Nero family

The Nero Family, consists of ten members seen in Final Fantasy IX. The two featured most prominently are Zenero and Benero, often known as the Nero Brothers, who are members of the Tantalus Theater Troupe. The other members of the clan are Genero, Denero, Penero, Benera, Zenera, Genera, Denera and Penera. The family members whose names end with -ra are male, and the ones whose name ends with -ra are female. The females always end their dialogue with a heart symbol. Penera appears to be a the youngest as she is much smaller then the others.

Nero family members are humanoids, and look like hooded pigs with a twin set of claws. Zenero and Benero appear as comic relief, often having an exclamation mark at the end of their sentences, and the use of a characteristic movement whenever they talk. They reunite with their brother Genero in Alexandria when he is done with his training.

Zenero and Benero first appear in the play I Want to be Your Canary in the second boss fight with King Leo. They are next seen when Baku is preparing the Prima Vista for flight. When the ship crashes into the Evil Forest they help the other crew mates. Zenero and Benero keep Steiner locked up in a room and instruct him to drink medicine to recover from a monster attack.

In Japanese the female members of the Nero family had their name end in "ko", as is common with female Japanese names. In Japanese the female Nero family members end their sentences by always adding an extra "yo" at the end, but in the English version it was made it into a heart symbol. In the Italian version of the game the three are called Piddu (Genero), Poddu (Benero) and Puddu (Zenero), and they speak with a strong Sardinian accent.

Gambling Minigame
The Nero Brothers host a gambling minigame at the start of disc 3 in Alexandria's weapon shop. The minigame is only available when the player controls Zidane. The mini-game is basically a shell game: The three brothers will shuffle their positions and ask the player to identify one of them. After a correct answer the player is given a choice to continue or stop and receive a reward. After a wrong answer the player loses the money they paid for the game. The only reward is gil, and the prize sum rises all the way up to 25,600.

The player can use the start button to pause the game during the shuffle to make it easier.

Lost Family Sidequest
During Disc 4, a new sidequest becomes accessible where Zidane must repeatedly visit the Tantalus hideout in Lindblum's Theater District and talk to the various Nero family members. Starting with Benero and Zenero, a member of the Nero family will appear, saying that the others are missing, then go and look for them. Each time Zidane returns to the hideout after a major event or battle in Memoria, a new member will be there, saying all the previous members are missing. This can be done repeatedly until Deathguise is defeated - the last major event that will trigger a new scene at the hideout. After the scene with Penera, the final Nero family member, Zidane will comment on the huge family, and a treasure chest will appear inside the hideout with a Protect Ring inside.

The sidequest can be moved forward with every major event and battle in Memoria, and there are more Memoria events than necessary to perform the entire quest. This means that the player can still complete the quest even if they do not go back to the hideout after every event. If the player completes the sidequest and continues to trigger more events in Memoria, the sidequest will seemingly start over again, but it cannot be completed again since there are not enough events to do so. Whether this was intended or a glitch is unknown.

The Nero family members as they appear are:

Benero and Zenero > Genero > Denero > Penero > Benera > Zenera > Genera > Denera > Penera.

The events in Memoria that move the sidequest forward are:


 * 1. The beginning of Disc 4.
 * 2. The battle with Nova Dragon.
 * 3. The battle with Maliris.
 * 4. The flashback of Alexander.
 * 5. The scene where Zidane talks to himself.
 * 6. The flashback of Dagger on the boat.
 * 7. The scene with the giant eye in the sky.
 * 8. The battle with Tiamat.
 * 9. The scene with the two planets colliding.
 * 10. The scene where Quina thinks he/she is drowning.
 * 11. The scene where Garland talks about memories.
 * 12. The battle with Kraken.
 * 13. The scene about Gaia's birth.
 * 14. The battle with Lich.
 * 15. The scene where Garland talks about the beginning and the Crystal.
 * 16. The scene where the party enters the Crystal World.
 * 17. The battle with Deathguise.

Battle
Benero and Zenero are fought with Baku's character, King Leo, during the play.

Gallery
Hermanos Naro