Tidus - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

The game's scenario writer, Kazushige Nojima, has expressed his concern regarding the relationship between the player and the main character in a Final Fantasy title, and wanted to try something new while penning Final Fantasy X. Since both the player and the main character find themselves in a new world, Nojima wanted Tidus' understanding of the world to reflect the player's progress in the game; a connection that allowed the player to advance Tidus' first-person narration of most of Final Fantasy X. Nojima created a brief description for Tidus to give the character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, a rough scenario to work with. Nomura used the description to create a sketch to get input from Nojima and other staff members. Nomura was also requested to design Tidus to look different from the game's theme in order to make him stand out. For the sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, producer Yoshinori Kitase thought that the fans' biggest expectations of the game was a reunion between Tidus and Yuna after their separation in the first game.

With the concept of the undead people used in the games, the staff wanted it to use it on one of the playable characters. Tidus was meant to be an undead person, but during development of Final Fantasy X, Nojima watched a movie which used a similar idea with its protagonist. Therefore, Tidus was not an undead person during the game, and such role was given to Auron, as he was a secondary character. Nomura has expressed after designing serious and moody main characters for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, he wanted to give Tidus a cheerful attitude and appearance (while still keeping the recent trend of giving him a name related to the sky), which is reflected in the name Kazushige Nojima chose for him (Tiida is the Okinawan word for "Sun"). This is also shown in his personality with Nojima calling him "lively" and comparing him with Final Fantasy VIII's Laguna Loire and Zell Dincht. Initially, Tidus was going to be a rude plumber who was also part of a delinquent gang, but Kitase pointed it would make him a weak protagonist, so he was changed to a sports star. Nomura also explained he wanted his clothing and accessories to suggest a relationship with the sea. For example, his outfit bears a distinctive blue theme, and the symbol of Tidus' Blitzball team on his clothing is designed after a fishing hook. The symbol is designed as an amalgamation of the letters "J" and "T" (the first letters of Tidus' name and that of his father, Jecht).

Nomura has also mentioned a contrast between the lead male and female protagonists was established by Yuna's name meaning "night" in Okinawan. This contrast is also represented with the items required to empower their Celestial Weapons; the Sun Sigil and the Sun Crest for Tidus', and the Moon Sigil and Moon Crest for Yuna's. Due to the player having the option to change his default name, Tidus is never directly referred to by name during audible dialogue, though one character in Dream Zanarkand says his name in a dialogue box. The only other in-game appearance of his name is on a name plate on an Auroch locker in the Luca stadium as "Tidu", written in the fictional script used in Spira. Prior to Final Fantasy X's release, Tidus was referred by publications as "Tida". During early 2001, PlayOnline changed the name to "Tidus". Because his name is never spoken out loud in Final Fantasy X, its intended pronunciation has been a subject of debate among fans. Interviews with James Arnold Taylor, Tidus' English voice actor, and spoken dialogue from the English versions of Dissidia, Dissidia 012, and Kingdom Hearts—which featured the character in a cameo—portray it as /ˈtiːdəs/ TEE-dəs, whereas one instance in the English version of Kingdom Hearts 2 exists in which the character's name is pronounced /ˈtaɪdəs/ TY-dəs.

In Japanese Tidus has been voiced by Masakazu Morita who stated that playing such character was one of the best experiences in his career thanks to the fact he also did the motion capture for him. This gave him greater understanding of the character's personality and was able to connect himself with him to the point that when Morita did Tidus' dialogues in the recording of the game he also moved his own body. James Arnold Taylor did the character's English voice and stated that it did not seem realistic to him to have Tidus react in any other way than to truthfully show his emotions. While he also said there were things he would change about his performance if he could do it over again, Taylor stated he enjoyed voicing Tidus and thanked fans of the game for complimenting him on his work.