Through Clive's journey in Final Fantasy 16, players will encounter a Medicine Girl numerous times in various cutscenes. She may seem like an insignificant character at first, but her constant appearances quickly prove otherwise. In fact, the Medicine Girl is vital to understanding a number of subplots within Final Fantasy 16, including at least one major one.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy 16As a whole, the Medicine Girl represents the common people of Valisthea. Most of Final Fantasy 16 is centered around war and political intrigue by its nations, meaning that the Dominants, Kings, and Queens of the Realm are always at the forefront. Meanwhile, Clive fights for the downtrodden Bearers for the most part, if for everyone to also have their right to choose and be who they are. At her core, the Medicine Girl is a representative of the common folk of Valisthea, just as Clive's "Cid the Outlaw" moniker represents his merry band of rebels with a common goal, Hugo Kupka represents his republic, Dion represents his empire, and so on.
Final Fantasy 16's Medicine Girl Represents the Struggle of Valisthean Life
What's immediately clear is that life in Valisthea is not a happy one. Between constant wars for power, the spreading blight, and other monstrosities of the realm, many folks struggle from day to day. That's where the Medicine Girl is first introduced. One of the first times players see her is as she is trying to sell her healing poultices in the Dhalmekian Republic. Jill speaks with her for a moment, before the young girl seemingly begrudgingly backs off to continue selling her wares. It's immediately obvious that this girl has a gift for her poultices, but also that she is forced to sell them alone, without her parents. What happened to them is a mystery, and the realities of Valisthea make it impossible to venture a guess.
She'll pop up in several more places and bear witness to even more atrocities. The worst is that the young Medicine Girl is basically front and center for Final Fantasy 16's Twinside Rebellion, and yet, somehow, the young girl perseveres. If Clive's message about humanity fighting for itself rings true anywhere, it's within this young girl. Like Clive, she clearly has little if any reason to be happy and kind, yet she continues to put others first. Despite them being her means of income, she offers her healing poultices to both a wounded Joshua and a wounded Dion. Through the Medicine Girl, players are treated to a throughline of humanity's will in the face of adversity throughout most major, negative events of Final Fantasy 16. This is why she is never named—not so players can't sympathize with her but because she represents all the common folk of Valisthea and what they've faced, creating more empathy for them instead.
Final Fantasy 16's Medicine Girl Represents the Hope of Future Valisthea
She may represent that throughline in a number of subplots, but Dion's is where her importance rings through the most. After she heals Dion purely out of the kindness that remains her heart, he travels back to the frontlines to help his empire, to help Clive, and to help Joshua all defeat Ultima. It's likely, but not clear, if she even knows he is the Dominant of Bahamut. Before going off to save the world, Dion finds his lover Terrence, gives him plenty of Gil, and sends him to find the Medicine Girl. It's Dion's wish that Terrence finds her and raises her, but heartbreakingly to do so without him. In a perfect world, Dion would live, find Terrence and the Medicine Girl, and the two would live to have a happy life with their adopted daughter. It's plain as day, if not outright spoken, that this would make Dion truly happy in the chaos of Valisthea, but he gives up that hope to fight for humanity's will and right to exist.
As such, she represents a hope for the future countries of FF16's Valisthea that they are able to live a life they want, as equals, without constant suffering. It is the suffering that Clive knows, that Dion knows, that she knows that pushes them to keep fighting and keep smiling through it all, a suffering Clive so aptly underlines that Ultima does not understand. Her story, told piecemeal, is perhaps one of the most beautiful in Final Fantasy 16.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now on PS5.
