Disclaimer: This article is written as a collaborative effort between Brian Ross & Matthew Zubritsky. Remember these are the most memorable things as we saw them and due to localization problems that exist with Final Fantasy II, III, and V, those games often probably won't be held as in high regard as they deserve. We do wish that they could be remade as powerfully as Final Fantasy Tactics was for the PSP. We also primarily stuck to the core games, Final Fantasy I - XII, to keep things as simple as possible. Be wary of spoilers from this point forward.

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Brian Ross: With Final Fantasy XIII only a week away we are thrilled to bring you a week dedicated to Final Fantasy. Throughout the week Brian Ross and Matthew Zubritsky will be covering the most memorable Final Fantasy moments, creatures, heroes, and villains; it will end with a grand ranking of all major Final Fantasy titles.

One of the most endearing qualities of the Final Fantasy series has been the stories and characters. Every story seems to arc between moments of pure adrenaline to sorrowful poignancy. Today is all about those moments that make you just go "wow." This will not be spoiler free as the lead-in suggested. If spoilers (both major and minor) bother you, hopefully you've exited this article by now.



BR: Final Fantasy VIII left a weird taste in a lot of mouths, despite vast technical improvements over the ultra-popular FFVII. I personally think it was the love theme that gamers never really got behind, but others will argue it is the "screwy" leveling system and ultra-realistic art direction. The one thing most can agree is that the fight scene between the floating gardens of Galbadia and Balamb was totally bad-ass. It was like pirate warfare in the sky complete with high-tech weaponry and magic. The SeeDs are even like ninjas being that they are highly trained assassins.

As the Gardens boom and blast into each other you're given visual treat after treat. Motorcycles launching from one Garden to another. SeeDs dropping backwards into open air only to soar back up in jet pack infiltration suits. Then you see this giant battle going on the likes never seen before in Final Fantasy or really any game at the time. Countless SeeDs locking swords, launching magical attacks or straight-up spraying the field with bullets. To top it off, your party joins in the fray and fights across the battle scene. It was a truly awesome moment.



Matthew Zubritsky: We first meet Red XIII inside of Hojo's laboratory where he is being experimented on. Really unsure of what or who he is, the team takes pity and rescues him as they escape from Shinra Tower. Eventually they arrive in Cosmo Canyon and Red XIII's story unfolds. We learn that Cosmo Canyon is Red XIII's home town and that his real name is Nanaki; we also learn that Seto, his father, abandoned him and his mother while he was a cub. Red XIII never forgave him for this and vowed to never be a coward like his father.

Cloud and Red XIII eventually are led into a cave where the ghosts of the Gi tribe dwell by the Cosmo Canyon elder. It is there that Red XIII learns the truth of his father's fate. Seto was not a coward and fought bravely against the invading Gi Tribe. Alone and outnumbered he stood his ground and defeated the attackers. Unfortunately their poisonous arrows petrified him and Seto remained in the cave forever; an everlasting stone guardian of the cave's entrance.

Red XIII is shocked to learn the truth and forgets his hatred for his father. In a total reversal, he yearns to become a warrior as great as his father. As Red XIII finally begins to love his father, Seto's stone body begins to shed tears. This poignant scene touched me deeply and anyone with a family of their own can relate. Any father would do anything to protect their family and Seto did just that; even if for a long time Red XIII did not fully understand and hated his father because of it. In the end, Red XIII learned the truth and was left in complete awe of Seto.








MZ :I felt we should mention Final Fantasy V here as I always felt it was the oddball of the Final Fantasy series. The game focused heavily on the job system and was quite a perverted game. Things like lap dances are prevalent in the beginning of the game. As well, Bartz and Galuf get quite hot and flustered over Faris, whom they initially thought was male.

When we first meet Galuf he seems to just be a bumbling old man that doesn't remember a thing; he turns out to be much more than that. He is actually a King in the Second World of the game and one of the original Warriors of the Dawn. As such he was responsible for originally sealing away the main villain Exdeath. Galuf came to the First World because he knew the crystals were weakening. When the meteor he was traveling in landed he lost his memory.


~ Artwork "Galuf and Gilgamesh" courtesy of Gold-copper.

As the game progresses Galuf's memory slowly returns, as does his power. As the heroes arrive at the Guardian Tree they are confronted by Exdeath whom traps Krile, Galuf's granddaughter, in a ring of fire. This enrages Galuf and his power skyrockets as he becomes seemingly invincible. Exdeath and Galuf face off with each side delivering powerful blows. Exdeath eventually escapes, but Galuf is left drained of power. What made this scene enjoyable was Galuf did not quit until the very end. He died a warrior's death, an honorable death. May you rest in peace, King of Bal.




BR: In some games, changing a job is as simple as changing a costume. However, in most of the Final Fantasy games a job defined the very essence of a character. In Final Fantasy IV Cecil Harvey is relegated to the role of Dark Knight. As a Dark Knight it is his duty to do the King's will no matter what his personal feelings may be. Over the course of the game, Cecil increasingly struggles with his duty versus his responsibility. When the King tricks him into destroying a village he finally turns against the King and begins to do what he feels is right.

Slowly he fights against the grain to redeem himself despite failure after failure. Seeing the treachery of the King and his best friend Kain, Cecil becomes filled with hatred; hatred which only helped to fuel his Dark Knight abilities. Eventually he learned he must abandon this hatred and embrace the light to defeat Golbez. In order to do that, he had to face the darkness inside himself. This turns out to be a unique battle where you face yourself, and every attack only helped to destroy yourself. The key was to do nothing. To endure the desire to lash back and not give into anger. It was truly a powerful moment of redemption.




MZ :The fight scene between Alexander and Bahamut was pure FMV (full motion video) ownage. The big bad Kuja was hellbent on gaining every Eidlon's power, so he manipulated Queen Brahne into inciting war so that they would be summoned. When Kuja summons Bahamut to attack the city of Alexandria, Queen Brahne's own daughter Garnet and the summoner child Eiko summoned Alexander to protect the city. There's not much else to say about this scene, it is pure eye candy. The battle is truly one sided and the grand scale attacks are epic. To me it is very reminiscent of Gundam Wing or Neon Genesis Evangelion in terms of Alexander's look and the way its holy light is shot out. Can we just say Bahamut got "wtf pwned?"

BR: Final Fantasy IX was a game of awesome scenes of despair and triumph; sadly more the former than the later. It was a game where your heart reached out as the puppet Black Mages marched to death despite Vivi's attempts to stop them. Where you felt powerless as Odin destroyed the refugee Burmecians at Cleyra. Where you wondered how anything could be done as Kuja obliterated the entire continent of Terra. When Alexander finally stops Kuja - even if just for a moment - there is that thought that maybe something can be done. Maybe there is hope. And then Kuja obliterated Alexander and you were plunged down into deepest recesses of despair.




BR: While the rest of the list is about emotional and jaw-dropping moments, this one is on the list simply because of its iconic status. Back in the 8-bit generation there just wasn't the capability for FMV and on-screen dialogue was iffy at best. The original Final Fantasy even felt more like Dungeons & Dragons title than the Final Fantasy we know and love today. Still,it was the first. The one that hooked in countless fledgling RPG fans. Raising the airship may have been as simple as using an item in your inventory called a "Levistone", but once you did the entire world changed. You could explore all the continents fully, hunt for secrets, take on some bad-ass monsters, and most importantly you were on a flying boat. To this day the moment you get your airship marks a distinct and amazing change in how you play the game. It truly unlocks the world.



MZ :In Final Fantasy VI, the only airship in the world is owned by a man who goes by Setzer - and of course, you need it. Setzer had a wild crush on the opera singer Maria, and who does Maria happen to look like? I don't think I even need to say her name but OK, Celes. So our heroes have Celes pretend to be Maria so Setzer can take Celes aboard his airship. This scene isn't just iconic in the Final Fantasy realm, but gaming in general.

The scene opens with your heroes watching from high in the audience. As the lights dim and the orchestra starts to play, a lone knight named Draco walks onto the stage. He begins to profess his love for Maria, aka Celes, and how badly he wants to see her. Unfortunately a war between the East and West tore them apart. The next scene shows Celes all dressed up and singing atop a castle rooftop longing to be with Draco. The opera song is called "Aria di Mezzo Carattere" and is composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Yoshinori Kitase. I felt this was one of the more beautiful moments in Final Fantasy, it takes you away from the main story of the game and lets you enjoy a mini-opera. Not only does the fantastic music jump at you but the story of it is also sweet - until Ultros and Setzer ruin it. One thing that disappointed me was we never got to see Act 2 of the opera. I'm sure it was intentional but still, I would've like to see what happened!




BR: Go figure that a game themed around sacrifice gets a little emotional. Despite Tidus being a big goof-ball, by the end of the game you're quite endeared to him. You've seen him act like a cry baby and a hero. You watch as he struggles with daddy issues. You hear every lame joke he makes trying to cheer up Yuna. He's probably one of the more realistically created characters ever. As immature as he is mature. The perfect fit for gamers of the world.

The big moment of course is when plays the ultimate hero. Instead of letting Yuna sacrifice herself, he sacrifices himself. After learning he's merely a dream of the Fayth he chooses to end the world-destroyer Sin and stop its destruction forever. By destroying Sin though he ensures he will destroy himself as well. After Sin's defeat, Tidus begins to fade away and the final embrace that he and Yuna share is extremely poignant, even if he eventually does return to the arms of Yuna at the end of Final Fantasy X-2.

MZ :I'm sure a lot of us can not even imagine what losing a loved one is like, but if you have I am sorry. Even when Yuna and Tidus know the end result means saving the world from Sin they do it anyway. Their sacrifice was the ultimate unselfish act. The part where Tidus wraps his hands around Yuna and slowly disappears is very saddening. As much as I hated FFX-2 I can honestly say I was very happy that Tidus came back and they just hugged, it brought tears to my eyes.




BR: Ranking in at number two is the grand-daddy of all video game deaths. Aeris/Aerith might not be the first major video game character to permanently die, but she certainly is the most memorable. Her murder at the hands of Sephiroth is forever etched into countless gamers. A shocking twist no one saw coming and many had trouble processing. There was no bringing her back, no way to secretly save her. Despite countless rumors, Aeries is destined to die each and every time someone plays the game.

MZ :I can remember my first play through in this game. I originally bought FFVII for my computer because we did not have a PlayStation at the time. I was very sad and also mad that Aeris died; one big reason was she was on my team and I used her like crazy. When I saw Sephiroth falling down and killing her I was in disbelief. I thought it couldn't be true, she couldn't be dead! I, like many others, scoured the Internet to find ways of bringing her back, but the only way was through a GameShark and other cheating devices. Now every time I play through this game, I know better than to use Aeris at all on my team.




MZ :We have been through 12 Final Fantasy core games. There have been villains of all types - Chaos, Emporer, ExDeath, Sephiroth, and Sin just to name a few. None of these villains I feel can actually compare to Kefka. Why is that? Kefka actually manages to succeed what he set out to do, and that is ruin the world and ascend to Godhood. Some can argue that Ultimecia achieved her goal of time compression but it is later undone by Squall and the gang. What Kefka did could never be rectified. He literally tore the world apart by moving the Three God statues up in the Floating Continent. In the process he killed hundreds if not thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people. Even when the game is all said is done you get the feeling that their existence is still bleak on that dying world.

I can remember when I first witnessed this atrocity; I almost did not want to keep going forward. Everything I knew about the World of Balance was ripped away from me. In its place was a completely new world that felt alien. This event also causes you to lose all of your characters except Celes. She wakes up on some random island uncertain if anyone else in the world is even alive. This scene right here sets the mood for the rest of the game as you try to recruit all your friends again and pick up the pieces where you left off. This is why I think this event is the most memorable of all the Final Fantasy series, because you along with the characters feel that hopelessness and you strive to put it back together.

BR: The most touching moment to me is just after the ruin event. When you're on the island alone as Celes. The only company you have is the dieing Cid. Fail to properly take care of him and he will die. If that happens Celes just looks off into the distance and then throws herself off a cliff. Sure she survives, but that feeling of desperation really hit the mark. It reminded me of the infamous Stalin quote - "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."

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MZ :And there you have it folks. These are what we consider the most memorable events of the Final Fantasy. We really hope you enjoyed as much as we enjoyed writing about it. Stay tuned for tomorrow's article of Most Memorable Creatures!