Vyse

Vyse (ヴァイス Vaisu[1]) is a major viewpoint character and the central protagonist in Skies of Arcadia. He is the son of the Blue Rogue captain Dyne. Vyse was born and raised on Pirate Isle and dreams of embarking on a grand adventure and seeing "what's beyond the sunset".

The Blue Rogues (青の空賊, ao no kūzoku?, "Blue Air Pirates") are air pirates that only attack armed vessels larger than their own ships, in particular those of the Valuan Armada. Unlike Black Pirates, Blue Rogues do not attack unarmed or merchant vessels.

Very little is known about Vyse's youth. When he became of age, he became a regular crew member on his father's pirate airship, the Albatross. He would often take part in raids, as well as menial tasks onboard such as moving cargo and cleaning the decks. Vyse had to overcome airsickness when he was a child. He obtained the distinctive crescent-shaped scar under his left eye during a failed rescue attempt when he was ten years old while protecting Aika.

Vyse is somewhat short for his age, standing at a height of 5'7''. He has medium-length brown hair, brown eyes, and a scar on his left cheek.

He wears a blue long-sleeved jacket with red parts over a black t-shirt, a red scarf-like ascot, black leggings, an oversized brown belt with a silver buckle, brown knee-length leather boots with cream ends and grey soles and a sky-blue eyepatch lens over his right eye which he can use to magnify distant objects. His jacket sleeves are somewhat disconnected from the jacket, revealing a small part of his arms in the process (they are only connected to his jacket thanks to very small red connectors).

Vyse has a driven and positive personality and displays strong compassion for those he cares about and empathy for those who care about him. Vyse is extremely driven to do well and be a role model to those around him. His strong compassion and empathy are known to inspire others to great feats that they did not realize they were capable of. With nothing more than his goodwill and personality, Vyse unites a disparate crew from all over the world into a single fighting force to do battle with the Valuan Armada, and he can call on his crew members when the need is great to fight the enemy by shouting, "Blue Rogues, attack!" Vyse is a notable character in modern RPGs because his personality and character design visibly eschew the brooding, monochromatic and depressive characterization embraced by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) in the PlayStation iterations of the Final Fantasy series. Also in a departure from many role-playing game heroes, Vyse is not a silent protagonist, and the player is often given a choice of what Vyse is to say at key moments in the game. At least one of these answers will usually enhance Vyse's Swashbuckler Rating.

Vyse wields twin pirate cutlasses, with his combat stance utilizing one for defense and the other for offense. He excels at physical attacks. His attack stat is not extremely high, but his weapons are often extremely powerful. He is a competent magic user, but the power of his magic attacks is limited. Vyse also has the highest spirit profile in the game, which allows him to channel a significant amount of spirit points using Focus. However, due to his physical strength it's better to utilize him for attacking rather than raising the spirit of the party.

During the move, Vyse's dual cutlasses begin to glow in a translucent manner, presumably disconnecting from any specific Moon Stone element. He rushes up on a single opponent while unleashing a battle cry, saying "Ha!". He then strikes twice with each weapon, finally jumping high into the air to come down for a final blow after declaring "Cutlass Fury!". Throughout the attack, the swords make the standard slashing sound effect.

This technique is an expedited ability, executing at the beginning of the turn regardless of any combatant's quick rating. Note that Vyse will only counterattack when struck with a standard attack, not magic or Super Moves.

During the move, Vyse's weapons glow with translucent yellow energy, drawing on the power of lightning. He releases a battle cry, jumps in the air and crosses his swords in his arms as they are repeatedly struck by lightning. He then cries "Rain of Swords!" and swings both swords in a wide arc, creating a bullet like rain of energy bolts which impact all over the battlefield with the force of cannon fire.

Skull Shield is an Expedited Ability, which will execute immediately at the beginning of the turn, regardless of quickness rating. Vyse calls upon past pirates to protect their mission, shouting " Pirates of old... defend our cause! ".

The effect is very similar to that of Vyse's Counterstrike, but with the major difference that it is applied to the entire party. When Skull shield is in effect, all party members are rendered completely invincible to standard attacks from any and all foes for that turn; additionally, the pirate spectre will appear and counterattack the enemy.

Vyse unleashes his true power, showing his enemies what the ultimate pirate can do. The attack causes Vyse to strike an opponent with a massive bolt of lightning from his cutlass and then slash them in the shape of the skull and crossbones. He starts off the move by holding up his cutlass and saying, " Behold... " As the lighting strikes, and breaks apart the scenery, he flies forward into the cosmos, then slashes into his enemy yelling, " Pirates' Wrath!".