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Just out of curiousity, why is Kain displayed in the Title instead of Cecil?

This might only be in the Playstation version, but in the main display title between the words 'Final' and Fantasy', there's the slightly sharpened picture of Kain from the original artwork. I used to assume it was actually Cecil in his Dark Knight getup but when I found the original artwork it was actually Kain... surely Cecil should have been there as he is the main character?

Yes, it is definitely Kain. As to why they did it that way, I'm not quite sure. Kain does drive just as much of the story as Cecil, because half the tasks you have to do would be unnecessary if Kain wasn't so easily swayed. He is probably a more interesting choice for main character.

It might just come down to the fact that Kain has a more interesting character design than Cecil. That's my opinion, anyway.

Good topic, btw. I like new people that post good, interesting stuff instead of just more polls.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I don't actually remember the official Final Fantasy 4 artwork with the Kain picture behind it in my FF2US cartridge.  D'you think they might've taken it out because Kain's role in the story was so much more diminished?  You don't hear anything about his father, and hardly anything about his relationship with Rosa.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

IIRC, the Magitek armour wasn't in the FF3US logo either.  I think they just liked to take the interesting bits out when they brough them to North America.

I'd agree, though, Kain probably got on there because he has an important role.  Perhaps, also, it's to do with him having that quite distinctive profile, which still looks good with the detail reduction imposed on it for the logo.

The FF2US logo has a Crystal on the title screen (IIRC), and just a sword making up the "T" on the box art.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Ya ive always wondered about that.

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No one under stands me i just want to help:(

Kain just looks cooler, plus if they did Cecil as a paladin, which would make the most sense it would be a spoiler.

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Love and Peace- Vash, the Stampede

If Life kicks you long enough, eventually he'll get tired and walk away- Drew Carry

I don't think Kain is a better main character than Cecil.  I think he's an excellent foil, though, and, as people have said, he's a great driving force for most of the plot.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Because Kain is that pivotal character that drives the emotions that much deeper into the others. Cecil seems so boring in the beginning of the game except when he's around Kain when he seems to liven up a bit. Kain's betrayal also proves to breed even more emotions that would've otherwise been lost. In my opinion he is the most interesting character in the game and deserves to be put up on the cover instead. He's that great good guy and evil bad guy at the same time, what else do you need? Without his character the game would be lifeless. In a nutshell, Kain is the life of the game, therefore he gets the honor of being on the cover art.

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Jeez, another signature...i can't do this anymore, just kill me already!

Kain, in my opinion is a lot better then cecil. i hate that you change halfway through the game even though i like the fact that you get a lot more hp.

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You are just a puppet... You have no heart... and cannot feel any pain - Sephiroth

I think they put Kain instead of Cecil becuase personally I think they thought alot more people would like Kain more then Cecil (which is true incidentily) so they put the character people would like more on the cover to have it have a better apeal to people.

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aint superstitious Black cat crossed my trail
I aint superstitious But a Black cat crossed my trail
But Lord has got me so far and I wont let her stop me now
The dogs begin to bark all over my neighborhood
And that aint all
The dogs begin to bark all over my neighborhood
UMmHMm
This is a mean old world to live in and I cant face it by myself

I agree with the foil idea.  Cecil may be the main character, and that's great, but Kain is the more interesting character.  He's the sad story.

...

'sides, Kain kicks Cecil's ass any day.



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i see you've set this time aside to humiliate yourself in public.

Maybe it also could have to do with the Lancer class.  I don't know if the Dragoons if FF3 had "Jump" but either way it was a somewhat new type of character to promote a game with.

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Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!!

I belive that, even though it is not shown, Kain is the main character of FFIV. He goes through so much, more then any other character. He has to deal with the fact that his best friend is dating the women he loves, he betrayed his friends twice, and in the end he still doesn't know where he stands. Kain's tale is something we can all relate too, we have all had jealousy towards someone, friend or foe. Kain however was manuipulated to act on his jealousy and it cost him what he thought was his greatest trait, his honor. That is why I believe Kain was used as the main illustration for FFIV because what he went through during the course of the game is something that anyone could go through. He is the most real-like character in the game.

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

I began playing this game when I was 8, so let me offer a "coolness perspective" (after all, I was Nintento's core audience in the early 90's)

Cecil had a big helmet and no special abilitites. He talked a whole lot.
Kain Had this giant Jumping ability that let you kick the crap out of everything in a short time. He was fast, he was a bad guy, and he never changed throughout the whole game.

So Kain was the "Whoa, cool!" guy of the original two. It made sense to me

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"Not me... I dreamt I was a moron."

Quote (BGrugby @ 3rd September 2003 01:52)

I belive that, even though it is not shown, Kain is the main character of FFIV. He goes through so much, more then any other character. He has to deal with the fact that his best friend is dating the women he loves, he betrayed his friends twice, and in the end he still doesn't know where he stands.

Yeah, all Cecil had to do was realize that the man who raised him was evil, realize that his life's work was wrong, cope with being manipulated into doing bad things without having an excuse like mind control, figure out how to respond to Rosa when it was really obvious that his best friend liked her, deal with his best friend turning on him, accept the fact that his father was a Lunarian, become a paladin, go to the moon, and save the world.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Kain was cooler..

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A warrior takes sword in hand,
clasping a gem to his heart...
Engraving vanishing memories
into the sword, He places finely
honed skills into the stone.
Spoken from the sword, handed
down from the stone,
Now the story can be told...

Kain Was cooler but still Cecil is good as Dark Knight/Paladin And Cecil Did have abilities on FF4

This post has been edited by King Of Sacrifice on 14th September 2003 12:35

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One thing / I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time
All I know
time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
In the End by Linkin park

Quote (BGrugby @ 3rd September 2003 01:52)

I belive that, even though it is not shown, Kain is the main character of FFIV. He goes through so much, more then any other character.

Shylock was definitely the most interesting and developed character in the Merchant of Venice, and hell, his character is the name of the play. However, many Shakespearean analysts will tell you that he wasn't the main character.

Kain, although a very deep character, was not the main character of Final Fantasy IV. That belongs solely to Cecil. The main storyline in FFIV is all about Cecil's inner struggles and struggle against Golbeze, both as an enemy and

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

a brother

.

Cecil is the hero who resolves his inner struggles. Kain is the supporting hero who never resolves his inner struggle.

This post has been edited by eron on 23rd September 2003 17:33

Quote (eron @ 23rd September 2003 13:32)

Cecil is the hero who resolves his inner struggles.  Kain is the supporting hero who never resolves his inner struggle.

I see the opposite as true. Cain gets to blame everything on mind-control. Cecil still had to deal with what he has done.
And with Golbeze, in the end,

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Cecil still struggles with him staying on the moon.

And Cain's remaining struggle in the end

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

is mostly still just trying to live up to his father

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

funny how this topics been around for so long, i guess i mighta overlooked it in the past... anyways, i always thought of kain as more of a main character than cecil was, even though the story followed cecil, he didn't ALWAYS need to be there. many scenarios in the story could have played out pretty much the same if anyone else was in cecils place. cecil was a very interesting character, but kain had a deeper and more mysterious background, which i dont think was told about as much as it probably should have been. he went through a lot of change and let the darker side get the better of him more than once, so kain is kind of a reminder that theres no real middle of the road between good and evil, one side has to be picked over the other. not a much different theory from some other peoples here, but thats what i came up with.

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You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun, a newborn in the light
Say goodbye to gravity and say goodbye to death
Hello to eternity and live for every breath

Your time will come...

Well the only Reason Kain would appear in FF4 logo is because it looks nice. As far as story and Character development went. I would say Cecil was the main character. Kain did gain more interesting due to his personality.But Cecil gets the girl. Becomes King. And basically the fate of the world hinged on the Paladin not the Dragoon. Main characters aren't as interesting as supporting characters because you know more about the Main character as the story progresses.

Looking at artwork for Kain and Cecil, I don't think the Cecil work would have fitted as well with the image. The lonely dragoon gives a good idea of the game, and I think it's better as the game's emblem because Cecil as a dark knight or a paladin could both have been seen as not really fitting. Kain sticks with the same design throughout, and his profile just looks like it's ''meant'' to be in the game logo.

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''Peace is but a shadow of death,
desperate to forget it's painful past,
though we hope for promising years,
after shedding a thousand tears
yesterday's sorrow constantly nears,
and while the moon shines blue,
by dawn it will turn a scarelt hue.'' - Kuja

''Then I'll be going now. I'll come back when it's all over.' - Aeris

I agree that Cecil is the main character, really the world revolves around him in this game. But I'm going to agree with SharkESP on this one, (I was another early 90s kiddie) who looked cooler? Kain. Especially after we saw Cecil's true colors (intended literally!) after Mt. Ordeals...pink and purple.

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SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!"

Kain was much better, he had just as good an attack as Cecil and he did jump. All Cecil did was cover which I never used and had pretty weak selection of white magic.

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Hiding only delays the inevitable.

Quote (Vicks @ 26th October 2003 17:46)

Kain was much better, he had just as good an attack as Cecil and he did jump. All Cecil did was cover which I never used and had pretty weak selection of white magic.

Actually, Cain was almost as strong as Cecil when he Jumped.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

This isn't a topic about who is better. Stick to the topic, please, or it will be closed.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

My bad, I'll read the whole topic next time.

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Hiding only delays the inevitable.

The use of Cain was purely visual appeal. It gave the hint that the story was all about a darker struggle through and through. The use of Paladin Cecil (other than being a spoiler) would hint at more of a noble story. Dark Knight would have, too, sort of.

As far as the characters themselves, I like Cecil better. Cecil was stronger than Cain, mentally and emotionally. Cecil overcame his inner demons on his own strengths. Cain was weak enough to fall to his inner demons, and needed Cecil to pull him out of it.

Cain's popularity is probably due to his "bad ass" appeal. He doesn't have a tremendous amount of development or personality, but just looks cool. Like Sephiroth or Amarant.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

honestly, i didn't like melee characters in ff4 b/c all of my characters were in low lvl and rydia's bahamut = 9999 , but i do prefer kain, Cecil is usually my party defense

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I will be there...