Setzer Gabbiani Setzer Gabbiani is a playable character in " Final Fantasy VI " . He is a Gambler who lives on the wild side and owns the world ' s only airship : the " Blackjack " . In the SNES version he is neutral at the beginning of the war , reluctant to openly oppose the Gestahlian Empire after having made profits from their work . In the GBA translation , which is more faithful to the original , he says the Empire has been bad for his business . Profile . Appearance . Setzer is a man in his late twenties . He has long silver hair , violet eyes , and wears several layers of clothing under a black trench coat with a gold lining , though the in - game sprite shows the lining as brown . He is roughly average height , and thin . Setzer ' s face is scarred , though this is not visible in his game sprites until the mobile version . Setzer with his scars is the first character of the series to bear visible physical disfigurements . The extent of his scars vary : in Yoshitaka Amano artwork and an FMV in " Final Fantasy Anthology " where his skin is very pale , they are white and noticeable ; in chibi artwork and " Kingdom Hearts II " where his skin is similar to his in - game color , they blend in with his skin . Personality . Setzer cannot resist a gamble ; he thrives on risks — such as his planned abduction of Maria — and never passes up an opportunity to prove his skill . Most of his scars come from gambling sessions gone wrong , although some also come from airship accidents . There are aspects of Setzer ' s character that fit the " ladies ' man " archetype , such as his willingness to gamble his airship for Celes Chere ' s hand in marriage , which were exaggerated in his " Kingdom Hearts " appearance . Setzer acts like a happy and likeable person up front , but is still hurt by a great loss and distracts himself with gambling . Story . Setzer was a gambler by nature and pilot by trade . When younger , he was involved with a girl named Darill who owned the airship " Falcon " . She was aware of her risk - taking nature as she casually mentioned to Setzer the " Falcon " was his if she ever was unable to fly . Setzer , mortified by the idea , said no such thing would ever happen , and that he would only take the " Falcon " after having won it fairly . After a day of flying Darill went out on her own and pushed the " Falcon " to its limits . The ship crashed in a distant valley , and when Setzer found the remains he entombed them beneath the sea . Shell - shocked by the loss , Setzer impressed his desires upon a wealthy opera star named Maria . The pinnacle of his infatuation comes when he threatens to kidnap her amid of a performance . He plans to disrupt the show of Opera " Maria and Draco " but Locke Cole and his party are desperate for an airship , and so together with the Impresario foil Setzer ' s plan by having Celes Chere star in the night ' s show instead of Maria . Setzer abducts Celes , Locke follows him back to the " Blackjack " , and the party seeks to negotiate for the airship . Setzer is disappointed upon finding Celes is not Maria , but soon finds Celes to be more attractive . Celes borrows Edgar ' s double - headed coin to broker a deal : if it landed on heads , Setzer would help the Returners reach the Southern Continent to rescue Maduin and the other espers ; if it was tails , Celes would agree to be Setzer ' s " woman " ( the Japanese term refers to a woman that receives gifts from her man in exchange for physical favors ) . Amused , Setzer agrees , but realizes he has been duped . Setzer ' s inherent good nature , coupled by being impressed by the trick , makes him pliant to the idea and he helps the Returners . While the others infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility Setzer stays on the airship . When the others do not return , he goes to Vector to check on them and meets them as they are fleeing the city and rings them onto the " Blackjack " to escape . The ship is damaged in the attack and later , Setzer accompanies them to Zozo to save Terra Branford . Following the trip to Zozo Setzer accompanies the party to Narshe where the elder joins with the Returners . Terra agrees to ask the freed espers to limit their devastation to Vector , after which a coalition of Returners and Narshe guards would storm from the north . The plan is a success , and Emperor Gestahl appears to have surrendered . He asks Terra to convince the espers to negotiate peace and she and Locke head to Crescent Island to convey the Emperor ' s message . Setzer and the others doubt the Emperor and stay in Vector to judge his motives . Setzer and Cid Del Norte Marquez , the Empire ' s researcher on magic and espers , rebuild the airship while Edgar uses his charms to learn the Emperor ' s true plans from a maidservant , who says the Emperor plans to capture the espers . The party flies to Thamasa to warn Terra and Locke , but they are too late . Kefka has acquired more magicite and used it to revive the Warring Triad and turn the Esper World into the Floating Continent . The party apprehends Kefka and Gestahl on the floating island but Kefka kills the Emperor and moves the Warring Triad out of alignment . The party escapes on the " Blackjack " , but the imbalance caused by the disturbing of the Warring Triad ' s alignment shifts the very face of the earth and the airship is torn apart , separating everyone . One year after the end of the world , with no wings to fly and nowhere to go , Setzer is wasting his life away in a bar in Kohlingen . Celes , Edgar , and Sabin happen upon him and ask him to rejoin their fight against Kefka . Setzer is initially unwilling , having lost a sense of purpose for his life , but Celes ' s words convince him . Setzer takes them to Darill ' s Tomb to unearth the " Falcon " where he shares Darill ' s story with the party , and as the " Falcon " rises to the skies Setzer finally buries his grief . After Kefka has been felled and the party is fleeing the crumbling Kefka ' s Tower , Setzer saves two of his fellow Returners by telling them which of two doors is unsafe and about to explode . He initially tosses a coin which indicates one door , but tells them to take the other one instead . The door indicated by the coin explodes shortly thereafter . Setzer lingers for a moment , reminiscing about how Darill once told him that " whenever you think you ' re right , you ' re wrong " , an instinct that made him decide to not trust the coin toss . If Locke was not re - recruited into the party , Setzer saves Celes from the collapsing floor portion , telling her that he can ' t let her die because Celes promised to perform as Maria again . Celes exclaims the item she dropped , Locke ' s bandanna , is a good - luck - charm that helped her find her resolve . When Terra ' s esper power fades with magic disappearing from the world and she falls from the sky , Setzer pilots the " Falcon " to catch her proclaiming the " Falcon " is the fastest ship in the world . Gameplay . Setzer is a Gambler . His special ability is Slot , which can have various damaging or healing effects based on the slots outcome . If he equips the Heiji ' s Jitte relic , Slots becomes Gil Toss , which allows Setzer to damage all enemies at the cost of gil . His Strength , Stamina , Magic Defense and Speed , are average , his Defense is high and his Magic is low . He can equip most heavy armor , and wields Gambler ' s items , weapons which have random effects in the damage they deal . Most notable of this is the Fixed Dice , whose damage is not halved by Master ' s Scroll , making it possible to potentially deal four hits of 9 , 999 with no risk of being evaded . His Desperation Attack is Red Card that deals magical damage to one enemy . Creation and development . After it was decided " Final Fantasy VI " would feature an ensemble cast with no clear main protagonist , everyone in the development team was encouraged to provide ideas for characters and their episodes . Setzer ' s character and story were colored by influence from Tetsuya Nomura . According to the " Chocobo ' s FF Laboratory " feature published in " V Jump " in 1993 , the character of Faris Scherwiz from " Final Fantasy V " was originally a female gambler named Eva Scherwil . The developers encountered difficulties in making her fit in the game ' s world and atmosphere , and changed her into a pirate . In a later issue of " V Jump " , the developers noted Setzer evolved from this early Eva concept . Nomura had had jobs in mind for " Final Fantasy V " , such as a ninja with a dog , and a gambler who fought with dice and cards , among others . These ideas were not used for " Final Fantasy V " , but when work started on " Final Fantasy VI " , they were used for Shadow and Setzer . A rarely - noticed fact about Setzer is that in the Japanese version he joins the party with a Bandana equipped although he cannot equip them ( if removed he cannot reequip it ) . This is not a bug , but was meant to be an inside joke showing Setzer ' s vanity does not allow him to wear the same things as Locke . In the GBA version Setzer does not come with a Bandana , as the porting team possibly thought it was a glitch . Setzer is likely based on the concept of " bakuto " , itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th century to the mid - 20th century who were one of the forerunners of the modern Japanese crime gangs known as " yakuza " . " Bakuto " plied their trade in feudal Japan , playing traditional games such as " hanafuda " and dice and were mostly social outcasts who lived outside the laws and norms of society . Musical themes . Setzer ' s theme is built off C major , a grand fanfare that plays as the background music for the cabins underneath both airships . His leitmotif is reprised in A major in " Epitaph " , which plays during his reminiscence of Darill , and in C major again in the ending theme , " Balance is Restored " . In addition to his character reprisal in the " Ending Theme " , Setzer ' s theme is reprised during the first half of the ending credits . Other appearances . Setzer Gabbiani has appeared in the following games throughout the " Final Fantasy " series : Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . Setzer has made key guest appearances in the following non - " Final Fantasy " games : Merchandise . Square released pencil toppers and key chains in 1994 with the cast of " Final Fantasy VI " . Among them was merchandise featuring Setzer . These products were available in vending machines . Setzer ' s key chain features his in - game sprite design .