Freya Crescent

Freya Crescent is a playable character from Final Fantasy IX. She is Burmecian, a race of anthropomorphic rats who live in two cities, Burmecia and Cleyra. She hails from Burmecia, but left several years prior to the game in search of her lost love, Sir Fratley. Zidane meets her in Lindblum just before the Festival of the Hunt.

Appearance and Personality
Freya appears in-game wearing a red hat with decorative metallic wings, which, combined with her white hair, obscures much of her face and her green eyes. She also wears a long red coat with a long split up the back, buckles on the upper arms, roping around the sleeves, a large escutcheon bearing the Burmecian coat of arms on her torso, a pale blue cravat, knee-length orange trousers, a pair of tanned leather gaiters, and a small orange ribbon tied to her tail. During Trance, Freya's clothing is replaced with full platemail armor, complete with a pair of gauntlets and greaves that covers her hands and legs respectively. In this stage her hat is also replaced with a knight's helmet that covers all but the back of her head.

Freya is a skilled and powerful warrior with a sharp mind, but her longing for her lost love burdens her throughout the story. Despite this, she is humble and friendly, as seen when she speaks to Eiko or Vivi. She can also joke around with Zidane, saying she will "kick his butt" in the pub in Lindblum because he's flirting with girls. As a knight, she can put aside her doubts and join forces with others when it becomes necessary, even teaming up with her enemy Beatrix at one point.

Festival of the Hunt
Freya is Zidane's old friend whom she has met on several occasions on her quest to find her lost love. While in Lindblum, Zidane meets her in a pub, teasing her by pretending to not remember her name. They discuss the Festival of the Hunt, which Freya plans to partake in and invites Zidane to follow suit. During the Festival, Freya is one of the top performers, and if she wins the hunt, the party will receive a Coral Ring as reward. When Zidane encounters the Zaghnol during the Hunt, he persuades Freya to let him land the killing blow so that he may win the Hunt, and a date with Princess Garnet.

Defending Her Homeland
After the festivities, a Burmecian soldier enters Regent Cid's throne room telling of a black mage attack on Burmecia. He asks Cid for reinforcements before dying. Freya brings Zidane and Vivi along to Burmecia to help, parting ways with Garnet and Steiner, who depart for Alexandria. Along the way to Gizamaluke's Grotto, they have the opportunity of recruiting Quina Quen to their cause.

The party passes through Gizamaluke's Grotto to Burmecia, which they find in ruins. Kneeling for a moment to honor the dead, Freya remarks how she has not visited her hometown for five years. They reach the Burmecian Palace and find several fleeing Burmecians who plead with Freya to escape with them to Cleyra. She refuses, and scales a large statue with Zidane and Vivi to spy on Queen Brahne, General Beatrix, and Kuja, who are standing in the middle of the coliseum-like apex discussing their next plan.

Freya has a brief flashback of Sir Fratley, her estranged love. She is rent from her reverie when a Burmecian soldier attempts to challenge Beatrix, prompting Zidane's party to intervene. They are defeated by the Alexandrian general, who leaves with Brahne and Kuja. The party decides to travel to Cleyra to meet with the King of Burmecia and other refugees.

In Cleyra, Freya participates in a ritual dance to strengthen Cleyra's sandstorm. During the dance, the strings of the sacred harp used in the ritual shatter, and the sandstorm wanes, giving the Alexandrian forces the opportunity to march up the giant tree's trunk. Freya and her group attempt to hold off the invaders, but are driven back to the cathedral. A Dragon Knight appears at the cathedral's spire, destroying a trio of black mages and allowing Freya and her friends to take refuge inside.

Failed Reunion
The mysterious Dragon Knight is Sir Fratley. Freya pours out her emotions to him, but Fratley does not remember her. Fratley has amnesia, and has no memory of his identity, nor recognition of his former friends. Fratley vacates Cleyra and Beatrix appears and takes the High Priest hostage. She takes the jewel atop the harp and flees, escaping through the black mages' telepods. The party (with the exception of Quina) follows suit, appearing on the Red Rose. Queen Brahne summons Odin obliterating the city of Cleyra.

Return to Alexandria
Freya declares revenge on Brahne and they witness Beatrix questioning the queen's motives. Back in Alexandria Castle, when Beatrix has a change of heart and sees the cruelty behind Brahne's crusade, Freya joins her in resisting a pack of monsters summoned by Zorn and Thorn. Steiner comes to their aid, and the three stand strong as Zidane, Vivi, and Garnet flee to Gargan Roo.

Freya is met again in Alexandria when Zidane returns from the Outer Continent. She and Amarant duel, and develop a respect for each other. Freya coaxes Amarant out of his silence and gets him to tell of his history with Zidane in Treno.

Freya plays a supporting role throughout the rest of the story, leading the party in the Desert Palace if Eiko, Steiner, and Vivi are not present, and traveling with Amarant to the Fire Shrine where she does battle with the Fire Guardian for the Fire Mirror. Freya, along with the rest of the group, journeys to Terra, where she helps Zidane defeat Amdusias and helps Zidane recover from the anguish of discovering the true nature of his origin.

After Kuja and Necron have been defeated and the Iifa Tree has collapsed Freya helps rebuild Burmecia with Sir Fratley, who, despite his amnesia, has grown closer to Freya. The two attempt to rekindle their romance from years past, though she does remark about Fratley not remembering anything about their past romance. When Tantalus Theater Troupe once again comes to Alexandria to perform I Want to Be Your Canary, Freya attends the event and applauds Zidane's return to Alexandria.

In Battle
Freya's job class is a Dragon Knight, and she uses abilities typical to that job class. She has high physical stats and low magic stats. When she first joins the party, she is in the back row by default. Freya specializes in killing dragon-type enemies.

Equipment
Freya can equip spears and heavy armor. Her ultimate weapon is found in a hidden chocobo treasure on the Forgotten Continent.

Support Abilities
Freya is a melee fighter and learns all Killer abilities and Counter. Her unique abilities are High Jump and Dragon Killer. She is the only character to learn both HP+ and MP+ abilities.

Jump
Jump enables Freya to leap into the air momentarily exiting the battlefield and delivering a blow on enemies after descending to the ground. When Freya Trances, she stays in the air longer and attacks all enemies by throwing a number of spears several times until her Trance bar empties, or until the battle is won. She can equip the High Jump ability doubling the power of her Jump. Jump ignores Freya's row, which is why she is placed in the back row by default.

The damage formula for Jump is as follows:
 * $$ Base = Atk Pwr - Target's Defense$$
 * $$Bonus = 3 ... [(Lv + Str) / 8] + Str - 1$$
 * $$Damage = Base * [Bonus + 50 percent]$$
 * If High Jump is equipped = Base * (Bonus * 2)

Dragon
Freya's Dragon skills offer a range of attack, healing, and status-changing effects, making Freya a versatile character, although her low MP pool limits the use of these skills. This can be counteracted once she learns the White Draw command. Freya's Dragon's Crest ability powers up the more dragons the party has felled, potentially making it one of the most useful attacks in the game as it ignores target's defense.

Musical Themes
"Freya's Theme" is named for herself, and it is used as the background music for Gizamaluke's Grotto and is also integrated into "Unforgettable Silhouette", played during scenes involving Sir Fratley, and its background beat is used at a slower pace as "Kingdom of Burmecia", the city's theme. It has a fast beat and a slow, somber melody.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Freya appears in Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Freya is an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.

Final Fantasy Artniks
Freya appears in Final Fantasy Artniks.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Freya appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and is represented in two Thunder-elemental cards. She is depicted in both her Final Fantasy IX render and Yoshitaka Amano artwork.

Etymology
Freya was named after a Goddess from Norse Paganism, a subset of Germanic Paganism,. Freya comes from Germanic words meaning "lord" and/or "lady". It is also a Scandinavian name.

She is called Freija in the Spanish and Italian versions, Freyja in the French version, and Freia in the German version.

Trivia

 * Not counting characters who can change job classes, Freya is the first playable female Dragoon in the series, with only two others taking this role after her: Oerba Yun Fang from Final Fantasy XIII and Barbara from Final Fantasy Dimensions.
 * Freya bears the same surname as Lucrecia Crescent from Final Fantasy VII.
 * Freya only appears in two FMVs - at the end of Disc 1 when defeated by Beatrix, and at the end of the game.
 * Freya is the only playable character in Final Fantasy IX who is left-handed. This is possibly an allusion to fellow Dragoon Kain Highwind, who is also left-handed.
 * There are two conflicting sources regarding the time lapse since Freya's departure from Burmecia - five years, before the party enters Burmecia, and three years, at the cathedral in Cleyra.