Well, on my time on this forum I've seen many, many negative comments about Tidus calling him everything including a "whiney little bitch" to a "wimp".
Something inside me makes me ask myself: is the poor kid really so bad?
Generally, when people complain about Tidus they bring up two things: that he whines too much and that James Arnold Taylor's voice acting is awful.
But this is something I just don't agree with. The only time Tidus openly complained was on the Al-Bhed ship and the only thing he said was that he was hungry. Tidus pretty much braved what was thrown at him.
Which brings me to this point. Wouldn't you be scared if you were thrown into something as difficult and dangerous as he was? I mean he was thrown not only into a new world but apparently a new time, where there a constant threat of destruction by this mysterious beast that turns out to be none other than his father. And yet people claim that he's a whiny bitch. Yes, he tended to be emotional at times, but with good reason. Who wouldn't be? Unless you were a stone. Tidus is one of the most human characters I've seen in FF, and very well developed too.
Plus he was the one who insisted in finding another way of defeating Sin. If it wasn't for that all of Spira would still be suffering and Yuna would be dead. The kid actually had balls. He could've said "Screw this, this is not my world and why do I need to save this Yuna chick". He was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save Spira and Yuna.

Second point, the voice acting. I'll begin by saying that the laughing scene at Luca is one of the most awful scenes I've ever seen, including voice acting. However, when Tidus was narrating the story. I think James Arnold Taylor did a pretty good job in those parts. His voice sounded serious and deep. And there were parts in which it was higher pitched, but it still fit the character because it's the part when he's excited about something.

Sorry for this long post, but this is something I needed to get off my chest.
Feel free to post your opinions about Tidus, whether you love him or hate him.

First off, you made really strong points, and good ones at that.

Second, I agree with both.

I've never hated Tidus all that much, and I tend to agree that he was one of the most, if not THE most human character in the FF series. He is constantly dynamic throughout the story, changing from this to that, and he matured quite quickly, in my opinion, not because the game itself was short, but because the plot required him to.

I don't even see how people can point him out to be 'whiny', really. He stood up to what he felt was right, which he openly voiced, and succeeded in accomplishing his goals. He never complained, he never strayed from the goal, and yes, the game owes him much in his strategy to defeat Sin.

The voice acting was alright, not exactly my favorite voice-over, but still it was better than what people make it out to be. It's just that people remember the bad points of it, I think. Example: The Laughing Scene. >.<
Most horrible, therefore most memorable (or not) scene.

But overall, I agree.
Kudos to you.

Thanks, I'm really glad someone agrees.

I think poor James Arnold Taylor was put in a really difficult position. It was the first voiced FF, and that must have been hard. I think he did the best he could with the material. I don't blame him, but his direction.

I also think that the whole idea of Tidus being taken from his own world to a foreign one 1000 years in the future was very difficult to do.

Personally, I think a bit more time in development could have solved these problems, but with customer demand, that was not going to happen.

So I raise my glass to James, who I think made the best of a poor situation, and to Tidus!

I personally like Tidus but his character does look a little girlie. He has a cool sword but I cant say much about the clothes he wares.

I agree that James Arnold Taylor did do his best as it was the first voice acted Final Fantasy. I was 50/50 with Tidus at first, but I liked him in the end. His love for Yuna and Spira was amazing and willing to do anything to protect them both.

I for one liked him and for a whiner he's pretty funny. Joking aside the actor did what was best for the material & did a pretty decent job. I like how he grows up through out the game.

I absolutely loathe Tidus, not only does he look like a little girl, he acts like one aswell.
He constantly complains about anything and everything, and gets the rest of the party into a fair amount of trouble along the way.
I mean, Tidus didn't have to tag along with Yuna's party to Zanarkand, he could've played Blitzball and made a home in Spira.
Almost ALL of his battle scripts are either complaints or idiotic comments like "UH BE RIGHT BACK!"
Which leads me to my next point, his voice acting was HORRIBLE. I mean, fair enough it was the first FF to be voice acted, but the rest of the cast was excellent, why was Tidus not?
He's not the one that's going through some serious mental trauma, as far as Yuna is concerned through most of the game, she's going to her death, but you don't see her flailing and screaming around like some kind of madcase.

And I am only saying this because I'm getting slapped on the wrists for short posts.

Otherwise you'd enjoy Posting insufficiently?

I think a large proportion of the angst toward Tidus derives solely from the people's hate for James Arnold Taylor, the poor bloke had a hefty task infront of him and messed up biblical amounts of the script with below average voice acting, his voice was perfect for Tidus but he was a poor voice actor, simple as that.

Another reason Tidus is frowned upon by a majority of FF fans is of course because of his "whiney" attitude throughout most of the game, but that's SE's fault, not Tidus' - I mean, people who grow up hating their fathers normally turn out to be whiney little blond people secretly wishing to be black...wait - that's Eminem

I for one didn't mind Tidus, not only did he fall in love with the girl but he killed the badie and saved the world all on his own...wait - that's America in WWII

Which one was Tidus again?

Originally Posted by OverFjell

Which leads me to my next point, his voice acting was HORRIBLE. I mean, fair enough it was the first FF to be voice acted, but the rest of the cast was excellent, why was Tidus not?