Yoshitaka Amano (天野 喜孝, Amano Yoshitaka^?) is an artist who designed many characters in the Final Fantasy series as well as for other series. He is a native of Shizuoka, Japan.

His uniqueness in his designs are such that he does not design images directly for animation or comics. Amano's art revolves around the medium of printmaking. Printmaking involves processes such as carving wood and/or scoring copper plates, running ink, and transferring ink to paper. Aside from woodcut and copper plate prints, Amano also uses the method of lithography. He typically uses acrylics to color his prints, using an effect resembling watercolor, and many of his works are influenced by ukiyo-e aesthetics.

To this day Amano has drawn and designed most of the main characters and prominent points in the iconic games of the series. He designed the characters and most of the enemies for Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. He was also one of several designers for Final Fantasy IX. In Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X, he also drew several pieces of art of the characters, for which he is credited as an Image Illustrator.

More recently, he has illustrated Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Greg Rucka's Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer, mink's Shinjuku, and his own Hero series. He has occasionally returned to working on anime, such as the surreal Angel's Egg, as well as experimental works such as Fantascope: Tylostoma, and the more mainstream NY Salad: Vegetable Fairies. In addition to the Final Fantasy series, he has also worked as character designer for the Front Mission game series, and "Kartia". He has also appeared as the character Hiroshi in the live action movie New Rose Hotel. (More...)

Promotional poster of Final Fantasy VII as it appeared in issue #196 of Electronic Gaming Monthly, depicting the cast of Playable Characters and the game's main antagonist. Indisputably popular amongst the fandom, Final Fantasy VII is to this day the best-selling entry in the series.