DEFENDING TIDUS (FINAL FANTASY X ESSAY)

Final Fantasy X, what hasn't been said about this game? The fastest-selling console RPG, a game score of 29/30 in Famitsu, best Game Award from the Japan Game Awards for 2001–2002, IGN ranked it as 5th on the "Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time," commercial and critical acclaim across all borders and I mean really just a very kick ass game that after all these years I still fondly remember. And I mean that for better or for worst. As much as this game is loved by millions there also seemed to be a consensus about the main character of the game Tidus, there's a huge chunk of the fanbase who really hates the guy... and I mean, really hates the guy like almost "Hitler to Jews" kinda hate. Truth be told the hate isn't exactly unjustified, having played and finish the game a couple times throughout the years, I do at least understand where all the hate is coming from. Here's the thing though, Tidus may very well be my most favorite character in the franchise. Now before all, you haters go on hatin' (that's my one and only attempt at being black) let me explain myself. Here are the reasons why Tidus is not as bad as you remembered him.

Just a little background to the 5% of you guys who don't know what Final Fantasy is or who has no idea who Tidus is, (in which case why are you even reading this?) Tidus is a famous sports celebrity of the fictional sport of Blitzball. He is also the Protege and son of Jecht, who is considered to be the GOAT of the sport of Blitzball. Imagine Lebron James if his dad was Michael Jordan.. and if Michael Jordan abandoned him as a kid. So right off the bat, we have a famous 17-year-old teenager who has daddy issues and has to spend the rest of his life proving to everyone that he is better than his dad. The result (as fans would put it) is the whiny ass, self-centered, sissy, shorts-wearing love child of Leonardo Decaprio and Meg Ryan. Granted that may have been an exaggeration but its also kind of true. Tidus isn't exactly your typical Final Fantasy protagonist, he's brash, childish and has a tendency to be insensitive but, for the most part, his heart is always in the right place and he does eventually change for the better at the end of the story.

At the beginning of the story, Tidus was transported from the city of Zanarkand via a magic whale monster destroying his world as he knows it, to the fantastical world of Spira. A place where no one knows who he is, the main religion that everyone believes in could be a lie, and the same magic whale monster who destroyed his world is also currently terrorizing the world he got transported in. All in all not a good day for the guy. Now, let's empathize a bit with the main character here. Imagine being in his situation. You wake up one day to a legion of fans that you are accustomed to, go into an arena where you do your thing and be a sports hero and then all of a sudden bam!- everything is gone. Your fame, your team, and that hot tinder date you were supposed to meet after the game. What's worst is that you get transported in a world you have absolutely no idea about. How would you react? The main character's reaction to all of this is actually pretty justifiable when you really think about it. I mean what's a guy suppose to do? Just accept things as they are? Of course, he's going to be angry, of course, he's going to be confused, he's a 17-year-old teenager for Yevon's sake. I find that most people just seem to pass judgment solely on how Tidus reacts to the world around him without understanding the context, he's not an idiot or insensitive he just doesn't know any better. He's clueless and rightfully so. He doesn't understand the virtues of Yevon or how summoning works or what the pilgrimage is, all this is new to him plus all he really wants is to get his life back. I remembered playing the game for the first time I think I was 13 or 14 years old, and I just couldn't help but empathize with Tidus. At that age, I was still very dependent and couldn't imagine a world beyond what I already had at that time. If I was in the position that Tidus was I would have reacted way worst, I may even had peed myself a bit.

Okay, let's just get this issue out of the way. There's a particular scene in the game that drives a lot of fans crazy, it's the scene that happens right after the events in Luca before traversing the Mi'ihen Highroad. You know what I'm talking about (and if you don't, again why are you even reading this?). It's infamously known as one of the most annoying cutscenes in gaming history. You can most likely see the clip everywhere on the internet. It's basically the part where Yuna teaches Tidus how to "fake laugh." The result is one of the cringiest moments in gaming ever. The thing is I find that most people judge the scene out of context. It's cringy yes, but it was meant to be cringy. That's the whole point of the scene. Yuna was trying to explain to Tidus the importance of laughing through adversary even if its hard, even if it feels like you're betraying yourself, even if it's just pretending. The awkward laughter was supposed to portray strength for better or for worst, and yet disappointingly that particular scene is nothing more than a meme for most people. Some fans would say that it's just a bad case of bad voice acting, well why don't we have the actual voice actor explain it himself in the video below.

Full disclosure here, Final Fantasy X was the first game that ever made me cry, and it's not just because of the ending, its everything leading to it. Okay, this is your spoiler warning. By the end of the story, we find out that Yevon the main religion in the world of Spira is a lying sack of shit, the magic whale monster is Tidus's father Jecht, and that both Tidus and Jecht are not real people but are actually a product of an illusionary dream created by the Fayth. The Fayth (and this is an abridged version because it really gets convoluted) were basically humans who willingly had their souls sealed in statues in a state of dreaming to create Tidus, Jecht and basically everything in Zanarkand, the world where Tidus came from. After a thousand years of dreaming, they decided its about time for them to finally wake up. However, in order to do that Yu Yevon must be killed. Yu Yevon was once the leader of Zanarkand and the one that basically orchestrated the whole putting your soul into the statue thing. The problem is that Yu Yevon created Sin (the magic whale monster I was talking about) as an armor to shield himself from anyone trying to stop the Fayth from dreaming. Yes, Yu Yevon is inside the magic whale monster. Ayt, short version. Kill Yu Yevon inside Sin and Sin Itself is destroyed, waking up the Fayth also effectively wiping out Tidus out of existence. So Basically Tidus, and also in retrospect, you the player was effectively going on an adventure that ultimately results in your own suicide. This revelation crushed me as a kid. On the later parts of the story, Tidus did in fact change. He was no longer the selfish, small-minded, self-centered whiny ass kid he used to be. He grew fond of the world of Spira, cared about his companions and ultimately became the selfless hero he was meant to be. I still perfectly remember the moment he completely understood what he really was, and what killing Sin meant for his existence... the dude didn't even flinch. Weirdly enough there was a sense of contentment within him, he was oddly fine about his situation as long as it meant saving the people and the world he grew to care about. I remember at the final stretch of the game fighting the final boss, I couldn't bring myself to push the X button because I know exactly what it would mean. I, the player was more conflicted about the main characters eventual death, than the character himself. I couldn't even begin to explain how both awesome and painful that is. This game got me so invested in the main character that I legitimately felt guilty about pulling the trigger. Well, it was eventually revealed in the sequel that Tidus was eventually revived but I'll save that for another blog altogether.

There has always been an argument towards who the real main character is in this game. Yuna, Tidus's love interest in the game is considered by some fans as the true main character. Yuna is the daughter of Lord Braska, a great summoner who successfully completed the pilgrimage and vanquished Sin 10 years prior to the start of the game. Yuna wants to follow in his father's footstep and go on a pilgrimage herself so she can also vanquish Sin. Okay, context is in order for this one as well. In this world, summoners go on a quest to pray and get powers called Aeons from different temples throughout the world, It's known as "the pilgrimage." If you manage to pray on all of the temples you can then go and get the final Aeon which in turn can kill Sin thus completing the pilgrimage. The catch is completing the pilgrimage also means the death of the summoner, as summoning the final Aeon requires human sacrifice, what's worst is that even if the pilgrimage is completed Sin is eventually reborn after 10 years and the cycle begins anew. Keep in mind that this was prior to anyone in the world knowing about Yu Yevon being inside Sin, no one knew that there was actually a permanent solution to all of this. Yuna is effectively going on a quest that will ultimately result in her own death, a direct parallel to Tidus's eventual fate. So basically the whole adventure that our heroes went through was actually initiated by Yuna, not Tidus. So when you think about it, this is actually more of Yuna's story, so isn't it fair to say that she is, in fact, the actual main character? I would agree with you except I don't really think that it's the case. Yuna may have started this journey but it was Tidus who was ultimately the catalyst that ended the spiral of death in Spira. If you remove Tidus from the equation, things would have ended very differently. Yevon would have never been exposed, Yuna would have died, and Sin wouldn't have been permanently destroyed. In a story perspective, It also made sense to have Tidus as the main character because it would have been easier to empathize with him than Yuna. His purpose is to be you, the player, to be us. He is an observer like we are an observer. Tidus may not be the actual focus in the in-universe context of the game, but he's there to represent you, he represents the "outsider" in all of us.

Tidus is by no means perfect. His heart is in the right place but he is also very whiny. He's brave but also very insensitive. He wants to do the right thing but has no idea what that is. He is so far away from being an archetype of a hero and yet he strives to be one. You could hate this character all you want, that's perfectly fine. Me personally I can't help but root for this guy and I will always stand by that opinion.