[Spoilers] What is Anima supposed to be?

[Bwonsamdi the Dead]

I really like her, as you can probably see with my name. (I've Cosplayed her, made paintings of her, and am even wanting to get a small tattoo of her in the future) But one thing that I just don't get is her appearance. What is she? I get that she's supposed to look creepy, but is she based on anything from other works of Pop Culture?

[Bwonsamdi the Dead]

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Anima_(summon) For people who are a bit confused about Anima.

It looks like there are at least four different definitions for Anima in ff games. So you are right about it referring to lost of things. There's already on in 14 (that fairy thing, and the weapons), so she PROBABLY won't appear in thee unless, maybe she'd have a title like 'Anima, Queen of Pain' or something. Ugh.

I think Square should put Anima in more ff spin-off games, too. Maybe as the 'manditory' dark element summon, and maybe name her other head (that thing underneath her that you see in her Oblivion Overdrive) Animus. It would work to balance her concept out too.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by The Dark Aeon Anima:

maybe name her other head (that thing underneath her that you see in her Oblivion Overdrive) Animus. It would work to balance her concept out too.

I like that. And it's entirely possible this was part of the design, Jungian concepts feature regularly in Japanese manga/anime/games. It's probably also quite telling that the fayth is Seymour's mother, as is the whole... *ahem*... clam shell visual.

[Casurin]

I would still strongly say that Anima is not a final Aeon.

it doesn't matter what the wiki says, the official sources say only very little about the process of becoming a final aeon, summoning it and its pecularities.
First that it requires a perosn to sacrifice their life to become the Aeon, and secondly that the act of summoning kills the user - and by that alone Anima can not be the final Aeon of Seymor as he used it at least twice and survived (granted we slaughter him the second time).

And i gotta gree with Hinnyuu on the power of Anima too:
Seymor is significantly stronger than your party at MiHen. Physically he seems a lot stronger than the very epxerienced Auron (Hey easily hold back a Sin Spawn with brawns) and doesn't use his Aeons at all. Yet we manage to beat him and anima shortly after.


and the game it self never, not even once, claims that Anima is a final Aeon - that is pure fan speculation. I am aware of Ultimania - a guidebook, nothing less, nothing more. It is Not an official source and they are well known for their own speculations.


What we do know is that normal aoens require a statue to bind them and that final aeons to not have that. the best bet is still that the Method Yunalesca invented is transferring the Aeon directly onto a summoner and the Final Aeon getting its immense power directly from taking the life of the summoner.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Casurin:

What we do know is that normal aoens require a statue to bind them and that final aeons to not have that.

They do, though. Zaon was the first final aeon, and his fayth statue is shown and it is explained that it is depleted.

But I'm glad someone agrees with me :)

[Bwonsamdi the Dead]

Sooo...If Anima IS Seymour's final Aeon, she shouldn't have a Fayth statue? And the clam shell thing makes me think of the Birth of Venus painting now that someone mentioned it ;)

[Serafie1999AD]

The thing is, if Anima isn't Seymour's Final Aeon, how do you explain this cutscene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRoYNi7HW4 (starting at 19 min 20 s)? Especially considering the context, where the game shows several other summoners who go for the Final Aeon in Zanarkand, such as High Summoner Yocun ("our predecessors" according to Auron) and Braska, in addition to Seymour.

[Hinnyuu]

Of course, no one is disputing that Seymour went to Zanarkand, and that his mother was made into a fayth there by Yunalesca.

The problem lies in the definition of what a final aeon is, and whether it can actually BE a final aeon if you DON'T defeat Sin - or whether that would just mean it's a regular aeon.

My personal interpretation is that they're all regular aeons to start with. However, if there is a special bond between the fayth and the summoner, it will allow them to go all out - drawing much more power than is usual, at the cost of completely depleting the fayth, i.e. putting all of its soul into the aeon (rather than just a portion of it, as they would for a normal summoning). This increases the power of the aeon dramatically, however it also means that the bond between aeon and summoner goes so deep that any sudden disconnect will literally kill the summoner - and that's exactly what happens when Yu-Yevon takes over the aeon, overriding the existing bond to bind it to himself instead.
Unless you actually go all out like that and risk it all, it's not a final aeon. And that's also why you need such a strong bond, because risking your entire soul in one power move like that is something you would only do for someone you trust absolutely. That's why Yunalesca says "if that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin". We don't know what happens if it isn't. Perhaps some of the existing regular fayth are failed final aeons. Perhaps the process simply goes nuclear, drains the soul anyway and kills the summoner in the process, but without defeating Sin. Or perhaps no one who got that far has ever actually failed. Pure speculation at that point.

[Bwonsamdi the Dead]

But..but if Seymour would've accepted Anima, he would've died. Then his mom would become Sin, and there'd be no ffx... /tinfoil hat

[Casurin]

Originally posted by Serafie1999AD:

The thing is, if Anima isn't Seymour's Final Aeon, how do you explain this cutscene:

What is there to explain? Nothing.
We know that Yunalesca is a great Summoner from old Zanarkand and that she also knew the method of turning people into faith. And we also learn that she then discovered a way to create the final summonig. Nothing there says she can not turn a person into a normal faith.


I would say that the whole Znarkand-story shows that Anima is not a "final aoen" and it is not the Aeon turning against the summoner that kills them. She did defeat Sin but she said nothing about the link to the final summoning being the cause of death but the summoning it self.
And after you beat her she still says that it would not matter as Sin will eternally reborn cause humanity could never repent for its sins.




And also if we take the strange notion that the defining feature of a final aeon is that it can beat Sin - well then every single Aeon fulfills that role.

[Raemnant]

Originally posted by Casurin:

Originally posted by Serafie1999AD:

The thing is, if Anima isn't Seymour's Final Aeon, how do you explain this cutscene:

What is there to explain? Nothing.
We know that Yunalesca is a great Summoner from old Zanarkand and that she also knew the method of turning people into faith. And we also learn that she then discovered a way to create the final summonig. Nothing there says she can not turn a person into a normal faith.


I would say that the whole Znarkand-story shows that Anima is not a "final aoen" and it is not the Aeon turning against the summoner that kills them. She did defeat Sin but she said nothing about the link to the final summoning being the cause of death but the summoning it self.
And after you beat her she still says that it would not matter as Sin will eternally reborn cause humanity could never repent for its sins.




And also if we take the strange notion that the defining feature of a final aeon is that it can beat Sin - well then every single Aeon fulfills that role.

Nope. Only the Final Aeon has the power neccesary to pierce Sins shell

[Raemnant]

Whats so hard to understand about all of this? Why do you guys keep making the same baseless questions over and oveer when I provide the answers over and over? Whats a final aeon, you ask? THE AEON GRANTED BY YUNALESCA. Thats it. Thats all there is to it. She performs a rite, someone is sacrificed, a Fayth is made, the summoner recieves the Aeon from the Fayth. Thats the Final Aeon. It doesnt have to kill sin for it to be a Final Aeon, its just the only one capable of doing it.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Raemnant:

Whats so hard to understand about all of this? Why do you guys keep making the same baseless questions over and oveer when I provide the answers over and over? Whats a final aeon, you ask? THE AEON GRANTED BY YUNALESCA. Thats it. Thats all there is to it. She performs a rite, someone is sacrificed, a Fayth is made, the summoner recieves the Aeon from the Fayth. Thats the Final Aeon. It doesnt have to kill sin for it to be a Final Aeon, its just the only one capable of doing it.

Well, that's what we are debating. You say it like it's an easily recognizable fact, but as we've pointed out, there are a lot of logical inconsistencies with that definition, and a lot of unspoken assumptions.

For starters, your whole point is founded on "final aeon = Yunalesca made it", but that's not as immediately obvious as you make it out to be. Because we don't know how REGULAR aeons are made, we have no way of knowing if what Yunalesca does is actually something special, or if it's just the regular process of creating any ol' fayth. We have to ask this because Seymour's mother, whom Yunalesca turned into a fayth, behaves very much like any regular fayth. And as I've noted, if you compare what we know of previous final aeons to what we know of regular aeons, the ONLY thing that Anima has in common with previous final aeons is that its fayth was made by Yunalesca. Everything else it has in common not with final aeons, but with regular aeons. And since we don't know if Yunalesca's involvement is something uniquely special or just a run-off-the-mill process, the entire premise is called into question.

This isn't about what is "right" and what is "wrong", it's about what is logically consistent with the internal lore.

[Onimar]

This whole debate is retarded. Anima is seymours final aeon. Why is yuna's more powerful? Simply because seymours mother's will to stop seymour and his wrongful ways and knowing yuna can put an end to it if she gives yuna her power. People have nailed it over and over again but it is the bond between summoner and the sacrifice that makes a final aeon strong for JUST THAT SUMMONER. What are normal aeons? While i dont have a definite answer for it its easy to assume 2 possibilities. Either they are leftover fayths from times long ago when a final aeon wasnt required or they are left overs from summoners who once they obtained their final aeon, they happened to perish before they could fight sin and because they cant possibly have a strong bond with anyone they cant ever be a final aeon to anyone else. The amount of people that either argue because they are bored or just delude themselves into believing false facts is unreal.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Onimar:

just delude themselves into believing false facts

Could you point to some of those "false facts"? Just so we know what you actually mean by it.

Originally posted by Onimar:

Why is yuna's more powerful? Simply because seymours mother's will to stop seymour and his wrongful ways and knowing yuna can put an end to it if she gives yuna her power.

So what makes a final aeon special, if a fayth can just give power to any other summoner that is greater than the power they gave to the holder of a final aeon? Isn't the entire point of a final aeon that it's more powerful than regular aeons?

Originally posted by Onimar:

What are normal aeons? While i dont have a definite answer for it its easy to assume 2 possibilities. Either they are leftover fayths from times long ago when a final aeon wasnt required or they are left overs from summoners who once they obtained their final aeon, they happened to perish before they could fight sin and because they cant possibly have a strong bond with anyone they cant ever be a final aeon to anyone else.

Or option 3, they were created after Sin, but not as final aeons - in which case the question would be who created them; and if it was Yunalesca, how that makes them different from final aeons (and, by extension, how that makes Anima a final aeon, if Yunalesca makes both final and regular aeon fayths).

[Bwonsamdi the Dead]

Im...really sorry for creating this thread. I meant to ask what Anima looks like, or if there are any similar creatures from other games, movies. I didn't mean to start an argument over Anima being a Final Aeon