A to Z Challenge: Zidane from Final Fantasy IX and Zack from Final Fantasy VII

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, all of you who suffered through this 26-day geek-out for Final Fantasy characters! I'm so glad I got to do this, so I really hope you all enjoyed this and may have possibly found a game you want to play. There are way more FF games than the ones I have mentioned in this franchise, so feel free to explore! There are simpler RPG games, spin-offs, MMORPGs, whatever you may fancy!

So we come to two of my favorite gents in the entire franchise. They are by far the two most lively characters for Final Fantasy, and its their spirits that make me love them so much. Let's start with Final Fantasy IX's Zidane Tribal.

We meet this little guy (his face makes my sister laugh, first off lol) as he is staging a kidnapping of the Princess Garnet (see Dagger). Little does he know, she wants to be kidnapped. We go on a long journey, and honestly I don't think there's a purpose for it for a long time, but we learn a lot. For instance, Zidane is from another planet of Terrans (see K for Kuja, the failed prototype) who were supposed to be taking over the main planet Gaia, but things went south.

Through it all, Zidane has a huge heart, which is ultimately stolen by Dagger, and their love is just so adorable (probably also because of how they were drawn).

As FFIX was the last game on the original Playstation, I would like to think that Zidane embodied the spirit of our final character for this countdown: Final Fantasy VII and FFVII: Crisis Core's Zack Fair.

This tall, dark and handsome was anything but dark. Zack was a bright eyed, bushy tailed SOLDIER, First Class, that we only hear tell of in the original FFVII via Cloud's messed up memory. It's revealed through the game that Cloud wasn't who he thought he was, and that someone else was doing about 90% of what he said. In his defense, Zack told him to live for him, and live he did!

Zack broke himself and Cloud out of a research facility where they were trapped after Cloud wounded Sephiroth, who burned down his hometown. After tracking down a rogue Sephiroth protoype named Genesis and cutting him down, Zack gets Cloud out to a desert mountain range where he is gunned down mercilessly by SOLDIER operatives, leaving behind Cloud and his girlfriend Aeris.

Yep, Aeris all the way back in A. (This is the moment she realized something was wrong.)

Zack's death is extremely tragic because, even though as an FFVII fan you know about it, in FFVII: Crisis Core, you are forced to not only watch it happen but play it as it happens. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to sit through, and I sat through it on a van with a bunch of choir members, so I had to hold myself together. Of all the characters in Final Fantasy, Zack did not deserve to die. He was a hero's hero, and Square Enix might have to work really hard to make a better character than him.

And there you have it! My Final Fantasy Edition of the A to Z Challenge! I can't thank you guys enough for stopping by. Unless I have a psychotic break, I will probably take a break next year (haha). I leave you all with the only consolation I have for both Aeris AND Zack dying: they are reunited. The perfect bookends to this challenge.

A to Z Challenge: Yuna (with Yunalesca and Yu Yevon) from FFX and FFX-2

One more day. Awww. We are on day 25 of the A to Z Challenge, and I once again thank you for obliging my Final Fantasy habit!

Today is the letter Y, and Y is for Final Fantasy X/X-2's great summoner Yuna!

The daughter of the summoner who last brought The Calm (a time of peace) by defeating Sin and named after the first summoner of Sin's time, Yuna has some huge shoes to fill. Her spirit keeps you going when you learn that Tidus's father is the thing that's been killing everyone for the past few years, and her resolve to continue her pilgrimage even after Tidus gives her a way out (because she must pay with her life to enact The Calm) gives the franchise its best moment of blossomed romance in the history of moments of blossomed romance. Spare 2 minutes if you can.

I mentioned the first summoner of Sin's time. Yunalesca is actually the daughter of the greatest summoner, Yu Yevon.

Should've known this naked b**** was up to no good.

Yu Yevon is the summoner who devised the endless cycle of pilgrimages to defeat Sin. He killed an entire city and made the others think it was because of their use of machina that they died, and then he created the religion of Yevon where the people pray to him for guidance to defeat Sin for small periods of peace (The Calm) until they've completely atoned for their wrongdoings (which will be never).

Yunalesca is the final stop on a summoner's pilgrimage, and when Yuna and team get to her, they learn Yuna has to choose one of her guardians to become the final aeon (summon) to defeat Sin. After a hearty Hell No from the team, Yunalesca is brought down, and then we go on to defeat Sin. BUT, because the bastard above possesses the final aeons to create the next Sin, Yuna has to not only defeat Sin but all of her aeons (Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit, Ixion, etc.) once Yu Yevon possesses them, leaving him with nothing left so we can kill him.

And then, we lose Tidus (mentioned a few days ago).

God, this moment. T____T

And then, Yuna is the ultimate hero and has to move on with her life. So, she joins up with Rikku and Paine to become the sphere hunters YRP to headline FFX-2. She also gets a new, badass gunslinger look!

Yaaaas, slaaay.

Trivia: the design holding her shirt together was the tattoo on Jecht's chest and a symbol Tidus wore on his pants and as a necklace. *sniff*

FFX-2 is pretty bad, but in the end, if you do most of the main things right, you get Tidus back, so I'll take it.

Tomorrow, after one last honorable mention, we come to the perfect bookend for the A's: the Z's (not just because of the obvious, lol. Stick around!).

A to Z Challenge: Xu from Final Fantasy VIII

April is almost over! Can you believe it? That means the A to Z Challenge is coming to a close! What a month it has been sharing Final Fantasy characters and stories with you all!

X is inevitably hard for everyone, and you would THINK that with all of the games Final Fantasy has, they would have more than one character whose name starts with the letter, but I only found the one, and she's a non-playable side character. So, this is the shortest post!

Xu is a squad leader and instructor in Balamb Garden for SEED. She is a staple throughout the game, helping Squall and team, especially once we realize our school can float around! She is great at shutting up our characters when they bicker, too.

Tomorrow, I finally get to tell you about Yuna from FFX!

A to Z Challenge: Wakka from Final Fantasy X

We are coming doWn to the Wire. (See What I did there? lol)

Today's letter for the A to Z Challenge is W. As I am forcing a number of you to sit here and take my obsession With Final Fantasy, We have officially come to Wone (lol) of my favorite characters of all time:

Wakka!

Wakka is captain of the Besaid Aurochs and one of Yuna's guardians on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin. He is full of energy and spunk, even though his blitzball team has never won a game*.  (Also, Googling images of Wakka, there were a few, um...softcore porn-ish images...not even of random people! They were of Wakka! lol) In the American version of the game, he has an awesome Hawaii-surfer voice that you immediately fall in love with. Speaking of which, this cosplay below, is the BEST cosplay ever!! No other person need cosplay Wakka, thanks.

Wakka takes Tidus under his wing because he reminds him of his late brother, Chappu, who died in battle against Sin sometime before the game starts. He later goes on to marry Lulu (honorable mention for L) and have a chubby red-headed baby with her. *giggle*

*If you manage to win the first blitzball tournament in the game (I did once!), it's the best feeling in the world, but you also then have to play one of the hardest teams when you try to play again. I was addicted to blitzball, so I definitely tried and tried until I beat them.

Tomorrow, we visit Xu from Final Fantasy VIII!

A to Z Challenge: Vivi from Final Fantasy IX

Getting closer to the end...*sniffle*

I have been geeking out Final Fantasy characters all month long, hopefully to someone's enjoyment. We are at V today, so I'm stopping back by Final Fantasy IX, the last FF game on the original Playstation, to talk about:

Vivi Ornitier

We have zero idea what Vivi is when we meet him, but he's very child-like and all-around adorable. A little later down the game road, we learn he was created, probably in a factory, and he's one of many black mages. He's actually a prototype who fell off of a cargo ship. He was found by a cook who actually planned to eat him once he fattened Vivi up, but Vivi stayed small (haha). He told Vivi all about the outside world, and when he dies, Vivi goes exploring.

Here is a group of full-sized black mages protecting Vivi from another group of scarier black mages called Waltzes.

No, Princess, do not stay there while he kills the others!

When Vivi learns what he is, he spirals into an existential crisis for much of the game, but he grows out of it and becomes a confident, capable fighter. Yay!

Honorable Mention for V:

FFVII's Vincent Valentine was an optional character. And he was so awesome he got his own spin-off, third-person shooter style. Shooter games give me angina, but I could play Dirge of Cerberus because I knew the world of FFVII and was comfortable with it. An interesting backstory and brooding persona to match, for me, picking up Vincent is never an option--it's a necessity!

Tomorrow, we visit Wakka back in Final Fantasy X.

A to Z Challenge: Ultimecia from Final Fantasy VIII

We are at the last week of the A to Z Challenge! Can you believe it?? I can't.

I have been talking about Final Fantasy for 20 days now. I'm not tired yet. lol And today, I'm talking about something important to me that I can never tire of defending:

The Ultimecia is Rinoa Theory!

First off, as we are on U today, here is Final Fantasy VIII's Ultimecia, an evil sorceress from the future.

As seen in Final Fantasy Dissidia

A cosplayer's dream. Anyway, Ultimecia is killed by SEED in her time, and in order to stop that from happening, she creates a machine based on the powers of a little girl (well, I guess she would be a woman by Ultimecia's time) named Elle, who has the power to see the past through people she knows. She tries to kill the SEED in the past, aka the present time where the MC (Squall from a few days ago) resides, by possessing the sorceresses there. In typical "If I can't live, no one can" style, Ultimecia compresses time so that only she can live in the world.

Ultimately, Squall and his fellow SEED defeat her, and all is well. However, there is that theory I mentioned.

This illustration sums it all up in a nutshell, but let me clear some other things up. As I mentioned in the R's, Ultimecia possessed Rinoa in the game. This automatically made Rinoa a new sorceress. The theory is, simply put, that Rinoa IS Ultimecia, gone crazy somehow and trying to kill everyone, SEED being at the top of her list.

Visually, their faces are shaped the same. The black hair to white hair is a great juxtaposition, not so much to represent aging (something a naysayer pointed out: the sorceresses don't age), but most likely from stress or psychosis. Rinoa wears a long sleeveless blue trench with white angel wings on the back, and one of her limit breaks is Angel Wings, so she sprouts them for a second before using magic at random. Ultimecia has a long red trench and has black angel wings. More juxtaposition: Rinoa has a pet dog who helps her fight, and Ultimecia summons a lion-type beast. This beast is also first seen on SQUALL'S RING and is named the same! How would Ultimecia have gotten that?! Because Rinoa had his ring and was going to duplicate it for herself!

So, why would she be trying to kill SEED? Well, as you see above, Rinoa says in the game that she is okay with Squall killing her, no one else. Squall also has an internal monologue (one of many) towards Rinoa where he says that even if she goes full-on sorceress, he will be her champion and fight whoever comes against her.

SO, what seems to have happened in the future is there is a witch hunt, and other SEED kill Squall when he tries to protect Rinoa. She goes mad, becomes Ultimecia, and goes back in time to try to destroy SEED altogether. It makes sense to me and many others!

Alright, nerdgasm over. Tomorrow, I will talk about Vivi from FFIX.

A to Z Challenge: Tidus from Final Fantasy X

We're at the end of the penultimate week of the A to Z Challenge! This went by way too quickly!

We're finally at T, and for my Final Fantasy geek out session of the day, I will be talking about my favorite Final Fantasy game's main character:

Tidus from Final Fantasy X!

Look at that fresh face. Tidus is the star blitzball player (an underwater football/soccer-like sport) of the Zanarkand Abes. One day in the middle of a game, he gets whisked away by something called Sin and washes up in Al-Bhed (see Rikku in the R's) territory 1000 years in the future! (No, this isn't Futurama.)

When Sin sucks him away again, he's on the mainland and home of a local summoner (Yuna, coming soon) who is about to embark on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin. They are linked by the fact that Yuna's father was the last summoner to defeat Sin, and Tidus's father (honorable mention for J) was one of his guardians!

So how did they get 1000 years in the future?

Well, unfortunately, (and long story very short), their Zanarkand wasn't real, but dreamed up by the Fayth (head on over to F to refresh your memory, if you want) so that (IMO) one day, one of their dream people could defeat Sin and its creator Yu Yevon for good!

(I'll just leave this link here for anyone who wants the long story, but to sum it up: Yu Yevon, evil summoner, possesses people, turns them into monsters, kills people for 1000 years straight, makes them all think they have to worship him to atone for using machina.)

Tidus figures out they have to stop Sin at the source because the current Sin is his FATHER (!!!), and he brought him to the real world in order to get it done.

Unfortunately, once everything is safe for good, all the Fayth finally get to rest, and so their dream Zanarkand, and everyone in it, disappears.

So, we lose Tidus.

Fortunately, if you play FFX-2 and suffer through it, the Fayth mercifully bring him back to Yuna. So, slight silver lining.

Honorable Mention for T:

FFVI's Terra

Final Fantasy VI starts with Terra. We know she's very powerful and wields the ancient ability of magic. The Gestahlian Empire has her under mind control until an esper (summon) comes in contact with her, and she is freed. Terra is half esper herself, and we get to visit the esper world and learn of her true origins there. She's a very well-thought out character, and it's a great game all around.

2nd Honorable Mention:

I can't not mention Tifa Lockheart from FFVII! Though Terra started the FF trend of badass females, Tifa is the face of them hands down. This sweetheart has fists of fury and has been the love interest of Cloud since they were little tykes growing up in Nibelheim. Cloud joins the military to impress her, and that's kind of when things went awry, but through it all, she holds him down. Talk about ride or die chicks!

When we get back, I will tell you about the sorceress Ultimecia from FFVIII.

A to Z Challenge: The S's of Final Fantasy

Happy Friday! We are still powering through the A to Z Challenge. If you're still with me, I'm talking about my favorite characters from Final Fantasy. There are a lot of games, so that means a lot of characters!

Which boded a problem for me when I got to S, because there are so many of them to choose from! Here are my favorites.

As seen in FFX

Ladies first, and that means Shiva! Shiva is another veteran summon in the franchise. FFIX dubbed her the Ice Princess. In FFX, the creators were like, "Bump that. She's QUEEEEN." And this design is pure slayage. When you first summon her, it's just so cool. Unlike other games, X makes her a very powerful aeon (the later you acquire them, the stronger they are from the beginning), and I love it. Women rule. (The cosplays are awful, though.)

FFVIII gave us the archetype bully villain, Seifer. When we first see him, he slices open the main character Squall's face. After he fails his SEED exam for taking his squad into restricted territory, he joins up with the future sorceress Ultimecia in possession of the present sorceress Edea's body to champion for her. Her mission is to kill all SEED and compress time so only she can live in the world (villain logic), and for some reason Seifer is down with that. Maybe because he's horrible. They're both defeated in the end by the guy below.

This is Squall Leonhart, the ultimate emo scar-having, gunblade-wielding anti-hero. He wants to be left alone, but everyone looks up to him. He just has abandonment issues. His father (see Laguna from a couple weeks ago) didn't know he existed for most of his life because his mother died in childbirth while Laguna was away trying to rescue a girl who would actually become Squall's best friend in the orphanage until she is kidnapped (more on that later in U), leaving him all alone. So he got used to it, and then had to get un-used to it. At least he gets the girl (Rinoa from yesterday's post).

And last but definitely not least, the man I've spoken about I think 5 times before I even got to M:

Sephiroth

Believing he was an Ancient, Sephiroth learned about the calamity that befell them, blamed humans, and embarked on a mission to kill them all. In actuality, Sephiroth is the human son of a crazed scientist (see Hojo) who injected him with Jenova cells (see Jenova) when his wife was pregnant. Sephiroth is extremely strong and powerful enough to end up controlling Jenova's cells himself. He calls a meteor to fall towards the earth so that the planet can send all its Lifestream goodness to the crater where he is, so he can absorb it to become a god and ride the dead planet to the next planet and start the cycle his "mother" Jenova started. The whole story is mind-blowing, and I wish I had time to totally geek out about it, but I'm sure I've passed the suggested word limit already. In the end, Cloud (see Cloud) beats the hell out of him.

Also, if you have 6 minutes, I need you to go ahead and listen to his theme song. It's epic.

A quick Honorable Mention for S:

Mentioned in E because of his twin brother, FFVI's Sabin is a monk who is looking to avenge his mentor when we meet him. He's got fists of fury and is most likely the prototype for FFVIII's Zell (who will get a quick honorable mention in Z).

Tomorrow is T, which is for Tidus from Final Fantasy X!

A to Z Challenge: The R's of Final Fantasy

We are at R for the A to Z Challenge, for which I am geeking out on my favorite video game franchise, Final Fantasy. I honestly could not decide which character to choose for R, so I thought I would just talk about all of the ones I loved.

Rude and Reno are two henchmen for SHINRA, Inc., in FFVII. We see them often, and they're kind of dunderheads, always getting one-upped. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, they're definitely comic relief. Rude is basically the cool, quiet muscle, and Reno is the one with all the mouth lol.

FFVIII gave us Rinoa, the leader of a rebel faction trying to overthrow the sorceress controlling her father's city. Her carefree, thoughtless actions immediately clash with the SEED squad leader Squall (coming tomorrow). She is later possessed by the future sorceress Ultimecia, becoming a sorceress herself, and there is a widespread theory that she actually is Ultimecia (I'm pretty sure she is and can back it up with evidence. More on that later down the alphabet).

Rikku is an Al-Bhed we first meet when main character Tidus (coming soon) gets sucked through Sin in FFX. The Al-Bhed are looked down upon for using machina, which is forbidden in most of Spira. Rikku is an alchemist, and in battle, she can mix things to create awesome attacks or healing potions. She's also Yuna's cousin, and she tries to kidnap her so that she doesn't go off to kill herself for the sake of Yevon. She's kind of annoying, but lovable at the same time. She's also the R in YRP (see Paine).

Last but not least, we have the summon Ramuh. Go ahead and press play on all that awesomeness. Ramuh is the most used summoner for lightning attacks throughout the franchise. The above is what summoning him looks like in the upcoming Final Fantasy XV. His staff is the head of the summon Ixion which I highlighted a couple weeks ago. I love it. Ramuh is a staple for Final Fantasy games. Period.

Tomorrow, I had the same issue as today, so we're looking at my favorite S's from Final Fantasy.

A to Z Challenge: Quezacotl from Final Fantasy VIII

Happy Hump Day!

The A to Z Challenge is heading down the hill, and it's been fun. We still have some letters to go, however, and my letters are dedicated to the people and creatures of Final Fantasy. Today's letter Q brings me to none other than Final Fantasy VIII for the Guardian Force Quezacotl.

After seeing the old man Ramuh for 5 games straight, this beautiful bird was a shock (no pun intended), but look at the design. I usually paired Quezacotl up with Zell because of his electric (still, no pun intended) personality. Quezacotl also taught its user the Mug ability, which was easier to use with Zell because he fought with his hands.

I don't really have much to say about Quezacotl. lol

Honorable Mention for Q:

Final Fantasy VIII gave us Quistis, an 18-year-old instructor who was apparently bad at it, because she gets fired. She tries to protect our MC Squall and get him to emote and talk to his friends more, but nothing doing. She joins us on the quest to defeat the sorceress, and if you play, you must acquire her limit break The End. Instant death to your enemies (Unless it's the final boss, but even then, it makes the battle breeze on by)!

Tomorrow, R is for a plethora of characters because there are so many.

A to Z Challenge: Paine from Final Fantasy X-2

This A to Z Challenge, I'm geeking out on Final Fantasy characters and forcing y'all to read about them. (I'm getting tired of openings; can you tell?)

This day is for P, and P is for Paine!

This young lady showed up in FFX-2, a game I have mixed feelings about, but I appreciated its attempt. FFX was the first game in the franchise to get a sequel, but it was a pretty blah sequel. Paine, however, isn't a blah character.

She's the voice of sarcasm in the YRP troupe, but we start the game not knowing too much about her. During a side quest upon which I didn't embark, you learn she worked for the Crimson Guard, a group of elite soldiers for Yevon, who were sent into the Den of Woe to investigate a rumor about a ghost machina. The pyreflies (spirits of fiends, people, etc.) were affected by the main villain whose spirit was trapped there, and everyone in the Crimson Guard died but Paine's group. They got separated, and that was how she met up with Summoner Yuna.

Paine is a badass. Her gear is cosplay fame, and I do love her sarcastic moments, especially when Yuna and Rikku (more on her in a couple of letters) are hype over something.

Also, dress sphere slayage.

Maaaan, if my abs were ripped...

Tomorrow, I actually have something for Q: FFVIII's Quezacotl.

A to Z Challenge: Omega Weapon

Welcome back to the A to Z Challenge!

I'm highlighting some characters from my favorite Final Fantasy games, and today we are at O.

And O is for Omega Weapon.

As seen in FFVI

Omega Weapon is a recurring monster faced in many of the games. I honestly don't remember him in FFVI, but I'm replaying it at the moment, so I'll be on the lookout. It's often an optional boss because it's the hardest boss, sometimes even harder than the final boss.

This FFVIII version was definitely harder than the final boss.

There is an Ultima Weapon, which is a lesser version as well, and that one is difficult. If you beat the Omega Weapon in FFVIII, you get a certificate on your game that says you did.

In FFX, Omega was a monk who disagreed with Yevon's teachings on Sin (hm...I wonder why), and he was executed for it. Undead, if not sent on by summoners, become monsters, hence, a very angry Omega Weapon.

(Made this last because of its beauty.) In FFVII, weapons were created by the planet when Jenova dropped down the first time. They are there to protect it from danger, and this Omega Weapon appears in FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus, the only first/third person shooter I've ever completed (they scare me). Its purpose is actually different than the other weapons: it gathers the Lifestream from the planet to take it to another planet if the planet is unable to be saved. DoC is just beautiful to look at anyway, but this Omega Weapon is SO awesome.

Honorable Mention:

O'aka the XXIII at your service!

(The fashion in FFX is questionable at best, but...you know.) O'aka XXIII is a travelling merchant Tidus meets on a boat towards Kilika. If you give him 10,001 gil when you meet him, you get a 30% discount on his wares for the rest of the game. Kind of worth it if you have it to give.

Tomorrow, we actually stop by FFX-2 to meet Paine.