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Jecht

Tidus does not have a very happy nor solid relationship with his father, Jecht. To put it bluntly, Tidus hates his dad's guts and would love to get the chance to beat him up.

Jecht was a famous blitzball player in his time; his name can always sell out all the tickets in the stadium. He was self-centered and arrogant, and believed highly of his skills. A young, ten year old Tidus swore to himself that he will never become that kind of person.

Tidus was always overshadowed by his father. He felt he had a lot to live up to. He felt this enormous pressure from the world, as if their eyes are watching his every move, watching to see if he is as good as his father. His father was famous, after all, and as the son of this celebrity, everyone naturally wanted to know if Tidus had the skills too. Tidus was often compared, and he didn't want to be. He didn't want to be referred to as "Jecht's son"; he wanted to be known simply as Tidus, a great blitzball player.

As well, Tidus' mother was head over heels in love with Jecht, and whenever Jecht returned home from training or tournaments, she would devote all her attention to him, completely ignoring Tidus. Tidus hated losing his precious mother to someone like Jecht. He seeked attention from his mother, but his mother could only focus on his father. It hurt to know that his mom loved Jecht way more than her own son.

Jecht's story

Ironically, it was Jecht that never ignored Tidus. Jecht cared about Tidus very much, and he was probably the only person who did not see Tidus as simply 'Jecht's son'. However, he did have a rather odd way of expressing his love for his son. It's probably a combination of his inflated ego and prideful nature, but in any case, he feels embarassed when he tries to be kind to Tidus. It's a sign of weakness to him, not to mention it makes him feel sappy, and he can't do it.

So Jecht's brilliant plan is to instead, makes fun of Tidus! He always told Tidus that he could never amount to anything. Most likely Jecht hoped that by infuriating Tidus, he would work as hard as could to prove him wrong. If that was the case, then his plan was a success. Of course, such a plan has its downsides, the most obvious being Tidus will start hating Jecht.

The day Jecht mysteriously disappeared at sea while training, Tidus couldn't care less. He was glad that he was missing, but his mother thought otherwise. She frantically set up search parties and looked everywhere for her dear husband, but they couldn't find even a clue as to where he was. He was declared dead and his mother lost the will to live; she died shortly after. Tidus felt his mother's death is a fault of his father's, and despised him for leaving without saying a word, despised him for causing his mother so much grief and despised him for her death. Tidus pretty much decided everything was Jecht's fault.

in spira

Upon Tidus' arrival in Spira, he learned about a man named Jecht that was High Summoner Braska's guardian. As legendary guardians, he and Auron were regarded as heroes. Yuna insisted that Tidus' father Jecht, and the guardian Jecht, were the same person. After all, this was accomplished ten years ago, and ten years ago was when Jecht disappeared. How odd.

Tidus thought it all a mere coincidence with names -- after all, his Dad ain't no hero -- but Yuna did not believe in such coincidences. Though outwardly he insisted that they were different people, deep inside, he also felt that such a coincidence is hard to believe. If he managed to get here, then his father could have too. Then after realizing this, Tidus felt angry. Even when his Dad winds up in a far away place a thousand years in the future, he has to go and plaster his name everywhere. Typical.

When it was revealed to Tidus by Auron that Sin is actually his father, Tidus refused to believe it. While one could argue that he simply thought the story was ridiculous, it was also because he didn't want to believe that his father had this killing-machine of a creature. He had already lost his mother, losing your good-for-nothing father will hurt too. Of course, Auron is not the type to kid around, and Tidus eventually had to accept that the whale-like creature is his father. He could feel his father's prescence whenever Sin was around; there was doubt that it was him.

reunion

In Operation Mi'Hen, a daring plan to rid Sin using forbidden machina weapons, Sin/Jecht arrived in front of the hundreds of troops just to see his precious son. He had to kill a couple hundred people to get there, but he felt it was worth it, plus as Sin, killing is part of his job. When Auron told Tidus that Sin arrived today specifically just to see him, Tidus was in disbelief.

Tidus: "So he killed all those people just for a chance to see me?!"
Auron: "He wanted to show you what Sin does. He wants you to kill him."

Slowly, Tidus realizes that he does care about his father (which irks him), but he unfortuately, had also inherited Jecht's inability to express familial feelings. In the Macalania Woods, Tidus found an old sphere that Jecht had recorded. In the sphere Jecht stated that if Tidus was watching this, then he probably figured out where he went after he disappeared. He then tried to say something along the lines of him caring about Tidus very much, or perhaps an 'I miss you', but he quickly backs out of it, stating that he's no good with these sorts of things. Auron took it as his duty to tell Tidus for Jecht himself, although Tidus simply scoffs at him. The father that bullied him throughout his childhood couldn't possibly have actually cared about him. That's ridiculous!

At the final battle, when Tidus finally meets his father face to face after ten years of seperation, it turns out to be a rather sad reunion. Jecht is dying -- he must die, and Tidus cries. He cries because his Dad is dying! Jecht calls him a cry baby one last time, and Tidus, through his tears, tells his father, "I hate you, Dad" one last time, although it's obvious that Tidus didn't mean those words at all -- he meant quite the contrary. It can be seen clearly that the two, deep down (waaay deep down), cared about one another. Jecht just wanted his son to become the best person he could be, and Tidus just wanted his father's approval. It's a shame they wasted all those years hating each other, when really, they didn't.