The following characters are needed alive (not LP-killed) for these events to occur:
- Thomas: to recruit Sara, to trigger the Find Gon quest & the first phase of the Business minigame, & to access the Trade Agent in Pidona.
- Herman/Black: to trigger the Chase after Maximus.
- Bai Meiling / Yan Fan [SFC only]: You will get stuck and be unable to proceed to the last phase of the game 1) if you close the 4th Gate with Bai Meiling in your party and LP-kill her right after closing the Gate (Bai Meiling is nowhere to be found and talking to Yan Fan won't do anything), or 2) if you close the 4 Gates, head East for the first time, are joined by Bai Meiling & Yan Fan for the Zelnams quest and LP-kill Yan Fan at that point (Bai Meiling is miraculously revived if you try to kill her and a glitched dialogue occurs, but no Yan Fan to start the Mass Combat).


Note that all LP-killed characters are revived after closing an Abyss Gate.