The story and characterization of Final Fantasy 16 are front and center for the gameplay experience, but some characters get more screen time than others as the narrative progresses. This is especially the case for the canine companion Torgal, as well as sadly Clive's love interest Jill, who receives far less screen time than she deserves for being one of the main companions throughout most of the game.
In the case of Torgal, it might be a bit more understandable that the character isn't explored outside of a handful of side quests or a few moments during the main campaign of Final Fantasy 16, seeing as how he is a pet. The more worrying comparison is the fact that Jill is given about as much focus in the story, despite being a human woman and the primary romantic companion to the protagonist.
Torgal is Only Explored in Side Content in Final Fantasy 16
More often than not, Torgal is treated as a combat mechanic, being shown to appear next to Clive right before jumping into a fight. Similarly, Torgal will also disappear whenever the story requires, such as when an Eikon battle starts and the giant summons begin destroying the landscape. Furthermore, there is one specific encounter later in the game when a tower gets sliced to ribbons with Torgal still on it, only for him to walk up to Clive's side a while later with no explanation as to where he went or how he survived.
Even stranger is the minimalist way that Torgal is used throughout the plot of the game, usually just growling to indicate that a fight was about to start or enemies were waiting to ambush Clive. Torgal's animal instinct ability to sniff out enemies is rarely used as a diagetic indication of how Clive is tracking down enemies or acting on his own inside of cinematic combat encounters. That isn't to say that he never appears to do more than growl, as he does save Clive in an early fight with a Dominant and rescues Jill as she's doing her best work in the classic damsel in distress role, which is a whole other can of worms.
Final Fantasy 16's Jill as Background Decoration
Torgal being left out of the main story and lacking any agency of his own is one thing, but it is sad to notice that the same goes for Jill, one of the main characters first introduced during Clive's childhood. From the moment she is added to the party, fighting alongside Cid and Clive, Jill makes a handful of remarks during traversal, but is often sidelined for the sake of letting the other two move the story along and actually take action. It's entirely possible to forget that she is there on the mission to shatter Final Fantasy 16's first Mothercrystal, with Cid and Ramuh's actions taking center stage for this entire section.
To be fair, Jill does have a much more important role during the mission to hunt down the Drake's Breath Mothercrystal, where the game takes a moment to dig into her struggles to handle her actions as an Eikon for the Ironbloods. Jill even manages to get a decent amount of agency in this section, likely preparing players to expect her to play a major role throughout the rest of the game as she helps Clive hunt down the remaining Dominants and crack the Mothercrystals. Except for the fact that on the following hunt for Final Fantasy 16's Hugo Kupka, Jill is easily captured and requires Clive and Torgal to go save her.
The worst moment of Jill failing to be given the screen time the character deserves comes right at the end though, where she is given the opportunity to have a truly emotional moment. However, even here, where Jill is the character most affected by the events of the story, the camera decides to focus on the comic relief FF16 character Gav as he gets to show some emotional vulnerability.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now for PS5
