7 life lessons learned from Final Fantasy X characters

Playing through Final Fantasy X Remastered has reminded me of something I picked up when I first played through the game over a decade ago. That is that each character is supremely flawed. Every single one of them, no matter how well put together they may seem, has an issue that we are supposed to pick up on and learn from.

Playing through the game these issues were easy enough to pick up, but in my adolescence I did not apply any of the lessons taught through the characters to my own life. Now that I am older and wiser, I think it’s time to sit down and see what lessons Square Enix has for us in these characters, and how we can apply them to our own lives.

Don’t follow religion blindly – Wakka

OK, let’s start of with an easy one. Wakka may be known for being the captain of the Besaid Aurochs and a reliable guardian, but he is also a racist that is blinded by his flawed religion. Yevon declares the use of machines, or machina, to be sacrilege, thus making the Al Bhed heretics for using it. Wakka takes these teachings to heart and blindly hates the Al Bhed.

As the game progresses Wakka does see the error of his ways, and the point is clear: don’t let religion lead to blind hate.

Don’t assume your senpai knows what to do – Auron

Oh, Auron. By far the coolest character. He is one of the legendary guardians that bested Sin ten years ago and has joined Yuna to help rescue Spira yet again. The man must be a saint that has an infinite amount of wisdom to share and will prove invaluable to the mission.

Wrong.

Although Auron is strong, and one of my favorite characters, his cynicism gets in the way of his usefulness. It is my opinion that the creators of the game wanted to use Auron to show that the senpai-kohai relationship that exists in Japan isn’t always that useful. Situations change, and the previous experiences that the senpai may have had isn’t always applicable to current situations.

To broaden it a bit: adults don’t always have the answers. Just because they’ve been through a similar situation doesn’t mean that they will have the solution to your problem.