Vaan - FF XII

"One of these days I’ll fly an airship of my own. I’ll be a sky pirate, free to go where I will." —Vaan

Vaan is a player character in Final Fantasy XII. He's the protagonist, but unlike previous games, he is not the main focus of the story. Instead, the story is simply told from his point-of-view. He appears to be a young, well-built and muscled teenager.

Story
Vaan had a rough life. Growing up in Rabanastre, his parents were killed during a plague five years before the story's main events. Afterwards, his brother Reks took care of him, along with Penelo and her family.

Then, during the Archadian occupation, Reks signed up as a Light Infantry soldier, and was sent into Nalbina Fortress, during the counter-attack led by the Insurgency. His squadron was led by Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg. Reks was fatally wounded by Basch (or at least a Basch look-alike) during the counter-attack, forcing Vaan to take care of him in his final moments of life. All Reks could really say was how Basch betrayed them, causing Vaan to hate Basch.

Penelo's parents were also killed during a small scale raid of Rabanastre. As such, Vaan was forced to live in Lowtown with Penelo. He dreamed of being a sky pirate, slaying rats in the Garamsythe Waterway as training. Because of this, Vaan gained the nickname "Vaan Ratsbane" from Old Dalan.

When Vayne Solidor was given the title of consul of Dalmasca, Vaan decided that it was the best time to sneak into the palace during a fete and steal things that once belonged to Dalmasca. During his raid, he found the Goddess' Magicite, and ran into sky pirates Balthier and Fran, who demanded that he hand over the object. However, Vaan refused, and managed to run from them when the attack on the palace began. However, he was cornered by Balthier and Fran outside, and when the Ifrit showed up, Balthier threw him over a ledge onto Fran's hovercraft.

When the hover crashed into the Garamsythe Waterway, Vaan was forced to join up with Balthier and Fran to escape. Eventually, they encountered the Resistance fighter Amalia and joined up with her, too. However, upon reaching the exit of the Waterway, they were surrounded by Vayne and a battalion of Archadian soldiers.

Imprisoned in the Nalbina Dungeon, Vaan got into a fight with three Seeq dungeon masters, and with the help of Balthier and Fran, managed to find an exit. At the exit, they found Captain Basch chained up. Upon hearing that Basch wanted freedom "for Dalmasca", Vaan snapped and started to scream at the chained man. This attracted the guards, which in turn forced Fran to release Basch's cage. At the bottom of the pit, Vaan went insane with rage and attacked Basch, only to be stopped by Balthier.
Vaan as he appears in Revenant Wings.

Halfway through the Barheim Passage, Basch explained his story to the others, about how it was his twin brother, Noah fon Ronsenburg – better known as Judge Gabranth – who killed Reks and King Raminas.

Back in Dalmasca, Vaan parted with the others to report his adventure to Old Dalan. Dalan was impressed, and gave Vaan a sword to deliver to a Resistance member, Vossler Azelas. At the Resistance base in Lowtown, Vaan found Vossler disrespecting the people who were at the Nalbina counter-attack, including Reks. Angered by this, he yelled out that Reks was no liar, which Basch – who had just walked into the room – agreed with, stating that Reks was the witness needed to make it appear Basch turned traiter.

After the meeting, Basch asked if he could go with Vaan, since he needed to find Balthier. On their way, Basch apologizes to Vaan – but Vaan said that he didn't need to, having let go of his hatred for the disgraced soldier, after realizing Reks' story of Basch's betrayal was Vayne's intent. After finding Balthier in the Sand Sea, Migelo was demanding that he look for Penelo, who had been kidnapped. Balthier reluctantly agreed to take Vaan to Bhujerba to help find her, since the kidnapping was intended to bring him out.

At Bhujerba, the party meet Lamont, a well-spoken young Archadian boy, and went to the Lhusu Mines to free Penelo. Here, they fought the Bangaa bounty hunter Ba'Gamnan, who had already let Penelo free. They also found out that Lamont was really Larsa Solidor, brother of Vayne, who found Penelo outside the mines, and took her with him.

Onboard the Dreadnought Leviathan, they found Amalia – who is revealed to be Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca – and Vaan finally reunited with Penelo. He then traveled with the party for the rest of the story, generally stayed in the background, gave advice and commented on the things they saw.

One thing of note was Vaan's shock when he discovered the longevity of the Viera, and he starts to stammer with surprise, ending with him ignoring etiquette to ask Fran her age.

After the fall of the Sky Fortress Bahamut, Vaan finally got his own airship and becomes a sky pirate with Penelo.