History FinalFantasyX / TropesAToC

** Tidus is a FragileSpeedster, with high Agility and a combination of accuracy and power meant to take out lightly-armored and nimble fiends. He's also a TimeMaster, learning Slow, Haste, and Delay attacks to speed up the party's turn order and low the enemy's.

** Yuna is the WhiteMage, learning a variety of healing and buffing attacks. She's also the TheBigGuy via her SummonMagic, calling Aeons to MeatShield or BeginWithAFinisher.

** Rikku is a SupportPartyMember, able to Use attack items for various effects and being able to Steal from enemies, which also lets her instantly kill machina-type enemies.

* ChurchMilitant: There are two different (and sometimes competing) military organizations that are both controlled by the Yevon church, the Crusadors and the Warrior Monks. Especially the latter are often used to fight, imprison or kill those who disobey the law of the Faith.

* CombatantCooldownSystem: the game's VisualInitiativeQueue displays the turn order, calculated by each character's Speed value. Additionally, every ability you can use has an associated "Wait" value, which applies a multiplier to the character's Speed value and can push the character up or down the queue. For instance, changing equipment mid-battle has the lowest Wait value possible and makes the character's next turn come up ''very'' quickly. Overdrives, particularly those belonging to Aeons, have a high Wait value, and the opponents may be able to take several turns in the meanwhile. And finally, Tidus('s section of the Sphere Grid) has abilites, "Delay Attack" and "Delay Buster," which ''inflict'' high Wait values on the target enemy, delaying their turn... assuming the enemy isn't immune to the attack, which some of them are.

* CalmBeforeTheStorm: The entire game has been taking place in one, as they party camps on the outskirts of the ruins of Zanarkand the night before Yuna is to perform the Final Summoning and defeat Sin, Tidus takes the opportunity to recount his story, explaining how he came to be there, which is what players have been following up to this point.

** Aeons. Early on Aeons are ''far'' stronger than the party of three you trade in to summon them, with high HP, high damage output, their Overdrives can easily hit the damage limit (Bahamut also allows for the first taste of exceeding the initial damage limit), and they're immune to status ailments. But once you hit the Calm Lands, many bosses are then scripted to specifically counter Aeons, often though some manner of OneHitKO attack, and their inability to heal (unless you use items to teach them) begins to dampen their usefulness. In the post-game once you start taking on the optional bosses, the Aeons are vastly inferior to your party members on even an individual basis, and they're mostly only useful to summon them to [[TakingTheBullet be a meat-shield]] for strong attacks and/or launching their Overdrive for burst damage.

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** ''Final Fantasy X'', as the first iteration of the series on the newer UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 console, received major graphics upgrades compared to its predecessor. Backgrounds had greater detail, character models were more defined, and everything looked far more realistic.

* AFriendInNeed: The whole party of guardians fight to rescue Yuna from [[spoiler:her wedding to Seymour]], despite effectively declaring war on the Yevon church.

** Yojimbo is an Aeon whose moves depend on how much you pay him per turn (among other factors like letting him fall in battle or summoning then dismissing him), with his ultimate move being a OneHitKill against everything and everyone, including the BonusBoss. While he won't outright refuse to attack, he'll use a much weaker attack if he deems your offering insufficient, including sending his dog at the enemy instead of using his blades.

%%* BonusBoss: '''''62''''' of them, at least by the loosest definition: Lord Ochu, Belgemine's Ifrit on Mi'ihen Highroad, her Ixion on the Moonflow, her Shiva in the Calm Lands, her 8 Aeons at Remiem Temple, Ginnem's Yojimbo, Geosgaeno, Ultima and Omega Weapons, the 35(!) Monster Arena creations, the 10 Dark Aeons (you can fight the Dark Magus Sisters separately, thus making them truly three separate bosses), and Penance. The last 11 are absent in the vanilla version, though.
%%** The Arena has got to be the hardest quest this side of the Mark Hunts in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]''. At first it's just small potatoes: You fight stronger versions of random encounters, similar to the "Oversouled" mobs from ''X-2''. These are the monsters that can be beaten with fairly-low stats. And this applies to most of the "Area" creations (unlocked after capturing every fiend type in a given area) and some "Species" creations. (Obtained after capturing a certain number of monsters from the same type ex: birds, wolves, Malboros, etc.) Nega Elemental, Jumbo Flan, and Malboro Menace are intimidating, but not that hard if you know their tricks. "Original" creations are unlocked after some special conditions are met. Now, as for the Original fiends, Celestial weapons and stat-maxing are highly recommended. The competition here is tough, and you will easily get obliterated if ill-prepared. The most obvious examples of this category's difficulty:
%%###Neslug (HP: 4,000,000). Can be quite difficult if you don't know the trick. Wakka is required; otherwise it will be impossible to beat it. Watch out for the number of attacks you inflict on it before it begins resting.
%%###Ultima Buster (HP: 5,000,000). Quite difficult if you don't use Wakka. Get rid of [[CognizantLimbs the Head and the arms]] ASAP. Ribbon is unnecessary if you cut off the Head.
%%###Nemesis (HP: 10,000,000): Impossible to beat if you're not using Auto-Life. That's because you're fending off Ultra Spark, Armageddon and Ultima (which he likes to use as a counter-attack). If you break your HP cap, then you should not have to worry about Ultra Spark or his status ailments.
%%** Luckily, you only have to unlock 10 Arena fights total (i.e. across all three categories) to get the Sigil for Auron's Masamune. You can farm rare spheres and items by battling the fiends here. Capture 5 fiends of each type, and the trainer starts selling Clear Spheres (overwrite any stat-increasing node on the Grid and replace it with one of your choice) for 10,000 Gil a pop. Although it begs the question of why the hell didn't the Monster Arena guy try and take on Sin? After Tidus has captured hundreds of fiends, Monster Arena Guy has command over monsters that'd kick Sin's ass. He could become a hero, like a legendary Pokémon Master or something. The in-universe reason is that he doesn't have access to the Airship or the Hymn of the Fayth to weaken it. According to ''Ultimania'', [[spoiler:he's actually Trema, the Bonus Boss fought in ''Final Fantasy X-2''. This sounds like conjecture based on Trema saying that he provided the youth of Spira with a training academy]], which %%could be interpreted as the Monster Arena.
%%** PAL/HD version only: After you get the Airship, Yevon dispatches hitmen all over Spira to kill you if you set foot in old areas. A variety of monks, priestesses, and Guado will summon these Aeons.
%%###Dark Valefor and Dark Ifrit are quite easy, but Dark Ixion and Dark Shiva are quite the pain in the ass at low levels. The Magus Sisters are safe as long as you kill the weak one and prevent Delta Attack.
%%###For Bahamut, Anima, and Yojimbo, you have to have huge armor and stat preparations in comparison to the previous four: You have to watch out for Bahamut's counter-attacks (Impulse), or you're royally-screwed. Anima's high HP, excessive Pain spam, and Mega-(allfreakingstatuseffects)-Graviton is a major annoyance since it slows down the fight, which makes her health seem even-higher than it already is. Dark Yojimbo isn't that hard once you nail the strategy, but finding him is difficult, and you have to kill him ''numerous'' times, so it feels never-ending. Wakizashi is a whole-party attack, and Daigoro's Stone will kick out your characters. Auto-Life is powerless against Zanmato, but then what did you expect? It's Zanmato.
%%** Penance is the ultimate boss in the PAL/HD version. You need to kill each of the ultra-hard Dark Aeons to reach it. It becomes accessible by airship so you can fight it at any time. At maximum character potential, it takes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZA3P4hEWI 30 MINUTES]] and can OneHitKO your characters. If you don't know how to fight him he can, and will, use an attack that is a TotalPartyKill, ''with'' Auto-Life or not.
* BonusBoss: '''''62''''' of them, at least by the loosest definition.
** As you progress through the story, there are several skippable boss fights, starting with Lord Ochu and then moving on to Belgemine's aeons (Ifrit on Mi'ihen Highroad, Ixion on the Moonflow, and Shiva in the Calm Lands).
** Later in the game, you have Belgemine's 8 Aeons at Remiem Temple, Ginnem's Yojimbo, Geosgaeno, Ultima Weapon, Omega Weapon, and the 35(!) Monster Arena creations (the strongest of which have millions of HP).
** The PAL/International/HD versions add the 10 Dark Aeons[[note]]You can fight each of the Dark Magus Sisters separately, thus making them truly three separate bosses.[[/note]] and Penance. That last one has 10 million HP, can OneHitKO maxed out characters, and takes about 30 minutes to beat even if you know what you're doing.

* AllForNothing: Operation Mi'ihen, a joint operation between the Crusaders and the Al Bhed in an effort to destroy Sin once and for all using an Al Bhed WaveMotionGun. The participating Crusaders end up excommunicated from Yevon as a result, and in the end, all they manage to accomplish is getting themselves slaughtered by Sin.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Part of Seymour's agenda is to get Yuna to marry him.

* AntidoteEffect: Played straight until you can customize weapons. Yuna starts out with Esuna, a normally endgame spell that cures all status effects from the target, so unless she is silenced or petrified, status effects aren't too much of a problem. Once you can customize equipment, however, you can use the status cure items to put status-inflicting attributes on weapons or make your armor resist them, but you need a lot of them for this.

** The DualBoss on Mt. Gagazet has to be completed with just Kimahri. To prevent a lot of unnecessary grinding, the boss characters' stats are slightly scaled up from Kimahri's, so the battle is tough but fair regardless of how much or how little you've used Kimahri.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Yu Yevon is defeated and Spira is finally freed from the eternal terror of Sin. However, this victory costs Tidus his life, leaving Yuna to go on without him. Her last words to him: "I love you." The game closes with her concluding a speech to a stadium full of cheering citizens by saying that the dead must never be forgotten as we see a montage of her memories of Tidus]].

** As the Besaid Aurochs are under-leveled compared to the Luca Goers in the story-mandated Blitzball game, it's a popular tactic to simply pass the ball around the backline for easy XP or hide the ball carrier behind the keeper, which often makes the AI reposition in a defensive formation on their side of the playing field, until halftime. Once there, Tidus can equip his Jecht Shot if he learned it beforehand, which is nearly a guaranteed goal, allowing the players to score once then try to hold on for a 1-0 victory.

* BoringButPractical: Tidus, the TimeMaster, learns Haste fairly early in the game. Because it increases a character's Speed and thus how often they get turns, it is an ''excellent'' tool for exploiting the TacticalRockPaperScissors that the entire battle engine is built around.

* AnAesop: Don't blindly follow the ideals of a doctrin or someone else's.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Guado are said to be a separate species from Humans and the main distinction is that they all have the same, gruff face. The reason Seymour, who descends from them, does not have the same face is because he is half human. The Al Bhed are also very similar to Humans, except for their distinctive swirly green eyes.

** There's also a fair bit of CrapsaccharineWorld undertones: Zanarkand is noted in-story as a ShiningCity with glorious technology and blitzball games all the time, but it was also at war with Bevelle and sent a whole lot of summoners to the front lines to try and defend against it. Meanwhile, being in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, Spira is also full of [[SceneryPorn beautiful landscapes]] and [[ImpossiblyCoolOutfit character outfits that are the death-knell of cosplayers,]] as well as [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic one of the series' most renowned soundtracks.]]

* AbusiveParents:

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap:
** Character stats max out at 255. You can beat the FinalBoss without too much trouble when your strongest characters have Strength or Magic of about 70. The other 185 points are for Bonus Boss fights.
** Also in Blitzball. The level cap is 99, but even if you play regularly you can probably win all of Wakka's Overdrives (the main reason to play the minigame) with a team of 30s and 40s. If you go for the conservative route, it's possible to do this in as little as 26 games, at which point your team probably won't even break Level 20.