Final Fantasy 16 was finally revealed at the PS5 reveal event, and fans have been given a glimpse at the game’s main character. Not much is known about this individual yet, as the trailer didn’t even give fans a name, but it did give some insight into his past and his abilities. While all this is great information, some fans can’t help but notice similarities between Joshua and Final Fantasy 15‘s Noctis. In terms of both personality and abilities, the characters seems very similar, and as a general rule they fit into the stereotype that has begun to define Final Fantasy protagonists. But it is worth looking into just how deep this connection goes.
So far, fans only have one look at the main character from Final Fantasy 16. This trailer does show him at multiple points throughout his life, and it is very clear that there is something special about him. In the case of Noctis, fans have already played through Final Fantasy 15 and its many DLC episodes and should have a solid understanding of his character. The lack of information on the protagonist does make the comparison a little difficult, but it should also give some level of hope to those that don’t want a Noctis clone as the protagonist of Final Fantasy 16.
Noctis’ personality isn’t hard to pinpoint, as fans have a good idea of what he will be like from the very beginning of the game. He is young and aloof, often seeming like he’d rather be anywhere else. The best word to describe him would be edgy, and that word has been prescribed to many Final Fantasy characters over the years. The problem with Noctis is that he doesn’t do much growing throughout the story. His allies all undergo some radical changes, but Noctis remains mostly the same until the time skip towards the end of the game.
While Noctis’ edgy attitude may have been annoying to some, one of the things that Final Fantasy 15 did great was making its characters feel alive. The camaraderie between Noctis and his friends is undeniable, and it is in his interaction with those friends that fans get a chance to see a different side of Noctis. These moments are overshadowed though, as edge seems to be Noctis’ defining character trait. He is often depicted as a reluctant hero bearing the weight of his duty as the chosen one, and it takes years before he is able to get out of that victim mentality.
There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding Final Fantasy 16‘s protagonist, but the trailer did reveal a few things. For one, he is the Archduke’s son, giving him some level of royalty. Unlike Noctis, he is not a prince, rather he is in charge of being the bodyguard for one Prince Joshua. From what little fans see in the trailer, there does appear to be a distinctly edgy feel about the Archduke’s son, and this is where the comparison to Noctis comes in.
The trailer only showed this character in dire straits for the most part, so fans don’t really have a chance to see what he’s like when around friends and in calmer situations. It could be said that the entire trailer had an edgy vibe, which would explain why he was behaving in the way he was. What’s more, whereas Noctis is the chosen one, destined to save the world from an eternal night, this character seems to be a normal guy for the most part, with the exception that he has some kind of connection with the summon Phoenix.
The similarities between these characters are obvious. Both appear to be on the younger side, but most Final Fantasy protagonists are. Likewise, they have similar hair and at times their fighting styles even seemed to be alike. They both have some kind of connection to their kingdom’s royal family, although Noctis’ is much stronger, and both are fully capable of wielding magic. Long time Final Fantasy fans will know that this doesn’t necessarily set them apart that much from others in the franchise, so these similarities come as no surprise.
On the flip side, however, the two do show some marked differences that should help to differentiate the characters. Perhaps the most notable difference is that Noctis had a destiny that he reluctantly fulfilled by the end of the game whereas the character shown in Final Fantasy 16‘s announccement trailer‘s entire goal seems to be to break free of destiny. In Noctis’ case, the crystal guided his journey from the very beginning, but Final Fantasy 16‘s protagonist seems to be going against the grain and fighting back against the crystals. Once more information is unveiled about this character, there may be even more differences that pop up.
Finally, it should be said that the similarities that they do share can be traced back through several Final Fantasy protagonists. The most famous of the edgy Final Fantasy main characters of course is Final Fantasy 7‘s Cloud, but that isn’t where things start or end. Final Fantasy 4 featured Cecil the Dark Knight who could be very edgy at times, and Final Fantasy 8 treated fans to Squall, another hero that was at the time criticized for being too similar to Cloud. Even Final Fantasy 13‘s Lightning could be cold and uncaring, playing into these edgy traits.
It stands to reason that the main character of Final Fantasy 16 will share some of these traits, but there is still so much about him that players don’t know. It could be that for most of the game he has a very happy go lucky personality, but is able to get serious when the situation calls for that. On the other hand, he could end up being as dark and brooding as his predecessors. Unfortunately right now there’s no real way to be certain. Now that the cat is out of the bag, though, Final Fantasy 16 may be getting more news in the near future.
Final Fantasy 16 is in development for PS5.
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