Summary
There are a lot of things that have changed over the past thirty-plus years ofFinal Fantasy. Crystals, for example, were a core element of the stories which do appear off and on in both mainline games and spinoffs. Job systems are another example.
One thing that has remained more consistent is kingdoms and royal figures. There have been a lot of great royal characters in theFinal Fantasyseries, both good and bad, including Prince Sabin fromFinal Fantasy 6and Queen Brahne fromFinal Fantasy 9. What aboutprincesses? Let’s take a look at those mighty heroines from Square Enix’s iconic series.
Sarahis fromStranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Originand the name has appeared in many games in the series, including the original.Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Originis a remake, or more like a reimagining, ofFinal Fantasy 1,so it makes sense she’s in it. It’s not a big role, but Sarah is more present in this game than she is in the original.
She offers advice to the main character, Jack, and seems to be developing a crush on him too. Another example of a “Sarah” in the series can be found inFinal Fantasy 3via Sara Altney, but she has an even smaller role.
Final Fantasy 4is one of the few games in the series to get a direct sequel viaFinal Fantasy 4: The After Years.It takes place after the original, with many of the characters having children who would grow up to be the main cast of this adventure. For example, the main character Cecil, and his wife Rosa, gave birth to Ceodore.
He’s the new main character, but he is assisted by colorful party members likeUrsula. She is Yang’s daughter, who was the martial artist of the group in the original. Ursula is taught the same fundamentals to kick butt in honor of her father and her kingdom, and she does not make light of this task.
Lunafreyais fromFinal Fantasy 15,and she may be the most tragic princess of the series. She is the main character, Noctis’ fiancé, who is traveling the world with his crew to make it to her in time. An empire is waging war across the land and her kingdom may be next.
Noctis arrives too late, just after Lunafreya used all of her energy to fight back the empire as best as she could. While depressing, she does indeed give it her all by summoning Leviathan in one of the game’s most impressive cutscenes. There’s kind of a bittersweet ending to this, as Noctis eventually dies too, leaving the couple to live peacefully in death as shown in the final cutscene.
Ashelia, or just Ashe, is one of the playable characters inFinal Fantasy 12.As the Princess of Dalmasca, she is doing everything in her power to stop the invading nation from getting away with their treachery. Vaan technically is the main character, but it’s Ashe’s goals that the party chases down.
It’s kind of weird to have a main character be sidelined, butFinal Fantasy 12is an odd game what with its MMO-styled combat. Overall, Ashe is one of the toughest princesses in the franchise, both in her willpower and her literal strength. Ashe knows her way around the blade very well, and isn’t afraid to show it.
Jillhas similar powers to Lunafreya as she has ties to the Summon, Shiva. Unlike Lunafreya though, Jill is known as a Dominant inFinal Fantasy 16. A Dominant is a human who has the power of a Summon, or Eikon, trapped within their body, that they can then use to turn into that Eikon on command.
At the beginning of the game, Jill’s kingdom fell. She was adopted into Clive’s family, but then his kingdom fell too. Jill is sold into slavery and her Shiva powers are used for evil. Once freed, Jill goes on a bit of a journey to find herself and reclaim the power of Shiva to use it for justice. She has one of the better arcs in the game, even if she doesn’t say much.
Garnetis one of the playable characters fromFinal Fantasy 9.She is the daughter of the antagonist, Queen Brahne, who allows herself to be kidnapped by Zidane, the main character, and his troop of thieving theater performers. Garnet sees the error of her mother’s ways and decides to take on a new identity as she learns how to be less proper.
She switches her name to Dagger, and even cuts her hair to symbolize change. Like other princesses in the series, Garnet is a Summoner, one of the few left in the game. She later finds out she was adopted by Queen Brahne after her mom died traveling away from the village of the Summoners, which is one of many big revelations late in the game.
Farisis fromFinal Fantasy 5and is one of the four core party members. Bartz, the main character, and his party stumble into Faris’ den of pirates because they need a ship. Faris agrees to help, and even joins the crew, but she is more than a pirate for hire.
It’s later revealed that she is a princess and is related to Lenna, another princess in the game and party member. Pirate princesses seem to be a trope in media, like Princess Zelda becoming Tetra the pirate inThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Faris was likely a strong influence in that trend. It’s a cool trope, one that consistently creates interesting characters, which is why Faris ranks so high.
