Peace, serenity, and economic abundance now surrounds Alexandria; the curse of the Mist has been lifted and all of Gaia’s people are enjoying the calm brought by the rogue efforts of Zidane Tribal and company. Alexandria shimmers in the dead of night – the blade encapsulates the castle’s stronghold as the mightiest defense in all of Gaia flanked by its ruthless female soldiers and Knights of the Pluto whom have metamorphosed as vicious sentinels of peace. While Alexandria is dreaming, one warrior walks its streets, armed with courage and unyielding conviction for the Queen.

“This alley?” General Beatrix spoke in a soft voice, “This alley brings back a lot of horrific memories; Steiner and I dragged the civilians to safety during Bahamut’s indiscriminate attack. The Mist Horrors – putrid and revolting – also made things harder for us to protect Alexandria’s panicking citizens. Even this mighty blade of mine that shows no sign of rusting couldn’t cut through their corrupted mane. Perhaps, it is I that is demonstrating signals of weakness and…”

“Gggh!” Beatrix staggered into a distance. Stands in front of her is a cloaked stranger armed with a menacing trident and posture that can easily intimidate the Goblins of Evil Forest. “I must say that it is very unusual for Alexandria to open its Holy Wings to uneducated vagabonds such as yourself! Show yourself, villain!”

“Is that how you greet a former ally? I must say General, I never imagined that I could take you down with a pathetic lunge like that?” The stranger took of her tarnished clothing, revealing herself as Freya Crescent, a Burmecian dragoon who accompanied Zidane in his journey in liberating Gaia from the accursed Mist. ”

Beatrix confidently stood up from her fall and slowly approached her former comrade. “Freya, I’m aware that you are a Dragoon of the highest level, but using your leaping abilities to greet me is inexcusable. Nevertheless, our short-lived partnership of taking out the Bandersnatches that were chasing Zidane down the castle’s hidden underground labyrinth is the only reason why you are still on you’re feet.”

“Your memory is sharp as your blade, but if memory serves me correct, those Tantalus performers pulled us from a humiliating death at the hands of your former master’s slaves.”

Insulted, The General quickly took out Save the Queen and pointed it at Freya’s throat.

“Never talk to Queen Brahne with such ill-mannered foibles! You know very well that Kuja was behind all the conspiracies that led to her Majesty’s fate! I will never sever my associations with the former Queen. One more assault against her would mean your grave!” Unfrazzled, Freya quickly disarmed Beatrix, throwing Save the Queen to the ground. The confident dragoon looked at the sword, and returned it to its surprised owner.

“Twice at the same night? Is this the same Beatrix that who have struck me down thrice in three different occasions? Honestly, I paid you a visit for a rematch but seeing your frantic disposition makes me uninterested in facing you in a blood duel.”

“So you came here to Alexandria to avenge your loss?” Beatrix slowly turned her back at Freya, hesitating to accept Freya’s bold invitation – “I accept your challenge. Meet me by the castle’s fountain when the clouds turn gray and the goddesses begin to cry.”

Outraged with Beatrix, Freya pointed her trident at the General’s rose-adorned back – “Are you mocking me?! Ridiculing me in front of a cold tempest, which witnessed my agonizing defeat against your wicked blade!” Calming down, Freya’s collected attitude came back, answering Beatrix’s challenge with unrelenting confidence – “When the first raindrop lands, my spear will come howling, resonating the anger that rivals the sound of the thunder!”

Freya’s signature leap left Beatrix alone in the dark alley where horrendous memories culminated as a result of Kuja’s machinations of the Mist. The General consulted her confused feelings, searching for answers, rummaging for reasons. “Freya’s strength… She would have defeated me back then if only…,” Beatrix stopped, waving her long against the cold winds of the night.

-To be continued-

Final Fantasy Girls will now feature short stories and encounters that will re-define the relationships of famous Final Fantasy heroines on titles which they appeared in failed to exploit to audiences.

Image Source: http://magestrial.net/freya/v3banner.jpg

Technorati Tags: Final Fantasy Girls, Freya, General Beatrix

I’m not a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts mainly because I grew up knowing that there is this game called Final Fantasy. I’ll be honest with you, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is the first KH game that I finished, I just never liked the collaboration between Disney and Square Enix and the fact that some of our favorite FF heroes would be cordially spliced in Kingdom Hearts just so we could get lectured on how similar the two titles are.

After seeing Remorsefulpromises and her Deviation, I said to myself, “Crap, how am I going to do this?”

For those who just visited the site for the very first time, Remorsefulpromises has been repetitively featured on Final Fantasy girls for her contributions as cosplaying Final Fantasy’s most popular heroines and fan service insignias; from Tifa Lockhart to the conservative Crisis Core Aeris Gainsborough, she has become my top feature for everything that resembles the sexy side of Square Enix’s most prized copyright possession.

This time, however, she’s not dressed as anything that came direct  from Yoshitaka Amano’s brilliant hands. Honestly, I just can’t say no from someone whom I believe visits the site everyday for any upcoming Final Fantasy updates and see herself as the main feature proudly posing her style in standstill motion. For now, here she is again as Aqua of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.

Those who had played Birth By Sleep, we could see a tad of difference from the color hue Remorseful promises used in this picture. Aqua sports darker blue hair and Remorsefulpromises humbly stated the reason for this mistake personally on her Deviant Art account, and she wrote:

“The reason i have clips in the wig is because its very long and i couldn’t bear to cut it =[“

Expect more on this in the coming future.

Technorati Tags: Fantasy Girl Of The Week, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Girls

As we all know, Tifa Lockhart had been recently added to the list of Cosmos’ warriors and along with Cloud Strife, she’s definitely out to prove that her martial arts can hold out against some of Dissidia Duodecim‘s fiercest warriors. Just this week, we’d been already treated with some high-definition scans of Tifa laying down the smackdown against Cloud’s persistent nemesis, Sephiroth and by the looks of things, Tifa will heavily rely on her striking abilities, what else can we expect from one of Final Fantasy‘s feisty female fatales?

1. Materia lockup – Like Cloud, Tifa Lockhart should have at least a set of basic Magic Materia skills so she can harass her opponents with long-range spells. Unlike Terra or Shantoto, she’ll be dealing less damage with her magic since she’s a fighter – magic like Thunder or Blizzard is enough to scratch some Bravery points until the player is ready to unload the opponent with Tifa’s hard-hitting punches and roundhouse kicks.

2. The cowgirl costume – Final Fantasy VII and its prequel Crisis Core, once saw Tifa as Nibelheim’s tour guide. She once wore that rancher outfit of some sort before changing into a fan service staple that she has been known of; this doesn’t have anything with the combat but, wouldn’t it be nice if Square could throw in Tifa’s vintage look at her alternate costume menu (I know there’s going to be one)?

3. EX-Burst commands – Tifa’s devastating power could be summed up into one rib-breaking (or surrounding-obliterating) attack? I’m pretty sure Tifa, upon entering EX-Burst Mode, will automatically equip her with Premium Heart and her EX-Burst command will take shape in the form of Reel Slots that will determine how strong or weak the attack will be. Weakest I think would be Beat Rush and strongest would be Final Heaven thus, finishing the command with a dynamics mushroom nuke surrounding the knocked-out body of the opponent. And finally,

4. A kick-ass story – Tifa Lockhart deserves a respectable story. She’s not a sidekick anymore, and Dissidia Duodecim will allow her to shine along with the game’s most head-turning Final Fantasy girls of all time, well, I’d exclude Shantoto on this one.

Technorati Tags: Dissidia Duodecim, Final Fantasy Girls, Tifa Lockhart

I could not break a title that would suit all the Final Fantasy girls I’ve met from Final Fantasy VII to Final Fantasy XII. I will be lying to myself if I were to say that I played Final Fantasy because of the revolutionary turn-based combat, graphics and memorable soundtrack – I’d take the time to load a game and enjoy a 1-minute encounter with a Midgar Zolom so that I’d get to use Yuffie or Tifa.

Every step inside the field is a heart-pounding adventure that could lead me to common item drops or an inevitable battle which would deplete my party’s health gauges to ZERO – thankfully, I have always a female character with me and a poultice of health potions and phoenix downs. The mood always lighten when you have the likes of Yuna supporting you with anti-elemental barriers or summoning Bahamut to dispatch enemies for you with an Impulse.

Final Fantasy IX was my very first – I always adored Princess Garnet for who she was; a sweet, caring and responsibility-driven heir to Alexandria’s struggling monarchy. Since that day she abandoned her home to investigate Queen Brahne’s metamorphosis, she never faltered and became the pillar of morality of the party. What made her so special was that she learned to live as a peasant – Zidane taught her how to speak like a common village girl and made her force to throw her regal demeanor in front of constituents during conversations.

Her acquaintances with the outside world grew as Garnet, on one period of her adventures, was able to make decisions that led her to solve the things bothering Brahne, her Kingdom of Alexandria and her friends. Garnet’s grasp sharpened and the relationship between her and Zidane blossomed – the thief fell for this sweet summoner of Madain Sari plus, her modesty inspired the party to push through despite of the headaches Kuja had stirred.

You could say that all of Final Fantasy women characters were created to make hearts melt – that sure is true but Tifa Lockheart ‘heart melt’ a very weak combination. Donning a white tank top and a zipped vest, her figure echoes a very independent woman who can take down opponents with a single swipe of her fists. Tetsuya Nomura created Tifa as a Martial Artist with a repertoire of Limit Breaks that can destroy multiple enemies when chained together successfully.

What makes me curious about Tifa’s character development was her inclination to ‘fan service’ and became an sex symbol all throughout the Final Fantasy universe. Bottomline is that Tifa exudes sexiness in a very conspicuous manner – she was made specifically to make male players (like me) stare at her jugs and lose focus on the battle. Thank you 3-d technology!

I’m just beginning to update my site about all things Final Fantasy and it’s girls and you know what, I’m not even halfway of Disc 1.

Technorati Tags: Final Fantasy Girls, Princess Garnet, tifa

If you’re going to ask me who my favourite Final Fantasy XIII character then, my answer will Oerba Dia Vanille. I just don’t quite understand why most are annoyed with Vanille, she’s the mood lightener, and her sunny disposition puts away all thoughts of Man, the next mark is going to be twice as hard. Just put this jumpy Gran Pulse native as your party leader and see her hop about.

The feisty category of Final Fantasy girls just got a lot better with Vanille, she reduces tension between battles and from my own perspective, is one of the most useful characters in different Final Fantasy XIII grinding methods.

Adamantoise can be easily felled with Vanille casting Death with the Malboro Wand equipped and the two throwing debilitating debuffs as Saboteurs against the mighty beast. The cheapest trick in the book.

Here’s a simple tribute to Final Fantasy XIII‘s most charming character. The Oerba Dia Vanille Play Arts is nothing short of perfectly capturing her timid yet sweet gestures. Got to own this one by December.

Technorati Tags: Final Fantasy Girls, Final Fantasy XIII, Oerba Dia Vanille, Play Arts, Vanille

I have been stuck inside Gran Pulse for awhile, the Cieth stone missions and the grind between the warring Behemoth King and Megistotherian has just become more exciting with the Exploitation paradigm. Fang and Vanille debilitates while Lightning deals the Commando damage – the preparation for the Class A hunt has been commenced and Adamantoise, I am coming for you.

Speaking of Lightning, I have observed that she and Milla Jovovich share similar angles in terms of face distinction and attitude. Jovovich’s filmography, not that she changes role that much, is geared toward femme fatale; Milla Jovovich has become attached in Hollywood as the zombie-snuffing survivor, Alice.

Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII is the kind of female, non-stereotype character, that dwells more with reality than fiddle around the trivialities of life. During cut scenes, we see her stand as the leader of the group by reminding each and every one of them about the dangers of their initial Focus, and how more suicidal it is to defy their Fal’Cie Focus. Lightning is a cold-hearted warrior but, she knows how to contemplate when the situation gets emotional.

Going back over the resemblance, Jovovich has played the female knight branded heretic, Joan of Arc but, she’s well-received as the main character of the Resident Evil series which sees her using a myriad of guns and close-range weapons. It would be realistic to think that, if ever Square Enix wants to convert Final Fantasy XIII into a live-action movie, Jovovich would be my numero uno for the role of Lightning.

Here’s an image of the two sharing two different poses:

Lightning, one of the few Final Fantasy girls that brings toughness into the table with unshakable resolve. I wonder if Milla could look good with that single ponytail that has become Light’s trademark fashion statement?

Technorati Tags: Final Fantasy Girls, Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning, Milla Jovovich

I just received three deviations from Final Fantasy girls staple, Remorsefulpromises and this time, she’s decided to become Final Fantasy X-2‘s sweetheart, Yuna.

Once a devout follower of Yevon, this summoner defeated Sin by distancing herself from the corrupt teachings of Yu Yevon and, ended her pilgrimage without sacrificing anyone and herself in the High Summoning ritual.

We all remember the stern and outrageously witty Yuna of Final Fantasy X-2 right? She duped her Summoner get-up, the silky white arm warmers, long clear blue skirt and staff, and metamorphosed into a more dynamic and talkative character that she got from the quirky Rikku.

Here we see her strike a pose as the Gunner Yuna that thwarted Leblanc’s disguise during the early scenarios of Final Fantasy X-2.

Her lip piercing, though not part of the original Gunner Yuna (and all her other dresspheres for that matter), makes this cosplayer hotter and gives more depth to the “what if” scenario. Imagine, Yuna donning the same piercing, eye shadow and tussled, long brown hair of Ms. Remorsefulpromises, the equation more than sums up the frivolous and sharp-witted Yuna of Final Fantasy X-2.

I am totally enamored with Remorsefulpromises’ striking new rendition of Yuna. More to come in the future and next time around, I’ll be interviewing this cosplayer and squeeze out some trivia out from her.

Technorati Tags: Fantasy Girl Of The Week, Final Fantasy Girls, Final Fantasy X-2, Remorsefulpromises, yuna

If you have been Final Fantasy Girls, you may have stumbled upon a feature article containing the word Remorsefulpromises. It’s not an emotional ticker, the word actually is a username from a fellow Deviant who likes to cosplay (a lot) and her favorite subject is Final Fantasy and its feisty and eponymous female characters.

She has appeared twice in the site as Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockhart and, she has this surreal portrayal of both characters plus, her radiating beauty and poise gave her the edge from other flamboyant cosplayers who usually enthralls crowd with their costume and props. This girl continues to share his craft to the public and does it with a smile on her face.

Three time’s the charm, isn’t it?

This time, Remorsefulpromises sent me a DeviantWATCH Message and look what I found inside my inbox:

Let’s see: Ms. Remorsefulpromises actually made a few quirky modifications with the costume, the black bands tied on Rinoa’s arms were removed and she focused of bringing the blue satin duster and rib-knit arm warmers into this image as she patiently lies at the pasture waiting for her Squall to lift her up from a not-so melancholic shot.

As we all know, Rinoa Heartilly represents what Squall is not. She’s brimming with confidence, her warmth towards her comrades replaces Squall’s cold and unappealing approach and, she’s one of those one in a hundred Final Fantasy characters that exudes the kind of confidence without faltering in the middle of the situation.

This spectacular portrait sent to me by Remorsefulpromises is one in a million and emulates a real-time Rinoa Heartilly in terms of costume, beauty and confidence. Maybe your fans would’ve enjoyed it more if you have included the Angel Wings, Angelo or the Blaster Edge to the mix but, your premise is respected.

Technorati Tags: Fantasy Girl, Final Fantasy Girls, Remorsefulpromises, Rinoa Heartilly

Fantasy Girl Of The Week: Christina Rose

This week, Christina Rose graces the page of Final Fantasy Girls as Shiva of Final Fantasy X.  The revamped appearance of the Final Fantasy staple Summon/Guardian Force/Aeon has become a series favorite in terms of the deity’s ability to knock opponents with freezing glaciers and stalagmites hurled upon their wake and, with few cosplayers showing up as Final Fantasy summons, and sometimes, none at all, Christina Rose inducts herself as one of the pioneers of a categorized cosplay wonder embraced only by a few.

Shiva is popularly known for her pale, blue skin and sexy body that has become associated with her recurring form from the series though, Final Fantasy XII trashed the idea of using the old summons and replace them with new spirits which, I think was not one of the SE’s best ideas; Shiva and the rest became airships and as the series becomes more intricately interspersed with objects like for Final Fantasy XIII’s Shiva, summon experience is not that exciting anymore like what we had during early Final Fantasy games.

This talented girl tries to revive the memories of the summons and that almost surreal match between her and Shiva captures the true heart of the series and cosplay achievements never before seen from an event as big as Comic Con. You can see her here confidently incurring her frozen wrath and chilling glare to Comic Con shutterbugs along with a few familiar characters of the series:

Making The Costume:

Here’s her brief description on how she prepared the costume. Remember that Shiva and the rest of the series’ most powerful summons differ in appearance so.

“The wig was quite an ordeal. Parting the 51” wig into 11 sections was tedious as it kept tangling. It was so bad I almost gave up—but I’m not a quitter. After law school I can do anything! Thirteen packages of 4’ blue and purple hair extensions were mixed together into eleven twisted “braids” and sewn into the base wig. 24 yards of gold ribbon and 9 painted rings (made from purse holders and Styrofoam wreaths) finished off the 20 lb. wig.“

“Shiva’s sarong was hand-painted, and I created the “tie-dye” effect by blending yellow, green, and blue on white silk. Shiva’s top was comprised of painted bra cups. I initially planned to attach the bra cups to a dyed body-stocking. The stocking failed, and I was forced to paint myself using Ben Nye body make-up (which worked very well). I had to sew the bra cups onto myself while wearing it (not in my skin, ew, just so that they would be tight enough). The string was nearly invisible… it gave new meaning to the term “string bikini!“

Christina Rose was audacious indeed but, her unbridled audacity gave her the attention she deserves that far extends Comic Con 2010′s culture and love for comic books, video games and popular culture. We would like to see more of her in a different Shiva perspective.

You can check her out on her Deviant Art page and Game Informer profile.

Technorati Tags: Christina Rose, Fantasy Girl, Final Fantasy Girls, Shiva

This week, instead of a Fantasy Girl post, I have decided to collect some nifty photographs taken from the recently concluded Comic Con 2010 in San Diego, California where a lot of female cosplayers were spotted to have donned eponymous costumes of the likes of Tifa Lockheart, Rikku, Lightning and Shiva. What really grabbed my attention was this photo of a female cosplayer that kind of transmuted the Final Fantasy VIII lion, Squall Leonhart, into a drop-dead, vivacious counterpart of the game’s silent protagonist.

Among others, Comic Con 2010 became a festival where popular culture from East and West collided and, some of our favorite Final Fantasy girls were present in an adrenaline-pumped event of comics, video games and cosplay gathered some of the galaxy’s most interesting personas whom, can be identified as the modern fanboy/s. Here’s another tandem that we’ve grown so fond of: Yuffie and Rikku.

Again, if we are going to talk about Comic Con, each character we came to appreciate over the years, from colorful genres like comics, Japanese manga, anime and video games, have become major household mainstays for a conference of such magnitude and, the more weird the character you chose, the more popular you become. Here’s another tandem whom I think would give Final Fantasy fans something to sneakily buzz about apart from the Cloud/Tifa engagement.

Next in the line-up is a very bothered Viera whom seems to have a thing for energy drinks and posters. Vieras don’t drink those and where’s the default crossbow hitched within her back? As punishment, I declare that she get the Zodiac Spear a hundred times via the excruciating treasure chest hunt inside the Henne Mines.

Finally, we can see here a somewhat sad Lightning. Don’t worry, there will be many more to come next year and here’s hoping that more cosplayers will show up as their favored FF character. There is no shortage of them, I guarantee you that.

Photos courtesy of Ripten and GameInformer

Technorati Tags: Comic Con 2010, Fantasy Girl, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Girls, Lightning, rikku, Shiva, Tifa Lockheart