Bartz Klauser

Name: Bartz Klauser
Japanese name: バッツ・クラウザー (Battsu Kurauzā)
Also known as: Butz
Hails from: Final Fantasy V, where he is not a mime but does have magic color-changing hair in the FMV
Fighting type: Utility Player / Mimic
Seiyuu/Voice Actor: Souichirou Hoshi / Jason Spisak
Manliness level: 5/10 (dude, eating is healthy)

Story

Happy-go-lucky Bartz spends most of the game running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He gets his crystal halfway through his story mode and fails to realize it's obviously a fake. Somewhere along the way, though, he manages to get even gloomy ol' Squall to care about his friends, and becomes less of an idiot. Well, a little.

Thoughts

Bartz is, to me, a disappointment. FFV was the great job-class game, and what did they make him? A mime. They could have done something interesting, like giving him different jobs for each attack (cannoneer, anyone?), and what did they do? Give him combinations of the other heroes' attacks. Not to mention his incredibly lame EX Mode — he just gets job mastery stars over his head. Lame, Square, lame. As far as his character goes, I think his idiocy is pretty annoying, but I do think 589 (and Bartz/Squall in general) is adorable. I can never remember which name of his goes with which version of the game, though... Oh, and he does look pretty awesome in his alternate form, even with the zebra stripes of doom.

Gameplay

Bartz'z strength lies in the abilities given to him, and using him well requires the player to know how they work differently from the original attacks (if there is a difference). It's exactly that that can make him a difficult opponent, like when he uses his version of the Onion Knight's Wind Shear.