Highlights
- Torgal is a standout character in Final Fantasy 16 with an interesting story arc and a strong bond with Clive and Jill.
- Torgal's reunion with Clive showcases their stoic personalities and their deep connection.
- Torgal's final howl in the game's ending is a gut-wrenching moment that triggers feelings of catharsis.
Final Fantasy 16 is chock-full of stand out characters. I personally love Dion, and I believe that he’s done a lot to move the series into a more progressive light. Another of my favorites doesn’t say a word at all—at least not in the conventional way.
Yes, I am talking about Torgal.
He’s probably my favorite four-legged video game bestie that—yes—I petted an embarrassing amount of times. And I feel like, while plenty of people have talked about him, they haven’t really talked about him as a character.
He’s got quite an interesting story arc of his own. Torgal came from the snowy Northern Territories. He was a little cub found in the snow by a person named Elwin Rosfield. Elwin took the cub to his home in Rosaria and gave it to his sons. Torgal became a loyal friend to Clive, but he was especially close to Jill Warrick, who also came from the Northern Territories. It was obvious from the get-go that the two have a strong bond that would grow as the story progresses.
When Clive left Rosaria for Phoenix Gate, Torgal stayed with Jill. After the painful events at the Phoenix Gate, which were assumed to have killed Clive’s brother Joshua, Rosaria became a part of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque and got attacked by the Iron Kingdom. The Iron Kingdom took Jill away from Torgal by force. What happened to Torgal after that is a mystery, but he later met Cid—another popular character in Final Fantasy 16. Even though Cid took care of Torgal, he still awaited Clive's return.
Thirteen years later, Torgal found Clive and Jill again during a fight between the Iron Kingdom and Dhalmekia Republic. Clive was sent by the Empire to do something, but it turned out Jill was involved, and Torgal helped save them both with the help of Cid.
I love the scene in which Clive and Torgal reunite, because it’s very understated. I was expecting him to be excited, burying his face into Torgal’s fur, giving him all the pets in the world. Like many people who’ve owned a dog, I’d probably do that annoying baby talk thing with him too, though that would totally patronize him. Regardless of being a dog, he’s quite the complex and aware supporting character.
Instead, what Clive simply pets him and calls him a “fine hound.” Torgal doesn’t jump around like one of those dogs being reunited with his owner. Clive corrects Cid in calling him Torgal, which lets us know that he recognizes him. The understated nature of their reunion is actually a great display of their personalities. Neither is very expressive—Clive in partucluar belongs in the proverbial stoic hall of fame with other Final Fantasy heroes like Cloud, Lightning, and Squall.
This is not to say that Torgal’s moments are all understated. Five more years pass during the events in the game, and Hugo Kupka attacks Rosaria, Clive and Jill’s hometown, seeking revenge because his beloved, Benedikta, had died. He tried to hurt Clive and Jill, and Torgal had to step in to rescue Jill when she was in big trouble.
Torgal rushes in just as Jill is about to be beheaded. Running toward the axeman, blue light engulfs his body as he jumps up in the area and performs an electric-like sonic boom that stuns the enemies. His black and white fur is replaced with a charcoal-dark color scheme with blue and white hair. He has an almost alien, otherworldly look to himself. This also influences the way in which he functions in combat, giving him a more customizable support role fighting alongside Clive.
Speaking of which, one of the things that was done so well was making Torgal a support character who was there but didn’t “break” the game. Clive was still the star of the show, and Torgal did damage, but he couldn’t completely take over and destroy enemies. I feel like he was presented in the game the same way Atreus was in the new God of War games. Both of them were along for the ride and acted as a grounding element for the others. It is a necessary balance when creating more stoic characters like Clive and Kratos. They allow for us to see the main character through the eyes of someone else.
Speaking of getting to know someone, Gav decided to learn more about Torgal. He found out that Torgal was a rare kind of frost wolf from the Northern Territories. There was a special wolf called Fenrir who served the Queen there, and surprise, Jill was connected to this Queen as the Dominant of Shiva. That's why Torgal and Jill had such a strong bond all along. In retrospect, it makes sense that, near the end of the game, Torgal stays behind with Jill when Clive, Joshua, and Dion all head into the final confrontation with their world’s corrupt god. It was painful for me to watch though.
I had completely bought into the “man and man’s best friend” companionship that Clive and Torgal had throughout the story. It was so exciting to see the moments in which you’d think Clive has been bested, only for Torgal to come out of the blue, chomp down on an enemy's arm, and turn the tables back in their favor. Also, as someone who really prefers squad-based combat in an RPG, he was the closest thing I had to a constant ally. He made some fights just a bit easier and saved my butt more than once.
Leaving him behind also reminded me of when I left my childhood dog, Brindle, home because I was heading to college. It was heartbreaking to see her get older and older until the day she died. On some level, I think that the developers purposely tapped into those nostalgic moments with our pets in order to make the relationship and subsequent separation feel that much more realistic.
The separation became even more painful with the game's ending. Once Ultima is defeated, Clive takes his power and adds it to the power of all the Eikons. Clive knows that his body might not handle all this power, but he still uses it to attempt to rescue the world. When he's about to face his end, Clive shatters the final Mothercrystal and takes away all magic from the world.
As he’s dying, Clive looks up at the moon. Meanwhile, back at the headquarters, many beautiful things are happening, including the birth of a new baby, but Jill notices that Torgal is looking up at the moon too. Right next to it is a bright red star—Clive. It dims out, and a piano ballad calmly plays in the background. Jill runs away when she realizes what has happened, and Torgal follows.
Just as the song swells, Torgal gives his first howl.
My stomach twisted, and that was when I started crying. I almost dropped my controller.
Jill collapses and holds on to Torgal. The song hits its final high, intense note, the camera moves away from Torgal and Jill, giving us a long distance view of them, and he gives his final howl.
Then I paused the game and ugly cried.
There was something so gut-wrenching about it. The understated reunion left an unresolved tension between Clive and Torgal, which I didn’t realize was still lingering in my chest. Here Torgal was, finally projecting emotion, and it’s in the final hour of Clive’s passing. He’s made his feelings known in the most dog-like way, and I feel his pain.
On top of this, Torgal and Clive not saying goodbye to one another reminded me of when my childhood dog finally passed away from old age. Much of her black hair had turned white, and she passed while I was in class. I took the bus home because I couldn’t continue with the rest of the day. I needed to mourn alone and give myself the space to feel my emotions privately.
I didn’t hold back when I cried after watching Torgal’s final howl either. I live alone, it was Saturday morning during the summer, I had nowhere I needed to be, and I let myself experience what Aristotle calls “catharsis”: the purging of the emotions of pity and fear that are aroused in the viewer of a tragedy.
Torgal’s howl was definitely a cathartic moment. And dog owners, or any pet owners, really, would understand the moment a memory of their beloved fur baby crosses their mind. It hurts. It really hurts. Maybe I should buy the Torgal plushie.