History Headscratchers / FinalFantasyIX

* Why do the Tantalus members use their real names when performing ''I Want to Be Your Canary'' at the start of the game? I find it hard to believe a play written by Final Fantasy's version of Creator/WilliamShakespeare has characters named Zidane and Blank.

* Why the heck does fanon so often agree that Vivi is some kind of Mist-ghost beneath his costume? Sure, he may superficially resemble TheHeartless, but in the Final Fantasy series at large, Black Mages have physical bodies within their shadow. Sure, Vivi is created out of Mist, but both Zidane and Kuja are constructs, too. And finally, Vivi eats, sleeps, urinates, and is poisoned (twice!) all in the course of the story - which certainly implies he's nothing more than a normal boy within the shadow. We even know Black Mages leave a physical body upon death, which is more than similar constructs in the Final Fantasy universe do!

** Given that you can steal a Silk Shirt from Steiner regardless of whether Brahne gave him one or not, then it's clear that Steiner already has one Silk Shirt on him. The other Silk Shirt remains in the party's shared inventory.

*** As for why passers-by call Vivi "just a boy", let's not forget that [=FF9=] is a world where you can race populated by anthropomorphic hippopotamus, fishes and birds. And that's not even counting the Qu Clan and Alexandria's blue-skinned queen. It wouldn't be far-fetched that they saw his face and simply assumed from his height that he was a kid from a species they didn't know yet.

** And maybe Bahamut doesn't cause as much damage to Kuja because he was created as the Angel of Death? Meaning that he's pretty strong against most forms of magic. If you look at what else the Eidolons do in the story - Odin destroying Cleyra with a throw of his sword, Atomos wiping out half of Lindblum and Bahamut causing some hefty damage to Alexandria - there are plenty of reasons to be wary of their power. Bear in mind we only see them used one at a time. Garland wiped out an entire village - presumably because the thought of a few hundred people being able to control these creatures was an intimidating one. The Invincible might be able to overpower ''one'' Eidolon, but I doubt that it would be much use against an entire army of them. Even Garnet and Eiko teaming together using their own Eidolons could probably bring the ship down if they attacked at the right time.

** I direct you to [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197338-final-fantasy-ix/faqs/36121 this Plot Analysis]] on GameFAQs. It includes theories on various things, and refutes your statement that the Moles had no idea how to use Eidolons.

** Summoners are a threat to Garland and Kuja for a reason, and that was why they destroyed Madain Sari before the start of the game. While it's never stated, perhaps it's impossible to take control of an Eidolon that has been summoned by an actual Summoner, like Eiko and Garnet, as opposed to a 'false' one like Brahne? Granted Bahamut doesn't appear to do much damage to Kuja, but he is also being summoned by the very inexperienced and unnatural Brahne. Perhaps his power is a lot less because of that.

*** Garland took steps to try and stamp out the Eidolons and their summons, so of COURSE Kuja focused on them first. He only saw Trance as an alternative when he saw that even a flipping Moogle could do it. Also, Ozma.

** Or maybe Necron is really just a cheap excuse by the writers to give Kuja a VERY undeserved Heel-Face Turn.
*** Do you think we could maybe NOT make assumptions over the writing process based on claims that don't make a lick of sense? Seriously, how exactly does one "deserve" a Heel-Face Turn?
*** This troper's point is that Kuja is Unintentionally Unsympathetic.

*** Good one. Maybe another kinds of magical creatures? There are white mages(though not practical, I know) and Blue Mages(or Qus, for that matter) that could be replicated. Actually, Blue Mages/Qus would be a good choice, with their destructive [[Main/ExtremeOmnivore omnivorism]].

*** It's already been established that the worlds are different in each FF game. Comparing FFIX to any other FF game is like comparing the Star Wars universe and the Star trek one. You can't because they happen in different universes with different rules. Just because a human can change into a black mage in one game, doesn't mean it can happen in another.
*** While they do call him just a boy, there is a scene at one point where a black mage- I think it was one of the Waltzes- is killed, his hat comes off, and his head is still black. They may be calling him that because he's so short that they cannot see below the brim of his hat, and so simly assume that he's human under there.
*** I know this game very well, and there has never been a time when any Black Mage's hat came off, even in places that it should have, like the scene where the Cargo ship was hurtling towards South Gate on Disc 1. I think it's purposely ambiguous whether they have faces. You never see faces on a Black Mage, but comments from Eiko about Vivi's "long face" make you wonder if she sees a little boy's sad face. On the other hand, during Lindblum's attack scene, you see Black Mages are hurtling fireballs, the light from which never illuminate any of their faces.

*** Actually, there are a couple of sequences where Vivi eats solid food (the banquest in Lindblum in Disk 1, and the dinner at Madain Sari in Disk 2) along with everyone else. And he also fell victim to the sleeping weed Dagger put in everyone's food. My theory is that black mages are in fact flesh and blood creatures with black skin and bright golden eyes, transformed from the raw biological material in the chocobo eggs into humanoid shapes. As for why the black mages gained intelligence, I think it was because they managed to shake off the brainwashing Brahne and Kuja imposed on them. You see the same thing happening to the Genomes in Disk 4 when Zidane and company bring them back to the Black Mage Village. Vivi even mentions the parallels between them on Terra, when he says that the minds of the Genomes are not hollow, just "out to lunch". He also feels that they're similar, chances are because they were both made into puppets by an outside force, whether it be the influence imposed on them by Brahne or the suppression of their minds by Garland and the Terrans. When they were freed from that influence, they all began developing their own personalities. It ties back into the whole notion of finding your own way in life and not blindly following someone else's commands, which is one of the game's major themes.

* Of all creatures, why creating artificial Black Mages? Sure, they've got magic, but maybe they should have thought this better and made some warriors, lancers and -- principally! -- summoners to make a better balanced army. After all, they're basically humans whose hat shadows cover their faces, right?

** This troper agrees on this and it is one of the many examples of the game's lazy/bad and clichèd writing, what makes it worse is that it's completely pointless as Kuja could have simply researched and achieved Trance right from the start, making the 70% of the game that took up his hunt for the Eidolons a complete waste of time.

*** To simplify things, the chapter of this fanfic nicely sums up how this part of the game SHOULD have gone: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6925384/11/The-Thief-And-His-Princess

* Why are Eidolons seen as so powerful to Garland and Kuja, when their own technology and power can destroy or directly control them via the Invincible? Hell, Kuja took a straight blast from Bahamut and all he cut was a scratch on his head! Why did Garland fear this power so much or why does Kuja think it would help him in any way?

** This troper took it to mean Zidane had been on the ship when Madain Sari had been destroyed. there by he had been present when the event happened allowing him to see what had transpired. after which kuja booted him out onto Gaia.