Final Fantasy V, a video game with a setting that spans two worlds and a back-story spanning a millennium, features an array of characters. The game has five player characters, with as many as four in the party at a time. The game contains a number of the Final Fantasy series' recurring characters, such as Cid, and even chocobos play some major roles. Many other Final Fantasy V characters share similarities with those in other installments. As with the characters of Final Fantasy VI and other games in the franchise, the promotional art for Final Fantasy V's came from Yoshitaka Amano, who has received praise for his contributions to the series. However, the characters in Final Fantasy V and other aspects of the game are matters of conflicting opinions.

Final Fantasy V was directed by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi who, prior to the release of Final Fantasy IX, called it his favorite Final Fantasy game. The character designs were done by Kazuko Shibuya, who also designed the game's character sprites. Several of the monsters were designed by Yoshitaka Amano, who was also commissioned for the game's promotional artwork. The rest of the monsters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Amano has stated that he counts his depictions of both Faris from Final Fantasy V and Terra from VI among his favorite Final Fantasy designs. The writing of the scenario text was a collaborative effort between Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase. Sakaguchi conceived the plot and was in charge of it, while Kitase tried to include more humor to lighten up the relatively serious story.

Bartz Klauser (バッツ・クラウザー, Battsu Kurauzā; Butz Klauser in original Japanese language version) is the protagonist of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy V. He is a twenty-year-old wanderer with a fear of heights, and becomes entangled in the quest to protect the Crystals when he helps Princess Lenna and Galuf escape a goblin-filled area on their way to the Wind Shrine. Bartz is connected to the element of Wind.

Bartz was born in the small town of Lix to Dorgann Klauser, one of the Warriors of Dawn from the second world, and a local woman named Stella (her maiden name is unknown). Stella died of an unknown illness when Bartz was three (she said that she had been suffering from spasms, and collapsed after walking offscreen), leaving him to be raised by his father. Dorgann died when Bartz was seventeen, and it is implied from his dying wish to be buried in the village he finally settled in, with his wife. His parting advice to his son was to wander the world.

Three years later, Bartz is traveling in the Tycoon area when he rescues a young woman being attacked by goblins. She thanks him and tells him that she is looking for her father at the Wind Shrine. Not long afterwards, a meteor crashes and an amnesiatic old man emerges. He and Lenna decide to travel to the Wind Shrine together, but Bartz decides to continue his wanderings. His chocobo stops him, however, and he goes back to help the pair fight off goblins again. It is at that point that Bartz decides that his father would have wanted him to find out what was happening to the Crystals, and joins Lenna and Galuf.

From there, Bartz travels with the party, which is later augmented by the pirate Faris. It seems unclear as to why he is the apparent leader (or at least the character present on the world map) of the group until he beats Kelger's Lupine Attack, something that his father, Dorgann, had taught him. It is revealed to him then that his father was one of the Warriors of Dawn, though he had never told his son (however, a young Bartz overheard his parents talking, with his father asking Stella to promise not to tell Bartz about what he did to protect the Crystals). Bartz's direct descendant became one of the new Warriors of Dawn 200 years later.

In the original 1992 release of the game, the official Japanese guides romanized his name as Butz. In the Anthology release, much criticized for its translation quality, he was named Bartz. The Advance release saw significant improvement in the translation and a restoration of many of the 1992 romanizations, but the character's name remained Bartz. Though no reasons have been given, the Anthology spelling does avoid the possibility of pronouncing his name the same as "butts." However, unlike the other characters, Bartz can be renamed if the player so chooses.

Bartz is the hero representing Final Fantasy V in Dissidia Final Fantasy, where he is voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi in the Japanese version, and Jason Spisak in the English version. He is also featured in the rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a character representing Final Fantasy V.