A young girl with no memory and wielding the lost power of ‘magic’ finds herself embroiled in a war for the freedom of the world against a tyrannical empire. Banding together with a group of rebel freedom fighters, they will bridge the gap between two separated worlds in hopes of finding peace.
The Story
The Gesthalian Empire is expanding across the world and trying to seize control of anything related to the last art of Magic that vanished long ago in a world that is becoming more and more dominated by steam and technology. The only resistance to the gnawing hungry conquest of the Empire is a group calling themselves The Returners, made up of both brave soldiers and secretly allied leaders.
Into the middle of this conflict lands Terra, a young woman with the natural ability to use magic and enslaved by the Empire. She coincidentally breaks free of her mental restraints and is sent to meet up with the Returns while gathering friends and allies along the way. Ultimately learning of the dangers of the Empire and leading to a large scale battle across the snowy mountain battlefield.
The second arc begins when the Returns ask Terra to communicate with the Esper, creatures made as weapons by the ancient Magi whose war nearly destroyed the world. This awakens Terra’s dormant esper side and causes her to lose control. This leads to a chase across multiple continents and into the heart of the empire in order to awaken Terra and give her control of both her sides. The Empire attempts to seize more espers and the destructive response leads to peace talks with both the Returners and Espers which ultimately turns out to be a betrayal.
The ruse not only captures new espers for experimentation and extracting their magic, but gives Emperor Gesthal access to the Warring Triad – three ancient powerful Magi whose magic alone could destroy the world so they turned themselves to stone to keep their spells eternally trapped between the three of them. But the final betrayal is on the Emperor, as his right hand in treachery backstabs him and claims the Warring Triad for himself.
Using the godlike power of the Triad, Kefka lays the world to waste. The end of all things has come. But people cling to life. They rebuild destroyed structures. And on a solitary island in the ocean, Celes Chere and Cid awaken with a mission: to reunite their allies and to stop Kefka once and for all.
The Characters
Terra Branford: a young woman born with the unique ability to use magic. The hybrid child of a human and an esper, she hopes to bridge the gap between the two peoples. She also suffers from the inability to comprehend some emotions.
Locke Cole: A treasure hunter who lost the love of his life to an accident and since has sworn to never let a woman come to harm again.
Edgar Figaro: The young king of the kingdom of Figaro. A genius mechanist who has built transforming castles, elaborate machines, and brutal weaponry. While his kingdom is publicly aligned with the Empire, he secretly aids the Returners.
Sabin Figaro: Edgar’s martial artist younger brother who chose his freedom and fled the castle when their father passed away, leaving his elder brother to rule alone. He has spent the years training to become a master in order to fight back against the Empire.
Celes Chere: One of the Empire’s elite generals. Celes was the subject of intense experimentation when she was young to infuse her with the ability to use magic. She eventually turns traitor when the Empire imprisons and tortures her for speaking out against war crimes being committed. Saved by Locke, she joins the fight against the Empire.
Cyan Garamond: The samurai retainer to the king of Doma. His liege, kingdom, wife and child are all murdered when the Empire poisons the drinking water for the castle. He joins forces with Sabin to fight the Empire.
Gau: A wild child who grew up among beasts and monsters after his father threw him out as a newborn calling him a ‘demon’ after Gau’s mother died in childbirth. He joins Sabin and Cyan when they feed him some jerky and help them return northward.
Shadow: An assassin with an unknown past that is the subject of countless rumors. He goes anywhere he’s paid to, and kills anyone he’s paid to. His only companion is his dog Interceptor.
Setzer Gabbiani: The daredevil gambler of the skies, Setzer owns the world’s only functional airship, which he uses to do death-defying stunts and attempt to woo a blonde haired opera star. The party tricks Setzer into lending his assistance and airship to reach the Imperial continent.
Strago Magus: A blue mage who poorly attempts to hide his magical talents. Strago is one of a hidden village of people descended from the fabled Magi who used magic to wage war and drive the world to brink of destruction. He just wants a quiet life to raise his granddaughter but is drug into the conflict by the Empire.
Relm Arrowny: Strago’s granddaughter and a gifted artist. Her paintings are said to be so lifelike that they are capable of fighting along her side in battle. She inserts herself into the group out of sheer stubbornness.
Mog: A moogle dancer from the caves of Narshe who helped Terra at the start of her journey. Mog can optionally join the party based on choices made.
Umaro: A yeti who lives in the caves of Narshe. A powerful berserker who joins the fight when Mog orders him to.
Gogo: The master mimic of Final Fantasy V returns!
Emperor Gestahl: The ruler of the Empire. He discovered lost knowledge of the Magi when he was young and became obsessed with claiming not only the power of magic, but also the world itself. He led and invasion into the Esper World that resulted in the Empire claiming an infant Terra.
Cid: The chief scientist and pioneer of the fusion of technology and magic known as Magitech. He oversaw the magic infusion experiments on Celes, Leo and Kefka and views himself as Celes’ paternal figure. He chooses to side with the Returners after the Imperial capital is razed by rampaging espers, seeing that they’ve gone too far.
General Leo: One of the three Imperial generals. Leo is a soldier first and foremost and believes in honorable combat. He attempts to stop Kefka’s poisoning of Doma, he fights to defend the village of the Magi, and offers emotional support to Terra.
Kefka: The mad clown general of the Empire. It is said that his magic infusion experiments drove him mad and plummeted his mindset into a nihilistic black hole. He takes no qualm in burning down a castle full of people, poisoning the water of city, or using peace as a cover to launch a surprise attack. He ascends to the main villain of the game at the halfway point when he becomes the god of all magic and remakes the world as he sees fit.
