Follow TV Tropes

Following

Fridge / Final Fantasy IX

Go To

As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.


Fridge Brilliance

  • Vivi's name, his whole story is about living your life to the fullest, knowing who and what you are and living around it, his personal story is about living life to your full potential, it's only fitting that Vivi is actually Latin for "living" or "to live."
  • Not sure if I should move it up, but seeing as how it has nothing to do with Necron, I'll keep it down here. One time I was talking to a guy who was critical of the old Final Fantasies and seemed to especially have it in for Final Fantasy IX. I remember one of his complaints about the game was the Trance system, specifically the fact that Zidane's was pink when everyone else has a more metallic color. Now, I disagree with the latter statement, (Freya seems purple-ish and Vivi and Quina seemed to fall through a negative filter in Photoshop) but I'll pretend it's valid, since he refused to believe me on that statement. Anyway, I turned on my my PSP, noticing that I had left it on the picture of Kuja's EX mode, noticing yet another aversion to his rule, seeing as it was red. Red like Terra... then bam! Zidane's also from Terra, so in theory, he'd trance red, but he's sympathetic with Gaia, so it lightens up to the "Metallic" spectrum he spoke of, thus, a hot pink trance.
    • If you look closely, you'll notice each character in their Trance state represent the race they belong to! Both Garnet and Eiko 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...they both are VERY similar, but with different colors, hinting at their parental bond.
  • I was one of those people who were very confused by the sudden Giant Space Flea from Nowhere final boss of Final Fantasy IX. Sometime later I realized that that guy represents some sort of 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.
    • When I played it, I saw it as an Homage to Final Fantasy IV'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 Anthropomorphic Personification of despair that sought to unmake the universe. There's lots of Epileptic Trees about what Necron really is; as the game leaves it vague, the player can decide for himself what its significance is.
      • 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 Final Fantasy III — the embodiment 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Hate to throw around another "fundamental theme", but Final Fantasy IX is essentially a massive homage to all of the earlier Final Fantasies. What do the final bosses of Final Fantasies I through VI have in common? They all come from twists minutes before you battle them, they all want to destroy everything, and they're all visually One Winged Angels.
      • While some of the others are arguable (Emperor from II and Ex Death from V) Kefka most certainly does not come from any twist moments before you fight him; he is literally the first (and last) antagonist you see in the game.
    • Is the final sequence that hard to understand? First, Kuja declares that he's going to use the power of both worlds' pent-up energy in the Iifa Tree to destroy everything that's ever existed. Then, the party follows him down through the layers of time and creation that have resulted in Gaia, backwards...through their own memories, to the memories of the planet itself, back through its primordial ocean to its seismic planetary formation...then further back before Gaia was formed, into empty space and then straight to the supernatural "Crystal" that apparently created the world.
      • And Kuja is waiting for them, waiting to destroy that Crystal and thereby tip the balance of the universe towards destruction and wipe out all of existence. And then...he does. And they literally find themselves at the end of the world, in this compressed moment of nothingness, fighting off the primeval force of destruction that has existed and undone the world for as long as the Crystal has existed and fueled it. They win, presumably restoring the Crystal, and the universe is kept in balance between creation and destruction, for now. See? Not that hard at all.
    • As another point—the void they talk of, it's a nothingness with great power that people with a desire for power seek. They then seek to destroy existence. This may be a property of the void. Official sources say it was Kuja. Necron "Monster created by fear of death A being awoken by the fear, despair, and hatred of Kuja, who discovered, with the fulfillment of his ambition near, that he had little time left to live. It rejects the cycle of life through the crystal and attempts to return every world, including Terra and Gaia, to nothing. The final enemy to confront Zidane's team." We also know it has something to do with the soul divider, since it exploded after Necron died.
    • 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.
    • 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 Final Fantasy V, Necrophobe.
    • Necron appears to be a cumulation of many aspects seen in the series final bosses. Like the Void in Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy V he is presented as a force that seeks to end all existence and stands as a contrast to the Crystals which create life. Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy IV's final bosses are representations of the villain's hatred and distain for life after they are killed, and Necron was awoken and influenced by Kuja's attempt to wipe out existence. Like Kefka in Final Fantasy VI, Necron displays nihilistic beliefs as he does not understand why creatures strive so hard to live when they are all fated to die. Many people complain that Necron is too random and makes no sense, but if you look at the Final Fantasy series as a whole (especially the classic Sakaguchi games) you can see that the final battle with Necron represents what the series stands for: Existence against non-existence.
  • On an unrelated note, same game, I just realized, what's the first thing you do in the original Final Fantasy? Rescue Princess Sarah. And what's the first thing you do in Final Fantasy IX? Kidnap Princess Garnet whose real name is 'Sarah'.
    • Considering Brahne is corrupted by Kuja, it's actually a rescue. So yes, you start the game rescuing Princess Sarah.
  • 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 Real Life? We ring the doorbell.
    • 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?
  • 'Trance' may seem like an odd name for what's basically a Super Mode, but what's one way to call it when it happens? Trance form. Trance-form. Transform. Geddit?
  • 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? 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...and probably originally was.
      • Which would be confusing because it only targets single enemies...
      • 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...
      • 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? Grand Finale. 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 Kuja's Ultima. Stellar Circle 5 resembles a Terran teleport, most prominently seen at the Shimmering Isle.
  • It seems a little bizarre when the guy playing the character of "Marcus" in I Want To Be Your Canary turns out to be actually named Marcus. Until you stop and think — what does Baku love? The theater. What does Baku do? Adopt kids off the street for his troupe/gang. And who probably got to name those kids...?
    • It seems right up his alley to later cast the kids in their "own" roles. Guy's got a bizarre sense of humor. (Yessir, there's nothing like naming your gawky ward "Romeo" and then casting him in a production of the classic romance...)
  • Having Marcus, the resident Tattooed Crook and pirate-themed individual as the romantic male lead in 'I Want to Be Your Canary' seems like a case of Questionable Casting 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 Xanatos Speed Chess. Speaking of which, once you figure out the Tantalus member roles you get Baku=Drew Carey (bespectacled Big Guys), Blank=Wayne Brady (Ensemble Dark Horse), Zidane=Chip Esten (Mr. Fanservice), Marcus=Ryan Stiles (Large Ham), Cinna=Colin Mochrie (Butt-Monkey), even Benero and Zenero=Brad Sherwood (heavy-lifters and The Big Guy) and Ruby=Greg Proops (resident perfectionist).
  • Having Freya wearing what looks a god-awful lot like a raincoat when you realize Burmecia is known in-universe as 'the Realm of Eternal Rain'. Doesn't explain Fratley's lederhosen though...
    • They look more like waders or similar. The kind of legwear that's meant to be water-resistant and roomy enough to allow movement.
  • Amarant has a number of abilities which make sense for somebody fighting in a group, but not for him. This is because his character arc is about learning to be a team player.
  • It seems almost contrived that any plot-centric action in Lindblum tends to take place in the Theater district...
  • The Pluto Knights being derided as a joke in-universe, if you compare it to Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet in our universe.
    • Except that that didn't happen until well after Final Fantasy IX was released.
    • That's really more Hilarious in Hindsight.
    • The debate around Pluto started up in the early 1990s, when objects beyond Neptune that rivaled Pluto in size began to be found. By the late 90s, there was definitely talk of "demoting" Pluto to a minor planet, but the idea was controversial, and it wasn't until the discovery of Eris that the IAU was forced to define what a planet was and why Pluto(and Eris) weren't planets. So the "Pluto shouldn't be a planet" talk had already started. Additionally, the fact that Pluto was so much smaller than the other planets might still play into the idea that, compared to the Alexandrian knights, they're laughably small and have so little power that no one gives them any respect.
    • There also are nine Knights of Pluto in the game. Arc Number status aside, at the time Pluto was considered the ninth planet.
  • Getting the Gold Chocobo to fly involves launching it from any forest. Why, you ask? Well, a little-known trait of free-range chickens involves leaping from branch to branch in order to climb trees and reach normally impossible heights for chickens — maybe Choco needs the treetops for a convenient launchpad.
  • Early in the game Steiner points out that the Mist causes irregularities in the body and mind. Later we meet the warrior like Burmecians who live in a valley surrounded by Mist. The Cleyrans on the other hand, who are their pacifistic cousins, live in a tree with little or no Mist in the area.
    • Mist and rain. Rainfall goes through the Mist and enters their water supply like acid rain...in a different sense of the word.
    • Not to mention the fact that according to some statue writings, prior to the events of the game there were no less than 15 wars between Lindblum and Alexandria.
  • Once you learn the truth about Eiko's friend Mog, it begins to make sense why Eiko is the only human that can understand her; she says earlier that Summoners can speak to Eidolons through their horns.
  • Why do South Gate and North Gate exist when you're piloting an airship, why not just fly over the mountains instead of through the gates? Because the airships run on Mist and are known to not be able to fly on other continents without Mist. Flying too high would invite the same problem, which is why the gates exist.
  • Noticed how Garnet's Summon Magic at the game's start have extremely high MP costs but once she loses her abilities and starts to relearn them one by one, the MP cost afterwards is a lot lower? Garnet stated in the beginning of the game that she is terrified of her powers and is too scared to use them (explaining her high MP cost). Once Garnet accepts her responsibilities with her summoning powers and wants to use them to help out, her boost in confidence lets her use her powers freely and explains why the MP cost was reduced!
    • You can get her to use summons before she gets them extracted. If you do so naturally, through consistent levelling, it'll probably be around Treno on Disc 2. Perhaps Garnet's confidence was growing just enough to enable her to at that point?
    • She can really only start re-learning her summon spells after her eidolons are extracted, prompting her first Heroic BSoD. At this point in the game, most players will teach her all the summons she can learn at that point. Re-establishing a bond with her eidolons probably helps her cope with her pain. Notice that she cuts her hair and fully rejoins the party after Zidane gives her the garnet that contains the spirit of Bahamut, one of her most powerful eidolons.
    • 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 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? 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 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 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 before taking Sarah in, her real daughter passed away. The only reason she was willing to kill Garnet because she was just a Replacement Goldfish.
    • Another possibility is that Brahne getting emotional is the real her slipping through. The kind, caring mother that Garnet remembers, before the death of the king and corrupting influence of Kuja
  • Add another one to long list of Call Backs in this game: Your first full party in game is created by Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Steiner. Comparing them to typical FF classes, we get Thief, Black Mage, White Mage and Fighter — your default party in Final Fantasy.
  • Speaking of the old games, the inn in Dali has four beds arranged in the corners. This is the way inns were designed in Final Fantasy V.
  • In the Japanese version, Freya speaks in an archaic-sounding dialect that's also similar to the Hiroshima dialect. It's kind of fitting, then, that she's from a nation that has two of its cities get destroyed in a war, at least one of them being by a superweapon of sorts, then (presumably) becomes allies with the nation that destroyed said cities once new leaders are in power.
  • 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 artificial being (Gnome and Black Mage, respectively) and they lack their own identity.
    • Even better (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 expired a.k.a. died. 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 expired, nobody will ever know there was once a kid named Vivi.
    • Likewise, for Zidane when he is implied to die in Iifa Tree at the end, before the ending completely averts this.
  • Beatrix is listed under Bond Villain Stupidity on the main page for leaving your party alive after each fight. However notice that each time we see her pre-Heel–Face Turn, she never actually kills. Even the Burmecian soldiers that approach her just before the first fight — all she does is order them out of her sight. She could also have killed the priest in Cleyra but she just left with the jewel. It seems that while Beatrix is a fearsome knight in battle, she won't kill unless she has to. During the invasions, it's the only Black Mages who do the killing — and they are commanded by Brahne, not Beatrix. The dialogue after Cleyra is destroyed implies that Beatrix disapproves of this; in fact what she says implies that she was just under the impression that they'd hold Cleyra up temporarily to steal the jewel — and then leave the people alive. So it's a rather subtle Rewatch Bonus that drops hints to Beatrix's true nature. Even then, in the ending, she is clearly suffering a My God, What Have I Done? moment — especially since she helped in the destruction of two nations.
  • Another one regarding the love story. Zidane and Garnet hit it off almost straight away — because Garnet clearly finds Zidane exciting, since he's travelled so far. You can even see Garnet doing a little flirting in Disc 1. However, around the Dali part of the game (where he grabs her ass) and then further on in Lindblum, she catches on to his skirt-chasing nature and figures that she's just another girl he wants to charm. Zidane actually does fancy her early on and is probably turned on by the fact that she doesn't respond to his flirting, thinking she's playing hard to get or something. However, when he gets a taste of his own medicine from Eiko's annoying flirting ("Is this what I've been putting Dagger through?"), he stops flirting as much. But then, there are numerous little moments on the latter part of Disc 2 where Zidane shows genuine concern for Garnet. It's probably around the time Amarant comes into the party that Garnet has realised how much Zidane truly does care for her. Any Slap-Slap-Kiss or Well, Excuse Me, Princess! element in their relationship is abandoned in Disc 3 and the two instead act as the other's emotional support.
    • There's also the possibility that Garnet rebuffed Zidane's advances because 1) she thought he was just a womaniser and 2) she's the princess, so any attraction he has to her will never amount to anything. But, around the same time Zidane starts to show genuine affection for her, she discovers she is in fact not the real princess. And clearly some time on Disc 3, she probably goes "Well, I am the Queen. I can marry whoever I want".
  • When the party is leaving Cleyra via the teleporters, Vivi is the only character whose Black Mage hesitates before teleporting. And he doesn't go until Vivi nods. With Zidane and Freya, the Black Mages probably assumed that with their humanoid appearances, they were just Alexandrian soldiers. But Vivi is one of them, so the Black Mage is clearly confused why they're using the same teleporter. But when Vivi nods, he takes it as an okay.
  • Why is Beatrix the only character who can heal Garnet after the Eidolon extraction? When you can play as her shortly after that, she has the Full-Life spell in her repertoire.
  • The choice of using Odin on Cleyra and Atomos on Lindblum. Odin wipes out Cleyra with a throw of his sword, while Atomos only destroys part of Lindblum. Odin's in-game attack is a One-Hit Kill and Brahne had the Desert Star — so she had no reason to leave Cleyra intact. Atomos meanwhile deals gravity-based damage that can't kill, and Brahne only wanted Lindblum weakened so she could search for the Falcon's Claw.
    • Also, note Atomos' unaugmented damage — 30% of enemy's HP. How much of Lindblum does it destroy? One of the three districts — close enough to the 30% it's supposed to deal.
    • Could also just be plan old fashioned discrimination, or pragmatism or Brahne still being slightly sentimental underneath all that greed she'd developed. Lindblum was an allied nation, the royal family were implied to be good friends with each other in the past, Lindblum had a strong engineering and manufacturing base (it's implied they were the ones that built the Red Rose and Alexandria's other airships as part of their trade agreement) and to top it off, has a population of mostly humans. So Brahne was just pragmatic or merciful enough to cause just enough damage to get them to submit where she could use them as a vassal state and have them build stuff for her new empire. Cleyra meanwhile was an isolationist nation with a radically different culture, had little to offer resource wise, and was made up of mostly Rat Demi Humans. Thus Brahne totally destroyed it as it had no value to her. That's also similarly why she likely completely wrecked Burmecia albeit not to the point of completely obliterating everything there, though that attack was before she possessed the Eidolons.
  • Compared to other Final Fantasy games, there is a ton of hidden treasure to find with goodies hidden in just about every screen in the game. That makes perfect sense when you remember that this one's protagonist is a thief! This contrasts well with Final Fantasy VIII, because its protagonist was focused on his mission and reputation as a mercenary and hated relying on others. Naturally, that game had no treasure chests at all and few hidden items to pick up.
  • If Alexandria is a military matriarchy, with a basic Persecution Flip when it comes to the gender of soldiers, then the Pluto Knights' assignment makes a lot of sense. Steiner has risen through the ranks, but he's risen exactly as high as he was ever going to get; the important but wholly internal job of bodyguarding the sheltered princess. If Alexandrians perhaps consider men generally "unfit" for combat, what better post for your most dedicated male soldier? Let him stay in the castle, and maybe even teach the princess some useful domestic skills like fishing or woodworking.
  • Black Waltz 3 mainly uses thunder magic. When you encounter him on disc 2 you can steal a Thunder Staff from him.
    • Fire Staff can also be stolen from Black Waltz 3. The Fire Staff probably because of the result of it using its Thunder Magic while piloting its ship which caught on fire and most likely was engulfed in flame after crashing into South Gate, "frying its circuits" which resulted in it malfunctioning.
    • Probably unintentional as well but Black Waltz 2 uses Level 2 magic. Namely Fira, Thundara and Blizzara but mainly Fira.
    • As shown here, Black Waltz 1 is weak to both Fire which is understandable but why also Ice? The same element that it tends to cast and Black Waltz 1 is in the Ice Cavern to boot but shows no sign of discomfort? The reason is probably because of the Sealion. It can accidentally kill Black Waltz 1 with its Tsunami. And also without the Sealion, Black Waltz 1 is easy to defeat.
  • Early in the game Steiner is one of the first characters to show Vivi a lot of respect and mentions that he has great magical powers. Since Steiner is a knight captain he's good at identifying the battle potential of others.
  • The classic elemental crystals don't formally appear in this game, instead being represented by Alexanders jewel being split apart. Looking at the four nations that hold the four pieces, you can see that each one represents one of the elements. In Burmecia it's constantly raining, and Cleyra has a giant windstorm protecting it. Lindblum is a more mechanical kingdom that builds airships which involves a lot of fire. Alexandria appears to be a fertile kingdom, as Dali was previously a farming village and there is a huge forest growing below the Castle.
    • Then there's the literal 4 elemental shrines.
      • The Earth Shrine at the Outer Continent. The one continent that has little to no plant life somehow.
      • The Fire Shrine is located in an active volcano near Esto Gaza on the Lost Continent, an icy area. Almost brings Prometheus to mind since Prometheus stole fire from Mt. Olympus to give to mankind. The fact that Esto Gaza is also a place of worship helps although their focus is on the Shimmering Island.
      • The Wind Shrine is located at the southern side of the Forgotten Continent near Oeilvert. The whole continent is a canyon and canyons have extremely strong winds, hence the location of said shrine.
      • The Water Shrine is located underwater though we can see a forest outside the shrine during cutscenes. It's like the Lost City of Atlantis.
  • The "Forgotten Continent" has only 1 town, Daguerreo. It's no wonder why there are no mentions of it. They have forgotten about its existence which makes it a good place for refuge from wars and it has a lot of books which most likely has detailed records that even Alexandria does not have.
  • When Steiner finally gets Climhazzard, Stock Break, and Shock, they're just as awesome as when Beatrix used them against you - heck when Beatrix uses them, they do just as much damage. A nice refreshing aversion of Antagonist Abilities. Except! By the time Steiner gets them, he's guaranteed to do 6000->9000 damage. Shock is basically guaranteed to hit 9999 by the endgame. Statistically Speaking? Shock, Climhazzard, and Stock Break are all STRONGER when you get them!
    • The fact that they are late-game abilities is also indicative of just how badass Beatrix is: She uses late-game abilities in the first couple discs.
    • Beatrix only uses Climhazzard in the final fight against her to defeat the party. Previously she only uses Stock Break. Why does she bust out her strongest multi target skill? Because in only the last fight Steiner, the only knight in the kingdom she somewhat respects is there. Steiner who bumbling and fussy aside, did legitimately defeat her in a duel once according to their backstory and cost her an eye (which was mostly a fluke win and accidental injury on his part, but still a win is a win) and who is later shown to be able to become almost as powerful as her later in the game once he gets his head out of his ass.
  • A few bits about Trance Kuja:
    • This is supposedly Kuja at his strongest - yet in gameplay he's quite a pushover. He was able to cause a Total Party Kill when he first attained Trance and basically annihilated Terra. So why is he quite easy here? Right before the fight, he says that his time is almost up. He's not at full strength.
    • Why don't you just cast Ultima? He doesn't think he has the strength to survive another cast of Ultima at this point - when he does cast it? He's doing so as a form of suicide attack.
    • Kuja also actually casts Curaga. Why bother with that? His time's almost up... but he's trying to buy more time. He's delaying the inevitable.

Fridge Horror

  • You know how the Mist is a product of souls of the dead? Well after Terra blew up, guess why Gaia is covered in nothing but mist?
    • Even worse, Mist is the remnants of the souls of dead Gaians who are prevented from returning to the planet by the Iifa Tree. They are expelled onto Mist Continent where they decay into the Mist and spawn monsters. This means all the people who died in the destructions of the various cities on Mist Continent and the dead loved ones of the heroes, like Garnet's father and her biological parents, the massacred Cleyrans, etc. None of them got to return to the planet, contribute their memories to the crystal and reincarnate. They all were reduced to Mist.
  • Congratulations! By defeating Soulcage, you stopped the flow of the Mist from the Iifa Tree. But wait. Aren't the Mist Continents' airships only able to fly where there's Mist? ... Oh.
    • The mist only disappeared gradually. It didn't just poof out of existence. The ships' crews probably noticed the Mist disappearing and were at least able to land somewhere safe. And most of them seem to be able to double as boats too.
    • Don't forget the horror implied in powering airships off of the souls of the dead...
  • Upon first viewing the ending, many players do not realize that 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 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? 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 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! You just caused them to barricade themselves in what soon became ground zero to the fantasy equivalent of a nuclear missile strike.
    • A Morton's Fork situation. Make the wrong choices? They will get slaughtered by the Black Mages. Make the right choices? They get annihilated by Odin. Excluding those who did escape and fled to Lindblum (the safe districts) or even Daguerreo (one of the Cleyrans is studying).
    • Well, you do run into some Cleyrans later in the game at Lindblum and Daguerreo. 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.
    • Brahne's attack on Lindblum seems to happen practically the day after Cleyra's destruction. It seems unlikely that they got there that quickly.
    • The Burmecians seen in Lindblum are the refugees from Burmecia who went straight to Lindblum and didn't go to Cleyra.
  • Imagine if you walked in on the scene where Garnet cuts her hair but couldn't hear what was going on for context. 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 Trauma Conga Line from losing her family, friends, and country, that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that she was Driven to Suicide at that moment. Thank god she was only giving herself an Important Haircut, instead.
    • This seems to be the case In-Universe too. In the FMV, Zidane is seen running after her looking very panicked. He clearly thought she was planning to kill herself too, especially with the ambiguous line "Remember me the way I was."
  • 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 Iifa 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.
  • Early on in Alexandria,before the play,you get to reunite a boy with his cat. After the attack from the Bomb,and it explodes,if you listen very closely you can hear a cat screeching.
    • Worry not. Some time after that, you can spot what is implied to be the same cat named Mittens on the rooftop near the bell tower. Mittens seemed to have a habit of wandering away from its owner.
      • What about its owner though?
  • The only detail given regarding Vivi's death was that it was sometime after the Final Battle. For all we know, it was before the knowledge that Zidane was still alive was widespread. In other words, it's very possible that Vivi and Zidane Never Got to Say Goodbye.

Top