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.

Before the events of Final Fantasy X, Rikku's mother died in an incident involving a faulty machina. Rikku's father is Cid, the leader of the Al Bhed faction, and she has an older brother 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 cross cousins.

In Final Fantasy X, Rikku is the first friend Tidus makes in Spira, and she becomes Yuna's final guardian on her pilgrimage. In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku convinces Yuna to become a sphere hunter, and accompanies her on her personal quest.

Final Fantasy X


Rikku is fifteen years old and has medium-length blonde hair in a ponytail and braided pigtails with orange feathers. She has the Al Bhed trademark green eyes with swirled pupils, although in FMV cutscenes Rikku's eyes have normal pupils instead.

When she is first met aboard the salvage ship, Rikku wears a full Al Bhed combat diving suit that conceals her identity. Later when she joins Yuna's pilgrimage and sheds the suit, she wears a pair of flared green short-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, in which she keeps her alchemy materials and equipment. Rikku's nails are painted bright yellow. Despite carrying goggles around her neck and wearing them while salvaging and piloting machina, Rikku never wears her goggles again after she takes them off on the Moonflow.

Rikku is loyal to Yuna – whom she affectionately calls "Yunie" – and is the most vocal opponent against the ongoing pilgrimage. She bonds with Tidus, perhaps because of their similar personalities and devotion to Yuna.

Rikku is kind-hearted, spirited, happy-go-lucky, and energetic, which sometimes clashes with the more stoic group members. She looks up to Lulu as a role model, being impressed with her calm level-headed nature. Rikku tries to maintain a positive outlook and but makes a stark contrast when she is upset, and despite her outwardly 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 suffers from astraphobia, the fear of lightning, after a mishap involving Brother and a stray Thunder spell in her youth, but has overcome it by Final Fantasy X-2 by camping out in the Thunder Plains for a week.

Final Fantasy X-2


The now 17-year-old Rikku wears her longer hair loose and braided, tied atop her head, adorned with colorful beads, and held by a blue bandana. Rikku remains the ever upbeat and somewhat reckless individual, occasionally causing trouble for her friends. Remaining loyal to her cousin Yuna, Rikku continues to care about her welfare while encouraging her to have more fun in life. Rikku is now Yuna's role model as Yuna sometimes copies her erratic behavior and unique expressions.

Rikku has a separate appearance for each of the thirteen dresspheres used in combat, with details that distinguish her in each dressphere from Paine and Yuna. Rikku's default look is the Thief dressphere where she wears a yellow g-string bikini and an olive green mini-skirt, carrying two pouches at her waist and 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 motive attacks.

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.

Rikku fears snakes, sometimes shouting "Snake! Snake! Snaaaaaaake!" when entering battle against a snake-like enemy such as a Recoil.

Early Life
During Rikku's childhood, there was an incident where a machina went on a rampage and her mother was killed. Rikku was attacked by a fiend while playing on the beach and Brother aimed a Thunder spell at the fiend to fend it off, but the spell missed and hit Rikku instead, leaving her traumatized.

Final Fantasy X
After Tidus is ambushed by a fiend in the Underwater Ruins, he is rescued by a group of Al Bhed. Rikku, as the only member who can speak both Al Bhed and Spiran, objects when her friends think Tidus is a fiend "in human disguise" and want to kill him.

On the salvage ship Rikku enlists Tidus's in reactivating an underwater power plant where the Al Bhed find a sunken airship and salvage it. Striking up a friendship with Tidus (although surprised by his claims of hailing from Zanarkand), she promises to take him to Luca so he can find someone he knows. The two are separated when Sin attacks the ship and Tidus is washed overboard. Tidus meets up with Yuna and joins her pilgrimage, finding his way to Luca where he inquires the Al Bhed Psyches blitzball team about Rikku, but due to the language barrier receives no answer. When the Psyches kidnap Yuna and hold her for ransom, Tidus mistakenly suspects their ship, on which Yuna is being held, is the same as the one which rescued him.

When Yuna's group is crossing the Moonflow, Rikku pilots an underwater machina to kidnap Yuna and stop her pilgrimage. Her machina is beaten by Tidus and Wakka, and she washes ashore where Tidus finds her collapsed by the beach. When the others come along Tidus nearly lets slip that she is an Al Bhed, but stops himself because of Wakka's hatred towards them. After a private conversation with Yuna and Lulu, Rikku asks to become Yuna's guardian and Auron examines her face and discovers she's an Al Bhed, but like everyone else, keeps it secret from Wakka. With Yuna's approval, Rikku joins the party. At Guadosalam, Rikku assists Tidus with creating better weapons by fusing them with items. She spends time enjoying the Guado's hospitality until the group reaches the Farplane, where she stays outside with Auron, saying she prefers to keep her memories inside.

Rikku panics when the group reaches the Thunder Plains as she fears thunder. She pleads for the group to rest at the nearby Rin's Travel Agency, but only brightens up once the group reaches the Macalania Woods. Wakka discovers Rikku is an Al Bhed after Brother and a group of Al Bhed try to kidnap Yuna again using a tank-like machina. Wakka blames the Al Bhed's use of forbidden machina for Sin's rebirth, but Rikku demands Wakka to think for himself without Yevon's influence and show proof of his claims, but he walks off ahead to Macalania Temple.

If Tidus rides with Rikku to Macalania Temple, she reveals she is Yuna's cousin and articulates in a roundabout way that Yuna will die if she continues her pilgrimage, but Tidus does not realize this. At Macalania Temple, a guard, disbelieving an Al Bhed could be a guardian to a summoner, denies Rikku entry until Auron comes to her defense. After the group kills Seymour for his role in murdering his father, Jyscal Guado, they are pursued by the Guado and fall to the bottom of Lake Macalania, where they encounter Sin.

Everyone but Yuna finds themselves on Bikanel Island, where Rikku leads them to the Al Bhed Home, only to find it under attack by the Guado. Rikku helps the group reach her father, Cid, and she reveals to Tidus Yuna will die if she performs the Final Summoning. They escape on the airship, the Fahrenheit, which the Al Bhed restored from their salvage operation. At Bevelle, they party drops in on Yuna's forced wedding ceremony to the now-unsent Seymour to rescue her, but are forced to watch it continue while held at gunpoint. After Yuna escapes on Valefor, Rikku tosses a flash bomb to blind Seymour and the warrior monks so that the group can retreat into Bevelle Temple. After Kinoc holds them up, Rikku tries to warn Tidus not to leave the Chamber of the Fayth with Yuna, but it is too late, and they are arrested and held on trial for treason.

Rikku is thrown into the Via Purifico with Tidus and Wakka, and they escape from the dungeon's monster and reunite with Yuna and the others. On Bevelle's highbridge, Seymour transforms into Seymour Flux and confronts the group. They defeat him and flee to the Macalania Woods where Rikku hopes Yuna would give up her pilgrimage now that they know the truth about Yevon's corrupt ways. Rikku feels she can't stop her cousin since the pilgrimage is so important to her, and convinces Tidus to go try and talk her out of it, but Tidus is not able to convince her to quit.

Arriving in the Calm Lands, Rikku and Tidus try to concoct a plan to save Yuna. During the group's climb up Mt. Gagazet to the Zanarkand Ruins Rikku becomes increasingly distraught over Yuna's fate. After another encounter with Seymour, now as Seymour Natus, it is revealed Sin is Tidus's father Jecht. Seeing Zanarkand from the mountain's summit, Rikku tries to plead with Yuna not to go through with the pilgrimage. Yuna comforts Rikku and thanks her for everything she has done, telling Rikku to thank Cid for her.

Within the Zanarkand Dome the party confronts Yunalesca, and Rikku is overjoyed when Yuna declines the Final Summoning, and the party decides to fight Sin via other means. When returning to Bevelle, Rikku argues with High Maester Yo Mika over the identity of Yu Yevon, and tells Shelinda to spread word of the plan to pacify Sin by using the "Hymn of the Fayth". She makes peace with Wakka before the final confrontation with Sin. The enter within Sin with their airship and at Sin's core find Jecht waiting for them to end his suffering. He transforms into Braska's Final Aeon, forcing the party to defeat him, and in his wake, Yu Yevon. After Yu Yevon's defeat the party returns to the airship and Tidus starts to fade away and says his goodbyes to everyone, but Rikku does not accept his departure, saying they will meet again.

Eternal Calm


In the two years that have passed since Sin's destruction, Rikku has been traveling all over Spira salvaging machina and teaching people how to use them. She has overcome her fear of thunder by camping out in the Thunder Plains for a week. Rikku and Brother have had a falling-out with Cid, and have founded the Gullwings, an Al Bhed sphere hunting group based on their airship, the Celsius, with the help of Brother's friends, Buddy and Shinra. They are eventually joined by a young woman named Paine.

One day, Rikku rushes to Besaid on an Al Bhed ship to show Yuna a sphere Kimahri found on Mt. Gagazet, which shows an imprisoned man resembling Tidus. Rikku suggests they go see Kimahri to learn more about the sphere, but Wakka says Yuna will be 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 insistence, they leave Besaid 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 concert 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 another sphere but it is broken in half. 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 shows the mysterious man who looks like Tidus standing before a large weapon, mentioning someone named Lenne.

The awesome sphere is returned to either the Youth League or New Yevon, and it is learned from Nooj or Baralai 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 now whole sphere, it is learned Vegnagun hides underneath Bevelle. Forming a truce with the Leblanc Syndicate, the sphere hunters enter the underground passage under Bevelle formed after the fayth's disappearance and find a secret complex filled with machina.

When YRP reach Vegnagun's lair they face an antagonistic Bahamut and the girls 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 Yuna again when she emerges in the Bevelle Underground.

Back on the Celsius Yuna tells everyone about Shuyin and Lenne who 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. Now knowing the holes in the temples lead to the Farplane, Yuna plans talking to Shuyin and tell him how Lenne felt.

YRP travel down into the depths of the Farplane in search of Shuyin and Vegnagun. Rikku feels people are always leaving her behind, but Yuna thanks her for "kidnapping" her and letting her join the Gullwings. After destroying Vegnagun and defeating Shuyin, Lenne's spirit puts Shuyin's hatred to rest and they return to the Farplane together. The Gullwings leave Spira's leaders at Luca and ride the Celsius to Besaid, where Yuna reunites with Tidus.

Last Mission
Over the next three months the Gullwings have gone their separate ways, with Yuna and Tidus living together in Besaid, Rikku continuing to work mission after mission, and Paine wandering Spira by herself. The girls receive a letter calling them back together at Luca to explore the recently discovered Yadonoki Tower, and while climbing the tower, Paine says there is something she needs to say but won't reveal what. Yuna and Rikku don't pry but Rikku is annoyed. Rikku tells Yuna and Paine how she continued to go on missions, and the status of their other friends throughout Spira. The girls discuss why they had not stayed in contact.

When Paine asks Rikku what she wants to do with her life, Rikku becomes insecure and is unable to answer. She expresses her jealousy towards Yuna for settling down, something Rikku believes she is unable to do herself. Yuna claims Rikku is she the one who decided to travel and be busy, but Rikku accuses Yuna of shutting her out now that she has Tidus back.

Paine reveals she was the one who brought them back together, as she wishes to not lose the friendship they shared. Realizing they all felt lonely the girls agree to stay in contact. Atop the tower the girls find a broken machina. The group realizes the machina symbolizes them: broken and separated. As they vow to be more than just strangers who met by chance and become friends again, the machina springs to life, and their adventures continue...

Final Fantasy X


Rikku's character class is a mix of Chemist and Thief. She uses claws for weapons, and targes as armor.

She can, by default, steal and use special items. Rikku can instantly kill machina-type fiends with the Steal command. When counterattacking regardless of whether the opponent is on the ground or in the air, Rikku does a spinning backhand. When countering underwater Rikku punches the fiend if they are close, but if they move faster, Rikku will perform a regular underwater attack as a counter.

Her Overdrive is Mix, which lets her combine two special items for various effects.

Rikku is one of only three characters in Final Fantasy X (Tidus and Wakka being the other two) who can fight underwater.

She is agile and quick and her default Strength is the highest of the three girls, although still not particularly high. She has good HP.

She starts out with 360 HP, 85 MP, 10 points in Strength and Magic, 8 points in Defense and Magic Defense, 5 points in Evasion and Accuracy, 16 points in Agility, and 18 points in Luck.

Equipment
Rikku uses claws for weapons and targes for armor. It is never explained why Rikku uses claws rather than a machina weapon like other Al Bhed. One reason may be that she is the one who salvages machina from the deep sea, as demonstrated when she and Tidus salvaged the Fahrenheit, and machina cannot be used in those situations.

Abilities
Rikku's Sphere Grid area runs near Yuna's and Lulu's, and her Sphere Grid color is green. The unique abilities in Rikku's default position on the Sphere Grid include the following:

* PAL/International versions only.

Final Fantasy X-2
Before and during battle Rikku can change job class by changing dresspheres. Her special dressphere is the Machina Maw and her Mascot dressphere is the Cait Sith. Rikku's default dressphere is Thief. As a Trainer her pet is a monkey called Ghiki.

Rikku specializes in inflicting status ailments on opponents, as all of the dresspheres unique to her possess status attacks.

As Boss
A possessed Rikku is fought in the Den of Woe by Yuna.

Voice
Rikku's Japanese voice actress is Marika Matsumoto, while her English voice actress is Tara Strong.

Tara Strong stated that she started voicing Rikku by first receiving the original recordings in Japanese, and that she received character's overall description to help her portray the character. Tara said Rikku was easy to portray and quite straightforward.

Rikku shares her Japanese voice actress with Mutsuki Chiharano from Final Fantasy Type-0.

Rikku, as well as her English voice actress;, has received several awards for her portrayal. In 2004, Tara 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.

Musical Themes
"Rikku's Theme" in Final Fantasy X is a variant of the theme of the Al Bhed, "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 have been vocalized on the Final Fantasy X-2: Vocal Collection - Rikku album. The vocal versions of the themes are sung by Rikku's voice actor,.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Rikku makes a cameo as a tutor from the in-game manuals. Along with Wakka she explains how to use the shop system. She uses her Final Fantasy X portrait.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Rikku appears as an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. She is depicted in both of her Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 outfits. Her ability is Shockstorm.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Rikku appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and is represented in five Wind-elemental cards. She is depicted in her promotional poster art and official artwork from both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, as well as her render from the latter.

Kingdom Hearts
Rikku was originally going to be featured in Kingdom Hearts at Traverse Town along with Aerith, Leon and Cid but due to the similarities in her name and a new character named Riku, Yuffie took her place. As such, Yuffie's appearance has some leftover elements from Rikku's design.

Rikku appears in Kingdom Hearts II alongside her fellow Gullwings Yuna and Paine wearing a slightly modified version of her Final Fantasy X-2 costume, due to censorship. The Gullwings are diminutive in stature and depicted as pixies. Rikku, Yuna and Paine are allied with Maleficent and spy on Sora, but are not loyal to her; Rikku calls her "pret-ty lame", and they seem out of the loop regarding her plans.

After Donald mentions Leon has treasure, the Gullwings change sides and help Leon defend Hollow Bastion. They later confront Sora and company in his lie, but having been told of his battle with Organization XIII, they let it slide and give him the Gullwing Keychain for his Keyblade. They do not seem to be as powerful as they are in Final Fantasy X-2, as it takes all three of them to defeat one Heartless that would otherwise be easily defeated by Sora.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
Rikku appears, in her Final Fantasy X-2 attire, as a playable character in this special edition of the Monopoly-like video game available only in Japan alongside Yuna and Paine.

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, Kairi, Tifa, Cloud, and Dead or Alive characters. Monty has stated Rikku will be going through multiple dressphere changes in her battle against her main enemy, Ayane.

Rikku also appears in the Dead Fantasy - Gee music video in her Final Fantasy X attire.

Trivia

 * Rikku 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 dies).
 * Rikku has three different phobias throughout the two games: She has a fear of thunder (although she gets over it by camping in the Thunder Plains), needles, and snakes.
 * Despite being astraphobic (fear of thunder), Rikku does not take additional damage or run away when hit by a lightning attack. In Final Fantasy X is the most audibly hurt when she gets hit by it, resulting in a yelp. In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku doesn't squeal when being hit by a lightning-elemental spell.
 * During the events of Final Fantasy X, she never demonstrates fear of snakes.
 * Rikku's Sphere Grid crosses into Lulu's. This could be a reference to when the party is under Macalania Lake 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 her overcome her fear of lightning.
 * In 2005, Rikku won the award for "Hottest Character" in G4's 2004 G-Phoria awards show. Also in 2005, Rikku won the "Viewers' Choice: Baddest Good Girl" on G4's Video Game Vixens.
 * Rikku was used in the production of Final Fantasy XIII to stand in for characters who hadn't been finished yet.
 * One of Rikku's battle quotes, "Booyaka!", is the catchphrase of Selphie Tilmitt from Final Fantasy VIII.
 * In Rikku's Final Fantasy X-2 promotional poster, 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.