Final Fantasy X Voted Best Final Fantasy by Japanese Fans in Massive Survey; Cloud Is Best Character

Today the Japanese state TV NHK announced the results of a massive survey related to the Final Fantasy series, in which 468,654 fans voted for their favorite games, characters, and more.

The voters were fairly evenly split between men (50.8%) and women (49.2%).

4.7% of respondents were 19 years-old or younger, 27.3% between 20 and 29, 44.5% were betwen 30 and 39, 19.3% were between 40 and 49, 3.6% between 50 and 59, while 0.5% were over 60.

The ranking for the most popular games of the series was as follows, with Final Fantasy X managing to beat Final Fantasy VII.

1. Final Fantasy X
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Final Fantasy VI
4. Final Fantasy IX
5. Final Fantasy XIV
6. Final Fantasy V
7. Final Fantasy VIII
8. Final Fantasy IV
9. Final Fantasy XI
10. Final Fantasy XV
11. Final Fantasy Tactics
12. Final Fantasy III
13. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
14. Final Fantasy XIII
15. Final Fantasy XII
16. Final Fantasy Type-0
17. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicle
18. Final Fantasy II
19. Final Fantasy X-2
20. Mobius Final Fantasy
21. Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII
22. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
23. Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)
24. Final Fantasy
25. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
26. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
27. Final Fantasy Adventure
28. Final Fantasy XIII-2
29. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
30. Final Fantasy Record Keeper

The ranking for characters is way too long to be reported entirely, but you can find it here, with the top-30 reported below.

Interestingly, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII avenged the result for games by taking the top and beating Yuna from Final Fantasy X. Yet, Final Fantasy X’s heroine managed to beat Aerith from VII.

The most popular villain was Emet-Selch from Final Fantasy XIV who surprisingly (but maybe not so much, since he’s awesome) defeated Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.

Vivi and Zidane from Final Fantasy IV also proved very popular, and Lightning from XIII continues to have a lot of fans despite the fact that her game only ranked 14th.

Haurchefant Greystone from XIV was the most popular among characters who weren’t playable protagonists or villains. While his role was not as big as that of others, he obviously won the hearts of many.

1. Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)
2. Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
3. Aerith (Final Fantasy VII)
4. Vivi (Final Fantasy IX)
5. Zidane (Final Fantasy IX)
6. Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV)
7. Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
8. Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)
9. Tifa (Final Fantasy VII)
10. Zack (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)
11. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
12. Haurchefant Greystone (Final Fantasy XIV)
13. Noctis Lucis Caelum (Final Fantasy XV)
14. Squall (Final Fantasy VIII)
15. Auron (Final Fantasy X)
16. Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy V)
17. Terra (Final Fantasy VI)
18. Kain (Final Fantasy IV)
19. Celes (Final Fantasy VI)
20. Crystal Exarch (Final Fantasy XIV)
21. Locke (Final Fantasy IV)
22. Vincent (Final Fantasy VII)
23. Edgar (Final Fantasy VI)
24. Shantotto (Final Fantasy XI)
25. Bartz (Final Fantasy V)
26. Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII)
27. Rikku (Final Fantasy X)
28. Ignis Scientia (Final Fantasy XV)
29. Balthier (Final Fantasy XII)
30. Faris (Final Fantasy V)

Speaking of bosses and summons, Knights of the Round from Final Fantasy VII was at the top, followed by Kefka from VII, who proved to be a lot more popular as a boss than as a character, since in the previous ranking he wass only 43rd.

Confirming the result above, Hades from Final Fantasy XIV ranked third.

The ranking about music saw the triumph of To Zanarkand from X, followed by Battle of the Big Bridge from V, and Eyes on Me from VIII.

[Thanks for the tip: Sreliata]