General Leo

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General Leo Chritophe
Final Fantasy character
Concept artwork of Leo by Yoshitaka Amano for Final Fantasy VI
First gameFinal Fantasy VI (1994)
Designed byYoshitaka Amano[1]
Kazuko Shibuya (sprites)[2]
Voiced byMasashi Sugawara[3]

Leo Cristophe (レオ・クリストフ, Reo Kurisutofu) more commonly referred to as General Leo in the game, is a character introduced in the 1994 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VI by Square Enix. He has since appeared in other games related to the Final Fantasy franchise, including Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, where he is voiced by Masashi Sugawara.

Appearances[edit]

General Leo Christophe is introduced in the 1994 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VI. He is one of the three top generals of the game's Gestahlian Empire, the others being fellow characters Celes Chere and Kefka Palazzo. Unlike his compatriots, Leo refused to undergo Magitek infusion. He is fiercely loyal and possesses a strong sense of personal honor, and conducts himself with a measure of restraint otherwise absent in the Empire. His siege of Doma sought to minimize casualties on both sides of the fighting until Kefka poisoned the water supply, and he is the first to espouse the Emperor's desire for an end to the war. Leo later leads the Imperial mission to seek a truce with the Espers on Crescent Island, accompanied by both the Returners and the troops loyal to him. This turns out to be a ruse meant to lure the Espers into a trap and reduce them to Magicite to collect for the Empire, but to also eliminate Leo and other Imperial dissidents who might threaten Gestahl's plans. Leo is eventually killed after Kefka masquerades as Gestahl, playing on Leo's unswerving loyalty to kill him. He is then buried by the Returners and surviving villagers of Thamasa.

He is additionally a playable character in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, where he is voiced by Masashi Sugawara. Set after the events of VI, he reflects on his death and past with the Empire, now that he has no ruler to follow.[3]

Conception and design[edit]

Final Fantasy VI was developed with the mindset that none of the playable cast was the protagonist, and that each of them were equally the "main character". The cast of characters were selected from submissions from across the development team. Once the cast was selected, each individual would write their character's story, with Yoshinori Kitase balancing the plot as things developed. The character was originally intended to be a full party member, but the idea was cut during development.[4][5]

Standing 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) tall,[6] artist Yoshitaka Amano was commissioned to design the characters from the brief outlines provided. Given full creative freedom, Amano wanted to make "real" and "alive" characters, though with consideration for their representation in-game as small computer sprites.[1] Said graphics were designed by Nomura, who drew the chibi artwork of the characters, and Kazuko Shibuya, who designed the in-game sprites.[7][2]

Critical reception[edit]

Since his debut, the character was positively received. Dengeki Online's Kawachi expressed how much he enjoyed Leo as a character, expecting originally how charismatic he was that Leo would be an available party member in the game. However, the character's sacrifice took him by surprise, and as much as he enjoyed using the character briefly he felt Leo's sacrifice served as a powerful motivator for the game's story, encouraging Terra and the rest of the protagonists to resolve to overthrow the Empire.[8] The staff of Futabanet Manga Plus meanwhile cited him as one of the franchise's poignant examples of self sacrifice in a retrospective, praising how much humanity his character demonstrated in the story, and how much it left a lasting impact on players who regretted his death.[9] Leo's portrayal and role as a temporary party member lead to players trying to figure out how to revive him or make him a permanent companion, resulting in players trying to glitch the game to keep him alive and usable beyond the sequence.[10]

In a podcast discussion examining the characters of Final Fantasy VI for RPGFan, journalist Michael Sollosi compared Leo's character to Kefka's, describing him as an "extremely likable soldier" trying to make the world a better place and atone for the Empire's actions, while Kefka revels in them. He saw Leo as representing a recurring theme of "Hope" in Final Fantasy VI, in his context the hope for a better unified world. Through this scope, Kefka's killing of him in a brutal manner represented despair killing hope for Sollosi, elevating both his character but also the heroes as a last light of hope against him. Fellow writer Alana Hagues liked his conflicted character of being honorable while serving the game's villain, and expressed confusion as to why the Empire would back Kefka over him in their ambitions.[11] In later podcasts discussing the game, the staff of RPGFan further analyzed his character, noting that he was an important element of Terra accepting her nature, but also served as a more humanizing aspect of the Empire, giving some faith to the player that they may be able to reform.[12][13]

Sebastian Deken in his book examining Final Fantasy VI and its themes cited Leo's death as a turning point in how players perceived Kefka as a character. While previously he was portrayed more comedic and bumbling personality, killing Leo made him "irredeemable", and any "comic relief or lighthearted mischief—or humanity—is excised" from Kefka's character afterwards. Most notability too Leo's death is the last use Kefka's more melancholy theme, an aspect that Deken felt reflected the end of the comedic aspect and his character's shift to full villainy in the eyes of the audience.[14]

Leo's appearance has also been of some discussion. Kawachi upon controlling the character and seeing his portrait admitted they were shocked, moreso than by his death, and stated "a man's charm isn't always in his face!"[8] Meanwhile, the former staff of 1UP.com in their Retronauts podcast considered him to be black coded due to his dark skin and prominent lips, making him one of the first instances of a black character in the Final Fantasy franchise.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Interview". Japan: Final Fantasy (in Japanese). NTT Publishing. August 11, 1994. pp. 108–109. ISBN 4-87188-338-8.
  2. ^ a b Cutscenes (August 16, 2021). Yoshitaka Amano, Kazuko Shibuya - from paper to pixel | 天野喜孝、渋谷員子 - 紙からドットへ (in Japanese). Event occurs at 8:27. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ a b 「DFF オペラオムニア」，「FFVI」のレオ将軍が登場するメインストーリー新章が配信. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). July 18, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  4. ^ Square Enix (July 26, 2023). Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary Special Interview | Part 2 of 2. Event occurs at 21:43. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Maugein, Pierre (2018). The Legend of Final Fantasy VI. Third Editions. pp. 161–162. ISBN 9782377840472.
  6. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (January 31, 2008). Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania (in Japanese). Vol. 1: Character. Japan: Square Enix. p. 176. ISBN 9784757522060.
  7. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (January 2012). Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Memorial Book Vol.1 (in Japanese). Square Enix. p. 322. ISBN 9784757537699.
  8. ^ a b Kawachi (July 10, 2016). 【FFRK名場面】ステータス画面で初めて見たレオ将軍の顔グラフィックに驚愕. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  9. ^ ギルガメッシュにレオ将軍…歴代『ファイナルファンタジー』退場姿がかっこよかった愛すべき敵キャラたち. Futabanet Manga Plus. June 17, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Parish, Jeremy; Mackey, Bob; Kohler, Chris; Bailey, Kat (February 26, 2018). Retronauts Episode 140: Final Fantasy VI. AudioBoom. Event occurs at 1:25:50. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Sollosi, Michael; Hagues, Alana (November 23, 2016). Retro Encounter 58 - Final Fantasy VI. Event occurs at 24:34. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Wilkerson, Zach; Franiczek, Aleks; Greene, Lucas; Love, Ben; Gray, Lucy (July 13, 2023). Retro Encounter 378 – Final Fantasy VI Part II. RPGFan. Event occurs at 35:35. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Wilkerson, Zach; Franiczek, Aleks; Greene, Lucas; Love, Ben; Gray, Lucy (June 29, 2023). Retro Encounter 377 – Final Fantasy VI Part I. RPGFan. Event occurs at 1:06:58. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  14. ^ Deken, Sebastian (July 2021). Final Fantasy VI. Boss Fight Books. pp. 124–125. ISBN 9781940535289.
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