70. A Nonexistent Legacy (T)
'And you fight these men, when fighting them means you must be labeled a heretic? Why would you do such a thing? No, that is a silly question. I know the answer. But surely you must realize your efforts will earn you no thanks'
It quickly becomes apparent that almost every form of authority within the world of Final Fantasy Tactics is corrupt the Orders of the Northern and Southern Skies fight to have their leaders run the Kingdom through a puppet, whilst elements of the Church of Glabados seek to call forth Lucavi demons and have it live under their rule. Opposing all of these entities for the sake of good is Ramza and his team of allies, though their task is a thankless one that sees them pursued and opposed throughout the entirety of the Kingdom by everyone from knights to mercenaries. A scene between Ramza and Rapha, who joins him prior to the Horror of Riovanes, really hits the point home, as the latter informs the former that he will never be rewarded for his work or be remembered in a positive light for his actions. His reply? That he doesn't care, and that he will carry on because it is the right thing to do and that nobody else will do it. It's a scene that really hits the point home that Ramza is not and will never be considered a hero, in stark contrast to his fellow protagonists in other games from the franchise. It is particularly poignant when reading the words of Arazlam, the individual who narrates the game (from a time period more than four hundred years after the events of the game) and notes that the only (brief) mention of Ramza in the annals of history is as a minor heretic.
69. Defeating Balthier's Father (XII)
'Spend your pity elsewhere. If you are so set on running, hadn't you best be off? Fool of a pirate'
Every game in the Final Fantasy series features a character named 'Cid' (indeed, different Cids have already been mentioned in several previous entries). It's one of the franchise's many trademarks and the character usually plays a major supporting role, typically being involved in the fields of science, technology and airship development. Final Fantasy XII's version, Cidolfus Bunansa, is no different, being a genius scientist under the employ of the Archadian Empire. Unlike all of his counterparts (with the exception of XIII's conflicted iteration), however, he acts as an antagonist to the party instead of assisting them, despite the fact that he is revealed to be the father of party member Balthier. This villainous Cid is obsessed with Nethicite, which he has been able to manufacture artificially to fuel devices (such as airships) that have allowed the Empire to flourish and become a superpower in the world of Ivalice, against the wishes of the godlike Occuria. Having devoted his life to the study of the substance, forsaking morals and responsibilities (including the maintenance of a relationship with his son, who left him during his youth to become a sky pirate), Cid seems loyal to his emperor Vayne, though he also alludes briefly to wishing to destroy the Occuria and become a god in his own right. Regardless of his plans, he is opposed by the party, who fatally wound him in battle, making Balthier bear witness to his father's passing with next to nothing in the way of reconciliation, evidenced by how he is mocked by the man's last words.
68. Edge Overcomes Rubicante (IV)
'You think our rage...a weakness? Then let me show you how wrong you are!'
You think you know me... No, not that Edge. Rather Edward Geraldine, a ninja who serves as the Prince of Eblan, a Kingdom that is attacked by a minion of Golbez known as Rubicante during the course of Final Fantasy IV. The Kingdom's population is evacuated to a cave, but its King and Queen disappear, apparently at Rubicante's hand. Edge seeks revenge on the monster responsible for ruining his home, but is easily overpowered and left for player character Cecil's party to find. Forming an alliance to infiltrate the Tower of Babil, a location where Golbez is storing his accumulated Crystals, Edge and Cecil (which doesn't have the same ring to it as Edge and Christian) are forced to face the former's mother and father in combat after witnessing them transform into chimeras. Becoming themselves once again briefly after their defeat, they soon pass on after bidding farewell to their son. Inevitably, Rubicante is confronted once again, though being somewhat honourable for a villain he claims to have had nothing to do with the transformation of Edge's parents, instead attributing that to an underling named Dr. Lugae. Nevertheless he is fought and the party prevails when the ninja manages to gain control of his emotions and unleash latent powers on his adversary. His parents avenged, Edge is put into a position where he can dedicate his focus to the rest of the world's problems, joining Cecil permanently in his quest against Golbez.
67. Shadow's Dreams (VI)
'Baram... It looks like I can finally stop running...'
Shadow is perhaps the second most enigmatic character in Final Fantasy VI, being a ninja that can be hired on several occasions before he joins the party permanently if certain conditions are met. Unlike the mimic Gogo, however, who was seemingly added to the game as an afterthought given that we still know next-to-nothing about him/her nineteen years after the game's release, Shadow's past can be discovered by dedicated players. Though in the main narrative he exists only as a seemingly emotionless individual solely interested in money, resting in inns with Shadow in the party can result in the player bearing witness to his dreams, which tells the story of how he came to be. Once a thief named Clyde, Shadow and his friend Baram found a treasure worth a significant amount of money, but were pursued by authorities. With Baram wounded, Clyde could not put his friend out of his misery, as requested, and abandoned him to a presumably unenviable fate. He subsequently led a guilt-ridden existence in which he also married a woman and fathered a baby girl (who turns out to be fellow party member Relm, though she never discovers the fact), only to abandon the two of them as well. The fact that the story is told serially makes it a highly intriguing one, and it is somewhat rewarding to learn that there is an actual man under the mask after all. Interestingly, a scene involving Relm's grandfather (by association rather than blood) Strago deducing Shadow's identity and quietly confronting the man was cut from the game, presumably so as to avoid some sort of soppy reunion scene.
66. Vanquishing Chaos (I)
'I will live forever, and you shall meet your doom!'
The first quest ever given to the original Final Fantasy's four protagonists is the rescuing of Sarah, the Princess of the Kingdom of Cornelia, from a rogue knight named Garland. They succeed in doing so, besting the knight before traversing the world in search of Crystals that govern the elements (wind, water, fire and earth) but are under threat by four fiends named Tiamat, Kraken, Marilith and Lich. Each of these are defeated in turn, but the Crystals remain threatened by a dark being known as Chaos, who dwells 2000 years in the past. Travelling back in time, the heroes discover that Chaos is Garland, who was on the brink of death after his original defeat and was sent to the past by the four fiends, turning into a manifestation of his own hatred in the process. Having subsequently sent the fiends (native to the past) into the future to disrupt the world, he creates a time loop and achieves immortality as a result, returning to the past following each of his defeats at the heroes' hands and beginning the process anew. This ends when the foursome defeat his new form, which sends them back to their own time absolved of any memories of their quest, leaving only the player with the rewarding knowledge that they were responsible for saving the world.