Tidus and his daddy issues...Potential spoilers

[Captain Squee]

I don't fully understand this...

Now, this isn't any "Tidus is a -explitive-" thread, this is me grasping a concept...

SPOILER ALERT!

So...Jecht left Tidus at an early age, and so Tidus hates him entirely and despises him...understandable! I can understand that fully as I feel the same about my father, but here's the part that gets me. As the story progresses we can see he "pretends" not to care to see Jecht ever again, but when we get to the end and he's all in tears and saying that he hates him despite that he is clearly showing emotions of love...

So what is this about? Does he hate him and takes it a wee bit hard now? Or does he love him and hate that he still loves him?

But here's the thing that get's me...Is the very end...So, if he hates his father, why does he fall down just to highfive him as if to say, "Welcome home, we missed you!"? If he really does hate him, shouldn't he...you know...NOT do that? And if it's that he hates that he loves him how does someone go from hating ones own inner emotions to so easily accepting the truth of the matter?

As someone with my own daddy issues, my father also left at an early age...I completely hate him. I've met him and there were no mixed emotions, I knew I hated him more than anyone in the world, which is why this is so hard for me to understand. When you get left behind it's not something that causes much confusion once you grasp the concept. But here's what gets me the most. Tidus calls his father "Dad". Why? Is there something I'm missing here? I'd never call my father "Dad". My father is Daren Greening Sr. My actual Dad is someone entirely different...

My head is full of confusion x.x

 

[NeoTesseract]

I will give my opinion on the matter, but not without first making the following clear and simple: I am not a fan of FFX, nor did I plunge myself deep into the stale story-line and unlikable goofy characters (Jecht, Auron, and Braska being the only exceptions) on my first and only play through, but I will nonetheless attempt at answering your query to the best of my limited knowledge.

My impression of Jecht is that of a childish (though badass) alpha male and overachiever, who confronting the reality that was his son, and realizing what a failure he would turn out to be despite his attempts at improving his character and abilities at an early age (though stridently), cannot bear burden of having to raise such a snot-nosed little crybaby; thus disappearing from the life of the future ne'er-do-well.

Tidus, missing a father figure to instruct him, and having to live in his father's shadow, develops love-hate feelings for his father. It is evident to me that he never really hated his father, rather, he resented him gravely for his absence and the way he encouraged him as a child (some could argue mistreatment rather than encouragement). So when he finally encounters him, he forgives his absence, and though not expressing it for everyone to see, admits his love and admiration for him; the highfive being a figurative expression of forgiveness and love.

Or so I believe, I'll leave this one to the fans.

 

[Starships]

I prefer the hate Father relationship with Marle from Chrono Trigger and Rinoa from Final Fantasy VIII. I thought it was because maybe I was female so it was easier to relate to those girls.

I do hate my " Father " so I can relate too.

Marle hated her dad but in the end they made up in a good way, Marle wanted nothing to do with him and even tried to runaway because her dad was being jerk, but when they made up it felt real, touching, and heart- warming. It's a very underated moment in CT.

Rinoa and her Dad never made up, Rinoa wanted to get out of his way ASAP and try and do things to tick him off like joining a rebel group.

Tidus and Jecht's relationship started out strong and relatable at first but like you say the " Yeeeaaah you're so awesome Dad " ! Hi- 5 at the end sort of ruins the point of Tidus ever hating him.

I think Tidus slowly realizes that Jecht grew and changed when he was transported into Spira and with Tidus growing more mature in Spira, Tidus begins to understand that Jecht has finally realized his wrongs and thanks to Spira he's finally a more mature Dad.

Then in the end Tidus sorts of hates his Dad but in the end sort of begins to finally love him as a Dad as well.

Idk, but Rinoa and Marle's " daddy issues " felt more real.

 

[Shaissa]

Well it wasn't the fact that Tidus hated Ject for leaving (granted that's what probably threw his hatred over the edge for him.)

The fact is that when Tidus was younger and Ject was around, his mom payed little attention to Tidus till Ject said something. That and ontop of him picking on him so much. Then what really did it is when Ject was swept into Spira, leaving Tidus and his mom behind, his mom gave up living and died shortly after Ject vanished. That is what made Tidus finally hate Ject so much.

Durning his time in Spira, Tidus saw what happen to Ject, and realized that Ject and him were both stuck there, and Tidus also heard about Ject threw Aaron, like Ject giving up drinking, and small other things like that. Tidus near the end finds out how Ject became sin, and realized his father wasn't a bad guy. In the end, when Tidus says "I hate you" to Ject, it is all he can say to really finish the job, cause he hated him his whole life, and now that he understands him, and even loves him, He can't admit it, or else he wouldn't be able to kill him.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Splitting this up into two spoiler tags. The one below focuses on Zanarkand(up to jechts dissapearance.)

Spoiler

Jecht was a over-achiver and had his mind focused on fame. It got to his head and forced him to see the world through gold glasses. He was famous, rich, living a comfortable life with a lovely wife who would spend every waking moment with him.

Then Tidus came along. Jecht had naturally assumed that the hardest part of children was the period before they could walk in talk. That Tidus came out of the womb a master star and only needed a little fine tuning to become perfect. And that he would a perfectly emotionally stable child who would get that his dad wanted him to do the best.

Sadly, kids do not work that way, Which Jecht found out quite fast. When Tidus learned to walk and talk he was not the diamond in the rough that jecht had expected, but a confused child who was bitter and jealous because of him. His mom would'nt give him any attention. He was confused as to why his father was more important to him. The lack of a stable relationship with his mom resulted in a bitter relationship with his father. No doubt worsened by Jecht's treatment of him.

Jecht was in denial over Tidus's sudden inability to do any correctly. And the stewing jealousy that would often end in tears. Jecht did love his son. But he had the wrong idea of how to Mentally take care of a child. What jecht classified as a "You can do better" Speech was a "You suck" speech to his son. Jecht didn't give Tidus most any praise and this resulted Tidus anger at him as a kid because jecht made Tidus feel like he could do nothing.

Fast forward to where jecht goes missing. Tidus's relationship with his mother had always been rocky because she was so enamoured by jecht. When Jecht vanished, Tidus probably went "Hell Yes! Mom is back!" and was subsequently enraged when her love with Jecht shoved her into a BSOD and ended in her death. His last chance at a relationship with his family was ruined and he blamed his father for it all. Which is a reasonable reaction since it was True.

Cut to Spira.

This one focuses on Spira.(and Tidus's Adult Zanarkand life.)

Spoiler

Now, Jecht had just gone missing and was jerked right down into Spira. When he first arrived he was a confused utter jackass that was arrested for being a confused utter jackass. Then Braska and Auron found him and Braska declared him a guardian and made him a close friend.

Throughout Jecht's journey, He learns that he was a atrocious father and that he did everything wrong possible when trying to raise Tidus. he has trouble coming to terms with how much he screwed up Tidus's childhood and feels genuinely guilty He records spheres and leaves them all about in spira in hopes that Tidus will find them. Each sphere is a documentation of Jecht's regret and how he hopes Tidus will forgive him for all the BS he was put through. along with his own jecht-like awkwardness of trying to encourage Tidus on his journey. When his journey comes to a end he realizes he has no hope of going back to Spira and becomes the final aeon.

Auron is tasked with Setting right what once went wrong with Tidus. (AKA: His parenting.)

Now that Jecht's journey is done, let's look at Tidus.

Meanwhile, Tidus is chilling away in Zanarkand. (I personally like to believe he is a lonely kid trying to act all cool but that's me.) when Auron comes around and reveals himself to know jecht and subsequently become Tidus's caretaker. Tidus is happy at that because he now has a figure to look up to and guide him. While still keeping his super-jock abilities and his hate against jecht.

All is well in Zanarkand with Auron filling jecht role as a father. (though it's more like Mentor) and trying his best to do what Jecht himself wanted to do. Even with a vengeful teen Tidus whose mind cannot be molded easily.

When Sin arrives in Zanarkand he drags Tidus into Spira. This results in Tidus following Jecht's footprints almost entirely. (even going as far as personality wise, Tidus was a bastard sometimes.)This strangely not-entirely-coincidental retracement of Jecht's journey allows him to View all of jecht's spheres and come to terms with the fact that His father IS sorry. in his own jerkish "i want you to do good" sort of way.

After all Spheres are viewed I feel Tidus recognizes that his dad is sorry. But his mind cannot forgive him for all the BS he was Put through(including Spira). And for the rest of the game he still remains Mostly hating jecht.

After Tidus and CO Defeat the Final Aeon and he sees jecht. he is finally able to fully forgive him for everything. Even if he still resents him.

This was cooked up in an hour(4 Am to 5 AM) and is probably filled with Spelling mistakes and such. I'll fix them later. ECT ECT. Enjoy My opinions peoples.

 

[Sheechiibii]

Kuromaru said it perfecly. I don't think Tidus ever really hated Jecht inside, he loved him, but resented him and hated what he'd done and what he was responsible for. He thought his dad was dead, it was easier for him to believe he hated his father completely. Anger is an easier emotion to deal with than hurt. Through his journey in Spira though he grew up a great deal, and through seeing his fathers journey realised that Jecht truely loved him, but just couldn't find a way to tell him. Tidus still harboured all that resentment towards his father, still blamed him for the death of his mother, but came to accept that his father loved him and that he never meant to hurt him, he came to understand his father, and in the end he forgave him. The scene where he tells Jecht that he hates him after the battle, I think that's him struggling to hold onto the hatred instead of feeling the full brunt of the pain that he's loosing his father all over again, and this time he understands his father much more, he's an adult and understand the situation fully. The high five at the end, I see it as Tidus accepting his own fate, and accepting Jecht as his father even with all his faults.

 

[Captain Squee]

Well it's more clear now thanks to Neo, Happy Dog, and Kuromaru...I still can't wrap my head around being able to forgive him.

But I guess this is because of who I am and how I deal with things. To me, even if he had changed, fact of the matter is, what happened still happened.

I am not a fan of FFX, nor did I plunge myself deep into the stale story-line and unlikable goofy characters (Jecht, Auron, and Braska being the only exceptions) on my first and only play through

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[NeoTesseract]

Well it's more clear now thanks to Neo, Happy Dog, and Kuromaru...I still can't wrap my head around being able to forgive him.

But I guess this is because of who I am and how I deal with things. To me, even if he had changed, fact of the matter is, what happened still happened.


Couldn't have said it better myself!

Glad we could help out.

lol can't help but giggle at your username. Cutest damn thing I've seen in a while.

 

[Shaissa]

Derpy Hooves

The reason why Tidus forgave Jecht was a couple reasons

1st. Tidus realized Jecht was stuck in Spira and couldn't return home.

2nd. Jecht really wasn't a bad guy, Jecht infact had Tidus mom go to him when he called him (even if it was in a insulting way)

3rd. Jecht actually stopped drinking and doing half the things he told Tidus in the Dream Zanarkand that he could do whenever he wanted but never did.

4th. Jecht became Sins so that Aaron didn't have to, and Jecht bought time to save Spira, and to help his son through Aaron.