10 Final Fantasy Characters Who Almost Ruined Their Own Games

4. Quina (Final Fantasy IX)

After the semi-realistic worlds of Final Fantasy VII and VIII, Square's decision to return to its more bizarre fantasy worlds in Final Fantasy IX allowed them to bring their imaginative creations to the fore once again. How else do you explain the decision to create a humanoid lead character who has a tail for no reason? There's plenty of weird and wonderful characters in Final Fantasy IX but none come close to the bizarre appearance of Quina Quen. It's almost impossible to describe Quina in words, though the first thing to point out is that Quina is actually genderless (a pretty annoying character trait to write about, as it turns out). Quina speaks in broken English, forcing him/her into a Jar Jar Binks-esque role within the game; not the best role to be playing in anything, really. Quina's defining characteristic is a love for food which is pretty much the character's sole purpose within the game. S/he initially joins your party on his/her own quest to discover new foods and s/he regularly departs the group while chasing down foods, conveniently returning when its time for the group to move on. Annoyingly, this is pretty much Quina's role throughout the entire game. S/he'll pop up in several Active Time Events or when the group first enters an area and usually make a comment about cuisine before disappearing. It's repetitive to say the least. On a positive note, Quina can be quite useful in battle as s/he acts as the Blue Mage of the party in battle, learning enemy skills by eating them. Of course, the problem with any Blue Mage class is that in order to maximise their usefulness, you have to spend time tracking down every skill for them. If you're fully invested in Final Fantasy IX and looking for as much adventure as possible, that's fine. Others simply won't bother and Quina simply won't match up to other party members. If Quina had some actual story (and a gender), s/he might have been a decent character in Final Fantasy IX, despite his/her broken English and annoying habits. Sadly, s/he's relegated to simple comic relief and like Jar Jar Binks, half the time, it simply isn't funny enough.