The storytelling in theFinal Fantasygames has long been one of the biggest draws to Square Enix’s flagship franchise. However, as the series continues withFinal Fantasy 16currently in development, some fans have gone back through classic titles to see some of the trends and tropes that Square Enix has utilized to tell these stories.
One interesting discovery has been made aboutFinal Fantasy 7andFinal Fantasy 8, where two characters behave in similar ways to reveal secrets down the line in the story. These are also two of the most prominentFinal Fantasycharacters to share a cowboy-themed fashion sense at certain points in their respective titles, which makes their connection all the more entertaining for fans.
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As pointed out in a post on theFinal Fantasysubreddit, by Reddit user DupeFort,Final Fantasy 7’s Tifa Lockharthas similarities toFinal Fantasy 8’s Irvine Kinneas. While a close-quarters martial artist might not seem to have much in common with a sharpshooter, both take the story function of holding onto memories that contradicts those told early on by the protagonists. In both cases, these true memories appear later on in the story to fill in the gaps created by traumatic events that have altered the perspective past of the other characters around them. This comes in the form of false memories that block out the death of Zack for Cloud, and the price of junctioning with Guardian Forces for Squall and the rest of theFinal Fantasy 8cast.
It’s interesting to see that Square Enix used this same trope of an altered memory for two games in a row, all with additional characters that conveniently knew the truth and kept it hidden until it made for a better twist. However, most amusingly, fans have also pointed out that both of these characters also have cowboy outfits during at least one part in their respective titles. In the case ofTifa’s alternate outfit inFinal Fantasy 7, it’s just a different set of clothes used to set the time periods, whereas Irvine dons the full cowboy hat and duster look for all ofFinal Fantasy 8.
Fans of theFinal Fantasyseries might have also noticed that untrustworthy memories isn’t exactly uncommon throughout the whole franchise. The following title,Final Fantasy 9, also included a protagonist who seemingly forgot a key part of their backstory that is only later revealed by another character who knows all of the missing pieces. So, it’s likely that fans are going to be seeing more characters like Tifa and Irvine as the trend ofFinal Fantasyprotagonists having amnesia persistsinto future titles.
