Character Death in ‘Final Fantasy’

Eric Fuchs
Games
Games

SPOILER ALERT for the entire Final Fantasy series ahead, beware.

There is a conflict at the heart of the design of every role-playing video game:  story vs. gameplay. This is particularly evident in Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy. Since its beginning, this series has been looking to tell tales full of unique characters and complex storylines. However, the story elements exist largely independent of player input. These games have to juggle long story-free segments of dungeon crawling with often equally long story segments that are largely free of player interaction. Holding back either gameplay or story sections can cost the game a sense of pace.

One of the places where Final Fantasy’s conflict between game demand and story demands is most at odds is with character death. If you’re looking to tell a compelling story with emotional turns, an effective way to raise the stakes is to kill off a character. Killing off NPCs is easy, that has no effect on gameplay. But losing minor side characters can never have the same emotional weight as eliminating a character the player has been using in battle and bonding with for hours and hours. But there’s a gameplay cost to killing party members. The player loses key elements of their gameplay strategy. Nobody wants to see their MVP eliminated and their gameplan crippled. That would feel unfair to the player.

Of course, Final Fantasy does kill off party members. We’re all immediately thinking of a certain brunette in a red dress right now, aren’t we? But eliminating party members requires planning on the part of the game designers. Over the years, Final Fantasy has attempted several methods to safely remove characters to expand their story options while keeping the game fun. Some of the games have even used the loss players feel in gameplay options to affect the player and actualize the story in an interactive way.

“Revolving Door” Parties

Josef dies FFII

Ms. Gainsborough might be the most notorious party member to die in Final Fantasy, but she is hardly the first. Party member elimination actually begins just when the series began to write actual plotlines for its adventure with named characters in Final Fantasy II. Even as a title on the 8-bit Famicom, Final Fantasy II is a downright vicious game when it comes to character death. Much of the cast is eliminated, including most of the playable characters, and large segments of the world map are destroyed by the main villain with a huge tornado after he conquers Hell. Despite its basic graphics, Final Fantasy II is oddly similar to Final Fantasy Type-0’s tale of desperation, war, and cataclysm.

The way Final Fantasy II kills off player characters is by keeping a core trio of three permanent members and one “guest” slot. That fourth slot is basically like the drummer from Spinal Tap: if anybody is going to suffer an unfortunate accident, it will be them. Some guest party members get to simply walk away, but many do not. Final Fantasy II rarely requires a party of three to be used, and usually a new fourth member will join as soon as the last occupant of the cursed fourth seat is lost. They are balanced to be close to the player’s level and often do not last long enough for the player to customize their stats. This way the game can have dramatic moments like Joseph, Ricard, and Minwu sacrificing themselves to save the party, but without costing the player too dearly.

Final Fantasy IV employs a similar method. In the first half of the game the player has a core party of mainly just the hero Cecil, with the rest of the crew filling in around him. Character deaths are major moments like in Final Fantasy II, but their purpose is geared more towards gameplay. The “death” of Porom and Palom is a tough moment, but it was created to clear out space in the party for other members.

Final Fantasy IV makes the party composition itself a major challenge. You must adapt to the new characters that come in and create new strategies to overcome the next dungeon. Players are saddled with weaker mages like Tellah or defensive characters like Cid, but can find useful tasks for them to beat enemies. It is only in the last act of Final Fantasy IV that the final party of five is assembled. It may be because the character deaths were added for gameplay reasons that Final Fantasy IV’s story rarely allows the deaths to last. Pretty much everybody is brought back to life in the end.

Stat Inheritance

Aerith Dies FFVII

Accomplishing a character death without punishing the player is tricky, but never more so in Job System games. The player in Final Fantasy V is given a small team of four which master a host of abilities and skills from dozens of Classes. To lose any one of the four characters in terms of game structure would mean tens of hours of work lost and countless Ability Points wasted. Final Fantasy III avoided the issue by keeping everybody alive aside from temporary NPC support characters. But for Final Fantasy V Square wanted a dark moment at the mid-point of the game. Final Fantasy V up until that is comparatively more upbeat and lighter than the more story-driven games before and after. Yet halfway through the game the character Galuf fights the evil Exdeath one-on-one and does not survive the encounter.

To keep the player’s party and progress intact, Galuf is replaced by his granddaughter, Krile. Krile inherits all of Galuf’s Jobs, Abilities, and even the stat boosts he obtained while using certain Classes. In terms of raw gameplay functionality, Final Fantasy V actually does not have a character death. For all intents and purposes one sprite is merely replaced by another. The player can continue the game as they had before.

Final Fantasy VII  has no character who directly takes Aerith’s place. But the game’s battle system is built from the ground up to accommodate this one famous story moment. Actual character stats and levels are clearly secondary in importance to the Materia System. Materia are key to Final Fantasy VII‘s combat, they imbue abilities, teach spells, and boost stats. While characters gain stats themselves, the more important leveling actually occurs in the magical orbs they carry. Aerith’s death is still a loss gameplay-wise, as her unique Limit Breaks are irreplaceable. But virtually any character can be given her Materia load-out and take her place for the player’s strategy. Materia cannot unshed those tears, though.

Anyone Can Die

FFT Somebody Dies

Permanent character death does not necessarily have to be scripted. Final Fantasy Tactics flips the entire design: no playable characters are written to die during the course of gameplay, but any character (other than the main character, Ramza) can die at any time. Where in other Final Fantasy games dropping to 0 HP comes with no lasting cost, Final Fantasy Tactics uses the strategy RPG model. As in games like Fire Emblem, if a character is killed in a battle in Final Fantasy Tactics they are gone forever. They will take with them all equipment, abilities, and Jobs they might have mastered. Depending on the game and the character, this can be a brutal blow to a player, almost forcing a reset to try again.

Other Final Fantasy games cannot possibly handle the unintended loss of any party member or else their story would be ruined. Imagine a Final Fantasy X where Yuna dies on Besaid Island; there just would be no game after that. Final Fantasy Tactics, therefore, has to write its story with the assumption that the player could lose every single character they acquire. Characters have story functions before they join your party, but afterwards will only take part very rarely. Agrias Oaks, for example, has a lot to do with the plot before she joins your team. She is a knight of great holy power that serves the royal family and wants to save the Princess Ovelia from the civil war spreading across Ivalice. But once she’s in the party she could potentially die in the very next battle. Her role in the plot is marginalized almost entirely. The actual key characters in the War of the Lions are people like Delita, Alma, Ovelia, and Weigraf, who either are never party members or only appear as temporary CPU characters that cannot die.

The Future?

FinalFantasyXV

For a JRPG series, Final Fantasy is actually rather willing to eliminate playable characters. This never occurs in Dragon Quest, could never ever happen in Pokémon, and only happens once in Persona. Those games that do kill off playable characters usually follow one of these three methods, or leave the survival of a party member up to player choice (like Shadow in Final Fantasy VI).

The single-player Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy VIII onward have largely not featured major character deaths during their stories. Casts have steadily become smaller and smaller, with no game past Final Fantasy X having more than six playable characters. There is just no room to eliminate anybody during the course of the story. They leave the  major player character deaths for the ending. Auron and Tidus pass away at the end of Final Fantasy X, Fang and Vanille die to save the world at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, almost the entire cast dies in Type-0. But that is only after the final boss has been defeated and no damage can be done to the player’s team.

Final Fantasy XV only has a single playable character in Noctis. In all likelihood, Noctis will be safe to survive to the end of the game, but his friends traveling with him in the car are merely support allies. Gameplay-wise they are easily expendable. Fans might need to prepare themselves for some tragedy come this September. And with the Final Fantasy VII Remake on the horizon, we can all be certain that Aerith will not survive. Just how the new version will design itself to work around her death is yet to be seen.

Eric Fuchs
FFWiki Admin, Gunpla Builder, House Lannister-supporter, Nice Jewish Boy that Your Mom Will Love, and a Capricorn. http://bluehighwind.blogspot.com/
15 Games Like Call Of Duty To Play With Your Friends In 2025
Here's our full list of the best games like Call of Duty to play right now if you need a new multiplayer shooter to dive into.
Copied to clipboard
Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Through The Ages: Every Bonus Sheet Card
Here are all 64 cards from the special subset included within the MTG Final Fantasy expansion.
Copied to clipboard
Switch 2's Bravely Default Remaster Rings In 3DS Nostalgia Era With A Great RPG
The retro-throwback RPG looks beautiful in some ways, and charmingly rudimentary in others.
Copied to clipboard
Murderbot Review: Alexander Skarsgård Is Hilariously Awkward in Sci-Fi Dramedy
Skarsgård plays a rogue cyborg in Apple TV+'s somewhat shallow but appropriately snarky adaptation
Copied to clipboard
The Handmaid's Tale Cast and Crew React to the Show's Own Red Wedding Episode
'People are going to have their minds blown by what happens.'
Copied to clipboard
All The PlayStation Plus May 2025 Games For Premium And Extra Subscribers
PS Plus subscribers can look forward to a diverse selection of games this month.
Copied to clipboard
Duster Review: Thank You, J.J. Abrams, for Another Josh Holloway Show
The new crime thriller from Abrams and LaToya Morgan is a messy delight
Copied to clipboard
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 Review - Completing The Set
Capcom delivers another great fighting game collection--even with varying quality in the selections this time around.
Copied to clipboard
Control Spin-Off FBC: Firebreak Is A Defiant, Punk-Rock Take On Co-Op Shooters
Remedy's three-player FPS combines a DIY spirit with Left 4 Dead-like chaos.
Copied to clipboard
FX Just Dropped a Ton of Alien: Earth Info, Including a Premiere Date
Noah Hawley's take on the sci-fi franchise is set somewhere Alien has never been
Copied to clipboard
Tracker Boss Unpacks That Season 2 Finale and What's Coming in Season 3
Elwood Reid says Justin Hartley evokes a certain classic tough guy
Copied to clipboard
Marvel Rivals Battle Pass Season 0 - All Skins, Emotes, And Other Rewards
The free-to-play hero shooter Marvel Rivals has arrived, launching with a short Season 0 battle pass.
Copied to clipboard
Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Delayed
The new Marvel game won't make it out on time.
Copied to clipboard
The Best And Wildest Grand Theft Auto 6 Theories We've Seen So Far
Even with limited footage and screens, the GTA community has some big ideas for the next game.
Copied to clipboard
WoW Legion Is Getting The Remix Treatment, Blizzard Confirms
Legion Remix has been officially announced at PAX East.
Copied to clipboard
Fallout Renewed For A Third Season, But Heading To New Vegas First
Prime Video has greenlit Fallout Season 3 while we're still waiting for Season 2 to premiere later this year.
Copied to clipboard
Boba Fett, Final Fantasy 7's Aerith, And The Best Cosplay From PAX East 2025
Halo, Helldivers, Fallout, and much more were on display by fans at PAX.
Copied to clipboard
GTA 4 Remaster May Be In The Works
We might get GTA 4 a second time before GTA 6.
Copied to clipboard
Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Collab Led To Spirited Discussions Over Cuts
"I had to say 'Daniel, if they don't make it in, I will be very upset, because someone will get very upset with me if they don't make it in."
Copied to clipboard
Nintendo Reveals A Switch 2 Setting That Prevents Its Battery From Deteriorating
Make sure you turn on this Nintendo Switch 2 setting if you don't want your battery to deteriorate as fast.
Copied to clipboard
Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy PAX East Panel: See The Revealed Cards Now
The mad dash to June 13 has begun, as the PAX East panel revealed over 20 cards from the upcoming set.
Copied to clipboard
Borderlands 4 Will Feature Substantial Changes For Co-Op Players
From improved lobbies to the ability to fast-travel directly to your friends, Borderlands 4 looks like it'll be a blast of fun for fans of co-op games
Copied to clipboard
Andor's Kyle Soller: Syril's 'Finally Understanding That He's Been the Patsy'
'He's in such a primal state of transition, it's like he's leaving a cult'
Copied to clipboard
The Hilarious Peacemaker Season 2 Trailer Features Some DC Cameos
Check out the Superman connection in the first Season 2 trailer
Copied to clipboard
Revenge Of The Savage Planet Review - A Goo(d) Time
A bigger and better sequel, stretching out its joyful mix of platforming, exploration, and puzzle-solving across four diverse and lively planets.
Copied to clipboard
Doom: The Dark Ages Review - The Old One
Doom: The Dark Ages reinvents and reins in with equal measure, taking the series in a bold new direction without straying from its captivating roots.
Copied to clipboard
Europa Universalis 5 Is Unabashedly Hardcore, And I Love It
Europa Universalis 5 features all of the thorough mechanical depth Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy series is known for.
Copied to clipboard
How To Survive Fortnite's Painfully Slow Star Wars Meta
Zero Build players should never leave home without shield bubbles.
Copied to clipboard
8 Horror Subclasses Join Unearthed Arcana For Dungeons And Dragons 2024
New D&D horror subclasses announced with the latest Unearthed Arcana.
Copied to clipboard
Squid Game's Season 3 Trailer Teases a New Deadly Game
Let's talk about that gumball machine in the new trailer
Copied to clipboard
The Best Anime TV Shows on Netflix
The biggest streamer has a ton of Japanese imports and exclusive originals worth watching
Copied to clipboard
GTA 6 Trailer 2 Breakdown: What's Happening In Leonida?
You'd be amazed how much can be packed into two minutes and 46 seconds.
Copied to clipboard
Disney Lorcana Next Chapter Livestream: Everything Revealed For Lorcana's Future
Ravensburger's hit TCG has some big plans for its third year.
Copied to clipboard
Games Joining Game Pass In May 2025, Including Doom: The Dark Ages
Three day-one releases are part of this wave for the subscription service.
Copied to clipboard
GTA 6 - Here Are 177 Screenshots To Ease The Wait Until 2026
Grand Theft Auto VI is coming in May 2026.
Copied to clipboard
Filming The Last of Us Episode 4's Subway Action Scene Was No Easy Task
Go behind Episodes 2 and 4 with cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt
Copied to clipboard
Apex Legends Season 25 Patch Notes: New Legend, Arenas Mode, And More
Season 25: Prodigy includes a new audio bug report system, the return of Arenas, and a new Legend named Sparrow.
Copied to clipboard
Nintendo Switch's Latest Update Disables Popular Game-Sharing Loophole
Switch owners have lost a helpful way to share online-enabled games thanks to the latest hardware update.
Copied to clipboard
Fortnite Star Wars Battle Pass: All Skins And Other Rewards
Fortnite is going all in on Star Wars this month.
Copied to clipboard
GTA 6 Delayed To 2026
Rockstar's giant open-world game will not make it out on time.
Copied to clipboard
FX Gives First Details on Shōgun Season 2
Production is set to begin in 2026
Copied to clipboard
Sam Elliott Joins Landman Season 2, as He Should
A legend of the West is joining Season 2 — yeehaw!
Copied to clipboard
Everything New In Fortnite's Star Wars Season, Galactic Battle
For the next five weeks, Star Wars is taking over Fortnite battle royale and Lego Fortnite.
Copied to clipboard
Fortnite Returning To US iOS Soon After Judge Slams Apple For "Insubordination"
The latest chapter in the Epic Games/Apple legal battle gives Epic a big win.
Copied to clipboard
Xbox Consoles, Games, And Accessories See Price Increases Starting Today
An Xbox Series X system will now cost $600 in the US, after previously being listed for $500.
Copied to clipboard
PlayStation Plus Free Games For May 2025 Revealed
Here's what PS Plus subscribers can look forward to in May.
Copied to clipboard
These Nintendo Switch 2 Titles Have The Full Game On The Game Card
Only certain physical releases for Nintendo Switch 2 will contain the entire game on the Game Card. These are all of the ones confirmed so far.
Copied to clipboard
Best Oblivion Remastered Mods To Download So Far
Mods are available to download in Oblivion Remastered, but which ones should you prioritize first for your journey in Cyrodiil?
Copied to clipboard
Borderlands 4 Release Date Moved Up
Gearbox's looter-shooter is now coming a few weeks sooner.
Copied to clipboard
Skin Deep Review - System Snark
While rewarding creativity like any great game in its genre should, Blendo Games' Skin Deep also offers a refreshingly lighthearted take on the im sim
Copied to clipboard
The Best Games Of 2025 (So Far)
2025 is off to a great start, thanks to games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Civilization VII.
Copied to clipboard
Gameloft CEO Reflects On 25th Anniversary:"No Miracle Recipe For A Blockbuster"
The CEO of the tenured game maker speaks about agility, collaboration, and vigilance in a volatile industry.
Copied to clipboard
You Won't Find Switch 2 Consoles On Amazon, But You Can Get Games & Gear
Here's why only select Nintendo Switch 2 products are available at Amazon right now.
Copied to clipboard
Andor's Undocumented Labor Subplot Hits Terrifyingly Close to Home
The Star Wars series draws real-world parallels with its harrowing refugee storyline
Copied to clipboard
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review
Despite its name, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered comfortably toes the line between a remake and remaster
Copied to clipboard
You Season 5 Takes a Strange Detour but Ends Where It Must
The final season of the twisted Netflix drama knows what Joe Goldberg deserves, even if it takes too long to deliver
Copied to clipboard
Getting A Switch 2 Was A Chaotic, Stressful Mess
The floodgates opened, and online retailers nearly buckled under the surge of Switch 2 seekers.
Copied to clipboard
Fortnite Star Wars Map Revealed A Week Before Major Update
The next Fortnite update might not be Chapter 6 Season 3 like players expected.
Copied to clipboard
What's Coming to Netflix in May
Check into the Four Seasons with Tina Fey and Colman Domingo on May 1
Copied to clipboard
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review - Light And Shadow
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a phenomenal RPG, telling a heartbreaking tale while incorporating thrilling action into its tactical turn-based combat
Copied to clipboard
Everything Sucks, But Video Games Help Me Process It
As much as the world needs games that make us feel secure and cozy, I believe we need games that encourage and empower us, too.
Copied to clipboard
Best Classes In Oblivion Remastered And All Elder Scrolls IV Classes
There are nearly two dozen classes to choose from in Oblivion Remastered, so which ones are the best to use for your character?
Copied to clipboard
Oblivion Remastered Is Steam Deck Verified And Steeply Discounted For PC
If you want the newly released remaster of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on Steam, check out Fanatical's deals on the standard and Deluxe Editions.
Copied to clipboard
73 Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remaster Screenshots Showing Off The New Visuals
Bethesda's new Unreal Engine 5-powered RPG remaster is out now, and it looks pretty great.
Copied to clipboard
New Max and HBO TV Shows and Movies in April 2025
I couldn't help but wonder, what's coming to HBO in May?
Copied to clipboard
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Full Walkthrough
Oblivion Remastered is here, and we have a full walkthrough, including character customization, quests, guilds, shrines, and more.
Copied to clipboard
Oblivion Remaster Surprise-Launches Today On Game Pass, Also Available On PS5
The long-rumored Elder Scrolls remaster was announced today, and it's out now.
Copied to clipboard
Andor Season 2 Review: A Thrilling Conclusion to the Greatest Star Wars Spin-Off
Diego Luna's rebel spy returns in this beautifully realized anti-fascist drama
Copied to clipboard
The Last Of Us Season 2's Shocking Death: Cast And Writers React To Big Reveal
Pedro Pascal says he is in "active denial" about the latest developments on HBO's The Last of Us.
Copied to clipboard
Star Wars: Zero Company Trailer Teases Stealthy Tactics In A Galaxy Far Far Away
The first look at Star Wars: Zero Company showed off a darker side of the Clone Wars.
Copied to clipboard
Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Review In Progress - A New Mark
A mechanically sound and fun fighting experience is slightly hampered by a lacking set of modes to use it in.
Copied to clipboard
Black Mirror's Jimmi Simpson Drew Inspiration From Elon Musk for his Latest Role
'Right now, the Tech-Billionaire-Out-of-Control is such a present issue'
Copied to clipboard
Sunderfolk Review - A Great Tabletop-Inspired Game With Friends
Sunderfolk isn't great if you play it on your own, but the experience with friends is fantastic and memorable.
Copied to clipboard
The Wheel of Time's Rand and Lanfear Have the Most Twisted Romance on TV
The unexpected relationship evokes Star Wars' Reylo, but in reverse
Copied to clipboard
Matlock's Boss on the 'Heartbreaking' Finale and What It Means for Season 2
She also reveals how the team decided who stole the Wellbrexa documents
Copied to clipboard
WrestleMania 41 Predictions For All Matches Using WWE 2K25
We predicted WWE WrestleMania 41 the best way we know how: by simulating the WrestleMania 41 match card inside WWE 2K25.
Copied to clipboard
Did Nintendo Justify Mario Kart World's $80 Price?
The Nintendo Direct focused on Mario Kart had some neat features but didn't exactly make the case for a steep price increase.
Copied to clipboard
Nintendo Switch 2 Console Preorders Sold Out At All Major Retailers
The Switch 2 will still cost $450 on its own or $500 in a bundle with Mario Kart World when it launches on June 5.
Copied to clipboard
Battle Mode Is Back In Mario Kart World, Two Minigames Confirmed
The Switch 2 launch title is bringing back balloon-based battles.
Copied to clipboard
Mario Kart World Lets Players Rewind If They Make A Mistake
A helpful new Mario Kart World feature will allow players to rewind if they mess up while racing.
Copied to clipboard
Black Mirror's Will Poulter Talks Glow-Up in Plaything, Bandersnatch Theories
'There are little things that suggest he's time-traveled, if you look really carefully'
Copied to clipboard
In Pulse, Jessie T. Usher Forgoes Superpowers to Play a Real Hero
The Boys' fastest man in the world takes on an action-packed emergency room in Netflix's medical drama
Copied to clipboard
Fallout 3 Remaster In The Works, But It's Not Arriving Anytime Soon - Report
Meanwhile, Fallout 5 and the Prime Video TV series are on the way, too.
Copied to clipboard