Blackjack (Final Fantasy VI)



The Blackjack is an airship in Final Fantasy VI. It is one of two airships in the world, the other being the Falcon. The Blackjack marks a notable design change from the airships of previous games: while previous crafts were simply flying ships with propellers and wings, the Blackjack is more in-line with real aircraft.

Via the Airship Glitch the player can gain access to the Blackjack earlier than intended.

Story
Before the game events, Setzer Gabbiani, the owner of the airship, raced Blackjack around the world against his girlfriend Darill, the owner of the Falcon. The Falcon proved the faster ship, but Darill crashed and perished while racing it. It isn't specified if this was its original purpose, but the Blackjack was a flying casino with an item shop and a healer making their services available.

The Returners contact Setzer because they need the Blackjack to get to the southern continent, to the Imperial capital Vector. Celes challenges Setzer to bet his allegiance and use of the ship on a coin toss - if she won he'd help the Returners, but if she lost she'd marry him. Using a two-headed coin from Edgar, Celes wins and the Blackjack falls to the Returners.

Setzer waits on-board the ship near Albrook while the Returners raid the Magitek Research Facility to free the imprisoned espers. Setzer flies the ship to Vector to rescue them, and the party fights off the Cranes to escape Vector airspace. After this the party is free to use the Blackjack to travel the overworld.

When Terra pleads to the espers for help at the Sealed Gate, the espers attack the Blackjack and the ship crashes near Maranda. Cid Del Norte Marquez helps Setzer repair it, after which Setzer flies it to Thamasa to warn the group the Empire's supposed ceasefire is a lie. The airship is used to attack the Floating Continent and during the end of the world, the Returners leap off the continent onto the airship to escape, but the world's destruction tears the ship apart, and the Returners are scattered.

In the World of Ruin, an airship model that looks like the Blackjack scaled to 1/1200 its original size, is being sold at the Auction, but winning it is impossible.

Areas

 * Top Deck: The Blackjack's controls lie here. All battles aboard the airship take place on the main deck.
 * Casino: The area directly below the deck that makes up a great deal of the ship. The casino area features roulette and blackjack tables set in a lower area ringed by a balcony.
 * Waiting room: The area below the casino, it is where the characters wander while not in the party. A single blackjack table sits here.
 * Engine room: A small area adjacent to the waiting room, it leads to the lounge and holds the airship's mechanic elements.
 * Setzer's room: An area through the engine room, it has chairs and a sofa, and looks down on the ground through a hatch set into the floor.
 * Entrance: The lowest deck of the ship below the waiting room, it had a healer and an item shop.

Musical Themes
"Setzer's Theme" is used as the background theme for the Blackjack's cabin, while "Blackjack" plays as the player travels the skies with the Blackjack and on its deck.

Final Fantasy Tactics
One of the Errands in Final Fantasy Tactics, "Storm of 777", mentions the Blackjack:

The outcome is as follows:

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
The Blackjack appears in a Field Music Sequence.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
When Setzer attacks the enemy, he uses Dive Bomb which makes the Blackjack attack the enemy.

Etymology
The Blackjack is likely named after the card game of the same name, also known as Twenty-one. It even has blackjack tables in its casino.

Trivia

 * The player can view an extra scene within the Blackjack of Cid and Setzer fixing it, if, after leaving Emperor Gestahl's banquet; instead of heading to Albrook, the player heads for Blackjack's crashsite instead.
 * Lines exist in the game data for Shadow, Umaro and Gogo as if they were spoken while onboard the Blackjack, however, the player can never board the Blackjack with any of these characters in the current party, so they never get to hear the lines. Strago and Relm have lines in the game data that speak of Blackjack's crashing near Vector, however, the two only join after that event, so these lines can never be viewed in the game either.

Blackjack (FFVI) Блэкджек (Final Fantasy VI)