Many characters in the Final Fantasy series make a strong first impression, or are immediately shown to be powerful. A good example is Cloud from Final Fantasy 7. When he dramatically jumps off the train wielding the Buster Sword, it’s obvious he’s the main character, and the sheer size of the sword emphasizes his strength.
In Final Fantasy 16, you play as Clive, who’s unique because he can absorb the abilities of enemies and even transform into a powerful Summon. While characters in other Final Fantasy games often take time to develop, they eventually become incredibly valuable allies. These characters might not start as the strongest, but they definitely grow more powerful as the game progresses.
There will be spoilers for Final Fantasy 4 and Final Fantasy 16.
Who’s That Character? 
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Results
High Score: 0 —
Rydia
From Girl To Woman
Rydia is a young magic user that Cecil and Kain save at the beginning of Final Fantasy 4. Despite her age, she’s a valuable fighter because of her early access to summons and both black and white magic. While Cecil and Kain can’t cast spells themselves, Rydia provides important magical support, though she’s quite fragile and doesn’t withstand attacks well.
She briefly leaves the party, but returns having traveled to a place where time passes much faster. This experience not only makes her more skilled in all types of magic, but also grants her the ability to use a whip, significantly strengthening her attacks. As the party evolves, Rydia becomes one of the five core members and ultimately the team’s primary magic user.
Gau
Wet And Wild
Gau, a character from Final Fantasy 6, becomes available to join your team relatively early in the game, during Sabin’s storyline. He had a difficult childhood, abandoned at a young age and raised in The Veldt – a wide-open plain where monsters constantly wander. Gau is a Blue Mage, and his special ability is learning new skills by observing and copying monsters, but he can only learn from those found in The Veldt.
I can keep heading back to the Veldt to teach Gau new stuff, but honestly, time is pretty tight. If I really put the effort in, though, I can make him super strong. The big question is, is it worth spending all that time on him when I could be leveling up someone else’s Espers instead? It’s a tough call!
Irvine Kinneas
Looking For Ammo
Irvine is a character in Final Fantasy 8 who starts as a mercenary hired to eliminate the sorceress Edea. He fights using guns, and like other characters, he has powerful special attacks called Limit Breaks—referred to as Auras in this game. Players can purchase or create ammunition for Irvine to enhance his Aura attacks, though he’s more effective later in the game after some initial use.
Irvine isn’t a fragile character, but once players unlock and master Pulse Ammo, they can deal massive damage—easily exceeding tens of thousands of points. Once you experience the power of Pulse Ammo, you’ll find Irvine indispensable to your team.
Eiko Carol
Oh, Holy Night
Eiko, similar to Garnet, is a Summoner character from Final Fantasy 9, but she’s much younger when she joins the team. While she can summon creatures, her list of available summons is shorter than Garnet’s, and she largely relies on healing magic. Because of her weaker abilities and summons, players generally prefer to use Garnet instead when both are available.
While Garnet starts as a stronger White Mage, Eiko eventually surpasses her with a unique set of spells. She learns Full-Life, which completely restores a character’s health, and Esuna, which removes any status ailment. Her most powerful spell is Holy, a non-elemental attack that’s as effective as a powerful Black Mage spell like Flare.
Penelo
Dancing Into Wizardry
Penelo is one of the first characters you meet in Final Fantasy 12. She’s a close friend of the main character, Vaan, and could potentially become his love interest. While she isn’t very strong in battle and can’t take much damage, Penelo is a valuable ally. She specializes in White Mage magic, but you’ll need to unlock these abilities as you progress through the game using the License Board.
Players can customize Penelo in many ways, letting them develop her beyond just magical abilities. While focusing on spells will create a powerful mage, it will require significant effort and time, similar to building up the character Gau in Final Fantasy 6.
Oerba Dia Vanille
More Than A Cute Face
Vanille is likely the kindest character in Final Fantasy 13. While she has good intentions, she’s not very powerful overall. She starts with strong magical abilities, but her other stats aren’t as well-developed. A unique aspect of Final Fantasy 13 is that you don’t get to choose your team until later in the game, meaning you’re often forced to play with Vanille when she’s available.
Hope and Vanille are arguably the hardest characters to start with. They begin as the weakest in the game, but eventually become powerful magic users. While players might prefer characters like Lightning, Fang, or Sazh when building their team, every strong party needs a mage, and Vanille is a great choice to fill that role.
Torgal
He’s Evolving!
Okay, so in Final Fantasy 16, Torgal is this awesome dog who sticks with Clive throughout the whole game. You play as Clive, and while you meet a lot of characters who help you out, it’s not really a traditional party system – they come and go. Torgal is different though. He’s always there, and at first, he’s just a super helpful dog who can fight alongside you in melee combat. But later on, things get crazy and he actually becomes the Eikon Fenrir – it’s a really cool awakening!
In Final Fantasy 16, powerful creatures called Eikons are similar to Summons in previous games. Certain individuals, known as Dominants, can control these Eikons, and even transform into them – Clive, for instance, can become Ifrit. When this happens, Torgal, Clive’s loyal companion, can unleash his own incredible power as Fenrir, gaining a significant boost in battle. And honestly, Torgal is just the best character in Final Fantasy!
Cloud Strife
Busted Down
Cloud begins as a strong character in Final Fantasy 7, but he’s surprisingly fragile when he appears in Final Fantasy Tactics. This secret character joins your team very late in the game, starting at Level 1 while most players are around Level 50. While Cloud has unique and powerful sword skills referencing moves like Omnislash and Blade Burst from Final Fantasy 7, it takes a lot of effort to level him up.
In the original PlayStation and PSP versions of the game, Cloud started out relatively weak. However, the recent updated version, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, gives him a much stronger starting point. While he still requires significant development to become truly powerful, fans of Final Fantasy 7 might enjoy taking on that challenge.
Read More
- Poppy Playtime Chapter 5: Engineering Workshop Locker Keypad Code Guide
- Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo Chapter 23 Preview: Yuji And Maru End Cursed Spirits
- God Of War: Sons Of Sparta – Interactive Map
- Who Is the Information Broker in The Sims 4?
- 8 One Piece Characters Who Deserved Better Endings
- Poppy Playtime 5: Battery Locations & Locker Code for Huggy Escape Room
- Pressure Hand Locker Code in Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5
- Poppy Playtime Chapter 5: Emoji Keypad Code in Conditioning
- Why Aave is Making Waves with $1B in Tokenized Assets – You Won’t Believe This!
- All 100 Substory Locations in Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut
2026-02-23 14:38