Character's Age

[The Welsh Paddy]

Is there anyone else who is somewhat bothered by this?

FFVII was the first FF game I've played and, at the time, the fact that Cloud was only 21 seemed perfectly reasonable to me. However, upon looking into his history. He joined SOLDIER when he was 16. Again, not unreasonable as many people enlist in the army upon finishing secondary/high school. However, his character as portrayed in Crisis Core would lead you to believe he is at least in his early twenties. At least that was the case for me. But on top of that, having played VII once again, his whole character as well as the feats he manages to accomplish. I find it all too much to be realistically accomplished by someone who is only 21 years of age.

FFVIII. Squall is only 17 years of age in that game! And at that age, he is a professional military man and then proceeds to save countries from war, go into outerspace and then save the entire world! At SEVENTEEN! But then the way his character is portrayed, you would believe he is more in his late twenties. Same as all the other characters in that game, come to think of it.

Zidane, once again, is 17 but acts way older.

Tidus is only 17, as is Yuna. Wakka is only 24, Lulu 22, Rikku is 15...

I could go on and on with FF characters being incredibly young.

But it's not their age that bothers me. It's the way their age is portrayed that always throws me. All these characters have a tendancy to act a hell of a lot more older than they actually are. Particularly Wakka and Lulu. They both look and act like they should have another ten years added to their age.

As I said, the age isn't what I find off-putting. I just don't think it's portrayed realistically at all.

Agree or disagree?

 

[Shaissa]

Honestly I didn't know that Zidane was 17 till now

But really I never looked up ages in any game. I wondered about it in some games (mainly X with Wakka and Lulu saying they were on other pilgrimages before, but then I got distracted by Auron :wack: )

But really I never thought about the ages, so it never bothered me, I mean a lot of other games have Mid-Late Teens early twenties as the main character, I mean when I was 14-18 I was really playing video games a lot more than now, and I'm pretty sure that is the feeling of most people around here, maybe not all, but most...so maybe that is why they pick that age? To make it more "your age related" type of feel to it?

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Honestly I didn't know that Zidane was 17 till now

Haha, I didn't actually know most of the ages until a few moments ago when I looked it up.

I knew Cloud's age though, and Squall's, from reading the game manuals.

I wondered about it in some games (mainly X with Wakka and Lulu saying they were on other pilgrimages before, but then I got distracted by Auron :wack: )

That's the sort of thing that would imply those characters are way older. And Tidus being a star Blitzball player... You'd think someone a few years older with more experience would be more talented.

But really I never thought about the ages, so it never bothered me, I mean a lot of other games have Mid-Late Teens early twenties as the main character, I mean when I was 14-18 I was really playing video games a lot more than now, and I'm pretty sure that is the feeling of most people around here, maybe not all, but most...so maybe that is why they pick that age? To make it more "your age related" type of feel to it?

Yeah, I noticed that this applied to many JRPG's. It wasn't really until I started playing games like Elder Scrolls, or The Witcher, that I was all like "Well hang on, this feels more right than playing as some ridiculously over-accomplished teenager." Although, I think that if their aim is to relate more to the younger audiences which make up the most of their fanbase, then wouldn't these characters actually feel more like they're teenagers?

 

[Cyanista]

I wasn't terribly vexed by the ridiculously young ages until I grew up and noticed they were younger than me and had accomplished more in that time...then it srsly ticked me off

 

[Exoskeleton]

Disagree. Realistic + Fantasy = N/A

The characters you describe have valid reasons for their actions;they're in a fantasy world! The culture and atmosphere in a fantasy universe is completely different from our own. Not only that but a majority of these characters are put in situations where they have to mature or else there would be no character development, no lessons to learn, and no good story to tell. I find the characters in 8 acted more like their age than most FF characters(If anyone complains like Squall does in their late twenties, something's up ). They wined, they had dreams, they had romances, and they had valid reasons for why they acted the way they did. Most of the extremely young FF characters tend to be portrayed as more immature as well.

Fantasy characters mostly live in an age of magic and danger. It may not even be a common thing for them to live past a certain age due to medival environments. Most characters are just thrown into a horrid situation between life and death though and have no choice but to mature. A good example of this would be the whole Song of Ice and Fire(Game of Thrones) series. Most of the main characters in that series start out under 15 years old and through forced circumstances gain the wisdom of adults. So it's not too hard for me to imagine young characters acting mature, especially if they are in a situation which needs them to be.

 

[black_eclipse]

Here are some ages of all the main protagonist:

Light Warior - Unknown (this character doesn't really have a background)
Firion - Around early-middle teens
Luneth - 14
Cecil - 20
Bartz - 20
Terra - 18
Cloud - 21
Squall - 17
Zidane - 17
Tidus - 17
Player - depends around your age
Vaan - 15
Lightning - 21

See the similarities? Their age averaged from early teens to early twenties. I'm actually not surprised because majority of the players are around their ages. Animated shows uses the same formula. They usually set the plot around high school environment and that's what type-0 and VIII looks like.

 

[Starships]

There is older characters in the Final Fantasy games though. Galuf looks about 50-ish, same with Tellah. Locke, Sabin and Edgar are about 25-28 years old and Barret is about 35.

The main character is usually a late teen/ early young adult because that's usually the main age group that Final Fantasy games aim towards. But Final Fantasy games are never young characters only and is open to characters of all ages. Just never the main character.

14- 22 is the main age group for FF players, usually. Though Final Fantasy does need a older main character, they almost did with FF 12 but sadly changed it to Vaan.

Also this may be just me personally, but Final Fantasy feels like the best when you're round that 15-17 aged area and that's what most main character's ages are.

 

[The Witch]

Japanese people (heroes) usually mature early on so this sort of thing is normal to them. I always felt Cloud acted more mature than his age. But squall... I thought he was a perfect depiction of a teenager.

 

[Squid]

I've also not really liked the fact that the characters are so young. I don't mind the ones that are like 18+ but ugh... I just never imagined Zidane or Tidus to be 17....they both look around their early twenties.

I think I kinda just like to imagine them as old as I feel they should be and forget that they're a ridiculously young age.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Though Final Fantasy does need a older main character, they almost did with FF 12 but sadly changed it to Vaan.

Basch really should have been the main character. He's probably my favourite character in the entire series, even though the game itself doesn't rank that high for me haha.

But yeah, I know you had characters like Galuf, Tellah and Barrett, but I found them to be rather out of place. Especially Galuf, who was pretty much tagging along with a bunch of kids which I found kinda weird.

Disagree. Realistic + Fantasy = N/A

The characters you describe have valid reasons for their actions;they're in a fantasy world! The culture and atmosphere in a fantasy universe is completely different from our own. Not only that but a majority of these characters are put in situations where they have to mature or else there would be no character development, no lessons to learn, and no good story to tell. I find the characters in 8 acted more like their age than most FF characters(If anyone complains like Squall does in their late twenties, something's up ). They wined, they had dreams, they had romances, and they had valid reasons for why they acted the way they did. Most of the extremely young FF characters tend to be portrayed as more immature as well.

Fantasy characters mostly live in an age of magic and danger. It may not even be a common thing for them to live past a certain age due to medival environments. Most characters are just thrown into a horrid situation between life and death though and have no choice but to mature. A good example of this would be the whole Song of Ice and Fire(Game of Thrones) series. Most of the main characters in that series start out under 15 years old and through forced circumstances gain the wisdom of adults. So it's not too hard for me to imagine young characters acting mature, especially if they are in a situation which needs them to be.

I do see your point here, but I found that many of these characters already had much of that wisdom from the start. And, games like Elder Scrolls, or The Witcher, or Dragonage, or Fable... They're all set in a fantasy world, but haven't had the need to have teenaged characters. When it comes to the whole fantasy world thing, I tend to prefer it when the world is more believable. Like the games that I mentioned. They're all set in worlds entirely different from our own, but they're made to be more believable.

I think age and maturity help add to this realism. FFXII did pull that off very well, as most of the cast were older, and the only young characters were Vaan and Penelo. It was pretty much them tagging along while more experienced and capable people took most control over their situation. To me, that felt like a much more believable course of action. If you think about it, you have an entire world full of people of all ages with various talents and so on. I just find it unlikely that, in such an expansive world, the task of saving it should fall to a group of teenagers.

I think I kinda just like to imagine them as old as I feel they should be and forget that they're a ridiculously young age.

Haha, I always catch myself doing this without even realising.

 

[Linnaete]

Seeing as they thought Basch, a guy who looks befitting of his warrior role, is a respectable age at 36, has scars, facial hair, and as a protagonist who has to clear his name, wouldn't appeal to the Japanese audience so they threw in a 17-year old Vaan who looks sort of androgynous, but not androgynous enough to be a Tetsuya Nomura creation...I suppose the target Japanese demographic just like having their teenage heroes with no facial hair and totally pretty, unblemished, plastic doll faces. Does it make them easier to relate to for them? Probably. Is it also because the Japanese have this social complex where youth is good and if you're over 25, you're bloody old? Probably. Don't quote me on that though. It's just what I think.

Yes, a character's age has bothered me. I know this is fantasy, but there is still a limit as to where I can draw my suspension of disbelief. I'm getting a bit annoyed at the countless occasions when a band predominantly made of teenagers are able to fell highly-trained enemy soldiers, or perhaps whole armies of highly-trained enemy soldiers, monsters up to the size of oil rigs and every now and then, a whole God at the end. It would be refreshing to have people in their late 20s give it a go. Sure, that wouldn't change much for my suspension of disbelief if they can fell whole armies and Gods too, but it would be different, as opposed to an adolescent lot.

Rikku in FFX particularly disturbs me. No, not the character herself per se, but how they find so many ways to objectify her with bumshots and a slow CGI scene of her undressing from her wet gear. Seriously? She's 15 in that game. And also, I'm supposed to believe that Cid was a-okay with letting his 15-year old kid drive heavily armed Machina to kidnap summoners and to presumably kill the Guardians? And don't get me started on FFX-2 with that whole objectify-a-child thing.

Meanwhile, someone like Serah is interesting because I'm not convinced that in FFXIII, she is supposed to be 18. It could be how she is designed - or what Nomura believes a normal young woman teenager should look like, so she looks 14-15 at best. She still looks 14 in the sequel, which has that bikini costume DLC. Good grief...

 

[Sheechiibii]

You have to think about it in terms of the games world and how early they have to grow up. We are used to people being very immature at 21 etc but in most of these FF worlds they have to grow up a lot faster. If you get a job with huge responsibilities early on in life (Squall and Cloud) or if you are self dependant and can only count on yourself to survive (Zidane) then you'll mature much faster. Look at FFX, I think that has a very good example of how the worlds of FF differ from ours. Most people call Tidus whiny and immature, but considering he came from a world much more like ours, where at his age it's very normal to be like that, I think it makes a lot of sense and is actually very clever. In contrast you have Yuna and Lulu who are also very young (Lulu is 22) but much more mature, because in their world they aren't allowed the time to spend growing up more slowly, they have to take on responsibilities that in our world would be put off till later in life.

 

[black_eclipse]

Basch really should have been the main character. He's probably my favourite character in the entire series, even though the game itself doesn't rank that high for me haha.

But yeah, I know you had characters like Galuf, Tellah and Barrett, but I found them to be rather out of place. Especially Galuf, who was pretty much tagging along with a bunch of kids which I found kinda weird.



I do see your point here, but I found that many of these characters already had much of that wisdom from the start. And, games like Elder Scrolls, or The Witcher, or Dragonage, or Fable... They're all set in a fantasy world, but haven't had the need to have teenaged characters. When it comes to the whole fantasy world thing, I tend to prefer it when the world is more believable. Like the games that I mentioned. They're all set in worlds entirely different from our own, but they're made to be more believable.

I think age and maturity help add to this realism. FFXII did pull that off very well, as most of the cast were older, and the only young characters were Vaan and Penelo. It was pretty much them tagging along while more experienced and capable people took most control over their situation. To me, that felt like a much more believable course of action. If you think about it, you have an entire world full of people of all ages with various talents and so on. I just find it unlikely that, in such an expansive world, the task of saving it should fall to a group of teenagers.



Haha, I always catch myself doing this without even realising.

What about Larsa and Ashe? As mature as they were, their age is not far off from Vaan and Penelo. Also, Larsa is the youngest among the group. He is only 12 years old.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Larsa and Ashe were Royalty, so I guess they just had to be involved and I never really thought of their maturity as surprising. But with Vaan and Penelo, their age didn't bother me because they felt more like their actual age. Vaan was pretty much the equivalent of Aladdin really.

Rikku in FFX particularly disturbs me. No, not the character herself per se, but how they find so many ways to objectify her with bumshots and a slow CGI scene of her undressing from her wet gear. Seriously? She's 15 in that game. And also, I'm supposed to believe that Cid was a-okay with letting his 15-year old kid drive heavily armed Machina to kidnap summoners and to presumably kill the Guardians? And don't get me started on FFX-2 with that whole objectify-a-child thing.

Oh my god, this is probably the reason I forget how old these characters are. It sickens me.

 

[Del Boy]

Play FF8 all the teens in that game have act their age IMO

 

[OdaNova]

Actually, Zidane is 16 not 17 as is Garnet. Though Zidane can be justified, he's not human anyway.

The most ridiculous age I've seen is Eiko, she's what? 6? If I have a daughter as wise as she is about love and romance AT THE AGE OF SIX, then I will never have to worry about her having a boyfriend in her room when she's 16...


The only main hero that doesn't make sense to me is Squall. The age is a bit wrong really. With Tidus and Yuna (17) you can kind of justify it, it ties into the whole theme of youth = change and old age = stagnation and lack of progress. Auron for all intents is the man whom attempts to provoke it before he gets too old heh! I still think he looks way older than 35 but eh...

 

[Lirael]

Squall was in highschool so I found his age perfectly reasonable. Quistis, however, behaved far older than her years. It seemed she was in her early 30s, but she's only 18!

Rinoa was a believable 17 year-old. Still hyper, but maturing.

The ages in Final Fantasy IX weren't too surprising, apart from Eiko, who I would argue should have been 10 as opposed to 6. Garnet and Zidane were both believable 16-year-olds. They argued over petty issues, they made a few silly mistakes, Zidane flirted outrageously and Garnet struggled to select the responsible decision. Both matured as they strove to do what was best for the country and their team because they were forced into that responsible role.

Lulu does behave more like a woman in her late 20s/early 30s - she's elegant, experienced, reflective - but there are exceptions to the rules. I'm 22 and I can see myself behaving similarly to Lulu were I in her situation. I'd be a little less serious and less bitchy towards Wakka, but that's due to my personality as opposed to my age. One can and will behave more maturely when taking care of those who are younger. I'm not sure I like the fact Seymour is 28, but I've met someone who's as manipulative at that age.

Tidus didn't behave like someone who's in his early 20s. He perhaps behaves like someone who's 19, but he's not yet responsible enough nor empathetic enough to be in his 20s. He still frets over adolescent issues.

 

[Paddy McGee]

I personally think that maturity doesn't have everything to do with age, and more to do with life experiences.

Of course, most teenagers are going to be immature, but the young people in these games have been thrown into the deep end of an adventure- you have to adapt and mature. Tidus acts the way he does due to his life experiences- he's cocky and brash because that's all he experienced as a child. I don't think it's unrealistic for him to be a star player in his sport of choice: Lionel Messi of Barcelona F.C.(Soccer) was only 17 when he broke into the first team, and by 21 he'd won many awards, and was the star player of that team. Maybe Tidus's rise so quickly is hyperbole, but it isn't impossible.


The cast of VIII are a good mix imo. They still act their age- maybe even more immature in a few- but know what they're doing. The are students in a militant academy. I would expect them to be as serious as they are, and to achieve what they have.

I didn't know Vaan was only 15. I think 15 is a bit unrealistic imo. 17+ is was I would've placed him- even with his loses and experience. Then again, he was a demographic pleaser: he isn't in a very positive light in my eyes anyway.

 

[Jack Lias]

The only person in the series, to me, who came off as actually acting her own age was Selphie. When I first saw her, I immediately pegged her as a klutzy teenager, who's on the wrong side of hyper.

 

[Artemisia]

Rikku in FFX particularly disturbs me. No, not the character herself per se, but how they find so many ways to objectify her with bumshots and a slow CGI scene of her undressing from her wet gear. Seriously? She's 15 in that game. And also, I'm supposed to believe that Cid was a-okay with letting his 15-year old kid drive heavily armed Machina to kidnap summoners and to presumably kill the Guardians? And don't get me started on FFX-2 with that whole objectify-a-child thing.

Let's not forget Locke and Edgar, who are in their mid to late twenties, flirting with 18 year old Terra and Celes :-/

The most ridiculous age I've seen is Eiko, she's what? 6? If I have a daughter as wise as she is about love and romance AT THE AGE OF SIX, then I will never have to worry about her having a boyfriend in her room when she's 16...

That bothered me as well. I believe they were trying to convey a need for companionship and friendship which came across as wanting romance.

I didn't know Vaan was only 15. I think 15 is a bit unrealistic imo. 17+ is was I would've placed him-

Vaan is 17, according to FF wiki.