Fang and Vanille in Final Fantasy III

Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille are both playable characters in Final Fantasy XIII. Fans have read their closeness, evident in scenes like this, as evidence that they might have a romantic rather than purely platonic relationship (see here, here, here, here, and here). This article from Gay Nerds offers a stronger case for them to be read as implicitly in a relationship than as friends or sisters as some fans have speculated. According to this fan wiki, Fang was originally intended to be a male character and the pair were based on the two humans left alive in the Ragnarok myth (who are intended to repopulate the world after it’s destruction).

LGBTQ  references in this game series:

Final Fantasy V (1992): Faris Scherwiz, Bartz Klauser

Final Fantasy VII (1997): Ambiguous Characters; Cross-Dressing; Mukki

Final Fantasy VIII (1999): Adel

Final Fantasy IX (2000): Quina Quen

Final Fantasy X (2001): Tidus, Brother and Wakka

Final Fantasy XIII (2009): Fang and Vanille

Final Fantasy XIV (2014): Same-sex marriage, Gay NPC couple

Citations:

  1. Are Vanille and Fang LGBT? (2017, April 12). Steam Community. Retrieved from https://steamcommunity.com/app/292120/discussions/0/133261907148116106/
  2. Do you think Vanille and Fang are a couple? (2014, November 14). Steam Community. Retrieved from https://steamcommunity.com/app/292120/discussions/0/617319460853107815/
  3. In Final Fantasy XIII, what is Fang and Vanille’s relationship. (n.d.) StackExchange. Retrieved from https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/179257/in-final-fantasy-xiii-what-is-fang-vanilles-relationship?rq=1
  4. Lord Forman. (2010, March 31). Fang and Vanille- the reunion. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nrsBdwXwIY
  5. Oerba Dia Vanille (n.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. Retrieved from http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Oerba_Dia_Vanille
  6. Oerba Yun Fang (n.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. Retrieved from http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Oerba_Yun_Fang
  7. So what’s the relationship between Fang and Vanille, really? (n.d.) GameFAQS. Retrieved from https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/950899-final-fantasy-xiii/54092523
  8. Tuck. (2010, August 12). Are they or aren’t they?: Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille. Gay Nerds. Retrieved from http://gay-nerds.com/site/videogames/are-they-or-aren%E2%80%99t-they-oerba-yun-fang-and-oerba-dia-vanille/
  9. What’s up with Vanille and Fang? (n.d.). Reddit. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy/comments/144tou/whats_up_with_vanille_and_fang/