History Fridge / FinalFantasyX

* The entire party has a natural immunity to the Threaten skill. Why? Because 1) they're all friends, 2) they all know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and 3) no other characters (that is, none of their actual battle opponents) can learn it. Even when some of them go up against each other early in the game, they don't know the move and it's too early for them to have learned it; they aren't Tidus's friends, aren't members of the party, and aren't on the Sphere Grid and capable of learning it yet.

* The entire party has a natural immunity to the Threaten skill. Why? Because 1) they're all friends, 2) they all know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and 3) no other characters (that is, none of their actual battle opponents) can learn it. Even when some of them go up against each other early in the game, it's too early for them to have learned it.

** Why is Lulu's wild flailing on the analogue sticks? Because she's furious and when you're in a rage, what do you do? Expend more energy.

* The fact that Rikku can take apart machina in battle with the steal command screams FridgeBrilliance. She's Al Bhed, so she would have the knowledge to do so.

* The entire party has a natural immunity to the Threaten skill. Why? Because 1) They're all friends, 2) they all know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and 3) no other characters (that is, none of their actual battle opponents) can learn it. Even when some of them go up against each other only in the game, it's too early for them to have learned it.

*** Sin isn't killed every 10 years. Sin is killed whenever there's a summoner powerful enough to do it, which is a lot ''less'' frequent than every 10 years. Sin might not be able to get killed without a Final Summon, but it seems possible to cause it pain and drive it off, which is most likely how the Crusaders have been protecting Bevelle and the stadium. The reason Sin doubled down at Operation Mi'ihen is because the crusaders were literally ''torturing'' captured sinspawn to [[BatmanGambit force Sin]] to make a beeline for the area.

** When you really thinked about it, Tidus never laughed in YEARS. All that because of his [[JerkAss dad]].

* Tidus' fighting style is improvised but awesome and practical. Most of his moves are based on typical blitzball moves but wielding a sword.

** By the by the end of the game when they finally meet up, Tidus is bawling; when he says he hates Jecht, he means he's unhappy with him for all the crap he put him and his mother through, but since he sees Jecht is dying, he clearly doesn't care as much anymore; he's just happy they're reunited and is about to forgive him.

* One of the few lines from Tidus' mother is telling her son that he should confess to his father that he hates him. Tidus already overcomes his problems midway through the game and loves his father but once he sees him he says "I hate you." He says that just like his mother wanted, but it's obvious to anybody that he loved his father. In a way, Tidus' mother understood her child and told him to say to test if he really hated his father.

* Auron doesn't hang around whenever Yuna sends the dead because as an unsent himself, a sending would compromise his continued existence outside of the Farplane. not only does he not want to leave yet, but he still has a promise to fulfill, which explains why he doesn't allow himself to be sent until the endgame.

** And if you can hurl it through the water hard enough to make it past players and a goalkeeper, chucking it at something with lethal force is practically a given.

* Why is the normally cheerful, laid-back Wakka such a hardass about following the traditions and precepts of Yevon before his CharacterDevelopment? Well, early on in the game, there's a scene where the party goes to pray for safe passage before leaving Besaid. Wakka explains that this is an ancient Besaid tradition and adds that Chappu didn't pray for safe passage on the day he died because he was worried he'd miss his boat. In Wakka's mind, ''his brother died because he failed to follow tradition.'' Who wouldn't become a stickler for customs and precepts after that?

* Auron doesn't hang around whenever Yuna sends the dead because as an unsent himself, a sending would compromise his continued existence outside of the Farplane.
* The whole game is about the dead -- the maesters, Yu Yevon, etc. etc. -- keeping the living from truly going on and living their lives, because the dead have been around for longer and deserve to keep on going, however static they might be. This game comes from Japan, in which the younger generations are expected to care for their elders (sometimes to their own seeming detriment), and which had just recently been in a state of stasis because, if this troper understands correctly, nobody wanted to invest their savings into spending and thus, into the next generations. Subtle social commentary much?

** New, more general flash of insight: The spirals don't just go inward and down in Spira, they also go up. The whole point is that while Spira is falling in on itself, the main characters' journey is making them mature enough to force Spira into a new cycle of growth, but it's mostly a gentle enough incline that, except for maybe four points in the entire story, it's hardly noticeable at all. Tidus and Wakka being less {{Jerk Jock}}s and more of a couple of decent people; Yuna going from someone following in her father's footsteps to someone who wants to really make things better, no matter the personal cost (considering she didn't actually have much to lose before the start of the journey, and her two-ish friends would have suffered more than her); Lulu becoming less emo and blunt and more kindly (as shown by the difference between the first temple and the snowmobile ride) to the point that she could forgive herself for the previous failure, and confront her former charge, whether spiritually or the actual ghost; and Rikku being less [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi]] and more post-Wutai Yuffie. Although this does add a whole new dimension of suck to ''X-2''.

* There is no water fayth. Tidus is an star Blitzball player, a sport that takes place underwater (bonus points since "Blitz" is German for "lighting" water's polar opposite), and to take it further; Anima's fayth (Seymore's mother, who became a fayth in an act of love for Seymore if the ''one'' flashback she's in is any indicator) is found in the flooded Baaj Temple. Now I may be just reading into this too much, but I see a small connection--Ryuki
** I just thought it was because the water is already home to Sin, who fits the traditional ideal of a "leviathan" more than the (presumably) aeon Leviathan. -- Ralenys

* The Instant Runes aren't just for pretty. Knowing something about eastern religions, I suddenly realized: the big circular runes are yantras, the Yevonite letters in the middle of those symbols are mantras, and the fayth is the anthropomorphic embodiment of the same divine power. These concepts are widespread in esoteric branches of Hinduism and Buddhism. Sure enough, I found these concepts embraced by a medieval Japanese sect, Shingon Buddhism, which also uses the archaic Sanskrit alphabet on which Final Fantasy X's Yevonite alphabet is based. See **Fans [[http://www.squidoo.com/final-fantasy-x-symbols-glyphs Final Fantasy X Symbols & Glyphs]] for a full explanation; some of the symbolic meanings add a deep layer to the game much like the Zodiac symbolism in XII. --AuronLu

** Objection: when they were in the sea, Sin didn't even notice a ship until it attack with ballista. Even then, when attack stopped, Sin ignored ship (with it's spawn on board) and go to Kilika.

* On a related note, at the end of the game, the fayth dissipate, which means no more summoners. So... who's going to send the dead? ''X-2'' states that fiends are still around, but nobody is sure why. I'll leave you to get on with that HeroicBSOD now...

* Sin has only been beaten 6 times in the thousand years that the thing has been running around, and judging by the fact that Braska defeated Sin 10 years before the start of the game, that means that it takes about 10 years for Sin to be recreated. So that means that overall the people of Spira have had to live with Sin randomly destroying them for about 940 years, and that comes to an minimum of 156 and a half years between each Calm. it's no wonder the people of Spira are always so eternally depressed, unless Yuna or another summoner succeeds in killing Sin soon, many of them will have to live their ENTIRE lives in fear of it.

** Oh, it's even worse than that. There's a single NPC in Luca you can encounter during the endgame who will tell the player he's hoping for the Calm to last a year at least, musing on whether or not asking for two would be too much. Assuming he's working off of a pattern, in the 1000 years that Sin has been around the people of Spira have only been free from it for less than TEN YEARS. Holy crap.

*** What really? 500 years? That must be some mistake. That's half the time of the entire rein of Sin. And the first Sin didn't even last all that long considering Yunalesca was the one who defeated it. There's no way the entire system could be established as depicted if the first Calm was that long. That's not a cycle, that's a second coming. Besides I'm pretty sure someone in game says that Braska's Calm was a pretty lengthy one (though still not nearly as long as the ten years people mistakenly assume since Auron needed Sin to get to Dream Zanarkand while Tidus was still a child).

*** Well yes they would all die but considering Jecht went to town on Dream Zanarkand at the start of the game, there's hardly going to be that many of them left. The genocide already happened. We saw it. The dream people who die at the end of the game other than Tidus and Jecht were probably a few dozen survivors slowly starving to death in the middle of the ocean after their metropolis had been grounded into the dust.

* Aww man, what a Jerk Wakka is, making a joke about Rikku's home exploding! How would he feel if that happened to HIS home?! Oh, wait, there's an angry giant whale god on the loose with a penchant for destroying coastal towns on the loose. Wakka's home getting destroyed is probably called "Tuesday". Wakka's parents are dead. Oh shit, making jokes about death and destruction is his coping mechanism. Oh shit, it's ''everyone's'' coping mechanism. [[CrapsackWorld The whole world has turned numb to mass destruction and death, so numb that they joke about it to pull themselves together and keep living]]. [[OhCrap OH! SHIT!!]]
** Ahm... no, it's not? I mean, Wakka definitly doesn't tend to joke about HIS home destroyed. He is angry and serious about Sin getting everything from him. And, actually, it's kinda typical for Spirans - they definitly aren't numb. They grieve and suffer. Bonus points to jerkiness for Rikku's home being attacked and burned by people Wakka defined as righteous and just just couple of hours before, saying that Al Behd definitly deserved Yuvon attacks.
* When the players first meet the Summoner Isaaru, his guardians Maroda and Pacce they may think, "Aww, he's letting his little brother tag along! That's so cute!" But then it's probably observed that Pacce is a guardian. Then it becomes "ISAARU LET HIS LITTLE BROTHER COME TO PROTECT HIM?!" It's wildly dangerous along the Pilgrimage route. Even though kids probably have to grow up quickly in Spira, how could anyone let a child make such a dangerous journey? And if Isaaru had made it to the end of his Pilgrimage, who would he have picked to become the Final Aeon? Probably best he didn't make it. Thank goodness for the Al Bhed.

* Whatever happened to the guardians of all the other high summoners that had more than one guardian? Did they all die when the other was turned into the Final Aeon? --@/WanderlustWarrior

* I've said it before, but Wakka not knowing Yuna is part Al Bhed is a bit of FridgeLogic bordering on fridge squick. If she's got the eye spirals, that means he never ''once'' looked her in the eyes. If she doesn't, that means her mother's heritage was swept under the rug from the ''world'', likely by the church of Yevon. Remember, ''immediately before'' becoming High Summoner, Braska was a ''disgraced'' member of the church for marrying an Al Bhed. And he and others ''knew'' it, since he could get away with saying no one would believe in him anyway. That's why he got the "delusional" drunkard Jecht on his team and it didn't knock him down any further. --@/WanderlustWarrior

* Bevelle and Zanarkand were at war 1000 years ago. Yevon, concentrated in Bevelle, has been battling for 1000 years against Sin, which contains the remains of Zanarkand. Yuna is from Bevelle. Tidus is from Zanarkand. May seem obvious to some, but this troper nearly dropped her drink. Instead, I'll toast to Square with it. Good show.

* The whole game is about the dead -- the maesters, Yu Yevon, etc. etc. -- keeping the living from truly going on and living their lives, because the dead have been around for longer and deserve to keep on going, however static they might be. This game comes from Japan, in which the younger generations are expected to care for their elders (sometimes to their own seeming detriment), and which had just recently been in a state of stasis because, if this troper understands correctly, nobody wanted to invest their savings into spending and thus, into the next generations. Subtle social commentary much?--ElanaReskin
** Better yet, just about all religions(eastern reincarnation-based religions most of all) treat death as a release from woe, simply because they can't think of anything else to do about it. Yevon simply takes that to its ultimate conclusion -- "Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so(even if they succeed, since the Final Aeon kills the summoner). Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner(and the most beloved one sacrifices himself to help their summoner defeat Sin). The fayth are the souls of the dead(granted powers greater than the living). Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent(supposedly wiser than the living). Spira is full of death(which Yevon insists is "Good"). Only Sin is reborn(because summoners keep sacrificing guardians to it), and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly(because no one bothers to fight it)." So Auron's cry of "Die and be free of pain, or live and [[DoNotGoGentle fight your sorrow!]]", is the Eastern equivalent of [[Creator/GarthEnnis Jesse]] [[ComicBook/{{Preacher}} Custer]]'s realization that "(God) wants us... to love him and (it's) much more satisfyin'... when the [[CrapsackWorld hell of this Earth]] makes the choice so god-damned hard!"

* Ignoring the fact that several major summons are missing, let's focus on Alexander. Did it cross anyone else's mind that his absence could have to do with being both Holy elemental and a machine, two things that don't really click with Yevon.

*** Fourth Sin: Some friend of Ohalland, who as Wakka mentions several times was a blitzball player before he became a summoner. It's pretty likely whoever his Final Aeon was was also.

** It's also shown in the secondary bosses that join Seymour that get bigger as he gains power. When he just killed one person it was smaller than him. When he killed several people it was much larger than him & could act as a vehicle. It makes you wonder how many he killed to get the four that were roughly the same size as the second.

** In addition to this, Seymour most likely picked up the idea from Yunalesca, who tells Summoners that "Death is the ultimate and final liberation. So, why shouldn't he do so for Spira itself?

* The Yevonites believe that sacrificing summoners to fight Sin is a fair price to pay for the Calms. The Al Bhed believe that sacrificing summoners didn't worked the last five times, so to keep trying is a waste of human life. Yuna is half-Al Bhed and half-Yevonite... so she eventually settles on a little of both. And, by doing so, she breaks the cycle.
* During the wedding, Yuna attempts to send Seymour but is halted when Maester Mika threatens to kill her guardians. Upon replaying the game, this troper realized that since Maester Mika was already dead and unsent at that point. If he hadn't intervened, Seymour would not have been to only person to disappear.
* ''Final Fantasy X'' always used to be my least favourite game of the series, until I played it through for the third time or so. It came, when it really should have in the first couple run-throughs, when you get to Home and Tidus learns the truth of Yuna's journey. All those poignant moments while leaving all the new areas finally hit home, and all of Tidus' well-meaning "we'll come back here when we've beaten Sin"s took on new meanings. With all of Tidus' claims that "this is his story", it really isn't: it's all about Yuna -- leaving on this selfless quest to literally give everything to stop Sin, and eventually to stop the endless cycle of Calms. In my mind, at least, Tidus was consigned to irritating love interest and viewpiece for the player, whereas Yuna becomes the real protagonist.- Ralphomon
** This troper agreed that Tidus didn't really belong in the story to the save the world plot and remained dangerously close to TheScrappy. Until I got to the Fayth Cluster at Zanarkand. At this point, Tidus realizes that if Sin is defeated, the Fayth that are summoning all of Dream Zanarkand, including him, will awaken, and he will vanish. This is when the game really does become his story. The most brilliant moment in the game appeared after Yuna and company decide to TakeAThirdOption to stop Sin for good. Not only does this change the tone of the game from cynical to idealistic in one fell swoop, it basically switches Yuna and Tidus's positions in the story. Tidus is the one who has to die for the world to be saved, and Yuna is the one unaware of it. The game isn't really just his or her story at this point anymore; it's '''their''' story.-M84
*** I'll go you one better. More proof that the entire ''FFX'' saga is the story of both Yuna and Tidus is when you consider their ideologies. In the first game, Tidus is on the Idealist side of the SlidingScaleofIdealismVersusCynicism. When told by Lulu that "if you want everything, you'll get nothing", he immaturely shouts back "but I want everything"! Yuna, however, starts out the story by stating that she'll gladly sacrifice anything if it just means bringing a little happiness to the world, showing how the Cynical nature of the world has colored her views. Now, flashforward to the end of the game. Tidus doesn't even hesitate to put his own life (hell, existence) in jeopardy to truly save the world, even though he essentially earns NOTHING for his trouble; furthermore, even his narration becomes a lot more Cynical and fatalistic. Now, let's flash forward again to ''X-2''. A character offers to sacrifice himself to stop the BigBad of that game, but Yuna '''VEHEMENTLY OPPOSES''' this idea and says that she's tired of "losing" to win. So, let's just do a brief summation of all that: By the end of each game, Yuna and Tidus have reversed their positions on the scale. At the end of ''FFX'', Tidus became Yuna and at the end of ''FFX-2'', Yuna became Tidus. -- King Zeal
** In a meta-sense, the polarity of Yuna and Tidus is directly reflected with the way their Japanese translation of their names mean. Moon and Sun alike, which Spira as Earth Yuna giving the Moonlight on the darkness of the world that is Tidus's Sunlight that reflects of Yuna. So it's a funny eclipse story about how the Light and Darkness show each other that when there is something that is challenging they both can be tools to make the world a better place. -- Markus Grey
** New, more general flash of insight: The spirals don't just go inward and down in Spira, they also go up. The whole point is that while Spira is falling in on itself, the main characters' journey is making them mature enough to force Spira into a new cycle of growth, but it's mostly a gentle enough incline that, except for maybe four points in the entire story, it's hardly noticeable at all. Tidus and Wakka being less {{Jerk Jock}}s and more of a couple of decent people. Yuna going from someone following in her father's footsteps to someone who wants to really make things better, no matter the personal cost (considering she didn't actually have much to lose before the start of the journey, and her two-ish friends would have suffered more than her). Lulu becoming less emo and blunt and more kindly (as shown by the difference between the first temple and the snowmobile ride) to the point that she could forgive herself for the previous failure, and confront her former charge, whether spiritually or the actual ghost. And Rikku being less [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi]] and more post-Wutai Yuffie. Although this does add a whole new dimension of suck to ''X-2''. -JET73L
*** You can also argue that there are spirals inside the spirals. Draw a spiral on a piece of paper. Notice the white spiral you just outlined in the process? Now, look at the Besaid Aurochs pre-Tidus. They're only determined to "do their best", not aim at victory (notice the dejection in Wakka's voice when he first utters it). Sounds a lot like Spira's quandary -- not just in that Tidus catalyzes the spiral going up rather than down, but also the psychic shattering to the point where it's believed that victory is impossible, and all one can hope for is to temper the pain of defeat as much as possible. I'm probably late to the party, but it took me a little while to realize that the Aurochs' debacle was meant as a kind of precursor to what Tidus would find afflicting Spira (in this case, "doing their best" would be sealing off Sin as quickly as possible; minimizing as much as possible, rather than outright thwarting, the wreckage). Perhaps one could even argue that the first drawn spiral was Yu Yevon's despair at saving the real Zanarkand from Bevelle, and so decided all he ''could'' do was "do his best"--by turning Zanarkand's ghost into an eternal punisher of the victor. He and Zanarkand didn't win the conflict, but they could at least bring the ruin-scores as close to even as possible... --SkyknightXi

* While YMMV on this one, a big thing for this troper was coming to realization about how Zanarkand was not all smiles and goodness, and was truly just as bad as Bevelle. Admittedly, according to Maechen and Bahamut, Zanarkand was definitely the unwilling victim of the Machina War. However, what did Yu Yevon do after the end of the war was certain? Not only did he create a monster to house a shadow of Zanarkand inside, not only did he use his own people to do it (and a bit of FridgeHorror: did anyone ever say they went willingly?), but he designed it to essentially wipe out any advanced human settlement. Let me say that again: Zanarkand put all of Spira in a stranglehold, killing hundreds of thousands of people, forcing culture and technology back several thousand years, and putting the entire world in metaphorical limbo to create an unchanging shadow of its former self. Yikes.

* One of the few lines from Tidus' mother is telling her son that he should confess his father he hates him. Tidus already overcomes his problems midway through the game and loves his father but once he sees him he says "I hate you." He says that just like his mother wanted but it's obvious to anybody that he loved his father. In a way, Tidus' mother understood her child and told him to say to test if he really hated his father.
* Auron appears to be dependable and trustworthy but his repeated interactions with Tidus make it look as if he is actually the one needing help from somebody. For example in one occasion Auron tells Tidus he should say "I'm sorry" but Tidus instead whistles. The Ultimania guidebook actually reveals that Auron did not believe in Yuna afraid she would follow her father's steps and decided to seek help from Tidus to discover another way to defeat Sin forever.

** There might be a technical "expy" of Alexander hidden within. [[spoiler: The Dream Zanarkand is made through the same method that creates Aeon, making it and the residents technically aeons themselves.]]
* Sin usually executes a Class 0 ApocalypseHow on any settlement that gets bigger than an average town, yet Bevelle and Luca are still standing. Tidus even lampshades it when you first get to Luca, and the answer he gets is "The Crusaders protect the Blitzball Stadium with everything they have." Then it hits you; it's not the RedShirt Crusaders protecting it (he wiped out a good 90% of them in one shot after all), ''it's the Stadium itself'' that stops him, because [[spoiler: Jecht used to be a star Blitzball player and that stadium would be almost sacred to him]].

* [[spoiler:Seymour]] seems to get stronger with each subsequent battle, but then you think back to when he killed [[spoiler:Kinoc]] and remember that he gets stronger every time he [[YourSoulIsMine absorbs pyreflies]]. Then you realize every rematch (prior to the last) came after he killed someone. The first was absorbing one person, the second was after absorbing several.

** Adds a bit of fridge horror when you realize that he lives close to a huge source of pyreflies [[spoiler: that also houses the souls of the dead]].
* In-game, Anima is a near GameBreaker for the average player, as her attacks are very powerful. In-universe, this is justified, as [[spoiler:she's actually a Final Aeon, just like Jecht. She sacrificed herself to become a fayth so that Seymour could kill Sin, but Seymour never actually used her to battle Sin (Maybe he couldn't bring himself to do it?), so she remained an aeon.]]
* [[spoiler:Seymour's]] plan to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery Put Spira Out Of Its Misery]]. Yevon's core principle is that death is an end to suffering, so they shouldn't grieve over lost loved ones because they're "in a better place." They're actually [[spoiler:letting Sin rampage to encourage dependence on Yevon's summoners via the Calms]], but by that principle, wiping out all life in Spira would be the ethical thing to do and he's the only one willing to do it.
** In addition to this, Seymour most likely picked up the idea from[[spoiler:Yunalesca, who tells Summoners that "Death is the ultimate and final liberation]]. So, why shouldn't he do so for Spira itself?

* During the [[spoiler: wedding]], Yuna attempts to [[spoiler: send Seymour]] but is halted when Maester Mika threatens to kill her guardians. Upon replaying the game, this troper realized that since Maester Mika was [[spoiler: already dead and unsent]] at that point. If he hadn't intervened, Seymour would not have been to only person to [[spoiler: disappear]].
* ''Final Fantasy X'' always used to be my least favourite game of the series, until I played it through for the third time or so. [[spoiler:It came, when it really should have in the first couple run-throughs, when you get to Home and Tidus learns the truth of Yuna's journey. All those poignant moments while leaving all the new areas finally hit home, and all of Tidus' well-meaning "we'll come back here when we've beaten Sin"s took on new meanings. With all of Tidus' claims that "this is his story", it really isn't: it's all about Yuna -- leaving on this selfless quest to literally give everything to stop Sin, and eventually to stop the endless cycle of Calms. In my mind, at least, Tidus was consigned to irritating love interest and viewpiece for the player, whereas Yuna becomes the real protagonist.]] - Ralphomon
** This troper agreed that Tidus didn't really belong in the story to the save the world plot and remained dangerously close to TheScrappy. Until I got to the Fayth Cluster at Zanarkand. At this point, [[spoiler: Tidus realizes that if Sin is defeated, the Fayth that are summoning all of Dream Zanarkand, including him, will awaken, and he will vanish]]. This is when the game really does become his story. The most brilliant moment in the game appeared after [[spoiler: Yuna and company decide to TakeAThirdOption to stop Sin for good]]. Not only does this change the tone of the game from cynical to idealistic in one fell swoop, it basically switches Yuna and Tidus's positions in the story. [[spoiler: Tidus is the one who has to die for the world to be saved, and Yuna is the one unaware of it]]. The game isn't really just his or her story at this point anymore; it's '''their''' story.-M84

** New, more general flash of insight: The spirals don't just go inward and down in Spira, they also go up. The whole point is that while Spira is falling in on itself, the main characters' journey is making them mature enough to force Spira into a new cycle of growth, but it's mostly a gentle enough incline that, except for maybe four points in the entire story, it's hardly noticeable at all. Tidus and Wakka being less {{Jerk Jock}}s and more of a couple of decent people. Yuna going from someone following in her father's footsteps to someone who wants to really make things better, no matter the personal cost (considering she didn't actually have much to lose before the start of the journey, and her two-ish friends would have suffered more than her). Lulu becoming less emo and blunt and more kindly (as shown by the difference between the first temple and the snowmobile ride) to the point that [[spoiler: she could forgive herself for the previous failure, and confront her former charge, whether spiritually or the actual ghost]]. And Rikku being less [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi]] and more post-Wutai Yuffie. Although this does add a whole new dimension of suck to ''X-2''. -JET73L
*** You can also argue that there are spirals inside the spirals. Draw a spiral on a piece of paper. Notice the white spiral you just outlined in the process? Now, look at the Besaid Aurochs pre-Tidus. They're only determined to "do their best", not aim at victory (notice the dejection in Wakka's voice when he first utters it). Sounds a lot like Spira's quandary -- not just in that Tidus catalyzes the spiral going up rather than down, but also the psychic shattering to the point where it's believed that victory is impossible, and all one can hope for is to temper the pain of defeat as much as possible. I'm probably late to the party, but it took me a little while to realize that the Aurochs' debacle was meant as a kind of precursor to what Tidus would find afflicting Spira (in this case, "doing their best" would be sealing off Sin as quickly as possible; minimizing as much as possible, rather than outright thwarting, the wreckage). Perhaps one could even argue that [[spoiler: the first drawn spiral was Yu Yevon's despair at saving the real Zanarkand from Bevelle, and so decided all he ''could'' do was "do his best"--by turning Zanarkand's ghost into an eternal punisher of the victor. He and Zanarkand didn't win the conflict, but they could at least bring the ruin-scores as close to even as possible...]] --SkyknightXi

* Auron doesn't hang around whenever Yuna sends the dead because [[spoiler: as an unsent himself, a sending would compromise his continued existence outside of the Farplane.]]
* The whole game is about the dead -- [[spoiler: the maesters, Yu Yevon, etc. etc.]] -- keeping the living from truly going on and living their lives, because the dead have been around for longer and deserve to keep on going, however static they might be. This game comes from Japan, in which the younger generations are expected to care for their elders (sometimes to their own seeming detriment), and which had just recently been in a state of stasis because, if this troper understands correctly, nobody wanted to invest their savings into spending and thus, into the next generations. Subtle social commentary much?--ElanaReskin

* In [[spoiler:Yuna's farewell sphere]], she says that when she first met Kimahri he told her that he was there because it was the wish of man facing death. At the time, you think this is Braska, who had just died fighting Sin, but once [[spoiler:Auron tells Tidus that he is an unsent]], you realise that Kimahri was actually talking about [[spoiler:Auron himself]]!

* Crops up when it comes to the Final Aeon. First, there's the cross between this and a FunnyAneurysmMoment when Tidus first learns about what exactly happens between the Grand Summoner and their Final Aeon. Then, when fighting [[spoiler:Jecht]], your are told right before the battle that [[spoiler:he]] "might not be able to hold back." And then [[FromBadToWorse the Talk command stops working.]]
* Everything about Anima. The most worrying part is when you learn [[spoiler: it's Seymour's mother]]. And judging by the way [[spoiler: her fayth asks if you hate her son and says it's okay if you do.]] [[AndIMustScream The poor thing must have been forced to do a LOT of stuff against its will]].
** Anima being forced to do Seymour's bidding might also explain why her strength fluctuates wildly in-between her appearances. When Anima is first introduced, Seymour uses her to kill the Sinspawn attacking Luca; something that she wouldn't object to normally. Hence, she [[CutscenePowerToTheMax annihilates them with no problem]]. Then, when you fight her, she knows that Seymour is committing wrong by attacking the party, and [[FightingFromTheInside weakens her attacks accordingly to give the party a chance]]. Then, when she joins Yuna's Aeons, she's fighting of her own free will (which makes her stronger than any of Yuna's other summons), but Yuna is not Seymour and doesn't have the same emotional bond with Anima that he does, so she never reaches her full potential [[spoiler: as a Final Aeon]].

* So, we know that [[spoiler: Jecht was holding back Sin's destructive impulses for years, with varying degrees of success. This also implies that the other Sins, most of whom were Guardians, also held back their destructive urges.]] But remember how Seymour [[spoiler: actually ''wants'' to become Sin and murder everyone? Since Sin has killed so many with hosts holding it back, imagine how many it would kill if someone actively directed it to destroy. Seymour's plan to kill everyone suddenly becomes very attainable.]]

* Presumably, Zanarkand [[spoiler:(that is, Dream Zanarkand)]] contains people other than Tidus [[spoiler: (or at least sentient entities other than Tidus)]]. When the group decides to TakeAThirdOption in the final act, Tidus [[spoiler: knows that successfully destroying Yu Yevon will mean the end of his existence, as Dream Zanarkand will be destroyed as well]]. It's fine for him -- he makes an informed choice about his fate. [[spoiler: But what about the other inhabitants of Dream Zanarkand? They're all about to have their existence snuffed out without a moment's notice. Any explanation for why there is NoEndorHolocaust here]]?

*** All that tells us is that the Fayth are willing to [[spoiler: kill the entire population of a large city]] in order to find peace. Unless [[spoiler: the inhabitants of Dream Zanarkand don't possess true consciousness and Tidus only gained it as a by-product of being sucked into Spira]], it's still pretty horrifying. Even under that scenario the Fayth effectively [[spoiler: commit murder to end their dream]].
*** While still pretty depressing, there's a very probable interpretation where no one is [[spoiler: intentionally choosing to commit genocide. The fayth remarks that the reason they're putting an end to Dream Zanarkand is because, "We've been dreaming for so long, we're tired." So while a whole large city of people and the entire culture of Zanarkand did probably just die, most of them without "informed consent," there's a strong implication that the fayth might not be doing so out of any selfish desire, but instead because they literally don't have the power to maintain dream Zanarkand for very much longer (relatively speaking). Yes, even despite maintaining it for 1,000 years so far. Bonus points: if you interpret that line this way, and believe without intervention from Dream Zanarkandites like Tidus and Jecht Sin could never have been defeated, then this means this was (probably) literally the last chance to save the world]].

* [[spoiler: Yunalesca]] is shown to be one of the most powerful fiends/Unsent in the game, using the thousands of pyreflies in [[spoiler: Zanarkand]] to increase [[spoiler: her]] power throughout the fight. [[spoiler: She]] is also the only enemy in the game to use the powerful draining move "Absorb," which [[spoiler: she]] especially likes to use against Aeons. Given that all life on Spira is made of pyreflies, it's quite likely that instead of the usual energy taken using the Drain spell, [[spoiler: she's]] actually directly ripping the pyreflies out of the characters and adding them to [[spoiler: her]] own. [[spoiler: The Ultimania guide confirms that Sin's durability comes from being able to draw in surrounding pyreflies into its body, so this wouldn't be unprecedented.]]

** Ahm... no, it's not? I mean, Wakka definitly doesn't tend to joke about HIS home destroyed. He is angry and serious about Sin getting everything from him. And, actually, it's kinda typical for Spirans - they definitly aren't numb. They grieve and suffer. [[spoiler: Bonus points to jerkiness for Rikku's home being attacked and burned by people Wakka defined as righteous and just just couple of hours before, saying that Al Behd definitly deserved Yuvon attacks.]]
* When the players first meet the Summoner Isaaru, his guardians Maroda and Pacce they may think, "Aww, he's letting his little brother tag along! That's so cute!" But then it's probably observed that Pacce is a guardian. Then it becomes "ISAARU LET HIS LITTLE BROTHER COME TO PROTECT HIM?!" It's wildly dangerous along the Pilgrimage route. Even though kids probably have to grow up quickly in Spira, how could anyone let a child make such a dangerous journey? [[spoiler: And if Isaaru had made it to the end of his Pilgrimage, who would he have picked to become the Final Aeon? Probably best he didn't make it. Thank goodness for the Al Bhed.]]
** [[spoiler: It get's even worse if you think about it. He has two possibilities: Either use Pacce as the Final Aeon, or use the other brother and leave the little guy behind, probably to get killed by the first fiend he encounters, Ouch.]]

* If {{Revive Kills Zombie}}s, [[spoiler:why does it work normally on Auron]]?

** It seems rather stupid of the [[spoiler:Maesters and the Bevelle gaurds]] to throw the three swimmers (and only those three) into the water dungeon while the other four are thrown into a standard dungeon.

** Auron's backstory proves that they're left alive, though they apparently have to make their own way out. [[spoiler:The reason Auron died was because he decided to go try to kill Yunalesca.]]
*** Ok, but only Auron was bequeathed the title 'Legendary Guardian'. Who knows how far the Yevon Church or Yunalesca was willing to go to conceal the truth about [[spoiler: Sin and Yu Yevon]] if the others were allowed to go free?
*** Auron was bequeathed the title "Legendary Guardian" because he was one of Braska's ''two'' Guardians. He's the only, um, [[spoiler:"living"]] person with that title because only one of Braska's Guardians is [[spoiler: "alive"]] today. Bear in mind that Sin's only been defeated six times in history, and we don't know who all the Guardians for the High Summoners that defeated Sin were. The absence of proof is not, in and of itself, proof of anything. As pointed out above, Auron's backstory proves they're left to their own devices to find their way out.

** But Tidus is rubbish at offense in Blitzball. His strength lies entirely in shooting (with his feet, which he does not use to wield his sword).

*** Didn't realize this until the number of Sins had been pointed out. If Seymour had succeeded in his plan, there would have been a seventh - Seven deadly Sins!

** And wasn't he dark-haired like Jecht in some of the early demos of FFX, as well? Could be a throwback to that concept, as well.

* ''Final Fantasy X'' always used to be my least favourite game of the series, until I played it through for the third time or so. [[spoiler:It came, when it really should have in the first coupla run-throughs, when you get to Home and Tidus learns the truth of Yuna's journey. All those poignant moments while leaving all the new areas finally hit home, and all of Tidus' well-meaning "we'll come back here when we've beaten Sin"s took on new meanings. With all of Tidus' claims that "this is his story", it really isn't: it's all about Yuna - leaving on this selfless quest to literally give everything to stop Sin, and eventually to stop the endless cycle of Calms. In my mind, at least, Tidus was consigned to irritating love interest and viewpiece for the player, whereas Yuna becomes the real protagonist.]] - Ralphomon

*** I'll go you one better. More proof that the entire FFX saga is the story of both Yuna and Tidus is when you consider their ideologies. In the first game, Tidus is on the Idealist side of the SlidingScaleofIdealismVersusCynicism. When told by Lulu that "if you want everything, you'll get nothing", he immaturely shouts back "but I want everything"! Yuna, however, starts out the story by stating that she'll gladly sacrifice anything if it just means bringing a little happiness to the world, showing how the Cynical nature of the world has colored her views. Now, flashforward to the end of the game. Tidus doesn't even hesitate to put his own life (hell, existence) in jeopardy to truly save the world, even though he essentially earns NOTHING for his trouble; furthermore, even his narration becomes a lot more Cynical and fatalistic. Now, let's flashforward again to X-2. A character offers to sacrifice himself to stop the BigBad of that game, but Yuna '''VEHEMENTLY OPPOSES''' this idea and says that she's tired of "losing" to win. So, let's just do a brief summation of all that: By the end of each game, Yuna and Tidus have reversed their positions on the scale. At the end of FFX, Tidus became Yuna and at the end of FFX-2, Yuna became Tidus. -- King Zeal

** New, more general flash of insight: The spirals don't just go inward and down in Spira, they also go up. The whole point is that while Spira is falling in on itself, the main characters' journey is making them mature enough to force Spira into a new cycle of growth, but it's mostly a gentle enough incline that, except for maybe four points in the entire story, it's hardly noticeable at all. Tidus and Wakka being less {{Jerk Jock}}s and more of a couple of decent people. Yuna going from someone following in her father's footsteps to someone who wants to really make things better, no matter the personal cost (considering she didn't actually have much to lose before the start of the journey, and her two-ish friends would have suffered more than her). Lulu becoming less emo and blunt and more kindly (as shown by the difference between the first temple and the snowmobile ride) to the point that [[spoiler: she could forgive herself for the previous failure, and confront her former charge, whether spiritually or the actual ghost]]. And Rikku being less [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi]] and more post-Wutai Yuffie. Although this does add a whole new dimension of suck to X-2. -JET73L
*** You can also argue that there are spirals inside the spirals. Draw a spiral on a piece of paper. Notice the white spiral you just outlined in the process? Now, look at the Besaid Aurochs pre-Tidus. They're only determined to "do their best", not aim at victory (notice the dejection in Wakka's voice when he first utters it). Sounds a lot like Spira's quandary--not just in that Tidus catalyzes the spiral going up rather than down, but also the psychic shattering to the point where it's believed that victory is impossible, and all one can hope for is to temper the pain of defeat as much as possible. I'm probably late to the party, but it took me a little while to realize that the Aurochs' debacle was meant as a kind of precursor to what Tidus would find afflicting Spira (in this case, "doing their best" would be sealing off Sin as quickly as possible; minimizing as much as possible, rather than outright thwarting, the wreckage). Perhaps one could even argue that [[spoiler: the first drawn spiral was Yu Yevon's despair at saving the real Zanarkand from Bevelle, and so decided all he ''could'' do was "do his best"--by turning Zanarkand's ghost into an eternal punisher of the victor. He and Zanarkand didn't win the conflict, but they could at least bring the ruin-scores as close to even as possible...]] --SkyknightXi
** Tidus's role in the story is to be exactly what he is: an obnoxious, loud-mouthed jock who demands answers for everything and tries to push his worldview onto everyone else. At the beginning of the story, Tidus is told that he cannot enter the Cloister of Trials because it's forbidden, to which he responds, "Like I care!" and runs in anyways. This simple act defines his purpose in the story: he challenges the dogmatic truths of a nation that accepts what Yevon tells them as absolute. This is the thing that sets him apart from the rest of Spira: he asks why, and when he doesn't like the answer he gets, he denounces it and demands a better one. Tidus is effectively the ringleader for what becomes a full-blown insurrection against the theocracy that governs Spira through his bull-headed refusal to abide by the traditions and roles that have existed for centuries. Tidus, ultimately, was exactly what Yuna needed in order to rise above the role she was cast in, and avoid becoming just another High Summoner who died to temporarily delay Sin: an obnoxious jerk to go, "That rule is stupid. Don't tell me everyone follows it, I don't care, it's dumb and I'm not doing it, and you shouldn't either."

* The whole game is about the dead--[[spoiler: the maesters, Yu Yevon, etc. etc.]]--keeping the living from truly going on and living their lives, because the dead have been around for longer and deserve to keep on going, however static they might be. This game comes from Japan, in which the younger generations are expected to care for their elders (sometimes to their own seeming detriment), and which had just recently been in a state of stasis because, if this troper understands correctly, nobody wanted to invest their savings into spending and thus, into the next generations. Subtle social commentary much?--ElanaReskin
** Better yet, just about all religions(eastern reincarnation-based religions most of all) treat death as a release from woe, simply because they can't think of anything else to do about it. Yevon simply takes that to its ultimate conclusion - "Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so(even if they succeed, since the Final Aeon kills the summoner). Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner(and the most beloved one sacrifices himself to help their summoner defeat Sin). The fayth are the souls of the dead(granted powers greater than the living). Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent(supposedly wiser than the living). Spira is full of death(which Yevon insists is "Good"). Only Sin is reborn(because summoners keep sacrificing guardians to it), and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly(because no one bothers to fight it)." So Auron's cry of "Die and be free of pain, or live and [[DoNotGoGentle fight your sorrow!]]", is the Eastern equivalent of [[Creator/GarthEnnis Jesse]] [[ComicBook/{{Preacher}} Custer]]'s realization that "(God) wants us... to love him and (it's) much more satisfyin'... when the [[CrapsackWorld hell of this Earth]] makes the choice so god-damned hard!"

* There is no water faith. Tidus is an star Blitzball player, a sport that takes place underwater (bonus points since "Blitz" is german for "lighting" water's polar opposite), and to take it further; Anima's faith (Seymore's mother, who became a faith in an act of love for Seymore if the ''one'' flashback she's in is any indicator) is found in the flooded Baaj Temple. Now I may be just reading into this too much, but I see a small conection--Ryuki

* Operation Mi'ihen involved getting Sinspawns in one place in order to lure Sin so the Crusaders can blast it away using various machina. The reasoning behind this is because Sin, for some reason, always returns for his spawn. Coincidentally, Yuna's party just happen to be there. As expected, Sin does appear, and everyone thinks it returned for the gathered sinspawn, except Auron. Therefore, Sin coming for his spawn that time did not refer to the sinspawn. Sin is Jecht, and he came for his son, Tidus. If Yuna and the others weren't in that place, Operation Mi'ihen would've not happened.

* Why is Seymour Omnis a much easier fight than the previous one? In the second battle against him, he absorbed the souls of a few Guado and soliders. In the third battle, he had absorbed the souls of all the Ronso he killed. In his final battle, he was alone and had no flunkies/victims to draw any extra power from.

* On a related note, at the end of the game, the fayth dissipate, which means no more summoners. So... who's going to send the dead? X2 states that fiends are still around, but nobody is sure why. I'll leave you to get on with that HeroicBSOD now...

** No, the Calms themselves are part of the spiral and aren't static, fixed periods. It's somewhere near the beginning of FFX that one of the characters (Wakka or Lulu, I think) explains that the Calms are getting shorter and that Sin only took ten years to come back this time. That fits in with the concept of spirals; Sin is spiralling up, coming back faster and larger with each reincarnation, even as Spira and life on Spira is spiralling down.

*** What really? 500 years? That must be some mistake. That's half the time of the entire rein of Sin. And the first Sin didn't even last all that long considering Yunalesca was the one who defeated it. There's no way the entire system could be established as depicted if the first calm was that long. That's not a cycle, that's a second coming. Besides I'm pretty sure someone in game says that Braska's calm was a pretty lengthy one (though still not nearly as long as the ten years people mistakenly assume since Auron needed Sin to get to Dream Zanarkand while Tidus was still a child).
* So, we know that [[spoiler: Jecht was holding back Sin's destructive impluses for years, with varying degrees of success. This also implies that the other Sins, most of whom were Guardians, also held back their destructive urges.]] But Remember how Seymour [[spoiler: actually ''wants'' to become Sin and murder everyone? Since Sin has killed so many with hosts holding it back, imagine how many it would kill if someone actively directed it to destroy. Seymour's plan to kill everyone suddenly becomes very attainable.]]

* Presumably, Zanarkand [[spoiler:(that is, Dream Zanarkand)]] contains people other than Tidus [[spoiler: (or at least sentient entities other than Tidus)]]. When the group decides to TakeAThirdOption in the final act, Tidus [[spoiler: knows that successfully destroying Yu Yevon will mean the end of his existence, as Dream Zanarkand will be destroyed as well]]. It's fine for him - he makes an informed choice about his fate. [[spoiler: But what about the other inhabitants of Dream Zanarkand? They're all about to have their existence snuffed out without a moment's notice. Any explanation for why there is NoEndorHolocaust here]]?

* The phrase ''refused the hand of the priest's daughter in marriage'' really sounds as if Auron refused an arranged marriage, which from X-2 we know to be a thing in Spira as Yuna was arranged to wed Baralai. Given how he was poised to become a maester and she was the daughter of the incredibly powerful Yevon priesthood, it is obvious what both families sought to gain and how much they lost when he refused. What starts to make this FridgeHorror however is what the circumstances surrounding the marriage were given how corrupt we learn the Yevon church to be as well as what happened to her after Auron refused. Was she offered to Wen Kinoc instead? If she was then Kinoc presumably accepted which may have been one of the reasons why Auron had taken a dislike to his old friend. Was it only Auron that refused or did she do so as well, leading to her being exiled alongside him or worse? If she could not wield a sword or magic then such a fate would have been a death sentence in Spira.
* Granted, it's insensitive when Wakka says the destruction of Rikku's home is "Like a bunch of festival fireworks", but remember Wakka's situation. He lives around Besaid and Kilika, two of the most Sin-ravaged towns in Spira(You think they live in straw huts because they like it?). For Wakka, the destruction of one's home is called [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Tuesday]]. That shaped his attitude of him and the residents of Kilika who pick up ahnd move on soon after a Sin attack. Rikku at least still has her dad, Wakka's lost everything to Sin.

* Seymour wants to become Sin and kill everyone so that all suffering will end. Except he'll be Sin, and there'll be no Summoner left to kill him, so basically his endgame is [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream being a giant hell-whale in an empty ocean alone forever]]?

* Granted, it's insensitive when Wakka says the destruction of Rikku's home is "Like a bunch of festival fireworks", but remember Wakka's situation. He lives around Besaid and Kilika, two of the most Sin-ravaged towns in Spira(You think they live in straw huts because they like it?). For Wakka, the destruction of one's home is called [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Tuesday]]. That shaped his attitude of him and the residents of Kilika who pick up ahnd move on soon after a Sin attack. Rikku at least still has her dad, Wakka's lost everything to Sin.

* In [[spoiler:Yuna's farewell sphere]], she says that when she first met Kimahri he told her that he was there because it was the wish of man facing death. At the time, you think this is Braska, who had just died fighting Sin, but once [[spoiler:Auron tells Tidus that he is an unsent]], you realise that Kimahri was actually talking about [[spoiler:Auron himself]]!