Characters of Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII, a role-playing video game released by Square Enix in 2006, revolves around the attempt to liberate the kingdom of Dalmasca from the Archadian Empire.
There are six main playable characters in Final Fantasy XII; Vaan, an energetic orphan of Rabanastre who dreams of becoming a sky pirate; Ashe, a determined princess of Dalmasca who lost her husband in the Archadian invasion; Basch, a disgraced knight of Dalmasca charged with treason for slaying the king; Balthier, a gentlemanly sky pirate who pilots his airship, the Strahl; Fran, Balthier's partner and a viera exile whose knowledge extends to legends and myths; and Penelo, Vaan's childhood friend who accompanies him in journeys to keep an eye on him.
In the bonus disc interview, he states that he endeavored to create characters that were neither fully good nor evil, adding flaws such as selfishness to the heroes and virtues such as kindness to the villains, in an attempt to make them more realistic.
[2] Comparing the non-human races in Final Fantasy IX with those of XII, the developers have stated that the former were modeled after humans, while the latter were fundamentally different in terms of biological characteristics.
[9] He trains to meet this goal by killing large dire rats in the sewers of Rabanastre on a daily basis, for which Dalan gave him the nickname "Vaan Ratsbane".
He would have been even more effeminate if Kouhei Takeda had not been cast for his voice acting and motion capture, and Vaan became more "active, upbeat, bright and positive" than originally planned.
Shortly after the Archadians moved in to occupy Rabanastre, he and Captain Azelas led an assault on Nalbina Fortress in an attempt to save the king, only for Imperial forces to capture him.
Noah, now called Gabranth and employed under Archadia, posed as Basch and slew the Dalmascan king and Vaan's older brother, Reks, who witnessed the crime.
[16] Penelo (パンネロ, Pannero) is a 17-year-old (16-year-old in the Japanese version) Hume orphan and Vaan's childhood friend, who serves as a voice of reason and keeps him out of trouble.
After escaping, she meets Larsa Solidor, one of the sons of Archadian Emperor Gramis, who takes care of her and convinces her he wishes to make peace with Dalmasca.
[16] Balthier, known as Balflear (バルフレア, Barufurea) in the original Japanese language version, is a 22-year-old Hume sky pirate and owner of the airship Strahl (German for "streak" or "beam" [of light]).
He originally joins the resistance in hopes of reacquiring the Dusk Shard, but after learning it is actually a piece of nethicite, he sees too much of his father's obsession in his own quest and decides to abandon the search.
Like all Viera, she is sensitive to the magical Mist that permeates Ivalice, and is affected by it on three separate occasions: in the Tomb of Raithwall, when Judge Ghis heats the Dawn Shard in his airship's engine, and when in the presence of the Sun-Cryst.
Fran once lived with her sisters Jote and Mjrn in Eruyt Village, the secluded Viera settlement in Golmore Jungle, but became restless and desired to see the outside world.
[49] The Senate, however, fears Vayne's growing power and the perceived threat to their own, and thus plot from the beginning of the game to place Larsa on the throne in hopes of manipulating him from behind the scenes.
[51] Larsa helps Vaan and company escape from the Leviathan and later joins them again at Jahara, urging Ashe to use her influence on the Resistance to prevent an aggravation between the warring countries.
Vayne Carudas Solidor (ヴェイン・カルダス・ソリドール, Vein Karudasu Soridōru) is the third son of Emperor Gramis and Larsa's older brother, as well as the main antagonist of Final Fantasy XII.
[66] After the fall of Landis years prior to the start of the game, Basch left for Dalmasca, leaving behind Noah and their mother, who was suffering from an illness at the time.
Gabranth is later sent to Pharos to "test" Ashe if she would take revenge, attacking the group in rage when they refuse to exact vengeance for the wrongs against them as he had; he leaves after his defeat and the arrival of Cid.
Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (シドルファス・デム・ブナンザ, Shidorufasu Demu Bunanza), also known as Doctor Cid, is a fifty-eight-year-old Archadian Hume scientist and head of the Draklor Laboratory in Archades.
He is being blackmailed by Vayne, who forced him to announce the execution of Basch and the death of Ashe in an attempt to keep the resistance from trusting him or accepting his support.
They were responsible for the creation of the Espers and granting power to King Raithwall to conquer the countries of Ivalice with the Dawn, Dusk, and Midlight shards of nethicite.
Venat's ambitions are ultimately fulfilled when Ashe resists the Occurians' plans and Reddas destroys the Sun-Cryst, later sacrificing itself to give Vayne his power while proclaiming they will die together, as it has accomplished what it set out to do.
A character sharing Venat's name appears in Final Fantasy XIV; like her namesake, she is a dissenting member of her race that set the events of the game into motion.
In conjunction with the game's release, Square Enix has produced a lineup of merchandise including jewelry, action figures and other goods related to the characters.
Praises were given by Calvin Smith of PSX Extreme, who stated that the characters are "classy and well thought out, an ensemble cast whose players rarely descend into needless melodrama or writhing angst".
Balthier and Fran's relationship was compared to Han Solo and Chewbacca of Star Wars, being "far more interesting than anything Square's put out in the modern FF era".
[83] IGN editor Jeremy Dunham praised the game and its writers for "evolving the personalities, histories, and motives of characters you already thought you knew, but didn't" and for "capitaliz[ing] on the opportunity to tell you about them".
He also noted the visual and auditory detail of the characters, saying that "each and every model, down to the most obscure NPC, has an immense level of attention paid to them -- from their clothes and facial expressions, to their walking and idle animations" and that the voice acting was "top-notch".
[88] RPGFan editor Stephen Harris, while praising the quality of most of the voice acting and especially Balthier's, criticized Fran's as "monotone and subdued" with an "indecipherable accent".
