stereotypical *spoilers* Read at own risk.

[Confession]

Wow, this is my first post for a while.

Okay not bagging the game, personally I think it's pretty darn good, but it is very stereotypical.

Example: Sazh is black and uses guns. Sazh has a chocobo (big chicken) and his son loves chickens.

Vanille and Fang are from pulse and have aussie accents. Peope are banished to pulse, just like criminal english people were baished to Australia.

Snow is a big guy in a trenchcoat and plays with kids.

I dunno, maybe I'm thinking too much into it, but eh.

[Che]

Oh, please.

People like you will go out of their way to think about the most ridiculous conspiracies.

[Dodie16]

I don't think that the characters in FF XIII are stereotypes as much as they follow the archetypes associated with thier roles. I haven't gotten through the whole game yet, so I might not accurately get them all right, but here's what I think:

Lightning: No-nonsense type and ever so serious.

Snow and Serah: Star-Crossed Lovers. Snow is a big romantic softy, and Serah is his damsel in distress.

Hope: Misguided and vengeful youth

Vanille: Bright and happy go lucky

Sazh: Comic Relief. Nothing wrong with that. He serves a good contrast with the ever so serious Lightning.

Fang: Haven't got to spend much time with her yet, but from what I've seen, she seems to be really strong, but has a gentle heart.

Well, those are my thoughts. ^^

[Rocky]

So is it ever confirmed that Hope has a Necrophiliac Oedipus complex yet or what? I think he has some castration anxiety going on with Snow, but that could be just me... =|

[Walter Sobchak]

I am getting a little tired of the same characters in every game, from Tidus-Vaan-Hope to Rikku-Penelo-Vanille. Ashe-Lightning and Snow-Zell are disappointing as well.

[Zargabaath]

Example: Sazh is black and uses guns. Sazh has a chocobo (big chicken) and his son loves chickens.

General Leo used a sword.

Barret could equip a gun to his arm but he also had a claw and some type of wrecking ball.

Kiros had katals.

Reddas had two swords and at one point he was a Judge Magister (law enforcement) but left because there was evil/"corruption". The stereotype of a black man would be if he was breaking the law, Reddas is the opposite.

Sazh has a baby chocobo and there is a difference between Sazh and his chocobo and black people and chicken - black people would never, ever put or allow a baby chicken in their afro. Black people love to eat chicken and I don't think Sazh is all that into eating chocobos - cuisine has never been delved into in Final Fantasy.

Vanille and Fang are from pulse and have aussie accents. Peope are banished to pulse, just like criminal english people were baished to Australia.

Are people banished or do they just get lined up against a wall and shot; by taking a look at the beginning of the game I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter option. Vanille and Fang weren't banished, they're native to Pulse; everybody used to live on Pulse so they may have had the same accent until they were moved to Cocoon could they have perhaps developed a different accent.

[Che]

Also, I missed this in the first post, but isn't Fang's accent a New Zealand one, not Australian?

[Unknown Entity]

I noticed many familiarities with previous Final Fantasy characters, and I don't think there's any stereotyping going on. I've never heard of people eating chocobo's in the world of Final Fantasy, and just because Sazh is black, it doesn't necessarily mean he wants to eat chicken. Vanille and Fang might have been given different accents to show that they're different from everyone else - perhaps it's just a coincidence?

**Possible Spoilers. You were warned.**

Lightning is the no-nonsense chick, who seems to enjoy punching people when she disagrees with them. She shows a rather tough exterior (which I believe had something to do with protecting her sister, and her position as a solider), but she's warm and motherly inside. She indeed reminds me of Ashe from XII, but more straightforward.

Snow is the big kid, the one who didn't grow up. I like the contrast of his size and his attitude - it doesn't match. Hence me thinking of a big kid. He hangs out with people younger than himself, finds everything funny, is a little immature and gets into trouble. He reminds me of Zell, but a little less so of a punk kid.

Hope is a scared little child, who in some ways is the adult Snow fails to be. He can be more mature sometimes. After the incident which left him angry with Snow, and set out for revenge, he just turned into a relentless little brat. Being so blinded by hate and revenge annoyed the hell out of me - it wasn't Snow's fault. Having someone to blame makes everything better, doesn't it?

Vanille is the optimistic one. Everyone has been doomed, and she's still got a grin on her face. She's bouncy, bubbly, and can't see faults in anyone. Somewhat deluded too, but she is hiding something.

Sazh is the caring father, who I think has the warmest heart in the whole group. He's protective, he's loyal, and his only companion is a little chocobo nestled in his afro. Guns represent violence, but they also represent determination and protection. He was determined to complete his sons focus in order to protect him. Maybe I'm wrong, but this is how it could be viewed. He... doesn't remind me of any of the previous characters from the Final Fantasy universe. o.o;

Fang is the warrior chick. She reminds me of a female Balthier - a sly, sometimes sarcastic joker, but usually deadly serious.

(might add some more to my description of Fang tomorrow)