Best Coming Of Age Stories In Final Fantasy

Key Takeaways

• Protagonists from the Final Fantasy series undergo significant personal growth journeys leading to maturity.
• Characters such as Noctis and Cloud all learn to embrace their responsibilities and face their pasts.
• Themes of coming of age and self-discovery are prevalent, with each character experiencing unique challenges.

Alongside its iconic boss battles and engaging stories, the Final Fantasy franchise has also become renowned for its characters, who will very often receive plenty of development throughout their respective journeys. One major personal theme that applies to numerous well-known individuals within the series is coming of age. That is, maturing and learning what it means to be an adult in the world that surrounds them.

There have actually been quite a few protagonists who have gone through this personal adventure, but smaller and less significant party members have similarly seen themselves grow and evolve in their maturity as the story goes on. Of course, each of these characters has had wildly different experiences, but their adventures have all pushed them to grow up on an individual level.

1 Noctis

A Young And Spoiled Prince Who Comes To Accept The Weight On His Shoulders

When Final Fantasy 15 kicks off its story, Noctis comes across as little more than a spoiled prince who still acts like an entitled teenager, despite being a soon-to-be king. After his father is killed, and his kingdom attacked, Noctis endures a mental struggle as he tries to make sense of the chaos surrounding him.

Time and time again, Gladio and Ignis try to drill into Noctis that, in such desperate times, he can’t just keep moping around and pointing the finger at others. Ultimately, Final Fantasy 15‘s story is all about Noctis’ realization of what it means to be a member of royalty and the hefty responsibilities that come with it.

2 Tidus

Being Thrust Into The World Of Spira Helps Tidus Mature As A Character

There’s no Final Fantasy protagonist who starts quite as immature as Tidus. After being thrown into a whirlpool by Sin and waking up in a mysterious new world, Tidus’ solution to ease his confusion is to crack jokes, mock the religion of Yevon, and ultimately act irrationally without any regard for social norms.

This does sort of make sense though, considering that in his world, Tidus was a famous Blitzball player who could afford to act rather selfishly, but this all changes once he embarks on the Pilgrimage. After spending so much time with the Guardians, Tidus not only matures emotionally but also learns to move past the lingering memories of his childhood, specifically concerning his father, Jecht, whom Tidus finally acknowledges by the end of the game.

3 Red XIII

Discovering His Father’s Fate Pushes Red XIII To Be A Strong And Brave Warrior

Though Red XIII can initially seem like one of the more stoic and serious members of the Final Fantasy 7 crew, once players reach his home of Cosmo Canyon, they’ll discover that he’s actually only 48, which in human years, would make him a teenager. Though he’s certainly already been through quite the ordeal, what with Hojo experimenting on him, it’s not until he returns home and witnesses the corpse of his father that he decides to start a new chapter in his life.

After learning that his father valiantly fought off the malicious Gi tribe, which ended up costing him his life, Red XIII howls at the moon, promising to one day become a great warrior like his old man. He may appear a little defensive and closed off when he first encounters Cloud and the others, but as the story progresses, Red XIII discovers what it means to be a proud and mature survivor of his clan and a reliable member of the main party.

4 Terra

Terra Embarks On A Journey To Restore Her Agency

Terra is put in a pretty awkward position at the beginning of Final Fantasy 6. After being controlled and used as a weapon of war by Kefka through the power of the Slave Crown, Terra wakes up with little to no memory of her past. The young girl is therefore left emotionless for the first few hours of the game, but as she begins to realize what’s at stake, and the looming threat of the Empire, her confidence grows, and her newfound maturity begins to shine through.

While the majority of Final Fantasy protagonists have at least some vague idea of their end goal, Terra’s story is much more personal and is primarily based on her reclaiming her agency as a human being. By the end of the story, Terra finally manages to take control of her life, seeing her grow from a young and powerless girl to a heroic role model.

5 Squall

Squall Learns To Overcome The Haunting Memories Of His Childhood

Squall isn’t exactly the most sociable guy when players first meet him. Despite having been living in the SEED garden for several years, he generally avoids people and is always complaining about others. The reason why Squall is so closed off though is because, as a child, he was abandoned by everyone, including his own family, leaving him to be a lonely orphan.

As such, much of Final Fantasy 8 follows Squall being randomly thrown into chaotic scenarios where he gradually learns to come out of his shell and accept responsibility for his actions. For example, the SEED exam forces Squall to partner up with people he initially didn’t like, which ultimately teaches him how easy it can be to create bonds. This is just one example of the many ways Squall learns to overcome his childhood and embrace his newfound maturity.

6 Hope

Hope Matures Into A Dependable And Confident Party Member By The End Of Final Fantasy 13

When Hope witnesses his mother’s death at the start of Final Fantasy 13, his first instinct is to push the blame onto someone for his loss. As a result, Snow, a fellow party member, becomes Hope’s target for much of the game, as the naive boy plans to enact revenge on him, even though Snow didn’t intentionally murder Hope’s mother.

After failing to take down Snow, and hampering the mission in the process, Hope starts realizing that playing the blame game isn’t going to bring his mother back, and neither will revenge. By the second half, Hope is forced to accept that sometimes, the world can simply act in very cruel ways, and therefore comes to let go of his child-like frustration to focus on the future instead. The fact that Hope is the only party member in the final cutscene who doesn’t reunite with his loved one and that he’s fine with that being the case shows just how remarkably far he has come since that first hour.

7 Cloud

Cloud Can’t Keep Playing Pretend Forever, As Much As He’d Like To

Cloud may come off as a cool and calculated badass, but the truth is, this is all an act. In reality, Cloud’s mental state has been affected so much by the destruction of his village, the Mako poisoning, and the death of Zack, that he’s convinced himself that he is, in fact, an ex-SOLDIER. As is revealed later on in Final Fantasy 7‘s story though, Cloud never got into SOLDIER, failing to fulfill the promise he made to Tifa all those years ago.

As a result, he essentially pretends to be someone he’s not in an attempt to cope with his mental damage; deciding to run from it rather than face it. Eventually though, with enough encouragement from his friends, Cloud realizes that he can’t grow and mature as a person if he continues living in his fantasy world, becoming a new man entirely by the time he faces off against Sephiroth for the final time.

8 Clive

Clive Must Let Go Of His Unrelenting Thirst For Revenge To Grow And Develop

Though Clive does grow up in a physical sense in Final Fantasy 16, he continues to grow and mature emotionally even after the timeskip occurs. The sudden death of his brother Joshua initially drives Clive down a path of revenge, which ultimately causes him to have a hard time controlling his emotions as he lashes out at others, and even himself.

Slowly but surely, Clive’s undying hatred, which has always led him to be a little too hot-headed for his age, begins to wither away as he starts to focus more on helping those less fortunate. As a result, his youthful anger becomes replaced with a greater sense of bravery and justice.