Summary
WhenFinal Fantasy 6introduced Terra Branford to players, the journey she went on showed a real and very human struggle with identity. She showedFinal Fantasyplayers that not knowing who they are is fine and natural. She struggles with who she is throughout the game; and though it’s due to amnesia, it still teaches players a valuable lesson.
Terra invites self-discovery and that making mistakes along the way is part of the journey, one of the reasons she’s considered one of thebest female characters in theFinal Fantasyfranchise. She tries to do things alone in one part of the game and loses, feeling defeated and thinking that she really wasn’t made for fighting anymore. But mistakes are okay and human, and she embraces that when she picks herself back up and defends the village when they need her. Finding a balance between the race of the Espers and the humans can be just as important as finding things out about oneself.
Final Fantasy 6’s Terra Laid the Groundwork for Self-Discovery
Terra Branford: Setting the Stage for Self-Discovery
Terra became the symbol she is for self-discovery through going through the motions herself. She struggled with figuring out what she was meant to do and who she was meant to be, albeit in a more literal sense. Young kids, especially young girls, need to see women in media overcoming their struggles and having said struggles to begin with. It isn’t a perfect world, and sometimes, many girls will find themselves being ridiculed for almost anything. They need to know how to pick themselves back up, dust themselves off, and get back into the world much like howTerra fromFinal Fantasy 6does.
Why Well-Written Female Characters Matter So Much
Young girls need to have examples like Terra and many otherwell-written female characters in video gamesto follow later into adulthood. Women who have thought-out character arcs and aren’t flat tropes on the screen are incredibly important. Not just to be role models, but to be their own fleshed-out individual. Being a flat character never helps anyone and only helps to feed into stereotypes and set expectations for those who consume the media. While not everyone will see people so flatly, there is still a concerning amount of those who do.
Women need to share the spotlight just as much as any other type of person does. Everyone deserves to be on the stage and no one should feel excluded. TheFinal Fantasydevelopers know this well, as they swapped out their original idea with that of astrong female video game protagonist, Terra. The developers felt she would embody the story better, and it showed in the writing.
Terra’s Real World Application
Showing someone who can handle a struggle, cope with it afterward, and be comfortable in the aftermath is important. People all around the world struggle, it’s a part of life, but not everyone can dust themselves off after something goes wrong. It can be hard to do, but for those who have the privilege of taking lessons fromstrong female characters like Terraand can take notes, it becomes easier.
To see someone who can do something like Terra and let her hair down, take on a new life, and accept things the way they are now, isempowering for girls playing video gamesor for anyone else. She teaches people who play the game or read about her story to take a step into the unknown and figure things out as they come. It doesn’t have to be scary. Terra had a group of supportive friends behind her and was able to help take on even the toughest challenges. Even when she failed, she had friends behind her to help pick her back up.
Final Fantasy 16
WHERE TO PLAY
An epic dark fantasy world where the fate of the land is decided by the mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them.This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. Before long, Clive will be caught up in a great tragedy and swear revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that brings calamity in its wake.
