ATHLETE

World

game

blitzball

Blitzball is an imaginary sport famous throughout the Final Fantasy X world. Whether you are living in the machina city of Zanarkand or the conservative world of Spira, it is a sport enjoyed by the young and old, as a way for everyone to forget about Sin for a bit and just enjoy some good ol' ball-handling and tackling. When Wakka first tells Tidus about blitzball, Tidus finds it very awkward that in such a time of strife, people are still able to get worked up and excited over a sports game. According to Wakka, this is the only time to enjoy blitzball -- what better time to enjoy it then when the world is suffering? (I, on the other hand, kind of side with Tidus on this one -- if the world was ending, I don't think I could focus on a sports game). They do not want Sin interfering with their daily lives -- even though it is -- and the people of Spira try to go on as normally as possible. No giant monster is going to take Blitzball away from them!

Blitzball is played in a literal sphere of water. In Tidus' Zanarkand, they had huge machina machines that help create a floating sphere of water instantly for games. In Spira (a thousand years in the future), however, they have to fill up a sphere of water the "old-fashioned" way -- pouring water out from large pipes and simply waiting for the sphere to be filled up. The two teams swim about in this sphere of water -- methods of breathing unknown, if they require breathing at all -- and from then on, the game is part water polo, part football. There are two triangular nets set on either side of the sphere and players must swim, tackle and throw the ball to try to land the ball in their opponent's net to score points. I assume the players must have very powerful arms and legs to swim quickly and tackle people, as well as throw the ball at high speeds underwater -- unless FFX water is of a different type. Which, upon thinking, I think it must be: I don't think you can really tackle someone underwater, at least not with force. I imagine it's something like playing football on the Moon.

Tidus & the sport

Tidus began playing blitzball when he was very young, trained under a professonal blitzball player: his own father. His father went by the name of Jecht and the world saw him as the best blitzball player ever. In fact, Jecht was a celebrity athlete. Jecht loved the attention and he loved being the best (he's kind of a cocky guy). Needless to say, this put a lot of pressure on young Tidus here; the world expected him to be just as good as his father in blitzball and his father also expected only the very best out of his son. Thus begins the hatred Tidus feels towards his father ...

Besides the external pressures of Blitzball fans and his father, Tidus put pressures on himself as well. Constantly referred to as 'Jecht's son', Tidus set out to do his best in blitzball. He wanted to prove that he's an individual and that he wasn't simply riding on his father's fame; he wanted to come out of his father's looming shadow. He only wanted to be known as 'Tidus'.

Tidus must have inherited his athletic abilities from his father after all, because he quickly became known as a great blitzball player and played professionally for his city on the team, Zanarkand Abes, at the age of seventeen, which in our world, would make him some sort of prodigy. Eventually, his blitzball skills landed him celebrity and role model status; this can be seen with the teenage girls screaming his name out or nervously trying to strike up a conversation with him and young boys wanting autographs and a few blitzball pointers so they can become professionals themselves. Even though he's the star player of his team, every now and then, he is reminded by others that he is 'Jecht's son' -- his father's reputation has become legendary and it will take a miracle for Tidus to shake it off.

Tidus looks to blitzball when he's happy, but especially when he's feeling down. Whenever angry thoughts about his father enter his head, and feelings of discontent at being regarded as "lesser" than his legendary father, he will pick up his blitzball and practice until he felt he has improved. The feeling of improvement makes him feel a step closer towards becoming better than his father, which makes him feel better about himself. His favourite thing to do is to practice the Jecht Shot -- his father's signature move. It sounds kind of weird that he'd practice the moves of his greatest rival, but until Tidus completely masters the move, he'll still continue to feel as if Jecht has something he doesn't have.

Blitzball in Spira

Blitzball is important to him in more ways than just a goal in his life. When he was thrown a thousand years into the future, it remained as the one link between his home and the world he was in now. It was something familiar he can safely hang on to, like a sign that this world and his own world can't be too far apart from one another. To his delight, blitzball was just as popular as it ever was and Tidus' skills were just as good here as they were back home -- and of course, Tidus never looks past an oppurtunity to show off some of his special moves. Just as Blitzball allowed the people of Spira to forget their worries about Sin, Blitzball allowed Tidus to forget his worries about going home.