Setzer Gabbiani

Template:FFVI Character

A gambling vagabond who finds freedom from society's narrow views of morality aboard his airship, the Blackjack...

Game description

Setzer Gabbiani is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. He is a Gambler who lives on the wild side and owns the world's only airship: the Blackjack. In the SNES version he is neutral at the beginning of the war, reluctant to openly oppose the Gestahlian Empire after having made profits from their work. In the GBA translation, which is more faithful to the original, he says the Empire has been bad for his business.

Profile

Appearance

File:VI-setzer sd.jpg

Setzer is a man in his late twenties. He has long silver hair, and wears several layers of clothing under a black trench coat with a gold lining, though the in-game sprite shows the lining as brown. He is roughly average height, and thin. Setzer's face is scarred, though this is not visible in his game sprites until the smartphone version. Setzer is the first character of the series to bear visible physical disfigurements, having scars on his face. The extent of his scars vary: in Amano artwork and an FMV in Final Fantasy Anthology where his skin is shown to be very pale, they are white and noticeable. In chibi artwork and Kingdom Hearts II where his skin is similar to his in-game color, they are light and blend in with his skin.

Personality

Setzer cannot resist a gamble; he thrives on risks—such as his planned abduction of Maria—and never passes up an opportunity to prove his skill. Most of his scars come from gambling sessions gone wrong, although some also come from airship accidents.

There are aspects of Setzer's character that fit the "ladies' man" archetype, such as his willingness to gamble his airship for Celes Chere's hand in marriage, which were exaggerated in his Kingdom Hearts appearance. Setzer acts like a happy and likeable person up front, but is still hurt by a great loss and distracts himself with gambling.

Story

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Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Setzer was a gambler by nature and pilot by trade. When younger, he was involved with a girl named Darill who owned the airship Falcon. She was aware of her risk-taking nature as she casually mentioned to Setzer the Falcon was his if she ever was unable to fly. Setzer, mortified by the idea, said no such thing would ever happen, and that he would only take the Falcon after having won it fairly. After a day of flying Darill went out on her own and pushed the Falcon to its limits. The ship crashed in a distant valley, and when Setzer found the remains he entombed them beneath the sea.

Setzer kidnaps "Maria".

Shell-shocked by the loss, Setzer impressed his desires upon a wealthy opera star named Maria. The pinnacle of his infatuation comes when he threatens to kidnap her amidst of a performance. He plans to disrupt the show of Opera "Maria and Draco" but Locke Cole and his party are desperate for an airship, and so he and the Impresario foil Setzer's plan by having Celes Chere star in the night's show instead of Maria. Setzer abducts Celes, Locke follows him back to the Blackjack, and the party seeks to negotiate for the airship.

Setzer is disappointed upon finding Celes is not Maria, but soon finds Celes to be more attractive. Celes borrows Edgar's double-headed coin to broker a deal: if it landed on heads, Setzer would help the Returners reach the Southern Continent to rescue Maduin and the other espers; if it was tails, Celes would agree to be Setzer's "woman" (the Japanese term refers to a woman that receives gifts from her man in exchange for physical favors). More amused than anything else, Setzer agrees, but notices he has been duped. Setzer's inherent good nature, coupled by being impressed by the trick, makes him pliant to the idea and he helps the Returners.

While the others infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility Setzer stays on the airship. When the others do not return, he goes to Vector to check on them and meets them as they are fleeing the city and rings them onto the Blackjack to escape. The ship is damaged in the attack and later, Setzer accompanies them to Zozo to save Terra Branford.

Following the trip to Zozo Setzer accompanies the party to Narshe where the Elder joins with the Returners. Terra agrees to ask the freed espers to limit their devastation to Vector, after which a coalition of Returners and Narshe guards would storm from the north. The plan is a success, and Emperor Gestahl appears to have surrendered. He asks Terra to convince the espers to negotiate peace and she and Locke head to Crescent Island to convey the Emperor's message. Setzer and the others are skeptical of the Emperor and stay in Vector to judge his motives.

Setzer and Cid Del Norte Marquez rebuild the airship while Edgar uses his charms to learn the Emperor's true plans from a maidservant, who says the Emperor plans to capture the espers. The party flies to Thamasa to warn Terra and Locke, but they are too late. Kefka has acquired more magicite and used it to revive the Warring Triad and turn the Esper World into the Floating Continent. The party apprehends Kefka and Gestahl on the floating island but Kefka kills the Emperor and moves the Warring Triad out of alignment. The party escapes on the Blackjack, but the imbalance caused by the disturbing of the Warring Triad's alignment shifts the very face of the earth and the airship is torn apart, separating everyone.

Setzer returns to the party.

One year after the end of the world, with no wings to fly and nowhere to go, Setzer is wasting his life away in a bar in Kohlingen. Celes, Edgar, and Sabin happen upon him and ask him to rejoin their fight against Kefka. Setzer is initially unwilling, having lost a sense of purpose for his life, but Celes's words convince him. Setzer takes them to Darill's Tomb to unearth the Falcon where he shares Darill's story with the party, and as the Falcon rises to the skies Setzer finally buries his grief.

After Kefka has been felled and the party is fleeing the crumbling Kefka's Tower, Setzer saves two of his fellow Returners by telling them which of two doors is unsafe and about to explode. He initially tosses a coin which indicates one door, but tells them to take the other one instead. The door indicated by the coin explodes shortly thereafter. Setzer lingers for a moment, reminiscing about how Darill once told him that "whenever you think you're right, you're wrong", an instinct that made him decide to not trust the coin toss. If Locke was not re-recruited into the player's party, Setzer saves Celes from the collapsing floor portion, telling her that he can't let her die because Celes promised to perform as Maria again. Celes then exclaims the item she dropped, Locke's bandanna, is a good luck charm that helped her find her resolve.

When Terra's esper power fades with magic disappearing from the world and she falls from the sky, Setzer pilots the Falcon to catch her proclaiming the Falcon is the fastest ship in the world.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

As a Gambler, Setzer has average Strength, Stamina, Magic Defense and Speed, but low Magic and high Defense. His wields Gambler's Items - including cards, darts, and dice - and he can use several daggers. He can equip most heavy armor, helmets and shields.

Setzer's special ability is Slot, which opens up a window with three spinning slot wheels. The player stops the wheels one by one, and depending on the result, Setzer uses a special attack. If Setzer equips the Heiji's Jitte Relic, Slots becomes Gil Toss, which allows Setzer to damage all enemies at the cost of gil. Setzer's Desperation Attack is Red Card that deals magical damage to one enemy.

There is a glitch in Final Fantasy VI in which when Setzer uses the Fixed Dice and Master's Scroll, his damage won't be halved, and thus can do up to four hits of 9,999 damage. This glitch is not in the PS remake, but is in the original version, the GBA remake and the mobile remakes.

Stats

Name	Initial Stats
Strength	36
Speed	32
Stamina	32
Magic	29
Attack	18
Defense	48
Evasion	9%
Magic Defense	26
Magic Evasion	1%
Escape Success	4
HP Gain	46
MP Gain	9
Level Averaging	+0

Level	HP	MP	EXP	+
1	46	9	0
2	57	13	32
3	69	17	96
4	83	22	208
5	100	27	400
6	120	33	672
7	142	39	1056
8	166	46	1552
9	192	54	2184
10	219	62	2976
11	247	71	3936
12	277	80	5080
13	312	90	6432
14	351	100	7992
15	395	110	9784
16	445	120	11840
17	499	130	14152
18	556	141	16736
19	617	152	19616
20	682	163	22832
21	749	174	26360
22	818	185	30232
23	890	197	34456
24	966	209	39056
25	1045	221	44072
26	1127	233	49464
27	1213	245	55288
28	1303	258	61568
29	1398	271	68304
30	1497	284	75496
31	1597	297	83184
32	1698	310	91384
33	1800	324	100088
34	1902	338	109344
35	2005	352	119136
36	2109	366	129504
37	2215	380	140464
38	2322	395	152008
39	2430	410	164184
40	2540	425	176976
41	2651	440	190416
42	2764	455	204520
43	2878	471	219320
44	2994	487	234808
45	3111	503	251000
46	3230	519	267936
47	3350	535	285600
48	3472	552	304040
49	3597	569	323248
50	3725	586	343248
51	3855	602	364064
52	3986	617	385696
53	4119	631	408160
54	4253	644	431488
55	4389	656	455680
56	4526	667	480776
57	4665	677	506760
58	4807	686	533680
59	4951	694	561528
60	5096	701	590320
61	5243	707	620096
62	5391	712	650840
63	5541	717	682600
64	5693	723	715368
65	5846	729	749160
66	6001	736	784016
67	6157	743	819920
68	6315	750	856920
69	6475	758	895016
70	6637	766	934208
71	6797	774	974536
72	6952	782	1016000
73	7103	790	1058640
74	7248	797	1102456
75	7388	804	1147456
76	7524	811	1193648
77	7656	817	1241080
78	7782	823	1289744
79	7902	829	1339672
80	8019	835	1390872
81	8132	840	1443368
82	8242	845	1497160
83	8350	850	1552264
84	8455	855	1608712
85	8557	860	1666512
86	8657	865	1725688
87	8755	870	1786240
88	8850	876	1848184
89	8942	882	1911552
90	9032	888	1976352
91	9120	894	2042608
92	9207	900	2110320
93	9292	907	2179504
94	9375	915	2250192
95	9457	924	2322392
96	9537	934	2396128
97	9620	945	2471400
98	9706	957	2548224
99	9794	970	2637112

Equipment Lists

Weapons

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Daggers	Gambler's Items	Universal
Dagger Mythril Knife Man-Eater Gladius	Cards Darts Viper Darts Dice Fixed Dice Death Tarot Final Trump	Unarmed Impartisan

Armor

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Shields	Helmets	Body Armor
Buckler Heavy Shield Mythril Shield Golden Shield Diamond Shield Crystal Shield Flame Shield Ice Shield Thunder Shield Aegis Shield Force Shield Genji Shield Cursed Shield Paladin's Shield Tortoise Shield	Iron Helmet Mythril Helmet Golden Helmet Diamond Helmet Crystal Helmet Circlet Red Cap Thornlet Genji Helmet Saucer	Leather Armor Ninja Gear Iron Armor Mythril Vest Mythril Mail Gaia Gear Golden Armor Diamond Vest Diamond Armor Mirage Vest Crystal Mail Force Armor Genji Armor Black Garb Reed Cloak

Creation and Development

After it was decided Final Fantasy VI would feature an ensemble cast with no clear main protagonist, everyone in the development team was encouraged to provide ideas for characters and their episodes. Setzer's character and story were colored by influence from Tetsuya Nomura.

According to the "Chocobo's FF Laboratory" feature published in V Jump in 1993, the character of Faris Scherwiz from Final Fantasy V was originally a female gambler named Eva Scherwil. The developers encountered difficulties in making her fit in the game's world and atmosphere, and changed her into a pirate. In a later issue of V Jump, the developers noted Setzer evolved from this early Eva concept.

Nomura had had jobs in mind for Final Fantasy V such as a ninja with a dog, and a gambler who fought with dice and cards, among others. These ideas were not used for Final Fantasy V, but when work started on Final Fantasy VI, they were used for Shadow and Setzer.

A rarely-noticed fact about Setzer is that in the Japanese version he joins the party with a Bandana equipped although he cannot equip them (if removed he cannot reequip it). This is not a bug, but was meant to be an inside joke showing Setzer's vanity does not allow him to wear the same things as Locke. In the GBA version Setzer does not come with a Bandana, as the porting team possibly thought it was a glitch.

Setzer is likely based on the concept of bakuto, itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th century to the mid-20th century who were one of the forerunners of the modern Japanese crime gangs known as yakuza. Bakuto plied their trade in feudal Japan, playing traditional games such as hanafuda and dice and were mostly social outcasts who lived outside the laws and norms of society.

Musical Themes

Template:Listen Setzer's theme is built off C major, a grand fanfare that plays as the background music for the cabins underneath both airships. His leitmotif is reprised in A major in "Epitaph", which plays during his reminiscence of Darill, and in C major again in the ending theme, "Balance is Restored". In addition to his character reprisal in the "Ending Theme", Setzer's theme is reprised during the first half of the ending credits.

Other Appearances

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Template:Sideicon In the casino Serendipity the player can exchange their winnings for a fragment called "Setzer's Dice". Its description says Setzer's "consummate skill once drove Serendipity to the brink of ruin". His surname, "Gabbiani", is used in a Brain Blast! question at Academia 4XX AF, stating he had "won the most number of coins at the slot machines in a single day" in Serendipity.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

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Setzer's costume.

Setzer's costume is a reward at the Manderville Gold Saucer. The costume is available for both male and female characters, and in total, costs 200,000 MGP. A Chocobo barding that mimics Setzer's long coat is also available for 40,000 MGP.

Final Fantasy Tactics

Template:Sideicon The name Setzer crops out in the "Storm of 777" errand. The errand is as follows:

• The Blackjack, the casino ship is at the port. The slot machine at the left end of the ship is said to be loose. You should try it out!

The outcome is as follows:

• The Casino ship Blackjack is at the port Limberry castle. The slot machine on the left hand side gave us 777, the jackpot. Nothing happened so we asked Setzer about this. He said he deliberately lowered the pay-off rate. "Gambling's not fun unless there's some risk."

Final Fantasy Type-0

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The message from "Captain Setzer".

The game has an airship named the Setzer the player can control.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

Template:Sideicon A set of equipment called "Gambler's Gear" and "Gambler's Hat" can be bought in Town, and makes the character look like Setzer. It is equippable by all Tribes.

Dissidia Final Fantasy

Template:Sideicon Setzer makes a small appearance as one of the tutors of the in-game manuals.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy

Template:Sideicon Setzer appears in Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade

Template:Sideicon Setzer appears as an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. He is depicted in his Final Fantasy VI outfit. His EX ability is Dive Bomb.

• Ability Cards
• Legend Cards

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Final Fantasy All the Bravest

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This gambling rogue soars the skies, facing danger to visit the tombs of friends.

Description

Setzer is an exclusive character available from the Premium Character Shop as a random downloadable content. He uses the Dive Bomb ability during battle.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Template:Sideicon Setzer appears in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Template:Gallery

This section about a character in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Template:Sideicon Setzer appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game with wind-elemental cards.

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Setzer

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Non-Final Fantasy Appearances

Kingdom Hearts II

For more information, see Kingdom Hearts Wiki: Setzer

My life is a chip in your pile. Time to ante up.

Setzer in Kingdom Hearts II, slightly misquoted from his original appearance.

Setzer appears in Kingdom Hearts II, and is the only pre-Final Fantasy VII character to appear in the entire Kingdom Hearts series, meaning he is also the first to get a modernized three-dimensional redesigning. He is the champion of the Struggle competition in Roxas's Simulated Twilight Town. He asks Roxas to throw the match for him, leading to two different outcomes: if Roxas wins, Setzer surrenders his title as Struggle champion; if Roxas loses, Setzer gives him a medal as "thanks". Later in the game, Setzer can be fought in another, optional Struggle match. Setzer's personality is exaggerated depicting him as a flashy and arrogant ladies' man who often taunts the player.

Merchandise

Setzer's key chain.

Square released pencil toppers and key chains in 1994 with the cast of Final Fantasy VI. Among them was merchandise featuring Setzer. These products were available in vending machines. Setzer's key chain features his in-game sprite design.

Gallery

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Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Setzer may allude to the German word setzen, meaning "to bet on something". Alternately, it may be a corruption of "César", a name whose variants are found throughout certain European countries, including Spain, Italy, and Portugal. "César" itself is derived from Latin Caesar. a title of nobility in the Roman Empire.

[view · edit · purge]Gabbiani is the Italian word for "seagulls", but also is similar to the Italian verb gabbare, meaning "to trick, to cheat".

Trivia

• The discrepancy between his original personality and his portrayal in the Kingdom Hearts series is alluded to in Dissidia Final Fantasy. In Shadow and Setzer's conversation in the Duel Colosseum, Shadow says, "Don't even think of bribing your opponents to lose." Setzer indignantly replies, "What's that about? I would never stoop to that!" although Setzer may be saying this sarcastically.
• It is possible to tackle Kefka's Tower before retrieving all the characters in the World of Ruin, but Setzer is one of three playable characters who are always available before it becomes accessible; the other two are Edgar and Celes. It is possible to complete Kefka's Tower and finish the game with only these three characters, but since the game forces a split into three separate parties for the three paths, each of the three must finish one of the paths by themselves.
• According to Yasuhisa Izumisawa, Lightning's masculine garb from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII are based on Setzer.

External links

• Setzer at Caves of Narshe

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