暗黒騎士 (ankoku kishi) in kanji.

Pronounced with a short 'e' and soft 'c's. Pretend it's spelled more like "Sessil" if that helps. And they got this right in the DS remake. Huh.

He's a mediocre fighter and nothing else, and his stats reflect that. His HP in particualr is poor for someone who isn't a mage, and while he has some good potential for other physical stats at high levels, you'll never realistically see them. The Darkness command and Deathbringer sword are really the only things that make Dark Knight Cecil in any way interesting.

竜騎士 (ryuu kishi) in kanji. A Wyrmknight (adapted from the plain literal translation "dragon knight") has nothing whatsoever to do with dragoons except that dragoons happen to be named after a firearm with a French name meaning "dragon". Going by Wikipedia, a dragoon originally referred to a soldier intended to deploy by horse and fight on foot, but the modern usage refers to mounted regiments, usually ceremonial rather than functional in nature.

Though the Japanese indicates a hard 'c' sound and English long 'i', perhaps as if spelled "Kyne", there are numerous indications (including a Lance of Abel in some remakes) that the name is intended as a reference to the Cain of the Book of Genesis. As such, it ought to be pronounced like "cane" (hard 'c' and English long 'a') in English, per the standard pronunciation of the name.

Solid growth, with decent intelligence and remarkably high spirit for someone who doesn't have the least bit of magic. While they don't do him any good on offense or for healing, they're still good for a solid edge in magic defense compared to characters like Yang and Cid, and the spirit also cuts down the duration of certain status effects.

The game data includes an unused and empty White Magic list that, based on its position, should belong to Cain. He also has an unused chanting animation, and furthermore, an early screenshot outright shows him with a White Magic command. While he never got any spells in an official release until the After Years, I think it's safe to say that the idea of it played a large part in giving him a spirit stat nearly as high as Paladin Cecil's.

召喚士 (shoukanshi) in kanji. The game has two Summoner classes internally, one for child Rydia and one for adult Rydia. This is the child version.

"Lydia" may have been the intended spelling, after an ancient kingdom in modern-day Turkey, but "Rydia" works remarkably well as a name.

Rydia's good growth potential beyond level 70 makes it possible for her to max out four of her five stats, something few characters can manage. Stamina lags somewhat, but she'll usually be in the back row anyway, attacking with whips or spells so the range penalty doesn't affect her.

賢者 (kenja) in kanji. Functionally similar to the recurring Red Mage (not found in this game), except for the complete lack of any physical prowess.

The original spelling has no 'h'. Possibly it was added to make the name look less feminine.

Casts a randomly-selected spell against all enemies, consuming the normal MP cost. The spell will fail if, at the time he attempts to cast it, Tella has Silence status or lacks sufficient MP. He also has a one in five chance of failing to remember any spell at all.

Tella cannot use the Remember command when under Toad, Pig, or Silence status.

According to Deathlike2's Algorithm FAQ, the odds are as follows: Break 5%, Bio 5%, Tornado 5%, Death 5%, Fire 15%, Blizzard 15%, Thunder 15%, Toad 15%, and a 20% chance to fail outright. The outcome functions like casting the spell normally, except for targeting (but enemies don't react to it as magic).

Note that even when Tornado or Death is selected, this still targets all enemies, normally impossible for these spells! This is also the only way for Tella to cast Death, since he never actually learns it... which makes you wonder how he manages to cast it here at all, let alone defy the normal targeting rules.

The event that gives Tella the majority of his final spell list also permanently removes this command.

This command is removed entirely in the English and EasyType versions.

The DS remake reportedly changes the spell list to Bubble 3%, Faith 3%, Bravery 3%, Figa 4%, Blizzaga 4%, Thundaga 4%, Fira 6%, Blizzara 6%, Thundara 6%, Fire 10%, Blizzard 10%, Thunder 10%, and Toad 31%. Bubble, Faith, and Bravery are new spells and otherwise only available through Pair Cast. Presumably because of these special spells that can't be learned normally, he keeps this command even after the event in the DS remake.

There are some lines in the combat messages that seem related to this command, but they appear to go unused.

In case it wasn't obvious, Tella's stat growth is simply awful. He seems fairly strong only because he starts out quite a few levels ahead of the other characters, then learns most spells long before anyone else. Despite that, he still gets less impressive the longer you have him. It's even possible for all his stats to drop to 1 by level 99!

In the DS remake, there are a few ways to legitimately increase Tella's MP over 90. Aside from raising him past level 70 with an ability set that causes MP growth, it's also possible to give him Soma Drops or an MP +50% augment carried across playthroughs. None of these are likely to happen if not done deliberately. More importantly, though, he's given much better stats, so his spells have more oomph behind them than merely being available sooner than usual.

王族 (ouzoku) in kanji. While he may act as a minstrel in combat, he's still a prince, not just a spoony bard.

Various Japanese source materials support both "Gilbert" and "Gilbart" as spellings, and I've chosen the one that looks less unnatural to me. I'll admit that "Gilbert" isn't the most common name, but then, he's not a commoner. How did that turn into "Edward"?

There's more, though. The novel Anne of Green Gables includes, besides the title character Anne Shirley, a rival and later friend by the name of Gilbert Blythe. The Anna of FF4, who is Gilbert's lover, is the only significant character in the game that I can recall having red hair, which is a distinctive trait of Anne Shirley—the novel is even called 「赤毛のアン」, literally "Anne the Redhead", in Japan. It seems likely that there's a connection, even if her name isn't quite the same.

Sings a song. Requires a 2-handed weapon equipped (i.e., a harp). Each result (other than failure) mimics a normal spell.

Normally, this has a 25% chance each of ちんもくのうた (Silence Song = Silence), ゆうわくのうた (Alluring Song = Confuse), こもりうた (Lullaby = Sleepel), or doing nothing at all. When the user is under Toad status, it will instead always result in かえるのうた (Toad Song = Toad). Success rate is calculated as for the spells.

When the song that does nothing is selected, the following message displays:

Another line in the combat messages looks like it was meant for trying to Sing when under Silence status. However, the command is unselectable in this situation, and no special message appears if the status is applied after entering the command but before it executes.

Uses one Potion to heal each party member 12~19 HP. Fails with no Potions available. And no, substituting a stronger type of potion is not an option.

There seems to be an off-by-one error in the coding of this command. If you have exactly one Potion, the command fails, but the Potion is consumed anyway. Apparently, the game consumes the Potion first, and only after that checks whether you have any for the effect to work.

Stranger still, the empty slot left by removing this command can cause another peculiar bug in the English version (and likely also in the EasyType). Use Hide and then Show, and the blank slot will be selectable as a command, but since it isn't actually one, inputting it leaves him stuck doing nothing until combat ends.

When the command fails, the following message appears:

Though he lacks useful abilities, Gilbert at least crushes Tella when it comes to stats. Exceptionally high growth potential after level 70 gives him the highest possible totals of any character, even maxing out up to four of his five stats, though you'd need to sacrifice two agility for that extra one stamina.

白魔道士 (shiro madoushi) in kanji. The game has two different White Mage classes (with identical equipment sets), and uses this one exclusively for Rosa.

50-50 chance of either casting Cure on all allies at no MP cost or doing nothing. This can be Reflected, and the spell fails when under Silence status.

Note that Rosa can still use Prayer when under Silence status, it just won't do anything except waste her turn unless she's cured before taking action.

The following message appears when the command decides to do nothing:

Unfortunately, Rosa lacks any really good level-up possibilities past level 70, so that limits her potential. On the other hand, even her bad ones aren't very bad, so at least she gets a solid average. Even at the very worst, she'll never lose any agility or spirit, probably her two most important stats.

モンク僧 (MONKU sou) with kanji. The class, of course, references the fighter-monk skilled in martial arts, not the cloistered scholarly type.

Builds up energy to strike one enemy after a delay for bonus damage.

Acts as a normal attack with doubled attack power, and also adds (level / 4) to hit rate. The charge completes more quickly with higher agility. While charging, physical and magical defense are halved. Charge is comparable to Jump except that the user is vulnerable while preparing to strike. However, it can get critical hits, which Jump cannot. Yang cannot use Charge when under Toad, Minikin, Pig, or Poison status.

When Yang begins charging up, the following message displays:

Casts Protect on the user at no MP cost (+5 defense until end of combat). This can miss or be Reflected, and will fail under Silence status.

When Yang uses Endure, the following message displays, even when the skill has no effect:

In an apparent oversight, Yang simply stops gaining HP after level 60. If it kept increasing, he would invariably reach 9999 maximum HP before level 90, even using pessimistic estimates. His strength and stamina excel even before level 70, averaging more than a full point of gain per level, and tend to keep soaring after it as well.

黒魔道士 (kuro madoushi) in kanji.

This doesn't translate cleanly. ふたり (futari, 二人 in kanji) means two people, so that much is simple enough. がけ (gake), though, comes from the verb かける (kakeru), which has such a wide range of meanings that it's hardly any help at all. With no context, ふたりがけ might be an adjective for something that seats two people, but that makes no sense here. However, one possible sense of かける is to cast a spell, as in the phrase 魔法をかける, and that seems to fit perfectly.

Synchronizes with Porom to cast Minimeteor (64/256 chance) or Miniflare (191/256 chance) against all enemies. Slight (1/256) chance to fail.

Miniflare is 50% stronger and costs 10 MP, while Minimeteor (20 MP) inflicts full damage against multiple targets and also ignores Reflect. Casting takes less time the more agility the twins have {in total?}. Effectiveness depends on the intelligence score of whichever twin is closer to the first character slot (the one that appears first on saved games—from top to bottom on the menu and battle screen, the slots are numbered 2, 4, 1, 5, 3), so always put Palom ahead of Porom.

If either twin is rendered unable to cast while the joint spell is charging, the spell fails.

There's a line in the combat messages that seems intended for this, but it appears to go unused.

Although つよがる is gramatically a verb, "bravado" fits the meaning too well to pass up.

Adds 16 to the user's effective intelligence for the remainder of the battle, repeatable up to 99 total intelligence. Great against bosses.

Palom cannot use Bravado when under Toad, Minikin, or Pig status.

When used, the following message displays:

Note that Palom gains a point in intelligence each and every level from 10 all the way to 70. Such consistent growth is quite rare. Beyond level 70, his intelligence still tends to shoot up, and even in the worst case, his agility and intelligence can never drop.

白魔道士 (shiro madoushi) in kanji. The game has two different White Mage classes (with identical equipment sets), and uses this one exclusively for Porom.

Lowers a certain enemy stat that was long believed to affect the difficulty of running away (largely because that's what the game manual says the command does!). However, more recent research indicates that it's actually related to how difficult enemies are to steal from (especially strange since you never have both commands available at the same time), and doesn't seem to have anything to do with running away at all. Shingo Endo, creator of the ff_analyzer program, agrees. It also has some influence over how often Poison status inflicts damage and affects the timers for Sleep, Paralysis, and Gradual Petrification, apparently? Weird. Anyway, thanks to S34n 4e for calling my attention to this!

The base value of the affected stat for enemies is monster level + 10, so presumably the idea was to lower the enemy's effective level, possibly with the intent of making it easier to run away. However, level only rarely has any direct impact on anything in this game, unlike FFV and FFVI, so it's only Steal success and a few oddball status-related timers that are affected. Incidentally, the reduction is half the user's value for the same stat, which for player characters is their initial level, so Porom using Feigned Tears lowers this stat for all enemies by 10/2=5. Also, this reduction is stackable to a minimum value of 1, for what it's worth.

Porom cannot use Feigned Tears when under Toad, Minikin, or Pig status.

When used, the following message displays:

Note that Porom gains a point in spirit each and every level from 10 all the way to 70, much as Palom does in intelligence. Also mirroring Palom, her spirit still tends to shoot up beyond 70, and even in the worst case, her agility and spirit can never drop.

The Dark Knight's opposite, a warrior of the light.

Sluggish growth in Paladin Cecil's early levels may be an intentional effort to offset how quickly he gains these levels. Other than a roughly equal agility, Paladin Cecil's stats easily exceed Dark Knight Cecil's, especially HP and spirit. High level 70 stats plus decent growth potential beyond 70 let him max out every stat but intelligence, which is the least useful one for him anyway.

On the other hand, boosting Cecil's agility isn't necessarily the best thing. Speedrunners have found that the battle timing uses Cecil's agility as a basis (or the agility of the character closest to the lead slot if Cecil isn't in the party), so the higher it is, the more quickly things happen—enemy actions in particular.

Actually, I seem to have misread whatever my source for that was—experimentation suggests that the faster Cecil is, the slower combat moves. Effectively, the game appears to treat his agility as a baseline, so that his turn takes the same amount of time to come up regardless, and then scales everything else relative to that. In other words, doubling his speed doesn't halve the time between his turns, but instead doubles the time between everyone else's turns. Although that's probably worse from a speedrunning perspective, it shouldn't be a problem for anyone less concerned about minimizing total play time.

技師 (gishi) in kanji.

Thanks to Yang's HP growth oddity, Cid is the only character who can reach 9999 HP without help from items that boost max HP. Other than that, he's an unremarkable fighter type statwise.

召喚士 (shoukanshi) in kanji. The game has two Summoner classes, one for child Rydia and one for adult Rydia. This is the adult version. The practical differences are that the adult version lacks the White Magic command and can't use White Mage equipment, but can use the Power Wrist and Giant's Bracer.

Identical to child Rydia. She even inherits all experience and optional Summon Magic.

忍者 (ninja) in kanji.

Another curious translation. This word is about as unambiguous as they come. My best guess is that someone was thinking of the idiom 目を盗む (me wo nusumu), which refers to doing something stealthily in an effort to avoid notice, and literally means to steal someone's eyes.

Attempts to steal from an enemy. The item stolen is always the most common drop. Multiple steals are possible. The success message is straightforward:

...or maybe the English version was just intent on avoiding any form of the word "steal", perhaps wary of NoA's draconian content policies.

Failure may result in taking some damage, with the following message:

On the other hand, that message does seem to imply there is some sneaking going on.

I could have sworn there was a different English version message for this, something about finding a monster? On second thought, that might have been from a fan translation. Confusing みつかる (to be found) with みつける (to find) and misreading or ignoring the particles certainly has that sort of feel to it.

Simple failure gives this message instead:

Edge is the only character other than Dark Knight Cecil who has any attributes locked after level 70. It's even the same attribute. Overall, he fits the general ninja archetype, with high speed, good but unexceptional strength, mediocre durability, and enough intelligence to power his skills.

月の民 (tsuki no tami) in kanji, literally "person of the moon".

Such an odd name. I've attempted a phonetic approximation. As far as I can tell, it has no particular meaning. Speculation on the Final Fantasy Wiki suggests it may be meant to sound Chinese, possibly 福寿阿 (good fortune + long life + a generic character found in some names). His name is reportedly 福索亞 in the Chinese translation, though, so who knows?

Periodically heals each party member 10 HP. Fusuya can take no other action while the effect continues. Lasts longer with lower agility.

Could that have been intended to be 10 percent of max HP? Or maybe even 10 MP? As it is, this does so little that it barely would have helped even at the beginning of the game, let alone when he actually joins the party. In any case, Fusuya can't use Spirit Wave when under Toad, Minikin, or Pig status.

The following message appears when Fusuya uses Spirit Wave:

Like Tella, Fusuya has terrible stat growth. In fact, the only one of his attributes that increases, or even changes, at all before level 70 is max HP, and that not by much. Beyond 70, his stat growth is just as lazy as Tella's, though at least his stats can't all drop to 1 even in the worst possible case.

The class name takes data from the command list and was never meant to be displayed like this. The menu portrait looks like a Minikin in all black pixels.

He never joins the party, but he has some combat sprites. And hacking him into the party and putting him in the lead showed the Toad map sprite...

Dark Knight Cecil's class name and menu portrait. Clearly never meant to be seen.

The only noncombatant with a combat sprite. And hacking her into the party and putting her in the lead showed the Pig map sprite...