Final Fantasy X/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

* Why are they running head first into a killer whale/demon/planet destroyer/eater with an army of chocobo's?

** No. They were running head first into the ''sinspawn'', not Sin himself. Those crusaders were tasked with holding off the dozens of monsters that come from Sin while the ones with the cannons try to take the big guy out.

** They are running from the Sin Spawn, Zanarkand is a city that relies heavily on water so presumably most of the populace can swim. Would you rather take your chances with water or an army of murderous bugs?

 

* Rikku helps you kill the monster and everyone leaves. Why did the various guys with guns not use them to shoot the monster?

** You're forgetting that the fiend in question (assuming you're referring to the Klikk fought in Baaj Temple) was FAST (watch it running around the walls of the room in the cutscene before the fight, it moves so quickly it's practically a blur) and bullets are limited. The fact that you're able to damage it is [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], but keep in mind also that Tidus, as a professional blitzball player, is also very fast on his feet. It's possible that if that battle had been a cutscene, we would have seen Tidus and the fiend rapidly dodging and exchanging blows in a very fast-paced battle. In other words, they didn't shoot it because it would have been too hard to hit it, they would have risked shooting Tidus (and later Rikku when she joined the battle) and they didn't have ammo to waste. Another possibility is that, since Rikku stepped in to join the battle, they essentially interpreted that action as her saying "Stand back, I'll take care of this" and held their fire out of respect for her. She is their leader's daughter, after all, she most likely ranks fairly high in the group.

*** But... They weren't underwater, and YES, damnit, because these points Just Bug Me.

** What the original poster is presumably referring to is when Tidus is alone in the temple or dungeon or whatever, and the Al Bhed come storming in while he's fighting the fiend. On land. Rikku joins up and helps him, but the rest of the Al Bhed (Brother et al) just kind of stand there and watch.

** Maybe because shrapnel from the grenades (it couldn't have been fire element grenades, or they wouldn't have worked) would be more effective than the guns that the other Al Bhed had, which could have been no stronger than gunpowder-powered slingshots?

** Since guns were forbidden Machnia it may not be all that easy for the Al Bhed to find/produce ammo for them. Maybe they were confident rikku could take on the beast and so decided to conserve a limited resource.

 

** Sure, Tidus didn't know how to activate the ship, but how do you know Rikku would have? She hadn't seen it before either.

** Cid even mention in the game much later that because of Bevelle's taboo on machinas, they are in the dark when it comes to how they works. As for whacking, [[Percussive Maintenance|everyone does that when a device don't work!]]

** I say that they have some sort of device in their mouth. With that, it takes on the function of gills, and makes water breathable. Of course, cause you never see them actually PUT IT ON, its quite possible that its just drilled in their mouths.

** Last I heard, [[Word of God]] said it was because Pyreflies.

*** Wait a second! Don't the Pyreflies also summon fiends and the images of lost loved ones? What, are these things the [[MacGuffin]] of everything now?

**** Yes. The impression I got was that if it weren't for the Farplane and Pyreflies, Spira's physics and metaphysics wouldn't be too different from [[Real Life]].

** [[Ancient Tradition|Tradition]]? He is a [[Samurai]].

** [[Samurai Deeper Kyo|First he uses it to get laid. Then he gets laid some more.]] [[Hilarious Outtakes|Then he gets some crack and gets laid again. Because that's what Yojimbo's about. Gettin' fucked.]]

 

* Why is Blitzball still played the same way 1,000 years in the future? For that matter, why does everyone speak the same language? I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to communicate with someone from 1,000 years ago.

**** The question was why is it still played 'the same way'. It's because there's no room for it to advance. If they tried to advance technology to make it better and different, Sin would rise up and destroy that technology(because that's one of two commands Sin was taught when created).

 

** Well, first of all, Unsent wouldn't be summons, they'd be Fayth- the summons are constructs created by the Fayth. And second, the Fayth are unsent because they're trapped in the magical mountain, their souls tied to this life by hatred of Sin, not by a lack of Sending. A lack of sending results in similar symptoms- magic powers and the ability to reconstruct onesself as a monster- but they're not a Fayth per se. Its sorta a political difference. Fayth create Summons, Unsent create Fiends.

** This troper saw it as the Fayth statues being the tie that the Fayth/aeons had to the world, and their job/their hatred of Sin kept them sane. Comparatively. The Aeons themselves beign exactly the same as the Unsent, just with a purpose (to help Summoners) and their "core" being elsewhere (whereas {{spoiler|Jecht and Seymour}} as well as the other Unsent and Fiends kept their core self inside their physical self).

** Tidus and Sin are both water themed Aeons. What else do you want?

 

** Keep in mind that Auron's been keeping an eye on him for years, and ostensibly had ''some'' idea that Tidus might be pulled into Spira at some point. He seems to know what's going on when Sin shows up. Therefore, it's entirely plausible that Auron taught him how to handle a blade over the years. Also, at one point Wakka asks if fiends are a problem in Zanarkand, and Tidus mentions they usually stay away, but when they do show up, they're a big problem. Therefore, it'd make sense for someone in that world to know how to take care of themselves, just in case.

** On the other hand, the first time Auron gives him the sword he practically falls over because of its weight. As for "handling" it, Tidus's only move for the first part of the game is running up to a monster, slashing it, and running away. It's not like he goes in for complicated swordplay, nor does he have a shield or any other accoutrements.

** Instructions for swordfighting: put the pointy part towards the enemy.

 

* What the heck is that gigantic water bridge/tentacle that hovers over Dream Zanarkand? At first I figured it was Sin's wake as it emerged from the ocean (for that matter, what's up with Sin's sphere of water in the opening scene? It does kinda make sense for a flying ocean creature, but Sin never uses it again), but it's also there during Tidus's experience with the Fayth, and it's there in the official artwork too, suggesting it's a permanent structure.

*** I think my fellow tropers are being oversensitive. While any theory is as good as the next in this discussion (besides the created by gods theory which the Ultimania seems to disprove), I suppose if I had to guess, it's just a stupid idea that the plot never really ties up. If I HAD to guess, I would say that Sending is tied to Sin's appearance and presence.

*** That's not a bad answer: maybe Sin and the Sinspawn are responsible for most of the fiends we see in the game. Once Sin was defeated, the world might be gradually turning back to normal, where the fiends are as rare as Tidus described them being in Dream Zanarkand (which might be how rare they really were in the old days, before Sin threw the world into a never-ending apocalypse).

*** That sounds about right. Fiends seem to have grown into their own ecological niche in Spira, along with "non-Fiend" animals, and both this game and its sequel show that they can even be tamed and kept as guardians or pets. Additionally, a person (or another animal) getting killed by a Fiend is not much different from one getting killed by natural causes, a regular animal, or another person, so the origin, and presence of Fiends at all doesn't pose much of an issue for the growth of life as a whole (whether it poses issues for the ''afterlife'' is another matter. The Farplane is probably pretty vacant, all things considered.)

*** Rikku mentions that the Al-Bhed perform their own sendings by dancing togther, and get the power to do so from eachother. Even in reality, many cultures perform dances and rituals(Even in ancient times) to send off their loved ones. It's not farfetched to say Sending has always existed, the method to do so just changed throughtout time and culture.

****** The summoner isn't killed in the final summoning by being physically attacked by the final aeon. The act of possesion itself is what kills the summoner because it simultaneously severs the mental bond between summoner and final aeon that allowed the aeon to be created in the first place. Guardians can't protect against that no matter how many there are or how capable.

** As to the original question regarding the Fayth of the Final Aeon, I always assumed that it was carried within Sin. That's why Jecht is there, standing in his recreation of Zanarkand. Because he IS the Fayth of the most recent Final Aeon; the Fayth of Sin.

*** It's possible that the Fayths of the succesful Final Aeons are stored somewhere in Zanarkand (Yunalesca's personal trophy room perhaps?). Also it's possible that Yunalesca (working with Yevon) arranged to have Anima's Fayth taken out of Zanarkand and placed in Baaj. Also, and this is a personal theory of mine, what's to keep the other Aeons (Valefor, Ixion, Shiva etc) from also being Final Aeons, just of unsuccesful summoners. There are obvious many summoners in the world of Spira, some of them must be able to reach Zanarkand and make the deal but not finish off Sin. It'd definately explain how and from where all the Fayth come from.

**** If the Fayths of the succesful Final Aeons are stored in Zanarkand, are they the ones chanting the Hymn of the Faith in Zanarkand's temple?

* Auron died 10 years prior to the beginning of the game, and his younger form is shown being killed by Yunalesca in a cutscene. Yet 10 years later, he's actually ''physically'' aged. Since he watched over Tidus after Jecht's disappearance, Tidus would have seen him aging. None of the other unsent are seen to be capable of doing this. Why is that?

** Unsent are capable of controlling their 'aging' to appear normal. We don't see any other unsent doing this because Auron is the only one we really see over the course of a long time.

** Shuyin, Belgemine, one of Lulu's dead summoners... Most noticeable on Shuyin who has at least 1000 years on him. Really the only old looking unsent is the head of the church who's name I forget. With Auron, I can understand the aging thing, maybe, but then, if he can change his form enough to do that; why did he hang onto the scar?

**** Ahem. [[Badass]].

***** Alternatively, the scar is a reminder of his failure and the promise he made to Yuna and Tidus' fathers.

* Tidus' mother shows up in the Farplane. Tidus' Zanarkand was never real to begin with. Only Tidus and Jecht become real by virtue of being granted that reality by the Fayth. Does this mean that the Al-Bhed are right about that place and it really is just made of memories?

** This is left deliberately ambiguous (also consider that Seymour's father's spirit tries to ''escape'' the Farplane). Tidus' mother may be as 'real' as Tidus himself is; there's no indication that the Fayth actually ''changed'' Tidus when he went into Spira. More that he was just moved from one to the other.

*** Oh, I see. Do you remember where this dialogue pops up? I probably missed it, and I want to find it in-game too in case I missed something else.

*** Pretty sure it is the first time you get down there right after defeating that boss with the floating platforms.

** I think what they mean is, by this point, Yu Yevon ''has'' no motivation. He just keeps doing what he's doing, without any conscious thought as to why. He just ''is''. The same way a hurricane can't be good or evil. Yu Yevon has lost whatever humanity he originally had; there is no "plan", he is simply doing what he's always been doing.

** Yeah, Yu Yevon started with a plan that may or may not be evil (that answer really depends on what his long-term plan was once DZ was created and he was protected within Sin), but his mind was completely destroyed by the summoning. By the time of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' he's not so much a summoner as a kind of unthinking, magical computer program stuck in an endless loop...

*** The guy wanted to marry Yuna. That's reason enough for Tidus not to like him.

*** In Guadosalam, Kimahri states that he doesn't like Seymour if you talk to him, and Wakka says, albeit after the revelation that Seymour killed his father and tried to kill the party, that he never liked Seymour.

** [[User:Mr Death|I]] must be the only one who thinks this, but his introduction, especially his "Well, pretend I didn't say it," line, to me looked like he was being set up as a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] to make his villainy a twist. I mean, that line seems to separate him from other Yevonites, like Wakka, who are far more critical of the Al Bhed and Machina. Instead, he's set up as a guy who's willing to not be an Obstructive Clergyman if he thinks this might work.

*** That line was probably ''why'' [[Religious Bruiser|Wakka]] disliked him. Watching a powerful figure in his religion openly breaking the tenets of said religion wouldn't sit well with him, methinks. Imagine a fundamentalist Christian's reaction to an Archbishop saying "well, the seven deadly sins aren't all that bad, really".

* Does Tromell's shift from someone who helps cover up his master's patricide, order the party's deaths for killing Seymour, and prevent them from Sending him in X (which results in him killing many more people, including much of the Ronso tribe) to someone who wants desperately to atone for the Guado's sins in X-2 strike anyone else as somewhat jarring?

** [[Ho Yay|Hoooooo-yay~]] But seriously, no. He felt like a tool and tried to make up for it, even if he had to drag the entire Guado race kicking and screaming into forgiveness. Not jarring at all.

 

* Yuna being neglected after her father's death. No, not the treatment from the [[All of the Other Reindeer|rest of Spira]], that's explainable by [[Fantastic Racism]], since Yuna is half-Al Bhed. It's a major dose of [[What the Hell, Townspeople?]], but [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. What bugs me is where was her Uncle Cid all those years?

*** So they all basically said, "Hey! Tidus! Why don't you tell us what you're thinking of the mission, from the very beginning!"

**** Or they said "okay, now that we've been through a lot together and we're pretty confident that, despite your first claims, you're ''not'' a delirious Sin-toxin amnesiac, why don't you try explaining to us again exactly where you really came from and how you ended up here." Or, judging by Tidus's opening words, he might have stubbornly insisted on explaining it all regardless of whether they asked. It's not like he's really recounting it in the same detail we're seeing: they're just hearing his voiceovers.

** My assumption is that since they were reaching Zanarkand and Yuna would die soon Tidus wanted to cheer them up talking about his perception of the Pilgrimage. I can't remember well, but I think that when you reach that point in the game they keep on telling things like "and do you remember when Wakka did X" or something like that. They were sharing good memories and points of view so they didn't have to think about Yuna dying in a day or so.

 

** In Auron's case, learning that the whole faith you believe in is a lie and everything you, your father, and previous generations fought for is all for naught isn't really the thing you can expect people to believe if you just tell them. Some things you really ''need'' to experience yourself in order to understand the full scope of what's happening. Think of a child; what's going to dissuade them more from playing with fire? The parent saying, "Don't do it, it'll hurt," or actually getting burned?

*** But the party had already respected Auron greatly, and he had accompanied Braska on his Summoning as well. Auron's also not exactly the kind of guy to joke or lie, especially about something like that. I think that the party would have believed him with no issue. Though I also think that telling them wouldn't have solved anything; they'd still only have the choice of defeating Sin with Yuna dying and another party member becoming Sin, or not doing anything and continuing to let Sin massacre innocent people. By waiting until they were close to Sin to tell them, Auron had let them learn enough about the situation so that they could [[Take a Third Option]] and destroy Sin and Yu Yevon once and for all.