Why They Want The Orbs...
 

BM: Must channel dark magics and cause death and destruction..

Thief: Must find Pawn Shop....no questions asked

Red Mage: Oooh, Stat-increasing!

Fighter.....Shiny like swords!

Isn't it just Fighter's gig?

I thought that they were all doing him a favor. Thief is the ringleader because he can make a profit on it. RM is there because it sounds like a good plan (Which it isn't, really, which is why he's there) And BM was dragged in by Fighter's good graces.

It'll pay off in the end.

Also, they want them so they can get them to King Steve. King Steve cannot manifest himself as Chaos without them.

Moving to the 8-Bit section.

Wait wait, do they have to go through every element of orb or is there only earth? Forgive me. I never finished FF1

Yeah.
4 Orbs. 4 Elements. 4 Fiends.

None of those are close. Thief is doing it to help Elfland because of the rotting and damage to the kingdom and such, Fighters doing it because he likes adventure, RM for stat's and BM because he was dragged into it by contract.

Realy, they do as the animator chooses.
But, I agree with the Shoe. BM may be after WM as well.

RM is doing it not only for the stats, but think about the mass of quest experience you could get from removing the soul form the orb, slaying the great beast, and saving the world from the earth rot? Now just multiply that by 4 for each orb, and thats epic levels worth of exp. Not to mention the horde of magic items that are bound to be found in their travels. +3/+3 Girdle of Endurance.

I'm sure they will end up having reasons to get each orb. Thief had the Earth Orb to count on. I think that each light warrior will end up with an orb matching his past.
The last one might be fighter, with the fire orb.

BTW, wouldn't a girdle REDUCE his endurance? They DO push on the lungs.

Actually, since 8-bit theatre takes place in the Middle Ages, and a girdle was originally like a belt back then, I don't see how a girdle could push on the lungs if it was wrapped around the waist. And if I'm wrong, blame it on my history teacher.