Final Fantasy IV/Characters: Difference between revisions

* [[Bishonen]]: Currently fighting with [[Final Fantasy IX|Kuja]] for the title of Bishiest. ([[Dissidia Final Fantasy|No, really.]])

** [[Real Men Wear Pink|Real Men Wear Lipstick]]

* [[Blue Eyes]]

* {{spoiler|[[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: By the Mysterious Girl in ''The After Years''.}}

* [[Casting a Shadow]]: At first.

* [[Childhood Friend Romance]]: With Rosa.

* [[Classically-Trained Extra]]: His seiyuu is Shizuma Hodoshima, who's not a [[Names to Know in Anime|Name to Know in Anime]]... bit of a different story, though, if you're looking to put on a [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] production.

* [[Defector From Decadence]]

* [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]: But it only became obvious after one, technology developed to the point that we could clearly see what he looks like, and two, the series became popular enough for [[Yoshitaka Amano]]'s artwork for it to be gathered up into artbooks ([[No Export for You|as usual]], happening later for the anglophone world than Japan).

* [[Heroes Prefer Swords]]

* [[Hot Dad]]: To Ceodore.

* {{spoiler|[[Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad]]}}

* [[Ideal Hero]]: Well, he ''is'' a Paladin (eventually).

* [[Knight in Shining Armor]]: As a Paladin, naturally (and hands down at that), but it's also implied that he was this as a Dark Knight before {{spoiler|the king was replaced by Cagnazzo}} ([[Dark Is Not Evil|which most people seem to forget]]).

* [[Lawful Stupid]]: '''Averting''' this trope is actually a plot point for him, as he worries that he's becoming a tool of Baron without any morality in the beginning of the game. The decision to avert this is also what causes him to turn against his homeland.

* {{spoiler|[[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: With Golbez.}}

* [[Stay in the Kitchen]]: He tells Rosa and Rydia (you know, the healer and the nuketastic spellcaster) to stay safe on earth but has no problem taking along Edge, who spends half his time in battle faceplanted. (Fortunately, they don't listen.)

* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]

 

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Koichi Yamadera]] (Japanese), [[Liam O'Brien]] (English)}}

 

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]

* [[Blade on a Stick]]: His [[Weapon of Choice]] although not the only weapon he can wield.

* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: The main reason for his [[Heel Face Revolving Door]] trope.

* [[Breakout Character]]: One of the most famous [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s of the series. He got to be a central character in ''The After Years'' {{spoiler|due to his dark side being a major antagonist}}, and is one of the more plot-important characters in ''Dissidia 012''. Even [[Tetsuya Nomura]] is a Kain fanboy and tried really hard to get him in the first ''Dissidia'', looking at him for ''IV's'' representative villain at one point instead of Golbez.

* [[Cain and Abel]]: Is the name not a clue? He even gets an [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One Lance]] called "Abel's Lance".

* [[Dragon Rider]]: He ''is'' a Dragoon, although the only mention of his [[Cool Pet|pet]] [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|wyvern]] is in [[All There in the Manual|supplemental materials]].

* {{spoiler|[[Enemy Without]]: Kain?/Dark Kain in both ''IV Advance'' and ''The After Years''.}}

* [[Hair of Gold]]: It takes a while for him to get there, but yeah. [[Badass Long Hair|Shoulder]] [[Long-Haired Pretty Boy|length]], too.

* [[In a Single Bound]]: [[Death From Above|Jump]]. That is all.

* {{spoiler|[[Knight in Shining Armor]]: He becomes a Holy Dragoon in the sequel.}}

* [[The Lancer]]: This is both his class name and his role within the story.

* [[Leitmotif]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3tn5nKGvpM "The Theme of Suspicion"].

* [[Manly Tears]]/[[Cry Cute]]: Teach him "Cry" and try it out.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: Starting with the ''Dawn of Souls'' remake for ''[[Final Fantasy II]]'', the boy that Richard Highwind (the series' first Dragoon and bearer of the surname Highwind) adopts is named Kain. [[Retroactive Legacy|This was brought full circle]] when remakes of ''IV'' had Kain mention that the name of his father (who died <ref>fighting an [[The Empire|evil empire]]; i.e. Richard's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] against Emperor Mateus in ''II''</ref>) was Richard (although it's highly unlikely due to age; Kain tells the 17-year-old Ceodore that he was about his age when he heard news of his father's death; the Kain seen in ''II'' is merely a child).

* [[Name of Cain]]

* [[The Rival]]

* [[The Southpaw]]/[[A Sinister Clue]]: Officially, Kain is left-handed.

* [[Troubled but Cute]]

 

=== Rosa Farrell ===

* [[Damsel in Distress]]

* [[Generation Xerox]]: She wished to become a white mage and fight alongside her lover, much like her mother did. The only difference is that Mrs. Farrell's husband was a dragoon, and Cecil's a paladin...

* [[Hair of Gold]]

* [[Happily Married]]

* [[The Heart]]

* [[Informed Attractiveness]]: While by no means ugly, her reputation as a world famous beauty seems a bit of a stretch when the other female party members are also quite beautiful. YMMV of course on if they're more attractive than Rosa or not.

* [[The Ingenue]]: She's pure of spirit, although she's not naive or stupid.

* [[Lady of War]]: It takes a while for her to grow into this trope though.

* [[Leotard of Power]]

* [[The Medic]]: Rosa is known in story as a master of [[Healing Hands]].

* [[Pregnant Badass]]: In the original release of ''The After Years'', Ceodore is 16. ''The After Years'' takes place 17 years after the original game, implying she was possibly already pregnant during the end-game. ''The Complete Collection'' re-release de-aged Ceodore to 15, but included the ''Interlude'' chapter where she's playable for part of the chapter and later explicitly states she's pregnant.

* [[Silk Hiding Steel]]: A pure and loving healer {{spoiler|/queen}} who dresses very well and kicks ass.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: Though nowhere near as much as Rydia.

* [[White Mage]]

* [[World's Most Beautiful Woman]]: Though see above under [[Informed Attractiveness]].

 

* [[Badass Adorable]]: If you level her sufficiently, she can one-hit desert creatures with her little Ice Rod.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: One of her iconic scenes is showing up as an adult (supposedly killed by a sea serpent a few weeks earlier at age 6), after everyone is about to die and kicking Golbez's ass. This was a guy who took a Meteor spell to the ''face'' and walked it off.

* [[Black Magician Girl]]: She chants. Enemies explode.

* [[Blue Eyes]]/[[Green Eyes]]: [[Depending on the Artist]].

* [[Breakout Character]]: After Kain a prominent [[Ensemble Darkhorse]], her Eidolons and her quest to save them are a major plot point in ''The After Years'', not to mention the {{spoiler|initial}} [[Big Bad]] is her [[Evil Counterpart]]. Along with Kain she also gets to be in ''[[Theatrhythm Final Fantasy]]'' as a bonus character.

* [[Easily Forgiven]]: Forgiveness ''from'' Rydia was surprisingly fast.

** [[Justified Trope]]: Rydia ''didn't'' forgive Cecil too quickly, but she was rational enough to realise that he felt remorseful for what he'd done after he saved her life after she attacked him and even continued to protect her from his own allies from Baron. The [[Plot-Relevant Age-Up]] also helped a lot—Cecil was surprised she still wanted to fight alongside him now that she could protect herself, but she pointed out there were more important things to consider than their own discomfort (and given she spent at least a decade there, it would've given her time to truly forgive). As for forgiving ''[[More Than Mind Control|Kain]]'', though ... well, maybe Leviathan explained things to her so her anger wouldn't fester?

* [[Glass Cannon]]: Her summons will blast your enemies into oblivion, but Rydia by far has the lowest health of any of the group. If not sufficiently leveled by the time you've reached Zeromus it's likely he'll have her face down on the floor half the time.

* [[I Choose to Stay]]: The ending for the original game implies Rydia chose to stay in the Feymarch and live with Asura and Leviathan. {{spoiler|''The After Years'' turns this one-sided--Asura and Leviathan send her back to live in Mist because she's still a human, and despite growing up in the Feymarch; they thought it would be better for her to be with her own species.}}

* [[Leitmotif]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGntfMa4GiU "Rydia's Theme"].

* [[Leotard of Power]]

* [[Whip It Good]]

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: Rydia is unable to cast Fire, and is afraid to cast it at first because Cecil and Kain unknowingly destroyed her hometown with Bombs (the monster, not the explosive device).

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]

 

 

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: He has feelings for Rydia. She doesn't seem too interested.

* [[Battle Boomerang]]

* [[Dual-Wielding]] [[Katanas Are Just Better]]

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: He will spend a ''lot'' of time facedown in the dirt, even when buffed up.

* [[Hot-Blooded]]

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: A brash, egotistical womanizer with a kind heart and a ''fiery'' sense of justice.

* [[Ninja]]

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]

* {{spoiler|[[Self-Made Orphan]]: Subverted. When Dr. Lugae turns his parents into fiends, [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|Edge tries to reach out to them]]. They regain their lucidity, but then decide to ''[[Player Punch|kill themselves]]''. [[Tear Jerker|Edge wasn't the only one screaming in anguish at that moment]].}}

* [[The Smart Guy]]: Of the [[Tricksters]] variety.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: In the DS remake, specifically the Lunar Subterrane. Edge is as outwardly cocky as ever, but his inner thoughts are more or less ''utter terror'' about where he is and what they are doing.

* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: It gives him the power to create one ''epic'' [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

* [[Warrior Prince]]

* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: Storyline-wise, Tellah just doesn't have the strength to use Meteor without killing himself. Gameplay-wise, Tellah isn't able to cast Meteor due to it costing 99 MP, and he only has 90 max. The developers overlooked the idea that in some releases, players can use items on him to boost his max MP. Oops.

* [[Grumpy Old Man]]

{{quote|"I am ready to face Golbez! I am [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|DOOM]] ITSELF!"}}

* [[Lennon Specs]]

* [[Old Master]]: Tellah ''did'' know almost all the spells in existence, once. He's just forgotten most of them in his old age. He later gets his memory back.

* [[Revenge]]: He wants to kill Golbez in retaliation for the death of his only daughter, Anna.

* [[Squishy Wizard]]

 

* [[Combination Attack]]: Before anyone else was using Bands, Palom and Porom had Twincasting as their signature move, setting off a small number of hard-hitting attacks after a sizable delay. In ''The After Years'', Twincasting is retconned into a Band during the twins' flashback. They actually lose the band as they grow up and apart, but regain it during the final chapter, stronger than ever.

* [[Different As Night and Day]]

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Their intention was clear, although [[Unexplained Recovery|it turns out that their master was able to restore them to life.]]}}

* [[Insufferable Genius]]: Palom in ''The After Years'' has let his [[Bratty Half-Pint]] tendencies mature into this, trading his hilarious boasts for a constant air of superiority. Now when he calls himself Mysidia's most accomplished Black Mage, it's entirely true, but he's no less infuriating for it.

* [[Kidanova]]: Palom.

* [[Leitmotif]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg8YfNVS8gc "Palom and Porom"].

* [[Little Miss Badass]]: Porom.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Palom and Porom, respectively.

* [[Rose-Haired Girl]]: Porom in ''The After Years'', oddly enough.

* {{spoiler|[[The Atoner]]}}

* [[Badass]]: He takes Meteor to the face and ''[[Implacable Man|shakes it off like it was nothing]]'' (all it does is break his mind control spell on Kain). In the original versions of ''IV'', his defeat in the Dwarven Castle reduces him to no more than ''a single hand'', and ''he comes back'' seconds later. Plus, if he too is bound by the fact that a summoner dies when their summon kicks the bucket, he doesn't succumb to the loss of his Shadow Dragon and survives for ''the entire game''. Oh, and he's one awesome mage.

** [[Badass Long Hair]]

* {{spoiler|[[Barbarian Hero]]: As the Man in Black. He even uses a [[BFS]] called the Ebony Blade.}}

* [[Big Bad]]: {{spoiler|Actually, he's the [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] [[The Dragon|Dragon]].}}

* [[Black Knight]]

* {{spoiler|[[Brainwashed and Crazy]]}}

* [[Depending on the Artist]]: His armor is either bright blue, dark blue or black, and the lining of his cape is either blue or red. In the Super NES release, his boss sprite had blue armor with a blue cape, but his player character sprite had brighter blue armor with a red cape. In his DS render seen above, he has black armor and a blue cape, but his in-game model has black armor and a red cape. His ''Dissidia'' adapts this by presenting his dark blue and black armor with the blue cape for his default outfit while his gold and black armor with a red cape is his alternate outfit.

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]: [[Taking the Bullet|Intercepts a]] [[One-Hit Kill|Black Fang]] intended for Cecil in ''The After Years'', and may not survive it if [[Guide Dang It|you don't have the proper party set-up.]]}}

* [[Leitmotif]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_w2l_B76CU "Golbez, Clad in Darkness"]

* {{spoiler|[[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Golbez is Cecil's older brother, Theodor.}}

* [[Magic Knight]]: {{spoiler|In ''TAY'', he arguably plays this straighter than any other cast member save for Ceodore. He has a huge equipment draw including most of the mage-type robes and rods along with the knight-type swords, shields, and heavy armor. He also learns more [[Black Magic]] than Cecil, Ceodore, or Kain learn [[White Magic]], including Flare and Meteor, so Golbez is perfectly capable as an attacker or mage. The only disadvantage he has compared to other Black Mages like Rydia and Palom is that he doesn't learn the [[Standard Status Effect]] spells they do.}}

* [[Meaningful Name]]: {{spoiler|Golbeza (his name in Japanese) is a mistranslation of Golubaeser (also known as the Golubac Fly), a type of black fly named for the town of Golubac in Serbia. According to folk tales, the venomous flies were born from the body of a decomposing dragon, mirroring Theodor's eventual fate. In the DS remake, Zemus takes the symbolism further by calling him an insect that was "birthed from womb of dragon's corpse", referring to both the Golubac Fly and the Mysidian Legend.}}

* {{spoiler|[[My God, What Have I Done?]]}}

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Yuko Kaida]] (Japanese), [[Karen Strassman|Kirsty Pape]] (English)}}

 

* [[Elemental Embodiment]] of [[Blow You Away|Wind]]

* [[Hair Colors]]: [[Hair Color Dissonance|Ranging from]] [[Blondes Are Evil]] to [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|lime/chartreuse.]]

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Rivals/equals Rydia in this regard.

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[As Long as There Is Evil]]: In [[New Game+]] for the DS remake, the Archfiends' malice lives on in the [[Bonus Boss|superboss]] [[Biological Mashup|Geryon]]. Averted in ''The After Years'', as the Archfiends [[Heel Face Turn|show a more benign side]] (when they break free of their [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] status due to [[Came Back Wrong|an against their will]] [[Back from the Dead|resurrection]] by the Crystals), [[Friendly Enemy|holding no ill-will towards their former enemies]] (going as far as to ''thank'' them), as well as expressing joy to see {{spoiler|Golbez again, honoring him with the same respect as when they were in his servitude}}. Seeing as it can be inferred that they are the physical representation of the world's elemental forces, it's likely that Zemus' influence perverted them and the group was really [[Good All Along]].

{{quote|[[Badass Boast|"The frozen winds of hell's ninth circle could not penetrate this cloak of flame I wear."]]}}

* [[Duel Boss]]: It's optional, but in ''The After Years'', you have the option to fight him using only Edge.

* [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]]: Notable because he goes out of his way to [[Subverted Trope]] it with [[Badass Cape|proper equipment]].

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Detests and chastises Dr. Lugae for {{spoiler|his horrific experiments on Edge's parents.}}

* [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen]]: Rubincante believes in fairness, and he completely heals your party before you fight him (both times).

* [[Noble Demon]]

* [[The Power of Friendship]]: In a sense. After being defeated by Cecil & co., [[Genre Savvy|Rubicante notices that teamwork with his fellow Archfiends is a more viable strategy to besting the heroes than all of them attacking individually.]] You'd expect that you'd be facing all four Archfiends at once, with the quartet whipping out [[Combination Attack]]s, but it's really nothing more than an impromptu [[Boss Rush]], mainly due to the fact that all four Archfiends are too giant to all fit on the screen at once. They have a modicum of coordination, though: the order they are assembled into means that if an archfiend dies before one of your weakness-hitting attacks connect, the attack will heal (or provoke a counterattack from) the following fiend.

* [[Spirit Advisor]]: In ''[[Final Fantasy IV: The After Years|The After Years]]''.

{{quote|(''to Edge'') "I respect men like you. Men with... courage. But you are a slave to your emotions, and so will never know true strength. Such is the curse of men."}}

 

* [[One-Winged Angel]]: He starts as a bald, blue floating guy, changes to an indistinct blue smoky ghost, to a massive, freakish crustacean insect... [[Buffy-Speak|thing.]]

* [[The Power of Hate]]

* [[Psychic Powers]]

* [[Superior Species]]: Part of his entire motivation.

 

 

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Everyone Calls Him Elder]]

* [[Guest Star Party Member]]: He is playable for exactly one battle in ''The After Years''...

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Unlike the other Mysidians, the Elder is willing to hear Cecil out and give him a chance at redemption.

 

=== Giott ===

 

* [[Chef of Iron]]: Is heavily implied to be one with her...

* [[Happily Married]]: Hints of frying-pan related violence aside, that is.

* [[Mundane Utility]]: She gives the party the strongest thrown weapon in the game... a simple kitchen knife.

 

* [[Adorably Precocious Child]]

* [[Determinator]]

* [[Hair of Gold]]: Only in some arts. He hair is sort of [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|''blue']]' for his actual sprites.

* [[Heroes Prefer Swords]]

* [[Heroic Spirit]]: His Awaken ability.

* [[Humble Hero]]: Just like his parents.

* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: The Hooded Man stops him from encountering {{spoiler|Brainwashed Cecil}} in his story.

* [[Magic Knight]]: Being the son of a [[White Mage]] and a [[The Paladin|Paladin]], he has stronger [[White Magic]] than Cecil and Kain at the cost of not being quite as good (though still effective) a fighter.

** [[The Paladin]]: Although he doesn't actually carry that title.

* [[Modest Royalty]]: Ceodore insists on being treated like any other soldier would.

* [[Rebellious Princess]]

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Like a lot of your party.

* [[Wrench Wench]]

 

* [[Badass Grandpa]]: Zangetsu.

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Gekkou wears red, Izayoi wears blue, Tsukinowa wears [[Wind Is Green|green]], and Zangetsu wears [[Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning]] and orange.

** [[Blow You Away]]: Tsukinowa of Wind.

** [[Kill It with Fire]]: Gekkou of Fire.