Final Fantasy 7: Ranking Every Main Character From Worst To Best
5. Red XIII
Red is perfect for building as you see fit.
He's fast and works like a tank with high HP. He can dole out plenty of physical damage, or load him up with materia when you need another magic user.
Cosmo Memory and Sled Fang are nice enough Limit Breaks. But, Lunatic High is completely unnecessary once you've got haste-all materia. And, Howling Moon is annoying if you don't want Red going into berserk status.
We meet this fierce beast as one of Hojo's experiments. He's a trusted ally by the time we reach Cosmo Canyon. Then we get into his heartbreaking tale: being the last of his species, believing his father is a coward- only to have it revealed he actually sacrificed himself to save everyone in the village. And later, we'll realize his heartbreak isn't over as he'll survive the longest and have to watch as each of his friends leave him in death.
Unique in being the only 4-legged character in the party, he's a strong fighter with a great backstory. Just don't ask me how there are little "Reds" running with him to see the Midgar ruins in the epilogue.