Celes' Story
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the entire game.

Celes is a very central character to Final Fantasy VI. Unlike most games in the FF series, Final Fantasy VI doesn't really have a main character. If you had to choose one, Terra would probably be your selection (which would also make her the only main female character in a FF game). However, Celes is generally considered to be one of the other main characters. One "proof" of this is that Terra starts you off in the World of Balance while Celes starts you off in the World of Ruin. Anyway, this section is a summary of Celes' role in the game.

When Celes was a child, she was biogenetically engineered ("augmented" or "infused") to use magic. This ability came at the cost of an Esper's life. All the generals of the Empire, except for General Leo (who chose not to), were infused with magic. Kekfa Palazzio was the first one to be infused, but since the process was not yet stable at the time, it destroyed his mind.

Celes has no known parents or family. However, Cid, the scientist who created the augmentation process, says he raised Celes like she was his own daughter. Later in the game, he acts as a grandfather figure to Celes. Raised as a soldier for the Empire, Celes eventually rose the ranks to became a powerful warrior, one of the Empire's highest generals. Although a soldier, Celes hates war and wishes for peace.

Celes later betrays the Empire after she discovers it plans on poisoning Doma Castle. We never learn exactly what she does after learning this information, but she does something that brands her as a traitor, and she is locked in a secret underground jail cell in South Figaro.

During Locke's Scenario, Locke enters South Figaro while on a mission to divert the Empire's armies from reaching the Returners' hideout. He discovers the underground passage underneath the town, and through the bars of the cell door, he sees Celes chained to the wall inside. Celes is being beaten up by a guard, and Locke recognizes her as one of the Empire's generals.

After the guard on duty falls asleep, Locke sneaks in and releases Celes from her chains. Surprised at his arrival, she learns that he is working for the Returners. Celes says, "Returners!!! I used to be General Celes... Now I'm just a common traitor..." Locke tells her to come with him. Surprsied, Celes at first refuses because she is so weak, but he promises to protect her. After his persistant reassurance, Celes then agrees to accompany him. The two make their way through the underground passages.

Just before Locke and Celes exit South Figaro, Celes asks Locke why he is helping her. He says that she reminds him of someone (Terra, Rachel, or Locke's friend who was jailed, this isn't very clear due to narky translations), then irritably says he just wants to. The two make their way back to Narshe, going through the cave, fighting TunnelArmor along the way. It is during the battle with TunnelArmor that Celes first uses her "Runic" skill.

When they finally reach Narshe, Locke enters the Elder's house with Celes behind him. The other characters (Edgar, Terra, Banon, Sabin, Cyan, Gau, and Arvis) are already there. Locke informs the group that the Empire is about to attack Narshe, and Celes is his source. Cyan, the retainer to Doma (and nearly everyone at Doma was killed by the Empire), is outraged at her presence. Locke, however, intervenes and says Celes has joined the Returners. The stand-off is interrupted by the announcement that the Empire has come.

Celes joins the Returners in protecting Banon and the frozen Esper from the Empire. As the entire group marches up to where the frozen Esper is, Celes has some interesting conversations with several party members. Edgar warns Celes not to think that Locke has fallen for her since Locke has "a complicated past." Celes replies that she is a soldier, "not some love-starved twit," to which Edgar murmurs, "Cold as ice..." In the second dialogue, Celes stops Terra and says, "So, you were born with the power of magic!? Isn't it a lovely gift..." Terra, surprised, says, "You...can use magic, too?" Celes explains how she was infused at birth with magic to become a Magitek Knight. Terra asks Celes about love, but Celes is confused: "?? What's that supposed to mean?" In the third conversation, Cyan tells Celes he doesn't trust her, but she tells him to watch her first, then decide for himself which side she is on.

Celes fights with the Returners against Kefka and his soldiers. Once Kefka is defeated, the group then examines the frozen Esper. Terra has her little weird-out with the Esper and transforms into a creature before flying away. Celes is by Locke's side when he wakes up after falling unconscious. She tells him Terra turned into a "something" that looked like an Esper.

Afterwards, Celes, Locke, and two others try to find her. (Actually you can choose the parties, but it's better if you have Celes, Locke, Edgar, and Sabin.) This eventually takes the group to Kohlingen, the small village that Locke grew up in. There Celes learns about Locke's past and his love, Rachel. Celes demonstrates that she is beginning to fall in love with Locke, despite her earlier brush-offs to Edgar. It's also interesting to note that in Rachel's house, as everyone "rejoins" into one person into Locke, Celes is the last one to join in. It might just be a coincidence, but I haven't tested this out with other party member combinations. When the party goes to see Rachel's body, after Locke has more flashbacks about Rachel, the party leaves, but Celes comes back to look at Rachel's still form. She hangs her head and says, "Locke..."

Celes and the other characters eventually find Terra, still in her Esper form, in Zozo. They meet Ramuh, an Esper, who gives them his power in the form of Magicite, which he says is how an Esper's power is truly given over to humans. Sabin asks Celes if Ramuh told the truth about the Espers and how the Empire is trying to drain their energy. Celes admits she was augmented as a child, but she says she doesn't remember anything because she was asleep at the time. She has, however, heard rumors to that effect. The group agrees to split up into two parties: one to head to Vector in order to free the other Espers still in captivity by the Empire, the other to help out Narshe. Celes volunteers to go to Vector since she knows the Empire, and Locke says he'll go with her. Celes is surprised, but when she asks why he's helping her, he says, "Well... There's bound to be treasures there. And besides,I've always wanted an inside look at the Empire!"

One of Celes' major roles soon after that is to pose as Maria, the opera singer, in order to trick Setzer into giving them access to his airship, the Blackjack, so they can reach Vector. The opera scene is one of the coolest (my personal favorite) scenes in the entire game, as well as the most romantic (though I guess one of Celes' later scenes is also quite good). As well, this scene contains some of my favorite music in the entire game. I actually have saved at this point several times so I can replay it later. This is also the first time that it becomes very apparent that Locke has developed feelings for Celes. (Though... if you mess up during the opera scene, he seems kind of ticked off. So don't mess up.)

In the duel scene of the opera, Ultros tries to throw a weight onto the stage (probably to crush a person or two) from the rafters. Locke and the two other party members go to stop him, but they all fall to the stage below. Locke tries to improvise the story, and the Maestro decides to go with it. The three then battle Ultros. It's then that Setzer shows up (yay, Setzer!) He seizes Celes and goes off to his ship.

Inside the Blackjack, Celes is locked up in a room by Setzer. This also happens to be a convenient location where Locke and the other two can somehow climb up into the ship @.o;; Anyway, Setzer quickly returns, realizes Celes isn't Maria, and has a hissy fit. Celes asks if they can use the Blackjack, and the others try to make tempting offers to him. Setzer agrees to listen to their story, and after some more arguments from the others, Setzer tells Celes that she's even "more stunning than Maria." If Celes agrees to be his wife, he'll let them use the Blackjack. Locke is kind of pissed off by the entire deal, but Celes says they'll have a coin flip. Borrowing a coin from Edgar , if it's Heads, she wins, and Setzer has to let them use his ship. If it's Tails, Celes will be Setzer's wife. Setzer, the ultimate gambler, can't refuse, so Celes flips the coin. After a tense moment, it's.... Heads, of course. Setzer examines the coin and sees that it's a coin with Heads on both sides. (If Sabin is in your party, you get a sudden realization from him) So Setzer agrees to take the group to Vector.

After Celes, Locke, and the others invade the Magitek Factory in Vector, they enter Professor Cid's laboratory where the Espers are kept. The Espers all agree to give their power to the Returners, and they turn into Magicite. Cid sees Celes and says, "Can it be true that you came here as a spy, seeking to case an uprising?!" Before Celes can explain, Kefka arrives and congratulates Celes on tricking the Returners. Celes tells him to have faith in her, but Locke doesn't seem to know what to believe. In order to prove her trustworthiness, she takes Kefka and his henchmen away, leaving her friends behind. Celes tells Locke, "For once, let me protect you." The rest of the party escapes with Cid's help.

After the Espers attack Vector and the dinner banquet with the Emperor, Terra and Locke agree to help the Empire track down the Espers on Crescent Island and tell them the Empire has had a change of heart. The Returners are dubious about the whole matter, but Terra and Locke go. In Albrook, General Leo of the Empire introduces Terra and Locke to the other party members- Shadow and Celes. Celes sees Locke and Terra, but when Locke repeatedly tries to talk to her, she runs off, still obviously hurting from his lack of faith in her even though he tries apologizing.

Once the group arrives near Thamasa, Celes finally wants to talk to Locke, but he coolly ignores her. However, after Locke and Terra manage to convince the Espers that the Empire wants peace, Celes and Locke make up and have a rather embarrassing moment (embarrassing because everyone's watching them make up). Unfortunately, Kefka arrives and basically announces to everyone that the Empire was lying all the time. He gathers up all the Espers' power, kills General Leo, and then he and Emperor Gestahl go into the Esper world to find the Goddess Statues. They cause the entire land mass to rise into the air.

Once the party reaches the Goddess statues on the Floating Continent, Celes (whether she is initially in your party or not) confronts Kefka and Gestahl. She is given the opportunity to right her past "wrongs" and rejoin the Empire, if only she kills her friends with the sword Kefka gives her. She struggles for a moment, then turns and runs the sword through Kefka, putting to rest the issue of where her loyalties lie. After the escape from the Floating Continent, Kefka and Shadow's setting off of the Goddess Statues causes a world-wide catastrophe, and Celes is separated from the rest of her friends.

After Kefka comes to power and creates the World of Ruin (or destroys the world to the point where it becomes the World of Ruin, whichever), Celes is the main character after waking up after a year of sleep. She then must take care of her "Grandfather" Cid, the scientist who gave her the power to use magic, and herein lies two paths: she either saves Cid by feeding him yummy fish (the fast moving type) or else Cid dies because she fails to feed him or gives him bad fish (the slow-moving fish) or normal fish. Cid dying creates a much more tragic outcome (which is cool), but the good side of you wants him to live.. so it's either let him live by being the good Samaritan or let him die and see a cool scene.

If Cid lives, he tells Celes about the raft he made and says to her that her friends must be alive and she should find them. She then leaves him, waving and hopping aboard the raft and floating away to the mainland. It kind of sucks, but at least Cid's okay. If Cid dies, Celes becomes suicidal- believing all her loved ones to be dead (Cid, Locke, everyone else), she throws herself off the cliff that others who died before used to relieve boredom and pain. It's a really cool scene.. so I recommend seeing it at least once... Fortunately for her, a sea gull nurses her back to health. Celes demands to know why it saved her, but then she sees that it is carrying a bandana like Locke's. She then knows that he's alive, returns to Cid's home, and reads the letter he wrote before his death telling her about the raft. She then sets off to the mainland.

After landing, most activities in the World of Ruin are not mandatory. You only have to get Edgar, then Setzer, and then you can go automatically fight Kefka if you wish. Following the story development "necessities," Celes enters the town of Albrook. As soon as she enters, an explosion rocks the town. She and the townspeople see a woman frantically running around her house, which is on the verge of collapse. Her child is still inside. Celes sees that Sabin is there, and he tells her to go save the child while he supports the house. After she rescues the boy, Celes talks to Sabin. She is relieved that he is safe, and they agree that they have to find all their friends, who they know are alive, and then defeat Kefka. Sabin joins Celes' party.

Celes and Sabin can discover Terra in Mobliz. They can't, however, convince Terra to join their group since she has lost the will to fight. They must leave without her and reach Nikeah. There they find a man who looks suspiciously like Edgar, only his clothes are darker. He calls himself "Gerard" and is apparently the new leader of a group of thieves who want to rob Figaro Castle. He hops aboard a boat after brushing Celes and Sabin off; the two follow him into Figaro Castle, where they finally confront him, and he reveals his identity. They fight off the monsters, then use the underground mode on Figaro Castle.

The last mandatory event before Kefka is to find Setzer in Kohlingen. He is moping over the loss of his precious Blackjack, but the others snap some sense into him. He takes the others to Daryl's tomb where they find the Falcon, the airship of Setzer's dead friend (probably lover), Daryl.

After they get the airship, you can then go fight Kefka. However, you probably want to go find the rest of your party members. For all it's worth, when you find Locke, after his sequence with the Phoenix Esper and Rachel, Celes is the one waiting for him. He tells her not to worry about him. Also, if you have Gau, Sabin, Celes, and... someone else in your party, I forget who, you can visit the crazy loon, Gau's father, and have a short sequence that sums of Gau nicely.

In the ending sequence, if you fight with Locke at Kefka's Tower, he will be with Celes in her ending sequence. If you don't use him, Setzer will be with Celes. Use Locke, it's a nice and romantic scene. Locke comes to Celes' rescue again after she nearly falls to her death trying to save Locke's bandana (from the bird on the beach). I haven't not used Locke so I don't know what the sequence with Setzer looks like, but Setzer apparently saves Celes and teases her about pulling a Maria on him. Celes then vows to find Locke.

After everyone escapes to the Falcon, the ship takes off. It's a pretty rough ride, and after everyone comes to, Celes looks around for Terra. She sees Terra lying on the ship towards the front and brings her near everyone else. Terra wakes up and thanks Setzer for saving her. The end of the game basically has the ship passing over the towns, and everyone looks down at their own home city. Celes and Locke stand next to each other and look at Kohlingen.

It's never explicitly stated that Locke and Celes end up together, but they probably do. After the battle, what happens to them? Who knows? (Hopefully it won't be ANYTHING like most fanfics!)