Final Fantasy: 25 Greatest Heroes

Final Fantasy VI begins on an extraordinary note, with Terra contained within a Magitek armour effortlessly wiping out horde after horde of enemies with devastating attacks. It’s a shock to the system shortly afterwards when her enslavement is broken and these are replaced with basic attack and magic commands, but Terra is quickly established as an intriguing character as the Gestahlian Empire and Returners resistance faction each gear their operations around her.

It isn’t until later in the game, after an assault from Kefka sees her powers truly awakened, that Terra is bestowed with the ‘Transform’ ability, which gives her the ability to temporarily morph into an Esper. Summons have always been one of the coolest things about the Final Fantasy series and actually getting to command one was an experience that wouldn’t be replicated until Final Fantasy X.

Aside from her incredible powers, Terra thrives as the central focus of the game’s early story. Thrust into an unwanted position and left mentally blank by virtue of her half-human/half-Esper heritage and rejecting her powers for their destructive potential, she discovers friendship, responsibility and ultimately acceptance of who she is, with her untying of her hair in the game’s ending symbolic of the freedom that she has sought and gained.

Also benefitting from having one of the best Nobuo Uematsu crafted character themes in the franchise, Terra thrives as one of its deepest heroines.