Balthier Bunansa's Contest History

Who is Balthier?
Balthier Bunansa (True name, Ffamran Mid Bunansa. Oh yeah) is arguably the most popular character to come out of Final Fantasy XII. Of course, going by contest performances alone, you'd never know it...

Balthier is the son of Dr. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (Dr. Cid for short). During his time with his father, Balthier soon grew tired of his Nethicite fixation. Completely ignoring that he had been appointed an Imperial Judge, he left his father and home, changed his name and career, and set off for adventure. With his change in career coupled with the fact he was supposed to be a goddamn Imperial Judge, it wasn't long before there was a sizable bounty on Balthier's head. That would explain all those bounty hunters you encounter along the way, eh? Balthier joins Vaan's group during his infiltration of the Rabanastre Palace. Vaan's write up contains much more information involving the events from then on. (I can't do it all. >_>)

Balthier often jokingly refers to himself as the "leading man", though he may as well be completely serious. When the only thing that makes the "lead" stand out is a sickly figure and some painted on abs, Balthier is more qualified as a pritagonist. An epic aura around him, ties to the evil empire, and even his own personal airship. If Vaan was taken out of the game and all eyes were on Balthier, I have a feeling Final Fantasy XII would be much more appreciated than it is today.

"Princess! No need to worry. I hope you haven’t forgotten my role in this little story. I’m the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? ... He never dies." - Balthier

(Writeup courtesy of Biolizard28; n_o_souza@hotmail.com)

Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 1-3

Summer 2007 Contest - Division 6 - Second Group
 * Division 6 Round 1 --- 2nd place, 37234 [33.00%] - Ada Wong, 43344 [38.42%] - Frank West, 22708 [20.13%] - Jade Curtiss, 9529 [8.45%]
 * Division 6 Round 2 --- 4th place, 20051 [16.35%] - Dante, 53240 [43.41%] - Amaterasu, 25540 [20.83%] - Ada Wong, 23800 [19.41%]

Balthier was one of the most hyped characters going into this contest and while Vaan's performance sort of tipped us off that Balthier may not be as strong as we think he is very few people thought he would lose in this weak four-pack. Balthier ended up losing to a character that got 20% on Samus and depite that performance some people thought he may sneak through to the third round due to some weird Capcom SFF, that never happened and he finished in a distant fourth.

Summer 2008 Contest - Division 3 - Fourth Group
 * Division 3 Round 1 --- 3rd place, 29975 [22.45%] - Scorpion, 40197 [30.11%] - Gordon Freeman, 38017 [28.47%] - Big Daddy, 25325 [18.97%]

After his performance in the previous contest Balthier's expectations were low. They were so low that many people were surprised on how well he held up against Scorpion and Freeman and that he managed to defeat Big Daddy in this match. Overall it is clear that Final Fantasy XII is one of the black sheep of the series.

Winter 2010 Contest - Midgar Division - 10 Seed
 * Midgar Round 1 --- Lost to (7) Ryu, 15920 [31.03%] - 35377 [68.97%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 86th Place [19.62%]

Not only was the board surprised to see Baltheir they were shocked to see him as a 10 seed. However he was against the equally underseeded Ryu and the match quickly turned into an easy doubling for the Street Fighter.