Sin (Final Fantasy X)

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Sin is our punishment for letting things get out of hand.

Wakka

Sin (シン, Shin?) is a major antagonist in Final Fantasy X. It is a gargantuan whale-like beast which threatens the world of Spira. It was named by the people of Spira who believed the beast came into being as punishment for their ancestors relying on machina and becoming a hedonistic society. By following the teachings of Yevon, the people of Spira believe one day they will atone for their crimes and Sin will vanish.

Sin is represented by the letter Z in the Yevon script alphabet. It appears in many places in Final Fantasy X, sometimes paired with the letter A, the symbol of Yu Yevon, symbolizing the beginning and the end of things.

Profile

Appearance

Sin has a whale-like body that it moves with a pair of clawed arms, as well as hind legs resembling pectoral fins for movement in water. It has a long tail and its body is encased in scales which it can shed and turn into small monsters known as Sinscales. It carries part of a city presumed to be a part of Zanarkand on its body close to the back of the head. Sin's final form has feathery wing-like protrusions that are purple at the tips.

Abilities

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

According to Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania Sin's body is composed of pyreflies and in that respect, it is no different from a common fiend. However, Sin draws in pyreflies to replenish its strength whenever damaged, and thus conventional attacks cannot defeat it. According to the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega, its body is formed as a result of gravity magic used to draw in further pyreflies from the atmosphere, and compressing them densely. Sin can recover the separated parts of its own body, known as "Sinspawn," because Sin can repair its body more efficiently by taking in pyreflies that have already been condensed, rather than freshly absorbing pyreflies that drift around the surrounding areas.

Sin attacks.

Sin's destructive capabilities are tremendous, as it can control gravitational forces and thus fly. People who touch Sin are sometimes carried, unharmed, to remote places. This is because Sin's body is supple and thus can suck up those who touched it and then expel them. People who have gotten close to Sin may get muddled up and experience hallucinations. This is called "being affected by Sin's toxin," but the true reason is that the high density of pyreflies that form Sin's body have an adverse affect on the low-density amounts of pyreflies present within the bodies of those who approach it.

Sin is immune to most conventional form of weaponry and is highly resistant to attack, able to project a barrier to protect itself. Spirans believe that only the Final Aeon can kill Sin, and all attacks the party wages on Sin in Final Fantasy X only serve to wound it. Sin's signature attack is a huge blast of energy from its mouth known as "Giga-Graviton," an attack so powerful it can induce tectonic plate movements visible from outer space. Its other body parts are capable of using lesser Gravity-based attacks. Sin has an affinity to water and is often found in the ocean depths. It is seen blending into it, absorbing it and using it as a weapon.

Whether Sin's abilities change depending on which Final Aeon forms its core is unknown. It is implied the post-Braska's-Calm Sin never reached its full strength, as the Final Aeon at its core still exerted some influence over it, slowly being taken over by Yu Yevon.

Story

Final Fantasy X

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Sin in Zanarkand ruins.

Sin was created during the Machina War between Bevelle and Zanarkand. Bevelle relied on machina for weapons and Zanarkand used summoners. When Zanarkand was losing, Yu Yevon, a summoner of Zanarkand and its leader, devised a plan to both defeat Bevelle and preserve the city of Zanarkand forever. Yu Yevon called the surviving people of the city together and transformed them into fayth as conduits for a massive summoning that created a spectral version of Zanarkand from the dreams of the former Zanarkand inhabitants.

Yu Yevon set this dream Zanarkand out to sea, then called pyreflies to himself to craft the first Sin. This was the only Sin that never had an aeon at its core. Sin was given the objectives of protecting the summoning of dream Zanarkand, ensure it was not discovered, and to destroy any city that grew too large or relied too heavily on technology. The strain of trying to control Sin was beyond Yu Yevon, and the process destroyed his mind, removing any conscious control he may have had on it. Sin thus became a monster guided by its instincts, and indiscriminately attacked the machina civilizations all over Spira, starting with the true Zanarkand itself. Yu Yevon was reduced to a husk that existed only to summon.

To allow Spira a reprieve and hope for salvation, Yu Yevon's daughter, Yunalesca, presented a way to destroy Sin—the Final Aeon, a powerful aeon born from a bond of love. Sacrificing her husband Zaon for the ritual, he became the Final Aeon and destroyed Sin, but the Final Summoning also killed Yunalesca. Yu Yevon's spirit possessed Zaon's body, and over time transformed a new Sin with Zaon's Final Aeon at its core. During this time the new Sin was too weak to terrorize Spira, establishing a temporary time of Calm.

Apparently the only one able to create the Final Aeon, Yunalesca became an unsent and remained in the Zanarkand Dome to create a new Final Aeon for summoners who complete their pilgrimage. As told in the official timeline in Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega, during the First Calm the survivors began reconstructing Spira, focusing on Bevelle. After Yu Yevon had regenerated Sin Spira's plight began anew. The second incarnation of Sin destroyed the remaining machina civilizations and thus machina use began to fall out of favor.

The Yevon Temple was established in Bevelle and the teachings of paying homage to Yevon and Yunalesca, and preaching of machina prohibition, were adopted by the world at large. Seizing public sentiment, the temples took control of Spira. The new religion established Sin as a punishment for people's sins spreading the story that the Calm will arrive with the Final Summoning. The Temples shifted the blame of Sin's return onto the people of Spira, and brought about stability by leaving them with the hope that once they atone Sin will go away. In truth, Yunalesca and the upper echelons of the Yevon Temples know Sin will always return, but their teachings give Spira hope and keep its citizens from giving in to despair.

Some six hundred years later a summoner named Gandof defeated Sin, tearing the Calm Lands asunder and isolating the Remiem Temple, thus creating the Second Calm and becoming the first high summoner. Gandof suffered the same fate as Yunalesca had and died. This gave credence to Yevon's teachings, and doubts about the Temples subsided. As before, the Calm was short-lived, and Yu Yevon rebuilt Sin which started its rampage as the third Sin appeared with Gandof's Final Aeon as its core.

Gandof was posthumously titled "high summoner," a title which would from then on be bestowed on all who defeated Sin. Statues of him were placed in Yevon's temples and his story was told to all Spirans as an example of honor and sacrifice to be followed. To defeat Sin, summoners would journey through a series of temples, gathering powerful aeons at each one in preparation for obtaining the Final Aeon in Zanarkand and combating Sin.

For a hundreds of years this cycle continued—summoners would go on a pilgrimage to hone their abilities as they traveled to the ruins of Zanarkand and met Yunalesca, who would transform one of their guardians into a new Final Aeon. The summoner would give his or her life to destroy Sin with the Final Summoning, and Yu Yevon's spirit would possess the Final Aeon and turn it into a new Sin.

As Sin attacks large settlements, Spiran towns rarely grow beyond a certain size. The biggest city in Spira is Bevelle, followed by Luca, but countermeasures are taken so that those cities aren't attacked by Sin by having the Crusaders attract Sin's attention and avert its course.

Sin appears in Lake Macalania.

Braska, Jecht and Auron are the most recent band of summoner and guardians to defeat Sin. They made their way to Yunalesca and Braska obtained the Final Aeon. Though Braska held onto the hope that this time Sin would not return, Auron believed otherwise. Jecht, originally a citizen of dream Zanarkand who had accidentally ended up in Spira, became Braska's Final Aeon. Before this he tasked Auron with finding a way to the dream Zanarkand and taking care of his son, Tidus. The Final Summoning killed Braska and Jecht became the new Sin.

Ten years later, Jecht, still aware within Sin although only barely, brings Sin to dream Zanarkand, and he and Auron take Tidus into the world of Spira. As Tidus travels with Braska's daughter Yuna as her guardian, Auron accompanies them and teaches Tidus about Jecht and Braska. Tidus is made aware of Jecht's spirit resting within Sin, and is told Jecht wants Tidus to kill him to free him from his fate of terrorizing the world. They run into Sin many times and witness the destruction it brings forth.

When the party confronts Yunalesca she tells them the Final Aeon would not destroy Sin permanently, but Braska chose this path to give the people of Spira hope. Yuna disagrees, saying her father believed he could free Spira. Denouncing the tradition as false hope, Yuna refuses to sacrifice one of her guardians. Yuna and her guardians destroy Yunalesca, and with her the way to create a new Final Aeon.

Sin faces off against the airship.

Now made aware of Yu Yevon's existence, Tidus suggests a new way to destroy Yu Yevon's spirit within Sin. The party wages a full scale attack on Sin with the airship, Fahrenheit, and enters its mouth. In the deepest part of Sin they find a recreation of the dream Zanarkand in ruins, where Jecht awaits them. The party destroys Jecht in his Final Aeon form and Yu Yevon emerges.

Yuna calls her aeons one by one and Yu Yevon possesses them, and the party destroys them as well. With no aeons left to control Yu Yevon becomes vulnerable and is killed and Yuna performs a sending to place his spirit at rest. With Yu Yevon's defeat, Sin explodes, and the Eternal Calm begins.

Final Fantasy X -Will-

The Farplane has become unstable to the point that beckoning outside of it manifests the dead in Spira. Sin returns, ending the Eternal Calm, and Yuna theorizes it was the result of someone beckoning it. She delivers a speech to a crowd of people announcing she will defeat it once more.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

Inside Sin

Main article: Inside Sin

The inside of Sin, aptly known as Inside Sin, is the game's final dungeon. The party enters inside the beast after having penetrated its armor, and make their way to the center where they face Braska's Final Aeon, and eventually, Yu Yevon. The fiends within Sin are powerful, but if the player defeats them they gain valuable AP.

Sinspawn

Main article: Sinspawn

Sin can create smaller creatures, Sinspawn, from its outer layer. Coming in a variety of shapes and levels of power, the Sinspawn cause trouble for any person that crosses them until Sin arrives and reabsorbs them.

• Sinscales: Generic Sinspawn.
• Ammes: A sea anemone-like Sinspawn.
• Echuilles: A jellyfish-like Sinspawn.
• Geneaux: A Sinspawn found at the entrance of Kilika Temple, hiding inside a tough shell.
• Gui: A fusion of various Sinspawn gathered by the Crusaders for Operation Mi'ihen.
• Genais: The absolute strongest Sinspawn, with the same shape as Geneaux.

Boss

Template:See Also Sin's various body parts are faced several times during the game.

Creation and development

Early concept art depicting a Sin prototype.

Sin was created to be a presence Spirans could not avoid, however much they tried. Director Yoshinori Kitase created it to represent the kinds of calamitous disasters that exist in the real world, such as earthquakes and typhoons. Spira has the teachings of Yevon, which give meaning to people's lives in the face of death, so what Kitase really tried to show in Final Fantasy X, was how people behave in the face of unavoidable fate. Having ruins become a part of Sin's physical form helped to visually cement the idea it is an "unimaginably ancient monster on an unprecedented scale." Sin's broad physical shape is modelled after a whale to give the impression of the being's size, as well as its intelligence and otherworldliness.

The plot of Final Fantasy X alludes to the famous Japanese story of Susanoo and the Yamato-no-Orochi. Susanoo (Tidus) is banished from his home in the Heavens (Dream Zanarkand) and trying to win back favor to return home. He comes to the mortal world (Spira) and comes across two earthly deities who are weeping because they have to sacrifice their daughters (summoners) to the evil Yamato-no-Orochi (Sin) to keep it from destroying their home. They wish to save their eighth daughter (Yuna) from being devoured, so Susanoo comes up with a plan that involves getting the dragon-snake drunk with wine ("Hymn of the Fayth") and killing it in its drunken state.

"Yamata-no-Orochi" literally means "8-branched giant snake" and is often translated as the Eight-Forked Serpent in English, is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon. Early concept artwork for Final Fantasy X show serpentine or octopus-like Sin prototypes with multiple appendages.

When asked why Sin was brought back in Final Fantasy X -Will- Kitase commented that similar to how Sephiroth's role in Final Fantasy VII, Sin plays an important role in Final Fantasy X and the developers wanted to keep Sin involved with the story. "We can't say what happens to Sin after the radio drama, we wanted to leave something up to the player's imagination."

Other appearances

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade

Template:Sideicon Around January-February 2013, Sin was one of the opponents available in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper

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This section about an enemy in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Template:Sideicon Sin appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and is represented by Dark-elemental cards. He is depicted in a screenshot from a Final Fantasy X FMV and a Yoshitaka Amano artwork.

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Gallery

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Etymology

Sin's name in both Japanese and English is a reference to religious concept of "sinning," willfully committing an act against one's religion. The name is also tied to the Mesopotamian moon god "Sin," also worshiped in Sumeria as Nanna, which highlights the connection with Yuna, whose Celestial Weapon is powered up with the Moon Crests and Sigil. Sin's connection with the moon may also explain Sin's command of gravity magic and affinity for the ocean.

Trivia

• Sin somewhat resembles the Leviathan, a sea monster from the Old Testament, and the word itself has become synonymous with any large sea monster, in Modern Hebrew simply meaning "whale." The Biblical Leviathan would live in the ocean depths meting out judgement.
• Its appearance could also have been inspired by the Moby-Dick, book by Herman Melville. Moby-Dick represents many things: an unknowable and inscrutable god or madness incarnate. To different people it symbolizes true evil or "a dumb brute...that smote thee from blindest instinct!" or a power that controls and limits mankind. All of these themes can be seen in Sin.
• Although Sin does not have a direct appearance in either Dissidia: Final Fantasy or Dissidia 012, it was given an indirect reference in the latter game when the player has Yuna fight Kefka Palazzo, as the latter will childishly beg for Yuna to summon the destroyer.

References

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