Exploring the diverse races in Spira

Final Fantasy X is based in the world of Spira, where a variety of races live amongst each other. Most of them have Blitzball teams, a underwater sport that slightly resembles soccer, where they compete against each other in friendly competition for the championship. Like many stories, a corrupt religion, lust for power, and a giant monster cause plenty of trouble for the people of Spira. I will be breaking down the difference of each race with some of their cultural and societal differences, plus a couple bonus creatures that live and work among them.

Let us begin with the majority of the population on Spira, the Humans. The humans are capable of bearing children with the Al Bhed and the Guado. For example, Yuna is a human/ Al Bhed hybrid and Seymore is a human/Guado hybrid. They come in a variety of different appearances with many different hair colors. Most humans follow Yevons teachings and refuse to use any machina at all. Due to the ban of machina, chocobo-powered machines were in wide demand until the coming of the Eternal Calm. Chocobos are kind of a large chicken and are most commonly seen on the Mi'ihen Highroad and are used as transportation, either being ridden themselves or pulling chariots. The Humans have 3 blitzball teams: the Besaid Aurochs, which Wakka and Tidus play on, the Kilika Beast and the Luca Goers. Some humans have gone through a ritual that removes their souls from their still living bodies are sealed into stone tablets. These humans who willingly had their souls sealed in statues in a state of dreaming in Spira are called the Fayth. This technique of creating Fayth's was used in Zanarkand. Their powers allow a summoner to coalesce the power of pyreflies to create physical forms of the Fayth's dream, called Aeons.

Aeons are the physical realization of the Fayth's dreams. The fayth's aeon form is the physical embodiment of the fayth itself. Aeons usually embody the fayth's strongest emotion, for example Anima's pain and sorrow. The Fayth communicate with summoners who pray to them within the Chambers of the Fayth, and establish a mental link between them. Using this link, the fayth gives their dream a physical form: an Aeon. Aeons are powerful creatures only a summoner can use in battle. Though many summoners can communicate with any one fayth only one summoner can call on a particular fayth's power at any one time. This is why during the aeon duels two of the same aeon cannot battle one another, Dark Aeons are an exception to this rule.

The race that most closely resembles the Humans are the Al Bhed, a tribe of technologists making up 10% of the Spiran population. They have a unique language and, unlike the other races in Spira, they use machina. Spira's main religion, Yevon, see the Al Bhed as heretics for using the machina and they are widely ostracized. Many Al Bhed likewise, oppose the pilgrimage tradition of Yevon and the sacrifice of the summoners. The AL Bhed have blond hair and green eyes with spiral-shaped pupils. They dress in distinctive colorful bodysuits and commonly wear goggles and masks. Despite being a marginalized group, the Al Bhed have a team in the blitzball league and excel at the sport. Around 1000 years ago, the Al Bhed society lived on Bikanel Island, whose most explored region is known as the Sanubia Desert. Sin, a massive sea monster that came out of no where one day, destroyed their city, and their citizens scattered around Spira, often detested by the other races of the world. Eventually Cid, who is Rikku's father and Yuna's uncle, resettled the Al Bhed on Bikanel Island and built a new city called Home.

Now to the Humanoid races in Spira. First the Guado, a race with an elvish appearance. They have long limbs, oversized hands and claw like nails as well as prominent veins on their face and flora like hair. They live amongst the trees and are the protectors of Spira's afterlife, the Farplane, and the Macalania Woods. The Guado's capital city is Guadosalam, where they protect the entrance to the Farplane. Due to their role in overseeing and protecting the afterlife, they are capable of smelling the dead among the living. Their high speed makes the Guado Glories and effective blitzball team. Unlike other races in Spira, Guado don’t leave bodies behind after they die. Guado have a religious culture, which causes them to come across as arrogant. Their role as guardians of the Farplane have caused them to look down on the other races. The Guado were converted to the Yevon religion under their leader, Jyscal Guado, who was later appointed a Maester of Yevon. Despite their strict religious culture, they are generous and welcoming to guests.

The other prominent humanoid race is the Ronso, a muscular feline creature. They stand above 6 feet with the males being considerably larger and more muscular then the females. They have hands with claws and paws for feet. Their fur ranges from different shades of blue with white to yellow patches. They also have fangs, a cat nose, golden eyes and a tail. They tie back the main in braids and ponytails. They are formidable warriors, known for their strong sense of honor and loyalty, as well as their pride and quickness to anger. The Ronso live at the base of Mt. Gagazet and guard the sacred mountain. Hardly anything is known about their culture, other than that they view the mountain a sacred location. Climbing up Gagazet is viewed as a spiritual journey for a Ronso seeking guidance. The Ronso take pride in protecting the mountain and compete with each other to chose who is worthy of being guardian of the sacred mountain. Kelk Ronso is the tribe leader and their representative in Bevelle as a Maester of Yevon. The Ronso have a blitzball team called the Ronso Fangs.

There are also Demi-humans in Spira as well. The demi-human race the others interact with the most would be the Hypello, who run the shoopuf service to cross the Moonflow, which is their home. The Hypello are a race of amphibian humanoid creatures. The Hypello have a speech impediment, often lisping any words with an 'S', for example shay instead of say and yesh in place for yes and some words are just gibberish as well as ending most of their sentences with a questioning tone. Though the Hypello are excellent swimmers, they have no desire for competition, there for they have no blitzball team. The Shoopufs are a species of large elephantine animals. They are used as pack animals by the Hypello to transport customers across the Moonflow. They are gentle creatures who don’t mind being ridden by the other species in Spira.

On occasion you will run into a pelupelu, a race in Spira that appear to be as tall as a human child. They speak very fast and wear a bird-like mask. Last you have the Yevon Music Brigade, making up a 3 person team of musicians. They are spirits of Macalania Woods. There are three known types: Avian, Frog and Mouse. The musician's existence coincides with that of the woods. They have the power of prophecy, as seen when they warn Yuna of the state of the Farplane. The Mouse musician always speaks in rhymes.

There you have it, the different races of Spira. Which one is your favorite? Mine personally it’s the Al Bhed. Tell me in the comments below. Thank you for watching my video and please hit like and follow if you want to see more final fantasy break downs. Until next time, Peace!