Square Enix has an impressive number of iconic series under its belt, and while the more famous games get touted as gems, Star Ocean, a science fantasy series, tends to fall under the radar. Each game is filled to the brim with a lush, colorful world to explore, and you might even travel through space-time depending on which number of the game you decide to pick up.
This list is by no means exhaustive. After all, in terms of both fighting prowess and personality, one person's S-tier is another person's F-tier. Or perhaps they simply dislike the character's attire. You never know, you might discover a new character to like, or at the very least, a reason to check out (or recheck) the games.
10 Nel Zelpher - Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time
A cunning and cut-throat assassin for the Queen of Aquaria, Nel Zelpher collects information against the neighboring Kingdom of Airyglyph. She doesn't take her position as a Crimson Blade for granted, and works hard to try to be the leader her father was before he lost his life on a mission.
Nel uses a pair of daggers as her main weapon, and is adept at using runology — this game's magic system — and laces her physical attacks with them. She isn't the strongest character you can get from the planet Elicoor II, but she's loyal and decides to go with your party out of thanks for saving both her country and Airyglyph, thereby enabling the two of them to come to peace.
9 Reimi Saionji - Star Ocean: The Last Hope
The deuteragonist of Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Reimi grows to be one of the stronger units in the game, and with her bow and arrows and extremely high crit rate, it's easy to see why. Some write her off as simply Edge's romantic interest, but she is so much more than that. She mastered multiple disciplines of archery.
More than that though, Reimi harbors what she thinks is a terrible secret: she is a Seed of Hope, someone who has been genetically enhanced to have her cells regenerate at a much faster rate than a normal human, making her immune to all diseases and able to quickly heal from injuries. When she was a child, she was in a terrible accident, where she should have died along with the other kids involved, but she survived. Survivor's guilt weighs heavy on her heart.
8 Mavelle Froesson - Star Ocean First Departure
If you've played either the first Star Ocean or its remake counterpart First Departure, you'll know that Mavelle is much more than a cold ball of steely revenge. She is very adept on the battlefield — with proficiency in both magic and physical combat, she can easily dominate most situations.
Mavelle is an enigma. When you first meet her, she has a singular focus on exacting revenge on the Crimson Shield, who killed her parents and (presumably) her brother Ioshua before brainwashing her and selling her to an assassin guild. On her journey, she softens and learns to open up and trust others while holding a deep secret of her own.
7 Maria Traydor - Star Ocean Till The End Of Time
Another character from Till The End of Time, Maria is one of the three children who were experimented on and given the ability to open and go through an interdimensional portal to save their universe. A tall order for three kids, surely. Maria is a long-ranged combatant, attacking with pistols and having a few physical attacks under her belt when she's in range of the enemy.
Maria, above all else, seeks answers. Having found out she'd been experimented on with two other kids, she sought out Fayt and Sophia Esteed to find out why. The 'gift' she received from said experiments is called Alteration, and it allows her to alter reality itself, making intangible things and places tangible.
6 Rena Lanford - Star Ocean Second Story/Second Evolution
Rena Lanford hails from the town Arlia on planet Expel, though she suspects that she isn't from there originally, as she is the only one that can use healing symbology on the entire planet. She decides to travel with alternate controllable protagonist Claude Kenny to find out where she truly comes from.
She uses both her fists to fight short range, while possessing earth magic along with her healing spells. Her strongest spell, Star Flare, summons rays of pure sunlight to decimate all enemies on the field, harnessing the true power of light magic.
5 Welch Vineyard - Star Ocean First Departure
For a character that has shown up in multiple games in the series, not much is known about Welch Vineyard. What we do know of her is that she's a founding member of the Craftsmen’s Guild, dedicated to gathering and supporting inventors from all corners of time and space.
She always seems to know more than the inhabitants of the game, and builds things that are much more technologically advanced than her current surroundings. Some even theorize that she isn't of this dimension at all, but as with everything else around her, it's a mystery that won't be solved any time soon. Her weapon of choice is her signature white-gloved pointer, and she prefers to be a close-ranged fighter.
4 Albel Nox - Star Ocean Till The End Of Time
Anyone on Elicoor II that hears the name 'Albel The Wicked' knows to run and hide. Infamous for his ferocity and ruthlessness on the battlefield, he comes to recognize the party as someone worthy of fighting (as they always do) and eventually teams up with the group depending on the choices you made prior.
He is an offensive powerhouse, quickly closing space and slicing foes with his katana. The downside though, is his defense is a little lacking since he prefers to wear light armor; gotta keep light on your toes to stay wicked, of course. He is the only Star Ocean antagonist to join the party so far.
3 Fayt Leingod - Star Ocean Till The End Of Time
He started as a lackadaisical college kid who just wanted to play games and laze around while on vacation. Alas, that wasn't meant to happen; Fayt was thrust into the role of the protagonist when the beach Hyda IV planet that he, his childhood friend Sophia Esteed, and his family lived on was attacked.
His parents were gone. The only solace in the predicament was that Sophia was by his side. Fayt comes to realize that he's a part of a three-part plan to save the universe and is the reason he and his party keep getting attacked by aliens wherever they go. He fights with a mix of standard swordplay and Symbology, gaining even more power once his 'gift' of Destruction awakens.
2 Cliff Fittir - Star Ocean Till The End Of Time
Cliff could be considered the coolest head within the Star Ocean series. He has a knack for thinking on his feet in most situations, while having a decent, if not at times childish, sense of humor.
There was a point in time when Cliff was the leader of the Anti-federation organization known as Quark, but once he witnessed the sheer power that Maria Traydor possessed, he easily gave her the position of leader. He found he was better suited to support Maria in whatever she needed to do. He and Mirage, his friend and shipmate, are Klausian, a race of humanoid beings who have exceptional physicality and fighting prowess.
1 Claude C. Kenny - Star Ocean Second Story/Second Evolution
If the Star Ocean series had to have an official poster boy, Claude would be it. Claude primarily fights with a sword, but he can also utilize martial arts if the range is close enough. He also picks up some light symbology spells that have an affinity toward fire and earth later in the game.
Claude was mistaken to be the mythological Hero of Light after he crash-landed on Expel and saved Rena Lanford from a monster — she thinks his gun and clothes are proof enough to start telling people about it. Even though he wasn't the big hero the town Arlia thought he was, he still saved all of humanity. This makes him a Hero of Light after all.