Rikku

Rikku is a playable character in the PlayStation 2 games Final Fantasy X and most notably in Final Fantasy X-2. She is a lively, kind-hearted young Al Bhed girl with blonde hair and spiral-shaped pupils instead of the ordinary "dots" – features that all Al Bhed share – and is highly skilled in mechanics, alchemy and thievery. She is the daughter of Al Bhed leader Cid, the younger sister of Brother, and younger cousin of Yuna, whom she calls "Yunie." She is bilingual (speaking both English and Al Bhed fluently), is mechanically apt, and has a tendency to use humor in tense situations.

In Final Fantasy X, Rikku uses a variety of claw-like weapons, her ultimate equipment being the "Godhand". Her choice of shields are targes worn on the left arm. In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku uses two daggers, one in each hand, while in her default Thief dressphere. In Final Fantasy X, Rikku is the only character with the default abilities to steal and to make use of a subset of items: some offensive (e.g. "grenades" or "smoke bombs") and some healing or defensive (e.g. "Al Bhed potions"). This, together with her Overdrive ability to mix any two items for greater effect, makes her one of the more versatile characters in the party. Rikku is one of the two characters (the other being Tidus) who can order the airship Fahrenheit to move in or pull back during battles that take place on its deck. She is also one of three characters (in addition to Tidus and Wakka) who can fight underwater.

Rikku proved to be immensely popular with audiences, and was G4's 2005 Viewers Choice Video Game Vixen.

Final Fantasy X
During this time, though only being 15 years old, Rikku strives to make the best of any situation with her big heart and endless supply of energy, despite the persecution she and her fellow Al Bhed face from the Yevonite majority. When Cid masterminded his plan to abduct Summoners to prevent them from killing themselves with the Final Aeon, Rikku decides to get involved – not only because she found it exceedingly painful that they have to sacrifice themselves just to keep Spira's inhabitants happy, but also because she's related to Yuna, the daughter of High Summoner Braska and Cid's sister. Her mother never appears in the game, however, as she tells Tidus that she was killed by a rampaging machina some time after Rikku's birth. Rikku also spoke with him about how she herself wanted more younger siblings – which was made impossible because of her mother's death – and that she plans to have lots of children when she marries so that they will never have to feel alone.

Rikku first appears in Final Fantasy X in a distinctive full-body wetsuit, and offers aid to Tidus shortly after he first arrives in the vicinity of Spira's mainland. Their meeting takes place at Baaj Temple, an ancient temple of Yevon. After helping Tidus defeat a fiend, her Al Bhed comrades manhandle him, believing him to be a fiend in human form, and wonder whether or not to kill him. Annoyed, Rikku forbids them from doing so, and tells them to bring Tidus with them. As added insurance, she whispers that she's sorry in Tidus' ear ("cunno" in Al Bhed language) then hits him hard in the stomach, winding him so much he passed out cold[4].

When Tidus wakes up on their salvage ship, Brother tries to interrogate him using hand signals. The other Al Bhed get frustrated when Tidus can't speak Al Bhed, but Rikku – surprising Tidus by speaking English – tells him Brother said he could stay if he makes himself useful. Tidus then accompanies Rikku on a salvage operation to activate the power source of a sunken airship. After returning to the salvage ship, Brother and the others leave Tidus on deck. Rikku takes a shine to him and brings him something to eat – which he bolts down, only to choke because he ate too fast – and they strike up a fast friendship. When Tidus says he came from Zanarkand, Rikku is at first reluctant to believe him as, she explains, Zanarkand had been destroyed 1,000 years previously. As Tidus continues telling about himself, his life and Sin's attack on his home, Rikku realizes that he's genuinely clueless about Spira and that he'd been affected by Sin's toxin. She then promises to take him to Luca in the hope he might find someone he knows. However, Sin appeared and washed Tidus off the salvage ship into the sea, leaving Rikku and the other Al Bhed behind.

Afterward, Rikku and another Al Bhed went after Yuna, whom Cid had given top priority on his Summoner hunt (Rikku had heard from the Al Bhed Psyches blitzball team that their attempt had failed, and that a young man who couldn't speak Al Bhed had been trying to talk to them about her). She and her friend lay in wait under the Moonflow river in an Extractor submersible Rikku piloted, waiting for Yuna to cross. While Yuna and her guardians are crossing the Moonflow along the path of her pilgrimage, Rikku's accomplice grabbed Yuna from atop the shoopuf she was riding. But once Yuna was on board the Extractor, it was intercepted and put out of commission by Wakka and Tidus, who had become one of Yuna's guardians since their last meeting. Rikku felt sore from their attacks, and she just managed to make it to the riverbank, where she collapsed with exhaustion. As she lay there, she sees Tidus wander by and calls out to him. Rikku gingerly removes her wetsuit, and Tidus is thrilled to see his former acquaintance, whom he viewed as a younger sister. Rikku expresses her annoyance that Tidus "beat her up", tipping him off to her role in the kidnapping attempt. But Tidus does not disclose that fact – and her race, which he almost lets slip – to Yuna and the other guardians when they come along, especially since Wakka holds a strong hatred towards the Al Bhed in general. Having seen for herself how good they were at protecting their Summoner, Rikku realized she had to find another way to prevent Yuna from dying at the end of her pilgrimage. After explaining herself to Yuna and Lulu, and gaining the approval of Auron – who recognizes her as an Al Bhed after asking her to show him her eyes – Rikku became the last member to join Yuna's entourage.

Rikku's first stop as a guardian was Guadosalem, where Maester Seymour proposed to Yuna. It was then that Rikku notices that Tidus' reaction to this indicated that he had feelings for Yuna. When the party enter the Farplane, Rikku waits outside with Auron after explaining to Tidus her view about it.

The party then have to cross the Thunder Plains in order to reach Macalania. But as they enter the plains, Rikku panics. As it turns out, she suffered from severe astraphobia, left over from a mishap in the past where Brother accidentally hit her with a thunder spell he tried to aim at an attacking fiend. Because of this fear, she remains stricken during the journey across. However, seeing that Yuna was troubled about her upcoming marriage to Seymour, Rikku realizes that giving in to her phobia would be a hindrance, and starts dealing with it there and then to offer her cousin some comfort.

As the party made their way through the Macalania Woods, Barthello came along and told them that he'd lost Dona – and Rikku realised the Al Bhed were responsible. And as they approached Lake Macalania, Brother brought a large posse of Al Bhed to abduct Yuna once again – as well as a Crawler, a large machinegun-meets-cannon machina. After the party destroy the Crawler, Rikku tells Brother in the Al Bhed language that she has become a guardian. Wakka gets angry and starts ranting and raving at Rikku, who – far from taking it lying down – challenges his stubborn penchant for following Yevon's teachings without thinking for himself, and tries to reason with him. Despite this, other party members, such as Lulu and Kimahri, offer support for Rikku if Tidus rides with them on the snowmobiles. If Tidus rides with Rikku, she knew he was still ignorant to what will happen to Summoners if they go ahead with the Final Aeon, and that she was running out of excuses to keep it from him after their run-in with Brother. She also realized that telling him would break his heart since she knew of his feelings for Yuna. With all that in mind, Rikku tries to gently break it to him in veiled terms, but it passes over his head[7].

At Macalania Temple, the party watch a sphere recording of the late Jyscal Guado, which tells of Seymour's true nature, and following that, confronted him and succeeded in killing him. Before Yuna could send him, Tromell appears and is shocked upon seeing his leader's dead form. Rikku suggests showing Jyscal's sphere to prove their actions were justified, but Tromell draws it and shatters it before them. Having no choice but to run for it, the party eventually reach the floor of Lake Macalania. However, Sin appears, and the group wind up being transported to Sanubia Desert – minus Yuna. Despite Wakka's scowl, Rikku offers to take them to the Al Bhed base, Home, in hope of finding her there with Cid. But as they near, Rikku is stricken with horror at a terrible sight: Home under attack by Guado forces. As the guardians make their way through the chaos, they come across the Summoners Dona and Isaaru, whom the Al Bhed had already captured. Rikku, realizing she couldn't keep it from Tidus any longer, tells him that Yuna's pilgrimage will eventually result in her death, a revelation that – as she feared – devastates him. Yet despite Tidus' grief, it also puts the Al Bhed's actions into perspective for him: where once it's thought they were abducting Summoners out of banditry, in reality it's because they were trying to stop the "spiral of death" – the repeating cycle of Sin being defeated, the Summoner who did so being killed, and Sin returning – that had plagued Spira for a millennia. After this, Rikku and Wakka – who is horrified to see supporters of his beloved Yevon resort to such wanton violence, even to a race he hates – bury the hatchet and forget their previous falling out.

Finding that Yuna wasn't there, Rikku and the other guardians board Cid's airship, the Fahrenheit – the same airship Rikku and Tidus found. Cid orders that Home be destroyed by the ship's weapons as they leave, which saddens Rikku deeply, despite Wakka's attempt to cheer her up. Cid uses the ship's onboard sphere oscillo-finder to locate Yuna, and discover that she was at Bevelle, being forced to marry Seymour. Rikku is shocked that Seymour had returned, and Auron explains to her that he is "as dead as Jyscal was", implying he had returned as an unsent. Racing to Bevelle, the Fahrenheit was greeted by the giant guardian wyrm Evrae, which was defeated by the guardians, leaving them free to rescue Yuna. Surfing down the ship's harpoon lines towards the wedding ceremony at the Palace of St. Bevelle, they battled their through Bevelle guards to crash the party. When Yuna flies off on her Aeon Valefor, Rikku throws an Al Bhed flash bomb at Seymour's feet to cover their escape, so they can meet Yuna at Bevelle Temple. When Tidus went into the chamber of the fayth after Yuna, Maester Kinoc and Bevelle guards held up Rikku and the other guardians at gunpoint. As Tidus is about to come out with an unconscious Yuna, Rikku warns him not to – but Tidus comes out anyway, only to be captured. Rikku was present at Yuna's trial before the four Maesters, where Grand Maester Mika reveals the true nature of Yevon. Afterwards, Rikku, Wakka and Tidus are locked in the Via Purifico sewers, where they defeat Evrae – now in zombie Evrae Altana form – a second time.

Escaping Bevelle, the party cross the Calm Lands, where Rikku and Tidus, knowing that the end of Yuna's pilgrimage was near, vow to think of a way to prevent Yuna's death and to finish Sin for good. Along the way over Mount Gagazet, Rikku and Tidus discuss how they hadn't thought of anything to help Yuna yet. Tidus tells her he's certain they will find something in the Zanarkand ruins that will help, impressing Rikku with the way he sounded like a leader. But as the latter starts to walk on, Rikku is shocked when Seymour appears. Tidus tells her to run ahead and get Auron and the others, but Rikku stubbornly refuses to let Tidus fight him alone. On Tidus' insistence, however, she runs to fetch the others in the nick of time. After defeating Seymour, Tidus reveals that Sin is Jecht, his own father, who became Braska's Final Aeon ten years previously.

As they neared Zanarkand, Rikku feels upset that no-one had thought of a way to stop Yuna dying yet, but she remains adamant that they'll see each other again. But Rikku's wish came true when, as they met with the unsent Lady Yunalesca, Yuna refused the Final Aeon. Afterwards, Rikku and Wakka came up with the idea that they should use the Hymn of the Fayth to lure Sin into a trap, but Lulu beat both of them from telling it to the others.

Her personality is perky and optimistic, although her positive nature hides her being concerned and worried. As an Al Bhed, she has suffered discrimination from the Yevonite majority. Despite this, she managed to keep a positive outlook and wanted to save Yuna from vainly giving her life with the Final Summoning. Rikku also has something of a sibling-like friendship with Tidus, supported by their similar personalities and their deep devotion to Yuna. Rikku also turns to Tidus for comfort at times, such as, when crossing the Thunder Plains, she collapses in fright and grabs hold of him. Some also believe that there also could be more to Tidus and her relationship due to this comfort, and the conversations held.

Final Fantasy X-2
Two years later, Rikku, now 17, joins the Gullwings, a band of sphere hunters led by Brother. The only character from Final Fantasy X other than Yuna to be playable in Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku remains steadfastly loyal to Yuna, giving her support when she discusses her feelings concerning the loss of Tidus, and her hopes to find him once more. In the two years that passed between the two games, Rikku managed to overcome her astraphobia – by camping out on the Thunder Plains for a week. She also has a tendency to use odd expressions such as "disasteriffic" and "oh, poopie!" – expressions Yuna would sometimes pick up on (whether Rikku knew it or not, Yuna was now regarding her as something of a role model). She is the only main character in the game with no significant plot role.

Since the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, Brother and Rikku had a falling out with Cid. When the Gullwings look for a sphere among the Zanarkand ruins, they find that Cid and ex-summoner Isaaru had turned the once sacred place into a tourist attraction, which comes as a shock to Yuna and Rikku. When Cid asks whether they have a bone to pick and Yuna replies "You bet I do," Rikku tells him it's just like turning the ruins of Home into a theme park, causing him to retreat to the Thunder Plains to sulk.

Rikku meets up with her old friend Gippal, now the leader of the Al Bhed Machine Faction, who would tease Rikku with his flirtatious jokes, including one about them being a couple[11]. Also, as Paine kept quiet about her past – and also that Gippal jumped a mile when he saw her, as well as the other faction leaders seeming to know her – Rikku would sometimes prod and poke her about it, only to succeed in annoying her. However, in their journey, Paine eventually tells them about her role as a sphere recorder for Crimson Squad, alongside Gippal, Baralai and Nooj.

Upon meeting her young friend Calli on the Mi'ihen Highroad, Rikku and the Gullwings decide to help her catch a Chocobo. Later, during the Mi'ihen Highroad investigation sidequest, if clues are arranged in a specific manner, it's revealed that Rikku unintentionally caused a machina malfunction while the Gullwings were doing this. Though the incident was an accident, Rikku is assigned clean-up service to make up for it.

In Final Fantasy X-2 International+Last Mission, Yuna, Rikku and Paine reunited after being disbanded three months after the game ended. While exploring the Yadonoki Tower, it was later found out that Rikku spends her time searching for sunken machina on the ocean floor. She shows a bit of annoyance to Yuna and Paine, but it was because she felt she was cut off from them, and reluctant to consider that they may have lost their friendship in the times (Yuna living with Tidus, Lulu and Wakka in Besaid, and Paine traveling independently). After realizing that they all share that sentiment, all three girls promised each other that they will write and keep in touch, ensuring that their friendship will never go away.

Despite the fact she spends the majority of FFX-2 wearing a bikini as part of her attire, in the one story-sequence in the game that requires the character to wear a swimsuit she dons a different (and considerably more conservative) one-piece suit.

Other Appearances
Rikku appears in Kingdom Hearts II along with her companions from the game, Yuna and Paine. The three appear as miniature fairy versions of themselves and wear modified versions of their Final Fantasy X-2 attire as the original designs contained clothing that was too revealing for younger players (the yellow bikini top is now a tanktop, though still showing her midriff, her skirt is longer and orange, and she wears thigh high white socks). Much like her FFX-2 self, Rikku is a bit ditzy and good-natured as well as a treasure fanatic like her teammates. Her scarf acts more like wings for her to float off the ground, as all three levitate off the floor through various means (the scarf for Rikku, a hair-clip for Yuna, and demonic wings for Paine). The trio appear in Hollow Bastion to spy on Leon and company for Maleficent who offered them all the treasure they could want. Rikku almost told Sora who they worked for on their first encounter. However, they eventually aid in the defense of Hollow Bastion, after Maleficent abandoned them and then being lied to by Donald that Leon would pay the trio for their help. Rikku and others did forgive Sora and his partners for the deception by giving Sora the keychain of the Gullwing Keyblade. She was originally intended to appear in the original Kingdom Hearts as a member of Leon's group, but was replaced by Yuffie to avoid confusion over her name, since the Kingdom Hearts series already has an important character named Riku. In Kingdom Hearts II, her name is never spoken, perhaps to avoid this confusion.

Itadaki Street Special features a miniature Rikku in her X-2 outfit, along with Yuna and Paine.