Final Fantasy Parallels
By Drake Clawfang
It’s easy to dispute evidence within the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, as to
which pairing is more supported and which evidence is more valid, and so forth.
However, what cannot be disputed is the pattern of romance Square-Enix has set
down within the Final Fantasy series.
Final Fantasies I, II and III all had no romantic pairings to speak of.
This changed in Final Fantasy IV. Here, the protagonist is the Dark Knight Cecil
is a guilt-stricken Captain of the Red Wings, who cannot bear to carry out
immoral orders from his king and so rebels and redeems himself by becoming a
Paladin and wielding the holy power against his former masters. His lover is
Rosa Farrell, a White Mage and his childhood friend who worries for Cecil
constantly. Besides Cecil himself, Rosa is the most consistent party member of
the whole game. She joins Cecil early in the game, and while the villain Golbez
captures her soon after, she quickly rejoins in the Tower of Zot, and stays with
the party until the end of the game. It’s also at this reunion that she and
Cecil embrace for the first time, and possibly kiss.
Cecil: “I missed you so much…and I realized…I…”
Rosa: “Cecil…”
Also within the game is Kain Highwind, Cecil’s comrade who also harbors feelings
for Rosa, strong enough that even under the mental manipulations of Golbez, he
still feels protective towards her. Kain is eventually forced to come to terms
with his jealousy towards Cecil and his feelings for Rosa in his “lunar trial”
in the Gameboy Advance release of the game, but he never acts on these feelings.
In Final Fantasy V, there are again, no romantic pairings to speak of, not in a
serious sense at least. Bartz is attracted to Faris, but there is no real
pairing that affects the storyline.
Final Fantasy VI takes love into a central theme, as every main character has
some sort of torment or ordeal regarding love. The heroine Terra Branford has no
romantic pairings to speak of. However, there is still a central couple, Locke
Cole and Celes Chere. Locke is a world-traveling treasure hunter and thief,
whose former lover Rachel lost her memories saving Locke from a fatal fall into
a chasm. He left her so she could start a new life, and Locke returns to find
she died, and just as she did so she regained her memories and murmured his
name. He has since searched for a way to revive her. Celes is an Imperial
General raised in their military as a Magitek Warrior, and Locke rescues her
when she betrays the Empire; her resemblance to Rachel is apparently uncanny.
Celes herself has never been loved, and wonders if Locke’s interest in her is
for her, or for the Rachel he sees in her. She openly confronts him with this
during the game’s famous opera sequence.
Celes: “Locke. Why did you help me escape back there?”
Locke: “I... once abandoned someone when she needed me...”
Celes: “Somewhere inside you were saving... her, weren't you...?”
(Locke is silent and turns away to the door)
Locke: “That ribbon suits you.”
Locke eventually revives Rachel for a few moments and she tells him to let go of
his guilt, and in the credits of the game he and Celes are featured together,
and it is clearly shown he has fallen for her. Throughout the game, Locke also
acts highly protective of her, even towards his friends. This protective streak
extends to Terra, who is amnesiac, which reminds Locke of Rachel as well.
Cyan: “This's General Celes! She torched Maranda! She's an
Imperial spy! Now, stand aside!”
Locke: “Wait! Celes has joined the Returners! She's fighting with us, now!”
Cyan: “But...!”
Locke: “I promised I'd protect her. I WILL NOT back out on my word.”
Edgar: “Locke... Are you still thinking about... that?”
Final Fantasy VIII’s pairing of Squall Leonheart and Rinoa Heartilly is a
central driving force for the plot. Squall is a lone wolf Gunblade fighter and a
quiet and selfish mercenary, while Rinoa is the daughter of a Galbadian general
who fights against the oppression of the army. Rinoa’s open, affectionate and
flirty attitude eventually wins Squall over and he falls in love with her,
despairing when she becomes comatose and taking her to Esthar to find a way to
help her. He becomes increasingly hostile and angry and tries to find any way to
save her.
Squall: “Really? There's no way to change the past? No, I
want to find out myself. Take me to Rinoa's past. I need to see the past through
Rinoa. I want to find out what happened to her, and I want to try to warn her…”
Ellone: “…You want to save her. You don't want to lose Rinoa.”
This pairing is again given competition, in the form of Quistis Trepe, Squall’s
instructor, and Seifer Almasy, Squall’s rival. Seifer, according to Rinoa, was
her first love and they may have been involved in the past. Quistic was one of
Squall’s childhood friends and was initially attracted to him because of her
past sisterly feelings for him.
In Final Fantasy IX, the hero Zidane Tribal falls for the princess Garnet.
Zidane is quite different from previous heroes, and constantly flirts with
Garnet and many other females that he encounters, but it’s Garnet that he truly
feels for. Garnet in turn discovers her origins and becomes more accustomed to
the outside world with Zidane’s help, and falls in love with him.
Final Fantasy X and XII also feature romance. X pairs up Tidus, a warrior and
Blitzball player, with Yuna, a Summoner and White Mage. XII’s romance is between
Vaan, a Sky pirate, and Penelo, a White Mage.
So let’s recap the romantic connections of the series.
IV – Cecil Harvey, a Dark Knight/Paladin and Rosa Farrell, a White Mage.
VI – Locke Cole, a Thief and Adventurer, and Celes Chere, a Magitek Warrior.
VIII – Squall Leonheart, a Gunblade expert and mercenary, and Rinoa Heartilly, a
Sorceress.
IX – Zidane Tribal, a Warrior-Thief, and Garnet, a White Mage and a princess.
X – Tidus, a Warrior, and Yuna, a Summoner and White Mage.
XII – Vaan, a Sky Pirate, and Penelo, a White Mage.
So, of the six games in the series besides Final Fantasy VII to feature romance
as a central plot detail, all of them have paired up the Warrior or the Thief
with the Mage. Four of the six times, it’s been a White Mage – interpret Celes’
and Rinoa’s alignments as you will, but Celes wears white and Rinoa’s “Angel
Wing” Limit Break is clearly associated with holy imagery. Most of the time the
male is from small beginnings – Zidane and Locke are humble thieves, Tidus is
from another world, and Squall is a mercenary. The heroes also commonly have a
fierce protective streak, especially to the woman they love.
By contrast, the female is a noble – Rosa, Celes and Rinoa are all high-ranking
socially, and Garnet is royalty. Otherwise, the female has some sort of higher
purpose to fulfil, like Rinoa, Garnet or Yuna, who all have magical powers that
prove pivotal to the world’s survival.
So, within Final Fantasy VII, does Cloud fit the requirements? Certainly.
Like Cecil, Cloud comes to betray those that gave him his powers (Baron/Shin-Ra)
and redeems himself by saving the world from them and their failed former
soldier (Golbez/Sephiroth).
Like Locke, Cloud is faced with the injury of someone dear to him (Rachel/Tifa),
and leaves town because of his guilt, but in the end his relationship with them
dissolves anyway. In another comparison with Locke, Cloud is guilt-ridden over
the death of his loved one and yearns for a way to be reunited with them – it’s
only upon finding that way that his guilt is lifted and he feels he can move on.
Locke revives Rachel for a few brief moments and they have the reunion he’s
longed for, even if it is cut short.
Rachel: “I have to go now...I'll always love you...You
must now cast off the anguish you've been harboring inside for so long. Today I
set your heart free. You must learn to love yourself again, and regain your self
respect.”
Like Squall, Cloud is a quiet and loner mercenary. Squall does what he’s told
without asking questions, until he meets Rinoa. Rinoa’s flirty and open attitude
causes Squall to fall for her, and when she falls comatose he goes to extreme
lengths to revive her. The scene of the escape from the space station shows the
extent he’s willing to go to, jetting into space with no idea or hope of how to
survive, just to be with her.
Rinoa: “Squall…thank you. I heard your voice.”
Squall: “…I can't believe it.”
Rinoa: “Are we gonna make it?”
And, like Zidane, Tidus and Vaan, Cloud finds himself a little over his head
fighting the villains, but all the same he manages to prevail.
Now, we’ve established that Cloud fits the requirements for the typical male
hero of Final Fantasy. Who fits the role of his love interest, the role of
leading female?
Rosa is a White Mage, and cares for Cecil deeply enough to go after him even if
it places herself in danger – she pursues rumors of his survival of an
earthquake into the desert and falls ill with fever, and even when revived
wishes to be by his side. Celes is a Magitek Warrior, raised by the Empire for
her holy powers. The other female lead Terra is a half-human, half-Esper, and
with the magic of the Espers the Empire hunts her relentlessly to harness her
powers. Rinoa is a Sorceress and is feared for her powers thanks to Adel’s
actions in the past, but is protected by Squall. Garnet and Yuna are White Mages
and Summoners with powers that will greatly affect the fate of the planet.
Penelo is a White Mage as well.
So, of the pattern, which Final Fantasy VII character best fits the role for
Cloud’s love interest – someone who is a White Mage, hunted for their abilities,
devoted to him, with magical powers that affects the fate of the world? Someone
Cloud is protective towards and would risk his life to save, someone who can
help ease Cloud’s burdens and see him as a hero regardless of how he sees
himself.
There certainly is a Final Fantasy VII character who fits that description. And
it’s not Tifa…
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