[FFXIII] Character Analysis Post (Part II)

[phoeny]

Before I begin, there will be spoilers. I repeat, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. ESPECIALLY FOR THE ENDING OF FINAL FANTASY XIII. I'm only focusing on the Playable Characters plus Serah.

{TL;DR MATERIAL. BUT GREAT FOR FICS!}

Notes: Eugh...I've been a bad writer and neglecting my prompts for two days now. I haven't found the motivation needed to write. Hence, a character analysis post, PART DEUX. I'm still clearing off the writing plate, so I guess this counts? IDK.

ETA: Nope, found it! :D Turns out I need energy drinks to write? I smell a dependency soon...

Apologies for any spelling errors. It's currently 1:30am here.

Part I (Serah and Lightning) is over here.
Part III (Snow and Hope) over here.

Let's continue, people!


Ahh, Fang. How do I describe you? *Looks at icon and drools* From the first time I saw Oerba Yun Fang, I KNEW she was a keeper. Total badassery, finally someone able to rival Lightning's! And I've been harboring my ~feelings~ on Lightning ever since the original screenshots. To find that another potential PLAYABLE character can match up to her? I SMELLED ALPHA DOMINANCE RIVALRY already.

As I've said in Part I, Fang is very similar to Lightning. However, Fang is more flirtatious, and prone to her emotional breakdowns. However, mess with her; she will cut you, and she will make sure you know it. Fang is...the "stranger" of the group. No one really knows what she's thinking, sometimes not even Vanille. She exudes the mysterious vibe, and that is part of her appeal. For all her head-strong exterior, she really has a soft center, and she shows it more often than Light. She was also the last one to join the party too.

What little we do know is in relation to Vanille. They both were in the War of Transgression, in which it was Fang herself that transformed into Ragnarok and scarred Cocoon. The fact that she was the physical manifestation of "The End of the World", it bears a heavy burden on her, even though she pretends to be flippant about it. There is some sort of expectation to do it again, this time, completely obliterating Cocoon.
She lived 500 years of her life encased in a crystal, even though Vanille was with her, there's always a sense of isolation, like there's a conscious in the back of her mind that constantly says to her, "you don't belong here". I believe that is why she's wary of strangers, especially Cocoon folk, as she tried to decimate their utopia, but ultimately failed.

In short, I interpret Fang's motivation, her drive, is based on a sense of belonging, a longing for family in the current timeline. It's why she tries so hard to protect Vanille, her "link" to the past. (I see a pattern emerging). Fang likes to think of herself as self-sufficient, and in many ways she is, except for this aspect. As a writer, I find her dialogue kind of easy to nail (not as much as Light's though), but there's always a doubt in my mind that I'm doing it wrong. Her natural charm draws in various types of people; the Cavalry definitely noticed her. Fang is as raw as her namesake implies, but I find it hard to analyze her, because of the mystery. It's not like Serah, who I wish for more character development, but Fang HAS character development, and the pieces are subtle.

I do know, that failure isn't an option for Fang. She has to know if it's going to come out good enough. Bahamut was summoned because of her despair over NOT knowing what will happen, the uncertainty of it all fueling her hopelessness. It takes a lot to corner Fang, but once you do, she breaks down, like a fang chipped off; a sharp tooth able to cut, a crude weapon; at the same time a breakable piece of enamel. We also see this with Orphan; strike the weak links, and she'll turn into dust, a willing tool.

Shipping Tendencies/Major Character Interaction:

Vanille: HEAVY SUBTEXT SO DENSE PEOPLE WILL JUDGE YOU IF YOU'RE NOT CONVINCED FANILLE IS A CANON LESBO COUPLE. *sigh* First of all, I would like to state right here that regardless of whether or not you interpret all their interactions as being more than "sisterly", it doesn't matter. Square-Enix never explicitly said "OH BTW FIRST LESBIAN CANON COUPLE L.O. FUCKING L." So this ship. IS NOT CANON.
Now, I ship this pairing, among others, because...I totally saw the subtext. Like I've said before, Fanille is like Farroncest...but not "genetic". Now Fang would totally go for Vanille, why not? As long as Vanille reciprocates in the appropriate manner, there's really nothing that's getting in the way of them becoming a couple...besides the whole l'cie thing all game long. AND BEYOND. IMO, I think this is the closest Square has hinted at a lesbian relationship, and I'm so excited. Rejoice, people, not fight over shipping wars, jeez.
I definitely think it could be romantic, that Fang grew up with Vanille, since they're in the same village and all, and as she said, she would "tear down the sky" for Vanille. That...is a glaringly obvious indication that they are close. How close, is interpreted by the fans. Romantic, or platonic, this ship has ended on a good note...or about as good as the ending can get. Again, would the Westermarck Effect influence a more...platonic relationship? Honestly, I don't think Fang would give a shit if it was wrong; she can't help who she loves. She just hopes Vanille feels the same. D'aww.

Lightning: OH SHIT THE BEST LOOKING COUPLE. XD I think I've pretty much outlined my thoughts on this ship in Light's section, but from Fang's POV, she is allured by the soldier. Heck, based on their similar situations, I think Light is basically the most important Cocoon person to Fang, and Fang...doesn't really give much of a damn with Cocoon folk and their culture in general. Somehow, Lightning made her think twice about her generalizations, and vice versa. With these two, we're getting both sides of the whole Cocoon vs. Pulse thing going on.

Snow: No romantic context, whatsoever. Although Fang might be so amused at Snow playing the hero card, and spouting out lines about being a hero. I think Fang would be in Light's boat at every debate between Light and Snow. "Debate". *snerk* I don't exactly find much of a chemistry between these two, but there might be a growing...aura of camaraderie from the two.

Sazh: Oh boy, besides hating to feel like she's a failure, Fang hates feeling any kind of guilt. I remember the scene after rescuing the chocobo (mission 14), that Fang tries her damnedest to own up to her mistakes as well. She tried to apologize to Sazh about Dajh, and found that when Sazh forgave Vanille, so he extended the same courtesy to her. Besides feeling a sense of respect for the man, she's also indebted in a way, very grateful that he protected and accompanied Vanille when she couldn't. I will be exploring the Fang+ Sazh dynamic, as that is barely written. She probably regards Sazh even higher than Light, as Sazh could've killed Vanille, but he didn't.

Hope: Umm...was there even significant interaction between them? Because I honestly can't think of one.

---

Vanille...she was SOOOO annoying the first time I played her. I can admit that. Her voice...took me a while to get used to. Now you can even say it was an "acquired taste" after a while. Also, she runs like a spaz, it's so hilarious.

But nevertheless, Vanille is an enigma. Forget Fang and her mysterious vibe, Vanille perplexes me more. I keep questioning whether the bubbly "persona," if at all, is a facade or not. in any case, she's more than what meets the eye. I kinda do get upset when other fans write Vanille off as nothing more than a nuisance to the game, when it's so obvious she isn't. There's a reason why Square picked her as the voice of the narrator, and I agree with the decision in THIS installment, because it fit with the overall plot. Unlike in XII, where the narrator was Vaan, when it shouldn't be. It should've been Ashe. But I digress.

As Vanille's the narrator, she IS more than beyond the surface of what she claims to be. We see this during her journey with Sazh, when she had her nightmares and crying in the rain. It's the old "I'm masking my inner angst by putting on a cheerful face". The fact that I can pierce through immediately leads me into doubting the original motivation of Vanille's character. How does she fit in this ragtag group of fugitives? What's her drive, her vulnerability, her strength, her essence?

As such, kudos to SE for giving Vanille this kind of backstory. Other people may think of Vanille as a coward for holding off information, practically lying about how she really feels, to the detriment of her own psychological welfare. Nautilus was exactly the chapter I was looking for, when Vanille's mask is finally shattered and she reveals a slew of exposition that suddenly somehow justified the fakeness oozing from her body before. Nobody likes a liar, but can you blame her, is the "ethical dilemma" here.

Given the kind of consequence and treatment of Vanille in the game, we are MEANT to sympathize with her. Even though Fang and Vanille are the oldest playable characters, Vanille is only 19. To know, and be privy to the knowledge that you were responsible for the hatred spewing from Cocoon denizens of Pulse for the last half millennium, what else are you supposed to think? To go off in a pessimistic train of thought will surely render you unable to LIVE your life, so Vanille ran away with thoughts of sunshine and rainbows. She craved for that moment of happiness, constantly chasing a "futile" dream, with thoughts of her focus constantly thrumming in the background. Just imagining what it feels like is emotionally taxing on me already, and I'm only trying to analyze her character. Vision yourself living with it; Vanille mentally self-flagellates to "atone". That is my interpretation of her motivation, her drive.

She wants to atone for what she perceives as being directly responsible, such as Dajh and Serah's branding. Vanille just wants to right all her wrongs; she's the kindest soul in the game.

SHIPPING/ETC.

Fang: Pretty much same thing in Fang's section. Although I think Vanille would have a crush on Fang when they were little, and wouldn't act on it until she saw Fang's sexy adult self. I wouldn't exactly say she reveres Fang, but she seemed like the type to look up to Fang from a very young age, and those feeling eventually matured into romantic ones as they grew up together. Both have a very strong urge to never leave each other, which is why the only solution was to crystallize together...literally for all of eternity spent with each other. What's tragic is that they're frozen as time moves on, placing them in a contradictory position of being with the times yet not being able to progress in the same way. What's unique about this relationship, is that it's heavily implied to be beyond the physical, material plane. It's pretty much spiritual ever since their first crystallization, and reinforced when they made Ragnarök together and recrystallized. I think it can be implied that they are soulmates...canonly.

Lightning: I did say I would expand on this ship. Vanille would make the moves on the soldier, because deep down inside, Vanille wouldn't want to see another person suffering in the same way she's doing. Vanille sees through Light's stoic mask, because it takes one to know one, am I right? And as such, Vanille know it's going to be difficult to break down Light's own mask, and in the process, finally let go of hers. I already stated Vanille's motivation is to atone, and she will, by trying to help Light, because she reminds her of herself...and in a way, Vanille thinks she's indirectly responsible.
Vanille sees the inherent goodness of the soldier, and she could grow to love her (which would probably be torn once she meets Fang, as the both of them are so similar to each other).

Sazh: She did him wrong. He is her drive to atone. Shinaka and I pretty much outlined it out in "Catharsis", a release of the underlying issues in Sazh's forgiveness on the Palamecia. I really love this dynamic, as I kinda shipped it during Vile Peaks, one of the very few positive things coming from that evil place. >:|
If this becomes romantic...ehh, I can see, with much hesitance from Sazh. The guilt sex would be delicious, and this is an angsty ship.

Hope: I'm kind of amused Vanille told Hope to talk to Snow, whereas Vanille couldn't even tell Fang the whole truth. Hee, enigma indeed, Vanille, can your actions be anymore hypocritical? I feel as if their interaction was shifted to the wayside as soon as the larger plot began to set in...around Vile Peaks actually. I dunno, this ship is confusing to me. I will think on it, but I don't really see Vanille going for Hope.

Snow: Umm...no. No comment at this time, but I'm sure good meta can be had since Vanille and Snow are on the player benches for me.

Serah: YES, VANILLE GETS THE COOL INTERNET POINTS OF HAVING ALL SIX CHARACTERS in her section...besides Lightning. Again, in Day 9, Vanille kept repeating "I'm sorry" to Serah, for being branded, that somehow it's Vanille's fault, when it was actually Anima's doing. However, as Anima was the patron of Oerba, so it's plausible Vanille was trying to represent Oerba (it IS part of her name after all) when she apologized. It's not much, but Vanille will try to fix her messes.

---

Sazh is the man! YEA YEA. He wields two guns that somehow turns into an assault rifle. His chicobo knows kung fu, and his Eidolon wears high heels, named after the mightiest female Valkyrie in Norse mythology, wielding a bigass sword.

Oh, and in typical 70s blaxploitation film fashion, he's a black dude sporting an afro. But his jacket is awesome, no sequins or anything like that.

There is no way I'm making this shit up.

How did the developers even come up with these ideas? Did they just randomly started picking pieces of paper out a hat? And how the hell did you get this from Lionel Richie, the inspiration?

Even though Sazh's a comedian, he has...one of the saddest storylines in the game. How he dealt with it...Sazh should be awarded some sort of medal for it. Sazh's the sane one in the group; everyone else is batshit insane in their own little world. Sazh keeps it real. As such, I dunno how anyone finds Sazh annoying. Just because he suggests that we run like crazy, doesn't mean you shouldn't at least consider his advice. For all you know, there's an Oretoise around the corner; you just happened to ignore that last couple of quakes in the ground and he didn't.

I would do it. Run like hell, of course.

I guess because Sazh's the most mature of the characters, that a lot of interpretation from fans...gets simplified. Yea, he's black, he's a comic, he almost is like a stereotype. However, he's a single father as well, and if anyone knows about responsibility, it would be him (and Light). To take care, to raise another being; not anyone has the patience, the effort, the willingness to sacrifice their "leisure" time for someone else.

I've said that Vanille was the kindest soul in the game; the same can be said for Sazh, given the Nautilus chapter, and subsequently the Palamecia chapter as any indication of the goodness found in human beings. Thomas Hobbes would shoot his left foot in response, besides rolling over in his grave.

Truly, Sazh was totally dragged into the l'cie business. Not only was his son a Cocoon l'cie, he became a Pulse l'cie, a split right there. Then he was Purged, because he was in Bodhum and the time, physically split from Dajh, as he boarded the same train as Light. I think he followed her because what else could go wrong at that point? When it rains, it pours.

Much of Sazh's characterization is defined by those two chapters, because that's when he really shines through. Honestly, not a lot of people would be that forgiving, or heck, even in the right mindset to actually think the events though. Once Sazh saw the footage though, he slowly realized Vanille's MO, and his first instinctual instinct was betrayal. Utter betrayal, because his mind was screaming that it WAS her fault; if not for her, Dajh wouldn't be apart from him; they could've left Bodhum early and escaped the Purge, etc. And the culprit was right under his nose.

But he was egged on by Jihl...to kill her. And he didn't. His Eidolon was summoned at the same time, because of his conflicting emotions. Brynhildr was Sazh's tether back from his rage, his despair, his hopelessness. She was a forceful reminder that they were a team regardless, to somehow forgive her for her mistakes. Once Vanille said to shoot her, he knew she was in pain. He was in pain as well, but he had to make her see how he felt; he could forgive her later.

Comparing Sazh to the others, he isn't the most "attention-grabbing" but Sazh isn't trying to be a hero. Because that's reckless. Keep on truckin', cool dude.

SHIPPING, ETC.

Vanille: Yea, if I hadn't said it enough, she was his catalyst in Nautilus. Suddenly everything made sense coming from her. As first, he regarded her as kind of an oddball to say the least. Like how could she be so damn cheery all the time, but as they were a team together, he realized that no it's not true. But what was she hiding?

Erm, in terms of romantic subtext, I COULD see it, but as with Lightning, Vanille would have to push and push some more to even have it considered.

Lightning: Another if. I guess he was more intrigued by what she was up to during the Purge, and that landed him into unnecessary bigger troubles. Then again, he did find out the truth, otherwise he would've been one of those Cocoon citizens. Just like if Light didn't have Serah taken away from her, she would've been one of those soldiers. Ignorance is contagious. I think I outlined most of my thoughts, in that this is a ship of mutual respect (just like Fang and him)m but hardly any romantic subtext.

Fang: I kinda think he sees her as Vanille's big sis, and one of the outspoken advocates of Gran Pulse ever. His own ignorance comes into question every time Fang corrects him on what Gran Pulse really is. Again, not much of a romantic subtext.

Snow: YO BRO. SUP OLD MAN? I can see "bromance", without any of the obvious "romance" in it. He/Snow/Fang should be known as the trinity of prankers. I can see it now...as they are in the reserves, snickering at each other's stories. Then again, that means dumping Light with Vanille and Hope, and why would you do that to her? She hates kids.

Hope:...NO. It will not happen. :/ Sazh might watch him as a kid though, just like his own, but that's mostly because Hope's the youngest member.



SAZH FOR LATER. MY NECK IS STIFF.
ETA: Shipping later.

ETAx2: OMFG, FINALLY DONE. X.X SNOW/HOPE LAST PART, GODDAMN.

Part III (Snow and Hope) over here.

Comments

[aznphoenixx.livejournal.com]

Got distracted with NaNo...and Sazh's character analysis.

I remember the accent thing! Of course, they were also doing it to Vanille as well, but it wasn't blatantly obvious WHAT Vanille was trying to be.

It's definitely not a "mask", as it is part of her true self, that she's naturally flirty and charismatic and knows how to manipulate those attributes to her advantage.

Frankly speaking I think Fang was tired of being an "orphan" in every sense of the word. Possibly she was/is a rebel during when Oerba was still populated with people. Fang's just misunderstood, and the sense of family means that they "get you".The notion of uncertainty/doubt gnawing at your psyche is one of the obstacles during the Fifth Ark.

THIS INDEED. It sounded so poetic flowing from my head. :3

F!S lulz, had to refer to it. I know, Fang/Vanille is like Fred/George in Harry Potter. You really can't have one without the other. :(

Hence another reason why Neapolitan wins.

[zerrat.livejournal.com]

*laugh* That they did. Initially I refused to believe that Vanille's accent was Australian, since it was all over the place. I thought it might have even sounded more New Zealander than Aus... turns out her VA is a real Australian. -_-;

It's wrong that I consider Fang's faked accent to be better than Vanille's genuine one. Of course, it got better towards the end. It might be because Van's VA isn't a VA by trade, she's a comedian.

That's actually kind of funny - lashing out and independant when she had family in Oerba, and now it's the one thing she wants the most. Truly, we don't know what we really want until it's snatched away.

[aznphoenixx.livejournal.com]

Oh yea, I was scratching my head at Vanille.

Heh, most people prefer anybody's voice over Vanille's. 83 I think it got better because Vanille didn't have to force the peppy mask.

...The bunnies are coming.

[zerrat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. After the confrontation at Nautilus she got so much better. Like, leagues better. Epic amounts better. She had some confusing things with her accent going on, but at least it wasn't so horribly fake.

RUN run or you'll be well done

[aznphoenixx.livejournal.com]

Her battle cries are a different story. :o

*punts them* you did not just pull a Kefka.

[zerrat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but the battle cries for everyone stay the same throughout the game.

Would you rather me send them to the Promised Land, or krush them like the lokusts they are?

[aznphoenixx.livejournal.com]

...But hers are special. Especially paired with Hecta. 8|

Lokust, good one. Kefka had flair, good point. Stick with the clown.