Final Fantasy 16's story and characterization are front and center of the gaming experience, but as the narrative progresses, some characters get more screen time than others. This is especially true for canine companion Torgal and, sadly, Clive's love interest Jill, who spends far less screen time than she deserves as one of the game's primary companions for most of its duration. Players can prepare enough Final Fantasy XVI Gil in the game.
In the case of Togar, this character will not be explored outside of some of Final Fantasy 16's side quests or a few moments in the main campaign, which may be easier to understand considering he is a pet. A more worrisome comparison is that Jill gets just as much attention in the story, despite being a human woman and the main romantic partner of the protagonist.
Togar is only explored in Final Fantasy 16's spinoff content
Usually, Togar is seen as a fighting mechanism, appearing next to Clive before being thrown into battle. Likewise, Torgal disappears whenever the story requires it, such as when the Eikon battle begins and giant summons start destroying the landscape. In addition, there is a specific encounter late in the game where a tower is cut into ribbons and Torgal remains on it, only for him to walk up to Clive after a while, with no explanation of where he went or how he survived.
Even stranger, Torgar is used in a minimalist manner throughout the game's plot, usually just growling to indicate that a battle is about to begin or that the enemy is waiting to ambush Clive. Torgar's animal instinct ability to sniff out enemies is rarely used as a diagnostic indication of how Clive will track enemies or act on his own during cinematic combat encounters. That's not to say he never seems to do more than growl, as he does save Clive in an early battle with the Rulers and saves Jill when she does her best in the classic damsel in distress role, which is another matter entirely canned worms.
Final Fantasy 16's Jill as background decoration
It's one thing for Togar to be left out of the main story and lack any agency of her own, but it's sad that Jill is also one of the main characters first introduced during Clive's childhood. From the moment she joins the team, Jill works alongside Sid and Clive, making some statements during the crossover but often being marginalized in order to allow the other two to move the story forward and take actual action. It's entirely possible to forget that her mission is to crush Final Fantasy 16's first Mother Crystal, and that Cid and Ramuh's actions take center stage for the entire section.
To be fair, Jill does play a much more important role in the mission to hunt down the Mother Crystal of Drake's Rest, and the game spends some time delving into her struggle to act as the Icon of Ironborn. Jill even manages to gain a fair amount of agency in this section, which may lead players to expect her to play an important role in the rest of the game as she helps Clive hunt down the remaining Rulers and crack the Mother Crystal. Except in the ensuing hunt for Final Fantasy 16's Hugo Kupka, Jill is easily captured and needs Clive and Togar to rescue her.
The worst moment where Jill fails to get the screen time the character deserves comes at the end, when she has a chance to have a truly emotional moment. Yet even here, where Jill is the character most affected by the events of the story, the camera decides to focus on Gaff, the comedic character from FF16, as he shows some emotional vulnerability. See eanflcoins.com for more details on the game guide.
