Vaan's Contest History

Who is Vaan?
Vaan is the main character of Final Fantasy XII, although in the game, his actions and personality sure don't make him seem like one. Ashe much more properly holds that title, as the overall story revolves around her, and she makes most of the parties decisions (as in where to go next). Vaan is basically the game's Raiden, in that while you control him, the story doesn't really revolve around him. Not to mention he looks about as masculine as Raiden.

But you're here because you want to know more about him, right?

Basically, Vaan is a war orphan living in Rabanastre, and he seeks to one day become a sky pirate so that he can escape his lowly life as a street dweller who has to steal to get by. He's pissed at Archadia for taking over his country of Dalmasca (and for killing his older brother Reks), and he decides to sneak into a banquet held for Vayne Solidor, the new emissary to Dalmasca and the game's main villain. He comes across a stone called the Dusk Shard, and soon runs into Balthier and Fran, who were also there to steal it. They escape through the sewers and rescue Ashe (under the alias Amalia) from being attacked by Imperial soldiers, but at the end, are caught by Vayne and subsequently imprisoned. Ashe is sent to the Dreadnought Leviathan, while everyone else is sent to the Nalbina Dungeons.

Naturally, the main party escapes, and soon run into Basch, who was framed for Reks' murder. Vaan is initially very pissed at him, but after hearing what Basch has to say (his twin brother Noah, better known as Judge Gabranth, did the deed), he soon relents. The party makes it back to Rabanastre, and Vaan gets a task from his friend Old Dalan to deliver a sword to someone named Azelas, which he does. Dalan also tells him that Penelo is missing. Azelas is the last name of Vossler, a friend and former soldier of Basch's. At the meeting, Basch asks Vaan to get Balthier to allow use of his and Fran's airship.

As they head to where Balthier and Fran are (the Sandsea Tavern), Vaan tells Basch that his parents were killed by a plague. At the Sandsea, they learn that Vaan's friend Penelo was kidnapped by Ba'Gamnan, a bounty hunter after Balthier, and taken her to the Lhusu Mines in the floating city of Bhujerba. Vaan naturally wants to rescue her. They reach Bhujerba, and soon run into a young man named Lamont, who also wants to enter the mines. At the mines, Lamont lets on that he's no one ordinary, and reveals himself to be Larsa Solidor, Vayne's much more friendly younger brother. Larsa is seeking out Manufacted Nethicite, an artificial version of what the Dawn Shard is made out of.

Ba'Gamnan appears, and tells the party that they let Penelo go since they no longer needed her as bait. Gams and his goons give chase, and depending on your level, you can either take them on or run for dear life, as they are very strong. Upon leaving the mines, a scene occurs where Judge Ghis has Larsa take Penelo to Marquis Ondore's estate in Bhujerba for safe keeping. After they leave, your party does the same. They decide they need to have a chat with Ondore, and Vaan comes up with a scheme to do so.

In what is easily his more famous moment, Vaan goes around town proclaiming himself to be the thought dead Basch. "I'm THE Basch!" "I'm Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca!" "DON'T BELIEVE ONDORE'S LIES!" This gets the attention of the town's resistance group, who interrogate the party. Basch reveals himself to them, and the resistance organizes a meeting with Ondore, since he is their leader.

At the meeting with Ondore, he informs you that Larsa and Penelo have left, and also helps you out by getting you access to the Dreadnought Leviathan, by having you arrested. Once there, Judge Ghis takes the Dawn Shard, and sends your party to the brig. You are soon rescued by Vossler, disguised as a guard.

You run about the Leviathan for awhile, then you arrive at Ashe's holding cell. Ashe is at first pissed at Vaan for stealing the Dusk Shard from her palace, but she goes with you anyway. You run into Judge Ghis again, where he puts up a supposedly difficult boss battle, but I wouldn't know because I was level 40 at the time. You then escape the ship after getting Penelo back, who happened to be on the ship with Larsa. The party heads back to Ondore, who wants Ashe to help out with the resistance. He also reveals himself to be her uncle. Ondore says that in order for Ashe to be recognized as the rightful heir to the throne, she needs the Dusk Shard back.

Later that night, Vaan catches Ashe trying to hijack Balthier's airship. After Balthier also shows up in a humorous scene, Ashe asks him to take her to the Tomb of Raithwall, where a treasure supposedly awaits. The Tomb is located deep in "jagd" (meaning airships can't fly in it), so your party must first cross the soul crushingly long and boring Yensa Sandsea. They do, and after a boss battle with a giant bird named Garuda, they enter the Tomb. They take down a few Demon Walls, and soon reach Belias, the Fire Esper. It turns out that he was the treasure of legend, but that's not why Ashe wanted into the Tomb. She wanted the Dawn Shard housed there.

After leaving the Tomb, the party is once again captured by Judge Ghis, who had obtained flight stones that can work in jagd. Ghis steals your Dawn Shard, and he wants to test its power in the Leviathan's engines. This causes an abundance of Mist (a gas radiated by Magicite, which is Nethicite's non manufacted form) to flow, causing Fran to whine about it ("The Misht is burning!"), break her shackles, then go into a raging feral state that results in many a guard getting the crap kicked out of them. Vossler then reveals himself to be on the Empire's side, as he is sick and tired of war. After getting his ass kicked, Vossler tells Basch to keep Ashe safe, then dies. The party escapes the ship, and the Dawn Shard soon overloads the Leviathan, causing it to explode and killing Ghis and everyone else on board (and any ship within a few miles). Except you of course, because Balthier Han Solo's his way out of the explosion. The party then recovers the Dawn Shard, floating in the middle of the ship debris.

Back in Rabanastre, Ashe deduces that Vayne wants the Shards to conquer all of Ivalice, and most likely posses two of the three (Ghis most likely gave him the Dusk Shard), so she wants to use the Dawn Shard's power to overthrow the Empire, but Vaan points out that she doesn't know how it works. So they head to the village of Jahara on Fran's suggestion to ask its elder. He says that the shard has become powerless over the years (Judge Ghis would tell you otherwise, but he's dead so who cares what he has to say), and that her only chance will be to prove her lineage to the Gran Kiltias of Mt. Bur-Omisace. But to get there, you have to get past Golmore Jungle, which the reclusive Viera live in. At their home of Eruyt Village, the Viera are at first unwilling to let them pass, but Vaan's brashness convinces their elder to let them, if they first rescue Fran's younger sister Mjrn from Henne Mines, who had gone there to investigate increased Hume activity.

At the mines, Mjrn is found to have been possessed my Venat, an Occurian (whose role I'll get to later). Mjrn is taken back to Eruyt, and the elder, Jote (Fran's older sister) allows them passage through Golmore. Mjrn wants to leave the village, but Fran convinces her to stay, as she doesn't want her to follow in her rebellious footsteps.

Upon leaving the village, some more of Vaan's personality shines through, as he comically asks Fran how old she is. Everyone in the party gives him a WTF look, Fran scoffs at him, and Balthier says "Way to go, Vaan." Next up is the Paramina Rift, a snowy plain standing between the party and Bur-Omisace. Cross that, big whoop. At the mountain, the Gran Kiltias tells Ashe she also needs the Sword of Kings, Raithwall's sword, which is in the Stilshrine of Miriam. The party goes and gets it, after taking down Mateus, the Ice Esper, who has a penchant for keeping half naked blue chicks in bondage. When Ashe is about to pick it up, Vaan interrupts her, causing Ashe to chastise him (this isn't the only time this happens). The party returns to Bur-Omisace, only to see that it has been ravaged by the Empire.

Judge Bergan, the cruelest judge of them all (mirror mirror), has just killed the Gran Kiltias, and wants your head next. Unless you like game overs, that wont be happening. Bergan is also responsible for pissing off Judge Drace, the only female Judge, into attacking him, which got Vayne to order Gabranth to kill her. Bergan must not like screen time, because he himself doesn't get much either. After the battle, Al Cid of Rozarria shows up, and informs you Rozarria is preparing to go to war with Archadia, something neither he nor you want, as Dalmasca is sandwiched between the two. Balthier then suggests the party head for Draklor Labratory, the Empire's research facility.

The journey takes you halfway across Ivalice, but you eventually arrive in Archades, and the lab. At the lab, you run into Dr. Cid, Balthier's father. He has become insane due to Venat's influence, and wants you to meet him at the ancient city of Giruvegan after a battle with him. A man named Reddas also joins you in the battle. This journey is even longer in terms of distance, but can be traversed much quicker as you had already been in the area, and can warp near it. After going through The Feywood, you arrive in Giruvegan, which resembles an actual city above ground, but below it, it's a very confusing layout of gates and green energy pathways that light up as you cross.

You then arrive at The Great Crystal, which makes the original Metroid look like Metroid Fusion in terms of layout. In the crystal, you notice a massive sphere of nethicite, which Fran says could destroy all of Ivalice. You then fight the red skinned woman/horse hybrid Shemhazai, an Esper. Balthier than figures out that Cid sent you on a wild goose chase. Ashe is soon visited by Gerun, leader of the Occurians. They are a timeless race that basically control every event that befalls Ivalice, and that Venat rebelled against them by lending his aid to whoever he felt needed it (Bergan, Cid), so as to put Ivalice's fate back into the hands of its inhabitants. Gerun tells you about the Sun Cryst, the source of nethicite and the three stones, and that they created it so that King Raithwall could unite Ivalice back in his day. He also give you the Treaty Blade, then says the Cryst is "In tower on distant shore," which you deduce to be The Pharos Lighthouse.

After Balthier's airship is fitted with a jagd capable flight stone, you head down there. The Pharos is utterly massive, comprised of three "ascents" which are basically the size of a normal dungeon. There's also an optional Subterra level, where some of the game's most dangerous enemies reside. At the top (and after at least 4 bosses), Judge Gabranth appears, and openly admits to Vaan that he was Reks' killer. After you defeat him, Cid shows up, dismisses Gabranth, proclaims himself to be a god, and summons the Water Esper Famfrit to help him out. You proceed to kill him. Balthier wonders to himself how his father could go so mad.

Gerun shows up, and tells Ashe to take the power of the Sun Cryst for herself. Ashe thinks about it, but Vaan talks her out of it. They both attempt to destroy the Cryst, but it is expelling a ton of energy, keeping them at bay. Reddas then sacrifices himself to destroy it, as he was once a Judge himself, responsible for using a stone to obliterate the country of Nabradia.

The party then decides to go after Vayne, who has piloted Cid's massive airship, the Bahamut, towards Rabanastre. Archadia's war with Rozarria is beginning. Balthier Han Solo's the party into the airship, and they encounter Gabranth again. After severely wounding him, he decides to join your side. You soon encounter Vayne, who is now working with Venat, seeking to become the new Dynast King (Raithwall's old title), with no Occurian influence. Of course that's not gonna happen (though the Occurians are still bad). Vayne fights you hand to hand and is defeated, but he also manages to mortally wound Gabranth. He then employs Venat's power to become much beefier, and commands a series of spectral swords, but he is defeated once again. After the battle, he walks wounded outside, knowing that he has been defeated. Meanwhile, the war is going on. Venat tells Vayne that it has been a pleasure working with him. Vayne believes himself to be a failure, but Venat tells him that he has succeeded, as without the Sun Cryst, the Occurians no longer influence Ivalice. The two fuse into The Undying, utilizing metal wings made out of Bahamut components. The party kills him/them, but their fusion severely damaged the Bahamut, and it is now about to fall on Rabanastre.

Judge Zargabaath, another non prominent judge, offers to use his ship to suicide ram it away from the city, but Balthier and Fran offer to stay behind and alter the ship's trajectory themselves. They succeed, but Fran is knocked out by falling debris. Balthier picks her up and Han Solo's the two of them to safety, but you don't find this out until the epilogue (wait, isn't this supposed to be Vaan's writeup?).

So with Vayne defeated, war averted, Rabanastre saved, the Bahamut now a giant metal stick in the dirt, Ashe on the throne, what about Vaan? Well, he and Penelo finally got to become sky pirates. That's pretty much how it ends for him.

As for why I decided to do an entire FFXII story summary as Vaan's writeup, it's because he's basically you, an observer. What you read is what he encounters. As for Vaan himself, he's brash, a do gooder, loves his country, is a bit of an idiot, and sports the most abnormal looking abs you've ever seen. He's going to return as the main character of FFXII: Revenant Wings, but since that game isn't out in America yet, it serves no purpose for this writeup.

And that only leaves one more thing: why the hell wasn't Balthier or Ashe the main character?

"Don't believe Ondore's lies!" - Vaan

(Writeup courtesy of Chinballz; chinballz69@yahoo.com)

Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 0-1

Summer 2007 Contest - Division 1 - First Group
 * Division 1 Round 1 --- 4th place, 15064 [9.54%] - Yoshi, 55989 [35.48%] - Knuckles the Echidna, 43939 [27.84%] - Rikku, 42830 [27.14%]

While Final Fantasy XII was a major release not much was expected out of Vaan. He wasn't that well loved plus he had the unfortunate match-up against Rikku. Vaan was easily SFF in the match and failed to break 10% and to make matters worse it is widely accepted that Rikku would have defeated Knuckles had Vaan not been in that match.