Wow, people really like Clive Rosfield. The main character of the recently released Final Fantasy 16, the leather-clad hero seems to have really struck a chord with players, as he was voted the second best protagonist in Square Enix's mainline series.
That's according to several thousand Final Fantasy fans, all of whom voted in our 'Who's the Best Final Fantasy Protagonist?' poll, which we published on the site last week.
A total of 3,164 votes were cast, and the only character able to top Clive was... you guessed it, the iconic Cloud Strife. The stern ex-SOLDIER claimed 33% of the overall vote, making him the runaway winner. However, as mentioned, newcomer Clive did incredibly well, commanding 21% of votes.
Trailing some distance behind them, we've got Tidus at 11%, Squall at 9%, and Zidane at 9%. Terra and Lightning are next with 4% each, while Cecil and Noctis are feeding on scraps at 3% each. Vaan managed just 1% of the vote, while poor Firion and Bartz didn't even register.
The results aren't all that surprising, we suppose. Cloud is just an eternally popular character — the face of Final Fantasy in a lot of ways — and Clive is obviously still very fresh in people's minds. Of course, it also helps that Mr. Rosfield is an engagingly written and brilliantly acted lead.
Did you see these results coming? How much do you disagree with your fellow Push Square users? Try not to argue too much in the comments section below.
[source News: Poll: Who's the Best Final Fantasy Protagonist?]
Comments 51
Honestly well deserved. I honestly wonder how many people were sold on the game when they heard that, "I'll f**** kill you!" line delivery in the demo. Along with that scene in general, the pain in the actor's voice gave me goosebumps. Just that alone would sell me on the second place vote
Cloud is the best mainline protagonist, but he’s not the best Final Fantasy protagonist.
Man had to steal someone’s identity just to have a personality.
/s
I kid of course. Kind of, well not really😉
Eh… Zack Fair is the best FF protagonist but Cloud is indeed second and Clive third
@Fight_Teza_Fight Zack is the BEST!
I really like Clive but I wonder how much of that is because of recency bias
@danzoEX ‘He’s…not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed’.
There is something deeply entertaining about an Eikon throwing a bolder at Ifrit and Ifrit going "OH FU*K!"
In my experience of character polling, people tend to gravitate towards the last game they played as the endorphins of the experience are still fresh in their memory.
I suspect that if you ran this poll in a year's time you would get a different result.
The main character of FFX is Yuna, not Tidus. He's the PC true, but despite his claims to the contrary, it is not his story that we are listening to.
And whilst we're on the subject, Ashe is the main character of FFXII. And on that one I doubt few will argue with me on.
I voted for Cloud, simply for the reason it was my first FF way back in the day. I think its well deserved.
We welcome all opinions in this community. But hands up, who voted Vaan as the best FF lead 😅 Surely that can't be serious
I blame the new generation who probably have never played a ff before.
Sigh. At least I can say where I was at the peak of gaming and at the lowest point which is right now
This is the correct result. Cloud is Iconic and Clive is Eikonic.
@Fight_Teza_Fight He didn't have to steal someone's identity. He was suffering from PTSD and a mental break that basically caused his mind to create new memories to block out his trauma.
@3Above Haha, nice.
I voted for Cloud because of Nostalgia, but immediately wished I had voted for Clive.
I love them both though.
@Sekijo Or that FFVII has been around for 25 years and FF16 for only 1 month.
I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves, and especially more so to the actor behind him. His performance and the emotions he nails to a tee are Oscar worthy. I remember the part where he's chained up (naked) and felt his pain. Only 73% done so I bet I'm in for more stellar scenes.
@Indefinable The future is now old man
Personally, I felt very indifferent about Clive. He had his moments (meeting his uncle scene) but most of the time I thought he was severely lacking charisma.
@Rob_230 Haha. That was me but only because FFXII is my favourite one. Honestly though, I think all of the unwarranted hate for the poor kid is a little harsh. It's not his fault that the cast around him shine better.
Haha that's fair. I'll let you off I don't know what it was about him for me. He always felt very two dimensional compared to Ashe and Balthier. With that said, i do remember liking him much more in the sequel (FF 12 Revenant Wings) on Nintendo DS.
@danzoEX Zack's a dud. I like him sure, but captain carefree gets under my skin some times. I'd take cloud over Zack any day of the week.
@mariomaster96 Nah Clive deserves it. Not only does he have the story to back him up. His attitude, his loyalty, the jill factor.... you see his life unfold before you. He's the most authentic lead character since Cloud. Say what you want about Cloud, he was way more human than most. What gets me is why Terra was listed, sure you start with her, but if you know anything about the game you quickly find out that the entire cast is the main character. Second half of the game you start with celes, I'm pretty sure you can finish it without terra.
Cloud only wins by nostalgia, other than that hes a clueless bore with zero personality, he would be 4th favourite protagonist overall tho,
Clive wins by a landslide IMO of course
It definitely helps that Clive was a solo protagonist for the most part in 16. They kind of had to nail him or else it would have really hurt that game. My second favorite would be Tidus.
I vote Squall…but Clive is up there!
Clive is such a boring character. His entire character arch happens in the first quarter of the game and it’s honestly not that interesting. So he accepts Ifrit and for the attack on his brother, which is honestly not really Clive’s fault anyway because he’s possessed by an Eikon. It’s like Jean Gray being possessed by the Phoenix. It’s not her fault she was possessed by a near god that highly influenced her behavior. So His guilt rings kind of hollow, and it’s ultimately undo by subsequent revelations. After that he’s just a do gooder. Cloud has PTSD and has to come to terms with fighting his hero and carrying on after the death of a friend at the hands of said hero, as well as coming to terms with the fact that he’s invented his memories to deal with his trauma. This unfolds throughout the entire game and it all sticks and is not undone by subsequent story beats.
If you like boring do gooder chads who have little character development and scream “Joshua!” a lot like it’s the pinnacle of drama then Clive’s your guy. Cloud’s story is deeper, better paced, and more impactful.
No love for the leading man himself, Balthier. Or Basch for that matter.
I love FF7 but I'd not even put Cloud as No1. The events happened around him were more interesting than him. Apart from the big twist. Prefer FF7R Cloud to OG Cloud. Has more of a personality
Why is Yuna not on this list? Yuna needs to be on this list.
I think Clive is honestly the best FF protagonist, although I do like Zach and Cloud, along with Cecil.
@LifeGirl I disagree,Tidus is defo the MC of FFX.
FFX-2 is a different story.
Disappointed not to see the WOL on this list. I know he doesn’t actually speak BUT he says a lot with those facial expressions.
Not surprised about the results. As I've said in that poll, Clive deserves it since he's a great character and more than just your broodish type.
Though, my money still went to Zidane for his charisma and influence on others.
As for Tidus and Vaan, yeah, technically, it's not their journey but the game is told in their perspective. Yuna and Ashe are the supposed main protagonist. The only difference is that Tidus has some relevance to the plot of FFX while Vaan serves only as the player's perspective on what's happening in FFXII's story (but that's not to say that he hasn't grown as a character)
Vaan as the protagonist of FF12? Not in my eyes. That is Ashe, undoubtedly.
Squall was robbed
Well... you know how it is. This vote will only be representative a few years after the game is out. Atm it's too skewed.
Should've asked for the best deuteragonist. IMO the protagonists always take second place to their allies.
@LifeGirl Fully agree. Honestly, if Yuna was on this list, probably the only person I’d be slightly inclined to vote for above her would be Terra, but there’s a lot of nostalgia at play there for me. Either way, Yuna is honestly just one of the best protagonists in video games, much less Final Fantasy games.
Everyone voting Cloud should really play Xenogears. It's the same character done way better
@tabris95 I mean, everyone should just play Xenogears anyway, heh.
@LifeGirl Sorry I keep seeing this. But stop already. X is def about Tidus. After that it's about yuna.
Now do the same thing with the most iconic FF weapons.
Best Final Fantasy protagonist in general is most likely Jack Garland.
He's oozing with Gigachad energy.
Cloud and Clive?? Yall are basic. 😄
Clive just repeats the same few dialogue points for the entirety of the game and has the worst outfit ever. Didn’t really like Joshua either. 16 had some cool characters and lots of dull ones but those two ranked pretty low for me.
No love for Firion? :/ Infinitely better character than Clive
Clive is pretty great. My only complaint is that ending to his game. I was hoping for something closer to the end of Tales of Arise.
Cloud remains the goat!
Cloud is simply the best because the way his arc is intricately aligned with the game mechanics is the most genius thing I've ever seen in a protagonist.
@Fight_Teza_Fight the compilation got away with murder in this regard.
I choose to ignore it because if I decide its 100% canon then the entire franchise becomes nonsense with silly coincidences that are the definition of contrived😭😭
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