Ace (Type-0)

Ace is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0. He represents the number 1 of Class Zero and wields a deck of cards.

Appearance and Personality
Ace is a youth with short blond hair and light blue eyes. Like the other male members of Class Zero, he wears a uniform that consists of a black jacket, white pants, a medium-sized red cape and a brown pack. In his summer outfit, he wears a white shirt, black pants, black gloves, a necktie, and retains his cape and brown pouch. In his formal outfit, he wears a red jacket, white gloves, black pants, a medium-sized white cape and a black pack. Ace's l'Cie brand is located on his right arm below the elbow.

Ace is described as having a cool look. Izana Kunagiri described him when he saw him for the first time to have silky blond hair and a pretty face that could almost be mistaken for a girl's, but his eyes were sharp. His expression was stiff, and Ace exuded an air of coldness and spoke with a severe voice.

Despite his youthful age, Ace has a mature speech and attitude. He is considered calm but can reveal himself at times to be reckless and act out of anger. He doesn't think twice defending his friends from trouble. Ace is reserved toward people outside of Class Zero. In the novel, he is described as putting up his guard immediately. Ace likes chocobos and spends time in their stable, once having commented how he admires the strong bird.

On the verge of death, when Class Zero members start to break down one after another, Ace has a solid characteristic and calms his comrades by singing "Zero".

Final Fantasy Type-0: Change the World -The Answer-
When Ace came to the Peristylium for the first time, he was spotted by Izana who asked if Ace liked chocobos. Ace acted cold, but after learning of Izana's fondness for chocobos, softened and said people see him as strange for showing concern to military tools. Ace had been a candidate for ten years but this was his first time coming to the Peristylium from the External Bureau, and he explained to Izana he isn't a genetically modified human.

Ace would frequent the chocobo stables and Izana found Ace to have extensive knowledge on magic, military and war, but his knowledge on other areas lacking. Ace belongs to Class Zero, which surprised Izana, as Class Zero is said to have ceased for a hundred years. In truth, Class Zero is placed under the External Bureau and until the situation calls for it, its existence is kept a secret even from the army. As the person-in-charge of communicating with Class Zero, Izana trained relentlessly, often with Ace. Ace's reason for fighting is because his mother asked him to, but he has no fear of dying and forgetting the dead, saying that even if his friends die, the crystal will make him forget. Izana requested that if he dies on the battlefield, Ace shouldn't look back, as there is no time for that while at war.

Izana meets Arecia who tells him that only Class Zero can destroy the crystal jammer, and entrusts the COMM system to Izana. Izana rides Chichiri after it saves him, but as his consciousness falters he falls off and as Byakko soldiers approach him, he shouts for Ace. Ace comes to his rescue along with Queen and Nine, and Izana passes the COMM system to him. Attempting to fulfill his promise to the dying Izana, Ace turns away but at last turns back. Reading the anguished expression on Ace's face, Izana realizes Ace isn't as cold as he thought. Glad, he makes peace with dying and tells Ace, "Don't look back... Move forward. Keep you eyes on the enemies beyond. And one day, topple Byakko- and save this country." As Ace's memories of Izana disappear, a COMM from Arecia enters asking them to destroy the crystal jammer in the Arena. As Ace, Queen and Nine enter the Arena, they meet Machina and Rem, whom they tell to leave immediately since they cannot use magic. The crystal jammer explodes but before they can confirm if Qun'mi is dead, she escapes.

Four hours after the Liberation Operation, Class Zero is talking to Arecia when the Ultima Bomb casts a blinding light in the night sky. Plans for an alliance with Sōryū are sealed. As Class Zero takes up their seats in the classroom for the first time, Kurasame is introduced as their officer-in-charge. After introductions Machina and Rem offer to take them on a tour around the Peristylium, to which only Ace agrees to come along. Ace regrets not being able to come earlier to save more people during the Liberation Mission, but Machina and Rem tell him that since they faced a l'Cie, it's understandable. When they reach the graveyard, Ace is puzzled on why people should mourn for the dead when no one can remember them. Machina says it may be pointless but he wants to at least remember someone who was close to him has died. Arecia calls Ace's COMM asking him to come to the Magic Department for a check-up.

Before Ace can enter the Magic Department he hears Arecia arguing with the Commandant regarding the deployment of Izana Kunagiri without his consent. The Commandant storms off after a stern warning to Arecia, saying the Magic Department doesn't have control over the army. Ace hides from his sight as he passes. Ace admits to Arecia he overheard the conversation, but Arecia tells him not to be bothered by people dying since people can only move forward, and that's what the Death Memory Lapse is about. As Ace returns to the classroom, he finds Machina, Rem, Nine and Queen, and joins them. The conversation drifts to the topic of Izana, making Ace uncomfortable. He asks what Machina's brother was like, confusing Machina as he doesn't remember Izana. Machina asks if Ace feels an empty space due to having known Izana, which Ace denies. The alarm sounds denoting time for mission.

They are briefed on the mission to take back four Suzaku cities occupied by Milites. Ace is assigned in a team with only Machina and Rem, and is taken aback by Kurasame's decision, since he has never operated separately from his eleven classmates before. He feels Machina and Rem are different from those raised in the External Bureau. As they topple enemies, Ace recognizes Machina and Rem's abilities, changing his mind about having to fight with them. They encounter Qator Bashtar who challenges them on his mech, Gabriel, but he is forced to retreat and McTighe is liberated. As the three sit down at the city square among the celebrating soldiers and civilians, Ace admits it was his fault Izana died, but Machina and Rem are dumbfounded. Two months after Suzaku's reversal operation, Suzaku regains control of much land area previously occupied by Byakko.

On April 21st, Kurasame briefs Class Zero about a large scale operation to be held at Togoreth Fort, and warns them about the possibility of an encounter with a type A Byakko l'Cie. The battle comes to be known as the "Battle of Togoreth Fort". Queen teams up with Nine and Ace for the operation, and they come face to face with Nimbus just as Kurasame issues a command to withdraw. Nine winds up dead after attacking Nimbus and Ace, in Nine's defense, stands up against Nimbus and is swiftly murdered. Kurasame appears and shields Queen. With his aid, he carries Ace and Nine's bodies away from the battle.

The next mission comes after two weeks with Kurasame showing them a photo of Gabriel, Qator's mech. He explains the mechs are dangerous and their mission involves destroying them in Byakko facilities. The main team; Ace, Queen, King, Seven, Cinque, Trey, Cater and Eight; are to attack the factory with the other three teams of two attacking other facilities as distractions. Jack and Deuce encounter Sōryū, bearing the message of ceasefire from Andoria. Perplexed, Deuce communicates with Ace through COMM, but barely makes out Ace telling them they're in the Byakko capital, everyone is safe, and asking them to come and group up.

When Class Zero gathers at 12th floor of Hotel Armada, Kurasame tells them Suzaku higher-ups are in a meeting regarding the ceasefire. Ace demands to know why Suzaku agrees to the ceasefire at a crucial moment, but Kurasame says Byakko has stated their criteria for a compromise, and Suzaku has no reason to refuse. He then takes his leave. Andoria is sniped and an enraged Celestia jumps out the window to pursue the sniper. They realize they are framed as scapegoats in Byakko's plans, and try to contact Kurasame to no avail. Left with no choice, they escape. Machina is later woken up by a frantic Rem who says they are on the outskirts of Byakko territory. Rem finds the rest of Class Zero and asks if they feel bitter for fighting and training all their lives, and yet the Suzaku higher-ups never reward them. Ace says he doesn't feel bitter and that he enjoys it, and the others agree. Machina and Rem are hurt by their answer, feeling these children never knew other lifestyles exist, and resolve to help them.

Final Fantasy Type-0: Change the World -The Penultimate Truth-
Ace patrols alone when he overhears a conversation between Machina and Qun'mi. As Machina attacks Qun'mi, Ace approaches them. Qun'mi draws the last of her powers to pass them on to someone else. Light from her hand flies to the west and she crystallizes. The two call back the rest of the members on patrol and regroup at the campsite. They discuss whom Qun'mi passed her powers to. Judging from the direction, they deduce it must be someone within the Byakko capital. A COMM from Kurasame enters, Kurasame telling Ace an airship will meet them at Yuhanra Province and that as soon as they return they will be taken for questioning regarding the assassination of the Queen of Sōryū.

Half a month after the battle where The Knights of the Round Ancient Eidolon were summoned by l'Cie Kurasame, beyond the boundaries of Ingram, the fourteen members of Class Zero sit surrounding a bonfire, contemplating how far they've come and grown. Machina and Rem know that Ace, who used to say "cut off the past to move forward", would sometimes visit Izana's grave. Rem asks what their ambitions are after graduating. They hesitate, realizing they can't forever stay in Class Zero. Ace says he wants to own a chocobo ranch; not as war supplies but chocobos to be raised as humans' friends.

The next day, the class is divided into four teams: three to destroy three crystal jammers on three different sides of the government building, and one involving Machina, Rem and Ace to cut through into the building the moment the jammers are destroyed. Along the way Ace says that he, who is brought up as a weapon, wants to continue fighting so people who cannot be revived wouldn't have to fight. Machina counters that his reason to fight is also so there wouldn't be people who are used as weapons for the sake of war. They encounter Qator on his mech Gabriel, who is defeated with the help of the other three teams. Inside the building, they face Cid Aulstyne who tells them their goal of creating a peaceful world is empty as the Death Memory Lapse makes it impossible for people to learn from the past. Rem says that if the crystals are the root of evil, they will destroy them. Satisfied, Cid feels his ambitions will be achieved even if Class Zero would be the one claiming victory, and takes his own life.

Soon after Rem becomes a Judge, Class Zero realizes they might have no choice but to become Agito by means of felling her. They decide to go to the Temple of Thousand Magic, convincing themselves they are not felling Rem, but releasing her. Qator offers to take them there on Gabriel since the Temple is up in the sky. After finishing his task, Qator crystallizes. After reaching the Temple, Rem sends the Lulusath at them. Machina draws Phantoma from the first one they fell, but the next four they bring down are revived before their eyes. Rem reminds them they have come to the Temple independent of Arecia, and thus cannot be revived. After a harsh battle the Lulusath finally lay still.

As Queen dies, the rest of the class crowds around her. She is scared of dying and disappearing from everyone's memories. Ace soothes her, telling her she will never disappear from their memories as they lived ten years together. As the last of Queen's memories disappear, they only know the corpse of the girl in front of them was their comrade. The path to the Judge is clear, but everyone is weakened from the battle. It takes nothing but a bolt of thunder magic from Rem to bring down everyone but Ace and Machina. Ace, knowing he can't hold out much longer, tells Machina to absorb all of their Phantomas to give him enough power to defeat Rem. As Ace dies, Machina draws their Phantomas before the last of his memories of Ace and their conversation disappear.

Final Fantasy Type-0
Ace is a student of the legendary Class Zero in the Peristylium Suzaku. A group of students from the Peristylium Suzaku, the Magic Academy of the nation of Rubrum, that fight the invasion of Rubrum by the Milites Empire. As part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle", he and his comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.

During Milites's attack on Rubrum's capital, Ace comes to Izana's aid when he is attacked by Milites soldiers. Though Ace kills off the surrounding soldiers, Ace's healing magic is not enough to save Izana and he is forced to help Queen and Nine fight off another platoon of Milites soldiers. By the time they are defeated, Izana has died and Ace sheds a tear before taking his leave.

With Seven and Jack, Ace comes to the aid of Machina and Rem Tokimiya when they are overwhelmed by Qun'mi and defeats her to end the invasion on Rubrum. Soon after, Machina and Rem become the newest members of Class Zero to aid in defending Rubrum. At one point, Ace finds Machina at the chocobo stables where the latter feels a sense of nostalgia when remarking that if he had a chocobo, he'd name it Chichiri. This leads Ace to learn from the Commandant that Machina is Izana's brother, yet decides not to speak of it.

When Class Zero is informed their new instructor will be Kurasame rather than Arecia, Nine is the to voice his opinion about refusing to replace Arecia with Kurasame. Ace interferes with Cater to support Nine, but Kurasame stops their attacks.

After Andoria's death drives a furious Celestia to attack Class Zero, knocking Rem and Machina out, Ace attempts to tell Celestia they have nothing to do with Andoria's death. Celestia doesn't listen and has her Bakurairyu attack him. Ace readies himself to fight with the monster when Deuce interferes and defends him, convincing her to listen before she secretly helps them escape the Militian. Ace soon learns Machina has learned of Izana's death from the Commandant causing a rift between the two, as Machina eventually leaves Class Zero.

As Finis begins, turning down the offer to become l'Cie alongside the others, Ace confronts Cid Aulstyne as he becomes the l'Cie Arbitor of Lulusath and nearly kills Class Zero. With Machina and Rem helping him and the rest of Class Zero in spirit, they defeat Cid. The battle's victory comes at a price - although Class Zero's choice of refusing the l'Cie power interrupts the world's cycle and changes its fate, they pay for it with their lives.

When many begin to break down from the revelation they are dying, Ace calms them with a song. They spend their last moments sharing their dreams of what they wanted to do once the fighting ended. When Machina and Rem arrive at the classroom they find their classmates dead. Ace's last card disappears and casts a rainbow in the sky, his voice saying, "We are here".

In the alternate ending created by Arecia removing the crystals from Orience's history, Ace survives the war and studies in the library. A bored Machina tries to convince him to go out for a walk with him but Ace refuses, stating he wishes to prepare for the next semester. A stubborn Machina drags Ace out of the library.

Final Fantasy Agito
In Final Fantasy Agito, Ace is still a member of Class Zero.

He can be found in the Chocobo Ranch during the morning, afternoon and evening.

Battle
Developers have stated Ace is meant to be a beginner-friendly character. Ace wields a deck of cards in battle, and has a quick ranged battle style where he throws them at his enemies. Ace has low HP, but overcomes it with excellent evasion. Ace's cards automatically replenish themselves to 53 pieces. Ace, after summoning his weapon, is the only character whose dodging changes to teleportation.

His regular attack throws a handful of cards that home into his target. By tilting the analog stick up or down he can use different variants of his basic attack. The first is a melee attack that involves Ace creating a circle of cards around him, while the second is a chargeable attack that summons up to five cards above Ace that fire at the enemy one by one when released.

Deck Open draws one card which changes the effects of Ace's basic attack. Up to four cards can be drawn before one use of Card, and there are four different types of cards, each granting a different ability. The final effect is decided by the most present type of card, and is strengthened by the quantity of cards drawn.

The final effect can be one of the following:
 * Shadow Step - Ace draws a majority of white cards. Feint, direct attack. Can Stop foes.
 * Burst - Ace draws a majority of red cards. Quick, powerful and direct attack.
 * HP Charge - Ace draws a majority of blue cards. Recovers Ace's HP.
 * MP Charge - Ace draws a majority of yellow cards. Recovers Ace's MP.

There are different degrees of these effects, such as MP Charge, MP Hi-Charge, and MP Mega-Charge. After drawing three or four cards of the same type, Ace can perform an attack that deals damage to all the enemies nearby in the same area or heal all the party members, depending on the card type.

Later, Ace can learn a second special ability, known as Attack Deck, which is almost identical to Deck Open, but has a higher chance of drawing red cards that deal damage to foes. Other abilities with a similar effect are Support Deck, Life Deck and Spirit Deck.

Equipment
Ace's exclusive accessory is the "God's Rulebook", which increases all magic stats by 30 and grants Auto Endure status.


 * Card
 * Sliver Card
 * Magic Academy's Card
 * Mystery Card
 * Card of Light
 * Mythril Card
 * Dragon Card
 * Empire Tarot
 * Platinum Card
 * Reaper's Card
 * Master Card
 * Magician Card
 * Hanafuda
 * Wild Card
 * Final Trump (Ultimate weapon)

Creation and Development
In early 2006 renders, from when Final Fantasy Type-0 was first announced as Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Ace had a younger looking face compared to his final design. His hair was longer and white, and his eyes were a deep blue.

Later, in 2008, when the game was re-announced for the PSP platform, Ace's face became more mature, and his hair shorter and silver-blond. When the game was re-announced as Final Fantasy Type-0, Ace had a more youthful appearance, and his hair similar to his second design but more layered. His eyes are a lighter shade of blue. His uniform design didn't change aside from an overall darker color palette.

Ace's name was first revealed in the first Final Fantasy Type-0 TGS trailer in 2010. Before that, he was known as "Card-kun".

According to Final Fantasy Type-0 art book, designing Ace's fighting style along with Deuce was the hardest.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Ace appears as a playable character and the main representative of Final Fantasy Type-0. He can be available from the start by transferring save data from the second demo of Curtain Call. However, if the player did not select him among their party of four, or didn't download the demo, he can later be unlocked by collecting Yellow Crystal Shards.

He is a Spell oriented character. His Limit, Cannon Laser, deals damage in direct proportion to his Magic, Spirit and level.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Ace appears in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a Legend character, and uses his Cannon Laser ability when summoned.

Final Fantasy Artniks
Ace appears in Final Fantasy Artniks as fire-elemental SR+ card.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Ace appears on many cards for Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One of the cards is Promotion and the other three cards are fire-element cards. One of them is from a promotional artwork and the other one presents him in his official render pose and having Rubrum's emblem in the red background. The final one representing him in his summer outfit. All cards are part of the "Fire" set.

Etymology
"" is one of the values in trumps, the Japanese term for traditional Western playing cards. It means "one" in Old French and was borrowed from earlier dicing games, where it referred to the corresponding value on a six-sided dice.

Trivia

 * Ace shares his Japanese voice actor with Hope Estheim from Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
 * In the demo, the underside of the card Ace holds is blank. It is unknown if this is intentional or a graphical error.
 * In the alternate ending, when Ace is studying, he wears glasses.
 * Along with Cater, Jack, Eight, and Sice, Ace turned 17 during the game's events.
 * Ace was taught how to sing the song "Zero" by Arecia. He is one of the few main Final Fantasy characters to sing.
 * According to the Ultimania guide, Ace is a good singer, but he only committed one song to memorize: "Zero".
 * According to a poll in the Final Fantasy Type-0 art book, Ace takes the first place as favorite character, while taking third place as favorite playable character.
 * According to Final Fantasy Type-0 novel, Izana was Ace's only friend outside Class Zero.
 * When player speaks to Cater at some point in the game, she will talk about how there's a rumor of a red mantled candidate who will appear every once in a while before the liberation mission in the chocobo ranch, meaning Ace.