Spin: What are your criteria for a JRPG main character?

[987654321]

He got bytches though

I forgot about that big headed, hot topic cashier.

 

[winb83]

Based on this thread.

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/do-you-consider-terra-to-be-the-main-character-of-final-fantasy-6.985798/

What are your criteria for a main character in a jrpg? What makes it up for debate? What makes a jrpg an ensemble game?

Importance to the main plot. Cloud is the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. Squall is the protagonist of VIII. Zidane is the protagonist of Final Fantasy IX, Noctis is the protagonist of Final Fantasy XV. Through the whole game everything mostly centers around them. The story and the party. The direction everyone takes. They're the leaders.

Lightning is not the protagonist of XIII. She's prominent in advertising but in terms of plot Snow, Fang, Vanille are just as important.

Then there's Vaan in XII who is the POV character but not really important to the plot while Ashe, Balthier, and Basch (who what supposed to be the player character) are all plot central. Ashe or Basch are really the main characters just not the POV.

I don't think the player POV character or even the character you start the game as is by default the main character.

 

[Fanservice]

i personally only like playing as a normal human, if the main character is monkey or has monkey like features i'm out.

 

[987654321]

I’m with him. I’m never gonna try Wu-Kong. Let them ‘nese go be excited to be a monkey all on they own, couldn’t be me.

 

[hotbeezie]

I gotta care about what you got going on more than anyone else…if the “side” character story is more interesting than the main… then that’s bad story telling IMO.

Kinda like FF15 with all the DLC…I like all of the the side characters, ‘side stories’ but I still care about what Noctis had going on the most and all their stories fed back into what the player was supposed to focus on.