I only played FFs 7, 8, 9, 10, 10-2, and 13, so if you would like to fill in the missing games, feel free. Every Final Fantasy uses the same character archetypes over and over again:

Emo person who constantly whines about his/her inabilities and inadequacies:

7 - Cloud (blah blah blah, I can't save anyone)
8 - Squall (whatever)
9 - Vivi (what is the purpose of my existence?)
10 - Lulu (black eyeshadow, black outfit, black hair falling on her face...)
13 - Hope (my mother's dead, my mother's dead, wah wah wah)

Love interest who turns out to have a big personal problem that the hero must save her from:

7 - Aeris (the last cetra, and the only person who can save the world.. then.. supposedly has cloud to rescue her)
8 - Rinoa (trying to gain Squall's affection, she jumps out of the spaceship.. basically an attention whore, and has squall to rescue her)
9 - Garnet (one of the last remaining summoners, wants to explore but can't because she's a princess, and has zidane to rescue her)
10 - Yuna (a summoner who can save the world from sin, but she needs to be sacrificed, and has tidus to rescue her)
13 - Serah (a pulse l'cie, enemy of cocoon, and has snow to rescue her)

Perky, bubbly, cute, innocent, young teenager who is always a secondary character, and often looked at as a sexual tart:

7 - Yuffie (young, scanty clothing, short shorts, flexible, always doing something cute)
8 - Selphie (young, skimpily dressed, 60's haircut, always with a smirk)
9 - Eiko (obviously too young to be a sexual tart, but fits the profile)
10 - Rikku (young, super skimpily dressed, super high voice, acts like a random stereotypical blonde)
13 - Vanille (young, super skimpily dressed, super high voice, always moves her butt too much)

Strong silent type who hardly says anything and acts like a bodyguard of sorts:

7 - Vincent (.... Lucrecia...)
8 - Irvine (Just me and my gun...)
9 - Amarant (.... (did he say something?)...)
10 - Kihmari (.... Ronso...)
13 - Lightning (.... Hurry up...)

Overly optimistic, energetic, and wild person who thinks everything is always alright no matter the situation:

7 - Tifa (cloud's constant positive thinker)
8 - Zell (yeah yeah, i'm the man, yeah yeah)
9 - Zidane (heck, it's a piece of cake!)
10 - Tidus (woohoo, blitzball!)
13 - Snow (i'll save everyone! we can defeat everyone!)

Bossy person who thinks everyone is stupid except him/herself, and wants everyone to listen to him/her:

7 - Barrett (i'm the leader of avalanche!)
8 - Quistis (are you listening?)
9 - Steiner (no, princess, we have to go home!)
10 - Auron (we will go over there...)
13 - Lightning (shut up *hits face*)

Brash and cocky person who talks a lot of trash:

7 - Cid ($%*&, you #$@*!)
8 - Seifer (i'm the best, you fool!)
9 - Zidane (i don't care about you, all i care about is girls!)
10 - Jecth (crybaby!)
13 - Snow (I'm the hero who will save everyone)

just wasting time... heh.

Well I've only played 1, 2, 4, 6, some 3, some 7, and some 10, but you're right on the money.

I agree, but I have one question: How does Squall fit in the emo category?

You should never mess with a perfect formula.

Nonsense! The original Final Fantasy 1 and 3 (possibly 2, can't remember) had completely different characters! The characters were devoid of any personality what-so-ever. They never even got a line of dialogue.

Well, those are the archetypes that fit on many people in real life... right?

And Eiko is hot.

true lol, Snow is some kinda dude i tell ya, his "Im going to be your hero" obsession is funny.

i agree though, which is why i hope a Dissidia 2 is made for a console and they add all character jus to see what'd they do and how they'd react with each other, i hate lightning always bitchslapping people.

Yeah, and all action movies have the same protagonists. Not even a bad thing, really.

haha thats quite funny