Personality: Celes Chere is a powerful young woman who has been through an unmeasurable amount of hardship. Knowing exactly what happened to her right after she was born, Celes holds a little more than a 'bit' of a grudge against Kefka Palazzo and his army, and this is shown several times throughout the game.
When the player first meets Celes, they may think she has a very cold personality, which at that point she pretty much does. As she was recently a general in Kefka's army, Celes doesn't particularly care for many personal questions from someone she has just met, and so when Edgar asks her about love she pushes him away with a forceful and blunt response. It can be assumed that this personality is one that primarily stems from her role as a general in such a demanding and emotionally draining army, like Kefka's, and so such personal questions most likely bother her in the sense that they bring back memories of the pain she caused so many others while leading troops to war.
A very important part of the game, at least in terms of explaining Celes' personality, would be the opera scene. During this time, it is suggested that Celes disguise herself as the opera star Maria and perform in the play so that the party may obtain Setzer's ship. Setzer wished to kidnap Maria since he was in love with her, so once Celes would be kidnapped the entire party could sneak onto the ship. Celes, obviously not to happy with the idea, would shortly reply that she is 'not an opera floozy' and it would take much convincing for her to take Maria's role. Why was she so adamant about not performing in the play? Her response to the entire idea suggests that she's not the stereotypical woman of her age and doesn't fall in love easily; it also suggests that she can carry her own weight since she also states her military background in this scene.
Another important part would be the time when Celes and the rest of the party entered the Magitek Research Facility and discovered the fact that Espers were killed for the sole purpose of allowing normal humans to use magic. Once Cid, Celes' adoptive guardian and inventor of the Magitek technology, discovers that the party is there, he announces to everyone Celes' loyalty to the Magitek Empire (by asking if the party are her troops and plainly asking if she were a spy) and before Celes can even think to defend herself, the party decides that she has been a traitor and a spy the entire time. This obviously hurts her since at this point she had been with the party for quite a while and arguably had started to become closer to certain party members, notably Locke Cole. Insisting that she would protect him for once, instead of being protected (as she was by him when he saved her from being killed very early in the game), she shows her dedication and power by using a very strong ice spell to knock her foes (Kefka's minions) out. Unfortunately this backfires a bit as the containers holding the Espers captive break and Celes ends up getting shot out of the facility from the impact.
The most important part of the story, the one that really shows Celes' true personality, is when the World of Balance (the world everyone inhabits for the first half of the game, the 'calm' world) is destroyed and Celes awakens on her own, with only Cid nearby. Celes of course worries about her teammates, her friends at this point, and attempts to search for them. During her search she comes across a bird with a bandanna on it – closer inspection of which leads to the discovery that the bandanna is indeed Locke's, and she holds onto it in hopes that it signifies the fact that her friends are all alive. Searching for the others and holding onto the one physical thing that proves the existence of them proves that Celes is strong-willed. She could have given up on everything, on life, and she even attempts to at some point, but in the end she chooses not to, as such a decision affects not only herself but those who really care about her, as well.
There are of course other points in the story that show Celes' personality, but the prior ones are possibly the most important. Celes is a character who has had a rough start, but she makes up for it once she decides the party and their goals are truly good people and assists them in every way she can to save the world. Though she becomes a bit more attached to certain members of the party than others, she cares for all of them and would do anything, potentially including giving her own life, to save them. She has physical strength, magical strength (albeit not by choice as she was infused with it at birth) and emotional strength as well. Her morals are admirable – the fact that she was kicked out of Kefka's army in the first place was entirely due to these morals, since she refused to take part in poisoning an entire town full of people. Yes, she has her downfalls, particularly the entire 'suicide scenario,' but she is arguably well-adjusted considering all she has went through.
Celes Chere | Final Fantasy VI | RESERVED | 2/?
When the player first meets Celes, they may think she has a very cold personality, which at that point she pretty much does. As she was recently a general in Kefka's army, Celes doesn't particularly care for many personal questions from someone she has just met, and so when Edgar asks her about love she pushes him away with a forceful and blunt response. It can be assumed that this personality is one that primarily stems from her role as a general in such a demanding and emotionally draining army, like Kefka's, and so such personal questions most likely bother her in the sense that they bring back memories of the pain she caused so many others while leading troops to war.
A very important part of the game, at least in terms of explaining Celes' personality, would be the opera scene. During this time, it is suggested that Celes disguise herself as the opera star Maria and perform in the play so that the party may obtain Setzer's ship. Setzer wished to kidnap Maria since he was in love with her, so once Celes would be kidnapped the entire party could sneak onto the ship. Celes, obviously not to happy with the idea, would shortly reply that she is 'not an opera floozy' and it would take much convincing for her to take Maria's role. Why was she so adamant about not performing in the play? Her response to the entire idea suggests that she's not the stereotypical woman of her age and doesn't fall in love easily; it also suggests that she can carry her own weight since she also states her military background in this scene.
Another important part would be the time when Celes and the rest of the party entered the Magitek Research Facility and discovered the fact that Espers were killed for the sole purpose of allowing normal humans to use magic. Once Cid, Celes' adoptive guardian and inventor of the Magitek technology, discovers that the party is there, he announces to everyone Celes' loyalty to the Magitek Empire (by asking if the party are her troops and plainly asking if she were a spy) and before Celes can even think to defend herself, the party decides that she has been a traitor and a spy the entire time. This obviously hurts her since at this point she had been with the party for quite a while and arguably had started to become closer to certain party members, notably Locke Cole. Insisting that she would protect him for once, instead of being protected (as she was by him when he saved her from being killed very early in the game), she shows her dedication and power by using a very strong ice spell to knock her foes (Kefka's minions) out. Unfortunately this backfires a bit as the containers holding the Espers captive break and Celes ends up getting shot out of the facility from the impact.
The most important part of the story, the one that really shows Celes' true personality, is when the World of Balance (the world everyone inhabits for the first half of the game, the 'calm' world) is destroyed and Celes awakens on her own, with only Cid nearby. Celes of course worries about her teammates, her friends at this point, and attempts to search for them. During her search she comes across a bird with a bandanna on it – closer inspection of which leads to the discovery that the bandanna is indeed Locke's, and she holds onto it in hopes that it signifies the fact that her friends are all alive. Searching for the others and holding onto the one physical thing that proves the existence of them proves that Celes is strong-willed. She could have given up on everything, on life, and she even attempts to at some point, but in the end she chooses not to, as such a decision affects not only herself but those who really care about her, as well.
There are of course other points in the story that show Celes' personality, but the prior ones are possibly the most important. Celes is a character who has had a rough start, but she makes up for it once she decides the party and their goals are truly good people and assists them in every way she can to save the world. Though she becomes a bit more attached to certain members of the party than others, she cares for all of them and would do anything, potentially including giving her own life, to save them. She has physical strength, magical strength (albeit not by choice as she was infused with it at birth) and emotional strength as well. Her morals are admirable – the fact that she was kicked out of Kefka's army in the first place was entirely due to these morals, since she refused to take part in poisoning an entire town full of people. Yes, she has her downfalls, particularly the entire 'suicide scenario,' but she is arguably well-adjusted considering all she has went through.