Summary
While Square Enix’sFinal Fantasyseries has become industry-renowned for some of the most captivating narratives of the medium, it arguably remains that some of its dialogue can come across as pulpy at best. However, with a history spanning multiple decades, theFinal Fantasyfranchise has shown a tendency to bestow some of its characters with some seemingly momentous final lines of dialogue.
From series-defining villains casting no doubt as to their evil plans with monologue-heavy final moments to heroes accepting their fate with bittersweet reflection, theFinal Fantasyseries has often allowed their characters the luxury of a notable exit from the franchise.
Spoiler Warning: The following entries will delve into some major narrative spoilers.
“After you guys beat me, I had nothing left… nothing more to lose. Then, I finally realized what it means to live… I guess I was too late.”
Despite his place asFinal Fantasy 9’s central antagonist, with great ambitions to control the 2000 role-playing game’s world of Gaia, Kuja’s position is ultimately reversed within his final moments at the game’s narrative climax. Upon his defeat by the player, as he lies dying at the feet of the game’s protagonist, Zidaine, his power-hungry insanity seemingly dissipates as he acknowledges his fragility and the foolhardiness of his plans of domination.
What results is anarguably anticlimactic conclusion to the game’s dark conflict, as Kuja pivots to a seeming antihero with the acknowledgment that his powers of sorcery and manipulation were for nothing. As such, his dying words not only impact the player but also resolve a character arc that — on a second playthrough — weaves itself through the game’s themes and central conflict.
“I brought this on…myself. Letting hate consume me so. Please…avenge…Anna.”
Considering 1991’sFinal Fantasy 4is seemingly often revered asone of the series' best-looking and hardest-hitting entriesof the decade-spanning JRPG series, it’s arguably no surprise that the last moments of one of the party’s most unique characters continues this pedigree. After the elderly mage Tellah commits to casting Meteor on the crystal-hungry evil mage Golbez, despite the risk it poses to his frail mortality, to save his companions, he is left hoping that his sacrifice was not in vain.
In defeating Golbez and redeeming himself in his mind for the death of his daughter Anna, Tellah fulfills his personal goal of retribution and speeds his younger party members to see the game’s conclusion. As such, with the self-sacrifice and grief-induced determination of the elderly mage’s actions, his final words of fulfillment and peace are meaningful not only to the party but to the player.
“I am the wish-gatherer. I am the world-maker. Desire is the thread that binds the worlds together.”
With her role asFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance’s central antagonist, Remedi — the Queen of Ivalice — is core to the 2003 spin-off installment’s position as"one of the best handheld strategy games of all time.“As a result, her transformative and climactic confrontation with the game’s protagonist and party not only acts as the game’s culminating combat scenario but also the narrative peak ofFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance’s45-hour-long strategic campaign.
Existing within the dream world of Ivalice, Remedi’s ethereal being is merely a conduit for Li-Grim, and upon her defeat, the ‘wish gatherer’ and ‘world maker’ ofFinal Fantasy Tactics Advanceis revealed. Compounded by her mortal frailty and ultimate defeat by the player’s party, Remedi’s final proclamations of her magical power are a fitting climax to the game’s grand handheld adventure.
“Yuna, I have to go. I’m sorry I couldn’t show you Zanarkand. Goodbye!”
Considering the overwhelming strength and plot-relevance of theFinal Fantasyseries' anthological protagonists, it comes as no surprise that most of the franchise’s heroes are alive and kicking after their respective installments. However, in flipping this customary indefatigability, 2001’sFinal Fantasy 10’s Tidus' final moments are spent in quiet reflection at the game’s narrative conclusion.
After developing and proving the worth of not only his abilities but his blossoming relationship with Yuna, Tidus' role within the cyclical conflict of Sin and his ultimate fate is revealed. In one oftheFinal Fantasyseries' most notable final moments,Tidus not only embraces his mortality but bids a final farewell to his companions — ultimately apologizing for the limited time he was able to spend with them all and the promises he is unable to fulfill.
“Though guided by the Light, they war among themselves and defile the Star. How could mortals hope to survive alone in a godless world?”
Despite his position as the god of war and a core figure within the multifaceted narrative ofFinal Fantasy 15and its related media, Bahamut remains one of the 2016 Action JRPG’s most recognizable entities. As a result, while his ethereal position inFinal Fantasy 15is ultimately bolstered by the game’s protagonist Noctis, in the game’s final moments, thealternative-history companion novelby Emi Nagashima portrays his defeat.
2019’sFinal Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Futurereframes Bahamut’s omnipotent power directed towards the defeat of the Scourge as Eos' ultimate antagonist. As a result, Bahamut’s godly omniscience and role as a greater power are reinterpreted through the lens ofFinal Fantasy 15’s greatest villain — meaning that his flowery monologuing regarding the mortality of humanity and his role as Eos' savior is more similar to a tyrannical deity than a heroic creature.
“I’ll destroy everything! I’ll create my own empire…of death! […] but what fun is destruction if no ‘precious’ lives are lost?”
With the status ofFinal Fantasy 6’s Kefka as"the greatest mad villain Final Fantasy has ever concocted,“and the tendency for antagonists across art to seemingly spout some of the most hard-hitting dialogue of any character, Kefka’s final words before his defeat are arguably some of video gaming’s most revered. Standing before the player’s party as a god-like being and wielding the Light of Judgement against the world ofFinal Fantasy 6, Kefka’s madness-riddled victory is accompanied by a plethora of gloating and arrogance fitting for a demigod.
Proclaiming his position as the god of his newly-formed ‘kingdom of death’ while basking in the pain and suffering he inflicts, Kefka’s final moments before the party initiates the battle that will ultimately defeat him are some of the series' — and the video game industry’s — most influential.
“After 2,000 years I will be forgotten, and the Time Loop will close. I will live forever, and you shall meet doom!”
Despite its age, 1987’sFinal Fantasynot only introduced the video game industry to one of its most recognizable properties but"paved the way for a series that never rested on its laurels.“This was not only a result of tight world-building and expansive scope, but also a time-weaving antagonist that seemingly remains one of the series' most influential villains. The once-revered Cornelian warrior Garland, who ultimately soaked up the power of the Four Fiends and transformed into the beast-god Chaos, is menacing not only in his scale but also in his ability to create a time loop that uniquely tests the player’s party and the world ofFinal Fantasy.
With the time loop closed and Chaos faced with the possibility of his mortality, he proclaims that he will not be defeated and strives to defeat the Warriors of Light in that moment. Although he is finally bested, Chaos' creativity and villainy not only established the NES original as a classic for the system but the series as one that would continue to surprise and delight players.
“It…was…fun…you…guys…La…guna…Ki…ros…It…was…fun…”
With as rich a history of varied settings and themes asFinal Fantasyhas, it is seemingly no surprise that many of the franchise’s companion characters have garnered similar — or even greater — adoration from fans as the series' protagonists. This acclaim is so great that"even those who join the party for a short time often leave a strong impression”— as arguably is the case forFinal Fantasy 8’s ultimately mute party member Ward.
During his final mission when in the ranks of the Galbadian Army, Ward’s strongman physique and strong-but-silent demeanor are taken to their logical extreme as he loses his voice as a result of his injuries. Although he does not succumb to his injuries, the fact that his last words before his vocal cords are irrevocably damaged are ‘it was fun,’ said to his comrades and friends, Kiros and Laguna, is fittingly short but sweet for the muscular soldier.
