At the heart of is a trio of characters: Clive, Joshua, and Jill. Unlike FF7 and FF15, it doesn’t seem Final Fantasy 16 has a party system (though the jury is still out). Notably, the combat footage in the trailer doesn’t seem to be at the final-product stage, and its official UI could have betray this depiction of a solo game. FF games are often about parties and heroes, after all, so it’s odd to see Clive fighting alone. However, even if the game doesn’t have a party system, this doesn’t prevent a story from developing with the relationship between these characters at the fore. Clearly, these three characters are vital to the plot, and while a lot remains to be seen, it is possible to draw some strings between Clive, Joshua, and Jill.
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FF16 Brothers: Joshua, Clive, and the Dominant of Phoenix
Clive appears to be the sole, main character in Final Fantasy 16. Shown as a grizzly older fighter with a scar across his face and as a younger man who is “Joshua’s Shield,” there’s some indication that there’s a time skip at some point. Clive is able to wield abilities seemingly inspired by various Eikons, with one of his primary being shown that of a fiery wing, clearly taking from the Phoenix (Joshua is the Dominant of this Eikon).
Clive’s biography paints him as a great warrior, with the trailer showing that he’s been set on a path for revenge. It seems that the initial FF16 trailer may have just shown the early moments of the game, as Clive’s biography seemingly indicates that Joshua dies due to the dark Eikon Ifrit.
Not too much is known about the particular complexities behind Final Fantasy 16’s summons, Eikons, Dominants, and more quite yet, but the fact that the official biography refers to Ifrit as a “dark” Eikon seems to suggest that there are at least some “pairs” of Eikons. In this particular case, it would seem the Phoenix is the standard or “good” Eikon of Fire while Ifrit is the dark one. Somehow, the trailer indicates Joshua is swept up and/or transformed into Ifrit, and this may very well be the reason Clive is pursuing revenge. Interestingly, it’s possible in this form of storytelling that Joshua is being teased as gone yet somehow still alive. After all, there’s some type of war going on with FF16’s older Clive.
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Final Fantasy 16: The Mysterious Third, Jill Warrick
The final member of Final Fantasy 16’s main trio is Jill Warrick, who remains the most mysterious of the three. She is a ward of Rosaria, taken as a child and raised alongside Joshua and Clive. Despite arguably being their sister as they were raised together, it’s notable that the phrased used in her bio is “confidant.” In such stories, wards such as Jill typically take a backseat if they are not important, only really being elevated with the main cast if they are going to betray them. As dark as this prediction may seem, one could look at Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones as proof.
It may not be her intent—she is just a 12-year-old child after all—but Jill may just have something to do with the summoning of Ifrit. Everything about Jill lines up, though, in the form of subtle teases: “War” is in her last name, there was a war being fought by Clive and others, in which one soldier states “how do we even know the girl will be among them?,” and more. At the end of the day, Final Fantasy 16 players have no reason to distrust Jill yet, but perhaps they should. Or perhaps she is just a Red Herring for a much larger theat.
How the dynamic between Final Fantasy 16’s Joshua, Clive, and Jill plays out exactly remains to be seen, but it seems to be a fantasy tale complete with kingdoms at war, crystals at play, betrayals at heart, and revenge in mind.
Final Fantasy 16 is in development.
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