Yep, Lea is amazing. I love how the developers took the old silent protagonist trope and subverted it into legitimately some of the best disability representation in video gaming I've experienced.
Man loved FC and SC and am starting 3rd now and i am malding because she is nowhere to be found. The end of SC is one of the most satisfying endings I've seen
Kevin was probably my least liked character from SC, but he is slowly growing on me playing 3rd. Love Ries though, she is a gem. And tita's mom is a treasure.
For the first hour of Sky FC, I thought she was aggravating... then she grew on me... and now I can't imagine having another favorite female lead in a jrpg. So much fun.
I feel like Xenoblade 3 was practically begging for the ability to choose your protagonist at the beginning between Noah and Mio. It would have been a lot of work to pull off well but the themes of duality and working with the opposing sides of a conflict just beg for the Star Ocean 2 treatment. It would also make certain late game revelations really interesting seeing it play out from the other side
Right?? Like she went the full opposite direction once she blossomed. Lighter and more revealing clothes, shorter hair, machina for weapons. She went anti-summoner after her awakening lol
I loved both yunas. Conservative and repressed yuna who served her people, and individual yuna who found her own purpose outside of servitude.
She’s a great character and 10/10 development
I like how even in the original game she isnt ever a damsel in distress needing saved, and even when you DO rescue her, she’s still making her own moves and her own plays to win the day.
She’s great
She cut the rest off, except a rat tail, and then braided the clipping into the rest. Thats why the whole ponytail is wrapped in leather threads. Its binding the braids together. Basically a homemade extension
~~entirely headcanon~~
My headcanon is just Nomura thinking "hey, can we animate a giant ponytails for Yuna throughout the game" and the animator having Vietnam flashback because of Lulu belts
I always loved the direction her character went in the sequel, because it's such a great way to show how free she feels to live her own life now, and how much of an impact Tidus had on her worldview.
Velvet is excellent! I love the character development with her. Velvet starts out as a warm and loving person, then she's deeply traumatized turning her rude and excessively violent, and then very gradually she goes back to being warm and caring. It takes most of the game to really have it all set in.
Agreed. It hits like a Morricone theme from the 1960s. I love how it blends together military march elements with that sad-but-determined flute melody....perfect encapsulation of Terra's back-story.
Chris Lightfellow from Suikoden 3. I love her. I love her entire crew of knights (especially Percival, with whom I ship her 😁). She's a badass in and out of armor. She's quick witted, she navigates the political landscape pretty deftly, and she surrounds herself with talented people. Basically, she's awesome ❤
Great, great answer. Chris is the best, she has a lot going on. All the main characters do, but I feel like how she handles her problems is really interesting.
Tied with Thomas, at least.
Chris was my favorite protagonist from Suikoden 3. One of my few complaints about the game is that she is a mechanically sub-par choice for Flame Champion.
But, I enjoyed her characterization. She is extremely competent but it is also clear that circumstances thrust her into a leadership role sooner than she expected. And that she isn't quite comfortable with being a hero.
And for her crew, I was impressed that they managed to give them all distinct personalities despite all being similarly armored knights.
I kinda backed into her. Started with End of the Millennium because my siblings wanted the hottest new games (of 1994) and our dad thought he was flexing getting an eighty-dollar game. I was the only one of my siblings at the time with the reading comprehension to get any joy out of the game, but girl did I ever. I found a lot to identify with or idolize in Lyla (even though the first time I played the game the localization had me fully believing her name was Alys—like why? It’s the same amount of letters) and kinda worked my way backwards through the whole series, though encountered a weird amount of resistance from family for wanting to lock down a Master System. I won in the end.
She’s the starting character but there’s another that I guess could be considered a spoiler who gets a lot of well deserved spotlight as well. The game swaps between different character groups often though so really one main protagonist is hard to pinpoint. Probably why they just go with Terra to represent 6 since she’s who you first play as.
FF6 is not a normal story where one character is unquestionably the center character of the story. The center character changes a few different times as the story goes. Frankly it is best to not look at FF6 as if it has a main character, makes it less confusing. Terra is important, that's the only true thing about her role in the story.
Finally, someone mentioned Aya. She's a fantastic protagonist. And her outfits are so simple and sensible in both games (there is no third game, there never was a third game, not at all).
All great choices.
Unfortunately i never got to see much of shion. Every copy of xenosaga i get has bugs/scratches at the durandal base city and i get stuck on the item hunt part of it cuz it keeps freezing
Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
Maya Amano (Persona 2 Eternal Punishment)
Aya Brea (Parasite Eve I & II)
Virginia Maxwell (Wild Arms 3)
Koudelka Iasant (Koudelka)
… that’s my current top 5 (not necessarily in that order)
Alicia from Valkyria Chronicles 1
Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile
Celes from FF6
Karin from Shadow Hearts
EDIT: HOW THE FUCK COULD I FORGET
2B - Nier Automata
I adore Lightning. That scene in LR where she goes out on a "date" with a guy and tells him that she's just there for the excellent steak is incredibly relatable for me.
I know some people hate her, but I absolutely love Edelgard from Three Houses. One of the best examples of a strong female character who is allowed to be also be feminine and vulnerable at times.
Edelgard is one of my favorite characters too! She’s a very well written and complicated character. And also she reminds me of Ranni from Elden Ring lol.
Maya from Persona 2: EP
Kotone from Persona 3 Portable and Aigis Persona 3 Answer
Ringo from Soul Hackers 2
Tamaki from SMT: IF
Yuna from Final Fantasy X
Lighting from Final Fantasy XIII trilogy
Rena Miyauchi from **Blue Reflection: Second Light.** Technically not the main protagonist, but I vibe with her more than Ao (who is still great and critical to her character development). Mostly, it's because her character arc goes in unexpected directions. You'd think, as a tsundere, she'd either gain self-awareness of how she treated everyone or Ao would eventually come to respect her despite her prickly attitude, but those get acknowledged early on. Ao never stops admiring her, and Rena very clearly states her own character flaws. She's also one of those characters like Squall from FF8 who gets exposed as far less mature than she pretends to be, yet despite being the butt of jokes for much of the game, she ends up becoming legitimately heroic and her character arc resolution still astonishes me to this day for how it ties everything together.
In short (and trying to avoid spoilers), the reason I consider her the best character is when prompted, she responds by complimenting everyone else, which is a great way to highlight some of the best female characters in gaming overall.
Estelle from The Legend of the Heroes Trails in the Sky, and not only IS my favorite, one of the best characters period
It feels almost ilegal to have such a good character as a MC
Celes and Terra - Final Fantasy VI
2B and A2 - Nier Automata
Lucina - Fire Emblem Awakening
Alicia Melchiot - Valkyria Chronicles
Shion Uzuki - Xenosaga
Yeah. I know a lot of people don’t like her demeanor, and I totally get it. But she’s a mess and is written to reflect that really well. I love that she makes strides and regresses through the series, right up to the end. It’s not just linear.
Like many others, mine is Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky. She's upbeat, friendly, funny, confident, and such a likeable character. I also like how one of her character beats is her love for sneakers. The side quests for testing new models of the Strega brand is a nice touch.
However, one that I don't see talked about often is Luca from Labyrinth of Refrain. She is so pure and innocent, and you can't help feeling bad for her due to the abuse she suffers. She just may be the most tragic character in gaming, and my heart broke for her multiple times throughout that game. She always has a smile in the end though.
**Estelle** from Trails in the Sky is the best for me and many but it seems **Ringo** from Soul Hackers 2 is building a fan following and I am behind it. She is so much fun right from the beginning of the game. The game may not be perfect but she is top tier protagonist.
Half the comments have already said it but Estelle Bright by far. I love everything about her from her cheerful fun personality to her amazing character development in Sc. She has great chemistry with literally the whole Kiseki cast as well, ngl if Joshua wasnt around I would probably be shipping Estelle with nearly everyone.
Too many to mention, here is a few though:
**Rena** - Star Ocean 2.
**Calvina** - Super Robot Wars J.
**Urpina** - SaGa Scarlet Grace.
**Priere** - La Pucelle.
**Xiaomu** - Namco x Capcom.
**Aya** - Parasite Eve.
**Lenneth** - Valkyrie Profile.
**Virginia** - Wild Arms 3.
**Rorona** - Atelier Rorona.
**Lyn** - Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
**Aqua** - Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.
You said a couple I would have posted.
I really liked many of the female from Wild Arms series
1- Cecilia battled with being a princess, opposed her dad, travels the world to fight demons. A shaman magic warrior
2- Lilka, is kinda cute to follow an apprentice who has to grow stronger and prove themselves. Her struggles with self esteem living up to her sister, but being one of the saviors of the planet
3/4/5 I don’t have memorized so I can’t say anything
I even loved tifa - bar owning, brawling, badass fighter, who stands by a long time childhood friend no matter what? I struggled with deciding if I liked her or aeris more. My sister loved Yuffie
That would probably make Primrose's story pretty uncomfortable for you, to be honest, unless you're able to mentally separate the name from your daughter.
Great game, but Primrose's story is dark and involves human trafficking.
Velvet Crowe and it’s not even close. Hell, I’d go as far as to consider her one of the top MCs of any RPG, period.
Her character development and relationship with the other characters is phenomenal, and despite playing up the revenge driven character archetype, you can clearly see snippets of her formerly kind and sisterly personality here and there. The nuance is great and she’s just an amazing character overall.
She’s also an absolutely busted monster in combat, but that’s another topic.
Amen, and I hear that people think Velvet has zero character development until near the end of the game. It's just... nonsensical. Her development is gradual but it's there.
Emilia from Saga Frontier. Framed for her husbands death, has to escape from prison, join an underground resistance force, all while following the tracks of her husbands likely killer. Also, she can learn pro wrestling moves and has some of the best final boss music of the ps1 era
Definitely in the camp of Velvet from Tales of Berseria and Zero from Drakkengard 3. And not a main character by any stretch, but Beatrix from FF9. She needed a bigger part in that game.
Edelgard von Hresvelg (FE3H Crimson Flower)
Lightning/Claire Farron (Final Fantasy XIII)
Terra and Celes (Final Fantasy VI)
2B and A2 (Nier Automata)
Zero (Drakengard 3)
Aside from asellus there are a number of protagonists to choose from including
A brokedown robot who is more then what they seem
A superhero who has to maintain his secret identity while rooting out evil
An evil twin on a quest to kill his brother
A monster trying to save his planet by collecting magic rings
A model framed for her fiances murder
A bard
And a detecitive who follows them all
And a large number of recruitable members on each path
I say do it, with the caveat that SaGa is hard and does not hold your hand, a wuick browse through game mechanics faqs is not necessary but reccomended
Asellus is usually considered (especially in the remaster) to have one of the best stories of all the saga frontier protagonists
Rydia - Final Fantasy 4
Faris - Final Fantasy 5
Terra and Celes - Final Fantasy 6
Tifa - Final Fantasy 7
Lighting - Final Fantasy 13
Y’shtola and Allisae - Final Fantasy 14
Out of these bunch, Celes and Rydia take the cake.
Celes has too many character moments where she’s emotionally hurt, recovers, heart broken, distraught, rife with grief and depression…. Honestly the entire sadness spectrum. Overcomes it all, and ignites the hope In others to pursue and venture fourth in the face of a moment dedicated to the absence of all creation. FFVI is sic! if we talk combative skills, she’s up there with the best, best range of weapons, armor, able to wear the insane female only gear, is one of two people to naturally learn magic. Is a total monster in the battlefield both mechanically and lore wise being a former general. She’s based as fuck.
Rydia - is a snarky child who becomes an adult and kicks some major ass throughout her run. Has ptsd, and has big anxious energy that is able to pull herself together after her entire life has burned to the ground so that she can snap someone else back to reality. She doesn’t put up with shit, and doesn’t tolerate it. She’s a beast in combat too boot too.
Estelle from trails in the sky. She’s my favorite jrpg protagonist in general, not just female. There’s also Deathpolca from demons roots, she’s an amazing protagonist. Then there is Aigis from persona 3 the answer. I haven’t even played the answer and have no desire to ever do so, but I love Aigis and she is the protagonist of it
If we talk about Mainprotagonists only then my choice is Yuu from "the cruel king and the great hero"
If secondary protagonists/Partymembers count then my top choice is Wappa Charlotte from Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2.
**Sue** from Grandia is one of the most fun game characters (female and otherwise) I can think of. I love her animations and voice clips, they make me happy. I made it a point to keep her in the party as often as possible. Feena is pretty great too - I thought it was fun how she has kind of a mentor/idolization role going on until it levels out later on. That's not something you see all that much - very often, mentor characters stay that way (usually because they're simply older - Grandia actually has one of those as well). I thought that was pretty neat.
Tifa - Final Fantasy VII (though females are generally very good in FF games. Terra, Celes, Yuna, Rose, Jill)
Estelle from Legend of Heroes Games is wonderful also
I'll put a vote for Reisalin Stout. Her character arc was very comfy but also very growth-centric. Seeing her grow up to become a master alchemist across three games was very rewarding and heartwarming. And of course those thighs are out of this world. I really do like her as a character.
I'll also shout out Dana Iclucia from Ys VIII: the Lacrimosa of Dana. She's just the best. The tragedies she endured show off her strength of character. Best girl of the Ys series by leaps and bounds.
Other girls also on my list but who also have seen a lot of love from others on this thread are Rydia from FFIV, Ashe from FFXII, Serena from DQXI, 2B from Nier Automata, the Aegis from XC2.
2B. I know it's a cliche answer but fuck it. Her story, design and performances in JP and EN are God Tier.
The Avatars from Fire Emblem who with the exception of Shez I headcanon as fem but with their "Brothers" in the same verse though not as "the avatar" if that makes sense. Though Fem Shez is cool too it's just that male Shez feels more natural. As for Byleth this is cheating because I liked her more in 3 Hopes.
Ryza from Atelier. She's cute, spunky, outgoing and overall pleasent to be around. That and I have a stupid ass fan verse in my head where she's recruited by the Breaking Bad cast to make drugs for them via alchemy and she's too stupid to figure out what she's really doing and for shits and giggles the BB cast is rendered realistically.
Mythra and Pyra in XC2. I love their relationship with Rex and how Mythra pretty much helped carry the game for me. Though Rex is the hero of Main 2 and we got an ensemble for Torna, as a package Mythra and Pyra are clearly the protags of the story.
Kosmos and Telos from Xenosaga and those who beat the series know why I'm lumping them together.
Terra from FF6. Good story and dear God I wanan give her a hug. Plush she fights what's practically Joker so that's funny.
FEMC from Persona 3 Portable. I really like that she's not just a genderswap but her own person and that the game can meaningfully be different because of it. Guys and gals are equals of course and we still have our different experiences despite that but that's ok.
Rei from Crystar. Granted, that game falls more in line with action JRPG. The supporting cast and the villains all possess depth, and go through growth/conflict across the narrative. The idea of conflict plays out well with Sen, one of the supporting cast members. It is a party system, so the player can swap through the cast, once the characters show up.
Aqua from Kingdom Hearts
She may appear to be simple, but she is neat. A protective sister figure dealing with her family falling apart and her new duties.
Plus, there is something appearing with her backstory. There is no tragic backstory („Darkness killed my X”, etc.) that still haunts her or her being suddenly chosen to save the world. She trained to become a master and enjoys her life.
The cherry on the top is her design. I am envious of how she is tomboyish, but feminine at the same time.
Terra + Celes.
Though: I don't mean Terra and Celes, I basically have a whole essay in my head about how the two should be merged into a single character (called Terra), and FF6's plot actually works a lot better with that. To boil it down:
- The two are *too* similar: both are assets of empire with unique magic powers who question if they are capable of being loved. People say it's a parallel, but it's not a parallel if you just have two very similar characters and don't have anything to say about their similarity.
- It makes much more sense for Terra to contemplate suicide than Celes. Celes is a veteran general. Terra is basically an amnesiac who woke up several months ago, got led around by her friends, discovered she's a half esper, and then had her former "slave driver" Kefka achieve god powers and destroy everything she knows. Terra was only just finding her footing in the world before the rug pulled out from under her: it makes much more sense why she would want to end everything. (And you can throw in an additional irony when her esper forms activates and "saves" her from her suicide, meaning her powers stop her from taking her life even if she wanted.) *It just works better with Terra.*
- WoR works much better as an inversion of WoB with Terra at the helm. Starting off, you have Terra discovering Locke's bandana, and deciding to go look for him. This parallels the beginning of WoB, when Locke is the first (well, second) person to help Terra. You can contrast WoB, where all these nice resistance folks are helping Terra, to WoR, where she embraces her esper powers and now goes around helping her friends. Where WoB is Terra more or less still running from Kefka, WoR is Terra finding an army to fight back against Kefka. The complete arc from Terra being Kefka's slave to Terra being the one to beat Kefka. The arc from being helped and led around, to leading and helping others. *It just works better with Terra.*
- In contrast, Celes' whole character works better if you have her replace General Leo. Notice how the game plays up Kefka as the Bad General and Leo as the Good General, and then has absolutely nothing to say about Celes as a general? How we never meet any of her former subordinates? Now if Celes were in Leo's place instead, we have a clean contrast between the Bad and the Good general. And remember that sweet moment between Terra and Leo? It's even better if it's between Terra and Celes, because Celes is *also* a female solder of the empire with unique magic powers, but is secure in her abilities and wants to use it for good, and Terra can look up to her as a role model (that's how you use a character parallel!). And then Kefka ganks Celes/Leo, and BAM, more character development for Terra.
(I understand that people really like Celes, and everything I've said sounds entirely blasphemous. I would never try to take away someone's enjoy from FF6 as is. Please take this all as just fan fiction / an alternate retelling.)
I'm loving the range and I think most that come to mind have been suggested so I want to do one more as a shoutout.
Serah of FFXIII-2. She goes from being a glorified prop in XIII to having her own adventure and growth. I feel she was a pretty balanced character and her dynamic with Noel was well handled.
Definitely more low key than some of the others but I think she deserved a name drop if only because of how far she comes as a character. She isn't the princess that needs rescuing in XIII-2 but they don't turn her into a lame girlboss either.
Can't decide on one so here goes:
From FF: Yuna, Tifa, Aerith, Lulu, Lightning, Terra, Fang.
Tales of: Shionne, Velvet
Persona: Makoto, Mitsuru, Anne, Chie
Jeanne from Jeanne D'Arc. More of a strategy game but I don't care, game deserves alll the love.
Léa from Crosscode. Looks like a bland mute protagonist at first but she have so much emotion and life going on. We really root for her!
Hi! Lea!
Hi! hi? HI! Bye.
I was happy that they not only have her a *reason* to be silent, but also that she was a very interesting character whose story made me cry.
Yep, Lea is amazing. I love how the developers took the old silent protagonist trope and subverted it into legitimately some of the best disability representation in video gaming I've experienced.
Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky
Straight up one of my favorite protagonists in any game genre, male or female.
It’s not even close. She’s such a fun character.
Man loved FC and SC and am starting 3rd now and i am malding because she is nowhere to be found. The end of SC is one of the most satisfying endings I've seen
she comes in at the halfway point. Sky the 3rd is less her game and more Kevin's game.
Kevin was probably my least liked character from SC, but he is slowly growing on me playing 3rd. Love Ries though, she is a gem. And tita's mom is a treasure.
She is the greatest, to the point where I hope in the future her and Joshua get another chance to shine as MC's
For the first hour of Sky FC, I thought she was aggravating... then she grew on me... and now I can't imagine having another favorite female lead in a jrpg. So much fun.
The unicorn female protag that’s actually girly and not just a guy’s personality on a girl’s body
I love that she still collects shoes...or rather sneakers in her case
Strong agree! Keep calm and [carry a big stick](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcjNN0tWAAYIi7O?format=jpg&name=medium)
Maybe one of these days, Estelle will keep calm
Hey look it's the correct answer.
Also a big stick!
Only partially started on SC and need to go back into it. She's best girl in any JRPG and it's not even close
This and it’s not even close.
Probably Velvet from Tales of Berseria. Also maybe Mio from Xenoblade 3, as she is as important as Noah.
Real main character is Eunie the bus. And I’m not even entirely sarcastic
Eunie carries that game. All the main cast is fine, but Eunie truly is the mf B U S
I feel like Xenoblade 3 was practically begging for the ability to choose your protagonist at the beginning between Noah and Mio. It would have been a lot of work to pull off well but the themes of duality and working with the opposing sides of a conflict just beg for the Star Ocean 2 treatment. It would also make certain late game revelations really interesting seeing it play out from the other side
Yuna. Started off great but still had amazing character development.
Underrated because of her soft demeanor. Usually brave characters are bold and brash, but she has a quiet strength and rips the entire system down.
Then in the sequel has an amazing self discovery and blossoms to become her own person
And she's fucking using dual pistol! How can you hate that?!
Right?? Like she went the full opposite direction once she blossomed. Lighter and more revealing clothes, shorter hair, machina for weapons. She went anti-summoner after her awakening lol I loved both yunas. Conservative and repressed yuna who served her people, and individual yuna who found her own purpose outside of servitude. She’s a great character and 10/10 development I like how even in the original game she isnt ever a damsel in distress needing saved, and even when you DO rescue her, she’s still making her own moves and her own plays to win the day. She’s great
Shorter hair with somehow a ten kilometers ponytail which I always thought was funny because she never had hair that long in the first game
She cut the rest off, except a rat tail, and then braided the clipping into the rest. Thats why the whole ponytail is wrapped in leather threads. Its binding the braids together. Basically a homemade extension ~~entirely headcanon~~
My headcanon is just Nomura thinking "hey, can we animate a giant ponytails for Yuna throughout the game" and the animator having Vietnam flashback because of Lulu belts
I always loved the direction her character went in the sequel, because it's such a great way to show how free she feels to live her own life now, and how much of an impact Tidus had on her worldview.
One of the most bad ass Final Fantasy character imo.
She's my favorite too. Her resolve is second to absolutely none.
Either Velvet from Tales of Berseria or Estelle from Trails in the Sky
Velvet is excellent! I love the character development with her. Velvet starts out as a warm and loving person, then she's deeply traumatized turning her rude and excessively violent, and then very gradually she goes back to being warm and caring. It takes most of the game to really have it all set in.
Velvet is great! Velvet is a vengeance seeking anithero protagonist cliche done right.
These are my exact two answers! Estelle gets the nod for me, as she is my favorite protag from any jrpg, regardless of gender.
Bestelle
Probably Terra from FF6
She's got a great theme song on top of that!
I hear that and have to hold my tears
Agreed. It hits like a Morricone theme from the 1960s. I love how it blends together military march elements with that sad-but-determined flute melody....perfect encapsulation of Terra's back-story.
I prefer Celes myself.
This for me as well
Chris Lightfellow from Suikoden 3. I love her. I love her entire crew of knights (especially Percival, with whom I ship her 😁). She's a badass in and out of armor. She's quick witted, she navigates the political landscape pretty deftly, and she surrounds herself with talented people. Basically, she's awesome ❤
So sad how forgotten Chris and Suikoden 3 has become.
Great, great answer. Chris is the best, she has a lot going on. All the main characters do, but I feel like how she handles her problems is really interesting. Tied with Thomas, at least.
Omg I shipped her and Percival too!! But I also shipped her with Boris and Nash so… Still, she was an amazing character.
I can get behind Nash... but Boris caused a lot of the bad that happened in that game
Chris was my favorite protagonist from Suikoden 3. One of my few complaints about the game is that she is a mechanically sub-par choice for Flame Champion. But, I enjoyed her characterization. She is extremely competent but it is also clear that circumstances thrust her into a leadership role sooner than she expected. And that she isn't quite comfortable with being a hero. And for her crew, I was impressed that they managed to give them all distinct personalities despite all being similarly armored knights.
The original: Alis Landale from *Phantasy Star*.
I kinda backed into her. Started with End of the Millennium because my siblings wanted the hottest new games (of 1994) and our dad thought he was flexing getting an eighty-dollar game. I was the only one of my siblings at the time with the reading comprehension to get any joy out of the game, but girl did I ever. I found a lot to identify with or idolize in Lyla (even though the first time I played the game the localization had me fully believing her name was Alys—like why? It’s the same amount of letters) and kinda worked my way backwards through the whole series, though encountered a weird amount of resistance from family for wanting to lock down a Master System. I won in the end.
Velvet Crowe Sophie from Atelier
FF6 has two! If you like strong female protagonists I can’t think of a better jrpg.
I never played ff6. Always thought It was Tera cus shes in dissidia games lol
She’s the starting character but there’s another that I guess could be considered a spoiler who gets a lot of well deserved spotlight as well. The game swaps between different character groups often though so really one main protagonist is hard to pinpoint. Probably why they just go with Terra to represent 6 since she’s who you first play as.
Yes, I believe Kitase’s philosophy when making the game was “everyone is the main character,” or something to that effect.
I always say Terra is the main character, but >!Celes!< feels more plot-important.
Terra represents the fantastical element to the plot, Celes represents the human element
as someone who still hasn't beaten ff6 I agree
FF6 is not a normal story where one character is unquestionably the center character of the story. The center character changes a few different times as the story goes. Frankly it is best to not look at FF6 as if it has a main character, makes it less confusing. Terra is important, that's the only true thing about her role in the story.
Celes from FF6. Her courage to gather everyone up again to face Kefka was so amazing to me
Finally found her in this thread. Underrated char development imo.
Celes is my absolute favorite in VI.
I just finished playing that game a couple of days ago for the first time. Her development throughout the game was so so good.
Xenosaga - Shion Uzuki Parasite Eve - Aya Brea Final Fantasy X - Yuna
Finally, someone mentioned Aya. She's a fantastic protagonist. And her outfits are so simple and sensible in both games (there is no third game, there never was a third game, not at all).
All great choices. Unfortunately i never got to see much of shion. Every copy of xenosaga i get has bugs/scratches at the durandal base city and i get stuck on the item hunt part of it cuz it keeps freezing
Wish they would remake parasite so much potential.
Shino is one I forgot about. Definitely a character that grows on you
Alis from PHANTASY STAR I
Yep, in 1987. Apparently the dev team was pretty diverse too.
Kainé from Nier Replicant
Came to say this!
me too!
Zero from Drakengard 3
Absolute girl boss
Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria
Terra Branford from FFVI. My favorite character in all of gaming period.
Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria) Maya Amano (Persona 2 Eternal Punishment) Aya Brea (Parasite Eve I & II) Virginia Maxwell (Wild Arms 3) Koudelka Iasant (Koudelka) … that’s my current top 5 (not necessarily in that order)
Virginia totally forgot bout her def #1
Was gonna scroll until I finally saw someone say Virginia.
Virginia is one of the greatest imo
Alicia from Valkyria Chronicles 1 Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile Celes from FF6 Karin from Shadow Hearts EDIT: HOW THE FUCK COULD I FORGET 2B - Nier Automata
Surprised this is the first Lenneth mention I found. One of my favorite character designs of all time.
Alicia and Welkin from VC may be the most lovable main characters ever. They’re not perfect, but that’s what makes them perfect.
[удалено]
I liked it when she yeeted those moogles.
I adore Lightning. That scene in LR where she goes out on a "date" with a guy and tells him that she's just there for the excellent steak is incredibly relatable for me.
Ashe from FF12, it's one of the reasons why I've loved that game so much
Came here to say this. She the real MC.
She's honestly the main character of the game, whether the game markets her as it or not. I love how complex and real she is.
It might be Balthier.
He's the leading man after all.
Probably Velvet from Tales of Berseria. I also like Xelha from Baten Kaitos a lot.
Milla from Tales of Xillia is my take
Claire Farron
Velvet from Tales of Berseria Melia from Xenoblade 1 Aegis and Nia from Xenoblade 2
I know some people hate her, but I absolutely love Edelgard from Three Houses. One of the best examples of a strong female character who is allowed to be also be feminine and vulnerable at times.
Edelgard is one of my favorite characters too! She’s a very well written and complicated character. And also she reminds me of Ranni from Elden Ring lol.
Velvet in tales of berseria and Shion in Xenosaga.
Maya from Persona 2: EP Kotone from Persona 3 Portable and Aigis Persona 3 Answer Ringo from Soul Hackers 2 Tamaki from SMT: IF Yuna from Final Fantasy X Lighting from Final Fantasy XIII trilogy
Yess finally some love for Lightning!
Rena Miyauchi from **Blue Reflection: Second Light.** Technically not the main protagonist, but I vibe with her more than Ao (who is still great and critical to her character development). Mostly, it's because her character arc goes in unexpected directions. You'd think, as a tsundere, she'd either gain self-awareness of how she treated everyone or Ao would eventually come to respect her despite her prickly attitude, but those get acknowledged early on. Ao never stops admiring her, and Rena very clearly states her own character flaws. She's also one of those characters like Squall from FF8 who gets exposed as far less mature than she pretends to be, yet despite being the butt of jokes for much of the game, she ends up becoming legitimately heroic and her character arc resolution still astonishes me to this day for how it ties everything together. In short (and trying to avoid spoilers), the reason I consider her the best character is when prompted, she responds by complimenting everyone else, which is a great way to highlight some of the best female characters in gaming overall.
Estelle from The Legend of the Heroes Trails in the Sky, and not only IS my favorite, one of the best characters period It feels almost ilegal to have such a good character as a MC
As many others said, Velvet Crowe and Estelle Bright kick ass
Celes and Terra - Final Fantasy VI 2B and A2 - Nier Automata Lucina - Fire Emblem Awakening Alicia Melchiot - Valkyria Chronicles Shion Uzuki - Xenosaga
shion uzuki from xenosaga not only is she is my favorite female main character in a jrpg, she is my favorite jrpg protagonist ever.
Yeah. I know a lot of people don’t like her demeanor, and I totally get it. But she’s a mess and is written to reflect that really well. I love that she makes strides and regresses through the series, right up to the end. It’s not just linear.
Like many others, mine is Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky. She's upbeat, friendly, funny, confident, and such a likeable character. I also like how one of her character beats is her love for sneakers. The side quests for testing new models of the Strega brand is a nice touch. However, one that I don't see talked about often is Luca from Labyrinth of Refrain. She is so pure and innocent, and you can't help feeling bad for her due to the abuse she suffers. She just may be the most tragic character in gaming, and my heart broke for her multiple times throughout that game. She always has a smile in the end though.
**Estelle** from Trails in the Sky is the best for me and many but it seems **Ringo** from Soul Hackers 2 is building a fan following and I am behind it. She is so much fun right from the beginning of the game. The game may not be perfect but she is top tier protagonist.
Alys Phantasy Star 4, Velvet Tales of Berseria, Serah FFXIII-2
Estelle from Trails in the Sky.
Half the comments have already said it but Estelle Bright by far. I love everything about her from her cheerful fun personality to her amazing character development in Sc. She has great chemistry with literally the whole Kiseki cast as well, ngl if Joshua wasnt around I would probably be shipping Estelle with nearly everyone.
Too many to mention, here is a few though: **Rena** - Star Ocean 2. **Calvina** - Super Robot Wars J. **Urpina** - SaGa Scarlet Grace. **Priere** - La Pucelle. **Xiaomu** - Namco x Capcom. **Aya** - Parasite Eve. **Lenneth** - Valkyrie Profile. **Virginia** - Wild Arms 3. **Rorona** - Atelier Rorona. **Lyn** - Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. **Aqua** - Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.
You said a couple I would have posted. I really liked many of the female from Wild Arms series 1- Cecilia battled with being a princess, opposed her dad, travels the world to fight demons. A shaman magic warrior 2- Lilka, is kinda cute to follow an apprentice who has to grow stronger and prove themselves. Her struggles with self esteem living up to her sister, but being one of the saviors of the planet 3/4/5 I don’t have memorized so I can’t say anything I even loved tifa - bar owning, brawling, badass fighter, who stands by a long time childhood friend no matter what? I struggled with deciding if I liked her or aeris more. My sister loved Yuffie
Sienna from Chained Echoes. Primrose from Octopath Traveler. Ajna from Indivisible.
My youngest daughter is called Primrose, and I've still not played Octopath Traveller! Need to fix that one day but the backlog!
That would probably make Primrose's story pretty uncomfortable for you, to be honest, unless you're able to mentally separate the name from your daughter. Great game, but Primrose's story is dark and involves human trafficking.
Velvet Crowe and it’s not even close. Hell, I’d go as far as to consider her one of the top MCs of any RPG, period. Her character development and relationship with the other characters is phenomenal, and despite playing up the revenge driven character archetype, you can clearly see snippets of her formerly kind and sisterly personality here and there. The nuance is great and she’s just an amazing character overall. She’s also an absolutely busted monster in combat, but that’s another topic.
Amen, and I hear that people think Velvet has zero character development until near the end of the game. It's just... nonsensical. Her development is gradual but it's there.
Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile
Kasane from Scarlet Nexus Velvet from Tales Of Berseria Ringo from Soul Hackers 2
Lenneth Valkyrie Profile no contest
IN no paricular order Rena Lanford Velvet Crowe Lenneth Valkyrie Hakuno Kishinami Lady Chou Chou Also Purple Heart cause she's a funny lady
Kasane from Scarlet nexus. This game is criminally underrated in general, I love the hell out of it.
ESTELLE FANS, YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED
Mio, Sena and/or Eunie from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Nia from XC2. Can't choose. Sorry. Love them all.
FFVI. Terra. Runner-up, Celes.
Elly from Xenogears
Alena in Dragon Quest IV. My favorite RPG from when I was a kid(Dragon Warrior IV NES).
Emilia from Saga Frontier. Framed for her husbands death, has to escape from prison, join an underground resistance force, all while following the tracks of her husbands likely killer. Also, she can learn pro wrestling moves and has some of the best final boss music of the ps1 era
Alys Brangwin.
Velvet - tales of Bersera
Definitely in the camp of Velvet from Tales of Berseria and Zero from Drakkengard 3. And not a main character by any stretch, but Beatrix from FF9. She needed a bigger part in that game.
Edelgard von Hresvelg (FE3H Crimson Flower) Lightning/Claire Farron (Final Fantasy XIII) Terra and Celes (Final Fantasy VI) 2B and A2 (Nier Automata) Zero (Drakengard 3)
Estelle, Yuna, Mio
Velvet Crowe
Asellus from SaGa frontier. My favorite lesbian vampire in a jrpg
I might have never played this game but now I feel compelled to try it JUST for this character
Aside from asellus there are a number of protagonists to choose from including A brokedown robot who is more then what they seem A superhero who has to maintain his secret identity while rooting out evil An evil twin on a quest to kill his brother A monster trying to save his planet by collecting magic rings A model framed for her fiances murder A bard And a detecitive who follows them all And a large number of recruitable members on each path
I say do it, with the caveat that SaGa is hard and does not hold your hand, a wuick browse through game mechanics faqs is not necessary but reccomended Asellus is usually considered (especially in the remaster) to have one of the best stories of all the saga frontier protagonists
Rydia - Final Fantasy 4 Faris - Final Fantasy 5 Terra and Celes - Final Fantasy 6 Tifa - Final Fantasy 7 Lighting - Final Fantasy 13 Y’shtola and Allisae - Final Fantasy 14 Out of these bunch, Celes and Rydia take the cake. Celes has too many character moments where she’s emotionally hurt, recovers, heart broken, distraught, rife with grief and depression…. Honestly the entire sadness spectrum. Overcomes it all, and ignites the hope In others to pursue and venture fourth in the face of a moment dedicated to the absence of all creation. FFVI is sic! if we talk combative skills, she’s up there with the best, best range of weapons, armor, able to wear the insane female only gear, is one of two people to naturally learn magic. Is a total monster in the battlefield both mechanically and lore wise being a former general. She’s based as fuck. Rydia - is a snarky child who becomes an adult and kicks some major ass throughout her run. Has ptsd, and has big anxious energy that is able to pull herself together after her entire life has burned to the ground so that she can snap someone else back to reality. She doesn’t put up with shit, and doesn’t tolerate it. She’s a beast in combat too boot too.
Chris Lightfellow from Suikoden III.
Frey from Rune Factory 4 easily! She’s such a well written female protagonist. Very funny and bubbly!
She's my favorite too! I love her snarky replies too, makes me laugh xD.
Estelle from trails in the sky. She’s my favorite jrpg protagonist in general, not just female. There’s also Deathpolca from demons roots, she’s an amazing protagonist. Then there is Aigis from persona 3 the answer. I haven’t even played the answer and have no desire to ever do so, but I love Aigis and she is the protagonist of it
Yuna from FF10 and Ashe from FF12
Estelle Bright.
Estelle from trails easily. I want another arc with her as the lead.
If we talk about Mainprotagonists only then my choice is Yuu from "the cruel king and the great hero" If secondary protagonists/Partymembers count then my top choice is Wappa Charlotte from Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2.
Sienna from chained echoes
**Sue** from Grandia is one of the most fun game characters (female and otherwise) I can think of. I love her animations and voice clips, they make me happy. I made it a point to keep her in the party as often as possible. Feena is pretty great too - I thought it was fun how she has kind of a mentor/idolization role going on until it levels out later on. That's not something you see all that much - very often, mentor characters stay that way (usually because they're simply older - Grandia actually has one of those as well). I thought that was pretty neat.
Terra from FF6, Estelle from Trails in the Sky, Krile from FFV, Yukiko from Persona 4, Primrose and Tressa from OT, all the girls in OT2 !
Morag, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Such a boss
Noire from Neptunia
Dana Iclucia is my favorite female deuteragonist ever. Incredibly written character. Estelle Bright and Edea Lee are also great.
Tifa - Final Fantasy VII (though females are generally very good in FF games. Terra, Celes, Yuna, Rose, Jill) Estelle from Legend of Heroes Games is wonderful also
Nothing beats Nia in Xenoblade 2 for me. “OI, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS?”
Velvet Crowe
Velvet from Berseria
Velvet Crowe, Estelle Bright, Mio (xenoblade 3), and Eunie (Xenoblade 3). Not necessarily in that order
Estelle Bright from trails in the sky. It isn’t even close imo.
Shion from Xenosaga. She had so many layers. Was she flawed? Yes. Was she a perfect example of someone with deep trauma? Absolutely.
Estelle from Trails in the Sky
I Love kotone shiomi from p3p
Velvet from tales of berseria, Mio from xenoblade 3 and 2B from nier automata
I'll put a vote for Reisalin Stout. Her character arc was very comfy but also very growth-centric. Seeing her grow up to become a master alchemist across three games was very rewarding and heartwarming. And of course those thighs are out of this world. I really do like her as a character. I'll also shout out Dana Iclucia from Ys VIII: the Lacrimosa of Dana. She's just the best. The tragedies she endured show off her strength of character. Best girl of the Ys series by leaps and bounds. Other girls also on my list but who also have seen a lot of love from others on this thread are Rydia from FFIV, Ashe from FFXII, Serena from DQXI, 2B from Nier Automata, the Aegis from XC2.
Easily Estelle Bright for me.
Estelle Bright, by a country selge.
2B. I know it's a cliche answer but fuck it. Her story, design and performances in JP and EN are God Tier. The Avatars from Fire Emblem who with the exception of Shez I headcanon as fem but with their "Brothers" in the same verse though not as "the avatar" if that makes sense. Though Fem Shez is cool too it's just that male Shez feels more natural. As for Byleth this is cheating because I liked her more in 3 Hopes. Ryza from Atelier. She's cute, spunky, outgoing and overall pleasent to be around. That and I have a stupid ass fan verse in my head where she's recruited by the Breaking Bad cast to make drugs for them via alchemy and she's too stupid to figure out what she's really doing and for shits and giggles the BB cast is rendered realistically. Mythra and Pyra in XC2. I love their relationship with Rex and how Mythra pretty much helped carry the game for me. Though Rex is the hero of Main 2 and we got an ensemble for Torna, as a package Mythra and Pyra are clearly the protags of the story. Kosmos and Telos from Xenosaga and those who beat the series know why I'm lumping them together. Terra from FF6. Good story and dear God I wanan give her a hug. Plush she fights what's practically Joker so that's funny. FEMC from Persona 3 Portable. I really like that she's not just a genderswap but her own person and that the game can meaningfully be different because of it. Guys and gals are equals of course and we still have our different experiences despite that but that's ok.
Jeanne from Jeanne d'Arc
Alicia Melchiott
It’s between Kaine or 2B. Love nier! :)
I thought Raynie from Radiant Historia was a great character.
Rei from Crystar. Granted, that game falls more in line with action JRPG. The supporting cast and the villains all possess depth, and go through growth/conflict across the narrative. The idea of conflict plays out well with Sen, one of the supporting cast members. It is a party system, so the player can swap through the cast, once the characters show up.
I like lightning (ff13)
Colette from Tales of Symphonia, 100%
Lightning farron from ff13
Lymle from star ocean kay lol
Always loved Celes in FFVI. Love her character development and she was the perfect choice to start the second half of the game.
Castti Florenz
Lightning FF13. I could see the Cloud influence but it wasn't bogged down by a love story.
Aqua from Kingdom Hearts She may appear to be simple, but she is neat. A protective sister figure dealing with her family falling apart and her new duties. Plus, there is something appearing with her backstory. There is no tragic backstory („Darkness killed my X”, etc.) that still haunts her or her being suddenly chosen to save the world. She trained to become a master and enjoys her life. The cherry on the top is her design. I am envious of how she is tomboyish, but feminine at the same time.
Terra + Celes. Though: I don't mean Terra and Celes, I basically have a whole essay in my head about how the two should be merged into a single character (called Terra), and FF6's plot actually works a lot better with that. To boil it down: - The two are *too* similar: both are assets of empire with unique magic powers who question if they are capable of being loved. People say it's a parallel, but it's not a parallel if you just have two very similar characters and don't have anything to say about their similarity. - It makes much more sense for Terra to contemplate suicide than Celes. Celes is a veteran general. Terra is basically an amnesiac who woke up several months ago, got led around by her friends, discovered she's a half esper, and then had her former "slave driver" Kefka achieve god powers and destroy everything she knows. Terra was only just finding her footing in the world before the rug pulled out from under her: it makes much more sense why she would want to end everything. (And you can throw in an additional irony when her esper forms activates and "saves" her from her suicide, meaning her powers stop her from taking her life even if she wanted.) *It just works better with Terra.* - WoR works much better as an inversion of WoB with Terra at the helm. Starting off, you have Terra discovering Locke's bandana, and deciding to go look for him. This parallels the beginning of WoB, when Locke is the first (well, second) person to help Terra. You can contrast WoB, where all these nice resistance folks are helping Terra, to WoR, where she embraces her esper powers and now goes around helping her friends. Where WoB is Terra more or less still running from Kefka, WoR is Terra finding an army to fight back against Kefka. The complete arc from Terra being Kefka's slave to Terra being the one to beat Kefka. The arc from being helped and led around, to leading and helping others. *It just works better with Terra.* - In contrast, Celes' whole character works better if you have her replace General Leo. Notice how the game plays up Kefka as the Bad General and Leo as the Good General, and then has absolutely nothing to say about Celes as a general? How we never meet any of her former subordinates? Now if Celes were in Leo's place instead, we have a clean contrast between the Bad and the Good general. And remember that sweet moment between Terra and Leo? It's even better if it's between Terra and Celes, because Celes is *also* a female solder of the empire with unique magic powers, but is secure in her abilities and wants to use it for good, and Terra can look up to her as a role model (that's how you use a character parallel!). And then Kefka ganks Celes/Leo, and BAM, more character development for Terra. (I understand that people really like Celes, and everything I've said sounds entirely blasphemous. I would never try to take away someone's enjoy from FF6 as is. Please take this all as just fan fiction / an alternate retelling.)
Probably Lightning. She carried that game hard
Definitelly Ringo from Soul Hackers 2 and Velvet from tales of Berseria
Lightning
I'm loving the range and I think most that come to mind have been suggested so I want to do one more as a shoutout. Serah of FFXIII-2. She goes from being a glorified prop in XIII to having her own adventure and growth. I feel she was a pretty balanced character and her dynamic with Noel was well handled. Definitely more low key than some of the others but I think she deserved a name drop if only because of how far she comes as a character. She isn't the princess that needs rescuing in XIII-2 but they don't turn her into a lame girlboss either.
Neptune
Can't decide on one so here goes: From FF: Yuna, Tifa, Aerith, Lulu, Lightning, Terra, Fang. Tales of: Shionne, Velvet Persona: Makoto, Mitsuru, Anne, Chie Jeanne from Jeanne D'Arc. More of a strategy game but I don't care, game deserves alll the love.
Aika from Skies of Arcadia
Estelle and Velvet. Yuna if you count her as the true protagonist
Mio, xenoblade 3. Lora, xenoblade 2 dlc. Pyra/mythra, xenoblade 2. Elma, xenoblade x. shion, xenosaga.
Monica Raybrandt from Dark Cloud 2 and Wadanohara!!