Introductory Description of Celes: "Product of genetic engineering,
battle-hardened Magitek Knight, with a spirt as pure as snow..."
As cool as all the characters in
FFVI are, IMHO, many of them don't
have much interaction with each other. I'm assuming that these feelings of
friendship develop just by being with each other and fighting enemies with
each other. The characters mostly get along well and care for each other,
but these feelings can't be explained through the story that you read and the
events that develop. So some of the only explanations that I can come up
with are that by having to be around one another with a common objective and
overall similar values promotes friendship and unity.
This section looks at Celes' relationships with other characters. It also
tries to explain some of Celes' personality, mostly because I define her
through her experiences with her friends.
The hardest, most complex one. First off, I think I've always looked at Celes
as being a strong person, which I've learned is not something people agree with.
Celes obviously has some sort of emotional dependency on Locke. The question
is how strong that dependency is. I know some people think that Celes is too
dependent on the thief. However, I'm not sure how most people act when they
are in love. Emotional bonds are certainly a part of love, and being abandoned
or betrayed by a loved one is devastating. I think I've seen other characters,
and met people, in love who are more emotionally dependent on their loved ones.
Drawing strength from another is not necessarily a bad thing.
Locke is the one who comes to her rescue at an important pinnacle of her life.
Celes has just been branded a traitor by the one 'family' (used very loosely)
she has known, she has been mocked and abused by men formerly under her command,
she is slated for execution, and that's not to mention the disillusionment she
must experience with the empire and herself. Still, as an indication of Celes'
strength, she remains defiant and disdainful to the soldiers even when held
prisoner. When Locke saves her, Celes initially tries to remain self-dependent.
Being a general at such a young age, and a female one at that, Celes probably
had to rely mostly on herself, and Locke's offer to protect her may reassure her
that she's not alone. He is one of the few to stand up for her, which reinforces
the rightness of her feelings.
Locke is good-natured, chivalric, dedicated, and kind; it's natural that Celes
would fall for him. Not only his understanding of her situation but her
sympathy with his own sorrow- the guilt over the death of Rachel- seem to mesh
together. It's pretty clear that Celes has developed feelings for Locke by
the time they're in Kohlingen, so his later doubt in the Magitek Factory hits
Celes even harder. She retreats from him through avoidance, even though she
later realizes the futility in her actions.
Celes does have a tendency to worry about Locke first. When she first wakes up
on the Solitary Island with Cid, Locke is the one she asks about by name. She
is pained by his apparent death, but she's not completely shattered, so long
as Cid is alive. Even though her friends are gone, she still has him; she takes
his suggestion that they live together in peace and adopts him as her grandfather.
During Cid's illness, Celes takes care of him, brings him food, and encourages
him to get better. If Cid lives, she gains strength and confidence from him.
However, if Cid dies, Celes is crushed. Her depression may suggest that she has
a dependency on other people, at least once she accepts Locke's promise in South
Figaro. On the other hand, it may simply be that Celes is alone on an island
with no other living soul (except for fish and birds), and she believes that all
her friends and grandfather are dead. Given her circumstances, Celes' depression
is understandable. After all, other people on the island did commit suicide or
waste away, and that was when there were other people among them.
Still, Celes' love or dependency, whichever seems to be more appropriate, for Locke
does not make her into a completely male-dependent, weak female. She *was* a
general, after all, something a lot of people seem to forget. Celes is initially
aloof towards characters other than Locke. After her not-so-great reception in
Narsh, she has several conversations with other characters. (One of the coolest
things about Celes is this section. I love her replies!) "Ice Princess" is a
pretty good description of Celes, at least in respect to her retorts to Edgar, Cyan,
and Terra. At first, when she is still fixed in her role as a general, emotions
aren't wanted when dealing with others. She doesn't think highly of infatuation,
she coolly tells Cyan to watch her himself to see what side she's on, she doesn't
understand Terra's desire to want love. The dialogues show the side of Celes that
eventually 'melts' into a warmer, more caring person.
At several key points in the game, Celes demonstrates strength, intelligence, and
her own will. She is almost tactlessly harsh in the Opera House, although she
does see how necessary her cooperation is and agrees to undertake the role of
being Maria. Later, Celes shows a lot of good sense and intelligence when she
bargains with Setzer to gain the airship, despite protests from Locke. On the
Floating Island, she confronts Kefka and the Emperor, two key figures in her
old life, tries to come to grips with her feelings, decides war is hateful, power
worse, and ultimately decides where she wants to be, stabbing Kefka in the
process. Celes' role in the World of Ruin, despite perhaps showing some of her
worst faults, also emphasizes her strength of character, from Cid to traveling
on her own to finding Sabin, meeting with Terra, the encounter with Edgar, then
snapping Setzer into his old self.
As for Locke... Locke has some issues, too, mostly dealing with the guilt of
something that wasn't his fault: Rachel's death. He has a complex for saving
females he identifies with Rachel, or at least when their plights are similar.
He wants to rescue people, probably to a fault, though it helps Terra and
Celes. Edgar, on a serious note, wonders if Locke is still thinking about what
happened to Rachel.
It's not really clear when exactly Locke starts to have feelings for Celes. His
protection complex kicks in after he rescues her, of course, surprised and
rather annoyed that Celes at first refuses his help. When she asks why he helped
her, he almost blows up in angry annoyance. He doesn't seem to be able to
explain the complex at all, at least without getting too personal. It's not until
the fight with TunnelArmr that Celes asks Locke to trust her instead of the other
way around.
Later, Edgar senses that Celes may be having a "thing" for Locke and tries to
warn her off of him.
Anyway, Locke's first major indication that he likes Celes more than a friend is
in the opera house. He sees her in Maria's dress, turns red, and speaks a
bit... silly. He dodges her personal questions, instead commenting that the
ribbon she wears suits her. She takes the compliment lightly.
Locke is NOT thrilled at all when Celes agrees to Setzer's betting terms in the
Blackjack. "Listen to yourself! Celes... you can't become his wife! You just
can't!" No specific reason is given, it's a desperate plea. Mmm, sounds like
Locke's got something going on for Celes...
In the Magitek Factory, Locke is just as hurt by Celes' apparent betrayal as she
is hurt by his lack of belief in her. He doesn't really want to talk about it,
but sometime later, he's come to the understanding that she didn't double-cross
them at all (either through the Emperor's words or his own beliefs). His
attempts to talk with her are met with silence, which makes him somewhat angry
and hurt. He retaliates by ignoring her when she finally wants to talk to him.
After the Espers are found, they apologize to each other, in a sense. They
tune everyone else out, even though everyone else is listening to them.
Relm and Strago make comments, and they become embarrassed when they realize
that their DA was P. (PDA = Public Display of Affection)
In the World of Ruin, Celes is determined to find Locke, especially if you end
the game without him. If you find him, though, Celes waits for him after he
uses the Phoenix on Rachel. Rachel basically tells him to live his life before
she disappears. This reassurance of her love for him and his innocence help
Locke get over her death. When he sees Celes, he can tell her he's all right
because he is. He can finally begin to let go of Rachel.
The last major demonstration of Locke and Celes' relationship is, of course,
at the end of the game. Celes, in a strangely girly manner, drops Locke's
bandanna and rushes to get it as the floor starts to collapse. Not the
smartest thing to do, and a bit overly sentimental for her IMO, but Locke
gets to rescue her and tell her he won't let go of her. He pulls her to
safety and is upset that she risked her life over a "silly trinket." He
then carries her to a safe place as the floor falls in even more, and they
look at each other before running off.
Locke's love for Celes may have some roots in his need to protect people.
On the other hand, Terra wants to be protected, too, and he doesn't fall
in love with her. Celes' loyalty, strength, dedication, and beauty also
probably helped push him towards her, even with the few bumps along the
way.
Celes and Terra have an interesting relationship. Celes obviously knew that
Terra was being controlled, and even given that Terra doesn't remember much
about being an Imperial soldier, at first, they seem like total strangers.
Though opposite in elements, they are similar because they are the same
age (18), they both worked for the Empire, they both join the Returners,
and they both can use magic.
However, they don't really interact much in the game. In Narshe, when Cyan
is yelling at Celes, Terra speaks up and identifies with Celes' position.
When the group goes to protect the frozen Esper, Celes and Terra exchange a
few words, and while Celes identifies their similar abilities to use magic,
they cannot yet connect on an emotional basis. Terra is searching for love,
and Celes doesn't even understand the question. Then Terra turns into an
Esper and flies off, and not much later, Celes leaves the party for a while.
When Celes returns, she and Terra still don't talk much. However, on the
boat heading for Thamasa, Celes tries unsuccessfully to talk to Locke. He
brushes her off and leaves; Celes is obviously hurt. Terra, having watched
the scene, uncertainly starts towards Celes in sympathy, but she turns and
runs off. In the World of Ruin, Celes and Sabin find Terra in Mobliz. Celes
and Terra are obviously glad to see each other, but there isn't much unique
interaction.
As two of the three major female characters in
FFVI (with the third being
much younger than them), they don't really develop a bosom buddy friendship.
That's probably for the better. However, it's strange that Celes seems to
take on a protective and concerned role for Terra. Maybe it's one of the
relationships that's not developed much in the story, or maybe I'm just reading
too much into it. Or maybe it's that Terra's personality causes other people
to naturally feel protective of her. But by the end of the game, it's Celes
who is constantly at Terra's side, after the battle with Kefka and on the ship
as the party escapes. On the Falcon, Celes looks for Terra, gets worried,
finds her, drags her over to the group, and helps her up. As for Terra, she
is the type to be concerned over everyone, and so it is natural for her to
develop sympathies and feelings of friendship for Celes.
It's also worth noting that some people see a "love triangle" deal between
Terra, Locke, and Celes. Initially in the game, it looks like Terra and Locke
may end up together; he vows to protect her, does a dashing little stance,
she blinks in that feminine way. Later, she winks at Edgar and Locke, and the
two guys "swoon." Then Celes appears, and the Terra and Locke thing goes to
heck. Anyway, some people like Terra and Locke together. Personally, I don't,
even though I like Terra. Anyway, Terra has the love of the children at the
end of the game, which is nice and non-cliche. Instead of finding a need for
love in a significant other, she discovers love can be found in other people,
in other ways.
Setzer and Celes don't exactly meet on the right foot. He kidnaps her thinking
she's someone else; she wanted to be kidnapped so she misled him into believing
she was that someone else. When Setzer discovers he's been duped, he's pretty
annoyed; he childishly says that he doesn't want to have anything to do with
Celes and the others. They appeal to his vanity and try to convince him to lend
them his Blackjack. After the group makes their pleas, Setzer abruptly tells
Celes that she's "even more stunning than Maria" (the opera singer Celes
impersonated). He says that if Celes marries him, he'll let the group use the
Blackjack. She uses another trick to wheedle her way out of the proposal, but
he doesn't seem to mind. Instead, he admires her two-handedness.
So I guess you could say Setzer is initially attracted to Celes. Not only is
she physically attractive, but she's also got some personality traits that
Maria apparently lacks. But after their first encounter, Setzer never acts
on that attraction during the game. He and Celes seem to get along well
regardless of his marriage proposal. It's likely that Celes' trick won him
over and relaxed the situation. It also doesn't help any potential
relationship between them that Setzer still has issues over the death of Daryl,
his good female friend (read: probable lover), and Celes only has eyes for
Locke. In the second half of the game, Celes, Sabin, and Edgar find Setzer,
and Celes is the one who snaps him out of his self-pity and depression over
losing the Blackjack.
At the end of the game, if you didn't get Locke (shame on you!), Setzer saves
Celes and tells her she's doing a "Maria" on him. Yeah, Setzer is a good guy.
He and Celes are mostly just good friends in the game. Personally, I would
be weirded out if he got with Maria; there are too many implications of
identity confusion (was it REALLY Maria he wanted, or just someone who looked
like Celes?)
Edgar, the irrepressible playboy, doesn't try to use his charms on Celes,
thankfully. (At least, not until the very end of the game.) Actually,
his first real words to her are to tell her to not fall for Locke since
Locke has a "complicated past." She tartly tells him she's a general,
not some "love starved twit." Edgar aptly replies, "Cold as ice..."
There doesn't seem to be any animosity between them, though. They get
along pretty well. Edgar is probably one of the most understanding of
the group; he *did* pretend to ally with the Empire.
Later, when dealing with Setzer, Celes borrows a coin from Edgar which
Edgar readily provides. (That, of course, gives Edgar away to Sabin.)
In the World of Ruin, Celes sees Gerad and thinks he's Edgar. Edgar/Gerad
tries to dodge the questions, but Celes is annoyingly persistent in getting
him to 'fess up his true identity. She doesn't appreciate the game he's
playing (even though he explains the masquerade later). Celes surprises
Edgar when she identifies 'Gerad's' use of "my lady" with Edgar's gallant
womanizing talk. Edgar tries to suavely recover, though. In the basement
of Figaro, he finally reveals his identity by grinning and saying, "What're
you waiting for, Celes? Give me a hand!!"
Edgar's fairly easygoing personality and weakness for women probably helps
their relationship a lot. He's the type of person it's easy to be friends
with.
Sabin is the first party member Celes finds after she returns to the mainland
in the second half of the game. They are both happy to see each other, and
Sabin, in his usual blunt way, says that they have to find everyone else,
kick Kefka's arse, and bring peace to the world. The two travel first to
Mobliz to see Celes, then later to Nikeah where they see Edgar. Later in
the game, you also need to have both Sabin and Celes in your party when you
meet with Gau's father for a nifty sequence to take place that shows another
side to Sabin and Gau.
Celes is described as looking like Sabin. For some reason, someone in Albrook
during the World of Ruin mistakes Celes for Sabin. Yeah, whatever, like you
could think a thin blond like Celes was a muscled big guy nearly 10 years older
than her. Anyway, another person says that they have the same sparkle in their
eyes, which is a lot more tactful and less stupid than the other person's words.
In any case, Celes and Sabin seem to be somewhat alike, at least in looks and
determination. They also seem to get along pretty well even though their
relationship isn't developed very much. Sabin relates more with Edgar, Cyan,
Gau, and Shadow.
Cyan doesn't like Celes too much at the beginning of the game. If it weren't
for Locke, he'd probably have tried to mow her down with a Sword Tech. Still
brimming with anger, pain, and sorrow at the loss of his family, friends, and
king at the hands of the Empire, having a powerful general of the Empire suddenly
become part of the Returners prompted him to accuse her of treachery. Though
Locke defends Celes and Terra admits to being a former soldier for the Empire,
Cyan draws Celes aside soon afterward and tells her he doesn't trust her. She
responds by telling him to watch for himself and then decide who she's aligned
with.
After that, there's not much interaction, though the initial hostility
apparently fades away. When Kefka confronts Celes in the Magitek Factory,
Cyan says, "See! I told you she couldn't be trusted." Really, nice, Cyan.
Anyway, afterwards, everything seems to be okay between them. Cyan's main
focus in the game is dealing with the loss of his family, something Celes
wasn't involved in, something he probably realizes later even if it's never
explicitly stated.
Cid is the scientist behind researching and studying Espers. He keeps the
kidnapped Espers in capsules in his lab, and he attempts to perfect his method
of harnessing their energy. From his work, he created the augmentation process
that gives people the ability to use magic. Some of his experiments were Celes,
Kefka, and other children. After he sees Celes, Kefka, and the Returners, Cid
realizes that he has been used by the Empire. He joins the Returners and tries
to convince the Emperor to end the war.
Cid tells Locke and company that he raised Celes like she was his own daughter.
However, he knows she has done many bad things, and he wants to apologize to
her for the way her life has turned out.
In the World of Ruin, Celes wakes up after a year long coma. The only other
person on the Solitary Island is Cid, who has been caring for her all this time.
Celes thinks all her friends are dead. Cid offers for them to live together
peacefully on the island. Celes agrees and decides to call Cid "Grandfather."
Cid, however, has become sick, so it is Celes' turn to care for him. Celes
takes care of Cid, feeding him fish. He either dies or survives depending on
how well you feed him. In either case, Cid provides for Celes after he gets
better or dies. He has hidden away a raft he apparently constructed during
her coma; he gives it to Celes so that she may find her friends.
Cid is a good paternal figure for Celes. He does genuinely care about her, far
beyond the experimenter-experimentee relationship, and she is very fond of him.
He even recognizes that she's in love with Locke. As for Cid's personality,
it's hard to say what exactly caused him to change from weird animal experimenter
(not that Espers are animals, they TALK and THINK like humans after all) to nice
guy who sees the wrong in what he's doing. He never seems like a bad person, but
it is kind of hard to attribute all that he's done to simple scientific fervor.
Celes and Leo don't actually talk very much in
FFVI. They obviously have
worked together, both being two of the three top generals of the Empire, and they
do work together in the game. Although not explicit, it's probably safe to say
that Celes and Leo respect each other. They are similar in their values, both
preferring peace to war, and both despise the acts of the insane Kefka. Leo is
a very strong warrior and a very honorable man. It's obvious that Celes, as well
as her friends, deeply regret the loss of General Leo when he is killed by Kefka.
Leo does not conceal his avid dislike of Kefka's ways, so perhaps Celes does not
either. She turned against him, the Emperor, and the Empire itself when she heard
about the under-handed way the Empire would deal with Doma. It's hard to say what
exactly she feels about him before she betrays the Empire, although I certainly
wouldn't say they were friends at any point in their relationship. After she
leaves the Empire, Celes probably feels disgust for Kefka, just as she feels
disgust for the soldiers who are serving the "cowards" (the Empire). Kefka,
perhaps, represents someone she could become if she desired war and power; they
are both infused with magic, yet they are very different people. Kefka regards
Celes as a tool, someone to use to his own advantages; he could never form any
familiar or caring relationship for anyone.
