The tenth game of the Final Fantasy series, Square's 2001 bestselling console role playing game Final Fantasy X revolves around a summoner and her guardians aiming to defeat a creature known as "Sin" in the fictional universe of Spira. The characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura. The game's sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, takes place two years after the events in Final Fantasy X and uses almost the same cast of characters.
There are seven main playable characters in Final Fantasy X. Tidus, a skilled blitzball star who is lost in the world of Spira after an encounter with Sin and searches for a way home. He joins the pilgrimage of the summoner Yuna who travels in order to defeat the creature alongside her guardians: Kimahri Ronso, a member of the Ronso tribe; Wakka, the captain of the blitzball team in Besaid; Lulu, a black mage; Auron, a powerful warrior and an old acquaintance of Tidus; and Rikku, Yuna's cousin who searches for a way to avoid Yuna's sacrifice in the fight against Sin. Final Fantasy X-2 features Yuna, Rikku, and Paine as playable characters. Unlike other games in the series, there are no optional or secret playable characters.
There are also several non-playable characters important to the story such as Tidus' father, Jecht, members from Rikku's family and other summoners. The primary antagonists of Final Fantasy X are Seymour Guado and the other maesters of the Yevon religion, while the malevolent creature known as Sin serves as the primary source of conflict. Final Fantasy X-2 features a new series of antagonists that alternate depending on how the player progresses the story.
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During the development of Yuna, Nomura based the overall costume design and appearance on Okinawan kimonos. When Nomura learned that the character was to perform the sending dance, he wanted her outfit to be able to flow with her movements. For this reason, the specific style of kimono he chose for her was a furisode, a kimono bearing long sleeves. Additionally, he adorned her dress and necklace with images of the flower also called Yuna (Hibiscus tiliaceus). Her name carries the meaning of "night" in the Okinawan language, a direct contrast with Tidus', which derives from "tidā," the Okinawan word for "sun." Nomura has explained that while all these subtle details may be unnecessary, he does not want his designs to be without explanation.[1]
As for the minor characters, sub-character chief designer Fumi Nakashima's focus was to ensure that characters from different regions and cultures bore distinctive characteristics in their clothing styles, such that they could be quickly and easily identified as members of their respective sub-groups. For example, in her words, the masks and goggles of the Al Bhed give the group a "strange and eccentric" appearance; the attire of the Ronso lend to them being able to easily engage in battle.[2]
Tidus (ティーダ Tīda) is a skilled seventeen-year-old blitzball player from Zanarkand and the one of the main protagonists of Final Fantasy X. Though Tidus is his official name, the player has the option of naming him at the beginning of the game. For this reason, his name is never spoken in-game during audible dialogue. He plays for the Zanarkand Abes – whom his father also played for – and washes up on the Spira mainland after being attacked by Sin during a blitzball game. He quickly becomes one of Yuna's guardians and is described near the end of the game as the greatest guardian of all time. Tidus is usually a cheerful and confident person. Throughout the game, he finds himself coming to terms with his father, Jecht, dealing with his increasing love for Yuna and the implications of her pilgrimage. Tidus is the hero representing Final Fantasy X in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, where he is again voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese version and James Arnold Taylor in English.
Yuna (ユウナ Yūna) is a seventeen-year-old summoner from Spira and the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X and the sequel, Final Fantasy X-2. In Final Fantasy X, she is the daughter of the High Summoner Braska, and seeks to becoming a High Summoner herself, with the help of Wakka and Lulu. Burdened with a deep sense of responsibility to complete her pilgrimage, she is a serious and kindhearted young woman, though she gradually becomes more open and falls in love with Tidus. Two years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, she is spurred on a journey of self-discovery by the possibility of reuniting with Tidus again. She is voiced by Hedy Burress and Mayuko Aoki in the English and Japanese versions, respectively.
Auron (アーロン Āron) is a thirty-five-year-old warrior. Shortly after the disappearance of Tidus' father, Auron started watching over him from afar at Jecht's request. In the game's present day, he – along with Tidus – is Yuna's guardian, as he was to her father. It is eventually revealed during the game that Auron attacked Yunalesca in a fit of rage after she revealed that Braska and Jecht needlessly gave their lives against Sin, and that she struck him down with a mortal wound. Despite his injuries, Auron managed to literally crawl all the way down Mount Gagazet before his strength abandoned him. As he was dying, he met Kimahri and asked him to fulfill the promise he had made to Braska (that Yuna be moved from Bevelle to Besaid and have a peaceful childhood).[3] Afterward, he became an unsent, and secretly held this status for nearly the entire duration of the game. At the end of the game, when Yu Yevon is defeated, he is finally laid to rest. A Jecht Sphere reveals that he rejected the love advances of a priest's daughter, which damaged his reputation. Auron has a brief appearance in Final Fantasy X-2, where his voice helps Yuna during her battle in the Farplane with Vegnagun.
Auron was drawn by Final Fantasy series artist Tetsuya Nomura, and is voiced by Matt McKenzie in the English version and Hideo Ishikawa in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X. While the developers originally considered having Final Fantasy X-2 follow the story of Auron and Jecht's generation, they eventually let this idea pass due to the concept making the game "too traditional", deciding instead to go with the trio of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.[4]
Auron appears in Kingdom Hearts II as a one-world ally in the Olympus Coliseum. In Kingdom Hearts II he is brought back to life by Hades in order to kill Hercules. Auron flatly refuses to help Hades, and joins Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy in battling Cerberus. He is later brainwashed by Hades into fighting Hercules in the Underdrome, but during the battle, Sora, Donald and Goofy restore Auron's free will, and he joins them and Hercules for the final battle against Hades, which ends with Hades falling into the River Styx. A super deformed version of Auron appears in Itadaki Street Special with Tidus and Yuna as playable Final Fantasy X characters.
Auron ranked fifth on Electronic Gaming Monthly's Top Ten Badass Undead.[5] In a Famitsu poll done in February 2010, Auron was voted by readers as the thirty-third most popular video game character.[6] In its December 2010 cover feature, Game Informer named Auron one of their "30 characters who defined a decade," describing him as "one of the most complex RPG companions in gaming history."[7]
Wakka (ワッカ) is a twenty-three-year-old professional blitzball player who is characterized by having a long reddish-orange quiff, being tall and muscular in appearance, and using a Besaid Island accent. As such, he uses such speech-mannerisms as saying "brudda" for "brother" and sometimes finishing sentences with "ya" In addition to being one of Summoner Yuna's guardians and childhood friends, he is captain of the Besaid Aurochs, a blitzball team that – as of the beginning of Final Fantasy X – went twenty-three years without winning a single game.[8] He uses blitzballs as his weapons in battle and is also one of the three players that can fight underwater, along with Tidus and Rikku.
Wakka seems somewhat socially conservative, dependent on others and on the rules (such as Yevon's teachings) for his decisions. He lost his younger brother Chappu to Sin, an event he never fully recovered from. He forms a close brotherly relationship with Tidus, partially fueled by his resemblance to Chappu, though Lulu constantly has to remind him that Tidus is not Chappu. As a devout follower of Yevon's teachings, Wakka believes that anyone who doesn't believe in Yevon, like the Al Bhed, are evil heathens, and is staunchly against the use of machina, though he also develops a more personal grudge against both for the roles they played in Yuna's kidnappings during the pilgrimage. He is disgusted when he found out that Rikku was an Al Bhed. However, he begins to question both his faith and his grudge when he discovers Yuna's heritage, and that the Al Bhed kidnapped her to prevent her from inevitably dying upon her defeating Sin. By the time Yevon's true colors are exposed to the world, Wakka denounces his prior beliefs entirely.
Six months after the events of Final Fantasy X, he marries Lulu. In Final Fantasy X-2, he becomes a father to her baby, Vidina, a name thought up by Wakka. "Vidina" translates as "future" in the Al Bhed language, and is Wakka's declaration that he has let go of Yevon's teachings, which were biased against Al Bhed.
Wakka is voiced by Kazuya Nakai in Japanese and John DiMaggio in English. A younger version of Wakka makes a cameo appearance in Kingdom Hearts on Destiny Islands as a friend of Tidus (also younger) and a sparring partner who can be engaged in battle, fighting with a beach ball that resembles a blitzball. He makes a smaller cameo in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and receives only a fleeting mention in Kingdom Hearts II. In Kingdom Hearts, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
Lulu (ルールー Rūrū) is a twenty-two-year-old black magic user and an older sister figure to Yuna, whom she grew up with alongside Wakka on Besaid Island. Before becoming one of Yuna's Guardians, she had previously accompanied two other Summoners as their Guardians. While she is often stern and scathing (particularly to Wakka), she is nonetheless caring toward others. Lulu is particularly harsh towards Tidus when they first meet, but her opinion of him slowly changes for the better as the story progresses. She is also highly intelligent, one of the few Yevonites who easily questions the Yevon religion on objective terms, and is far more accepting of Rikku's Al Bhed nature than Wakka initially was. She appears in a reduced role for Final Fantasy X-2, where she has a child with Wakka named Vidina. She is voiced by Paula Tiso and Rio Natsuki in the English and Japanese versions respectively.
Kimahri Ronso (キマリ＝ロンゾ Kimari-Ronzo) is a twenty-five-year-old Ronso and Yuna's first and most faithful guardian. He has known and protected her since she was a seven-year-old child. Even though he is seven feet tall, he is not well accepted by the other Ronso, who view him as inferior due to his shorter stature and broken horn. Kimahri does not speak much, and is extremely protective of Yuna.
The game's backstory reveals that Kimahri's guardianship of Yuna began long before she officially decided to become a summoner. After departing from Mt. Gagazet in shame ten years before the current events depicted in Final Fantasy X began, Kimahri discovered a dying Auron — who had managed to crawl all the way from the Zanarkand Ruins while wounded — outside Bevelle. Auron told Kimahri about the daughter of High Summoner Braska, Yuna, and asked him to fulfill a promise Auron had made to Braska in his stead: to remove Yuna from Bevelle and transport her to the island of Besaid, where she may grow up peacefully.[9][10][11] Kimahri honored Auron's request and made sure that Yuna arrived at Besaid safely. When his task was completed, he prepared to depart, yet Yuna pleaded with him to remain with her, and he complied.[12]
When Kimahri returns to Mount Gagazet, he is confronted by Biran and Yenke, who challenge him—and thus the player—to a 2-on-1 combat sequence as an obstacle to the player's progression. If the game player successfully wins the battle, the story depicts that Kimahri has proven his worth as a Ronso in defeating the two. Seymour informs the party shortly thereafter that he has personally slaughtered nearly the entire Ronso tribe, leaving Kimahri as one of the few members of his tribe alive.
In Final Fantasy X-2, Kimahri is depicted as the new Elder of the Ronso tribe.[13] He is responsible for the game's initiating event—discovering a sphere that gives the player a mystery to solve as they progress through Final Fantasy X-2. Furthermore, Kimahri's difficulties as chief comprise several playable missions, most notably involving a disagreement he has with a young Ronso named Garik, who desires to seek vengeance upon the Guado for the events depicted in the previous game. Another notable mission in the game involves the player repeatedly encountering two Ronso children, Lian and Ayde, who had left the mountain in search of adventure and a way to fix Kimahri's broken horn. Kimahri was faced with the plight of deciding a new path for the Ronso's future, as their way of life changed once the mountain was no longer considered sacred Yevon ground and summoners were no longer passing through on pilgrimages to the Zanarkand Ruins. Eventually, Kimahri realizes that all Ronso should follow the example of Lian and Ayde in trying to find their own individual paths while working together to forge a better future for one another, and that he alone can not provide a single answer to what the future of the entire group should be. As a result, Garik and Kimahri reconcile and the Ronso craft a statue in Kimahri's image, representing his status as the hero of the tribe.[14] He is voiced by Katsumi Chō in Japanese and John DiMaggio in English.
Rikku (リュック Ryukku) is a fifteen-year-old Al Bhed who helps Tidus when he first arrives in Spira, but then disappears from the story for a while, becoming the last character to join Yuna's entourage of guardians. She is bilingual, able to speak both English and Al Bhed fluently. Rikku's character class is most similar to that of the Thief from earlier Final Fantasy titles, combined with the Chemist class. She can steal a large variety of items from fiends and bosses alike, many of which can only be acquired through theft. Her attitude is somewhat childish, but is also quite cheerful and positive. An Al Bhed, she is also Yuna's cousin and loves her dearly,[15] and, as such, wishes to prevent her from going through with her pilgrimage, becoming particularly insistent as the party climbs Mount Gagazet toward Zanarkand. Rikku returns in Final Fantasy X-2 as a main protagonist, now seventeen years old. She is voiced by Marika Matsumoto in Japanese and Tara Strong in English.
Paine (パイン Pain) is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X-2. Paine was drawn by Tetsuya Nomura,[16] and is voiced by Gwendoline Yeo and Megumi Toyoguchi in English and Japanese versions, respectively. It was originally speculated by fans that the third playable character of Final Fantasy X-2 may be fellow Final Fantasy X characters Dona or Lulu, and it was believed that Paine and Lulu were one and the same due to their similar appearances.[16][17] While Final Fantasy X characters Yuna and Rikku were planned as stars of X-2, she was created for X-2.[16]
Paine uses a sword for combat and is prominently featured as a warrior. In contrast to Yuna and Rikku, she has a sarcastic personality and can be very serious. She is very sensitive about talking about her past, becoming easily offended if Yuna or Rikku try to pry. As part of one of Final Fantasy X-2's side-quests, the player can collect from around the world of Spira Key Items called "Crimson Spheres". These spheres document Paine's experiences as a warrior-fighter for the Crimson Squad, which was intended to be an elite unit to surpass the Crusaders; the best members were to be assigned to lead Crusader chapters across Spira.[18] These spheres reveal that Paine had been the recorder for a group of candidates named Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal, the game's present day leaders of the Youth League, New Yevon, and the Machine Faction, respectively.[19][20]
Most of the Crimson Squad candidates died during the group's final field exercise, which took place in a cave beneath Mushroom Rock Road called "the Den of Woe". This followed as a result of the pyreflies in the cave overwhelming them with the despair of the unsent named "Shuyin", causing them to turn on one another while getting a glimpse of Vegnagun.[21] Only Nooj, Baralai, Gippal and Paine escaped alive from the Yevon monks, but later, Nooj – possessed by Shuyin himself – fired on his friends, effectively ending their friendship for two years.[22] Just before Yuna joined the group, Paine enlisted in the Gullwings in the hopes of finding out more about why the Crimson Squad had been massacred – and because she had long desired to fly in an airship.[23][24]
In Final Fantasy X-2 International+Last Mission, Yuna, Rikku and Paine reunited after being disbanded three months after the game ended. While exploring the Yadonoki Tower, it was later found out that Paine spends her time traveling independently. After realizing that they all share the sentiment they are losing their friendship, all three girls promised each other that they will write and keep in touch. Paine appears in Kingdom Hearts II with an updated super deformed and fairy-like design, as do Yuna and Rikku.
Gwendoline Yeo was offered the part of Paine by Jack Fletcher, voice director in the Final Fantasy series, due to her previous work with him. While she performed the role, the writers/translators were on the phone with them explaining the scenarios. Yeo explains that she both was given liberties in how she read the script, as well as watching scenes beforehand to figure how they should be said. She recorded thousands of lines, repeating each line three times, while the directors picked which one they liked best or if they preferred she went in a different direction. She also had to do Automated Dialogue Replacement, which required her to match her lines to pictures, ensuring the voice and attitude fit. One of the aspects of playing Paine she did not like was having to "kick and punch a lot", which she had to stay well-rested and hydrated. Yeo found Paine to be true to life, commenting that the writers left "no stone unturned" with the plot and writing. She added that she liked "how she went from wry Paine... to someone who revealed herself to her friends she trusted". She compared herself to Paine, describing her as similarly wry.[25]
Eurogamer editor Rob Fahey described Paine as a "gothy and quite funny" character.[26] She has been compared to other characters in fiction, including comparing the trio to the Charlie's Angels.[27][28] GameCritics compared the trio of characters to the Charlie's Angels trio, specifically comparing Paine, who he calls "tough yet feminine", to Lucy Liu.[29] Die Hard GameFan described her as being a "deadpan stick in the mud", citing her voice actress, Gwendoline Yeo, for pulling this off.[30] She was featured in a set of figurines based on Final Fantasy X-2, as well as her own music CD.
Cid (シド Shido) is the leader of the Al Bhed, Rikku's father, and Yuna's maternal uncle. Like his daughter, he is bilingual, able to speak both the human language and Al Bhed fluently. He was responsible for bringing the Al Bhed together after it was scattered by Yevon years before Final Fantasy X, abducting summoners after Braska's Calm to ensure that the summoners after him, especially Yuna, not sacrifice themselves to bring about the Calm. This attack ultimately resulted with the Guado attacking Home, which forced Cid to destroy it, to his people's dismay. Cid had a distinct lack of subtlety in his doings, and Rikku would urge him to learn some restraint. He used the Airship his children salvaged, the Fahrenheit, to aid in fighting Sin. After the events of Final Fantasy X, Cid is one of the few to receive a negative impact from Sin's demise, as his children left him behind to set their sights on the changing Spira rather than rebuilding Home like most of the other Al Bhed. In Final Fantasy X-2, he attempts to convert Zanarkand into a tourist attraction, only to make his way to the Thunder Plains after Yuna disapproved it. After being saved from an ancient Machina, Cid goes on board the Celsius to Rikku and Brother's dismay. He is voiced by Kōichi Sakaguchi in Japanese and Michael McShane in English.
Brother (アニキ Aniki) is the son of Cid, older brother of Rikku, and cousin of Yuna, tending to be immature at times. The character is voiced by David Rasner in English and Takayuki Yamaguchi in Japanese. Brother participated in the Al Bhed expedition to salvage an airship from the ocean floor, where he meets Tidus. Eventually, he goes on to support Yuna's struggle against Sin and Yu Yevon as the pilot of the salvaged Fahrenheit. During Final Fantasy X-2, Brother became the pilot of his own airship, the Celsius, and is leader of the Gullwing sphere hunter group. Having fallen out with Cid after the events of Final Fantasy X, father and son frequently—and unsuccessfully—try to bury the hatchet and make up. He has feelings for Yuna, and often makes passes at her. Rikku discourages Brother's pursuit of Yuna in-game on more than one occasion. But in the long run, Brother eventually resigns himself to an unrequited love, preferring the Yuna he knew her as two years ago compared to as she is now.[31]
Jecht (ジェクト Jekuto) is Tidus' father, and a blitzball celebrity in his hometown of Dream Zanarkand.[32] Jecht is a tall, muscular, and surly man armed with a large sword. He is voiced by Gregg Berger in English and Masuo Amada in Japanese. It is mentioned multiple times in game that Tidus hates Jecht, because he believed that his mother always ignored him when Jecht was around, was under a lot of pressure to live up to his father's fame, and Jecht regularly insulted him and called him a crybaby; however, Jecht deeply loved and cared for Tidus, but found himself unable to express it in a kind way. Like his family, Jecht is a dream created by the fayth.
Before Final Fantasy X, Jecht was taken to Spira by Sin, and was thought to be dead in Zanarkand.[33] He was soon found by Braska and Auron, the former of whom asked Jecht to become his guardian on his journey to defeat Sin, having heard that Jecht stated he was from Zanarkand. When they arrived at Zanarkand, Jecht accepted that he would never be able to return home and gave up his life to become Braska's Final Aeon, which defeated Sin for 10 years; beforehand, he requests that Auron take care of Tidus, believing that Auron could find a way to Dream Zanarkand, and Auron agrees. As a consequence, he became the new Sin. Sometime later, Jecht asserts some control over Sin, makes his way to the Dream Zanarkand, and communicates with Auron, to transport Tidus to the Spira mainland, so Tidus could learn some life lessons and hopefully find a way to permanently dispose of Sin. In Final Fantasy X, the protagonists gradually learn of Jecht's aforementioned actions, and also discover that Jecht is able to operate with free will when he hears the Hymn of the Fayth. Near the end of the game, the group confront Jecht inside Sin and defeat him, Tidus finally making peace with his father. Yu Yevon is subsequently destroyed, sending Jecht and Tidus to the Farplane; Tidus slaps his father a jovial high-five.
Jecht has a small voice cameo in the final battles of Final Fantasy X-2 along with Braska and Auron, during which time they give Yuna encouraging words and advice on where to strike at the Machina Vegnagun. Jecht is the villain representing Final Fantasy X in Dissidia: Final Fantasy. As revealed in the prequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Jecht was originally a Warrior of Cosmos, who gave up his position to save Tidus's life before he turned into a Warrior of Chaos and thus eventually battles his son as his way of preparing him to fight Chaos.[34]
Braska (ブラスカ Burasuka) is Yuna's father and the summoner who defeated Sin and brought the Calm ten years before the events in Final Fantasy X, earning him the title of High Summoner. Braska was married to Cid's sister. This relationship was first strongly disapproved of, especially by Cid, but shortly after Yuna's birth, Braska's wife attempted to travel back to Bikanel to make amends with her family, but her ship was attacked by Sin and she was subsequently killed. Because of this, Braska decided to become a summoner and embarked on a pilgrimage with his guardians Auron and Jecht to defeat Sin. People were initially skeptical about his and his guardians' ability to defeat Sin, but against all odds Braska succeeded and brought the Calm to Spira, though giving his life after his final battle with Sin. Braska does not appear as a character in the game, but he is often spoken of and can be seen as a statue in Besaid Temple and on several of the spheres the player can find throughout the game. He is voiced by Andy Philpot in English and by Takuma Suzuki in Japanese. In X-2, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, making him the only returning character to not have his original voice actor.
Seymour Guado (シーモア＝グアド Shīmoa-Guado, formal titles: Maester Seymour Guado or Lord Seymour) is the leader of the Guado nation, a race of demi-humans in the world of Spira as well a maester of Yevon. He inherited both positions after the death of his father, Lord Jyscal Guado. Seymour is half-Guado and half-human, as his father married a human woman, who is the fayth for the Aeon Anima, in an attempt to foster friendship between the Guado and human races. Junichi Suwabe voices him in Japanese and Alex Fernandez in English. He is playable during Operation Mi'ihen, a part of the game in which various groups join forces to stop Sin.
Seymour was regarded as an abomination by the humans and Jyscal's decision to wed a human led to disunity in the Guado tribe. Jyscal had his wife and son exiled to the island of Baaj.[9] Afterwards, Seymour's mother gave her life in the Baaj Temple to become a fayth, believing that by sacrificing herself for Spira's temporary peace against the malevolent creature Sin her son be accepted by the people.[9][35] Horrified, Seymour refused the aeon and returned to Baaj,[9] where he came to believe that death was the only freedom from the suffering of life, and that it would be in everyone's best interests.[36][9] At eighteen years of age, during High Summoner Braska's Calm, Seymour's exile was revoked and he was summoned back to Guadosalam, the capital of the Guado nation, where he was then ordained as a priest of Macalania Temple.[9] Shortly before and during the events of Final Fantasy X, Seymour set in motion a plan to ascend the hierarchy of Yevon; his ultimate goal was to become the next Sin, so that he may kill everyone in Spira.[37] Two years later, just before the game's start, Seymour murdered his own father Jyscal, ascending to the position of leader of the Guado nation and inheriting his position as one of the four Maesters of Yevon.[9][38]
Seymour returns to Guadosalam in anticipation of Yuna and her guardians. Once Yuna and her guardians finally arrives, he asks Yuna to marry him, seemingly to further unite Spira, as they both had mixed parentage, being the offspring of a human and another race.[9] The sphere Yuna receives from the unsent form of Jyscal details Seymour's treachery and implores whoever saw it to stop him.[39] He is killed by Yuna's guardians, but Yuna is not able to send his spirit due to interference from his Guado retainer. As a result, Seymour's spirit is able to remain in the living world and become an Unsent. Seymour later reveals his plans for Yuna – to turn him into the next Sin so that he may kill all living things and grant them what he believes to be the highest favour imaginable. His component pyreflies are absorbed by Sin while Yuna's party is at Zanarkand.[40] There, Seymour began seeking a means to control the creature from within. During this process, he is confronted a final time by Yuna and her guardians, who manage to break their way inside the creature's body. However, he is defeated and was finally sent to the Farplane by Yuna.[41]
Seymour's role in Final Fantasy X-2's story is small, appearing only in a flashback cut-scene accessed through the Key Item, Baralai's Sphere. In this scene, Seymour's role in Baralai's escape from Wen Kinoc is revealed – though it does not fully support the claim that this ultimately led to Baralai becoming the praetor of the New Yevon Party.[42] In Final Fantasy X-2 International, Seymour can be fought in the Battle Simulator tournament and also be added as a member of the party.[43]
Sin (シン Shin) is the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy X. Early in the game, it is shown to be mostly aquatic, engulfing itself in a giant ball of water during the attack on Zanarkand. It moves through Spira's ocean in its attacks. However, later in the game, it is shown out of the water, with the ability to fly. Sin's form is vaguely whale-like in appearance, though vastly more massive and the creature makes a sound like many creatures screaming in agony. It is also extremely powerful and is able to easily destroy towns and villages at will through various means and emits a toxin that can temporarily cause amnesia to those who come in contact with it.
The summoner's task is to destroy Sin with the Final Aeon, sacrificing him/herself so that Spira can enjoy a period of Calm until Sin is reborn. Unbeknownst to most of Spira, the Final Aeon is always made from the Fayth of one of the summoner's own guardians, and it is possessed by the spirit Yu Yevon to be transformed into a new Sin after the previous Sin is destroyed. After the Final Aeon destroys the body or armor of the previous Sin, Yu Yevon possesses the Final Aeon and kills the summoner. The possessed Aeon's power is then used by Yu Yevon to create the "unholy armor" that is Sin's body. At the end of the game the party must fight and destroy each Aeon possessed by Yu Yevon in order to draw him out so that he could be killed, and thus Yu Yevon does not possess an Aeon and does not create a new Sin. This final death of Sin marks the beginning of the Eternal Calm, as Spira is freed from its long cycle of destruction.
One thousand years before the events of Final Fantasy X, Yu Yevon (エボン-ジュ Ebon-Ju) was a peerless summoner, the ruler of Zanarkand and the father of Lady Yunalesca. Near the end of the war between Zanarkand and Bevelle (in which Zanarkand and its people were being demolished), Yu Yevon and the remaining townspeople and summoners decided to preserve Zanarkand at all costs. They all become fayth for the summoning of "Dream Zanarkand" and then drawing on millions of pyreflies with Gravity spells Yu Yevon creates Sin.[44][45] Unfortunately the mental effort necessary to create both Dream Zanarkand and Sin essentially wipes Yu Yevon's mind clean and overwrites it with his final command: Summon Zanarkand and continuously create Sin. If Sin is destroyed, he then creates it anew.
Yu Yevon rebirths Sin by possessing the Final Aeon used to defeat it. The survivors of the events surrounding Sin's genesis adopted the Teachings of Yevon and built a religion around praising Yevon in the hopes that they may quell his wrath. In the end, the game's protagonist use the aeons to weaken the disembodied spirit of Yu Yevon, and destroy him.
Lenne (レン Ren) was a famous singer-summoner from Zanarkand during the age of the Machina War, and Shuyin's lover. She was forced to the front lines to fight along with the other summoners in the city. Shuyin would attempt using Bevelle's machina weapon, Vegnagun, to defeat Bevelle and save her life. However, she was unwilling to allow him to take the lives of many others for her sake and asked him to stop just as he was about to make of use the behemoth machina. He consented to her request, but the two were promptly gunned down by Bevelle soldiers. Upon her death, her spirit was somehow crystallized into the Songstress Dressphere, which contains her memories. Over the course of the game, Lenne attempts to communicate with Yuna. Yuna begins to feel Lenne's presence and feelings more and more until they explode on stage. Because Yuna unknowingly served as Lenne's host, Shuyin only saw Lenne rather than Yuna herself whenever she donned her Songtress outfit.[46] After Shuyin is defeated, Lenne separates herself from Yuna and finally fades with Shuyin while thanking Yuna for helping her. She is voiced by Cree Summer in English, and Kumi Koda in Japanese.
Shuyin (シューイン Shūin) is the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy X-2. He is native of Zanarkand who had lived during the age of the Machina War between Zanarkand and Bevelle. The lover of the songstress-summoner Lenne, he refused to accept her fate when she was ordered to the front lines and attempted to commandeer Bevelle's machina weapon, Vegnagun, in the hopes of using it to end the war and save Lenne. Both Shuyin and Lenne were gunned down in front of Vegnagun after she prevented him from using it to take many lives for her sake. Sealed in the Den of Woes, Shuyin's unsent spirit was filled with despair and self-loathing, not capable of fading away and be free of his suffering.[47] Shuyin desires to destroy all of Spira in the hopes that his agony may be able to end and that there can never again be a war like the one that cost him and Lenne their lives. Unlike other deceased people, Shuyin is called a "shadow" of his original self, being able to take a physical form. This allows him to possess people or Fayths, using their Aeons to help him. He is eventually defeated and shortly reunited with Lenne as they fade. Like Tidus, he is voiced by James Arnold Taylor in English, and Masakazu Morita in Japanese. It is also believed that Shuyin's resemblance to Tidus is more than coincidental, and that the fayth summoning Dream Zanarkand "dreamed" Tidus in an attempt to recreate what they remembered of Shuyin, though the developers stated it cannot be certain that Tidus is a duplication of Shuyin due to the fact, the inhabitants of Dream Zanarkand began to blend in a complicated way as they started having families.[48]
Lady Yunalesca (Julia Fletcher and Yōko Koyanagi) is a legendary summoner and daughter of Yu Yevon from one millennium before the events of the games. In the backstory of the games, she was the first person to defeat Sin, using the process known as the Final Summoning, sacrificing her husband, Lord Zaon. Although she died in the battle, Yunalesca remained as an unsent to instruct her successors in their pilgrimage to defeat Sin's ever-regenerating incarnations. When Yuna and her guardians refuse to sacrifice a person in the Final Summoning, Yunalesca fights the party but is defeated. She reappears in the Via Infinito in Final Fantasy X-2 as the fiend "Chac", while Zaon reappears as the fiend "Paragon".
Maechen (Dwight Schultz and Takuma Suzuki) is an elderly itinerant historian. Although he seems to be an ordinary inhabitant of Spira, he reveals himself in Final Fantasy X-2 to be an unsent from Zanarkand who used to live before the city was destroyed, and grew so engrossed in his studies that he forgot that he died of old age and is actually an unsent. His memories of his time in Zanarkand were rekindled when he shook Yuna's hand and realized her resemblance with Lenne.
The characters of Final Fantasy X mostly belong to religious orders, military groups or civilian factions.
Many non-player characters are free Blitzball players who can be invited to join the player's team, the Besaid Aurochs of Wakka. Biggs and Wedge (the two characters whose names appear regularly in the Final Fantasy series) are among these players available to be scouted. The Besaid Aurochs are initially an inept team, having had a twenty-three-year losing streak before meeting Tidus; their motto is "Do our Best!".[49] In Final Fantasy X, the player could choose characters in their lineup. In Final Fantasy X-2, the team are a successful Blitzball team as well as members of the Youth League. Other Blitzball teams include the champion team of the Luca Goers. The Goers are arrogant and frequently mock the Aurochs and their motto.
The Chocobo Knights are a team of Chocobo-riding soldiers: Lucil, the captain; Elma, the second in command; and Clasko are the only named members of the group. The three of them are first seen in the game guarding the Mi'hen Highroad from a Chocobo Eater monster. After Sin's counterattack during Operation Mi'hen, they are seen among the few survivors (the only Chocobo Knights), caring for the one remaining Chocobo used. In Final Fantasy X-2, Lucil and Elma have joined the Youth League while Clasko has left to become a Chocobo breeder.
The Crusaders are a semi-military organization which role is to protect Spira's towns from Sin and other monsters. They were founded by Lord Mi'hen eight centuries before the events of Final Fantasy X, and have eventually been incorporated into the Yevon church. Members of the Crusaders include the high-ranked Luzzu and the younger, lower-ranked Gatta. When Luzzu confesses to Wakka and Lulu that he had convinced Chappu to enlist in the Crusaders, he is hit in the face and blamed for Chappu's death. Depending on the player's actions, either Luzzu or Gatta dies during Operation Mi'hen while the other one survives and returns to Besaid to rebuild the village's Crusader branch. Neither character reappears in Final Fantasy X-2.
In addition to Yuna's own party, two other groups of Summoners are encountered in the game.
Dona is a female summoner and Yuna's rival, mocking her for having a large group of guardians while remarking that Lord Braska only needed two.[50] Her unique guardian is Barthello, an admirer of Auron, and significantly more friendly than Dona.[51] After escaping from Home in the Airport, the player can influence Dona to either continue or quit her pilgrimage.[52] In Final Fantasy X-2, Dona has joined the Youth League while Barthello has sided with New Yevon. Although they are on opposite sides of the conflict, they still have feelings for one another.
Isaaru is a summoner guarded by his younger brothers Pacce and Maroda. Since he was a child, Isaaru has always looked up to Lord Braska, and sets up a challenge with Yuna to see who will defeat Sin first.[53] At Besaid, Isaaru's party gets kidnapped by the Al Bhed and are present at Home's destruction. He is later sent by Mika to prevent Yuna from escaping the Via Purifico, and reluctantly fights her with three Aeons. Defeated, he remains in Bevelle to preserve order along with Pacce and Maroda. The three brothers part ways in Final Fantasy X-2. Isaaru helps out with the Ruin Tours in Zanarkand, Maroda joins the Youth League, and Pacce starts a spherehunting group known as "The Kinderguardians". Eventually, all three reunite in Bevelle and Maroda decides to assist Isaaru with his pursuits there.
The Yevon Order is the unique religious organization in Spira. It has been ruled by Grand Maester Yo Mika since fifty years before the events of the game.[54] When Yuna asks Yo Mika to send the unsent Seymour during her trial in Bevelle, Mika reveals that he too is an unsent, having remained in Spira to guide its people even after death.[55] Although Mika condemns Yuna as a traitor for killing Seymour and questioning Yevon, he eventually repeals the condemnation in an attempt to prevent order from breaking down. When he learns that the party has defeated Yunalesca, and thus placed the Final Summoning out of reach forever, he departs to the depths of Via Infinito, believing that the end of Spira is near.[56] Mika reappears in Final Fantasy X-2 as the fiend "Concherer" with Via Inifinto, and can be put to rest by the party.
Another Yevon maester is Wen Kinoc, the leader of the Crusaders and Warrior Monks. He once served as a Warrior Monk with Auron, and was promoted in Auron's place when the latter refused it and left.[57] Kinoc was also the one who created the Crimson Squad, scrapping the notion after the events in the Den of Woe that went in conjunction with Operation Mi'hen. Kinoc is later killed by Seymour while accompanying him on a mission to stop Yuna from escaping Bevelle. When Seymour admits to killing Kinoc, calling it act of freedom from the stress his position held, Auron expressed that Kinoc was still a dear friend in spite of him being corrupted by his title.[58] Kinoc's unsent spirit appears in Final Fantasy X-2 as the fiend "Aranea" within Via Infinito.
Kelk Ronso is a former Yevon maester and leader of the Ronso tribe, and one of the most articulate Ronso. He is seen in Mt. Gagazet, having left Bevelle after learning that Seymour had committed a patricide. Kelk is eventually killed by Seymour while attempting to prevent him from pursuing Yuna past Gagazet.
Jyscal Guado is a deceased Maester of Yevon. He married a human woman, who would be the fayth for the aeon, Anima, and together had a child, Seymour. After his murder at the hands of his own son, Jyscal appears as an unsent before Yuna at the Farplane and delivers to her a sphere stating that his son must be stopped and that he is responsible for his death. He is sent by Yuna immediately and returns to the Farplane. However, in the events of Final Fantasy X-2, Jyscal also appears unexplainably as an unsent within the depths of Via Infinito and becomes a fiend, contradicting the sending by Yuna in Final Fantasy X.
Shelinda is a minor acolyte seen in the temples of Yevon. She eventually leaves the clergy after getting tired of being bossed around. She works as a journalist in Luca in Final Fantasy X-2 and is still bossed around, although she likes her new job.
The Leblanc Syndicate is a group of sphere hunters based in Guadosalam and rival to the Gullwings. Leblanc, the arrogant leader of the Syndicate, became a sphere hunter because of her infatuation with Meyvn Nooj. The syndicate is composed of Ormi, Logos, and others who were all outcasts in some fashion until Leblanc helped them out. As a result, they follow Leblanc out of dependence and gratitude. After Vegnagun begins to stir and retreats from Bevelle, Leblanc becomes depressed and goes to search for Nooj; she eventually decides to team up with the Gullwings to get into the Farplane, find Nooj, and fight Vegnagun. However, Leblanc and her followers bumble through most of their attempts, though they succeed in stealing the broken Zanarkand sphere while the Gullwings were not on the Celsius.
The Machine Faction is an Al Bhed group that pioneers in machina research. While they possess heavy military power, they prefer to avoid interventions in politics. Their founder is Gippal,[59] a former candidate for the Crimson Squad, who once served with Nooj and Baralai.[19][20] Their friendship was broken on the day of their final candidate exercise, when they turned on each other while under Shuyin's control.[22] Gippal dedicates himself to studying machina to subdue or destroy Shuyin's Vegnagun. During the game, he and his former comrades reunite to help save Spira from Shuyin. Another member of the Machine Faction is Nhadala, an official in charge of an excavation in Bikanel Desert.
The New Yevon Party is an organization inspired by the defunct Yevon religion. Its founding leader, the mysterious Trema, originally led a group of sphere hunters called the Sphere Hunters, hoping to learn of Spira's true history, which he felt had been warped by Yevon. However, Trema hoarded spheres away when he founded New Yevon, departing soon after into the Via Infinito with the spheres.
Though New Yevon's goal is to make up for the former Yevon Order's transgressions and help those who feel overwhelmed by the rapid changes sweeping Spira, their ideals that a slow evolution of Spira's customs is the only way to prevent complete anarchy made them antagonized by the Youth League for being as furtive as the Yevon clergy before them. Their leader, Praetor Baralai, is a former Crimson Squad candidate who replaced the previous chairman who succeeded Trema and abused his power. A sphere recording that can be obtained by the player reveals that during the events of Final Fantasy X, Baralai asked Seymour Guado for help after his parting from his former comrades Gippal and Nooj.[42] Other members of New Yevon include Isaaru and Barthello from Final Fantasy X.
The Youth League is an organization which emerged in the wake of Sin's defeat and whose members advocate radical reform of Spira's society. Its progressive attitude has attracted former Crusaders and younger inhabitants of Spira to its ranks. However, its demographic makeup has earned its members a reputation as hot-headed and reckless. The League is led by the Meyvn Nooj, a former Crusader who lost his left arm and leg during a battle against Sin and replaced them with machina prosthetics. Yaibal is a recent recruit who continually tries to solicit Yuna's support for the organization; he first appeared in Final Fantasy X: Another Story, the epilogue featured in Final Fantasy X International. Beclem is a captain of the League assigned to oversee the Besaid Aurochs' training; it is revealed during the game that he once fought alongside Wakka's brother Chappu with the Crusaders.[60] Other members include Dona, Lucil, Elma, and Maroda from Final Fantasy X.
The English release of Final Fantasy X-2 won the Seventh Annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award in 2004 for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance in recognition of the character Rikku.[61]
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