Aeon. Or Fiend?

[qwertysaur]

An Aeon is the projection of the fayth, and a fiend is what occurs when a soul becomes overcome with anger and hate. So are Aeons simply a fiend that willingly died, gaining the strength of fiends without the corruption? I think they are in fact a form of fiend that are not corrupted by hate. How about you?

[Renmiri]

Good theory

[Big D]

There's a wee bit more difference between the two: when a person dies uncleanly, their body's pyreflies - their spirit and essence - get twisted into a fiend. The aeons, however, are temporary projections of the spirits trapped in the fayth statues in the temples. The fayth used to be summoners (a different kind of summoner, presumably), but they allowed their powers to be entombed inside statues for future use once Zanarkand was lost.
The general principle of aeons and fiends is similar, in that they're both powerful entities created out of spirit energy, but the way they actually work is quite different.

[Ouch!]

There's a wee bit more difference between the two: when a person dies uncleanly, their body's pyreflies - their spirit and essence - get twisted into a fiend. The aeons, however, are temporary projections of the spirits trapped in the fayth statues in the temples. The fayth used to be summoners (a different kind of summoner, presumably), but they allowed their powers to be entombed inside statues for future use once Zanarkand was lost.
The general principle of aeons and fiends is similar, in that they're both powerful entities created out of spirit energy, but the way they actually work is quite different.

I find this statement very interesting, especially since I don't remember anything about it in the game. Was this from the Ultimania? Even if they were a "different kind of summoner" I'm still confused. The fayth for the final aeon doesn't have to be a summoner in any capacity, so doesn't that contradict this explanation?

[Big D]

At some point in the game, they say that the fayth all used to be Summoners - I don't remember where, but I'm pretty sure that's where it was from. I'm just guessing that they were a 'different kind' of summoner, unless Zanarkand had its own stockpile of Fayth, which seems strange since imprisoning the soul of a living person seems kind of extreme. My guess, unsubstantiated at this point, was that the Zanarkand Summoners could manifest their own spirit as the Aeon they're associated with. For example, the fayth of Yojimbo declares, "I am the blade of vengeance... Yojimbo." It's like he actually *is* the aeon Yojimbo, rather than just the source for that Aeon.

The Final Aeon's a different matter, though... Hopefully someone who's read the translated Ultimania will be able to clear this up

[rubah]

When zanarkand was losing to bevelle in the summoner/machina war, yu yevon was like 'HAY GUYS, let's try to salvage the vestiges of our society' and then all the summoners got together and concentrated really hard on conjuring up a city instead of a monster, and the guy poured their still living souls into a bunch of stone and took a break. I'm fairly sure it's mentioned in-game that the fayth are summoners, or at least loyal zanarkanians.

[cally777]

One obvious difference between fiends and aeons is that aeons are summoned (even Dream Zanarkand is constantly being summoned by Yu Yevon via the Fayth).

Exactly how fiends are created doesn't seem clear, except that envy of the living is the reason. But they almost certainly aren't summoned, and indeed a summoner's Sending prevents someone becoming a fiend.

[Skyblade]

This thread reminds me of an interesting thought I had earlier:

How does Sin exist? For every summoning, be it for an Aeon or for Dream Zanarkand, the summoning is a continuous process. Yu Yevon continually channels the summoning for Dream Zanarkand, and, since we've never seen a summoner take action while an Aeon has been summoned, the process is likely similar for Aeons. So how does the Final Aeon work? The summoner for the Final Aeon dies immediately, yet the Aeon itself continues to exist indefinitely, long enough for Yu Yevon to possess and corrupt it, and then as Sin until it is next defeated. How can it continue without a summoner? If Yu Yevon takes over and controls the summoning, instead of merely possessing the Aeon itself, how does he handle two Aeons at once? If he can handle multiple Aeons, why does he wait for Sin to be destroyed before taking control of the Final Aeon?

Assuming Aeons can survive when their summoner is gone, why does Dream Zanarkand vanish when its summoner is destroyed?

As a side note, why didn't the team simply destroy Jecht's fayth when in Zanarkand, instantly destroying Sin and making Yu-Yevon vulnerable?

[Tavrobel]

Assuming Aeons can survive when their summoner is gone, why does Dream Zanarkand vanish when its summoner is destroyed?

As a side note, why didn't the team simply destroy Jecht's fayth when in Zanarkand, instantly destroying Sin and making Yu-Yevon vulnerable?

Probably due to the special relationship that is afforded to DZ by Yu Yevon. Though DZ is an Aeon, it's got the most exceptions to it. Regular Aeons have multiple incarnations, that is, to each Summoner, the Aeon is slightly different. Ifrit can't be called to two different Summoners (eg, Belgemine), and neither can Bahamut or any of the others. If Yu Yevon can't summon, then who else is there to do it? Even Anime gets Yuna after Seymour dies/relinquishes it.

It's probably protected by something they can't personally destroy, or they can't find it. Zanarkand in ruins seemed to defy certain laws of physics. It is possible that the fayth stones are catalysts, but once the creature has been summoned, it stays in existence until un-summoned? Either way, it's much easier to deal with something that has a similar base (treating Sin as a fiend), rather than deal with an entirely new system (fayth stones are ???).

The Aeon or Fiend assertion is interesting. Though it is because of the definition you've given us that separates the two classifications, it makes me wonder more about how pyreflies work. FFX-2 didn't help in this regard whatsoever. You will eventually have to take into account unsents, who are also fiends-in-training. Auron never seemed to succumb to hate at all, but he's no projection. As Big D has thrown out, most Aeons are former summoners, which I suppose gives credence to "it takes one to know one." Before you say Anima (yes, I thought about this, too while typing this spiel out), she's originally a Final Aeon. Different rules. I had read once before a theory that regular Aeons are just unused Final Aeons, which seemed to work, and accounts for the power loss, but had no true evidence to support it besides Anima.

EDIT: Wow, I need to connect my logic more fluidly. I think I'm skipping steps, here and there.

[Roogle]

The Aeons that have existed for hundreds of years are, indeed, summoners from the remnants of Zanarkand —

I think that it was established in the game that the Final Aeon is a special exception to the rule, yet, at the same time, is no different from an ordinary Fayth because Anima can be summoned by Yuna, Seymour, and the Guado summoners without any special connection to the Fayth itself.

[Namelessfengir]

Anima can be summoned by the Guado summoners

when did that happen?

a have an opinion but i cant really figure out how i want to express it right now

[Big D]

I think that it was established in the game that the Final Aeon is a special exception to the rule

Indeed. Isn't Lady Yunalesca responsible for turning Guardians into the Final Aeon? Her defeat seems to be the act that makes the Final Aeon stop being an option for Yuna's party.

[Roogle]

Anima can be summoned by the Guado summoners

when did that happen?

I thought that the Dark Aeons were summoned by Guado Summoners to stop your party at various points of the game. This sidequest is not available in the North American version of the game. Can someone confirm this for us?

Indeed. Isn't Lady Yunalesca responsible for turning Guardians into the Final Aeon? Her defeat seems to be the act that makes the Final Aeon stop being an option for Yuna's party.

Yes. Yunalesca was the only one in Spira to know how to create a Final Aeon, so her defeat effectively ends the cycle of death and tradition that had persisted in Spira for ages.

[Tavrobel]

I thought that the Dark Aeons were summoned by Guado Summoners to stop your party at various points of the game. This sidequest is not available in the North American version of the game. Can someone confirm this for us?

It's not in NTSC/NTSC-J, but I don't believe that the Dark Aeons are supposed to be considered canonical pieces in the mythological workings of Spira, at least, not until FFX-2. If they were, then one might plausibly treat them as summoner-specific versions of an Aeon employed by the religious groups. I looked up the Dark Yojimbo one, but it doesn't appear that the summoner is Guado, he just seems to be a regular summoner-esque person.