My friends and I used to "assign" characters to ourselves whenever we'd play rpgs with a big cast. There's usually someone for everyone, or else you get to make fun of the friend that's stuck as the talking animal or the opposite gender. We were also like ten (but still do it thirteen years later). I was Frog, my buddy with the long hair was Magus. That was the dynamic we used to relate to the game. Frog is still my favorite, and even though I haven't seen him in several years, Joe probably still loves Magus. Those two are the only ones in the party that get backstory shown in more than one flashback. I know what Lucca looked like as a child from the single time you go into her past, yes. And even Marle looked like the other little blonde haired white girls in the Millenial Fair. But you see Glenn grow up into a knight, then you see it get taken away. Brilliant. You meet Magus. Later, you see this little shit running around a magic island brigning everybody down. You meet the prophet, albeit indirectly. But then it all turns out to be the same person. I think these types of revelations are where the fan obsession comes from. Seeing what one of your favorite game's characters as a child and seeing them interact with others and understanding the development from that to what you know and accept as the "current" version, the adult version, definitely creates a bond between character and player. That's my two pennies and you can take em or leave em in the 7-11 jar.
