Shuyin

Shuyin is the primary antagonist and final boss of Final Fantasy X-2. He is known to have a striking resemblance to Tidus. When Yuna was given a sphere that Kimahri had found on Mt. Gagazet, showing Shuyin in a cell beneath Bevelle, she mistook the man in the image for Tidus, which set her off on her career as a sphere hunter. Both Shuyin and Tidus are voiced by James Arnold Taylor.

Because of the similarity in appearance to his son, when Jecht's spirit, along with Braska's and Auron's, gave words of encouragement and advice to the Gullwings during the final battle, he called Shuyin a crybaby.

Unlike most Unsent, Shuyin has the ability to people, controlling those who are as deep in malice as he is. He can also possess Fayth, using their Aeons to help him. It is also believed that Shuyin's resemblance to Tidus is more than coincidental, and that the fayth summoning Dream Zanarkand "dreamed" Tidus in an attempt to recreate what they remembered of Shuyin, as they were charged with remembering and preserving every aspect of the city.

Life in Zanarkand
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, and the lover of a popular songstress named Lenne, who was also very talented in the arts of Summoning.

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 to become 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, and also possessed enough power to completely destroy the planet. 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. As beautiful musical notes gushed 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 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. Interestingly, because of Lenne's spirit and memories in the Songstress dressphere, Yuna had an identical dream of herself and Tidus dying the exact same way.

Shuyin remained a lonely soul for a thousand years, searching for his lover he tried to awaken a weapon that would end the war that consumed his world, and his love.

Shuyin's Spirit Lingers
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 beneath the 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.

When the Fayth created the Dream Zanarkand, Tidus was born through the Fayth's memories of Shuyin, making both of them the same person, risking anything they can to save their loved ones. It is also hinted that Shuyin has the same cheerful personality as Tidus, but due to the grief, anger, and despair inside him, he doesn't show that trait in the story.

Maester Wen 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 the surviving Crimson Squad members 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.

Shuyin left a part of himself in all three friends, implanting in them a desire to seek out Vegnagun. The largest part of himself remained in Nooj, and he used them as his eyes and ears in Spira. He saw the senseless violence and corruption of Yevon, and concluded that Spira had never really changed. He resolved to "fix" Spira. During the two years that followed he manipulated Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai, gathering information about Veganagun and its location. Once he had located the terrible weapon, he took control of Nooj again, using his body to go to Bevelle and steal Vegnagun. However, Nooj's hatred of Vegnagun caused it to "awake" and it fled into the farplane, taking with it the statue of Bahamut. It is implied that Shuyin may also have had some summoning powers of his own as he summons Bahamut to fight YRP. Frustrated at his failure, Shuyin/Nooj disappeared. It is unclear as to where. He was recorded leaving by Ormi of the Leblanc Syndicate during the first infiltration of Bevelle.

Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj later 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, who was still angry at Nooj for shooting him and Gippal 2 years ago, using his anger to take control of him. He then used a spell that would take him back to the Farplane and to Vegnagun.

Retaking 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 now lifeless 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 Glen. There she encountered Shuyin, who mistook her for Lenne because she happened to be donning the songstress dressphere. 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.

The Gullwings later encounter Shuyin in the Den of Woe, where his spirit continues to dwell. His grief and despair takes over Rikku and Paine, who starts to attack Yuna. Shuyin then shows a frightened Yuna his memories of how he tried to use Vegnagun and how he and Lenne died. Yuna aims her gun at Shuyin, hoping he won't come near her. Shuyin tells her that this is their story and calls her Lenne. Yuna angrily tells him not to make her tell him that she is not Lenne, much to Shuyin's amusement. Paine and Rikku then starts to attack Yuna and are beaten. Finally back to their senses, they feel as though Shuyin was a nightmare and learn that he had some serious regrets for his feelings to act on their own. Paine explains that his despair was strong enough to crush the minds of the Crimson Squad and have them kill each other. Shuyin reveals that he's been using Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai. Illusions of them appeared and the Gullwings fought them off.

They later escaped and Paine figured out why Nooj shot her, Gippal, and Baralai. Shuyin possessed him to do so. Paine and Yuna planned to try and free him from Shuyin, but Rikku quickly informs them when they were in the Bevelle Underground that a cloud of pyreflies came floating out of Nooj's body and charged into Baralai's, meaning that Shuyin is using Baralai now. They set off to free Baralai instead.

Yuna, Rikku, Paine, as well as 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.

In Battle
Shuyin's actions in battle are limited. He alternates regular physical attacks with special physical attacks based on Tidus' Swordplay Overdrives. His stance and attack movements are also nearly identical to Tidus, making Shuyin a Warrior.

During Terror of Zanarkand, the equivalent of Blitz Ace, Shuyin uses the World Champion, Wakka's Celestial Weapon from Final Fantasy X.

Shuyin