Rikku

Rikku is an Al Bhed girl who is a playable character in both Final Fantasy X, and its direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2.
Rikku's mother died in an incident involving a faulty machina. Her father is Cid, the leader of the Al Bhed faction, and she has an older sibling named Brother. Cid's sister (Rikku's aunt) married Summoner Braska, Yuna's father, thus making him Rikku's uncle. Rikku and Brother are Yuna's maternal first cousins.
Rikku is an energetic, happy-go-lucky character who attempts to maintain a positive outlook. She is close to and protective of Yuna, whom she often refers to as "Yunie." In Final Fantasy X, Rikku is the first friend Tidus makes in Spira, and she becomes Yuna's final guardian on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin. In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku convinces Yuna to become a sphere hunter and accompanies her on her personal quest that evolves into a bid to save Spira again.
In Final Fantasy X, Rikku wields claws and targes in battle. She also begins with the ability to steal and use items to various effects that can't be achieved through the standard Item command. Her Overdrive is Mix, allowing her to combine items to powerful defensive and offensive effects, in many cases greater than many magic spells. Her Celestial Weapon is Godhand, which doubles the amount of gil and triples the amount of AP she can earn in battle. Along with Tidus and Wakka, she is one of three characters capable of fighting underwater. In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku's default dressphere is Thief, also gearing her towards stealing items, and her special dressphere is Machina Maw.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Rikku is a slender and athletic teenage girl who has medium-length blonde hair in a high ponytail with two braids hanging down, decorated with orange feathers. Two shorter sections of hair part to her left and frame her face. A pair of bobby pins, one blue and one green, crisscross the left side. She also has the Al Bhed trademark green eyes with swirled pupils.
When first encountered aboard the Salvage Ship, Rikku wears a full Al Bhed combat diving suit that conceals her identity. When she joins Yuna's pilgrimage and sheds the suit, she wears a pair of flared green dolphin shorts with an orange belt and an orange sleeveless tank-top with side straps and two long blue ribbons hanging from the back. She wears a pair of goggles around her neck, a pair of boots, a gauntlet and arm guard for her right arm, and a large protective forearm mitt for her left. Around her right thigh, she keeps a pouch for her alchemy materials and equipment. Rikku has yellow-painted fingernails. Despite carrying goggles around her neck and wearing them while salvaging and piloting machina, Rikku never wears them again after taking them off on the Moonflow.
Rikku's Final Fantasy X HD Remaster cutscene model lacks earrings.
In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku wears her now longer hair loose and braided, tied atop her head, adorned with colorful beads, and held by a blue bandana. Rikku has unique outfits for each of the thirteen dresspheres used in combat, with details that distinguish her from Paine and Yuna. In her default look, the Thief dressphere, she wears a yellow g-string bikini and an olive green mini-skirt, carrying two pouches at her waist and wearing ruffle sleeves. A long yellow and red scarf hangs loosely around her neck. Wearing the Thief dressphere in combat, she wields two red dagger-like blades designed for rapid attacks. She also wears earrings with the top halves pink and the lower halves white.
In other dresspheres, she wields Yuna's Tiny Bee guns and summoning staves El Dorado and Spiked Rod, as well as Tidus's Crystal Sword, Auron's Katana blade and his Masamune katana. Her deck theme for the Lady Luck dressphere is clubs, and her Mascot dressphere is a Cait Sith.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Rikku's hairstyle remains unchanged, and her default Thief dressphere has minor changes: she wears a yellow tube top and an orange skirt with two yellow ribbons and white ruffle sleeves. Her long scarf is now red with an orange tint. She now wears white knee-high socks, and her boots are white with blue folded sleeves.
===Personality===
In Final Fantasy X, Rikku is kind-hearted, free-spirited, happy-go-lucky, and energetic, which sometimes clashes with the more stoic group members. She looks up to Lulu as a role model, impressed with her calm, levelheaded nature. Rikku tries to maintain a positive outlook, but there is a stark contrast when she is upset; despite her happy exterior, she carries some insecurities, particularly when it comes to her future and what she wants to be. Rikku is bilingual and skilled in chemistry and alchemy. She has astraphobia (fear of lightning) after a mishap involving Brother and a stray Thunder spell in her youth, overcoming it by Final Fantasy X-2 by camping out in the Thunder Plains for a week. Rikku is loyal to Yuna yet is the most vocal opponent to the ongoing pilgrimage. She bonds with Tidus, perhaps because of their similar personalities and devotion to Yuna.
In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku continues to care about Yuna's welfare while encouraging her to have more fun in life. She has become Yuna's role model who copies her erratic behavior and unique expressions, though Rikku sometimes scolds Yuna for using foul language. Rikku remains the ever upbeat and somewhat reckless individual, occasionally causing trouble for her friends.
In Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission, it is revealed that Rikku can't help herself when it comes to caring too much about other people, whether or not it's her business. She envies Yuna for having a significant other and being able to settle down. She is unsure about her future, and when others think of it as strange for her to worry, she gets defensive as they make it sound as though she doesn't think about anything important.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy X===
During Rikku's childhood, a malfunctioning machina on a rampage killed her mother. Rikku was attacked by a fiend while playing on the beach, and Brother aimed a Thunder spell at it to fend it off, but the attack missed and hit Rikku instead, leaving her with a fear of thunder.
After a fiend ambushes Tidus in the Underwater Ruins, a group of Al Bhed led by Rikku rescue him. While the others believe Tidus is a fiend in human form, Rikku objects to killing him and instead knocks him out to be taken to the Al Bhed Salvage Ship. As the bilingual member of the group, Rikku enlists Tidus in reactivating an underwater power plant to salvage a sunken airship. Striking up a friendship and surprised by his claims of hailing from Zanarkand, a city destroyed a thousand years ago, Rikku promises to take him to Luca so he can find someone he knows. The two are separated when Sin, the monster terrorizing Spira, attacks the ship and washes Tidus overboard.
Tidus drifts to Besaid and ends up joining Yuna on her pilgrimage. When Yuna's group crosses the Moonflow via shoopuf, Rikku pilots an underwater machina to kidnap her and stop her pilgrimage, but Tidus and Wakka dive in after her and save Yuna. Ejecting from the damaged machina, Rikku washes ashore, and Tidus finds her. Rikku discards her Al Bhed uniform to move about incognito and joins Yuna's pilgrimage as her final guardian. While the others know of Rikku's heritage, they keep it a secret from Wakka, who disapproves of the Al Bhed for personal reasons. Though she enjoys the hospitality at Guadosalam, Rikku stays out of the Farplane while the others go for a visit; saying that the images of the dead the Farplane conjures are mere memories, and she prefers keeping her memories to herself.
Rikku reveals her astraphobia when the group crosses the Thunder Plains, pleading with the others to rest at the nearby travel agency. Auron's harshness causes an upset Rikku to momentarily overcome her fear by the time they reach Macalania Woods. On the way to Macalania Temple, Rikku defends Yuna from her brother when he tries to kidnap her. When she tells him she will protect Yuna using her native tongue, Rikku finds herself insulted by a shocked Wakka. She retorts by telling him to think for himself for once without Yevon's influence, and show proof of his claims that her people are to blame for Sin. If Tidus rides a machina sled with Rikku to Macalania Temple, she reveals she is Yuna's cousin. Then she articulates in a roundabout way that Yuna will die if she continues her pilgrimage, but Tidus is oblivious.
At Macalania Temple, a guard, disbelieving an Al Bhed could be a summoner's guardian, denies Rikku entry until Auron comes to her defense. After the group confronts Seymour for his role in murdering his father, Jyscal Guado, it escalates into a battle that kills Seymour. They escape pursuit from the Guado and fall to the bottom of the frozen Lake Macalania, where they are whisked away by an encounter with Sin.
Transported to Bikanel Island, the party regroups but can't find Yuna. Rikku leads the others to the secret Al Bhed settlement, Home, but they find it under attack by the Guado. They locate Rikku's father, Cid, and Rikku reveals to an unaware Tidus that Yuna will die if she performs the Final Summoning to defeat Sin. They escape on the airship the Al Bhed had restored from the salvage operation in which Tidus briefly participated.
Learning that Yuna is at Bevelle, the party drops in on her forced wedding to the now-unsent Seymour, but Warrior Monks make them watch it continue while held at gunpoint. After Yuna escapes on Valefor, Rikku tosses a flash bomb to blind Seymour and the monks so the group can retreat into Bevelle Temple. After Wen Kinoc holds them up, Rikku tries to warn Tidus not to exit the Chamber of the Fayth with Yuna, but it's too late, and they're arrested and held on trial for treason over killing Seymour, one of the Maesters of the Yevon Temple.
Rikku is thrown into the Via Purifico with Tidus and Wakka, but they escape from the dungeon's monster and reunite with Yuna and the others. On Bevelle's Highbridge, Seymour transforms into Seymour Natus and confronts the group. They defeat him and flee to the Macalania Woods, where Rikku hopes Yuna would quit her pilgrimage now that they know the truth about Yevon's corrupt ways. Although Yuna is set on continuing, Rikku and Tidus decide to come up with a way to save her. During the group's climb up Mt. Gagazet, Rikku becomes increasingly distraught over Yuna's impending fate and pleads with her not to go through with the Final Summoning. Yuna comforts Rikku and thanks her for her help, but Rikku refuses to accept Yuna's choice.
Within the Zanarkand Dome, the party learns of the Final Summoning's true nature as a continuation of Sin, and Rikku is overjoyed when Yuna rejects it as a false rite. The party decides to fight Sin via other means, and Rikku tells Shelinda to spread the word of the plan to subdue Sin by using the "Hymn of the Fayth." They fly the airship into the calmed Sin and traverse its innards to reach the core. After Wakka makes his peace with her people, Rikku joins the others in fighting Jecht in his Final Aeon form. Defeating him exposes Yu Yevon, the ancient summoner whose eternal summoning ritual keeps Sin alive. Then the party has to fight Yuna's aeons as Yu Yevon possesses them before finally fighting him directly and destroying him.
As Yuna sends her aeons, Auron dissolves into pyreflies and departs for the Farplane. With Yu Yevon no more, Sin, the fayth, the aeons, and Tidus begin to fade, as the latter had learned that he was part of the summoning Yu Yevon upheld for a thousand years, as part of the Zanarkand he came from. The party returns to the airship, and Tidus says his goodbyes to everyone, but Rikku does not accept his departure, saying they will meet again. Sometime later, Rikku is present with Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri as Yuna delivers a speech in Luca Stadium to announce the onset of the Eternal Calm.
===Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm===
In the two years since Sin's destruction, Rikku has traveled all over Spira, salvaging machina and teaching people how to use them. She often takes the time to visit Yuna on Besaid. She has overcome her fear of thunder by camping out in the Thunder Plains for a week. She and Brother have fallen out with Cid and founded the Gullwings, an Al Bhed sphere hunting group based on their new airship, the Celsius, with the help of Brother's friends, Buddy and Shinra. A young woman named Paine soon joins them.
One day, Rikku rushes to Besaid on an Al Bhed ship to show Yuna a sphere Kimahri found on Mt. Gagazet displaying an imprisoned man resembling Tidus. Rikku invites Yuna to accompany her to Kimahri to learn more about the sphere, but Wakka says Yuna is too busy with visitors. Rikku argues that Yuna should embrace her new lease on life, and after Yuna decides to journey again, Rikku reveals she brought new clothes for her to go "incognito." At Yuna's urging, they leave Besaid immediately and embark on a new adventure.
===Final Fantasy X-2===
The Gullwings gain a rivalry with the Leblanc Syndicate, another sphere hunting group led by Leblanc. One day, Leblanc steals Yuna's Garment Grid and performs a concert in Luca while posing as Yuna. Rikku and Paine crash the show while Yuna dons a moogle costume to keep a low profile. Rikku and Paine chase Leblanc out to the docks, and Yuna joins the fray and reclaims her Garment Grid.
The Gullwings explore the recently discovered Floating Ruins at the peak of Mt. Gagazet and claim the treasure sphere that contains images of Zanarkand. At the Zanarkand Ruins, they find half a sphere. The Gullwings travel throughout Spira and encounter many old and new friends, including the three most influential Spirans: Youth League leader Nooj, New Yevon Praetor Baralai, and Gippal, leader of the Machine Faction. Gippal, a ladies' man and an old friend of Rikku's, embarrasses her with a crack about the two of them having "made quite the couple." News spreads about an "awesome sphere" found in Kilika, which draws the attention of both the Youth League and New Yevon. The Gullwings seize the sphere whose footage displays the mysterious man who resembles Tidus standing before a large weapon, mentioning someone named Lenne.
They return the awesome sphere to either the Youth League or New Yevon and learn either from Nooj or Baralai that the colossal weapon is called Vegnagun. Leblanc broke into the airship and stole the Gullwings' broken sphere from the Zanarkand Ruins, and in Leblanc's headquarters, Chateau Leblanc, the girls discover Leblanc already had the other half and stole their half to make it whole. After watching the restored sphere, they find out Vegnagun lies hidden beneath Bevelle. Forming a truce with the Leblanc Syndicate, the sphere hunters enter the secret passage under Bevelle formed after the fayth's disappearance and find an underground complex filled with machina.
When the girls reach Vegnagun's lair, they face a hostile Bahamut and are forced to fight it. Vegnagun is gone, and a large hole is left in its place. Fiends pour out of the temples, and Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal go missing. After defeating a possessed Ixion in Djose Temple, its surprise death blow attack sends Yuna falling down the hole in the former Chamber of the Fayth and into the Farplane. Rikku, Paine, and the others soon hear from her when she emerges in the Bevelle Underground.
Back on the Celsius, Yuna tells everyone about what she learned at the Farplane> Shuyin and Lenne lived during the times of the Machina War a thousand years ago, and Lenne's spirit coalesced into a sphere, which the Gullwings now use as the Songstress dressphere. After learning about Shuyin and Lenne from Maechen after Yuna's 1000 Words concert, Rikku pities Shuyin, as two years ago, she, too, went to great lengths to try and save Yuna from a tragic fate. Knowing the holes in the temples lead to the Farplane, Yuna plans to talk to Shuyin to tell him how Lenne felt.
Rikku feels that people are always leaving her behind, but Yuna thanks her for "kidnapping" her and letting her join the Gullwings. The girls descend into the depths of the Farplane and defeat Shuyin and Vegnagun. Lenne's spirit puts Shuyin's hatred to rest. The Gullwings leave Spira's leaders at Luca and ride the Celsius to Besaid, where Yuna reunites with a restored Tidus.
===Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~===
After Yuna and Tidus reunite on the Besaid shore, everyone returns to Besaid Village for a celebration. Rikku talks with Tidus and notes he hasn't changed a bit before introducing him to Paine. When Tidus's concentration begins to falter mid-conversation, and he begins making glances for Yuna, who is still busy at the temple, Rikku takes back her claim and says Tidus has changed. She notes that although he looks the same, he is not the same lighthearted Tidus he was two years ago.
===Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission===
Over the next three months, the Gullwings have gone their separate ways. Each girl receives a letter that calls the trio back together at Luca to explore the recently discovered Iutycyr Tower. With Buddy and Brother out shopping, Paine flies them to Iutycyr on the Celsius. Rikku says they can fly to the top, but Paine thinks they should obey the letter and climb the tower.
As they explore the ruins, the girls discuss what they had been doing since separating. Rikku has continued to salvage machina and works on missions and relays their other friends' status around Spira. She is at constant odds with Yuna, claiming Yuna doesn't want to see her anymore and questions why she stays on Besaid with Tidus instead of doing something exciting.
Rikku doesn't know what she wants to do with her life and envies Yuna for settling down, something Rikku feels she's unable to do. She says Yuna is wasting her life away, but Yuna says Rikku is only fooling herself by keeping busy. Paine breaks them up, but Rikku claims that Paine doesn't care about others, and Yuna says that Rikku cares about others too much. Paine questions the point of reuniting if they are only going to fight.
Paine reveals she sent the letters because she felt something was missing as she traveled around Spira alone after they split up. She had made up the part about something worth seeing at the top of the tower but had wanted them to have another adventure like they did as the Gullwings. Yuna resolves to keep going regardless, but Rikku wonders what's going to become of them afterward. The girls learn that they have changed and fear growing further apart as long as they're together. Yuna believes they had gotten along before only because they had to work together.
Reaching the top, the group finds only a broken-down machina. Rikku expresses her disappointment, but Paine claims to see something. They realize they had become different people during their time apart. They decide to go their separate ways but always to cherish the memories of their time together. With their friendship renewed, the machina springs to life, and their adventures continue.
==Gameplay==
=== Final Fantasy X ===
Rikku is a playable party member in Final Fantasy X, who functions similar to both a Thief and a Chemist. She uses claws for weapons, and targes as armor. Her default abilities are Steal and Use. Her Sphere Grid path makes her agile, and gives decent HP and moderate Strength. Her Sphere Grid color is green. Her Overdrive is Mix, which can combine items to many possible effects, potentially stronger than equivalent spells. Her Celestial Weapon is Godhand, which is unique due to its Gillionaire ability which doubles gil earned.
Rikku is also one of the three characters that can fight underwater, along with Tidus and Wakka.
=== Final Fantasy X-2 ===
==== Party member ====
Rikku returns as a party member in Final Fantasy X-2. Before and during battle, Rikku can change job class by changing dresspheres, with her default sphere being Thief. Her special dressphere is the Machina Maw, and her Mascot dressphere is the Cait Sith. As a Trainer, her pet is a monkey called Ghiki. Rikku specializes in elemental and physical attacks and magic.
==== Quests ====
Rikku is fought as a possessed boss in the Den of Woe. Rikku can be used in blitzball during chapter 5.
A Rikku Sphere Break coin is available, won from the Bevelle Core Sphere player in the Luca Stadium.
==Musical themes==
"Rikku's Theme" in Final Fantasy X is a variant of the Al Bhed theme, "Oui are Al Bhed," and plays when Tidus reunites with her on the northern bank of Moonflow. "Rikku's Theme" is arranged for piano on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy X album.
Her themes in Final Fantasy X-2 are two fast, upbeat pop themes that were vocalized on the Final Fantasy X-2: Vocal Collection - Rikku album. Rikku's Japanese voice actor sung the vocal versions of the themes Marika Matsumoto.
==Other appearances==
Rikku has appeared in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy XIV as a minion.
*Final Fantasy Tactics S as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy as a cameo.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Mobius Final Fantasy.
*World of Final Fantasy as a non-player character.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Triple Triad as a card.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
Rikku has made guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
*Kingdom Hearts series as a supporting character.
*Itadaki Street series as a playable character.
==Other media==
===Dead Fantasy===
:For more information, see Dead Fantasy Wiki: Rikku.
Rikku appears in the fan-made Dead Fantasy short films by Monty Oum in her Final Fantasy X-2 attire, along with Yuna, Rinoa, , Tifa, Cloud, and Dead or Alive characters. Monty had stated Rikku would be going through multiple dressphere changes in her battle against her main enemy, Ayane.
Throughout Dead Fantasy and Dead Fantasy II Rikku aids Yuna to fight the ninja half-siblings, Kasumi and Ayane, soon aided by Hitomi to fight them in a handicap. Rikku tries to spherechange during Dead Fantasy II, but is interrupted. She mostly fights Ayane while being aided by Kairi. Rikku eventually knocks Ayane to one of the conjure portals that Rinoa had created. In both previews of Dead Fantasy VI, Rikku and Ayane clash before she spherechanges multiple times in an underground cavern and its hidden laboratory. Later, she uses her special dressphere, the Machina Maw, against Ayane. Rikku's fighting style is based on Capoeira with added agility and proficiency with dual daggers. Her grunts are from Xianghua from Soul Calibur, voiced by Aya Hisakawa. In "Dead Fantasy 2020" by sWooZie however, she is now voiced by her original voice actress, Marika Matsumoto.
Rikku also appears in the Dead Fantasy - Gee music video in her Final Fantasy X attire. She plays the role of Lee Soonkyu, also known as "Sunny," one of Girls Generation members.
Three years later, following Oum's death, Uiyahan remake the original Dead Fantasy series. Rikku's skin is more tan and the color scheme of her scarf and arm ruffles (orange, peach and yellow) resemble the color scheme of her main appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. Her mini-skirt is now camouflaged in a shades of olive green and the shoe parts of her boots are yellow.
==Behind the scenes==
One of Rikku's battle lines, "Booyaka!" is the catchphrase of Selphie Tilmitt from Final Fantasy VIII.
Rikku has three phobias: fear of thunder (although she gets over it by camping in the Thunder Plains), needles, and snakes. In Final Fantasy X, she yelps when she gets hit by thunder magic, but in Final Fantasy X-2, she no longer reacts to it in any way. During the events of Final Fantasy X, she never shows a fear of snakes, but in Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku reacts to the snake enemies used by the Leblanc Syndicate. She makes a reference to the Metal Gear Solid series by shouting, "Snake! Snake?! Snaaaaaaake!!!" (some variation of this is generally said by other characters whenever Snake dies).
In Final Fantasy X, Rikku's Sphere Grid crosses into Lulu's. This could refer to when the party is under Lake Macalania, and Rikku expresses her wish to be more like Lulu. While the party travels through the Thunder Plains, Lulu advises Rikku to learn some spells to help overcome her fear of lightning.
Rikku was used to produce Final Fantasy XIII as a stand-in for unfinished characters.
In Rikku's Final Fantasy X-2 key art, the words "Under Another Sky" are written in Al Bhed script, albeit the 'H' is missing from the word 'Another.' It is written in English, rather than Al Bhed.
In 2005, Rikku won the award for "Hottest Character" in G4's 2004 G-Phoria awards show. In the same year, Rikku won the "Viewers' Choice: Baddest Good Girl" on G4's Video Game Vixens.
===Voice===
Rikku's Japanese voice actress is Marika Matsumoto. Rikku shares this voice actor with Mutsuki Chiharano from Final Fantasy Type-0.
She is voiced by Tara Strong in the English version, who started voicing Rikku by receiving the original recordings in Japanese and the character's overall description to help her portray Rikku. Tara has said Rikku was easy to portray and quite straightforward.
A lot of Rikku's lines end with, "You know." This was decided to be her vocal tic because it was an easy way to end sentences in an environment where the lip animations matched the Japanese voice work, the characters often ending their lines with an open mouth.
In the Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster, Rikku occasionally says lines in Japanese during battle; these lines were done by her English voice actress, Tara Strong. In the original Final Fantasy X-2: International + Last Mission, Square got the English voice actresses to record the new English battle dialogue for the Festivalist and Psychic dresspheres, and recorded Japanese lines one might hear any time during a battle. For Rikku, these new lines are Kono! (You little...!), Yossha! (Alright!), Choi choi tte kanji (Feeling good!) and Wasshooi! (Heave-ho!).
Rikku's English voice actress Tara Strong has received several awards for her portrayal. In 2004, Strong was the co-winner of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female" for her portrayal of Rikku in Final Fantasy X-2.
==Gallery==
==External links==
*Rikku's Wikipedia entry
*Rikku trailer for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
==Citations==
de:Rikku
es:Rikku
pt-br:Rikku
ru:Рикку
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X-2
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~
Category:Al Bhed
Category:Thieves
Category:Chemists
Category:Blitzball players
Category:Sphere hunters