Zen Crib Notes

The characters of Final Fantasy XIII:

Lightning:
I like her. Sure she had her moments when I really think that she shouldn't be so bitchy, but really it's so nice to have such an assertive, slightly abrasive female compared to all the steadfast/noble/naive/girly-girl/genki girl/soft-spoken/lady-like female characters of old, that I've really embraced her. Sure, I'm kind of leaving out Celes from Final Fantasy VI and Faris from Final Fantasy V, because they were pretty cool in their own right. But Lightning doesn't CARE about the fact that she's not a girly-girl or that she might be hurting people's feelings. I like that she's able to speak her mind and act out on her feelings (like punching out Snow). She's also rational and can admit that she's wrong, so she's not entirely bull-headed and unreasonable. I think that she made an effective protagonist and I kind of wished that she had a love interest because I would love to see that kind of personality react to a love interest; of course, without in any way be detrimental to her inherent character presented in the game. She also reminds me of Squall, who I liked also because I find him to be assertive and having some steadfast values that go with his dumb, almost impulsive loner personality. Unlike some heroes, who shall remain nameless.

Snow:
Oh, Snow. You may not be a melodramatic, stoic, immature young man typical of recent Final Fantasies. It's just too bad that he's like the negative image of Americans portrayed in places like Europe and Asia, because he would have been refreshing. I don't really think that he's immature, at least not like Tidus; it's just that really, he's an idiot. He's like the BFG who's also a bull in a china shop because there were quite a few times when he can just ruin anybody's good plan. I mean, what kind of guy is he that he keeps calling himself a hero right after he dropped a main character's mom to her death. Sure it was accidental, and it did haunt him, but I like to think that he has some psychological issues that made him feel that it's imperative to keep a hopeful, positive attitude in the face of all the suckiness that he's going through and/or that he had caused. The whole romance deal with Serah, Lightning's sister, was cute, but it felt really contrived and lacking in some emotional depth. The whole "depth" of their romance as seen in game revolves around the girl having been made a slave of the gods and have the possibility of making others her fellow slaves, as well as having a guaranteed unfortunate end due to being a slave. And that's it. No "How I met my dream girl" or "Why I think she's my soulmate." Nada.

Hope:
I really expected to hate him. Really, I did. I really dislike the whole "revenge because you killed my parent" that a lot of young characters in video games have; I'm looking at you, Ken Amada from Persona 3. It's not the revenge aspect I don't like; afterall, I like Batman, Inigo Montoya, and Spiderman. Those people wait to grow up so they can actually do something and in the process learn to be a rational person. What I don't like is that these young, adolescent characters are scheming in-game to kill an adult. That's like those devil children in a Stephen King novel: CREEPY. Hope, at least, continues to rationalize to himself why Snow's death is important to him, and there were moments when he tries to not think that way. It's just unfortunate that when he meets Snow again, he's reminded that sometimes fools need to die if they have to learn their lesson. Really, the whole thing was another miscommunication between them that had resolved itself rather well, and they can all go happily together to a brighter future.

however: I don't really like the Hope/Lightning pairing that's been going around. I just don't see that AT ALL. One-sided crush, maybe, but really... no.