Secret characters in RPGs used to be a big trend in the 90s. It’s one way magazines could get subscribers, as they would advertise game tips every month. Besides that, there were numerous strategy guides, for almost every single game out there. The Final Fantasy series is a good example.

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Even though the franchise is known now for having secret characters, the amount is actually less than one would think. Final Fantasy 6 was the first game to have optional party members, and Final Fantasy 7 was the last mainline title to do it. There were lots of spinoffs though, so let’s pick out some of the more challenging secret heroes and heroines to recruit in Final Fantasy.

6 Gogo (Final Fantasy 6)

Diving Into The Belly Of The Beast

Gogo is a character that can be obtained once the world is destroyed in Final Fantasy 6. They are hiding inside the belly of a monster, the Zone Eater, which players can encounter on a small island to the northeast called Triangle Island. If they get sucked in by the Zone Eater’s attack, they will meet Gogo inside its stomach.

Gogo cannot equip Magicite items, unlike most of the game's cast. Instead, Gogo is a mimic who can copy whatever command the last character used. There have been many theories about Gogo’s identity and gender, from Relm’s mother to Emperor Gestahl, but Square Enix has remained tight-lipped on it for decades.

5 Al-Cid Margrace (Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift)

A Long Quest To Beat The Game

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift was the sequel to the original GBA game, borrowing more of its elements than the PS1 original, such as the Judge system. Players could recruit random NPCs at pubs, or recruit story characters throughout the adventure. There were some high-profile secret characters who came from other games in the franchise too, namely Final Fantasy 12.

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Players could recruit Panelo, Vaan, and Montblanc in the game, but only after they beat it, and only by tackling several side missions. Al-Cid Margrace, also from Final Fantasy 12 and one of the many Cids in the franchise, was the hardest to obtain, as there were a lot of steps required through challenging missions to unlock him. To get him in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, players had to beat the game, complete the mission “A Dashing Duel”, and then meet with him in Targ Wood. He had a unique Job, Agent, and he could not change to other Jobs.

4 Cloud (Final Fantasy Tactics)

A Powerful Character Held Back By His Level

Thanks to the popularity of Final Fantasy 7, Cloud was added to Final Fantasy Tactics. He’s incredibly hard to get and even harder to master. Once recruited, Cloud starts at level one, and, by this point in the game, players should be near the end of the story, making Cloud brutally under-leveled.

Players have to do some missions involving getting a robot, Construct 8, rebuilt, and unearthing an otherworldly gate. It sort of makes getting Cloud not worth it, except his unique attacks are very powerful, and it’s just cool to have Cloud on the team. There are side quests in the game that players can take in bars, which can help get Cloud leveled up and able to contribute to the team. Aerith is in the game, too, but she’s just there as a cameo.

3 Yuffie (Final Fantasy 7)

Learning To Talk To Teens

Yuffie is from Final Fantasy 7 and has been canonized in the remake along with Final Fantasy 7’s other secret character, Vincent. The only way players even knew these two were in the original game, though, is because of their bios in the manual. Even then, the descriptions didn’t give any clues on how to obtain them.

Yuffie can be encountered in any forested area outside of Junon. Once encountered, players must defeat her and then say the right commands after. Players can’t be too eager or too cruel to get her on board, either. It’s a complete guessing game on how to recruit Yuffie without having a guide on hand or unless players get incredibly lucky with their text prompts.

2 Littlevili (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)

Only A Chance To Unlock These Characters

Players can recruit six named characters around the end of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. They are unlocked through Clan League missions, which will lead to tournaments against other Clans. Specific entries will pop up for some characters, including Littlevili, Lini, Cheney, Pallanza, Quin, and Eldena.

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Littlevili, for example, is from the Viera race, and she’s quite the ally. The thing is, players only have a chance of recruiting them even after completing the assigned missions. They won’t add much to the story either, but they do have unique color pallets compared to other playable characters in the game. Recruiting one, or all six, is worth it for the bragging rights alone, but it certainly isn't easy.

1 Feral Chaos (Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy)

A Boss Fight To End All Boss Fights

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy was both a sequel and a re-release of the original game on PSP. Players would begin this enhanced version by completing the new campaign involving the characters Lightning, Kain, Laguna, Vaan, and Tifa. Once they got through that, the campaign from the original game would unlock. After beating that as well, the mission “Main Scenario 000: Confessions of the Creator” would open up.

It was a boss battle with Feral Chaos, who is without a doubt the hardest fight in the Dissidia series, let alone the game, given its stats. Defeating it would then put Feral Chaos into the unlock store, where players could buy the character to play as. Prishe and Gilgamesh were secret characters too, but getting them wasn’t nearly as challenging or as rewarding.

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