Final Fantasy II
1988 · Famicom · the first Final Fantasy with a named cast
The original Final Fantasy gave you four blank Warriors of Light. Its 1988 sequel was the first in the series to hand you people instead: Firion, Maria and Guy, orphaned by the Palamecian Empire, joined by a rotating fourth slot that the story keeps emptying. That fourth chair is the point. Characters pass through it and do not always come back, which was startling in 1988 and still shapes how the game is remembered.
Final Fantasy II also abandoned experience levels for a system where stats grow through use: swing a sword to raise strength, take hits to raise stamina. It was divisive then and has never returned in that form, but it is the reason the game feels unlike anything else in the series.
It matters for another reason too. This is where Cid first appears, beginning a tradition of a Cid in nearly every Final Fantasy since, and where the Emperor established the template for a villain who is genuinely irredeemable rather than merely misguided.
This cast in the puzzles
A small cast with an unusually high turnover, so the roster leans towards the Empire and the rebellion rather than a fixed party.
| Characters in the roster | 13 |
|---|---|
| Debut year / era | 1988 · Retro (pixel era) |
| Roles | 1 protagonist · 8 party member · 3 antagonist · 1 npc |
| Most common weapons | Sword (3) · Spear (2) · Axe (1) · Fists (1) · Dagger (1) |
| Races represented | Human (13) |
| Eligible for the Quote puzzle | 9 of 13 |
The Final Fantasy II cast (13)
Play today's puzzle
Any of these 13 characters can be the answer to the daily Character or Silhouette puzzle. A new subject is drawn every day at 00:00 UTC, the same one for everyone.