Final Fantasy IX timeline

This is a timeline for the varous events during the events 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 very young planet, especially compared with Terra, which assimilated it when the blue planet was formed. 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 this game 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 from Terra by Garland.

5000 years before the game
Gaia is formed, and the assimilation by Terra begins soon after.

Around 1200
The Iifa Tree appears on the Lost Continent and starts emitting mist. The mist gradually spreads towards what would be known as the Mist Continent.

Around 1300
Around 1300-The eidolon Alexander is summoned for the first time. Alexander is found too be too powerful, however, and is split into four crystals. One piece is given to each of the the three kingdoms (at the time) of Burmecia, Lindblum and Alexandria. The last piece is taken by the summoners and kept a secret in Madain Sari on the Lost Continent. Soon afterwards, a civil war breaks out in Burmecia over whom should be in control of the Crystal. The piece is 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.

Between 1300 and 1400
Cleyra and Burmecia sever all ties between each other. Alexandria and Lindblum are "officially" founded. Cid Fabool I becomes the first Regent of Lindblum after winning the "Festival of the Hunt", and attaining the Master Hunter Award.

1389
The 9th Lindblum War breaks out. General Magdalene of Alexandria and 9 soldiers take on the entire Lindblum army and wins.

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.

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

1740
Dr. Tot is born.

1755
Baku is born.

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

1760
Queen Brahne is born.

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

1766
Adelbert Steiner is born.

1772
Beatrix is born.

1773
Amarant Coral is born.

1776
Kuja is created by Garland, but seen as a failed project. Kuja's incredible ambition is highly unusual for a Genome, and Garland sees it as a fault. Garland prepares to kill Kuja, though stops when he realizes he could make Kuja become his "Angel of Death" and help rebuild Terra. Garland puts a limit on Kuja's lifespan (about 25 years), assuming that he will only need to live until the next Angel of death was created...A more "perfect", more superior Genome.

1778
Freya Crescent is born.

September 1783
Zidane Tribal is created. He is given the body of a young child, which will allow him to grow more "naturally" and become stronger through time. Kuja is jealous of his little "brother" and begins to plot his demise.

1784
Sarah (Dagger) is born in Madain Sari.

1787
After several years of plotting and planning, Kuja kidnaps Zidane and deposits him on Gaia. Kuja began to wonder about forcing his 'replacement' to interact with humans. Zidane is taken into the care of Baku, leader of Tantalus.

1790
The Invincible destroys Madain Sari. Jane (Dagger's mother) and Sarah flee from the burning city and end up in Alexandria. Unfortunately Jane dies in the stormy seas, leaving only her young baby girl afraid for her life, floating towards Alexandria Castle. When she arrives at the castle, the Royal Family is amazed how much she looks like the recently-deceased Princess Garnet, and has her horn removed. She becomes the "new" Princess Garnet.

1792
South Gate is built to commemorate the friendship between Lindblum and Alexandria, and the Burkmea Cable Cars are placed between them to allow easy access across the mountain.

1793
Eiko Carol is born. 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.

1795
Freya leaves Burmecia in search of the missing Sir Fratley.

1797
Eiko's Grandfather dies, making Eiko the last known survivor of the Summoner tribe. She survives with the help of several Moogles. Freya meets Zidane in Lindblum for the first time.

1799
The King of Alexandria, Branhe's husband, dies. Doctor Tot leaves Alexandria and moves to Treno. Kuja appears within the castle, and convinces th newly-widowed queen to create an army of Black Mages. Brahne has a Black Mage factory created in Dali. Kuja plots a war between the great nations, hoping that through it he will be able to gain Garnet's Eidolons. Vivi was "born" in July of this year. Quan fishes Vivi "out of the sky" and takes him into his house, intent on eating him. Quan decides not to, however, and becomes Vivi's surrogate Grandfather.

March 1799
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 told to lead Zidane to Garland once he arrives.

July 1799
Regent Cid of Lindblum is married, and the first non-mist powered Airship is built. It is named the Hilda Garde I, after his beloved wife. It is later 'stolen by Kuja, along with Hilda', but in reality she took the airship herself after finding out in Cid's 'activities', turning him into an Oglop in the process.

October 1799
Brahne begins mass-production of Black Mages in Dali. Regent Cid becomes suspicious of the happenings within Alexandria Castle, and asks Tantalus to help him in a 'small assignment'.

January 15th
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 game begins.

January 16th
The airship owned by Tantalus, "The Prima Vista" crashes down in Evil Forest, leading to the events of the party escaping the area as Blank sacrifices himself to help them.

January 20th
The Festival Of The Hunt. Zidane, Vivi and Freya all compete. Garnet leaves the party, along with Steiner, and they make thier way towards Treno, with the intent to return to Alexandria.

January 21st
Burmecia is conquered by the Alexandrian army. Zidane, Freya, Vivi and Quina over hear Kuja pledge his devotion to Queen Brahne's cause. They rescue a Burmecian soldier, and end up fighting Beatrix, who in turn completely destroys them. The party sees Kuja for the first time, before he departs for Treno on his Silver Dragon. End of Disc 1, and the start of Disc 2.

January 22nd
Princess Garnet is captured after returning to Alexandria, and put to sleep. She is placed within the dungeons while they wait for the extraction of her Eidolons. Zidane's party make their way towards Cleyra.

January 23rd
Kuja returns to Alexandria, and aids Zorn and Thorn in extracting Garnet's Eidolons. This completed, he accompanies Brahne to Cleyra and uses his magic to destroy the Whirlwind barrier surrounding it. Queen Brahne casts Odin and destroys the city.

January 24th
Zidane, Freya, Vivi and Steiner return to Alexandria and help the Princess escape. Steiner sticks around and helps hold back the Basilisks while Vivi, Dagger and Zidane make a run for Gargan Roo.

January 27th 1800
Dagger acquires the Ramuh Eidolon and makes for Lindblum. On her way there, however, she sees her mother cast Atomos on the great city, destroying a great deal of it. The invincible sucks the dying souls from the city, disappearing afterwards. Alexandrian Soldiers enter the city and take temporary control.

February 2nd
Kuja arrives at the Iifa tree and watches as Zidane's group arrives, followed shortly by Queen Brahne and her fleet. Brahne feels she no longer needs the assistance of Kuja and makes a valiant attempt to kill the man. She summons Bahamut, but Kuja calls upon the Invincible to bend the will of the Eidolon and has it attack Brahne's fleet. Meanwhile, Zidane and the crew fend off Mistodons and eventually find the Leviathan Eidolon: A powerful Eidolon, though water based so completely useless in this fight. Brahne is killed when Bahamut blasts her ship, but not before she can speak to Garnet one last time.

February 6th
With the Mist completely gone from the world, the production of new Black Mages becomes impossible. Kuja, realizing this, makes for the Black Mage Village on the Lost Continent 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. End of Disc 2, and the start of Disc 3.

February 10th
Queen Garnet is now in command, and is preparing for her coronation as Queen of Alexandria. Everything seems to be peaceful. Kuja appears, however, and calls upon Bahamut to destroy the city. Garnet and Eiko meet at the top of the Alexandrian Castle, where the true nature of this great castle is revealed: It is actually the dormant Alexander. Kuja, impressed by its sheer power, attempts to capture it with the Invincible, but Garland has other plans. From within the great airship, Garland destroys Alexandria. Alexandria is decimated, though Kuja, Zidane and Dagger make it out just in time.

February 12th
Kuja awakens, though severely damaged from the attack in Alexandria. Taking the Hilda Garde I, he flees to the Desert Palace to restrategise.

February 16th
Kuja, foreseeing that Zidane will come after him, begins to rest at his Palace. Zidane awakens from the attack in Lindblum, finding that Dagger has lost her voice due to emotional strain.

February 20th
Zidane and company arrive at the Desert Palace, only to be captured. Kuja bribes Zidane into retrieving the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert on the Forgotten Continent, threatening to kill the rest of the party otherwise. Oeilvert, an ancient city of Terra, has a barrier around it that prevents magic use within. Since Kuja's main strength lies in his magical abilities, he cannot go and forces Zidane into the job. Kuja mentions that he sends Zidane because "no one likes to fight themselves..."

February 22nd
Zidane, having conquered Oeilvert, returns to the Desert Palace and hands over the Gulug Stone. The crew quickly find out Kuja's real plan, however- He wishes to enter Gulug Volcano with the Gulug Stone, and extract the Eidolons from Eiko. The process is an extremely dangerous one for children under the age of 16, and Kuja does not wish to wait until Eiko matures.

February 23rd
Kuja arrives in Esto Gaza and passes through to Gulug Volcano. He gains entry with the Gulug Stone, and heads to the basement of the massive Volcano.

February 25th
Zidane and the gang arrive to save Eiko, though it appears they're too late: Zorn and Thorn are already performing the ceremony to extract the Eidolons. Mog, Eiko's best friend, goes into Trance to save her. In a massive surge of power, the young moogle becomes the Eidolon Madeen and quickly puts an end to Kuja's plans, as well as Zorn and Thorn. Yet this does not shatter Kuja's disposition: he concocts a new plan to enter Trance himself. The team recovers the Hilda Garde I, as well as Hilda herself, then return to Lindblum. Hilda breaks the spell on Cid, reverting him to human form. Dagger gains her voice (and magical abilities) back. Cid begins work on the Hilda Garde III.

February 27th-March 1st
Kuja visits the Elemental Shrines in order to sway the views of the Guardians of Terra, and open the gateway to Terra. Meanwhile, Zidane's team enter Ipsen's Castle in order to find out how to break the seal to Terra themselves. (Optional quests for the party also take place here.)

March 4th
Kuja, Zidane and the others go through the opened gate to Terra, via the Shimmering Islands near Esto Gaza.

March 8th
While Zidane travels through Terra, Kuja hides in the Invincible, waiting for his time to shine. Zidane ultimately defeats Garland, and Kuja taps into the flow of souls through the Invincible, and achieves the Trance that he has been looking for. Garland, with his last breath, informs Kuja that his life his limited. This throws Kuja into an uproar, and causes him to completely destroy Terra with his new Trance powers. Zidane and the Genomes of Bran Bal take the Invincible and head back to Gaia. End of Disc 3, and start of Disc 4.

March 9th
Kuja "activates" the Iifa Tree again, sending Mist to cover the entire world. Memoria and the Crystal World are also formed. Kuja enters, intent on destroying everything through the Crystal. The Genomes begin to settle in Black Mage Village.

March 10th
Kuja enters Memoria, dead set on destroying the Crystal and everything with it. Zidane and Garnet learn a great deal of the world's past, as well as their own, and eventually come into battle with Kuja. The party seems to be winning until Kuja casts Ultima. The force of this spell is so powerful, however, that Kuja is shot straight out of Memoria, down into the Iifa Tree. Zidane and the others suddenly end up in Necron's world and defeat him. However, as this strange place slowly falls apart, the party is stuck. Kuja uses his power to transport the party out of the Iifa Tree and inform Mikoto of their whereabouts. Everyone but Zidane leaves on the Hilda Garde III, and Zidane heads after Kuja to attempt to save him. Kuja dies, however, and as the Iifa Tree rages and thrashes, Kuja protects Zidane one last time from the oncoming roots.

Some Time Later...
Between 3 days and 2 weeks later, Zidane returns to Alexandria to reunite with the grieving Queen Garnet. End of the Game.