Final Fantasy is a rich series with main characters that have different personalities. There are some overlapping traits as well and for the most part, main characters fall into one of two categories. They are either gloomy or dark in some regard or they are light-hearted rogues.
For example, Squall from Final Fantasy 8 and Lightning from Final Fantasy 13 have a lot of brooding in their nature. Zidane from Final Fantasy 9 and Vaan from Final Fantasy 12 are fun-loving goofballs with a great sense of adventure. So, where does Final Fantasy 16’s Clive fall into all of this? Let’s go over his best qualities and moments with spoilers.
6 Seeing Clive Grow Through The Ages
A lot of games in the series feature the main characters with flashbacks to their younger selves. There are many flashbacks in Final Fantasy 7 involving Cloud, for example. Even the last game, Final Fantasy 15, featured some younger moments with Noctis. Final Fantasy 16 blows everything before it out of the water because Clive is shown throughout the ages.
He starts as a teen before things flash forward thirteen years. After being with him for that time, things flash forward again to five more years. Each period shows growth within the character beyond the numbered status of years. It’s great to be a part of Clive’s life and to see that he actually grows metaphorically as a person from a doe-eyed teen to a battle-hardened warrior to a compassionate leader. He’s not the same as the beginning as this game gets more space to play around with.
5 His Dedication To Kin And Kingdom
Clive is a refreshing character because he gets a family and a big one at that who is involved with the entire game. There are games in the past with established characters who have families be it a parent or a sibling. Edgar and Sabin from Final Fantasy 6, for example, are brothers in that game and they are both playable too. In Final Fantasy 16, Clive has Joshua whom he believes is dead throughout most of his life.
His death never stops haunting Clive as he has this incredible guilt. When Joshua comes back, Clive couldn’t be happier. There’s also his father, who dies, and his mother who is a villain in the game. Finally, the ever-great uncle Byron is there to punch up some of the drearier scenes and he even becomes a temporary party member.
4 Clive’s Love Of Animals
Torgal is such a good boy. Whenever a game comes out with a dog companion, the Internet goes nuts. Torgal is the only party member that will stick with Clive throughout most of the game. He will disappear from time to time but he’s mostly by Clive’s side. Clive seemingly wouldn’t have it any other way as he loves this dog back just as much as Torgal loves Clive.
The animal love doesn’t stop with Torgal either. Eventually, after the first third of the game, players will be able to ride a Chocobo in Final Fantasy 16. Ambrosia was Clive’s ride as a teen and it also remembers Clive well like Torgal. It’s much cooler now because it has an eyepatch. How many Chocobo in the series have an eyepatch? Exactly one and Ambrosia is it. Could Clive’s animal companions get any cooler?
3 Fighting For The People
Once the game flashes forward thirteen years, Clive is a broken man. He is desperately trying to find who Ifrit is as they are the ones responsible for killing Joshua. He feeds on revenge like Sonic the Hedgehog feasts on chili dogs. However, even after finding out, he was the one responsible, Clive didn’t let that go to his head in a time of turmoil. Yes, he was haunted by his guilt which is why this version of Cid tries to clear him of his stupor on an exploration mission.
On this mission, Clive hears Gav in the background about to die. Even though Clive is in a funk, he knows when is a good time to sulk and when is a good time for action. He puts others way ahead of himself and this goes beyond the aforementioned family. Even the lowliest of NPCs in The Hideaway gets the respect of Clive because he thinks everyone is equal. Clive’s dedication to his family, friends, and countrymen is astounding and heartwarming in an overall tale that is so dark.
2 He Can Speak Moogle
One of Clive’s odder skills is his ability to speak Moogle. It’s like this game’s version of speaking Parseltongue, which allows people to talk to snakes, from the Harry Potter series. The only difference between the two is that speaking Moogle is not considering an evil trait. There is one Moogle in the game, Nektar, and it has been desperately trying to speak to people at The Hideaway for ages.
Clive is the first person that can understand it and Nektar is more than relieved. It’s great because Clive doesn’t even treat it as weird even though most people would. It’s a good mark of a person if they talk to everyone on equal footing which goes back to Clive being a good friend and family member. Nektar assuredly can see that in Clive as well.
1 His Power Level
There are a lot of strong protagonists in the series. Cloud has that amazingly huge sword and is able to wield magic. Noctis has multiple weapons hiding in pocket dimensions. He is also a Summoner, able to summon forth the largest versions of Summons until Final Fantasy 16. This brings to mind Clive because he can easily destroy any of the previous protagonists.
He is that powerful as he is the only main character in the series that can turn into a Summon, or Eikon as they are called in Final Fantasy 16. He also has the power to steal other people's Eikons to give him even more strength. Clive thankfully uses this immense power for good and doesn’t become obsessed with it. Power isn’t everything but it’s hard not to admire Clive just a little bit for his combat readiness, to put it mildly.
Final Fantasy 16 was released on June 22, 2023, and is available on PS5.