History Videogame / FinalFantasyIX

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Vivi's "children" in the ending sequence.]] Also, a moogle couple in Gizamaluke's Grotto and a pair of Burmecian refugees who make it to Lindblum. Moogles and rats breed very quickly and develop even quicker, given that the kids are old enough to walk by the time Zidane returns.

** Eiko is protected by Maduin, Garnet by Bahamut, Quina will EAT YOU, and Zidane is a nice easy going guy, till you piss him off or threaten his friends. Actually, if you meet any nice people in Gaia, treat them like kings. They can tear your damn face off. Hell, there's a Moogle who threatens to knife you.

* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Kuja to Brahne]], and [[spoiler:Garland to Kuja... [[DragonAscendant for about five minutes]]]].

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Vivi's "children" in the ending sequence.]] Also, a moogle couple in Gizamaluke's Grotto and a pair of Burmecian refugees who make it to Lindblum. Moogles and rats seem to age quickly.

* BrightIsNotGood: Ozma, essentially a big colorful swirly ball, is basically what happens when God has an abortion. It's the toughest boss in the game, and totally optional.

* EatTheDog: [[spoiler:Quan's original plan for Vivi. If you find Quan's Dwelling early in disc 2, you can see the eggshell Vivi was hatched from (just like the Dali black mages) and a baby bathtub, ''right next to a cooking pot.'']]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The game is mostly [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted and whimsical]]....and then you reach Terra, and [[CerebusSyndrome it immediately takes a hard left turn.]] Life and death become the plot's chief topic, an entire planet is destroyed, [[MindScrew mind screws]] and crisises of identity occur, and the party actually [[spoiler: ''dies at the end''. [[IGotBetter They get better]], but still]].

* HoYay: "This is an ancient ritual between male friends!" but you {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s would have to be insane to get off on it.
** Pretty squicky to read that much into it, as Zidane is obviously trying to be a strong bigger brother figure to help Vivi through his issues.

* 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.]]]]
** When Blank and Zidane first mug the Pluto Knights for their outfits, both are still recognizable and two naked Pluto Knights appear later... but when Zidane mugs the Lindblum guard, he (by way of reusing the 3D model) has somehow replicated the guard's eyes and nose peeking out of the helmet, while the real guard is never seen again...
** Actually, if the player goes into the room where Zidane steals the guard's outfit, check the closet in the room and you'll find out Zidane actually stuffed him into a closet while he whimpers to be let out. Zidane promptly tells him to quiet and he will let him out later.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Despite the art style and humor, this game is rife with dark themes that may make it a top contender for most depressing game in the series. The villains commit genocide, almost every kingdom you go to gets destroyed, [[spoiler: an entire planet is destroyed (and the other was pretty much its ''life support'')]], the [[TheWoobie woobie-riffic]] characters experience existential angst that makes [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]] look absolutely normal in comparison, no less than three {{Heroic BSOD}}s occur, and the party actually [[spoiler: ''dies at the end''. [[IGotBetter They get better]], but still]].

[[PlayerPunch And then he witnesses the death -- and even genocide -- of people from nearly every town he visits]]. It turns out there's a man ([[ViewerGenderConfusion yes, man]]) named Kuja running around, who has his sights set on Princess Garnet's dormant summons - and will ''murder'' for them. [[ItGotWorse Things get much, much worse]] in the second half of the story, when Zidane discovers the truth of his origins and his purpose on the planet. In the middle of the carefree, sunny atmosphere of the game, a plot slowly unfolds that explores the themes of genocide and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman -- in a thoroughly mature, respectful way.

* LastOfHisKind: Eiko and Garnet, last of the Summoners.

This was the [[IncrediblyLamePun final]] ''FinalFantasy'' game of the Playstation cycle, and of the 20th century.

* CoolShip: Hilda Garde 3, Invincible and Ark.

* RuleOfSymbolism: [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Necron]] serves more of a symbolic meaning than an actual in-story role. Whether that justifies his appearance, [[YourMileageMayVary you decide]].

* ADayInTheLimelight: Alexander (a recurring summon in the FinalFantasy series) gets to kick a lot of ass, just as he did in ''BahamutLagoon'', the PSX remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. Someone at Square loves this character.

* '''Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII''', going by her undercover nickname of '''Dagger'''. Perhaps the most sheltered RebelliousPrincess ever to exist, she runs away from home to find help for her increasingly evil mother, Queen Brahne. Once she witnesses the atrocities her mother has committed, she is torn between her love for her mother and her desire to help her kingdom. It takes a while, but she falls in love with Zidane. She's hybrid White Mage-Summoner, with more of a focus on summoning.

* '''Adelbert Steiner''', Garnet's loyal bodyguard, [[MyCountryRightOrWrong eventually divided between his duties to the princess, to the queen, and to doing the right thing]]. [[TheComicallySerious Zidane takes great pleasure in ruffling his feathers]]. Starting out as a [[MightyGlacier Knight]] class, his deep respect for Vivi allows him to become an effective Magic Knight when the two work together.

* GattacaBabies: [[spoiler: All of the Genomes of Terra, including Kuja, Zidane and Mikoto.]]

* SupportLeader: Cid and Beatrix play this role on Disk 4, leading [[spoiler: the airship fleet in the Battle of the Iifa Tree against the thousands of Silver Dragons.]]

* TheAragorn: Cid and Beatrix play this role on Disk 4, leading [[spoiler: the airship fleet in the Battle of the Iifa Tree against the thousands of Silver Dragons.]]

* EveryoneGetInHere: The beginning of disc 3, with all of Tantalus and TheLastDJ Dr. Tot back in Alexandria. Benero and Zenero even meet up with ''their third twin.''

''FinalFantasyIX'' is a return to the series' roots and the classic MedievalEuropeanFantasy worlds, after the more futuristic approach of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Both graphically and story-wise, it set a new standard for the games that followed it. Particularly, ''FinalFantasyIX'' is known for combining a sunny and light-hearted visual atmosphere with a very mature and thoughtful ItGotWorse story. The game is additionally a celebration of FinalFantasy's origins, and contains many, ''many'' references to SquareSoft's earliest few installments.

''FinalFantasyIX'' was highly praised for being challenging, but extremely user-friendly. There is no penalty for leveling up, acquired skills can never be lost again, chocobos for encounter-free travel are very easy to come by, and optional scenes are just that: optional.
The plot, too, is much less of a MindScrew than that of previous games, staying comfortably away from ''too'' much symbolism but still featuring some wonderfully surreal elements. Criticism of the game tends to focus on its "softer" art style, as well as the CharacterFocus on Garnet and Vivi to the exclusion of some other characters. As a whole, the game is seen as a very solid installment of the series, suited for hardcore gamers and new fans alike. The game was the least successful of the three offered on the original PlayStation, selling 5.3 million copies (FinalFantasyVIII sold over 8 million, and FinalFantasyVII over 10 million; FinalFantasyX would go on to sell 6.3 million), despite retailing for considerably less due to the imminent release of the PS2.

* BossRush: The Four Guardians Of Terra, although at first only one, Lich, is ''actually'' fought (the other three [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome were taken down offscreen]]). You do get to challenge them all in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Memoria]] in a CallBack to the final dungeon of FinalFantasyI; at special points along the path, you are suddenly thrust into battle against one of them, with absolutely no indication of a boss encounter beforehand. Thankfully, save points are placed in between these encounters.

* CardBattleGame: Tetra Master. Pretty fun once you get the hang of its hexidecimal rating system. Not nearly as infuriating as [[FinalFantasyVIII Triple Triad]] with its rules, although some find the fact that the rules are never explained in game or in the manual to be frustrating.

* CombinationAttack: Vivi and Steiner's Sword Magic, Zorn and Thorn's [[FinalFantasyIV Twin]] abilities.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Despite the art style and humor, this game is rife with dark themes that may make it a top contender for most depressing game in the series. The villains commit genocide, almost every kingdom you go to gets destroyed, [[spoiler: an entire planet is destroyed (and the other was pretty much its ''life support'')]], the [[TheWoobie woobie-riffic]] characters experience existential angst that makes [[FinalFantasyVII Cloud]] look absolutely normal in comparison, no less than three {{Heroic BSOD}}s occur, and the party actually [[spoiler: ''dies at the end''. [[IGotBetter They get better]], but still]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Alexander (a recurring summon in the FinalFantasy series) gets to kick a lot of ass, just as he did in ''BahamutLagoon'', the PSX remake of ''FinalFantasyVI'' and ''FinalFantasyXIII''. Someone at Square loves this character.

* {{Expy}}: Garland is essentially the evil version of [[FinalFantasyIV FuSoYa]], or a version of Zemus that went unopposed.

** Here's a stretch: Necron --> [[FinalFantasyV Necrophobe]]. And the names aren't the ''only'' similarities.

** The way the Terrans have allowed their planet to live as long as it has-- namely, repeatedly committing genocide on the population of younger planets and draining the life energy from their worlds-- is reminiscent of what Zemus wanted to do to Earth in ''FinalFantasyIV'', what Jenova does instinctively in ''FinalFantasyVII'', and what Lavos wants to do in ''ChronoTrigger''.

* {{Gonk}}: Queen Brahne, who's morbidly obese and ''blue'' for no apparent reason (unless she's related to [[FinalFantasyTactics Cuchulainn]]), making [[spoiler:the revelation that she's not really Garnet's mother make TOTAL sense... until you realize that Garnet was adopted *because* she looked like the deceased princess, and nobody in the kingdom ever seems to question her parentage, although there are a few people who are surprised that a beautiful girl like Garnet could come from Brahne.]]

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Black Waltz No. 1 rains icy death upon you with a ''jingle bell''. This may well be a reference to the ''FinalFantasyV'' Geomancer job, which uses a bell as its primary weapon and could easily attack with a deadly blizzard in a place like the Ice Cave.

** Zidane [[spoiler:and Kuja, technically brothers, came from a different world, and were being manipulated by someone there to destroy all life on this world]]. [[FinalFantasyIV Sound familiar?]]

** Heat status is reminiscent of [[FinalFantasyVI Edgar's Air Anchor]] and acts as a sort of inverted Freeze -- if the afflicted takes any action, they will be KO'd immediately afterward.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Not a bad thing in this case - the mechanics of the game are a little more straightforward compared to the more recent ''FinalFantasy'' titles, and the game itself also has a very friendly difficulty curve outside of a couple candidates for ThatOneBoss on the first and second disc. This actually probably makes it a very good game for newcomers - perhaps a better introductory than ''FinalFantasyMysticQuest'', which was ''intended'' as one.

** A lot of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] to other FinalFantasy games were messed up due to incorrect romanisation; for instance, Mount Gulug, which was supposed to refer to Mount Gurgu (written "Gurugu" in Japanese) from FinalFantasyI, and the summon Madeen (written "Madin" in Japanese), supposed to be a reference to Maduin, an Esper from FinalFantasyVI. Madeen's attack, Terra Homing (Terahōmingu), was supposed to be Terraforming. The Fire Guardian Marilith is rendered as Maliris.

* SummonMagic: As in ''[[FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', it's a major plot point, albeit a completely different one.

** Happens in the second time when you fight Steiner.

** TheLancer: Garnet

** TheChick: Freya