The Luca blitzball stadium with globe pool being filled in Final Fantasy X

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Blitzball. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Blitzball. ... Final Fantasy ) is a series of computer and console role-playing games produced by Square Enix (originally Square Co. ... John Knowles (September 16, 1926 - November 29, 2001, Fairmont, West Virginia) was an American novelist, best known for A Separate Peace. ... A Separate Peace (1959) is a novel written by John Knowles set in a school named Devon in New Hampshire during World War II. The book explores themes of hate, vengeance, and guilt. ...

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 by machina. Blitzball is unique as it is one of the very few fictional underwater sports ever conceived. Final Fantasy X ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. ... Final Fantasy X-2 (ファイナルファンタジーX-2 Fainaru Fantajī X-2, read: ten-two) is a role-playing video game in the Final Fantasy series, and the first direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game, the best-selling Final Fantasy X released in 2001. ... Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard round disc called a puck, into the opponents net or goal, using a stick. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Water polo is a team water sport, which can be best described as a combination of swimming, football (soccer), basketball, ice hockey, rugby and wrestling. ... An underwater scene just beneath the surface. ... Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures... This is a list of fictional games, that is games specifically created for works of fiction. ...

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. One of the defining characteristics of what is commonly known as Blitzkrieg is close co-operation between infantry and tanks. ...

Blitzball in Final Fantasy X

Zanarkand's blitzball victory sign became a sacred prayer rite

A goal is scored in the blitzball minigame in Final Fantasy X

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 the monster Sin, however briefly. Two of the game's main characters, Tidus and Wakka, are skilled blitzball players. Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_17. ... Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_17. ... Image File history File links Blitzball-screenshot. ... Image File history File links Blitzball-screenshot. ... Final Fantasy X ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. ... Sin is the mighty beast and main antagonist in the 2001 Square Co. ... Tidus ) is the main protagonist in the Square-Enix role-playing video game Final Fantasy X. As the leading character, the player controls Tidus through the world based in the game, manipulating his actions through the unfolding storyline in traditional Final Fantasy style. ... Wakka ) is a playable character in the Square-Enix video game Final Fantasy X. He is voiced by John DiMaggio (who also voices Kimahri) in the English version and Kazuya Nakai in the Japanese version. ...

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. // Spira ) is the world in which the role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place. ... An incantation is the words spoken during a ritual. ...

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 hold their breaths nearly forever or at least for the 5 minutes required for each half-time.^[1]
Yuna ) is a playable main character in both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 of the Final Fantasy role-playing video game series from Square Enix. ...

Gameplay

Players fight for the ball during match. Blitzball is a full contact sport where violent tackles are allowed

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. Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_8a. ... Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_8a. ... Grand Theft Auto Top-down perspective, also sometimes referred to as birds-eye view or helicopter view, is a view used in computer and video games that shows the player and the area around him or her from above. ...

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.
Bicycle kick or overhead kick, also known as the Chilena or Chalaca in most of Latin America, is an expert move in football, that is made by throwing the body up into the air with the legs moving as if pedaling a bicycle. ...

Blitzball teams

Spira Blitzball League Teams

Tidus executes the "Sphere Shot" technique in the opening FMV of Final Fantasy X.)

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: Image File history File links BLITZLE2. ... Image File history File links BLITZLE2. ... Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_18. ... Image File history File links Grabbed_Frame_18. ... Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures...

Besaid Aurochs	Luca Goers	Al Bhed Psyches
Wakka Tidus Datto Letty Jassu Botta Keepa	Bickson Abus Graav Doram Balgerda Raudy	Eigaar Blappa Berrik Judda Lakkam Nimrook
Guado Glories	Kilika Beasts	Ronso Fangs
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. In the Final Fantasy Ultimania Omega guide two additional teams are mentioned: Bevelle Bells and Yocun Nomads.
Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures... Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures... // This is a list of the particularly intelligent races found in the Final Fantasy series of games. ... // This is a list of the particularly intelligent races found in the Final Fantasy series of games. ... Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures... // This is a list of the particularly intelligent races found in the Final Fantasy series of games. ... Image File history File links Bevbells. ... Map of Spira The fictional events of the Square Enix computer role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place in a world called Spira ). As befitting its name, Spira is characterized by cycles and repetition, such as the spiral of death that the world endures... Screenshot of an FMV from Final Fantasy VIII. Full motion video, usually abbreviated as FMV, is a popular term for TV-quality movie or animation in a video 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". Championship Manager is a series of English computer games, the first of which was released in 1992. ...

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 bears no resemblance to the Final Fantasy X minigame. This is a list of fictional games, that is games specifically created for works of fiction. ...

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.

Gameplay

Blitzball is played with a heavy medicine ball, in which the object is to carry the ball from one end of a field to another. In A Separate Peace the end zone was marked by the river, and the starting point marked by the tower. The Carrier of the ball (the one holding the ball) is allowed to run and hold the ball at the same time, in contrast to many other sports. The unique aspect is that there are no teams in blitzball, yet the players must work together. All other players may run and surround the Carrier, and then butt the Carrier in order to attempt to gain possession. Advesaries keep their arms crossed over their chests, and if they knock the Carrier down, they they gain possession of the ball. In order to spare himself from injury, the Carrier tosses the ball to the Adversaries. The ball may touch the ground when being passed, and is available to be grabbed at all times. Even though the Carrier may pass the ball, blitzball is a game played every man for himself, and the ex-Carrier is then expected (and allowed) to try to knock down the current Carrier (the Receiver) to regain possession.

Fouls and Illegals

The Carrier cannot be knocked down with use of arms, or with elbowing. If a Carrier is hurt in such a fashion, the ball remains in his possession. However, all play resumes where it has been left off, after all Fouls and Illegals.

Lepellier Refusal

The Carrier may wish to pass the ball to an Adversary, but the Receiver can refuse. The Receiver must plainly state this wish outloud. The Carrier regains possession of the ball, if they had thrown it. If, in the course of the field, the Carrier gets refused three times, play resumes from the starting point. The odds are always against the Carrier, as all other players are his enemies, which makes for an extremely demanding sport athletically.

Blitzball in other settings

Underwater basketball

Image File history File links Wbasketball. ... Image File history File links Wbasketball. ...

In 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.^[2]

This is a list of video game franchises organised alphabetically by name. ... Captain Tsubasa ) is a popular Japanese manga, anime, and video game series, originally created by Yoichi Takahashi in 1981. ...

References

May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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.

This is a list of fictional games, that is games specifically created for works of fiction. ... In Fantastic Dizzy, the player has to complete a sliding puzzle to get an extra life. ... Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which someone breathes an oxygen rich liquid (usually from the perfluorocarbon family), rather than breathing air. ...

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)