SPOILERS FOR: Final Fantasy Series
Being a female in a Final Fantasy game has never been
an easy job. You're constantly being kidnapped,
experimented on, fought over, drooled over, and even
being sacrificed. Not only that, but you are usually
just a remake of a past heroine. Sad to say, if you're
a female in a Final Fantasy title, more likely than
not you're nothing more than a rinse and re-use paper
plate.
Before anyone gets angry and points out how original
their favorite Final Fantasy female is, I'd like to
point out a few trends SquareEnix has used in the
past. I'm going to focus mainly on Final Fantasys
6-10, as most of you are quite familiar with these
titles. The most obvious trend is using three females
as the quota: Celes, Terra, and Relm from Final
Fantasy VI. Tifa, Aeris, and Yuffie of Final Fantasy
VII fame. Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis from Final
Fantasy VIII. Freya, Garnet, and Eiko from Final
Fantasy IX. Yuna, Lulu, and Rikku from Final Fantasy
X. You get the idea. Beyond this, there are
personality traits that these girls share. There will
always be the bubbly, cute, slightly annoying girl
(Relm, Yuffie, Selphie, Eiko, Rikku). To be the ying
to her yang, there will be an older, wiser, slighty
"damaged" woman (Celes, Tifa, Quistis, Freya, Lulu).
Lastly, to off set both of their personalities, there
will be the angelic, soft spoken, "special" girl
(Terra, Aeris, Rinoa, Garnet, Yuna). I will now
explain why these girls are the way they are, and why
they are important to their games.
The Bubbly Girl is essential to the story. Annoying as
she may be, she has an important job. She is the naive
one, the one who will follow the hero to the end of
his journey, ask the appropriate story-advancing
questions, and attempt to create some comic relief in
the meantime. She is never a powerful fighter, and
usually ends her battles with an "ultra-cute" pose.
Also, she may have a rather useless skill that fails
quite often. For example, Relm's "Sketch" ability and
Yuffie's "Steal". Yes, they work to some extent, but
they never get you the good stuff.
Contrasting to her younger team mate is the
aforementioned Damaged Woman. She's been down the hard
road before, she doesn't take crap from anyone, and
she is likely to have a crush on the adventerous hero.
He's exciting, he's fast paced, he makes her feel all
warm and fuzzy inside. The events that made her
"damaged" usually occur before the story begins.
Quistis was shoved into a posistion of authority early
on in her life, and may feel some resentment towards
others, as she was not able to be a kid when she
wanted to be. Celes was a powerful general who was
turned away from the only people she ever trusted.
Tifa's family was killed at an early age, leaving her
an orphan with no one to turn too. Lulu's lover was
killed by Sin, with his brother hanging around her as
a constant reminder. Freya had loved and lost as well.
This leaves the Damaged Woman with a feeling of
remorse and uncertainty about her future.
Lastly is the ever important Gifted Girl. She is
dainty, physically weak, yet strong willed and
passionate. She usually has a special power or
birthright that makes her more than necessary to the
storyline. Aeris is a Cetra, or Ancient; Terra an
Esper-human hybrid; Garnet a Summoner, which is a rare
occurance in the Final Fantasy IX world; Rinoa a
Soceress; Yuna a martyr: All unique, important beings
in their respective worlds. They will most likely end
up with the hero, as he is smitten by her demure
nature and gentle tendencies. This makes the Gifted
Girl and Damaged Woman have a competitive
relationship. They may be friends, but they want the
same thing: the hero.
Another aspect of the Gifted Girl is the fact that she
is usually the one who gets in the most trouble. This
involves the entire party going out of their way to
help her, if they are able to. Terra freaks out and
uses her Esper powers to fling herself to a new
continent, making the party stop pursuing the Empire
and go on a wild goose chase. Aeris is captured by the
Shinra, necessitating a raid on the Shinra tower, then
sacrifices herself, leaving the party with a new found
hatred of the villian. Rinoa is shot into space,
causing Squall of Final Fantasy VIII to lose all sense
of judgement and follow her out into the black void.
Garnet runs away from her kingdom, leaving all
responsibility behind. Yuna agrees to marry Seymour
and gives everyone a heart attack. It's almost a
guarentee she'll end up doing one thing or another
that sends the party into a tizzy.
It's not just the Final Fantasy series that
incorporates these archetypes with success. For
instance, the character of Arwen from Lord of the
Rings is a Damaged Woman. She loves the hero Aragorn
enough to grant him her immortal life, only to have to
leave him at her father's wish. The Gifted Girl is a
widely recognized female sterotype, from biblical
times (The Vrigin Mary) to modern day (Princess
Diana). The Bubbly Girl will always have her place in
sitcoms everywhere. (Jennifer Aniston has mastered the
craft playing Rachel on Friends) These women are found
everywhere, and have proven time and again that these
classifications can be a recipe for success.
As you can see, SquareEnix has a formula, and it
works. Yes, these females are, in essence, clones. But
they are redeemed by their nuances, the individual
details given to each; it's these little things about
them that makes us love them. Aeris's upbeat attitude,
even when faced with death; Eiko's shameless flirting
with Zidane; Quistis' smart remarks. They all make
these women unique, even if they serve the same
purpose within the context of their respective
stories. SquareEnix had the opportunity with Final
Fantasy X-2 to introduce a new kind of female
protagonist with Paine, and yet they use the Damaged
Woman mold propogated by Lulu, Freya, and Celes. Why?
Because it works. Sure, we could use a new type of
girl, perhaps an over-the-top, hilarious woman with a
smart ass comeback for everything, or a physically
strong, cocky woman with tons of attitude. The result
may be a success, and if it's appropriate, I'd
encourage such a venture. But the use of tried and
true character types can also be used for success. I'm
not saying that change is bad, but there's nothing
wrong with rinse and re-use paper plates; indeed,
these recurring female archetypes can still be used to
tell great stories.
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