Kuja



Kuja is the antagonist of Final Fantasy IX. He operates for two-thirds of the game from behind the scenes.

Story
Kuja is a Genome created by Garland. Garland gave Kuja a soul, making Kuja unable to accept that he was like the other soulless Genomes, and so he hides his tail under his clothes, trying to conceal his real identity. Though initially deeming him to be unfit for the purposes of being a vessel for Terran souls like the other Genomes, Garland decided to use him to foster war on Gaia, which would induce heavy death tolls and send Gaian souls to the Iifa Tree, where they will be removed from the cycle of judgement and be replaced by Terran souls.

While Garland never told him, Kuja was only a temporary Angel of Death, meant to kill people on Gaia until Garland could perfect the true Angel of Death. Garland eventually made the perfect Genome, Zidane. However, Kuja felt threatened by this new Genome, and so he kidnapped him and left him in Gaia, thus disrupting Garland's plans. Garland, having lost his latest creation, had to keep using Kuja as his Angel of Death until he could make another one.

While Garland was busy in Terra, Kuja served as a weapons supplier to Queen Brahne, so that she may wage war with Burmecia and Lindblum, thus killing even more people and ridding Gaia of more souls. These weapons that Kuja gives Brahne are the Black Mages, soulless golems that use powerful magic to destroy the other kingdoms. Kuja also has two servants, named Zorn and Thorn, who lead the Black Mages and carry out his orders. They served as Brahne's court jesters early on in the game.

On Gaia, Kuja was fulfilling his purpose, but he was also secretly plotting against Garland, hoping to overthrow him, and become the master of his own destiny. In order to acquire a power greater than Garland's, Kuja set his sights on the Eidolons of Gaia, and went after the Eidolon Alexander, hoping to enslave it with the Terran airship Invincible. However, Garland arrives, and tells Kuja that he was fully aware of Kuja's intentions, and tries to kill Kuja, but was unsuccessful. This angers Kuja further, and prompts him to kidnap Eiko, hoping to extract the Eidolons within her. However, when Mog transformed into Eidolon Madeen to defend Eiko, Kuja realises the power of Trance, and finally sees the way to acquire ultimate power.

When the party arrives on Terra, Kuja followed. After the party defeats Garland, Kuja attacks, but is easily defeated. Using the souls stored in the Invincible, Kuja is able to force himself into a Trance, and crushes the party with Ultima. He then proceeds to finish off Garland. As he taunts the defeated Zidane, Garland's spirit speaks to Kuja, telling him that he is not immortal like he believed, that he was created to last only until the real Angel of Death, Zidane, reached maturity. Unable to accept it, Kuja goes insane, destroying all of Terra. He then flies off, back to Gaia, where he opens the gate to Memoria. Here, he manages to reach the source of all life, the Crystal, which he hopes to destroy in order to kill all life.

Zidane's party catch up to him and defeat him in battle, so he uses Ultima to kill the party. This sends the souls of Zidane & co. to Necron, who the party must also defeat.

After Necron's defeat, Kuja uses the last of his powers to revive Zidane & co. outside the Iifa Tree. Zidane decides to stay behind to rescue Kuja, and he barely makes it as the Iifa Tree collapses. With his dying breath, Kuja tells Zidane that he's sorry for all that he did, but Zidane understood why he did it. Mikoto (whom Garland entrusted with a soul 2 years prior to the game) tells Kuja in spirit how he taught the Genomes and had given them hope for the future.

Battle
Kuja is fought as a boss at Castle Pandemonium.

Dissidia -Final Fantasy-
Kuja will be returning for Dissidia -Final Fantasy- as a playable character. His rivalry with Zidane is still alive and well. He is seen dueling Zidane in the Crystal World and utilizing his Trance form and his notorious Ultima spell. He is to be voiced by Akira Ishida, who previously lent his voice to Makenshi of Final Fantasy Unlimited.