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I realized this today when I was reading a poll over which ff6 girl was your favorite, there are 3 playable girls in every ff game past ff4. And only 3. Now we are counting just number ff's, so tactics does not count. But seriously think about it.

FF4: Rosa, Rydia, Porom
FF5: Reina, Faris, Krile
FF6: Terra, Celes, Relm
FF7: Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie
FF8: Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis
FF9: Freya, Eiko, Garnet
FF10: Lulu, Rikku, Yuna
FFX-2: Rikku, Yuna, Paine.

Anyone have any idea on the characters for ff12??? Idk, I just thought this was very interesting.

FF12 repeats the pattern, with 3 female characters... out of 6 playable main characters.

Incedentally, whilst we're noting trivial information, FF5, FF8 and FF X-2 had a 50% or over female playable main cast. All three routinely pop up high on lists of worst FF games. FF12 has a 50% female main cast. Perhaps it may break the curse of fatal death, but frankly, I'm not getting my hopes up as anyone who's seen me comment on FF12 before will notice, but I'm not going to call that a sign.

Why the number is limited to 3 is anyone's guess. Could range from coincidence to a subtle nod and wink at a coven of witches.

This post has been edited by Del S on 3rd September 2006 16:09

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"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

It's a trend in most RPGs. Chrono Trigger and Legend of Dragoon both followed the trend. -CSM

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It's probably just some coincidence...unless the developers of all these games have a checklist of what they all need in their RPGs.

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If you look at it from a cynical point of view, it's 3 because they feel they need to have enough females so that us female gamers don't complain. So they do one spastic/young girl chick, one feminine chick, and one tomboy chick. You can pick out which is which in every game.

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I can't judge V as I haven't played with it enough yet, but VIII was a good game, though I wouldn't automatically slap a FF label on it; it's a good game, but not a brilliant Final Fantasy. FFX-2 is highly underrated, as people tended to overreact to the opening scene and ignore what the game was meant to be: pure, simple free range fun.

As to the girls thing, each one is meant to fill up one quota. One is young, hyper, and cheery, and tends to be a bit annoying (Relm, Yuffie, Sephie, Eiko, Rikku). Another is older, a maybe bitter with issues, but has a good heart (Celes, Tifa/Aeris [this is arguable], Quistis, Freya, Lulu, and Paine). The last is in the style of the young heroine -- innocent but determined and serious. She falls between the other two as a middle ground and is usually the main love interest with some exceptions (Terra [exception], Tifa/Aeris [this is arguable], Rinoa, Dagger, Yuna). Square guarantees to deliver your dream girl for $49.99 or less.

This post has been edited by The Guitar Slayer on 3rd September 2006 22:41

Both Lunar Silver Star and Eternal Blue, Seiken Densetsu 3, Vandal Hearts, and Golden Sun, The Lost Age conform to the 3 player controlled female mold. (OK, one is on permanant AI)

FF Tactics has exactly 3 special female units who offer to join permanantly as part of the main storyline: Reis being optional and Alicia and Lavian are generics except for formation screen quotes and fixed Brave, Faith, and Zodiac signs.

FF8 has 4 females if temporary characters are included.

Lufia 2 has only two female fighters except for the German version where Artea is made female. Maybe there is a checklist.

Xenogears has 4. Hmmm.

The first two Star Ocean games have 5 playable females each. I think the third does as well but I'm not familiar enough with the cast to confirm for sure.

I'm not even sure how to count them in Legend of Mana. One isn't available in combat but occupies the slot during a certain quest and there's the issue of whether to count another as one or two.

^I would switch Terra and Celes' parts. Celes is the one who falls in love, not Terra (I know you listed her as an exception, I think Celes falls into the love category).

And as for your hyper bubbly chicks, you forgot Cara and Porom. For your love interests you forgot Rosa. For your other thingy you forgot Rydia (although it is Rydia that undergoes the most development for a female in FFIV, where usually it is a love interest; I consider Rosa just being there for Cecil to snog) and Faris. I wouldn't call Lenna anything really, since she never shows love interest in Butz. -CSM

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I didn't forget IV; I chose not to mention it because it didn't have three fixed females throughout the whole game as all of its descendants did. The line-up was in constant flux, so it wouldn't have been a good comparison. I don't think you had all three girls in the same party at one time for IV. I haven't played V, so I'm not going to speculate on something I haven't experienced. Ergo, I went with what I knew from VI onward.

I explained the whole Terra/Celes exception thing before. Also aforementioned is that these are just "typical" patterns -- there are minor intricacies that deviate slightly and make the character who she is. Otherwise, it's a good cookie cutter. An example is Freya -- she is a love heroine but not the main heroine or the main love heroine due to the presence of Dagger.


So in the words of Dr. Foreman, your argument is specious. But I don't own an ugly tie.

This post has been edited by The Guitar Slayer on 4th September 2006 21:32

Quote (DragonKnight Zero)

The first two Star Ocean games have 5 playable females each. I think the third does as well but I'm not familiar enough with the cast to confirm for sure.

Five, counting Mirage (she wasn't playable in the original version, but in the Director's Cut and subsequent outside releases, she is an extra character).

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[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

its an silly coincidence, but thats it for me.

Quote (Crazyswordsman @ 3rd September 2006 23:06)

^I would switch Terra and Celes' parts. Celes is the one who falls in love, not Terra (I know you listed her as an exception, I think Celes falls into the love category).

That's why Elena99's model is more accurate.

Spastic - Relm
Feminine - Celes
Tomboy - Terra

Before you argue that Celes and Terra are reversed, remember who dressed up to play in an Opera House and who tossed herself off a cliff vs. who is viewed as the powerhouse for the entire game.

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The trend really is only in its true form in two games that I played: Legend of Dragoon and Final Fantasy X. In most other games, the tomboy and the feminine one often mix traits. The ditz usually is someone you can tell from the get go. -CSM

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Uhhh... Do you consider Quina to be female? I did. and Qu still creeps the hell out of me (FF9)

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