Summary
In July 2001, the world got a first look at what a 3D and fully voice-actedFinal Fantasywould look like withFinal Fantasy 10. The adventures of Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, and Auron captured (and broke) the hearts of fans the world over.Final Fantasy 10is set apart from other entries in the series as the first gameto get the sequel treatment, and with such a bittersweet finale in the first game, fans were glad to see some of their favorite characters return to follow up on some dangling loose ends.
The scenario writer for both Final Fantasy10games, Kazushiga Nojima, also penned a novel and audio drama (Final Fantasy 10-2.5 ~Eien no Daisho~andFinal Fantasy 10 -Will-respectively) that would have bridged the gap for a planned third in the Spira trilogy. However, this game never materialized, and since it ends on a bitter and melancholic cliffhanger, its status as canon is still considered controversial by fans. As such, it will be noted wherever information from these stories is used. Spoilers ahead.
Updated on June 10, 2025, by Mark Smith:Final Fantasy 10-2 broke the mold by giving fans the first direct sequel in the anthology series. While it continued the story of Yuna and the rest of her dedicated guardians, it also introduced a new playable character, Paine, to help round out the group while Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri were busy living their own lives in a post-Sin Spira. While she arrived late to the party, her mysterious backstory and no-nonsense personality made her a fan favorite, and her continued exploits were covered in the various stories that followedFinal Fantasy 10-2.
Wakka
The Forward-Looking Father
After putting down Sin and beginning the Eternal Calm, Wakka settled down in Besaid with Lulu and started a family. During the events ofFinal Fantasy X-2, he asks Yuna to hunt down a sphere recording of his parents that his late brother had mentioned. Because his own parents had died when he was so young, Wakka wanted to witness for himself how he was raised so that he might gain his own insights intobeing a good father. In the end, it turns out that his brother had made up the sphere recording.
Wakka names his child “Vidina,” which means “future” in Al Bhed, signifying his embrace of the new. During the10-2.5novel, Waka reunites with Tidus after his return to Spira and attempts to discern whether he is really the same Tidus or merely an unsent version of him. In the audio drama,-Will-, Waka accompanies Yuna and Tidus to Bevelle, where they discover that Sin has returned.
Kimahri Ronso
The New Elder Of Mt. Gagazet
After returning to his home of Mt. Gagazet, Khimarhi took up the role of Elder, the leader of his tribe. However, this new responsibility came with many challenges. While he sought to make peace with the Guado (the long-limbed, elvish people who protect the Farplane from Guadosalam), a younger Ronso, Garik, thirsted for revenge against those who massacred Ronso under the direction of the half-Guado, Seymour, and challenged Kimahri for supremacy.
Between10and10-2, Kimahri finds the sphere recording of a man who looks suspiciously like Tidus, sparking Yuna’s globetrotting adventure to find answers. During her travels, Yuna helps Kimahri resolve some of the Ronso tribe’s greatest threats, both existential (the recategorization of Mt. Gagazet as a non-holy place) and practical (finding lost cubs and staving off a potential war).
Lulu
Black Mage, Mother, And Mayor
Having helped Yuna put an end to Spira’s cycle of death, Lulu gives up adventuring and marries Wakka. She still offers Yuna advice when she needs it but recognizes her asa strong and independent womanin her own right. Sometime before Final Fantasy 10-2, she becomes pregnant with Wakka’s child, and before the end, she delivers a boy, Vidina.
In-Will-, Lulu has embraced her formidable leadership abilities and has become Besaid’s mayor. After addressing the Spiran council in Bevelle and hearing of Sin’s return after witnessing the return of other dead people and extinct species, she infers to Tidus that if he was able to come back, then it should not be surprising that Sin would also be able to return.
Auron
A Voice Calling Out From The Farplane
Although it was revealed that Auron was an unsent (essentiallya ghost who was unable to rest) throughout the events ofFinal Fantasy 10and was subsequently returned to the Farplane when his mission had come to an end, Auron’s essence still clings to the world of Spira in some form. When Yuna, Rikku, and Paine face off against Tidus' doppelganger at the end of Final Fantasy10-2, he can be heard cheering them on along with Jecht and High Summoner Braska.
Auron’s legacy continues after his death and sending, and not just in stories. InFinal Fantasy 10 -Will-, a young lady named Chaumi presents herself to Yuna and the others as Auron’s long-lost daughter, a sentiment that Lulu finds hard to believe given that he never mentioned her in their travels. As-Will-never manifested a second sequel (and if it is to be considered canon), this mystery remains unresolved.
Rikku
The Still-Adventurous Machina Master
After Sin, Rikku forms the field operative side of the Gullwings, a sphere hunter group who globetrot in search of spheres containing lost powers and knowledge, along with her cousin, Yuna. She also helps Yuna in her quest to unravel the mystery of Tidus' doppelganger while digging for useful machina and spheres.
After their adventures, Rikku returns to repairing and refurbishing machina full-time. With Tidus' return, she doesn’t get much time to speak to Yuna, whom she claims her life has become stagnant in theFinal Fantasy X-2bonus content, “Last Mission.” However, as the trio reaches the end of their mission, they come to realize that, although they are growing in different directions,they still love one anotherand cherish the memories of their adventures.
Tidus
The Dreamt Dreamer Awakens On A Familiar Shore
At the end ofFinal Fantasy 10, it is revealed that Tidus is a dream of the Fayth, and by defeating Sin and Yu Yevon, Tidus must also fade away. As he does so, he receives visions of his father, Auron, and Lord Braska. In the final moments of the ending, Tidus can be seen swimming to the surface, surrounded by pyreflies.
If the player is able to complete enough ofFinal Fantasy 10-2’s content, Yuna is able to make a wish to the Farplane. Tidus surfaces in the waters of Besaid Beach, and the couplegets their happy ending. InFinal Fantasy 10 -Will-their “happily ever after” is put on shaky ground when Tidus' return is put into question, and it seems that the two break up just before news arrives of Sin’s return.
Yuna
The High Summoner With More Life To Live
Yuna hadn’t expected to survive her final summoning by the end of her journey, but with Sin’s true defeat and the Eternal Calm, she had the rest of her life ahead of her. She became a sphere hunter along with her cousin Rikku. After losing Tidus with Yu Yevon’s demise, seeing a sphere recording of him threw her back into a life of adventure. In the end, the man she saw was not Tidusbut his tortured doppelganger, Shuyin, an unsent now bent on destroying the world. After defeating him, if the player is able to complete enough of the game’s content, Tidus is brought back from the Farplane.
However, in the audio drama,-Will-, while exploring the beach, Yuna and Tidus are thrown into another dimension where she encounters the facets of pre-Yevon gods. She witnesses Tidus die after kicking a magical bomb, then, with the help of a ghostly summoner, brings him back, but on the condition that he never find out that he was summoned back to life. This secret causes a rift to form between them after they escape, and later, they break up. However, when Sin returns, Tidus vows to follow Yuna in her quest to defeat it one more time.
Special Mention: Paine
Introduced In Final Fantasy 10-2
Paine was introduced inFinal Fantasy 10-2, the very first direct sequel in theFinal Fantasyseries, as the third member of the sphere-hunting Gullwings trio. Tight-lipped and unscrupulous, Paine’s history is a tantalizing mystery throughout the story. It is revealed that she was once a member of the Crimson Squad, a crack team of soldiers created by Yevon to combat Sin and protect the citizens of Spira. After stumbling upon the Vengagun, a weapon powerful enough to destroy the world itself, one of the members, Nooj, possessed, began shooting at his comrades, while Paine barely escaped with her life.
After defeating Shuyin, Tidus' vengeful doppelganger (and the spirit who possessed Nooj), then dismantling the Vengagun, Paine remained friends with Yuna and Rikku, although the three drifted apart. She is introduced to Tidus following his return, and during10-2’s"Last Mission," Paine reveals that she is writing a book about their adventures. Additionally, she admits that she had contrived a plan to bring the three of them together on one last mission with a fake tip. In the novelFinal Fantasy 10-2.5 ~Eien no Daisho~, she assists in searching for Tidus after he goes missing by subduing a suspicious witness.
