FFF Mythology Manual - Faris: The Cross-dressed Captain.
When the player encounters Captain Faris and her crew in FFV, it is immediately evident that she is a pirate; Faris possesses many of the signifiers which usually express 'pirate' in popular culture.
Like most classic-era Final Fantasy characters, there are conflicting representations of Faris: her character artwork designed by Yoshitaka Amano (blonde and wearing a long ornamental black coat) and her in-game sprite (purple hair and green clothing). Faris' Amano appearance is preferred for the cinematic segments introduced in FF Anthology, but her sprite form is chosen for her World of Final Fantasy counterpart; both representations adhere to popular perceptions of piracy.
Clockwise from left: Amano artwork; field sprite; cinematic model;
World of Final Fantasy model.
Pirates are individuals or crews who attack, steal, or plunder ships or coastal areas without a commission from a government or monarch (with authorisation such operations might be considered 'privateering', but in action distinctions can blur). Ever since humans learned how to sail there had inevitably existed some fashion of piracy.
Although pirates have persisted from antiquity through to the modern day, the majority of popular culture's characterisations of piracy are based upon the so-called 'Golden Age'. This term widely relates to 17th-18th Century piracy, but often precisely refers to the period of 1716-1726 when peacetime following the War of the Spanish Succession left a large number of English privateers unemployed; many turned pirate to continue their 'careers'. During this period piracy disrupted trade in many seas, but the Caribbean with lucrative, exotic cargo is most recollected.
The contemporary book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates(first edition published in 1724) by the enigmatic 'Captain Charles Johnson' formed the lodestone for cultural receptions of piracy. The picture 'Captain Johnson' painted of this period (with colourful captain biographies, crew-democracy, mutinies, marooning, and pirate codes) captured his audience's imagination and made him a bestseller. Since then, a romanticised approach to piracy gained immortality in books (e.g. Treasure Island and Peter Pan), movies, and video games, continuing to steer our perceptions. The Final Fantasy franchise is no different in using the 'Golden Age' as its primary source of inspiration for its pirates.
Fore and Aft: Final Fantasy's Use of Pirates.
Far from being the first pirate character in the Final Fantasy franchise, Faris represents an expansion of an earlier motif stemming from the first game where pirates are introduced as enemies to be overcome, gaining access to their ships.
When FFI's Captain Bikke attacks the town of Pravoka and the party defeats his crew, he feels regret and surrenders his ship for the player's use. FFII's Leila is more fleshed out as a character but her role is similar: a captain who betrays the party to steal their loot, but when her crew is beaten she ruefully joins the party and offers up her ship to service the player. Being female, Leila is in some regards a proto-Faris who tested the waters; the character of Faris evolved naturally from this concept.
Piracy took a backseat in the franchise following FFV, besides notable exceptions. FFXII introduced 'sky pirates' as a lifestyle idolised by Vaan and enacted by Balthier and Fran, among others. Some of these steampunk pirates were dashing explorers and lovable rogues, whereas others attacked trade airships and could be very violent criminals. FFXIV provides the most comprehensive pirate storyline since FFV, introducing the city-state of Limsa Lominsa as a nation founded by pardoned pirates, some of whom struggle to adapt to legitimate trades.
The Pirate Princess: The Tale of Captain Faris Scherwiz.
Among Faris' many accomplishments she perfected the ability to sail without wind using her sea-monster ally to pull her ship (useful as the wind started to die when the Wind Crystal shattered). It is this which attracts the party to the pirates as they design to steal Faris' ship. Hypocritically, the heroes first meet our pirate captain as they attempt to commit piracy themselves!
After the party is caught, Captain Faris considers what to do with her prisoners. Almost settling on holding Princess Lenna Tycoon for ransom, Faris then notices that Lenna possesses the same pendant that she herself has carried since she was a child (her only heirloom and connection to her past). After initially tying up the party and locking them in the hold, Faris' curiosity about the necklace ultimately leads her to help her prisoners by joining the party and offering the use of her ship.
A Pirate's Life for Me: Pirate Cultural Appropriation.
Since piracy is an act rather than an identity group, there is not really such a defined body as 'pirate culture'. That said, there are characteristics and behaviours which many pirates commonly shared throughout the 'Golden Age' which popular culture exaggerates and represents, often in lieu of showing an act of piracy itself.
First impressions mean a great deal, so firstly we must consider fashion. Pirates are often recognised for their bandanas (or feathered tricorne hats for captains), waistcoats (or long, fancy coats for captains), cutlasses and pistols, peg-legs and eyepatches. Final Fantasy pirates mostly fit this model, being instantly identifiable. Faris' crew wear purple bandanas and green waistcoats matching the colours of Faris' sprite. For no fathomable reason other than to indicate 'pirate' every member of Faris' crew possesses an eyepatch, and there is no individuality at all in their sprites; Faris' 'crew' serve her as a single character. The limited number of sprites in circulation in FFV likely prevented Square from diving deeper into individual character development for crewmembers.
We are the Buccaneer-borg.
Some English translations of FFV (most prominently the PSX Anthology release) give Faris and her crewmates a pirate 'accent', whereas other versions tone this down but keep nautical phrases drenched in classical mythology within Faris' vocabulary. The West Country-based pirate 'accent' was popularised by actors such as Robert Newton (Treasure Island, 1950). In reality, you would have heard diverse accents on the deck of a pirate ship, but this characteristic myth possesses harmless charm.
Here Be Dragons: Monsters and Sailor Tales.
The fear of what may lurk in the unknown deep led to many exaggerated tales of sea monsters among sailors from antiquity through to modern times. This anxiety persists since we have not presently fully explored our oceans; scientific discoveries regarding animals like the Giant and Colossal Squid only feed wonder about what else might writhe within.
Illustration from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, 1870.
In FFV Square dives into this theme by giving Faris a pet aquatic dragon (with plesiosaur morphological elements such as an elongated neck, broad body, and flippers). Since paleontological discoveries about prehistoric life disseminated, the imagined survival of Mesozoic era plesiosaurs into our era became a favourite explanation used by cryptozoologists for lake or bay monsters such as at Loch Ness, Lake Champlain, and Chesapeake Bay. These are not monsters which are feared (even among the minority who believe in them) but are often considered affectionately as friendly mascots granting character to an area. The story of Faris and Syldra (her very own Nessie) is one of compassion between human and 'beast' (and part of a larger theme of animal companionship in FFV as a whole). Syldra is not a fearsome monster, but she exits in an ocean brimming with horrors.
Left, Syldra from FFV painted by Yoshitaka Amano; right, paleoart of a Styxosaurus (a plesiosaur) by Daniel Eskridge.
Marine reptiles like plesiosaurs are often nicknamed 'Sea Dragons'
This situation worsens as the ship floats without means of manoeuvring before halting at the ominously named Ship Graveyard (amongst hundreds of other unfortunate vessels). Forced to abandon her ship, Faris and the party must tread the decks of haunted shipwrecks whilst fighting undead pirates, floating severed heads, and myriad mythical creatures.
Left, FFV's Siren; right, Herbert James Draper's 'Ulysses and the Sirens', 1909.
Faris' marine monster arc concludes bittersweetly. As Walse Tower sinks into the sea (pulling Faris and her companions down to Davy Jones' Locker) Syldra swallows them, Jonah-style, then regurgitates them onto a safe beach. This rescue drains Syldra of her remaining energy, and she floats into the sea to die. Syldra's spirit (as a summon) later supports Faris as the Cross-dressed Captain nears her voyage's completion.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Faris' character is that she disguises herself as a man (unlike FFII's Leila who does not hide her femininity). While Faris is unsuccessful at keeping her womanhood undiscovered for long, she compares well with historical precedents of female pirates.
During the 'Golden Age' women were usually not welcome aboard pirate vessels since they could be a distraction and cause for dispute among men. Captain Bartholomew Roberts' pirate code article VI forbade the presence of women on-board outright, and Captain John Phillips' article IX forbade meddling with a 'prudent' woman without her consent. Being female on ships populated by selfish thieves and killers (who otherwise only met women at ports) was an inevitably dangerous circumstance, and such articles may have protected them also.
Despite an aversion to women on-board, there were notable 'Golden Age' female pirates. The historical models upon which Faris was likely based are Anne Bonny and Mary Read: close friends who both dressed as men and set sail out of Nassau under Captain Jack Rackham in 1720. Upon capture, these women postponed the death penalty by 'pleading the belly' (being pregnant at the time of their trials); Read died of a fever in prison, but the fate of Bonny remains unknown.
The accounts of Bonny and Read have been greatly sensationalised due to them being women (thus considered an oddity worthy of especial attention contrasted with men). In truth, while Bonny and Read did dress in men's clothing during piratical activities, their sex was already publicly known when they set sail with Captain Rackham (Governor Woodes Rogers' proclamation of 1720 refers to the women by name).
Illustrations from 'Captain Johnson's' 'General History': Anne Bonny, left; Mary Read, right;
rather fancifully almost baring their breasts lest their sexes be unknown to the reader!
Faris' sex reveal follows this narrative structure. The male party members Bartz and Galuf are first suspicious of Faris' sex when they let themselves into her inn bedroom and are overwhelmed with passion for the sleeping beauty; their confusion leads to much humour at their expense. Later, when taking a break to dry themselves while escaping the Ship Graveyard, the men grab a reluctant Faris in an attempt to drag her towards the fire, consequently accidentally feeling Faris' womanly figure (to her ire; Faris pushes the now-relieved and smitten men aside).
Although Anne Bonny might have shared some captain duties with Captain Rackham, we have to look outside of the 'Golden Age' to find historical cases of women managing to become captains (or queens) of pirate/privateer or naval vessels and, interestingly, many of these examples did not need to hide their femininity. Oft-cited examples include: Queen Artemisia I of Halicarnassus (5th Century BC, fought for Xerxes of Persia and commanded a fleet during the Battle of Salamis); Queen Teuta of Illyria (231-227 BC, endorsed pirates and vexed the Roman Republic); Viking shield-maidens (including Princess Sela and Lagertha); Sayyida al Hurra (1485-1561, a Moroccan 'pirate queen'); Ching Shih (1775-1844, an immensely successful Chinese pirate); Manto Mavrogenious (1796-1848, a wealthy heroine of the Greek War of Independence who privateered at her own expense against pirates and Ottoman Turks).
Some of Faris' historical precedents.
During FFV it is revealed that Faris Scherwiz is not the captain's real name. Faris was born Princess Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon, but separated from her father at sea during a storm. The infant princess mispronounced her name as 'Farifa' to the pirates who discovered her, who thereafter called her Faris. As a fledgling pirate, Faris wore this name when embarking on her new course of life.
Historically speaking, taking aliases was a common means for pirates to protect the identities and reputations of themselves and their families (consequently we do not know the true identities of some pirates). Captain Edward Teach (alternatively Thatch) was more famously known as Blackbeard, but 'Edward Teach' itself is sometimes thought to have been a pseudonym the pirate took in order to safeguard his family name (it is thought by some historians that Blackbeard hailed from a family of some financial means in Bristol).
While Faris does not take her pseudonym in order to deliberately protect her identity (her real identity as a princess being forgotten by her until the events of the game transpire), it becomes convenient later on. 'Faris' is able to retain her piratical moniker for her past deeds and any actions hence, whereas the reputation of Princess Sarisa Tycoon remains untainted. The game's ending implies that Faris leads a double life: a royal while at Tycoon, and a pirate captain outside castle grounds.
Besides the internal logic of the plot, looking at the names of Captain Faris can be revealing in themselves from a development perspective. 'Faris' might be drawn from the masculine given name of Arabic origin meaning horseman/knight. While a curiously landlubberly name for a pirate, the name conveys the Amazonian connotations of bravery and martial prowess which Faris possesses.
Faris' warrior status extends to her birth name also. Sarisa might relate to the sarissa, an extremely long spear (13-20ft long!) favoured by Alexander the Great and subsequent Hellenistic period warfare. Princess Sarisa Tycoon's father, King Alexander Highwind Tycoon, and younger sister, Princess Lenna Tycoon (Lenna can be a shortening of Helena, another name of Greek origin) also fit the Hellenistic naming framework. That the Hellenistic period in the Greek world had major problems with piracy comparable to the 18th Century might be a coincidental match, but the unplanned association works.
Frescoes showing Macedonian soldiers wielding sarissa-spears from the façade of the Tomb of Agios Athanasios,
Thessaloniki, Greece, 4th Century BC.
A Royal Pardon: Life After Piracy.
Historical pirates often experienced difficulty with adapting to civilian life once they had been accustomed to a life of piracy. During the 'Golden Age' many pirates took the King's Pardon (a generous offer of absolute pardon for pirates surrendering for crimes committed before January 5th 1718), taking this lifeline to attempt at settling down to live honestly, only to soon find themselves either bored or poor and in want of plundering again. Many of the most famous pirates (including Blackbeard) took the pardon but found their new reversal short-lived.
Captain Faris Scherwiz equally has great difficulty abandoning her piratical ways and settling into her royal duties as a princess. When Faris returns to Castle Tycoon, the Chancellor of Tycoon instantly recognises her and thinking she was dead calls for an immediate celebration in the form of a ball to mark the restoration of their lost princess. Faris officially accepts Princess Sarisa as her proper designation, but she is then fitted into a long dress suiting royalty. Embarrassed, the Woman of Fortune begrudges these august accoutrements.
One surprising career which some inactive pirates of the 'Golden Age' took to either when pardoned or taking seasonal respite on land is logwood cutting. Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) was extremely valuable as it was good for dyes, and pirates made excellent logwood cutters. Interestingly, as Faris is among those who fell Ex-Death (an ancient tree which developed sentience as it was used to harbour evil souls) she becomes a woodcutter during her time on land too!
Criminal Corsair: Captain Faris Scherwiz on Trial.
It may initially be shocking to learn that many people apparently willingly joined pirate crews after their ships were captured, but historical motivations for piracy were more varied than a vulgar lust for gold and violence. Pirates could be: sailors escaping the brutality and poor benefits of official naval command; former privateers left unemployed in peacetime following treaties (such as the Treaty of Utrecht) forbidding them from attacking enemy vessels legally; politically motivated individuals (such as English pirates rebelling against King George I, a German, and desiring a Stuart restoration). Piracy was not just an attractive option, but sometimes a desperate one. Legitimate grievances sometimes led to illegitimate trades.
The motivations outlined for Faris' piratical activities are scanty other than, while she was not necessarily pressed into service, the fact that she was a near-drowned child which the pirates kindly raised would generate a sense of loyalty to this group of rogues, prompting her to join their ranks.
Some historical pirates (including Captains Spriggs, Low, and Gow) were reputedly very brutal, killing wantonly, raping, and even fighting and murdering each other over petty disagreements. Other pirates, such as Blackbeard, sometimes offered a middle ground, presenting themselves as ferocious demons as a public image in order to scare ships into surrendering, but mostly preferred to avoid a fight through these measures.
Like Blackbeard, Faris makes a good show of being a pirate, but the player never actually sees her commit a crime. Faris is rough with the party, tying and putting them in the hold, but she is not brutal and bloodthirsty. Although she soon decides against it, the intention of holding Princess Lenna for ransom betrays the way Faris' mind works. It is certain that Faris and her crew had committed crimes off-screen before meeting the player. Faris also openly calls out to her crew to continue their looting and pillaging without her while she is gone with the party.
While Faris' piracy is played down throughout most of the game, her actions with the party are not completely inconsistent. Faris(through player action) loots hundreds of treasure chests, including some from private houses, and she aids in the fixing of ancient ships. Faris would certainly have a strong case for retaining power upon returning to her crew!
The very fact that Faris' crew live in a 'Pirate's Hideout' strongly suggests that they know their endeavours are unlawful and they should face prosecution upon discovery. Despite this, they let Princess Lenna Tycoon live and hence Tycoon royalty, among others, know their location. One might imagine that an off-screen arrangement between Lenna and Faris transpired which led to a corrupt Tycoon kingdom (or Lenna individually) turning a blind eye to their piracy and escaping justice.
Kupo, Me Hearties! Pirates as Pals.
Faris' pirate crew don matching purple uniforms (not usually a fearmongering colour), thereupon they appear cartoonish and entertaining rather than menacing. One could argue that the particular detail that every crew member has an eyepatch might surrender a more sinister tale, but these signifiers merely imply 'pirate' to the player, nothing more.
Furthering the attempt to make Faris and her pirates cute (thus friendly) is her treatment in World of Final Fantasy. These counterparts to Faris' pirate crew have been replaced by pirate moogles! Through Lann and Reyn trying to steal Faris' ship, Square-Enix created a pretty parody of Faris' introduction scene in FFV. Faris (riding Syldra) is fought as a boss, but the scene is comical and Faris soon lends her aid.
Conclusion: Square-Rigged!
Faris Scherwiz is a character of costumes. As a woman she dresses as a man to become a pirate, but Square also dress her up favourably to underplay the criminality of her actions. The contradiction of Captain Faris (that she is a heroine yet also a criminal) is effortlessly disguised by charm, leading many players not to think about her piratical 'acts'; her being a colourful pirate 'culturally' is more prominent. Faris and her crew are aesthetic pirates, a sanitised pirate-lite, and through this we are tricked into sympathising and rooting for them whole-heartedly without guilt.
What do you think about FF's representations of piracy? Do you have other examples? Discuss below!
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Credit goes to Six for designing the banner.
For other current articles in the FFFMM series see the Mythology Manual Hub (including bibliographies) or the Mythology Manual article category.
Credit goes to Six for designing the banner.
For other current articles in the FFFMM series see the Mythology Manual Hub (including bibliographies) or the Mythology Manual article category.
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I'll get back to you on that.
