Vayne Carudas Solidor

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

HOME Archadia

AGE 27

AFFILIATION House Solidor

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

RACE Hume

GENDER Male

“Ivalice will know a new Dynast-King, and Man will keep his own history! The tyranny of the gods is ended! We are their puppets no more! The freedom for which we have longed is at hand!” - VAYNE CARUDAS SOLIDOR

Vayne Carudas Solidor is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy XII. At 27 years old, he is the third son of Archadia's Emperor, Lord Gramis, the elder brother of Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, and part of House Solidor. He arrives in Rabanastre as its new imperial consul, but has far greater plans than simply ruling Dalmasca. He is a refined yet ruthless statesman who, on the surface, works for the betterment of his nation, but, under the surface, desires power and stops at nothing to attain it.

Profile

Appearance

Vayne has blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair. He wears a dark-green pullover and pants, white gloves, a sleeveless armor with white-and-gold armlets with wings on the shoulders, and gold kneepads. His cape is dark blue and he wears a gold belt. As Vayne Novus, most of his clothing dissolves, leaving his armored gauntlets, boots, and belt behind, while his body becomes more muscular and his face distorted. As The Undying, metal is grafted onto his legs and torso, primarily on the left side. His left arm is covered by a cannon, while his right arm is a sword. He bears an assembly of wings and a crest over his head in the shape of a dragon's head, alluding to the Undying as being formed from the metal of the Sky Fortress Bahamut, named after the recurring dragon summon in the Final Fantasy series.

Personality

“I will stand fast. I will endure your hatred, suffer your slings and arrows. I will defend Dalmasca! Here I will pay my debt! I swear it now! Though King Raminas and Lady Ashe be gone, they stand ever at the side of their people. In honoring peace...you do honor to their memory, and to Dalmasca. What I ask, I ask plain. My hopes now rest with you.” - PART OF VAYNE'S SPEECH DURING HIS INTRODUCTION AS RABANASTRE'S CONSUL

As the third son of Emperor Gramis, Vayne is a candidate to be the next emperor. He is knowledgeable in military affairs and has the ability to sway people's hearts and minds via manipulation. Vayne is a dignified man and, although he appears to be friendly, he never shows his deepest feelings. In addition, his ruthlessness in using any means to achieve his goals is a source of concern.

Driven by the desire to become the next Dynast King, Vayne is lauded by friend and foe alike as a devious politician, skillful leader, and administrator, as well as a military genius. He allows no distractions or obstacles to his goals, removing them by whatever means needed. Vayne is not a brute, however, and is intelligent and pragmatic in his pursuits, recognizing the value of political pawns he can hold over others by keeping enemies alive or manipulating their actions. Vayne values the legacy and stability of Archadia and House Solidor and will use any means to safeguard them. Vayne is aware that the Senate incited his eldest brothers to rebel, but he kept this information to himself, as he believes that he must bear this task alone. Though having executed two of his brothers for treason at his father's behest, Vayne seems to hold a soft spot for his younger brother, Larsa.

Story

Vayne had two older brothers who were branded traitors and killed by Vayne at the request of his father, most likely because Lord Gramis believed that they were planning an uprising.

While it is unknown when Vayne first met Venat and Dr. Cid and began conspiring with them to "put the reins of history back in the hands of Man", it is known that he masterminded the invasions of Nabradia and Dalmasca to gain the Dusk and Midlight Shards, two pieces of deifacted nethicite critical for Cid's research at Draklor Laboratory. According to Final Fantasy XII Scenario Ultimania, during the uprising of the Neo-Rozarria Faction in Nabradia, the Neo-Rozarrians who sought to bring in more fleets from mainland Rozarria caused an internal struggle, which boiled over into a civil war. Vayne, in the name of suppressing the war, marched his army into Nabradia and destroyed the kingdom before Rozarria could send a contingency. The kingdom of Nabradia seemed to have destroyed itself in the civil war, but it was Vayne who pulled the strings behind the scenes, manipulating the Neo-Rozarrian faction in Nabradia.[2]

After the Dalmascan counterattack at Nalbina Fortress, Vayne concocted a plot to fool the people of Dalmasca into thinking that Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg was a traitor and responsible for killing their King, Raminas B'nargin Dalmasca. Using Basch's twin brother, Gabranth, who works for Archadia, the two played out a scenario in front of a wounded Dalmascan soldier, Reks, who would serve as a witness.

“Your lives are forfeit, and your insurgence with them. Dalmasca will again know order. For good and all, I shall bring your futile attempts at rebellion to an end.” - VAYNE SOLIDOR

Two years later, Vayne is appointed Consul of Rabanastre, making him the de facto ruler of Dalmasca. He delivers a speech to a skeptical crowd, in the end gaining their applause and acceptance. He organizes a fete at the former Royal Palace of Rabanastre as a trap for the Resistance that storms the palace, only to find soldiers and an Imperial battleship Ifrit waiting. As Vayne corners Princess Ashe, a member of the Resistance, he has her taken away to Judge Ghis's care on the Dreadnought Leviathan while the sky pirates and a street thief named Vaan, who were with her, are sent off to the Nalbina Dungeons.

In the manga version, Vaan runs into Vayne on the palace grounds overseeing the battle between Resistance and Imperial forces. Vayne invites him to strike him when Vaan yells at him for the death of his brother, Reks. When Vaan lunges at Vayne, Gabranth blocks his attack and Vayne orders Vaan to be executed for having attacked an Archadian official. The sky pirates Balthier and Fran save him. Later on, Vayne and Gabranth loot the palace treasury looking for the Dusk Shard, unaware that it had been stolen by Vaan. Later, when Ashe has acquired the Dawn Shard and Vossler's betrayal has the group captured by Ghis, Gabranth notifies Vayne, who, in turn, tells the Occurian Venat that they now have all three shards.

Despite much pomp and ceremony, Vayne's tenure as Consul is short-lived. The Imperial Senate, favoring Larsa as a puppet Emperor over his ambitious and ruthless older brother, recalls Vayne to Archades. When Vayne confronts Emperor Gramis on this decision, he explains the Imperial Senate are only doing this in opposition to House Solidor, their noble house. When Vayne recommends decisive action to 'silence' them out of necessity, his father scoffed at his son's loose interpretation of 'necessity' and how he uses it to be ruthless. Vayne reminds his father that ruthlessness are the reason for House Solidor's survival and 'cannot be left to rust in doubt'. Persistent, Vayne warns Gramis that inaction would endanger - not just Gramis or Vayne - but also young Larsa's life and accepts bloodying his own hands to keep his brother's clean. Gramis acknowledges all his points but declines to comment on further.

Vayne knows Gabranth has been spying on him. Shortly afterwards, Gramis is found dead in the throne room, supposedly poisoned by Chairman Gregoroth, who has committed suicide. Vayne has the senators arrested for supposed regicide and "temporarily" dissolves the Imperial Senate. Knowing that Judge Bergan would support him out of loyalty and Judge Zargabaath would support him to avoid internal strife, Vayne begins acting as the new Emperor of Archadia. Judge Drace, however, sees through the façade and attempts to arrest Vayne. Despite pleas of mercy from Zargabaath, Vayne tries Drace for high treason and Bergan, happy to serve his ruthless new Emperor, strikes her down. Knowing that Judge Gabranth personally reported to Gramis on Vayne's schemes, the latter tests the "hound's" loyalty and orders Gabranth, who is a comrade of Drace, to administer the killing blow, which he delivers reluctantly. Afterwards, he sends Judge Bergan and Judge Zargabaath to retrieve Larsa from Mt Bur-Omisace and return to Archades.

Returned to Archades, Larsa attempts to convince Vayne of restoring Dalmasca'a independence and making peace with Princess Ashe to avoid full-scale war with the Rozarrian Empire. Vayne claims it would be 'a war of necessity' and that the princess is too bent on revenge and Archades's destruction to be swayed otherwise. Larsa tries to explain the princess's disdain for war, to which Vayne dismisses based on Larsa's young age. When Larsa counters that Vayne is presuming beyond his knowledge, Vayne commands Judge Gabranth to seek out Princess Ashe, ascertain whether she wants peace or war and put her to the sword if it is the latter, to which Larsa agrees, having faith on Ashe's convictions to peace.

Alone in the throne room with Cid, the doctor muses how the idealistic Larsa is the ruthless Vayne's brother to which Vayne responds 'Larsa is as he should be.' Venat relays information of the Princess Ashe's acquisition of the Treaty-Blade to which Cid and Vayne converse how six years of planning and execution have accomplished so much to put history's reins in the hands of man. Venat offers good fortune to Vayne's aspirations to which he responds with satisfaction in finally attaining his ultimate goals.

Vayne proceeds with his plan of becoming Ivalice's new Dynast King and putting history's reins back into the hands of man and out of the Occuria's, mysterious otherworldly beings that deem themselves the Gods of Ivalice. He sends Dr. Cid to the Pharos, where he uses the Sun-Cryst, the motherlode of nethicite in Ivalice, to spill forth Mist over the world. The unleashed Mist powers up Vayne's new Sky Fortress, Bahamut, the largest aerial battleship ever built. The Sky Fortress plays a central role in the Battle above Rabanastre, during which Vayne plans to obliterate the Resistance forces led by Marquis Ondore and have the city of Rabanastre follow on the battle.

Princess Ashe's party infiltrates the fortress and confronts Vayne with Larsa's aid. He is defeated, but by using the power of manufacted nethicite that had knocked Larsa out, Vayne transforms into Vayne Novus. Judge Gabranth turns on his former master upon witnessing him harming Larsa. When Vayne is weakened, Gabranth plunges his sword into Vayne's chest. Vayne retaliates, but Larsa stops him. While Vayne is still shocked by Larsa's actions, Vaan wounds Vayne.

Escaping to the deck of the cannon superstructure, Vayne can't help but laugh at his current state. The rogue Occurian, Venat, offers comfort, saying that they had succeeded in releasing the control of history from the hands of the Occuria as the Sun-Cryst was destroyed, giving Vayne its power as a way of thanks. Vayne uses his newly gained power to fuse parts of the Bahamut unto his body to become a mechanical dragon, but he is still defeated and explodes into a cloud of Mist, taking Venat to the grave with him.