Eiko Carol

Solitude - "I don't wanna be alone anymore..."

Eiko Carol is a player character in Final Fantasy IX. She is the youngest character in the game, and she hails from Madain Sari on the Outer Continent. Being from Madain Sari, she has a horn in her forehead and is able to summon Eidolons. Her personality is described as spunky and snobbish, however, she is also very desperate, as she lived alone with Moogles for most of her life. She falls in love with Zidane Tribal over the course of the journey, and even goes as far as to write a love letter to him, but snaps out of it after a while, seeing that Zidane is in love with Princess Garnet.

Story
The village of Madian Sari was once a thriving town populated by Summoners. However, the Invincible destroyed the town in order for Garland and Kuja to obtain the power of the Eidolons. As a result, most of the community died out. Eiko's parents were some of the survivors, however, they are almost never mentioned. It is known that Eiko was raised by her grandfather. However, he eventually died, and Eiko was left to live in Madain Sari with the company of Moogles. One of them, Mog, always traveled with her wherever she went, and the two even traded friendship ribbons. She would frequently steal food from the Dwarves' town of Conde Petie.

It was during one of these raids that she got caught on a stick and met Zidane, along with Vivi Orunitia, Princess Garnet, and Quina Quen. Mog ran away and Quina chased after her. Eiko offered to take Zidane and his friends back to Madain Sari, where she cooked them a meal in order to impress Zidane. However, she could sense that Zidane was in love with Garnet, and Eiko tried her very best to steal his heart. She then revealed that she had to accompany Zidane and his friends to the Iifa Tree, which was sealed with the Eidolon Carbuncle, because of the fact that Summoners have a tradition of sealing Eidolons they fail to summon at the Iifa Tree. She broke the seal. Eiko, Zidane, and the others went through the Iifa Tree and fought the SoulCage, whose defeat cleared up the Mist Continent.

Eiko took Zidane back to Madain Sari when she could sense that her memento was stolen. The thief turned out to be Lani, the bounty hunter working for Queen Brahne of Alexandria in order to steal back Garnet's pendant. Lani held Eiko prisoner, however, she was betrayed by her accomplice Amarant Coral and forced to flee. After Zidane and Amarant duelled, Eiko told Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi about the importance of the memento, the Memory Earring, and how her grandfather told her to keep it safe and to never leave Madain Sari until she was sixteen. However, she decided to go with Zidane anyway. Amarant joined as well in order to learn more about Zidane.

The party went back to the Iifa Tree, where they met Kuja. Kuja got involved in a war with Brahne, and Eiko helped Garnet find another Eidolon, Leviathan, which Garnet could use to help her mother. Brahne summoned Bahamut, however, Kuja used the Invincible to take control of Bahamut and kill Brahne.

One week later, the party was back in Alexandria. Having never been to a city as large as Alexandria, Eiko began to tour the castle on her own. It was there that she met Doctor Tot. She asked him to help her write a love letter for Zidane, and he did so. However, on the way out, she was forced onto a chandelier. She met Baku there, and asked him to deliver the letter. However, he lost it and it fell into numerous hands, including those of Beatrix, Marcus, Blank, and Steiner. It was Steiner who rescued Eiko and took her down from the chandelier, and escorted her out of the castle due to her not being of royal heritage. However, Zidane, Vivi, Amarant, and Freya showed up just in time and asked Steiner to free Eiko. The party then went to visit with Garnet, who was now the queen of Alexandria. After the audience, Eiko was heartbroken when Zidane didn't show up at the docks, even though the real reason was that Zidane never saw the letter.

The next day, Zidane decided to travel to Treno to participate in a Tetra Master tournament. Eiko came as well, and spent some time telling Doctor Tot about Madain Sari. There, she learned that Alexandria was under attack by Kuja and Bahamut, and summoned Zidane back there. They took Cid Fabool IX's Hilda Garde 2, which was very poorly designed due to Cid's appearance as an Oglop. While on the ship, Eiko felt a sensation from the top of Alexandria Castle, and flew to the roof to meet Garnet there. They held out the four jewels and they were able to summon Alexander, who defeated Bahamut and formed a protective ring around Alexandria. However, this was exactly what Kuja wanted, and he summoned the Invincible to take control of Alexander. However, Garland was furious at Kuja, and took over the Invincible and used it to destroy Alexandria and the castle. Zidane arrived just in time to rescue Garnet and Eiko, though the latter was visibly annoyed that Zidane went to Garnet first, not to mention she was embracing him all through her rescue.

In Lindblum, Eiko was the first to discover that Garnet lost her voice due to Alexandria's obliteration. She stayed with Steiner to take care of Garnet while Zidane and the others looked for a way to transform Cid back into a human. They failed, and Eiko, Garnet, Steiner, Cid, and Quina joined Zidane, Vivi, Freya, and Amarant in search of Kuja. They found him in his Desert Palace on the Outer Continent, and he trapped all the party members except Cid in prisons and threatened to kill them if Zidane didn't bring him the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert. Zidane agreed to do this, but Kuja wouldn't keep his promise. Cid had to save the others, and Eiko led the escape team to Kuja's room for revenge. They met up with Zidane outside, and Zidane found out he was tricked by Kuja. The party entered his room, but Eiko was trapped outside. Zorn & Thorn subsequently abducted her.

Zidane and his friends set out in search of Eiko. They followed the Hilda Garde 1 to Esto Gaza on the Lost Continent, where they entered Mount Gulug and travelled to the base, where they discovered Zorn and Thorn extracting Eidolons from Eiko. However, Mog began to interfere, and eventually revealed herself and transformed into Madeen, an Eidolon herself, saving Eiko. The jesters then changed into Meltigemini and Eiko had to fight them. After the fight, Eiko received Mog's old ribbon as a farewell gift. She then rejoined Zidane for the rest of the journey.

In the ending, Eiko was adopted by Cid and Hilda. She is visibly overjoyed at being a part of a family, going out of the way to calling her adoptive parents "Mother" and "Father".

Equipment and Stats
Eiko has the lowest physical stats in the game. Her equipment draw consists of female specifics, mage robes, Summoner's Flutes, and Rackets.

Abilities
Eiko is a Summoner, and can summon four Eidolons: Fenrir, Phoenix, Carbuncle, and Madeen. Equipping various Add-ons allow her Eidolon's abilities to change. She can also use White Magic, and her draw of spells is much larger than Garnet's. She can use unique spells that weren't previously seen before in any other Final Fantasy like Jewel which extracts an Ore from an enemy and Might which increases attack power. She is the only main character that can use the powerful Holy attack, although she lacks the Scan spell found in Garnet's arsenal.

Eiko's Trance mode ability is Double White. Acting in the same manner as Vivi's Double Black, it allows two successive White Magic spells to be used.

Music
Eiko's theme is named for herself. A remix of the theme includes the song "Crossing the Knoll" when played in Alexandria.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
Eiko is one of the two Final Fantasy IX characters along with Vivi.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable
Eiko is one of the two Final Fantasy IX characters along with Zidane.

Etymology
Eiko, or Aiko is Japanese for Love and Child.

Eiko Carol