Prison Cage

The Prison Cage is a boss fought twice in the Evil Forest in Final Fantasy IX. It is a brown, plant-like creature with two large tentacles. It has leaves on top of its head which form a cage enclosure, and is where the Prison Cage keeps its victim.

History
When Zidane goes into the woods to search for Princess Garnet, he finds Vivi, who tells Zidane that the princess is in trouble. He finds Garnet trapped in the Prison Cage, and Zidane teams up with Steiner to fight the Prison Cage. After taking enough hits, the Prison Cage pulls upward with its tentacles and flees from the battle.

During a short conversation, Vivi admits that he was too afraid to use any spells on the Prison Cage. He and Steiner mourn over the loss of Princess Garnet, although Zidane believes that the Prison Cage was a minion who took her to its master. Just as Steiner expresses a bit of hope, the Prison Cage pulls itself back down and imprisons Vivi in its cage.

Once the Prison Cage has been defeated a second time, it releases toxic, light green gas that hits both Vivi and Steiner. Back in the Prima Vista, Blank tells Vivi that he is fortunate to have been rescued by Zidane otherwise he would have died. He then explains that some monsters, such as the Prison Cage, reproduce by spraying seeds into another animal, and once the offspring hatches, its host is killed. Blank then gives Vivi some medicine to kill all of the seeds in his body. Steiner also takes some medicine, and both of them fully recover from the battle.

Battle
The Prison Cage has three abilities: Left Stem, Right Stem, and Absorb. The former two involves the Prison Cage hitting a party member with its left or right tentacle respectively. When using Absorb, the Prison Cage drains HP from its victim, Garnet or Vivi. After the Prison Cage uses Absorb, a dialog box appears, showing the victim's remaining amount of HP. Both Zidane and Steiner have the option to target either the Prison Cage or its victim (Garnet or Vivi). Attacking the victim causes them to lose all their health, triggering a Game Over. The intended purpose for targeting the victim is to heal them with a Potion if they are low on health.

At the start of the first battle, Zidane has a surge of emotion, activating his Trance ability. If the battle carries on long enough, Zidane's Trance ability wears off, and he says that they should heal Princess Garnet so that she does not take any further damage.

During the second battle, Vivi uses Fire each turn to try and escape from the Prison Cage. Zidane can optionally use the Steal ability to obtain a certain piece of equipment (either a Leather Wrist or a Broadsword). Once the Prison Cage is defeated, the cage on top of its head opens up, freeing Vivi. The light green gas is also seen emerging from on top of the Prison Cage's head, followed by the end of the battle.

Stats

 * HP: 513 (first battle) / 533 (second battle)
 * AP: 3
 * Weakness: Fire
 * Steal items: Leather Wrist, Broadsword (second battle)
 * Spoils: Phoenix Down, Eye Drops, Goblin Card (second battle)