Finley is a minor character in Endless Ocean 2. He is the primary drive of the Be the Best Trainer quest.
In-Game[]
Character[]
Plot Relevance[]
Though Finley plays no no part in the main story, he plays a major part in the events of the Be the Best Trainer quest.
After the player has trained a dolphin partner to level 2 (which they can achieve by passing a test administered by Hayako Sakurai), Finley will arrive on Nineball Island. He challenges the player to put on three dolphin shows for him to prove that they're "worthy" of being a dolphin trainer, and then departs.
After the player has put on three successful shows, he returns to the island and requests a show for himself. Once the player has satisfied Finley, he'll tell them about a strange dolphin spotted in Ciceros Strait - a pure white bottlenose dolphin - and challenges the player to befriend it.
After the player has befriended the albino bottlenose, Finley will return and once more task the player with entertaining three people. As soon as the player has put on three more shows, he'll return and tell them of a mysterious Narwhal reportedly spotted near the North Coast of Canada - one with a strange red-stained tusk.
When the player befriends the narwhal and returns to the island, Finley will show up again once the player talks to Hayako. He'll assess how many shows they've put on and how many times they've trained a dolphin partner, and says that he'll divulge a secret after the player trains a partner 100 times or puts on 20 successful shows.
Upon successfully completing Finley's task, he'll come back when the player speaks to Hayako about it. The secret he was holding back was a rumor about a beluga whale in the North Coast of Canada with unique markings, and he wants to see if the player can befriend it.
When the player successfully befriends the beluga in question, Finley comes back with a new task - there's a false killer whale in Valka Castle with a scar across his face that he wants the player to find.
The player must befriend the aforementioned false killer whale, and from there the rest of Finley's quests open up. Finley wants the player to befriend eleven species of dolphin and small whale, which is no small task - but once they've found the last partner, Finley returns and declares them his eternal rival.
Before he leaves the island for the last time, he leaves the player with the words:
"Now I leave to travel the world to extol the wonders of whales, the delights of dolphins, and the sanctity of the sea.
See you soon! Keep looking after the creatures of the sea. If you don't, I'll disown you as my ultimate rival!"
Personality[]
Finley is an egotistical person, introducing himself to the player as the "world's greatest dolphin trainer". He has difficulties in recognizing the player's dolphin training abilities at first, treating them as a rookie and playing down their achievements. Oceana acts very competitively towards him, confidently accepting his challenges and snapping back at his comments.
After completing several of his challenges, Finley warms up to the player, expressing that he knew they were "the real deal" from the beginning. A more friendly rivalry between him and the player then seems to blossom, as he realizes the player might be able to carry out his dream of training all the dolphins and whales of the world, succeeding where he could not.
He is one of the few characters throughout the series to have a visible inner monologue, displayed in parentheses. Typically, his thoughts are visible whenever the player has managed to complete one of his challenges, after which he will think to himself that he is surprised they were able to accomplish it.
The other members of L&L Diving Service seem a little freaked out at his ability to arrive at Nineball Island as soon as he is mentioned, with them jokingly wondering if he is watching them.
Notes[]
- Finley's name in most localizations is a pun playing off of his love of dolphins. In English, he is named Finley, after the fins on a dolphin. In French, his name is Daphnis, after "dauphin", the French word for dolphin. In Japanese, his name is ルカ (Luka), playing off of the Japanese word for dolphin, イルカ (Iruka).
- His name is still Finley in German, Italian, and Spanish, despite the pun not carrying over in those languages, meaning it was likely lost in translation.
