Biggs and Wedge (Final Fantasy VI)

Biggs / Wedge
(ビックス/ウェッジ, Bikkusu/Wejji?) Alternate names: Vicks / Wedge
Portraits
Sprites
Biographical information
Affiliation	Gestahlian Empire
Physical description
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Gameplay details
Type	Guest character
Job class	Soldier
Unique abilities	None
Weapon	Mythril Sword
Armor	Buckler, Leather Cap, Leather Armor
Behind the scenes information
Designer	Yoshitaka Amano
Related pages
Other appearances	Recurring appearance Brave Exvius

Hard to believe an Esper's been found intact there, 1000 years after the War of the Magi...

Wedge

Biggs (Vicks on the SNES) and Wedge are temporary playable characters in Final Fantasy VI. They are soldiers of the Gestahlian Empire who accompanied Terra on a Imperial attack on Narshe to retrieve a frozen esper.

Profile

Appearance

Biggs and Wedge use the same sprites as the rank-and-file Imperial troopers, a brown uniform with a visored helmet, gloves, shoulderpads, and boots. They share a menu sprite, which shows a small amount of blond hair peeking out from under their helmets. In the FMV scenes for the PlayStation Final Fantasy Anthology release, one of the two is depicted as shorter and stockier.

Personality

Both are professional soldiers focused on their mission. Biggs is skeptical regarding the presence of the esper in Narshe and fearful of Terra due to rumors of her powers, derisively referring to her as a "witch". Wedge is more confident, reasoning their superiors would not have sent Terra with them if they did not trust their intelligence, and he reassures Biggs of Terra's obedience due to the Slave Crown controlling her thoughts. Of the two Wedge seems to be the senior officer, as he is usually the one to give orders to the other two.

Story

Biggs, Wedge and Terra arriving on the Narshe cliffs.

Biggs, Wedge, and Terra were sent to Narshe to investigate the rumors of a frozen esper the townsfolk had dug up in a new mine shaft. The two put Terra on point as they attacked the town and fought through Narshe's guards to reach the mines. Biggs bashed down a gate blocking their way, but the guards sicced a monster called Ymir on them. Biggs recognized it as a "lightning whelk" that absorbs lightning and stores the energy in its shell. The trio used this knowledge to avoid striking the monster's shell and destroyed it.

Biggs and Wedge's final moments in the Narshe Mines.

In the cavern beyond the three discovered the frozen esper that began to glow as they approached it, particularly reacting to Terra's presence. As Biggs and Wedge looked around in confusion, Wedge and then Biggs vanished in flashes of light, killed by the esper's power.

Gameplay

Wedge using the Fire Beam ability.

Biggs and Wedge's job is listed as "Soldier". As temporary characters they cannot have their equipment changed and they have no unique command abilities. They have the Magitek command in place of the Attack command since they are riding Magitek armor. They begin at Level 1 and are both equipped with a Mythril Sword, Buckler, Leather Cap, and Leather Armor.

Because Terra has access to the group-hitting Magitek attack Bio Blast, it is not difficult for her to fight through the prologue alone. Killing the two off with Terra's Fire spell will let her level up faster from fighting alone. Conversely, if the player is attempting a low-level run, they will want to use Fire to kill Terra herself so only Biggs and Wedge will gain levels.

Stats

Biggs	Wedge
Name Initial Stats Strength 41 Speed 36 Stamina 45 Magic 28 Attack 27 Defense 79 Evasion 12% Magic Defense 50 Magic Evasion 0% Escape Success 4 HP Gain 70 MP Gain 0 Level Averaging -3	Name Initial Stats Strength 40 Speed 35 Stamina 46 Magic 29 Attack 24 Defense 77 Evasion 15% Magic Defense 50 Magic Evasion 0% Escape Success 4 HP Gain 68 MP Gain 0 Level Averaging -3
Level HP MP EXP + 1 70 0 0 2 81 4 32 3 93 8 96 4 107 13 208 5 124 18 400 6 144 24 672 7 166 30 1056 8 190 37 1552 9 216 45 2184 10 243 53 2976 11 271 62 3936 12 301 71 5080 13 336 81 6432 14 375 91 7992 15 419 101 9784 16 469 111 11840 17 523 121 14152 18 580 132 16736 19 641 143 19616 20 706 154 22832 21 773 165 26360 22 842 176 30232 23 914 188 34456 24 990 200 39056 25 1069 212 44072 26 1151 224 49464 27 1237 236 55288 28 1327 249 61568 29 1422 262 68304 30 1521 275 75496 31 1621 288 83184 32 1722 301 91384 33 1824 315 100088 34 1926 329 109344 35 2029 343 119136 36 2133 357 129504 37 2239 371 140464 38 2346 386 152008 39 2454 401 164184 40 2564 416 176976 41 2675 431 190416 42 2788 446 204520 43 2902 462 219320 44 3018 478 234808 45 3135 494 251000 46 3254 510 267936 47 3374 526 285600 48 3496 543 304040 49 3621 560 323248 50 3749 577 343248 51 3879 593 364064 52 4010 608 385696 53 4143 622 408160 54 4277 635 431488 55 4413 647 455680 56 4550 658 480776 57 4689 668 506760 58 4831 677 533680 59 4975 685 561528 60 5120 692 590320 61 5267 698 620096 62 5415 703 650840 63 5565 708 682600 64 5717 714 715368 65 5870 720 749160 66 6025 727 784016 67 6181 734 819920 68 6339 741 856920 69 6499 749 895016 70 6661 757 934208 71 6821 765 974536 72 6976 773 1016000 73 7127 781 1058640 74 7272 788 1102456 75 7412 795 1147456 76 7548 802 1193648 77 7680 808 1241080 78 7806 814 1289744 79 7926 820 1339672 80 8043 826 1390872 81 8156 831 1443368 82 8266 836 1497160 83 8374 841 1552264 84 8479 846 1608712 85 8581 851 1666512 86 8681 856 1725688 87 8779 861 1786240 88 8874 867 1848184 89 8966 873 1911552 90 9056 879 1976352 91 9144 885 2042608 92 9231 891 2110320 93 9316 898 2179504 94 9399 906 2250192 95 9481 915 2322392 96 9561 925 2396128 97 9644 936 2471400 98 9730 948 2548224 99 9818 961 2637112	Level HP MP EXP + 1 68 0 0 2 79 4 32 3 91 8 96 4 105 13 208 5 122 18 400 6 142 24 672 7 164 30 1056 8 188 37 1552 9 214 45 2184 10 241 53 2976 11 269 62 3936 12 299 71 5080 13 334 81 6432 14 373 91 7992 15 417 101 9784 16 467 111 11840 17 521 121 14152 18 578 132 16736 19 639 143 19616 20 704 154 22832 21 771 165 26360 22 840 176 30232 23 912 188 34456 24 988 200 39056 25 1067 212 44072 26 1149 224 49464 27 1235 236 55288 28 1325 249 61568 29 1420 262 68304 30 1519 275 75496 31 1619 288 83184 32 1720 301 91384 33 1822 315 100088 34 1924 329 109344 35 2027 343 119136 36 2131 357 129504 37 2237 371 140464 38 2344 386 152008 39 2452 401 164184 40 2562 416 176976 41 2673 431 190416 42 2786 446 204520 43 2900 462 219320 44 3016 478 234808 45 3133 494 251000 46 3252 510 267936 47 3372 526 285600 48 3494 543 304040 49 3619 560 323248 50 3747 577 343248 51 3877 593 364064 52 4008 608 385696 53 4141 622 408160 54 4275 635 431488 55 4411 647 455680 56 4548 658 480776 57 4687 668 506760 58 4829 677 533680 59 4973 685 561528 60 5118 692 590320 61 5265 698 620096 62 5413 703 650840 63 5563 708 682600 64 5715 714 715368 65 5868 720 749160 66 6023 727 784016 67 6179 734 819920 68 6337 741 856920 69 6497 749 895016 70 6659 757 934208 71 6819 765 974536 72 6974 773 1016000 73 7125 781 1058640 74 7270 788 1102456 75 7410 795 1147456 76 7546 802 1193648 77 7678 808 1241080 78 7804 814 1289744 79 7924 820 1339672 80 8041 826 1390872 81 8154 831 1443368 82 8264 836 1497160 83 8372 841 1552264 84 8477 846 1608712 85 8579 851 1666512 86 8679 856 1725688 87 8777 861 1786240 88 8872 867 1848184 89 8964 873 1911552 90 9054 879 1976352 91 9142 885 2042608 92 9229 891 2110320 93 9314 898 2179504 94 9397 906 2250192 95 9479 915 2322392 96 9559 925 2396128 97 9642 936 2471400 98 9728 948 2548224 99 9816 961 2637112

Other appearances

The Final Fantasy VI versions of Biggs and Wedge have appeared in several titles in the Final Fantasy series.

Both characters make cameo appearances in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, serving as tutors from the in-game manuals. Biggs jokes about his name being mistranslated as Vicks, but assures the player that it is Biggs.

In addition, they have also appeared in mobile crossover titles. Both appear as units in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, with the characters mounting their magitek armors. Biggs and Wedge also appear in Final Fantasy Record Keeper during the first chapter of the Record Dungeon storyline, serving as NPCs during the Narshe opening sequences of their original game.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

Chrono Trigger

The two soldiers called Biggs and Wedge appear in Chrono Trigger, as employees in Norstein Bekkler's Tent of Horrors. A V-Jump issue in Japan humorously states that after Valigarmanda made them disappear in Final Fantasy VI, they ended up in the Chrono Trigger dimension and were found by Norstein, who gave them their new jobs. Like in Final Fantasy VI, Biggs was called Vicks in the SNES and PlayStation versions, but this was corrected in the Nintendo DS version.

Behind the scenes

This is the first chronological appearance of Biggs and Wedge in the Final Fantasy series and would go on to become recurring names appearing in several games for different characters. The duo are a reference to Star Wars, specifically Luke Skywalker's wingmen during his trench run to destroy the first Death Star in A New Hope.

The FMV for Anthology shows one of the two as shorter and stockier than the other. This is likely intended to be Wedge, as later Final Fantasy titles tend to depict Wedge as being shorter. Later appearances depict Biggs as the one holding command or seniority over Wedge, a reversal of their dynamic in Final Fantasy VI where Wedge is more authoritative.

Early screenshot of the Japanese version.

Early screenshots of the game's Japanese version call Biggs, レオ (Reo?), and Wedge, バナン (Banan?), respectively, the Japanese names of Leo and Banon. It is possible the names were conceived before they were given to the actual Leo and Banon, or they were used as placeholder names for the soldiers in the screenshots.

In an early draft of the Opera "Maria and Draco" sequence, Biggs and Wedge disrupted the opera instead of Ultros. The party would have fought the two in the rafters in a timed battle where the two tried to push the weight off the wedge of the screen and the party had to defeat them before they succeeded.

On April 4, 2013, Letter from the Producer Live Part VI for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Producer Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) showed a video to spotlight the Magitech Armor in the game. The video was heavily inspired by, and designed to evoke, the opening scene of Final Fantasy VI, and featured characters recognizable as Terra Branford, Biggs, and Wedge.

Gallery

CG render of Biggs and Wedge from Anthologies.

Sprites (SNES).

Sprites (2014 mobile/Steam).

Animated sprite of Biggs and Wedge's victory pose (Pixel Remaster).

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Biggs and Wedge are a recurring running gag in the Final Fantasy series. They almost always appear as a duo, and are named after Star Wars characters, Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles, Luke Skywalker's Red Squadron wingmen in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

Ted Woolsey, the game's original translator, translated Biggs' name as Vicks, which was corrected to Biggs in all subsequent re-releases, and he is referred to as Biggs in Japanese materials that use English text. However his Japanese name would not correspond to the pronunciation for "Biggs". Biggs' name is given as ビックス (Bikkusu?) in Japanese, while future appearances of Biggs in other games use the correct transliteration for "Biggs", ビッグス (Biggusu?). V sounds are not native to Japanese, so often times B sounds are used as substitutes, which is likely why Woolsey translated the name as he did. A more literal, direct translation of the Final Fantasy VI spelling would be "Bikks".