Characters of Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V, a video game with a setting that spans two worlds and a back-story spanning a millennium, features an array of characters. The game has five player characters, with as many as four in the party at a time. The game contains a number of the Final Fantasy series' recurring characters, such as Cid, and even chocobos play some major roles. Many other Final Fantasy V characters share similarities with those in other installments. As with the characters of Final Fantasy VI and other games in the franchise, the promotional art for Final Fantasy V's came from Yoshitaka Amano, who has received praise for his contributions to the series. However, the characters in Final Fantasy V and other aspects of the game are matters of conflicting opinions.
Development
Final Fantasy V was directed by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi who, prior to the release of Final Fantasy IX, called it his favorite Final Fantasy game. The character designs were done by Kazuko Shibuya, who also designed the game's character sprites. Several of the monsters were designed by Yoshitaka Amano, who was also commissioned for the game's promotional artwork. The rest of the monsters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Amano has stated that he counts his depictions of both Faris from Final Fantasy V and Terra from VI among his favorite Final Fantasy designs. The writing of the scenario text was a collaborative effort between Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase. Sakaguchi conceived the plot and was in charge of it, while Kitase tried to include more humor to lighten up the relatively serious story.Main playable characters
Bartz Klauser
Bartz Klauser is the protagonist of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy V. He is a twenty-year-old wanderer with a fear of heights, and becomes entangled in the quest to protect the Crystals when he helps Princess Lenna and Galuf escape a goblin-filled area on their way to the Wind Shrine. Bartz is connected to the element of Wind.Bartz was born in the small town of Lix to Dorgann Klauser, one of the Warriors of Dawn from the second world, and a local woman named Stella. Stella died of an unknown illness when Bartz was three, leaving him to be raised by his father. Dorgann died when Bartz was seventeen, and it is implied from his dying wish to be buried in the village he finally settled in, with his wife. His parting advice to his son was to wander the world.
Three years later, Bartz is traveling in the Tycoon area when he rescues a young woman being attacked by goblins. She thanks him and tells him that she is looking for her father at the Wind Shrine. Not long afterwards, a meteor crashes and an amnesiatic old man emerges. He and Lenna decide to travel to the Wind Shrine together, but Bartz decides to continue his wanderings. His chocobo stops him, however, and he goes back to help the pair fight off goblins again. It is at that point that Bartz decides that his father would have wanted him to find out what was happening to the Crystals, and joins Lenna and Galuf.
From there, Bartz travels with the party, which is later augmented by the pirate Faris. It seems unclear as to why he is the apparent leader of the group until he beats Kelger's Lupine Attack, something that his father, Dorgann, had taught him. It is revealed to him then that his father was one of the Warriors of Dawn, though he had never told his son. Bartz's direct descendant became one of the new Warriors of Dawn 200 years later.
In the original 1992 release of the game, the official Japanese guides romanized his name as Butz. In the Anthology release, much criticized for its translation quality, he was named Bartz. The Advance release saw significant improvement in the translation and a restoration of many of the 1992 romanizations, but the character's name remained Bartz. Though no reasons have been given, the Anthology spelling does avoid the possibility of pronouncing his name the same as "butts." However, unlike the other characters, Bartz can be renamed if the player so chooses.
Bartz is the hero representing Final Fantasy V in Dissidia Final Fantasy, where he is voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi in the Japanese version, and Jason Spisak in the English version. He is also featured in the rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a character representing Final Fantasy V.
Lenna Tycoon
Lenna Charlotte Tycoon is the young princess of Tycoon, and begins the story when her father, King Alexander Tycoon, leaves to investigate the Wind Crystal. She follows him after he does not return and meets Bartz, starting the quest to save the Crystals. Lenna displays many traits of an archetypal video game princess: she is beautiful, kind, and she also has a self-sacrificial streak that puts her in danger several times during the game. However, she also breaks this mold: she is very impulsive, and often does not think before she acts and impulsive. The first time, she traverses a field of poison flowers to bring an ailing drake a piece of Dragon Grass to cure it. The second time, she takes a bite out of some Dragon Grass to encourage it to eat. In both cases, she succeeds in helping the wind drakes, but she is poisoned in the process; in the first instance, the wind drake heals her. Her affection for dragons is explained in a flashback immediately after the dragon sacrifices itself to become the Phoenix Summon. While Lenna was a child, her mother fell ill, and the only cure would have been the tongue of a dragon. Desperate to see her mother cured, Lenna seized a knife and rushed to the last remaining dragon to cut out its tongue; the dragon would have died from losing its tongue, or would Lenna would have needed to kill it to obtain it. The player, viewing the scene in a flashback, has a chance to make Lenna say whether her mother's life is worth killing the dragon; if the player says no, Lenna will relent, but if the player says yes, her father will angrily knock her aside. No other cure for Queen Tycoon's illness could be found in time, and she died. After that painful experience, Lenna learned the value of self-sacrifice; her mother had loved the dragon, and, as was explained, would have allowed herself to die in order to protect it.After Exdeath's defeat, Lenna and her sister Faris return to Tycoon Castle. Despite her younger age, Lenna becomes the Queen when Faris abandons the throne to rejoin her pirate crew. Her descendants continued to rule for the next 200 years with Queen Lenna as the current ruler in her ancestor's place.
Faris Scherwiz
Faris Scherwiz is a pirate captain, and joins the protagonists after they attempt to steal her ship. Originally presenting herself as a man, during the course of the game she is revealed to be a crossdressing woman. She discovers she is Lenna's long lost elder sister Sarisa Highwind Tycoon, making her father King Alexander Highwind Tycoon of Tycoon Castle and herself the rightful Queen of Tycoon, a position she does not accept. She has since appeared in later games related to the Final Fantasy franchise, where she is voiced by Rie Tanaka in the Japanese and by Emily O'Brien in English.Galuf Baldesion
Galuf Halm Baldesion is an amnesiac Bartz meets at the start of the game, and is initially referred to as Galuf Doe. Despite losing his memory, he retains his humor and a sense of duty to protect the elemental crystals, joining the party to do so. After being reunited with his granddaughter Krille he regains his memory, where it is revealed he a king from a parallel world. Prior to the events of the game, he and four warriors banded together stop the villain Exdeath, and trapped him in Bartz's world using the power of the crystals. Exdeath however was breaking free, and when traveling to Bartz' world to stop him the impact of the trip caused him to temporarily lose his memories. After Exdeath breaks free he and the others chase after him, but when Exdeath attacks his granddaughter Galuf sacrifices his life to save her.A character also named Galuf appears as a background character in Final Fantasy XIV. Like in his original appearance, he is Krile's grandfather, though by adoption and the two are not blood-related.
Krile Baldesion
Krile Mayer Baldesion is Galuf's granddaughter and only surviving relative. When Galuf travels to Bartz's world she follows after him and helps him recover his memories. Able to communicate with animals such as wyverns and moogles, she helps the party fight Exdeath, only for Galuf to sacrifice his life to protect her. However, she inherits his abilities and skills, and takes over his role in the party to help stop Exdeath for good as she comes to regard them as her new family.A character also named Krile appears in Final Fantasy XIV as a major supporting character, with her appearance being similar to the original Final Fantasy V character.