Rikku

Rikku is a lively and kind-hearted Al Bhed girl who is a playable character in both Final Fantasy X and its direct sequel Final Fantasy X-2.

Final Fantasy X
Early in the game, after Tidus gets trapped in the Underwater Ruins, he is 'rescued' by a group of Al Bhed. The main person (and the only one who can speak both Al Bhed and English) is Rikku. The other Al Bhed thought Tidus was a fiend in human disguise and wanted to kill him. Rikku forbids them from doing so, so they take him alive. Rikku hits Tidus in the gut, winding him.

She then enlists Tidus to help reactivate a underwater power plant, in which the Al Bhed then find an airship. She then promises to take Tidus to Luca so that he can try and find someone he knows. However, she is split apart from him when he is washed onto Besaid Island by Sin.

In Luca, Tidus tries to ask the Al Bhed Psyches blitzball team about Rikku. When the Psyches kidnap Yuna and hold her for ransom, Tidus thinks their ship, which Yuna is being held on, is the same one as the one which Rikku was on, but it turns out that it isn't.

She is then encountered when the group is crossing the Moonflow. She pilots an underwater machina in hopes of kidnapping Yuna and stopping her pilgrimage. However, her machina is beaten by Tidus and Wakka, and Rikku is washed ashore. Tidus finds her collapsed on the beach, and she tells him she was the machina's pilot. When the others come along, Tidus almost lets slip that she's an Al Bhed, but stops himself because of Wakka's strong hatred towards them. She then asks to become Yuna's guardian.

At Guadosalam, she then teaches Tidus about creating better weapons by fusing them with items. She then plays little role till the group reaches the Farplane, where she stays with Auron when the group enters the Farplane, claiming that the past is better left alone rather then dwelled upon.

When the group reaches the Thunder Plains, Rikku panics. As it turns out she is astraphobic (scared of thunderstorms) – left over from a mishap in the past when Brother aimed a thunder spell at an attcking fiend, only to miss and hit Rikku instead – and she is in near-hysterics over most of the journey across the plains. At one point, she collapses and grabs hold of Tidus by the leg, and she only becomes happy again once the group reach Macalania.

She is then discovered by Wakka to be Al Bhed (the rest of the group already knew) when Brother and a group of Al Bhed try to kidnap Yuna. Tidus would then either ride with her or Lulu to Macalania Temple. If Tidus rides with Rikku, she reveals in a roundabout way that Yuna will die if she continues her pilgrimage, but Tidus doesn't realize.

She doesn't make much of an appearance again till Bikanel Island, where she leads the party to Home, only to find that it has been attacked by the Guado, and her friends have been killed. She then helps the group reach Cid, her father, who takes them on his airship. She also reveals to Tidus that Yuna is going to die if she goes ahead with the Final Summoning, which breaks his heart.

At Bevelle, she unleashes a flash bomb to blind Seymour, so the group can escape into Bevelle Temple. She then warns Tidus not to leave the fayth with Yuna and Auron, but Tidus (carrying an unconscious Yuna) decides to not listen, exits the room and gets captured.

She then helps Tidus and Wakka escape from Bevelle, defeating Evrae for a second time.

Final Fantasy X-2
Two years have passed since the end of Yuna's pilgrimage and the destruction of Sin. Rikku and Brother had a falling out with Cid in that time, and have since founded the Gullwings, a Sphere Hunter group, with the help of Brother's friends Buddy and Shinra. They are soon joined by a young woman named Paine, who has a mysterious past known only to her. During one of their hunts, Kimahri tells them of a sphere he found on Mt. Gagazet which shows a man bearing a strong resemblance to Tidus. Rikku rushes to Besaid and shows the sphere to Yuna who immediately leaves her island home and joins the motley crew on their airship, the Celsius.

The group travel throughout Spira and encounter many old and new friends, including the three most influential Spirans: Nooj, Baralai and Gippal. Gippal made a crack about himself and Rikku being a couple at one time or another, but it is never clarified whether he was only joking or if they actually were a couple. However, as Paine points out, it seems very likely that they dated, since Rikku immediately becomes defensive and very touchy about the subject. They also get into many scuffles with rival Sphere Hunter Leblanc and her band of goons, Ormi and Logos.

The three girls utilise Garment Grids and Dresspheres in battle to gain strength and hone their abilities. Continuing her style from Final Fantasy X, Rikku takes the Thief dressphere as her preferred default job. Also, the Alchemist dressphere, which can be obtained by helping Clasko set up his Chocobo ranch in the Calm Lands, has the Mix ability, which was Rikku's overdrive in the previous game.

Background and personality
Rikku's father, Cid, is the leager of the Al Bhed, and she has a brother who is aptly named Brother. Her mother died before the events of Final Fantasy X. Cid's sister married High Summoner Braska, Yuna's father, and so Rikku and Yuna are biological cousins.

Rikku is kind-hearted, sprightly and energetic, and usually has a positive outlook.

Character relationships
Tidus: Rikku rescues Tidus in Baaj Temple and the two become close after that. A dream he has in Besaid suggests a possible attraction between them but this is never explored fully as Tidus becomes involved with Yuna. Rikku and Tidus do retain a close friendship however and he defends her when she is criticised for being Al Bhed.

Yuna: Yuna and Rikku are biological cousins and when Rikku tells Yuna this, she makes her a guardian. Rikku gives Yuna an affectionate nickname ("Yunie"). She does not want Yuna to die and Tidus remarks that if Yuna gave up her pilgrimage, Rikku would be the only guardian to support her initially.

Wakka: Wakka and Rikku get on reasonably well when they first meet and Wakka is supportive of Yuna's decision to make Rikku a guardian but when he finds out that she is Al Bhed, he becomes very cold and aggressive towards her. When the Al Bhed Home is destroyed by Yevon and the Guado, he becomes a little more yielding and when the group turns their back on Yevon, they are good friends again.

Lulu: Lulu and Rikku have little interaction during the game but when Tidus asks for Lulu's opinion on Rikku, she describes her as "fun to be with" and "not a bad person". Lulu attempts to comfort Rikku in the Thunder Plains while she is distressed about the lightning and gives her magic advise.

Kimahri: Likewise, Rikku has little interaction with Kimahri bar a memorable moment under Lake Macalania when Rikku wishes she could be more grown up like Lulu and Kimahri remarks that "Rikku should stay Rikku". Rikku misinterprets this as Kimahri saying it is impossible for her to be like Lulu and becomes annoyed with him.

Auron: When Rikku meets up with the group at the Moonflow, Auron suspects she is Al Bhed and allows her to join the group anyway. He is very cool towards her as he is to the rest of the group, making the group plow through the Thunder Plains, despite Rikku's fear of lightning. When a temple priest refuses to let Rikku enter the temple, Auron says she is entitled to as a guardian.

Rikku in Battle
Rikku's character class is a mix of the Chemist and the Thief. As such, she is very agile and quick during combat. Her Strength is by default the highest of the three girls, but it's not too high anyway, so she's better off Using items. Her weapons are Claws, and she uses Targes as armor. She can, by default, Steal and use special items. Her Overdrive is called Mix, which lets her combine two special items for various effects.

Kingdom Hearts 2
Rikku appears in Kingdom Hearts 2 alongside her fellow Gullwings Yuna and Paine wearing her costume from Final Fantasy X-2. The Gullwings are all diminutive in stature and have wings. They appear and disappear at certain points in the game and are always flying. They appear as little fairies in this game. It should be noted that her name, nor are either of the Gullwings' names are mentioned in game (possibly to avoid confusion), though they can be seen through Jiminy's Journal.