Terra Branford - Final Fantasy
Terra Branford (known as Tina in the Japanese release) is one of the main protagonists of Final Fantasy VI, a Japanese role-playing game developed by Square and released on 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 can vary slightly from game to game, but Terra in Final Fantasy VI is an eighteen-year-old woman with mint-green colored hair that is tied up into 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 characteristic 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. When she evolves into her Esper form, however, her appearance generally stays the same: long, disheveled hair with a light purple color and yellow eyes.
In the beginning of Final Fantasy VI, Terra is scared, forgetful, and incredibly hesitant toward anyone that might want to use her for her powers. She is also introduced as an amnesiac, and the few memories that remain cause her to become even more paranoid and worried about the people around her. As the game progresses and Terra goes through more and more self-discovery, however, she becomes more assertive, motivated, and aggressive when it comes to offering her own opinion. After discovering her entire past and powers as an Esper, she becomes very introspective and questions her own humanity. Terra worries that she is unable to 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 ends up recovering from her internal crisis and fights in the end to make the world a safe and better place.
Creation
The character that eventually evolved into Terra Branford was originally a young man that acted as a sidekick for Locke Cole. However, it was eventually decided that the character should rather be a young 18-year-old girl. Terra’s personality was designed to be very passive and evolve as the story progressed. While Final Fantasy VI was still being developed, it was planned that Terra would disappear along with magic at the end of the game, but the staff thought it would be too extreme of an ending. Yoshitaka Amano drew her concept art and Tetsuya Nomura drew her up in 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 revolve solely around one character, in the second half Celes Chere takes on a more central role.
Backstory
Terra is the first introduced character in Final Fantasy VI. She is a psychologically enslaved Imperial super-soldier capable of using powerful magic. Her mission is a Magitek-armored invasion of Narshe and killing most of the town's militia to obtain an unearthed frozen Esper (magical being). When she meets the creature, her and her entire group is defeated. She wakes in Arvis' home, no longer enslaved and suffering amnesia. After being chased into Narshe's mines by local forces, she is saved by Locke (a member of the Returners) and a big group of Moogles. After various events unfold in the Figaro kingdom and another invasion on Narshe takes place to claim the Esper, she discovers that she is actually the daughter of a human mother and Esper father, which explains her magical powers. Through brain-washing and manipulation, she had been used as a tool for the Empire's domination over other city-states on the southern continent. She is a key figure in causing the Returners to ally with the Espers beyond the sealed gate. Terra eventually is successful in opening the barrier between the two worlds and unintentionally unleashes the Espers that obliterate the Empire.
In the now devastated world, Terra begins caring for the orphans of Mobliz. She is unable to stop an attack by a demon named Humbaba and requires her party’s intervention. When she returns, 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 Magicite remnant of her father, Maduin, that as long as a human element of her stays in the world, she will continue to exist.