Paine

Paine is a playable character who first appears in Final Fantasy X-2. She is one of the three playable characters, and is the most reserved of the girls. Her past is a mystery for most of the game, and it is up to the player to find out what happened to her two years ago.

Appearance and Personality


Paine's manner of dress is different from that of other residents of the world of Spira, and the cultural distinction implied by her clothing and appearance are never explained. The only known citizen of Spira who looks or dresses anything like her is Lulu, but no other relation is known between the two.

Paine has red eyes, making her look similar to Lulu. With short, silver hair, Paine is most commonly seen wearing her black leather ensemble complete with high-heeled boots, elbow-length gloves and a folded top. She wears a silver pendant threaded with a barbed wire chain. Paine's swords have a skull-like motif at the base of her blade. This motif also appears on the belt buckle of her warrior ensemble, as well as the swords hovering over her head in her special dressphere, Full Throttle. In a bonus cutscene where the girls spend some time in a hot spring in Mt. Gagazet, Paine wears a black and white bandeau bikini swimsuit with additional wrist, ankle and neck bands.

Paine's swords are unique in her Warrior, Dark Knight, and Samurai dresspheres, while in her White Mage and Black Mage dresspheres she wields the Malleable Staff and Enchanted Rod respectively. In the Gunner dressphere, she wields Yuna's Tiny Bee pistols and wields a purple variant of Rikku's dagger blades while in the Thief dressphere. Her deck theme for the Lady Luck dressphere is diamonds and her Mascot dressphere is a Tonberry. All of her footwear is high-heeled. When applicable, Paine's dressphere outfits incorporate boyish designs; e.g. her Psychic outfit is based on a typical Japanese schoolboy uniform.

Paine's personality resembles Auron's in the way she reveals information only when she needs to. Not much is known about Paine except that she is cynical, rather quiet, and generally keeps to herself. Paine is tough and loves a good fight, but she is also sensible enough to smell trouble a mile away. If she feels her fellow Gullwings are getting too enthusiastic, she uses sarcastic cracks to jolt them to their senses, and despite Rikku's constant prying, she refuses to divulge any information about herself, except that she has always wanted to fly on an airship and hunt for spheres containing records of Spira's past.

In spite of her dry wit and demeanor, Paine values her friendship with Yuna and Rikku, but only after spending three months traveling Spira by herself, that she is able to express these feelings towards them. Her physical mannerisms are somewhat boyish, perhaps a side effect from her past adventures with Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai.

Final Fantasy X-2
Not much is known about Paine's childhood. She grew up during the time of Sin's reign upon the land of Spira in Final Fantasy X. During this time, she came to join the Crimson Squad, an elite group of soldiers set up by Yevon. Around the time of Operation Mi'ihen, Paine was working in a group as a recorder for three men named Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal. However, when most of the other members of the Crimson Squad were killed in the Den of Woe, the group survived but were put up for execution soon after by Yevon, since nobody was supposed to have survived.

After Operation Mi'ihen, Paine got separated from Gippal, Nooj, and Baralai and frantically searched for them, while passing by Yuna while she was sending the dead. Running away, the four stayed together for a while, with Paine still recording their travels, while learning how to speak fluent Al Bhed from Gippal. They decided to go their separate ways on the Mi'ihen Highroad, however, Nooj betrayed them by shooting each of them in the back. Some Al Bhed come across the fallen Paine, Baralai, and Gippal, and take them away to tend to their wounds and keep them out of sight from the temples, thus separating them.

Two years later, Paine joins the sphere hunter group, the Gullwings, in the hopes of uncovering the truth of what happened on that day in the Den of Woe. Whenever any of the other Gullwings ask Paine of her reason for joining them, she would only say that it was for the chance to fly on their airship, the Celsius. Shortly after Paine joins the Gullwings, Yuna also joins the group. As the Gullwings perform missions, they are frequently opposed by the Leblanc Syndicate - their rival sphere hunters, led by Leblanc.

One time, Leblanc manages to steal Yuna's Garment Grid to impersonate her and perform a concert in Luca. While the real Yuna dons a moogle costume to disguise herself and keeps a low profile, Paine and Rikku infiltrate the concert to capture the "impostor Yuna". Rikku and Paine confront Leblanc and chase her out to the docks until they are confronted by her two chief henchmen, Logos and Ormi. Yuna joins the fray and reclaims her Garment Grid. As Rikku attempts to chase after Leblanc as she and her goons retreat, Paine stops her as she notices Yuna dancing uncontrollably as though against her will.

With the mission completed, the Gullwings return to the Celsius and continue their business of sphere hunting until they steal an "awesome sphere" from Kilika that records a mysterious machina and an unknown man mentioning someone named Lenne. Upon returning the sphere to either the Youth League or New Yevon, it is learned from Nooj or Baralai that the colossal machina is called Vegnagun. Then they discover that the Leblanc Syndicate had boarded the Celsius and stolen the half-sphere the Gullwings found in the Zanarkand Ruins, forcing them to infiltrate Chateau Leblanc in Guadosalam to steal it back. To do so, they have to track down Leblanc Syndicate groups around Spira and steal their uniforms.

During their tracking, they come across the Machine Faction and its leader Gippal, who acts as though he knows Paine. Paine, however, acts as if they had never met before and introduces herself politely as such. Finally obtaining enough uniforms, the Gullwings return to Guadosalam and infiltrate Leblanc's headquarters. During this mission, they find one of Paine's Crimson Spheres that details the events leading up to, during, and after the incident with the Crimson Squad. Nonetheless, Paine remains silent about its significance, even while they watch it. Their cover is blown when Logos and Ormi find them. YRP find out Leblanc already had the other half of their broken sphere, and stole their half to make it whole.

After fighting Leblanc and watching the restored sphere, it is learned that Vegnagun hides underneath Bevelle, though Paine is not surprised that Bevelle "still has its fondness for secrets". Realizing they are on the same side, the Gullwings and the Leblanc Syndicate form a truce. Together, they infiltrate Bevelle and enter the underground passage formed after the fayth's disappearance. They find themselves in the Bevelle Underground, a secret complex filled with machina. They fight their way past Baralai to an empty room where the sphere had originally shown Vegnagun to be. Instead, the group fights the Dark Aeon Bahamut. The sphere hunters find Vegnagun is gone and a large hole is left in its place.

Returning from the escapade, the Gullwings learn that Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai have disappeared, and are soon caught fighting fiends and Dark Aeons in the Besaid, Kilika, and Djose temples. Through the hole in Djose Temple's Chamber of the Fayth, Yuna falls into the Farplane, where Nooj and Gippal give Yuna two more Crimson Spheres, telling her to give them to Paine. Back on the Celsius, Yuna tells everyone about her encounter with Shuyin and what happened with the others, learning that Lenne wore the Songstress dressphere over a thousand years ago. Only when pressed later on the deck of the Celsius does Paine finally reveal a little of her past with Nooj, Gippal, Baralai, and the Crimson Squad, telling Yuna all about how the four of them dreamed about having an airship, traveling all over Spira. When Rikku arrives and prys about Paine's past again, Paine teases that she was about to tell Rikku, causing her to call Paine a bully in Al Bhed. Later, she assists with finding Tobli in order to set up Yuna's concert in the Thunder Plains, as a way to calm the tensions rising between the Youth League and New Yevon. During the concert, Lenne's spirit appears, and it is revealed Shuyin and Lenne were lovers who were gunned down by Bevelle soldiers after she stopped him from activating Vegnagun. Lenne was a famous songstress and summoner from Zanarkand, who was called to the front lines during the Machina War and Shuyin tried to use Vegnagun to save her. The Gullwings once again receive a Crimson Sphere, this time from Leblanc herself.

With the final Crimson Sphere obtained, Paine, along with Rikku and Yuna, return to the Den of Woe and discover the truth of what happened two years ago involving her team and the hatred of Shuyin. Emerging from the Den with renewed purpose, Paine is determined to free her friends of Shuyin's influence. Realizing that when he shot them, Nooj was possessed by Shuyin and that, during their meeting under Bevelle, Shuyin moved on to possess Baralai, she asks the Gullwings to help her in facing Baralai and defeating Shuyin once and for all. Now knowing the holes in the temples lead to the Farplane, Yuna plans to try talking to Shuyin and tell him how Lenne felt before they died.

Finally, the Gullwings and Leblanc Syndicate enter the Farplane and defeat Vegnagun and Shuyin in a joint effort. Lenne emerges from Yuna's Songstress dressphere to console Shuyin, convincing him to rest in peace before they return to the Farplane together. Then everyone leaves the Farplane and the Gullwings drop of Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal at Luca. The Gullwings leave Luca to bring Yuna back home to Besaid. When Rikku worries about missing a big party back at Luca, Paine says, "I think we party enough, don't you?" Paine later joins Rikku in watching Yuna and Tidus reunite with each other.

International + Last Mission
Three months after the events of Final Fantasy X-2, the now separated members of the Gullwings have gone their own ways; with Yuna living with Tidus in Besaid, Rikku working mission after mission, and Paine wandering Spira by herself. However, each receive a letter that calls them back together at Luca to explore the recently discovered Yadonoki Tower. As the trio explores the ruins, they converse with each other over what they had been doing since they had separated and why they had not stayed in contact.

Rikku tells Yuna and Paine how she continued to go on missions, and the status of their other friends. Paine speaks of how Nooj dissolved the Youth League, how Baralai is having trouble getting New Yevon to follow suit, and how Gippal is trying to help them. Rikku asks Paine if she and the guys could ever be a team again. Paine says it was long ago and they are all busy doing their own things so it will not be possible. She says there is something she needs to say to them but won't reveal what. Yuna talks about her peaceful life with Tidus in Besaid and how she wants time to stand still for them. The conversations escalate as Rikku expresses her jealousy towards Yuna, who had reached her goal in life and had settled down. The angry bickering between the pair causes Paine to raise her voice against them, telling them everyone has their own way.

Eventually, Paine reveals the sender of the letters was herself; citing it was her wish to not lose the friendship they once shared and to show them that even though they have gone their separate ways, they shall always be together; having learned from both her previous friendship with Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai and from her own lonely travels. Paine talks about the day Nooj shot her, Gippal, and Baralai. She explains the feeling of loss she had, feeling the sunset that day would have been the last thing she ever saw, and how afterwards, she and the others had to start new lives full of regret after being separated. Realizing they all felt lonely after splitting up and wanted to come back together, the girls agree to stay in contact.

The trio eventually travels to the top of the tower, where they find a broken machina and not much else. Paine tells Yuna and Rikku to look around and see that aside from the machina, they are the only things around. Due to their conversations, they realize that the machina was a bit like their group: broken and separated. As they vow to be more than just strangers who had met by chance, becoming friends once again, the machina begins to work, and their adventures continue...

Battle
Before and during battle Paine can change her job class by changing dresspheres. She can use any of the common dresspheres. Her Special Dressphere is the Full Throttle. Her Mascot Dressphere is the Tonberry.

Den of Woe
Upon entering the Den of Woe, the Gullwings encounter fragments of Paine's memories, brought to life by the pyreflies, and are soon attacked by Shuyin himself. Revealing that it was he who had turned the Crimson Squad against each other Shuyin proceeds to do the same with the Gullwings; first turning Rikku, and then Paine soon after.

Creation and Development
Paine was a newly introduced character, having not appeared previously in Final Fantasy X. As Kazushige Nojima puts it, she is kind of like a female Squall. "With the two (Rikku and Yuna) being a lot more talkative, there had to be someone with a calm, cool demeanor who could put a halt to their excessive chattiness. If it were Lulu in that role, she would have completely shut them down, and the story wouldn't have advanced at all. But in Paine's case, she's someone who can remain neutral, keep the others focused, and help the story carry on together with these two girls".

Also, in regard to the dresspheres, and the warrior classes in particular, only Paine gets to carry a unique sword. "This is her own weapon", says Alternate Costume Designer Tetsu Tsukamoto, "It doesn't belong to anyone else". An interesting note is that the symbol on all three of Paine's warrior-class swords are similar. It is only fitting, since Paine does not have a connection to the previous game, and since this is also her default class.

From a design standpoint, Paine's Dark Knight is Tsukamoto's favorite. "I handled a lot of monster designs prior to working on the costumes for Final Fantasy X-2", he says. "It feels like the scales of the monsters apply to this design. That's why I like it a lot". He also reveals that each of the girls' head pieces reflect their personalities, with the sharp edges of Paine's head piece to reflect her prickly outlook.


 * Songstress: The reason why Paine's costume is so different from the others is because the team could not decide whether she should be Rock 'n' Roll or Top 40, so Tsukamoto split the difference.
 * Thief: Tsukamoto designed Paine and Yuna, so they would have as much sex appeal as Tetsuya Nomura's original design for Rikku's default character. Similar to her standard Warrior clothing, Paine wears high heeled boots as a Thief as well.
 * Trainer: Paine was originally supposed to carry a snake, but a programmer put the idea away because he said the animation would be too difficult to pull off.

Musical Themes
Paine's theme is called simply "Paine's Theme." Vocal versions of her theme also exist, called "Misty Eyed" and "Nemuru Omoi..." ("Dormant Feelings..."). Despite her Punk Metal-like outfit both of her themes are more reminiscent of the Blues. Both vocal versions of the themes are sung by as Paine. A piano arranged version of "Paine's Theme" is also found on the Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection album.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Paine appears as an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. She is depicted in her default Final Fantasy X-2 outfit.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Paine appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and is represented by three cards all of which are of the Ice element.

Kingdom Hearts II


Paine appears in Kingdom Hearts II as a chibi fairy version of herself alongside similar versions of Yuna and Rikku. Calling themselves "treasure fanatics", the three Gullwings are mercenaries spying on Leon for Maleficent, though after being left behind by Maleficent and some trickery from Donald involving promised treasure, they join with Leon and help defend Radiant Garden against the army of Heartless.

Later the Gullwings discover Donald's lie, but feel sympathetic to Sora's cause. Instead of taking his items they give him the Keychain "Gullwing".

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
Paine is a playable character in the special edition of the Monopoly-like video game available only in Japan alongside Yuna and Rikku.

Etymology
Paine's name is an English surname, of Norman derivation, meaning "someone who lived outside of a city"; appropriate considering her status as a new character in a video game sequel. The English pronunciation (versus the more phonetic "pine" in Japanese) has the added connotation of her aggressive look.

Trivia

 * In the E3 2013 trailer for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster trailer, Paine's model in the Celsius scene has her with another mouth which is placed at the belt strap on the neck. Paine in other scenes in the trailer has correct model.
 * As demonstrated by her ability to play blitzball, Paine can hold her breath for at least five minutes.
 * Many of Paine's battle quotes make reference to real-world pop culture; such as the quote "Ice, ice baby", the title of a song by, and "You. It's what's for dinner", a play on an ad campaign for beef. She can also occasionally be heard saying "Knowing is half the battle", a reference to the G.I. Joe cartoon's Public Service Announcements.
 * Lulu and Paine not only bear similar garments that are unique to only them in all of Spira, they are also the only characters to possess red irises.
 * Due to her relationship with Gippal, Paine is fluent in the Al Bhed language.
 * stated in an interview that her favorite line from Paine is, "All I want to do is hurt you".
 * Paine is the first playable character shown during the opening FMV scene.
 * Paine shares her Japanese voice actress with Elena in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Elena's older sister in Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, Qun'mi Tru'e from Final Fantasy Type-0, and Aqua from the Kingdom Hearts series.
 * It is unknown if Paine could fight before Final Fantasy X-2, as she is never seen doing so in the Crimson Records. She is only seen in the final record that shows the group of four on a boat talking about their futures.
 * Only Paine is never shown wearing another dressphere in cutscenes; Yuna and Rikku are seen wearing their Songstress outfits at least twice.
 * Paine's promotional poster has text in Yevon script on the background that reads: "Tell me why did you pull the trigger".

Paine Paine Paine Paine