Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

I was thinking about her character as a whole.

While i do think her story is good,i find her hard to like overall and look past her to other more charismatic characters like:Sabim locke and cyan and gau.

Anyone else feel this way?

Going back to terra,even in ff6,i payed attention to her but she didn't keep my attention as much as the others did.

Moderator Edit

I did you a favor and edited out the stuff that had nothing to do with the topic you were trying to talk about. -R51

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 15th November 2010 13:13

--------------------

We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

I didn't really have a problem with the way Terra was portrayed. If anything, I feel that her more subdued portrayal allowed the other characters to shine from a story line perspective.

--------------------

EGG TOSS
YOU CARRY
EAT A BAG
LEMON-DY
HEAD SAUCE
JIM CARREY
IN A BEAR
HEAVEN PEE
DAFFY-ROTH
- brentalfloss

Her storyline was overly dramatic, really in the FF traditional style. It's great because it is balanced by the other characters in the story, but it wouldn't be as good alone. While I do think it has more than a touch of melodrama, I think they play it out well as she regains her memory, and the scenario in Mobliz. It would've been too dramatic had it not been for the other characters being there, which was necessary because she wasn't the strongest main character. Other characters like Cloud and Zidane could hold up on their own, not to say that their stories were better; I'm basing that off of personality.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

I didn't find Terra's behavior to be overly dramatic. She was abused by the empire and set apart from everyone else by her mixed parentage. I think her hesitation in Mobliz isn't that odd either: she has a new-found responsibility and duty to the kids of the orphanage, and she's finally reached a position in her life that feels normal (however far from normal the circumstances are). Especially given the fact that defeating Kefka appears like an impossibility, I can see why she would want to stay and find herself unable to fight.

--------------------

Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

Dramatic? Nah. She gave yet another POV of the Empire's evil ways. Which was the point of the game.

Terra's awesome. She feels like a complete freak because she can do magic which only beasts in fairy tales are supposed to do, but she's constantly searching for what love is and whether she's worthy, making her far more human than the humans who controlled her.



--------------------

You're telling me that there's no hope.

I'm telling you you're wrong.

Terra's drama never bothered me, really. There are a few silly lines she says about the nature of love, but the amount of pathos she provides isn't any more than say, Celes. In fact, the scene with her and the kids at the end of her scenario in Mobliz is pretty damn touching, if I do say so myself...Terra's the only one of her kind, and she doesn't understand the world like the rest of us, which actually equates her quite a bit to Gau, I would say.

--------------------

"If art doesn't risk upsetting expectations and challenging its audience, it can only stagnate."

Terra never really bothered me that much. I mean, there was that thing with Phunbaba, but whatever. I liked her characterization in the first part of the game enough to excuse that.

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

I mean, I agree with the past few people here that said it didn't bother them, but I'm just saying that she was a bit melodramatic.

Edit

Oh, and this is probably the best topic I've seen you make on here dude, btw.

This post has been edited by BlitzSage on 15th November 2010 19:08

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

Quote (BlitzSage @ 15th November 2010 19:07)

I'm just saying that she was a bit melodramatic.

Hey, if I suddenly woke up in a strange town with amnesia and a thie-I mean, treasure hunter I've never met, and later found out that I was enslaved since I was a baby, and to top it all off, a half-monster and therefore a freak of nature by society's standards, I'd be pretty lonely and melodramatic too.

Also, Terra's canonically 18. Everyone knows how melodramatic teenagers can get.

Don't get me wrong, you're absolutely right. If one were to really look at it, a LOT of the characters can be melodramatic.

Frankly, that's why I think the story is great as it is. The story addresses a lot of various topics: genocide, slavery, social acceptance, teen pregnancy, the evils of genetic experimentation (while managing to avoid the stance of all science and experimentation being inherently evil), and so on and so forth. These are serious topics, and something would seriously be amiss if they WEREN'T at least a little melodramatic. And the less universally heavy topics (such as Terra's search for her life's purpose) are things that young folk such as myself can relate to and understand. It wouldn't resonate nearly as well without a pinch of melodrama.

--------------------

EGG TOSS
YOU CARRY
EAT A BAG
LEMON-DY
HEAD SAUCE
JIM CARREY
IN A BEAR
HEAVEN PEE
DAFFY-ROTH
- brentalfloss

Quote (Insegredious @ 15th November 2010 16:52)

Quote (BlitzSage @ 15th November 2010 19:07)

I'm just saying that she was a bit melodramatic.

Hey, if I suddenly woke up in a strange town with amnesia and a thie-I mean, treasure hunter I've never met, and later found out that I was enslaved since I was a baby, and to top it all off, a half-monster and therefore a freak of nature by society's standards, I'd be pretty lonely and melodramatic too.

Also, Terra's canonically 18. Everyone knows how melodramatic teenagers can get.

Don't get me wrong, you're absolutely right. If one were to really look at it, a LOT of the characters can be melodramatic.

Frankly, that's why I think the story is great as it is. The story addresses a lot of various topics: genocide, slavery, social acceptance, teen pregnancy, the evils of genetic experimentation (while managing to avoid the stance of all science and experimentation being inherently evil), and so on and so forth. These are serious topics, and something would seriously be amiss if they WEREN'T at least a little melodramatic. And the less universally heavy topics (such as Terra's search for her life's purpose) are things that young folk such as myself can relate to and understand. It wouldn't resonate nearly as well without a pinch of melodrama.

You're absolutely right as well. It works not only because it is contrasted with the other plotlines, but also because it does make sense. Many people don't give that part enough credit, but it just gives the game another layer to work in, varying the story. That's why she is a great main character, because it provides the background; while all of these other things are going on, you have her story and her search for love as the central plotline.

Her themes are almost like generalizations of the themes of all of the other characters. All of them show different types of love and caring, while not really asking the question "What is love?" In some ways, she's not as strong of a main character as Cloud; but in others, she is. Cloud works well as the focal point, but Terra works well giving the other characters time in the foreground while forming the main ideas.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

To my mind, there's no such thing as "too dramatic" in an RPG lead character. Terra's characterization is a little overdone, but the point is that she's going from this cold, unthinking monster into something human. She's emulating what she sees around her, and the very rudimentary feelings of the people around her.

As far as her first inspiration, let's look at the first three main (friendly) (humanoid) people she meets after the crown comes off:
#1: The old man, who, in an expression of mortal terror, tells her to make a run for it out the back door, not caring whether she understands, just knowing that she'll be safer anywhere but in that house.
#2: Locke, who is by nature larger-than-life, a thief TREASURE HUNTER who, with the assistance of two groups of Moogles, saves her life, and gets her away from the Narshe guards - by dragging her through the desert without even giving her his name!
#3: Edgar. A lech of a king, who starts off by telling her that he's allied with the Empire, hits on her, and then it turns out he's part of a larger organization Terra knows not one darn thing about. Again, he is a larger-than-life figure, by personality and action. And then, after getting her on a Chocobo and flipping out in the middle of a fight over her use of magic, he says, let's go meet the leader of the Returners.

She's dragged around like a puppet on a string and the first choice she's allowed, if she refuses, she gets bribed. If she doesn't, she gets a crap "protection" thing (Gauntlet), and led to a war council.

So yeah. She's going to be melodramatic.

Terra can be a little annoying sometimes, because she's lost and confused and doesn't understand some human emotions like love. But like what other members have mentioned above, she's been through alot and it would be understanding of her to be somewhat confused. I'm surprised that she doesn't get a little messed up like Cloud or Zidane when she remembers the truth and what Kefka and the empire did to her, with the mind- controlling.

Plus she gets stronger and tougher as the game processes, which is awesome.

--------------------

Currently playing Chrono Trigger !!
Currently looking forward to Don't Know.

Terra's character played up a certain japanese archtypes to a degree, what with the constant uncertainty, but it never came across as inappropriate considering the circumstances surrounding that behavior and it wasn't all that excessive either.

Hell, she's downright subdued compared to later installments in the series.

--------------------

Arts

Farts

Twarts

Terra fits as a main character who is an amnesiac just for the purpose of the mystery of the world and to wrap the player in a heavy story setting. if they had a main character that knew what was going on while the empire was at work, we wouldnt know about it until someone by chance said something. plus it gives the player a feeling of connection with the main character who IS an amnesiac. because the main character would find out the empire at the same time, making the player in the "same boat" as the main character.

i agree though, she gets on my nerves only because shes looking for love in an awkward manner. she even states that leo could have taught her so much more (crush, perhaps? who knows.) but shes pretty cute for a protagonist is all im sayin'. maybe that just makes her acceptable. there's better main characters though IMO.

--------------------

Come closer, FEEL my wrath.

"fear not what you do not know or understand, for only fear is but one aspect of what limits us"
- Me

No, I don't think Terra is overly angsty. In fact, her problems were completely understandable to me and I sympathized with her a lot. Which is unusual for Squeenix characters.

Terra too dramatic? I did not see this, at all.

I thought she was a beautifully designed character. I really felt for her.

With everything she faced and went through, no, she isn't too dramatic. Actually, I felt like after we found out who and what she is, they sorta just...flicked her out of the story, or tried to.

If anything, she had room to "cry" a bit more about what has happened to her. She was controlled, abused and hurt and used to kill people, even a race she was apart of.
And when she trusted the Empire again, she was screwed over, again.

So yea, no, she was not dramatic.

--------------------

A Magitek Elite knight! :P

Bringing back what crashed. A FFVI community!

Quote (Metal King Slime @ 23rd December 2010 06:38)

No, I don't think Terra is overly angsty. In fact, her problems were completely understandable to me and I sympathized with her a lot. Which is unusual for Squeenix characters.

Me too. And she did have reason, but nevertheless, she was over-the-top. I don't think it's a bad think that she's melodramatic, but I do think she is. Celes is a bit as well, but I think it fits the mood of the game. The storyline is rather operatic, and operas are known for having heightened drama. In short, I think her characterization is well-crafted, based upon the structure of the story.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

I admit, she was over the top at times, but Final Fantasy has always been such. Heck, most of my favorite games are woefully overdone, so I don't see this as much of a concern.

--------------------

"When we think there's no hope left, we keep looking until we find some!" - Claire Farron

She's quite dramatic and quite unusually so by normal standards but I feel her atttitude is justified, if not overly positive, considering her life story. Here's my present take on her personal timeline of events:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

1. As a young child, Terra's pried out of her dying mother's arms and almost murdered by Emperor Ghestahl.
2. He takes pity on her but only enough to take advantage of her powers and raise her as a willess weapom of war using a mind control device.
3. She's put under the care of the sadistically perverse General Kefka Plazzo, who forces her to kill both allies and foes alike just 'cause he likes hearing their screams.
4. She's sent out on a mission with two imperial roopers. Gets into contact with Tritoch, freaky magic stuff happens and she's knocked out. Finds herself in a strange bedroom with a complete stranger who rushes her out the door with scarcely a word of explanation
5. Finally freed from the evils of the Empire she's put out on the run from the Narshe Guards for crimes she's not really responsible for.
6. Shortly thereafter she suddenly realizes that the powers she takes for granted in her everyday life are terrifyingly unusual to others.
7. When her supposed friends and rescuers realize this, they start taking a keen interest in these abilities and start pressuring her to go to war against the only people she'd ever truly known.
8. Around this time an octopus starts stalking her, wanting to do bad and naughty things to her.
9. The Narshe Guards accept her help rather reluctantly, likely only because they really need it.
10. She suddenly blacks out and turns into some freaky pink glowy monster, worsening an identity crisis lifelong in the making.
11. She's suddenly reminded of the freaky invasion of her home town beyond the gate, an event she'd have otherwise been too young to rember while under the care of Ramuh.
12. He also tells her that she virtually has to use the remnents and souls of her own race in less than respectful ways in order to stop the evil Empire. This will eventually even include even those of her own father later on.
13. Ramuh would love to help out more but having served the three goddesses' greater purpose of turing her into a miserable weapon of war, dies of old age shortly thereafter.
14. After a prolonged grueling battle with the Empire, she's somehow convinced to work with them for the better good. In the process she's introduced to General Leo, who at the very least tries to be a pal and help her cope, to the best of his limited abilities. Albeit his interest in her is still primarily professional.
15. The better good turns out to be leading her own kind and her newfound friend like lambs to the slaughter.
16. She also unveiled the location of the Goddesses in the process
17. Meaning she unwittingly facilitated the destruction of the world as we know it and gave Kefka some rather massive power boosts, allowing him to take over the remains and shower it with laser beams for the better part of a year.
18. Finally she gets a lucky break, (likely in the skull after falling off the Blackjack) and meets up with orphaned children who have more familial needs of her. This allows her maternal instincts to kick in, giving her purpose and allowing her to feel emotions othere than sorrow, confusion and peer pressure.
19. Unfortunately all the while, her slumlord/pimp Phunbaba decides to drop in on a regular basis and demand rent money she doesn't have rain on her parade.
20. She ends up acquiring the help of her former posse to kill Phunbaba off for good and go after Kefka next to give her "children" a chance at a better life.

I'm not sure I could cope with all that trauma myself if the only love I ever saw was so obviously shrouded in ulterior motives. Also other characters like Cyan and Celes actually grow far more depressed and only ever experience a fraction of this misery themselves. Perhaps not so consistantly vocal about it but events mid to late game show them to be borderline sucidal. I'm guessing Terra's vocalization is partially bit of a coping mechanism and partially meant to show that she has vulnerability, to make her more endearing and human. I'd give further commentary but its been years since I've actually played the game so the dialog is a huge missing piece of the puzzle for me. I can't really give a fully accurate impression if I can't remember but a single quote.

I guess I'll finish with that I'm in agreement with Bltizsage that the subplot itself might be a little over dramatic in and of itself, yet nicely balanced with some of the overall more positive characters like Gau, Mog and Relm. So many lows yet so few highs is a rather unsual occurance, even within the relm of fiction.


--------------------

Role reversal at its finest.

She's angsty and you ought to HATE her, except that you played it when you were too young for it to seem lame.

Either that or angst from girls works on you.

--------------------

"Cavefish is delicious, but only if cooked."

Quote (Shiva Indis @ 26th January 2011 03:17)

Either that or angst from girls works on you.

Interesting thesis, lol. Perhaps it's because she's innocent. That's why the amnesia thing works so well.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!