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It's been a few years since I played Tactics, but I still remember a bit. One thing I'm not sure on, and never was to begin with, was the real story. Ramza is running around trying to save his sister while fighting the Zodiac Stone holders/demons at the same time a civil war is breaking out.

From what one gathers about the history of the Zodiac Stones, and of Ivalice, the stones appear in times of need and heroes use them to fight evil. The last time they showed up, Saint Ajora (the Jesus-esque figure in our story) used them to fight a demon or something. Afterwards he starts preaching his Jesus-esque stuff and is promptly executed. Flash-foward to Ramza's day and we have a church devoted to Saint Ajora that is very reminiscent of the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. Now Saint Ajora is regarded as a person of good, but the Stone holders are attempting to use Ramza's sister to ressurrect Ajora. Why do they need her specifically? Besides the fact that she looks a lot like Ajora? Is Ajora a woman? How did Ajora go from saintly figure to demonic presence trying to destroy the world? Did the Glabados Church merely rewrite history to cover up this fact? And what's up with these stones? Were they ever really used for good? Did Ajora corrupt them by using them to channel demon spirits? Or were they always evil, and cause of the problems that resulted in heroes appearing to save the day, and this is merely another cover-up in history?

Any theories or explanations would be greatly appreciated.

No spoiler tags because this topic deals with the whole story. If you don't have a good idea of what happened, what are you doing here?

Well, I haven't beaten the game yet, not even once. I have some answers to some of the questions tough but this game is so twisty, my answers could be off.

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Why do they need her specifically? Besides the fact that she looks a lot like Ajora?

Alma was the "one" supposedly. More specifically, the Zodiac demons all needed some human body to take corporeal form. Not only did they need a body, they needed the right one too. Alma had the perfect body to revive Ajora, that was why she was so important.

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How did Ajora go from saintly figure to demonic presence trying to destroy the world? Did the Glabados Church merely rewrite history to cover up this fact?

In the Germonik Scriptures which can be found here, it sounds like Ajora was once good. Maybe not what he was made out to be but good. It sounds like later in Ajora's life he changed, I'm not sure how yet. Still have a few loose ends I'm missing.

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Is Ajora a woman?

No, read the Germonik Scriptures provided above. He is referred to as that, a he. As for him looking like Alma, I guess he's just another pretty boy bad guy, like Sephiroth.

That's all I've got, I think other people will be able to provide much better answers to your questions. I hope that helps you a little though.

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 17th December 2004 08:38

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Role reversal at its finest.

Here's what I took from the story:
Ajora was more of a social revolutionary than a spiritual leader. He lived, he died.
Afterwards, a cult-followership sprung up worshipping Ajora. They took a legend from a nearby culture, the Zodiac Braves, and applied it to Ajora's life. What the Zodiac Braves really are appears to be a group of warrior demons. The ZB ressurrect and posses whoever called them. The possession appears to fuse the minds of the demon and human, rather than the demon controlling the human. The humans that called them were strong believers in the false history of Ajora, so that's why they sought to resurrect him.
It seemed like they needed a human with the same Zodiac sign as the stone in order to summon the demon (which also has the same sign). Ajora must have done some rotten things in the latter part of his life, because he turned out to also be one of the demons. Or he used his Zodiac stone and was unable to sever his tie with his demon in death. Alma was needed because of congruous Zodiac signs.
As far as Alma and Ajora looking alike, I don't think they did. The others that were possesed looked like themselves, then transformed. Ajora possesed Alma, and then she was able to jump out of her own body (probably because she was a Cleric, whereas the others were just Knights and Wizards), leaving Ajora alone in her body. Gray hair there probably to just tell the difference. Who you fought in the end was Ajora in Alma's (old) body wearing that red outfit, and the skeleton thing was his demon.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

It's possible that the zodiac braves are not the same as the Lucavi that possessed characters in the game. Recall the use of the zodiac stone to revive Malak with no negative side effects. Perhaps the zodiac stones are artifacts of power...The Lucavi use the zodiac brave story to make people seek to possess the zodiac stones for selfish purposes and then exploit their inner evils to possess them. As far as Ajora goes, he probably followed the same path as many of the characters in the game, letting his good intentions get corrupted and allowing his possesion by a Lucavi.

This post has been edited by The Ancient on 17th December 2004 18:28

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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Is it possible in the days of yore the Zodiac stones were the incarnation of Aladin's Lamp? Items to store the souls of select individuals. We could assume that the ones holding demons were used to prison evil men/monsters, and ther 'good' stones were used to hold people who the stone keepers wanted to preserve for all times.

If the stone keepers realized they could store the spirits of evil and good in these stones, then we could assume some sort of crusade followed for some of the stones. At some point the stones became oversaturated with dark minds in a chaotic state of unison. Thus resulting in the cool bosses of FFT.

Sure it sounds cheesey but it's as good as any idea.

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Dark Paladin
It seemed like they needed a human with the same Zodiac sign as the stone in order to summon the demon (which also has the same sign). Ajora must have done some rotten things in the latter part of his life, because he turned out to also be one of the demons. Or he used his Zodiac stone and was unable to sever his tie with his demon in death. Alma was needed because of congruous Zodiac signs.

That would make sense DP but that can't be all there is to it. Check the scene right after the Velius battle, around the time Alma picks up the Holy Stones. The person who kidnaps Alma says something to the effect of 'I have been looking for you for centuries' to Alma. There must have been many people with her zodiac sign born ever since the beggining of his search. I would check my brave menu for an exact quote but I can't hook up my PSX because I'm missing the cord.

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Dark Paladin
Alma was needed because of congruous Zodiac signs. As far as Alma and Ajora looking alike, I don't think they did.

I think somebody actualy said that they looked in the game. But it has been around a year since I've last played . . . I wish I had my cord so I could see my "Brave Menu".

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 22nd December 2004 03:24

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Role reversal at its finest.

Quote (Tonepoet @ 21st December 2004 22:10)

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Dark Paladin
Alma was needed because of congruous Zodiac signs. As far as Alma and Ajora looking alike, I don't think they did.

I think somebody actualy said that they looked in the game. But it has been around a year since I've last played . . . I wish I had my cord so I could see my "Brave Menu".

Read the rest.
The original Ajora didn't look like Alma, it was Ajora in Alma's body you fought.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer