Faris Scherwiz
From Final Fantasy Wiki
| Faris Scherwiz | |
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| Sprite(s) |  
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| A.K.A. | Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon, Salsa |
| Japanese Name | ファリス・シェルヴィッツ |
| Romaji | Farisu Sheruvittsu |
| Element | Fire |
| Profession | Pirate Captain |
| Age | 20 |
| Height | 5'7" (1.70 m) |
| Weight | 117 lb (53 kg) |
| Birthplace | Tycoon |
| Final Fantasy V Character | |
- "I'm just not cut out for a princess, I'm afraid. Pirating's much more my style."
- —Faris Scherwiz
Faris Scherwiz (ファリス・シェルヴィッツ Farisu Sheruvittsu), real name Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon (サリサ・シュヴィール・タイクーン Sarisa Shuvīru Taikūn), or Salsa in the US Anthology release, is a pirate captain and one of the Warriors of Light in Final Fantasy V, and the elder sister of Lenna Charlotte Tycoon. This technically makes her the Queen of Tycoon, but she does not accept the position, saying that "pirating's more my style." She represents Fire, the element of courage, in the party.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Born as Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon, the daughter of Alexander Highwind Tycoon and his queen, but when she was a small child she was lost at sea and found by pirates. As she was unable to pronounce her name correctly to them (calling herself 'Farifa'), they dubbed her Faris. Due to the fact that women were not respected among them, she was raised as a boy and dressed accordingly in order to be accepted by them. When she was fifteen years old, the ship she was aboard encountered a mysterious whirlpool. Faris dove in to discover what caused it and came out with Syldra, a sea-dragon with whom she formed an almost sisterly bond. The pirates made her their captain for this, supposedly the youngest a pirate had ever been made captain.
By the age of twenty, Faris was still captain of her own ship and well-respected among the crew, although some of them may have suspected that she was actually female. It was during this time that three adventurers on their way to the Wind Shrine attempted to steal her ship, after they saw it was able to move without sails. As the ship was pulled by Syldra, however, they were unsuccessful and Faris and her pirates captured them easily. The adventurers, Bartz, Galuf, and Lenna Tycoon tried to plead for a ride, and Lenna revealed her identity as Princess of Tycoon. Upon learning this, Faris' initial thought was to hold Lenna for ransom, but when Lenna displayed a pendant identical to the one she wore, Faris changed her mind. She decided to help the three get to the Wind Shrine in the hopes of discovering why she and Lenna share the pendant, responding to her crew and prisoner's questions of why with a simple "I reconsidered [Lenna's] request."
At the Wind Shrine, Faris was startled by the disappearance of King Tycoon and volunteered to join the quest to find him, becoming a permanent member of the party. Not long after this, Syldra was mortally injured in a battle with Karbalos. Without him, the ship drifted to the Ship Graveyard. After crossing a flooded room, Bartz and Galuf tussled with Faris to get "him" to dry his clothes by the fire, and discover that she was, in fact, a woman. Faris insisted that she was no less important than any of the others despite this.
After nearly succumbing to the Siren's illusion of King Tycoon, Faris became very protective of Lenna, leaping over a chasm to stop Magissa from kindapping her, as well as being continually dismayed by the princess' tendency to selflessly risk her own life. Faris finally addressed King Tycoon as "father" in Ronka, revealing that she was Lenna's sister--she had known it for some time, but could not bring herself to say it.
After Galuf's death and the party's return to Tycoon Castle, Faris was addressed by her title as Princess Sarisa for the first time in over a decade, and was dressed up accordingly. She despised the fancy clothing (despite Bartz insisting she was beautiful), and not long into the ceremonies she slipped off to join Bartz and Krile as they continued their search for Exdeath.
Faris and the other Warriors of Light defeated Exdeath and restored the power of the Crystals at last, returning the world to peace. Faris initially returned to Tycoon and shared the throne with her sister, but she hated the life of a queen and missed her old life, and soon she had changed back into her pirate clothing and returned to her ship.
[edit] Musical Themes
Faris' theme is widely considered to be Pirates Ahoy, which is played when the party first meets her, and can later be heard in the Pirates' Hideout.
[edit] Gallery
 Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano |
 An original 3-D rendering from Anthology |
[edit] Etymology
Faris is an Arabic word meaning "horseman, rider" (i. e. "Knight"). It is debatable if this fact was intended to be a counterpart to some other element in the game or as a metaphor of its bearer.
[edit] Trivia
- In the original SNES version of Final Fantasy V, Faris appeared as a pirate with long purple hair, green eyes identical to Lenna's, and blue-and-green pirate clothing. However, the full-motion video segments from the Final Fantasy Anthology version and her portrait for the Advance remake were based on Amano's original design of Faris, a blonde in a black trenchcoat with golden pauldrons.
- Faris, along with Terra of Final Fantasy VI, is Amano's favorite design.
- In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes of the original Final Fantasy, Sarisa is one of the automatic names the player can choose for the Thief job.
- In the manual for Final Fantasy V Advance, unlike the other three initial party members, Faris' profile is gender-neutral while speaking of her, helping preserve the secret of her true identity.
- Faris spoke with a pirate accent in the first official localization of Final Fantasy V for the PlayStation. This was not in the Japanese version of the game originally. It remained in the Gameboy Advance version released after, but it was kept to a small degree.
[edit] External links
