Two years ago, Dissidia: Final Fantasy was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ongoing series. Fans were treated to a truly unique fighting game that was both complex and visually interesting. Some fights looked as if they had been pulled directly from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children even though it was all gameplay. But by far, the best part of the game for fans was seeing all the main heroes and villains, along with two secret characters, interacting with one another. It led to scenarios that no one thought they'd ever see outside of fan fiction.

With the announcement of Dissidia 012 [Duodecim]: Final Fantasy, Square Enix promises to bring back everything that made the first game great along with new enhancements and new characters. Kain from Final Fantasy IV, Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, Vaan from Final Fantasy XII, and most recently Laguna Loire from Final Fantasy VIII have already been announced with the promise of more being unveiled as the game nears its release in Japan early next year. With that in mind, I thought it'd be interesting to look over all of the characters to ever appear in a Final Fantasy and choose the 46 that have the best shot at being a part of the sequel. Every weekday in December will highlight two potential fighters and give details on their history, their place in Duodecim's story (which is actually a prequel to the original), and their fighting potential.

Welcome to Dissidia December.

Cid Raines (Final Fantasy XIII)

Cid Raines is villain who doesn't want to be a villain. He seems to be the first person to want to help the l'Cie and shows no fear of them. This is because he is well aware of the Sanctum's lies and he seeks to overthrow them so he can hand control back over to the people. Before he can do this however, he himself is turned into a l'Cie. Cid confronts the party later on and reveals to them that the fal'Cie wish to destroy Cocoon in order to bring back the Maker, who would then reconstruct the world. He also tells them that the fal'Cie have been guiding their actions to ensure that they will complete their task. Once he was turned into a l'Cie, his mission became guiding Lightning and her friends along that path. However, in an attempt to save Cocoon, he tries to kill the other l'Cie believing it would also set them free. Though he is defeated, he begs the others to choose their own fate rather than follow the fal'Cie. Cid did not die then though. He was eventually taken away by Galenth Dysley to become the new Primarch. Cid once again shows his free will and begs his former subordinates to end his life so he could be free of the fal'Cie. They relent and grant him his wish. For Duodecim, Cid Raines would once again be bound by a controlling force that makes him fight the warriors of Cosmos, namely Chaos and Galenth Dysley. His story would tell of his quest for freedom.

In battle, Cid Raines would immediately transform into his l'Cie/Cie'th hybrid form. This grants him immense physical and magical strength but he is slow and relatively weak in defense. Many of his normal attacks would consist of punches and kicks that will always send his opponent flying back. He also has a wide mix of offensive and defensive spells that range from giving non-elemental damage to causing status effects to his enemy. Cid's major weakness is that his slow speed and low defense make it easy to rack up damage on him. His EX Mode would be Metamorphose which creates angel wings on his back that will greatly increase his speed. His EX Burst would be the Seraphic Ray which causes a burst of light to emit from his wings. It's not the strongest EX Burst but if the opponent survives, any stat bonuses they have will be gone and Cid will have every stat bonus available to him. Players willing to look past Cid Raines slow speed and low defense would have a unique fighter in Cid Raines.

Galenth Dysley (Final Fantasy XIII)

Galenth Dysley is the leader of the Sanctum which governs Cocoon and, as such, wields tremendous power. On the surface he seems to have the best interest of mankind at heart even though he does little to calm the panic that arises in the people around l'Cie. In reality Dysley is the fal'Cie Barthandelus and is behind many of the occurrences in Final Fantasy XIII. He is the one that brought Fang and Vanille to Cocoon after they crystallized on Gran Pulse and the one pulling the strings so that the l'Cie will destroy Cocoon. Every step of the way, he aids the l'Cie so that they will grow stronger and eventually do what he desires. In the end, he is overwhelmed by the l'Cie and is consumed by the ultimate fal'Cie, Orphan. While much of Final Fantasy XIII lacks a true villain, Dysley is the closest the game comes being both a puppetmaster and a cold-blooded killer. In Duodecim, Dysley would play much the same role and try to control what the warriors of Cosmos will do in order to fuel his grand plans.

As a fighter, Dysley would be completely unique. He would have both the highest attack and defense in the game but be nearly immobile. Dysley would be completely unable to run up the sides of walls, dash through the air, or even run. However, he makes up for this with his raw power. Hidden from view until an attack is in motion is his form as Barthandelus. The sheer size of it is what keeps him from being mobile. This does not mean he would be helpless to long range attacks though. He can use the Reflect spell if cast at the right time. His magic also has a longer range than any other character in the game, able to go from one side of the battleground to the other. He would be completely unable to combo a character, but it wouldn't be a major problem. Each of his attacks is able to do a massive amount of damage. His EX Mode would reveal his fal'Cie form and further increase his strength and defense while his EX Burst would be Thanotosian Laughter which casts a gravity bomb at his opponent to cause damage from every direction. His immobility would cause many players to overlook him but those looking for sheer power would do well to at least try him out. 

These are only my choices. What do you think? Would Cid Raines and Galenth Dysley make great characters in Dissidia 012 [Duodecim]? Who would you like to see in the sequel? Let us know in the comments!