd Hitting Attack: Bladeblitz hits all enemies with a regular attack.
 * Random Encounters: Can increase their rate through the Lure passive ability.
 * Shout Out: The character's outfits resemble that of Saint Seiya characters. Each of the characters also resemble a Summon within the game (Bartz to Odin or Bahamut, Lenna to Shiva, Faris to Syldra, and Krile to Carbuncle).
 * Weapon of Choice: They get access to most physically based weapons, such as knives, swords, knight swords, axes, katana, spears, and shields.

The Cannoneer
This class uses more modern armaments such as cannon primed with magical shot. A more offensively-inclined version of the Chemist.


 * Experience Booster: Of the more orthodox variety.
 * Good Bad Bugs: It is possible to use Combine to prevent the Final Boss encounter altogether.
 * Item Caddy: They're quite item reliant like the Chemist, yet with a more offensive bent.
 * Jack of All Stats: Quite balanced stat bonuses, and they notably don't get any stat reductions.
 * Nice Hat: The party resembles French soldiers in this job, complete with tricorn (though Pirate Faris forgoes the hat).
 * Standard Status Effects: Open Fire is a regular attack that deals full damage from the back row and can inflict these.
 * Weapon of Choice: Other than cannon, they carry knives, swords, and shields.

The Oracle
These harbingers of good and bad fortune alike peer into the future, either providing magical effects into battle or reducing Random Encounters.


 * Experience Booster: A variant for ABP.
 * Foil: Arguably to the Gladiator class, as not only were both introduced in the Advance release, but one is a physical specialist while the other is a magic specialist, and both have abilities that either increase or decrease the rate of Random Encounters.
 * Random Encounters: Has an ability that decreases them.
 * Spoony Bard: Having a skill set entirely dependent on luck will do this.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Provided you know how to game the Oracle's mechanics, they'll be able to match even Black Mages.
 * Squishy Wizard: Best Magic stat in the whole game, nothing useful for it to use it on barring mastery.
 * Weapon of Choice: Simple Staff.

The Necromancer
Harbingers of death and the power to use the dark arts.


 * Black Magic: Of an even more sinister version than the Black Mage's.
 * Bragging Rights Reward:, after which there are at most two to four meaningful foes to fight.
 * Mega Manning: A twist on the Blue Mage's version; this time a Necromancer needs to kill a monster with an attack to learn its skill.
 * Revive Kills Zombie: Be careful when using healing spells and items around these guys. Using Death on them, on the other hand...
 * Squishy Wizard: Averted. These guys have even better health than a Knight, but this is probably meant to counter-balance their recovery difficulty.
 * Weapon of Choice: Knives and rods.
 * Whatevermancy

Exdeath
The main villain of Final Fantasy V. Exdeath was once a tree in the Great Forest of Moore, who was used as a prison for evil souls to inhabit. Eventually the evil souls merged into the form of the Tin Tyrant that's seen in the game. Exdeath's goal is to control the void and destroy everything.

"Bartz: Exdeath! No way we'll let you get away with this!
 * And Your Little Dog, Too: He destroys largely just to show off his newfound power.
 * Big Bad
 * Cardboard Prison: The Dawn Warriors booted him out of their dimension, with Dorgann staying behind as a warden.
 * As a dustbin for evil creatures, Exdeath himself is an embodiment of this trope.
 * Card-Carrying Villain
 * Eldritch Abomination: His final boss forms.
 * Evil Albino: The only visible parts of Exdeath are his hands, which are ghostly white.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He thinks that Galuf is fighting with hatred. He's wrong.
 * Evil Laugh: In pretty much every line.
 * Evil Overlord: He has the multitude of demons sealed in the Rift at his beck and call, apparently by promising to reshape the world for them to rule.
 * There's also the fact that he himself is actually composed of multiple demons.
 * Fighting a Shadow: The Sealed Castle is patrolled by ExDeath Souls.
 * Genius Bruiser
 * Humanoid Abomination
 * Knight of Cerebus: The game noticeably gets about ten times as serious every time he is on-screen. And usually somebody you cared about dies.
 * Large and In Charge
 * Large Ham: And HOW. He even went from a very unpopular Final Fantasy villain to VERY well-liked when Dissidia Final Fantasy finally was able to have Gerald C. Rivers voice his hamminess (and play it up as well).
 * Leitmotif: "The Evil Lord Exdeath". Complete with Psycho Strings and Evil Laughter in the background!
 * Made of Evil: An amalgamation of evil spirits that have become one being.
 * Magic Knight: Wears heavy armor, wields a large sword, has good physical attacks... and magic to kill you many times over.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast
 * Obviously Evil: ...Exdeath.
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Outside Context Villain
 * Power of the Void: His obsession.
 * Scary Impractical Armor
 * Sealed Evil in A Can
 * Shoulders of Doom: Those spikes have got to be over a foot high.
 * Shut Up, Kirk: Delivered to Bartz and the gang when they confront him in his castle.
 * Shut Up, Kirk: Delivered to Bartz and the gang when they confront him in his castle.

Exdeath: Mwa-hahahaha... Have you any idea what I plan to get away with in the first place?"


 * Spikes of Villainy
 * Supervillain Lair: Castle Exdeath.
 * Tin Tyrant: A stepping point between Golbez and Kekfa Pallazzo.
 * Trivia: He's the last Tin Tyrant major villain until XII's judges, and the last out of an almost unbroken line for the first five games, III being the exception.
 * When Trees Attack: This is what happens when you use a tree in a magic forest as a trash compactor for evil spirits.
 * Where I Was Born and Razed: The tree that became Exdeath originally grew in the Great Forest of Moore. In his race to destroy the Crystals of Galuf's world, he burns down the entire forest, save for the eldest tree, because the forest would not allow him to enter.
 * Why Won't You Die?:.

Gilgamesh
The Dragon to Exdeath. An enthusiastic warrior who fights the main party several times throughout the story.


 * Affably Evil
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Braggart Boss: Trope Codifier.
 * The Cameo: He's notable for being so awesome that he's the only character to actually appear (as in, not as some guy with the same name, it's the same person) in other numbered games.
 * Character Exaggeration: Gilgamesh's poor battle skills and sword-obsession in other parts of the series are in contrast of his original appearance here; he actually doesn't even use a sword until growing extra arms, and even then only uses one. What's more, he's a challenging boss most of the time and is described by one NPC as having defeated an entire Redshirt Army on his own.
 * Well to be fair, even when he is making a cameo appearance, he's usually some kind of Bonus Boss...
 * The Dragon
 * Fake Ultimate Baddie
 * Friendly Enemy: Grows into this as you keep beating him.
 * Goldfish Poop Gang: The first example in the franchise.
 * : And he comes back later for a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Hot Blooded
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: You gotta feel sorry for him when Exdeath
 * Large Ham: INCONCEIVABLE!
 * Worthy Opponent + The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
 * : Exdeath got fed up with his constant bungling and.
 * Worthy Opponent + The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
 * : Exdeath got fed up with his constant bungling and.

Enuo
The original evil. A dark Wizard who 1,000 years before the events of the game nearly destroyed the world and whose defeat caused the world to split in two.


 * Bigger Bad
 * Bonus Boss: In the GBA version.
 * Eldritch Abomination
 * Sealed Evil in A Can: His domain is entitled THE SEALED TEMPLE.

Cid Previa
Every Final Fantasy needs a Cid, after all.


 * The Engineer: Handles the party's machine-related needs. He converts a ship to a submarine and fixes a thousands-year-old airship for them.
 * Heroic BSOD: After the Fire Crystal breaks. Mid snaps him out of it.
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Invented the Crystal machines.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: He blames himself for the shattering of the Crystals.

Mid Previa
Cid's grandson. Manages to get his grandfather to his senses.


 * Bookworm: He's so absorbed in his reading he doesn't even notice the party's battle with a vicious book-demon behind him.
 * The Engineer: He seems just as adept as Cid.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Towards his grandfather.
 * Insufferable Genius: He would be insufferable if he wasn't so funny.
 * Mythology Gag: There have been several references to Mid in the series. "Mid" is one of the default names for the Red Mage job in the remakes of Final Fantasy I, Cid Pollendina's grandson in The After Years is named Mid, and Mid is Balthier's true middle name.
 * Nerd Glasses

Alexander Highwind Tycoon
Lenna's father, the king of Tycoon. Sets off to the Wind Shrine at the beginning of the game; when he doesn't come back, Lenna sets out after him, beginning the story of the game. .


 * Disappeared Dad
 * Dragon Rider: With his Wind Drake, Hiryu.
 * Mythology Gag: His middle name is the common Dragoon last name, "Highwind".
 * Mythology Gag: His middle name is the common Dragoon last name, "Highwind".

Dorgann Klauser
Bartz's Father, who died three years prior to to events of the game. Trained Bartz in fighting, and is the one who encouraged him to become a wanderer.


 * Badass Mustache
 * Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You
 * Posthumous Character

Xezat Matias Surgate
The King of Surgate.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Master Swordsman: Famed among his fellow warriors for this.
 * Modest Royalty:
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something

Kelger Vlondett
The leader of the werewolf village of Quelb.


 * Cool Old Werewolf
 * Doppelganger Spin
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: Lone Wolf aside, they're a friendly lot.
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: Lone Wolf aside, they're a friendly lot.

Ghido
An ancient sage, who happens to be a tortoise. Has a very dry wit and loves to pick on Bartz.


 * Badass: He was evenly matched against Exdeath
 * Deadpan Snarker: Everything he says to Bartz is a veiled insult.
 * Well, sometimes veiled. Lines like "so enthusiastic and yet so stupid" aren't really subtle.
 * Telepathy: He mind calls Krile to page Galuf.
 * Turtle Power: Naturally.