History Fridge / FinalFantasyIX

** If you look closely, you'll notice each character in their Trance state represent the race they belong to! Both Eiko and Garnet/Dagger/Sarah are summoners, so they both follow the blue/indigo-yellow/gold palette, Freya, Steiner, Vivi and Quina are all gold/violet, perhaps to represent the 'standard' trance... the only odd one is Amarant, who might suggest he is a completely other race. Furthermore, if you look at Zidane and Kuja's... [[spoiler: they both are VERY similar, but with different colors, hinting at their parental bond.]]

* On an unrelated note, same game, I just realized, what's the first thing you do in the original ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]]''? Rescue Princess Sarah. And what's the first thing you do in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''? Kidnap Princess Garnet [[spoiler:whose real name is 'Sarah'.]]
** Considering Brahne is corrupted by Kuja, it's actually a rescue. So yes, you start the game [[spoiler:rescuing Princess Sarah]].

* Speaking of Trance, the ultimate attacks Zidane uses in his Trance form are called "Solution 9" and "Grand Lethal", and both of them basically just unleash massive, brutal amounts of pure energy on his foes, incurring phenomenal damage. Doesn't make much sense for a playful, friendly thief character, does it? [[spoiler:The latent Angel of Death, originally destined to wipe out all life on Gaia, on the other hand...]]
** Gets twice as creepy when you think about the implications of those names. Especially Solution 9, which sounds like some kind of genocidal strategy...[[spoiler:and probably originally was.]]
*** [[spoiler: Which would be confusing because it only targets single enemies...]]
*** [[spoiler: Maybe that was the case. Maybe Garland was preparing for a scenario in which Kuja betrayed him and Zidane sided with his plan. Thus, if Zidane used Solution 9 on Kuja...]]
*** [[spoiler: Speaking of Dyne skills and their names, the last one actually makes perfect sense. In movies and plays, how do we call the final, most epic scene? GrandFinale. What is the name of Zidane's final, most powerful ability? Grand Lethal. Now say these names aloud, one after other. Aren't they pretty similar?]]
** Scoop Art and Grand Lethal both resemble [[spoiler: Kuja's Ultima]]. Stellar Circle 5 resembles [[spoiler: a Terran teleport, most prominently seen at the Shimmering Isle.]]

** Similarly, the Trance powers in the game is based on the character's emotions. Damage taken over time builds the emotional state of the character to fight harder and survive, breaking their limit and emotionally heavy events can push characters into an instant Trance. When Garnet [[spoiler: goes mute after seeing her mother die and Alexandria get destroyed by Garland,]] she is filled with so much sorrow that not only she can't concentrate in battle, but her negative emotions prevent her from using her Trance abilities, which explains why she loses her Trance gauge.
* The name of the theme that plays over the opening title screen is called "The Place I'll Return To Someday." Where does the tune to this theme show up again? [[spoiler: It's the background theme for Terra, where Zidane was born. It's the birthplace he's been looking for, and so it ''is'' the "Place He'll Return To Someday"]]
** It's also worth noting that the same melody appears in the music for [[spoiler: Oeilvert, which was originally a Terran structure that wound up as part of Gaia during the failed assimilation. Here, you find the chamber that was built to record and house Terran history. The melody also presents itself in the music for Ipsen's Castle, which was originally yet another Terran structure pulled into Gaia. It doesn't hold as much plot-related significance in regards to the two worlds, though.]]
* Small one, but in Disc 2, when the party confronts Kuja at the Iifa Tree, Zidane demands an answer from Kuja, and Kuja replies with "First, you don't want to listen, now you start asking questions? Oh, brother..." Seems like an exclamation of exasperation, but [[spoiler: when you find out the connection between Kuja and Zidane, it takes on a whole new light.]]
* It would seem OOC for Brahne to be emotional at the end of the play when the Princess dies. And then you learn that [[spoiler: before taking Sarah in, her real daughter passed away]]. The only reason she was willing to kill Garnet because she was just [[spoiler: a ReplacementGoldfish]].

* I hope I'm not the only one who notices this FridgeBrilliance. At the very beginning of the game, you control Zidane and Vivi while their name is still unrevealed. At the time, you can open the menu and their name is written as "??????????". As far as I can remember, no other protagonists beside them experience this thing. This is likely foreshadowing their true nature: they are [[spoiler:artificial being (Gnome and Black Mage, respectively)]] and they are lack of their own identity.
** Even better ([[spoiler:[[PlayerPunch or worse]]]]), you only control Zidane very briefly, for about one or two minutes before other character prompt him to say his name. But for Vivi? You control him around Alexandria for some couple of minutes or so, much longer than when you controlled Zidane, and nobody bother to ask his name. Not the officer in Ticket Booth (whom Vivi gave his ticket to) nor even the Alleyway Jack who taught him the card game (although in his place, the guy may not bother to ask because he doesn't even tell Vivi his real name, since Alleyway Jack is only his nickname). This may also foreshadows Vivi's eventual fate in the ending, which heavily implies he [[spoiler:expired a.k.a. die]]. Vivi is also friendless before the beginning of the game (he even stated that Puck is his very first friend although when in Treno, he seems to get along well with a guy, assumed to be his foster grandfather's associate). So had he never join Zidane's party, he will remain friendless until the end, and when he [[spoiler:expired]], nobody will ever know there was once a kid named Vivi.
** Likewise, for Zidane when he is implied to [[spoiler:die]] in Iifa Tree at the end, before the ending completely averts this.

* FridgeHorror: Upon first viewing the ending, many players do not realize that [[spoiler:Vivi is the only character who could be delivering the final monologue, and is heavily implied to have expired some time after the final battle. Needless to say, it's [[PlayerPunch quite a punch in the gut.]]]]
* A small one at the Black Mage Village. The scene in itself is kind of tearjerking, but it gets even worse if you've played before. Black Mage No. 288 is explaining how the Black Mages became self-aware, and he asks Zidane, "do you remember being born?" Zidane replies he doesn't. Seems like a really obvious answer, right? [[spoiler: Well it's worse than that. Of course he doesn't remember - he's forgotten everything about his Angel-of-Death past on Terra. Considering what Zidane was born ''for'', and [[HeroicBSOD what happens when he does remember,]] that's probably a good thing.]]
* Did you rescue all those defenseless women and children during the invasion of Cleyra? Awesome! [[spoiler: You just caused them to barricade themselves in what soon became ground zero to the fantasy equivalent of a nuclear missile strike.]]

* Imagine if you walked in on the scene where [[spoiler: Garnet cuts her hair]] but couldn't hear what was going on for context. [[spoiler: The princess goes missing in the middle of an important meeting and no one except Zidane can find her. The two of them are talking and then suddenly she takes a knife and puts it to her neck. This girl has been put through such a TraumaCongaLine from losing her family, friends, and country, that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that she was DrivenToSuicide at that moment. Thank god she was only giving herself an ImportantHaircut, instead.]]

** Sorry, I know this is natter, but THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'd been going crazy trying to figure out why Terra's theme sounded familiar for the past 4 years! You have no idea how many times, and how ridiculously intently I've listened to the various themes for Kuja and Zidane, trying to find an overlooked leitmotif or something! I can't believe it never occurred to me to check the title theme.

* Let's just hope that Gaia's Crystal is still going strong and healthy and not suffer permanent damage after the abuse it endured thanks to Galarand and the Lifa Tree as they prevent souls from returning to the crystal which is supposed to sustained and make it grow or Gaia will suffer a very short life span.

** If you look closely, you'll notice each character in their Trance state represent the race they belong to! Both Eiko and Garnet/Dagger/Sarah are summoners, so they both follow the blue/indigo-yellow/gold palette, Freya, Steiner, Vivi and Quina are all gold/violet, perhaps to represent the 'standard' trance... the only odd one is Amarant, who might suggest he is a completely other race. Furthermore, if you look at Zidane and Kuja's... [[spoiler: they both are VERY similar, but with different colors, hinting at their parental bond.]] -- Rukomura
* I was one of those people who were very confused by the sudden GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere final boss of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Sometime later I realized that that guy represents some sort of [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil inherent evil nature of mankind]] and that the Crystal World was supposed to signify that the final battles take place on some sort of plane above reality (the crystal signifying the origin of the universe or something). That realization put my whole image of the plot in a different perspective and I saw that it was actually a quite brilliantly made story about a war between different people who are, in the end, only humans as well. --{{Fawriel}}
** When I played it, I saw it as an {{Homage}} to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'''s last boss, who turned out to be the physical incarnation of the main villain's hatred; the power of the crystal turned Kuja's despair into what was essentially an AnthropomorphicPersonification of despair that sought to unmake the universe. There's lots of EpilepticTrees about what Necron really is; as the game leaves it vague, the player can decide for himself what its significance is. - Ronfar
*** What's funny is that it took me until much later in life to decide that I thought the last battle was an homage to the Cloud of Darkness from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII FF III]] - The embodiement of blind destruction of EVERYTHING theme, and even their boss themes seem similar to me. Now I wonder if maybe it was meant to be a combination of the two bosses. - Jedi3459
** This troper has always wondered why people are so confused by Necron. Perhaps the biggest theme in the game's story is the value and meaning of life. The characters are frequently faced with questions involving the meaning of their lives. Necron's ultimate goal is the destruction of life, claiming it is nothingness which all life desires. Necron is ultimately the antithesis of the game's central message. - LizardBite
** Heh... and after I thought about Necron's significance (not to mention all the underworld "wailing and gnashing of teeth" going on just before the fight), I kept coming back to the overarching theme of the entire game - that ''all beings strive to live.'' Even Kuja wanted more than anything else to have a soul, some true semblance of life. Once Kuja was defeated and dealt his final blow to the party, there was only one thing that Zidane and Co. could do, and that was ''fight death itself.'' -{{Delcan}}

** I have always thought Necron was someone Kuja was trying to summon, but since Kuja was not alive anymore when the summon was complete, Necron simply did what was natural to him. - dbz77

* On an unrelated note, same game, I just realized, what's the first thing you do in the original ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]]''? Rescue Princess Sarah. And what's the first thing you do in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''? Kidnap Princess Garnet [[spoiler:whose real name is 'Sarah'.]] - MrDeath

* The Burmecian doors--you know, the ones with the keys-that-are-bells. I always thought that they were silly, pointless, and utterly nonsensical (aesthetically-pleasingly silly, yes, but still). Then it occurred to me: When seeking entrance at certain doors, what do we do in RealLife? Why--we ring the doorbell. - {{Teg}}
*** Another level of brilliance evident when you think about it: Cleyra was formed by pacifist Burmecians. To both of them, music is an important part of their society. What better key, then, then something musical? - themagicdance
* 'Trance' may seem like an odd name for what's basically a SuperMode, but what's one way to call it when it happens? Trance form. Trance-form. ''Transform.'' Geddit? - {{AaronHong}}

* Having Marcus, the resident TattooedCrook and pirate-themed individual as the ''romantic male lead'' in 'I Want to Be Your Canary' seems like a case of WTHCastingAgency at first - until you factor in Zidane's constant mentions of "improvising" at the time. Which would be a far more relevant skill in their ''mercenary'' jobs, under its better known name of XanatosSpeedChess. Speaking of which, once you figure out the Tantalus member roles you get [[WHoseLineIsItAnyway Baku=Drew Carey]] (bespectacled Big Guys), Blank=Wayne Brady (EnsembleDarkhorse), Zidane=Chip Esten (MrFanservice), Marcus=Ryan Stiles (LargeHam), Cinna=Colin Mochrie (ButtMonkey), even Benero and Zenero=Brad Sherwood (heavy-lifters and TheBigGuy) and Ruby=Greg Proops (resident perfectionist).

* Vivi's name, his whole story is about living your life to the fullest, knowing who and what you are and livng around it, his personal story is about living life to your full potential, it's only fitting that Vivi is actually latin for "Living".

** It works on a meta level, too -- she walks out to the end of a cliff to do it. Being the game's filled with callbacks to the other games, anyone who might have played ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' would be thinking of Celes and her attempted suicide.

* This is kind of- odd. When you are asked to give Garnet an alias (this troper chose Valefor, after the dear departed summon she beat at the end of FFX, but whatever), you can actually just stick with Garnet. Everyone will agree it's a great alias! Fridge logic, right? Well, turns out later on that [[spoiler:Garnet's not her real name anyway.]] Zidane, you are a smart monkey for somehow knowing that ahead of time!

** Oddly enough, it struck me as the developers realizing that ''anything'' would make a better final boss than Kuja. --LordTNK

** [[FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]]: Necron only exists to give Kuja time to pull his [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turn]]! It wouldn't make sense if Kuja just randomly decided to save the group while he was in the middle of fighting them. Necron's appearence gives him to to have a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment!

* There is one good reason why Beatrix is ridiculously powerful: She's gone through session after session of Level Grinding, which eventually made her very strong.

** Considering the stink that would happen if Cid openly took Garnet away from Brahne, the whole "kidnapping and ransom" thing is just a cover for what is really a rescue.

** Well you do run into some Cleyrans later in the game at Lindblum and Dagguerro. So presumably some of them survived. They did seem to know some magic, so maybe they could have protected themselves somehow. Alternately while you were fighting Beatrix, they snuck out and fled down the tree. Quina was able to survive so perhaps some Cleyrans did too.

** The game's status as a grand homage of the series so far may also explain why Necron has a similar name and design to one of the last bosses in VideoGame/FinalFantasyV, Necrophobia.
** [[FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]]: Necron only exists to give Kuja time to pull his [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turn]]! It wouldn't make sense if Kuja just randomly decided to save the group while he was in the middle of fighting them. Necrons appearence gives him to to have a [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone My God What Have I Done]] moment!