Summary
Arrogance is not a trait that is exclusive to evil characters in theFinal Fantasyseries. There are arrogant hero characters as well, although they could be characterized as more cocky than arrogant. The same could be said for the evil characters as there are spectrums on both sides of the table.
Sometimes theseFinal Fantasycharacters course correct themselvesthroughout the adventure. By the end, they could be completely different characters from what they started as and that’s a sign of good storytelling. Sometimes arrogance gets worse, so let’s look at both sides of the table and figure out who are the most arrogant characters in the series. They will be ranked based on pure levels of self-absorption and rudeness. There will be spoilers.
Zidane is the hero ofFinal Fantasy 9and yet that doesn’t protect him from being a bit too into himself. He’s a thief and a literal theatrical one at that. He was raised to be the best and it shows onscreen that Zidane is gifted, but also isn’t modest about it.
He does what needs to be done for Princess Garnet and his allies, but in his own way, constantly butting heads with the likes of Steiner. Stubborn and cocky may describe Zidane better but arrogance is there too and thankfully he does grow over time.
Dona is one of Yuna’s rivals inFinal Fantasy 10. She is journeying with her Guardian Barthello to challenge Sin and has every right to do so. Unfortunately, she isn’t humble about her priestly journey as she constantly mocks Yuna and her crew despite it being larger than Dona’s.
Dona is so into herself that she cannot see the harm she is causing her fellow Summoners. Like Zidane, Dona eventually comes to her senses and her arrogance falls. Dona is even a pretty good character and friend to Yuna in the sequel,Final Fantasy 10-2.
Seifer falls into the rival status as well, this time inFinal Fantasy 8to the main character, Squall. The game opens with one of the coolest CG cutscenes in the franchise’s history with Seifer and Squall fighting while some Latin chants are blasting. Seifer thinks that he is better than Squall and everyone else in Balamb Garden, their school, for that matter.
Seifer’s inability to see the good in anyone else eventually leads him down a dark path, becoming bewitched, literally, by the sorceress Edea. As a servant, he butts heads with Squall and the others throughout the journey, but like many characters in the game, Seifer eventually awakens from his trance along with Edea. Before that though, he’s the exact kind of rival that fans love to hate.
Moving away from misguided heroes and rivals, let’s dive into some true villains starting with Benedikta fromFinal Fantasy 16. She is a Dominant of the Eikon Garuda.Eikons serve as Summonsin this universe and Dominants house that power within, able to cast spells based on their Eikon’s element, and they can transform into the Eikon during limited events too.
Because she was chosen, Benedikta feels like she is above all others in her kingdom and all others in the world. The only person she cares about is Hugo, who is the Dominant of the Eikon Titan. Together, they help raise hell, but unfortunately for this boastful sorceress, Benedikta meets her match via the hero Clive. It’s almost unthinkable to Benedikta that she can lose to him, making her defeat satisfying as one of the earliest deaths in the game.
Don Corneo first appeared as a minor antagonist inFinal Fantasy 7. Minor as in he isn’t in the game much, but his crimes are some of the most heinous in the franchise’s history. He lures women into a better life and then makes them his slaves, or kills them if they refuse. He has two distinct moments in the original game, both great in that it’s fun to watch a villain cook and also get his.
Don Corneo’s lustfulness is turned up to eleven inFinal Fantasy 7 RemakeandFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, in particular, really shows how arrogant he is as he thinks of himself as a hero and even puts his mark on his monsters and crew. It was hard not to laugh at the audacity of seeing a monster like Tonberry appear with Don Corneo’s signature hair swoop. He kind of falls in line with Saturday Morning Cartoon villains in behavior and appearance, but deep down, Don Corneo is one nasty fool.
Kefka is presented as a jester for The Empire inFinal Fantasy 6. He thinks of himself as some rogue aristocrat, but no one treats him with respect in The Empire. Everyone sees him as just some clown trying to act tough and constantly gets one-upped by the heroes.
That is until the climactic moment ofFinal Fantasy 6when Kefka usurps power from Emperor Gestahl, kills him, and then destroys the world in the process. It’s one of the few games in the series wherein the world actually becomes a desolate apocalypse which is an achievement for villains everywhere. Kefka’s arrogance only grows in this wasteland, with a cult worshipping him and growing that grease-painted head of his. Kefka becomes a godlike entity but gets brought back down to size after the heroes triumph in the end.
Sephiroth fromFinal Fantasy 7is everything that Kefka is but more. The sad thing is Sephiroth is a fallen hero. He used to be a soldier everyone looked up to in Shinra, saving countless men, women, and children over his illustrious career. Then, one day, he finds out that he was experimented on as a child, injected with cells from an alien known as Jenova. This corrupts his mind, making Sephiroth think he is literally “The Chosen One” and feels like all who reside on the planet should bow to him and his mother.
Sephiroth also becomes a godlike entity in the final battle and in several forms too. Sephiroth lost the fight inFinal Fantasy 7, but not the war as he continued to return through clones, time travel, and hopping across universes in subsequent sequels. Could there be anyone more arrogant than someone not accepting death and going across the multiverse to find the one timeline that makes him a true god?
