Final Fantasy: The 150 Greatest Moments/Scenes

30. Tietra's Death (T)

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'Gods have mercy...'
The endings of Final Fantasy Tactic's second, third and fourth chapters have all been previously examined, but it is perhaps the climax of the first, a flashback that details the origins of lead character Ramza and his friend Delita, which is the most spectacular. As allies in the Order of the Northern Sky, the two study together at an educational institution and are dispatched to oppose the operations of the Corpse Brigade, rescuing a nobleman with the assistance of one of his servants, the much-despised Argath. Another Corpse Brigade attack led by an operative named Gragoroth Levine targets Ramza's family home, intent on kidnapping his sister Alma. This results in Ramza's eldest half brother Dycedarg being injured, though his sister is kept safe by his other half-brother Zalbaag, prompting Gragoroth to take Delita's common-born sister Tietra instead. Dycedarg initially promises not to launch a counterattack on the Brigade whilst they hold Tietra, causing friction between Argath and Delita when the former states his belief that she has no value and shouldn't deter their response. This prompts Ramza and Delita to part ways with their ally, who formulates a plan with Zalbaag to lead a head-on assault on Gragoroth's location despite Dycedarg's promises. Ramza and Delita proceed to instigate their own rescue attempt, only to bear witness to both Tietra and Gragroth perishing when Argath mercilessly fires at them. This action subsequently leads to a battle that results in the supposed deaths of both Argath and Delita, the latter of which, combined with Zalbaag's approval of Tietra's murder, is what prompts Ramza to abandon his family and become a sellsword.

29. Nanaki Learns About His Father (VII)

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'I am Nanaki, son of Seto. Warrior and protector of Cosmo Canyon!'
Almost everybody in the world of Final Fantasy VII is human with the exception of the red wolf-like Red XIII, who sticks out like a sore thumb and is experimented on by Hojo before he joins the party. A trip to his home of Cosmo Canyon reveals that he is believed to the last of his nameless species and considers his late father to be a coward, believing him to have fled when the settlement was attacked by a group called the Gi Tribe a few decades prior. Red (actually named Nanaki) was raised by the town's elder, Bugenhagen, who decides to show his former charge the truth when he learns of these feelings. Taking him and the party to a sealed cave infested with undead Gi Tribe remnants, he reunites Nanaki with his father, Seto, who is petrified and filled with arrows. Learning that his father took on the entire tribe of invaders singlehandedly to defend his home even though his species was already near-extinct, Nanaki is absolved of shame, wishing to become a great warrior like his father, whose petrified remains shed tears at the announcement. Inspired by Seto's immense courage, Nanaki opts to join Cloud until the very end, presumably finding another member of his race at some unseen point in time given the appearance of three of his species in the game's ending, which takes place five hundred years after the main narrative.

28. Terra Transforms (VI)

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'The Esper... It's responding to her!'
Following her escape from Narshe with Locke in the aftermath of Final Fantasy VI's prologue, green-haired Terra Branford becomes an asset of great interest to the Returners, the anti-Empire faction that he is affiliated with, particularly when she displays the ability to use magic shortly after being introduced to Edgar. Though not forced into joining their cause, Terra is taken to the Returners hideout and pledges her support to their leader, Banon, returning to Narshe with him in an attempt to prevent the Empire's continued attempts to get their hands on the town's frozen Esper. Reacting once again to the presence of the godlike being that removed her from the Empire's control previously, she transforms into an Esper herself, to the shock of her companions and (presumably) the player. Out of fear and confusion, she flies away shortly after, only to be found by the party in a dire state where she cannot remember anything and cannot control her transformations, accompanied by an Esper called Ramuh. Needing to locate her Esper father, Maduin, to restore her to an optimal condition, the party succeeds in acquiring his Magicite, which proves sufficient to restore Terra's memory and provide the party with a member that can transform into a godlike figure at will.

27. Rescued From Limbo (VIII)

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'Am I...alone? Rinoa? I want to hear your voice. Which way...do I go? I can't make it back...alone. Rinoa? Am I...all alone again? Where...am I?'
Part of Squall and Laguna's plan to defeat the evil Sorceress Ultimecia at the end of Final Fantasy VIII is to actually let her instigate the compression of time and space before having Ellone manipulate events to halt its advancement and ensure that the player's party are sent to a point in time where they can confront their adversary head on. This they do, succeeding in defeating both her and Griever, a powerful being she creates from Squall's mind, in an epic battle that spans the space/time continuum. In the aftermath, however, when the party must make their way back to their own time period, Squall and the dying Ultimecia are sent to Squall's childhood, where he bears witness to the defeated Sorceress passing on her powers to Edea, setting the events of the game into motion after Squall paradoxically mentions the concept of SeeD to her, prompting her to form the organisation in tandem with her husband even though it will eventually oppose her. Displaced from time, Squall ends up in a feature-less limbo, consigning himself to his fate as the landscape around him gradually slips into nothingness. It's a bleak destiny akin to 'I Have No Mouth And Must Scream' and the scene is quite trippy at times, incorporating hazy memories and the nightmare-inducing faceless Squall frame that is pictured. As he struggles to recall his love Rinoa's face, she is able to make her way to him, presumably through the use of the Sorceress powers she inherits from Edea during the course of the game. This rescues Squall from a fate worse than death, allowing the two of them to return to the real world and begin a life together free from the threat of Ultimecia.

26. In The Lifestream (VII)

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'You're searching, aren't you, Cloud? Searching for yourself? I can help too. We'll work together to try and get the real you back!'
At the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, lead character Cloud believes himself to be a former member of Shinra's elite SOLDIER division, though this is eventually revealed to be a lie (along with most of Cloud's other memories), making him undergo a crisis of identity. At a point of the game where he is suffering from Mako poisoning and is unable to speak or move, companion and childhood acquaintance Tifa stays by his side and is painfully forced to watch as the man she has grown to love suffers hopelessly, before the two of them are caught in a Weapon attack and are sent plunging into the Lifestream. Somewhat bizarrely made to explore Cloud's subconscious, Tifa pieces together what is real to repair his fractured mind, discovering that although he wanted to join SOLDIER to impress her, he failed to make the grade and became a mere infantryman. Nevertheless, he managed to befriend someone who did make the cut, a man called Zack, and idolised his lifestyle, hiding his face from Tifa out of the shame of failure when the two visited Nibelheim with Sephiroth. Found by Shinra after Sephiroth's razing of the town, both Cloud and Zack were imprisoned (Tifa managed to escape to Midgar) and experimented on as potential Sephiroth replacements by Hojo for four years as the company sought to cover up all traces of his atrocious actions. Cloud's body shatters during the process, but Zack manages to stay strong, breaking his friend out of captivity despite his hopeless state. Despite this, Zack is the one killed when the two are pursued, which results in Cloud assuming his saviour's memories when his mind breaks down afterwards. The sequence is pure exposition, but seeing the truth behind the game's storyline is highly rewarding, making Cloud a more sympathetic figure and likable hero as he and Tifa become free to act on their mutual feelings for one another later on in the game as they oppose Sephiroth together with the rest of their friends.
Contributor
Contributor

Alex was about to write a short biography, but he got distracted by something shiny instead.