Yuna (Final Fantasy)
| Yuna | |
|---|---|
| 'Final Fantasy series character | |
| File:Yuna artwork.jpg Yuna, painted by Tetsuya Nomura | |
| First game | Final Fantasy X |
Yuna (ユウナ, Yūna) is the main female protagonist in both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 of the Final Fantasy role-playing video game series from Square Enix. She has also made cameo appearances in Kingdom Hearts II.
Concept and creation
Character design
Character Designer Tetsuya Nomura has explained that he adorned Yuna's dress and necklace with images of the hibiscus flower also called "Yuna", and that her name carries the meaning of "night" in Okinawan, establishing a contrast between her and the lead male protagonist of Final Fantasy X, Tidus, whose name means "sun" in Okinawan. This contrast is also represented in-game by items named for the sun and moon that empower Tidus' and Yuna's most powerful weapons. Nomura has explained that while all these subtle details may be unnecessary, he does not want his designs to have no explanation behind them.
The basis for Yuna's overall design was that of Okinawan kimonos, but Nomura has also mentioned that when he learned the character was to perform a dance called "the sending", he wanted to give her outfit something that would flow. For this reason, the specific type of kimono he chose for her was a furisode, a kimono bearing long sleeves.[1]
Both the summoner's duties and the overall design of Yuna's clothing in Final Fantasy X are strongly reminiscent of the customs and dress of Shinto shrine maidens. The item worn on her chest in Final Fantasy X-2 is a reference to Tidus; the symbol, being the ancient emblem of the Zanarkand Abes blitzball team (to which Tidus was star-player), can be found on Tidus' clothing as well as in his home in Zanarkand. Yuna also sports a different hair style which is similar to Tidus' hair style.
During the course of the game, the player discovers that — within the context of the game's world and story — the character was named after Lady Yunalesca by her father.[2][3]
Appearances
Final Fantasy X
Born in Bevelle and brought up on the island of Besaid, at the start of Final Fantasy X, Yuna is a reserved, intelligent and serious girl whose formal attire contrasts sharply with Tidus' more outgoing appearance. Yuna is a summoner of Yevon and has the ability to summon powerful creatures known as "aeons". She is mild in demeanor and soft-spoken, but harbors no doubt in herself or in her mission to destroy Sin, and usually manages to conceal any feelings of sadness from others. She is also half-Al Bhed on her mother's side, and consequently has heterochromatic irises: one blue and one green. (Note the characteristic eyes of the Al Bhed: green eyes with spiral pupils, as displayed by Yuna's cousin Rikku.)
As a summoner, Yuna travels across Spira to end the threat the malevolent force Sin poses to her world, aided by her aeons, and even more so by her guardians, whose duty it is to protect her along her journey. Yuna begins her pilgrimage across Spira with three guardians: Kimahri Ronso, who took care of her after she was orphaned; Lulu, who treats her as a younger sister; and Wakka, with whom — along with Lulu — she has been close friends since childhood. After Tidus arrives in Besaid, she takes him as her fourth guardian, and later, Auron — who was also guardian to her father — becomes her fifth. Finally, Yuna's maternal cousin Rikku becomes Yuna's sixth and final guardian.
During the course of the game, Yuna is forced to grow in character. She becomes battle-hardened and her Yevonite beliefs are shaken and eventually shattered. Furthermore, her ever-growing relationship with Tidus causes her to question her quest, and think more for herself.[4] As she learns more about Sin — against whom she has trained in the summoners' arts to use the Final Summoning — she becomes caught up in the plot of Maester Seymour Guado and is kidnapped. Her discovery of Seymour and the other Maesters of Yevon's manipulations of the truth forces her to separate herself from her faith, and when Tidus eventually learns the full implication of the Final Summoning — that Yuna will sacrifice herself[5], as her father did, in order to bring about a temporary period free of Sin (called "the Calm")[6] — his perspective persuades her that they can find another, more permanent way to rid Spira of the threat of Sin.
Tidus and Yuna's mutual love for one another intensifies as the quest draws to a confrontation with Sin and the progenitor of Spira's sorrows, Yu Yevon.[7] However, as a consequence of defeating Yu Yevon and ridding the world of Sin, Tidus was required to sacrifice himself.
In FFX International, an extra scene called "Eternal Calm" recounts Yuna's thoughts two years later as she tries to return to her normal life back in Besaid. Being the high summoner who permanently defeated Sin, she has constantly been plagued by visitors and tourists ever since, and more than once has even been asked by the elders of her town that she should be considering marriage and settling down. As Yuna contemplates the changing Spira and her role in it, Rikku comes to visit, and shows her a sphere Kimhari found. Feeling that she deserves an adventure of her own, Yuna literally ran off with her cousin without a word, fuelled by hope that she may know more regarding Tidus.
Final Fantasy X-2
Two years after the events of Final Fantasy X, Yuna is a celebrity for her role in defeating Sin and freeing Spira from its cycle of death and sorrow. However, restless on Besaid, she sets out as a sphere hunter (a new craze sweeping Spira), becoming a member of the Gullwings after Kimahri discovers a sphere on Mt. Gagazet that features a young man with a strong resemblance to Tidus confined within a prison cell. The Gullwings' members include her long-time companion and cousin, Rikku, a mysterious young woman named "Paine", Al Bhed child prodigy named "Shinra", Rikku's brother Brother, and his friend Buddy. Together with Rikku and Paine, the trio of girls are known as "YRP" ("YuRiPa" in the Japanese version).
Yuna displays some changes in personality in Final Fantasy X-2: while still very kind-hearted and serious about her duties and putting others first, she is more open and direct. However, her friends still occasionally tease her about her habit of being a pushover, for she can never turn her back on anyone's request for some form of aid, such acts of charity as these comprising the majority of the game's side-quests and missions. Her relationships from Final Fantasy X have given her a new look at life and — freed from the responsibilities and restrictions of her former role as summoner — she is presented as a much more free-spirited person.
Changes in her physical appearance are also noted. She has opted for more revealing clothing than in her previous adventure, and is considered to be quite beautiful by both fans and characters in the game alike. It is thought that her lighter dressing is a display of a more outgoing personality, gradually developed in the events leading up to the game. Many of her original fans were pleased to see these changes, but others claimed the changes were too distant from the series's roots. In "Final Fantasy X: Another Story" (also called Eternal Calm), a special scene that takes place between FFX and X-2, it is revealed that Yuna's new attire is actually an outfit given to Yuna (and possibly designed) by Rikku. Seeing as how it is the Gunner dressphere in FFX-2, and guns are mainly used by Al Bhed, it's safe to assume that it is the same outfit, though it was never shown in Another Story. It's also a possibility Shinra had something to do with creating it or eventually giving it the same capabilities as a dressphere.
Her purpose for travelling with the Gullwings, however, is mainly because she hopes to find more spheres that would link with the one Kimahri found, what she hopes is a clue that Tidus is alive. Her investigations eventually lead her into the plots of Shuyin and the various opposing factions in the post-Sin Spira, particularly those of the Youth League and New Yevon. The Gullwings in general — and Yuna in particular — seek to restore some sense of unity and peace to a dangerously divided world, as well as to stop forces which would seek to damage Spira even further. The player's actions throughout the course of the game determine whether or not Yuna ever manages to reunite with Tidus, a gift to her from the fayth as thanks for having saved the world a second time.
In FFX-2 International + Last Mission (when the player finishes the 100% story completion) Yuna leads an idyllic life in her hometown with Tidus, Wakka and Lulu. She managed to break free from them, though, and joined Rikku and Paine in one last adventure to explore Yadonoki Tower. She was bothered that the three of them seem to have lost their close bond after their adventure and now leading their own lives, but was fortunately resolved after reaching the top of the tower. She renewed her friendship with Rikku and Paine, and promised to keep in touch with them.
Other appearances
Yuna, along with Rikku and Paine, appears at Hollow Bastion in Kingdom Hearts II, working for Maleficent as spies in return for treasure. The three are fairy-like and appear in chibi form, wearing slightly less provocative versions of their Final Fantasy X-2 outfits. After Maleficent abandoned the three during the Heartless attack at Hollow Bastion, and led to believed Leon had treasure by Donald, Yuna and gang switch their alliance to Leon and the rest of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. Yuna and others did forgive Sora and gang for the deception with Yuna presenting Sora the Gullwing keyblade, a reference to her sphere hunting group in Final Fantasy X-2. She was the only character in her gang whose name is spoken, "Yunie," a nickname made up by Rikku (only in the English version of X and X-2).
Yuna, in both her summoner and gunner forms, is a playable character in Itadaki Street Special.
References
- ^ Shella (2003). "Tetsuya Nomura 20s". FLAREgamer. Retrieved 13 April.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|work=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square-Enix. p. 105. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
- ^ Yuna: "Lady Yunalesca!" / Seymour: "She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages. And you have inherited her name." / Yuna: "It was my father who named me."(Final Fantasy X)
- ^ Tidus: "Yuna, why does Sin always come back?" / Yuna: "Sin is our punishment for our vanity. And it will not go away until we've atoned." / Tidus: "How do we do that? What did we do that was so bad in the first place? Was it using lots of machina or something? Oh... Wait, was that such a bad thing, really?" / Yuna: "It's funny... Ever since I was young, I never questioned it. But now that you ask me if it is that bad or not...I don't know. There are so many things I don't know."(Final Fantasy X)
- ^ Tidus: "Why couldn't they trust guardians to protect summoners... The Al Bhed had no right stopping their pilgrimage!" / Rikku: "The pilgrimages have to stop! If they don't, and they get to Zanaraknd... They might defeat Sin. Yunie could...but then she... Yunie will die, you know? You know, don't you? Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon. Yuna told you, didn't she? With the Final Aeon, she can beat Sin...but then... If she calls it, then the Final Aeon's gonna kill her. "Even if she defeats Sin, it will kill Yunie too, you know?"(Final Fantasy X)
- ^ Tidus: "What's the calm?" / Lulu: "The Calm is a time of peace. It comes after a summoner defeats Sin, and lasts until Sin reappears."(Final Fantasy X)
- ^ Rikku: "Who's Yu Yevon?" / Mika: "He who crafts the souls of the dead into unholy armor. An armor called Sin. Clad in it, Yu Yevon is invincible."(Final Fantasy X)
External links
- Behind The Game — Interview with Hedy Burress, Yuna's English voice actor
- Yuna at Final Fantasy X Online
- Website about Yuna as she appears in the Japanese release of FFX
- Water Nymph/Sharpshooter