Summary
Although many of its stories may seem to boil down to “heroes of light versus villains of darkness,“Final Fantasyhas produced villains with nuance, depth, and, in some cases, sympathetic motivations. The heroes in theFinal Fantasyseries aren’t the only ones to go through dramatic transformations, as some antagonists will have character arcs of their own and may even find redemption and align themselves with the heroes' noble cause.
While vanquishing a calculating mastermind with the flash of a blade or stomping ona cackling mass murdererwith a futuristic space dragon can be satisfying, there’s something compelling about seeing an enemy turning into an ally that speaks to the more gracious side of humanity. As so many of these turncoat moments are story twists, beware spoilers ahead!
General Beatrix, a proud knight and leader of the Alexandrian army, initially opposes Zidane and the rest of the party, proving to them early on in unwinnable boss fights that she far outranks them in terms of power and skill. However, after witnessing Queen Brahne commit so many atrocities, her perfect loyalty begins to break, especially after the Queen considers sentencing her own daughter, Garnet, to death.
Beatrix is by no means evil, but throughoutFinal Fantasy 9, she acts on behalf of an evil monarch without much thought to it. Once she decides to switch sides, she joins the effort to free Garnet. After that, she opens up her heart, becoming a mentor for Garnet when she takes the crown, evenputting aside her rivalrywith the leader of the Pluto Knights as she falls in love with Steiner.
It’s very clear from Gabranth’s actions early on that Gabranth (depicted inFinal Fantasy 12’s iconic logo)is willing to commit any evil act to further the interests of the empire he serves. Besides assassinating the king, he is willing to betray his twin brother by pinning the murder of Raminas on his head, for which Basch is forced to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
Gabranth finally comes to his senses during the final confrontation with Vayne, the true mastermind behind the treachery, afterhis twin smacks him downand gives him a lesson in honor. While his final act of bravery hardly undoes all his terrible actions, he joins in the attack against Vayne. He is given a death blow on his first charge, but this gives the party a shot at Vayne. With Gabranth’s sword, the party brings a nethicite-infused Vayne to his knees.
An imposing warrior and a powerful sorcerer, Golbez appears several times to Cecil and the rest of the party as an unsurmountable foe. What the party doesn’t know is that throughoutFinal Fantasy 4, he is actually under the control of an even more powerful magic user, Zemus, and while Golbez is conscious of his actions, he has no real control. While hunting for the Crystals, Golbez murders many innocents and gains infamy as a monster in armor plate.
Once the party defeats Zemus, the spell is broken, and Golbez’s control is returned. As Golbez reveals that he is, in fact, Cecil’s brother, Zemus returns, reincarnated as the monstrous Zeromus, and he fights alongside the party to put the beast down. InThe After Years, Golbez continues histragic, self-imposed exileon the moon, knowing that the people of the world could never understand the truth about his past.
Known for his love of fine swords, melodramatic excuses, and audacious personality, Gilgamesh is one of the enduring villains in the series. During the closing hours ofFinal Fantasy 5, Gilgamesh pulls a last-minute side-switch during the fight against a powerful void monster, Necrophobe, after being defeated so many times by the party. His master, Exdeath, even exiles him to the void for providing such poor service as an evil henchman.
The wandering swordsman seemingly sacrifices himself to let the party escape, offering advice and compliments to each party member before he goes. Gilgamesh isn’t just enduring because of this one touching (and somewhat bizarre) character moment. After slipping through the void, Gilgameshshows up in otherFinal Fantasyuniverses, most memorably making an appearance after Odin is defeated as Squall and the other SeeD members are facing off against Siefer inFinal Fantasy 8. Unlike other summons common across the series, this is the very same Gilgamesh, as demonstrated by his near-namedropping of Bartz while snatching up Odin’s fallen sword.
Jecht (or Sir Jecht, as he is known in Spira) is one of the series' most personal villains. Tidus' flashbacks of his father’s bullying and neglectful, drunken behavior are scattered throughoutFinal Fantasy 10’sstory, and the revelation that Jecht has turned into Sin gears players up to take him down. However, things aren’t quite as they seem. After Jecht sacrificed himself to defeat Sin, Sin reconstituted itself around him, and Jecht lost the ability to exert his will.
Despite being at the center of the monster, Jecht desperately wants Tidus to break Sin’s cycle of reincarnation, as his last request to Auron made clear: find Tidus and bring him to Spira. Jecht is a flawed man and aneven more flawed father, and while he lacks the ability to express himself and give his son the love he needs, he has a good heart. Jecht wanted Tidus to grow up strong and good-hearted and become a great Blitzball player like him. Given that Tidus and the rest of the party find a way to bring Eternal Calm, it seems that those wishes were granted.
