Character and Player Information

[swordplaying]

Player nickname: Karma
Player LJ: khadaj
Way to contact you: AIM, E-mail, Plurk, Private Messaging.
Email: kadaj_strife@yahoo.com
AIM: GoddessofSaturn
Other: Plurk stetsonsarecool

Character: Tidus
Fandom: Final Fantasy X/X-2
Character Notes:
History:

Not much is known about Tidus’ childhood and past, but the few fragments shown speak volumes. The son of a talented and famous Blitzball player, Tidus always felt as if he was in Jecht’s shadow. Those feelings were only amplified by his father, Jecht’s, particular brand of support and love. While not an overly cruel man, to Tidus Jecht was practically a villain. Whenever he was around, he would constantly put Tidus’ efforts at Blitzball down and make fun of him, calling him a crybaby. Because of this, Tidus hates it when people put down others.

Another thing about Jecht that led to more resentment from Tidus was whenever Jecht visited his mother would drop anything and everything to be with Jecht and ignore Tidus completely. Feeling inferior to Jecht, he only hated him more. For many years he never realized it was Jecht who actually would suggest to the woman to pay more attention their son, and he placed all responsibility on Jecht.

When Tidus was seven, Jecht suddenly disappeared at sea. Many believed he was dead, but some were in denial. While Tidus verbally claimed that he hoped Jecht was dead, his mother pointed out that if Jecht was dead, Tidus would never be able to express the hate he felt for him. Not long after, his mother gave up the will to live without Jecht. She became ill and died. It was just another reason for Tidus to resent him.

Fast forward ten years later. Tidus is a famous Blitzball star in his own right, but is still known to many as Jecht’s son. On the night he would play for the Jecht Memorial cup, his home city of Zanarkand was attacked. He didn’t get the chance to play for very long when he was thrown into the chaos and confusion. By not quite a coincidence, he ran into Auron, the man who became something like a guardian to him once he was orphaned. With Auron’s guidance, he managed to defend and fight his way through a wave of grotesque creatures, which he learned where Sinspawn, and the thing that attacked was Sin.

The city of Zanarkand falling around him, Tidus asked Auron for help. He didn’t expect Auron to grab him and throw him up toward the maw of the creature. Luckily (or maybe not), going through Sin is a bit like accidentally inhaling something that makes one hallucinate and stuff. Some trippy experiences later, and Tidus found himself washed up in the cold water surrounding ancient, partially underwater ruins.

Despite the peaceful, however haunting aura the ruins had at first, Tidus couldn’t get a break. Finding shelter within the ruins, he realized that he was virtually stranded. And cold. Shortly after he finally succeeds in creating a fire, he was attacked again. In a strange stroke of luck, a group of strangely clothed people came to his aid. He couldn’t see much of their faces, but they brought exploding things, so they were good as far as he was concerned.

Until they knocked him out a few moments later.

When Tidus woke up again on their ship, he found out several important things:

1. The people who rescued him were Al Bhed. People hated the Al Bhed.

2. The girl who helped him was named Rikku.

3. Sin still existed in this strange place.

4. According to Rikku, Sin destroyed Zanarkand a thousand years ago.

Figuring it was a side effect from being too close to Sin’s toxin, Rikku promised Tidus she would take him to Luca in hopes of finding someone who knew him there. She also warned him not to tell others he was from Zanarkand. Yevon said it was a holy place. It was just another term and statement that confused Tidus more and left him more angry and in denial.

Any anger didn’t last long when Sin arrived to wash Tidus overboard. When he awoke, he found himself in the water near the shore of a warmer beach. Or, Besaid Island. To his delight, he was hit in the head with the second familiar thing in this place, literally: a Blitzball. He was displeased to find out he’ll have to continue claiming to have gotten too close to Sin’s toxin to explain his lack of knowledge and statements involving Zanarkand. The blitzball team accepted this explanation. Tidus found out that the coach’s name is Wakka, who happens to be a follower of Yevon. Wakka quickly warmed up to Tidus and looked out for him.

It’s Wakka who informs Tidus of what happened to Zanarkand a thousand years ago. In more detail, anyway. Wakka’s version states that Sin was people’s punishment for greed and letting things get out of hand, but it otherwise matched up with what Rikku said. Depressed by the news, Tidus decided that next time he encountered Sin he would try to get back home. Until then, he would focus on living and trying not to get too homesick. Impressed with Tidus’ blitzball skills, Wakka requested Tidus to play for him at the approaching Blitzball tournament. Tidus agreed.

Tidus didn’t stay at Wakka’s village of Besaid for very long, but in that short amount of time several important things occurred. He found out Crusaders were a group of people intent on beating Sin. They had been battling for eight hundred years. Confused at first, it was clarified that it was more of their job to protect the temples, villages, people and Blitzball stadium from Sin, rather than outright defeating it. Defeating Sin was the duty of a Summoner. There was an apprentice summoner at Besaid temple trying to complete the Cloister of Trials at the moment. Wakka happened to be her guardian. When Tidus found out they could be in trouble, he was quick to enter the Cloister of Trials to find them. He didn’t care that it was against the rules. After completing a puzzle that shouldn’t have taken over a day to complete, he met the apprentice summoner-- who now had her first Aeon and happened to be a full-fledged summoner.

Tidus was surprised to discover the summoner was a girl the same age as he. Her name was Yuna, and she would play an important role in his story.

Later, he witnessed his first summoning as Yuna summoned Valefor. Later on that night, he overheard a conversation between Lulu, another one of Yuna’s guardians, and Wakka. He found out that he physically resembled Wakka’s deceased younger brother, Chappu. Wakka later gave Tidus the same sword he gave to Chappu. Tidus decided to accompany Yuna and her guardians on her pilgrimage, at least until they reached the city of Luca.

Their first stop was Kilika. On the way there, Tidus talked more with Yuna. He found out Yuna knew a man named Jecht, who was her father’s guardian on his pilgrimage. He also found out the day his Jecht disappeared, the Jecht Yuna knew arrived on Spira. Their conversation was cut short by Sin. They did their best to battle it, but it still destroyed most of Kilika village in the process. When they reach Kilika, they arrive at a graveyard. It turns out besides defeating Sin, another summoner’s duty is to send the souls of the dead. If they don’t, they remain unsent, and eventually their spirits corrupt and become fiends, monsters that roam the world of Spira. The morning after Yuna performs the sending, Tidus and everyone else went to Kilika temple. There, Yuna acquires another Aeon, Ifrit. At the temple, Tidus came across another connection between Spira and Zanarkand. The song that played in the temple was a song he knew from his childhood in Zanarkand. With nothing else keeping them at Kilika, they traveled to their next destination, Luca.

There, Tidus would play on Wakka’s team, the Besaid Aurochs during the Blitzball tournament. The Besaid Aurochs had a long losing streak, and Tidus as well as the others were determined to change it that year.

Outraged and determined to win, Tidus climbed up some crates and used a megaphone to announce the Aurochs’ looming victory. Shortly after, Tidus saw Maester Mika, and Maester Seymour. The fact that Mika had been a Maester for fifty years seemed strange to Tidus, despite the fact no one else found it unusual. Tidus was reluctant to bow, though Wakka wanted him to.

Yuna told Tidus someone said they saw Auron at a café. Yuna had known Auron as another one of her father, Braska’s, guardians. It was a strange connection. Tidus and Yuna decided to look for Auron before the game. This was when Tidus introduced Yuna to whistling. When they reached the café, Auron wasn’t there, but Yuna disappeared. It turned out she had been kidnapped by the Al Bhed. After rescuing Yuna with Lulu and Kimahri, another of Yuna’s guardians, Tidus found out Yuna was half Al-Bhed.

Tidus ran back to the game, already late. (The outcome of the game depends on the player, so I’m going to say they won the tournament.)

Their victory euphora was short lived since soon after the Blitzball stadium was attacked by fiends. The attack was put to a swift halt when Seymour, in the audience, summoned Anima on the monsters. This was also when Tidus was reunited with Auron.

His reunion is hardly a happy one. Tidus is angry at Auron, blaming him. To his horror, he finds out that Sin is Jecht. Shortly after, Tidus and Auron become Yuna’s guardians.

Their next stop was Mi’ihen Highroad. There, Tidus learned the Calm only lasted ten years before Sin reappeared. He didn’t understand how it was worth it, but Yuna was adamant about it. The fact people could live their lives without fearing Sin, even for a short while, was worth it.

After crossing Mi’ihen Highroad, AKA the most annoyingly long road ever, they reached Mushroom Rock Road. They came across Operation Mi’ihen, a joint operation between the Al Bhed and Crusaders that wanted to permanently defeat Sin. They were surprised to find Seymour was there to show his support, seeing as most followers of Yevon were extremely against the Al Bhed for using machina. It didn’t go as planned. Sin practically obliterated nearly everyone there. Tidus and his group, Maester Seymour, and a few others survived.

After Yuna acquired the Aeon known as Ixion, they went across the Moonflow. There, Yuna was re-captured by Al Bhed, only to be rescued again. After, Tidus was reunited with Rikku, who happened to be Yuna’s cousin. She wanted to be Yuna’s guardian, so she accompanied them on their journey.

Next stop, Guadosalam. After a flashy light so of the Zanarkand of the past, Seymour asked Yuna to marry him. Tidus had his own reservations in accepting the fact that Yuna may say yes. Entering the Farplane with everyone else other than Auron and Rikku, Tidus found out that Jecht’s image wouldn’t appear. Lord Jyscal’s spirit tried to exit the Farplane, only to be sent back by Yuna. This is also the point where he began to fall in love with Yuna. He even verbally admits to it to Lulu.

Their next destination was Macalania Temple, but in order to reach it they would first have to cross the Thunder Plains. Much to his disappointment, Yuna decided to marry. In Macalania forest, they entered a hidden area and were ambushed by Spherimorph. After they defeated it, they found Jecht’s Sphere. On it, Tidus saw Jecht express some of his true feelings for his son. For once, he wasn’t just taunting Tidus, though he did some of that too.

Yuna was going to Macalania Temple to propose to Seymour, when she was ambushed by the Al Bhed again. They stopped them, but Wakka found out Rikku was Al Bhed, and his opinion changed toward her from welcoming and friendly to disgust. So they head to Macalania Temple.

And just in time. Before reuniting with Yuna, the group came across a sphere she had hidden from the others. On it was Jyscal, Seymour’s deceased father, claiming that Seymour would soon murder him. Fearing for Yuna, they rushed to confront Seymour.

After battling Seymour and defeating him, Tidus and the group began to run as they were being chased by the Guado. They fell to the bottom of the frozen lake, where Sin would appear and carry them to Bikanel desert, a desert island and secret home of the Al Bhed.

Tidus found out Yuna was missing. Rikku said the Al Bhed had taken her to Home. Tidus and the others were guided by Rikku to Home, which is the home for the Al Bhed, but also much like a fortress. It turned out Home was under attack. In fact, it was practically a massacre. It turns out the attack had been launched by the Guado and followers of Yevon.

Tidus was horrified to find out the reason the Al Bhed were kidnapping summoners was because at the end of a summoner’s pilgrimage, if they were successful in beating Sin, they had to sacrifice their lives in the process. Tidus was outraged he had been oblivious to it up until this point, and felt guilty for always talking to Yuna about what would happen after she beat Sin. He was still horrified by the news, but refused to let Yuna die. Rikku shared his sentiments.

For the time being, their focus was finding Yuna before the Guado did. They weren’t successful. They rode an Airship, led by Yuna’s uncle and Rikku’s father, Cid, leader of the Al Bhed. They managed to find out she was being held in the city of Bevelle. Seymour, apparently unsent, was still determined to marry her.

Tidus and the others ambushed Bevelle, but not before he declared to Cid he would never let Yuna die. He and the others managed to put a dent into the ceremony, but didn’t outright stop it. When Seymour ordered the guards to kill Yuna’s friends anyway, she jumped off the building, using Valefor to catch her. Tidus and the rest went to Bevelle temple to catch up with her.

Yuna managed to obtain another Aeon, Bahamut. The others did catch up, only to have the guards capture them. They were put on trial before the four Maesters of Yevon: Grand Maester Mika, Maester Kelk, Maester Kinoc, and Maester Seymour. Yuna tried to reason with them, claiming Seymour was an unsent, only to her surprise as well as Tidus and the others, Mika was another unsent. They learned the Maesters viewed Sin as an inevitable, neverending cycle of death.

They didn’t have much time to dwell on that, because they were separated and thrown into the Via Purifico under the assumption they would die there. Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka were thrown into the Purifico’s sewers, separated from the others.

Eventually, they all met together, to fight Seymour in a different form. Again. Once they defeated him, again, they escaped Bevelle and went to Macalania Woods.

When they reached Macalania Forest, Yuna’s guardians gave her some time alone. The only person who followed her to the water was Tidus. The conversation they held there and actions they led up to would change everything forever.

Tidus told Yuna about Zanarkand, urging her to quit and live a normal life like she wanted. While seeming to consider the fact, Yuna broke down crying, so Tidus kissed her to calm her down. Knowing this was her decision to make, he saw no reason not to. He would finally express to her what he felt.

So they made out in the water, and Tidus promised Yuna he would stay with her always.

After traveling the Calm Lands, their next destination was Mt. Gagazet, home of Kimahri and the other Ronso. During their trek, Rikku and Tidus discussed how they were going to stop Yuna from dying without much progress. Everyone ran into Seymour again. Seymour killed the Ronso barring his path before. The unsent Maester believed that if he could become Sin, he would free Spira from its eternal suffering. Transforming into Seymour Flux, he fought Tidus and the others again, only to be defeated. Yet again.

Without much stopping them now, they headed to Zanarkand to obtain the Final Aeon. It was known doing so would kill Yuna in the process, but Tidus and Rikku refused to let that happen.

Before that, Tidus would have a strange experience involving the Fayth (souls of the dead willingly put into statues so that summoners could use them as Aeons). Entering a dream like state, Tidus talked with Bahamut’s Fayth. He was told that he was a dream. Everyone from Zanarkand was, because Zanarkand was a dream conjured up by the Fayth in an attempt to save its memory after it was defeated by the machina of Bevelle a thousand years ago. While Bahamut’s Fayth was somewhat cryptic, he basically said that the Fayth were tired of dreaming, but if they stopped dreaming the dream would end. Tidus was upset to hear that. He didn’t care about his existence, he merely liked living. Bahamut’s Fayth pleaded for Tidus to end it for him, and said Tidus and Jecht were both now than dreams.

Tidus was upset, naturally, but as soon as he awoke to the worrying faces of his friends and Yuna, he put on his normal cheerful act and pretended nothing happened.

He saw the real city of Zanarkand, the dead city, and the final destination of many summoners. They stopped for the night, creating a campfire, and Tidus told his story up until that point to everyone else. As they went deeper into Zanarkand, they saw the memories of those who had previously journeyed there thanks to the pyreflies that swarmed through the place. Tidus learned about Seymour’s past, and Auron’s. It was time to confront Yunalesca. They wanted there to be another way to stop Sin, but Yunalesca basically repeated the Maester’s words. Tidus and the other’s witnessed the memories of Auron’s death when he had attacked Yunalesca in outrage for losing Braska and Jecht, his friends, for the sake of continuing a pointless cycle.

Yunalesca refused to accept Yuna’s new resolve to permanently defeat Sin rather than continue with false hope, so they had to fight her. After defeating Yunalesca, she revealed that Yu Yevon was the one creating Sin again each time, and he was immortal.

Tidus learned that Jecht was the reason Auron had always watched over him in Zanarkand. Auron had promised Jecht to take care of his son, and he did.

Tidus and the others came up with a plan.

If they attracted Sin by using the Hymn of the Fayth, as Jecht much like Tidus enjoyed the tune, they could beat Sin and Yu Yevon. Sin was Yu Yevon’s armor, and after they defeated it, a new Sin would be born. However, the new Sin would be significantly weaker, as it grew over the time during the Calm. They could beat this weaker Sin, and continue doing so until there were no more Aeons left to use.

Summoning Sin with the Hymn of the Fayth worked, and when they entered Sin Seymour was there to greet them. They fought him another, final time. This time, Yuna did manage to send him, and he wouldn’t get in the party’s way any more.

Tidus and Jecht reunited. They may have been on more understanding terms than they ever had been in the past, but tension was high and their emotions were heavy. The two settled it the best way they knew how, by doing what they had to do. When Jecht transformed into Braska’s Final Aeon, they fought it until it hardly had any life left. Tidus held his father as he died, crying like the nickname Jecht would taunt him with. Jecht was proud of his son, and Tidus told him he was glad to have him as his father.

The time for tearful goodbyes ended quickly when Yu Yevon appeared. It was time for Yuna to call all of her Aeons, so that they could defeat them and leave Yu Yevon vulnerable. They finally managed to defeat Yu Yevon, ending Sin, and ending Spira’s spiral of death. Yuna began her sending, but hesitated when Auron began to disappear. However, Auron was ready to die, so he was sent with all the other dead souls. Meanwhile, while the others looked around in awe, Tidus was beginning to disappear.

Distraught himself, Tidus tried telling the others goodbye. Some of them, Yuna, Rikku, and Wakka-- were in denial. When Yuna ran to Tidus, she ended up passing right through him, falling to the surface of the airship’s roof. Standing up again, she told Tidus she loved him. Even though he was crying at this point, he gave her a hug, an embrace Yuna wasn’t able to feel. Walking right through her, he jumped off the airship, into the Farplane. The dream had ended, but he saw Braska and Auron there, and finally Jecht. Slapping his father’s hand in greeting, understanding, and on more equal ground, Tidus’ story has almost ended.

Two years later, Tidus woke up in the ocean by Besaid, again. The Fayth had conjured Tidus back up to existence, because Yuna wanted them to. Running with Yuna, he discovered she had changed, but it wasn’t a bad one. He looked forward to hearing her tell him everything.

Personality: Tidus is a derp. No really okay.

At first, Tidus comes across as a not-so-typical arrogant teenager. The constant fame of being a Blitzball star, and no less, the son of the famous Jecht, has gone to his head. It also assisted feeding his resentment for said father, even if that's hardly the only reason. Tidus enjoys the fame, yes, but he also knows better and is always living up to the image the public expects. He's learned to hold many of his emotions in, because he's a celebrity, and no one likes a star who mopes all the time. Though, when he has the freedom to express them he hadn’t had in a while he's prone to more emotional outbursts such as yelling, shouting, crying...

Family played an important aspect in his life and personality, even his goals, but he learned to look elsewhere for support. His father was often drunk, and while he did help Tidus, his methods left Tidus despising him for it. Jecht would taunt him as a kid, dubbing him “crybaby”. He was trying to build him up, but for a while Tidus never saw it that way. His mother was likely neglectful at best, and she died shortly after Jecht was declared dead, another thing Tidus blamed Jecht for. Tidus has many reasons he hates Jecht, but one of the strongest may be because they have so much in common.

Another thing I would like to elaborate on, that I neglected in the past: Tidus is observant. That isn’t to say he always makes the correct choices, or the cautious ones. Quite the opposite. He’s simply fairly good at reading others. Usually it’s from picking up on their quirks and mannerisms, but this can also be intuitively based at times. He doesn’t always verbalize his observations over others, but he will go into great detail about his experiences…even if he’s not exactly he most poetic guy ever. He can be very, very talkative when on the right subject. And, of course, no one’s always right and he can be painfully clueless at times about certain things. Considering he was in an entirely different world though, I think this is understandable.

When Tidus develops close bonds with friends, those tend to be the most important. He doesn’t like to be alone, not in Zanarkand, much less a world he starts out knowing practically nothing about while believing he’s the only one he knows there at that. However, even in an almost entirely different world, Tidus isn’t one to shy away. Blunt and outspoken, Tidus never minces his words. He says what he thinks. If something sounds stupid, he’ll say it’s stupid. Of course, he has the luxury of not growing up in Spira. Of course, that also gives him a different perspective on the matter others who have dealt with the constant tragedy lack. Together with his hard-working and competitive nature, an aspect he shows in Blitzball and later portrays that same mentality throughout other aspects of life in Spira, he’s definitely the kind of person capable of changing Spira. That includes finding a way to beat Sin, who just happens to be his dad, for good too. Something like that, especially with the extra news he finds later, would leave many other people in pieces. But, nope, for all his possibly annoying flaws Tidus is quick to get back up and fight. However, he’s not always one to plan very far ahead. He’s fine with being a living in the present kind of person. While in the past he would often rather avoid certain problems and focus on something else, he does change that to some extent. He’s the kind of person who does take the challenge with the right motivation, and he goes for his next goal-- whatever it may be.

Even if, at times, going about it he’s a little reckless and rough.

Over the course of the game, Tidus’ more spoiled and somewhat thoughtless qualities begin to change. He still holds his determination and cheerful spirit he had to begin with, but influenced by Yuna, Auron, and the people he traveled alongside, he also becomes more independent, understanding, and selfless.

Other:

- Timeline wise, I’m taking him right after Auron shoves him at Sin. Dreamy like Zanarkand state and all.

- Much like his father, Tidus tends to scratch the back of his head when nervous, abashed, guilty, or if the moment is just plain awkward. Probably best to not bring that up to him though.

- Tidus shares a striking physical similarity with Wakka’s deceased brother, Chappu. It has been mentioned many times in the game, as well as noted to be the reason they shared such a sibling like bond.

- Tidus is shown to have had light brown hair as a child. Whether his hair simply lightened naturally in the sun, or he dyes it (especially looking at those dark roots), is up for debate. Personally, I like the dyed theory, as he’s arrogant enough at times to be somewhat vain.

- When under stress, Tidus has a random way of showing it, such as screaming out loud even when around people he knows, or laughing like a maniac. Hey, it works.

- “This is my story!” or anything similar to it could be considered his catchphrase.