Cecil Harvey - FF4

"I'm a coward. A coward who cannot even defy orders he knows he ought not follow."—Cecil

Lord Captain Cecil Harvey is the protagonist of Final Fantasy IV. He is one of the few characters in the series that changes his job during the course of the game. He starts out as a Dark Knight, but at a certain point in the game, he transforms into a Paladin.

Story
Cecil was born to a Lunarian named Kluya and Cecilia from Earth. Cecil's father was killed before he was born, and his mother died in labor. His brother Theodor then ran away with him, but abandoned him outside Baron. The King eventually found him and named him Cecil, since he resembled his late mother.

Cecil was raised by the king, which initially caused some friction between him and the young Dragoon called Kain Highwind. Kain thought that Cecil got too much special treatment from the king, and wanted to fight him. However, a young girl called Rosa broke the two of them up. The three of them eventually grew up and became friends.

The story opens with Cecil commanding a raid on the city of Mysidia in order to steal the Crystal of Water for the king. He succeeds, but he and his crew become suspicious of the king. They wonder whether or not robbing national treasures from innocent people is right. However, Cecil reminds his crew that they are the Red Wings, and must represent Baron at all times. When Cecil returns to the castle, Baigan, the captain of the guards of Baron, notices something strange about Cecil, and takes Cecil to meet the king. Cecil hands over the crystal, and is appalled when the king does not even thank him. As a result, Cecil complains to the king that he and his crew do not understand the reasons for robbing crystals from innocent people. As a result, the king discharges him from the captainship of the Red Wings, and orders him to hunt Summoned Monsters in the Misty Valley, and to deliver a ring known as the Carnelian Signet to the village of Mist. Kain comes to Cecil's defense, but to no avail, as the king simply orders him to accompany Cecil. That night, Rosa comes to Cecil's room to show him her sympathy. However, Cecil is upset because he is torn between doing what he believes in and doing what the king orders. He swears that he will never perform another act of evil on behalf of Baron. He also states that despite the fact that he loves Rosa, he knows that they can ever be together because of his profession as a Dark Knight.

Equipment and Stats
As a Dark Knight, Cecil's stats are heavily weighted physically, and he has barely any Magic Defense. He can only equip special swords, shields, and armor designed specifically for Dark Knights. His weapons are ineffective against Zombies, Ghouls, Revenants, and Skullnants. His most powerful Dark Sword, the Deathbringer, inflicts instant death on his opponents.

Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, his stats increase, especially in Magic Defense. It should be noted that a level 1 Paladin Cecil has 600 HP, which is a lot more than a level 20 Dark Knight Cecil. He can now equip most any weapon that isn't a class-specific weapon, including swords, knives and axes. Cecil can also equip most shields, hats, helmets, armor, tunics, rings, and gloves, not to mention, if he proves himself worthy in his Lunar Trial, he can obtain the almighty Lightbringer.

Abilities
As a Dark Knight, Cecil uses the Darkness ability, which damages all opponents. Cecil takes a small amount of damage whenever he uses this attack. In the DS version, the "Darkness" ability is a positive status effect that increases the amount of damage caused by a regular attack.

Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, he can use the Cover ability, which allows him to take physical damage in the place of an ally. Cecil automatically uses this ability to protect any ally whose HP is low. He can also use some basic White Magic. The spells he can use are as follows.

• Cure
• Sight
• Libra
• Cura
• Teleport
• Esuna

In the DS version, Cecil learns the three following spells as well as those above.

• Raise
• Protect
• Shell

In either class Cecil's focus is dealing out physical damage. However, he becomes far more powerful when he becomes a paladin.

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.