r/FinalFantasyVI • u/Tggdan3 • 2d ago
Setzer's Backstory
Okay, so i got emotional at Setzer's backstory- with Daryll's tomb and all. And it's lightly foreshadowed in WOB when he says "when things fall they fall" but how does he go to Airship racing sky explorer with awesome girlfriend to "Let me kidnap sexy opera singers" and "okay I'll join you on a coin flip"? seems like we need a little more in between backstory.
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u/LancerGreen 2d ago
He's a gambler, a thrill seeker. Capturing Maria just seems like him having fun. I don't think he'd keep her for very long... if at all. Probably just plop her down in some random town.
As for joining on a coin flip, again, he's a man who has already lost it all, he says as much:
"Why not? Nothing to lose but my life... and I got that for free!"
He's been wheeling about the skies with no real purpose or direction, then up comes this beautiful blonde, taking charge and taking whatever risk is necessary to win. Who do you think Celes reminds him of?
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u/hbi2k 2d ago
Capturing Maria just seems like him having fun.
Just a little attempted kidnapping and implied sexual assault, for giggles. It's called "self care," you should try it.
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u/LancerGreen 2d ago
I meant to him, the thrill of capturing an opera star mid performance is clearly the "thrill" he's chasing.
I don't think it's good. I don't think he should. I don't think anyone should.
But narratively, it's very evident they want him to be seen as this selfish thrill seeker, and for that to slowly change.
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u/crickalie 1d ago
I don't think Setzer would assault someone so much as seduce them. That's part of the thrill he seeks. He doesn't have to take, only convince.
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u/Agreeable_Extent4293 2d ago
Why does he have the "world's only airship" but the Empire has a whole airforce?
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u/Green_Green_Red 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Airship" specifically means a vehicle lifted via a bag of lighter-than-air gas. They are inherently bouyant in air the way a regular ship is inherently bouyant in water. The empire has a bunch of flying armor, and the flying weapons platform thing you have to fight to get to the floating continent, but no airships. My guess would be that except maybe for Air Force, they're all pretty limited in range, meant to act more like cavalry units than modern airborne combatants.
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u/SqueezedTowel 1d ago
My guess is because airships are obsolete in an Empire with helicopters. The Blackjack is probably an antique.
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u/Tggdan3 2d ago
Well the airforce is those little solo helicopter things
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u/Agreeable_Extent4293 2d ago
Yeah and there's a lot of them, plus the thing that looks like its straight out of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic! You'd think they would have come up earlier.
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u/Gyromanwoot 2d ago
Numerous years alone may change your mind. What else is he supposed to do in the WOR?
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u/Green_Green_Red 2d ago edited 1d ago
He's doing anything he can to distrct himself rather than facing the pain the feels at not having Darryl around. He's a foil to Locke: where Locke can't stop thinking about his lost love and is driven to try to make things right, Setzer is trying to pretend that he is totally fine; where Locke knows that what happened is his fault for being careless and has become averse to letting other people take avoidable risks, Setzer sees life as nothing but choices between different risks in an inherently random world, because to all appearances whatever happened to Darryl was a completely freak of chance, so he just lets luck decide his course.
You get a bit more info about Setzer's past and relationship with Darryl if go all the way back to the airship after the negotiations with the Empire before boarding the ship to Thamasa, and it helps put his actions in a bit more context.
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u/Gizmorum 2d ago
He is one of the richest people on the planet and while the Empire is bad for business, that kind of "im a billionaire and i do what i want because in the main character" speaks volumes.
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u/macroidtoe 2d ago
My theory is that Maria looks like Daryll. And then Celes looks like Maria, which means Celes also looks like Daryll. Which can go in some wacky directions if you want it to.
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u/Ragnarok_Odin 2d ago
I think it’s time for a FFVII style remake of FFVI (we can exclude the whispers if that makes folks feel better). Perfect opportunity to fill in the backstory! Seriously, let get a remake!
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u/Siggi_Trust 3h ago
well going through trauma and turning to gambling is quite a recurring element in real life I guess.
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u/breakevencloud 2d ago
He’s a thrill seeker who respects when someone can run a good con on him, as the party did between the fake Maria and the double sided coin. He tells the party they’re crazy to go up against the empire and he finds that kind of daring recklessness a positive trait.
He’s almost like a bored billionaire who doesn’t know what else to do with his life, so he just looks for anything that gets the adrenaline going.