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barret is the most -> buffed guy -> swears and is all tough -> strong and etc. he has a daughter... sho he mite be fooling around with girls...

least would be probably vincent because he's not a pretty boy or anything... he's mysterious and silent... he's calm most of the time and has emotions that are obvious...

Sephiroth is the most streiotypical. Unber strong bad goy bent on world domination. In every freakin game. Kuja in 9. Scorceress in 8. Some goy named Simore in another game....

Least would be......Red XIII. Hes a animal. Literally. 8&9 don't have animals as main characters.

In terms of the game, despite the gunarm I had to vote Barret. He's a walking cliche-- not in the video game sense, but in the, "oh, look, here's a black man!" When people call him a Mr. T rip-off, it isn't completely out of the blue, because his character design is VERY familiar, as is his way of speech.

Anyway, there's loads of different sorts of stereotypes, so the question is really too general! Because I overanalyze the game, I don't really think any of the characters are REALLY stereotypes --except maybe Palmer or Don Corneo, as they're portrayed. If you really look, anything could be a stereotype?

Tifa isn't in the childhood best friend sense because, shocker, she WASN'T Cloud's best friend. In the scene in Cloud's mind, she reveals that they never talked, that she was popular and he was not, he often got into fights with the other boys, heck, she hardly realized he lived next door most of the time. I'm not attacking her, just saying, aside from her boobs, stereotype she is not.

Aerith... well, I'm biased in her favor. smile Admittedly there are certain stereotypes, however... She did not necessarily steer Cloud away from Tifa, nor did he really fall in love with her. It's arguable, and a lot of the differing interactions in the game are part of the date mini-game and therefore not really trustworthy. But, I dig her because she's emotionally strong. She convinces Cloud to dress up like a girl! And laughs about it. When being carted away by ShinRa, even after being slapped by Tseng she never ASKS for help, she tells them to get out of there. It was their choice to go rescue her (not that it makes her less of a damsel, but). And she totally pushes Cloud around. (And accuses him of being horny in Costa del Sol, bwahahaha). She's only physically delicate.

Annd.... yes, there's a lot otherwise. Beyond appearances, none of them are really stereotypes. It's a bit harder with Yuffie and Vincent because they get less scene-time as optional characters, but still, not stereotypes. I've typed too much!

hehe cait sith