Balthier Balthier , real name Ffamran mied Bunansa , is a playable character in " Final Fantasy XII " . He is a sky pirate who globetrots Ivalice on his airship , the " Strahl " , with his partner Fran . During an attempt to steal from the Royal Palace of Rabanastre , Balthier encounters Vaan robbing the palace treasury . When his plan goes awry Balthier finds himself a part of a conflict between political forces that could lead to war . Profile . Appearance . Balthier is six feet tall and has short brown hair with blond highlights , sharply styled sideburns , and green eyes . He wears an embroidered golden and olive vest over a high - collared shirt and tight black leather trousers with leather shin pads , and steel , open - backed sandals . He wears two crossed , gold - buckled belts with two pouches attached to either side and a collection of brightly colored rings and bracelets on his left hand , and has a set of earrings in both ears . In his official render for " Final Fantasy XII " , Balthier holds the . Artwork and renders of Balthier for several spin - off appearances depict him with this gun . Personality . Balthier is charming , dashing , cunning and cynical . He comes across as cocky and self - centered but his trust in Fran is complete . While the story is told from Vaan ' s perspective , Balthier certainly seems to think it is his story , referring to himself as " the leading man . " Despite this , he is far from selfish , proving himself in the events aboard the Sky Fortress " Bahamut " . After he joins Vaan and the others Balthier comes to realize he has been running away from his past , and it is implied his theatrical personality exists in part to mask his vulnerabilities and to cast aside the person he used to be . Story . " Final Fantasy XII " . Born in 684 Old Valendian , Ffamran mied Bunansa is the third son of Cidolfus Demen Bunansa , the head of House Bunansa and a scientist in employ of the Archadian Empire . He showed such promise at a young age he was made an Archadian Judge at only sixteen years old . In 700 , after his father returned from Giruvegan , Ffamran noticed Cid ' s sanity fading : he talked to someone who wasn ' t there , raving on about " bringing the reins of history back to the hands of man . " This strained their relationship until Ffamran could not stand the sight of his father . Ffamran ' s falling out with his father , combined with Archadia ' s political maneuvers , made him decide to leave his post as Judge and flee Archades , stealing a new prototype fighter ship . Since going into hiding he has upgraded the ship ( so much it no longer resembles the original design ) and has named it the " Strahl " . Ffamran took on the name " Balthier " as an alias to help cast aside his ties with Archades . Partnering with a viera companion named Fran , he flew the skies of Ivalice searching for treasure , gaining notoriety as a sky pirate , and increasing the bounty on his head . In 706 Old Valendian , Balthier and Fran head to the Royal Palace of Rabanastre ' s treasury where they find Vaan holding the Goddess ' s Magicite . Balthier demands he hand it over , but before he can retrieve the magicite the " Ifrit " attacks the palace . Vaan escapes and Balthier reluctantly follows him . He chases Vaan out into the palace grounds , where amid the battle between the Resistance forces and the Imperials , Balthier throws Vaan onto his hovercraft , piloted by Fran . In the manga , Vaan is accosted by Vayne Carudas Solidor and Judge Magister Gabranth and is saved by Balthier . The Goddess ' s Magicite , really a piece of deifacted nethicite , renders the hovercraft unresponsive , and the trio crashes into the Garamsythe Waterway . Balthier joins forces with Vaan to find a way out though Vaan is determined to keep the magicite . Balthier suspects the new consul , Vayne , deliberately lured the Resistance out of hiding to attack the palace . They encounter a Resistance fighter named Amalia who joins them despite her distaste of her " thieving " company . After the party defeats the Firemane , Vayne ( in the game ) or Judge Ghis ( in the manga ) with a battalion of soldiers ambushes the party . Despite Amalia ' s insistence that her company is innocent , they are taken captive . As they are marched out onto the streets of Rabanastre Balthier meets Vaan ' s friend Penelo who weeps at the sight of Vaan be led away . To avoid a scene Balthier gives Penelo his handkerchief and assures her Vaan will be safe . Unknown to Balthier , the bounty hunter Ba ' Gamnan watches the exchange from the shadows . In the Nalbina Dungeons Balthier sends Fran to find an escape route . In the manga , Vaan intervenes on a seeq prisoner attacking a former Dalmasca n soldier and has the Goddess ' s Magicite seized from him . Balthier attempts to teach Vaan why he lost by challenging him to a coin toss game where Vaan must guess which hand he holds it in . If Vaan fails he will turn over his chestpiece from his late brother Reks as a prize , but Vaan demands Balthier wager his airship . Vaan loses and Fran returns and reveals she has the coin and Balthier ' s hands are empty . Balthier had won using the magick spells Decoy and Vanish to distract Vaan , tossing a fake coin while throwing the invisible real coin to Fran , and Vaan lost because he was too naive to think of sneakier tactics and didn ' t watch his surroundings . Fran has found an exit and Balthier decides to make their move in two hours after investigating the Resistance with Vaan declaring he will have recovered the Goddess ' s Magicite by that time . Vaan ignores Balthier ' s lesson and reclaims the Goddess ' s Magicite without dirty tricks , and flees to reconvene with Balthier . In the game , Balthier finds Vaan in battle with three seeq dungeon masters and joins the fray . After their victory Balthier and Vaan hide within the dungeon arena where Balthier overhears Ba ' Gamnan , who has followed him to Nalbina , along with Judge Gabranth . With Fran they follow Gabranth into an Oubliette where they find an emaciated Basch fon Ronsenburg imprisoned . Following Gabranth ' s departure , Basch pleads with the party to set him free . Balthier is indifferent , but Vaan cannot control his rage at the King - Slayer said to have also killed Vaan ' s brother Reks and jumps atop Basch ' s cage , attracting the guards . Fran asks everyone to hold onto the cage and drops it to the Barheim Passage , inadvertently freeing Basch . Balthier allows him to join the party as another sword arm as they navigate their way to an exit . Basch explains it was his twin brother Gabranth who killed the king and Vaan ' s brother in his guise , and Balthier notes the two do have the same face . Back in Rabanastre the party disperses . While Vaan and Basch go meet the Resistance , Balthier and Fran retire to the Sandsea tavern . Balthier is accosted by the bangaa Migelo , who claims Ba ' Gamnan has kidnapped Penelo because he mistook her as someone close to Balthier . He is initially unwilling to go to Bhujerba to rescue her , but Basch asks him to fly him there so he can meet Marquis Ondore , and when Vaan promises Balthier the Goddess ' s Magicite in return , he agrees to fly them all to the sky city . In Bhujerba the group meets a youth who introduces himself as Lamont . Balthier is suspicious , but allows the boy to accompany them to the Lhusu Mines where the Archadian Empire is mining magicite to be used in the Draklor Laboratory in Archades , and where Ba ' Gamnan is said to be holding Penelo captive . Hearing about the magicite perks Balthier ' s interest and he attempts to force the boy to reveal his true identity as Larsa Solidor , but Ba ' Gamnan interrupts the group and they escape . On their way out the party watches Larsa aid Penelo , who had been caught wandering the mines alone after being set free by Ba ' Gamnan , and take her to Marquis Ondore ' s estate as his guest . Balthier suggests they attract the Resistance ' s attention to gain entrance into the estate . After Vaan spreads rumors of the supposedly executed Basch still being alive , the Resistance grants them an audience . To reunite Basch with Amalia Ondore alerts Judge Ghis and has them arrested and taken aboard the Imperial flagship Dreadnought " Leviathan " . Amalia ' s true identity is that of the reportedly dead Princess Ashelia B ' nargin Dalmasca . Judge Ghis takes the Goddess ' s Magicite from Vaan , and Amalia ' s accomplice in the Resistance , Vossler , helps the party escape on an " Atomos " Imperial carrier ship back to Bhujerba . After Ashe is advised to stay within Ondore ' s estate to bid out the Archadian Empire , Balthier finds her aboard the " Strahl " attempting to steal it . She asks Balthier to " kidnap " her and take her to the Tomb of Raithwall where the proof of her royal lineage lies , hoping she could claim Dalmasca ' s throne . Balthier is reluctant yet tempted by Ashe ' s promise of King Raithwall ' s treasure , and so Balthier , Fran , Basch , Vaan and Penelo accompany her across the Ogir - Yensa and Nam - Yensa Sandseas to Raithwall ' s Tomb . Vossler , who accompanies the party , voices his disdain of traveling with sky pirates . After fighting the Esper Belias , Ashe acquires a piece of deifacted nethicite , the Dawn Shard . Much to Balthier ' s disappointment the treasure of Raithwall ' s Tomb turns out to be control of the Esper , and naught of monetary value . Upon exiting the tomb Ghis ' s Imperial Fleet accosts them and it turns out Vossler has betrayed them . Ghis takes the Dawn Shard and attempts to evaluate it but unleashes the nethicite ' s magick and destroys the entire 8th Archadian Fleet while Balthier and the others escape with Balthier piloting another carrier ship . Spotting the Dawn Shard glinting in the sky after the explosion he steers the ship to retrieve it before descending to Rabanastre . After witnessing the nethicite ' s power , Ashe decides to wield it as her weapon to restore Dalmasca , but does not know how to use it . She wants Balthier to accompany her to Jahara to ask the garif ' s help , but Balthier is skeptical . As collateral , Balthier requests a ring on Ashe ' s finger . Due to the " Strahl " being damaged in the 8th Fleet ' s destruction , the group walks their way to Jahara , but the garif are no help to Ashe ' s plight . They meet up with Larsa who wishes for Ashe to become queen and ally with the Empire to quell the looming war . Basch questions Balthier ' s intentions , worried for Ashe ' s safety . Balthier accompanies the party through Golmore Jungle to Mt Bur - Omisace where they meet with Gran Kiltias Anastasis who reveals the Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor has been murdered with Vayne succeeding him , foiling their plan for a truce . Anastasis tells them of a sword that can cut through nethicite , and while Larsa remains behind , the rest of the group heads off to the Stilshrine of Miriam where Ashe retrieves the Sword of Kings . With the sword she vows to destroy the Empire ' s nethicite and the party heads to Archadia with the intention of destroying the nethicite within Doctor Cid ' s possession . When they stop to rest in the Phon Coast ' s Hunters ' Camp Balthier questions Ashe ' s intentions , comparing her drive to that of his father ' s . He reveals his Imperial past and his relation to Doctor Cid , as well as his suspicions of an unknown creature his father spoke of named Venat . He vows to persevere in their endeavor to cut the ties to his past , and implores Ashe to not allow the stone ' s power to consume her , as it did his father . In Archades Balthier splits from the party who comes across Balthier ' s old " friend , " Jules , who embezzles the chops Balthier gave him to give to Vaan and the others . They reconvene and head to the Draklor Laboratory in search of Cid , but find the lab suspiciously lacking in Imperial presence . On discovering Cid ' s ransacked office Balthier inspects some old papers and questions what madness found him six years ago in the Jagd Difohr . In the 70th floor they find Reddas , a rogue sky pirate responsible for the lack of guards and soldiers . They follow him to Cid where Balthier demands he turn over the Dusk Shard , the very same Goddess ' s Magicite that Judge Ghis had taken from the party earlier . Balthier is forced to draw his weapon when Cid challenges the party , backed by the power of nethicite and his Occuria n ally , Venat . Balthier realizes Cid was never mad , but when he appeared to be speaking to thin air he was actually conversing with Venat , a mysterious being who can make itself invisible to everyone but those it wishes to be seen by . Cid retreats and claims to be heading out to the Ancient City of Giruvegan to gather more nethicite . The party heads for Balfonheim Port with their new ally , Reddas , where he explains the war is inevitable with the Marquis and the Resistance ready to engage Vayne and the Imperial Forces . As long as it is Cid and not Vayne who holds the nethicite the party sees a way to prevent the war and decides to follow him to Giruvegan . Balthier questions Reddas ' s intentions concerning the nethicite , inferring he knows of Reddas ' s true identity as Judge Zecht whose inadvertent use of the Midlight Shard in Nabudis two years ago destroyed the city . In Giruvegan the party realizes Dr . Cid had tricked them and that he was never heading that way . In the heart of the Great Crystal the party meets the Occuria who name Ashe as the new Dynast King and grant her the Treaty - Blade to carve out new shards of deifacted nethicite from the motherlode , the Sun - Cryst . The " Strahl " is finally fixed by Balthier ' s moogle mechanic Nono and Reddas gives them a manufacted skystone that allows it to fly over Jagd and accompanies them to the Ridorana Cataract . Balthier tells Vaan to take the " Strahl " should anything happen to him . Atop the Pharos the party finds the Sun - Cryst , but instead of using it to obtain more nethicite Ashe attempts to destroy it . She is intercepted by Cid and Balthier again fights his father , this time fatally wounding him . Balthier watches his father fade into Mist , and up to his dying breath Cid believes what he was doing was best for mankind . The Sun - Cryst has awakened the Empire ' s ultimate weapon , the battleship Sky Fortress " Bahamut " , and the Mist it seethes seems impossible to stop . Overwhelmed , Fran falls to the ground and insists they go without her , but Balthier vows to not leave her behind . Reddas sacrifices his life to destroy the Sun - Cryst while the others escape . As Battle above Rabanastre is about to break out Balthier pilots the group to infiltrate the Sky Fortress " Bahamut " where they confront Vayne who merges with Venat to destroy them . Despite their allegiance Vayne and Venat are defeated , and while the others escape the " Bahamut " on the " Strahl " piloted by Vaan , Balthier and Fran remain behind to repair the damaged engines and stop " Bahamut " from falling on Rabanastre . Balthier fixes the " Bahamut ' s " glossair rings in time , but together with Fran they are stuck inside as the sky fortress crash - lands outside the city , with the two believed to have perished in the crash . A year later , Balthier and Fran reclaim the " Strahl " from Vaan and Penelo , who had been looking after it , leaving behind a note and Ashe ' s ring , signifying Balthier has found the treasure he was looking for . Balthier explains he is going for the Cache of Glabados at Bervenia Palace , asking Vaan and Penelo to join in on the spoils . Vaan and Penelo arrive at the Glabados Ruins to meet Balthier and Fran who have made their way to the Cache chamber and defeated the Ifrit guarding it . The foursome spy twin auracite crystals atop a pedestal and Balthier teases Vaan he ' s too young to partake in any treasure , and moves in to take both crystals . When Vaan protests , Balthier laughs and throws him the green crystal , taking the purple one for himself . The ruins begin to crumble and the sky pirates make their way to their respective airships , but the falling debris destroys Vaan ' s . Balthier returns Vaan and Penelo to Lowtown . Soon after , Balthier makes his way to Lemurés to search for the auralith s and ends up confronting the Judge of Wings at the Fane of Tehp Qul . The Judge reveals what went on between her and Balthier by projecting her memories into Vaan and his allies ' minds . In the flashback , Balthier is seen in the same Fane , with an unconscious Fran behind him . The Judge of Wings approaches him from the right , and the auralith is still intact between them . Balthier acknowledges the Judge ' s power , but says she has been holding on to her illusion of Eternity for too long . He throws the purple crystal he found in the Glabados Ruins in the air and shatters it with a gun blast before it reaches the Judge . His auracite willingly destroyed , Balthier points his gun at the Judge , vowing to stop her from pursuing her goal of eternal life . Before he can fire , the Judge uses her own crystal to summon the Esper Shiva , who appears behind Balthier and uses Diamond Dust to render Balthier unconscious . He and Fran are left lying on the floor . The two escape this encounter , as Fran meets Vaan on the island of Arda , Heaven ' s Pillar , and leads them to the Ymir Qul Underground , where Balthier waits . Ba ' Gamnan interrupts the reunion and the party battles the group of bangaa before they reach Balthier . After Ba ' Gamnan ' s defeat , Balthier shocks Vaan by moving to destroy the auralith . Fran defects to her partner ' s side , and the two summon a group of Yarhi for Vaan and his party to deal with . Though Balthier and Fran are defeated , Balthier starts up the machines flanking the second auralith , which is subsequently destroyed . The auralith ' s demise frees a great deal of aegyl anima . Vaan , Penelo , Llyud , Filo , and Kytes are sent to Lesrekta , Isle of Illusions , while Balthier and Fran commandeer to Vaan ' s new airship , the " Galbana " . After Vaan ' s return , Balthier explains he destroyed the auralith to restore the aegyls ' souls ; by releasing the anima , Balthier prevented the Judge of Wings from getting to the crystal first and stealing the anima within . The motivation behind the Judge ' s actions and the aegyl god , Feolthanos , are finally understood , and Balthier and Fran join the allied party for good . Gameplay . " Final Fantasy XII " . Balthier has high Strength and the highest Speed , but low MP and Magick Power . Due to this , he is best suited to equip weapons with damage reliant on Strength and Speed to deal damage , as opposed to guns , as his action time with guns is the slowest . Balthier ' s default licenses differ based on releases . In the original release , he has Guns 1 and 2 , Steal , Shields 1 , Light Armor 1 and 2 and Heavy Armor 1 learnt . In the Zodiac Job System releases , he has Steal , Guns 1 , First Aid and Light Armor 1 learnt . " Final Fantasy XII : Revenant Wings " . Balthier equips . His equips — sleeveless tops — all favor Defense over Magick Defense . His accessories are . He takes on the role of a ranged fighter . His Quickening , Element of Treachery , deals heavy damage to one foe , and is learned after defeating the Esper Shemhazai . Balthier can also be fought as a boss along with Fran . Creation and development . " Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Omega " details that a flashback scene to Balthier ' s younger days was planned for the game , and a character design was drawn for it . The render for young Balthier was finished , and Akihiko Yoshida especially noted that the glasses ' texture was of good quality . The flashback scene was cut but his unused flashback attire resembles somewhat the one he wears in " Final Fantasy Tactics : The War of the Lions " . Balthier has been called a " completely original character " by creator Akihiko Yoshida , having not used any previous " Final Fantasy " character as a reference . Balthier has been compared to other characters in fiction . Simon Wigham of Console Obsession called Balthier his " favorite by quite a wide margin " , comparing him to James Bond due to his " humorous lines " . RPGFan editor Stephen Harris compared his voice to that of Ian Fleming ' s depiction of Bond . 1UP . com editor Andrew Pfister compared the duo of Balthier and Fran to that of Han Solo and Chewbacca , two characters from the " Star Wars " franchise , adding that they are far more interesting than any other character in the " modern FF era " . Balthier was originally considered to appear in " Dissidia Final Fantasy " , but was left out as he had recently appeared in " Final Fantasy Tactics : War of the Lions " . Vaan was set to appear in his place , but was ultimately replaced by Judge Gabranth . Voice . In the English version of " Final Fantasy XII " and " Final Fantasy Tactics : War of the Lions " , Balthier is voiced by Gideon Emery . In the Japanese version , he is voiced by . Balthier , along with Basch and Ashe , speaks in formalized English in contrast to Vaan and Penelo ' s more casual style . In Japanese , Balthier , Ashe and Basch use an older , more formal form of Japanese than Vaan and Penelo . Both reflect his background of being Arcadian nobility and the son of a scholar . While the medieval tone comes from the original game , the localizers could decide on the specific accents the characters would use and voice models were used to guide the writing : Balthier was Aragorn from the " Lord of the Rings " . When Gideon Emery came on the localization team ' s radar , the casting director Jack Fletcher thought he was perfect for the part . Emery wasn ' t previously familiar with the " Final Fantasy " series , which allowed him to escape any extra pressure . Back when the voices for " Final Fantasy XII " were recorded , the actor would go in to their voice agent ' s booth to record . Emery did a take or two with the in - house engineer and then forgot about it until he got the call . He got to use his own accent , a rarity then . Emery had around six recording sessions totaling around 24 hours of recording time . Up until that point he had never done more than one session for a specific game . Other appearances . Balthier has made appearances in the following games in the " Final Fantasy " series : Other appearances . Balthier has made key guest appearances in the following non - " Final Fantasy " games : Other media . Games . Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Balthier . Balthier ' s hair costs 100 crystals and his clothes cost 480 crystals . Additionally , in " " , Balthier ' s costume was released on November 6 , 2014 . Merchandise . Balthier has a Play Arts action figure released as part of the " Final Fantasy XII " set . Play Arts releases a new figure to commemorate the release of the " Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age " . Balthier also has a miniature figure in the Final Fantasy Trading Arts Mini Vol . 3 . Balthier in his " Final Fantasy Tactics " appearance is part of the Final Fantasy Tactics Trading Arts set . He appears alongside Fran and their hoverbike in a polystone Sculpture Arts statue .