Rikku is one of the seven main protagonists in the Playstation 2 game Final Fantasy X. Her English voice acting is fittingly done by Tara Strong (well known for her work as Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls). I haven't heard the Japanese voice acting, but it was done by Marika Matsumoto. Her name is spelled "Ryukku" in katakana; Rikku is evidently Square's romanization.
Her cult of 13 year old male followers is equaled by few. A quick search on Google of "Rikku" prompted an embarrassingly long list of fan sites dedicating all their love to Rikku's hot, inner beauty... I visited some, hoping to find some basic information on the young Al Bhed girl and perhaps intelligent perspectives and observations of her role in the plot. What a damn fool I am. Some good did come out of it, as I was reminded of a harsh lesson: The internet is neither a kind nor convenient tool. Instead of useful information, I found the following:
- Multiple blogs with Rikku as the user name
- Mindless Rikku fan sites
- Rikku fan fiction
- Forums discussing Rikku- "Rikku's Final Fantasy's X's graetest new girl charactar, Rikku!!!! She the best all around!" and "Rikku is teh hottest vidoe game babe bettar than even Larua Crofted and all the earlierr Final Fantasy girlz combined, u wouldn't believe!!!111" ,
- Animated Rikku gifs
- ...err...
Yes indeed. I shall move on, but keep in mind that I believe acknowledging Rikku's weird, adolescent cult is a fitting way to begin describing her.
Following the usual final fantasy formula, Rikku is the archetype character that was Yuffie Kisaragi in Final Fantasy VII and Selphie Tilmitt in Final Fantasy VIII- The loud and obnoxious petite girl with next to no strength, little HP, and bundles of agility.
Judging by the masses of unwashed young teen boys (and girls, I may add) that adore Rikku's 15 year old physique, it is safe to say that she could be considered "hot". Notably, she has unrealistic blonde anime hair tied in a pineapple formation with a jagged tail trailing down her back. Her two characteristic Al Bhed eyes are lacking pupils, instead they are a murky green and look like swirling whirlpools. Her regular outfit includes the damn shortest shorts I've ever seen, a tool belt with various little gizmos on it, a light red skin-tight vest, and a goofy pair of oversized goggles hanging on her forehead. When she's first introduced, however, she wears (IMO) a much cooler outfit. Essentially a peach colored body suit laced with metal bars and a weird face mask covering, she looks much more "mysterious" and "bad ass" as opposed to "girlish" and "cute".
Concerning game play, she is essentially the group's thief and all around mechanic. Her weapon of choice is a dagger, as she has all the traditional thief abilities like incredibly high agility, steal, mug, and throw gil. After she joins up with the group, you can customize weapons and armor with her tinkering skills. Her overdrive ability is mix- by choosing any two items from your inventory, Rikku will produce some sort of chemical attack on the enemies. That means there are several thousand combinations of mixtures that produce just over 60 types of attacks. There is an amazingly comprehensive list of all these combinations in the Final Fantasy X section at www.gamefaqs.com.
As far as the plot goes, Rikku is a static supporting character. She is the sole representative from the Al Bhed culture that joins the Final Fantasy X party. As part of her overly cheerful, upbeat character, her dialogue script often talks too much and says too little. With the exception of Wakka, another of the main characters who has a streak of Al Bhed racism, she gets along surprisingly well with all the other main characters. Her father is Cid, leader of the Al Bhed and inheritor of the name Cid from previous Final Fantasies, and the heroine Yuna is her cousin. Rikku often provides the kind of comic relief that makes you want to slap yourself in the face.
Rikku has some other mentionable, yet strange characteristics. Because of a traumatic childhood experience, she's petrified of lightning. Thus, when struck by Bolt spells in battle, she lets out a terrified yelp. Also, another strange observation of Rikku's behavior during battles is how she wavers back and forth like she's drunk. Perhaps that raises her evasion or something. The strangest thing about her is that when she talks, she lowers her face, elevates her hands, and then motions like dog scratching a door to go outside. I guess it was the graphic or character designer's way of emphasizing when she is speaking, but it sure looks ridiculous.
Sources:
Playing the game
www.gamefaqs.com
www.google.com
| 
