Tidus

Tidus (Tee-dus) is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X. He can be acquired as a Creature Creator ally in the International + Last Mission and HD versions of Final Fantasy X-2, and plays a pivotal role in the extended universe audio drama and novella.
He is a rising star blitzball player from Zanarkand, and the son of major blitzball star Jecht. After the gargantuan monster known as Sin attacks his hometown, Tidus is transported to the world of Spira. Lost, confused, and seemingly out of place, Tidus meets a newly-fledged summoner named Yuna, and her guardians. Yuna is to set out on a pilgrimage to put an end to Sin, and by joining Yuna on her pilgrimage, Tidus hopes he will find his way home. Tidus is upbeat and initially childish and naive to the world of Spira. He is also selfless and will do what he believes is right, even if he doesn't think it through first. Throughout the pilgrimage, he matures and becomes more level-headed and grounded.
Tidus wields swords and shields in battle. His Sphere Grid path grants him Wht Magic concerned with time status effects, such as Haste and Slow, and also improves his Agility, Evasion, and Accuracy. His Celestial Weapon, the Caladbolg, deals more damage depending on how high his HP is. His Overdrive is Swordplay, dealing physical damage, which can be improved by correct player button timing, and he learns new Swordplay abilities by frequently using them. Tidus is one of three characters who can fight underwater, along with Wakka and Rikku, and can be used in blitzball matches.
==Profile==
===Pronunciation===
Since Tidus is never directly referred to by name in audible dialogue, instead being referred to using impersonal pronouns (you, him, new guy, brudda), the pronunciation of his name among fans is sometimes unclear. His name in Japanese is slightly different, approximately pronounced Tee-da, and therefore the assumption is the first syllable would be pronounced the same in his English name. The pronunciation of his name was first confirmed in an official localization in , which features him in a cameo where his name is pronounced Tee-dus [tiːdʌs]. This pronunciation had also been used in English-language trailers and commercials released prior to Final Fantasy X.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgkfgCnDWc James Arnold Taylor, Tidus's English voice actor, has told a story of how the English pronunciation of Tidus's name came about: to make an English version of a trailer, Square hired a narrator in Japan, who pronounced the name as Tee-dus, and the producers assumed this was the proper way to say the name in English.https://youtu.be/FyV5UrwROvU?t=3m50s
In , although Tidus doesn't appear, Selphie mentions him, pronouncing his name as Tie-dus [taɪːdʌs]. The pronunciation of his name among fans may be affected by its resemblance to the English word "tide", given the character's affinity for water, and the given name "Titus". In Final Fantasy XIV, infamous fraudster Trachtoum mistakes the name of the primal, "Titan" with "Tidus". However, in the English release of Dissidia Final Fantasy, everyone refers to him as Tee-dus. More recently, he was referred to as Tee-dus in the English version of Final Fantasy X -Will-, as well as in World of Final Fantasy.
===Appearance===
Tidus has disheveled blond hair with spiky layers. His hair is brown in his childhood flashbacks. He wears the logo of his blitzball team, the Zanarkand Abes, as a silver pendant, and the logo is also printed on his right trouser-leg. Tidus puts his own flair on the regular blitzball player's outfit by having one shorter and one longer trouser-leg, similar to his father Jecht, who wore a sash on his right side over a pair of shorts. Tidus wears yellow and black shoes, a gauntlet on his left hand and a black glove on the other, a yellow jacket with a white hood, and a blue pauldron and armor over his left arm. The dark dungaree-type outfit he wears over his other clothes is fastened with a black belt that has a metal chain.
In Final Fantasy X -Will-, Tidus's artwork has aspects of Jecht's design, wearing a similar headband.
===Personality===
Tidus is upbeat and carefree and at first appears childish and playful. He turns more serious when things get hectic, and despite his carefree ways, conceals a troubled past. Tidus is sensitive and even when giving an emotional response to most of his arguments, tends to give a good rationale. Despite having been picked on throughout his childhood by his blitzball-playing father, Tidus was motivated to become a top blitzball player himself.
To Tidus's dismay, he has similarities to his father who tended to ignore responsibility, take things easy, and never worry about the present situation instead of leaving things for future. Tidus's resemblance to his father is pointed out by Auron, who says Tidus is "the one running away". A lot of Tidus's personality is shaped by the comments he used to receive from his father, and how he grew up to resent him. Despite having been verbally offensive, at heart, Jecht was proud of his son and his resolve. Tidus confronts his childhood and his relationship with his father when living out his new life in Spira, and matures from a self-centered and outspoken athlete to a selfless hero.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy X===
Tidus, a citizen of Zanarkand, is about to play blitzball in the Jecht Memorial Cup—a tournament in honor of his lost father, who vanished ten years ago while on a blitzball training expedition out at sea. People revere Jecht's skills as unequaled, which pressures Tidus to match, if not surpass, his father.
During the tournament, Zanarkand is attacked by Sin, an immense creature shrouded in water. The city is destroyed in its path, but Tidus escapes before the blitzball stadium collapses. Tidus meets up with his mentor, Auron, outside the stadium, but time suddenly stops and a boy in purple robes appears before him, claiming something is about to start. After the boy vanishes, Tidus continues after Auron, who reveals the force destroying the city is called "Sin" and gives Tidus "a gift from Jecht," a longsword. Together, they fight their way to the monster, and Auron drags Tidus into its depths, claiming this is the beginning of his story.
Tidus awakens in the Baaj Temple area in the world of Spira, where he runs into a group of Al Bhed salvagers who recruit Tidus for their salvage operation of a sunken airship. He befriends an Al Bhed girl named Rikku and tells her about his life in Zanarkand and of his career as the star player of the Zanarkand Abes. Rikku is reluctant to believe him, asking if he breathed in Sin's toxin, which is known to induce amnesia, as a thousand years have passed since Zanarkand's destruction. Rikku explains that since Zanarkand is a holy place, it would be wise not to tell any Yevonites of his life there. After being knocked off the Salvage Ship by another Sin attack, Tidus washes ashore at Besaid Island.
Tidus meets Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs blitzball team, who is impressed by Tidus's talent. Tidus decides to stick with the story of being a victim of Sin's toxin, lest people think of him a heretic. Wakka takes Tidus to the village and in Besaid Temple they learn that an apprentice summoner has not returned from the Cloister of Trials. Worried the summoner may be in danger, Tidus rushes in, despite the priest's warning about obeying the precepts of the Yevon religion.
Wakka follows and finds Tidus near the entrance to the Chamber of the Fayth where he tells him about the fayth and the temples: only summoners and guardians (such as Wakka) can go in and face the trials. In the middle of the temple resides a fayth statue a summoner must pray to in order to be bestowed with its power. Tidus meets the summoner Yuna, who has just completed the trials and obtained the aeon Valefor, and her accompanying guardians, Lulu and Kimahri Ronso.
That night, Tidus awakens from a dream of his father putting him down. He overhears Lulu berating Wakka, claiming Wakka is only interested in Tidus because he reminds him of his late brother, Chappu. Wakka later explains to Tidus that Chappu, who was a member of the Crusaders—a group dedicated to protecting Spira from Sin—was killed the previous year. Wakka gives Tidus Chappu's old sword, the Brotherhood. Yuna leaves on her journey to defeat Sin with her guardians Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri. Tidus tags along, as Wakka plans to take him to a blitzball tournament in Luca in hopes someone will recognize him there.
As they sail to Kilika, Tidus gets to know Yuna, who believes he truly is from Zanarkand because "a man named Jecht" had told her the same story when she was younger. Yuna explains Jecht helped her father, high summoner Braska, as his guardian. When Tidus tells her Jecht disappeared from Zanarkand ten years ago, Yuna says it was the day Jecht arrived in Spira. Before they can talk further, the boat falls under attack from Sin.
The group fights off Sin and its spawn, but upon arriving at Kilika Port they find the port and the village destroyed. Yuna performs a sending, a ceremony which sends the spirits of the dead to the Farplane, Spira's plane of afterlife. After acquiring Ifrit in the Kilika Temple, the party arrives at Luca for the annual Blitzball World Championship, with Tidus learning his new team, the Besaid Aurochs, is the butt of the tournament, having a twenty-three-year losing streak. Unaccustomed to losing, he tries to instill a newfound enthusiasm for victory within the team.
Tidus and the others witness the arrival of Grand Maester Mika and the newest Maester of Yevon, Seymour Guado, a man who is half-human and half-Guado. Tidus and Yuna tour the town and he teaches her how to whistle, promising to come running when she does lest they get separated in the crowd. Yuna is excited over rumors of Auron being around town, a legendary guardian who also served Braska, a revelation that mystifies Tidus. Kimahri's old rivals, Biran and Yenke Ronso, pick a fight with him, and when Tidus helps him, Yuna is kidnapped by the Al Bhed Psyches blitzball team. Tidus, Kimahri and Lulu save her from the Al Bhed ship and Tidus learns Yuna is half-Al Bhed on her mother's side. Lulu warns Tidus not to tell Wakka about Yuna's lineage, as Wakka "never had much love for the Al Bhed."
The Aurochs face the Luca Goers in the finals. Tidus takes Wakka's place at first, but switches out after the crowd chants for Wakka to return. The stadium is attacked by fiends and Tidus and Wakka fight them off and run into Auron. Seymour summons the aeon Anima to destroy the fiends.
Tidus confronts Auron, wanting to know what is going on, but the latter only claims Sin is Jecht. A stunned Tidus refuses to believe it. Auron and Tidus join Yuna's group as her guardians. She tries to cheer Tidus up by teaching him how to smile even if he's feeling sad. Yuna explains Sin is mankind's punishment for their vanity, and will not go away unless they have atoned, and how the Final Aeon—the only way to destroy Sin—lies in wait in the Zanarkand ruins.
At the end of the Mi'ihen Highroad, Tidus and the group are blocked by the Crusaders planning for "Operation Mi'ihen," where the Crusaders and the Al Bhed would join forces to lure Sin into a trap and destroy it with a machina cannon supposedly as powerful as the aeons. The Crusaders let Yuna's group through under Maester Seymour's orders. Sin attacks and reduces the Crusaders to ashes. As it pulls out into the sea, Tidus chases after it, hallucinates of his father, and awakes near the Djose Highroad where Yuna is sending the fallen to the Farplane. Tidus meets up with Auron and is again told Sin is Jecht and that the reason Sin showed up was to see his son. Auron explains Jecht wanted to show Tidus his power so Tidus would kill him.
The group crosses the Moonflow river on a shoopuf and Wakka shows Tidus a sunken city. Tidus learns more about Spira's history and the Machina War from 1000 years ago when Zanarkand was destroyed and Sin first appeared. Yuna is kidnapped by an Al Bhed machina robot that pulls her underwater, but Tidus and Wakka jump in to save her. On the shore, Tidus runs into Rikku, relieved to meet his first friend in Spira, and is startled she was the one controlling the machina that kidnapped Yuna. After a talk with Yuna, Rikku joins the group as her guardian, concealing her identity as an Al Bhed from Wakka.
Maester Seymour's home of Guadosalam lies on the way of the pilgrimage, so the group briefly stops there and is welcomed by the Maester. Seymour has become fixated on Yuna, fueling Tidus's dislike for him in light of his own growing feelings towards her. Seymour shows the party a sphere recording of the ancient Zanarkand and tells the story of how Yunalesca, the first summoner to defeat Sin with the Final Aeon, had her husband as her guardian and their bond allowed her success. Seymour proposes to Yuna, asking her to marry him for the good of Spira, but she takes her time to decide. The group visits the Farplane, the underground realm of Spira that has a gateway to Guadosalam. It is the gathering place for departed spirits where one can summon images of their deceased loved ones triggered by their memories.
Yuna, unaware of Sin's identity, notes to Tidus that Jecht must still be alive since he doesn't appear on the Farplane. When his mother appears, Tidus realizes he blamed Jecht for her death, and resented how she barely took note of him whenever Jecht was around. Upon exiting, the "ghost" of Jyscal Guado escapes the Farplane. After Yuna sends him, a sphere drops from Jyscal's clothing, which she takes.
While crossing the Thunder Plains, the party stops at Rin's Travel Agency and Yuna checks out a room. Tidus passes through the hall when he hears a man speaking in Yuna's room. As he tries to listen in, the door opens and he falls into the room, catching Yuna viewing the sphere showing Seymour's deceased father, Jyscal Guado. Yuna explains the sphere is Jyscal's will and says to "take care of my son." Yuna decides to accept Seymour's proposal and travel to Lake Macalania where Seymour awaits her answer.
After an encounter with the Al Bhed, who again try to kidnap Yuna, the party rides snowmobiles to the temple. If Tidus rides with Lulu, she will finally believe Tidus hails from outside of Spira after he asks her if a person can become Sin. If he rides with Rikku, she reveals she is Yuna's cousin and worries over Yuna's safety if she continues her pilgrimage. If he rides with Auron, the two race to the temple and Auron warns him of acting too rash. If he rides with Kimahri, he asks his opinion on Rikku being Al Bhed, with Kimahri explaining that even though the Ronso are supposed to dislike the Al Bhed as followers of Yevon, he trusts Rikku as a friend.
At Macalania Temple, they discover from Jyscal's sphere that Seymour had killed his father to gain the title of Maester, and Yuna had planned to marry Seymour with the condition he will turn himself in. As they confront Seymour, they are forced into battle and Seymour is killed. Before Yuna can perform a sending, his body is taken away by his aide, Tromell, who brands them traitors for killing a Maester. Before the Guado can apprehend Tidus and the others, Sin—that had been resting under the frozen lake listening to the "Hymn of the Fayth" emanating from the temple—whisks them away, and they are washed up in the deserts of Bikanel Island.
With Yuna missing, Rikku guides her friends to Home, the Al Bhed's sanctuary, in the hopes of finding her there, but they discover the city under siege by the Guado. In the Summoner's Sanctum, the party finds other summoners the Al Bhed had kidnapped, but Yuna is not among them. Tidus is told the truth about the pilgrimage: the Final Summoning destroys Sin, but also kills the summoner, and that's why the Al Bhed want to halt the practice. Tidus suffers an emotional meltdown and swears to find a way to keep Yuna alive. Everyone evacuates to the Al Bhed airship, the Fahrenheit, which was the airship Tidus helped Rikku's crew salvage when he first arrived in Spira. They meet Cid, leader of the Al Bhed as well as Rikku's father and Yuna's uncle, and proceed to Bevelle where Yuna is being forced into marrying the now-unsent Seymour.
Tidus and the rest of the guardians crash the ceremony, but cannot stop it. Seymour commands the Warrior Monks to finish them off, but Yuna distracts them by jumping from the balcony, summoning Valefor mid-air, and escaping to Bevelle Temple where she receives the aeon Bahamut. The group is tried for killing Seymour and siding with the Al Bhed, and named traitors of Yevon. Yuna argues her case that Seymour, as an unsent, must be sent to the Farplane, and is shocked the Grand Maester Mika reveals his status as an unsent as well. Realizing the depth of Yevon's corruption, the party is sentenced to the dungeons of Via Purifico.
Tidus, Rikku and Wakka fight off underwater fiends and are reunited with the others. At the exit, they confront Seymour, who reveals his plans on using Yuna to become the next Sin and destroy Spira, "saving" everyone from fear and suffering. The party defeats Seymour and retreats to Macalania Woods where Yuna, her faith shaken, departs to the forest spring. Tidus follows her and reveals he knows the truth behind the Final Summoning and apologizes for always talking about life after defeating Sin.
Tidus attempts to convince Yuna to abandon her pilgrimage and stay with him, and though Yuna considers it, she is unable to abandon her duty to Spira. Tidus comforts her and they share a kiss under a full moon. The next morning, the group continues toward Zanarkand, and Tidus and Rikku try to come up with a plan to save Yuna.
On Mt. Gagazet, the party comes across the Fayth Scar, a mass of fayth summoning at once. Tidus passes out and finds himself back at home in Zanarkand. He meets the strange boy he saw when Sin attacked Zanarkand, and learns the boy is a fayth. Tidus is told that he, Jecht and the Zanarkand they come from, are dreams of the fayth, ordered into existence after the original Zanarkand was destroyed. The fayth want Tidus to defeat Sin permanently so they can cease their dreaming, but if he succeeds, the dream will end and Tidus himself will disappear. Tidus is left with these words: "You have been touched by Sin... you're more than just dreams now." When Tidus comes to, he decides to conceal what he has learned from the others.
thumb|Tidus, before fighting Yunalesca.
The party camps out in the Zanarkand ruins' outskirts where Tidus recounts his tale. In Zanarkand, they witness visions of the past through pyreflies—the mystical life energy of Spira that the souls of the dead are also composed of—including Seymour's childhood and the last chapters of Braska's pilgrimage. The group meets Lady Yunalesca, the first summoner to defeat Sin who now resides as an unsent in the Zanarkand Dome to grant the Final Aeon to summoners who complete their pilgrimage. Tidus learns Sin is Jecht because the Final Aeon is dead, and a guardian close to the summoner will have to sacrifice him or herself to become the fayth for a new one, as Jecht did.
After the Final Aeon pierces Sin's armor, Yu Yevon, the being at Sin's core, possesses the Final Aeon, killing its summoner, and transforms it into a new Sin, thus continuing the cycle. Yunalesca leaves the group to decide who will be sacrificed into becoming the new fayth for the Final Aeon, but Tidus wants to break the "spiral of death" as Yuna does not wish to sacrifice any of her friends.
Yunalesca becomes dismayed at the party's unwillingness to follow the rites of the pilgrimage and offers to end their suffering through death. The party sees a vision of Auron from the past confronting Yunalesca, grief-stricken over Braska's death and Jecht's transformation. Yunalesca killed Auron, making him presently an unsent. As the present Auron rallies his team to fight Yunalesca, Tidus tells Yuna to see their story through together. Yunalesca is defeated and without her, summoners will never be able to temporarily defeat Sin again. Auron tells Tidus he was an unsent all along, his spirit unable to rest because of the promises he had made to Jecht and Braska. The party leaves Zanarkand, determined there is another way to defeat Sin.
The team boards Cid's airship and plans the next move: if they can defeat the current Final Aeon, Yu Yevon will be left vulnerable, which is when the party can destroy him. To do this, they must invade the hulk of Sin's body and destroy Yu Yevon from the inside. Seymour, determined to become the new Sin, attempts to stop them, but the party defeats him, leaving him weak enough for Yuna to finally send. As they travel further inside Sin, they encounter Jecht, Tidus's father and Braska's Final Aeon.
Jecht tells Tidus he is proud of him and though it's difficult for Jecht to say, Tidus can tell his father loves him. Jecht transforms and the party defeats him as Braska's Final Aeon, releasing him from Yu Yevon's possession. Yu Yevon possesses each of Yuna's aeons in turn, and the group defeats each one until Yu Yevon has nowhere left to hide. Tidus reveals he will vanish once they defeat Yu Yevon, but says "I know it's selfish, but this is my story!"
After defeating Yu Yevon, Yuna sends the aeons and Auron to the Farplane. The fayth depart and, being a dream of the fayth himself, Tidus must meet the same fate. As he begins to fade, he apologizes to Yuna for not being able to show her his Zanarkand and bids a tearful farewell to his friends. Yuna rushes up to him but passes right through him. Yuna tells Tidus she loves him (in Japanese, she simply thanks him for his help) and Tidus embraces Yuna one last time. He takes a running leap off the deck of the Fahrenheit and enters the Farplane, where he is reunited with the spirits of Braska, Auron, and Jecht. Tidus gives his father a jovial high-five, signifying the two are finally at peace.
In the depths of the ocean among swirling pyreflies, Tidus wakes up and swims toward the surface with a smile on his face.
===Mobius Final Fantasy===
The Final Fantasy X collaboration event Dream Within a Dream shows what happened to Tidus between the finale of Final Fantasy X and his resurface from the waters of Besaid in Final Fantasy X-2.
Tidus ends up in Palamecia, where he meets Wol, who notes Tidus is not like most blanks because he can see and hear Echo, Wol's fairy companion. The Cornelian Crystal takes them to the Zanarkand Ruins, or at least Palamecia's recreation of them, where they find the blitzball dome sealed by a barrier. Wol convinces Tidus of the futility of regretting his past decisions, so Tidus decides to look forward with a new goal: becoming the Warrior of Light. However, Tidus is only using it as a distraction.
When Valefor shows up, she explodes into pyreflies and vanishes with Tidus. He drifts in the void between worlds until he sees Yuna and awakes ashore on an island with her. Wol is surprised Tidus and Yuna retained their memories and can see Echo. Tidus admits he was summoned to Spira like the aeons, and to defeat Sin, they had to get rid of them and him. Wol suggests the aeons followed them to Palamecia, and while Yuna can no longer summon them, she gives Wol the power to do so. Tidus and Yuna decide to become Warriors of Light together and undergo more training, but this goal is unreachable because Tidus and Yuna are heretics, who exist outside of the laws of Palamecia and thus cannot become Warriors of Light. Tidus falls into despair and loses his newfound strength.
At the recreation of Macalania Springs, Yuna tells Tidus he can stop trying so hard, but it doesn't help. Wol and Echo explain that she did more harm than good because Tidus is at his best when he has a goal to strive for. She says she should have known and dissolves into pyreflies, leading Wol to realize she isn't the real Yuna. Wol senses an aeon nearby and finds the imposter, who admits she took Yuna's form to give Tidus a driving hope. Wol scolds her for giving him false hope, but they decide to keep "Yuna's" true identity a secret so she can use Tidus's desire to return her to Spira to get him to return himself. After they catch up to Tidus by following his whistling, Echo and "Yuna" speculate he wound up in Palamecia because it overlaps with the Farplane at the edges of Zanarkand.
Tidus is reinvigorated by his new goal, and they disable the barrier around the Zanarkand Dome. Inside, Tidus explains pyreflies to Wol and Echo. "Yuna" says they've heard her pleas to turn light into hope and given Tidus a crystal, whose light will guide them back to Spira, which will shine brighter the more he hopes. Tidus figures the more monsters he slays, the more intense his hope gets. He feels he can't go back because he's just a dream, but wants to send Yuna back to live in a world without Sin and be happy. "Yuna" admits the real Yuna is fine back on Spira but misses him terribly, and that her memory of him gives her hope. She apologizes and dissolves into pyreflies, revealing her true form as Valefor. Tidus suspects Valefor's actions to help bring him back to the real Yuna were motivated by the deep bonds the aeons share with their summoner. Seeing "Yuna" disappear makes Tidus realize how it must have hurt the real Yuna to see that happen to him, and resolves to return to Spira to reunite with her.
When Tidus fights Yojimbo, he realizes the aeon had come to help him find his own hope. After Tidus lands the finishing blow, he figures he can make the crystal shine bright enough by fighting Wol. When their battle comes to a draw, the crystal opens a portal to Spira. After his adventure, Tidus tells the real Yuna he remembers going someplace unforgettable and meeting unforgettable people, but doesn't remember where or whom, though he still feels hope shining within.
===Final Fantasy X-2===
Two years later, Yuna views an ancient sphere recording of a man with the likeness of Tidus trapped in a cage and demanding to see "the summoner". The sphere compels Yuna to join the Gullwings, a sphere hunting group, and travel Spira to discover what really happened to Tidus. The wise man Maechen implies Tidus's likeness and abilities are the fayth's way of recreating a man named Shuyin—the person in the sphere Yuna saw—from Zanarkand's golden age.
If at the end of her journey Yuna tells the fayth she wants to see Tidus again, he is revived by the fayth. He awakes in the depths of the ocean and swims to the surface, finding himself off the coast of Besaid Island. Tidus is greeted by Yuna and a crowd of people on the beach, including Wakka, Lulu and their baby son, Vidina.
===Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~===
After reuniting with Yuna on the island shore, Tidus accompanies the others to Besaid Village. He is surprised to be introduced to Vidina, and talks to Wakka and the Besaid Aurochs about everything that had happened in his two-year absence. During the preparations for a welcome party, Yuna is busy greeting the village elders at the temple, and Lulu explains Tidus should leave her alone for the time being.
While talking to Rikku, she notes that although Tidus's appearance hasn't changed, he's not the same lighthearted Tidus he was two years ago. After Tidus is introduced to Paine, a member of Yuna's sphere hunting group, he and Rikku talk about the Gullwings' sphere hunting activities, the three new factions of Spira (the Youth League, New Yevon, and Machine Faction), as well as Yuna's reason for becoming a sphere hunter and how she had brought Tidus back with the help of the fayth. Afterwards, Wakka and Tidus talk about blitzball, and Wakka attempts to confirm Tidus is real and not an unsent.
Tidus meets Briar, a man of few words dispatched from Bevelle to work as a priest at Besaid Temple. Briar notices Tidus hails from the Zanarkand of 1000 years ago. Meanwhile, the Gullwings' airship has broken down, Yuna has gone missing, and a storm is to hit Besaid later that night. Tidus searches for Yuna on the beach and boards the Aurochs' boat but ends up falling asleep in the cabin. Upon waking, he finds the boat moving in the darkness with Yuna in the captain's seat. She explains the elderly wanted to hear about her adventures with the Gullwings, and how she feels culpable having robbed them of their spiritual support after Yevon's downfall. Tidus disagrees and they argue. He tries to kiss her and she refuses, but after making up Yuna proclaims she never wants to leave him.
While trying to return to Besaid, Yuna and Tidus get lost at the stormy sea and end up shipwrecked on an uninhabited island that resembles Besaid. They find two stone statues pointing in a certain direction that leads them to the area where the village would otherwise be, but there is no village. Tidus hypothesizes they had traveled a thousand years into the past.
They explore the forest hoping to find a clue on how to return home when Tidus is hit from behind by a brown ball. He kicks it and it blows up, killing him. Yuna sees his body fade away and passes out. When she awakens, Yuna wanders around the island until she approaches a statue of a previous High Summoner named Johit. Johit explains that summoners of the past few centuries have not been using their abilities to their full extent, and exerts full control over pyreflies. Yuna asks if she could create a boat out of thin air, and Johit affirms, though he discourages her from using the power too much, as it stresses the hearts of the fayth, and may bring an imbalance to the Farplane. Johit teaches Yuna this ability, and she uses it to bring Tidus back. Tidus does not realize what has happened, for if he does, he will disappear again. The two find themselves alone in a place resembling Besaid Temple and come across the statues of the gods people worshiped before the time of Yevon: Kush, goddess of food and shelter; Velm, god of safety; Slone, god of quenching regret; Arb, god of knowledge; Luchel; god of War, Kanaela; goddess of protection from darkness; Meiyou, goddess of light; and Guarudo, god of rest.
They leave the temple and come across a frail woman from Bevelle named Kush. She is not the goddess as per the statue, but had only borrowed the name. She explains the role of summoners in war and the Bedohl (the old name for the Al Bhed). Yuna realizes this is a different world and Kush disperses into pyreflies. Yuna senses the presence of another summoner and tells Tidus they must meet with him to find a way back home. Tidus senses danger and tells Yuna to run, but Yuna hesitates as she fears Tidus will disappear like Kush. Yuna tells Tidus she wants to be alone for a while and goes out for a walk but doesn't return, leaving Tidus worried. Kush appears to him and makes a bargain to grant him the power to return to his world on one condition: He finds the "Kush" in his world and kills her for him and Yuna to return together. Tidus does not understand and she tells him a man called Briar will know. She grants him a power that allows Tidus to return by imagining his destination and running, and Tidus returns to the Besaid of his world.
He finds Besaid Village in chaos and everyone interrogates Tidus on Yuna's whereabouts. Tidus explains that to bring Yuna back they must find Briar as per his order from Kush. Tidus tries to imagine Yuna, hoping that Kush's power will help him reach her, and finds her at the beach as she had managed to escape the other world on her own. Tidus explains to her about Kush and the power she gave him, and how he must find her. Using the power, they find a frail Kush sitting in a chair. Yuna sees she is just a beckoning, an illusion conjured by a person's thoughts and feelings, like those in the Farplane. Briar, who is actually an unsent beckoned back into the world, appears, relieved to reunite with Kush. He thanks Tidus and Yuna for helping them meet before they disappear together. With Kush gone, the power she had granted Tidus vanishes and Yuna and Tidus return to the village.
Tidus and Yuna travel to Zanarkand by foot due to the Celsius malfunctioning. They stand on the spot where Tidus once stood to tell his story to the others, and Yuna asks Tidus if he's real and not just a dream. She smiles, praying they can be together forever. However, Yuna knows she beckoned him after the incident on the island via her feelings for him, and if Tidus realizes this, he will disappear.
===Final Fantasy X-2 100% ending===
After traveling to Zanarkand, Tidus tells Yuna about his theory of the fayth gathering his thoughts and putting them back together. Yuna asks if he will disappear again, but Tidus says they should just cherish each other. Yuna playfully pushes Tidus into a pool of water and Tidus jokes about Yuna not cherishing him, but she points out that he didn't disappear.
===Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission===
Should one obtain the Good or Perfect Ending, Yuna will mention living with Tidus in Besaid. This scene will always play in the HD Remaster as the game assumes one has reached 100% for completion.
===Final Fantasy X -Will-===
Six months later, Tidus has become a blitzball star in Spira despite being weaker than he used to be. Chuami and Kurgum are being sent to Besaid by Baralai, leader of the Spira Council, to meet with Yuna, and they meet Tidus on the Bevelle Stadium Road. Chuami notices he's injured and has little energy, although he is trying to hide it. Chuami and Kurgum return to Bevelle with Yuna, who rushes to meet with Tidus. Yuna had previously told Chuami that Tidus is her boyfriend, but when Chuami and Kurgum eavesdrop on the conversation between the two, it seems they are breaking up. Yuna is jealous of Tidus's friend Marphie, but soon tells him she doesn't care anymore, and has already got another person she likes. Tidus asks who it is, but Yuna tells him it's someone he doesn't know and leaves.
Chuami and Kurgum part ways with the latter accompanying Yuna and Wakka, and the former returning to Besaid with Tidus. When Tidus asks Lulu about Yuna's new love interest, Lulu says she thought Tidus would know Yuna better and tells him to find out himself. She says that if something else can be brought back, then Sin's revival shouldn't be surprising. After Tidus figures out the meaning behind Lulu's words, they depart. On a ship with Lulu and Chuami, Tidus says he wants to follow Yuna and the others on her new journey to once again defeat Sin that has been beckoned back into the world, since he had promised to be with her forever.
==Gameplay==
=== Final Fantasy X ===
In Final Fantasy X Tidus is the main playable character who functions as a Warrior, wielding swords and shields. His path on the Sphere Grid leads towards high Agility, Evasion, and Accuracy growth, and while his Strength growth is strong, it lags behind Auron. Tidus begins with no special abilities, but he learns a few speed-based Wht Magic abilities, such as Haste and Slow, buffs such as Cheer, and attacks such as Delay Attack and Delay Buster. His Overdrive is Swordplay, which deals physical damage to enemies based on his own stats and whether correctly landing the cursor in the center of the on-screen bar. He gains new skills based on how many times he uses it. His Celestial Weapon is Caladbolg. Along with Wakka and Rikku, he is one of the three characters that can fight underwater.
As the main party member, Tidus always appears in field gameplay (only once replaced by Yuna), and participates in the majority of minigames. Tidus is a Blitzball player with high SH and EN, and due to his Jecht Shot, can be the best offensive player. Tidus's affection toward the party affects certain scenes, such as who will ride the machina sled with him to Macalania Temple.
=== Final Fantasy X-2 ===
==== Boss and party member ====
thumb|Tidus fought as a boss.
In the International and HD Remaster versions, Tidus can be fought during the Farplane Cup in the Fiend Arena as a boss.
In the International and HD Remaster versions, Tidus can be recruited as a party member through the Creature Creator system. To recruit Tidus, the player must defeat him in the Farplane Cup in the Fiend Arena and must win the cup after. The abilities Tidus can naturally learn are Spiral Cut, Blitz Ace, and Hastega. Tidus can equip any of the common dresspheres. Like all monster allies, Tidus is controlled by the game's AI.
==== Quests ====
Tidus has a coin in Sphere Break.
Additionally, Tidus will appear in the ending depending on which ending the player gets as well as their completion percentage and the choices made during the game.
If, after getting the "Chapter 5 Complete" message, the player presses ( in the Japanese version), Tidus will whistle at Yuna while she is crossing the Farplane Glen. If the player missed either talking to Maechen in Chateau Leblanc in Chapter 3, or did not trigger Tidus's whistle at the Farplane when Yuna fell in at the end of Chapter 3, the player gets a scene where Tidus's spirit embraces Yuna, Yuna says that she loves him, and that he will always be a part of her. Tidus's spirit then disperses into pyreflies and disappears.
If the player talked to Maechen in Chateau Leblanc in Chapter 3, got Tidus to whistle four times in the Farplane at the end of Chapter 3, pressing after the "Chapter 5 Complete" message triggers Tidus's whistle, and Bahamut's fayth appears in the glen asking Yuna if she wants to see Tidus again.
If answered positively, Tidus will reunite with Yuna. If answered negatively, Yuna says Tidus is already with her and walks away. The ending plays as normal, and Tidus does not return, but the player gets an extra scene after the credits where two monkeys sit in the sunset in Zanarkand.
If the player achieves 100% completion, and Yuna tells the fayth she wants to see Tidus again, there is an extra secret ending where Tidus and Yuna travel to Zanarkand together with the reassurance that this time, he won't disappear.
==Musical themes==
In Final Fantasy X "Tidus's Theme" has a low tempo and mellow tune. Three notable times the theme plays are when Tidus is heading for the blitzball stadium at the beginning of the game, when he is remembering Jecht showing him the Jecht Shot while the party is on the ferry to Luca, and after watching his father's sphere in Macalania Woods. It also plays for the final time after the party wins the final battle and the villagers of Besaid Island are rejoicing. "Tidus's Theme" is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy X album as a piano arrangement. "Tidus's Theme" was rearranged for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, featuring an even mellower tune that eliminates the use of harmonica. "The Blitzers" is an energetic and faster-paced variation of "Tidus's Theme" played in certain scenes involving blitzball.
A vocal song associated with Tidus is "Go Dream" on the album, Feel/Go Dream: Yuna & Tidus, and it is sung by Masakazu Morita.
==Other appearances==
Tidus has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy XIV as cosmetic rewards, and an NPC refers to the Primal Titan as "Tidus" repeatedly.
*Final Fantasy Tactics S as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Dimensions II as a phantom stone summon and character costume.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008) as a playable character.
*Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy NT as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as summonable Legend.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy All the Bravest as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Explorers as a Trance.
*Final Fantasy World Wide Words.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision and in vision cards.
*Mobius Final Fantasy as an ability card and as an outfit for Wol.
*World of Final Fantasy as a summonable Champion.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Triple Triad as an opponent and as a series of cards.
===Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances===
Tidus has made key guest appearances in the following games outside the Final Fantasy series:
*Kingdom Hearts series as a cameo.
*Itadaki Street series as a playable character.
*Square Enix Legend World.
*Puzzle & Dragons.
*Monster Strike as a playable character.
===Other media===
Final Fantasy XIV refers to Tidus in the Miner Lv. 30 quest "Little Saboteurs". The twin Lalafell miners mistakenly call a male player "Tidus" before they remember the player's name. A Roegadyn posing as a hero who slew the primal, Titan, also repeatedly calls the primal "Tidus" until corrected several quests later.
==Behind the scenes==
225px|thumb|right|An early Tidus design in the beta trailer.
Early in development, Tidus was envisioned having black hair; a black-haired Tidus appears in a beta video at the Square Millennium Event in 2000 running around in full 3D. Tidus's hair color was later changed, possibly to bring his appearance closer to the idea of the "sun", a recurring theme for his character; Tidus's name comes from the word tida, which means "sun" in Okinawan. The is represented by the in-game item named for the sun that empowers Tidus's and Celestial Weapon. An apparent prototype of Tidus is seen in early concept art for Final Fantasy X.
In the original plot draft for Final Fantasy X, Tidus was a plumber with a job of piping construction and dispatching underwater fiends with the attitude of a young, angry Japanese gang member. This was changed because director Yoshinori Kitase felt it would have made for a "weak main character". Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII had detached and stoic protagonists (Final Fantasy IX was created by a different team), and to break the run of this kind of character, Yoshinori Kitase had Tidus be cheerier and more optimistic. Though Tidus's job was changed to that of a blitzball player, the water theme stayed; Director Yoshinori Kitase has said that developers tended to avoid adding water to games, but they wanted to give it a try. Tidus's overalls is a leftover of the original plumber idea, which transformed into a more sporty blitzball-playing gear in the final game. Turning Tidus into an athlete was Yoshinori Kitase's idea, inspired by "a certain sci-fi movie series incorporating sports elements, like racing". Sports was not seen much in previous Final Fantasy games, and so it was also seen as something refreshing that would make Tidus stand out.
Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima considered having Tidus be an undead, but this was changed due to the release of the film The Sixth Sense, which had a similar plot twist. Since Auron is not the main character the plot point was transferred to him.Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega, Creator's Salon, p. 476-477
For most of Final Fantasy X, Tidus's thoughts and feelings are narrated to the player by his monologue where Tidus recites the game's events in a diegesis. This was included because Nojima was initially concerned with establishing a connection between the player and the main character; the story was thus designed in a way the player's progress through the world and growing knowledge about it is reflected in Tidus's narration."Beyond Final Fantasy" bonus DVD included with International and PAL versions of Final Fantasy X.
Tidus's story arc in Final Fantasy X could allude to the Japanese folklore of Susanoo and the Yamato-no-Orochi. Susanoo (Tidus) is banished from his home in the Heavens (Dream Zanarkand) and trying to win back favor to return. He comes to the mortal world (Spira) and comes across two earthly deities who are weeping because they have to sacrifice their daughters (summoners) to the evil Yamato-no-Orochi (Sin) to keep it from destroying their home. They wish to save their eighth daughter (Yuna) so Susanoo comes up with a plan that involves getting the dragon-snake drunk with wine ("Hymn of the Fayth") and killing it in its drunken state.
Yuna makes numerous tributes to Tidus during Final Fantasy X-2, the most notable of which is the Zanarkand Abes symbol on her chest while donning the Gunner dressphere. Her hair has been cut into a similar style to his (excluding her long ponytail), and her battle stance while in the Warrior dressphere is the same as Tidus's battle stance, and she also mimics his victory pose and quotes his battle lines. While using the Warrior dressphere Yuna wields Tidus's Brotherhood sword, and with the Dark Knight she wields the Caladbolg, Tidus's Celestial Weapon.
In the original Japanese version of the sphere recording in Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm, Tidus is the one shown in the Bevelle prison instead of Shuyin.
In the game's English ending, Yuna tells Tidus she loves him. In the Japanese version, she thanks him. This change was made to compensate for cultural differences, as well as to better sync the voices with the cgi cutscene mouth movements.
===Voice===
Tidus's and Yuna's characters were fleshed out more after their respective voice actors, Morita Masakazu and Aoki Mayuki, were cast; the two were originally motion actors for Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X was their first attempt at voice acting. While actors do their recordings separately nowadays, back then it was the standard to have them all working as a group.
Tidus is voiced by James Arnold Taylor in the English version. He reprised this role in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series. As a child, he is voiced by Cree Summer. In the Beyond Final Fantasy feature included in the International and PAL versions of Final Fantasy X, James Arnold Taylor, describes Tidus as an aggressive, excited young man who always wants to be right and be a hero. When preparing for his role, Taylor drew from his personal life, as he says he can relate to the way Tidus reacts to things.
He is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese version. As a child, he is voiced by Yūto Nakamura (young).
==Merchandise==
Square Enix has released various merchandise of Tidus and his Zanarkand Abes logo. He has appeared in action figures and Coca-Cola bottle cap figurines.
In May 2018 Square Enix releases a silver Tidus pendant with a clear gem as part of the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary campaign. The reverse side of the pendant simply reads "Final Fantasy" with a carving of a crystal. Tidus is depicted in his Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance, and is released alongside pendants of the other Final Fantasy protagonists.
Play Arts FFX.jpg|Final Fantasy Play Arts Action Figures
Scale Figure Tidus.jpg|Scale figure.
Ffx coke figures.jpg|Coca-Cola bottle cap figurine.
Tidus-Pendant-FF30th-Anniversary.png|30th anniversary pendant.
ZA Key ring.jpg|Key ring.
Zanarkand abes bracelet.jpg|Bracelet.
Zanarkand abes pin.jpg|Pin.
==Gallery==
==Etymology and symbolism==
 The sun theme is reflected in the crest and sigil needed to power up his Celestial Weapon, and possibly in his primarily yellow outfit and blond hair.
Tidus's name is never spoken in Final Fantasy X because the player can rename him. Only Datto of the Besaid Aurochs and Pah Guado of the Guado Glories use his name in dialogue that is not voiced. In Final Fantasy X-2, Tidus is referred to as merely he, him, you-know-who when spoken about. Tidus's name in the first Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia Final Fantasy is pronounced Tee-Dus, but it is pronounced Tai-Dus in a scene in Kingdom Hearts II. His name is said out loud several times as Tee-Dus in Final Fantasy X -Will-, as well as World of Final Fantasy. Later games and remakes have removed the feature to (re)name characters to make way for voice acting and the other playable characters of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 cannot be renamed, and are thus referred to by name within the titles.
Yuna's and Tidus's characters may allude to the Chinese concept of the yin and yang. 
==Citations==
de:Tidus
es:Tidus
fr:Tidus
it:Tidus
pt-br:Tidus
ru:Тидус
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X -Will-
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~
Category:Main characters
Category:Warriors
Category:Blitzball players