10 Final Fantasy Characters Who Almost Ruined Their Own Games

2. Hope (Final Fantasy XIII)

It's fair to say that there are very few redeeming factors in Final Fantasy XIII's six main characters. Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Fang can best be described as alright and Vanille is one of the series' most divisive characters. Still, none have drawn as much hostility as Hope and for good reason. A lot of Hope's problems stem from bigger problems with Final Fantasy XIII's characters in general. We're given little motivation to care about their plight or themselves as characters and they develop very slowly due to a lack of interaction throughout the game. In fact, the group is split for the vast majority of the game, preventing us from seeing the various dynamics of the party at work. Perhaps worst of all though, this all serves to highlight Hope as the game's most irritating character. His mother's extremely unsurprising death early on in the game is clearly intended to attach us emotionally to the character, yet it falls flat as he proceeds to blame everybody but actual killers for her death, driving a wedge between himself and the group (especially Snow) for next to no reason. He constantly moans about the group's situation, rather than embracing it and you constantly get the feeling that he simply wants to curl up in a ball and give up; hardly the most heroic of actions. Thankfully, Hope is redeemed slightly with his appearances in XIII-2 and Lightning Returns (or FFXIII-3) where he's far more mature with his high intellect helping you throughout the two sequels. Sadly, in Final Fantasy XIII, there's little of that on show. Again, Final Fantasy XIII won't be remembered fondly for its characters but Hope's constant lack of hope (intentional irony?) will have you rolling your eyes every time he's on screen.