110. Confronting Yunalesca (X)
'Yevon's Teachings and the final summoning give the people of Spira hope. Without hope, they would drown in their own sorrow'
In Spira, the world of Final Fantasy X, citizens live in constant fear of a monstrous being called Sin, which attacks civilisations indiscriminately, and causes widespread death and destruction. Sin can seemingly only be vanquished by the successful pilgrimage of a summoner, which sees them travel to the city of Zanarkand (which has been a ruin for a thousand years) in the hopes of obtaining the services of a 'Final Aeon' to oppose the beast, though the action claims their life. No matter how many summoners give their lives in the hope that the next 'calm' brought about by the process will be eternal, however, Sin always seems to come back. The game revolves a summoner named Yuna and her guardians (the player's party) as she seeks to complete a pilgrimage, much like her namesake from legend, the lady Yunalesca. Events reveal, however, that someone other than the summoner must also sacrifice themselves to become the Final Aeon, before they become the new Sin and begin the vicious cycle of death and destruction anew. Both the world's religious authority, Yevon, and Yunalesca herself, who lives on as a guide to those who would follow in her footsteps, are complicit in the knowledge of this, with Yevon using the fear of Sin to control and indoctrinate the world with their antiquated teachings and beliefs. Refusing to be a part of the futile process, Yuna and her friends confront Yunalesca about the fact, neglecting to honour tradition and continue to give the world's population false hope. This leads the exchange of a number of epic lines as Yunalesca mocks the party's ambition to defeat Sin in a different way once and for all, believing that sorrow is inevitable and attempting to rid the party of it through death.
109. Leo's Passing (VI)
'Die, die, DIE!!!'
Only two characters affiliated with Final Fantasy VI's Gestahlian Empire are ever shown to be honourable individuals that begin to disagree with the increasingly inhumane methods approved by their superior. One of these is Celes Chere, who joins the player party's cause early in the game, whilst the other is Leo Christophe, who joins the heroes much later on. This is after Emperor Gestahl supposedly sees the error of his ways after the Esper attack on his capital and recruits the party to seek out and negotiate a truce with the beings. This alliance succeeds in locating a group of Espers and a peace is negotiated between the two sides, though it is short-lived when Gestahl's duplicity is revealed and his maniacal (and supposedly arrested) underling Kefka's presence becomes apparent. With the Espers lured out into the open from the safety of their realm under false pretences, Kefka proceeds to kill them and harness their magical power. Angered at such a despicable and dishonourable action, Leo heroically faces off against Kefka in one-on-one combat after the rest of the party has been incapacitated. He succeeds, before it is revealed that the evil clown has tricked Leo into has defeating a mere shade (magical double), weakening him to the point where he is easily slain by the real man.
108. The First Lucavi (T)
'You take no pains to hide your wonderment. How I shall delight to watch you die'
After Princess Ovelia is rescued by her bodyguard Agrias and main character Ramza during the second chapter of Final Fantasy Tactics, the pair attempt to ensure her safety by taking her to a Cardinal of the Church of Glabados religious order named Delacroix. On their way to his home of Lionel Castle, they are joined by the machinist Mustadio when they thwart attempt on his life from a crime syndicate led by Ludovich Baert, who seeks a magical artefact called a Zodiac Stone that is in Mustadio's possession. The group eventually reach the Cardinal, who appears happy to help them and provides refuge to Ovelia and Agrias as Ramza and Mustadio seek out Ludovich, who takes Mustadio's father captive in an extortion attempt. Ludovich is defeated once more and returns to his master, who turns out to be none other than the Cardinal, who destroys him with powerful magic for his failure. Agrias learns of both this and his involvement in a supposed plot to execute Ovelia, escaping from imprisonment and reuniting with her companions to warn them. It transpires that the execution is merely a ruse to lure the group into a trap; however, as Delacroix's new employee Gaffgarion reveals himself as the 'executioner' of a decoy Ovelia and eventually engages in a one-on-one duel with his former charge Ramza, who kills him. The group then pursue the Cardinal, learning that the real Ovelia has been once again passed into the hands of Delita. They also learn that elements of the Church are supporting both sides in the conflict between Dukes Goltanna and Larg in order to create a power vacuum for they and their masters, demonic beings known as the Lucavi (whose existence in Ivalice can only be facilitated by Zodiac Stones), to fill. Seeking Mustadio's stone, the Cardinal uses one already in his possession to transform into one of the demons, Cuchulainn, who is bested by the party in battle to end the second of the game's four chapters on a shocking note.
107. Rufus' Feigned Geostigma (AC)
'A good son would have known...'
A secondary antagonist throughout Final Fantasy VII, Rufus seemingly dies during the events of the game, in which he inherits the Shinra Company from his father and seeks to control the world through fear (rather than through money as his father had), though the actions of Sephiroth complicate his ambitions somewhat. Surprisingly, Rufus returns in Advent Children wishing to atone for his many crimes. Though seemingly afflicted with Geostigma, a deadly disease that has been affecting much of the world's population, he seeks to make peace with Cloud and his allies and make the heavily damaged world a better place going forward. The rebuilding process is interrupted by the actions of Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, who seek the head of Jenova and wish to use her cells to recreate Sephiroth following his defeat and apparent death at the end of the game, causing chaos in the process. The trio discover that Rufus has been ensuring that the head doesn't fall into the wrong hands by keeping it in his possession (under a blanket) all along. They confront his wheelchair-bound person, but in a moment of badassery, he is revealed to be faking the extent of his disease, tossing the head out of a window and engaging Kadaj in combat as the two of them proceed to freefall in pursuit of it.
106. Snow The Saviour (XII)
'Start running. I'll keep them busy. You survive!'
After the events that occur at the beginning of Final Fantasy XIII, main character Lightning reluctantly forms a makeshift team with her ally Sazh, two individuals caught up in the purge named Hope and Vanille, and Snow, the fiancée of her sister Serah who also seeks to rescue her from a one way trip to the barren world of Pulse. The group succeed in finding Snow's bride-to-be, only to discover that she has become a l'Cie (an involuntary servant of a fal'Cie tasked with a specific mission that they are forced to complete, lest they become undead beings known as Ci'eth). Having seemingly completed her objective (known as a focus), she turns to crystal, which results in a difference of opinion between Lightning and Snow the former believing that she is dead and the latter believing that she can be brought back somehow. Confronting the responsible fal'Cie leads to the party also becoming l'Cie, giving them an ambiguous focus and rendering them enemies of the state due to the fal'Cie being from Pulse (had it been from Cocoon, they would've been assisted and hailed as heroes according to tradition). This forces them to go on the run, though Snow refuses to leave Serah's crystallised form behind and stays by her side. Some time afterwards, Lightning and Hope, having split from Sazh and Vanille over whether to keep running or engage the authorities head on, find themselves ambushed by a high volume of enemy soldiers. Seemingly done for, Lightning is willing to sacrifice her life to ensure the younger Hope's escape and survival and prepares to make a last stand, only to be interrupted by the intervention of Snow, who has joined forces with a woman familiar to Vanille named Fang. Announcing his arrival with a flurry of punches and motorcycle stunts, Snow's moment in the spotlight is certainly one of the games most impressive.