Trivia / Final Fantasy XII

• Celebrity Voice Actor: The Japanese version has film actors Kouhei Takeda and Marina Kozawa^note who was credited under her former stage name Yuna Mikuni at the time of the game's initial release as Vaan and Penelo, respectively.
• Children Voicing Children: Johnny McKeown, Larsa's English voice actor, was 15 years old at the time of the game's release.
• Creator Couple: Gabranth and Dreis' respective Japanese voice actors, Akio Ōtsuka and Yoko Soumi, were married at the time of the game's release. They have since divorced.
• Creator's Favorite: Penelo is composer Hitoshi Sakimoto's favorite, which explains why she is the only other character to have an eponymous theme song aside from Ashe.
• Distanced from Current Events: The sequence of Penelo tied up in Lhusu Mines had to be removed from the original Japanese version of the game. This was due to the game's release coinciding with the execution of Tsutomu Miyazaki, a notorious kidnapper and serial killer of young girls in Japan - and they risked getting a higher rating if they included the scene.
• Fake Brit: In the English version, Americans Julia Fletcher and Johnny McKeown respectively voice the British-accented Judge Drace and Larsa.
• Fake Nationality: In the English version, David Rasner voices Al-Cid with a European Spanish accent.
• Fake Scot: Steve Blum and Phil LaMarr affect Scottish accents as the respective voices of Ba'Gamnan and Gijuk in the English version.
• God Never Said That: It is a widely spread misconception that at some point, someone from Square-Enix said that Basch was supposed to be the original protagonist of the game, but was replaced with Vaan due to the Executive Meddling. In reality, nothing of the sort has ever been said. There is some degree of truth to it however, Vaan was originally conceived as an older and more rugged protagonist, but was changed due to genre expectations, and some of those early ideas seem to have influenced Basch's character.
  • This has undergone Gossip Evolution and turned into the misconception that Vaan and Penelo were added to the game late into development or after the change of directors. However, their Japanese mo-cap/voice actors (Kouhei Takeda and Marina Kozawa) have both said on record that they were casted when they were 16, which would be in early 2002. Vaan was also one of the first confirmed main characters alongside Ashe in 2003 and Penelo being confirmed in spring 2004, before suspicion arose around Matsuno's involvement, after he was a no-show at Tokyo Game Show 2004 and E3 2005, and he officially resigned in August 2005. In fact, Basch was the last main party character to be revealed.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Akio Ōtsuka was the Japanese voice for Gabranth and his late father Chikao Ohtsuka voiced Dr. Cid.
  • In the English version, Julia Fletcher voiced Judge Drace, her husband John DeMita was one of the additional voices and their son Connor voiced Kytes.
    • Likewise, Judge Ghis and Venat are voiced by husband and wife Mark Wing-Davey and Anita Carey.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: Combined with Woolseyism, this is why the Occuria talk in iambic tetrameter. The Japanese game had their lines layered multiple times and modified to create an otherworldly sound, but it was difficult to understand without subtitles. The localization staff for the English language sought to make them easier to understand by ear but wanted to maintain something to set their dialogue apart. Gerun's voice actress, Bernice Stegers, is a British stage actress, and it was her idea for the Occuria to speak in the archaic and unusual iambic tetrameter structure.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As noted above, Vaan's characterization was much different. It's assumed that the original ideas for him influenced Basch.
  • Additionally, Penelo was supposed to be far more outspoken and have a greater impact on Vaan. She was mentioned by one of the writers as one of his favorites to write for. Unfortunately, nearly all of Penelo's dialogue was left on the editing room floor.
  • In addition to Revenant Wings, the game was supposed to have another sequel allegedly titled Fortress. The developers making Fortress went bankrupt, but a few remnants of it survived, such as some concept art, combat storyboarding, and one amazing track.
  • The OST includes six unused tracks from the game, including a calmer arrangement of the Chocobo theme, a dark theme called "Abyss", and four short jingles, two of which involve missions starting and failing.

---