Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI



Queen Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI (ブラネ・ラザ・アレクソンドロス１６世) is Alexandria's ruler and mother of Princess Garnet in Final Fantasy IX. Through the course of the game, she is the cause of much death and destruction, but Garnet often testifies that her mother had once been a kind and well-liked ruler of Alexandria and not the power-hungry person she became when the King passed away and the mysterious Kuja started to show his face within the castle walls.

Story
Brahne was born in 1760 and ruled Alexandria peacefully for many years until her husband died. In the year that followed the King's death, Garnet noticed changes in Brahne's behavior. Kuja had convinced Brahne to wage war against the neighboring countries of Lindblum and Burmecia using an army of mechanical black mages, that run on the mist that covers the entire Mist Continent. When Kuja told her that her (secretly) adopted daughter Garnet possessed the power to summon eidolons, her greed for power was fueled even more. It consumes her to the point that she orders her court jesters and mystics, Zorn and Thorn, to extract the eidolons from Garnet for her own use.

Once Brahne has gained the ability to summon through the use of mystical stones extracted from Garnet, and has a large enough black mage army, she sets out to wage war on neighboring kingdoms. She successfully destroys both Burmecia and Cleyra (the latter through the eidolon Odin), and greatly damages Lindblum Castle. Brahne's undoing would prove to be her pride and lust for power when she turns on the source of that power: Kuja. Unfortunately, when she summons Bahamut to attack Kuja, he takes control of the eidolon with the Invincible, and proceeds to unleash a Mega Flare that destroys Brahne's fleet.

Her battered escape pod washes ashore on a nearby beach, where Garnet finds her. With her dying breath, Brahne asks for forgiveness from Garnet for the things she did and passes away in her daughter's arms. Despite Brahne's campaign for power, the people still remember her fondly, and a peaceful tomb is constructed for her alongside Alexandria Castle.

Kuja later claims on Terra that it was Queen Brahne's soul, trapped in the Invincible and filled with greed, that let him enter Trance.

Etymology
Queen Brahne's name may possibly stem from the Greek word brachnos, meaning "hoarse."

Trivia

 * According to one of the Alexandrian castle cooks (Ovenmeister), Queen Brahne's favorite dish is deep-fried bat.
 * If the concept art is to be believed, Brahne may have originally had a giant pet cat that she would use as a couch.

Königin Brane Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI