About the game

The most powerful nation in the world, the Empire of Baron, begins utilizing its unparalleled air force, the Red Wings, and its legions of Dark Knights to attack peaceful nations in search of four Crystals, each corresponding to a different classical element. Cecil Harvey, a Dark Knight and leader of the Red Wings, begins to question the king's motives after forcibly stealing the Water Crystal from the wizards' town of Mysidia. Upon questioning the king, Cecil falls from grace and is stripped of his rank and sent, along with his friend, the Dragoon Kain Highwind, to deliver a package to the Village of Mist. Prior to setting out on his quest, Cecil receives emotional support from White Mage Rosa Joanna Farrell, his life-long friend whose feelings for him have grown beyond mere friendship, and Cid Pollendina, Baron's airship engineer and father-figure to Cecil. Upon reaching Mist, the explosives in the package destroy the entire town and kill most of its inhabitants.Cecil and Kain find a young female survivor named Rydia. Cecil decides to take her with them but Rydia summons Titan and Kain is no-where to be found. Cecil, now angered with Baron and the Red Wings, initiates a quest to stop them. On his journey back to Baron, Cecil encounters Rosa stricken with Desert Fever; an elderly wizard, Tellah; the cowardly and emotional prince of Damcyan, Edward Chris von Muir; and the powerful Monk of Fabul, Yang Fang Leiden. Cecil also encounters Kain, who is proceeding with the theft of the remainder of the crystals for Baron. He is followed shortly after by a man named Golbez because Kain was not able to kill Cecil. During a skirmish, Rosa is kidnapped by Golbez. The party soon discovers that Golbez is manipulating Kain and Baron's Emperor in order to retrieve the Crystals. After a ship attack by the sea monster Leviathan, Cecil becomes stranded near Mysidia, where he is forced to repent for his previous crimes by becoming a holy Paladin. It is here that he also meets the apprentice mages Palom and Porom, who guide and monitor him along his journey up Mt. Ordeals. They are joined by Tellah, who seeks the power of Meteor, and after battling fiend of earth Scarmiglione twice, Cecil overcomes his darkness and becomes a Paladin. Tellah also remembers his spells and learns Meteor, which he cannot yet use.

After Cecil attains Paladin status, the party invades Baron via the Devil's Road. However, Golbez has manipulated the soldiers of Baron, and even replaced the king with Cagnazzo, fiend of water, whom Cecil and company destroy. Cid manages to escape his cell sometime during this incident, and after the twins intentionally petrify themselves to stop a deathtrap, the party takes to the skies in Cid's airship. Cecil soon encounters the brainwashed Kain, who forces Cecil to retrieve the Crystal of Earth in exchange for the life of Rosa. After Cecil and company retrieve the crystal from the Dark Elf, Kain leads the group to the Tower of Zot, where Rosa is being held by Golbez. Upon facing Golbez directly, Tellah seizes the moment and attacks him with Meteor, the use of which kills Tellah, but which injures, though does not kill Golbez, causing him to retreat to heal. Seemingly as a result of Golbez's injuries, the mind control on Kain is shattered, and he explains that Golbez has not retrieved all of the Crystals; four more, called the Dark Crystals, are hidden in the underground land of the Dwarves, and Golbez has already stolen two of them. The party rescues Rosa, and after destroying Barbariccia, fiend of wind, they unlock a path to the underground and seek the Dark Crystals.

Cecil and company chase Golbez into the Dark World, and attempt to capture the crystals before Golbez does. However, they lose one in battle against Golbez in the Dwarven Castle, after which Rydia rejoins the party. Later, after the Tower of Babil, the apparent sacrifices of Yang and Cid, after the Ninja prince of Eblan, Edge joins the party and helps them defeat Rubicante, Cecil's party again comes up short; Golbez apprehends the remaining crystal, by reasserting his mind control over Kain, who steals the last Crystal from Cecil and runs off. Golbez then retreats to the planet's second moon. In order to discover what plan Golbez has for the Crystals and hopefully to stop it, Cecil follows Golbez to the second moon using the ancient starship the "Lunar Whale" hidden in Mysidia's bay.

On the moon, Cecil meets FuSoYa, who explains to him that he is descended from a race known as the Lunarians, who originated on a planet that was destroyed to form an asteroid belt. Cecil's father, KluYa, was responsible for storing the Crystals, which correspond to Crystals on the moon that hold the thoughts of the Lunarians, on the planet and introducing technological advances such as the airship. However, one Lunarian, Zemus, plans to wipe out all life on the planet for Lunarian inhabitation. It is revealed that Zemus is manipulating Golbez and Kain, and that he plans to use the Crystals to revive a giant android, the Giant of Babil, and clear the planet for this purpose.

Accompanied by FuSoYa, who can neutralize the Giant of Babil's force field, Cecil returns to the planet to find the Giant revived. The entire world- including former party members Edward, Cid, Yang, and the twins Palom and Porom- participates in the attack. After using Cid's airship to break into the Giant, the party defeats the Archfiends working in tandem, and destroys the CPU. Upon stopping the giant, the party is confronted by Golbez, intent on destroying them. FuSoYa is able to break Zemus's control over Golbez and Kain. In the scenes that follow, Cecil discovers that Golbez is actually his brother. Golbez and FuSoYa head to the moon to attempt to defeat Zemus, and Cecil's party follows. After fighting his way to the core of the moon, Cecil watches Golbez and FuSoYa defeat Zemus, only to discover that his death unleashed a more powerful being named Zeromus, the personification of Zemus' pure hatred. Zeromus easily defeats Golbez and FuSoYa, then attacks the rest of Cecil's party. It takes the united life force of all beings, combined with a special Crystal provided by Golbez, for Cecil and his party to defeat Zeromus.

After Zeromus's defeat, FuSoYa returns to sleep with the rest of his people. Golbez, feeling that he cannot return to the earth after what he has done, and being half Lunarian himself, goes with him. Before he does, Cecil forgives him and calls him brother. Later, the moon heads off into space, and many of the characters return to their homes, several in order to rebuild them. Kain goes to Mount Ordeals to train himself, vowing not to return to Baron until he has proven himself worthy. The important characters in the game (excluding Kain) attend Cecil and Rosa's wedding, as Cecil becomes King of Baron