Square has published a new Final Fantasy character poll in Japan for the series’ 35th anniversary and the result have been quite surprising, particularly for the second place which belongs to Final Fantasy X’s Wakka.

You’d usually expect someone like Cloud or Yuna to bag the top spot but this time neither of them placed in the top 2. Here’s the full list which was translated by Twitter user @aitaikimochi: 

These are the results for the Top 20 Favorite Final Fantasy characters from the Japanese 35th Anniversary Poll:

1⃣Emet-Selch (FF14)
2⃣Wakka (FF10)
3⃣Cloud (FF7)
4⃣Tifa (FF7)
5⃣Zidane (FF9)
6⃣Aerith (FF7)
7⃣G’raha Tia (FF14)
8⃣Vivi (FF9)
9⃣Tidus (FF10)
🔟Haurchefant (FF14)

---

Follow us on Twitter Follow @GamerBraves and Tweet us Tweet to @GamerBraves

---

🧵1/2 pic.twitter.com/pUJxUayR3o

— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) December 18, 2022

So the two most popular Final Fantasy characters are FFXIV’s Emet-Selch, a major antagonist from the MMORPG, and Wakka, the comic relief side character from X, well remembered for being just a little bit racist towards the in-universe Al-Bhed people. Both characters are well-liked by most Final Fantasy fans but I doubt many expected that they’d actually top the list.

According to users on Reddit, Wakka might have gotten so many votes due to a recent internet meme in Japan. The meme consists of a fan-made song about how much Wakka loves FFX main character Tidus’ ‘private areas’ so to speak, set to the melody of ‘Connect’ by ClariS, the opening for Madoka Magica.

In addition to the character poll, Square Enix also published a separate poll where fans voted on the most popular numbered Final Fantasy game. Here’s the full poll:

For the Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary, there was an official poll asking Japanese fans what is their favorite FF games of all time. Here are the Top 10🎉🎉

1⃣FFXIV
2⃣FFVII
3⃣FFX
4⃣FFVI
5⃣FFIX
6⃣FFV
7⃣FFVIII
8⃣FFIV
9⃣FFXI
🔟FFXV pic.twitter.com/RPHt25m7pr

— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) December 18, 2022

It’s clear the see Final Fantasy XIV has become one of the most beloved games in the series, even beating the ever-popular Final Fantasy VII. Still, every one of these games (except maybe Final Fantasy VIII) are considered some of the best video games ever made so it’s not like any of them are doing particularly badly.

The latest game in the series, Final Fantasy XVI will be launching exclusively for the PS5 on the 22nd of June 2023.