Vayne Carudas Solidor

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Vayne Carudas Solidor
Vayne as seen in FFXII
Game series	Final Fantasy series
First game	Final Fantasy XII
Designed by	Akihiko Yoshida
Voice actor(s) (English)	Elijah Alexander
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Nobuo Tobita

Vayne Carudas Solidor (ヴェイン・カルダス・ソリドール, Vein Karudasu Soridōru^?) is a fictional character and primary antagonist in the Square Enix computer role-playing game, Final Fantasy XII.

Vayne, as of the game's beginning, is a 27-year-old official of the Archadian Empire, Commandant of the Empire's Western airship armada and a member of House Solidor, whose members have led the Empire for four generations. This renders him something of a Prince, though he is quick to note that the democratic nature of the Empire leaves him no more an heir to the Empire than any other.

1 Biography
2 Notes

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Vayne is a hume male, and was born to the politically powerful House Solidor as the son of the elected Emperor, Gramis. Vayne demonstrated a ruthless streak from a young age; at sixteen, and at the behest of his father, he killed his two elder brothers in cold blood, ostensibly for traitorous activity.

During the years of Archadia's war against the other nations of Ivalice, Vayne proved himself to be an able commander and tactician, in both military and political affairs. Being of House Solidor afforded him some influence over the Empire, as House Solidor controlled the Ministry of Law, who in turn oversaw Archadia's military, this arrangement being a result of a former political feud between House Solidor and its enemies.

[edit] Venat

Vayne's ruthless ambition continued into his adulthood. When the Occurian Venat rebelled against the notion that only his people were fit to decide the course of Ivalice history, he made contact with Doctor Cidolfus Demem Bunsansa of Archadia. Venat played to Cid's hunger for knowledge, leading him in a quest to end the Occuria monopoly on nethicite, a type of powerful magickal stone the Occuria gifted to mortals in exchange for obedience. In learning to 'manufact' nethicite, Archadia could be free from the control of history's self-appointed stewards.

This idea appealed to Vayne, and, as both he and Cid shared many ideals, the two noblemen worked as friends together in the matters required to research nethicite. Cid was driven by the desire for greater knowledge, and Vayne for greater conquest, and both by the concept of returning control of history to humankind. Vayne fancied himself the new, 'true' Dynast-King, a title once by Raithwall, a powerful historical king who had once conquered all of Ivalice by the Occuria's power and blessing.

Vayne's two goals, the pursuit of nethicite and the conquest of Ivalice, lay parallel to each other.

[edit] Final Fantasy XII

As the game begins, Archadia succeeds in conquering the realm of Nabradia, known to be the home of a shard of Occuria-given (or deifacted) nethicite once owned by the Dynast-King. Cid orders the stone be used in the name of research, and Nabradia's capital, Nabudis, is all but wiped from the map as a result.

Archadia next moved on Nalbina, a border fortress of Dalmasca. A victory here saw Archadia offer peace to Dalmasca in exchange for surrender. Though King Raminas of Dalmasca obliged, Vayne had, in actuality, set a trap that would see the Empire conquer Dalmasca while maintaing a facade of innocence. Vayne had Judge Magister Gabranth, identical twin to Dalmasca's Captain Basch fon Ronsenberg, assassinate the king. The blame was then placed on Basch, whom the Empire captured and appeared to execute. In the aftermath, Dalmasca was left without its sovereignty, and was claimed as Archadia to be a line of defense against Rozarria, a rival kingdom to the west.

Two years later, Vayne is appointed Consul of Dalmasca, and uses this position to placate the people of Dalmasca through various acts of apparent kindness. He also serves as bait for the Dalmascan resistance movement accompanied Princess Ashe, the daughter of King Raminas. The Empire had formerly tasked Marquis Ondore, of the neutral state of Bhujerba, with announcing the deaths of both Ashe and Basch fon Ronsenburg. This was, in truth, a safety measure orchestrated by Vayne to ensure Ondore's future co-operation. Were he to show a sign of rebellion, the survival of those two figures would be revealed, creating mistrust for Ondore in the eyes of his potential allies.

Though Ashe escapes the ambush that Vayne had set for the Resistance, he continues to pursue her through the Judge Magisters, as she herself quests for nethicite to prove her lineage and gain a foothold by which to attack Archadia. Though in actuality caused by a disobedient Judge Magister, Vayne is held responsible for the accidental sinking of the 8th airship fleet, which is destroyed in a reckless test of nethicite. This gives the Archadian senate, already despising Vayne's dangerous wit, a chance to have him returned to Archades and brought to answer for his actions.

Vayne uses the position to his advantage, assassinating his father the Emperor and implicating the Senate, seizing absolute control of Archadia in a single stroke. Unlike his even-tempered brother, who held a strong sense of honor and desire for peace, Vayne sought war with Rozarria, hoping to use the new-found power of nethicite to achieve a decisive victory. Though Rozarria held a voice of moderation in Al-Cid Margrace, their military eventually sees a chance to initiate a showdown between Ondore's Rebellion and the Empire. Rozarria would then step in once Archadia's strength had been whittled down by battle.

Dr. Cid, meanwhile, pursues Ashe to the heart of the Occuria's nethicite power, the Sun-Cryst, and uses its power to fuel the Sky Fortress Bahamut, Archadia's greatest weapon yet. Though the process is not completed due to actions of Ashe and her allies, Bahamut still achieves great power. Vayne uses it to assault the rebellion in the skies above Dalmasca. Though the Bahamut proves capable of attacks on the scale of Occurian nethicite, Ashe and her party slip through the Bahamut's defenses. They enter the fortress and defeat Gabranth, and are then met by Vayne directly, with Larsa at his side. Larsa finally stands his ground against his brother's will, holding a sword to him, and eventually battling him alongside Ashe's group.

Vayne fights at first armed only with his fists, but after falling, he is revived with the aid of manufacted nethicite, left to him by Dr. Cid, and transforms into Vayne Novus, a large hulking version of himself, accompanied with several magickal Sephira swords. Gabranth, however, trying to redeem his honor, joins Vaan and company, leading to Vayne's defeat. During the battle, Gabranth strikes Vayne; though Vayne delivers a mortal wound to Gabranth in return, Larsa's interference prevents him from killing Gabranth outright and, while weakened, Vayne is stabbed by Vaan.

Vayne's final form, The Undying.

Badly injured and barely clinging to life, Vayne stumbls onto the main outdoor cannon of the Bahamut. As he walks, he begins speaking to Venat, lamenting his failure to destroy the Occurian control and become the new Dynast-King. He implors Venat to find someone else who would realize the Occurian's ambitions. Venat denies Vayne's failure, saying that Vayne has succeeded beyond his knowing: Ashe and party had shattered the Sun-Cryst, source of deifacted nethicite, and broken Occurian control of history. Venat, acknowledging his part in Ivalice's history is over, infuses his power into Vayne as a final gift.

With Venat's power flowing through his veins, Vayne becomes much more powerful, even shattering airships with his magic. With this new-found power, Vayne uses pieces of the Bahamut to transform himself into The Undying (a term used to refer to the Occuria), a large robotic armored form. In this new form, Vayne fights the party one last time, but even the power Venat bestowed on Vayne is not enough to save him, and he falls to Vaan and company, ultimately failing to become the new Dynast-King. Larsa takes Vayne's place as Emperor, overseeing the recovery of Ivalice from the game's events.

[edit] Notes

Vayne's desire lay in a different direction than those of Cid and Venat; Vayne wishes to become the new Dynast-King, not merely content with putting the reins of history back in the hands of man. As a result, Vayne is portrayed as a true villain, rather than possessing the anti-hero qualities of Venat.

The Undying, Vayne's last form, uses the attacks Megaflare, Gigaflare Sword, and Teraflare; all tributes to Bahamut. The sky fortress from which this form is created also bears the name of Bahamut.

Vayne is the first Final Fantasy final boss to use martial arts in combat; during the first battle he displays surprising skill in a form of unarmed combat. Most other final bosses use magic or swordplay.