Final Fantasy IX timeline

The timeline for the various events in the game of Final Fantasy IX.

About The Timeline
It is generally considered that the in-game events of Final Fantasy IX take place during the year 1800, and is mentioned that Gaia is only 6000 years old, making it a young planet, especially compared with Terra, which attempted to assimilate it a 1000 years after Gaia's formation. This is a timeline of the events leading up to the main story, which adds insight to the plot, as well as the various characters, although many dates are noted in small points in the game. The date system for Final Fantasy IX is the same as the Gregorian calendar, with 365 days and 12 months in each year, and it is considered that year 0 was when SoulCage was brought to the Iifa Tree by Garland. The dates on this chronology are largely taken from the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania

6000 years before the game
The planet of Gaia is born. Civilizations develop on its surface during the next 1000 years.

5000 years before the game
Terra attempts to assimilate the young planet of Gaia, but Gaia's crystal rejected the Fusion with disastrous results. Gaia's surface was left in ruin and its civilisations were wiped out. Terra itself ended up warping inside the planet of Gaia, and only its red moon remained and moved on Gaia's orbit, giving the planet two moons. Many Terran locations also ended up shifting on the planet of Gaia, such as the Desert Palace, Mount Gulug, Ipsen's Castle and Oeilvert. Shimmering Island formed as a gateway between the two worlds.

After the disaster, the Terrans contained their souls in Pandemonium and left Garland with the task of finishing the Fusion. Garland moved Terra's magical tree Iifa to Gaia, to oversee the planet's recovery, though it would take thousands of years for Gaia to recover from the failed Fusion attempt.

3000 years before the game
Garland begins to construct Genomes to serve as vessels for the sleeping Terran souls once the Fusion would be complete.

Year 0 (1800 years before the game)
Gaia's environment is recovering and the Shimmering Island begins to shine, marking the beginning of Gaia's modern civilization. The calendar begins.

Around year 1200
Garland creates the soul divider, the SoulCage, to the Iifa Tree's base to stop the Gaian souls from returning to their crystal, and replacing them with Terran elements instead. The Iifa Tree's roots that circle around the entire planet beneath its surface begin to expel the rejected souls on the Mist Continent, process that manifests as mist, thus giving the continent the name it's known by the time of the game. Monsters begin appearing and the mist has a hardening effect on the civilisation that, by that time, had taken root on the Mist Continent. The population succumbs into warfare and the ruling kingdoms collapse in continuous wars. The new kingdom of Alexandria is built above the mist.

Around year 1300
The Eidolon Alexander is summoned for the first time in Alexandria, but the summoning experiment goes wrong and the summoners are unable to control it. Being deemed too dangerous, Alexander is extracted from its summoner and its gemstone is split into four crystals. One crystal piece is given to each of the the three ruling kingdoms of the Mist Continent, Burmecia, Lindblum and Alexandria. The last piece is kept by the summoners who migrate to the Outer Continent, where they construct a new village in the location the planet's pulse concentrates to continue their Eidolon research in peace. A civil war breaks out in Burmecia over who should be in control of the crystal and the piece in question is taken by a group of fundamentalists, who separate themselves from the city of eternal rain and set up their own nation in the Vube Desert called Cleyra. With the summoners gone, the tales of Eidolons fade into legend and the kingdoms, while still retaining the crystal fragments as treasured heirlooms, no longer remember the crystals' true origin.

Year 1389
The Ninth Lindblum War takes place. General Magdalene of Alexandria and nine soldiers take on the entire Lindblum army and win. Cid's ancestor, Cid Fabool I, becomes the regent of Lindblum after winning the Festival of the Hunt and attaining the Master Hunter Award. Cleyra and Burmecia sever all ties to each other, and Cleyra's sandstorm comes into existence via use of the gem fragment.

1401
General Magdalene dies at the tender age of 25. She is later immortalised in a statue near the main gate of Alexandria.

1601
The 15th Lindblum War breaks out between Lindblum and Alexandria. The cause and winner are unknown.

Around 1700
The age of civil war. Cleyra severs ties with the outside world and is permanently isolated behind its sandstorm.

1710
Zorn and Thorn are born in July. Quina Quen is born. Throughout the game, it is never stated how old Quina is, so this is merely an estimate.

August, 1740
Doctor Tot is born.

May, 1755
Baku is born.

1756
Cid Fabool VIII becomes the Regent of Lindblum. Cid VIII is later known to have created the first mist-powered airship.

October, 1760
Queen Brahne is born.

1762
Lindblum begins constructing and using airships that fly on mist.

1764
Cid Fabool is born. He would go on to be crowned Regent Cid IX of Lindblum.

March, 1766
Adelbert Steiner is born.

1770
Lindblum's regent intervenes in the conflict between Alexandria and Burmecia with their airship fleet.

1771
The conflict is resolved peacefully.

1772
Beatrix is born in April. Lindblum and Alexandria begin diplomatic relations. The wars that have been plaguing the continent for hundreds of years cease due to Lindblum's air power.

November, 1773
Amarant Coral is born.

1776
Garland is frustrated over the fact that the wars on Mist Continent have ceased which slows the pace Gaian souls attempt to return to their crystal. He decides to create a Genome with a mind of its own to send to Gaia to insinuate war, and creates Kuja. Garland, however, considers Kuja a failed project, as he never has the chance to develop complex human feelings, making him difficult to manipulate to suit Garland's ends, and unable to enter Trance. Garland places a limit on Kuja's life and decides to get some use out of him while he would wait for his second Genome creation to grow into adulthood. Garland has now realised that in order for his creation to develop emotions he needs a being who starts its life as a child. Kuja becomes Garland's "Angel of Death" and is sent to Gaia, never learning of his status as a "failure" or of his limited lifespan.

July, 1778
Freya Crescent is born.

1780
Cid Fabool VIII collapses from illness; power passes to his son, Cid Fabool IX.

September, 1783
Garland creates Zidane Tribal and gives him the body of a young child, which allows Zidane to grow more "naturally" and become stronger than Kuja through time. Kuja is jealous of his little "brother" and begins to plot his demise. Cid Fabool IX begins the development of an airship engine that doesn't utilize mist.

January 15, 1784
A girl named Sarah is born in Madain Sari to her mother Jane and her unnamed father.

1786
Cid marries Hilda.

1787
After several years of plotting and planning, Kuja kidnaps Zidane and deposits him on Gaia. Kuja began to wander about, forcing his replacement to interact with humans. Zidane is taken into the care of Baku, leader of Tantalus Theater Troupe. Garland is furious at Kuja and initially thinks Zidane lost. Garland bans Kuja from travelling to and from Terra. Kuja makes his home in Desert Palace instead.

Cid Fabool VIII dies.

1790
The Invincible destroys Madain Sari, the summoners' village on the Outer Continent. Jane and Sarah flee from the burning city on a boat. Jane dies in the stormy seas, leaving only her young girl, afraid for her life, floating towards Alexandria Castle. When Sarah arrives at the castle, the Royal Family is amazed how much she looks like the recently-deceased Princess Garnet. Sarah has her summoner's horn removed and becomes the "new" Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, never knowing of her true heritage.

Kuja, who has never really been loyal to Garland, gets curious about his "master's" fear toward the mythical Eidolons. Kuja knows he isn't strong enough to fight his master - yet - and begins seeking the Eidolons himself. Kuja knows that if Garland's plan to fuse the two planets was to succeed, he would no longer be needed, and Garland would turn him into a regular Genome. Kuja's highly narcissistic personality drives him to think the world doesn't deserve to exist without him, and he sets his plan to one day topple Garland and rule over both Gaia and Terra himself. Kuja sets his eyes on the strongest Eidolon in known memory, Alexander.

1792
South Gate's construction begins and is built to commemorate the friendship between Lindblum and Alexandria. The mist-powered Burkmea Cable Cars are placed between them to allow easy access across the mountain, and to transport materials for the gate's construction.

March, 1793
Eiko Carol is born to the last survivors of the summoner tribe in Madain Sari. Madeen is summoned to protect her, and takes the shape of the moogle known as Mog. At some point around this time, Sir Fratley leaves Burmecia to travel the world.

1794
Queen Brahne's husband passes away. South Gate is completed.

1795
Freya leaves Burmecia in search of the missing Sir Fratley. Prince Puck leaves Burmecia one month later.

1797
Freya meets Zidane in Lindblum for the first time.

Sometime before 1799
Kuja meets Queen Brahne and begins collaborating with her. Due to Kuja's influence, Brahne begins to desire the power of Eidolons and to conquer the neighbouring nations to capture the other fragments of Alexander's summoning crystal. Kuja promises to aid Brahne in the schemes and to become her weapons' supplier and shows Brahne how to start mass-manufacturing Black Mages. The remote village of Dali is chosen as the location for the secret Black Mage manufacturing plant.

March
Garland, aware that the time has almost come for his "perfect Genome," Zidane, to arrive in Terra, creates another Genome: a girl named Mikoto. Mikoto is given a soul and is told to lead Zidane to Garland once he arrives. The Dali grain fields become an arrival and departure place.

May
Eiko's grandfather dies, making Eiko the last known survivor of the summoner tribe. She survives with the help of several moogles.

June
Quale's pupil, Quina, travels in the direction of Alexandria.

July
The new airship which doesn't utilize mist, the Hilda Garde 1, is completed. Sometime around this time Hilda finds that Cid has been having an affair, and in fury, turns him into an Oglop, then flees the kingdom on the newly constructed Hilda Garde 1. Cid, unable to design a new airship in his Oglop form, is left stranded, unable to follow her. Cid's state is kept secret from the general public, and he remains the regent of Lindblum, despite his transformation to an Oglop. Sometime later, Hilda runs into Kuja who takes Hilda Garde to himself and keeps Hilda as his hostage, whom he tells of his plans to become the planets' ruler.

Vivi, a prototype Black Mage, is born, but falls out of the cargo ship while flying over Treno. Quan fishes Vivi "out of the sky" and takes him into his house, intent on eating him once he's grown big enough. Vivi doesn't show signs of growth, however. Vivi starts calling Quan "grandfather", and, according to Vivi, Quan teaches Vivi everything he knows about the world.

August
The factory underneath Dali becomes ready.

October
Brahne begins mass-producing Black Mages in Dali. Regent Cid notices a change in Queen Brahne and becomes suspicious of the happenings within Alexandria Castle. He wishes to get the princess out of the queen's influence and asks the Tantalus Theater Troupe to kidnap her during their annual play.

Year 1800, January 1st
Quan dies and Vivi is left alone. Vivi leaves the cave and travels to Alexandria.

January 15th
It is Princess Garnet's 16th birthday, with celebrations including I Want to Be Your Canary performed by Tantalus. She is "kidnapped" by the troupe, while trying to escape herself. The Queen, having come aware of the plot, orders the cannons to fire at the Theater Ship, which crash-lands in the Evil Forest, with Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and Princess Garnet, as well as the members of Tantalus, inside. After the event, Queen Brahne sends the Black Waltzes to retrieve Garnet's pendant, the fragment of Alexander's summoning gem, she was wearing during her escape.

January 16th
The party escapes the Evil Forest. Blank sacrifices himself to save the group and is petrified along with the entire forest.

January 18th
Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner eventually find their way to Dali, where they witness the production of Black Mages and steal the cargo ship to get to Lindblum. Black Waltz No. 3 gives chase to the party, but crashes its ship within the South Gate, damaging it.

January 19th
Alexandrian forces attack Burmecia.

January 20th
The Festival Of The Hunt is held in Lindblum. Zidane, Vivi and Freya all compete, Zidane's plan to impress the princess by winning the hunt. After the festivities they hear that Burmecian capital has been attacked by Alexandrian forces. Garnet leaves the others, along with Steiner, to go back to Alexandria to confront her mother. The pair make their way towards Treno. On the way they meet up with Marcus from Tantalus, who is seeking for a way to cure Blank.

January 21st
Burmecia is conquered by the Alexandrian army. Zidane, Freya, Vivi and Quina make their way to the Burmecian capital where they see Kuja for the first time, and overhear him talking with the queen. The party ends up fighting Beatrix, who defeats them. Kuja departs for Treno on his Silver Dragon. Disk 1 ends.

January 22nd
Princess Garnet and Steiner are captured after returning to Alexandria, and Zorn and Thorn put her to sleep. She is placed within the dungeons while they wait for the extraction of her Eidolons. Zidane's party make their way to Cleyra to look for the Burmecian survivors, and to warn them of Brahne, who they know is planning to attack Cleyra next. The party enter Cleyra, but its sandstorm suddenly disappears.

January 23rd
Zorn and Thorn extract Garnet's Eidolons. Alexandria attacks Cleyra and the Black Mage army teleports to the city from the queen's flagship, the Red Rose. Sir Fratley makes an appearance protecting the city against the Black Mages, but suffers from amnesia and doesn't remember ever having known Freya. Beatrix steals the crystal fragment after which the Black Mages begin warping out of the city. Zidane and the others jump into one of the teleporters leaving Quina behind. Queen Brahne summons Odin and destroys Cleyra.

January 24th
Zidane, Freya, and Vivi return to Alexandria where they meet up with Steiner and help the Princess escape. Marcus is freed along with Steiner and heads to the Evil Forest to save Blank. Beatrix switches sides after having learned that the queen wants to harm the princess. Steiner sticks around with Beatrix and Freya to help hold back the Bandersnatches, while Vivi, Garnet and Zidane escape through the Gargan Roo.

January 25th
Garnet acquires the Ramuh Eidolon on the Pinnacle Rocks and makes for Lindblum. On her way there, however, she sees her mother summon Atomos on Lindblum, destroying a great part of it. The Invincible sucks the dying souls from the city, disappearing afterwards. Alexandrian soldiers enter the city and take temporary control and Queen Brahne acquires Lindblum's crystal piece. Sometime around this time Queen Brahne hires Lani and Amarant to hunt down Garnet and bring back her pendant, and also to kill Vivi.

Between January 26th and January 30th
The party travels to Outer Continent in their attempt to find Kuja and reunite with Quina in the process. They find a village full of sentient Black Mages, who have escaped the Alexandrian army after gaining consciousness. Vivi learns that the Black Mages' lifespan is limited and many Black Mages have already died. The party meet up with Eiko Carol who takes them to the ruins of Madain Sari and promises to undo the seal on the Iifa Tree.

January 30th
The party defeat SoulCage on the Iifa Tree's base stopping the flow of mist making airship travel impossible. Lani attempts to steal Madain Sari's crystal fragment, but is stopped. Amarant abandons his partner and joins Zidane's party.

February 1st
The party gets separated from Quina who is left behind when the others set foot on the Iifa Tree. Kuja arrives at the Iifa Tree followed shortly by Queen Brahne and her fleet. Brahne feels she no longer needs Kuja's assistance and summons Bahamut to kill him, but Kuja calls upon the Invincible to bend the Eidolon's will and orders it to attack Brahne's fleet. Brahne is killed when Bahamut blasts her ship, but not before she can speak to Garnet one last time and apologises for everything she has done. End of disk 2.

February 3rd
Alexandria sets Burmecia and Lindblum free. With the mist gone from the world, the production of new Black Mages becomes impossible. Kuja, realizing this, makes for the Black Mage Village and persuades them to help him in his cause, under the condition that he will grant them longer life-spans. Only a few stay behind.

February 6th
Brahne is buried in Alexandria and Garnet is preparing for her coronation as Queen of Alexandria in three days. Zidane, Eiko, Vivi and Freya travel to Treno that is holding a card tournament, which Zidane wishes to participate. During their time away Kuja attacks Alexandria with Bahamut. The party travel to Alexandria on Cid's new airship, Hilda Garde 2, and Garnet and Eiko meet at the top of the Alexandrian Castle where they summon Alexander by bringing the four crystal fragments together. Alexander destroys Bahamut and Kuja, impressed by its sheer power, attempts to capture it with the Invincible, but Garland has other plans. Garland uses the Invincible to destroy Alexander and Alexandria is decimated, though Kuja, Zidane, Garnet and Eiko make it out just in time. Kuja, now openly defying his master, returns to the Desert Palace vowing to find an Eidolon even stronger than Alexander.

February 9th
The day Garnet's coronation was supposed to take place.

February 10th
The party gathers in the rebuilding Lindblum, but Garnet has lost her voice due to the shock of Alexandria's destruction. The party reunites with Quina.

February 11th
The party decides to find Kuja, but are left stranded without an airship, as Hilda Garde 2 was too poorly built due to Cid having designed it while being an Oglop. In order to complete the new type of airship (the Hilda Garde 3), an attempt is made to revert Cid to human, but it fails, and he turns into a frog.

Between February 12th and 15th
The Blue Narciss sets sail and this time Cid accompanies them. Zidane and company arrive at the Desert Palace, and are captured by Kuja. Kuja forces Zidane into retrieving the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert on the Forgotten Continent, threatening to kill the rest of the party if he doesn't comply. After acquiring the stone Kuja kidnaps Eiko and flees on the Hilda Garde 1 with the Black Mages accompanying him.

February 17th
Zidane and his friends catch up with Kuja at the bottom of Mount Gulug. Kuja is determined of getting an Eidolon stronger than Alexander and orders Zorn and Thorn to extract Eiko's Eidolons despite her being considered too young to survive the process. Eiko's moogle, Mog, appears and defends Eiko by entering Trance and transforming into the Eidolon Madeen. Zorn and Thorn are defeated and Kuja flees, forming a new plan. Having witnessed the power of the Trance with his own eyes, Kuja decides he doesn't need an Eidolon to fight Garland after all. The party then rescue Queen Hilda and gain access to Hilda Garde 1.

February 18th
Hilda is reunited with Cid and turns him back into a human. Hilda tells the party Kuja is not originally from Gaia. Cid begins work on the Hilda Garde 3.

February 19th
Garnet travels back to Alexandria to visit her mother's grave, cuts her hair, and gets her voice back.

February 21st
Hilda Garde 3 is completed and sets sail.

February 22nd
The party visits the four shrines to open the gateway to Terra.

February 24th
The party travels through the opened gate to Terra.

Between February 24th and 28th
Kuja also arrives on Terra. While Zidane travels through the alien planet, Kuja hides in the Invincible, waiting for his time. Zidane and the party learn of Garland's plan to fuse the two planets and of Zidane's heritage as a Genome. The party ultimately defeats Garland, and Kuja taps into the flow of souls through the Invincible, and achieves the Trance he has been looking for. Garland, with his last breath, informs Kuja that his life is limited. This throws Kuja into an uproar, and he completely destroys Terra with his Trance powers. Zidane and the Genomes of Bran Bal take the Invincible and head back to Gaia. End of Disc 3.

March 1st
The Iifa Tree activates and sends mist to cover the entire world. Iifa Tree's roots go wild and cause earthquakes, leaving many areas in ruin.

March 3rd
Mist-run mechanisms become usable again.

March 4th
Memoria has formed above the Iifa Tree. A swarm of silver dragons appears, flying out of the Iifa Tree. The Genomes begin to settle in Black Mage Village.

March 5th
The party head toward Memoria and kill the Nova Dragon, the source of all the silver dragons, and all the silver dragons disappear.

Between March 5th and March 9th
The party travel to Crystal World where they find and defeat Trance Kuja and Necron while learning of the crystal and the world's origins. After defeating Necron the realm begins crumbling apart, but Kuja uses his power to teleport the party out of the Iifa Tree and informs Mikoto of their whereabouts. When the airship fleet arrives to rescue the heroes everyone but Zidane leaves on the Hilda Garde 3, and Zidane heads after Kuja to attempt to save him. Zidane manages to find him but the Iifa Tree goes berserk, flailing and trashing violently, and Zidane goes missing.

March 16th
Iifa Tree settles.

Around a Year Later
As is the annual tradition, Tantalus travels to Alexandria to perform I Want to be Your Canary on what is presumed to be Garnet's 17th birthday. The party gather to watch the play, apart from Vivi who isn't seen, and is thought to have died due to his limited lifespan. A number of copies of him, however, titled "Vivi's children" can be seen wandering around the Alexandrian streets. During the play Zidane reveals his identity and is reunited with Garnet. End of the Game.