Rikku's Daggers, FFX-2 - Overview

25.09.22

Introduction

Welcome to the Overview for a project to make a couple of Rikku’s Daggers from FFX-2.

Here I can offer you a little insight into the unique blades that demanded attention, and the character that brings them to life!

While this unlicensed replica can be used for decorative purposes or as a cosplay prop, the main reason for building it is that FFX is one of my favourite games, and making anything from that universe is an easy choice!!

Rikku

Both the first and last member of the party, Rikku is the thief of the group who boasts high speeds, great versatility and one hell of a cool limit break!

Together with the protagonist, she stands apart from the rest of the group in their wishes and is vocal about the price of the Pilgrimage. Despite easily being disregarded by some as the clown of the party, her tireless sense of righteousness, machina ingenuity and unique skillset make her one of the best characters in a game that already has one of the greatest casts.

Her influence over Yuna (likely the most important person in Spira’s history) is also clear as we see her emulating elements of Rikku’s personality in the sequel. There are few characters in gaming as a whole that I have more admiration and appreciation for than Rikku; this is one project I can’t wait to start!

The Weapons

These two daggers are distinct and unique. The blade comes out of the circular body of the item, which houses the handle internally. There are a number of hemispheres emanating from the body, each of which has recesses on the gold sections to accommodate them.

A fusion of red and gold components come together to make some really iconic daggers! As the earliest weapons she has access to in Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku’s daggers may lack the exquisite complexity of much of her later arsenal, but there is something about the subtle simplicity here that is calling me to craft!

These beauties are most certainly much larger than standard daggers! Not quite short swords, but not too far off!

While I may have made a few swords in the past, these daggers look like that’ll pose new opportunities for growth and likely new problems that need overcoming. Or they’ll be easy, and I’ll learn little!

The Process

Much of this will hopefully be somewhat straightforward to design and then make. I may have some difficulty with placing the handle inside the body, as it will likely need a metal bar fed through all the components. This was a difficulty on the Yone’s Azakana Blade project I made. That was far more complex though, so hopefully this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

I can’t see any issue with some features, such as the hemispheres or golden grooves for them, as a good circle pattern tool will fly through those (ideally) without issue.

I can foresee the red body hopefully being one piece, the golden handle two pieces, and the blade either one or two depending on the size (for the Raw Builds at least, Print It Yourself versions may require more parts).

I’ll definitely be using the two-tone Vallejo Golden Yellow/Burnt Orange for the golden parts, but have a number of options open for the red that I’ll explore at a later date.

The sizing will be quite difficult to get just right. These are quite long, and the body looks ready to eat too much plastic! If I make it too big? The items may end up being prohibitively costly. Too small? They will look silly. I’m going to have to find that balance on the size.

The Result

For now, it is just the 3D Model that has been completed, which you can see below. As the first Prototype and more gets completed, this post will be updated, so watch this space!