Final Fantasy: Who Is The Best Character From Each Game?
9. VI - Celes
Games frequently attract criticism for their portrayal of female characters solely as eye candy. The Final Fantasy series is often guilty as charged on that matter, but it was way ahead of the curve with strong female protagonists in Final Fantasy VI.
The game's terrific ensemble has three members that stand out as main characters, two of them women, with the amnesia-suffering Terra and the imperial turncoat Celes jostling with the honourable 'treasure hunter' (-cough- thief -cough) Locke for the lead spot.
Celes' attempted suicide is so impactful (I put it atop a list of the 150 greatest FF moments many years ago) that the black screen that follows momentarily suggests that Kefka has won and the game has ended on the bleakest note. The fact that the sight of Locke's bandana on a bird is what spurs her on after her survival is just as powerful (even if the game never properly invests in their relationship, one of its rare missteps), carving the path for her to take the leading role in the post-apocalyptic World Of Ruin.
Way before that, she makes her bones with the leading role in one of the series' most renowned sequences - the Opera. No further words are needed on that front.
In a game with so many great characters (Edgar and Sabin, the diabolical Kefka, the hilarious Ultros and the rest), standing out above them all is no mean feat.