I know this thread doesn't make much sense but... come on. Unanswered questions drive me nuts.
The question is, who's the real FFV main character? Lenna/Reina or Bartz/Butz?
It could be lLenna cause of all that King Tycoon crap, but it can be Bartz ...just because.(i don't know, it just looks like it...)
I want to see your honest opinions, guys.
Thanks! ^_^

I think a lot of people ask this question, "Who is the main character of FFV?"
To be honest, it always felt as if you were playing a sequel more so than a first game when you play through Final Fantasy V. You learn a lot about past events which really makes it seem like you skipped the first game, even if there isn't a second.
Because it seems like a sequel, I'd have to go with Galuf being the main character.

I say Galuf.

Kinda like Vaan and Baltheir in XII, in a way.

Well, the big problem with Galuf being the main character is, spoiler. And those that have played the game know what the spoiler is. I really feel like the game has no main character.

Other people have spoiler and been the main character.

I'm trying to think of an example. But Heavy Rain comes to mind. Any of the main characters can die and the story continues.

Chrono Trigger!

Fair enough, but there are other arguments against Galuf. I think the main one being that for a good portion of the game, you barely know anything about him and he serves largely as comic relief. Nothing personal against him-- he's my favorite character of the game, but I'm still not convinced that he's the main character.

That'd be a fair enough point if we learned a great deal about Bartz. It's been so long since I played V. Do we?

It's rather hard to say, given that in FFV, they don't really seem to delve all that deep into the personalities or history of any of the characters. We know that Bartz's father was one of the original Dawn Warriors and that Bartz is now following in his footsteps. Final Fantasy Wiki notes that in several instances, Bartz assumes the role of a leader (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bartz_Klauser#Taking_Leadership). We know through flashbacks that Bartz lost his mother at an earlier age and though Bartz's father made her swear secrecy about the true nature of his work, Bartz sometimes overheard conversations. And another important aspect of Bartz's personality is a fear of heights, which is demonstrated throughout the game.

Interesting. I seem to recall the events ultimately surrounding Galuf making up a more prominant part of the story.

I'm not saying that's always the best criteria for defining which character is the "main character," in a game, but it certainly helps when the first character you encounter doesn't end up playing the most central role. As previously mentioned, Vaan comes to mind.

Like you said, we don't learn a GREAT deal about any of them. I much prefer games where you're having trouble devining the main character because many of them play a significant and well defined role, in the plot. VI springs to mind, instantly.

Dissidia has Bartz as the icon for 5, so he must have been the originally intended main character.

FFV is game where the characters are not the main focus, but rather the world and the struggle against evil.

I think the idea of a main hero only emerged with Cloud, and since then they have been hero driven stories (FFX is the strongest example, while FFXII went back to the world and not character story style)

Not many of the FF's actually have a main hero, FF1-6 dont really have one, the strongest candiate being Cecil in FF4 but ive seen many cases argued that he has his plot with golbez but the other stories from each character are equally important, meaning hes not the main character at all.

FF7-10 are the character driven stories, while XI and XII are more about the world and how you explore it to get your story. So really this main character thing is blown out of proportion.

Playing Dissidia can show you this, as really only Cloud to Tidus have any real substance to their fights with the main bad guy, the others have the story built up mostly from nothing, or focus fully on the chaos fight element. the whole Frionel and the wild rose thing was clearly the grabbing at straws.

Froniel - Firion = Final Fantasy II?

I actually would think that Lenna at least is one of the main candidates. Her relationship with Faris and the fact that she is basically what gets the game started in the first place makes her very important. She's also the one who knows the stuff about the crystals and whatnot.

Froniel - Firion = Final Fantasy II?

Yeah thats what I meant, sorry I played the Japanese version first, and that name just stuck with me, always forget hes Firion in the english versions

Bartz for the win!!

I was gonna say that Bartz is obviously the main character but some posters here has good points. Galuf does seem to have main character traits but I think Bartz is the real main character. Galuf was like the temporary leader of the Light Warriors until he died and passed on the role as leader to Bartz.

I think Galuf wasn't really part of the younger Light Warriors at all because he was already a part of the Dawn Warriors which composed of himself and 3 other older people. He probably just formed the new team for the younger warriors.

Well, in a way. For a good portion of the time that you had him, he had amnesia and was basically just traveling with the party out of a sense of duty. So he was a comic character. Then you found out that he was a king and he became awesome.

i thought it was butz or batz or b-something...

It was Butz originally in fan-translations. Officially, it's Bartz.

ok then, Bartz.

I'd say it's Bartz, because he's kind of the one who brings the others all together.

Exdeath is the main character. He loses in the end, but the story hinges so much on his actions and drifts so much when he isn't present that he's really the focus. The only reason why Kefka and Sephiroth don't get the same honor is because they have to compete with crowds of (comparatively) deep characters in the spotlight. Exdeath gets to enjoy his playground himself.

I'd say its Bartz, even though at first it might of been Lenna, but the rest of the game has Bartz written all over it.