Wakka is a twenty-three year old professional blitzball player who makes his first and main appearance in Final Fantasy X. Wakka is characterized by a long reddish-orange quiff, muscular body, and a Besaid Island accent (the real-world equivalent of which would be a Hawaiian accent). As such, he uses such speech-mannerisms as saying "brudda" for "brother" and finishing sentences with "ya?". His name means "water" in Ainu. In addition to being one of Summoner Yuna's guardians and childhood friends, he is captain of the Besaid Aurochs, a blitzball team that — as of the beginning of Final Fantasy X — went ten years without winning a single game. He uses blitzballs as his weapons in battle, and his abilities give the party boosts in attack accuracy and also inflict negative statuses — such as Darkness, Silence and Sleep — on enemies.
Wakka is one of the first people to befriend Tidus after his arrival in the mainland of Spira, due both to his blitzball prowess and his resemblance to Wakka's deceased younger brother, Chappu. Chappu, Lulu's former lover, was killed in battle while using a machina weapon provided by the Al Bhed, and for this reason, Wakka's religious distaste of the Al Bhed hardened into a more personal grudge. Wakka's hatred of the Al Bhed slowly transforms from racism into respect during the course of Final Fantasy X, as he closely befriends one of their number (Rikku), learns that Yuna is half Al Bhed, and realizes the irrational nature of his prejudice. Despite his former mistrust of machina and the Al Bhed, he takes to their airship with few misgivings and also fights unquestioningly in their defense during an attack on their city on Bikanel Island. Wakka and Lulu develop a deeper relationship of their own, marrying one another in the six months that follow the end of Final Fantasy X. In Final Fantasy X-2, Wakka stresses over the responsibilities of being the father of Lulu's soon-to-be-born baby, claiming it is "tougher than fighting Sin". He names their son "Vidina" — the Al Bhed word for "future" — after he is born.
A 15 year old version of Wakka has appeared as a non-playable character in the Kingdom Hearts series. First appearing in Kingdom Hearts, he is accompanied by Tidus and Selphie Tilmitt (from Final Fantasy VIII), who are both children. Wakka appears once again in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but this Wakka is only a fragment of Sora and Riku's memory within the walls of Castle Oblivion. He and Tidus are the only Final Fantasy X characters that appeared in the first Kingdom Hearts that don't make an appearance in its sequel. However, Selphie refers to them by name. In Kingdom Hearts, Wakka is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in the English version and Kazuya Nakai in the Japanese version.