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Thread: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

  1. #1
    Tezcat Dan's Avatar
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    The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    Well, i saw the story threads for some of the other games but there was nothing on 9 so i thought i'd give it a go. It's not perfect and i omitted a few things but it's mainly there. This is obviously one giant spoiler so if you don't want to know the events of the game, then just don't read it.

    Final Fantasy IX is set between two worlds known as Gaia and the much older Terra.

    ~The Past~

    A disasterous event wiped out most of the life on the planet Terra. The inhabitants, as a result, stored their souls in a suspended state so that they could one day return and restore their way of life. A genome (vessels for the souls of Terrans) by the name of Garland was placed in control of guarding the other Terrans and guiding them to assimilation of another planet which they could make their own. As Terra was nearing the maximum population it could manage the planet known as Gaia was born, so the Terrans chose Gaia to become their new home and left Galand in control of making it happen.

    1st attack
    Garland attempted to take the planet Gaia by force but failed setting him back by around 5000 years when to the point where Gaia would reach its civilizational peak.

    2nd wave
    Gaia had reached its peak and was able to summon immensely powerful beings, known as Eidolons, as weapons. Garland was afraid of the power the Eidolons, and therefore Gaia, possessed, so attempted to wipe them out along with the summoners. He was close to a victory but two summoners, known as Eiko Carol and Garnet, survived the attack, along with 12 eidolons. Garland then opted for a different tactic to aid Terra's assimilation of Gaia. He created a tree known as the Iifa tree to act as a filter for the souls of the Gaians. The souls of the dead were drawn to the tree and intercepted by a monster called SoulCage who halted the flow of souls in Gaia, stopping ressurection and birth of souls in an attempt to end all life on Gaia. A mist was created because of this soul interception and spread out over a continent of Gaia known as the Mist Continent. This mist was the souls of the people of Gaia, who uppon being denied entry to the cycle of life were forced to stagnate accross the land. These souls became tortured and distressed leading to the creation of monsters. To aid in his plan Garland created a genome, not unlike himself, who he gave a strong will to. This genome became known as Kuja and his purpose was to aid the process of the Iifa Tree's soul dividing. Kuja was not seen as a long term resolution as Garland went on to create another genome, to be called Zidane, as a replacement. This did not sit well with Kuja who kidnapped Zidane and left him alone on Gaia where he was to grow up with no memory of Terra. With Zidane lost, Garland then went on to make a third genome, Mikoto, to one day take the place of Zidane.

    ~The present~

    Characters and their situations

    Zidane Tribal - A member of the thief/theatre group known as Tantalus, Zidane travels to Alexandria on a mission to capture Alexandria's princess Garnet. The mission is issued by Regent Cid of Lindblum, the kingdom where Zidane was raised by the leader of Tantalus, Baku. Zidane is a genome created by Garland but does not remember this.


    Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII - A summoner from the village Madain Sari. Garnet, original name Sarah, was forced to leave her home at as a baby and therefore has no real memories of her summoner life. Sarah washes up on the shore of Alexandria where she is found by a doctor called Tot. As she looked almost identical to the real Garnet, who had died recently, the King of Alexandria ordered for her summoner horn to be removed and for her to grow up as the princess with Queen Brahne as her mother. As her mother became more twisted Garnet sought to leave Alexandria and was granted her wish as Tantalus arrived to kidnap her.


    Adelbert Steiner - The head of the Knights of Pluto, the protectors of the queen and princess, a hapless soldier who is in love with his rival General Beatrix. When Tantalus arrive in Alexandria to kidnap Garnet Steiner boards their ship in an attempt to rescue the princess.


    Vivi Orunitia - A black mage created by Kuja, Vivi escaped the grasp of Kuja and was raised by a Qu named Quan. Eventually Quan died leaving Vivi alone. Vivi makes his way to Alexandria via the town of Treno. Vivi gets caught up in the kidnapping and ends up upon Tantalus' ship as it leaves Alexandria.


    ~Start of the game~

    Alexandria
    Tantalus are successful in their plan to kidnap the princess by using the play "I Want To Be Your Canary" as a diversion, but in the process take major damage to their ship, The Prima Vista, through attacks by the crazed Queen Brahne and her troops. The party have to crash land in a nearby evil forest. Garnet gets captured by a monster so the three guys rescue her and escape the forest. In the process Blank, a member of Tantalus, gets caught as the forest petrifies. Upon leaving the forest the group find that their route leads through the Ice Cavern to finally reach the vilage of Dali. In the Ice Cavern they are attacked by a Black Waltz, a black mage created by Kuja to capture the Princess and return her to Alexandria.

    Dali
    In Dali the team uncover that Black Mage soldiers are being mass produced as an army for Queen Brahne, so they take control of a supply ship in an attempt to flee to Lindblum. Vivi worries that he is like these mysterious soldiers and is kidnapped by locals as a suspected escaped mage. Garnet decides that if she is to escape notice then she needs to act less regal and adopts the pseudonym "Dagger" after one of Zidane's weapons. Whilst escaping the team come up against the second and third Black Waltzes. In the battle with the third, they fly the cargo ship through the South Gate through the Aerb's Mountains between Alexandria and Lindblum. The gate closes behind the ship, causing the Waltz to crash and damage the gate.

    Lindblum, Burmecia
    In Lindblum they are made aware of the troubles in Alexandria and the questions arising about the queen's recent evil activities. Zidane bumps into a rat-woman from Burmecia, called Freya from his past. They, along with Vivi participate in an event known as The Festival Of The Hunt, a competition to find the best hunter in the kingdom. Reports reach the team of an attack on Burmecia by an army of Black Mages. Garnet and Zidane are told to stay in Lindblum as a precaution but this doesnt sit well with the princess who at the first chance escapes with Steiner to head back to Alexandria in an attempt to question her mother. Upon realising the dissapearance of Garnet and Steiner the group decide to follow her and on their way meet up with another new companion, Quina Quen, a Qu from Qu's Marsh. The team make it to Burmecia in time to help battle off the attacks from Queen Brahne, Beatrix and Kuja. They overhear that the king of Burmecia has fled to nearby Cleyra and are drawn into battle with Beatrix who defeats the team leaving them for dead as she, the queen and Kuja head for Cleyra.

    South Gate and Treno
    Dagger and Steiner make their way back to the South Gate in an attempt to get back to Alexandria. The gate is in need of repair so Steiner poses as a worker to get through to the other side. At the top they meet up with Cinna and Marcus, members of Tantalus who are trying to get hold of some Supersoft to unpetrify Blank. Cinna misses the coach and the newly formed trio of Dagger, Steiner and Marcus face off again with Black Waltz 3 but overcome it to reach the city of Treno. Treno, a city of perma-dusk, is home to many nobles and an auction house. Marcus has the plan to steal some Supersoft from the home of a noble whilst Steiner and Dagger are looking for a route back to Alexandria so that Dagger can confront her mother. Both of these lead to Dr. Tot, Dagger's old tutor who offers up some Supersoft to Marcus and tells the trio of an underground passageway between Treno and Alexandria called Gargan Roo. They travel via the gargant and reach Alexandria where they are immediately captured and locked up. Dagger is taken by Brahne's jesters, Zorn and Thorn, to a room with the queen and Kuja in which Dagger is put under a spell enabling Kuja to extract her eidolons.

    Cleyra
    Upon regaining conciousness the group head directly for Cleyra, a town protected by a sandstorm. Freya reconciles with the Burmecian king however the spell protecting the town breaks and leads to an assualt from the Alexandrians. The team weather the attack, until queen Brahne arrives and summons the eidolon Odin, recently extracted from Dagger, which destroys the town and the citizens. Zidane et al escape by teleporting aboard an Alexandrian ship. On the ship, The Red Rose, the team overhear Beatrix questioning her queen and about stealing Dagger's summoning ability and her plan to execute the princess who is captive in Alexandria.

    Back in Alexandria
    The group recover Garnet, who regaoms her summoning power, and escape through undergound tunnels and emerge in time to see Queen Brahne destroy Linblum with the eidolon Atomos.
    The team sneak into the destroyed Linblum to find its ruler, Cid, to discuss options and decide on the task of tracking down Kuja to stop him. To do this they have to leave the Mist Continent via a tunnel known as Fossil Roo to cross into the Outer Continent.

    Outer Continent - Madain Sari, Iifa Tree
    The party traverse to the Outer Continent and meet a young girl called Eiko Carol who reveals that she is a summoner. The group head to her village of Madain Sari to discover more about summoners and the eidolons. The new team head to the Iifa Tree in search of Kuja to try and stop him before he and the queen destroy more of the world. The team end the SoulCage's interception of souls, ending the flow of mist to the surface, then to find Kuja and Brahne battling. Brahne summons Bahamut but Kuja uses him against her, killing her and her fleet.

    Alexandria, again
    Garnet returns to Alexandria where she becomes the new queen but the celebrations are short lived as Kuja returns attacking Alexandria with Bahamut. Garnet and Eiko join forces to summon the great Alexander who defeats Bahamut.
    Enter Garland upon his ship the Invincible, which destroys Alexander and most of Alexandria. Garland tells Kuja that he is disappointed in him, and tries to kill him, but is unsuccesful. Kuja, now angry, kidnaps Eiko and attempts to steal her eidolons but is stopped by Eiko's companion Mog who transforms in to the eidolon Madeen through a trance state(the limit break of FFIX). Kuja decides that obtaining this trance power is his next goal to help destroy Zidane and the rest of the world.
    These events cause Garnet to enter a shock state where she loses her ability to speak through the guilt of not being able to protect her home and her people.

    Lindblum
    Zidane awakens in Lindblum and gathers the troops to go after Kuja again. Garnet regains her speech as she vows to protect everyone. Zidane then discovers the truth about Terra's existence and travels to the Shimmering Island just off the south coast of the Lost Continent, which acts as a portal between the two worlds.

    Terra
    The team travel to Terra in search of Kuja and encounter Mikoto (the third genome created by Garland) who leads them to the Castle Pandemonium, the mainstay of Terra. In the castle lives Garland, who explains Zidane's reason for existing, causing Zidane some distress as he tries to come to terms with being created to destroy Gaia. Zidane and friends then attack Garland and beat him near to death, just for Kuja to arrive and kill off Garland by kicking him off a ledge. The voice of Garland speaks to Kuja and tells him how he was created to last only until Zidane was old enough to take over his role. This drives Kuja insane, and leads to him destroying Terra. He flies back to Gaia in order to open the gate to Memoria and destroy the crystal that governs all life. Zidane and the others escape the events on Terra travelling aboard the Invincible to get back to Gaia.

    Gaia
    The team catch up with Kuja and battle ensues. They battle bravely only to be wiped out with Ultima which Kuja casts after achieving his trance. This takes a lot out of Kuja and leaves him dying. He sends the souls of the team to Necron, who is death himself, to battle him for their lives. The team wins, earning their lives, and return in the decaying Iifa tree with a dying Kuja nearby. The Iifa tree collapses as the team escapes certain death, except for Zidane who throws himself back towards Kuja in an attempt to rescue him. The two escape just in time and Kuja apologizes with his dying breath.


    ~The future~

    The whole team believes that Zidane died in the collapse of the Iifa Tree and so try to move on with their lives. Garnet returns to Alexandria to rebuild and rule as its queen.
    A year after the events at the Iifa Tree, Tantalus return to Alexandria to perform the play "I Want To Be Your Canary" in honor of the queen.
    During the performance one of the characters takes off his mask to reveal his identity as Zidane. Everyone cheers and Zidane and Garnet embrace as the game comes to a close.


    Hope you enjoyed (or managed to finish) reading this.
    Last edited by Dan; 02-21-2013 at 10:41 AM.



    Spoiler: PSN 

  2. #2
    Khiraxi KoFF's Avatar
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    Re: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    Hmm, it was a nice read, without a doubt. I enjoyed it, even being very tired. Also, it's good to finally see one of these threads for FFIX. However, I have to be honest, even though you did say yourself it wasn't perfect and you didn't specify everything, there was a lot that in MY opinion wasn't included. Also, there were a few things that were wrong, a few things that imo NEEDED to be specified more. There were also things that got a bit mixed up timeframe-wise... And then there were a few things that actually aren't fact but still just one of many theories (many were good though, no doubt).

    To me, this seemed more like a medium-sized summary of the story because of the length and other things I mentioned. I didn't feel FULLY satisfied... But not because it was a bad thread. Like I said, I liked reading it and you got most of it right (and made the thread interesting with the text-forms and pictures etc)... But this is really a big mouthful. What I mean is, imo, when someone decides to go and make these rare threads, they really have to be perfect. By perfect I actually don't literally mean perfect but what's stated needs to be the actual facts and story... I mean, all of it. God, I swear I mean his better than it sounds ><.

    A good thing is that the thread at least isn't doomed, because there's a thing such as version-upgrades if you want, lol.

    But all in all... If you just want the pure basics of the story without details mattering all that much, it's still great.

    Despite everything I said that may have sounded bad, this was one of the best reads I've had for a long time. And finally some quality posts on the boards again >>. Also, I'm grateful that there's some more spotlight on FFIX. It needs it. Good job.



    ~And in the Hand was clutched a Crystal~

  3. #3
    Tezcat Dan's Avatar
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    Re: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    Thank you, i thought IX needed something more said about it.

    I'm not saying i doubt your knowledge (because that'd be foolish :p) but which bits were wrong? just so i know and can make it better.
    I know i missed out Amarant all together and didn't really say anything about Freya or Quina, just because i didn't see them as important to the main flow of the story.
    I did only spend an just over an hour on it so i know there was more i could've written and probably should've written, but it's a start



    Spoiler: PSN 

  4. #4
    OMG GET A CUSTOM ALREADY! Kazei's Avatar
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    Re: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    Nice.

    I enjoyed reading it immensely, it's even got me nostalgic, lol!

    It's not perfect, but you more or less captured the main story elements, well done!

  5. #5
    Khiraxi KoFF's Avatar
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    Re: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    QuoteOriginally Posted by Tezcat View Post
    Thank you, i thought IX needed something more said about it.

    I'm not saying i doubt your knowledge (because that'd be foolish :p) but which bits were wrong? just so i know and can make it better.
    I know i missed out Amarant all together and didn't really say anything about Freya or Quina, just because i didn't see them as important to the main flow of the story.
    I did only spend an just over an hour on it so i know there was more i could've written and probably should've written, but it's a start
    Well although I probably should have mentioned specific things yesterday, I was too tired... And now I don't wanna have to read it all through again to find out x_x. I don't remember what I saw that I found to be wrong. Most was probably those theory bits that aren't facts, but I do seem to recall something about the time-frame with Garnet losing her voice and regaining it. Could be me who's messing some things up... But I think most of it had to do with the missing story-bits that tie some things together, like Kuja's Desert Palace.

    You know, I would love to say more things, but I feel bad doing so because I don't wanna proclaim something and then be wrong about it when I just put that on on someone else o_O. Thing is, FFIX is the FF it's been the longest since I played. Some years... And even having played it many times, I don't wanna compete with someone who may just have played it recently for instance. I wish to play the game again so much but I can't seem to get time with all the other damn FF games SE puts out there nowadays ><... But I've been planning on perhaps putting them on pause sometime to give me the pleasure of finally playing my first FF again <3.

    So this is why I talk about the time-frames and the missing story-bits, but it's because I can't fully remember the order every place and event happens in... By "fully" I mean that I will not proclaim to be right although I do believe I can remember most things just fine...

    So seeing as how I just said all this, just consider my last post stupid. I'm still certain of a few things, but I do not wish to rant about stuff like this when I myself feel I need to replay it one more time to get everything straight once and for all.

    Anyway, dunno if it's me remembering wrong or if it's a plothole of FFIX (IMPOSSIBLE!!!), but you said that Zidane was abducted by Kuja in the past and taken to Gaia because he was to succeed Kuja... But when Garland tells Kuja in Terra, he goes nuts as if it's the first time he hears it? I really need to play the game again xx... Sorry =(.



    ~And in the Hand was clutched a Crystal~

  6. #6
    Tezcat Dan's Avatar
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    Re: The Abridged Story of Final Fantasy IX

    lol, i understand your point.
    with regards to the last bit, it was just something i'd been told, and included as it seemed to make sense.
    writing this has persuaded me to go pick it up again. i've not played it in a good few years so i feel i need to again to clarify a few bits =p



    Spoiler: PSN 

  7. #7
    Tezcat Dan's Avatar
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    I'm totally going to redo this at some point but I've changed it a bit to add in South Gate and Treno, which for some reason I'd ommited.



    Spoiler: PSN 

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