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: 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: Kuja from Final Fantasy IX

Welcome back!

For this A to Z Challenge, I am geeking out on my favorite Final Fantasy games and characters. Today is the letter K, and I am highlighting the very unique, very individualistic Kuja from FFIX.

(As seen in FF Dissidia)

I love a redeemable villain, no matter how psychotic. Kuja was probably the most flamboyant of villains, but if you saw all the people on his planet, you'd want to be different, too.

Kuja was created on Terra, a planet of soul-less, immortal dolls called Genomes. Terra's original civilization had tried to fuse with the planet Gaia to save the Terrans (not sure from what; I guess because Terra was an older planet). The Terran Garland created the Genomes to inherit the Terran souls during the fusion, but when the fusion failed, Garland created Kuja and sent him to Gaia to incite war so that when the Gaians died, their bodies would be replaced with the Terran souls (though honestly, I don't think that would've worked...but you know. Villain logic.)

Unfortunately, Garland created Kuja as an adult with no type of conscience or ability to emote, and because of that, he couldn't control Kuja, so Garland made him mortal (I guess magically because he was already created) and tried again with the game's main character Zidane (I'll give him an honorable mention in Z). When Kuja learns he's on a clock, he says, "If I die, we all die!" and destroys Terra.

Yep, he blew up a planet. In a matter of minutes. This and more earned him the title of the Most Underrated Final Fantasy Villain of All Time by Final Fantasy IX Blog.

In the end, Kuja is defeated but helps get the main character and his friends out of harm's way. He even apologized for trying to destroy everything. He was just scared of death. Aww, poor guy.

Honorable Mention for K:

Final Fantasy VI's Kefka Palazzo is the 2nd most talked about villain in the Final Fantasy community (the first has been mentioned at least 5 times so far, but he's coming in S). He was purely evil, killing just because he could with no rhyme or reason. His infamous laugh is the bane of players' existences.

Tomorrow, we handle interactive time travel with Laguna Loire of Final Fantasy VIII.

A to Z Challenge: Dagger (???) from Final Fantasy IX

**This post was created before I changed the MC of Fractured Princess's name from Ghuli to Jonnie.**

For the A to Z Challenge, I am highlighting characters from my favorite Final Fantasy games.

Today, I am also slightly cheating.

We're visiting the last Playstation Final Fantasy game, IX, to meet Garnet til Alexandros XVII.

(You're probably thinking:) Garnet? But isn't this D day?

Yes, yes it is. Now, let me explain. Garnet was a sad and troubled princess, heir to the throne of Alexandria, and in the beginning of the game during a play her crazy mother the queen is putting on, she runs away with the main character and changes her name to....

Dagger!

During the game, we also learn that Dagger is actually part of a magical race of summoners and that her REAL name is actually Sarah! (How many names does this girl have??) She and her mother were escaping a slave ship that destroyed their homeland, and only she made it out alive. The king and queen took her in and made her up to be their recently deceased daughter Garnet. She had plenty of reasons to look so down.

Here's something extra special about Dagger: she was the inspiration for the main character in my WIP, The Crystal Bearer. Without Dagger, there wouldn't be Ghuli. Meek, solemn, and proper princesses with a will in them to fight the good fight make for great characters!

Tomorrow, we visit Edgar in the highly underrated Final Fantasy VI.