Fran

Fran is a playable character in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. She is a viera and is Balthier's partner aboard his airship, the Strahl. Fran is the only non-hume character in the main cast. Her title is "Master of Weapons", as the viera are known for their extraordinary craftsmanship, grace, and intellect.

Appearance
Fran is a viera and thus has their dark skin complexion, thick, white hair and long claw-like fingernails. Fran's eyelashes are black despite her white hair, ears and eyebrows. Her long, leporine ears are covered in white fur with speckles of brown fur at the tips. She has red eyes, a trait not uncommon to her race. She keeps her waist-long hair in a ponytail and leave the shorter pieces to frame her face. Because of the way viera's feet are structured, Fran must walk wearing stilettos. Fran is the tallest playable character in Final Fantasy XII, and her viera ears make her seem even taller.

Like the wood warder viera in her homeland, Fran dresses in a revealing piece of armor that resembles lacy lingerie in the style of a and stockings. Part of the material of her bodysuit and leg-wear is metal adorned with. The front of her armor is open with a sheer piece of fabric covering her stomach. She has a "rabbit tail" style decorative piece at the small of her back, but it is not as noticeable as other viera's as her hair obscures it most of the time. Fran wears black elbow-length sleeves with red trimming fastened across her collar bone with a silver clip, slightly lower than the black band she wears around her neck. Her forearms are covered in armor similar in design to her bodice and leg-wear. She wears a headgear adorned in a way similar to her bodice. The headgear has openings for her long ears, and her hair tends to show around the sides. Fran wears open two-heeled stilettos with a claw-like design at the toes.

Personality


As a viera, she is sensitive to Mist and can sense it in a way similar to smell. Having left her homeland, Fran has lost many of the viera's natural talents, such as the ability to "speak" with the wood in Golmore Jungle, which has lead to the viera in her home of Eruyt Village to no longer consider Fran a true viera and view her as an outcast.

Fran has the most mysterious life out of all the characters in Final Fantasy XII. She is reserved more among people of other races and as Fran rarely displays emotion, surprising her comrades when she loses her temper in Mist Frenzy. Fran speaks in a calm tone with a distinct accent, but rarely speaks to people she doesn't know; when she first meets Vaan she lets her sky pirate partner Balthier do the talking. When offended, she will act expressionlessly cold, such as when Vaan inappropriately asks her about her age.

Fran's goals and dreams in life are largely shrouded in mystery, but it is known she left her homeland to live a life of freedom. Although Fran likes to keep her distance, she is loyal to her friends and family. She cares deeply for her sisters in her homeland despite claiming to be their sister no longer, having abandoned the viera way of life. It is implied that Fran feels lonely and sorrowful for having left her family behind, as she warns her sister of following in her path, explaining it only leads to a life of solitude.

Fran displays happiness by way of a subtle smile in a few occasions in Final Fantasy XII. Fran smiles upon learning that Jote still cares for her, and appears amused when Balthier acts exasperated at Reddas's assumption that Vaan is Balthier's apprentice. While Fran and Balthier keep their relationship professional, at times a romantic interest is hinted at. In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Fran states Balthier's methods of wooing her were different from Tomaj's of flowers and gifts.

Final Fantasy XII
Fran left Eruyt Village over 50 years ago to see Ivalice. She has two sisters: Jote and Mjrn. It is hinted they are blood sisters, as Fran tells Mjrn only one sister remains to her before leaving the woods. It appears Jote is the eldest of the three, while Mjrn is the youngest, based on their behavior and positions in Eruyt Village. Considering Fran's age, Fran could have met Balthier during any time in his life. It is never hinted how long they have known each other, or if Fran even knows about Balthier's past.

When Vaan steals the Goddess's Magicite from the Royal Palace of Rabanastre Balthier and Fran, who seek the same treasure, confront him. When the Archadian Imperial Fleet attacks the palace to quell the Resistance that has emerged to disrupt the palace fete, Fran rides Balthier and Vaan away on a hoverbike to escape the chaos and crashes in the Garamsythe Waterway due to the Goddess's Magicite draining the bike's engines.

Fran, Balthier and Vaan make their way through the waterway and meet up with the Resistance come to storm the palace to get to the new Consul Vayne Solidor. The woman they end up working with, calling herself "Amalia", turns out to be none other than Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, the princess of Kingdom of Dalmasca who was reported dead. The group is captured and Balthier, Fran and Vaan are thrown into the Nalbina Dungeons. Fran, being a viera, senses a way out, and in the deepest reaches of the dungeons the group finds Basch fon Ronsenburg and team up with him.

After escaping the dungeon the group make their way to Bhujerba to save Vaan's friend Penelo from a bounty hunter, and reunite with Ashe. After "kidnapping" Ashe out of her own request, the group make their way to Tomb of Raithwall to obtain the Dawn Shard. a piece of nethicite that can prove Ashe's lineage and possibly help her claim the throne. They are betrayed by a Resistance member Vossler who turns them in on the Empire.

Like all viera, Fran is sensitive to Mist and when the party is held by Judge Ghis, the Mist seething from the Dawn Shard overwhelms Fran with a burning sensation, driving her into a frenzy and she attacks their captors with her bare hands. This never happens again, but whenever the party enters an area thick in Mist they ensure Fran is okay.

The party escapes the Empire and accompanies Ashe on her quest to Jahara and to Mt Bur-Omisace. To get to Mt Bur-Omisace the group must pass the Golmore Jungle, but magickal barriers prevent their entry. Fran knows the barriers have been set up by the viera and reveals a path to Eruyt Village despite knowing she is not welcome there, having abandoned the viera way of life as protectors of the forest. Once in the village they discover Fran's sister, Mjrn, has gone missing. They find her from the depths of Henne Mines, being possessed by Venat and thus being driven insane.

The party defeat the Mist monsters and Venat releases Mjrn, whom the group return to Eruyt Village. Fran's other sister, Jote, gives the party an item to let them through the magick barriers. Before departing Fran asks Jote to listen to the woods' voice for her as she no longer can, having spent too long a time away from the woods. Jote tells Fran the wood longs for her, envious of the hume that has stolen one of its own. Fran smiles and says, "A pleasant lie, that".

The group eventually make their way to the Pharos where Ashe attempts to destroy the Sun-Cryst, the origin of nethicite. The Mist escaping from the Cryst affects Fran and she collapses. After Dr. Cid is defeated and dies, his body fading into the Mist, Fran repeats his final words to Balthier, urging him to escape, although he refuses to leave her behind.

As the Battle above Rabanastre is about to break between the Resistance forces and the Imperial Fleet the group infiltrate the Empire's main battleship, Sky Fortress Bahamut, to stop Vayne who is now the emperor of Archadia. After defeating Vayne, Bahamut's power goes out, and is about to fall on Rabanastre. Balthier and Fran stay behind to fix Bahamut's glossier rings and save Rabanastre, though Fran is injured by falling debris. Bahamut crash-lands outside the city and the pair is thought to have perished.

A year later, Vaan and Penelo receive a letter from Balthier revealing he and Fran are alive and well, and asking the two to join them on Cache of Glabados at Bervenia Palace.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings


Fran and Balthier meet up with Vaan and his party at Cache of Glabados, but after Vaan's airship is wrecked and the two take Vaan and Penelo back to Rabanastre, Fran and Balthier depart alone. When looking to protect the Auraliths Vaan meets Fran again, alone, and saves her from Ba'Gamnan.

Fran takes Vaan and his friends to see Balthier who is attempting to destroy the third Auralith. Vaan protests and the party end up fighting him and Fran. But afterward it turns out Balthier was only trying to free the aegyl by destroying the Auraliths that suck away their anima, and Fran and Balthier join Vaan's party. From then on, Fran helps the party to find the Judge of Wings and destroy Feolthanos.

Gameplay


Fran starts as a long-ranged fighter in Final Fantasy XII, although the player may equip her with any weapon they wish as long as they acquire the appropriate licenses. In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Fran stays as a ranged unit.

In Final Fantasy XII Fran begins with many licenses close to Quickenings, and her initial licenses are in White Magicks 1 and 2, Black Magicks 1 and 2, Bows 1 and 2, Shields, Light Armor 1 and 2 and Heavy Armor 1. In the original release, Fran's stats are low in all areas, but in the Zodiac Job System releases, her stats have been considerably tweaked, including having the best Vitality at level 99.

In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Fran equips bows as weapons, suits as armor and masks as accessories. Her skills vary, including different status inflicting ones to some White Magick related spells like Dispelga. Her Quickening, Gaze of the Void, removes all buffs on enemies. It can be obtained by defeating Exodus.

Additionally, Fran is fought as a boss along with Balthier.

Voice
In the English release of Final Fantasy XII Fran is voiced by. In the Japanese release she is voiced by, who also provided the voice of in the  series.

Fran speaks with an accent native to the viera. While the medieval tone comes from the original game, the localizers could decide on the specific accents the characters would use and voice models were used to guide the writing: Fran's was the Icelandic singer Bjork. The English casting of Fran initially raised some eyebrows within Square Enix, because the voice was so different from the Japanese in a more markedly obvious way than the stylizations on the other accents. After the translators explained their reasonings to "sell the new take on the viera," the change was accepted.

Other appearances
Fran has appeared in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
 * Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a cameo.
 * Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
 * Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
 * Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
 * Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
 * Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
 * Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summoned vision.
 * Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
 * Triple Triad as a card.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances
Fran has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
 * Itadaki Street as a playable character.

Games
Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Fran. Fran's hair costs 130 crystals and her clothes cost 480 crystals.

Merchandise
Fran and Balthier appear on a sculpture depicting the pair on the hoverbike they used during their infiltration of Rabanastre Palace in Final Fantasy XII.

A new Play Arts figure on Fran is to come out in January 2016. It includes a poseable figure, an extra set of hands and a bow and an arrow.

Etymology
"Fran" is a shortened form of the name "Frances" or "Francine", which is a feminine version of the name Francis. This signifies her freedom as a sky pirate and freedom from the Wood.

Trivia

 * Fran's sprite is added to the Sky Pirate's Den of Final Fantasy XII after the party has cast magick over 200 times granting the player the title of "Spellsinger".
 * If Fran is a party leader on the field viera NPCs will talk to her and are often surprised to see another viera out there.
 * Fran is the tallest playable female character in the series.
 * Fran's Level 3 Quickening, Shatterheart, is similar to Shiva's signature attack, Diamond Dust.
 * Fran is alluded to in Balthier's Final Fantasy All the Bravest description, which comments that Balthier is "often seen with what appears to be a giant bunny".