Characters / Dissidia: Final Fantasy – Warriors of Cosmos I to VI

A character sheet for the Warriors of Cosmos from Dissidia Final Fantasy and its prequel. Note that comments on a character's fighting style generally stay the same between games, except when otherwise mentioned.

See the Main Page here.

See also:

• The Warriors of Cosmos VII to XI
• New Warriors in Dissidia 012 (Duodecim)
• The Warriors of Chaos I to VI
• The Warriors of Chaos VII to XII
• Other Characters

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Warrior of Light

"Though I once fought in the name of light, that honor may now be lost to me. However... The light I hold within my breast, never once has it flickered or faded. This I swear: I shall do my utmost to protect you until the very end."

"The nameless warrior shall transcend time & space, bringing light to the world." — Guiding Light.

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Grant George (English)

—Fighting Style: Paragon

The Warrior from the original Final Fantasy, a nameless swordsman with no memories who wandered into the Kingdom of Cornelia with a crystal in his hand, he saved the Princess Sarah and slew the rogue knight Garland before embarking on a journey through time and space to save the world.

The Warrior of Light is the Paragon. He is a Jack of All Stats fighter, with various mid-range and close-range Bravery attacks, many of which can link to HP attacks, and he is adept at fighting both on the ground and in the air. His major failing is his lack of ranged options, limited to a few weak and slow magical projectiles, and overall being a Master of None.

General Tropes

• Adaptational Badass: To more or less the same degree as his rival, Garland. From Featureless Protagonist to a badass Cape and Determinator? That's a level up.
• The Adventure Continues: The 13th cycle ends with the Warrior being the only character not transported back to his own world (as he has no home world), instead walking towards Cornelia in the distance, crystal in hand, implying that he is walking into the beginning of the original Final Fantasy. This means, due to Stable Time Loop and the fact that he was created from Cid's memories, that he is based on himself.
• Amnesiac Hero: He has no memories of his past beyond the cycles of war. Turns out it's because he has none.
• Artificial Human: Dissidia 012 reveals he's a Manikin created by Cid using Cid's memories, but unlike the Mooks fought in the game, he's a "perfect" Manikin, able to have a sense of self and retain memories. The end of the 13th cycle suggests that the person Cid was remembering in creating him was actually him.
• Call-Back: The final scene of 012 shows him about to awaken from his hibernation in Order's Sanctuary, which was the first scene of 013.
• The Cape: And does, in fact, come with a cape.
• The Champion: Fights directly to uphold Cosmos's honor. Taken further in Dissidia 012 than in the first game, where he tells Cosmos that even if he lacks the light to fight as one of her chosen warriors, he'll always be there to protect her to the very end.
• Declaration of Protection: Towards Cosmos, always.
  • In Dissidia 012, the alternate (dream) universe storyline "Confessions of the Creator" implies that on the 20th cycle, two cycles after Chaos completely went berserk, became Feral Chaos, and started indiscriminately destroying everything, including his own warriors, the Warrior of Light was the very last warrior left alive and died protecting Cosmos from him.
• Determinator: He's been doing this for a very long time.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Played with. "Warrior of Light" is his title and is treated as such; he is consistently referred to as "the Warrior of Light". The sole exception is the prologue of the original Dissidia, where Cosmos addresses him as "Warrior of Light", but in a context where it's clear she's using it as a title. On all other occasions, "the Warrior of Light" is only used in narration or museum profiles, no one in-game ever says it, and thus it is never used it as a proper name for him.
• The Fettered: He is singularly devoted to Cosmos and the forces of light, and fights to end the cycles of war and bring peace to the world no longer how long it takes.
• Flaming Sword: His Level-50 Exclusive Weapon is the Flame Sword, though it doesn't affect his appearance in battle.
• Flat Character: Subverted, on the surface his personality and backstory appears to be not as deep or developed as the other heroes, since he was one of six generic faces in the original game. On one hand, this is the point and a case of Tropes Are Not Bad, as he has absolute confidence in himself and is not plagued by doubt or hesitation like his comrades, and needs no personal cause to motivate him, his loyalty to Cosmos is enough. And on the other hand it's justified as he was born into the cycles of war with originally no personality at all and has known nothing other than the cycles. That he's managed to develop a lasting personality at all after repeated memory wipes is impressive. But beyond that, he's actually an insightful and thoughtful person.
• The Hero: Even moreso than all the other heroes. While everyone is the star of their own story, overall, the Warrior of Light is the lead hero and the one with the closest ties to Cosmos and Chaos.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: To the Manikins, not that he knows it.
• Ideal Hero: If it wasn't obvious so far, his bio is basically a giant check-list for pure, unfaltering heroism and goodness.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Is never even remotely swayed by the villains trying to bring him to their side or get him to give up fighting. Hell, his default response to pretty much every villain trying to use a Breaking Speech on him basically boils down to Shut Up, Hannibal!.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
• Lady and Knight: With Cosmos.
• Large and in Charge: Heroic example, albeit only on paper because of the Not Drawn to Scale relationship of character models to official heights: Male Final Fantasy main heroes are between 5'7" and 5'9", officially. Male supporting protagonists are often taller, but not by much (Kain is 6' even, Laguna is 5'11). The Warrior's official height is about 6'3", which is, in the series, generally reserved for baddies or Big Guys.
• The Leader: Of the Warriors of Cosmos.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He's the only Manikin thus far that's not a mindless, Ax-Crazy killing machine. Justified in that unlike Chaos' Manikins, WoL is a "Perfect" Manikin.
  • Well, he's one of three Manikins that aren't Ax-Crazy killing machines, the other two being Chaos (who, eventual insanity-induced One-Winged Angel form aside, is perfectly sane) and Cosmos.
• Mythology Gag:
  • As Cosmos' design seems to have been influenced by Yoshitaka Amano's art of Princess Sarah◊, this gives a new layer to Sarah's affection for the party in the original game since Cosmos is a Manikin of Cid's wife and he's a Manikin based on Cid's memories.
  • Because he and Chaos were created in the same way, this makes him Chaos' younger brother in a way and manner not unlike Kuja and Zidane.
  • That promise he makes to Garland? He keeps it.
  • The original Warriors of Light had no backstory. The legend said that 4 heroes with crystals would appear to save the world. The heroes just show up one day to fulfill the prophecy and never explain where they came from or how they got the crystals. They just wished to do the right thing and fulfill their destiny. For this warrior, he's actually a Manikin based on the memories of Cid of the Warrior of Light. Through the crucible of war, the Warrior eventually becomes the very warrior that Cid remembered.
• No Name Given: As one of four Featureless Protagonists from the original Final Fantasy, he never had a canonical name to begin with. Whenever someone refers to him, it's with "you" or "him", and if they're not speaking directly to him, the dialogue is framed in a way to make it clear who they're referring to. Dissidia 012 reveals he does have a name that was given to him by Prishe, but after so many cycles of purification, he's forgotten it and only has the vague memory that he was given a name once. Cosmos calls to him by name at the end of the 12th cycle, but the player doesn't hear her, and then he's purified shortly later and forgets again.
• No Social Skills: Downplayed. He often speaks in a blunt and direct style, doesn't seem to understand basic social conventions, and spends most of his time to himself rather than with the other warriors.
• One-Man Army: He fights more non-Mook characters in his story than anyone else. In the ending of 012, he faces an entire horde of Manikins, alone, and survives, whereas Lightning, Tifa, Kain, Yuna, Vaan and Laguna all fought a similar sized force together and none of them make it.
• Outside-Context Problem: He's this to all the villains of the original Final Fantasy. The prophecy said four Warriors of Light would appear wielding the crystals with no hint as to where the Warriors would come from. For this Warrior, he's a Manikin that came from the memories that Cid had of the Warrior and he, in turn, would become the warrior that Cid met.
• The Paladin: In all but the title — he attacks with the powers of light and fights for the forces of light and goodness.
• Papa Wolf: While he often comes across being authoritative and strict when dealing directly with his allies, he still shows a great deal of concern when any of them is in danger. Sephiroth learned this the hard way after attempting to harm Firion.
• The Paragon: His staunch, resolute trust in Cosmos and immunity to breaking speeches make him an example to the other heroes. Heck, even his fighting style is aptly named as such.
• Protagonist Without a Past: Justified, then subverted. The first game suggested a Mysterious Past that may or may not be dark and troubled, but the second reveals that he doesn't have a past, as he was created during the war.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Pretty much his default response to any villain that tries to give him a Breaking Speech.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Rarely loses his calm and focused demeanor when risking his life in battle, but is very shy and withdrawn in more relaxed social situations. When the others are chatting away in groups he's usually standing by himself watching them anxiously. One time, after he'd saved Terra from some Manikins, it took a great deal of effort for him just to accept her thanks.
• Stable Time Loop: The end of the 13th cycle, and further implications in Dissidia NT, suggest that he wound up at the start of the original Final Fantasy game, meaning that the person whose memories he's based off of was actually him.
• The Stoic: Very calmed and even-toned, even if facing his enemies. Given that he has no memories outside the cycles of war and those get erased regularly, it's likely a holdover from having no emotions to express.
• Undying Loyalty: To Cosmos. Even after he's told the Awful Truth that he doesn't have a past or a home to go back to, since he was a manikin created by Cosmos during the war, the Warrior of Light still resolves to stay loyal to her and keep being The Paragon who fights for the sake of the light and his comrades. When asked why, he admits it's both out of gratitude to Cosmos for giving them a fighting chance, and because someone has to keep fighting, even if it's hopeless.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero: It's noted that if Garland had succeeded in recruiting him before Prishe had, he would have become a paragon of evil rather than good.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: In Dissidia, the last command for his EX Burst was always left; in Dissidia 012, it's random like the rest. It'll trip you up the first couple of times.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Red/Blue/White Fang. If you look closely when he's using those attacks, he's not actually casting a spell himself — he's throwing an item into the air, a reference to the fact White Fang, Blue Fang, and Red Fang are items that use elemental magic in battle. If you look even closer, you'll notice that he's pulling the item from the pouch at his left hip.
• Jack of All Stats: The Warrior of Light is intentionally designed to be competent but unremarkable in every area of the game. His attacks are varied at both short and long-range, but they're not quite as good as fighters who specialize in them. He also has decent combo potential and damage with his Bravery attacks, as well as middle-of-the-road stats in just about every area as well as a straightforward EX Burst attack.
• Light 'em Up: With the exception of Bitter End and Ultimate Shield, all of his HP attacks are some form of weaponized light, and even those two have his sword/shield glow brightly when attacking.
  Warrior of Light: "Come, light!"
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Shield of Light. It has Block Low priority, so yes, it does actually protect him from a lot of attacks.
• Magic Knight: Fights primarily with sword and shield, but his HP attacks and his EX Mode bonus allow him to attack with light-based magic.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Difficult to notice, considering he shares a game with Garland, Cloud, Sephiroth, and Jecht, but in real life, the Warrior's sword would qualify as a zweihander by dimensions, yet he uses it one-handed, as an arming sword.
• Power Glows: His sword, shield, and/or armor always start to shine when he uses an HP attack.
• Shield Bash: Shield of Light works like this, only with a magical bend to it.
• Stab the Sky: His Ascension/Crossover to Rune Saber combo chains. Also does it at the beginning of his Victory Pose.
• Storm of Blades: In his EX Mode, physical strikes summon tiny beams of light in the shape of swords to damage opponents even further. His Radiant Sword summons six glowing swords that fire at the opponent.
• Super Mode: Class Change!
  "To shine brighter!"
  • In reference to the class-up given to the party by Bahamut in Final Fantasy I, Warrior of Light becomes a Knight. His armor changes entirely, making him look like he does in his game's logo. In addition to Regen, WoL's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
    • Protect, which reduces all Brave damage he takes.
    • Mirror Attack, which causes him to reflect projectiles sent his way whenever he is performing an attack.
    • Light's Blessing, which adds to his physical combo attacks in the form of blades of light that pierce the enemy as he attacks.
  • Class Change also gives him access to his EX Burst: Oversoul:
    "I give my all... to this sword! Prepare!"
  • Warrior of Light leaps at his opponent and, depending on whether the player inputs the proper D-pad input, runs them through with his sword up to six times^note If you want to read into it further, there were only six possible character choices in the original Final Fantasy. Six possible Light Warriors, six slashes before the final strike., each time leaving a spear of light in them as he goes through, before finishing it up with a final slash, leaving the opponent in a magical explosion.
    "You're finished!"
• Sword Beam: Shining Wave, also Radiant Sword and Rune Saber to an extent.
• Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Most of the Warrior of Light's attacks involve throwing his shield first before closing in with his sword, his HP Attack Ultimate Shield involves using it as a Flying Weapon.

Design and Costume Tropes

• 24-Hour Armor: And it always looks so fine!
• Badass Cape: Original example within the series.
• Compressed Hair: While not entirely unlikely, it's still pretty surprising that he fits such a magnificent mane of locks under that helmet.
• Cool Helmet: It takes talent to be this heroically, nobly, magnificently, gloriously, unrepentantly, disgustingly good while wearing a helmet decorated with grasping talons and crowned by gigantic devil horns.
• Curtains Match the Window: Silver-blue hair and silver-blue eyes, Square-Enix's twin obsessions combined at last.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: While not even close to Kuja, an FMV shows him without his helmet... I mean, come on!◊
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: The very tight black... whatever it is he wears under his armor... has intrigued many a fangirl.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Holy light and goodness, ayup.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: His 3P costume◊, which is modeled after the Fighter's sprites from the original game and thus has no helmet. His bonus DLC alt◊ is his normal outfit, just without his helmet.
  • Mythology Gag: The aforementioned bonus DLC alt◊ is actually expanding on his appearance at the beginning of the 12th cycle. Like that scene, he's missing his helm, but elaborating on the "just awoken from a horrible battle" implication, his sword is also damaged if you compare the character models.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His scene without a helmet from the trailer earned him many a fangirl's squees.
• Red Is Heroic: His DLC costume is a Shout-Out to the original game and has him decked out in all red armor...down to his hair. Likewise, he is The Paragon of the Warriors of Cosmos.
• Showgirl Skirt: A very impressive one.

In Dissidia

The character is a noble and formal knight who's extremely loyal to Cosmos, determined to fulfill the task she has given to him and the other warriors.

• Big Damn Heroes: Shows up to help Firion out against Sephiroth.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: During a cutscene, the Warrior of Light uses a Shining Wave to shatter the crystal The Emperor offers him.
• I Gave My Word: To Cosmos in one cutscene.
• Save the Villain: In his Moment of Awesome, the Warrior of Light vows to break the neverending cycle of war. On top of that, he promises to save Garland from his fate too.
  Warrior of Light: "Whatever destiny the world may hold for me, I will never give up. This battle shall come to an end, and I shall save you too!"
• Screw Destiny: The villains tell him it is destiny for the cycles of war to go on forever. He decides that if that is so, he'll have to change that destiny.
  Warrior of Light: "Destiny ends here!"
  • Or it might just be time for that destiny to be carried out, like a prophecy being fulfilled.
    Warrior of Light: "We shall see the end to this."
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Throughout his storyline, the villains appear to the Warrior to taunt him, mock him, and generally try to demoralize him. With most of the other heroes, their attempts usually work. The Warrior, on the other hand, either knows they're evil and not worth listening to, or, depending on your interpretation, has dealt with them twelve times already and knows they're just going to lie and deceive him, so he mostly ignores them.
  Ultimecia: "Why don't you just give up? The crystals are nothing more than the fabrication of a fallen goddess. To so willingly risk your life over such things is beyond ridiculous."
  Warrior of Light: "Are you finished talking?"
  Ultimecia: "What!?"
• Team Dad: The few times he interacts directly with his allies, he's shown being authoritative and strict, but still shows concern and compassion towards them all.

In Dissidia 012

In Dissidia 012, he is suspected as a traitor by Lightning. While less confident in demeanor and more unsure of himself than in the original, the Warrior of Light retains his fierce resolve to dutifully serve Cosmos.

He also appears in Prologus as the "Leader by default", as agreed between Lightning, Jecht, and Kain. As such, he acts firm and strict towards Lightning.

• The Captain: In Prologus, which follows mostly Lightning's point of view.
• Dramatic Irony: In a very sharp contrast to his pledge to end the cycle in the first game, this time around, he believes accepting the cycle as their way to "survive" to the next battle is the only option other than dying against the Manikins.
• Face Death with Dignity: Marches into battle against the Manikin army, outnumbered one to impossible-to-count, with his head held high and calmly apologizing to Cosmos that he won't be there to fight for her in the next cycle. Subverted in that he doesn't die, but he is fully expecting to.
• Featureless Protagonist: A Report reveals that he started out as one. When he was first created by Cid, he had no will of his own and could barely speak, fortunately for him, when Prishe and Garland found him, Prishe beat Garland off and brought the Warrior to Cosmos. It was only after he received her power that he began to develop a personality of his own, and slowly developed into the resolute and determined badass we see in the final cycles.
• Moses in the Bulrushes: A variation, in 012 it's revealed that he was found by Prishe after being sent by his father into the cycles not long after being created/born.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Lightning tells the Warrior of Light and Kain off for their killing off their comrades, no matter what their reason, he starts to doubt that he even deserves his title.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: Cosmos is not pleased when he draws his blade on Lightning, and after their fight, reveals to them that he's in on Kain's plan to do away with the other warriors in order to "save" them.
• Sole Survivor: He's the only member of Team Cosmos (including Cosmos herself) that wasn't killed or otherwise "put to sleep" by the end of the 12th cycle. In fact, The Stinger of 012 shows him in the unconscious position he was in Destiny Odyssey's prologue.
• The Unreveal: This game reveals that yes, he does have a name, but you never find out what it is. Prishe gives it to him, and in the ending FMV, Cosmos calls it out to him and he hears it then, but her voice is muted so the player does not hear, and then the next cycle comes and he forgets again.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He and Kain conclude that the Warriors of Cosmos have no chance of winning the current cycle of the conflict due to the vast numbers of manikins. Since warriors killed by other warriors are revived at full strength for the next cycle, but warriors killed by manikins are Killed Off for Real, the two of them set out to kill their allies themselves in order to guarantee their survival into the next cycle.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Lightning calls him out for joining Kain in the plan to kill the other Warriors of Cosmos.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Serving as the Warrior's Moment of Awesome in the 12th cycle. To defend Cosmos, all alone, the Warrior of Light engages an army seemingly as big as the one the six new characters are fighting at the Rift. All alone, he lasts just as long as they do. Not only that, he survives the whole ordeal while they don't.

Firion

"Believe in the future — And persist in the present. That's what I'll do!"

"The unwavering will of the youth will realize his dream. Eventually..." — The Youth's Dream.

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

—Fighting Style: Weapons Specialist

The hero from Final Fantasy II. When he and his family lost their home and parents to the Palamecian Empire they joined the Rebel Army under Princess Hilda and became the spear point in liberating the world from the tyrannical Palamecian Emperor and his horde of monsters.

Firion is a Weapons Specialist. With an arsenal of weapons he can attack across a variety of ranges, and in Dissidia 012 can change up the second part of his combos for varying strategic options. In the air he cast spells, and in Dissidia 012 can chaincast them three times. All of this makes Firion an Anti-Air fighter, who excels at keeping the opponent grounded; fortunate for him, as his aerial moveset is very poor.

General Tropes

• Action Survivor: Firion has only recently learned how to fight, as mentioned to fellow newbie Tidus; at the start of his own game, he had no combat experience. This begs the question of how he mastered so many weapons in such a short time.
• Cannot Talk to Women: Firion is extremely inept when dealing with women, as seen from his encounter quotes. In Dissidia 012, he even gets a Ship Tease with Lightning when she found his wild rose and he spends some time avoiding asking for it back from her because he is too shy.
• Dramatic Wind: His victory pose depicts him with his cape fluttering out to the side.
• Face of a Thug: Penelo mentions he looks fierce and intimidating, but his personality is anything but.
• Flower Motifs: The Wild Rose. It calls back to the Wild Rose Rebellion that he and his friends joined in his original game.
• Hot-Blooded: Only in battle; outside, his behavior in cutscenes shows him to be one of the most disciplined and mild-mannered of the heroes. Until you get him desperate, anyway...
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Given the source material, this could apply to most if not all of the Warriors of Cosmos. Firion, however, has this specific exchange with Tidus in Dissidia:
  Tidus: You're just gonna TAKE that?
  Firion: What? It's free!
• La Résistance: In his original game, he and his small Band of Brothers resisted the hegemony of the Palamecian Empire. In Dissidia, considering that apparently all that's left of Cosmos' forces arrayed against Chaos are the ten heroes, and that over on the villains' side, good old Emperor Mateus of Palamecia is in fact plotting with remarkable success for a non-Big Bad to off the rest of the villains and even Chaos himself and rule over the remains of the world(s)... he's doing pretty much the same thing.
• Only One Name: Since this early in the series, full names weren't used yet.
• Real Men Wear Pink:
  • His crystal is a huge chunk of blisteringly-pink shiny rock he carries around with pride. It resembles the architecture of Pandemonium.
  • In Duodecim, he's worried about being made fun of if he asks Lightning for his rose back, feeling it's a little silly for a grown man to fixate on a flower.
• Socially Awkward Hero: He is fairly awkward about speaking his mind and gets flustered easily when he thinks he is made fun of.
• Something about a Rose: Though he falls far from the Casanova type usually indicated by the trope, he does fulfill the baseline requirement of carrying a rose around.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

Firion uses eight types of weapons (if you include shields and bare-handed fighting), one for each fighting style in Final Fantasy II and each representing a party member.

• Abnormal Ammo: Uses his bow to fire his other weapons in his EX Burst.
• Anti-Air: His main gimmick in Dissidia 012 is keeping his feet on the ground and making the opponent do the same. Magic Arts: Bolt, Lord of Arms, and the aerial version of Swordslash, slam opponents into the ground, Rope Knife and Reel Axe drag opponents towards him and can track into the air, and his lance follow-up attack knocks opponents away on a downward angle. Lord of Arms is particularly notable in this thanks to great tracking, a long range, and high reach into the air; an aerial opponent who doesn't dodge will quickly find themselves kissing dirt.
• Arrows on Fire: An interesting variation when using Lance Combo and Fervid Blazer — if you look closely, Firion isn't firing a flaming arrow, he's firing an arrow of flame.
• Balance Buff: In the original game, he was hobbled by a very poor pool of aerial spell attacks, a ground attack pool that was mostly slow and easy to avoid, and slow and easy to avoid HP attacks. The prequel gave him the ability to chaincast his spells three times, gave his ground attacks better tracking, Rope Knife was made to track the opponent up and down instead of always going straight forward, he can change the second part of his ground combos for strategic versatility, and he has Lord of Arms, an HP attack with a high reach into the air around him that also has great tracking. All of this took Firion from a ground-bound Mighty Glacier to a dangerous Anti-Air brawler.
• Beehive Barrier: When using Shield Bash/Revenge of Arms he uses his buckler to generate one.
• Blown Across the Room: His punch follow-up to his Bravery attacks knocks opponents way back.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Said punch is not only significantly stronger than his other two follow-ups which use his weapons, but at a base power of 45, it's stronger than a full combo from Jecht. Another Mythology Gag; since fighting unarmed in Final Fantasy II is considered attacking with two weapons, it can be considered more powerful than armed combat.
• Cool Sword: The Blood Sword, Firion's own signature weapon.
• Crippling Overspecialization: His strength is incredible on the ground; he's got powerful Brave combos that can connect at close and long ranges, all of which link to HP attacks, and Shield Bash for defense. But when it comes to fighting in the air, Firion is limited to three weak spell attacks, a weak and very short-ranged sword slash, and two slow HP attacks. Sure, every fighter has weaknesses, but Firion's poor air game is a problem because a lot of the stages are wide-open with little ground, and most of the fighting in Dissidia takes place in the air. The developers gave him some new tricks in Dissidia 012 to give him a much more effective anti-air game and be an all-around better fighter, in addition to some nerfs to aerial combat in general to encourage more grounded combat, but he's still at a huge disadvantage in the air and more comfortable on the ground.
• Dual Wielding: He wields his sword in one hand and his axe in the other for his Double Trouble attack.
• Flying Weapon: Firion can control his weapons with magic, allowing him to send them flying to opponents for certain attacks and call them back again.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: He has a few very powerful punching attacks.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: He does this when doing his Swordslash attack.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: A small buckler on his wrist seen in Minwu's artwork.
• Magic Wand: He uses them to cast Fire, Ice, Lightning spells, besides the base three spells individually, Firion casts higher-level versions of them in that exact sequence when countering with Shield Bash at long range.
• Magikarp Power: He starts with slow HP attacks and mid-powered Brave combos with a horrible air game. Then you begin to level up and master his Brave attacks to get his HP links, and learn Master of Arms and Lord of Arms which, properly used, are quite difficult to avoid.
• Mighty Glacier: He hits hard, and aside from Shield Bash, his HP attacks all deal wall rush. The problem is that he attacks slowly and his attacks (with the exception of Lord of Arms) aren't very difficult to dodge.
• Multi-Melee Master: With a bit of Multi-Ranged Master when you count throwing knives and axes.
• Mythology Gag: Apart from the already mentioned weapon references to the original game, one of the most unnoticed ones that deserve a special mention is his bow flipping forward after using Straightarrow, which is the animation of bow weapons in the original game.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: His Lead Axe attack throws his axe like one and can even strike people with its Boomerang Comeback.
• Shield Bash: He actually has an attack called "Shield Bash," but ironically, he doesn't use the shield itself to attack.
• Super Mode: Blood Weapon Equipped!
  "I feel it in my blood!"
  • Firion exchanges his weapons for a "blood" version of each, in reference to the Blood Sword from his own game, which was the best weapon to use against the Emperor^note In his game, the Blood Sword dealt damage proportional to the amount of health the opponent had. Used right, it could easily kill the Emperor in a turn or two.. In addition to Regen, Firion's EX Mode gives him the following ability:
    • Blood Weapon: When Firion deals HP damage to the enemy, the blood weapons increase his HP by an equal amount.
  • In addition, Blood Weapon Equipped give Firion access to his EX Burst: Fervid Blazer:
    "This decides it!"
  • The player is given about two seconds to hit five inputs in order, as Firion concentrates for his attack, before he leaps at the enemy to attack with his various weapons. The full attack has him attack with his lance, daggers, axe, staff, and sword (in order) to attack, each enchanted with Elemental Powers, before using his bow to fire all of his weapons at the enemy. Thanks to Firion's EX Mode ability, all the damage dealt by Fervid Blazer heals him an equal amount.
    "Lance! Slash! Shatter! Shoot! Sword! It's the end!"
• Tennis Boss: One strategy is to play him like one — toss out Fire spells, then wait for the opponent to reflect the attack so you have something to Shield Bash against.
• Tornado Move: Lord of Arms has Firion conjure one with himself at the center, before striking down with lightning bolts.
• Walking Armory: Which is probably why he's got the slowest running speed of all the Warriors of Cosmos.
• You Will Not Evade Me: With the exception of Swordslash, his ground Bravery attacks revolve around this, drawing the opponent towards him to follow up with his Double Trouble HP attack.

Design and Costume Tropes

• '80s Hair: He and the Onion Knight share the same rat tail mullet style.
• Badass Cape: It even billows dramatically!
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: It changes styles in his three outfits, but he always wears one.
• Depending on the Artist: In a bizarre single artist example, his three costumes (which look almost nothing alike) are all based on differing Amano art.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Wears a few rings, a pair of armbands, and possibly earrings as well.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: The "skirt", the scarf, and the uneven armor.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: If that is armor he's wearing, it's very... clingy.
• Showgirl Skirt: Smaller than most characters', though.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: In all of his three outfits, he leaves his arms bare save for his shield and maybe some other light armor on the shoulders or wrist.

In Dissidia

• Fill It with Flowers: His dream, with the flowers representing freedom from despots like the Emperor. It strikes a chord with both Cloud and Terra.
• Flat Character: The story pulls a Decon-Recon Switch with this. While Cloud, Cecil, and Tidus abandon him one by one to pursue their own goals, Firion continues on with no personal stake in events or higher purpose to chase. He admits to Cosmos he's jealous of the rest for having a more complex motivation to drive them to fight, while all he has is fighting to end the war. Cosmos assures him that his desire to end the war for the sake of others can itself be his personal goal, and there's no shame in lacking a more complex motivation like his friends. Firion then learns that the dream of a world without war is one that's been passed to the other Warriors of Cosmos, and they all believe in his dream just as strongly as he does. And while it isn't called attention to, Firion tends to be the one the others come to when they need someone to confide in, or he's the one to recognize their inner conflict and encourage them to go resolve it, making him a voice of reason and hope to them.
• Greater Need Than Mine: He gives Tidus his special potion for his fight against Jecht.
• Heroic Resolve/Heroic Second Wind: During his confrontation against The Emperor.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: His speech when fighting against The Emperor.

In Dissidia 012

• Mistaken for Romance: Firion tries to talk to Lightning but shies away along believing that he "should just let it go" about it. Cecil immediately thinks that Firion has a crush on Lightning, not knowing that Firion wanted to ask Lightning about his Wild Rose back.
• Not What It Looks Like: Claims this when Cecil tries to set him up with Lightning.
• Ship Tease: With Lightning. His desire to talk to her alone and constant frustrated efforts to speak with her only to be interrupted by something definitely give this vibe. It doesn't help that their first scene together also features Cecil, who clearly thinks he and Light make a cute couple.
  Firion: I would rather discuss this with Lightning alone. ...Ah! Oh, dear! It's not what you th-
  Cecil: Oh, of course! I shall take my leave!

Onion Knight

"Not even you can destroy this. What I've found is strength — Strength to protect everyone!"

"Look at yourself and discover your faults. That is true strength." — Onion.

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Aaron Spann (English)

—Fighting Style: Mystic Fencer

The first player from the original version of Final Fantasy III. A young boy from the village of Ur, he chanced upon the Wind Crystal when playing in a chasm and was tasked with returning light to the world and saving it from the Flood of Darkness caused by the magus Xande.

The Onion Knight is a Mystic Fencer, the perfect image of the Magic Knight who wields a moveset evenly split between physical and magical attacks. This gives him a move for any circumstance, close-range or long-range, Bravery or HP. His major failing is his limited movepool that makes him very predictable and easy to punish if he is dodged or blocked.

General Tropes

• Always Save the Girl: Determined to protect Terra.
• Badass Adorable: The youngest and second-shortest of the Warriors of Cosmos, but don't think for a second that he's weaker.
• Child Soldier: Although the only one who seems to be bothered that Cosmos would summon a child is Vaan. At one point, when Vaan brings it up, the Warrior of Light admits he never really thought about it. Of course, he's the last person who would second-guess Cosmos, and nobody is aware that the Warrior of Light is actually even younger than the Onion Knight.
• Composite Character: He takes cues from all six versions of Final Fantasy III's heroes. His default appearance is based on the unnamed orphans from the NES release, while the design of his weapons are taken from artwork of the unnamed warrior◊ present in a lot of Final Fantasy III art, and his third outfit is based on artwork of the same◊. His personality as a coward who puts up a brave front most closely resembles Arc, and in his third outfit, his EX Mode outfits are green, which was Arc's coloration. His second outfit is based on Luneth and has his eyes and hair, but the light blue coloration is closer to Refia's outfit and the two combined vaguely resemble the unnamed warrior from the Amano artwork. His fourth DLC outfit is based on Ingus, and he looks a bit like Ingus in his default outfit. And finally, when you take all his outfits together, the first one is red, the second is blue, the third is green, and the fourth is also red — the same coloration of the four NES Onion Kids.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Not present in the main story, but his character file in Dissidia 012 states that this is the reason he doesn't bring up the fact that, like Warrior of Light, he also can't remember his name, instead pretending to be cautious.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Except for Terra, who just calls him "the kid/boy." The only person who actually refers to Onion Knight as Onion Knight is Cloud of Darkness before their final fight in Onion Knight's Destiny Odyssey. Vaan calls him "Onion" in one of the Reports of 012, and his character file for the prequel says that, like Warrior of Light, he also can't remember his name.
• Honour Before Reason: Practically the Aesop he learns from his Destiny Odyssey section.
• In a World…: In the beginning narration for his story path.
• Just a Kid: Averted, barring a few characters' taunts, in the original Dissidia, but present in Dissidia 012. Vaan is more concerned than dismissive of the Onion Knight, but the net effect is the same — particularly the frustration felt by the Onion Knight. Zidane also makes a similar remark which really annoys him because Zidane's not really that much older than him.
• Kid Hero: Youngest of the heroes' side by far (except for Warrior of Light). He has no canon age, he needs no canon age; "kid" is sufficient.
• Meaningful Name: "Onion" is used in Japanese to describe someone that is inexperienced, and Onion Knight is the initial job of Final Fantasy III.
• No Name Given: As with the Warrior of Light, he has no name here because in his own game (the original Famicom version at least), the player chooses his name.
• Precocious Crush: His friendship with Terra seems really close. Can double as a Bodyguard Crush because of his promise to protect her.
  • In the Reports of 012, Cecil even asks if he's fallen for her, and he gets flustered when Zidane refers to her as his "big sister".
• Save the Princess: Save Terra.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Or so he likes to think.
• Straw Vulcan: He starts off like this in Destiny Odyssey III; trusting only his head, with a perfectly justifiable policy of never trying to fight foes he can't beat. This leads to Terra's powers going nuts, and her getting mind-controlled, beat up by him, and captured by the Cloud of Darkness. He eventually realizes that sometimes he has to ignore what his head tells him in favor of what his heart says. He still has his policy of not fighting people he can't beat, though; he just resolves that he can beat the Cloud of Darkness, in spite of what everyone else and his own mind might tell him.
• Talking Your Way Out: From Exdeath.
• Too Clever by Half: Hoo boy; this is his big character issue. He gets over it, after he gets kicked down a serious peg when his "shallow cleverness" leads to Terra being brainwashed, beat up, and kidnapped.
• Unwanted Assistance: In Dissidia 012, Vaan is concerned for the Onion Knight's welfare, being that he's an (apparently) small child in a war. As a result, he checks up on the Onion Knight frequently and tells off other characters for treating him (as he perceives) too roughly. The Onion Knight is something other than pleased at this little development, since he'd prefer to be treated as an equal and liked it when the others were doing so.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Terra gets captured, both Cloud of Darkness and Cosmos tell him it's his own fault for being so reckless. Then when he gets captured, leaving Terra alone and unprotected, Golbez gives this to him.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

• Always Accurate Attack: Swordshower, Guiding Swipe, and Flare will continue to lock onto and hit targets with their Brave hits if the enemy is teleported away by a Banish Trap or Assist Change — only if you do it at the last moment as he prepares to deal the HP hit can you fully escape.
• Artificial Brilliance: Word of God is that the Onion Knight was designed to have, on average, the most competent AI.
• Child Mage: He's the youngest hero but stronger than many of them in magic.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: His primary Brave and HP attacks involve rapidly stabbing the enemy; each stab does minuscule damage, but it stacks up quickly.
• Dual Wielding: As a Ninja.
• Elemental Powers: Along with the standard Fire, Blizzard and Thunder spells he also has Quake and Holy.
• Fragile Speedster: Only Feral Chaos is narrowly faster than him normally, and it takes EX Mode for Prishe and Tidus to outspeed him. Unfortunately, Onion Knight tends to get sent flying into walls a whole lot, since his attacks are predictable and leave him very vulnerable if he misses.
• Full-Contact Magic: In keeping with his Magic Knight tendencies, his magic attacks have him commanding his spells using physical movement, such as kicking the last meteorite when he casts Comet.
• Glass Cannon: Edges up to this in EX Mode, as he's still predictable and easy to punish, but his attacks have a lot more punch to them, many almost doubling in power.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: In EX Mode after a physical attack. Especially in his default costume, which makes his ninja garb bright red.
• Jack of All Stats: He's equal in all areas, with a long-range spell attack and a close-range sword attack for both Bravery and HP, and in the air and on the ground. But this makes him incredibly predictable, because in the air and on the ground he only has four attacks he can use, two of them are melee and two are ranged, and within each pair one of them is an HP attack that has a start-up time before he attacks. Furthermore, his attacks are a bit lacking in power.
• Magic Knight: While nearly all the heroes have a combination of physical and magic attacks, Onion Knight is probably the purest form of the trope in the game, with exactly half his moves being magical and the other half physical. He's even called a Mystic Fencer by the game and has two EX Bursts, a physical one and a magic one.
• Magic Wand: When he's a Sage.
• Magikarp Power: Essentially, this is a variation of how the Onion Knight class worked in III. He may start out with weak and hard-to-connect attacks, but once he starts learning his Brave to Brave and Brave to HP links^note instead of learning them by leveling up, like other characters, he has to master each in order to unlock the next in the chain, you'd better watch your back. And your front. And both sides. And below. And above. And he'll still get you.
• Meteor Move: Multi-Hit knocks the opponent into the air, then Extra Slice sends them back down.
• Ninja: His alternate physical job, this of course gives him the ninja's signature Dual Wield.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's one of the smallest characters, but can still knock characters flying with his sword blows.
• Spin Attack: Wind Shear, and Comet and Quake to an extent.
• Status Buff: Has Magic Booster and Strength Booster in Dissidia 012, letting him get a temporary buff to his physical or magical critical hit rate, damage, and defense.
• Storm of Blades: Swordshower and Guiding Swipe summon blades of energy to combat opponents.
• Super Mode: Job Change!
  "Let's end this!"
  • Onion Knight changes his job from Onion Knight to either Sage or Ninja, depending on what sort of attack he's using: Sage if using a magical attack, Ninja if using a physical attack. Sage and Ninja are unarguably the strongest classes in the NES version of Final Fantasy III, obtained at the end of the game (though Onion Knight could potentially surpass even them in terms of pure power and tanking ability). In addition to Regen, Onion Knight's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
    • Sage's Wisdom: When in Sage mode, Onion Knight's magic attacks are improved, firing more projectiles over a larger area, meaning they do more damage and are easier to connect with.
    • Dual Wield: When in Ninja mode, Onion Knight holds a sword in each hand. When performing one of his combo-based physical attacks, the number of hits is doubled, dealing twice as much damage with each attack.
  • In addition, Job Change gives Onion Knight access to his EX Bursts: Spellbook and Ninjutsu.
    "Now it begins!"
  • Spellbook is the EX Burst he uses in Sage mode. The player is presented with a Final Fantasy-style command window; his task is to locate and cast the Holy spell from Onion Knight's Magic command. If Holy is chosen, Onion Knight will attack the enemy with a blast of sacred light before dropping a Meteor spell on them.
    "The best is yet to come! Burn it up!"
  • Ninjutsu is the EX Burst he uses in Ninja mode. The player is presented with a Final Fantasy-style command window; his task is to locate and choose a Shuriken from Onion Knight's Throw command. If Shuriken is chosen, Onion Knight will hit the enemy with several dozen shuriken before performing Back Attack!, running the enemy through (and appearing in a pose identical to the one on Final Fantasy III's logo).
    "The best is yet to come! Here I come!"
• Sword Plant: Quake has him drill his sword into the ground to create spikes of earth, before he stomps it down to send up a larger spike.
• Toon Physics: Played with, and a good candidate for best example from Final Fantasy. His attack animations are hugely exaggerated, and include spinning his sword into the ground to create spikes of earth before stomping the sword in to create a larger spike, rapidly teleporting around the opponent during Blade Turrent to hit from multiple directions, flying backwards when launching Firaga, and spinning in place to create a portal that shoots meteors.
• Unskilled, but Strong: His attacks are unrefined, little more than spamming sword flails, and slow, giant magic. That said, his gimmick is that nearly every Bravery Attack connects directly into an HP Attack, which most only have one of, some can only do so via hidden tricks, and the only other true competitor, Jecht, requires perfectly performed, multi-stage combo strings (as opposed to Onion Knight being able to practically spam it).
• Yin-Yang Bomb: His perfect EX Burst has him cast Holy, the most powerful offensive White Magic spell from his game of origin... and then follow it up with Meteor, the most powerful offensive Black Magic spell from his game of origin^note technically, Flare does the most raw damage, but Meteor strikes multiple targets and cannot be Reflected. Particularly glaring in that these games also feature Aerith and Sephiroth, who in their game of origin, used these against each other.

Design and Costume Tropes

• '80s Hair: He and the Firion share the same rat tail mullet style.
• Badass Cape: In every outfit and its EX Modes save for his DLC Ninja job.
• Cool Helmet: Almost half again his size.
• Cool Mask: As a Ninja he wears the traditional cowl.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Tries to play the knightly, noble version of this trope, but he is too immature at the beginning. Turns into Terra's protector near the end.
• Instant Costume Change: In EX Mode.
• Ornamental Weapon: The dagger he carries is just decoration.
• Pimped-Out Cape: Variably has two layers, is split into two, or has tassels at the bottom.
• Robe and Wizard Hat: When in his Sage EX Mode, though he's swapped the pointy hat for something even nicer.
• Rummage Sale Reject: Most notably his shoe... boot... slipper... sock... things.
• Showgirl Skirt: This one has tassels!

Dissidia

• Guile Hero: He fancies himself as this early on, even trying to trick Exdeath into leaving himself and Terra alone by pretending to be weak and harmless.
• I Surrender, Suckers: This appears to be one of the Onion Knight's preferred strategies. He uses the tactic to great effect in order to lure the Cloud of Darkness away from an unconscious Terra.
• Lured into a Trap: He and Terra are led into a trap by the Cloud of Darkness in an attempt to separate them. The Onion Knight falls right into it due to being overconfident.
• Papa Wolf: When Kefka arrives and reveals to Terra that she beat up Onion Knight, he angrily attacks Kefka for revealing this information to Terra (he earlier kept it a secret, as he felt it was in her best interest not to reveal it).

Dissidia 012

• Properly Paranoid: Although neither he nor Zidane went as far as to commit suicide (unlike, say, Sephiroth), the two of them started to speculate whether they were in fact enhanced manikins instead of the real deal. Most likely, they weren't. However, they were right in that some of the characters, namely Cosmos, Chaos, and the Warrior of Light, are manikins.

Cecil Harvey

"It's because I have friends that I can fight! Both light and darkness give me the guidance I need. Thus — I can turn darkness — into hallowed light!"

"All possess good and evil in their hearts. Gain true power after overcoming darkness." — Twin Form.

Voiced by: Shizuma Hodoshima (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English)

—Fighting Style: Split Soul

The Hero of Final Fantasy IV. A Dark Knight and ward to Baron's king, he led a bloody mission to steal the crystals and upon his protest was stripped of his rank and cast aside. Shedding his black armor and baptized in the holy light of Mt. Ordeals, he became a Paladin and took up arms against his former liege and the dark forces that pulled the strings from the shadows.

In battle Cecil is a Split Soul. He shifts between his Dark Knight and Paladin forms using HP attacks or specific Bravery attacks. As a Dark Knight he wields slow but powerful sword blows on the ground, and can keep his opponent grounded with his air attacks, while as a Paladin he excels in swift aerial combos and has a ground attack pool that takes the fight back to the air. Using Cecil to his fullest potential requires mastery of both his forms and shifting between them to suit the flow of battle as needed.

General Tropes

• Black Knight: Exactly half the time. The other half...
• Dark Is Not Evil: See profile quote.
• Humble Hero: He's one of the most noble and honorable characters, as likely one of the oldest and the most socially advanced, being the king of a nation, but he speaks to them as equals and listens to their advice when they offer it.
• Large Ham: Cecil's whole Knight in Shining Armor motif makes his speech a bit flowery and bombastic compared to most of the other heroes. Look at their attack audio cues: Everyone else has things like "Ya!", "Take it!", and "Here we go!" as well as your standards kiais and grunts. Cecil, though? Cecil has stuff like "Beneath the light... comes judgment!" and "Drink of anguish!"
• Lunacy: Many of Cecil's attacks quotes make reference to the moon; this is because in the original game, Cecil gained his holy powers from the spirit of his deceased father, who was a Lunarian.
• Paladin: One of his jobs of course, a righteous warrior blessed with divine powers.
• Power Floats: Does so in the Paladin victory pose.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Automatically changes between Dark Knight and Paladin forms depending on what kind of attack he uses, and can change forms without attacking in EX Mode.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

• Casting a Shadow: When in Dark Knight form, he attacks using Dark elemental magic.
• Cool Sword: Two during his EX Mode, the Deathbringer (in his Dark Knight form) and Mythgraven Blade (in his Paladin form).
• Facepalm Of Doom: The latter half of Soul Eater involves a palm full of Black Magic.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation with a touch of Irony: Of the main cast of the original Dissidia, Cecil is the only person to fight with a spear-like weapon. However, in the equipment setup screen, he can only equip sword, greatsword, and axe-type weapons. (Unless you use Dragoon Lore on him to grant him the ability to equip spears, but that's tangential.)
• Goomba Stomp: Nightfall dives down on an opponent pointy end first.
• Holy Hand Grenade: When in Paladin form he attacks using Holy elemental magic.
• Magic Knight: Though all the heroes have at least minor proficiency with magic, Cecil is particularly notable for possessing Light and Darkness-based attacks rather than standard Fire, Ice, Lightning spells.
• Lightning Bruiser/Mighty Glacier: His Dark Knight form is slower than the Paladin form, but both do a fair bit of damage. However, the Dark Knight's HP attacks are more versatile than the Paladin's and are easier to hit with outside the Searchlight-Paladin Force glitch.
• Purple Is the New Black: His darkness attacks are mostly deep purple.
• Spell Blade: Enchants his sword with Holy and Dark powers for most of his HP Attacks.
• Super Mode: Job Augment!
  "I know my course!"
  • Cecil switches his spears for the Deathbringer and Mythgraven Blade, in addition to mastering his job-changing abilities. Calling it a job augment ("Decant" in Japanese) is a reference to the Augment ("Decant" in Japanese) system used in the DS version of IV. In addition to Regen, Cecil's EX Mode gives him the following abilities:
    • Inner Strength: In EX Mode, all of Cecil's attacks have their damage multiplied by 1.5 times.
    • Proteus: Cecil can change his job at any moment by pressing R+Square, where before, he would have to perform certain attacks to change job. This allows him to pull off better combos than he usually could (for example, smashing the enemy into the ground with the Paladin's Saint Cross, then sending them flying with the Dark Knight's Nightfall attack).
  • Job Augment also gives Cecil access to his EX Burst: Soul Shift:
    "This will seal it! The moon leads me!"
  • Cecil blasts the enemy with a wave of Darkness before shifting to Paladin to gather his concentration. If performed perfectly, Cecil will slash the enemy once, shift into Dark Knight and divebomb the enemy while simultaneously hitting them with a Dark Wave, and then shift into Paladin yet again to finish them off with a cross-slash.
    "Light and darkness cast aloft!"
• Sword Beam: Luminous Shard fires one of holy energy.
• Sword Plant: Dark Flame, which can also be performed with a spear.
• Technicolor Fire: His darkness element manifests in purple flames.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Shadow Lance involves him hurling his sword at an opponent javelin style. After using said attack, Cecil's sword reappears in his hand in a puff of dark energy.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: His EX Burst has him attack opponents as he rapidly changes jobs to use both types of power in sequence. He also has two Bravery attacks that are simply him using one attack and then changing armors to use another attack.

Design and Costume Tropes

• 24-Hour Armor: Unlike the other armored characters, Cecil has no outfits where he takes it off.
• Badass Cape: As a Paladin.
• Blank White Eyes: His helm in the Dark Knight form has these.
• Cool Helmet: As a Dark Knight.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Wears earrings.
• Evil Costume Switch and Good Costume Switch.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: In both forms, though the Paladin's shoulder armor is the most noticeable. Holds true for his first alternate costume, but his second and DLC alts avert it.
• Gold and White Are Divine: His Paladin outfits are variably white, gold, and bright blue.
• Guyliner: Sports lips painted a fetching blue.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Subverted when a Dark Knight, but played straight when a Paladin.
• Instant Costume Change: When he switches between the Paladin and the Dark Knight.
• Knight in Shining Armor: When a Paladin, naturally.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair goes back his shoulders, contributing to his youthful looks.
• Ornamental Weapon: The sword he carries on his back and the dagger at his hip never see use.
• Pimped-Out Cape: Tassels, often brightly colored with patterns on them, and always stylish.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His Dark Knight outfits, meanwhile, are primarily black or dark blue with some red touches.
• Sculpted Physique: The Dark Knight armor is ripped.
• Shoulders of Doom: He's not quite there yet, but the Dark Knight is certainly trying to emulate his big brother, bless him.

In Dissidia

Teaming up with Cloud, Tidus, and Firion, the four of them set off to find their crystals. However, he encounters his own brother, Golbez, as a Warrior of Cosmos. Golbez promises to tell him the secret of the crystal if he follows him, leaving Cecil to decide whenever to stick with his friends or face his brother alone.

• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted, with his desire to defend and trust Golbez. Complete with "Nii-san" calling in the Japanese script.
• Do You Trust Me?: Golbez asks him this sort of question (albeit not as a question) and that's how his story starts.
• The Power of Friendship: The main topic of his story, as it is what he values so much and wishes to share with his brother.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Golbez. Not as much literally as it was in IV, but definitely on an emotional scale.
• Strength Equals Worthiness: Put to test right before fighting Exdeath in front of Golbez.
  Cecil: "I don't know if you'll deem me worthy. But... at least I can show you my strength!"

In Dissidia 012

Like many others of the original cast, Cecil's role in 012's story is much smaller. He appears pretty much only in a Flashback alongside Kain and Golbez, as well as in the Reports.

• Big Damn Hero: Subverted. He shows up and attacks Golbez to protect Kain, but unknown to him, Kain was never in danger to begin with.
• Demoted to Extra: Aside from a flashback, he only appears in reports, and in inconsequential scenes in them. Given that every other hero at least appears as an Assist in at least one gateway, it's possible he was incapacitated by Kain early in the cycle, which would be fully in-character for Kain anyway.
• Et Tu, Brute?: In a secret report, directed at Kain, of course.
• Flashback: His only notable appearance during the twelfth cycle was during this. He does show up in the reports, but those tend to be comedic appearances. See below.
• Shipper on Deck: Thinks Firion has a thing for Lightning, and briefly plays matchmaker. Cecil also initially takes Onion Knight's vow to protect Terra as a sign he's fallen for her. The fact that he's the only known main character of any Final Fantasy game who's actually gotten married may have something to do with this.
• Team Mom: Some of the extra scenes in the Reports show him assuming this role for Firion, Onion Knight, and Terra.

Bartz Klauser

"No horsing around, though. This isn't the time for games. It's time for some serious fun."

"The pairing of worlds hides that power, and endless possibilities." — Splendor of the Wind.

Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese), Jason Spisak (English)

—Fighting Style: Mimic

The protagonist of Final Fantasy V. A wanderer who traveled the world astride his chocobo companion. After helping Princess Lenna and her companions to the Wind Shrine, he was chosen by the Wind Crystal to save the other crystals from shattering and releasing the monster Exdeath; who sought to unite two world as one so that he could wield the dark power of the void sealed between them.

Bartz's fighting style is that of a Mimic. He copies and combines the attacks of the other playable heroes, resulting in unique combos where he swiftly switches weapons mid-attack. Bartz's attacks also all have minor support abilities attached to them, giving him an extra degree of customization. Bartz is overall a close-to-midranged melee fighter, though he does have a few weaker ranged options.

General Tropes

• Animal Motifs: Referred to as 'the mouse' by Kefka and Kuja, for whatever reason. It may have to do with the fact that he was prone to running away near the beginning, something mice do all the time.
  • It also might be meant to parallel Squall's being a lion. Kefka being Kefka and Kuja having a taste for literature, they probably assigned the title to Bartz as a shout out to the story The Lion & the Mouse.
• Awesome by Analysis: Through his mimic class he can not only copy the movements of others' fighting styles, but also use it to learn the abilities himself. This is most notable in his pre-battle cutscene against Exdeath where he manages to wield the notoriously difficult to master Gunblade in his own improvised style while duel-wielding it with Cloud's Buster Sword.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's a complete goofball who just wants to have fun, but when he gets serious he is just as strong as any of the other heroes.
• Dramatic Wind: His victory pose.
• Flanderization: He was already a bit ditzy in his original game, but here, he's so dense he falls hook, line, and sinker for a painfully obvious trap that leads directly to Zidane getting captured and nearly murdered by Kuja. Truth be known, much of this is Obfuscating Stupidity on his part.
• The Fool: Very naive and gullible.
• Fun Personified: Bartz is, hands down, the most easy-going member of the heroes. Zidane and Tidus are in the runnings, but even they have their moments. With the exception of his Moment of Awesome before fighting Exdeath (see "Obfuscating Stupidity" below), Bartz is as cheery as one can get. He can pretty much be summed up with these words: "Adventure? Cool beans."
• Idiot Hero: If you thought he was bad in his original game (and he was). It's best illustrated in a few of his interactions with Zidane.
  Bartz: Eh, I don't mind a little aimless wandering. In fact, it's what I do best! Besides, since there're all these guys trying to stop us, we must be going the right way!
  Zidane: ...Is this guy for real?
• Irony: For his EX-Burst, Bartz's final strike is via the Brave Sword. In Final Fantasy V, this weapon loses its power as the player runs from battle. Bartz spends most of his Destiny Odyssey avoiding the villains to the point that you'd think he was trying to empower the Chicken Knife instead. Of course, this is all a part of his persona. And avoiding the villains means he never encountered them to begin with.
• Man of a Thousand Voices: In-universe example. In keeping with his combat style, Bartz mimics the voices of the other characters, often in quick succession, as he performs his attacks, in addition to doing so in some of his taunts and in a couple of storyline scenes. His imitation of Kain is particularly amusing. Furthermore, his imitations of Yuna and Tifa in Dissidia 012 are so close that they've started debates on whether or not they're modified versions of the original voice clips. If it's really his voice, Jason Spisak himself makes a good case for this, as well.
• Mythology Gag: In his EX-Burst, Bartz can use the attack Goblin Punch which retains the exact same animation that it had in Final Fantasy V.
  • His alternate costume, which depicts how Amano colors Bartz in a few pieces of artwork.
• Spell My Name With An S: And one remarkably few anglophone fans are willing to kick up a fuss about, considering the alternative.
• "Super Sentai" Stance: When performing Goblin Punch.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

• All Your Powers Combined: As a Mime, he combines the attack patterns of the other heroes to make his own unique attacks.
  • Casting a Shadow: Cecil's Soul Eater, and Dark Flame in Dissidia 012.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: Terra's Holy and Cecil's Paladin Force and Luminous Shard.
  • Laser Blade: In Dissidia 012, he borrows Laguna's Ragnarok Blade HP attack.
  • Playing with Fire: Onion Knight's Flare and Yuna's Hellfire.
  • Spin Attack: Onion Knight's Wind Shear.
  • Summon Magic: In Dissidia 012, he borrows Yuna's Hellfire HP attack, which allows him to summon Ifrit for an attack.
• Ascended Meme: His EX Burst references a rather powerful combination of skills that allows one to attack for 4 times the damage with elemental advantage in only one turn.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Uses punches and kicks for Chase sequences. He also uses Tifa's punches for one of his attacks in Dissidia 012.
• Cool Sword: Many of them, all copied from the other heroes. From Firion, he instead copies his axe, and he uses no weapons from Terra; since she's a Squishy Wizard, he instead takes one or two of her spells. He gets his own sword for his EX Burst — the Brave Blade.
• Ditto Fighter: He not only uses the weapons of other characters, but directly copies their movements and attacks.
• Dual Wielding: During his EX Burst.
• Game-Breaker: His EX Burst is a reference to one in his original game, which is why it's embodied as his Limit Break here.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Bartz can summon various different weapons and banish them as needed.
• Magic Missile Storm: Holy.
• Mega Manning: An official Quest indicates that this is how Bartz learns to mimic attacks; he specifically challenges Laguna so he can learn to copy Ragnarok Blade, then challenges Jecht because he wants to learn his moves too. Jecht rejects him, which is why Bartz doesn't know how to use his attacks.
• Megaton Punch: Goblin Punch, his EX Mode special attack. It's so effective that there are character builds centered on abusing it.
• Spell Blade: His EX Burst involves combining this with Dual Wielding and Blade Spam in reference to a famously powerful combination in his home game.
• Super Mode: Job Mastered!
  "The wind... is with me!"
  • Bartz's cape becomes red, the mark of a Mime, and he gains three stars that hover above his head, the sign that he has mastered his job class. Mastered mime is one of the most-used endgame classes in V, due to the extremely high potential power that they have. In addition to Regen, Bartz's EX Mode gives him the following ability:
    • Goblin Punch: Bartz gains access to one of the first Blue Magic spells, in the form of a fast, powerful, easily-connected HP attack. As is traditional for the spell, it is far more powerful if Bartz and his target have the same level (which makes it very strong for battles at max level). Even if it isn't fully powered, though, it's quite possibly the most useful attack in the game; there's an entire strategy for Bartz that relies on abusing this move.
  • In addition, Job Mastered! gives Bartz access to his EX Burst: Spellblade-Dual Wield-Rapid Fire/Master Mime:
    "Here we go!" *WARK!* *KWEH!* "The four essences!"
  • A reference to Bartz's best ability set-up in Final Fantasy V, this EX Burst has Bartz produce eight weapons; one for every hero (save for Terra, who primarily uses magic): first Dual Wielding The Warrior of Light's Sword and Tidus's Brotherhood charged with water, then Wind with Zidane and Cecil's weapons, followed by lightning with Firion and Cloud's, and finally fire with Squall and the Onion Knight's. After finishing his string of attacks, Bartz merges all eight weapons into one — his own Brave Blade, which he uses to deal the final strike.
    "Let's go! For a shining world!"

Design and Costume Tropes

• Badass Cape: In all but his Alt 2 and DLC outfits, and his Alt 2 still gets one in EX Mode.
• Curtains Match the Window: Which wouldn't be that notable, given that Bartz is brown-haired and brown-eyed, except that this is Final Fantasy we're talking about here.
• Gorgeous George: If you dislike Bartz, for whatever reason, his Dancer outfit definitely makes him this. Dresses flamboyantly? Check. Mimes some actions of the female cast? You bet. A legitimate threat? Don't you forget it.
• Older Than They Look: Somewhat. He actually looks his age, but since most of the other heroes are in their teens, it can come as a surprise that Bartz is one of the oldest, tied with Cecil at around 20 and just under the 21-year-old Cloud. That does not keep 17-year-old Squall from acting as Team Dad towards him and Zidane.
• Ornamental Weapon: He doesn't use that knife he has, preferring his mimed weapons.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: In his Dancer outfit, he wears a bright red vest tied together in only one place, leaving a huge "V" of skin exposed, all the way down to his stomach.
• Real Men Wear Pink: The flip side to Gorgeous George above, if you like Bartz and his Dancer costume, he dials this up.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: Unless he's in his 3P alt, based on the in-game Freelancer look.

In Dissidia

Bartz teams up with Zidane and they race together in order to find their crystals. Their reckless attitudes, however, prove problematic once they fall into traps meant for another. How far will they be willing to go to save one another?

• It's All My Fault: Zidane getting captured.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: So he's a naive, good-natured simpleton, prone to running away and clearly not that bright. Easy target, right, Exdeath? WRONG.
• Magic Feather: Bartz's good luck charm is a literal example of this trope. Turns out it was the embodiment of his Crystal all along.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: It's mentioned in the manual that his attitude belies his talent. Also, in the Japanese version, his quote right before facing Exdeath had been translated by fans as:
  Butz: "I have been serious from the beginning!"
• Parrot Exposition: In the grand and glorious Final Fantasy V tradition.
• Running Gag: Everyone keeps calling his feather nasty.
• Shout-Out: The feather is a reference to one of Boco's feathers. Boco is the name of the chocobo who accompanied Bartz on his travels in the original game.
• Those Two Guys: With Zidane.
• Tired of Running: When he does finally stop, expect your rear end to be handed to you on a silver platter.
• Walking the Earth: Unless you count his penchant for running from battle as this, not quite. However, when Exdeath tells him that he'll wander forever in the Void after being defeated, Bartz is perfectly accepting of the idea, regardless of the fact that he goes on to win. Either way, Bartz is the personification of the wind.

In Dissidia 012

Bartz's role in the main story of Dissidia 012 is minimal, being one of the first Warriors of Cosmos getting put to sleep by Kain, and subsequently disappearing from any other scenes. He does, however, remain relevant for any side-scene involving his Unknown Rival, Gilgamesh.

• Angst? What Angst?: Lampshaded In-Universe by Tidus in a Report, who asks Bartz how it doesn't bother him that he can't remember anything about his home. Bartz, recalling Galuf (though not by name), simply replies that an old friend taught him to not worry about stuff you can't control, and that friend had memory loss but it didn't stop him from being friendly and cheerful, so Bartz is following his example.
• Demoted to Extra: His first appearance in the timeline? Getting it In the Back from Kain. Gets a little more time in the reports and official quests, but not really.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Bartz uses the same EX-burst in both games, which means that in the prequel he's wielding the enemy's weapons (Buster Sword and Brotherhood) for no apparent reason, while skipping over some of his allies.
  • In addition, in the retold story of the thirteenth cycle, Bartz is still using the attacks of the heroes not in the 13th war. Unlike the former, this one is actually lampshaded; apparently Bartz found the weapons beside him when the war began, and even he doesn't know how he knows these attacks.
    • At least in part a Justified Trope; he mentions in the Shade Impulse remake that he thought he was mimicking the Manikins when using the 012 moves, but comes to suspect he used to know who those Manikins were based on.
• Samus Is a Girl: A very funny example in one of the Reports, where Bartz tells Tidus about someone from his world; from the way he speaks, Tidus assumes it must be about a Love Interest, and then at the end, Bartz reveals he's talking about a man — Galuf.
• Vocal Evolution: Jason Spisak sounds a bit higher-pitched in Dissidia 012. The difference is pretty jarring when Bartz uses the same voice clips from the first game during Light to All cutscenes, but then goes back to a higher-pitched voice when using his new attacks. Not to mention his near-perfect mimicry of Lightning and Yuna's voices...

Terra Branford

"I've found a future that I want to protect. No matter how strong my powers become, I will never lose sight of my dream!"

"Even those who are not human are human if they possess the ability to love others." — Veiled Magic.

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui (Japanese), Natalie Lander (English)

—Fighting Style: Esperkin

A hero from Final Fantasy VI. A mysterious girl with the blood of Espers that was enslaved for her magical powers to serve as a Magitek Knight, on a mission to capture an esper she was freed from Imperial control and rescued by a rogue named Locke who she joined in a group called the Returners; rebels that opposed the expanding grasp of the magic hungry Gehstalian Empire.

Terra is an Esperkin and a font of magical power. Wielding an arsenal of magical attacks, she is most comfortable fighting while keeping her distance from the opponent, but has some close-ranged spells to keep from being helpless when they close in. While her damage output is high, her preference for long-ranged projectile attacks that are easy to dodge or block makes it difficult to reliably land hits.

General Tropes

• Action Girl: Of the magical variety.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Kefka implies that she is this in both Dissidia games (he calls her "Destruction Incarnate", for one thing).
• Badass Adorable: A very innocent, petite, cute, sweet, kind, soft-spoken, moogle-loving girl... and the most powerful magician on the side of Cosmos, barring Shantotto. Her esper form only increases her already impressive magical prowess.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Story-wise, she's one of the most timid and kindest characters, but when she decides to go all out, she's an incredibly powerful mage and is treated by Kefka as one of the strongest warriors in the war.
• Covert Pervert: In the original Dissidia, when entering a stage, Onion Knight tells Terra to "check out an enemy's equipment" before fighting them — Terra giggles in response. The line was removed in 012 due to the tutorial-type dialogue being relocated to different storylines.
• Cuteness Proximity: Terra definitely has a soft spot for Moogles. There are three cutscenes that play when you find the Moogle summon in both games, one for if you're playing as a Chaos character at the time, a second for Cosmos characters. Terra however has a unique cutscene in which upon the sight of the Moogle, she grows excited (complete with hearts bursting in the air) and runs up to it to cuddle it. She also shows caring and thought to them in storylines when spoken to on the world map.
• Damsel in Distress: In both games, she needs to be rescued. Only after that does she start kicking some ass.
• Girly Run: It's what happens when you have to fight in heels.
• Half-Human Hybrid: As in her original game, she's a half-Esper, though her storyline more focuses on her powers stemming from this heritage than the heritage itself.
• Heel–Face Turn: Although not by her own will, Terra was fighting for Chaos in Dissidia 012. By the thirteen cycle, she's on Cosmos' side.
• Mythology Gag: In Final Fantasy VI, Terra - yes, the girl who is half made of magic - was second to ten-year-old Pictomancer Relm Arrowny as far as the magic stat was concerned^note This is true if stats are unaltered: equipping Espers altered stat growth on level-up. Here in Dissidia, Shantotto, while far older, definitely could be argued to have the appearance of a ten-year-old, and Terra claims to have never seen such mystic power.
• Plucky Girl: Eventually.
• Power Floats: Though gravity as a whole takes a break in Dissidia, Terra was the only Cosmos warrior that floats along walls when using quickmove in the original game (though Yuna joins her in 012), and she's the only hero to gain the Glide ability in EX Mode.
• Power Incontinence: Her central conflict. If she was able to use full control over her powers she'd probably be one of the most powerful characters. Since the Puppeteer's Wheel is how Kefka controls her and it gives her massive boosts to EX Mode, the implication could be that at full power Terra could remain in her Esper form almost indefinitely, which would indeed make her one of the most powerful characters given the buffs it grants her.
• Power Glows: When Terra uses HP attacks, her hands glow with blue energy.
• Purple Prose: Many of her spells have a Magical Incantation that seem to invoke reverence to nature, or at least the elemental forces:
  Graviga: "Darkness of gravity!"
  Flood: "Sorrowful waters!"
  Tornado: "Malevolent winds!"
  Meteor: "Heaven's lament!"
  Ultima: "Oh perfect light!"
• Reluctant Warrior: When it comes down to it, she's perfectly capable and willing to fight, but she's still not enthused about it.
• Shout-Out: Her quote to Jecht in 012: "You're like a big teddy bear"! It's a reference to Sabin from her own game, in which she says the same thing to him.
• Shrinking Violet: Meek, soft-spoken and reluctant to fight. Develops into a Plucky Girl once she gains a purpose to fight for and overcomes her fears.
• Willfully Weak: She holds back her true abilities because she's afraid of losing control of them.

Gameplay and Combat Tropes

• Apologetic Attacker: Some of her pre and post-battle quotes indicate this.
  "I'm sorry, are you hurt?"
• Black Mage: Technically speaking, given that, of the Cosmos warriors, she's the most proficient with offensive spells.
• Charged Attack: Meltdown has three stages of power, growing larger and more difficult to avoid the longer she charges up.
• Elemental Powers: She has one of the most extensive libraries of magic elements using Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Flood, Tornado, Graviga, Holy and Ultima.
• Full-Contact Magic: Blizzard Combo.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Whenever Terra is fought while being controlled by Kefka, she's given a unique accessory, the Puppeteer's Wheel.^note A mistranslation of "Slave Crown" The accessory starts her with a full EX Gauge and gives her ridiculous buffs to her EX Mode duration and EX Force absorption, allowing her to recharge the gauge from empty with just a few motes. The Puppeteer's Wheel not only shows Kefka is controlling her, but he's forcing Terra to use the full extent of her powers.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: The crux of Terra's Character Development is her struggle to control her powers and her fear of losing control of them. Yet throughout her storyline in both games, Terra's EX Mode mechanics work the same as every other characters, ergo she can transform into her Esper form at will once she has a full EX Gauge and she has no problem controlling her powers in either form. After she gains her Crystals and is implied to gain better control over herself, she still plays the same as everyone else.
• Magical Girl Warrior: Make the Esper form a little less monstrous and less naked, and she could have her own shoujo anime.
• Magic Missile Storm: Holy, particularly in her EX Mode when she fires them faster and fires more of them.
• Pinball Projectile: Fully charged Meltdown. In Dissidia, it didn't even track the opponent like in 012, Terra just fired it and it bounced around the arena like mad.
• Spam Attack: Her EX Mode Holy Combo — fire two barrages of three orbs, then launch rapid-fire Flare attacks.
• Sphere of Destruction: Ultima.
• Super Mode: Trance!
  "If I have to fight...!"
  • Calling upon her Esper heritage, Terra uses her special ability from VI and transforms into a pink-furred Esper form. In addition to Regen, Terra's EX Mode gives her the following abilities:
    • Chainspell: In reference to the Soul of Thamasa relic ("Embraces the spirit of a magus"), Terra has the ability to cast spells twice in a row.
    • Glide: By holding the Jump button, Terra can hover and fly around the stage.
  • In addition to that, Trance gives Terra access to her EX Burst: Riot Blade.
    "No more running! I can protect everything!"
  • Terra charges her hands with energy. Once the charge period is over, she spins and releases the energy in the form of flying blades that slice up her enemy. Notable in that it has one of the highest base damage stats for EX Bursts in the game that's consistent and doesn't require a variable (Current HP, Current Brave, Total EX Force remaining, etc).
    "I won't be defeated!"
• Squishy Wizard: Her attacks hurt a lot, have a lot of tactical diversity, and in EX Mode, her dualcast Holy Combo is one of the most powerful attacks in the game. However, all of her Bravery attacks have Low priority, so even a normal block will deflect them, and their start-up combined with Terra wanting to keep her distance means they aren't too hard to anticipate.
• Sword Beam: Her Riot Blade is this, but with her claws instead.
• Wolverine Claws: When she is in Trance, she uses her claws instead of her sword.

Design and Costume Tropes

• Adaptation Dye-Job: Zigzagged. While artwork for Final Fantasy VI always had her as a blonde, her in-game sprites and her deformed art were famously green haired. Here she has the blonde hair in all her outfits except for her Alt 1, which gives her green hair to match her sprite. So regardless of what you think her original hair color is, she's dyeing it in at least one of her outfits here.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: As an Esper, she's entirely nude, but with no sexual organs or nipples.
• Combat Stilettos: All her outfits have her in heels.
• Cute Monster Girl: As an Esper, she gains tufts of fur on her body and claws on her hands and feet, but is still human enough to be alluring.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In all but her Alt 1 outfit. She's very sweet, kind, and innocent, making her an easy victim for Kefka.
• Hotter and Sexier: Her design is far more sexualized than her Final Fantasy VI artwork and sprites. She's very pretty in the face, her four outfits progressively bare more of her skin, and in contrast to the cast's reactions to a horrible monster, her Esper form is a full Cute Monster Girl instead of just a monster.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Blue eyes for idealism, spiritual purity, and goodness of heart while also overlapping with the magical nature of Occult Blue Eyes. However the shade is close enough to also appear a light violet at times, for her magical nature and unique heritage.
• Leotard of Power: Her Alt 2 outfit in Dissidia 012 swaps out her dress for this.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Her default outfit and Alt 1 have her in the usual hip-length red dress.
• Ms. Fanservice: Rivals the Cloud of Darkness and Tifa for the most gratuitous costume designs of the female cast.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: Her default outfit's tights with a skirt of assorted materials. Her Alt 1 removes the tights but keeps the skirt.
• Ornamental Weapon: She has a knife she never uses and seldom uses her own sword, even ditching it for her Wolverine Claws in EX Mode.
• Pimped-Out Cape: A flowered design in her original outfit, transparent blue in DLC, and adorned with beads and tassels in all of them.

In Dissidia

Probably as a reference to her guarding orphans in her original game, Terra is teamed up with the youngest member of her team, Onion Knight. She follows him around keeping a serene, controlled, and cautious attitude to keep his Hot-Blooded impulses in check. When she's kidnapped, Onion Knight sets out to save her. When he's kidnapped, Terra teams up with Cloud to settle the debt.

• Brainwashed and Crazy: In combination with the Easy Amnesia trope.
• Break the Cutie: The Chaos side seems determined to do this.
• Designated Girl Fight: She and Ultimecia fight each other exclusively in the opening while the other characters have a free-for-all.
• Easy Amnesia: In the second half of her story, after being brainwashed by Cloud of Darkness.
• Grew a Spine: Thanks to encouragement from her new friends, she goes from a timid traumatized girl barely able to speak or use her powers out of fear of losing control to a confident warrior able to give Kefka a Shut Up, Hannibal! when he tries to play mind games with her and eventually takes him down on her own.
• The Heart: Grows into this through her Character Development.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers a major one when Kefka exposed that she beat Onion Knight to a bloody pulp earlier (she forgot about the encounter, presumably from the trauma of having to go through it).
• Mama Bear: Onion Knight being in potential danger is apparently what drives her to toughen up and force herself to control her powers.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Kefka reveals that she went crazy and attacked Onion Knight.
• Reluctant Warrior: Mostly because she's worried she'll lose control of her powers in the heat of battle. She gets over it.
• The Smurfette Principle: In the thirteenth cycle, she's the last woman still fighting for Cosmos. Lampshaded in-game where instead of her occupation or a recurring motif, her manikin is instead called Phantasmal Girl for her gender.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Ends up feeling this for Kefka after defeating him for the final time.
  "It was your broken heart. You were trying to fill it with destruction..."
• Tired of Running: Practically explicitly said as an in-battle quote. Unfortunately for her opponents, when she decides to stop, it's too late for them to start.

In Dissidia 012

Playing off her early role in her source game, Terra starts off in Dissidia 012 as a Warrior of Chaos, brainwashed by Kefka into becoming a mindless fighting machine; that is, until, in an odd moment of sympathy, Kuja hijacks the spell, allowing Terra to eventually regain her own free will. Before Kefka can re-manipulate her, Vaan comes to her aid, even if she's technically his enemy. He motivates her to fight not for the war, but for what she wishes, opening her eyes to new possibilities.

• Anti-Villain: Type IV; apparently, the only reason she was still on the villains' side is because Kefka brainwashed her.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Due to a spell of Kefka. Her museum profile states that she was originally summoned as a Warrior of Chaos. Kefka then became interested in her powers and brainwashed her. She's on Chaos's side because she was working for the bad guys at the start of their original storylines. Because Kefka had brainwashed her, it's cyclical.
• Dating Catwoman: Vaan, who's on the opposite team, helps her out in a style rather similar to Locke, no less. She clearly grows fond of him, even vaguely recognizing some of him in the Onion Knight after the purification of the 12th cycle (after which her memories of him should have been erased completely).
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: She asks Vaan to kill her so she won't hurt people again (possibly a parallel to Celes' suicide attempt after Cid's death in the original game). Vaan is surprised by this request, while Terra (only recently released from brainwashing) seems to be confused as to why Vaan would not do what he is "supposed" to do. Thankfully, Vaan talks her out of it.
• Informed Attribute: Kefka stated that she loved to cause carnage and destruction when confronting her about why she doesn't want to fight (before Vaan interfered when Kefka tortured her), but her prior appearances did not have her feeling any kind of apparent emotion when fighting, much less joy (she sounded robotic, if anything). Of course, seeing how this is Kefka we're talking about, its likely this wasn't true to begin with.
• Mama Bear: While you have to look for it in the original storyline, the 12th cycle really drives it home: Vaan tells her to stay hidden and leaves, she sees a group of manikins heading for Cosmos, who she thinks is unprotected. She hurls herself into the fight without even a second thought.
  • This would fittingly make her EX Burst cry more poignant: "I can protect everything!"
• Mind-Control Eyes: Sports them which serves as a sign of Kefka's brainwashing over her.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Fights to the end of her strength against some manikins that were after Cosmos.

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