For every fantastically well-realized hero and villain to have appeared throughout the Final Fantasy franchise, there are just as many who are more than just a little bizarre. Whether due to the way that they look or their peculiar actions and mannerisms, these strange and unusual characters can often leave players scratching their heads long after the final credits have rolled.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, many of the series' strangest characters came in the period between Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy XII when Square Enix was prone to throwing in one or two non-human party members. Even then though, there were plenty of human characters who also ticked quite a few of the boxes for being strange.
10 Gau (Final Fantasy VI)
Given the huge number of playable characters in Final Fantasy VI, it's perhaps not too surprising that some of them are a little bizarre. What may be a little shocking, however, is that Gau is far from the strangest party member that players can recruit throughout the epic adventure. That's not to say that he is normal though; far from it, in fact.
Despite being human, Gau possesses many of the characteristics one might expect to find in a feral animal and typically spends his time devouring wild monsters as he roams carelessly across the Veldt. Upon joining the party, he's barely able to talk and attacks using skills and techniques that he learns from enemies rather than in the traditional way.
9 Vivi (Final Fantasy IX)
Vivi serves as a nice throwback to the early days of Final Fantasy when jobs played an integral role in battle. Although the same loose roles do still show up in the series from time to time, Final Fantasy IX was the last offline entry in the series to really make use of the classic black mage design.
With his ominous black face and huge yellow eyes, Vivi is an odd looking character indeed and his mannerisms are very much in keeping with this theme. A mage who is afraid to use magic is a wonderfully ridiculous concept in and of itself while his existentialist remarks only serve to deepen the aura of mystery that surrounds the gullible little goofball.
8 Kimahri (Final Fantasy X)
Non-human party members have become increasingly uncommon in recent Final Fantasy games; with Kimahri serving as one of the last notable examples. He's a Ronso of very few words and instead opts to use non-verbal cues to get his points across. In the rare occasions that he does open his mouth though, he rarely says too much.
While definitely strange, the diversity found throughout Spira arguably justifies Kimahri's inclusion as a playable party member. The Ronso are just one of many tribes that inhabit the game's world and having one of them as part of the main cast therefore makes a lot of sense; even if Kimahri himself sometimes does not.
7 Zidane (Final Fantasy IX)
Although non-human characters were fairly common throughout the middle third of the Final Fantasy series, it was rare for one of them to be given the leading role. Sure, Terra was half Esper, but Final Fantasy IX's Zidane Tribal is full Genome and has a somewhat bizarre backstory to go along with his unusual genetics.
At a glance, he may seem like a pretty standard character and, for the most part, he kind of is. Except for the tail, that is. Throw in his strange preoccupation with the opposite gender despite the impending apocalypse and he is definitely one of the more singular main protagonists to have ever graced the series.
6 Umaro (Final Fantasy VI)
Umaro is a giant Yeti who is incapable of communicating with humans. He is, however, incredibly strong and can dish out some decent damage in battle as a result. Unfortunately, which attack he actually ends up using is completely random; much like his inclusion in Final Fantasy VI.
In order to recruit Umaro, players will first need to defeat him in battle. It's not quite that simple though, as due to the language barrier, they'll also need to have Mog in the party if they want Umaro to join. Why and how the two characters are able to communicate is never really explained, nor is why the beast would want to needlessly risk its life in a war which really doesn't concern it.
5 Fran (Final Fantasy XII)
Fran is the last non-human to feature as a playable character in an offline Final Fantasy game and is definitely one of the strangest. The Viera species shares many similarities with rabbits, although the most obvious and bizarre of these is undoubtedly their giant pointy white ears.
As well as being able to sense nearby Mist, Fran has the somewhat unique ability of being able to converse with nature and does so with the trees in Goldmere Jungle. Her motivations and aspirations largely remain a mystery; as too does her reasoning for wearing such revealing outfits.
4 Cait Sith (Final Fantasy VII)
Cait Sith is an anthropomorphic remote-controlled cat who rides atop a giant stuffed Moogle that he magically brought to life. If that concept alone doesn't seem strange, then surely nothing is. He also attacks enemies by shouting at them through a megaphone, because that's a completely normal thing to do, right?
Once it becomes clear that the character is actually being controlled by the Shinra executive Reeve then things do start to make a bit more sense. Only a little though. A lot of things still don't quite compute; least of all, how exactly Tetsuya Nomura and his team plan to tackle the character when he shows up in the next part of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
3 Gogo (Final Fantasy VI)
Gogo is arguably the most mysterious playable character in the history of the Final Fantasy series. Its race, gender and age are all unknown; as too are its true motivations for joining the party. Perhaps the biggest mystery though - and one of the things that makes Gogo so strange - is why it chooses to live inside a giant worm.
Even if players do opt to recruit Gogo, they are given very few answers for their efforts. The character barely speaks and attacks only by mimicking the actions of others. What exactly happens to Gogo after Kefka is defeated also remains something of a mystery, with the assumption being that it simply went back to the belly of the Zone Eater to live out the rest of its days in peace.
2 Red XIIIÂ (Final Fantasy VII)
Red XIII is a four-legged feline who is inexplicably capable of complex human speech. His father is a statue and his "grandfather" is a magical floating man with a ball-like body rather than a pair of legs. He also wears ceremonial headdresses to enhance his combat skills and the tip of his tail is constantly on fire.
That Red XIII somehow manages to avoid setting everyone and everything around him ablaze is somewhat impressive; as too is the fact that he still seems to have most of his fur. He provides plenty of bizarre moments throughout Final Fantasy VII, like the time that he put on a sailor suit and tried to act like a human. The only thing stranger is that none of the guards seemed the least bit suspicious.
1 Quina (Final Fantasy IX)
There have been plenty of ridiculous looking Final Fantasy characters over the years, but none more so than Quina. Its bizarre fashion sense is bad enough, but the creepy eyes and elongated tongue take the design to a whole other level of weirdness. Unfortunately, its actions and characteristics only make matters worse.
Rather than use a more traditional Enemy Skill mechanic, the designers of FinalFantasy IX made it so that Quina has to eat enemies in order to learn their attacks. It enters battle wielding a pair of forks and moves around like a barely-lucid Japanese Kabuki performer. Interestingly, it's also 89 years old; thus making it one of the oldest playable characters in the series as well as one of the strangest.