Jecht

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"You, with a woman? You can't even catch a ball! Oh, what's the matter? Gonna cry again? Cry, cry. That's the only thing you're good for!"

— Jecht

Jecht is a non-player character (and technically a major antagonist) in Final Fantasy X. He is the father of Tidus; legendary Guardian of High Summoner Braska, as well as being a major blitzball star in his hometown of Zanarkand.

Jecht is a tall, muscular, surly man with a tendency to drink heavily. He has a powerful blitzball move called the "Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III," in which he kicks the ball into one opponent, it rebounds twice, hits two opponents, rebounds again and is then kicked into the goal by him.

The raspy voice of Jecht is provided by Masuo Amada in Japanese, and Gregg Berger in English (where Jecht is pronounced [ʤɛkt]).

[edit] Biography

In-game image of Jecht

[edit] Zanarkand

Jecht came to Spira from a magically-summoned replica of Zanarkand, created from the memories of those who lived in the original and maintained by Yu Yevon, the Summoner who was the leader of Zanarkand a thousand years before the events of Final Fantasy X.

In the present, Jecht's son, Tidus, claims that he hates his father for putting him and his mother through hard times, and because he was left under a lot of pressure to live up to Jecht's fame. Whenever Jecht was around, Tidus's mother didn't pay her son any attention. (So Tidus claims.) Furthermore, Jecht constantly criticized his son and called him a "crybaby." Truthfully, Jecht loved Tidus with all his heart, but was unable to express it in a gentle way. What he desired most was to make his son strong and thought that his criticisms would do this. Tidus, however, took Jecht's insults at face value, not seeing the intentions behind them, and grew to hate him.

[edit] Going to Spira

Jecht disappeared one day while training out at sea, where he came in contact with Sin resting in the waters. Sin pulled Jecht out of the dream and transported him into present-day Spira, where he was taken as a crazy drunkard and locked up in Bevelle.

A CG image of Jecht

Soon after his imprisonment, Braska visited Jecht and requested he become one of two Guardians, the other being Auron - a Bevelle monk who had fallen from grace. Auron objected to Jecht being a Guardian but Braska thought it the perfect irony: three of the most unlikely people defeating Sin; a drunken blitzball player, a high summoner with a "heathen" Al Bhed wife and a "half-breed" daughter (namely Yuna), and a disgraced monk. Before they departed, Jecht told Yuna numerous stories about his Zanarkand; because of this, she is the only one of the playable characters (aside from Rikku and Auron himself) who is not skeptical of the idea that Tidus comes from Zanarkand ten years later.

During the earlier parts of their journey, Jecht's tendency to drink sometimes got him into trouble, most notably when on the Moonflow when he once thought that a shoopuf was a giant Fiend and wounded it, forcing Braska to pay for the damage with all of his travel money. After this incident, however, Jecht gives up drinking anything stronger than shoopuf milk for fear that his family would be ashamed of him, and out of embarrassment for what he had forced Braska to do.

Over the course of Braska's pilgrimage, Jecht matured as he learned about Spira and what became of Zanarkand, his own personal journey mirroring what Tidus would go through 10 years later. According to Auron, Jecht would often suggest that they help people along the way because it was "the right thing to do", which always led to trouble for the three.

[edit] Braska's Final Aeon

By the time they reached Zanarkand, Jecht, Auron and Braska had bonded and became close friends, and it was Jecht who offered to give up his life to become Braska's Final Aeon, knowing that he could never return home. As one last favour, Jecht asked Auron to look after Tidus, believing that Auron could find a way to the Dream Zanarkand.

Braska's Final Aeon

As the Final Aeon, Jecht defeated Sin, but the "spiral of death" surrounding Sin continued. Yu Yevon's spirit possessed the Final Aeon and transformed him into the core of the new Sin, leaving Jecht's soul trapped within the creature for ten years, unable to completely fight back against the powerful instincts Yu Yevon had instilled within Sin. The only times Jecht could operate of his own free will was for brief moments when he heard the Hymn of the Fayth. However, Jecht eventually managed to assert some control and make his way to Dream Zanarkand, where he communicates with the now-undead Auron and transports him and his son to Spira, hoping that, by doing so, Tidus would be able to learn what life was all about and find a way to destroy Sin for good.

Utilizing this weakness of Jecht's to briefly immobilize Sin; Tidus, Yuna and their companions fought their way through the armor and confronted Jecht. There they fought and defeated him, Tidus finally making peace with his father. After Jecht's spirit was finally laid to rest, Yuna and her guardians used her aeons to weaken the spirit of Yu Yevon, making him vulnerable for the first time in a thousand years. They then unleashed an assault on him directly, destroying him and ending Spira's spiral of death.

Jecht's Fayth. Note that the officialness of this image is in question. If you have proof of this image's canon or fanart status, please join the discussion on this image's talk page. This image is not to be deleted until the discussion is finished one way or another or it is proved to be fan-art.

In the Farplane, Tidus and Jecht slap hands, indicating that Tidus has forgiven his father.

[edit] Final Fantasy X-2

Jecht has a small voice cameo in the final battles of Final Fantasy X-2 along with Braska and Auron, during which time they give Yuna encouraging words and advice on where to strike Vegnagun. He also appears in a short flashback from the scholar Maechen. Not surprisingly, as Shuyin resembles his son, he calls him a crybaby as well as one that needed a "good spanking".

[edit] Other Appearances

[edit] Dissidia Final Fantasy

Main article: Jecht/Dissidia

Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control of a number of Crystals, resulting in total control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Jecht is one of these villains and stands as the villain representing Final Fantasy X, opposing Tidus.

[edit] Trivia

• Jecht's Fayth is the only one to show the person's face to the beholder. All the other Fayths show their backs. Whether or not this has something to do with him being the Fayth for a Final Aeon is unknown.

• The Music that plays during the final confrontation against Braska's Final Aeon within Sin is "Otherworld", a heavy metal style song with English lyrics that is uncommon for a Final Fantasy game. Noticeably, the only other time this song plays is during Sin's attack on Dream Zanarkand in the opening FMV.

[edit] External links

• English translation of "Jecht’s Real Story" from the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega Guide
• Further explanation of Jecht