User blog:Emeraldblade95/Pure Good Proposal: Celes Chere



Here's another proposal: Celes Chere from Final Fantasy VI.

What is the Work?
Final Fantasy is a series of role-playing video games that dates back to the days of the NES. In all the games the player takes control of up to four members of a team known as party members, and uses them to battle enemies, bosses, and villains alike. Many of the games have a detailed plot line, ranging from rescuing a princess (FF1) to stopping a purely evil villain from essentially destroying the universe (FF6).

Final Fantasy VI, known as Final Fantasy III in North America at the time of its initial release, broke away from the medieval period atmosphere and traded it for more industrial age look. In the game, a group of Freedom Fighters known as the Returners fight back against a corrupt Emperor Gestahl and his insane and nihilistic jester Kefka Palazzo, the latter of which turns out to be the true villain of the game, and goes on to attempt to destroy the universe and all life.

Who is She? What has She Done?
Celes Chere was once a general under Emperor Gestahl at one point, but after questioning her loyalty when she spoke up against the inhumane Imperial practices, the Emperor had her imprisoned and sentenced to death for treason, replacing her position with Kefka respectfully. She is later freed by the Returners, befriending Terra Branford and becoming close to Locke Cole, whom she eventually develops a romantic interest with later on.

During the second half of the game, Celes wakes up from a coma after being saved by the Emperor's Scientist Cid Del Norte Marquez, who defected against Kefka after learning his true intentions. Cid reveals to her that Kefka has obtained godlike powers and was in the process of destroying the universe and all life slowly. Celes begins to fall into a deep depression afterwards and stays on the island for some time, caring for Cid, depending on how much the player feeds him, Cid will either live or die.

After awhile, Celes leaves the island and regroup with the Returners, where she joins them in stopping Kefka by battling the Statue of the Gods before confronting Kefka himself in his god form. Celes and her friends succeed in defeating him, causing the insane jester to cease to exist for his heinous crimes.

During the epilogue, Celes loses her grip on Locke's bandana, causing her to attempting to dive to rescue it, she is rescued by Locke before doing so, who sees her life as being more important than the bandana.

Corrupting Factors
As stated above, Celes was once the general of Emperor Gestahl's army, but even then she questioned the empire's tactics; this eventually led her to speaking out against the Emperor, ultimately leading her to being imprisoned and nearly executed.

After the Emperor called a "truce" between him and the Returners, Celes began to question her moral alignment on whether to side with the Emperor or the Returners, after Kefka kills General Leo Christophe however, she makes up her mind and sides with the Returners (thus branding her a traitor by the Emperor).

During the second half of the game, Celes falls into a deep depression and if Cid dies, she becomes suicidal, though she fails to accomplish killing herself in the process.

In the ending, Celes did risk her life by making the poor decision in attempting to retrieve Locke's bandana, causing the floor to collapse where she is standing, if it wasn't for Locke (or Sabin depending on whose's in the player's party), she may have died.

Admirable Standards
Unlike most of the characters in-game, Celes's character is explored very in-depth.

Though she is a rather tragic character in-game, Celes values her friends lives above her own, and hates to lose them, as shown by whence cared for Cid during the beginning of the first half of the game.

She hates Kefka to the bone, as the court jester views life as meaningless and insignificant and plans on destroying it. She strongly disagrees... no ... outright opposes this view, as she views life as having a purpose, citing her romantic interest to Locke in the process. When the Emperor paralyzes her friends, Kefka orders her to kill them with a sword he hands her, but having seen that he truly is evil, she refuses and stabs him with the sword in a attempt to stop him, but this fails.

The only person she ever shown to be willing to kill is Kefka, however this is very clearly justified as the jester nearly destroys the universe and all life in-game. She manages to achieve this (alongside her friends) by defeating his god form, restoring the surface world back to the way it was (albeit with all the magic disappearing).

Final Verdict
It's hard to say if Final Fantasy characters could qualify, as very few actually stand out amongst the dozens that are present in-game, but I'm certain Celes here is an exception.

If I left anything out that is crucial, let me know.