On Final Fantasy X: Love, Hope and the Death-Worship of Yevon
*Contains major narrative and gameplay spoilers*
In the world of Final Fantasy X’s Spira, there is a single overwhelming force that oppresses, dominates and controls all people within Spira, No, not the unfathomable might of Sin, but its dominant religion, Yevon.
Final Fantasy X is a game about death. This is no revelation to any who have played it, the theme is pervasive and infiltrates all corners of its narrative and plot, in particular in its relationship to Yevon’s worship. But what is Yevon? The practices of three real religions primarily inspire Yevon. Let’s discuss which ones and in which ways.
The Inspiration of Yevon
The first is Shintoism, a Japanese faith in which believers worship Kami, which are essentially personified phenomena, forces, places and things that are thought to have a sort of deific power. A Kami may be as mighty or important as the sun-goddess Amaterasu or as unassuming as the Dōsojin that protect travellers on roads or bridges. Kami are worshipped as shrines or temples, something we see replicated within Yevon across Spira.
The second inspiration to Yevon is Buddhism, most specifically within the ritualistic disciplines observed by Yevon, most notably the bowing used within the Yevon faith as a universal greeting, prayer and catch-all social gesture. Another unavoidable parallel is the chanting of the Hymn of the Fayth within the temples of Yevon, a song sung by the Kami-like Fayth themselves that permeates the space diegetically and is sung by followers at times of turmoil and strife. Within the Buddhist faith is it said that the ‘Om’ is the primordial sound of creation, and one who can emulate this sound forever will achieve Nirvana. I believe it is used principally within the Yevon faith as a sort of motivator in the face of such grim life with the Fayth singing it to one another constantly. The final component of Buddhism that inspired Yevon in FFX is the scripture, inspired in no small part by Sanskrit, the language used in many Buddhist texts, and can be seen below. (More on the A symbol later!) In truth, the Yevon scripture is less of an alphabet and more of a cypher, much like the Al-Bhed language that is learned from primers throughout the game world during a playthrough.
Catholicism represents the third religious influence of Yevon, most specifically within its rites of pilgrimage and hierarchical structure. The religion of Yevon is led by one man, Grand Maester Yo Mika, a station similar to that of a Cardinal in Catholicism, who in turn leads 3 other Maesters each representing the civil, military and temple affairs of the faith. In real terms, Yevon is as much a theocracy as a religion and serves as the primary government across Spira as we see it in-game. These 4 Maesters essentially control all world affairs from their station at the pinnacle of Yevon.
The Culture of Spira
Within Spira, there is a ‘blitz spirit’ regarding Sin and the existential dread it embodies. We see Sin annihilate the majority of the coastal settlement of Kilika with its mere presence. Sin does not so much attack as arrive in the waters near the town, it’s gravity. Shortly after the attack, the people have already begun to rebuild, to collect the debris and clear the wreckage and witness possibly the most iconic scene in Final Fantasy X, Yuna’s sending. For the people of Spira, Sin and the destruction it brings are a fact of life and a common enough occurrence that the survivours are conditioned to react in such a pragmatic manner. The Sending is a source of relief to the survivours, who no longer need to fear that their loved ones will return as fiends, monsters born from the souls of the unsent dead, and perpetuate the cycle of death. This small act gives them some degree of hope, that at the very least they may rest peacefully. The only hope of freedom from this cycle for the people of Spira is to be Sent after death so that they may be divorced from this cycle, or rather, spiral, of death.
It seems the core purpose of the Yevon religion for the majority of the game is to bring hope to the population that Sin may finally be defeated and that the Eternal Calm may come, but as it is revealed later the religion is no longer pursuing this final goal and has become corrupted by the influence of death’s power. Of the religion’s leaders, two out of four are Unsent, leading the religion from beyond the boundary of life and death. This profane governance is a corruptive source within the culture of Spira, with the values of these corrupted individuals trickling down into the population. We see evidence of this within our party in an argument between Wakka, a devout Yevonite and Rikku, an Al-Bhed group branded infidels by Yevon for their use of machina. Rikku argues that without searching outside the confines of what Yevon has deemed permissible, another thousand years of the same death cycle is inevitable, to which Wakka replies that ‘Nothing needs to change!’ and that if they remain faithful to the teachings of Yevon they will surely one day atone and purify themselves of the plague of death brought on by Sin. In a sense, the Yevonites believe in the Eternal Calm not as an inevitable event, but more as a heaven or afterlife in actual practice.
The Al-Bhed represent the only major source of opposition to the teachings of Yevon, believing that although the scriptures of Yevon state Machina was the cause of Sin’s emergence, it is the most effective tool they have for fighting Sin and that the methods employed by Yevon have failed for a millennium. They desire change and freedom from Sin just as the Yevonites do, but are persecuted for the use of Machina which stretches back to the time before Zanarkand’s destruction and the emergence of Sin. Although little is given to the player regarding this period of the timeline in-game, we learn in the Ultimania book that the cities of Zanarkand and Bevelle were once at war and the result of this war between Bevelle’s Machina and Zanarkand’s summoners was Yu Yevon’s creation of Sin. The events of this war led to the banning of Machina, but as we see throughout the game Yevon defies its own teachings and arms several of its warrior monks with Machina and even utilises it within the Bevelle temple itself. This contradiction perpetuates the cycle and it takes an external force; in this case, Tidus and his unique state, to break that programming within those he meets, most specifically Wakka, who throughout the game is deprogrammed and chooses to fight with his friends instead of for the religion that has presided over a millennium of death.
Most cultures in Spira are reliant on the sea for survival. We see this in Besaid, Kilika, and Luca, most prominently but the map in-game also informs us that Zanarkand, Bevelle, Djose and Bikanel are all close to the sea as well. Normally, this would be a very normal thing, with 40% of humans today living within 100km of the coast, however, in Spira we see that Sin dwells primarily within the sea. While Sin’s omnipresence in Spira doesn’t make anywhere safe as we see later it can not only manifest itself anywhere inland but also fly, its affinity for the oceanic regions of Spira doesn’t outweigh the positives that come with coastal settlement. the sea has always served as a vital means of travel, trade and food for humans and water has always been revered as a life-giving substance.
Water represents rebirth and fertility. It represents change. It represents power and wisdom. it also represents the unconscious mind. It is telling that in a world dominated by water, where the overwhelming majority of settlements seen in the game are coastal, that Sin, who takes the form of a whale, predominantly dwells within the water. It is important to note too that in FFX Fire, Ice, Thunder and Water form an elemental quaternity, although Water is the only element of the 4 not represented by an Aeon, with Ifrit, Shiva and Ixion representing the other three respectively. In previous Final Fantasy games we have seen several water-themed summons such as Leviathan and Siren, and it feels somewhat jarring that in a game set in such a tropical region with several archipelagos and naval travel that there is no water summon present in the game, not even amongst the 3 optional summons. Only Sin is entitled to the power that water holds over life and death in Spira, and his reign is unchallenged
Sin is a constant force that presides over all of these thematic concepts. Sin is the embodiment of death and prevents the rebirth of Spira. It prevents change from occurring in this quasi-apocalyptic world. It denies the formation of new cities, the only ones that exist are still where they have always been, with Bevelle and Luca being the best examples. Luca is the most populous city due to it being host to the only remaining Blitzball arena, a pre-war technology that is yet to be replicated in over a thousand years of Sin.
While not worshipping Sin directly, it is at the very core of the Yevon religion. All doctrine relates to Sin and the promised atonement that will deliver the Eternal Calm. Sin serves as the perfect perpetuation of this system, never allowing anyone to forget the ‘big lie’ of Yevon, that atonement is possible. The truth of the matter is that it isn’t. But the average Yevonite is blinded by the same hope that Wakka holds during the conflict between he and Rikku at Macalania. The Yevonites are addicted to their faith and even after witnessing the contradictions & lies and fighting against the servants of Yevon directly, Wakka still holds many of their ideals in high esteem and often remarks that he dislikes going against the teachings despite knowing it to be the right thing to do. (This balancing act makes it feels as though Wakka is rebelling regretfully against the faith but never that he will turn on our party, a very delicate balancing act masterfully written.)
One final note is that people in Spira live fast and die young. Lulu (22), our belted black mage, was engaged to Chappu, Wakka’s little brother. The game is never clear on Chappu’s age but we can assume he was around 19 at his death. In FF X-2 Lulu has already had one child with Wakka and another is pregnant with another. In an optional scene in Guadosalam that due to the little-known affection mechanic has likely gone unseen by most players, Rikku expresses that she wants Yuna to settle down and marry in two of the three options and is rather smitten in the third where ‘I’d rather have you’ is selected. Being only 15 at this time Rikku also says in a following scene that it is common for people to marry the first person they fall in love with, even explicitly stating that it’s so common because ‘there’s Sin and Fiends around!’ and follows up by saying ‘I’ll probably be the same way.’ and that ‘it’s pretty normal, I think’. By modern standards this is extremely young, half the average age of a mother in the USA according to census data. The knowledge that life is cheap and short in Spira affects all things, especially the planning of one’s future. Clearly, this is a present issue in the minds of Spira’s youths.
The Symbology of Yevon
Now let’s get back to that A character I mentioned earlier. This symbol is used in a similar form to the Greek Alpha and serves as a holy symbol in many instances representing the whole of Yevon. As a symbol it depicts the body of Yevon, with each ‘wing’ on either side of the symbol lowered as if the body above is ‘protecting’ the smaller symbol (that resembles a pyrefly) in the middle. Another way of reading this symbol is that the large ovular icon on top is Sin with the dot at the centre being the parasitic Yu Yevon who controls Sin from within, the two wings (or fins?) encircling Spira and preventing it from ever growing beyond Sin’s dominance. Even within the language of Spira, Sin, the embodiment of death itself, is dominating the first letter. Sin is the beginning of Yevon in the alphabet and essentially in lore too.
The Besaid Mandala contains so much imagery and content that I will happily leave the explanation of this to Mike and Casen over on the Resonant Arc podcast. In their final episode on the game, they spend some twenty minutes breaking down this image that appears on the floor of the Besaid temple in far greater detail than perhaps anyone other than the original artist ever has. In fact, if anyone has any desire to dive deeper into Final Fantasy X then this podcast series is an excellent way to do it.
In summary, the Mandala represents the intrusion of death into the world of the living, specifically the 4 highly decorated phallic objects protruding into the centre from the outermost edge representing the unsent (dead) Maesters. The X in the centre represents death, (In fact, the cross almost always represents death, often associated with Christ’s crucifix and serving as a sort of shorthand as visual language has developed in the centuries since.) and given its location within the mandala that death is at the centre of Spira, that it is a fundamental part of this world. The smaller circular object within it is itself another tiny mandala that informs a keen eye that life is capable of overcoming death, quite literally given that the circular mini-mandala overlaps the cross at the centre. Here in the first temple we set foot in within Spira, we quite literally find death at its centre.
Even in the form of Sin’s summoner / creator, Yu Yevon, we see yet more fascinating design consideration from the developers at Square Enix. Yu Yevon is not an imposing man in armour with a big sword, he is not a sage-like figure with flowing robes that emanates profane wisdom, he isn’t even human at all anymore. Yu Yevon assumes the form of a tick. A tiny, parasitic horror that has no function or agency beyond its nearly computational drive for survival, feeding ceaselessly upon the dead of Spira to forge its titanic armour called Sin.
The parasitic Yu Yevon bears the symbol for A upon itself (A being analogous to Alpha or beginning.) and represents the literal beginning of the religion named after him as well, a beginning that came from the destruction of Zanarkand and the genocide of his people. The spiral of death begins with Yu Yevon and can only be ended with his defeat. Regarding the spiral, this symbol is also present on Sin’s body, specifically on the tail, and is also present in the destruction of Kilika, with all of the debris Sin’s presence creates rising in a spiral above it, cast into the sky.
The End of Yevon’s Spiral
The spiral is an important image for Final Fantasy X. The story is one of hope, just as Yevon is a religion of hope, or rather false hope. It is important to note that all spirals have an end and that a spiral is not a cycle. A spiral may appear as a closed circle from above i.e from a limited perspective, but unlike a circle, a spiral always has an end. Yevon limits the perspective of the Spiran people so much that they only see the circle, the endless cycle of death that Sin / Yu Yevon perpetuates. The Al-Bhed who rebel against Yevon do so with a limited perspective as well. They see that the system Yevon presents is broken, but they fail to comprehend that knowledge and so fail to end the spiral as well, as though they are looking at the spiral from the other side.
Yevon (Ebon in Japanese) and the Al-Bhed (Arubedo in Japanese) serve as opposites, a Yin and Yang, but also as the first two stages in the alchemical construction of the Magnum Opus as defined by Carl Gustav Jung in his seminal works on the Alchemy of the Soul and the process of individuation. Ebon quite obviously means black, the colour of the first stage of achieving alchemical perfection, in which the subject does not accept external influence. Much like how the colour black absorbs all light and reflects none, subjects trapped in the Nigredo stage of alchemy do not recognise the flaw within.
The second stage is white, Albedo, the recognition of the flaw. The Al-Behd recognise the issue with Yevon but are yet to figure out a method of resolving this issue. This results in their pursuit of false leads, believing the opposite of Yevon in regards to the use of machina, the most profane act one can perform against Yevon. The white light of Albedo reflects all it is presented with, in a sense, it is contrarian in nature.
The third stage is Citrinitas which is yellowing. I believe that Tidus and his golden blonde hair represent this stage within Final Fantasy X. Citrinitas is achieved when one reconciles the issues identified within the Albedo stage. As an outsider to this world and an external influence upon Spira he alone can clearly witness the shape of the spiral and see the end. He can see the flaws in Yevon and figures out how to reconcile them only after being exposed to both parties.
The analogy wears thing at the 4th stage, Rubedo, representing reddening. I cannot think of any specific imagery within Final Fantasy X that represents the ruby colouration of the Rubedo but the destruction of Sin and the end of the spiral of death is very clearly the Magnum Opus of the narrative. Within this stage of the alchemical process one has achieved a perfected state. One could say that Tidus’ ‘death’ or the sunrise scene after the final battle is won could be the imagery of Rubedo but in my humble opinion, I think it’s quite a stretch to make. I think the more reasonable interpretation is the achievement of the goal, with Tidus, the only character who achieves true individuation and completes his self-development with his selfless actions.
As evidence of the spiral’s ending, we are treated to a post-credit scene added in the International and remastered versions of the game. (8 years before Marvel made it cool!) In this brief scene, we see Tidus in a foetal position, adrift and submerged in water awaken and begin swimming toward the surface before the screen fades to white. This scene is open to interpretation but all evidence points toward it being evidence of a birth, or rebirth, of Tidus into the world. Now that Sin is not corrupting the water, rebirth is able to take place and Tidus is given new life as a ‘real boy’. Of course, this is somewhat contradicted by the unplanned sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, however, I find the notion that a story be beholden to its sequels entirely unconvincing and thin at best.
Final Fantasy X begins with death, and it ends in rebirth. It rhymes. It is a story about fragile hope and unyielding love. It is a sincere tale of parental bonds, perseverance in the face of the inevitable and the frequent cruelty of life. It is an enthralling, ethereal and beautiful video game that deserves to be placed at the pinnacle of the medium as an example of what games can do for storytelling. It is a game that is not only highly accessible in terms of its gameplay, styling and availability, but also has a wealth to offer players of all kinds.
If this piece has made you curious or perhaps made you want to revisit it, it’s currently on sale on Steam.
. . .
Sincerely,
Blake Walden.
