Oh, in case you're wondering, the Gullwings are sphere hunters, and sphere hunters are, well... This! We fly all over Spira. I'm really enjoying myself.
Yuna
The Gullwings, (written Gull Wings during blitzball), and known as the Seagulls in the Japanese release, is a neutral sphere hunting group that Yuna, Rikku, and Paine belong to in Final Fantasy X-2.
As implied by the term "sphere hunter", their main purpose is to hunt and obtain spheres in order to assist in the uncovering of Spira's history. The group ends up providing a variety of additional services throughout the game, mostly because of Yuna's innate compulsion to help people in need and also by her inability to say "No". The group travels around Spira by use of their airship, the Celsius.
Story
Origin
The Gullwings were originally an 'all-Al Bhed' group founded by Rikku, Brother, and his old friend Buddy. They were shortly joined by Shinra, Paine, and lastly Yuna.
In order to recover the airship Celsius, Brother and Buddy traveled to Spira's cold northern regions. At first their attempt to find an airship appeared to have failed. Suddenly spotting a single gull in the sky, they, on a whim, decided to follow it. The gull led them to the airship, and so, based on this event, the group was named the Gullwings, after the bird.
Two years had passed since Yuna defeated Sin. Back on Besaid Island, her quiet life was shattered when she received a message from Rikku, who had a gift from Kimahri — a sphere he found on Mt. Gagazet showing a man with a striking likeness to Tidus, her lost love.
Final Fantasy X-2
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YRP.
Yuna joins the Gullwings in order to find out more about the sphere and whether or not it means Tidus is still alive. Prior to the game beginning, Yuna's Garment Grid was taken from her by a group called the Leblanc Syndicate led by the sphere hunter Leblanc.
Using her Garment Grid Leblanc impersonates Yuna, taking on her identity and while wearing the Songstress dressphere uses her fame to gain money by organizing a concert at Luca. The Gullwings come up with a plan involving Rikku and Paine sneaking into the concert in hopes of getting Yuna's grid back. Yuna has to be left behind wearing the Mascot dressphere as a disguise.
After a confrontation in Luca Harbor, the Gullwings defeat Leblanc and her goons and retrieve the Garment Grid before returning to the airship. Following from that, the group sets out to search for spheres.
The trio head to Kilika Port, where they obtain a sphere detailing events the Gullwings wish they hadn't seen, of a dangerous weapon known as Vegnagun. They see the man who looks like Tidus in the sphere who talks about a songstress called Lenne. The group decides to give up the sphere to either the Youth League or New Yevon.
Yuna, Rikku and Paine, together with Leblanc, Logos, and Ormi enter Bevelle, and manage to get to the old Chamber of the Fayth, into the underground section where the sphere was found. The group fights Baralai, the leader of New Yevon. They defeat him and enter the Vegnagun chamber, only to find Vegnagun gone and a twisted, Dark Aeon version of Bahamut in its place.
The group later arrive Besaid Temple to rid the Dark Aeon Valefor, Kilika to beat the Dark Aeon Ifrit and Djose Temple, where they defeat the Dark Aeon Ixion.
When they enter the Chamber of the Fayth and shortly after defeating him, Ixion explodes as he had merged with the Machine Faction's machina. The effect knocks Yuna into the Farplane, where she meets the man bearing resemblance to Tidus. The man turns out to be a look-a-like named Shuyin, an angry unsent hellbent on seeking revenge for his love, Lenne's, death. Yuna is able to see the real Tidus when she hears his whistle in the Farplane and upon seeing him, she tries to catch up to him, only to find herself back in Spira.
YRP in recreation.
In an effort to quell the rising tension in Spira, Yuna holds a concert on the Thunder Plains, where she wears the Songstress dressphere. As part of the concert, Shinra creates a sphere-screen so even the spectators further back the crowd can see the performance. The Songstress dressphere has an effect on the screen, and people end up seeing images of Lenne and Shuyin in front of Vegnagun just before their deaths.
After the concert the group travels into the depths of the Farplane where they encounter Vegnagun. They defeat it and are attacked by Shuyin. They attempt to trick him into thinking Yuna is Lenne, but the plan fails and an enraged Shuyin forces Yuna, Rikku and Paine into battle. They defeat him, and Lenne leaves Yuna's dressphere, encouraging Shuyin to return to the Farplane with her.
While leaving the Farplane, Yuna meets the fayth of Bahamut. He asks if she wants another moment with 'him'. If Yuna agrees the fayth find Tidus's pyreflies and restore him to life with Tidus emerging on Besaid Island and he and Yuna have an emotional reunion.
Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission
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Artwork by Tetsuya Nomura.
Three months after the events of Final Fantasy X-2, the former members of the Gullwings have all gone their separate ways: with Yuna living with Tidus in Besaid, Rikku working mission after mission, and Paine wandering Spira by herself. Each member of the party receives a letter that calls them back to explore the Iutycyr Tower. As the trio explore the ruins they converse with each other over what they'd been doing since they had separated and why they hadn't stayed in contact.
The conversation escalates as Rikku expresses her jealousy towards Yuna, who had reached her goal in life and settled down. The bickering between the pair causes Paine to raise her voice. Paine reveals she was the one who sent out the letters; citing it was her wish to not lose the friendship they once shared, having learned from both her previous friendship with Nooj, Gippal and Baralai, and from her own lonely travels.
The trio eventually reach the top of the tower, where they find a broken machina and not much else. Due to their conversations they realize that the machina is a bit like their group: broken and separated. As they vow to be more than just strangers who had met by chance, becoming friends once again, the machina begins to work, and their adventures continue...
Members
Gullwings complete another mission.
- Yuna: The High Summoner who gained Spira the Eternal Calm. Becoming bored with her life on Besaid Island, she joins the Gullwings after seeing a 1000-year-old sphere, found by Kimahri, containing images of a man greatly resembling Tidus confined in a prison cell. She hopes that by joining the Gullwings she will be able to find more spheres like the one she had seen. Yuna has become more open and direct since Final Fantasy X, but is still teased by the other members due to her being somewhat of a pushover (as she never says "no" to anyone). Her new and more revealing attire was a gift from her cousin, Rikku; in addition to that, she now uses the Tiny Bee pistols as her weapons with her default dressphere, Gunner. At 19-years-old, she is also the oldest member of YRP.
- Rikku: Yuna's cousin, former guardian, and Gullwings' co-founder along with Brother and Buddy. She has overcome her fear of lightning by camping in the Thunder Plains for a week during the two-year gap between Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. She maintains her sunny disposition and is usually at the forefront when creating the Gullwings' next scheme with Brother. She now wields dual blades with the Thief dressphere. She is 17-years-old and the youngest member of YRP.
- Paine: The x-factor of the group, as none of the other members know much about her. She says her primary reason for joining the Gullwings was be able to ride on the Celsius. During the course of the game, parts of her past are slowly revealed, particularly her involvement with the trio of Nooj, Baralai and Gippal. She is 18-years-old, and with the Warrior dressphere as her default dressphere, she wields a one-handed sword as her weapon.
Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
- Brother: Rikku's brother, cousin of Yuna, and co-founder and primary leader of the Gullwings. Despite being directly related to Yuna, he quite obviously has a crush for her, though she has yet to notice it; he even started learning the Spiran language because of his love for her. Though he self-proclaims himself as leader, he can be quite incompetent and often leaves the decision making to Buddy, his second-in-command, or to Yuna. During the two-year gap, he had a falling out with his father, Cid. Brother names the Gullwings' airship the Celsius in direct contrast to Cid's airship, the Fahrenheit.
- Buddy: The co-founder of the Gullwings and the second-in-command. It might be more correct to call him the shadow leader, as it is in fact him that supplies the Gullwings with important information, as well as doing all the actual work, such as piloting the airship, analyzing Sphere Wave data and making many of the decisions Brother should have made. Buddy seems content with his current position and doesn't seem to mind Brother taking much of the glory, as they are old friends.
- Shinra: An intelligent, young Al Bhed kid that provides the Gullwings with valuable information and technology. He designed the Garment Grid, the CommSpheres, and provides the Gullwings with data decoded from acquired spheres. Shinra still doesn't know everything, and often retorts with "I'm just a kid" when he cannot answer a particular problem.
- Barkeep: A Hypello who runs the bar on the Celsius. He was picked up by Brother for unknown reasons, and was allowed to stay on board if he worked. No one knows Barkeep's name, so he is simply referred to as Barkeep. To Brother's great dismay, Barkeep already has a girlfriend.
- Biggs and Wedge: They only appear to be part of the Gullwings through blitzball.
Blitzball
Due to babysitting Wakka and Lulu's baby, Vidina, the Besaid Aurochs allow the Gullwings to take their place in this year's blitzball tournament. Blitzball is available in Luca during Chapter 5. The player can elect to play the game as soon after landing, or drop in at the booth at Luca Stadium Entrance any time. The original team consists of Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Shinra, Brother, Buddy, Biggs and Wedge – however, new players can be signed on and rotated with the current ones.
Musical Themes
Template:Listen The game's soundtrack includes numerous songs named after, or devoted towards, the Gullwings group:
- "We're the Gullwings!"
- "Sphere Hunters"
- "The Gullwings March"
- "Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings"
- "YRP, Fight! No. 1", "YRP, Fight! No. 2", "YRP, Fight! No. 3"
Merchandise
The "Yuna" Zippo lighter represents the Gullwings with the wing of a seagull embossed on the lighter and wings on the silver chain. The chain is made of .925 silver, and the Zippo of polished steel. The Zippo is limited to 3,000 pieces and its original retail price was 15,000 yen.
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Non-Final Fantasy Appearance
Kingdom Hearts II
Yuna, Rikku, and Paine make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II in the form of a pixie trio. Calling themselves "treasure fanatics", the three were mercenaries spying on Leon for Maleficent, though after being left behind by Maleficent and some trickery from Donald involving promised treasure, they join with Leon and help defend Radiant Garden against the army of Heartless.
Later, the Gullwings discover Donald's lie but feel sympathetic to Sora's cause. Instead of taking his items they give him the keychain "Gullwing".
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Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
The Gullwings (Yuna, Paine, Rikku) are all playable characters in the special edition of the Monopoly-like video game available only in Japan.
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Gallery
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Trivia
- The inclusive group name for the Gullwing girls is "YRP", from their initials (or "YuRiPa" (Yuna, Rikku, Paine) in Japanese), and also acts as the girls' pre-mission cheer.
- Each of the three girls have a unique coin illustration etched in their likeness in the Sphere Break coin game.
- The term 'Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings', which the group uses to refer to themselves when contributing to community service, derives from a phrase affiliated with the western comic book hero Spider-Man, or more accurately; the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man", who is popular in Japan.
- While the name originally referred to the sphere hunting group in its entirety in Final Fantasy X-2, the term "Gullwings" has become affiliated with, and refers to, the three-way combination of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine in other media.
- The girls' Final Fantasy X-2 color schemes change in Kingdom Hearts II. Rikku's remains yellow, but Yuna's changed from pink to blue and Paine's from purple to red.
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