Yoshitaka Amano (天野 喜孝 (formerly 天野 嘉孝), Amano Yoshitaka, born March 26, 1952) is a Japanese artist, character designer, illustrator and a theatre and film scenic designer and costume designer. In 1982 he went independent and became a freelance artist, finding success as an illustrator for numerous authors, and worked on best-selling novel series, such as The Guin Saga and Vampire Hunter D. He is also known for his commissioned illustrations for the popular video-game franchise Final Fantasy.