Balthier - Appearances

Appearances

Balthier is a Hume sky pirate who pilots the Strahl, a small airship, around the skies of Ivalice. He and his companion, Fran, prefer to remain outside of the war between the kingdoms of Ivalice. However, their attempt to steal the Goddess's Magicite—later revealed to be the Dusk Shard—from the Dalmascan Royal Palace goes bad; Vaan steals it first, and, caught in the fray of a rebel assault against the Imperial Palace, Balthier and Fran find themselves embroiled in the conflict against Archadia.

Born Ffamran mied Bunansa (ファムラン・ミド・ブナンザ, Famuran Mido Bunanza?), he is the son of Dr. Cid (Cidolfus Demen Bunansa), though he grew weary of his father's madness and obsession with nethicite. Although Cid had made him an Imperial Judge, Ffamran eventually decided to cut his ties with his father and his role as a judge, becoming a sky pirate under a new name. With this new career change, Balthier amounted a sizable bounty on his head, attracting the attention of bounty hunters such as Ba'Gamnan. Unfortunately for Balthier, it took him a while to realize he'd been following his father in pursuing nethicite while he served in the resistance. Though he makes peace with his father prior to his death, Balthier goes with the group to destroy the Sky Fortress Bahamut as penance for his father's deeds. Balthier claims to be the "leading man" of the story many times throughout the game, and insists that this status makes him invincible. After the Sky Fortress Bahamut crashes with him and Fran still in it, they remain out of contact until they retrieve the Strahl back from Vaan and Penelo a year later, leaving a note for the new Queen Ashe which held her wedding ring that she used to purchase his services.

Both he and Fran intend on finding the Cache of Glabados, which is resolved in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings when it turns out to be tied to Eternal. Balthier was at first intent to take Lemures' treasure, the Auracite, but knew the truth behind it and attempted to destroy the Auralith, eventually rejoining Vaan's group to fight the Judge of Wings, letting Vaan be the "leading man" while he himself leaves the limelight. He makes a crossover appearance in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. He was the first cameo character they added to War of the Lions, with co-producer Shingo Kosuge stating that it was not a conscious decision to add continuity to the Ivalice story. He also appears in Itadaki Street Portable. Balthier also reprises his role from Final Fantasy XII in the manga adaptation by Gin Amou.