Difference between revisions of "Auron"

Revision as of 20:31, 2 November 2012

Auron
Age	35
Species	Human (Unsent)
Sex	Male
Height	6'0"
Weight	165 lbs.
Background
Series	Final Fantasy X
Combat Styles	Guardian
Hometown	Bevelle, Spira
Group	Unaffiliated
Occupation/Job	Ex-Guardian
Force:	Forces of Restoration
Theme Song	“Auron’s Theme”
Quote
“This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live, and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!”

        It’s been a long road for Spira’s so-called “Legendary Guardian”—though he’d just as soon not be called that; after all, the only thing he did was do nothing while his best friends died for a pointless, endless spiral of death. From young, naive warrior monk to disillusioned old veteran, the changes in Auron’s life—and unlife—have been drastic and sudden. His journeys have taken him all across Spira, and outside of it as well, into the Dream of the Fayth. Unbeknownst to most of Spira, he is Unsent—his soul refused to move on, and he came back after his death to try to keep the promises he made in life. He cannot—will not—rest until Sin is destroyed, and the deaths of his lord Braska and his best friend Jecht are avenged. Auron once lived his life for Braska, and later, Jecht. Now Unsent, it’s for the two people he loved most that he continues to exist beyond his death.

Skills: Age Is Relative, Badass Longcoat, BFS, Booze Flamethrower, Bring My Red Jacket, Cool Old Guy, Cool Shades, Crisis of Faith, Determinator, Failure Knight, Good Scars/Evil Scars, Mr. Exposition, OoC Is Serious Business, Pre-Asskicking One-Liner, Pyrrhic Victory, Ronin, Rousing Speech, The Stoic, Zen Survivor

Abilities

• Combat Knowledge: Being raised as a warrior-monk has allowed Auron to learn both armed and unarmed fighting techniques—can’t use your sword against your fellow monks, after all! Auron took to the Katana (Spiran Katanas, to note, are much like a zweihander) as a favored weapon. The Katana’s weight and configuration makes many of his weapons good against foes that wear heavy armor or monsters who have hard shells. His unarmed capabilities are much along the lines of judo or jujutsu, tending away from punches and towards open-handed blows, throws, holds, pins, and breaks. And occasionally the odd pressure point strike.

• Unsent: While Auron appears normal, he is in fact an ‘Unsent’, essentially the ghost of a person who couldn’t accept the circumstances of his death. In Auron’s case, it was to keep the promises he made in life. Being dead does have its advantages, however; as an Unsent, Auron requires neither food, water, nor sleep. He still breathes, mind. And he does eat normally, partly out of habit and partly out of the need to at least appear normal. Because his body is made of pyreflies, he does not age, though he appears to have done so. Neither does he show injures on his body—he does get injured, though. His body just doesn’t show it physically, as it’s a projection of his will forged in pyreflies.

• Determined: From Zanarkand to the Calm Lands, and then from the Calm Lands almost to Bevelle... while bleeding profusely. Coming back from the dead and existing as a sentient mass of pyreflies for ten years, to keep his promise to Jecht. And then continuing on as Dream Zanarkand was attacked, bringing Tidus to Spira, and protecting Yuna on her subsequent Pilgrimage. Through it all, his determination never wavered. He still has a job to do.

• Observant: As much in figuring out the particulars of a situation in his mind as well as picking out the clues initially, Auron is generally one to spend time gathering clues, piecing them together, and interpreting the picture they make. Generally, that is. When his Berserk Buttons aren’t pressed. When that happens, Auron tends to throw plans out the window and just leap into action.

• Quick Thinker: Auron’s tendency to impulsive behavior—as strange as it might sound to those who do not know the man he used to be—rather necessitates this. While he tries to project a front that he knows exactly what he’s doing (and has gotten pretty darn good at it in ten years), it’s rare that he has everything planned out, and even rarer that everything goes according to that plan.

• Domestic Skills: Believe it or not, Spira’s ‘Legendary Guardian’ also knows his way around the house. After Jecht’s wife died, there was no one left to take care of Tidus. And a seven- or eight-year-old could hardly be left on his own, even in the easy life he led in Dream Zanarkand. Thus it fell to Auron to see to it that young Tidus was properly looked after—from cooking meals, to keeping the houseboat tidy, to actually caring for Tidus. Hardly useful in a battle—barring some improbable bit of broom-/mop-fu—but at least he can cook a decent meal for himself and/or others. ...Not that he actually eats, mind. But others do!

Weaknesses

• Blind Spot: The injury that Yunalesca inflicted upon him followed him even into death. Whether that was her doing and it scarred his soul that badly, or whether he just can’t let it go (the latter is more likely), the injury has shorn him of the sight in his right eye. This also means he has a huge blind spot on that side, one that can be exploited by an enemy.

• Accuracy: Auron’s missing eye means he has no depth perception. This makes it hard for him to aim long-range weaponry. It also means that he has trouble hitting faster opponents and opponents that attack from the air, as both types may abruptly dodge in a random direction.

• Slow: While Auron can run at a sustained pace for a nigh-supernatural length of time, it’s not a particularly fast run. He’s not exactly a sprinter and will easily end up at the back of the group in a crowd. So whatever’s making the running necessary is more likely to catch him. After all, you don’t have to be the fastest runner... you just have to outrun Auron!

Stats

Relationships

Allies

Acquaintances

Adversaries

Trivia

• Final Fantasy X indicates that Auron in the game’s timeline is actually in his mid-thirties. But looking at him, he looks quite a bit older than that doesn’t he? This can be attributed to attitude—it’s shown in the game that Unsent can change their forms when they choose, even taking on fiend forms. Auron’s self-hatred is likely what physically aged him so much.
• Unlike his Kingdom Hearts II appearance, this Auron has kept the shades and the jug of booze. And to answer the great mystery of what’s in the jug? Well, it’s probably not sake, believe it or not! It’s got the word ‘Nog’ written on it, and ‘nog’ usually refers to a variety of whiskeys. Probably something like bourbon, given it needs to be quite flammable.
• Auron’s missing eye doesn’t affect his depth perception as it would if he were still alive. But he still can’t see out of that eye, so he tends to not like the idea of people he doesn’t know on his right side.
• As silent and reserved as Auron appears, a great deal of effort must go into relating his nonverbal communication. He also communicates in quiet sounds—note, ‘hmph’ and ‘hnf’ mean completely different things! Though it’s quite possible that such clues might be missed entirely, since even his nonverbal communication is understated.
• There are a couple of things in Auron’s design that immediately speak to rōnin, a samurai who had lost his master and for some reason had not committed ritual suicide—seppuku. The tucking of his left arm into his coat signifies the loss of his master; his Overdrive “Banishing Blade” has him spitting a mouthful of the contents of his jug onto his blade—spitting sake onto the samurai sword apparently was done to “feed the spirit of the sword”.
  • There has been some discussion on the ‘Net about the “arm out of the sleeve” business as opposed to the “tucked arm” business. If you’ll note, even before Braska died, Auron kept his left arm out of his sleeve. Everything I’ve found from reputable sources indicates that keeping one arm out of the sleeve really doesn’t mean anything in particular—it’s simply a feature of Auron’s particular fighting style.