Editing Final Fantasy IX

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Three years later, the cities of Alexandria and Lindblum have been rebuilt, and Tantalus arrives in Alexandria to perform a play for Queen Garnet. During the performance, one of the robed figures casts off his robe and reveals himself to be Zidane. The credits roll as Garnet and Zidane embrace. Other scenes reveal that Vivi somehow had children, even though he himself has apparently "stopped" (the term the Black Mages use for death.) Steiner and Beatrix have returned to their old posts as royal bodyguards, Eiko has been adopted by Regent Cid and his wife, Freya is attempting to start over with her old boyfriend Sir Fratley, and Quina has apparently become the Master Chef for Alexandria Castle.  

The game deviates from the style of customizable characters featured in the last two games by reviving the character class concept, which designates a character to a certain role in battle. For example, Vivi is designated as a black mage and is the only character who can use black magic, and Steiner is a knight and is the only character who can use sword skills.

The basic function of equipment in Final Fantasy games is to increase character attributes; arming Zidane with a [[Mythril Vest]], for example, increases his base defense statistic. In Final Fantasy IX, weapons and armor include special character abilities, which the character may use when the item is equipped (permitting the ability matches their class). Once the character accumulates enough ability points in battle, the ability becomes usable without having to keep the item equipped. The equipment also determines the statistical growth of the characters at the time of level up. Armor not only raises base defense or evasion statistics but raises defense and/or other statistics at level up.

*[[Zidane Tribal]]: The main protagonist and a member of Tantalus, a group of thieves. Originally, he plotted to abduct the Princess of Alexandria, but his plan was foiled when she revealed to him that she wanted to be kidnapped. He now serves as her protector. His only clues to his true origins are his inexplicable tail and the memory of a strange, blue light.

*[[Vivi Orunitia]]: Young Black Mage, but very pure of heart. He met Zidane through an accident in a play in Alexandria. His past is something of a mystery, even to himself.

*[[Garnet Til Alexandros XVII|Garnet Til Alexandros]]: The Princess of Alexandria. Concerned about her mother's erratic behavior, she escapes from the castle and meets with Zidane. Whilst travelling, she assumes the name "Dagger" to disguise her identity. She has a strange connection to Eidolons.

*[[Adelbert Steiner]]: The Captain of the Knights of Pluto. His sworn duty is to protect the Princess, and he is intensely loyal and concerned about her safety, but he rarely realizes how capable Garnet is on her own. Although he does not get along with Zidane, he assists him in protecting Garnet. Although Steiner comes across as stubborn, he is actually easily quieted by Garnet. Steiner also has fallen in love with his ex-rival General Beatrix as a result of Eiko's failed love letter.

*[[Freya Crescent]]: A Dragon Knight from the destroyed city of Burmecia. She left home in search of Sir Fratley, her long-lost love. An old friend of Zidane, she meets him again in Lindblum and participates with him in the Festival of the Hunt. When she hears of the destruction of Burmecia, she hurries home to aid her fellow Burmecians in their escape and defend her country once again as a Dragon Knight.  She is also a member of the mouse clan who was raised and trained by a Dragon Knight, Freya is a courageous female knight who is unwilling to compromise her beliefs.

*[[Quina Quen]]: A genderless [[Qu]] whose master wants them to travel the world to learn about other foods around the world, and that there is more to life than food. In battles, Qu can perform [[Blue Magic]], in which he eats certain enemies to absorb their magic spells.

*[[Eiko Carol]]: A six-year-old girl who lives in Madain Sari, the lost village of the summoners. She develops a crush on Zidane when they meet each other. She lives with the Moogles ever since her parents and grandparents died when she was very little. Boisterous and precocious, she sees Dagger as her biggest rival for Zidane's affection (though no one else seems to notice).

*[[Amarant Coral]] (Salamander Coral): One of the most wanted bandits in Treno. He's actually innocent, but he doesn't tell anyone because he hates revealing his personal life. The person who actually committed the crime was Zidane, and Amarant was merely the guard who tried to stop him and was instead framed for it. Works as a bounty hunter with Lani until Zidane beats him, and he follows the thief around to understand his philosophies on fighting and friendship.

=== Major non-player characters ===

*[[Nero Brothers]]: Zidane's friends and fellow members of Tantalus. They pose as actors to steal various items. Although [[Ruby]] is a member, she prefers to overlook the group's less-than-honorable dealings as long she gets a chance to pursue her dream of being an actress. [[Blank]], [[Cinna]] and [[Marcus]] join the party intermittently throughout Disc 1, making them technically player characters, but they do not have the extensive character development, skillsets and membership duration of the previous eight.

*[[Kuja]]: He is the main antagonist. Kuja is obsessed with power and will do anything to get what he wants. He is first introduced as the provider of Queen Brahne's magical weapons, the [[Black Mage]]s. Somehow, he knows Zidane's true identity. He is connected to the eidolons, Madain Sari, Iifa tree and the mysterious world of Terra.

*[[Zorn]] and [[Thorn]]: Queen Brahne's court jesters perform all her dirtiest work and have the odd habit of speaking in constant antimetabole: repeating what the other says, but in reverse syntactical order. Also have the unique ability to extract eidolons from summoners. Even by the end of the game, their origin is never truly explained.

*[[Queen Brahne]]: The queen of Alexandria, and mother of Garnet. She is willing to stop at nothing to expand the Empire of Alexandria, even if it means the death of her daughter. She is very greedy and is involved with the mysterious Kuja.

*[[Beatrix]]: The greatest Alexandrian knight who ever lived. Blinded by her devotion to the Queen, she performs various destructive duties in the name of the queen's greed. Later, she is shown the true side of Queen Brahne by Steiner, and repents for her actions by helping Zidane's group in their quest. Like Blank, Cinna and Marcus, Beatrix joins the party for a short time. She also falls in love with Steiner after Eiko's failed love letter plan.  She wields a deadly sword, known as the 'Save The Queen'. Hades, a hidden boss at the end of the game, can forge a replica of this amazing blade using a Phoenix Pinion and a Thunder Blade, but Steiner can't equip it. Beatrix can use the [[Seiken]] command, which consists of Holy Knight moves such as 'Thunder Blade', 'Stock Break', 'Climhazzard', and 'Shock'.

*[[Regent Cid Fabool]]: He is the [[Cid]] character of ''Final Fantasy IX''. Cid is the present ruler of Lindblum. He was turned into an oglop by his wife, Hilda, because of his womanizing. Technology expert who is fond of creating new airships. He was best friends with Dagger's father. He also ordered Tantalus to kidnap Dagger because he was concerned for her safety, based on the erratic and abnormal tendencies of her mother as of late.

*[[Stiltzkin]]: A world-traveling [[Moogle]] who frequently asks Zidane and company to provide him with monetary backing to continue his journey and in return bestows sometimes rare and useful items. He sends letters to other moogles to fill them in on recent events in the world.

*[[Puck]]: The prince of Burmecia, but prefers to keep a low profile diguised as a street urchin. He was Vivi's first friend when they met in Alexandria while trying to get into see a play.

*[[Sir Fratley]]: Freya's long-lost love. He went out on a journey to improve his combat skills and never returned. He appears later in Cleyra with no memory of his past, or the woman he left behind. He is also a thinly-veiled reference to {{wp|Michael Flatley}}, which is made all the more obvious by the look of the Burmecian ceremonial dance, which bears more than a passing resemblance to ''{{wp|Riverdance}}''.

*[[Doctor Tot]]: Scholar from Alexandria who moved to Treno once Queen Brahne began acting strangely. He was Garnet's tutor when she was a little girl. The group often consults him on important matters because of his extensive knowledge of just about everything.

*[[Hilda Garde]]: Cid's wife who turned him into an oglop for his womanizing. After transforming him, she escaped Lindblum on Cid's latest airship, which he had, ironically, named "Hilda Garde."  She is captured by Kuja, who uses her airship for his own purposes and who voluntarily reveals his plans to her.

*[[Lani]]: Bounty hunter Queen Brahne hires to retrieve the Pendant stolen by Princess Garnet and to kill the black mage travelling with her. She works with Amarant, whom she calls "Red". Eventually she sees the error in her ways and can be found living in Madain Sari with Eiko's moogles by the end of the game.  During the battle in Fossil Roo, she wields an awfully large axe.

*[[Mikoto]]: A female genome whom the heroes rescued from Terra and brought back to Gaia, and is the interest of the [[Black Mage]] Village by the end of the game. Aside form Kuja and Zidane, she is the only other Genome with a soul.

*[[Black Mage]]s are small, humanoid beings whose faces are concealed within dark hoods. They were created by Kuja of Terra as soldiers to conquer Gaia, and most of them resemble Genomes in their naive and puppetlike behavior. The main exception is Vivi, a Black Mage prototype who "woke up" to his individuality and who joins the party to help fight Kuja.

*[[Burmecian]]s are anthropomorphic rodents who live in Burmecia and Cleyra. Freya Crescent is a Burmecian. The [[Cleyran]], who are related to Burmecians, live in a giant tree in the desert, which is protected by a sandstorm that has raged for a millennium; the Cleyrans split from the Burmecians when the latter started to appreciate "the art of war" and have had no contact with Burmecia in over a century. One notable facet about their culture is their value of dance. In Japan, they are known as Nezumi (Japanese for "rat").

*[[Chocobo]]s are large, yellow birds and a recurring species in the ''Final Fantasy'' games. They are often used as beasts of burden, either to power factory machinery (as in Dali) or for transport. Zidane can befriend a chocobo and teach it to traverse mountains, cross open water and even fly, as an optional treasure-hunting sidequest.

*[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] are a race of short humanoid creatures originating from Norse mythology, that appear frequently in high fantasy (most notably the works of J. R. R. Tolkien), and role-playing games. Dwarves are much like humans, but generally living underground or in mountainous areas. They appear in the game as inhabitants of the village of Conde Petie on the Outer Continent. Dwarves are often heard calling out "Rally-Ho" as a form of greeting.

*[[Genome]]s are bodies created by the Terrans. They do have minds, but their souls are not their own and are only weakly bound to them. They exist to wait for when Terra takes over Gaia, and then the Terran souls will enter the Genome bodies. Garland, the caretaker of Terra, gave souls to three Genomes to speed up the takeover process: Kuja, Zidane, and Mikoto.

*[[Moogle]]s are small, furry, sociable creatures seen throughout the Final Fantasy series. In FFIX they appear all over the world, functioning as save points and sources of information, and sometimes they even manage shops. World-traveller Stiltskin and mailman Artemicion are the most famous of the moogles in FFIX.

*[[Qu]] are a race of large, clownish, seemingly androgynous humanoids, the race to which the playable character Quina Quen belongs. They have a long tongue and are recognized as fine gourmands. They tend to have a simpler intellect compared to the common people, often speaking without verbs or true syntax and often thinking only about food. They inhabit marshlands throughout the world where they catch their main source of nutrition, frogs. Throughout Final Fantasy IX, the Qu are used mainly as comic relief, and never actually have much to do with the main storyline. In ''Final Fantasy VII'', a monster similar to the Qu (called Hungry in the North American release) appears in the City of the Ancients. Its main attack is to shrink enemies and then eat them.

*[[Summoner]]s appear like other humans, but with an additional horn on their forehead. In the story, only two summoners remain as the others have been exterminated due to the Terran warship Invincible's destruction of their homeland of Madain Sari.

''Final Fantasy IX'' was intended, in many ways, to be a salute to the history of the series, and as such, it is filled with allusions and references to previous games. One of the most apparent is the similarity of the character Vivi to the Black Mage from the original ''[[Final Fantasy]]''. Despite the high quality of the translation overall, care was not taken to ensure that all of the various names and references matched up to those used in the previous English-language releases. Because of this, many of the references with which the game abounds are completely missed by the non-Japanese audience. Some examples of how Final Fantasy IX references previous games are included below.

*The melody of Kuja's theme is taken from "Slumber of Ancient Earth" from ''Final Fantasy V''.  A longer arrangement of his theme also appears on the ''Original Soundtrack PLUS'' as "Kuja V", the numeral being an allusion to the game.

*One of the primary villains, Garland, is named after the main antagonist of the first ''Final Fantasy''.

*The song that plays in the Crystal World at the end of the game is quite similar to the Crystal Theme that's in most ''Final Fantasy'' games, but with a more sinister tone to it.

*''Gulug Volcano'' was meant to be ''Gurgu Volcano'', as seen in the original ''[[Final Fantasy]]''. The name is written in Japanese as グルグ, or "Gurugu." Princess Cornelia, a character in the "I Want to be Your Canary" play, is also named after a location in the original title.

*The ''Pumice'' item in ''Final Fantasy IX'', which is used to summon Ark, the massive, transforming airship, is known as "Fuyūishi" (ふゆう石, or "floating stone"). In ''Final Fantasy'', this item was translated as "FLOATER," and was used to lift the ancient airship from the desert.

*The four elemental fiends which appear in Memoria are named [[Marilith]], [[Tiamat]], [[Kraken]], and [[Lich]], recalling their counterparts in the ''Final Fantasy''. (In the anglicized version of ''Final Fantasy'', the fiend of fire was called "Kary," although the name "Marilith" was restored in the ''[[Final Fantasy Origins]]'' version.)

*The giant boss creature, Hilgigars, was actually meant to be Hill Gigas. "Gigas" is the common name in the series for its oversized humanoids, most frequently seen in ''[[Final Fantasy II]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''.

*After the world of Terra has been destroyed, at the beginning of disc four and onwards, the player can return to Black Mage Village and examine the gramophone at the Black Mage Village inn. If the player possesses the Doga's Artifact and Une's Mirror, the background music will change to an arrangement of a melody taken from the ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'' soundtrack, named "Dorga and Unne" on the ''Original Soundtrack PLUS''. This melody continues on until the player leaves the Black Mage Village.

*The dwarves of ''Conde Petie'' use the same greeting as the dwarves of ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' (ラリホ, or "rariho"). However, the original saying "Lali-ho" was changed to "Rally-ho" in ''Final Fantasy IX''. Japanese has a consonant which can be tranliterated as "l" or "r" in English, often leading to confusion in translation.

*The Eidolon, ''Madeen'', is mis-Romanized as well. It was meant to invoke the name of ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'''s ''Maduin'' (which, in the original Japanese versions of both games, was written as マディーン, or "madīn"). Incidentally, the slightly-nonsensical name of its attack, "Terra Homing," was also intended to be "Terraforming."

*''Rufus Welcoming Ceremony'' - During an ATE in the Evil Forest, the player can see the band aboard the theater ship playing a "Millennium Version" of "Rufus's Welcoming Ceremony" song from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''.

*At the end of the game, it shows text saying "''No [[Cloud Strife|cloud]] or [[Squall Leonhart|squall]] shall hinder us''", referring to the protagonists of the previous two games.

*The game's title as seen on the title screen, with the metal globe containing a crystal, is reminiscent of the title for the ''Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals'' OVA.

*The victory fanfare also reverted to its classic form, but with an interesting change; listen closely and you'll hear the fanfare that played during the acquisition of key items and various other events in the first few games.

*The story of Josef, the monk from ''Final Fantasy II'', is told by Ramuh before obtaining this Eidolon.