Terra Branford - Final Fantasy
Terra Branford (known as Tina in the Japanese version) is one of the main protagonists of Final Fantasy VI , a Japanese role-playing game developed by Carré and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) in 1994. She was designed by Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura. Terra was a very well-received character, especially in Japan.
Appearance and personality
Terra's appearance may vary slightly between games, but in Final Fantasy VI, Terra is an eighteen-year-old woman with mint-green hair tied back in a ponytail. She also wears a red dress with a purple sash around her waist, red boots, red wristbands, and purple shoulder pads (depicted as a purple cape in her portrait for the mobile/Steam re-release). In concept art, however, Terra is depicted with blonde hair instead of her signature green color.In the Dissidia Final Fantasy series , however, both hair colors are available (blonde is her standard color while green is an alternative). Her eye color also changes between her different appearances, with green or blue being the most common. However, when she evolves into her Esper form, her appearance generally remains the same: long, tousled, light purple hair and yellow eyes.
At the beginning of Final Fantasy VI, Terra is scared, forgetful, and incredibly hesitant around anyone who might want to use her powers. She is also presented as having amnesia, and the few memories she has left make her even more paranoid and worried about the people around her. As the game progresses and Terra discovers more of herself, however, she becomes more assertive, driven, and aggressive when it comes to expressing her own opinion. After discovering her entire past and her Esper powers, she becomes very introspective and questions her own humanity. Terra fears that she cannot feel love and tries to ask others about their own emotions in an attempt to understand her own. This existential questioning causes her to temporarily lose her ability to fight, but she eventually recovers from her inner crisis and fights in the end to make the world a safe and better place.
Creation
The character that eventually became Terra Branford was originally a young man who acted as Locke Cole's sidekick. However, it was ultimately decided that the character should instead be an 18-year-old girl. Terra's personality was designed to be very passive and evolve as the story progressed. Final Fantasy VI was still in development; it was planned for Terra to disappear with magic at the end of the game, but the staff felt this would be too extreme an ending. Yoshitaka Amano drew her concept art, and Tetsuya Nomura drew her in a chibi style to reflect her appearance in the game. Her hair was originally blonde, but ended up being a lighter shade of green in the game. Amano has stated that she was his favorite character to design. Since the development team did not want the game to solely revolve around a single character, in the second half, Celes Chere takes a more central role.
Background story
Terra is the first character introduced in Final Fantasy VI. She is a psychologically enslaved Imperial super-soldier capable of using powerful magic. Her mission is to invade Narshe in Magitek armor and kill most of the city's militia to obtain an unearthed frozen Esper (magical being). When she encounters the creature, she and her entire group are defeated. She awakens in Arvis's house, no longer enslaved and suffering from amnesia. After being chased into the mines of Narshe by local forces, she is rescued by Locke (a member of the Returners) and a large group of Moogles. After various events unfold in the kingdom of Figaro and another invasion of Narshe takes place to claim the Esper, she discovers that she is actually the daughter of a human mother and an Esper father, which explains her magical powers. Through brainwashing and manipulation, she was used as a tool for the Empire's domination of other city-states on the southern continent. She is a key figure in bringing the Returners into alliance with the Espers beyond the Sealed Gate. Terra eventually succeeds in opening the barrier between the two worlds and unwittingly releases the Espers, who destroy the Empire.
In a world now devastated, Terra begins caring for the orphans of Mobliz. She is unable to stop an attack by a demon named Humbaba and requires the intervention of her group. Upon her return, she wishes to fight Humbaba and make the world safer for the next generation. Instead of disappearing with the rest of the Espers, at the end of the game, Terra learns from a remnant of her father, Maduin's, magicite that as long as a human element of her remains in the world, she will continue to exist.
