Final Fantasy IX
Created | Updated May 26, 2004
Final Fantasy IX is the ninth numbered installment (as opposed to "spin off" installments such as Final Fantasy Tactics) in the famous "Final Fantasy" series. This page describes the story of the game, and the way it is played - sort of like the instruction manual, but with more detail and in a way you can* understand even if you don't have the game!
The Story
The Characters
The main character is Zidane. He's a member of the band "Tantalus" which acts, steals, kidnaps, and other stuff like that. He's extremely good natured and always tries to help others, even when it puts himself at risk. He also has a tail. In the game he's the one that the player controls the most, and in battles he's alright - except for when he goes into Trance (see below) when he becomes ridiculously powerful.
The other really major characters are: Princess Garnet (Dagger), Vivi, Eiko and Steiner. There are three other playable characters: Freya, Quina and Amarant. However, they don't have as much of an impact on the game as the rest of the others.
Princess Garnet is the heir to the throne of Alexandria, one of the largest cities on Gaia (the planet FF IX is set on). She has the ability to summon Eidolons; immensely powerful beings that...well, come when summoned and do as bidded. She is worried about her mother, Queen Brahne, and her current policies towards the rest of the Mist continent (the main continent on Gaia) - namely, to try and destroy everywhere except Alexandria. Garnet is the main female in FF IX, and so of course ends up falling in love with Zidane.
She becomes known as Dagger shortly in to the game. In battle, she uses white magic and can summon offensive Eidolons, but her Trance isn't much use.
Vivi is an odd little boy that wears a blue robe and a large pointy hat. You can't see his face; just two yellow circles in the dark patch between the robe and hat. He is extremely brave and far more courageous than many of the other members. He is actually a Black Mage, and Steiner respects him more than he probably wants. in battle, can cast black magic, and when in Trance he can cast two black magic spells in a single turn.
Eiko is a little girl who lives on her own in a village called Maradin Sari full of moogles*. She has small wings and a horn, and the ability to summon Eidolons as well - although different ones to Dagger. She has a crush on Zidane, and whilst occasionally trying to thwart Dagger, more regularly just tries to get Zidane to notice her [Eiko] instead.
In battle, she, like Dagger, can summon Eidolons and cast white magic. When she goes into Trance, she can use two white magic spells in a single turn.
Steiner is the leader of the Knights of Pluto, the city guard for Alexandria (in conjunction with the all female army). He's a stupid stickler for how things are "supposed" to be, and has sworn his life to protecting Dagger. He is useless at subtlty, finds it extremely hard to see past the fact Zidane is a criminal and is "as stubborn as a mule". He fights with a sword, and in battle uses abilities called "sword arts". When Vivi is also in battle with him, Steiner can use "sword magic" which combines the elemental spells of Vivi with Steiner's physical attack. His Trance in battle is not far off utterly useless, doing nothing to his commands.
Freya is an odd looking, sort of white rat crossed with goat, that stands on two legs and is called a Dragon Knight. She comes from the Kingdom of Burmecia, where all the inhabitants look like that. She's looking for her long lost love, Sir Frately, and knows Zidane from the past.
Amarant used to be a security guard but is now a bounty hunter. He has a very large mass of red hair which means his face is hard to see. He has met Zidane once before, and now meeting him again chooses to follow him around to try and work out how Zidane thinks and acts, as Amarant does not understand his selflessness. Amarant is a 'monk' - although that means a rather considerably different thing in FF games than in real life - and has some very good moves such as the ability to heal both HP and MP, and revive characters with even more health than the "Life" spell. His Trance mode allows him to use these moves on all the party instead of a single one. He can also throw weapons, but this means they are lost from your inventory.
Quina is quite probably the oddest character to ever be a party member in an FF game - or possibly any game ever. S/he (a term used in the game, since there is no clue to Quina's gender) is a member of the Qu clan - which is made of large fat things. They have crosses for eyes and their tongue continually sticks out. They also wear chefs' clothes as they are obsessed with eating. Quina joins Zidane's party because s/he wants to find more about food other than frogs. Quina is largely comic relief. In battle, Quina has the blue magic ability, allowing it to use enemies abilities once they have been learned - by eating the enemies. Once they are at low health, Quina can use the "Eat" comand to try and instantly defeat the enemy and gain any learnable moves they may have. In Trance, "Eat" becomes "Cook" and Quina can successfully eat them at a higher health.
So that's the party. There are a few other characters who can occaisionally be controlled in battle, such as the other members of Tantalus (Marcus, Blank and Cinna), but the majority of the time the party will be made up of a number of the main eight characters.
The Story
The game begins with the 16th birthday of Princess Garnet, of the knigdom of Alexandria. The acting group Tantalus is coming to perform the play "I Want To Be Your Canary", one of the most famous in Gaia. In Tantalus is our hero Zidane, and we meet the band on their approach to the city, in their flying ship. The band has another motive for going to Alexandria however: they actually intend to kidnap Princess Garnet.
As they approach Alexandria, the game switches to Vivi. He has a ticket to see the play, but upon reaching the ticket office he is informed it's fake. He's devestated, but is shown how to sneak in by a sort of large rat called Puck, on the condition that Vivi becomes Puck's slave.
The story observes the play, and a fight scene between Zidane and Marcus. After they run off, they steal a couple of knights' armour, and attempt to approach the Princess' balcony, but a cloaked woman suddenly pushes past. Yes, it is (of course) Garnet trying to get away - ironically enough planning to ask Tantalus for a lift. They make a run for it, catching up Vivi in the midst, with Steiner (under the belief Garnet is being kidnapped) following them onto the ship, and Queen Brahne attacks the ship. They escape, but come down in the Evil Forest just outside of Alexandria.Aided by Tantalus, the player's party of Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner escape the forest and fight their way up to above the Mist - something that permanently covers the continent at a low level and causes monsters to spawn - although it is used as the power source for airships. Despite Steiner's attempts to return Garnet (now renamed Dagger to avoid detection) to Alexandria, they eventually make their way to Lindblum - ruled by Regent Cid IX (guess why), Garnet's uncle, where Zidane meets an old friend, Freya, and the "Festival of the Hunt" takes place - remeniscent of events in the real world, where wild animals are released into the streets of the city, and contestants have to defeat them. After the festival finishes, the party gather and Regent Cid informs them that Burmecia, Freya's home, has been attacked. They plan to leave, but eat first...and all fall asleep, bar Dagger and Steiner. Dagger has put some sleeping potion in their food to allow her to return to Alexandria, in the hope that she can convince Brahne to stop attacking other cities.
The others wake up, and decide they must help Burmecia rather than following Dagger. Cid takes them to the gate of Lindblum to leave and Zidane, Freya and Vivi depart. On the way accros to Burmecia, they enter a marsh where the Qu clan lives, and there they meet Quina. It joins their party (with Vivi confused, because his grandfather looked very like the Qu), and they continue onwards. Finding Gizalmuke's Grotto (a cave leading through the mountains to Burmecia, guarded by the water serpent Gizalmuke) devestated they hurry onwards to find that they are too late. Burmecia has been destroyed, but at the palace, Brahne is there laughing, and waited on by Beatrix (the head of the Alexandrian army) and a mysterious man called Kuja. Kuja appears to work for the queen, but also seems to have his own private agenda...
For the rest of the story, you will have to play the game yourself.
The Mechanics
Battles
As with most of the FF games, the battles work on the Active Time Battle principle - ATB - which gives the fights an element of real time. When you enter a battle, you will see your party lined up, facing (unless you are "ambushed") the enemy/ies. On the bottom of the screen is the important part - the command menus and your characters' stats.
When one of the characters' ATB gauges fill, their command menu appears. Only one is open at a time, but if multiple characters are ready to act, you can change between their menus and so decide on the order in which they act.
Glossary of terms
The "Final Fantasy" series rarely worries about using its own terms, and these can make it rather hard for the newcomer to understand what is going on in the game. Therefore: a guide to some of the more incomprehensible terms and words used in Final Fantasy IX.
ATB
The Active Time Battle (ATB) is the principle on which the battle system in FFIX works.
