Tidus

Tidus is a minor character in the Kingdom Hearts series, originally from Final Fantasy X. The official Kingdom Hearts website states that he is 13 years old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and 14 during the events of Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts
''A cheerful, self-confident boy who lived on the Destiny Islands. He considers himself a champ at everything. Nobody knows what happened to him after his island disappeared.''

"Final Fantasy X"

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
A young boy from Sora's islands with a sunny personality and lots of energy.

Tidus has no shortage of confidence either, and considers himself a champ at everything.

Kingdom Hearts
Tidus is a friend of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, and is a resident of the Destiny Islands, spending most of his time with Wakka and Selphie.

In Sora's 'Dive to the Heart,' Tidus appears in the Destiny Islands area along with Wakka and Selphie. His question, like the other two, determines Sora's leveling pace for the rest of the game.

Q: "What are you so afraid of?"

Sora can answer the question in three different ways. Either A) getting old, B) being different, or C) being indecisive.

Later, on Destiny Islands, if Sora talks to him, Tidus will offer to duel Sora. If Sora declines the fight Tidus will have multiple possible remarks; the most notable being that he and Wakka are working on some type of underwater ball game; which is a reference to blitzball from Final Fantasy X.

If Sora loses a practice battle with Tidus on the second day in the Destiny Islands, Tidus performs his victory pose from Final Fantasy X, namely, tossing his sword upward then catching it before swinging it to his side.

It is unknown where Tidus disappeared to after Destiny Islands was destroyed.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Tidus appears with Wakka and Selphie in both Sora and Riku's stories as part of the memory-based Destiny Islands in Castle Oblivion. Some time after Sora goes to sleep, the real Tidus is seen playing with Wakka and Selphie on a beach while Kairi is facing the Small Island.

Kingdom Hearts II
He does not appear in Kingdom Hearts II, but Selphie mentions that he and Wakka are "All wrapped up in their ball game," which furthers the blitzball reference from the first game.

Unlike the original Kingdom Hearts, which pronounced his name with a hard E sound (tee-dus), when Selphie mentions him in Kingdom Hearts II, she says his name with a hard I sound instead (tie-dus). It should be noted, however, that the katakana of his name, though romanized as Tidus even in the Japanese versions of Tidus's appearances, is read as (tii-da) (ティーダ Tīda), and is derived from the Okinawan word for "sun". As the Japanese "ィ" is pronounced like the English "E," it would suggest that the Kingdom Hearts pronunciation (tee-dus) would be closer to the Japanese equivalent. Additionally, Dissidia Final Fantasy and interviews with Tidus's voice actor confirm it as "Tee-dus," indicating that this may have been an error.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Tidus makes a third appearance, this time as a data version of himself, alongside Wakka and Selphie. He appears on the data version of Destiny Islands, collected from memory of before it was destroyed by the Heartless. He was searching for the reason behind the blocks all over the island. He saw the Black Coated man right near the waterfall, but doesn't tell Sora of the man's whereabouts until Sora defeats Tidus.

Appearance
Tidus in Kingdom Hearts looks like a much younger version of his Final Fantasy X appearance, albeit with a simpler outfit. He wears a small, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems yellow center, and white lining around the center. This shirt is open just like it is in Final Fantasy X, exposing Tidus's chest. His hair is sandy blond, worn in the same style as his original incarnation, and his eyes are blue. For an unknown reason, Tidus has a small scar on his right cheek that was not present in his original game. Tidus's unique, navy pants have uneven legs, with his right pant leg reaching just past his knee, and his left reaching to just about mid-thigh.

His sprite in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories reverses this. The left leg has a diagonal zipper on it, presumably a pocket, and he wears a black fanny pack with the pouch facing forward, showing another diagonal zipper. Tidus wears sandals with a coloration vaguely reminiscent of his original boots; yellow and black, with the addition of pale green. His Zanarkand Abes necklace is not present, nor is any reference to the symbol on his clothing. Tidus carried a wooden stick in lieu of his famous Brotherhood sword, though he has the same battle stance and victory pose using the stick as he did with his sword.

Battle Skills
Like in Final Fantasy X, Tidus fights with swift movements and much dodging. His trademark Brotherhood sword, given to him by Wakka in the original game, however, is replaced with a wooden stick.

On Destiny Islands, he practices fighting skills with Sora as a way for the player to improve his level. During this battle, he fights by stringing together combination attacks. If Sora manages to block one of his sword attacks, 2 Tech Points are earned per block. After defeating Tidus, Selphie and Wakka as individuals, Sora is able to fight against them all at the same time.

Origin
Tidus is the initial protagonist of Final Fantasy X, released in 2001 and the first Final Fantasy game to be released on the PlayStation 2. He was a skilled seventeen year old blitzball player from Zanarkand, playing on the Zanarkand Abes. Despite living a life of luxury, he harbored animosity towards his father, Jecht, the previous star player and whose shadow he felt trapped within. Soon though, a mysterious man named Auron appears and Tidus washes up on the shores of a world called "Spira", 1000 years in the future, after being attacked by Sin during a blitzball game. He quickly finds himself embarking on a journey with the new summoner, Yuna, whose duty as a summoner is to rid the world of Sin and bring about the Calm. Throughout the game, Tidus finds himself coming to terms with his father, Jecht, dealing with his increasing love for Yuna, and the implications of her pilgrimage. Tidus is told that he is a dream of the Fayth created from a Dream Zanarkand that Yu Yevon, the entity behind Sin, is continuously maintaining and that once Sin is defeated for good, he would disappear. At the end of Final Fantasy X, Yuna tells him that she loves him before he runs and dives off of the airship, reuniting with the others from Dream Zanarkand, including his father Jecht. Tidus is an exceptional fighter with superb athletic abilities and affinity for swimming both above and under water due to his expertise on the playing field during the futuristic sport, blitzball. Tidus uses longswords, and his attacks are light and used with one hand.

Trivia

 * Tidus's model is used for one type of generic non-playable character in Kingdom Hearts.

🇰🇲

Tidus Tidus