List of Final Fantasy IX characters
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Square Co., Ltd.'s Final Fantasy IX was the last Final Fantasy game released for the Sony PlayStation. Filling four CD-ROMs, Final Fantasy IX featured a cast containing a variety of major and minor characters.
[edit] Main playable characters
[edit] Zidane Tribal
Zidane Tribal (ジタン・トライバル Jitan Toraibaru?) the main protagonist, began life as one of Garland's "Angels of Death." The Angels of Death were Genomes, biological hosts for the souls of the doomed world of Terra. Unlike other Genomes, however, which were little more than soulless vessels, the Angels of Death were granted a soul as part of Garland's plans to initiate a worldwide catastrophe on the planet Gaia that would make way for the recolonization of the planet by refugees from Terra. Garland, anticipating that the presence of a soul would cause the otherwise immortal Genome body to wither and die, created Zidane as a replacement for the first Angel of Death, Kuja. Resentful that Garland has already made plans to replace him, Kuja kidnaps Zidane and hides him on Gaia. His earliest memories of Gaia being that on the docks of Lindblum, Zidane started off clueless of his heritage. His desire to learn more about his origins leads him to join Tantalus, a group of thieves from the city of Lindblum in order to explore the world and discover his birthplace.
Playful and flirtatious, Zidane displays little of the sullenness associated with previous series protagonists. At times, Zidane casts himself into the role of a romantic hero, but he only considers himself to be acting a part, until he falls in love with Dagger and becomes one. In truth, Zidane suffers from extreme loneliness and desires a true family. Visually, Zidane's most striking characteristic is his long tail, a trait which he shares with his fellow Angel of Death, Kuja. In battle, Zidane specializes in skills traditionally associated with the Thief character class.
[edit] Garnet Til Alexandros XVII
Princess Garnet Til Alexandros 17th (ガーネット・ティル・アレクサンドロス17世 Gānetto tiru Arekusandorosu Jūnanasei?), is the main female protagonist and the only heir to the throne of Alexandria, spent the first six years of her life as Sarah, a child of the lost summoner village of Madain Sari. When Garland attacked and destroyed the village and most of its inhabitants, Sarah and her mother fled across the sea in a small fishing boat. Though her mother dies during the crossing, Sarah survives and eventually drifts into Alexandria's harbor. The ruling monarchs of Alexandria are startled by Sarah's resemblance to their only daughter, whom they had just lost to an undisclosed illness, and adopt the child and raise her as their own. Years later, shocked by the increasingly erratic and cruel behavior of her adoptive mother, Queen Brahne, Garnet endeavours to run away from Alexandria Castle to seek aid from the neighbouring kingdom of Lindblum. When confronted by Tantalus's kidnapping attempt, she freely agrees to travel with the troupe, who were hired by Lindblum's regent, Cid Fabool, to escort the princess safely into Lindblum. Trying to keep a low profile among commoners, Garnet assumes the alias Dagger (ダガー Dagā?), a name she continues to employ for the majority of the game.
After the forceful extraction of her eidolons by the twins Zorn and Thorn, Garnet admits that she had been afraid of her summoning powers. After hearing about what had happened in Cleyra with Odin and the orders to execute Garnet after the eidolons were extracted from her, Garnet resolves to utilize her special powers to help cure her mother of her endless greed. Soon after, the party encounters the thunder god Ramuh, who helps Garnet decide to release her true powers in order to summon her eidolons. After this point in the story, Garnet can learn to summon every eidolon extracted from her, and even some that she gains during the story, such as the water dragon god Leviathan.
A beautiful young woman, Garnet is well spoken and highly educated, but also possessed of a strong will and a stubborn streak. However, due to her sheltered upbringing she is also shy and slightly naive. Like all summoners of Madain Sari, she used to have a summoning horn, until it was removed by the order of the now deceased King of Alexandria. In battle, she can cast white magic and summon eidolons.
Garnet's love interest is Zidane Tribal. Although she is annoyed at the fact that he acts like a playboy, she begins to see him grow and change into a hero and realizes that she loves him.
[edit] Vivi Ornitier
On the planet Gaia, most Black Mages are little more than mindless automatons, employed as footsoldiers by Queen Brahne of Alexandria in her attempt to secure all of the world's summoning magic. Vivi Ornitier (ビビ・オルニティア Bibi Orunitia?), however, possesses power and intelligence that belies his seemingly youthful physical age and sets him apart from others of his kind. Unaware of any other black mages and believing himself to be unique, Vivi becomes embroiled in Tantalus's plan to kidnap Princess Garnet when he travels to Alexandria to attend a performance of the play I Want to be Your Canary. He continues to travel with Zidane and company, partly out of his friendship with others, particularly Captain Steiner, and partly out of a desire to find out if his life has any purpose beyond that of a simple mechanical soldier.
Later in the game, on the Outer Continent the party discovers a hidden village of sentient Black Mages resembling Vivi's level of intelligence. These particular mages, however, eventually find out that their lives are limited, and help Kuja in hopes of extending their lifespan. Vivi and the others convince the Black Mages to return to their village. After discovering the hidden village, Vivi begins to act in the best interest of his brethren, deciding to follow Zidane into battle against Kuja in order to punish him for the cruelty he had shown to Vivi's kind.
Arguably the most distinctive member of the game's cast, Vivi remains the most popular character from Final Fantasy IX. The Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts II features Vivi (as redesigned by director Tetsuya Nomura) as a member of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, led by Final Fantasy VIII's Seifer Almasy. Vivi idolizes Seifer and struggles to mimic his strength.
Ironically enough, Vivi's name is also a play on words. Throughout the game, one of Vivi's primary problems stems from his questioning his own existence. In some aspects, his name "Vivi" can be translated into "I lived," from the Spanish "vivir" -- "to live."
[edit] Adelbert Steiner
Captain Adelbert Steiner (アデルバート・スタイナー Aderubāto Sutainā?) is one of the main characters. Steiner is a loyal, if blind, follower of Queen Brahne's Alexandrian regime, and will follow every single one of her orders just to prove himself better than his arch rival, General Beatrix. He believes his duty is to protect crown and country no matter what the cost, but he later on learns there is more to life than knighthood and its attendant duties.
Steiner is unusual amongst Final Fantasy characters, in that while the game allows the player to customise his name, the name the player chooses becomes his surname instead of his first name. The preset name is "Captain Adelbert..." followed by whatever name the player chooses. For instance, if the player entered the name "Steve," the character would be called "Captain Adelbert Steve." This also makes him one of the only Final Fantasy Characters to be called by both the first and last name given in the game's manual during actual gameplay.
Known to many as the "dorky knight of Alexandria", Steiner is the Captain and First Trooper of the Pluto Knights, the only squad with male troopers in Alexandria's military force. Steiner usually has a massive frown to go with a grouchy disposition. He meets Zidane and the Tantalus group during their performance of a popular play, "I Want To Be Your Canary." He chases down the Tantalus group after their "kidnapping" of Princess Garnet, following his sworn oath to protect the Princess from danger.
He is an extremely loyal soldier, and his number one concern is the protection of the Royal Family. When Princess Garnet is "kidnapped", he joins forces with Zidane, whom he hates because he's a thief, but is willing to put up with just about anything to ensure Princess Garnet's safety. When the party learns of the Queen's role in the attacks on Burmecia and other cities, Steiner finds himself torn up inside on realising the fact that such horrible deeds could be committed by the person that he has dedicated his life to defending up to then.
Despite his disdain for most of the members of the group, Steiner has a humble respect for Vivi Ornitier, admiring his magical abilities and referring to him as "Master Vivi". When both Steiner and Vivi are in the party, Steiner has access to the Magic Sword abilities, which allow Vivi to charge Steiner's sword with the power of any of his black magic abilities, dividing the MP cost between them.
Steiner's love interest is his ex-rival, General Beatrix, which first becomes evident in the game after a series of comical mishaps and unintended events, starting from Eiko's intention to send a love letter to Zidane, and ends with the lady general picking up the letter and mistaking its author for Steiner.
[edit] Freya Crescent
Freya Crescent (フライヤ・クレセント Furaiya Kuresento?) is a Burmecian, a race of anthropomorphic rats who live in two cities, Burmecia and Cleyra.
Freya's job (or class) is Dragoon. Unlike the Dragoons of other Final Fantasy games, Freya possesses a set of special skills in addition to her job's traditional ability, a common theme in Final Fantasy IX. These skills are known as "Dragon" skills, and offer a range of attack, healing, and status-changing effects.
Freya is originally from Burmecia but, when introduced to the story, has not been home for five years. She considers herself strong willed and a mighty warrior, but when her love interest, Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley, goes missing, she leaves home to find out what has become of him. Throughout the game her eroding resolve is challenged and she is left questioning her strength, as she is consistently beaten by enemy forces far greater than her.
When Fratley reappears later in the story, Freya is overwhelmed at the return of her lost love. Unfortunately she discovers that he has lost his memory, and does not remember her at all. Fratley leaves again, leaving Freya heartbroken and apparently in tears, but content in the knowledge that he still lives. Freya subsequently takes on a secondary role in the story, and nothing more of significance happens to her.
During the ending scenes of the game, we see Freya reunited with Sir Fratley, both having returned to Burmecia to help with the reconstruction. Sir Fratley has not yet regained his lost memories, and finds himself falling in love all over again with the woman he left behind many years ago. Like much of the rest of the game's ending, however, there's a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the pair's reunion. The very last line of their scene together sees Freya silently expressing her own doubts about their relationship's renewal.
[edit] Quina Quen
Quina Quen's (クイナ・クゥエン Kuina Kūen?) actual gender is debatable, and the character is referred to throughout the game as 's/he' {with odd moments where characters will use 'him' in reference to Quina}. S/He is a Qu whose master, Quale, wants him/her to travel the world so that s/he will taste many new and delicious foods. Quina's unique abilitiy is called Blue Magic (Blu Magic in the battle menu) which allows it to use enemy abilities acquired in battle by using the Eat command on certain enemies. S/He follows the belief that in the universe, there are only two things, "things you can eat and things you no can eat." His/Her favorite food is frogs. "Quina Quen" is a play on Japanese words as Quina means 'eat' but Quen means 'cannot eat'.
Quina is separated from the rest of the party by dramatic events such as massive explosions at several points in the game and s/he has become somewhat of a running joke. The Qu tribe's unusual method of speaking is in fact a form of Pidgin English.
We see our first glimpse of the Qu tribe in the kitchen of Alexandria Castle, where a Qu is telling the cooks what to do, while Adelbert Steiner (who is currently being controlled at this point) is trying to find Princess Garnet. This is, in fact, the same Quina
Quina joins the party in the first disc only if the player travels to Qu's Marsh (Quina's and Quale's home). If not, Quina can be recruited in Disc 2 when looking for a way to get to the Outer Continent.
In Conde Petie, Quina faces several cultural rifts with the villagers, and at one point ends up being accused of stealing. Before they can leave for the Iifa tree, Quina and Vivi can be made to undergo the ceremony of marriage, as Dagger and Zidane did.
Later in the game, Zidane, Vivi, and Quina visit Quan's dwelling (near Treno, where Vivi grew up), and Quina will see a whole room of nonexistent food. Moving outside, the three of them (and the newly-arrived Quale) meet with Quan's ghost. Quan commends both Vivi and Quina for their vivid, valuable imaginations and reprimands Quale for seeing the world too literally. It is at this point that Quina fully understands what s/he's gotten out of traveling with Zidane and decides that s/he wants to travel the world in taste of even more "yummy-yummies."
[edit] Eiko Carol
Eiko Carol (エーコ・キャルオル Ēko Kyaruoru?) is one of the playable characters that joins the party in the second disc of the game. She is first found in the destroyed city of Madain Sari on the Outer Continent in the world of Final Fantasy IX. She is one of the last of a race of summoners and is apparently the only person who appears in the game with a Summoner's Horn. She decides to join Zidane and co. after she finds out that Garnet also has the power to summon eidolons despite her lack of the Summoner's Horn. She develops a crush on Zidane as soon as she meets him.
While Eiko and Garnet both share White Magic and Summoner abilities, Eiko uses primarily white magic with her summoner powers taking a secondary role, indicated by the order of the said skills on the battle menu. Her summon abilities are usually holy based summons or summons that add supporting effects some examples are Phoenix which randomly revives you in battle and Terra which causes light damage.
We eventually find out that Garnet/Dagger is from the same destroyed village as Eiko.
Eiko has a pet moogle who goes by the name Mog. During an extraction of Eiko's Eidolons (the same process Thorn and Zorn used on Garnet/Dagger in Alexandria) Mog turns out to be an eidolon in hiding, goes into a trance to protect Eiko, turns into Madeen and after a major battle gives Eiko the ribbon to allow her to summon it whenever she needs it.
After defeating Kuja, one of the ending scenes in the game shows Eiko, an orphan, adopting herself to the Regent Cid and his wife Lady Hilda as her foster parents, much to the happiness of the Regent Cid.
[edit] Amarant Coral
Amarant Coral (サラマンダー・コーラル Saramandā Kōraru?) is a fictional character in Square's console role-playing game Final Fantasy IX. He fights using various gloves or knuckles, much like the monk character class in other Final Fantasy games, but also possesses the "Throw" command, normally associated with the ninja class. His mind is filled with rules of fighting, the biggest one of them being Look Out For Number One and let the rest go hang. Amarant's combative nature and arrogant attitude often leads to conflict, but eventually his personality begins to change under Zidane's influence.[1]
Amarant lives by a harsh code often compared to bushido, where "only the strong survive". Very little is revealed regarding Amarant's extended past; even he can only recall that his first real memory "is of the face of a guy I had to fight. I only found meaning in life through combat."[2]The warrior he wanted to challange was Zidane but never got the chance to face until he meets him in Madain Sari when working along with a bounty hunter named Lani who seems to have a crush on him in the end of the game. Amarant looses the battle and wishes to die like the honrable fighter he is but Zidane refuses.
Amarant's notoriety has gained him many aliases. Lani refers to him as "Red,"[3] in battle he's called "Scarlet Hair," {although this is most likely more of a "temporary name" along the lines of Pointy-Hat Boy or Woman at the Counter} while still yet others call him "the Flaming Amarant."[4] Amarant's reputation as a fighter made him feared in Treno, so King, the owner of one of Treno's waterfront mansions and auction house, hired Amarant as a security guard. When the thief Zidane raids the mansion, he frames Amarant, who becomes a wanted man with a considerable bounty on his head.
Afterwards, Amarant works as a mercenary for hire. He's summoned by Queen Brahne to retrieve Princess Garnet's pendant and assassinate Vivi, and he takes the job after learning that Zidane is traveling with the two. Another bounty hunter, Lani, arrives first and holds Eiko hostage, demanding that the princess relinquish the pendant. Compelled by a sense of fairness,[5] Amarant drops in on the pair and saves Eiko. He challenges Lani, who gives up the pendant and retreats. He then turns to duel with Zidane. After losing the fight, Amarant returns the pendant and demands that Zidane deliver the finishing blow. Zidane refuses, and, confused by the thief's mercy,[6] Amarant decides to follow Zidane in order to understand his power.[7]
While with the party, Amarant remains an aloof and dismissive character. His "lone wolf" persona culminates during the raid on Ipsen's Castle, where Amarant seeks to prove that working alone "beats working in a team any day,"[8] and sets off in search of a set of mirrors alone. However, after finding the mirrors Amarant falls and nearly dies; he is quickly saved by Zidane, who had re-entered the castle having already made it out with the party and noticed that Amarant hadn't. Amarant is again confused by Zidane's willingness to help him,[9] and his personality gradually begins to change under Zidane's influence.[1] On Terra, Amarant concludes that "Blind pursuit of power is a meaningless vice."[10]
[edit] Other major characters
[edit] Kuja
The game's main antagonist, Kuja (クジャ Kuja?) initially finances Queen Brahne's conquest of the planet Gaia by supplying her with highly advanced magical weapons.
Kuja is an accomplished genome, adept at both Black and White Magic (Red Mage). With a great love of classical literature such as Lord Avon's "I Want To Be Your Canary", he carries himself with a great theatrical flair, often mimicking the behaviour of traditional stage villains. This does not detract from his debonair charm, which complements his huge ego and a strong attachment to self-interests and overwhelming power over everything else.
Kuja as a genome was created on the decaying planet Terra by the master of the planet, Garland. Unlike the other soulless vessels of the Genome race, Kuja was the first version of an "Angel of Death" designed to aid Garland in his plan to have Terra assimilate a healthy planet- Gaia- to prolong its own lifespan.
Given a soul by Garland, Kuja was appalled by the empty members of the Genome race, and refused to believe that he was one of them. He also abhorred the fact that he was only built for one reason alone- his ego demanded that his life was worth more than that. His defiant nature was so intense that Garland considered discarding his failed prototype, but then decided to put Kuja to use after all. He granted Kuja the freedom he desired, but on one condition: that he disrupt the flow of souls on Gaia to speed up its assimilation by Terra.
Meanwhile, Garland finished the second version of his Angel project: a Genome named Zidane Tribal. Once matured to full power, Zidane would be more powerful than Kuja, rendering the previous version obsolete. Kuja could not stand the thought of this, and so he kidnapped Zidane and threw him down to Gaia, where he was found by Baku- the leader of the rogue group Tantalus.
From then, Kuja vowed to plunge Gaia into war, thus creating an irregular influx of souls just like Garland wished. Not only would this prove to Garland that Zidane was the superfluous one, but his hated rival would be there to witness Kuja's superiority first-hand, and likely be destroyed in the resulting catastrophe.
Following Zidane's party back to Terra, Kuja hijacked the Invincible and proceeded to the fuel room: a "well-spring" filled with wretched souls sucked up during the Invincible attacks and used to power the machine. Kuja had figured out that it was an eruption of intense anger that induced Trance, and nowhere was more filled with concentrated hatred than the Invincible. Fusing with all of the souls, Kuja now had the power. All he needed was someone to activate it.
Showing up after Zidane defeated Garland, Kuja engaged Zidane in battle. He was eventually overpowered by Zidane and his friends, but this was all part of his plan. This stress transformed him into a being of supreme power: Trance Kuja. With one spell, he completely wiped out Zidane's party, and gloated about his newfound power, and used it to defeat and kill Garland. He finally had the power to rule all of Gaia and Terra, and prove to everyone that his life was not insignificant.
However, Garland's spirit reveals that Kuja had been planned to be replaced by Zidane, there was a deliberate time limit put on Kuja's life. Eventually, regardless of how much power Kuja had, he would expire just like the Black Mages he created. This revelation pushes Kuja over the edge, and resolves that nothing would survive beyond his existence.
In his rage, Trance Kuja used his new powers to destroy Pandemonium, Garland's palace where genomes and souls originate. Going back to Gaia, he accelerated the soul-dividing process of the Iifa Tree, starting a chain reaction that would lead to the complete assimilation of Gaia by Terra. In the creepy world of Memoria, Kuja was able to travel to the Crystal World, a place that had existed before the formation of the known universe. The Crystal World was also home to the Original Crystal: the source of the universe and all life within it.
There, at the heart of the Crystal World, Kuja waited for Zidane, intending to defeat his rival once and for all. After that was done, he was going to smash the Original Crystal, and cause all existence to cease so that life could not continue after his death. The two Genomes fought viciously, and Trance Kuja could not withstand the power of Zidane's party. On the verge of defeat, he unleashed a desperate Ultima spell intended to kill Zidane and the others even while he himself fell.
Having lost his Trance powers and pride to Zidane, and with his death imminent, Kuja finally realised that the purpose of life is to help, rather than destroy. With the last of his powers, he helped Zidane's party to escape from Memoria when it exploded at the time of Necron's demise, teleporting them out of danger while the Iifa Tree went into its violent death spasms. However, Zidane could not bear to leave his "brother" alone to die, and went back inside the rapidly-dying, but vengeful Iifa Tree. Kuja passes out inside the Iifa Tree, spending his last few moments of consciencnous expressing his regret to Zidane for not realizing the true purpose of life sooner.
[edit] Garland
Garland (ガーランド Gārando?) was made leader of Terra and the king of Castle Pandemonium when the original inhabitants of Terra went into their 'Deep Sleep'. He is responsible for creating the Genomes, including Kuja. However, Kuja was limited in power and lifespan, so Garland created Zidane Tribal, and Mikoto. Responsible for the destruction of Madain Sari, using the red globe that flashes a mysterious "eye" below the Invincible battleship to attack.
Garland was defeated at Pandemonium by Zidane and his party, only to be confronted by Kuja. Garland was too weak to fight back against the powerful Genome and Kuja threw Garland to his death. However Garland's spirit lived on and assisted the party during their journey through Memoria.
Final Fantasy I also featured a character named Garland, only he was a knight instead of a wizard and was the main villain of the game instead of a misguided man trying to save his world at the expense of others.
[edit] Necron
Necron (Eternal Darkness in the Japanese version) is the game's final boss. A multi-dimensional being that Garland manifested as the Iifa Tree to further his goal of replacing Gaia's souls with those from Terra. However, after overhearing Trance Kuja's intent, Necron decided to return all existence to a place called the "zero world" because he believed that all life desired destruction based on Kuja's actions to try and destroy the Crystal. He is ultimately defeated by Zidane and his cohorts, although being an extremely hard boss.
[edit] Baku, Blank, Cinna, Marcus, Ruby, and the Nero Brothers (Tantalus)
Zidane's friends and fellow members of Tantalus. They pose as actors to steal various items. Although Ruby is a member, she prefers to overlook the group's less-than-honorable dealings as long she gets a chance to pursue her dream of being an actress. Blank, Cinna and Marcus join the party intermittently throughout Disc 1, making them technically player characters, but they do not have the extensive character development, skillsets and membership duration of the previous eight.
The petrification of Blank while escaping the Evil Forest early in the game compels Marcus to look for a potion called SuperSoft to undo the petrification. The duo go back to Alexandria Castle to assist Zidane in escaping from the clutches of Zorn and Thorn.
After the abduction of Princess Garnet from Alexandria, Ruby is accidentally left inside the town, where she can be found for the remainder of the game. Ruby decides to open up a miniature theater in one of the back alleys of Alexandria. Sometimes when speaking with Moogles, Zidane will hear that Ruby has sent him a letter. One notable letter requests actors for her theater, which Zidane helps by introducing the idea to the star Lowell in Lindblum, who rushes off to Alexandria at once (although when he gets there, he says the theater is much too small for a man of his talents). Ruby speaks in a southern accent in the American version of the game, and is referred to by Garnet as the "lady with the strange accent." It also appears that Ruby and Blank have feelings for one another, although tend to show it in a rather aggressive way.
The three Nero triplets, unique in appearance with dog-like heads and twin claws on each arm for hands, appear as comic relief, and often end their sentences with an exclamation mark. Unlike Zenero and Benero, Genero is not actually a member of Tantalus, instead re-uniting with his brothers in Alexandria in Disk 3 after returning from his 'training'. In Final Fantasy X-2, an Al Bhed Zenero appears on a Commsphere, being interviewed by Shelinda, but then the Commsphere cuts off. Cinna appears as comic relief as well, known for not willing to part with his favorite hammer.
Baku is the leader of the whole Tantalus troupe, and acts as a cruel King in the play, "I Want to Be Your Canary". He is the one who adopts a young Zidane after the genome first finds himself on a jetty at the Lindblum Grand Harbor without much knowledge of his origins. Often ends his conversations with a loud guffaw. His equally powerful sneeze unfortunately occurs at the most inopportune of times, most notably at the meeting between Captain Steiner and General Beatrix. Baku also has a tendecy to trip and fall flat on his face in combat, usually while sparring with his band. Baku is a strict leader, beating members who disobey him. When Cinna stayed at South Gate to feast on bundt cake instead of returning to Lindblum to update the rest of the band on the search for a cure for Blank as Baku ordered, Baku beat him with his "Super Tornado Tantalus Punch" for disobeying. Zidane also relates how Baku beat him for leaving the band to search for his birthplace.
[edit] Zorn and Thorn
Queen Brahne's court jesters perform all the dirty work for her and have the odd habit of speaking in constant antimetabole, with Zorn speaking the words in the proper order, and Thorn reversing them. They also have the unique ability to extract Eidolons from summoners, taking Garnet's Eidolons for Brahne to use in her conquests. The two later aligned themselves with Kuja after they lost face with Brahne. They kidnapped Eiko so Kuja can have access to her Eidolons. However, the two were knocked down by Eiko and her newly discovered Eidolon Madeen. However, Kuja revealed that Zorn & Thorn are actually two halves of a double headed monster named MeltiGemini, which Kuja uses to cover his escape as Zidane and company are forced to defeat the fused jesters once and for all.
It can easily be speculated that Zorn and Thorn helped mastermind the creation of the Black Waltzes, as they are seen in every situation involving them as overseers.
[edit] General Beatrix
General Beatrix (ベアトリクス Beatorikusu?) is one of the greatest Alexandrian knights who ever lived. Blinded by her devotion to the Queen, she performs various destructive duties in the name of the queen's greed. Later, Beatrix understands the evil that Kuja represents and his influence over Queen Brahne when she realizes Garnet is to be executed on the Queen's orders, and repents for her actions by helping Zidane's group in their quest, even to the point of risking both her life and the lives of the Knights of Pluto on Queen Brahne's airship, the Red Rose in order to give Zidane's party breathing room in an airship battle against hordes of Silver Dragons.
Like Blank, Cinna and Marcus, General Beatrix joins the party for a short time; unlike the Tantalus members, she can be added to the party permanently using a GameShark cheat device, though bringing her into certain plot-related battles may cause the game to hang.
She also is in love with Captain Steiner, only showing it when Eiko's love letter to Zidane ends up on the dock of Alexandria and mistakes the author for Steiner.
She wields a powerful sword, known as the 'Save the Queen'. Hades, a hidden boss in Memoria towards the end of the game, can forge a replica of this amazing blade using a Javelin and Silver Gloves, but Steiner can't equip it. But it is rumoured that you can unequip the original from Beatrix and switch it while she is still in your party. The sword magic Save the Queen possesses is known as 'Seiken'. These include such as 'Thunder Slash', 'Stock Break', 'Climhazzard', and the devastating 'Shock'.
It can be seen that Beatrix's right eye is covered with a headband-style patch. However, whether her right eye is damaged or functional is unknown.
[edit] Queen Brahne Alexandros XVI
Brahne (ブラネ Burane?) is the morbidly obese Queen of Alexandria and adoptive mother of Garnet/Dagger. As Princess Garnet testifies several times throughout the game's story, Queen Brahne was formerly a kind and well-liked ruler of the kingdom of Alexandria. Around the Princess's 15th birthday, however, the King passed on and a strange man known as Kuja began to show his face around the royal palace. Over the passing of the next year, the Princess begins to notice changes in her mother's behaviors. In actuality, Kuja had convinced Brahne to begin to create an army of Black Mages in order to wage war on the kingdoms of the Mist Continent, Lindblum, Burmecia, and Cleyra. Kuja told Brahne of the summoning powers that her adopted daughter possessed, which only acted to fuel her greed. The power to summon would surely bring the other kingdoms down to kneel before her.
Because of this revelation, Brahne orders Zorn and Thorn to extract the eidolons from Princess Garnet, then execute her for treason against Alexandria. The twins are able to successfully extract all the eidolons from the Princess, but are found by Zidane and the others and quickly run away. Intercepted by the Queen's most worthy knight Beatrix, the party explains the Queen's orders to execute the Princess. At this time, it dawns on Beatrix that it was the greed of Queen Brahne that utilized the Dark Matter to summon Odin upon Cleyra, killing hundreds of Cleyrans. Beatrix then vows to help bring the Queen around to her senses, in essence joining Zidane in his struggles against the Alexandrian military.
Later on at the Iifa Tree, Brahne summons Bahamut in the attempt to kill Kuja, but Garland's airship the Invincible appears and redirects the eidolon's attack on Brahne's armada, killing countless soldiers and forcing Brahne to escape in a hasty retreat. Queen Brahne, in the arms of her adopted daughter on a nearby beach, began to realize how foolish she had been under Kuja's control, and asked for forgiveness from her daughter. She died seconds later in Garnet's arms, and stirred anger within the entire party against Kuja for manipulating the kingdoms like he had.
Throughout the game, Kuja refers to Queen Brahne as the "Elephant Lady," an evident sign that he does not value her more than a pawn in his scheme to cause chaos between the kingdoms. Brahne is able to summon three different Eidolons at different times throughout the game: Odin was summoned from the Dark Matter to destroy the kingdom of Cleyra; Atomos was summoned to destroy Lindblum, although it only managed to critically injure the castle, not destroy it; and Bahamut was summoned from a Garnet at the Iifa Tree in order to kill Kuja. All of these eidolons originally belonged to Princess Garnet, but were forcefully extracted by Zorn and Thorn under the Queen's orders.
[edit] Regent Cid Fabool IX
Cid Fabool (シド・ファブール9世 Shido Fabūru Kyūsei?) is the present ruler of Lindblum. He was turned into an oglop by his wife, Hilda, because of his womanizing. Cid is a technology expert who is fond of creating new airships. He was best friends with Dagger's father and ordered Tantalus to kidnap Dagger because he was concerned for her safety, based on the erratic and abnormal tendencies of her mother as of late.
After Lindblum is destroyed, Zidane and his party attempt to turn him back into a human, but fail, and instead turn him into a frog. His restoration to human form was possible only after liberating the then imprisoned Lady Hilda from Mount Gulug, after it is realized only the one who casts the spell can be the one to reverse it.
At the end of the game, it seems that Cid and Hilda have adopted Eiko, because she calls them "father" and "mother".
[edit] Minor characters
[edit] Artemicion
A purple and black Moogle that is in charge of the Mognet mail delivery syndicate. He relies on Zidane and his friends to deliver mail after he depletes Mognet Central's supply of Superslick, causing the machinery to break down.
[edit] Stiltzkin
World-travelling Moogle who is dressed in tiger-striped clothing. On occasion appears throughout the game at various locations and asks Zidane and company to provide him with monetary backing to continue his journey. In return he bestows sometimes rare and useful items. He sends letters to other moogles to fill them in on recent events in the world.
[edit] Puck
Runaway prince of Burmecia. Puck prefers to keep a low profile, diguised as a meddling street urchin. Vivi becomes his friend (Although he tends to use the term "slave" early in the game) when they meet in Alexandria while trying to sneak into the play, "I Want to be Your Canary", which is where the main characters in the game meet. Later in the game, he discovers the amnesiac Sir Fratley and brings him to Cleyra, where the two of them help defend their people. He escapes with Fratley before Cleyra is destroyed and before his father can talk to him, however. Puck is also based on Huckleberry Finn and Puck from Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
[edit] Sir Fratley
Freya's long-lost love. He went out on a journey to improve his combat skills and never returned. He appears later in Cleyra with no memory of his past, or the woman he left behind.
[edit] Doctor Tot
Scholar from Alexandria who moved to Treno once Queen Brahne began acting strangely. He was Garnet's tutor when she was a little girl. The group often consults him on important matters because of his extensive knowledge of just about everything. He is the one who helps Eiko write a love letter to Zidane that eventually gets misplaced.
[edit] Lady Hilda
Cid's wife who turned him into an oglop for his womanizing. After transforming him, she escaped Lindblum on Cid's latest airship, which he named the "Hilda Garde." She is however captured by Kuja, who uses her airship for his own purposes and who ends up revealing his destructive plans for Gaia to her.
[edit] Lani
Bounty hunter that Queen Brahne hires to retrieve the Pendant worn by Princess Garnet and to kill the black mage travelling with her. She works initially with Amarant, whom she calls "Red", but later finds herself at odds with him when Amarant disapproves of her "unfair" methods of reaching her objective. Eventually she sees the error in her ways and can be found living in Madain Sari with Eiko's moogles by the end of the game. She wields a large bladed axe-like weapon and uses Red Magic. She also appeared in Lindblum, where she stayed at the Inn (leaving with several complaints to the owner) and participated in the Festival of the Hunt (as noted in the scorekeeping window at the top of the screen during the event).
[edit] Soulcage
The source of the mist which plagues Gaia, Soulcage oversees the physical manifestation of the Iifa Tree and its functions, utilizing the by-product of mist to incense the will to fight in civilization. An undead being who has existed for nearly a thousand years, his visage is a cruel mockery of a tree. Strangely, he "cannot lie," leading to some revelations in the plot. Being "undead", he is easily defeated with a "Life" spell, a Phoenix Down or an Elixir.
[edit] Mikoto
A female genome whom the heroes rescued from Terra and brought back to Gaia. By the end of the game, she becomes the interest of the Black Mage Village. Aside from Kuja and Zidane, she is the only other Genome imbued with a soul by Garland and is their sister of sorts. In the game it is said she was to be a third 'Angel of Death' if both Kuja and Zidane were to die before completing their tasks. At the end of the game, she tells Kuja that his actions were wrong but he would be remembered by the Genomes for giving them something important: hope.
[edit] The Black Mages
A hidden colony of Black Mages created by Kuja and living in a forest on the Outer Continent. Unlike the other, golem-like mages seen previously throughout the game, these Black Mages have gained sentient thought, heavily resembling Vivi in their uncertainty about the world. They are afraid of humans initially, believing that all humans want to use them for war. However, despite their rather traumatic origins, the Mages maintain a child-like wonder and optimism about the world and seek to discover the wonders of life through several projects, such as the raising of their town Chocobo egg which later hatches into a Chocobo they name Bobby Corwen. Later in the game, the colony comes to realize that their lives are limited (estimated to be roughly one year), and decide to help Kuja in exchange for an extension on their lives. Of course Kuja was lying, and Zidane, Vivi, and the rest of the party help the village to realize that what is important is how you live your life, not how long you live. Throughout the game, Vivi takes on a big brother role to the Black Mages in the hidden village, as he has seen much more of the world than they, and he has the power to help Zidane stand up to Kuja. They do not identify each other by name, but rather by the number of their manufacture. Their leader is No. 288 (odd, considering this would make him the youngest Mage in the village).
[edit] Bobby Corwen
Bobby Corwen is the name of a chocobo found in the Black Mage Village. Bobby is originally shown as an egg being cared for by two Black Mages, as one of the signs that the Black Mages in the village are capable of emotion and independent thought. He is kept in a small hut in the northeast corner of the village. The name Bobby Corwen is a play on words and reference to Final Fantasy V, the first two letters of each word making Boco, the name of Bartz's Chocobo in the fifth installment. (Eiko jokes why the Black Mages always call Bobby Corwen by his full name.) Bobby Corwen grows an attachment to one of the Genomes when they come to live in the Black Mage Village.
[edit] The Genomes
A race of soulless beings on Terra, created by Garland to be the vessels for the sleeping souls of Terra after Gaia was assimilated. Kuja, Zidane, and Mikoto are technically Genomes, but Garland gave them souls, thus making them mortal. This one difference generates a wide gap between them and their emotionless brethren, one that Mikoto comes to find troubling as she involves herself with Zidane for a short period of time. When Kuja enters Trance and goes about destroying Terra, Zidane and the others selflessly risk their lives to transport the Genomes to Gaia, where they begin new lives with the hidden Black Mages. Mikoto stays with the Genomes as a kind of overseer to their new lives, although she is still unsure about how right Zidane was to take them from Terra to Gaia.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Zidane: Funny how you put that in past tense. All due to my wonderful influence. / Amarant: Pshhh. What do you want me to do? Thank you? (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: I don't remember any loving parents. My first memory is of the face of a guy I had to fight. I only found meaning in life through combat. (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Lani: What are you tryin' to do, Red!? I thought you're supposed to be the number one bandit! (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: Some call me the Flaming Amarant. (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: I'm not here to help. I just want it to be fair. (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: I tried to kill you. Why are you letting me go? (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: "Very well. I'll find out what makes you so strong." (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: I'm sayin' working alone beats working in a team any day, and I'm gonna prove it. Hilda said there's some key here to break the seal, am I right? (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: We don't have anything to do with each other anymore... You don't have anything to gain from this. Or do you? I don't understand you. I don't understand the way you think... (Final Fantasy IX)
- ^ Amarant: Blind pursuit of power is a meaningless vice. (Final Fantasy IX)
