Final Fantasy 7 characters?

[moretimethansense]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

Advent Childeren sucks, it totally srews the charecterization and makes them more like they are portayed in fan-fics, rather than how they actually are.

 

[moretimethansense]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

Cloud helped create the "emo" good guy for all JRPGs. Overall, he is characterized as being tough, but weak., if that makes sense.

Sephiroth is either a powerful force, or a big momma's boy, whichever you prefer.

Aeris is part of the "So nice they give everyone in the room diabetes" crowd of anime style characters. Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED fits this area nicely.

Tifa is the tough girl who isn't really, but acts the part pretty well.

Everyone else's characterization... iffy except for Cid and especially for Cait Sith and Vincent.

With the exception of tifa, every one of those was way off.

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

Advent Children is leaning towards the side of fan service. I enjoyed it, seeing all the blocky anime fellas turned into modern CG, but then I'm a fan of the game. My other half who's never played VII spent most of the film (Blu-Ray extended edition, naturally) asking me WTF was going on, who was that guy and why does the bloke over there have such an unfeasibly large sword?

Seeing AC without playing the game first is liable to leave you more confused that you started, and none the wiser as to the characterisation.

 

[moretimethansense]

Care to explain?

Gladly.

Spoiler warning for those that care.

Cloud
Cloud is often described as an "Emo" despite there being little in the game to support that view, he spends much of the game as a wisecracking jerk that has a somewhat solitary attitude.
As the game progresses he comes to accept the help of those around him as he comes to trust and care for them.
He later discovers that he may not be who he thinks he is, sees one of the companions he cares deeply for die in front of him, gives the ultimate weapon over to the villain, is explicitly told that he isn't even a real person and then is completely mind raped by getting far too close to the life stream, he then spends some time in a coma, recovers comes out the other side of this trauma a stronger person and gets shit done.

The time he spends "being Emo" is less than an hour in a forty plus hour game, and it's fucking justified, I'd like to see you go through that and pull through.

Sephiroth
Another one whose world view is shattered, he discovers that he is in fact NOT human, at least not in the same way as everyone else, he was always distant from those around him but upon this revelation he completely seals himself away to study on his origins.
He spends several days with a massive pile of books filled with data about his creation, now tell me you'd be fine after that, he very rapidly falls in to insanity, seeking some reason to exist he hunts down Jenova.

He's not trying to destroy the world so much as he is looking for a reason to exist.

This makes Cloud and Sephie two sides of the same coin, they both discover that they are not who they think they are and they both break, Cloud came out of it deciding to find his own reason to go on, whereas Sephie began clutching at straws.

Aeris
"I'll rip 'em off!", should suffice here but I'll carry on, she's really more of a tough spunky type, people trying to kidnap her daily? She shrugs it off.
She's flirty, and constantly pro-active, Tough guy with a giant sword? Better walk him home, he might get hurt.
Tough guys friend in a cage being transported to a known pervert? let's get her out, plus this'll be a great chance to see what that guy would look like in a dress!
Stuck out side a "gentlemen's club" waiting? a great chance to con some poor sods out of their money by flirting with them and selling flowers at an exorbitant rate.

Every time she has a problem she puts it forward, she talks bluntly about what she plans to do even if it could be really fucking dangerous, and she is very willing to call Cloud out on his bullshit.

Tifa
Yes she's the tough girl but she is incredibly shy and quiet, she tends to keep her opinions to herself and she envies Aeris' outgoing and confidant nature, She wants to tell Cloud about how his memories are off but is afraid of how he'll react, she keeps quiet about her feelings out of fear of rejection, though she lays down a good few hints she can't bring herself to say it outright.


Overall most Final Fantasy charecters get similar treatment from both fans and non-fans alioke, they nearly alway ignore their actual charecterization, in favour of their own opinion of it.

 

[tzimize]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

Well, I played this game when I was about 13 and thought it was awesome. That says enough about that I think.

And in case it does not;
I cant remember a lot of the characters from FF7. I remember their names and look, but their motivations and stories...not so much. The gaming mechanics from FF7 was fantastic though.

On a story-level I enjoyed FF8 a LOT more.

On a character-level I enjoyed FF9 a LOT more. Vivi is reason enough for that, but there were several other very interesting characters too.

FF7 was groundbreaking in several ways, but so was LOTR, and that is an awful, awful book.

LOTR is an "awful, awful book"? Really?
Get the fuck off the internet you twat

Yes, yes it is. I've read plenty of books, and it is without a doubt the single most boring fantasy novel I've EVER read. That does little to destroy its undeniable importance though as it introduced and created modern fantasy as we know it.

It is a dull book, with dull characters and a rather dull story. This is my opinion (and I love fantasy), and I am entitled to it without having to be called a fucking twat, thanks.

To put forward examples of GOOD fantasy (imo) A song of ice and fire, anything discworld (which is arguably not fantasy), wheel of time or the chronicles of thomas covenant the unbeliever. This is another topic entirely however, my point was that while Final Fantasy was groundbreaking in several ways (like lotr was) that does not really make it an amazing game, at least not by todays standards.

Obvious troll is obvious. Sorry for double post.
Lord of the Rings is the second most published book in the world. Next to only one other book, and that is the friggin bible. Although he shouldn't have called you a twat. Let's be civil here people.

I'm a bit unsure what your point is. Are you calling me a troll, or him?

Sure, its the second most published book in the world after the bible (Another extremely poor fantasy novel). Britney Spears is pretty widely published too, but that doesnt mean she is a musical genius.

Just because something is well known doesnt mean its good. That doesnt mean it cant be, but it doesnt have to be.

 

[scorptatious]

I liked most of the characters in FF7. My favorites including Cloud, Aeris, Barret, Cid, and Cait Sith.

While I will say that most of the characters aren't nearly as good or as well developed as those in FF9, I still find them to be good characters. We find out more about them over the course of the game, and how they change when dealing with their personal problems.

I'm not really sure how Cloud ended up as the poster boy for "emo" characters. When I played the game, the only moments where he acted anywhere close to being "emo" were,

Spoiler

1. After he unwillingly gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth, essentially dooming the world.

2. When Aeris died.

3. When he begins to doubt himself and believe that all of this memories are fake.

In a way, these are all perfectly justifiable reasons for him to act the way he does. Even then though, he moves on from all of these and becomes a stronger person because of them.