Deuce

Deuce is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0 who also appears in Final Fantasy Agito and Final Fantasy Awakening. She represents the number two of Class Zero and plays the flute. Her playstyle is unique, as she is a ranged character but her projectiles home in slowly yet steadily on their target, allowing the player to stay fairly far away if needed. She also excels at a support role, protecting and empowering her teammates. Deuce is the youngest member of Class Zero. She is reserved, quiet and shy, but when pushed to her limit, her bravery and assertiveness come out.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Deuce is a brunette girl with dark blue eyes. As a member of Class Zero, she wears a uniform consisting of a black jacket, a red skirt, knee-high black socks and a red cape. Deuce's cape wraps around her neck and shoulders like a scarf. She wears blue-striped panties, also known as "shimapan". In her summer uniform, she wears a black skirt, white knee-high socks, a black vest, white t-shirt with a black tie and black gloves. Deuce is the only girl in Class Zero who wears a tie instead of a bowtie. In her dress uniform, she wears a black skirt with a white lace trim, red knee-high socks, a red jacket with black cuffs and a white scarf. Should she become a l'Cie, Deuce's brand would appear on her back. In the alternate ending, Deuce has a moogle keychain on her backpack.
In Final Fantasy Awakening, Deuce's hair is pale brown.
===Personality===
Deuce is loyal to her duties in Class Zero. She is kind-hearted and good-natured, though she can also be stubborn. When she sets her mind to something, she is going to get it done. Normally, Deuce treats everyone she meets with respect and kindness, making concessions to avoid conflict, but once she makes up her mind she refuses to budge. She hates dark, dank places. According to Sice, she is 'scary' when angry.
According to the Final Fantasy Type-0 novel, Deuce wishes to become a musician upon leaving Class Zero; not in a military band or on the battlefield, but rather to give happiness to people.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy Agito===
Deuce is a member of Class Fourth and dons an orange mantle.
She can be found in the Backyard during the morning, afternoon and evening.
===Final Fantasy Type-0: Change the World -The Answer-===
In the penultimate spiral, Deuce again joined Class Zero. After working together as a distraction so the main team of Class Zero could take down a Militesi weapons facility, Jack and Deuce are met by a Concordian who brings message from Queen Andoria on a ceasefire. A confused Deuce contacts Ace through the COMM, but can barely hear him say that they're all safe in the Militesi capital. In Ingram, Deuce and Jack are taken to the twelfth floor of Hotel Armada where they rejoin the rest of Class Zero. Until the next morning's conference, the cadets are free to do what they want. When the cadets try to guess what Milites is planning, Deuce thinks the empire is buying time to develop war machines like the currently experimental Gabriel and the crystal jammer.
Jack suggests they take a break by checking out Ingram, but only Jack and Deuce head out as the others are too tired. Jack is in awe at the high-rise buildings and Deuce explains they were built with magitek derived from the White Tiger Crystal. Unlike the Vermilion Bird that stops providing powers to those over the age of 20, Militesi citizens of all ages receive their Crystal's blessing and thus the average age in the imperial army is higher than in the Rubrumite army. Jack wonders why Milites does not use their vast powers for peace, and an imperial general called Qator Bashtar appears and explains that circumstances forced the empire into war, as the other nations will not help the snow-covered Milites that struggles for usable farmland. Jack comments that humans are savage creatures who would continue fighting even without the Crystals' memory erasure, which saddens Deuce.
Deuce's parents died in a territorial dispute. When Arecia Al-Rashia took her in, all she did was cry. Jack was another child Arecia had adopted, but Deuce's first impression on him wasn't good, as he had insensitively asked if her parents were dead. Jack had explained that his parents were killed in a robbery of their family store, and told her to smile, as even a fake smile will turn into a real one eventually. Since then, Jack and Deuce became friends and whenever Deuce played her flute, Jack would dance. These days Deuce thinks that Jack has changed, as though he appears cheerful on the outside, the words he speaks are callous. Deuce and Jack return to the hotel as snow begins to fall.
Queen Andoria meets with Class Zero and warns the cadets that continuing the war will bring about destruction. She is hit by a sniper, and when Deuce tries to heal her, Andoria stops her, saying that she had foreseen this. She explains dying here is her Focus and crystallizes. The cadets realize Milites is framing them for the regicide and fruitlessly try to contact Kurasame Susaya, their commanding officer. The cadets escape on their own to the streets of Ingram, but only Deuce, Jack, Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya have any magic left. They encounter Ines Belfarre on her scorpion-like magitek armor, the Vajra, whose attack buries everyone except for King, Trey, Nine, Sice, Machina, Rem and Deuce into a pile of rubble. The remaining cadets fall one by one until only Deuce is left standing. Jack digs his way out of the rubble to support her, reminding her that whenever she plays the flute, he'll dance, making Deuce realize he hasn't changed. With Deuce's flute magic as support, Jack defeats Vajra before collapsing. Deuce cries over his body, but Jack tells her to smile. Deuce believes his words are true: one day even a fake smile will turn real. Content, Jack closes his eyes.
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
In the final spiral, the Sorcery Division again took Deuce into their custody when she was a mere seven years old, and quickly initiated her training. She demonstrated a natural talent for casting defense magic. As Archsorceress Arecia Al-Rashia adopted her, Deuce became a member of Class Zero, a group of students from Akademeia, the magic academy of the nation of Rubrum that fights the invasion by the Militesi Empire. As part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle", Deuce and her comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Tempus Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.
Deuce partakes in the liberation campaign when the empire attacks Akademeia, and Class Zero is officially enrolled soon after. Deuce hangs out with Seven and Rem at the terrace when Machina joins them. They learn Machina and Rem are childhood friends, but Deuce is surprised the two attended the same school for years without realizing.
As Class Zero cadets are the only ones able to withstand the effects of the empire's crystal jammer thanks to being augmented by Arecia, the class is deployed out to the battlefield, and liberate the nearby town of McTighe. Afterward, Deuce spots Claes Celestia Misca Sancest, Queen Andoria's ambassador for the Kingdom of Concordia, arrive at Akademeia, and instructs her where to find the chancellor. The queen is a Secundus l'Cie of the Azure Dragon Crystal, and Deuce is surprised a l'Cie would be interested in "mortals' affairs" and ponders the meeting has something to do with the empire having obliterated the Lorican Alliance with its Ultima Bomb.
After the cadets help liberate Rubrum Region, Deuce laments on her new life in Akademeia. Despite only a handful of children being allowed to enter Akademeia, seeing so many cadets around doesn't make being an Agito Cadet feel special. Deuce feels like they are just "a bunch of regular kids". She and Nine meet Naghi Minatsuchi in the Lounge who introduces himself as the cadets' liaison, Deuce saying Mother had told her about him.
After a top secret Code Crimson mission to retrieve classified documents on phantoma research from Togoreth, King spares one of the dominion queastors on the premise of him being from the Phantoma Department of Sorcery. When Cinque is puzzled, Deuce reminds her what Mother told them of the Phantoma Department being exempt, gently scolding Cinque for forgetting Mother's orders. After the mission to liberate Iscah, the cadets return to Akademeia and Deuce and Trey spot Ace sleeping in the back garden. Deuce worries he will get ill sleeping outside and wakes him up. Trey begins to lecture about dreaming but Deuce interrupts him by telling Ace Rem is looking for him, and they abandon Trey mid-sentence.
When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. The class's commanding officer, Kurasame Susaya, travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety, and afterward explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor. They meet Queen Andoria who explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis. Yet, the cadets struggle accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will.
The cadets are free to explore the Militesi capital and Deuce is in awe of its distinct architecture and culture. King and Deuce talk to Aria, an orderly who supports the class, but she seems too shy to even open her mouth. As the two encourage her to express herself, Aria reveals she is a talkative girl who had repressed her true nature due to her mother's instruction to not get on people's nerves. As Deuce explores the city with a fellow class member Queen, the two spot a Dominion Intel member from Section Four, becoming suspicious.
Queen Andoria is assassinated and Class Zero is blamed for it. The cadets are ambushed at Hotel Armada, and a sniper shoots Aria. The cadets leave her behind and make a hasty escape, Deuce realizing they cannot contact Central Command. While the cadets remember meeting a queen, they remember nothing else of her, meaning their memories must have been erased, indicating she has truly died. Machina is upset at the possibility they had been left on their own on purpose when Queen brings up the Dominion Intel sighting she and Deuce had back in the city. When Rem gets dizzy during their trek through the train tunnels, Deuce asks if she wants to rest but Queen objects, as the place is unsafe.
Andoria's death drives Celestia to attack Class Zero. Deuce places herself between Ace and the dragon Celestia summons, convincing her to listen to their side of the story. As the dragons believe them, Celestia helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region where the cadets recuperate and ponder why they still can't contact Central Command. The others praise Deuce's bravado when facing Celestia, but she says she was merely desperate. Machina argues with the others over his brother Izana Kunagiri's death being the cadets' fault before storming off.
The cadets stay put overnight, Deuce wondering why they can't contact anyone even if their COMM is working. Cinque says the Vermilion Bird Crystal must be fine because Rem can still use magic despite not being augmented by their adoptive mother, Arecia. Eight theorizes something like a "jammer" is interfering with their communications. Machina returns at sunrise, but his explanation on where he was is cut off when Deuce exclaims the COMM is working and she has reached the dominion.
Kurasame organizes for the cadets to be rescued by airship and back in Akademeia tells them there will likely be an investigation, and implies the cadets switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous, but wild rumors begin circulating of their involvement in the assassination. News comes in that Lady Celestia has succeeded Andoria as the new Azure Dragon Secundus l'Cie. Deuce worries they may run into her again now that Concordia has allied with the empire against Rubrum, and that she won't lend her ear to their cause again due to having lost her sense of compassion after becoming a l'Cie. Deuce worries over Aria and feels it was partially their fault she got injured and left behind. She wants to end the war so that Aria will be released.
After the cadets return from a mission to reclaim Eibon, they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces. Class Zero is to be sent with the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet, while Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for Vermilion Bird Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon. Ace and Deuce accost Kurasame on the Akademeia cemetery to criticize his nonchalant attitude. When the two question his battle-readiness Kurasame says that the day the cadets need to worry about him will be his last.
The cadets help Rubrum secure victory on the eastern front by defeating Shinryu Celestia. The western front is falling back and thus Class Zero is recalled as reinforcements to destroy the empire's crystal jammer allowing for Lady Caetuna to begin summoning Alexander for which Kurasame and the other cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis. Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery but cannot comprehend the losses as the Vermilion Bird Crystal has erased all memories of Kurasame as well as the others who perished.
The cadetmaster visits the class and announces that due to its unique nature Class Zero is not assigned a new commanding officer. The cadets wonder who will give them mission orders from them on, and Moglin, the class moogle, announces ze can take over the role of giving briefings. The cadets tease Moglin by ignoring hir and ponder if they can just rely on dominion tribunes and Central Command. Moglin gets depressed, but King and Deuce assure they were joking, and would be glad to have Moglin as their new "commander". Deuce is relieved Machina has returned, but wonders where he was.
After the cadets help dominion invade Concordia, Deuce and King discuss their next move now that only the empire stands in the dominion's way of controlling all of Orience. Cater butts in to finish Deuce's sentence, shocking her. Cater feels she has had the same conversation before, but as Arecia had told her not to worry about the déjà vu she has been experiencing, Deuce affirms she must be fine. Eight and Deuce meet with Carla Ayatsugi who returns the investment Class Zero had made in her business, and announces she has used her connections to join Class Zero, much to Eight and Deuce's surprise.
As the final showdown against the empire and its leader, Cid Aulstyne, begins, the class is sent to Ingram to help conquer the imperial capital. As Class Zero is to be deployed Machina disappears. The others go without him and best Militesi General Qator Bashtar in his new and improved MA. The empire falls and Orience is united under the Vermilion Bird banner. However, as the cadets return to Akademeia they find its cadets and legionaries slain by the Rursan Reavers and the dominion commanders gone: Tempus Finis has begun.
Other cadets reveal the once code crimson missions, which Class Zero partook, making the remaining cadets turn against them, blaming them for the ensuing apocalypse. Rem's illness reaches its final stages and she collapses, Deuce informing the others Rem's phantoma levels are dangerously low. Arecia explains Class Zero have lived their lives according to the Will of Crystals recorded in the Akashic Records, but now that the "souls have been released" they can write their own ending, as humans have the power to decide how they live or die, hinting at a vital decision the cadets would soon need to make. After hearing Cid Aulstyne headed to the sanctuary where the Rursus—the monsters currently killing everyone in Orience—emerged from, Queen, Ace and the others recall the words written in the Nameless Tome, an epic extolling the myths and legends of Orience, and surmise Cid plans to become Agito. Deuce worries what will become of the dominion if Cid were to succeed.
Queen calls everyone to the Altocrystarium room where she tells them about the Judge who resides in the newly appeared sanctuary, Pandæmonium, to make the Final Decision: if there is no Agito, the Rursus will destroy Orience. The cadets plan to infiltrate the sanctuary to speak to the Judge while knowing that without Arecia they will not be revived if they fall in battle.
Deuce and Eight talk to Quon Yobatz, a fellow cadet who has devoted his life to magic research stemming from his interpretation that "Agito" would be an individual with mastery over all magic. Finding his magical knowledge useless against the Rursus, Quon believes Agito is but a fairy tale to pacify people in the face of the end times. When Deuce attempts to persuade him not to lose hope, Quon reveals that even the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie, Zhuyu, fell to the Rursus and remains convinced Tempus Finis will destroy Orience.
When Lady Celestia arrives to Akademeia offering to take the cadets to Pandæmonium where Cid has supposedly become Agito, Deuce calls her a kind soul for wanting to help them. Seeing how everyone around her refuses to surrender motivates Deuce to not give up either. In Pandæmonium Deuce is shocked to learn Celestia can remember Queen Andoria, and the latter reveals the late queen could see the future and thus had anticipated her assassination, yet still allowed for it to happen, and had relinquished her memories to Celestia who inherited her status as a l'Cie. Celestia loses her humanity for having defied the Focus given to her by the Azure Dragon Crystal, and turns into Shinryu Celestia.
As the cadets head to the top of the temple guided by Cid's voice, the Vermilion Bird Crystal asks them to become l'Cie. If they accept the cadets the Rursus kill them and Arecia deems it another failed experiment and the world is reborn for another try. If they choose to remain mortal, the Vermilion Bird brands Rem, still slumped in Arecia's office back in Akademeia, in their stead, and sends her to intercept a White Tiger l'Cie it had sensed Pandæmonium, wanting one of the Vermilion Bird to become Agito. As Rem engages the l'Cie she is impaled by his rapier, and it turns out the l'Cie was Machina who had willingly inherited the White Tiger l'Cie Qun'mi Tru'e's Focus to become strong enough to protect Rem. As Rem dies, both enter crystal stasis, the cadets mourning the sight when they happen upon their crystal.
The cadets face off against Cid who has become the Rursan Arbiter, possessed by the fal'Cie Gala. He deems Class Zero unfit to be Agito, and thus sets out to destroy Orience. Machina and Rem's crystal bestows the cadets with their power, allowing them to prevail, but like the rest of Class Zero, Deuce meets her end after they vanquish the Judge. The cadets spend their final moments together talking of all the things they would have done after the war's end. The mysterious Tiz and Joker, who had been observing the class's progress, ask Arecia to listen to the class's wishes from beyond the grave.
By listening to their souls Arecia learns the class loves her, but have made their own decision on how they met their end and do not wish to be revived. Arecia releases Machina and Rem from crystal stasis and instead of restarting the spiral, departs from Orience, abandoning the experiment to find Etro's gate with the Agito. The Crystals of Orience fade and people are allowed to remember the dead, Machina and Rem holding dear the memories of Class Zero.
In the alternate ending where Arecia removed the Crystals from Orience's history, Deuce lives the life of a regular school girl. Deuce and Cinque befriend Queen, and the trio, wearing their summer uniforms, return from a game of lacrosse while discussing a possible romance between Ace and Mutsuki.
==Gameplay==
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
Deuce plays the flute in battle, which creates a unique gameplay style for her. She has many damaging point-blank and long-range melodies in her arsenal, allowing her to play defensively or offensively. Playing her offensively requires players to take a risk, while playing defensively allows Deuce to buff her allies or debilitate her opponents. While AI-controlled allies normally attack a different enemy from the party leader, they will attack the enemy Deuce is targeting, making her useful for hard missions.
Her Concerto ff attack is a flute version of the "Chocobo Theme". According to a poll in the Final Fantasy Type-0 art book, Deuce was the most used character in multiplayer.
===Final Fantasy Awakening===
Deuce retains her moves from Final Fantasy Type-0, but she plays a supportive role rather than attacking opponents in both offense and defense. She can briefly ensnare the enemy by summoning a vine-like monster and can heal everyone's HP as part of her strongest skill. She can remove negative statuses as one of her special skills and has higher defense when she was damaged by her enemies, only surpassed by Enkidu in terms of defense capabilities.
She is mostly used by the online players because of her powerful healing abilities, but has a disadvantage when all of the players' allies are defeated as she cannot attack.
==Other appearances==
Deuce has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a Legend and a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
Deuce has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
*Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Lost Zero as an outfit for the playable character.
==Behind the scenes==
The developers struggled designing Deuce's playstyle. Initially, she physically attacked close enemies with the flute, but during test play everyone only used the flute as a physical weapon. The developers removed the ability to use the flute as a striking weapon and made the rest of the party cover each other better.Final Fantasy Type-0 Kōshiki Settei Shiryōshū Aku no Hishi p.250–254 (translation)
===Voice===
Deuce is voiced by Kana Hanazawa in the Japanese version.
She is voiced by Bryce Hitchcock in the English version.
==Gallery==
;Final Fantasy Type-0
Deuce-type0-psp-model.png|Regular uniform.
Deuce-type0-psp-model-summer.png|Summer uniform.
Deuce-type0-psp-model-dress.png|Dress uniform.
FFType0-DeuceRender.png|Alternate render.
Final-Fantasy-Type-0-Deuce-Screenshot.jpg|Deuce with Ace.
Deuce-Type-0-HD.jpg|Deuce (HD).
Deuce summer Costume.png|Gameplay in her summer outfit.
Deuce blizzard.png|Blizzard.
Duece Talking To Colonel Faith.jpg|Deuce talking to Faith in Colonel Faith's Last Stand.
Deuce Flute Attack.jpg|Deuce attacking with her flute.
FFT-0 Deuce L'Cie.png|Deuce becomes a l'Cie.
FFT-0 Deuce.png|Deuce during the ending.
FFT-0 Virtual World Deuce's Flute.png|An avatar with Deuce's flute from the Square Enix Members Virtual World.
Type 0 Talking To Naghi Minatsuchi.jpg|Talking to Naghi alongside Trey, Sice, and Cinque.
Type 0 Deuce and Nine.jpg|Deuce and Nine in battle.
;Final Fantasy Agito
FFAgito-DeuceRender.jpg|Render.
FFAgito Deuce Close-up.png|Close-up.
FFAgito Deuce2.png|In-game render.
FFAgito Deuce SS.png|Screenshot of Deuce.
==Etymology and symbolism==
By the prophecy of the Nameless Tome, Deuce is said to bear the Power of Kindness. While kindness is compassionate, gentle, and representative of peace, it is known to come through in trying times in many other ways, including turning into courage for standing up for the right thing to do, and correcting those close to them from doing wrong things, including showcasing justified force and anger.
Out of Class Zero Deuce has the most supportive fighting style. Though she is timid and seemingly ill-fit for battle, she is a powerful magic user and wants to serve as a soldier. She has the courage to fight for those she cherishes. Music provided by military bands or musicians of one's own nation have been used to boost morale and psyche troops in the face of oncoming battle, further illustrating Deuce's supportive role.
Within Buddhist imagery of Jimotsu, or sacred ritual instruments, Deuce's flute is evocative of the conch shell and bell, being musical instruments used to signal and summon benevolent deities and announce their presence. Flutes proper are said to have been played by the Buddha himself, and by beings of music within the Buddhist Pantheon and the Eight Legions of Dharma, from the Kinara, who are winged beings, and Magoraka, who are similar to nagas.
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Type-0
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Agito
Category:Bards
Category:L'Cie
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Awakening
de:Deuce
es:Deuce
fr:Deuce
pt-br:Deuce
ru:Дьюс