Akitoshi Kawazu
Yasumi Matsuno added Vaan and Penelo to be male and female avatar characters for the player in "Final Fantasy XII". They would see and learn about Ivalice in sync with the player over the course of the game but would not be deeply connected to the story. The development team explained that their previous game, "Vagrant Story", which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist had been unsuccessful and unpopular; the change regarding "Final Fantasy XII" from a "big and tough" protagonist to a more effeminate one was thus decided after targeting demographics were considered. Although originally conceived as more "rugged", Vaan was changed during development of the game to be more effeminate after "taking into consideration the target demographic". He was designed by character designer Akihiko Yoshida to look Asian. In response to criticism from Western fans regarding Vaan's design executive producer Akitoshi Kawazu noted that while several members from the development team were not feeling Vaan was the right main character owing to his young age, it was common for Japanese RPG to start with an inexperienced characters who grow across the game.