On yet another and equally capricious whim, I figured I would give my two cents as to how I interpret the “happily ever after” fates of the main FFVI cast. Short of writing an actual fan fiction—because I have enough to write already—I’ll throw a few of my ideas onto the table in hopes that their clunky and scattered arrangement might impress someone as a work of art.
Terra
Giving oneself to the care of orphans is not a new idea in Square character profiles. Nevertheless, it seems to fit Terra particularly well, and I can see her living out her life in Mobliz, running the orphanage she founded. A lot of people try to pair her with Edgar, but as far as I am concerned, it’s a long shot that the two of them would ever become an item. (After all, why must every RPG girl have a love interest?) Terra told Leo she wanted him to show her what love is, and at the end of the game she said she had finally understood. I think she found her love not in a man, and not in a possession, and not in a seat of power, but in caring for those helpless kids and helping to make the world green and fertile once more.
Edgar
In most fan fiction, Edgar is the centerpiece of a new, benevolent kingdom that ushers forth from Figaro and covers most of the world, all just months after the fall of Kefka. Personally I find that melodramatic and excessive, but it is true that, of the three major powers in the world before Kefka’s rise, only Figaro survived. King Edgar would most definitely recognize the power of his new status as the lord of the mightiest nation in the world, but what he would do with that power remains in the realm of speculation. I for one suspect that he would not pursue an expansionist policy on his own volition, but would instead opt to concentrate the wealth of his power onto Figaro itself, enriching rather than enlarging his kingdom. Figaro would become a Mecca of science and technology, and of prosperity and happiness. Doubtless by not bringing Figaro to the world, a good deal of the world would come to Figaro, in search of the good life. And Edgar himself would rule over it all, and live out his days to old age. I imagine that he would remain a sexual player all his life, because his libido seems as central to his identity as his engineering savvy. But far from living without strain or trouble, I suspect that Edgar’s style of rule would forever walk a tightrope between embracing his own, perhaps impractically benign policies with the counsel of his advisors and the political pressures of other powerful people both at home and abroad.
Sabin
Sabin, far from becoming a loyal retainer to his brother, is probably destined to become a master of martial arts. He would likely inherit Duncan’s school and become a sensei in his own rite. His muscleman physique seems to be something of which he is not entirely proud, and by seeking illumination in the world by studying and teaching the arts, he would likely find an inner peace that he seems to be lacking at the game’s end. I do, however, imagine that Edgar and Sabin would remain good friends throughout their lives. I also imagine Sabin would marry at some point, although I doubt we’ve met her.
Cyan
Most fan fiction pegs Cyan as the new King of Doma. What these authors fail to reconcile is the fact that Doma was completely destroyed. The castle may remain, but he’s got no one left to rule…except maybe that guy in the turban and the handful of off-screen NPCs that he implies, but such a small number of survivors is hardly enough to restore the kingdom. Doma is as dead as Vector. Other fan fiction suggests that he’ll give himself to the care of Lola, the girl to whom he sent those letters in the name of a dead soldier. But despite the loss of his family, Cyan’s conduct in this matter was, in my opinion, irrational and indicative of the turmoil that ate away at him following the end of the world. Once Kefka was totally destroyed, Cyan would begin to recover, and in so doing would reassert his true identity, which is in strict adherence with bushido values and rites—something far more traditionally “masculine” than playing love games and caring sweetly for a young woman. Instead, I believe Cyan would spend a good number of years in the aftermath of Kefka’s defeat wandering the world and searching for someplace to fit in. Perhaps he would offer his services to King Edgar as a bodyguard or retainer, but I believe the vibrancy and technological saturation of Figaro are enough to make that a long shot. Perhaps he would join Sabin as a sensei, although the fact that their respective martial art forms are different makes this an unlikelihood as well. As far as I can tell, Cyan is just as likely to end up serving the king of one of the smaller surviving countries, or perhaps serving as master of a sea vessel, giving him the joint peace and prison of the oceans. In any event, I believe Cyan’s major struggle in his remaining years would be to find purpose to his life, a search in which I am not positive he would prevail.
Gau
This time I tend to agree with the fan fiction community in their treatment of Gau. His intelligence is explicitly stated during the game, but the expression of his intelligence is left undeveloped. I see him becoming a lad of great refinement and study in any of the world’s more prosperous kingdoms. Perhaps King Edgar would grant him membership in the royal court, as a pupil. Indeed, of Terra, Cyan, and Gau, I believe Gau is the most likely of those to end up in Figaro. Gau would benefit from the elegance that Figaro has to offer, and I think Edgar would benefit too, perhaps even coming to think of Gau as his legatee. For his part, Gau’s biggest adventures and tales are probably ahead of him.
Setzer
I see Setzer becoming the pre-capitalistic equivalent of a classic entrepreneur. Of all the main cast in the game, his life was probably the least changed, and he retained a spark of inner strength that seemed to vanish in the rest of the cast with the passing of the world. Doubtless he will go on loving wine and cards, making money, and enjoying the riches of a material life, probably in the country most conducive to the fulfillment of those ambitions. Whether he remains a gambler or becomes a merchant or perhaps even balances the two I cannot say, but I am confident that whatever he chooses would be quite lucrative.
Celes
Celes may hate power, but she is drawn to it like a moth…and perhaps she does not hate it as much as she thinks. But one thing is for sure: whether or not she intends or desires to do so, Celes will end up once again in a position of influence and leadership. Her skills as a high general and her training as a noble of the Empire would give her a wide latitude in choosing the face of her future, ranging all the way from starting a family with Locke in some quiet village to carving out her own kingdom from the remnants of the scattered Imperial people in the outlying cities of the destroyed southern continent, but the theme would be identical in any case…Celes wants to control her world, whatever “her world” may be. She may offer her services as a top commander in Figaro’s military, and Edgar would probably accept if she did. She may help reestablish Narshe, a cold land in peaceful harmony with her icy soul. She may help rebuild Vector, because very large cities tend not to die no matter what disaster befalls them. As the Empire’s highest-ranking survivor and one of its most endearing citizens, she may even end up being the top ruler of its vestigial successor. In any case, as much as I hate to admit it she’s also almost certain to marry Locke. She doesn’t strike me as the type of girl to want to raise a family—and for all I know her development as a magically engineered Magitek Knight left her sterile—but if she were to have kids, I suspect she would have less to do with raising them than Locke himself and their servants would, perhaps until the kids grow up a bit and become more interesting on the intellectual level. For the rest of her life, Celes would have to live with the scars of her past, and the blood on her hands, and I don’t think she would ever be able, or even willing, to outgrow the coldness in her soul.
Locke
Locke, for his part, is a big kid at heart, going on treasure hunts and fighting rebellions and so forth. He will follow Celes wherever she goes—and it will be she who leads them—and in any environ would probably give himself to the same old exploits he knew and loved before the game began. I suspect age will do wonders for his wisdom, and the years would mellow him out while sharpening his mind, making him a better figure later in life than he is now and granting him deeper identity. I also think he would make a great dad, if they decide to shack up and hatch their own kidlets.
Strago
Invariably, Strago dies in about nineteen out of twenty fan fictions you’re going to read on this game. I guess his advanced age is just too tempting for amateur authors to resist exploiting, but for my part I think he’ll continue to live a good while longer. For one thing, he made it as far as he did. He seems to be content with his life and at peace with the world, and these things are beneficial to a long lifespan. He probably has a chance at outliving even Cyan, becoming old to the extreme with a snow white beard that drips in his soup and little white ear hairs to make up for the vanishing hair on his head. He will no doubt continue to be a respected elder in Thamasa for the remainder of his life, teaching the young and guiding the growth of the community. When he does die, it will be in a hot tub full of chocolate syrup and beautiful women. (Perhaps not.)
Relm
Sometimes Relm and Gau are written as love interests in FFVI sequels. While that’s not outright impossible, I do think it hardly possible. Relm strikes me as the pre-industrial equivalent of a valley girl, and is likely never to aspire to the refinement and study that Gau would. She’ll probably end up as a free spirit in someplace vibrant like Figaro or the Coliseum, perhaps continuing her work as an artist and maybe even helping to define the genres in which she works. Maybe, if she is successful, she’ll open a workshop, or paint for some important noble. Conversely, the odds of her remaining in Thamasa are not good; the fire in her belly is too hot for that wayward little town to handle, and as a result Relm would be at odds with Thamasa and Thamasa would be at odds with Relm, until one or the other give in…resulting either in the taming of her spirit or the emboldening of Thamasa, both of which strike me as the sort of change that would not be for the best. I can imagine Strago granting her request to let her spend a year in a place like Figaro, and then writing to him to say that she means not to return, having become happy with her new life…and Strago would probably be happier for her than saddened by her permanent absence. Meanwhile, I can see Relm being a sexual player before finding that one true flame, and perhaps by the time she marries she will have cooled a bit in her zest for life…but perhaps not. Some people never change, you know.
Shadow
I hold that Shadow died in the fall of Kefka’s Tower. Sorry to let you down.
Mog, Umaro, and Gogo
I never really got into these characters so much, and so I have a harder time imagining what their futures will look like. A thin strain of fan fiction likes to imagine Umaro becoming the equivalent of Mog’s bumbling goon of a sidekick, and the two go off into the world and have wondrous and improbable adventures together, and that’s all well and good, but I leave it in the hands of better fans than I to assign them a destiny. And Gogo…is a question mark. Many people are divided between the three opinions that he is Setzer’s lost love Daryl, the Gogo from Final Fantasy V, or Emperor Gestahl himself. The first of those thoughts is quite silly; Daryl and Setzer loved each other and nothing in the world would bring her to hide herself in his very company. As for the middle idea, having never played FFV, I cannot speak to the likelihood of this Gogo being that Gogo, but I can say that I would neither be all that interested or impressed if it were so. And as for Gogo being Gestahl, I can definitely understand why he would want to conceal his identity, but Gestahl’s life was wrapped up too neatly on the floating continent. He got what was coming to him. To bring him back smacks of the classical artistic blunder of bringing back a popular element simply for the sake of milking that popularity. And so I want to believe that Gogo is not Gestahl in disguise.
~ Josh
P.S. Don’t look for me to try something like this with Chrono Cross anytime soon. I’d go mad…
