Summary
Family isn’t as prevalent in theFinal Fantasyseries as one may think. There are brothers, sisters, moms, and dads, but they can often be tertiary characters without much backstory. There are a lot of bad moms in particular, though, that would give Disney’s evil step-moms a run for their money.
For example, Queen Brahne fromFinal Fantasy 9and Anabella fromFinal Fantasy 16were both power-hungry witches who brought pain and suffering to hundreds of thousands of people. Those are some examples of bad moms, but there are good moms inFinal Fantasytoo. Let’s check out who is on the positive mothers list, with spoilers ahead.
7Mary
Final Fantasy Unlimited
Maryis the mother of Ai and Yu inFinal Fantasy Unlimited. Like most anime adaptations in this franchise, it has little to do with the games, although there are franchisestaples like Summonsand Chocobos. Mary, along with her husband Joe, aren’t in the show much beyond flashes.
They are kind of like the MacGuffin for Ai and Yu to find after they get transported to the fantastical world of Wonderland. Mary and Joe are researchers who stumbled upon Wonderland through their exploration of Japan. Even though Mary doesn’t have much of a presence, the twins’ willingness to brave danger to find her shows how much they love their mom.
Elayneis the wife ofCyan, one of the prominent party membersinFinal Fantasy 6. Cyan has one of the most tragic backstories in the game, as he fails to protect his nation, which gets poisoned by Kefka. Not only does Cyan lose his kingdom, but Elayne and their son, Owain, die too.
Later, Cyan sees his family on the tracks of the ghost train in the woods. A lesser ghost would have haunted Cyan for what he failed to do, or worse, yet she could have forced her son to help. However, Elayne’s strong will allowed her to accept her fate and she wished Cyan farewell as she accompanied their son into the afterlife.
Final Fantasy 7Remakedid a lot of great things to expand the lore of the original. The characters, for example, were more fleshed out, including secondary characters like Jessie, who may have had the most improved arc overall. Her thirsty attitude toward Cloud was great, along with the inclusion of her family life.
Jessie’s mommakes a small appearance when the Avalanche gang gets to chow down on her pizza. While Jessie’s mom isn’t given a name beyond Mrs. Rasberry, which is odd considering her husband Rowan gets a name, it is fun to see that she is happy to cook, even for a group of terrorists. She should have become the group’sCooking Mama.
Rydiagot to have ananime time jumparc inFinal Fantasy 4. She began the game as a young child with the ability to use magic. Then, after she disappears into another dimension, she ages up as time flows differently there, and emerges with a new set of powers.
Her character design looks like she is a teenager, but she is still a young girl. It’s a bit odd, but so are many character designs in the series. Odd design aside, in the sequel, Rydia becomes the mother of a group of clones that look like her, called Maenad. All but one sacrifice themselves for the greater good, and Rydia gets to become the adoptive mother for the remaining Maenad, named Cuore.
3Terra
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 6is one of those weird games that doesn’t have a main centralized character.Terrais on the box art, and she is a big part of the plot, but there are large stretches of the game where she is not playable. One of the biggest examples happens when Kefka successfully destroys the world.
Players then get to control Celes, who eventually finds Terra at an orphanage. Since the destruction, Terra has made it her responsibility to take care of the children who lost their parents. She knows what it’s like to lose a family and doesn’t want that happening again to these kids, which is a noble stance to take.
2Rosa
Final Fantasy 4: The After Years
Rydia is not the only playable character that got to become a mom inFinal Fantasy 4. That original game was a refreshing one, as it established love between two characters already:Rosaand Cecil. It wasn’t a “will they, won’t they” situation like in a romantic comedy. It made sense then that they got married, bore children, and ruled over the refurbished kingdom in the sequel.
Their child was Ceodore, who became the protagonist ofFinal Fantasy 4: The After Years. Rosa, in her new life as a queen, could have easily become a wet blanket and stopped the adventures from happening. While not completely thrilled in the game, Rosa does support her family in more ways than just healing them as a White Mage.
Elmyrais without a doubt the best mom in the entire franchise. She is Aerith’s adoptive mother, who found Aerith and her real mom, Ifalna, at a train station one day. Determined to do right by Ifalna, Elmyra raised Aerith well despite the constant meddling of The Turks.
In the originalFinal Fantasy 7, Elmyra pulls double duty as a mom. Once Cloud and the others leave Midgar, Barret hands over Marlene to Elmyra for safekeeping. Even though she can’t really fight, Elmyra does just that and, thankfully, doesn’t get unceremoniously killed in the process.
