He may or may not be the "real" hero of the story, but he says he's the hero, and he makes a pretty convincing case for it. The sky-pirate gunslinger of Final Fantasy XII routinely upstages most of his fellow cast members, thanks to a combination of sharp looks and even sharper wit.

The game has a well-written script all around, and plenty of the exciting plot twists that tend to mark Yasumi Matsuno's games, but as far as memorable lines go, Balthier gets almost all of them. It almost seems unfair sometimes, watching him deliver the best bits of dialogue. Such are the advantages of being the leading man.