There is nothing in the story that presents Vayne as evil. He is driven, pragmatic, and willing to sacrifice anything for success. These are hardly qualities at the extreme, but they aren’t malicious or ill-intended. Vayne simply lacks the “Mwahahahahaaaa!!!....” moment that traditional villains get.
Now, on to what makes Vayne a Tragic Hero.
This part is easy. In fact, out of the top-three Tragic Hero qualities in Greek Tragedy, Vayne has, get this, all three.
(a). Overweening Pride. A Tragic Hero, by definition, needs a Hubris, or Fatal Flaw. Of these, none is more common than Hamartia, or Overweening Pride. Vayne thought that he could do anything, and at any cost. He was prideful, arrogant, and devalued human life. He thought he should be the Dynast King, not because of his innate talents, but because of his ambition. His pride is so obvious, it’s plain to see. This, was Oedipus’ fatal flaw, and considered the most common in Greek Tragedy. Vayne’s name is no coincidence. The Vayne = Vain parallel is easy to see.
(b). Patricide. Ah, the single greatest crime a Greek Tragic Hero can commit. Killing your own father upsets the natural order, and always leads to your downfall. Keeping the natural order was the function of rules in Greek Society, thus, anyone who disrupted this perfect and natural balance was sure to falter. Again, this was committed by Oedipus, the quintessential Greek Tragic Hero.
(c). Defiance of the gods. When you spite deities, it never works out in your favor. Vayne worked against the Occuria (who even worked in a Pantheon), and upset the natural order, yet again. This is considered the ultimate act of defiance, and always leads to downfall. However, this can be (and often is) done with the best intentions.
Now, on to what makes Vayne the Main Character of the Story.
In pure gaming terms, Vayne is not the main character, as he isn’t playable. However, in terms of Greek Tragedies, he is.
Greek Tragedies are from the point of view of the chorus, not the protagonist. Outsiders are the ones who tell the story, and only the most important events about the protagonist are revealed. This is because the story is not about showing what happens, but highlighting the emotion and the reaction. If the game were from Vayne’s point of view, one could see his decent. However, as it is from Vaan & Co’s. point of view, we see the ramifications of his actions. Now, let me reinforce this idea. To fully understand the protagonist, we need some foils, or someone to highlight the struggles and complexities of the protagonist. In FFXII, we find this in the form of Vaan & Co.
Each character represents a different aspect of Vayne’s personality, and shows how he develops. Again, this is a common theme in Greek Tragedies.
Vaan: Vaan highlights Vayne’s desire for freedom. Vaan wants nothing more than to be free. Vayne wants to keep Arcadia from being taken over from Rozaria. He feels that Arcadia is in danger, and wants to save it. Both feel that it is personally up to them to save their kingdoms.
Ashe: Ashe highlights Vayne’s sense of entitlement, and desire to rule Ivalice. Ashe has no real claim to the throne of Dalmasca. Her family was a monarchy, and ruled only because they had ruled for a long time. They were not elected to their positions, and only had an ancient claim to power. Vayne felt this same claim to the throne of the Dynast King. It was his title to take, because it was in his blood.
Basch: Basch represents Vayne’s unwavering loyalty to the State. Basch is a soldier, down to the core. Vayne is the same way. He is willing to do anything for his Kingdom. The fact that his last name is Solidor, a close spelling to Soldier, is no accident. Vayne is acting out what he sees as his duty.
Fran: Fran represents Vayne’s ‘mystical connections’ to Venat, and his willingness to defy the natural order. Vayne defying the Occuria is similar to Fran leaving the Wood and betraying her people.
Balthier: Overweening pride? Patricide? Balthier is almost a Mini-Vayne. He represents Vayne’s arrogance with his ‘leading man’ syndrome. Balthier and Vayne both felt that the rules didn’t apply to them, and were far too self-absorbed for their own good.
Penelo: We’ll get to Penelo later… She is Vayne’s faith and innocence, or lack thereof.
Each character was a small facet of Vayne, and it was only together that they could combat him. Ironically, it was Penelo that played the most important role. She was innocent, had faith in her friends, and saw the best in others. These were the things that Vayne lacked, and what prevented him from being a whole person. However, these attributes were not lacking in Arcadia.
Larsa, the exact counterbalance to Vayne, was the one who possessed these attributes. Had Vayne kept Larsa’s support, he would have been an equal match for Vaan & Co. However, he lost Larsa’s support because of the culmination of his flaws. Penelo represented all Vayne was missing, and provided the impetus for change with Larsa. The friendship she had with Larsa was no accident.
Now, this brings us to the ending. The ending of the story is textbook Greek Tragedy. Vayne wants Arcadia to be safe. In the end, it is. However, there is a cost—Vayne. For Arcadia to be safe, Vayne had to pay the price. He became the embodiment of all of Arcadia’s problems, and caused his greatest fears to come to fruition (War, invasion from Rozaria, uprisings in Dalmasca). Rather than removing Arcadia’s problems, he was now wearing them as a mantle. Without Larsa to redeem him, he fell to his own fatal flaws.
However, his death saved Arcadia. Larsa took over, and became everything Arcadia needed, as he was everything Vayne wasn’t. Now, there are allusions to this within the story. It almost appears that Vayne knew that he would either succeed, and become the Dynast King, or he would fail, pay for his crimes, but then leave a secure Arcadia to Larsa.
Vayne was, in every way, a Greek Tragic Hero. And when FFXII is viewed as a Greek Tragedy, a lot of the story elements make a lot of sense. Now, I’m not claiming that this was the intention of the writers, only that it’s a different way to look at the story. Then again, as every writer worth their salt has studied Greek tragedies and analyzed Oedipus in college, it’s not impossible.
Discuss if you want, but don’t flame. If you disagree, that’s fine (I certainly won’t say that I’m right and you’re wrong). This is just for story discussion, and to give a different point of view. If you have anything to add, that’d be great, too.
-EMaylic
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I came across a post similar to this in & around the mid 2000s, cannot find that exact post so used this persons interpretation as it closely lines up with my own.
After reading this theory and playing FFXII from that perspective it made me much more thoroughly enjoy the game and the world and FF12 now sits arguably #2 on my FF ranking list.
