"Sin is our punishment for letting things get out of hand."

—Wakka

Sin (シン, Shin^?) is a major antagonist in Final Fantasy X. It is a gargantuan whale-like beast which threatens the world of Spira. It was named by the people of Spira who believed the beast came into being as punishment for their ancestors relying on machina and becoming a hedonistic society. By following the teachings of Yevon, the people of Spira believe one day they will atone for their crimes and Sin will vanish.

Sin is represented by the letter Z in the Yevon script alphabet. It appears in many places in Final Fantasy X, sometimes paired with the letter A, the symbol of Yu Yevon, symbolizing the beginning and the end of things.

AppearanceEdit

Sin has a whale-like body that it moves with a pair of clawed arms, as well as hind legs resembling pectoral fins for movement in water. It has a long tail and its body is encased in scales which it can shed and turn into small monsters known as Sinscales. Sin resembles in many ways the biblical creature Leviathan, a whale-like monster of giant proportions with several elements of demonic appearance. It carries part of a city presumed to be a part of Zanarkand on its body close to the back of the head. Sin's final form has feathery wing-like protrusions that are purple at the tips.

StoryEdit

OriginsEdit

Sin was created during the Machina War between Bevelle and Zanarkand, Bevelle relying on machina to fight and Zanarkand using summoners. When Zanarkand was losing, Yu Yevon, a summoner of Zanarkand and its leader, devised a plan to both defeat Bevelle and preserve the city of Zanarkand forever. Yu Yevon called the surviving people of the city together and transformed them into fayth as conduits for a massive summoning that created a spectral version of Zanarkand from the dreams of the former Zanarkand inhabitants.

Yu Yevon set this dream Zanarkand out to sea, then called pyreflies to himself to craft the first Sin. Sin was given two objectives: protect the dream Zanarkand, and to ensure it was not discovered, and to destroy any city that grew too large or relied too heavily on technology. The strain of trying to control Sin was beyond Yu Yevon, and the process destroyed his mind, removing any conscious control he may have had on it. Sin thus became a monster that knew only its two instincts, and indiscriminately attacked cities and villages all over Spira, starting with the true Zanarkand itself.

To allow Spira a reprieve and hope for salvation, Yu Yevon's daughter, Yunalesca, presented a way to destroy Sin - the Final Aeon, a powerful aeon born from a bond of love. Sacrificing her husband Zaon for the ritual, he became the Final Aeon and destroyed Sin. Yu Yevon's spirit possessed Zaon's body, and over time Zaon transformed into a new Sin. During this time, the new Sin was too weak to terrorize Spira as it grew, establishing a temporary time of Calm.

Apparently the only one able to create the Final Aeon, Yunalesca became an unsent and taught the people of Spira that if they atone for the sins of Bevelle and Zanarkand during the Machina War, one day Sin would be vanquished for good. In truth, Yunalesca and the highest leaders of the Church of Yevon knew Sin would always return, but their teachings gave Spira hope and kept its citizens from giving in to despair.

Final Fantasy XEdit

For a thousand years this cycle continued - summoners would go on a pilgrimage to hone their abilities as they traveled to the ruins of Zanarkand and met Yunalesca, who would transform one of their guardians into a new Final Aeon. The summoner would give his or her life to call the Final Aeon and destroy Sin, and Yu Yevon's spirit would possess the Final Aeon and turn it into a new Sin.

Ten years before the start of Final Fantasy X, Braska, Jecht and Auron were the most recent band of summoner and guardians to complete their pilgrimage, and were told the truth by Yunalesca before Braska obtained the Final Aeon. Though Braska held onto the hope that perhaps this time Sin would not return, Auron and Jecht believed otherwise. Unable to think of another solution, Jecht became Braska's Final Aeon and tasked Auron with finding a way to the dream Zanarkand and taking care of his son, Tidus. As before, Braska died and Jecht became the new Sin.

Ten years later, Jecht, still conscious and aware within Sin, invades the dream Zanarkand, and he and Auron take Tidus into the world of Spira. As Tidus travels with Braska's daughter Yuna as her guardian, Auron accompanies them and teaches Tidus about Jecht and Braska. Tidus is made aware of Jecht's spirit resting within Sin, and is told Jecht wants Tidus to kill him to free him from his fate of terrorizing the world.

When the band confronts Yunalesca, she tells them the Final Aeon would not destroy Sin permanently, but Braska chose this path to give the people of Spira hope. Denouncing the tradition as a false hope, Yuna refuses to sacrifice one of her guardians, and she and her guardians destroy Yunalesca, and with her the way to create a new Final Aeon.

Tidus suggests that instead of killing Sin itself, they find a way to destroy Yu Yevon's spirit within it, and thus a new Sin will never be born. The party wages a full scale attack on Sin with the airship Fahrenheit and enter its mouth to find Yu Yevon. In the deepest part of Sin they find a recreation of the dream Zanarkand in ruins, where Jecht awaits them. The party destroys Jecht and Yu Yevon emerges.

Yuna calls her aeons one by one and Yu Yevon possesses them, and the party destroys them as well. With no aeons left to control Yu Yevon himself fights the party, and they kill him in a final battle, Yuna performing a Sending to place his spirit at rest. With Yu Yevon's defeat, Sin is vanquished and the Eternal Calm begins, Spira finally freed.

Inside SinEdit

Main article: Inside Sin

The inside of Sin, aptly known as Inside Sin, is the game's final dungeon. The party enters inside the beast after having penetrated its armor, and make their way to the center where they face Braska's Final Aeon, and eventually, Yu Yevon. The fiends within Sin are very powerful, but if the player defeats them they gain valuable AP.

AbilitiesEdit

Sin is immune to most conventional form of weaponry and is highly resistant to attack, able to project a barrier to protect itself. It is believed in-game that only the Final Aeon can kill Sin, and all attacks the party wages on Sin in Final Fantasy X only serve to wound it - it is not until the death of Yu Yevon's spirit that Sin actually dies. Sin's signature attack is a huge blast of energy from its mouth known as "Giga-Graviton", an attack so powerful that it can induce tectonic plate movements visible from outer space. Its other body parts are capable of using lesser Gravity-based attacks.

SinspawnEdit

Main article: Sinspawn

Sin can create smaller creatures, Sinspawn, from its outer layer. Coming in a variety of shapes and levels of power, the Sinspawn cause trouble for any person that crosses them until Sin arrives and reabsorbs them.

• Sinscales: Generic Sinspawn.
• Ammes: A sea anemone-like Sinspawn.
• Echuilles: A jellyfish-like Sinspawn.
• Geneaux: A Sinspawn found at the entrance of Kilika Temple, hiding inside a tough shell.
• Gui: A fusion of various Sinspawn gathered by the Crusaders for Operation Mi'ihen.
• Genais: The absolute strongest Sinspawn, with the same shape as Geneaux.

BossEdit

Main articles: Sin (Fin), Left Fin, Right Fin, Sin (Core), Sin (Head).

Sin's various body parts are faced several times during the game.

Other appearancesEdit

Final Fantasy Trading Card GameEdit

Sin appears in the Japanese Final Fantasy trading card game. Its card is dark-elemental.

GalleryEdit

A side image of Sin as drawn by Yoshitaka Amano.

A frontal image of Sin as drawn by Yoshitaka Amano.

Early concept art depicting a Sin prototype.

One more early concept art depicting a Sin prototype.

Another early concept art depicting a Sin prototype.

Concept art.

The party faces Sin on the airship.

The party faces Sin on the airship.

Full view of Overdrive Sin.

EtymologyEdit

Sin's name in both Japanese and English is a reference to religious concept of "sinning", willfully committing an act against one's religion. The name is also tied to the Semite moon god "Sin", also worshiped in Sumeria as Nanna.