A to Z Challenge: Yuna (with Yunalesca and Yu Yevon) from FFX and FFX-2

One more day. Awww. We are on day 25 of the A to Z Challenge, and I once again thank you for obliging my Final Fantasy habit!

Today is the letter Y, and Y is for Final Fantasy X/X-2's great summoner Yuna!

The daughter of the summoner who last brought The Calm (a time of peace) by defeating Sin and named after the first summoner of Sin's time, Yuna has some huge shoes to fill. Her spirit keeps you going when you learn that Tidus's father is the thing that's been killing everyone for the past few years, and her resolve to continue her pilgrimage even after Tidus gives her a way out (because she must pay with her life to enact The Calm) gives the franchise its best moment of blossomed romance in the history of moments of blossomed romance. Spare 2 minutes if you can.

I mentioned the first summoner of Sin's time. Yunalesca is actually the daughter of the greatest summoner, Yu Yevon.

Should've known this naked b**** was up to no good.

Yu Yevon is the summoner who devised the endless cycle of pilgrimages to defeat Sin. He killed an entire city and made the others think it was because of their use of machina that they died, and then he created the religion of Yevon where the people pray to him for guidance to defeat Sin for small periods of peace (The Calm) until they've completely atoned for their wrongdoings (which will be never).

Yunalesca is the final stop on a summoner's pilgrimage, and when Yuna and team get to her, they learn Yuna has to choose one of her guardians to become the final aeon (summon) to defeat Sin. After a hearty Hell No from the team, Yunalesca is brought down, and then we go on to defeat Sin. BUT, because the bastard above possesses the final aeons to create the next Sin, Yuna has to not only defeat Sin but all of her aeons (Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit, Ixion, etc.) once Yu Yevon possesses them, leaving him with nothing left so we can kill him.

And then, we lose Tidus (mentioned a few days ago).

God, this moment. T____T

And then, Yuna is the ultimate hero and has to move on with her life. So, she joins up with Rikku and Paine to become the sphere hunters YRP to headline FFX-2. She also gets a new, badass gunslinger look!

Yaaaas, slaaay.

Trivia: the design holding her shirt together was the tattoo on Jecht's chest and a symbol Tidus wore on his pants and as a necklace. *sniff*

FFX-2 is pretty bad, but in the end, if you do most of the main things right, you get Tidus back, so I'll take it.

Tomorrow, after one last honorable mention, we come to the perfect bookend for the A's: the Z's (not just because of the obvious, lol. Stick around!).

A to Z Challenge: Wakka from Final Fantasy X

We are coming doWn to the Wire. (See What I did there? lol)

Today's letter for the A to Z Challenge is W. As I am forcing a number of you to sit here and take my obsession With Final Fantasy, We have officially come to Wone (lol) of my favorite characters of all time:

Wakka!

Wakka is captain of the Besaid Aurochs and one of Yuna's guardians on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin. He is full of energy and spunk, even though his blitzball team has never won a game*.  (Also, Googling images of Wakka, there were a few, um...softcore porn-ish images...not even of random people! They were of Wakka! lol) In the American version of the game, he has an awesome Hawaii-surfer voice that you immediately fall in love with. Speaking of which, this cosplay below, is the BEST cosplay ever!! No other person need cosplay Wakka, thanks.

Wakka takes Tidus under his wing because he reminds him of his late brother, Chappu, who died in battle against Sin sometime before the game starts. He later goes on to marry Lulu (honorable mention for L) and have a chubby red-headed baby with her. *giggle*

*If you manage to win the first blitzball tournament in the game (I did once!), it's the best feeling in the world, but you also then have to play one of the hardest teams when you try to play again. I was addicted to blitzball, so I definitely tried and tried until I beat them.

Tomorrow, we visit Xu from Final Fantasy VIII!

A to Z Challenge: Tidus from Final Fantasy X

We're at the end of the penultimate week of the A to Z Challenge! This went by way too quickly!

We're finally at T, and for my Final Fantasy geek out session of the day, I will be talking about my favorite Final Fantasy game's main character:

Tidus from Final Fantasy X!

Look at that fresh face. Tidus is the star blitzball player (an underwater football/soccer-like sport) of the Zanarkand Abes. One day in the middle of a game, he gets whisked away by something called Sin and washes up in Al-Bhed (see Rikku in the R's) territory 1000 years in the future! (No, this isn't Futurama.)

When Sin sucks him away again, he's on the mainland and home of a local summoner (Yuna, coming soon) who is about to embark on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin. They are linked by the fact that Yuna's father was the last summoner to defeat Sin, and Tidus's father (honorable mention for J) was one of his guardians!

So how did they get 1000 years in the future?

Well, unfortunately, (and long story very short), their Zanarkand wasn't real, but dreamed up by the Fayth (head on over to F to refresh your memory, if you want) so that (IMO) one day, one of their dream people could defeat Sin and its creator Yu Yevon for good!

(I'll just leave this link here for anyone who wants the long story, but to sum it up: Yu Yevon, evil summoner, possesses people, turns them into monsters, kills people for 1000 years straight, makes them all think they have to worship him to atone for using machina.)

Tidus figures out they have to stop Sin at the source because the current Sin is his FATHER (!!!), and he brought him to the real world in order to get it done.

Unfortunately, once everything is safe for good, all the Fayth finally get to rest, and so their dream Zanarkand, and everyone in it, disappears.

So, we lose Tidus.

Fortunately, if you play FFX-2 and suffer through it, the Fayth mercifully bring him back to Yuna. So, slight silver lining.

Honorable Mention for T:

FFVI's Terra

Final Fantasy VI starts with Terra. We know she's very powerful and wields the ancient ability of magic. The Gestahlian Empire has her under mind control until an esper (summon) comes in contact with her, and she is freed. Terra is half esper herself, and we get to visit the esper world and learn of her true origins there. She's a very well-thought out character, and it's a great game all around.

2nd Honorable Mention:

I can't not mention Tifa Lockheart from FFVII! Though Terra started the FF trend of badass females, Tifa is the face of them hands down. This sweetheart has fists of fury and has been the love interest of Cloud since they were little tykes growing up in Nibelheim. Cloud joins the military to impress her, and that's kind of when things went awry, but through it all, she holds him down. Talk about ride or die chicks!

When we get back, I will tell you about the sorceress Ultimecia from FFVIII.

A to Z Challenge: Paine from Final Fantasy X-2

This A to Z Challenge, I'm geeking out on Final Fantasy characters and forcing y'all to read about them. (I'm getting tired of openings; can you tell?)

This day is for P, and P is for Paine!

This young lady showed up in FFX-2, a game I have mixed feelings about, but I appreciated its attempt. FFX was the first game in the franchise to get a sequel, but it was a pretty blah sequel. Paine, however, isn't a blah character.

She's the voice of sarcasm in the YRP troupe, but we start the game not knowing too much about her. During a side quest upon which I didn't embark, you learn she worked for the Crimson Guard, a group of elite soldiers for Yevon, who were sent into the Den of Woe to investigate a rumor about a ghost machina. The pyreflies (spirits of fiends, people, etc.) were affected by the main villain whose spirit was trapped there, and everyone in the Crimson Guard died but Paine's group. They got separated, and that was how she met up with Summoner Yuna.

Paine is a badass. Her gear is cosplay fame, and I do love her sarcastic moments, especially when Yuna and Rikku (more on her in a couple of letters) are hype over something.

Also, dress sphere slayage.

Maaaan, if my abs were ripped...

Tomorrow, I actually have something for Q: FFVIII's Quezacotl.

A to Z Challenge: Ifrit and Ixion from Final Fantasy X

Welcome back!

This year, we are looking at characters from my favorite Final Fantasy games, from the people in the games to the things they summon. Today, we are looking at some of things they summon, because today is brought to us by the letter I.

Final Fantasy X gave us a whole new meaning to what the summoners could call on and how. Two of the coolest aeons in this game were Ifrit and Ixion.

Ifrit's just a cool dude, even though his power is fire. He's had many incarnations throughout the Final Fantasy franchise, first appearing in Final Fantasy III. Not gonna lie, he was pretty ugly, always made up to look like some evil sprite thing until Crisis Core gave him more definition and depth. Final Fantasy X is my favorite look for him, more of a hell hound than a demon.

The aeon designs in FFX  are just beautiful, which brings me to Ixion.

Wouldn't want to get impaled by that horn, no sir! The lightning summon got changed around a lot in the franchise. It was often Ramuh (coming later), and in VIII it was Quetzacotl. I found the unicorn to be an interesting choice, but I also loved using it.

Tomorrow, you finally get to hear all about that Jenova thing I keep mentioning.

A to Z Challenge: the Fayth from Final Fantasy X

Press play, and enjoy (especially about 7 minutes in).

We are on the 6th day of the A to Z Challenge, and I have chosen to ramble on about my favorite characters in my favorite gaming franchise, Final Fantasy.

If you pressed play, you are currently listening to the Hymn of the Fayth. Because today's letter is F.

The Fayth are the true backbone of the land of Spira in Final Fantasy X. Not only are they powering the aeons that we summon, but they are the ones holding up the Dream Zanarkand. Speaking of which (and I'm certainly not making you watch all 8 minutes of this, just up to the reveal of the magic tower), here's what that looks like:

If you actually did watch all of that (you're awesome, because even I didn't), the little boy guiding Tidus is Bahamut's Fayth, the aeon from the letter B! This game has one of the sadder backstories of the Final Fantasy games, as the Fayth are all basically dead and have been using their own life forces for a thousand years to help the summoners of Spira and for the dream Zanarkand (their home) to keep going.

I've played this game three times, and the hymn makes me want to play it again.

Honorable Mention for F:

Fran from Final Fantasy XII is someone I plan to cosplay when I have--ahem--abs. A viera warrior and love interest of Balthier, she is the one of the only good things about that game. Her last words in the game are hilarious.

Tomorrow, we return to summons while I talk to you about Gilgamesh.