Paine

Paine is a playable character in Final Fantasy X-2, and the most reserved of the girls. Her past is a mystery, and it's up to the player to discover what happened to her two years ago during the events of Final Fantasy X.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Paine is an 18-year-old young woman with red eyes and short, silver hair. She most commonly wears a black leather ensemble complete with high-heeled boots, elbow-length gloves, and a folded top. She wears a silver pendant threaded with a barbed wire chain. Paine's swords have a skull-motif at the base of the blade that also appears on the belt buckle of her Warrior ensemble, as well as the swords that hover over her head in her special dressphere, Full Throttle. In a bonus cutscene where the girls spend time in a hot spring in Mt. Gagazet, Paine wears a black and white bandeau bikini swimsuit with additional wrist, ankle, and neck bands.
Paine wields unique swords in her Warrior, Dark Knight, and Samurai dresspheres. While in her White Mage and Black Mage dresspheres, she wields weapons from Final Fantasy X: the Malleable Staff and Enchanted Rod, respectively. In the Gunner dressphere, she wields Yuna's Tiny Bee pistols and wields an indigo variant of Rikku's dagger blades while in the Thief dressphere. Her deck theme for the Lady Luck dressphere is diamonds, and her Mascot dressphere is a Tonberry. Most of her footwear is high-heeled. When applicable, Paine's dressphere outfits incorporate boyish designs; e.g., her Psychic outfit is based on a typical Japanese schoolboy uniform.
Only Paine never wears another dressphere in cutscenes; Yuna and Rikku wear their Songstress outfits at least twice.
===Personality===
Paine is cynical, moody, and reveals information only when she needs to. She is quiet and keeps to herself. Despite being a year younger than Yuna and a year older than Rikku, Paine acts the most mature of the three. Paine is tough and loves a good fight, but she is sensible enough to smell trouble a mile away. If she feels her fellow Gullwings are getting overenthusiastic, Paine uses sardonic quips to jolt them to their senses. Despite Rikku's constant prying, Paine refuses to divulge information about herself, except for always wanting to fly on an airship and hunt for spheres containing records of Spira's past.
Despite her dry wit and demeanor, Paine values her friendship with Yuna and Rikku, but it is only after spending three months traveling around Spira by herself that she can express these feelings. Her physical mannerisms are boyish, perhaps a side effect from her past adventures with Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai.
===Abilities===
It is unknown if Paine could fight before Final Fantasy X-2, as she never does so in the Crimson Records. However, during her time in the Gullwings, Paine uses the dressphere technology to change her battle aptitude on the fly to whatever role is currently needed. As demonstrated by her ability to play blitzball, Paine can hold her breath for at least five minutes. Paine can also speak Al Bhed.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy X-2===
Paine's childhood is unknown, but she grew up during the time of Sin's reign and came to join the Crimson Squad, an elite group of soldiers set up by Yevon. Around the time of Operation Mi'ihen, Paine worked as a recorder for a group of three men: Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal. When the other Crimson Squad members perished in the Den of Woe, Paine's group survived but were put up for execution soon after by Yevon for having witnessed images of the weapon Vegnagun in the cave.
After Operation Mi'ihen, Paine got separated from Gippal, Nooj, and Baralai and searched for them, passing by Yuna while she was sending the dead. Finding each other, the four stayed together for a while, with Paine still recording their travels while learning how to speak fluent Al Bhed from Gippal. They decided to go their separate ways on the Mi'ihen Highroad, but Nooj betrayed the group by shooting each of them in the back. The Al Bhed came across the fallen Paine, Baralai, and Gippal, tended to their wounds, and kept them out of sight from the temples, thus separating them.
Two years later, Paine joins the sphere hunter group, the Gullwings, to uncover the truth of what happened on that day in the Den of Woe. Whenever any of the other Gullwings asks Paine of her reason for joining, she claims it was for the chance to fly on their airship, the Celsius. Shortly after Paine joins the Gullwings, Yuna also joins the group. As the Gullwings go on missions, they frequently cross paths with the Leblanc Syndicate—their rival group, led by Leblanc.
Leblanc steals Yuna's Garment Grid to impersonate her and perform a concert in Luca. While the real Yuna dons a moogle costume as a disguise to keep a low profile, Paine and Rikku infiltrate the concert to capture the "impostor Yuna." Rikku and Paine confront Leblanc and chase her out to the docks until being confronted by her two chief henchmen, Logos and Ormi. Yuna joins the fray and reclaims her Garment Grid but begins dancing uncontrollably as though against her will.
With the mission completed, the Gullwings return to the Celsius and continue sphere-hunting until they steal an "Awesome Sphere" from Kilika that records a mysterious machina and an unknown man mentioning someone named Lenne. Upon returning the sphere to either the Youth League or New Yevon, it is learned from Nooj or Baralai that the colossal machina is called Vegnagun. They discover the Leblanc Syndicate had stolen the half-sphere the Gullwings found in the Zanarkand Ruins, forcing them to infiltrate Chateau Leblanc in Guadosalam to reclaim it. To do so, they track down Leblanc Syndicate groups around Spira and steal their uniforms.
During their tracking, they come across the Machine Faction and its leader Gippal, but Paine acts as if they have never met before, confusing him. After obtaining enough uniforms, the Gullwings infiltrate Leblanc's headquarters and find one of Paine's Crimson Spheres that details the events leading up to, during, and after the incident with the Crimson Squad. Paine remains silent about its significance. YRP discover Leblanc already had the other half of the broken sphere and stole their half to make it whole.
After watching the restored sphere, they learn Vegnagun hides underneath Bevelle. Paine is unsurprised that Bevelle "still has its fondness for secrets." Realizing they are on the same side, the Gullwings and the Leblanc Syndicate form a truce. Together they infiltrate Bevelle and enter the underground passage formed after the fayth's disappearance. They fight their way past Baralai to an empty room where the sphere had shown Vegnagun. Instead of finding Vegnagun, the group fights the Dark Aeon Bahamut, and there is a large hole left in Vegnagun's place.
Returning from the venture, the Gullwings learn that Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai have disappeared. Fiends and Dark Aeons emerge in the Besaid, Kilika, and Djose Temples, and when on a mission to purge them all, Yuna falls through the hole in Djose Temple's Chamber of the Fayth. She plummets into the Farplane, where Nooj and Gippal bequeath her two more Crimson Spheres, telling her to give them to Paine. Back on the Celsius, Yuna tells everyone about her encounter with Shuyin while on the Farplane, learning that Lenne wore the Songstress dressphere over a thousand years ago.
Only when pressed on the deck of the Celsius does Paine reveal a little of her past with Nooj, Gippal, Baralai, and the Crimson Squad, telling Yuna how the four of them dreamed about having an airship, traveling Spira. Later, she assists with finding Tobli to set up Yuna's concert in the Thunder Plains, as a way to calm the tensions rising between the Youth League and New Yevon. During the concert, Lenne's spirit appears, and it is revealed she and Shuyin were lovers gunned down by Bevelle soldiers after she stopped him from activating Vegnagun. Lenne was a famous songstress and summoner from Zanarkand, who was called to the front lines during the Machina War and Shuyin tried to use Vegnagun to save her. The Gullwings receive another Crimson Sphere, this time from Leblanc herself.
With the final Crimson Sphere obtained, Paine, Rikku, and Yuna enter the Den of Woe and discover the truth behind the events two years ago involving Paine's team. Den of Woe is the place where Shuyin's spirit lingered for a thousand years, and his painful memories and anguish imprinted on the abundance of pyreflies in the den. When the Crimson Squad entered the cave, the pyreflies possessed them driving the squad members to kill one another. Shuyin escaped the den by possessing Nooj, explaining why he shot his comrades in the back, severing their friendship. Emerging from the cave with renewed purpose, Paine is determined to free her friends of Shuyin's influence, realizing that during their meeting with Baralai and Nooj under Bevelle, Shuyin's spirit left Nooj's body to possess Baralai. Paine asks the Gullwings to help her face Baralai and defeat Shuyin. Now knowing the holes in the temples lead to the Farplane, Yuna plans to tell Shuyin how Lenne felt before they died to calm his spirit.
The Gullwings and Leblanc Syndicate enter the Farplane and, with help from Nooj and Gippal, defeat Vegnagun and Shuyin in a joint effort. Lenne emerges from Yuna's Songstress dressphere to console Shuyin, convincing him to rest in peace before they return to the Farplane together. The Gullwings drop Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal at Luca but leave to return Yuna home to Besaid. When Rikku worries about missing a big party back at Luca, Paine says they party enough on their own. Paine later joins Rikku in watching Yuna and Tidus reunite with each other.
===Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~===
After Yuna and Tidus reunite on Besaid shore, everyone returns to Besaid Village for a celebration, during which Rikku introduces Tidus to Paine. Tidus and Yuna later go missing, and a man named Briar, who was sent to Besaid Temple from Bevelle to look after the elders, attacks Shinra. Paine helps subdue him by tying him up at the temple.
===Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission===
Over the next three months, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine have gone their separate ways. Each girl receives a letter that calls them back together at Luca to explore the recently discovered Iutycyr Tower. With Buddy and Brother out shopping together, Paine pilots the Celsius to Iutycyr. Though Rikku suggests hey fly to the top, Paine says they should obey the letter and reach the top on their own.
As the trio explores the ruins, they discuss what they have been doing since separating and why they hadn't stayed in touch. Rikku continues to salvage machina and work on missions and relays their other friends' status throughout Spira. She asks for Yuna's help in her work but gets turned down, causing Rikku to claim Yuna doesn't want to see her anymore, but Yuna denies it.
On the 20th floor, Paine speaks of how Nooj has dissolved the Youth League, and Baralai is following suit with New Yevon. Gippal continues leading the Machine Faction as he helps them do rounds on 'apology duty' for tearing Spira apart. When Rikku asks Paine if she and the guys could ever be a team again, Paine says they are too busy doing their own things. She also says that she needs to tell them something but won't reveal what, and Yuna and Rikku don't pry. Reaching the 30th floor, the girls watch the sunset. Yuna talks about how she joined the Gullwings since she needed a change when Tidus was gone but is now okay with a relaxed life in Besaid. She has met someone else but, despite Paine and Rikku's prying, doesn't say who. Paine asks if Rikku is jealous; the latter admits it and asks Yuna why she doesn't travel. Yuna says she doesn't want to rush into anything but will do something eventually.
Reaching the 40th floor, the girls reminisce about their mission to reclaim Yuna's Garment Grid from Leblanc. Then Paine reveals she is writing a book about their adventures. When Paine asks what Rikku plans to do with her life, Rikku can't answer and expresses jealousy towards Yuna for settling down. When the cousins' dispute gets heated, Paine gets between them, but Rikku claims Paine only cares about herself. When Yuna and Rikku continue arguing, Paine raises her voice to ask what's the point of reuniting if they're only going to fight.
The following morning on the 50th floor, Yuna and Rikku try to figure out who wrote the letters. They name Leblanc and Rin as potential suspects, but Paine reveals she wrote the letters. She had traveled Spira alone, and though she wasn't lonely, she felt something was missing. She had made up the part in the letter about something worth seeing at the top of the tower but wanted the girls to have another adventure like old times. However, things aren't going according to plan. Paine says they can turn back, but Yuna thinks they should keep going since they've already come so far. When Rikku asks what will become of them afterward, Paine says they might find out when they reach the top.
Watching the sunset again from the 60th floor, Paine talks of the day Nooj, under Shuyin's control, shot her, Gippal, and Baralai, and how she saw a similar sunset just before she blacked out. Rikku and Yuna share their painful memories from two years ago during the latter's pilgrimage. That night on the 70th floor, the girls learn they have changed and fear growing further apart. Yuna believes they had gotten along before only because they had to work together and that they probably never got along in the first place. She thinks it's out of character for Rikku to worry about the future, and Paine believes there's still a lot they don't know about each other. Yuna thinks that is why they continue to bicker.
After defeating Major Numerus on the 80th floor, the girls reach the tower's top. They find a busted machina but nothing else. After Rikku expresses her disappointment, Paine claims to see something. The girls realize that during their time apart, they had become different people. They decide to go their separate ways but always cherish the memories of their time together. With their friendship renewed, the machina springs to life, and their adventures continue.
==Gameplay==
thumb|Paine in battle as Trainer.
Paine can change dresspheres before and during battle. She can use any of the common dresspheres, and her special dressphere is the Full Throttle. Her Mascot dressphere is a Tonberry, and her Trainer's pet is a bird named Flurry. Paine's default dressphere is the Warrior.
A possessed Paine can be fought as a boss.
A Sphere Break coin based on Paine can be won from the Bevelle Core Sphere player in the Luca Stadium.
===Battle quotes===
Many of Paine's battle lines reference real-world pop culture: the quote "Ice, ice baby", the title of a song by Vanilla Ice, and "You. It's what's for dinner", a play on an ad campaign for beef. She is occasionally heard saying, "Knowing is half the battle", a reference to the G.I. Joe cartoon's Public Service Announcements.
==Musical themes==
Paine's theme is called "Paine's Theme." Vocal versions of her theme also exist, called "Misty Eyed" and "Nemuru Omoi..." ("Dormant Feelings..."). Despite her punk metal-like outfit, both of her themes are more reminiscent of the blues. Megumi Toyoguchi sings both vocal versions as Paine. A piano arranged version of "Paine's Theme" is also found on the Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection album.
==Other appearances==
Paine has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy Tactics S as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call 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 Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
Paine has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
*Kingdom Hearts series as a supporting character.
*Itadaki Street series as a playable character.
==Behind the scenes==
Paine was a newly introduced character, having not appeared previously in Final Fantasy X. With the two (Rikku and Yuna) being a lot more talkative, there had to be someone with a calm, relaxed demeanor who could halt their excessive chattiness. If Lulu were in that role, she would have completely shut them down, and the story wouldn't have advanced at all. Paine was seen as someone who could remain neutral, keep the others focused, and help the story carry on.
Regarding the dresspheres and the warrior classes, only Paine carries a unique sword; according to Alternate Costume Designer Tetsu Tsukamoto, this is her own weapon that no one else uses. The symbols on all three of Paine's warrior-class swords are similar.
From a design standpoint, Paine's Dark Knight is Tsukamoto's favorite. "I handled a lot of monster designs prior to working on the costumes for Final Fantasy X-2", he says. "It feels like the scales of the monsters apply to this design. That's why I like it a lot". He reveals each of the girls' headpieces reflects their personalities, with Paine's headpiece's sharp edges reflecting her prickly outlook.
The reason why Paine's Songstress costume is so different from the others is that the team couldn't decide whether she should be rock 'n' roll or Top 40, so Tsukamoto split the difference. For the Thief job, Tsukamoto designed Paine and Yuna to have as much sex appeal as Tetsuya Nomura's original design for Rikku's default character. For the Trainer job, Paine was originally supposed to carry a snake, but a programmer put the idea away because the animation would be too difficult to pull off.
In the E3 2013 trailer for Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster, Paine's model in the Celsius scene has her with another mouth placed at the belt strap on the neck. Paine has the correct model in other scenes in the trailer.
Paine's promotional poster has text in Yevon script on the background that reads: "Tell me why did you pull the trigger."
===Voice===
Paine is voiced by Gwendoline Yeo in English. Yeo has stated in an interview her favorite line from Paine is, "All I want to do is hurt you". In the Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster, Paine will occasionally say lines in Japanese during battle. Her English voice actress, Gwendoline Yeo, did the lines. This is because 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 quotes one might hear any time during a battle. For Paine, these new battle quotes are: Shimete yaru (I'm going to get you), Jyaana (Bye!), Sayonara (Goodbye) and Sore! (Take this!).
Paine's Japanese voice actress is Megumi Toyoguchi. She shares this voice actor with Elena in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Elena's older sister in Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, Qun'mi Tru'e from Final Fantasy Type-0, and from the series.
==Gallery==
==Etymology==
 This may be appropriate considering her status as a new character. The English pronunciation (versus the more phonetic "pine" in Japanese) has the added connotation of her aggressive look.
==References==
de:Paine
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Category:Warriors
Category:Blitzball players
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X-2
Category:Sphere hunters
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~