Final Fantasy IV
1991 · Super Famicom · fixed classes and a real dramatic arc
Where Final Fantasy III let anyone be anything, Final Fantasy IV did the opposite: every character arrives with a locked class that expresses who they are. Cecil is a Dark Knight who must literally renounce that power to become a Paladin; Kain is a Dragoon whose loyalty keeps breaking; Rydia is a summoner whose childhood is taken from her. The classes are the characterisation.
It also introduced the Active Time Battle system, which governed Final Fantasy combat for the next decade, and told the first story in the series with genuine interiority: betrayal, grief, and a run of character deaths that the game is not always honest about.
The antagonists are unusually well organised: the four Archfiends of the Elements (Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia and Rubicante) serve Golbez, who answers to Zemus. Rubicante in particular is the rare Final Fantasy villain with a code of honour, healing the party before fighting them.
This cast in the puzzles
One of the cleanest casts for the character puzzle: nearly everyone has an unambiguous canonical class, so job tiles are reliable here.
| Characters in the roster | 25 |
|---|---|
| Debut year / era | 1991 · Retro (pixel era) |
| Roles | 1 protagonist · 11 party member · 12 antagonist · 1 npc |
| Most common weapons | Sword (2) · Spear (2) · Bow (2) · Rod (2) · Staff (2) |
| Races represented | Human (15) · Other (6) · Lunarian (3) · Elf (1) |
| Eligible for the Quote puzzle | 22 of 25 |
| Summons debuting here | 7 |
The Final Fantasy IV cast (25)
Archfiends Antagonist
Baigan Antagonist
Barbariccia Antagonist
Cagnazzo Antagonist
Cecil Harvey Protagonist
Cid Pollendina Party member
Dark Elf (Final Fantasy IV) Antagonist
Dark Kain Antagonist
Dr. Lugae (Final Fantasy IV) Antagonist
Edge Geraldine Party member
Edward Chris von Muir Party member
FuSoYa Party member
Golbez Antagonist
Kain Highwind Party member
Luca (Final Fantasy IV) NPC
Palom Party member
Porom Party member
Rosa Farrell Party member
Rubicante Antagonist
Rydia Party member
Scarmiglione Antagonist
Tellah Party member
Yang Fang Leiden Party member
Zemus Antagonist
Zeromus (Final Fantasy IV) Antagonist
Summons introduced in Final Fantasy IV (7)
Play today's puzzle
Any of these 25 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.