![]() ![]() Balthier, known as Balflear ( Directed by Hiroshi Minagawa, Hiroyuki Itô. With Bobby Edner, Catherine Taber, Gideon Emery, Nicole Fantl. War is on the horizon. Seeking to strengthen its base of. ![]() Fran is a playable character in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. She is a viera and is Balthier's partner aboard his airship, the Strahl. Balthier, real name Ffamran mied Bunansa, is a playable character in Final Fantasy XII. Her proficiency with a blade is matched only by her skill with a wrench, as she also handles the maintenance of Balthier's airship, the Strahl. The lifespan of the viera is far greater than that of humes, and many secrets lie hidden in her long history. Yet the divide of race does nothing to diminish the bond of trust between her and Balthier.—Game manual. Fran is a playable character in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. She is a viera and is Balthier's partner aboard his airship, the Strahl. Fran is the only non- hume character in the main cast. Her title is . Fran's eyelashes are black despite her white hair, ears and eyebrows. Her long, leporine ears are covered in white fur with speckles of brown fur at the tips. She has red eyes, a trait not uncommon to her race. She keeps her waist- long hair in a ponytail and leave the shorter pieces to frame her face. Because of the way viera's feet are structured, Fran must walk wearing stilettos. Fran is the tallest playable character in Final Fantasy XII, and her viera ears make her seem even taller. Part of the material of her bodysuit and leg- wear is metal adorned with filigree. The front of her armor is open with a sheer piece of fabric covering her stomach. Fran wears black elbow- length sleeves with red trimming fastened across her collar bone with a silver clip, slightly lower than the black band she wears around her neck. Her forearms are covered in armor similar in design to her bodice and leg- wear. She wears a headgear adorned in a way similar to her bodice. The headgear has openings for her long ears, and her hair tends to show around the sides. Fran wears open two- heeled stilettos with a claw- like design at the toes. I won my freedom. Yet my past has been cut away forever. No longer can my ears hear the Green Word. This solitude, you want, Mjrn?—Fran to Mjrn. As a viera, she is sensitive to Mist and can sense it in a way similar to smell. ![]() Having left her homeland, Fran has lost many of the viera's natural talents, such as the ability to . She is reserved more among people of other races and as Fran rarely displays emotion, surprising her comrades when she loses her temper in Mist Frenzy. Fran speaks in a calm tone with a distinct accent, but rarely speaks to people she doesn't know; when she first meets Vaan she lets her sky pirate partner Balthier do the talking. When offended, she will act expressionlessly cold, such as when Vaan inappropriately asks her about her age. Although Fran likes to keep her distance, she is loyal to her friends and family. She cares deeply for her sisters in her homeland despite claiming to be their sister no longer, having abandoned the viera way of life. It is implied that Fran feels lonely and sorrowful for having left her family behind, as she warns her sister of following in her path, explaining it only leads to a life of solitude. Fran smiles upon learning that Jote still cares for her, and appears amused when Balthier acts exasperated at Reddas's assumption that Vaan is Balthier's apprentice. While Fran and Balthier keep their relationship professional, at times a romantic interest is hinted at. In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Fran states Balthier's methods of wooing her were different from Tomaj's of flowers and gifts. She has two sisters: Jote and Mjrn. It is hinted they are blood sisters, as Fran tells Mjrn only one sister remains to her before leaving the woods. It appears Jote is the eldest of the three, while Mjrn is the youngest, based on their behavior and positions in Eruyt Village. Considering Fran's age, Fran could have met Balthier during any time in his life. It is never hinted how long they have known each other, or if Fran even knows about Balthier's past. When the Archadian Imperial Fleet attacks the palace to quell the Resistance that has emerged to disrupt the palace fete, Fran rides Balthier and Vaan away on a hoverbike to escape the chaos and crashes in the Garamsythe Waterway due to the Goddess's Magicite draining the bike's engines. The woman they end up working with, calling herself . The group is captured and Balthier, Fran and Vaan are thrown into the Nalbina Dungeons. Fran, being a viera, senses a way out, and in the deepest reaches of the dungeons the group finds Basch fon Ronsenburg and team up with him. They are betrayed by a Resistance member Vossler who turns them in on the Empire. This never happens again, but whenever the party enters an area thick in Mist they ensure Fran is okay. To get to Mt Bur- Omisace the group must pass the Golmore Jungle, but magickal barriers prevent their entry. Fran knows the barriers have been set up by the viera and reveals a path to Eruyt Village despite knowing she is not welcome there, having abandoned the viera way of life as protectors of the forest. Once in the village they discover Fran's sister, Mjrn, has gone missing. They find her from the depths of Henne Mines, being possessed by Venat and thus being driven insane. Fran's other sister, Jote, gives the party an item to let them through the magick barriers. Before departing Fran asks Jote to listen to the woods' voice for her as she no longer can, having spent too long a time away from the woods. Jote tells Fran the wood longs for her, envious of the hume that has stolen one of its own. Fran smiles and says, . The Mist escaping from the Cryst affects Fran and she collapses. Cid is defeated and dies, his body fading into the Mist, Fran repeats his final words to Balthier, urging him to escape, although he refuses to leave her behind. After defeating Vayne, Bahamut's power goes out, and is about to fall on Rabanastre. Balthier and Fran stay behind to fix Bahamut's glossier rings and save Rabanastre, though Fran is injured by falling debris. Bahamut crash- lands outside the city and the pair is thought to have perished. When looking to protect the Auraliths Vaan meets Fran again, alone, and saves her from Ba'Gamnan. Vaan protests and the party end up fighting him and Fran. But afterward it turns out Balthier was only trying to free the aegyl by destroying the Auraliths that suck away their anima, and Fran and Balthier join Vaan's party. From then on, Fran helps the party to find the Judge of Wings and destroy Feolthanos. In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Fran stays as a ranged unit. In the original release, Fran's stats are low in all areas, but in the Zodiac Job System releases, her stats have been considerably tweaked, including having the best Vitality at level 9. Her skills vary, including different status inflicting ones to some White Magick related spells like Dispelga. Her Quickening, Gaze of the Void, removes all buffs on enemies. It can be obtained by defeating Exodus. In the Japanese release she is voiced by Rika Fukami, who also provided the voice of Sailor Venus in the Sailor Moon series. While the medieval tone comes from the original game, the localizers could decide on the specific accents the characters would use and voice models were used to guide the writing: Fran's was the Icelandic singer Bjork. After the translators explained their reasonings to . Fran's hair costs 1. It includes a poseable figure, an extra set of hands and a bow and an arrow. This signifies her freedom as a sky pirate and freedom from the Wood. Characters of Final Fantasy XII. Promotional image of the six playable characters, including one guest character. Top from left: Larsa, Ashe, Basch, Balthier and Fran. Bottom from left: Vaan and Penelo. Final Fantasy XII, a role- playing video game released by Square Enix in 2. Dalmasca from the Archadian Empire. The story is told through the eyes of Vaan, an orphan who wishes to be a sky pirate, and the cadre of other characters he encounters throughout the adventure. The visuals of the characters were designed by Akihiko Yoshida, while their stories were created by Yasumi Matsuno. The characters were designed to look and behave unlike any that had existed in the Final Fantasy series. Their stories were written to create a script where neither side was truly right or wrong, but instead just had different opinions and interpretations of the events occurring in the game. There are a total of 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 over him. Other major characters who influence the plot of the game but are not playable characters include Vayne, the eldest prince of Archadia and main antagonist of the story, Gabranth, the twin brother of Basch, and Cid, a brilliant scientist and father to Balthier. The characters in the game have been the basis of several pieces of merchandise produced by Square Enix, such as statues, action figures, and jewelry. They have been subject to mixed reviews; some reviews have applauded the characters' dialogue and relationships to each other, while others dismissed the story and characters as uninteresting. Critiques of the voice acting for the characters has also been mixed, with different reviews either praising or criticizing both the acting and the technical quality of the recordings. Cast creation and influences. It was his first involvement in a main- series Final Fantasy game, though he worked as the character designer for Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, both of which were set in the same game world as XII, Ivalice. Comments have been made about the similarity between Yoshida's creations and those of Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer for Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, and XIII. Yoshida feels this connection is sparked by the style of color used by both artists, which involves a color consistency between the characters and the environments. He tried to create designs and clothing that did not exist anywhere in real life and had never been seen before, designing for example the armor for the Judges on a combination of historical armor, mountain bike gear, and futuristic ideas. 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. He also said he tried to create a scenario in which neither side was truly right or wrong, but instead just had different interpretations of the events in the game. Alexander O. Smith, the English translator for the game, included accents to the characters for the English version of the game to add a layer of depth to the game by having characters from different areas of Ivalice sound different. He based these accents off the extensive notes made by game designer Yasumi Matsuno on the backgrounds of the characters. Smith chose voice actors for the project who had stage and film acting experience, in an attempt to avoid the common problem of . In the game humans are referred to as Humes. Some of the races in the game that first appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, such as Bangaa, were originally designed for Final Fantasy XII. When asked about the characters' revealing clothing, Yoshida commented that . He is a 1. 7- year- old orphaned Hume street urchin who lost his parents in a plague when he was 1. He makes a living as Migelo's assistant, running various errands for him, while at the same time pickpocketing from Archadian soldiers while claiming to take back what is Dalmasca's. Vaan dreams of someday becoming a sky pirate in command of his own airship. He is given the title of the . With the casting of Kouhei Takeda for the voice acting and motion capture, however, Vaan became a little less feminine and more . Vaan also made appearances in other video games; despite having been created for Final Fantasy XII, Vaan was first introduced in the 2. Itadaki Street Special for the Play. Station 2. The only living child of King Raminas and the sole heir to the throne. Her husband died in the battle to protect Nalbina Fortress directly following their marriage, (on the border of fellow Nabradia, Rasler's home state), making Ashe a young widow. While many believed their marriage was driven by politics, she spent the two years following his death in mourning and continued to wear her wedding ring. Along the course of the story, the Occuria created an image of the late Rasler to lead Ashe wherever they needed her to go. In their encounter, the Occuria offered her nethicite to rule as another Dynast- King, and conquer Ivalice in their stead. A year after the Bahamut's crash, Ashe is crowned Queen of Dalmasca and eventually rejoins her friends in protecting the peace from the mysterious Judge of Wings in Revenant Wings. We were given orders from the start to not make her look like an Asian. But we modified her a bit to look more like a Japanese for the sake of the Japanese audience, and also since a character that looks completely French makes some of the CG expressions difficult. Despite having been created for Final Fantasy XII, she was first introduced in the 2. Itadaki Street Special. He and his twin brother Noah are natives of the Republic of Landis, which was conquered by the Archadians long before the events of the game. When Landis was overthrown, Basch fled to Dalmasca and Noah to Archadia, and the brothers lost contact. Basch joined the Dalmascan army, eventually rising to become one of its most respected officers. When Archadia attacked Nalbina Fortress, Basch and Ashe's husband, Lord Rasler Heios, led the defense. Basch carried Rasler's body from the battlefield and went into hiding with the surviving commanders of the Dalmascan military. 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 to be captured by Imperial forces. His brother Noah, now called Gabranth and in the employ of Archadia, posed as Basch and slew the Dalmascan king and Vaan's older brother, Reks, who witnessed the crime. Basch was denounced by the Dalmascans as a traitor and reportedly executed by Marquis Ondore. Though all three were initially suspicious of him (especially Vaan, who blamed him for Reks's death), Basch protested his innocence and told them about his twin. The party decided his story was plausible and released him. Basch explained that his vow to defend Ashe had given him purpose and a renewed sense of honor. In Revenant Wings, Basch is sent by Larsa to be the Empire's representative in dealing with the Judge of Wings. He also appears in Itadaki Street Portable. She dreams of being a dancer, and learned martial arts from her older brothers. Migelo, a friend to Penelo's parents, took them under his care and gave them work at his sundry shop. Penelo is usually trying to keep Vaan out of trouble, but she could not stop Vaan from intruding into the palace grounds. This encounter forced her into a series of events, when she was kidnapped by Bangaa headhunter Ba'gamnan and held as hostage in exchange for Balthier. When she managed to escape, she met with Larsa Solidor, one of the sons of Archadian Emperor Gramis, who took care of her and convinced her he wished to make peace with Dalmasca. When she is finally reunited with Vaan, she made him promise not to leave her side, and ever since traveled with Vaan, furthering their relationship as sky pirate and partner. In the backstory of Final Fantasy XII, she has terrible cooking skills, despite being the motherly figure to the other orphans, and in the sequel, she is trying her best to improve her skills by running a diner on the Galbana. Penelo also appears in Itadaki Street Portable. He and his Viera companion, Fran, prefer to remain outside politics, making their living off of whomever has the most for the taking. Vaan gets to the magicite first, and when Balthier and Fran confront him, the three of them are caught up in the chaos of a rebel assault on the palace. Balthier is Archadian by birth (as evidenced by his English accent, which is used by Archadian characters in the game), and eventually reveals he is Ffamran mied Bunansa (. Cid (Cidolfus Demen Bunansa). Balthier received many privileges as Cid's son, including being made an Imperial Judge, but eventually cut ties with his father when Cid became consumed by his experimentation with nethicite. Balthier is now a renowned career criminal with a sizable bounty on his head, and must be careful to avoid the attention of both the law and the bounty hunters seeking the reward for his capture. He originally joins the resistance in the hope of reacquiring the Dusk Shard, but when he learns 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. Cid at the Pharos, Balthier makes peace with his father and helps the group to destroy the Sky Fortress Bahamut as penance for Cid's deeds. Balthier says that he is to be the .
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