Here we are again, for a fourth year in a row celebrating the one, the only…AkuRoku Day! Happy Yaoi Day to one of the most infamous ships in any video game fandom to ever exist! But more importantly, August 13th is also International Left-Handed Day. Being left-handed myself, it’s always made me feel a little special whenever I’ve seen another lefty, especially in my favorite series. Whether I’m ten years old, or thirty, it’s made it easy to gravitate towards them and like those characters.
Check out our previous lists. We may have already celebrated your favorite characters in 2022, 2021, or 2020.
Let’s give the spotlight to our lefties of 2023. A few might surprise you.
Link (Legend of Zelda)
Easily the most famous left-handed character to come out of Japan is none other than Link. The hero of Hyrule has been depicted and animated as a lefty since the very first game in 1986. It wasn’t until Twilight Princess in 2007 that Link began to be right-handed due to the Wii motion controls. This remained the status quo for Link on every major console release since, including Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. However, he did briefly return to being left-handed in Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U.
The original creator of The Legend of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto, is also ambidextrous but has said he favors using his left hand.
Faize (Star Ocean: The Last Hope)
The fourth installment of the Star Ocean franchise is arguably the best in the franchise, for good reason. After Star Ocean: Till the End of Time served as the final chronological game, it was time to make a prequel for the whole series. The Last Hope takes place only ten years after Earth has achieved space travel. Edge Maverick sets out to be a part of the first major space exploration mission to find a new home planet for humans.
Faize is introduced at the end of the first level. As a member of the alien Eldarians, Faize is already accustomed to advanced space-travel technology and symbology (magic). He’s also a skilled swordsman. He’s polite, calm, mild-mannered, and logical in most situations. At least until he goes insane.
Faize being left-handed was most likely a calculated choice because of an odd belief that left-handed people are demons in human form. However, this was never confirmed by the developers, to my knowledge.
Tifa (Final Fantasy VII)
I can’t explain why, but FF7 has more lefties than any other Final Fantasy game. We covered Sephiroth in one of our previous articles, but it doesn’t end there. Besides being the only female monk and a god-tier waifu in the Final Fantasy franchise, Tifa is (in theory) left-handed. This was difficult to tell in the past, since FF7 game models didn’t have fingers. Nor was there a scene in the film, Advent Children, that indicated her being a southpaw. However, the giveaway comes from her fighting stance.
In material arts, you commonly take a ready stance with your weaker hand leading. In every rendition ever since 1997, Tifa has always been animated with her right hand leading. So Tifa is part of the left-hander’s club.
Is Tifa your favorite Final Fantasy waifu, too? Take a look at our newest figurine of her, featuring the Exotic Style dress from FF7R.
Raphael (Soul Calibur)
Raphael’s been a staple character for the franchise ever since he was first introduced in Soul Calibur II. Suave, sexy, handsome, French, and devilishly deadly with a rapier! Born into a family of nobles, he was considered off-putting due to his cool and quiet demeanor. When his actions made him an outcast, on the run from the law, it was Amy that hid him and nursed him back to health. As thanks, he took her under his guidance and trained her in swordplay. Coincidentally, they’re both left-handed.
Reimu Hakurei (Touhou Project)
I can’t pretend to know anything about Touhou. I played Mountain of Faith in college out of curiosity and was engrossed by the gameplay but didn’t read the dialogue at all. With that said, the little shrine maiden and investigator of the supernatural is among the characters with an inky-pinky.
Reimu was revealed to be left-handed in one of the manga adaptations titled Strange and Bright Nature Deity, written by ZUN and illustrated by Makoto Hirasaka. During this, Reimu comments saying that she prefers holding her chopsticks in her left hand and is left-handed. However, in the same series, she is illustrated using a pen in her right hand. Whether she is just used to writing with her right hand, ambidextrous, or this being an error on Hirasaka’s part is unknown.
Fiore (Sailor Moon: Promise of the Rose)
In the first Sailor Moon movie, The Promise of the Rise, Fiore is the antagonist. Not much is known about his origin other than he’s an alien who drifted aimlessly through space until he found Earth. As a child, he was weak and taken in by the same hospital as Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask). The two became friends, but it was a short-lived connection. When Fiore was strong enough to resume his space travel, Mamoru gave him a parting gift — a single rose. Fiore promised to return to Earth and give Mamoru something from space to show how much he treasured their friendship.
Years later, he returned to Earth as an adult, possessed by the Xenian Flower. Under her control, he spread seeds across Tokyo, infesting it with alien plantlife that fed off hatred until the Xenian flower was strong enough to devour the planet.
Although never stated by the character designer or in any official production document, Fiore’s a lefty. He only fights with his left hand.
Melanie and Bruno (Voice of Cards)
Okay, this is a bit of a stretch, but given how the game is set up, it’s easy to believe it has a few lefties. Voice of Cards is told entirely through illustrations on virtual trading cards. Which means we can only go by how characters are drawn. Melanie and Bruno are both drawn holding weapons in their left hand, even if Bruno’s sword is just a showy prop.
