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There are two known forms of the fictional sport of blitzball, the version featured in the Final Fantasy games, and the version invented by John Knowles in his book A Separate Peace.
In Final Fantasy X and X-2, blitzball is a sport that combines the six-man teams, positions, and physicality of hockey with soccer kicks for scoring and the hand passes of water polo. The game is played underwater in a large sphere pool suspended in the air. Blitzball is unique as it is one of the very few fictional underwater sports ever conceived.
In the novel A Separate Peace, blitzball is a game (named for the German blitzkrieg tactic) conceived by one of the main protagonists, Phineas, as the ultimate expression and celebration of pure athleticism. It combines a variety of traditional sports with more unconventional athletic pursuits, such as snowball fights.
Blitzball in A Separate Peace
The name blitzball was first used to describe a fictional sport created by Phineas, one of the main characters in the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The sport in Knowles's book the bears no resemblance to the Final Fantasy X minigame.
A Separate Peace is filled with athletic activities, from the tree-climbing that is central to the plot to swimming, skiing, and snowball fights. For the most part, these games shed light on the character of Finny, who is a tremendous athlete but despises competition (in contrast to Gene) and imagines athletics as a realm of pure vitality and achievement, without winners and losers. He subsequently invents the game of blitzball, which requires tremendous exertion and agility yet is impossible to win and focuses on pure athleticism rather than the defeat of opponents.
Blitzball in Final Fantasy X
Blitzball-screenshot.jpg]] The plot of Final Fantasy X provides a very favorable view of blitzball in general, as the sport is also shown to foster peace as it is the only activity where all races and genders are accepted as equals without squabbles. In Final Fantasy X, blitzball is also Spira's only mainstream form of entertainment, allowing citizens to take their minds off the ever present threat of Sin, however briefly. Two of the game's main characters, Tidus and Wakka, are skilled blitzball players.
Blitzball has affected the people of Spira in subtler ways during the thousand or more years of its existence as a sport — the blitzball sign for victory in Zanarkand found its way into "present day" Spira as a sacred hand gesture and incantation, its sporting origins seemingly forgotten.
One mystery is how the teams manage to hold their breaths underwater for such long periods of time. One theory by fans of the game suggests that it is the result of training on the part of the players — in Eternal Calm, a short film set two years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, Yuna notes that after much practice and training from Wakka, she is able to hold her breath for over two minutes. However, the Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania guide states that it is the unique properties of the pyrefly-saturated water in the blitzball arena that enables players to breathe liquid for the 5 minutes required for each half-time.
Gameplay
The blitzball minigame is played from a top-down perspective, with the player controlling his team members in turn. Teams are made up of six players a side, of whom one is the goalkeeper. The aim is to throw a dimpled ball (called the blitzball) into the opponent's goal area. The team with the most goals after two five-minute halves is declared the winner. As characters advance through the ranks they learn many new tricks to improve both their offensive and defensive skills, called techniques.Defensive techniques in blitzball often include violent tackles. Some tackles are intended to poison, cripple, or knock opponents unconscious altogether. As substutions are not allowed outside of halftime intermissions, the use of these techniques can offer teams a temporary numerical advantage. Goalkeepers can also learn some techniques such as "Supergoalie," which helps to catch fast balls.
Offensive techniques include the "Sphere Shot," an underwater version of a bicycle kick, and the "Jecht Shot," a goalshooting technique that renders up to two defense players unconscious in combination with bicycle kick.
Blitzball teams
When the blitzball mini-game first becomes available in Final Fantasy X, the player takes control of the Besaid Aurochs, and is given a standard player roster, which the player may alter by signing up other players from around the world, including players who began as members of other teams. Likewise, other teams may change their rosters. The following is a list of each of the teams featured in the game and their starting rosters:- {| class="wikitable"
- Wakka
- Tidus
- Datto
- Letty
- Jassu
- Botta
- Keepa
- Bickson
- Abus
- Graav
- Doram
- Balgerda
- Raudy
- Eigaar
- Blappa
- Berrik
- Judda
- Lakkam
- Nimrook
- Giera Guado
- Zazi Guado
- Navara Guado
- Auda Guado
- Pah Guado
- Noy Guado
- Larbeight
- Isken
- Vuroja
- Kulukan
- Deim
- Nizarut
- Basik Ronso
- Argai Ronso
- Gazna Ronso
- Nuvy Ronso
- Irga Ronso
- Zamzi Ronso
Teams with few or no named players also appear in Final Fantasy X. They are the Zanarkand Abes and the Zanarkand Duggles, which were featured in the opening full motion video of the game.
Blitzball in Final Fantasy X-2
The blitzball minigame in Final Fantasy X-2 differs from the one seen in Final Fantasy X, as players no longer directly manipulate the actions of their blitzball team members. Rather, the minigame takes on a Championship Manager-esque interface. The Gullwings, Yuna's sphere-hunting group, fills in for the Aurochs when Blitzball season starts. In this version of the minigame, if a team leads the game by seven goals at any point, they automatically win. The Zanarkand Abes are also available as opponents, with Tidus replaced by a player named "Ace".
Blitzball in other media
- Blitzball appears to be based on the video game series Captain Tsubasa about a soccer team and its exploits.
- In 2006 fashion photographer Mick Gleissner published a calendar with photography of sports "through a fish's eyes". In it there are a series of "Water Basketball" pictures, a fictional sport that looks very similar to blitzball. Models and photo crew had to practice diving and holding their breath under water while exercising, just like fictional Blitzball players.
References
See also
- List of fictional games
- Minigame
- Liquid breathing- breathing a specially formulated liquid is not as extraordinary as it seems,early research on the 1960's and recent research in the 90's has proven dogs and other animals can be kept alive breathing a liquid for about 2 hours, with very few side effects.
External links
- Opening FMV sequence for Final Fantasy X, depicting a Blitzball match
- List of Free Bliztball agents at Final Fantasy Wiki
- Videos of Mick Gleissner's underwater sports photoshoot (mentioned above on Blitzball on other media)
Fictional games | Final Fantasy minigames | Final Fantasy X | Fictional balls
"Blitzball"