Terra Branford

Overview

Terra Branford is the first playable character in Final Fantasy VI, and the most central character in the game. She is called Tina in the Japanese version of the game, but this was changed in international ports because Ted Woolsey the translator for Final Fantasy 6, thought the name Tina wasn't exotic enough for English-speaking gamers. Terra is half-human, half-Esper. She is one of the few characters who can learn magic naturally, and is the only half-human/half-Esper hybrid in existence. Her unique ability, and heritage makes her a key character in the war between the Gestahlian Empire and the rebel faction, the Returners. However, because she is half-human/half-Esper she is generally confused on life, and love and generally unsure of how to feel.

Terra is seen in the game with green hair, but in Yoshitaka Amano's original depiction of her, she is always seen as a blond. Terra is also one of Amano's favourite characters to design, along with Faris from Final Fantasy V.

Story

Terra was born in the Land of Espers to her Esper father Maduin, and her human mother Madeline (Madonna in the SNES version). After her birth, Emperor Gestahl found, and raided the Land of Espers, capturing many Espers. The Elder of the land of Espers decided to force Gestahl and his forces out with a magical barrier. The barrier succeeded in driving Gestahl away, but Madeline and Terra were also forced into the Human world along with them. Gestahl noticed Terra when he awoke, Madeline tried stopping him from taking her, but Gestahl just dismissed her, and she collapsed. Gestahl then took Terra back to Vector to become a weapon of the Empire. Kefka saw something interesting about Terra aswell, as he put a Slave crown on her head and had her take out the Empire's finest soldiers. She did this with ease.

Terra, along with Biggs and Wedge were ordered to go to Narshe and locate the frozen Esper, Valigarmanda. The mission was to gather data on the Esper, and take it back to the empire. The Trio found the frozen Esper, but the Esper reacted, and unleashed it's power; killing Biggs, and Wedge, and knocking Terra out. Terra was rescued by Arvis, a member of the Returners, who freed her from the Slave Crown. Terra awoke with a bad case of amnesia, and only knew her name. However, the local police wanted to take Terra into custody due to the events that happened in Narshe. Arvis helped her escape into the mines, but the guards caught up to her in the mines. Locke eventually stepped, and with the help of some Moogles, he saved Terra. Taking her to Figaro Castle.

In Figaro, Terra met Edgar, the King of Figaro and after some casual flirting with Terra, he agreed to let Terra and Locke hide-out in the castle. Later, Kefka decided to pay a visit to Figaro to learn about the location of Terra. Edgar told him that they weren't at Figaro. Kefka then proceeded to try to burn Figaro down, Terra, Edgar, and Locke managed to escape, and Figaro Castle submerged itself in the desert. Along the way, Terra showed both Lock and Edgar that she is capable of naturally casting magic, and they decided to take her to the Returners hideout. There they met Banon, the leader of the Returners who tried to convince her to join the Returners, but eventually let her choose whether she'd join or not. Banon then invited Terra to come to Narshe with him, Edgar, and Edgar's brother, Sabin, and she accepted. On the way, the foursome was attacked by Ultros, who during the battle, grabbed Terra. Sabin performed a Blitz and was quickly knocked overboard. Terra, Edgar, and Banon eventually got to Narshe, but they had to got through the mines because Narshe didn't want Terra, or the Returners in the town.

Thereafter, everyone met up in Narshe. The Empire was staging an attack in order to get the Esper again, this time led by Kefka. Banon led the defense, which Terra participated in. The defense eventually won and Kefka was forced to retreat. After the battle, the group went to see the Esper, which reacted with Terra again. This time, Terra was transformed into an Esper, and flew away to a place unknown.

Terra was found in a tower at Zozo, in where the Esper Ramuh told the party to rescue Espers from the empire including Terra's father Maduin. Celes agreed to help the party recover the Espers from Vector, and help Terra out as well; Locke also agreed to tag along.

Eventually, Locked returned to Zozo, with Maduin, now a Magicite Shard, he helped her regain her memory.the party headed for Narshe to form a strategy to attack the Empire. Banon thought the best strategy would be to have the Espers attack from the east, and then a coalition of Returners and Narshe guards would attack the Imperial capital, Vector. Terra had to be the messenger to the Espers, since she was the only one who could communicate with them. She led a team through the Cave to the Sealed Gate, which led to the Land of Espers. She was ambushed by Kefka there, but was able to open the gate to the Land of Espers, and the army of Espers that emerged, led by Yura, attacked Kefka. Terra's group managed to escape to the party's airship, but the Espers were in hot pursuit, and attacked the ship, which was forced to land near Vector. The party agreed to enter Vector.

Once they arrived, they found the city up in flames, and Arvis and Banon were confused. Inside the castle, Emperor Gestahl appeared to have surrendered. He invited the Returners to a banquet during which he proposed peace. He then asked Terra to parlay this message to the Espers, who were now hiding out on Crescent Island to the east. Locke agreed to accompany her, and General Leo would act as the Imperial liaison. On the way there, Terra asked Leo about love, because it was an emotion that she never felt. She was worried that being half-Esper would prevent her from truly falling in love. Leo reassured her and said that it wouldn't.

Upon arriving at Crecent Island, Terra and Locke, now accompanied by Shadow, made their way to the remote village of Thamasa, to ask about Espers. They found the villagers to be very hostile to strangers, and they asked an old man named Strago for help. Strago denied the existence of Espers, but was friendly nonetheless. That night, Terra, Locke, and Shadow were invited to stay for free at the inn. During the night, a building was caught on fire, and Strago's granddaughter, Relm Arrowny, was stuck inside. Strago asked Terra and Locke to help him rescue her, and they saw Strago's magical abilities in the process. As a result, Strago revealed the truth of his ancestry to Terra and Locke, and agreed to accompany them to the Espers' Gathering Place. Relm followed them, and caught up to them in a fight with Ultros. Eventually, the group reached the area where Yura was hiding with the rest of the Espers who attacked Vector. Terra convinced Yura to set up a conference with General Leo.

Back in Thamasa, Yura and Leo began peace negotiations. However, they were interrupted by Kefka, who revealed that this was a set up for him and Gestahl to retrieve more Espers to turn into Magicite. Kefka killed Yura and the other Espers and wounded everyone but Leo, who fought Kefka and died. Kefka then began to collect the remains of various Espers, and headed to the Sealed Gate to collect more. As a result, the Statues were restored and the Sealed Gate rose above the ground and became the Floating Continent. Afterward, Terra led a funeral service for Leo.

One year after Kefka destroyed the world, Terra found herself in the village of Mobliz, which was attacked by Kefka's "Light of Judgement." All the adults had died, and Terra felt a responsibility to take care of the kids. While doing so, she realized a new side of her was awakening, and thus she lost all her will to fight. Celes and Sabin tried to convince her to take up arms again, but Terra refused. She even proved her weakness when the town was attacked by Humbaba, a legendary beast. The second time Humbaba came, though, Terra realized what her feeling was, and it was love for the children. With this newfound knowledge, she defeated Humbaba and rejoined the battle.

After Kefka was finally defeated, Terra's friends were worried about her fate, as the Statues had died, and they were the source of Magic and allowed the survival of the Espers. Terra agreed to use the last of her power to help the party escape from Kefka's Tower. However, Maduin told her as he was about to shatter, that she would live on as a full human if she was attached to someone or something. Due to her love for the children of Mobliz, she was allowed to live, and the game ends with Terra standing at the bow of the Falcon releasing her ponytail and savoring freedom at last.

Powers and Abilities

Though her in game description classifies her as "Magitek Elite", she acts more as a highly capable Red Mage. All her stats are rather level throughout the game, and she mostly wields swords. She can wield all forms of heavy armor as well. She can also equip female specific Relics such as the Silk Robe early in the game, making Terra one of the most customizable characters in the game.

Terra's special ability is called Trance, which allows her to transform into her Esper form within battle. This ability doubles all of Terra's current stats and lasts along as the ATB gauge is full. Trance can only be used after Magic points are gathered during battle. Basically, the less you use Trance, the more time Terra can have in her Esper form. Unlike her Cinematic sequences as an Esper, she is perfectly grounded while in battle. Trance becomes Revert after use, this changed Terra back to her normal form.

Terra, along with Celes can naturally learn some magic. However, the black magic Terra learns is fire-based whereas Celes' is ice-based. In addition, Terra can learn spells such as Teleport, Arise, Break and Meltdown, and learns Ultima at level 99.

Finally, when Terra wheres the Magitek Armour she can use 4 extra abilities, in addition to Fire Beam, Ice Beam, Thunder Beam and Healing Force that nobody else can use. They are Bio Blast, Banisher, Magitek Missile, and Confuser.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Terra Branford makes her first appearance outside of Final Fantasy VI in Dissidia: Final Fantasy. In Dissidia, Terra, along with nine other characters have been summoned by Cosmos to protect the Crystals, from Chaos and his collective of Final Fantasy villains. Terra stands as the heroine opposing Kefka Palazzo.

Terra, like the rest of the Dissidia cast is based on her original Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano (redrawn by Tetsuya Nomura). Thus why, she is depicted with blond hair instead of green, and lacks her shoulder pads like her sprite had. Her alternative costume is based more like her sprite, lacking the stockings, and having green hair.

In the game, Terra is allied with Onion Knight, as Cloud of Darkness and Kefka are in conjuction together. In the opening sequence, she is seen battling Ultimecia, and confronts Cloud of Darkness and Kefka with the help of Cloud Strife. Kefka declares his desire to cause destruction, and Terra claims she can never forgive what he has done and will fight to defend the hopes of those she cares for.

Terra wants to help the other heroes, but is cautious and wooried that she might not be able to control her powers in her Esper form. In her travels with Onion Knight, he acts as a cheerful foil to her more cautious nature. Terra eventually loses part of her memory, and must uncover the truth of the events she cannot recall. Terra eventually confronts Kefka, who tries to convince Terra to side with him so he can use her powers to cause great chaos and destruction. Although Terra is worried

she might have trouble controlling her powers, she denies Kefka's offer as it is just absurd and having found hope for the future. Terra and Kefka engage in one last battle, where Terra ultimately defeat Kefka.

Terra is a "magic master" and uses magic in her fighting. She can use unspecified fire, lightning and ice attacks, as well as Tornado, Flood, Comet and Meltdown. She can also use her sword at close range, which glows blue like the Ultima Weapon when used as an HP attack. She is skilled in both short and long-range fighting, but moves a bit slowly. Terra's EX Mode is to transform into her Esper form, where she gains the DualCast ability and can glide in the air. Terra's EX Burst is her Riot Blade Desperation Attack, where she whips out her arms and flings crescent-shaped waves of energy at her opponent. The player must press the directional pad in tandem with the Circle button to stop two power meters - the more energy they charge, the more blades Terra fires and the stronger the attack becomes.

Terra's Japanese voice actor is Yukari Fukui, the voice of Nia Teppelin in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.