Amarant Coral

Amarant Coral (known as Salamander Coral in the Japanese version, Tarask Coral in the French translation, Mahagon Coral in the German translation), nicknamed The Flaming Amarant or Red, and also known as Red-headed Man or Scarlet Hair, is a playable character from Final Fantasy IX. He is rather mysterious and enigmatic, and rarely opens up about himself.

Story
Very little is known about Amarant's past, though he was a guard in Treno for quite some time. One day, Zidane stole something from his post. Amarant tried to stop him, but Zidane successfully framed him. Amarant was then intrigued by Zidane, and was confused by the thief’s attitude.

Amarant is first seen as a guest to Queen Brahne. Brahne hires him, as well as a woman named Lani, to steal Princess Garnet's pendant and kill Vivi. Amarant asks if he can kill Zidane as well, and Brahne says he can after he deals with her requests. He is next seen in Madain Sari, where Lani is holding Eiko hostage in return for Garnet's pendant. Amarant stops her, as he does not approve of hostage taking. He then challenges Zidane to a fight and loses. He feels disgraced, and is confused by Zidane's mercy. The next day Amarant returns to the village, curious about what makes Zidane so powerful he starts following him around. Zidane eventually accepts his help in accompanying the party. They have plenty of disputes as they travel to the Iifa Tree and watch the battle between Kuja and Queen Brahne. Amarant accompanies Zidane down the roots of the tree to the shore, and returns to Alexandria with him.

In Alexandria, Amarant meets up with Freya, and challenges her to a fight. The guards break them up, and Zidane takes the blame for the fight. He accompanies Zidane, Freya, and Vivi to the castle where they meet up with Eiko and request a meeting with Garnet, now a queen. Amarant then returns to Treno, reflecting on what had happened here before. It is outside the auction house where Amarant formerly served as a guard that he tells Freya, whom he seems to have developed a respect for, all about his past and his meeting with Zidane, much to her amusement. However, Alexandria was under attack by Kuja who had summoned Bahamut to attack the Kingdom. Zidane and Eiko had to round up Freya, Vivi, and Amarant and return to Alexandria on the Hilda Garde II with Regent Cid and Erin. On the way, Eiko received a mysterious distress call and jumped from the airship, meeting with Garnet and explains about Holy Judgment. Amarant was among those who watched as the pair summoned Alexander, killing Bahamut. Amarant then accompanied Zidane and his friends to the tower where Garnet and Eiko were to be found. He left with Freya, Vivi, and Cid just in time to see the Invincible destroy Alexandria and witnessed Zidane save Garnet and Eiko.

The party then traveled to Lindblum to recuperate, and Amarant accompanied Zidane wherever he went for the rest of the journey. Steiner, Quina, and Garnet rejoined the party there, and they traveled on the Blue Narciss to the Black Mage Village, where they learned that the Black Mages were in the service of Kuja. Black Mage No. 288 directed them to the Desert Palace where Kuja had his headquarters. However, the party was held prisoner in exchange for the Gulug Stone. Zidane went to get it for Kuja in Oeilvert on the Forgotten Continent. However, Kuja decided to set up a trap and kill Zidane's friends anyway, but Eiko managed to save them. During the reunion, Eiko was captured by Zorn and Thorn and was taken to Mount Gulug. Zidane's group followed and rescued Hilda along with Eiko. After this, Hilda told the team that Kuja was really from the world of Terra, and in order to get there, they had to find a clue at Ipsen's Castle. By this point, Cid finished building the Hilda Garde III, and the party was able to take it to Ipsen's Castle. When they got there, Amarant decided to attempt to find the clue by himself and prove that working alone is better than teamwork. He beat Zidane to the clue, which turned out to be mirrors, dictating he location of four Shrines. However, he fell into a trap on the way out, forcing Zidane to re-enter the castle to save him. Amarant then decided to accept Zidane as an ally. He then went to the Fire Shrine with Freya to help break the seal on Terra. He accompanied Zidane to Terra and defeated Garland there, forcing Kuja into a trance which gave the Genome unprecedented power. Amarant then accompanied Zidane to Memoria, where Kuja and Necron were finally defeated.

During the ending sequence, Amarant is seen walking along the Treno Gate, where he stumbles upon Lani, where the two head for Alexandria.

Equipment and Stats
Amarant's job class seems to be a combination of Monk and Ninja, since he uses hand to hand close combat skills and supportive abilities like Monks, but utilizes the throw ability like Ninjas.

In battle he uses various knuckles, claws and fist weaponry combined with lethal martial arts.

Abilities
Amarant's skillset is Flair which can be used for offense or defense. He also has the ability to Throw various items.

In Trance, Flair becomes Elan and affects all targets.

Battle
Zidane fights Amarant as a boss under the name Scarlet Hair in Madain Sari. After being defeated, he decides to join the party.

Musical Themes
"Amarant's Theme" is named for himself, and plays during scenes in which Amarant questions Zidane's ways. It is a piece with a moderate tempo and changes from softer to louder constantly throughout the piece.

Trivia

 * When Amarant first joins the party, he refuses to do a victory pose. After being rescued in Ipsen's Castle, he will begin doing his victory pose after winning a battle.
 * Amarant's Flair attack, No Mercy, originally appeared in Final Fantasy VIII as Seifer's Limit Break.
 * Amarant and Queen Brahne are the only humans shown in Final Fantasy IX that have blue skin.
 * Amarant is the only permanent party member who does not, at some point, take a leadership role on the field.
 * Amarant is referenced in Dissidia Final Fantasy, by the Moogle Benjamin, through a Mognet letter. If the player selects the answer "bounty hunter in blue" to one of his questions the player will receive a letter titled "Mr.Coral" the next day. In Benjamin's letter he states that he heard a bounty hunter in blue was in Treno, and he decided to go take a look.

Etymology
An is a genus of herbs recognizable because of its vivid hue. There are several instances in which the game references Amarant's vivid hair color. It is likely that his name would in fact be spelled with the "h" on the end if the letter limitation for names were not set at seven. Of interesting note is that amaranth is also another name for red dye #2.

The mythical was often depicted as having a close affinity with flames and fire, hence the moniker "Flaming Amarant" (or "Flaming Salamander").

The French translation of Amarant's name, "Tarask", could be a reference to the, a dragon-like creature from French legend.

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