Shuyin

Shuyin (シューイン Shūin in Japanese) is a fictitious character in the videogame Final Fantasy X-2. He is known to have a striking resemblance to another character named Tidus. (Both Shuyin and Tidus are also voiced by James Arnold Taylor.) When Yuna was given a sphere that Kimahri had found on Mount Gagazet, she mistook the image of Shuyin for Tidus, which set her off on her career as a sphere hunter.

The story of Shuyin begins about one thousand years before that of Tidus and Yuna. Shuyin was a famous blitzball player in the highly advanced city of Zanarkand. He was the lover of a popular songstress named Lenne, who was also very talented in the arts of the summoner. Unfortunately, they lived during the time when Zanarkand was at war with the powerful city of Bevelle. Zanarkand ordered all summoners to the front lines, including Lenne, and Shuyin was drafted into the army and became a soldier. Eventually, Lenne was captured and held prisoner in Bevelle. Shuyin believed that the only way to save Lenne was to activate Vegnagun, an enormous robotic weapon of Bevelle that was imbued with magic and would attack people indiscriminately, not being able to tell friend from foe. Because of this, Vegnagun was stored away in a heavily guarded chamber with no intention of ever being used. Shuyin managed to penetrate deep into the heart of the complex, finally standing before the hulking, inanimate form of Vegnagun. However, an alarm sounded, and Shuyin was captured and forced into a cage by Bevelle soldiers. He managed to escape the cage and once again came upon Vegnagun. By this time, he had realized that Vegnagun might be controlled by an organ-like musical instrument atop its head. Shuyin then climbed upon the head of Vegnagun and began playing the organ, beautiful musical notes gushing forth. Vegnagun’s eyes lit up a pale blue, and it began to stir. The huge cannon that was capable of destroying all of Spira protruded from its mouth. At that moment, Lenne appeared, pleading for Shuyin to stop. And Shuyin did stop, so amazed and relieved was he to find Lenne standing before him. The titanic machine deactivated, and the echoing sound of boots could be heard rushing toward them. Shuyin and Lenne embraced and looked into each other’s eyes, knowing their end was near. The soldiers of Bevelle arrived and as one, aimed their rifles at the couple. They then fired their weapons, and Shuyin and Lenne collapsed to the floor. A tear trickled from Lenne’s eye, and the two died. Shuyin’s spirit existed for a thousand more years, filled with grief and despair, a shadow of his former self. He dwelt within a small cavern along Mushroom Rock Road called the Den of Woe, where his body was believed to have been buried. The cave was filled with pyreflies that constantly replayed his memories again and again, a constant reminder to him of Lenne, the love he had lost.

Maester Kinoc sent the recruits for the Crimson Squad to the Den of Woe for their final training mission. Among these recruits were Baralai, Gippal, Nooj, and Paine. Little did they know, however, that Kinoc was planning to have them killed if and when they survived and were able to report their findings back to him in order to keep the information secret. All of the recruits, except Baralai, Gippal, Nooj, and Paine, were driven mad and slaughtered each other because of exposure to Shuyin’s near-tangible grief and despair. Shuyin was able to weaken Nooj without breaking his mind and inhabited his body. Later, when Baralai, Gippal, Nooj, and Paine had escaped the cave and Kinoc’s machinations, they set sail on a ship and later arrived at one of Rin’s travel agencies. After they said their final farewells and turned to depart, Shuyin suddenly took control of Nooj’s body and used his rifle to shoot all three friends in the back. Although they were not gravely wounded, it caused great enmity and confusion among the companions, as they had no knowledge of why “Nooj” would do such a thing.

After Baralai, Gippal, Nooj, and Paine had gone their separate ways, Shuyin remained within Nooj without his ever knowing. Two years passed and during that time, Baralai had become the praetor of New Yevon, Gippal, the leader of the Machine Faction, Nooj, the meyvn of the Youth League, and Paine, a member of the Gullwings. Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj met in the complex underneath the city of Bevelle to discuss the disappearance of Vegnagun. Shuyin then left Nooj’s body and took control of Baralai. He then used a spell that would take him back to the Farplane and to Vegnagun. Meanwhile, Shuyin had taken control of Vegnagun after he was freed from the Den of Woe and used it to burrow tunnels from the Farplane that led to each chamber of the fayth in the temples of Yevon. The statues of the fayth were removed, and fiends poured in from the inter-dimensional tunnels into the temples. Shuyin also took control of the aeons, bending the magical creatures to his will. With the help of Yuna and the Gullwings, the temples were cleansed of the fiends and the corrupted aeons. It was during one such battle with the aeon Ixion that Yuna fell into the tunnel in Djose Temple and ended up in the Farplane. There she encountered Shuyin, who mistook her for Lenne because of their strong resemblance. Shuyin told her about his plans to use Vegnagun’s gigantic cannon in order to destroy Spira and end all of humanity’s constant fighting and warring. Shuyin then stepped through a portal that would take him directly to Vegnagun. Gippal and Nooj had arrived by this time and passed through the portal themselves in order to save Spira and free their friend Baralai. The portal disappeared behind them, leaving Yuna trapped in the Farplane Glen. She was about to give up when in the distance she heard a familiar whistle. Tidus was able to summon enough strength to materialize, albeit very briefly, and create a path for Yuna to follow out of the Farplane and to the airship Celsius.

Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Leblanc and her cronies Ormi and Logos decided to follow Gippal and Nooj deep into the Farplane and help them defeat Shuyin. They arrived in a part of the Farplane that Shuyin had created. After Yuna, Rikku, and Paine defeated Vegnagun, Shuyin became aware that Yuna was not Lenne. Enraged, he attacked them, and they managed to fend him off. Lenne’s spirit then stepped out of Yuna’s dressphere. Apparently, she had dwelt there in a semi-dormant state for a millennium and had only just awakened. Lenne soothed Shuyin, and the two faded away, together once again.