From Final Fantasy Wiki

Yukes (ユーク) are one of the four tribal groups from the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series.

Physiology

Yukes are tall, slender creatures with vast amount of knowledge who wear suits of armor that conceal their faces. It is theorized that in reality the armor serves as "bodies" as the Yukes are only souls, that use a physical form to augment their magic. This caused a bit of dispute in Ring of Fates when Yuri tells an NPC that he's seen Alhanalem's face. In Ring of Fates, it is implied by Alhanalem and Meeth that removing a Yuke's mask and/or armor is considered a severe punishment if the Yuke doesn’t have a strong relationship with the person removing the armor. In The Crystal Bearers it is revealed that it doesn't matter if the armor of a Yuke is disassembled, as long as it is not damaged, the Yuke can reattach itself. Also, if the armor is too damaged to sustain the Yuke, it may transfer his/her self to another armor. However, as The Crystal Bearers is in the far future it may be that the Yukes have evolved from their feathered physical forms to merely souls.

Like Lilty, Yukes have a long lifespan as stated in Ring of Fates and Echoes of Time. While the way a Yuke dresses can help to determine their gender, it can also be determined by the tiny wings on their backs. Male Yukes wings are in the style of bat wings while female Yukes' wings are in the style of bird wings.

Appearance

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

"The Yukes are a mysterious tribe of great lore and wisdom. Many of these sages live quietly in Shella. In the ancient wars, they were able to resist the invading Liltian armies thanks to their magical prowess. Now, they spend their days teaching magic to others. Some say that Yukes assumed their current form to augment their magical talents."

—Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles instruction manual.

In Crystal Chronicles Yukes are the best magic characters in the game. Although they suffer from being the slowest attacker and having the least strength, they are allowed to cast spells quicker than the other three races and start out with the highest magic stat. When a Yuke character uses the "Defend" command, they turn invisible and are immune to damage and status afflictions. The Yukes use mallets and hammers as weapons.

The Yukes are somewhat rare in the game; the only place they appear in great numbers is Shella, which is their capital city. In Shella, the Yukes spend most of their time teaching others how to use magic. The Yukes were the only race that was not defeated by the Lilties, but the Lilites' attempt to conquer the Yukes put the two races on bad terms for quite some time; however, an NPC in Alfitaria notes that the two races are now seeing eye to eye.

Yuke characters in Crystal Chronicles include the Shella Caravan.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

In Ring of Fates, one of the playable characters in Story Mode, Alhanalem, is a Yuke.

Their main weapons in this game are staves. They have extremely high Magic stats, they gain greater elemental resistance as they level up, and their normal attacks are based on their Magic stats. Their Tribe Ability is called the "Magic Thread". When a "Magic Needle" is nearby, players use the touch screen to draw a line from the needle to create a line of whatever element the needle is. This is usually used to solves puzzles. Players can also use the "Magic Thread" on Magicite to spread the effect of the magicite over a larger area.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King

In My Life as a King, Yukes only appear in the Kingdom after an Inn is built. They do not stay and cannot be recruited until a Yuke Shack, an additional downloadable content, is built. Female Yukes can only be recruited as White Mages, and male Yukes can only be recruited as Black Mages. Although these are the only jobs, the Yukes that stay in the Inn will Most commonly be Sages.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

In Echoes of Time, Yukes return as one of the four tribes to play as. They are a magic-based tribe and are experts on the art of spellcasting able to cast Ultima and Meteorga independently. Although able to equip almost every weapon, they specialize in the use of books,bells and brooms, and like in Ring of Fates, they can equip staves as well and the only race able to create orb like projectiles while doing so. The game offers six default names for Yuke characters, which are:

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

During the era that The Crystal Bearers takes place, Yukes have vanished from the world for thousands of years after a war with the Lilties, ending up in a Void-like dimension bordering existence. Only the Yuke named Amidatelion, a Crystal Bearer, reappears in the world along with a horde of monsters. Amidatelion is trying to bring her lost tribe back into the world by collecting enough crystal shards to restore the Yuke crystal and bring her tribe back in order to restore the balance.

Trivia

• In Ring of Fates, Alhanalem metions that no two Yukes ever have the same name.
• Yukes are the only race that cannot be customized by Artemicion in Echoes of Time.
• During the story of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, Amidatelion is forced to change bodies. Using the method of identifying the gender of Yukes using their wings, this would mean that Yukes are capable of changing genders with their armor, or possibly that they have no gender at all and they leave these things to be determined by their armor alone. However, all Yukes in this game, as seen in the Yuke Sky City, have feathery wings, regardless of gender; the only discerning feature between genders is the shape of their helmets - males have certain styles while females have their own.