Black mage (Final Fantasy IX)



Black Mages are sentient, man-sized magician dolls mass-produced as weapons of war by Queen Brahne of Alexandria due to the influence of Kuja. Final Fantasy IX is the only game that has Black Mages as a different race, rather than a job.

Story
They are created from Mist to be the soulless magical arm of their master, and come in three ever more powerful variants called Type A, Type B, and Type C. Black Mages are used, in tandem with human Alexandrian soldiers, by Queen Brahne as the grunt forces for Alexandria's invasions of Burmecia and Lindblum, and the destruction of Cleyra, as well as piloting the Alexandrian air- and sea-ships, most notably when Queen Brahne attempted to kill Kuja at the Iifa Tree. There are also three special dolls by the name of Black Waltz (No. 1, 2, and 3) that were built to be one-of-a-kind soldiers. These are fought in-game as bosses. The average Black Mage has a limited life expectancy of about one year.

Vivi, one of the game's main characters, is the prototype Black Mage, and as such, has powers rivaling that of the Black Waltz "brothers" and a much longer life expectancy.

In Final Fantasy IX, the Black Mage Village is a forested hamlet where many mass-produced Black Mages have become self-aware. They live simple, peaceful lives away from the wars they were built to fight.