So I've been playing BBS on proud mode recently and as I've progressed through Terra's story I've been thinking about his personality. Is Terra a hero who just got victimized, or is he just plain old weak? In my opinion it's a little of both. To me Terra is weak, at least sometimes. His obsession with power leads him to be played by pretty much every villain in the game, including: Maleficent, Hades and of course Xeanhort. If he was really master material, would he be so blind to the treachery of others? And besides, I just don't get why Terra continues to lean on the darkness when he knows that's his main problem. Even at the very end, the darkness is Terra's undoing. I don't understand why in every world Terra visits, he has an epiphany about why he shouldn't rely on the darkness, then he goes and uses it again. He knows the darkness is what hurt all of his friends and yet he uses it to fight Master Xeanhort. It just doesn't make sense to me. Plus the fact that most of the issues in KH1 are his fault. He chose Riku to be the next keyblade wielder, another boy who's obsessed with power and whose heart is susceptible to darkness. If Terra hadn't chosen Riku, there never would've been a body for Xeanhort's heartless to take over.

But I also think that there are some good qualities about Terra. I think it's good that he understands what he's done is wrong at the end and that he tries to make it right again. He's extremely loyal to his friends and that can end up being his undoing. Actually, the first time I think his use of the darkness is justified is when he defends Ven from Master Eraqus. True it's bad that he uses the darkness because it puts him one step closer to the edge, but at least he's using it for a good reason instead of just being manipulated or angry. Deep down, I think Terra is a good guy, but he's foolish and rash. He doesn't really think before he acts and it gets him in trouble.

I want to hear what other people think about him though. Hero or Zero people?

Hero: Individual that is admired for noble or courageous qualities.

Terra is a flawed character, sure. One of his main problems is his constant search for power. The thing is that he has a massive struggle going on within himself. Being aware of the darkness within and then choosing to ignore it causes so many other problems that it's not even funny. Is he a "zero" for his denial? No, that's just being human (well a human trait for a game character). Another way to look at it is that Master Eraques' distrust kind of drove Terra up against a wall (even more than before). Having found this out and also the fact that one of his friends was sent to spy on him just hurt him even more.

Anyway, I getting off course here. What I'm trying to explain is that all the "events" and emotions that Terra goes through doesn't make him a zero. It just makes him a guy with dreams that can be overly trusting and therefore causes him to make bad decisions in the process. Though at the end, I would peg him as a hero.
Why? Terra is willing to fight for his friends despite the darkness. He wants to help them despite the possession. Not only that, he is determined to fight back against Xehanort no matter how impossible it might be. I think that's pretty noble of him, don't you?

Oh, but one last thought. Hero or zero, whatever others see Terra as, at least he's 20x better than Riku :lul:

I get what you're saying and I appreciate the opinion. I wanted to see what other people thought of him because I've been thinking about it for a while now.

When I was playing BBS, the only clue as to what I expect would become of Terra was from BBS teaser trailers, and what I perceived was the potential that Terra would defect to the dark side. I've seen enough movies about would-be heroes with a less-than-pure heart who became enemies of the world to ignore the potential that Terra could follow the same path (e.g. Star Wars, X-men First Class, various FFs). It was pretty clear from the get-go that whatever was going on in Terra's mind and heart, Eraqus thought it was not good; Eraqus' assessment of Terra during the Mark of Mastery exam resonated with my own.

I ended up being completely wrong about Terra. I also ended up admiring his character the most. Being a little more susceptible to the darkness doesn't make him a weak character. On the contrary, he's shown the mark of true strength by being able to continuously battle it, yet still being able to protect important people in his life. It shows that he's strong enough of character to withstand manipulations, and to correct things that went wrong. Terra never knew what Xehanort was up to until the end; he came to work alongside Xehanort because he believed Xehanort's claims about wanting to set the things right. Terra also thought Xehanort would help him come to terms with his inner darkness, which Terra previously had no support for at all. Considering that he was being alienated for his natural powers, I'd say that's a significant turning point to trying to stay on the path of "good". Other than unlocking Aurora's heart, I can't remember much that Terra has done that had a negative resounding impact on the rest of the universe. I would not consider his bestowing powers on Riku as something bad--Terra had no ill intentions at that time, neither did Riku.

It's really hard to go against your nature, and Terra's nature has some darkness in it, unfortunately. It's like growing up in a bad neighbourhood--you're dealt with a bad hand in life, but what you do in spite of it is what matters the most. In his actions and words, Terra has demonstrated that he is a hero. However, we can distinguish him with the sort of hero that Sora and Aqua are: Terra is a traditional Shakespearan tragic hero, which you define as a hero with a fatal flaw. They don't always start out doing the things you'd expect a hero to do, but they come through in the end.

He could be a hero he just fell into darkness and choose the wrong past. Even Master Xehanort said he wasn't fully evil. His hatred wasn't strong enough. Zero only because he wanted power instead of working for it. Aqua is the real hero.

risingfalls wrote:He could be a hero he just fell into darkness and choose the wrong past. Even Master Xehanort said he wasn't fully evil. His hatred wasn't strong enough. Zero only because he wanted power instead of working for it. Aqua is the real hero.

This. Terra fell to darkness because he felt he was powerless to Master Xehanort and he only wanted to prove to his master that he was the real keyblade master.

Carey wrote:

risingfalls wrote:He could be a hero he just fell into darkness and choose the wrong past. Even Master Xehanort said he wasn't fully evil. His hatred wasn't strong enough. Zero only because he wanted power instead of working for it. Aqua is the real hero.

This. Terra fell to darkness because he felt he was powerless to Master Xehanort and he only wanted to prove to his master that he was the real keyblade master.

I agree with this. Terra could be a hero for many reasons. He tried to save his friend Ventus from Darkness, and he taught him to love friends no matter what. Even when Terra was doing the opposite, he still was a leader but master xehanort caught him and he del to used the power of darkness.