Quote: “Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing. That is my story.”
Man, I just love that pic. Amazing stuff all around. Might be my favorite piece of artwork from Final Fantasy X. I also love the quote I posted for Auron. That’s actually my favorite quote of his (along with, “This…is your world now” during the ending), moreso than his quote before the Yunalesca battle, which is still awesome, of course, but I feel like this one is a bit underappreciated. This quote was one of the first and few open and honest moments he shares about himself with the party, especially with a party member other than Tidus (Wakka, in this case). In fact, Auron is really awesome throughout all of Zanarkand because, for the most part, that’s when he removes the veil and lets the secrets out into the open. Of course, Zanarkand basically brings out the best in nearly everyone involved, but that’s beside the point.
People criticize Auron for being too cliché. Is he cliché to an extent? Yeah, probably. Do I care? No, because Square pulled it off exceedingly well. A cliché exists for a reason, and that’s because it works. Yeah, after a while, they can lose their effectiveness due to overexposure, but not in this case because Auron is basically the best his archetype has to offer in the realm of video gaming that I’ve come across in my years of gaming. In my opinion, at this point, he’s the measuring rod and the standard for the “Silent, mysterious character with awesome quotes and awesome actions who guides the party on their journey” type. I think the reason for that is, unlike many characters who fit this archetype in video games, there’s more to Auron than you see on the surface. He’s more than just the guy who’s there to be the quote machine and do all the cool stuff in FMVs. He’s got a great backstory and motivation to his character. Although Auron is cold on the outside, he’s a man with a strong sense of loyalty and dedication to what he believes in.
As I mentioned before, I really like Auron’s backstory. It’s pretty interesting watching the Jecht Spheres and seeing how similar his attitude was to Tidus’s on the pilgrimage. He was a man who was unwaveringly loyal to Braska because he was the only guy willing to give him a chance. Plus, as with Yuna, his determination and resolve naturally drew Auron and Jecht to follow him to the death. Although he didn’t get along with Jecht at first, they both changed over time and gradually came to respect one another. As a result, Auron became a man bound by promises made both to Braska and to Jecht, and being a man with such a strong sense of honor and loyalty, he did whatever he had to do to keep those promises, which is one of the things I love most about him.
The story of how Auron worked to fulfill those promises after Braska died and Jecht became Sin is really awesome as well. It’s strange how everything managed to come together without him intending to do so, but it couldn’t have happened any other way. After getting struck down by Yunalesca, Auron literally drags himself all the way down to the base of Mount Gagazet (with a little help from Rin along the way) and manages to communicate Braska’s final wish to take Yuna to Besaid to a recently disgraced Kimahri Ronso before dying, which is pretty hardcore. I also love the irony of how Yuna assumes “the last request of a dying man” referred to her father when Kimahri was really talking about Auron. You are also now realizing that Kimahri knew he was unsent the whole time. As an aside, I really like the fist bump to the chest Auron gives him during the ending before he fades away, almost as if to say, “Thanks for taking care of that for me.”
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http://i.imgur.com/CbfFb.jpg