Does ANYBODY else like Vaan?

As a character, I like him... But I can't shake the fact that he was just added to the game to draw in Japanese attention out of my mind. I don't think that characters should be added to draw in players(Which I'd read before even playing as Vaan in anything).

That being said, I'd only played the first part of XII, and then played Dissidia 012.

All in all; there are better characters in both his universe, and Final Fantasy as a whole.
 
Actually once you think about it and go over the plot advancement, vaan is in fact the person who causes all the characters to meet up. Think about if vaan wasnt there to slow fran and balthier down they would have been long gone before any imperial soldiers found them, that being said they would have been out of the slucie way before ashe could have crossed paths with them. that being said other possibillitys are that they could have been killed by the fire mane without the help of ashe and vaan or the killed of been killed by the flans, or they could of gotten out of there without being caught by the empire. as for basch, suppose balthier and fran made it out in time to sneak past the soldiers waiting for them, that would mean no one would be sent to nalbina prison whic means that basch would still be hanging in that cage all by his lonesome. onto ashe, if this scenario would play out , balthier and fran not meeting her, she would have been captured by the imperial soldiers sent to the dread nought on which she would be killed by judge ghis. of course i say these things would happen to her on the dread nought because no one would be able to come to her aid and break her out because, lets face it, vossler on his own would get both butt cheeks handed to him on a platter if he tried to storm the dread nought. so wiht out vaan bringing everyone together ashe would most certainly be killed early on in the game, basch would still be in prison, fran and balthier would be off somewhere stealing things, and with out all this several crucial events would not happen and those are as follow: none of them would end up in buhjerba, meaning no one would meet up wih and give new confidence to the marquis ondore, larsa would never meet the princess, ashe would never meet al cid at mount bur-omisace which would lead al cid to lead his country to go all out into fighting vaynes forces, oh and no one would be around that is able to stop the bahamut from destroying rabenastre. all of this because you would have vaan removed from the game, and besides why arent any of you complaining about penelo besides talking to larsa like 3 times she contributed nothing at all.
 
The Tick said:
Actually once you think about it and go over the plot advancement, vaan is in fact the person who causes all the characters to meet up. Think about if vaan wasnt there to slow fran and balthier down they would have been long gone before any imperial soldiers found them, that being said they would have been out of the slucie way before ashe could have crossed paths with them. that being said other possibillitys are that they could have been killed by the fire mane without the help of ashe and vaan or the killed of been killed by the flans, or they could of gotten out of there without being caught by the empire. as for basch, suppose balthier and fran made it out in time to sneak past the soldiers waiting for them, that would mean no one would be sent to nalbina prison whic means that basch would still be hanging in that cage all by his lonesome. onto ashe, if this scenario would play out , balthier and fran not meeting her, she would have been captured by the imperial soldiers sent to the dread nought on which she would be killed by judge ghis. of course i say these things would happen to her on the dread nought because no one would be able to come to her aid and break her out because, lets face it, vossler on his own would get both butt cheeks handed to him on a platter if he tried to storm the dread nought. so wiht out vaan bringing everyone together ashe would most certainly be killed early on in the game, basch would still be in prison, fran and balthier would be off somewhere stealing things, and with out all this several crucial events would not happen and those are as follow: none of them would end up in buhjerba, meaning no one would meet up wih and give new confidence to the marquis ondore, larsa would never meet the princess, ashe would never meet al cid at mount bur-omisace which would lead al cid to lead his country to go all out into fighting vaynes forces, oh and no one would be around that is able to stop the bahamut from destroying rabenastre. all of this because you would have vaan removed from the game, and besides why arent any of you complaining about penelo besides talking to larsa like 3 times she contributed nothing at all.
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I agree with you, at the start of the game Vaan is very important and he definitely starts as the main character and for good reason, because he does lead the story up until just after Penelo is rescued and they start heading out to find the dawn shard. Then he just sort of fades into the background and never has any importance to the plot again. I think it's a shame, I don't think it would have been that hard to keep him involved, just having him grow closer to either Balthier or Ashe would have mad him important and given him a real reason to be there, but there's nothing. I like Vaan, but I don't like the way he was handles as a main character, I think the way the story worked out Balthier would have been better as the main character. You're right about Penelo too, but the thing is she isn't the main character, and there's almost always some character/s in the party who have very little purpose other than to bulk out the numbers.
 
I'll tell you what I think. If this game's protagonist hadn't had such a girly awful design, and the story had involved him a lot more (with an epic love setup thing with Ashe), it would have been the most highly regarded, financially succesful game in the history of teh universe!
 
I don't mind him. He's a young poor kid who's thrown into a situation that he needs to become a hero overnight. Yeah he's not the brawny muscular, sword-expert main character we were used to having up until this point in the series, but he takes on a different form of hero as the series is evolving. I love how fans who are a whole 130 pounds, skinny as a twig will say he's just a little kid, when in reality, isn't that the kind of hero you want to see succeed the most? I know that if I was the same size as Vaan, a younger kid, I'd be pulling for the fact that someone like me was cast into this role and someone I can relate to is about to help save the world from evil.

I don't see him as a whiney kid, it's just that he's young and inexperienced. Everyone goes through that phase. I liked him in the role he played in this game.
 
I agree with Kryceks. (Who is also from Michigan and is therefore filled with awesomesauce) That was my feelings on who he was supposed to be. I just didn't like him much as a character. I don't know what it is about him. Maybe it was just his English VA, but to me he seemed kind of....blah.... I was more interested with the whole Balthier/Fran perspective on things. And after Ashe came into the picture, I feel that the focus changed to her, and Vaan just sorta melted into the background.
I don't like or dislike him. I never used him or Penelo for that matter. If they expanded on his storyline a little more, I might have been more liking towards him.
 
I understand that Vaan was the underdog of the story to be in the player's paradigm, but to be honest- I think the game would've been cooler using Recks and Elza and ditching Panelo and Vaan. The couple didn't even have a true connection to the story, and I know that Recks and Elza hardly did either but they seem like more interesting characters :)
 
I kinda' like the idea of Vaan (a diamond in the rough, poor, Aladdin-esk) however he seems to be less and less important as you play. Shame really that he gets cast into the background.
 
I have no problem with Vaan at all. He's not my favorite character from FFXII but he's certainly not the worst. In fact FFXII is one of the few FF games in which I don't outwardly dislike any character. The only issue I have with Vaan (and just about every playable character) is that they need more development. That's literally it. What I know of them I like. Vaan's clothing may look stupid, I won't deny that, but as far as combat abilities and the little development he got in the game, I do like him as a character. Should he have been the main character? No. But many people fail to realize FFXII is one of the few FF games that focus on the story and the world more than the characters. So you could say there is no main character.
 
Did I already post in this thread? Not sure.

Personally I don't dislike Vaan, but I don't especially like him, either. I like things about him for sure, though. He wasn't the typical FF reluctant hero type, and he made me laugh sometimes (e.g. "That's something Larsa would say..."). If Ashe wasn't in FFXII, I'd like Vaan just fine. But Ashe isn't the reluctant hero type either, and her quiet determination makes her much more interesting than Vaan with his big mouth. FFXII needed an intro character exactly like Vaan to get things rolling, but once Ashe joins the party he just falls into obscurity. I much prefer switching Ashe to party leader from that point on.
 
On a character level, Vaan isn't a bad kid. I mean, his situation initially is relatable due to him being a 'street rat' yearning to be something bigger than he is. I almost always had him as the leader of the party because he is a good fighter and I like his character design. His voice acting was pretty damn good too, but then, I think that for most of the game's characters.
 
Vaan isn't a bad guy. There are a few cut scenes where I found him annoying but I think that was the intention. I gotta say there is something amusing about taking him and Penelo out for a leveling run and beating 9999's out of scary looking monsters with a pair of powder puff kids.
 
I don't have a strong opinion on Vaan at all. He isn't as cool as Cloud or Squall, and he's not as funny or warm as Zidane. There must have been something about him though, as this was one of the only games in the series where you're not obliged to keep the main character in your party, and yet I did. He wasn't necessarily always the leader though, I sometimes used Ashe.

Another reason that I'm not sure is that, I've grown up into a man, and the main character of the series was all of a sudden younger. It didn't bother me on a conscious level, but I'm sure that's another reason why I'm totally indifferent to him.
 
Sems quite a few people liked to use Vaan in their party. I never really did. Granted, I tended to have two parties and levelled them up simultaneously, but my favourite party is Balthier, Fran and Ashe. I have always thought that Balthier should have been the main character. Then again, right at the start of the game Vaan is good as the main character.
 
Sheechiibii said:
Sems quite a few people liked to use Vaan in their party. I never really did. Granted, I tended to have two parties and levelled them up simultaneously, but my favourite party is Balthier, Fran and Ashe. I have always thought that Balthier should have been the main character. Then again, right at the start of the game Vaan is good as the main character.
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most people agree...but i personally think thats the charm of XII, the way it can just switch. personally i felt Ashe was more important. near the ending of the game though, Vaan did seem some-what relevant. so i personally see it as the story not having a 1 true character, but just 1 narrator who ends up being gathered by the main characters.
 
The game's narrative, now that I think about it, had plenty of opportunities to, even if it doesn't solve the problem of Vaan being seen as a completely forgettable protagonist, establish more concretely what his presence in the party does to dissuade Ashe from willingly launching the Ivalice equivalent of an atom bomb on Archadia.

The narrative could have established more clearly that the separate illusions that both Vaan and Ashe purportedly see (Reks for Vaan, and Rasler for Ashe) are Occurian designs to draw together more strongly the fates of two very different people into a converged, common desire for wanton vengeance. Keep perpetuating these illusions on the two, and the more likely the Occuria would accentuate their desire for blood. Have both characters witness these illusions also to make it less likely that everyone thinks Ashe has gone batshit mad for seeing ghosts. Vaan would at least keep Ashe on the right track for the Occuria.

Resolve this by bringing up something that has been driving Vaan to look forward despite all his personal tragedies from plague and war. He wants to be a sky pirate, and the Occuria want him to complement Ashe in bringing destruction on Archadia, in spite of that dream. Vaan can turn round and declare that he has something on the horizon he wants to chase as opposed to pursuing blood-seeking phantoms of the past. Furthermore, he can shut down Ashe's indecisiveness once and for all by reminding her that brute, terrible force can destroy an empire, but it will also kill millions of ordinary folks no different to him and Penelo. What virtue is there in taking, unopposed, the throne of Dalmasca if she had done it with the blood of ordinary innocents? What virtue is there in the sacrificing of the plebs in this deadly intercontinental chess game between aristocratic elites? It would complement Reddas's regret that he accidentally did unto Nabradia what Ashe could potentially do to Archadia.

Alas, at least Vaan has his time to shine. He gets chased by guards, robs a palace treasury, is thrown into prison, and gets hauled into a tavern for claiming to be Basch Von Ronsenburg and a bearer of the truth over the nefarious lies of Ondore. And he's a good errand boy. Someone has to run around town and buy supplies while everyone else chills.
 
i thought about that too...but i keep getting the conclusion that if he did, he wouldve not been the sidebar he is now. and kitase most likely wanted that.
 
I could sort of relate to him, and I don't think he's as bad as people say, and he does have SOME relevance to the plot. But not as much as other FF mains, which is why, if you ask me, this game is about an ensemble cast. 13 followed suit.
 
I like Vaan a lot. He's an upbeat guy despite the situations he's stuck in all the time. He just wants to go out seeking adventure like anyone else would want to do. Not sure why he's so hated because I don't find him dull or useless at all.
 
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