Dextrality

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The following article is based on a subject that has not been officially named in any official Square Enix material; the current title is merely a placeholder.

For Dexterity, see Speed (stat)

A character's dextrality, also known as handedness or, more rarely, laterality, refers to the concept of hand dominance, i.e. a character's preferred hand when holding an object or wielding a weapon. Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy IV incorporate it as a minor game mechanic, adjusting the effectiveness of equipped weapons and shields based upon whether they are equipped in a character's dominant or recessive hand. Other titles do not apply this attribute to gameplay, but it is often reflected in character animations and listed in supplementary material.

Many games in the Final Fantasy series still have characters explicitly as right- or left-handed even without a dextrality system, such as Sephiroth being left-handed in Final Fantasy VII. Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia does not respect any unit's given dextrality; most will hold their weapon in their left hand. Yuri holds his in his right hand.

Other games' equipment systems have the player equip both hands, but the characters themselves do not have hand dominance and there is only one way to equip the hands.

See also: Dual Wield or Doublehand

Appearances

Final Fantasy II

All characters can equip weapons in both hands regardless of dextrality, but any weapon equipped in the off-hand only applies half of the character's Strength stat in calculations. Bows are treated as two-handed weapons. If no shields are equipped, the weapon operates as if held with both hands, which grants a small boost to Attack. Leon, Leila, and Scott are the only lefties.

Final Fantasy IV series

In the 2D versions of Final Fantasy IV and The After Years, the characters only equip weapons in the main hand and shields in the off-hand, so dextrality is mostly cosmetic (ambidextrous characters aside). The exception are bows in Final Fantasy IV—the correct way to equip them is to place arrows in the main hand and bow in the off-hand, as equipping in reverse cuts attack power by 20%.

Kain, Dark Kain, Palom, and Golbez are left-handed. Edge, Yang, Ursula, and Tsukinowa are ambidextrous.