Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Final Fantasy: Nerds in Paradise > Final Fantasy IV > I'm dead! Hahahahaha! No, I'm not!

[Takara]

It is no secret that Final Fantasy IV is one of the first game in the series that had a real storyline, even if it can be considered primitive and full of clichés compared to the newer games. But when you think about it, this game did bring a lot of those very same clichés into the series.

But one of those clichés has origins in one of Final Fantasy IV's predecessor, Final Fantasy II. I'm talking about the "character gets heroic death for more drama" cliché. Except FFIV didn't kill all of its characters that regularly rotated out of the party like FFII. No, FFIV twisted that cliché, killing only one of its heroes, but making most of the others suffer from "fake heroic death" syndrome. Most will agree when I say it was overdone.

My question is the following: if you were the one who created (or remade) Final Fantasy IV, how many of those fake deaths would you keep? How many would turn into real deaths? And how many would you simply transform into events that show the party member getting out of commission without there being any doubts about his or her survival?

[Necronopticous]

I think we can all agree that Cid should be nothing more than traces of gore in the upper-right-hand corner of the Underworld.

[Crossblades]

Honestly, I would keep all of them. The Tellah death would be the only one I could keep

[Evastio]

I'd say it's good the way it is. Having everyone come back (except Tellah) during the Giant of Bab-il scene made it extremely epic and awesome. It shows how strong of a bond Cecil has made with his friends and how willing they are to help out Cecil.

I don't understand at all how people could not like that scene. (Unless they like seeing characters die and take enjoyment from it) So what if it makes FFIV's storyline less tragic? It gives the story an epic twist, from Cecil going against people in high power (like King Baron and Golbez) to Cecil becoming a person in high power (becoming the only person who succeeded the Paladin trial, becoming the one spoken about in the prophecy). Having all of his "dead" friends be there to help him fight the Giant of Bab-il show even more how much people have come to respect Cecil.

As for Tellah, it'd be kind of awkward to have him alive again. He died a villain's death giving up his life to destroy another's, rather than trying to save one's like Yang, Palom, Porom, and Cid. Having him alive would kind of show that his sacrifice was as noble as the others' which it wasn't since it was out of anger.

[Takara]

But wouldn't putting characters out of commission, as I said, without being a doubt about whether or not they survived, make the Giant of Bab-Il scene less epic? For example, if Cecil and co managed to find a way into the cannon room after it blew up and found out Yang was still alive, but seriously wounded?

[Relapse]

I don't like Cid, Tellah and to some extent Palom and Porom. But I would kill Cid and Tellah.

[Evastio]

And the mome rath Takara outgrabe

But wouldn't putting characters out of commission, as I said, without being a doubt about whether or not they survived, make the Giant of Bab-Il scene less epic? For example, if Cecil and co managed to find a way into the cannon room after it blew up and found out Yang was still alive, but seriously wounded?

I'm not getting you.

[Takara]

And the mome rath Evastio outgrabe

And the mome rath Takara outgrabe

But wouldn't putting characters out of commission, as I said, without being a doubt about whether or not they survived, make the Giant of Bab-Il scene less epic? For example, if Cecil and co managed to find a way into the cannon room after it blew up and found out Yang was still alive, but seriously wounded?

I'm not getting you.

What I'm saying is that pretending to kill a character is not the only way to make one leave the party permanently. If Cecil and co found Yang immediately after the cannon blew up instead of thinking he's dead, and knew he was alive but seriously wounded, Yang's appearance at the battle against the Giant would have still been epic.