Faris Scherwiz

Faris Scherwiz, real name Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon, is a player character in Final Fantasy V. Faris is a pirate captain who travels with a pirate ship and its crew, accompanied by a sea-dragon named Syldra. The party first encounters Faris when they try to steal the pirate ship, which leads to their adventures as the Warriors of Light.

Appearance and Personality
Faris is courageous, sometimes reckless, and determined - she charts her own course and does not care what anyone else thinks of it. One of the key aspects of Faris's character is that she is selfish, in contrast of Lenna's altruistic persona. Being a pirate captain, she is also shown to posses great leader capabilities and dislikes being excluded from the party. Faris still has a caring side; as she finds out Lenna could be her sister she becomes protective of her.

Faris has two distinct appearances: her ingame sprite and her FMV model. In the ingame sprite she has long, loose purple hair, and green eyes. Her face is half-covered by her hair, but she also wears a green band. Her clothing consists of a dark blue sleeveless jacket with gold piping and a paler blue tunic. Over her shoulders she wears a baggy green shawl hiked up on her shoulders and secured with a red stone brooch. The cloth drapes over her torso and back. The tunic is secured with a plain brown leather belt with a red buckle similar to the brooch. She has brown leather bands on her forearms.

The FMV model has her hair blonde rather than violet, and it is secured in a ponytail, though there are numerous strand and wisps left hanging around her face. She has a purple earring in one ear. Her eyes are also stone-brown rather than green. From the inside out, Faris wears a gold-embroidered and red shirt with three-quarter sleeves and gold trim under a ankle-length black sleeveless coat. She has a purple-and-yellow striped silk scarf wrapped below her neck, in the opening of her coat. The coat is trimmed with gold and seems to be lined with blue velvet with gold embroidery. The front is secured with buttoned clasps, and over the coat she wears an ornate blue belt with beaded wires and threads. Her arms are heavily protected with what appears to be bronze armor, starting with jeweled pauldrons with long, curved spikes, and additional plating just beneath. She has metal elbowpads (also spiked) and a pair of wristguards that extend over the back of her hands with red stones. For the most part, her coat obscures her lower body. She wears a short kilt made out of either fur or heavily tasseled cloth. Her boots are made of black or blackened plate metal with a low heel.

Story
Faris is a female pirate captain, although she disguises herself as a man. In truth, she is the elder sister of Lenna Charlotte Tycoon and is technically the queen of Tycoon by birthright, however, she does not accept the position, preferring the life of a pirate over that of an aristocrat. As a Warrior of Light, she represents Fire, the element of courage.

Born Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon; the daughter of King Alexander Highwind Tycoon, Sarisa became lost at sea as a small child and was found by pirates. As she was unable to pronounce her name correctly (calling herself "Farifa"), they dubbed her "Faris."

Due to how women are not respected on an equal level among the all-male crew, and due to the dangers inherent in being the sole woman on an all-male ship, Faris was raised and disguised as a boy, dressing and acting accordingly. When she was fifteen years old the ship encountered a mysterious whirlpool. The crew unable to escape it, Faris dove into the water and came out with Syldra, a sea-dragon, with whom she formed an almost sisterly bond. This bond enabled her to tame the dragon, eventually using it as a steed to pull the ship through the ocean without the need of sails. The pirates, unaware of her true gender, made her their captain for this, supposedly the youngest a pirate had ever been made captain.

By the age of twenty Faris is still captain of her ship and has become well-respected among the crew, although some of them by now suspect she may actually be female. During this time three adventurers, on their way to the Wind Shrine, attempt to steal her ship after they see it is able to move without sails. As the ship is pulled by Syldra, however, they are unsuccessful in getting it to move, and Faris and her pirates capture them easily.

The adventurers; Bartz Klauser, Galuf Halm Baldesion, and Lenna Tycoon, try to plead for a ride, and Lenna reveals her identity as Princess of Tycoon. Upon learning this Faris's initial thought is to hold Lenna for ransom, however, when Lenna displays a pendant identical to the one Faris herself possesses, she changes her mind. She decides to help the three adventurers get to the Wind Shrine in the hopes of discovering why she and Lenna have the same pendant.

At the Wind Shrine, Faris is startled King of Tycoon's disappearance, and volunteers to join the quest to find him, becoming a permanent member of the party. Not long after this Syldra is mortally injured in a battle with Karlabos. Without the sea-dragon, the Pirate Ship eventually drifts into the Ship Graveyard. After crossing a flooded room in the Ship Graveyeard Bartz and Galuf tussle with Faris to get "him" to dry his clothes by the fire, and discover "he" is, in fact, a "she," confirming their initial suspicions from the pub in Tule.

In need of a new method of transportation, the party climb North Mountain in an attempt to relocate Hiryuu, Lenna's Wind Drake. When a hunter named Magissa attacks Lenna on the climb-up, Faris rushes to her rescue, jumping over a chasm to stop Magissa from kidnapping Lenna, and together the party fights the hunter off.

After finding Hiryuu the party lands at the Castle of Walse, and head to the throne room where Lenna addresses the king, begging him to stop abusing the power of the Water Crystal. He refuses to listen due to how much Walse has prospered thanks to the crystal. When a meteor crashes nearby soon after, the party rushes to the tower where the crystal resides and fight off a monster in an attempt to protect it. The Water Crystal shatters anyway and the tower begins to sink into the ocean. The party is rescued by Syldra, who is lost in the current, much to Faris's grief. The party approaches the site where the Meteor fell and are transported to another Meteor site.

Arriving at Karnak, the party is arrested not long after their arrival. An old man in a cell next to them introduces himself as Cid and reveals his involvement with the crystals. The party is let free along with Cid not long afterward, and enter the nearby steamship. The party makes their way into the engine room, where they encounter the Queen of Karnak, who is revealed to have been possessed. The party rushes to defend the Fire Crystal, but to no avail; the crystal shatters, and the party is forced to flee.

The party heads to the Library of the Ancients in pursuit of Cid. They encounter his grandson, Mid Previa, who heads back to Karnak with them, where he knocks some sense into his grandfather. When the King of Tycoon is spotted in the Quicksand, the party heads to look for him. With the help of Cid and Mid they are able to cross the desert and make their way to the Ronka Ruins. When Faris spots the king, she calls him father, leading to an emotional, although brief, reunion between her and Lenna as they are officially introduced as sisters. The party ends up under Crescent, where they encounter Cid and Mid once more.

The party locates the Earth Crystal in the flying ruins, a city floating in midair due to the crystal's power. When the party reaches the top, they encounter King Tycoon. He does not appear to recognize either of his daughters and attacks the party. Krile, Galuf's granddaughter, appears and knocks him out with a spell. This brings back the king's memory and as he regains consciousness, he recognizes his daughters, calling them both by name. The happy reunion is cut short when the last of the crystals shatters, freeing the legendary sorcerer, Exdeath. The king tells his daughters to unite to fight Exdeath, and asks Bartz to protect them before sacrificing himself to save the party.

Having escaped Exdeath for the time being, Galuf separates from the party and heads back to his own world with Krile to prepare for the upcoming battle against Exdeath. Utilizing the power of the meteors, the Faris, Lenna and Bartz are able to follow Galuf to his world. After reuniting with Galuf the party plans for the battle with Exdeath. They eventually tracks Exdeath down in the Great Forest of Moore where they battle him. Exdeath uses the power of the crystals against them and Krile's attempt to rescue them fails, leading Galuf to fight off Exdeath alone. Galuf falls in combat and transfers his powers on to Krile before dying. The party continues onwards, infiltrating Exdeath's castle and supposedly killing him.

After Exdeath shatters the remaining crystals of the second world, the party blacks out and mysteriously finds themselves back at Castle Tycoon. Faris is welcomed back as "Princess Sarisa," and a grand celebration is held to celebrate the heiresses' return.

Faris despises her new title and appearance, and not long into the ceremonies she slips off to join Bartz and Krile as they continue to search for Exdeath; leaving only Lenna behind when the castle is consumed by the return of the Void. Lenna was saved by her Wind Drake, and later rejoins the party. Faris and the other Warriors of Light defeat Exdeath for a final time, and restore the power of the crystals returning the world to peace.

Afterward, Faris initially returns to Tycoon and shares the throne with her sister, but she grows to hate the life of a queen and missed her old life. She soon changes back into her pirate clothing and returns to her ship to continue sailing the seas.

Development
According to the "Chocobo's FF Laboratory" feature published in V Jump in 1993, the character of Faris was originally a female gambler named Eva Scherwil. However, the developers encountered difficulties in making her fit in the game's world and atmosphere, and eventually changed her into a pirate and Lenna's sister. In a later issue of V Jump, the developers noted that Setzer Gabbiani from Final Fantasy VI evolved from this early Eva concept.

Musical Themes
Faris's theme is widely considered to be "Pirates Ahoy," played when the party first meets her, and can later be heard in the Pirates' Hideout.

Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals
Faris along with Lenna, Galuf, Krile, Bartz, Cid, and Mid, appears at the end of Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, when Mid finally can rest in peace. Legend of the Crystals is a four-episode anime OVA was released in Japan from March to July in 1994, and the United States from 1997 to 1998. The series' setting takes place 200 years after the events of Final Fantasy V, and follows Linaly, Bartz's descendant, and her friend Prettz.

Etymology
Faris is an Arabic word meaning "horseman, rider" (i. e. "Knight"). It is debatable if this fact was intended to be a counterpart to some other element in the game or as a metaphor of its bearer. ' or ' was a 4 to 7 meter (13–21 feet) long spear used in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare.

Trivia

 * In the original SNES version of Final Fantasy V, Faris appears as a pirate with long purple hair, green eyes identical to Lenna's, and blue-and-green pirate clothing. However, the full-motion video segments from the Final Fantasy Anthology version, and her portrait for the Advance remake, are based on Amano's original design of Faris, a blonde in a black trench coat with golden pauldrons.
 * Faris, along with Terra of Final Fantasy VI, is Amano's favorite design.
 * In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes of the original Final Fantasy, Sarisa is one of the automatic names the player can choose for the Thief Job.
 * In the manual for Final Fantasy V Advance, unlike the other three initial party members, Faris's profile is gender-neutral while speaking of her, helping preserve the secret of her true identity.
 * Faris speaks with a pirate accent in the first official localization of Final Fantasy V for the Anthology. Faris does not speak with an accent in the game's Japanese version. Later localizations are more truthful to the original Japanese version, with Faris's pirate accent greatly toned down.
 * In the Anthology version, Faris's real name is mistranslated as Salsa.
 * Bartz and Galuf receive small bonuses to Strength and Vitality, while Lenna and Krile receive similar boosts to MP and Agility; Faris has boosts to all four stats, reflecting her androgynous nature.

Faris Scherwiz Faris Scherwiz