Финальная Фантазия XII: Ваан – Желающий стать Небесным Пиратом

Fictional character in Final Fantasy

Vaan (ヴァン) is a character in the Final Fantasy series from Square Enix. Created by Yasumi Matsuno and designed by Akihiko Yoshida, he first appeared in Itadaki Street Special and then appeared in Final Fantasy XII as the protagonist. Final Fantasy XII establishes Vaan as an orphaned teenager from Rabanastre who dreams of becoming a sky pirate. He and his best friend Penelo join Dalmasca Princess Ashe in her fight against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire. Vaan also takes a more active role in the sequel Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and has also been featured in few Final Fantasy crossover games. Vaan was conceptualized as the main character for Final Fantasy XII in order to contrast the older hero from Square's previous title Vagrant Story as a result of negative feedback received by fans. Critical reception to Vaan's character has been mixed as a result of his lack of involvement with Final Fantasy XIIs plot, although various video game publications still found him likable.

Vaan was first introduced in the 2004 crossover board game Itadaki Street Special for the PlayStation 2. His only brother, Reks, died two years prior to the start of the game, during the Archadian invasion of Dalmasca. 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. He is a cheerful and energetic boy. Vaan dreams of someday becoming a sky pirate in command of his own airship. He trains to meet this goal by killing dire rats in the sewers of Rabanastre on a daily basis, for which Dalan gave him the nickname "Vaan Ratsbane". Despite nominally being the protagonist, the majority of the game focuses on the events and conflicts of the world as a whole and of Ashe, rather than Vaan's individual problems, with his character instead used as a narrative device to allow the player to follow the events as an outside observer. Vaan ends the game as a sky pirate, traveling the world along with Penelo. He also reprises his role from Final Fantasy XII in the manga adaptation by Gin Amou. During the events of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Vaan becomes captain of the Airship Galbana and uses it to travel to Lemurés, meeting old friends while making new ones. By Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Vaan's and Penelo's adventures take them to the Jylland region of Ivalice, where they get caught up in events surrounding Clan Gully and a boy from another world named Luso Clemens, eventually joining up with the clan for a time. Vaan also appears in the PlayStation Portable fighting game, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as one of Cosmos' warriors who seek to eliminate creatures known as Maninkins. He returns in the game's sequel, Dissidia NT, as one of Materia's champions. He is also featured in the rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and its sequels, Curtain Call and Final Bar Line, as the main character representing Final Fantasy XII.

Yasumi Matsuno added Vaan and Penelo to be male and female avatar characters for the player in Final Fantasy XII. They would see and learn about Ivalice in sync with the player over the course of the game but would not be deeply connected to the story. Motomu Toriyama, the writer and director of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, picked Vaan as his favourite character in the game. Wanting characters who could appeal to long term fans and new fans, the team incorporated Vaan and Penelo in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. Vaan's appearance, which was supposed to mirror that of Balthier, was suggested by Hiroaki Kato. In Dissidia, he is featured in his Final Fantasy XII design, while alternative ones depict him as in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, a new one by Yoshitaka Amano and another one featuring him as sea pirate by Akihiko Yoshida. Another Final Fantasy XII centered title, only known as Fortress, was in plans by Square Enix but was cancelled; in this video game, Vaan would remain with Penelo and live quiet lives due to the plot being more focused on other characters from the previous games, most notably Ashe, Larsa and Basch. Vaan was voiced in Final Fantasy XII by Bobby Edner in English and by Kouhei Takeda in Japanese. With the casting of Takeda for the voice acting and motion capture, Vaan became a little less feminine and more "active, upbeat bright and positive" than planned. When asked how he compares to other Final Fantasy protagonists, Hideo Minaba said that due in part to being designed by a different character designer than before, he did not feel he could be compared to any other Final Fantasy character.

The similarities between Vaan's design and that of Tetsuya Nomura's characters have been criticized, which artist Akihiko Yoshida noted was likely due to the similar colours used. In the book Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough, he is described by Greg Littmann as a pick pocket and, unlike many of Final Fantasys protagonists, lacking in a "sense of honesty and justice". GameSpot editor Greg Kasavin described Vaan as the "token androgynous male lead", also describing him as an "Aladdin type". G4 TV editor Greg Orlando described him as "eminently likable" due to the game's focus on "political intrigue" and Vaan trying to understand it all. Cyril Lachel of GamingNexus said that while he was not a fan of Vaan, he was surprised by how his story turned out. Kotakus Jason Schreier considered Vaan and Penelo the game's weak points as they compared them with other characters such as Balthier and Asche whose actions were "interesting". Christian Nutt of GamesRadar made fun of the character in an article about the best Final Fantasy heroes stating that Vaan would definitely not be included. Meanwhile, USGamer simply described him as a stereotypical character often seen in anime series aimed at young people. Schreier went harsher, to the point of making a podcast titled "Vaan Really Sucks" as he and his partner interacted about video games. DualShockers thought that Vaan was one of the "most misunderstood Final Fantasy protagonist" and stated that it "was actually the most important character in his story." His lessened involvement with the plot compared to protagonists from preceding Final Fantasy titles was met with mixed reception. Destructoid editor Aaron Linde described him as "arguably the most uninspiring character in the game". PALGN editor Phil Larsen called him a "rogue ish bad boy with a heart of gold", adding that "while this may seem clichéd at first, Vaan is always presented as extremely young and never tries to control every situation", citing Tidus as an example of someone who does.