“ | Men die. Beasts die. Trees die. Even continents perish. Only the power of death truly commands in Spira. Resisting it's power is futile. | „ |
~ Maester Mika |
Maester Yo Mika is the high Maester of the religion of Yevon in the land of Spira of the game Final Fantasy X. He officiates the religious order, which controls the current society of Spira. Though presented as a benign government/religious leader at first, as Yevon is exposed as not merely corrupt but outright oppressive in it's core design, Maester Mika's true colors as it's current enabler are exposed. He is the one granting political backing to Maester Seymour Guado, and covering up his actions to the public.
He is voiced by Hiroshi Iwasaki in the original Japanese and Dwight Schultz for the game's English release.
The Church of Yevon[]
The religion of Yevon sprang up around Sin - a massive flying whale-like monster, which destroys cities, warps the souls of the dead into monstrous "fiends", and appears invulnerable to harm. The religion has gripped all of Spira as Sin terrorizes all of it, and those victimized were easily sold the religion as a means of appeasing, defeating and making sense of Sin, but the central Church is ruled from their headquarters in the holy-city of Bevelle. Though the Church does not teach it, the origins of it's name come as a tribute to an ancient summoner named Yu Yevon, the one who first conjured Sin - an enemy of Bevelle before it was a holy-city, back when it was an expansionist empire, in ancient times now lost to common history. Yu Yevon summoned sin, for among other reasons, to wipe out the Bevelle military when it tried to conquer his city of Zanarkand. Sin wiped out Zanarkand as well, though preserving the souls of it citizens in a fashion, but it would not subside, nothing could stop it, Bevelle would seize Yu Yevon's summoning rites to make sense of them, a series of prayers, and wards, most placebos, a few real, to hold back or drive away Sin and it's fiends. No one in Bevelle had the skill or power to summon anything close to Sin to counter it, but it established smaller shelters to train summoners, which later became temples. In combination with their grow towards the spiritual, Bevelle began rejecting it's technology - which had lead to the war, and was the first thing Sin destroyed. Eventually Bevelle was reborn as a full religious city, as the superstition around Sin became full on religion - the central belief is that if the people achieve entirely selfless pure lives, Sin will stop coming to "punish" them.
Over the years the priests, known as "Maesters" established not only summoning rites, but a religious ritual. Those trained as summoners could go from one temple to another on their way to Zanarkand - Sin's birth place, to the high lady of Yevon - "Lady Yunalesca" who would reward them for their pilgrimage and piety for stopping at all the temples by allowing them to summon "The Final Aeon" a summon as powerful as Sin and able to kill Sin. Sin appears to be eternal though and it always returns from the dead when slain after a decade - Yevon positing if no sins happen in the intermediate ten years, Sin will not be reborn. Even if the peace is temporary it is still seen as a great endeavor for summoners to go through the long holy trek to Zanarkand in-order to give the world a reprieve from Sin - and those who go on the journey are turned into Yevon's version of saints after they die for bringing the ten years of peace known as "Calms". The people known as Al-Bhed became skeptical of Yevon, demanding proof for it's various claims, like that war machines "machina" were part of what Sin punished them for, and during the early days of the religion, this skepticism earned the Al-Bhed the status of heretics and scapegoats - something that has persisted to the current day, and any who refute Yevon are made into pariahs.
Yo Mika is the current Grand-High-Maester of Yevon. He knows all the rituals used by summoners, presumably including the ones to be a summoner himself, though he is never seen using this in-game. He knows the history of Spira better than most scribes and certainly more than any other priests of Yevon. He knows "holy" rites that allow him to cheat a fundamental function of life. He tours Spira, handing out blessings, holding festivals, and re-applying wards against fiends to protect the various cities of Spira. He maintains contempt for the Al-Bhed but frequently offers them "redemption" though has yet to have a single member take him up on his claims.
Encounters[]
Maester Mika is first encountered in Luca - host to the Blizball games. Mika is officiating the ceremony, though there is no sign he is a fan of the sport, he views the morale it brings as vital to the people. He is introduced in the same scene as Maester Seymour Guado - recently granted Maester status after years of religious training and the death of his father, the late Maester Jyscal Guado.
Later it is revealed he morally supported the "Crusaders" - a militia devoted to Yevon and it's people, but not specifically assigned as such by the church. When the Crusaders opt to ignore the teaching against using machines of war in order to use them against Sin; Maester Mika's official stance is that it won't work and the people must utterly reject machina and repent their sins, he states their hearts are in the right place though. Unofficially he sends Maester Seymour Guado to rally and support the Crusaders. The Crusaders' attack fails, and they are devastated. Maester Seymour's proclamation is that it was a valiant effort and the dead should be honored despite setting-aside Yevon's teachings, but Yevon is the only true path to Sin's defeat.
Overtime Maester Seymour is discovered to be corrupt and to have killed his father. Maester Seymour only barely bothers to hide the fact and casually admits to it once discovered, but his chamberlain and Yevon go to great lengths to cover it up. Seymour is killed but reappears, eventually it is discovered he is an "Unsent" a ghost of sorts, who can physically manifest even after death. Unsent are seen as abominations, as their psyche's become warped over time and eventually they become fiends. Seymour agrees to spare the party if their summoner - Yuna, daughter of the last high-summoner marries him, giving him increased political clout and assuring Yuna prestige for being tied to the Church even before the Final Summoning. Yuna eventually agrees when Seymour's people, the Guado, have the party surrounded. At the wedding Mika is the one performing the vows. The party try to interrupt the wedding but are surrounded. As soon as the vows are spoken Seymour goes back on his word and orders them all killed, but Yuna saves them yet must surrender to the high-court of Yevon as a devout Yevonite herself.
At the high-court of Yevon, all the Maesters are there, Maester Seymour, Maester Kinoc - the commander of Yevons holy soldiers the Warrior Monks, Maester Kelk Ronso - judge of legal affairs, and of-course Grand-High-Maester Yo Mika himself. As Yuna reveals Maester Seymour murdered his father, everyone but Maester Kelk Ronso reveals they already know, they have been covering for him in order to prevent his status as both Maester and murderer from undermining Yevon. When Yuna goes on to reveal he is an unsent, Maester Mika becomes transparent for a second, revealing he is also an Unsent - this all the Maesters, even Maester Kelk knew. As far as they are concerned the enlightened rule of the dead is preferable to the errors of the living. Maester Mika is exposed as having been aware of all Maester Seymour's actions and privately endorsed all of them, the Crusaders having re-enforced how much the world needs Yevon with their horrible lose ignoring it. The Maesters hate to lose Yuna, but can't have her spreading discontent so she is thrown in the Cloisters - massive maze like dungeons under Bevelle used as "redemption" runs for the wicked. Mika does not want to take the chance Yuna and the party may complete the run so he orders Maester Seymour and Maester Kinoc to guard the exit if they actually make it passed the fiend littered dungeon. By the time the party fight their way out Maester Seymour has killed Kinoc and uses his soul as part of a rite to become a massive fiend to stop them; It is at this point Seymour is exposed as working for his own agenda aside from being a mere patsy for Maester Mika.
Maester Mika is not seen again until after the Pilgrimage is complete but Yuna has rejected summoning the Final Aeon. Maester Mika had hoped that Yuna despite all he had done to her, would still rely on Yevon's teaching. But when she reveals she has sent Lady Yunalesca - an Unsent too, and thus ensured the Pilgrimage can no longer be completed - invalidating Yevon as a religion, Maester Mika, apart from helping Yuna as she had hoped, falls into utter despair, convinced with Yunalesca gone, there is no hope for Spira. He briefly mentions Yu Yevon as the source of Sin and the things that grants it's rebirth. Though the party ask for details, by then Mika is too overcome with despair to go on. He sends himself - choosing to die on the spot rather than live in a world where Sin will never leave, and the people will rally against Yevon as an exposed false hope. His final words will give the party their biggest clue to understanding and dismantling Sin's rebirth though.
Personality[]
Maester Mika is a shrewd politician. He views morale as the be-all-end-all of his life. The people must be kept happy, but also afraid. Yevon must appear vital to life as it currently exists. His friendly face at public festivals, and his conniving nature endorsing a counter-Yevon movement he knows will fail are both part of the same desire to keep the people of Spira utterly dependent on Yevon. He views life as meaningless and death as the only true salvation for anyone, as such he as devoted himself to what, after-all is essentially a massive-death-cult. He is more than happy to let the Warrior Monks arm themselves with guns despite machina officially being banned. He will tolerate murder as long as it is not exposed to the public; And he will turn to those he has condemned as heretics with no shame of any kind as long as they are willing to help him, assured he can spin it to the public later if everyone just plays their parts. He is an utter hypocrite and nihilist, but in his two-faced nature there is a tiny ring of altruism. Though he cultivates false-hope as a source of political power, he still seems to see that false hope as vital for the public's own good, as no real-hope exists. He genuinely believes his presence as an Unsent will benefit the land. With no hope true-or-false to give to the people he sees himself as worthless and would rather die than face a world destined to drown in fear, despair and disaster.
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