Final Fantasy VII & Final Fantasy X:
~How Love Beyond Death Connects the Main Heroes and Heroines~
by aerisbolt
The Final Fantasy franchise has been around for many years now. Though each
Final Fantasy has its own original story and characters there have always been
subtle connections between the games. Certain themes are used
again and again, not because the creators have run out of ways to give the
players a fresh love story or show angst, but because it is a great way to
connect the newest game with those who came before it.
I would like to talk about the parallels of arguably the two most romantic
couples in the final Fantasy franchise, Cloud and Aerith from Final Fantasy VII and Final
Fantasy VII: Advent Children; and Yuna and Tidus from Final Fantasy X and Final
Fantasy X-2.
Let us first look at what Yuna and Aerith's roles are in Final Fantasy X and
Final Fantasy VII
respectively.
Both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII concentrate on the journeys of the heroes Tidus and Cloud.
However in both stories without Yuna and Aerith, the crisis the heroes find
themselves in would not be averted. It is only with the help of each of the
woman's special circumstances; Yuna being a summoner and Aerith being a Cetra
that each respective world is saved.
It is interesting to note that both heroes are lost either physically or
emotionally in the beginning of the games; Tidus is in the wrong time and
Cloud's memories are jarbled; when they meet Yuna and Aerith. Both heroes agree
very soon after meeting Yuna and Aerith respectively to protect them by being
bodyguards (X calls them guardians). The two men also having many strikingly
similar physical traits. They are both handsome, blue eyed, well built, spiky
haired blondes who are pretty talented with a sword.
As for the heroines, both have the attributes of white mages. Aerith's limit
breaks are focused on healing the party. Yuna, when starting off on the sphere
grid, one of the first skills she learns is a healing spell. Both woman's weapon
of choice is a staff. This holds true with many of the other heroines in Final
Fantasy games with many of the heroine's strength being based in magic over
physical fighting (For more information, please see Drake Clawfang's
essay on
Final Fantasy Parallels).
Yuna and Aerith also go through at least one period separated from their group.
Yuna leaves her group by agreeing to marry Seymour, planning to stop him. Aerith
gives herself up to the Turks to protect Marlene. In both these cases Tidus and
Cloud go after them to risking their lives and the lives of their group to save
them (Cloud ends up doing this twice; the second time is when Aerith leaves to
handle Sephiroth on her own).
This segues into another important similarity between Yuna and Aerith. They each
go head first into almost certain death situations without hesitation. The only
difference is that Yuna knows she will die while Aerith does not know it is
inevitable. They both realize that they have the power to stop the threat and so
do what is necessary to save the world.
It is also fun to note that Yuna is the first heroine since Aerith to have brown
hair instead of dark and wear a long dress. However Yuna's personality is not as
flirty and outgoing as Aerith.
Also both Yuna and Aerith appear not to judge Tidus and Cloud. They are
supportive and encourage them, Yuna by believing Tidus' story and Aerith wanting
to get to know the real Cloud. Aerith ends up taking an even larger role in
supporting Cloud in Advent Children.
So why am I writing all this? Because there are some fans who believe Tifa to be
the main heroine of Final Fantasy VII. And while Tifa's role is very important and I do
consider a heroine of Final Fantasy VII, she is not the main heroine. I equate her role with
Cloud to Auron's with Tidus. Both have extremely valuable knowledge that would
stop the confusion for the respective heroes, but it is not until later in each
game that this information is brought to light and the two of them begin to help
our heroes. Tifa helps Cloud piece together the memories of his past and Auron's
presence validates Tidus' story. Also, in my interpretation of Auron's
character, though he has his own demons and journey to deal with; he also shows
the desire to protect Tidus and Yuna. The main reason is probably out of respect
for their fathers and his relationship with them but I personally believe there
is also his own personal affection for Tidus and Yuna; in his own Auron way.
Tifa also shows a major desire to protect Cloud, actually to a fault when she
keeps the above mentioned knowledge from Cloud. Now obviously there are huge
differences as well. Tifa is in love with Cloud and there is definitely no
romance happening between Auron and Tidus.
But bringing up Tifa's feelings gives me the opportunity to touch on the
infamous LTD of Final Fantasy VII. Most of the affection Cloud can show Tifa is based on
what the player does, including the Under the Highwind scene. I would just like
to point out that even with Yuna and Tidus who is an indisputable canon couple,
there are times where you can choose how Tidus answers Lulu about Yuna. The
player can actually choose a line stating that he prefers Lulu to Yuna stating
“Actually you are more my type Lulu” (or something very close to that, I
remember choosing it once because I found it cute and humorous). Then there is a
scene where Tidus either has Lulu or Rikku ride with him on a snow vehicle while
getting to a destination and it based on who Tidus has been more friendly to.
There is also hints that Tidus is attracted to Rikku very early in the game but
obviously his feelings become concentrated on a certain brunette. So though the
hero may have shown interest either in years past or briefly at the beginning of
the game to more than one female character does not mean it changes who he is
meant to be with. If there is ever confusion please look to scenes that cannot
be changed based whatever the individual playing the game decides.
Then there is the argument that because Aerith is dead she is no longer a viable
love interest for Cloud. I believe Final Fantasy X shows how wrong that line of thinking can
be. There is a beautiful love story in X and the couple is extremely romantic
even though in the end, the couple is not together. It is beautiful and sad and
all though there are hints that the two lovers might be reunited down the line,
they are separated physically in the end. This can be said for Final Fantasy VII as well.
Which brings me to the next main point of my argument, Separation by death and
the desire to continue to search for the one that was lost. In both X and VII
there is a surprising revelation that two of the main characters of each game
will not survive at the end. It is a rare plot point, even in the Final Fantasy
franchise. It is also interesting to note that both Tidus and Aerith “die” right
in front of Yuna and Cloud with neither one having the power to stop what's
happening. In both cases the rest of their respective groups are present but in
the background. And both Yuna and Cloud are the last to say goodbye. Cloud
carrying Aerith alone into the lake and Yuna standing close to the edge of the
airship, saying she loves him and watching him disappear. Both scenes are
heartbreaking. However in both cases the other hero or heroine left behind is
shown holding on to hope that they will see their loved one again. With Yuna,
after Tidus disappears she is seen whistling for him. This goes back to an
earlier conversation between the two of them when they both promise to come if
they hear the other whistling. For Cloud it is in the last conversation he has
at the end of the game where he tells Tifa he believes he can meet Aerith in the
Promised Land.
There is also the emphasis on remembering those who have died or been lost. Yuna
talks about remembering the ones who have died in her speech to all of Spira at
the end of Final Fantasy X. Cloud and the rest of Avalanche visually show remembering Aerith
by wearing a pink ribbon around their arms in Advent Children. But the ribbon is
not the only way Cloud remembers Aerith. It is shown during Advent Children that
he has been staying in Aerith's church for quite some time. And though his
motives for being alone are many and complex it is futile to deny that he shows
desire to be physically connected with a place that is symbolic of Aerith.
Then there is a visual parallel between Aerith and Tidus. The last scene in X
after the credits role is Tidus being around pyreflies and then waking up and
swimming towards to surface. Aerith's face is the last vision you see before the
credits of Final Fantasy VII with the light illuminating her face. This is either a return
to the beginning of the game where she was warming her hands by fire or to show
her in the Lifestream...either way the last memory you have of either one of
them is not being gone but seeing their faces. The creators of both games seem
to love the theme that death is not the end of the connection between you and
your lost loved one. They continue to elaborate on this theme in the sequels of
both games, Advent Children and X-2.
In Final Fantasy X-2, Yuna has hope that she can find Tidus thanks to a sphere found and then
literally searches the globe to try to find him. The story also shows the hope
and need of being reunited through Lenne and Shuyin a couple who physically look
like Tidus and Yuna and share similar roles or traits. Lenne is a summoner and
singer, Yuna is a singer and former summoner. Shuyin and Tidus are famous
blitzball players. This couple had also been torn apart by death and Shuyin's
pain of the loss of Lenne actually becomes so intense over a thousand year
period that he tries to end the world. It is only when he is reunited with Lenne
that he finds peace. Again their story reflects the theme of two lovers still
searching for one another after death and only finding true peace when they are
reunited. And speaking of reunited, depending on which ending you get, you can
see Tidus and Yuna reunited at the end of X-2.
In Advent Children Cloud once again is lost. He is isolated and full of guilt
and grief. It appears he had not yet found Aerith and the loss of her and his
friend Zack torment him. The connection is remade however after Cloud is forced
to fight to protect others and he finally feels her presence and is able to tell
her what has been plaguing him for the last two years. He then sees her again
when he faces Bahamut Sin. Each of his friends were shown helping him reach the
summoned beast so Cloud can finish him. But even with all of them helping he
starts to fade under Bahamut Sins attack. It is only when he sees Aerith coming
towards him and their hands connect that he is able to have the final strength
to push through and defeat the enemy.
Aerith is also necessary for his survival. He is healed by Aerith twice; first
the Geostigma and then reviving him after he had been shot. At the end of the
story Cloud finally sees her for more than a moment as she walks out of the
church. It is then with seeing Aerith, Zack, and all the rest of his friends
that he finally finds peace, he knows that he is not alone. All of this shows
how Aerith and Cloud's connection has superseded death. The ending credits show
Aerith waiting in a flower field and then you see Cloud's bike parked by a field
of flowers that look exactly like the ones she is standing in. There is also a
brief scene of Cloud's desk with a picture of him and all of his friends with
flowers from the field laying in front of them.
I would like to now go into more detail on some more visual parallels between
the two games and sequels. At the end of X, Yuna and Tidus are standing close to
each other facing back to back. Yuna rushes towards Tidus but he is already
disappearing so she falls through him. They are not looking at each other when
she whispers that she loves him. He comes up to her and symbolically wraps his
arms around her and then walks through her and runs off the airship. This scene
is one of the most heartbreaking and romantic in all of the Final Fantasy games.
In X-2 Yuna thinks of Tidus on the Farplane, which is a beautiful place that has
a flower field, waterfalls, and pyreflies dancing around. As Yuna stands in this
place a spirit image of Tidus appears and once again is standing facing her
while her back is to him.
This mimics another scene where Shuyin mistakes Yuna for his love Lenne and
comes up behind her and places his hand on her arm while Yuna keeps her back to
him. Even though this scene is about mistaken identity that does not change the
fact that Shuyin is acting how he would towards his love and Yuna feels what
Lenne feels because she is wearing her songstress dress that has held her
memories and feelings. And in both of these X-2 scenes they are standing in a
field of flowers.
Let us compare that to Cloud and Aerith in Advent Children. When he first comes
into physical contact with Aerith, they are in a flower field back to back.
There is one image of Aerith placing her hand on Cloud's arm. But when he
finally turns around she is gone. When you see any of these examples you realize
you have seen it before. Romance combined with angst and sorrow.
So have I driven home my point yet?
With the ton of parallels between Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: AC,
Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy X-2 it is hard to
deny the epic nature and appeal of both romances. The journey each couple face
is different and there is wonderful individuality with the four characters and
what their personal struggles are. But the four are forever connected by there
heartbreaking, yet inspiring romances.
That is one of the many beauties about the fantasy of the Final Fantasy series,
even death cannot stop a hero or heroine from being important and viable to
story or stories even after they have gone. They find a way to stay connected to
the ones they love and even with impossible odds, find a way back to each other;
finding a way to be reunited.
--------------------------------