Character Tier List (Spoilers?)

[Professor Q]

I think it's fun to talk about character power levels, even if it's a relatively easy game like FFVI.


These characters are rated for their overall usefulness in the party, from beginning to end. While some characters like Sabin might fall behind in the end game they shine so much in the early game they completely make up for it.

Tier lists are best as discussion starters so if you disagree feel free to vehemently tell me how much I'm wrong. I'm only counting characters you can bring to Kefka's tower, mostly so ???? From the Phantom train doesn't take up all the slots.

Without further ado, here is the Tier List.


S Tier
Gau


A Tier
Terra
Edgar
Celes


B Tier
Locke
Mog
Sabin


C Tier
Gogo
Shadow
Setzer


D Tier
Strago
Relm


E Tier
Cyan
Umaro


Reasoning discussion:

Gau: I'm basing this off my experience with the GBA version, but there's this flower you can leap (you see it in Owser's mansion) which uses a confuse spell that is impossible to dodge or resist, and it makes any enemy in the game do nothing but attack themselves for the entire combat. If you use this, Gau breaks the game. The downside is you need any least one party member to beat some bosses, and there's a dragon in the extra dungeon that only dies from a battle event which if you charm him you essentially soft lock your game. But aside from that Gau is the most broken character.

Terra: She can use some of the best gear and she had Morph, making her the strongest staple in the party.

Edgar: He can use the best weapons in the game, though he can't equip the best armor since he's not a woman. I give him the edge over Celes because his tool kit is useful all the way until you get broken relic combos like the Celestriad Economizer, or the Master Scroll Genji Glove.

Celes: Terra with Runic instead of Morph. Runic isn't terrible, it just isn't Morph.

Locke: Edgar without the tools, basically. Has a great weapon similar to the Ultima weapon which you get when you unlock him in the world of Ruin, but his steal ability doesn't really stand up to the features of the characters above him.

Mog: Dance is pretty terrible, but Mog gets some respectable gear options including the powerful snow muffler. He makes a great Dragoon or Tanky mage. Most importantly though he gets the moogle charm, which may make him the list used character in the game.

Sabin: Sabin us a rock star until you get end game gear. You can get Bum Rush (Battle Dance) as soon as you get the airship, and before that you get powerful AOE attacks and single target abilities that cost no MP. Even after he gets Outclassed, Bum Rush is still a solid 9,999 damage single target attack, it just doesn't hit 5-8 times.

Gogo: Sucks that she can't use Espers to boost his stats, but since she can add any ability to his toolkit you can make her a decent stand in for your favorite party members. With that said, his gear set still holds her back unless you get him the merit award relic.

Shadow: Throw is good and interceptor is an interesting bonus mechanic, but as the game progresses he doesn't really get the gear to keep him above other characters. Not bad, just not shiney amazing.

Setzer: Similar to Shadow where he's a good character, just Outclassed. He has fun and interesting shenanigans like the Doom Darts or Fixed Dice, but they don't really hold up to the competition well enough to earn him a higher spot.

Strago: In FFV, blue magic is amazing. In FFVI... it's just not that unique or interesting. Add in a crummy gear set and the fact that any character can use magic and you get a so-so character.

Relm: Has the highest base magic in the game, so if you run low level until you pick up the right Espers you can get her to a phenomenal magic stat. But, her ability is mediocre, and everyone can use magic, and like Strago she doesn't have an fantastic gear set.

Cyan: Sadly maybe the worst character in the game that you can control. Bad gear and an almost worthless ability. There are some shenanigans with raising his Magic stat and using the tempest blade, but he starts with low magic and it's not really better than what other characters can do for all the work it takes.

Umaro: Not terribly good even if you overlook that you can't control him or boost his stats with espers.

[Toph]

I'd say the biggest issue with you're list is you're underselling the Magic stat. Whether you choose to utilize it or not, Magic is by far the strongest abilities in this game. Also, I think some of the tiers are a bit needless. Anyway, here's my tier list:

A tier:
Terra, Celes, Gau

B tier:
Sabin, Edgar, Setzer, Mog, Shadow, Gogo, Relm, Strago, Locke

C tier:
Umaro, Cyan

So, admittedly, my tier list was almost just an A tier and a B tier.

Originally, my A tier was everyone except the people in B tier(which was Cyan and Umaro). However, I decided Terra, Celes, and Gau could be considered a grade above the other characters simply due to a combination of their stats(high magic), gear options(minerva's bustier/snow scarf), and/or abilities(Rage: Rafflesia and Trance. Runic is fine too).

Regardless, the majority of the cast has some excellent builds that easily make them all quite good as long as you give them the right equipment and stats. I'll go into more detail if requested, but there's simply way too much to say about each of these character.

The two obvious exceptions here are Cyan and Umaro. Cyan has a terrible magic stat but a strong strength stat. However, the high strength doesn't do much for him considering his best weapon--outside of the Dragon's Den--isn't exceptional by any means when compared to other available weapons used in physical attack builds. Also, his Bushido ability(even with the fix in this version) simply takes too long to activate any of the abilities that matter. Overall, he's certainly viable but definitely a subpar character.

Umaro, on the other hand, is a pretty much a berserker. You have no control over what he does and, obviously, he can't use magic. I'm sure you can still do some fun stuff with him, but the lack of control definitely hurts him.

[Interrobangin]

It's kind of hard to put the cast into a clear tier list since for many of the characters it depends on how you build your party. So for me, who really stands out as being really good or really bad?

I find early on, Sabin and Edgar are god-tier. Even without grinding, Tools are really powerful. As other characters start getting stronger, and you get Espers and stuff, Sabin and Edgar balance out but never become too weak to use.

Gau is... well, Gau, and when I first played the game he seemed really weak. Like you have to do this weird PRNG mini-game to unlock flavors of berserk which you don't even know what they do until you use them? But, with some research, Gau can be very good... and really satisfying to use at times, too. With the right rages he can be an early-game powerhouse like Sabin or Edgar, and with the right stats/equipment he stays good at end game. And then there's Wind God Gau... although if I'm not mistaken, you can't actually make Wind God Gau in this version? I never tried it.

I find Relm to be quite weak. Sketch is a dynamic ability but use it on an elemental monster and you'll end up healing it, so you have to have a lot of knowledge about what Sketch might do beforehand, which isn't really worthwhile... it ends up being like a watered-down Rage. She's a decent magic user but there are better magic users in the game. I use her when I use Strago for lore purposes (no pun intended).

Cyan, gameplay wise, is weak to very weak. You can make him better by raising his stats or using certain spells (Quick + Tempest is a Master's Scroll where in-game time is considered, but takes longer in real time)... but those same things that make Cyan decent make all the other characters OP. Still, I use Cyan because I like his character. I usually use him in a team of Gau, Sabin, and Shadow, so his weaknesses are covered (and he seldom does much).

Umaro is crap. Boring game-playwise and boring lore-wise. No real reason to use him other than to say you have an Ogre and a Mog in your party (oh, and I consider Mog to be pretty good since you can skip random encounters with him).

So, in reverse order:

C. Umaro
B. Cyan
A. Everyone else

[Toph]

Originally posted by Interrobangin:

Umaro is crap. Boring game-playwise and boring lore-wise. No real reason to use him other than to say you have an Ogre and a Mog in your party (oh, and I consider Mog to be pretty good since you can skip random encounters with him).

Mog is excellent for a few reasons aside from Molulu's Charm.

Snow Scarf makes it very easy for him to reach 255 Defense(which means he'll be taking 0-1 damage from most physical attacks while in the back row). Toss him some Dragoon Boots and the Dragoon Horn and have him use Jump to destroy things(no damage pentalty for being in the back row, spears also do x2 damage when used with Jump). Holy Lance, which isn't too hard to get, means he'll have a chance to cast Holy with every Jump.

He quickly becomes a furry, indestructable, little wrecking ball. He's definitely a personal favorite of mine.

Oh, not to mention he's amazing in the Dragon Neck Coliseum almost immediately.

[TizianOwO]

A couple of things, Gogo's gender is never actually stated, nor is it obvious, their face is completely covered, switching between "him" and her" is also just confusing, "they" works. Gogo is also incredibly handy in certain situations where you want to use espers, for example with Ragnarok or Bahamut, you can have them mimic after someone uses those and they can be used over and over without cost as long as no-one else does anything.

Also shadow is absolutely crazy in the WoR, you can buy certain shurikens for him fairly early on that all but guarantee he'll do 9999 damage. Granted I used him as the designated healing ♥♥♥♥♥ up to that point, but that's mostly because I was too cheap to buy regular shurikens.

[Sniper Bear]

i always find it hard to really put the majority of the characters into a tier list because you can make a lot of them really strong with the esper stat level bonuses. personally, i never really liked using Gao because you can't directly control him. still, can be quite powerful. my fav though is Cyan.

[Escartin]

Well..In this FF ther is the way to make a real ranking characters..

I will make two ranks..One for WOB and on for WOR..In the one for WOR I will not consider the equipment wich we can find in dragon's den..Even because it doesn't change the ranks for me..

WOB

1 Gau..
Litwor chicken rage is overpower at this point of the game..You can deal great damages to all enemies and completly heal the party at the same time..
Other then that Gau has other good rages but the one wich makes him the strongest character of WOB is the one of Litwor Chicken..

2 Locke...
Steal command and Hawkeyes ( with genji gloves) make him the character that you always want in the floating continent. He can equip Gaia gear to absorb earth damage (litwor chicken rage)and this is very important.

3 Shadow.
.His high evade,his speed and his throw command make him very useful in every situation..He is decent as mage too..You must have him in the floating continent but I think that each player would insert him in the party even without obligations..He can equip Gaia gear too..

FROM NOW ON IT IS MORE COMPLICATED...

4 Mog...His dances are very good at the end of WOB, moreover he can be used even as lancer and he is a passable mage...Good versability...Other then that at this point of the game he should have 5 level more of the others..So he is very good for the floating continent...I usually do not put him in the team of the floating continent just because I already have Gau as non controllable character, two would be too much...He can wear Gaia Gear.

5 Strago..If he learns lores he is a good character for the floating continent maybe if you have to insert a mage in the group Strago is the best choice.Some lore is very usefull like white wind... Strago can even learn a lot of new lore in the floating continent..He can wear Gaia Gear.

6 Relm..If you train her and if she learns some magic she is the strongest mage of the game at this point..Strago has lore but less magic power, Relm has not lore but has a great magic power...He can wear Gaia gear.

7 Sabin..Well..Sabin is very strong in the WOB but for the floating continent he isn't good..Blitz is not extraordinary at this point of the game and he doesn't excell neither in magic nor attack..Hawkeye's Locke are better then his weapon and Locke can steal..

8 Edgar...It is overpowered for all the WOB but at the end he becomes almost useless..Ok, he is a good swords-man, a good lancer and he has Tools wich are very good at the end of the WOB...But he can't equip Gaia gears so to put him in the group you should give up using the Litwor's chicken rage and this is not good.
We can say that Edgar is the strongest character of the WOB, until Litwor Chicken rage makes its appearance. ..Other then that he is a very bad mage and the magic power is very important in the floating continent...
I do not think ther's a good reason to put him in the team for the floating continent.

9 Cyan..He sucks for the entire game but at the end of WOB with the kazekiri sucks a little lower...Kazekiri at the end of WOB is a good weapon..
However Cyan can't equip the Gaia Gear so he remains Needless even for the floating continent.

10 Celes..Well, she has a good magic power and Runic..Nothing more in the WOB..Locke Shadow Sabin Cyan and Edgar are better as fighters, Strago and Relm are better in magic...So ther's no reason to taking her in the floating continent..He can wear Gaia Gear..

11...Terra..The same as Celes without Runic...Morph at this point of the game is not usable in a serious way...They stay above Setzer for their magic power..

11 Setzer..Without fixed dice he is a useless character...Slot sucks, his magic sucks, and his attack power sucks...


WORLD OF RUINS

1 LOCKE

He can equip Valiant Knife, Ultima Weapon and the Lightbringer...I think this is quite to say that he is the strongest character of the game..He is the one who can use Valiant Knife and this is enough..

2 TERRA

It's simple..She is in this position because he can use Lightbringer and Ultima Weapon+she has Morph...
Someone could think that morph is better than the Valiant Knife..I do not think so..In the dragon's den a lot of enemies have a very very high defense so the Valiant knife are more important then morph..There are some monsters wich you can deal damage just using Ultima Weapon, Drill, Fixed-Dice and Valiant Knife.

3 EDGAR...He is here because he can Equip the Ultima Weapon the Lightbringer AND Holy lance and Radiant lance...Edgar is very strong using him as lancer, but if you want you can equip him with Lightbringer or Ultima Weapon.....

4 CELES...Well, the same worlds..Celes is here because she can equip Lightbringer and Ultima Weapon..She stay under Locke because she has not valiant knife, she stays under Terra because Terra has Morph, and she stays under Edgar because Edgar could use Lance too...

5 SETZER

Master's scroll+Fixed dice..Ther's nothing more to say...Setzer is not good for anything but with this combination he becomes the strongest damage dealer after the four who can equip Lightbringer and Ultima Weapon.

6 MOG...
Someone could be surprised to see Mog in this position but this is his position...He is a Lancer, so with the combination dragon boots+dragon horn he does great deals ( It is better using Holy lance with him..He can cast Holy and he has a good magic) but this is no the only reason..
Mog can equip the Snow scarf becoming the strongest defensive character of the game ( with Gau)...So Snow Scarf+Lancer=6 position for Mog

7 GAU

I really don't like using him in the WOR because I can't controll him...I have to say that in the WOR...With the characters developed in magic Gau's rages becomes useless...But ther's the Rage of Rafflesia wich is absolutely unstoppable..
Gau would be the worst charactarr of the WOR without Rafflesia's rage...With Rafflesia's rage becomes one of the best, or maybe the best..He can equip Snow scarf too...

8 SHADOW

From now on characters are not very strong..Shadow gains this position because with throw can easily do 9999 damages..He has a good magic, great evade and great speed..So for me he is good

9 RELM

She is the strongest mage in the game and she can equip the Cat-ear-wood and the Behemot Suit wich increase a lot magic and defense...If you want a mage at the end of the game, that mage is Relm..

10 SABIN

From now on mediocre characters starting...
Well...If you train him in magic he could easily do 9999 damage with phantom blitz..But why??? In the end of the game there are a lot of way to do 9999 damage, better then push keys continuosly...
But the real problem of Sabin is his defense...He is the worst character of the game in defence ( Just Gogo is worser then him) and he has nothing to compensate it in the end of the game..His weapons are nothing of extraordinary and his Blitz become obsolete in the end of the game..

11 STRAGO...
In the WOR his lores are useless...He has ♥♥♥♥-stats in everyway you look him..He is decent just in magic power, but to be clear, he has just 1 point more then Shadow...
He has just one good thing. He can equip the Behemot suit....

12 CYAN

A great character for me in the lore...Totally usefull in the gameplay...He sucks in magic and for normal attacks his weapons are not exceptional, he is very slow too....Bushido is useless...
Ther's just a way to do Cyan usefull...Using him as Kappa.

13 GOGO

Yeah..Wow...He can use everything..Beauty beauty!!!
Yes..But his equipment sucks more then the Sabin one and his stats sucks and can't be increased with espers..
In the final Dungeon if you train characters using espers, each characters could became strong ( Yes..Even Cyan) increasing stats..Gogo can't.....
Gogo is very very usefull until you don't train characters..
But if you chose to train characters Gogo sucks and his versatily become usefull.

14 UMARO

It's usefull just for the colosseum but Kappa is better..
So..Why I should use him?

[Tin_Lizzy]

personally, my tier list is based around how much effort it takes to make a character useful and how much i like their playstyle.

that being said, here's my tier list:

S rank:

Terra, Locke, Celes, , Relm

barring relm, all of these characters are top of my list because they can all equip the ultima weapon, which means they can use master scroll + genji glove + dual ultima weapon to hit for 8x max damage late game. they're also IMO the most interesting characters in the game. relm is S rank due to her crazy powerful spellcasting abilities.

oh and relms ability is somewhat useful late game, which is pretty alright

A rank:

Cyan, Edgar, Sabin

Cyan

so cyan is a bit of a weird one for me. personally, i REALLY like bushido. i also REALLY like cyan as a character

i've also found that it's very easy to outpace both of the dragoons in terms of overall damage output using the tempest command with minimal effort. he also has one of the best WOR dungeons/mini arcs.

cyan also works as a great lategame support mage, but that's technically a role anyone can fill so i don't really count it

Edgar

technically he can also equip the GG+MS+dual ultima combo as wel,, but he's overall just not as good with it as the other three characters that use it. he's substantially slower than locke, and he doesn't have the advantage of high native magic power to supplement his utility like terra and celes. edgars character is also quite bland and one note, so i don't enjoy him as much.

Sabin

Sabin is arguably the strongest playable character for the vast majority of the game. he'll likely be the first character to hit the damage cap, and he deals consistently high damage to groups of enemies with higher level blitz commands. however, sabins damage output falls off hard in comparison to the other characters once you have access to the soul of thamasa/master scroll.he does have the advantage of being slightly more interesting than his brother, which is a plus i guess.

not that that's hard, but it's still a plus

B rank

Shadow, Gogo, Setzer, Mog

shadow and setzer are both in the same boat for me. they're both genuinely interesting characters with great backstories that just don't really fit with the kind of late game party i like. their damage output is poor, their abilities both have limited utility and lifespan (throw being the better of the two), and their lategame equipment is... just not great

Mog

mog is admittedly more of a character that i just don't like personally. he's not bad at all, in fact i freely admit that he's quite good. however, i just generally dislike dragoons, as i find them both hard to support and of limited utility. he's also somehow more boring than edgar, which is a feat in and of itself.

Gogo

the only reason gogo is this high on the list is because of his/her/it's insane utility. mimic is by and large the single most useful ability in the game. also, having a fully customizable character that doesn't need to learn magic is very nice.

however, gogo is not a great regular party member, and somehow manages to outdo edgar by having absolutely no personality whatsoever

C rank

Strago, Gau

alright, torches and pitchforks down. i have a pretty good reason for disliking gau.

both strago and gau IN MY OPINION take way too much work to make them viable lategame. personally, i think the game has enough grinding as is without spending hours collecting all of the best blue magic/rages. they're both quite strong characters, but making them strong is about as far from fun as it gets

also, gau is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ annoying and i hate him.

Z rank

Umaro

gee, who could've possibly predicted that? umaro is the worst character in the game. everything i could say about how worthless and stupid he is has already been said a million times before before by far smarter people

[Escartin]

Originally posted by TheMissingAce:

personally, my tier list is based around how much effort it takes to make a character useful and how much i like their playstyle.

that being said, here's my tier list:

S rank:

Terra, Locke, Celes, , Relm

barring relm, all of these characters are top of my list because they can all equip the ultima weapon, which means they can use master scroll + genji glove + dual ultima weapon to hit for 8x max damage late game. they're also IMO the most interesting characters in the game. relm is S rank due to her crazy powerful spellcasting abilities.

oh and relms ability is somewhat useful late game, which is pretty alright

A rank:

Cyan, Edgar, Sabin

Cyan

so cyan is a bit of a weird one for me. personally, i REALLY like bushido. i also REALLY like cyan as a character

i've also found that it's very easy to outpace both of the dragoons in terms of overall damage output using the tempest command with minimal effort. he also has one of the best WOR dungeons/mini arcs.

cyan also works as a great lategame support mage, but that's technically a role anyone can fill so i don't really count it

Edgar

technically he can also equip the GG+MS+dual ultima combo as wel,, but he's overall just not as good with it as the other three characters that use it. he's substantially slower than locke, and he doesn't have the advantage of high native magic power to supplement his utility like terra and celes. edgars character is also quite bland and one note, so i don't enjoy him as much.

Sabin

Sabin is arguably the strongest playable character for the vast majority of the game. he'll likely be the first character to hit the damage cap, and he deals consistently high damage to groups of enemies with higher level blitz commands. however, sabins damage output falls off hard in comparison to the other characters once you have access to the soul of thamasa/master scroll.he does have the advantage of being slightly more interesting than his brother, which is a plus i guess.

not that that's hard, but it's still a plus

B rank

Shadow, Gogo, Setzer, Mog

shadow and setzer are both in the same boat for me. they're both genuinely interesting characters with great backstories that just don't really fit with the kind of late game party i like. their damage output is poor, their abilities both have limited utility and lifespan (throw being the better of the two), and their lategame equipment is... just not great

Mog

mog is admittedly more of a character that i just don't like personally. he's not bad at all, in fact i freely admit that he's quite good. however, i just generally dislike dragoons, as i find them both hard to support and of limited utility. he's also somehow more boring than edgar, which is a feat in and of itself.

Gogo

the only reason gogo is this high on the list is because of his/her/it's insane utility. mimic is by and large the single most useful ability in the game. also, having a fully customizable character that doesn't need to learn magic is very nice.

however, gogo is not a great regular party member, and somehow manages to outdo edgar by having absolutely no personality whatsoever

C rank

Strago, Gau

alright, torches and pitchforks down. i have a pretty good reason for disliking gau.

both strago and gau IN MY OPINION take way too much work to make them viable lategame. personally, i think the game has enough grinding as is without spending hours collecting all of the best blue magic/rages. they're both quite strong characters, but making them strong is about as far from fun as it gets

also, gau is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ annoying and i hate him.

Z rank

Umaro

gee, who could've possibly predicted that? umaro is the worst character in the game. everything i could say about how worthless and stupid he is has already been said a million times before before by far smarter people

Well..

1 Why is Edgar under Terra Celes and Locke?? He can use the same weapons and he can even use the Holy Lance...Dragon horn+Dragon boots+Holy Lance=devastation....Edgar has more HP and strong of Locke Terra and Celes so he is better of them for using both Ultima Weapon and Lightbringer.
Terra has Morph, Locke can use the Valiant Knife but Celes??? What would make Celes better then Edgar??? Rune?? Nothing I think..

2 Relm is good for her hig magic stats but she can't be in so high position...Mog is better then Relm..The combination Dragon Horn+Dragon boots+Holy Lance can be used by Mog too and he became more devastating then Relm..Setzer too is better then Relm for the Fixed Dice+Master's scroll combination. Gau with Nightshade rade is surely better then Relm too.
Relm to deal big damages need Bi-magic Celestiad and Ultima, but this combination can be used by all characters...The only thing wich make Relm fantastic is her equipment..Cat Ear hood+Behemot Sut= perfect magic defense. But this thing it's not enough to make her better then the swordmans the lancers,Setzer and Gau..

3 SETZER AND MOG are stronger then Relm Shadow and Gogo...Mog for Dragon boot+Dragon Horn+Holy Lance combination and Setzer for the combination Fixed dice+Master's scroll...Mog can equip the snow scarf becoming a great tank too..

4 GAU with the Nigthshade rage is maybe the strongest character of the game...You say it's hard to train him...
Well, it's sufficient the Stray Cat rage to make him better then Relm...More, there are tricks wich make very easy training Gau...
And ther is more...Gau can equip the snow Scarf...
You don't like Gau?? Ok..But this doesn't mean he is weak..Gau is very strong, he has great abilities, he can equip the snow Scarf and he has the nightshade rage...Gau is the strongest character of the entire game from the beginning to the end.

5 GOGO

Gog is the worst character of the game with Umaro..Maybe Umaro is better because he has the Snow Scarf wich give him a great defence...Gogo can't raise stats and his equipments very very very very very very very very suck...If you go in the Dragon's den with Gogo he always dies in just two seconds...Umaro is not controllable but unleast he doesn't die after two seconds...

Your rank is your rank, it is based on your preferences...A real rank is this

A

Gau,Locke,Terra

B

Celes,Edgar

C

Setzer,Mog

D

Relm,Shadow

E

Sabin,Strago,Cyan

F

Gogo,Umaro

[Escartin]

Originally posted by Toph:

I'd say the biggest issue with you're list is you're underselling the Magic stat. Whether you choose to utilize it or not, Magic is by far the strongest abilities in this game. Also, I think some of the tiers are a bit needless. Anyway, here's my tier list:

A tier:
Terra, Celes, Gau

B tier:
Sabin, Edgar, Setzer, Mog, Shadow, Gogo, Relm, Strago, Locke

C tier:
Umaro, Cyan

So, admittedly, my tier list was almost just an A tier and a B tier.

Originally, my A tier was everyone except the people in B tier(which was Cyan and Umaro). However, I decided Terra, Celes, and Gau could be considered a grade above the other characters simply due to a combination of their stats(high magic), gear options(minerva's bustier/snow scarf), and/or abilities(Rage: Rafflesia and Trance. Runic is fine too).

Regardless, the majority of the cast has some excellent builds that easily make them all quite good as long as you give them the right equipment and stats. I'll go into more detail if requested, but there's simply way too much to say about each of these character.

The two obvious exceptions here are Cyan and Umaro. Cyan has a terrible magic stat but a strong strength stat. However, the high strength doesn't do much for him considering his best weapon--outside of the Dragon's Den--isn't exceptional by any means when compared to other available weapons used in physical attack builds. Also, his Bushido ability(even with the fix in this version) simply takes too long to activate any of the abilities that matter. Overall, he's certainly viable but definitely a subpar character.

Umaro, on the other hand, is a pretty much a berserker. You have no control over what he does and, obviously, he can't use magic. I'm sure you can still do some fun stuff with him, but the lack of control definitely hurts him.

You don't consider

1 The Armor equipment of the characters...

Gau Umaro and Mog can equip the best armor of the game,the Snow Scarf wich give them 128 defence and 94 of magic defence....Mog and Gau are the best Tank of the game without discussion and this must be considered. In the dragon's then you can finde the Dualing Mask, the best helmet of the game wich can be equipped just by Gau..So Gau is the strongest character of the game in defence..After Gau and Mog ther's Relm. I' ill explain later.
Genji Armor ( the third strongest armor of the game) has 90 defence and 80 Magic defence and can be equipped by Cyan Terra Locke Celes Shadow Setzer and Edgar.
Relm is the one who can equip the second best helmet of the game, the cat ear Hood..
Relm and Strago can equip the second best armor of the game wich is the Behemot Suit ( 94 defence,73 magic defence).
Relm with Cat Ear Hood and Behemot Suit has a perfect magic evade..So she is wonderful.
Gogo is the worst defensive character, his best armor is the magus Robe wich give him 68 defence and 50 magic defence ( Snow Scarf has 128 and 94......).
Sabin, after Gogo is the worst defensive character..His best armor is the Red Jacket ( 78 defence,55 magic defence).

Those elements must be considered and those elements make Sabin and Gogo weak character and Relm Mog and Gau very strong characters.

2 You don't consider who can use Weapons wich deal damages without considering the defence of the enemies..Those weapons make the difference in the Dragon's den..
Locke can use the best weapon of the game,Valiant Knife and Ultima Weapon..Terra Edgar and Celes can use the Ultima Weapon and Setzer has the Fixed Dice+master's scroll combination wich is wonderful...

Those elements make Locke Celes Terra and Edgar the strongest offensive character of the game...Locke is the strongest because he can use the Valiant Knife too..Moreoften, those Characters can equip the Lightbringer too..So..What else to say?
Below them ther's Setzer for the Fixed Dice+Master's scroll combination.



For the rest...The stats are not important because you can raise them as you like....The abilities are not good enough to make the difference..Rune Throw Blitz Steal Morph are usefull in the dragon's den but ther's no comparison with having Ultima Weapon or Valiant Knife..
Ther's just one abilities wich make the difference that is morph of Terra..

So...We can say this

A TIER

-Gau..(Nightshade and he is the strongest character in defence with Mog because he can equip the Snow Scarf...In the dragon's den you find the Dualing mask helmet that is even better of the cat ear hood of Relm)

-Locke ( He can equip the three best weapons of the Game..Valiant Knife,Ultima Weapon and LightBringer)

-Terra ( He can't equip the Valiant Knife but she has Morph..With Morph and the Lightbringer she can deal good damage in the Dragon's then too.)

B TIER

Celes,Edgar ( They can equip the second and the third best weapon of the game)

C TIER

-Mog ( He is the best defensive character with Gau and he can equip the Holy Lance becoming devastating with Dragon Boots and Dragon Horn)

-Setzer ( Fixed Dice+Master's scroll)


D Tier

-Relm ( She is the best character of the game in magic defence if we consider the magic evade too)

-Shadow ( He has very good stats, throw is fast and usefull even in the Dragon's den..He is the best character in the evasion stats)

E tier

Sabin,Cyan,Strago ( Sabin has Blitz wich is good in attack but he can equip neither Genji armor nor Behemot Suit..Those armors make Cyan and Strago very better then Sabin in defence)

D Tier

-Gogo ( He can't raise stars. His equipment sucks)
-Umaro (He sucks but he is better then Gogo because he can equip the Snow Scarf)

[Bamethyst38]

The fact I am seeing almost everyone here saying Gau is S or A Tier is filling my heart with joy.

Gau: I'm basing this off my experience with the GBA version, but there's this flower you can leap (you see it in Owser's mansion) which uses a confuse spell that is impossible to dodge or resist, and it makes any enemy in the game do nothing but attack themselves for the entire combat. If you use this, Gau breaks the game. The downside is you need any least one party member to beat some bosses, and there's a dragon in the extra dungeon that only dies from a battle event which if you charm him you essentially soft lock your game. But aside from that Gau is the most broken character.

Raffelsia (Entice) has some issues with bosses that have Magic Evasion because of it's abysmal hit rate and its more suited for 1on1 fights. But it's still a good Rage.