Top Ten Final Fantasy Deaths
Final Fantasy series had a lot of memorable deaths in many of its characters. Major spoilers for those who never played any of these games.
Even though she is my least favorite character in FF7, her plotline death is incredibly memorable for shaking up the gamers who witnessed it. Sephiroth came from nowhere and just stabbed her in the back. Aerith was one of the few characters in FF7 to actually die from Sephiroth. Most other characters somehow survive getting killed by his massive blade. For example, Cloud himself got stabbed and lifted in the air but survived.
There is often a lot of speculation on the use of reviving items and how they could have been used to get her back. However, due to storyline reasons, Aerith's actions actually do take place after her death.
This was the death that prompted me to make this list. In FF5, his death came in a one-on-one duel against the main villain Exdeath when the rest of his friends were incapacitated by magic. Even when fighting at zero hit points, Galuf still manages to resist death against his opponent, completely taking him by surprise.
Galuf's death actually answers my question about how reviving items won't work. His party tries reviving him with Phoenix Downs and Life spells when Exdeath leaves, but it's very heartbreaking when it doesn't work.
Although I haven't gone far through FF2 (the real FF2, by the way), Minwu was a remarkable character. A white mage who ensures survivability, he apparently leaves the player's party at some point, then comes back to unseal the ultimate spell, but this costs him his life. His death greatly helps the heroes of this quest from what I've heard.
In FF4, Tellah was on a journey to find his daughter but finds her dead. This old man swears revenge on Golbez and prepares to cast the ultimate Meteor spell on him, despite his old age being a major barrier. Eventually, he does use it, but it costs him his life.
Remarkably, FF4 was noticeable for having numerous plotline deaths, yet everyone apparently comes back alive at some point. Tellah is the exception to this.
Leo is a fan-favorite for his one battle against Kefka in FF6. The most respectable of the Empire's generals can win this battle easily, but plot happens and Leo ends up getting killed by Kefka anyway. This often sparked rumors of getting Leo back in, which mostly involve hacking the game.
Zack Fair is a fictional character first introduced as a non-player character in the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII by Square Enix, and subsequently expanded upon in the metaseries Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Most people playing FF7 will only see traces of Zack, but his story is fully-fledged in Crisis Core. I haven't played this, but from what I know in FF7, Zack gets shot multiple times by Shinra soldiers. In Crisis Core, there were significantly more soldiers taking him down.
Yes, even the main emperor of FF6 suffers a memorable death, also at the hands of Kefka. That guy sure loves betraying everyone for total destruction, and the worst thing is he succeeds. A cutscene battle shows just how Gestahl dies, and it's gruesome.
After having played FF9, apparently the black mages are a race with a very limited lifespan and death means they "expire." Vivi somehow manages to produce identical offspring at the end, and it is a heartwarming goodbye for the character.
Although I haven't played FF9, I heard this was more of an offscreen death. In it, this particular character says goodbye in narration at the end, where he leaves everything behind.
Shadow can die in two ways: one if you don't wait for him on the Floating Continent, and another at the very end in Kefka's crumbling tower, where he just stays behind. He was one of my favorite characters too.
When I made this list long ago, I hadn't played FFX yet and he was a filler item. Now that I have played, I am aware of what he and Tidus go through. The best ending of X-2 has Tidus return, so maybe he doesn't count as much. As for Auron, he has actually been dead all along, which is interesting considering he remains with your party the entire game once he joins for good.
All the way to the end, Yuna sends him off as he should have been. Before that, he wandered the earth until the right decision was made.
Tidus is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X, a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix.This death sort of counts due to the character, despite being an ugly, power-hungry despot, regretting what she did and being a bad mother to Dagger.