Characters in Final Fantasy X that are More Important than You May Realize

Final Fantasy X is stacked with one of JRPG’s finest cast of characters that are impossible not to feel attached to.

The game also does an impeccable job of introducing vital secondary characters who serve as powerful foils to our heroes and deepen the worldbuilding of Spira. Despite having a stacked cast of characters, it's tough to find a loose end, as everyone fulfills a purpose and adds to the game’s deep themes.

That said, Final Fantasy X follows the series’ tradition of having a fairly complex story, with context clues spread throughout the game, relying on players to connect the dots throughout their playthrough.

It’s for this reason that some characters' impact on the story may not feel as prominent as they should, and are easy to miss until reflecting on the overall events of the game.

Here are 10 characters that have a deeper impact on the game’s story that you might have missed.

10 Maechen

"And that, as they say, is that."

Maechen is an endearing scholar who pops up in different locations throughout your journey to share the history of the land.

While he’s a fairly inconsequential character in the main game, he does reveal some important lore regarding Spira’s history, which helps to put different factions' beliefs and behaviors into context. Spira itself is a character in the game, and it’s through Maechen that we get to know about some of its most vital events that shaped its land.

It isn’t until the sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, that we get to learn even more about Maechen and his own history.

Throughout X-2, Maechen will once again impart his wisdom to Yuna and the Gullwings. In your final conversation with the scholar, he’ll reveal that he’s actually an unsent who’s lived since the destruction of Zanarkand over 1000 years ago.

It’s this revelation that changes his retellings from speculation to the closest trusted source regarding Spira’s history.

And that, as they say, is that.

9 Kimahri

"Yuna needs Kimahri. Kimahri protect Yuna."

In most playthroughs, Kimahri becomes nothing more than a benchwarmer once Rikku claims his spot as your mainline Steal user. It also doesn’t help that he’s mostly invisible for the majority of the story, standing by Yuna as her silent, yet stoic bodyguard.

For that reason, the hornless Ronso has received the reputation of being a pointless character. But this perception couldn’t be more wrong, and is tantamount to character assassination in my opinion!

Kimahri’s place in the game’s story starts long before the events of the game. Ten years before Tidus arrives in Spira, a dying Auron would come across a young Kimahri right outside the entrance to Bevelle. Here, he’d ask the recently disgraced Ronso to take care of a young Yuna, which would quickly become his life mission.

While Kimahri doesn’t say much throughout the story, he’s also the one who understands Yuna the most, shedding light on her behavior when Tidus is at his most stumped.

Kimahri is also arguably the most ideal Guardian among the party. Not only does he solo hold off an empowered Lich version of Seymour, but he has no qualms about disregarding Yevon’s traditions if he believes his Summoner is in trouble.

It’s also only with Kimahri’s help that the Ronso give Yuna passage through Mt Gagazet and also rally to her cause, sacrificing themselves to stall Seymour’s forces. In short, it’s arguable that without Kimahri, it’s fair to say that the party may never have defeated Sin.

8 Chappu

"Being with your girl is good... but keeping Sin far away from her is better."

Chappu’s death is an event that haunts several characters in Final Fantasy X, but it’s a catalyst that explains both Wakka and Lulu’s behavior towards Tidus at the start of the game.

Before the events of the game, Chappu was a Blitzball player in the Besaid Auroch’s, just like his older brother Wakka. Despite their famous losing streak, he still maintained that once the Aurochs claimed a cup, he’d propose to his girlfriend Lulu.

However, at some point, he pivots from this plan to enlist in the Crusaders to fight Sin and protect his girlfriend. While Lulu and Wakka both disagree with his choice, his older brother still gives him the famous Brotherhood sword to fight with. But, Chappu instead chose to fight with a machina weapon supplied to him, sparking Wakka’s resentment for the technology.

A year before the events of the game, Chappu would be crushed by Sin, launching Wakka and Lulu into grief.

When Tidus shows up, bearing a striking resemblance to Chappu, Wakka starts to project the idea of his brother onto him, which naturally upsets Lulu. It’s why Wakka even takes Tidus when he suddenly appears at Besaid, and recruits him to the Aurochs (killer Jecht Shot withstanding).

Without Chappu haunting the narrative, Tidus would likely have been ditched in Besaid, unable to join up with Yuna and gang and help defeat Sin for good.

7 Luzzu

"See? Keep your head down, say 'sir' a lot, and you'll do fine."

Luzzu appears in the game as a friendly Crusader who is all too enthusiastic about the group and their mission to fight Sin. Which is odd, as in your first conversation, he’ll admit that the Crusaders have recently been excommunicated from the Temple of Yevon.

But Yevon’s blessing doesn’t phase him, as he believes that with the Crusaders’ final battle with Sin nearing, they’ll be accepted by the church in no time.

Shortly before the events at Operation Mi’Hen take place, Luzzu will admit to Wakka that he’s been keeping a terrible secret, and that it was his fault Chappu enlisted with the Crusaders to begin with. Luzzu would also encourage Chappu to pick up a machina weapon as well, which Wakka believes is why Chappu died.

If players don’t speak to Gatta twice, encouraging him to fight at the front lines, Luzzu will die shortly after this conversation, apparently having his body torn fully in half. We do see his lifeless body (suspiciously not torn at all) at the Temple of Djose later, prompting Wakka and Lulu to grieve, despite their contempt for him.

While Luzzu’s overall fate isn’t too relevant to the plot of Final Fantasy X, he helps put a very real face to the cost the people of Spira suffer thanks to Sin. Had Luzzu not encouraged Chappu to enlist with the Crusaders, then it’s also likely Chappu would still be alive to this day, which may have prevented Lulu and Wakka from joining Yuna as her Guardians.

6 Anima / Seymour's Mother

"I am at fault for letting him become what he was."

It’s no surprise that Seymour’s parents suck, given how much of a weirdo creep he is throughout the game.

His father, Lord Jyscal, effectively kept both him and his human mother hidden at Baaj Temple to avoid exposing his scandalous marriage. But it’s Seymour's mother who set him on his dark path by pushing him to become a Summoner.

While revisiting Baaj Temple (and ensuring we collected all of the Destruction Spheres during our first run or managed to get good Zanmato RNG), we get to meet the Fayth at the temple, who is, in fact, Seymour’s mother.

Here, she’ll admit that she is partly to blame for sowing the evil seeds in his heart by pushing him to pursue power. We even see a flashback of her and a young Seymour arriving in Zanarkand, all but confirming that Seymour chose his mother as his Final Aeon, Anima.

Of course, Seymour never used his Final Aeon to defeat Sin. Instead, he decided he wanted to become Sin itself, believing he could one day take control of it from the inside.

If Seymour’s mother had never coldly pushed him to pursue power and instead offered maternal love and care, it’s possible he could have turned out all right. And most importantly, saved many a controller from being thrown after wiping the party on repeat at Mt Gagazet.

5 Rin

"Praise be to Yevon. That's what I would have said, if I was a follower of Yevon."

While seeming like a standard eccentric real estate mogul, Rin is one of the more underrated characters in the game.

Of course, without him, we wouldn’t have any Inns to rest at throughout our travels and would miss vital Al Bhed primers. But as we learn, Rin is one of the major benefactors helping fund the Al Bhed people and the restoration of Home.

We also learn that after Auron sustained fatal injuries fighting Yunalesca, Rin offered the dying Guardian a room to sleep in, although he shared that he couldn’t find him in the morning.

It’s unclear whether Auron died in one of Rin’s Travel Agencies or in front of Kimahri the following day, but it’s possible that had Auron not stayed in the agency, he may not have had the strength to meet Kimahri and request that he take care of Yuna.

4 Kinoc

"Being a Maester has its privileges. I can just sit here and watch."

Kinoc is an arrogant maester you meet during Operation Mi’hen who attends to witness the events tragically unfold. Here, we discover that Kinoc and Auron have a history together, and seem adversarial to each other.

Several years before the events of the game, before Auron became Braska’s guardian, he was a temple monk for Yevon. However, Auron falls from grace after rejecting a proposal to marry a prominent Maester’s daughter, which stalls his career in the church. Kinoc, a friend of Auron, would eventually rise the ranks, taking Auron’s place, becoming a Maester in only seven years.

Despite his previous friendship with Auron, Kinoc will still pop up throughout the game to antagonize him. In Bevelle, Kinoc will personally visit Auron in jail to kick him while he’s down, and rhetorically ask him if he even saw Zanarkand.

Fans are split on this interpretation of this line, as it could hint at Kinoc knowing Auron’s an unsent, as Auron is the first Guardian to leave Zanarkand alive. It could also point to Kinoc and the Maester’s knowledge about Dream Zanarkand, and why Yu Yevon exists to protect it, as Yunalesca reveals later.

Of course, Kinoc is unceremoniously dispatched by Seymour shortly after, which still surprisingly upsets Auron.

Kinoc is an important thorn in the party's side for the entirety of Final Fantasy X, demonstrating the Temple of Yevon’s own cynicism towards its very own teachings and the depth of its corruption.

3 Cid

"Yee-haw! Here we go!"

Despite showing up towards the end of the game, Cid’s actions alone make him a fairly important character.

Not only is Cid Rikku’s father, but he’s also the leader of the Al Bhed people. He’s also the one who commands his people to abduct Summoners to stop them from finishing their pilgrimage.

This is because Cid, Yuna's Uncle, never accepted his sister running away to marry a stuffy Yevonite. Eventually, when Yuna was four years old, her mother was on her way to Home to reconcile with Cid, but died at sea thanks to Sin. Cid, overcome with grief for originally pushing away his sister, never forgave himself, which is why he's so protective of Yuna and tries to get her to stop her pilgrimage.

It’s also what inspires him to rebuild the Airship, the Farenheit, which not only lets players zoom around the map, but plays an instrumental part in cracking through Sin’s shell, so that they can kill it from within for good.

2 Wantz / O'aka

"Welcome to O'aka's!"

O’aka and Wantz are two seemingly goofy merchants you’ll encounter throughout the game, but as we get to know them more, we discover the duo have a fair amount of depth to them.

Before the events of the game, Wantz and O’aka’s sister was a summoner who died before completing her pilgrimage. It’s why the pair just “happen” to be where we are most of the time, ready to sell us their wares, and often at a generous discount (unlike the true villain of the game, Rin).

After the party escapes Bevelle, we’re told by Wantz that O’aka was captured for conspiracy to help our party by trading with us. Inspired by his brother, Wantz picks up his brother’s trade, providing much-needed Phoenix Downs and status healing items while climbing Mt Gagazet.

While the duo seems to be nothing more than comic characters, their tragic background provides a powerful depth behind their actions. They also help to reinforce the continuing tragedy that Spira faces by sending Summoners on a perilous journey to defeat Sin.

1 The Shoopuf Rider

"Ride ze Shoopuf?"

I mean, do I need to say more? He rides the Shoopuf.

Without him, we’d never get to cross through the Moonflow to get to the Thunder Plains, which also means the party wouldn’t meet Rikku. And without Rikku, we’d never meet Cid and get to ride the Airship, which is instrumental in defeating Sin.

If you need another reason, if it weren’t for Jecht attacking the Shoopuf years in the past, and the rider generously accepting compensation from Braska to make amends, then Jecht never would have quit drinking. It’s this incident that humbles Jecht enough that he slowly starts to grow into a person selfless enough to offer himself up as Braska’s Final Aeon, and maintain enough self-control to help the party kill Sin for good.

The Shoopuf Rider is the catalyst for the butterfly effect, where if the party had never met him, defeating Sin never would have happened. And for that reason, he’s the underrated hero of the story.