Balthier » Akihiko Yoshida

Balthier was drawn by none other than Akihiko Yoshida.

Akihiko Yoshida is a character design who joined Squaresoft, now Square-Enix, in 1995. He has worked on several other titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Vagrant Story, and now the Final Fantasy III remake for the Nintendo DS. You may find a few of the other titles he's worked on at Wikipedia.

Personally, I love Mr. Yoshida's designs. With Yoshitaka Amano not as prominent as he once was, and Tetsuya Nomura heading up several Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts projects, it seems like a big break for him in some perspectives. However, you have to admit... when Tetsuya Nomura gets all excited and wants to add in detail, he gives Lulu a bajillion and one belts and "challenges" the visual programmers to stare at it and make sure that they get it done correctly. Frankly, I think they were staring someplace else on Lulu.

Final Fantasy XII is both familiar and unfamiliar in terms of recognizing Mr. Yoshida's work. You'll still see his familiar style in line art, but in order to "tie Final Fantasy XII with the earlier installments", they decided to do so by making him use bright colors that would attract honeybees and make them sting you repeatedly. For instance, he's noted that incorporating the color pink into Ashe's design was a new territory for him.

Mr. Ryoma Ito redesigned Balthier for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Mr. Ito was also the original character designer for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, as well as its sequel, Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Balthier received a somewhat simpler design, and a somewhat more cartoon-ish look, but his wardrobe did not change.