Diogo //Skyfusion//
Member
FINAL FANTASY SPOILERS, obviously!
Vayne is an extremely well-written character, with a complex development and personality, but he is also very subtle. He is presented very differently than the main villains of other FFs, and unfortunately, in the "matured" mind of most FF fans, there is a big rule:
1) subtle = non-existant
Sure, one of the biggest problems with the narrative in video games, and why it isn't taken as seriously as in books or films, is because most gamers are like little kids when it comes to appreaciating stories: They want to have all the information thrown at their face, and be surprised by unexpected plot twists and revelations. RPGs are plagued with forced twists for the sake of surprise, that ultimately only make the story more incoherent; or dumb villains that for some reason love to tell their plans to the party members because the writers are too lazy to write a more sophisticated way to present them.
However, this topic is not to discuss about this, but instead to analyze Vayne's character. Ive' heard several claims about how he: 1) Has no/ little personality; 2) Has no/ little development; 3) Is a poor man's Seymour; 4) All that because he appears in too few cutscenes.
Ironically, the first three points are quite the contrary, and I'll explain why bellow. The forth point is proof of the immaturity of the gamers when it comes to narrative: Character doesn't needs to have a lot of cutscene's screentime to be well-developed, there are many other ways to develop the characters. Vayne is an excellent example of this.
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First, Vayne is the center of FFXII's story. Almost everything that happens is because of him. He is the key character for both the war, and the theme of freedom; and everything regarding those two things were in some way affected by Vayne's actions. The argument that he is "just there" and is a "filler character for the sake of the game having a villain" is fake.
One of the things most people don't realize is that the personality of every character in the party, except Penelo, resembles a bit of Vayne's personality. Five characters means very diverse kind of personalities, so Vayne sharing some aspects of each of those five characters makes him extremely well-developed personality-wise:
To further explain what makes him a military genius, just look at his plan during Dalmasca's invasion:
How evil Vayne is is left to interpretation:
So what if he appears in few cutscenes? The cutscenes only serve to show what is going on behind the scenes, mostly to reveal important details of Vayne, Gramis, Larsa, etc. Other characters give their opinion about Vayne (like Al Cid calling him a military genius and Larsa telling Penelo that he was working hard in Dalmasca), as you talk to NPCs you see the opinions of him differ (Archadians find him to be a hero, some Dalmascans hate him while others have doubts, some people from ruined countries hate him, etc), and as you explore the world, you see the consequences of his actions.
Seymour is laughable in comparison to Vayne. Seymour's personality is cliché, while Vayne's well thought of; Seymour's background story is a simple "cliché tragic past that made him into a crazy madman", while Vayne's background story is directly related to his loss of innocence and has an importance later with Larsa's education; Seymour's plans are overly simple in comparison to Vayne; Seymour is predictable both to the player and to several characters of the story (his father created a sphere predicting that he would be killed by his own son) while Vayne is subtle and always behind the scenes. Seymour is not successful because, as the cliché he is, dies in the most unoriginal way: telling the party his plans and later being killed in battle. Meanwhile, Vayne is not successful because, although he is a genius, he lost the person that covered his biggest weakness: Larsa.
Vayne is an extremely well-written character, with a complex development and personality, but he is also very subtle. He is presented very differently than the main villains of other FFs, and unfortunately, in the "matured" mind of most FF fans, there is a big rule:
1) subtle = non-existant
Sure, one of the biggest problems with the narrative in video games, and why it isn't taken as seriously as in books or films, is because most gamers are like little kids when it comes to appreaciating stories: They want to have all the information thrown at their face, and be surprised by unexpected plot twists and revelations. RPGs are plagued with forced twists for the sake of surprise, that ultimately only make the story more incoherent; or dumb villains that for some reason love to tell their plans to the party members because the writers are too lazy to write a more sophisticated way to present them.
However, this topic is not to discuss about this, but instead to analyze Vayne's character. Ive' heard several claims about how he: 1) Has no/ little personality; 2) Has no/ little development; 3) Is a poor man's Seymour; 4) All that because he appears in too few cutscenes.
Ironically, the first three points are quite the contrary, and I'll explain why bellow. The forth point is proof of the immaturity of the gamers when it comes to narrative: Character doesn't needs to have a lot of cutscene's screentime to be well-developed, there are many other ways to develop the characters. Vayne is an excellent example of this.
--------->
First, Vayne is the center of FFXII's story. Almost everything that happens is because of him. He is the key character for both the war, and the theme of freedom; and everything regarding those two things were in some way affected by Vayne's actions. The argument that he is "just there" and is a "filler character for the sake of the game having a villain" is fake.
One of the things most people don't realize is that the personality of every character in the party, except Penelo, resembles a bit of Vayne's personality. Five characters means very diverse kind of personalities, so Vayne sharing some aspects of each of those five characters makes him extremely well-developed personality-wise:
Vayne is power-hungry like Ashe, benevolent and honorable at times, like Basch, is seeking freedom like Vaan and willing to use the stone to do so like Ashe, is wise and has connections to nethicite in some way, like Fran, and is a bit arrogant and quite noble as well like Balthier. Penelo's innocence is the only thing Vayne lacks, which is also the most important aspect of Larsa's personality. What he lacks is what Larsa has, and that's what leads him to failure. And we get to know that Vayne is the way he is (blood-thirsty) because he lost his innocence when he started killing people by the orders of his father.
Did I forgot to cover any aspect of his personality? Oh yeah, he is also charismatic, as he had shown during his speech, and a military genius.
Larsa pretty much represents the thing that Vayne lacks and the last party member, Penelo, has: the innocence. Vayne and Larsa together are "complete", and share their personality with all the party characters. At the Bahamut, before starting the battle, should Vayne have listened to his brother's innocent advice of "collaboration", instead of provoking even further the war, he would not have fallen. The moment he declines Larsa's idea, he loses his brother, and stops being "complete". Larsa's and Gabranth's "betrayal" represent that. If he had agreed with Larsa's ideal, he would have lived. He died because he lacked Larsa's/ Penelo's innocence. He became the threat of the very same empire he was protecting because he lacked Larsa's/ Penelo's innocence. Such innocence that Vayne lost when his father ordered him to dirty his hands for the very first time to kill his brothers. It was a problem with Vayne's education that made him corrupt, and both he and his father were aware of that, thus why they try so hard to make sure Larsa never goes into the same way.
Did I forgot to cover any aspect of his personality? Oh yeah, he is also charismatic, as he had shown during his speech, and a military genius.
Larsa pretty much represents the thing that Vayne lacks and the last party member, Penelo, has: the innocence. Vayne and Larsa together are "complete", and share their personality with all the party characters. At the Bahamut, before starting the battle, should Vayne have listened to his brother's innocent advice of "collaboration", instead of provoking even further the war, he would not have fallen. The moment he declines Larsa's idea, he loses his brother, and stops being "complete". Larsa's and Gabranth's "betrayal" represent that. If he had agreed with Larsa's ideal, he would have lived. He died because he lacked Larsa's/ Penelo's innocence. He became the threat of the very same empire he was protecting because he lacked Larsa's/ Penelo's innocence. Such innocence that Vayne lost when his father ordered him to dirty his hands for the very first time to kill his brothers. It was a problem with Vayne's education that made him corrupt, and both he and his father were aware of that, thus why they try so hard to make sure Larsa never goes into the same way.
To further explain what makes him a military genius, just look at his plan during Dalmasca's invasion:
Propose a peace treaty, and by using Gabranth, fake the betrayal of a general of the kingdom, allowing Vayne to kill the king and prevent the peace treaty, while still blame Dalmasca for it and have the general imprisioned in order to shut up an enemy (Ondore). Not only that, but forced Ondore to announce the death of the princess in order to make Ashe think her uncle was at the empire's side, thus prevent her to ever seek his help should she come back with an rebellion army.
And what he has done right after:
Makes a charismatic and noble speech, orders the reconstruction of the country and makes sure the Imperials are friendly and cooperative to the citizens. Organizes a banquet right after, but it is nothing more than an excuse to attract the Dalmascan rebellion. It is successful at that, and spreads lies that the confront in the castle was caused by thieves.
And what he has done right after:
Makes a charismatic and noble speech, orders the reconstruction of the country and makes sure the Imperials are friendly and cooperative to the citizens. Organizes a banquet right after, but it is nothing more than an excuse to attract the Dalmascan rebellion. It is successful at that, and spreads lies that the confront in the castle was caused by thieves.
How evil Vayne is is left to interpretation:
Were his brothers really traitors? Drace doubts it, but every other politically powerful Archadian claims it. Did Gramis really plotted his own assassination? He was, afterall, about to die and agreeing that Vayne had to dirty his hands once again so the senate could be destroyed and Larsa protected. Was Vayne really willing to make Larsa an emperor once he acchieved "peace"? Vayne sees Larsa as the "ideal imperator", after all, and he claims that he is sacrificing people so Larsa shouldn't have to do it in the future. He is a "bloodthirsty" character, but is he power-hungry too, or were most of his acts better justified? Vayne's actions and dialogue were all carefully thought out to leave this question up to the player's interpretation: Noble, tragic hero; or power-hungry tyrant?
So what if he appears in few cutscenes? The cutscenes only serve to show what is going on behind the scenes, mostly to reveal important details of Vayne, Gramis, Larsa, etc. Other characters give their opinion about Vayne (like Al Cid calling him a military genius and Larsa telling Penelo that he was working hard in Dalmasca), as you talk to NPCs you see the opinions of him differ (Archadians find him to be a hero, some Dalmascans hate him while others have doubts, some people from ruined countries hate him, etc), and as you explore the world, you see the consequences of his actions.
Seymour is laughable in comparison to Vayne. Seymour's personality is cliché, while Vayne's well thought of; Seymour's background story is a simple "cliché tragic past that made him into a crazy madman", while Vayne's background story is directly related to his loss of innocence and has an importance later with Larsa's education; Seymour's plans are overly simple in comparison to Vayne; Seymour is predictable both to the player and to several characters of the story (his father created a sphere predicting that he would be killed by his own son) while Vayne is subtle and always behind the scenes. Seymour is not successful because, as the cliché he is, dies in the most unoriginal way: telling the party his plans and later being killed in battle. Meanwhile, Vayne is not successful because, although he is a genius, he lost the person that covered his biggest weakness: Larsa.
