Trance

[ThroneofDravaris]

You're missing the point. While FFIX's Trance system may come closer to reflecting how such an ability should be utilized, it doesn't go the entire way. Kuja suggests that an eruption of anger triggers Trance, yet Trance does not occur every time a character is hit. However the gauge builds--and remains where it left off, regardless of how much time had passed between the previous build-up of the gauge, and the actual realization of Trance.

Think about it this way. Say, someone comes up to you one day and stabs you with a pencil. It hurts like hell but it doesn’t draw blood and it only happens once, out of the blue. The incident would probably be soon forgotten. Now let’s imagine that everyday, you get stabbed by the same prick. Even though the pain only lasts for a short time, and it only happens once a day, eventually you will begin to resent being punished in this way far more than if it was to only happen once. This will inevitably cause your rage to build to the point where it annoys you so much that you collect his f@#$ing head (I love Kill Bill…). Once your anger has exploded in this manner and you have committed whatever deplorable act you can think of on the reached soul, you will most likely feel much better, thus the anger dissipates (linking back to my ‘orgasm’ metaphor).

Now let’s think of Zidane and Co. They are constantly bombarded with enemies, ranging from once a day to every few minutes. It is logical to assume that they are going to be much more pissed when they get hit for the eightieth time then they are the first few times. The time that passes between battles is never really great enough (in terms of the story) for any of this rage to dissipate, thus it inevitably leads to the Trance Transformation.

Conceivably, one could play for several discs without reaching Trance, including interludes for Tetra Master, stays at Inns, and so on. Realistically, one would not be able to summon up "anger" from a long-forgotten battle after many momentous events, yet this is what the system allows.

Ultimately, the time that appears to pass during game time is not a perfect representation of the amount of time that passes in terms of the story. In FFVII, Meteor is said to fall in seven days, and yet you could sleep in many inns or use many tents, and Meteor will not get any closer. This is more a flaw in the use of items/rest areas that present the passage of time than a flaw in the Trance system.

Also of note is that Trance only builds in battle; regardless of how angry (and, often, anger outside of battle is more justified than anger resulting from some inconsequential, unrequired random encounter) a character becomes when speaking with another, Trance is unaffected.

While this is largely true, there is at least one case in which anger caused by an out-of-battle experience causes a character to trance. The battle with the 3rd Black Waltz will always see Vivi enter a trance due to way the Black Walz ‘kills’ the Black Mages on board the airship. This clearly shows that it is not only the fury brought about by battle that can induce trance.