Kuja



Kuja (クジャ) is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy IX. A Genome manufactured to provoke war between humans, he operates behind the scenes for much of the game, working under Queen Brahne's ample shadow.

However, he ultimately wishes to acquire the power of the eidolons so that he may overthrow his creator Garland and rule Terra. After he learns of his mortality, Kuja's goal becomes the eradication of life, believing it to be "unfair" that the world should one day exist without him.

Appearance and Personality
Kuja has distinct silver hair that falls just beyond his shoulders, about halfway down his back. In his hair he wears a large feather of the same color, and certain strands stick up along with it. He has narrow light-blue eyes and is of medium height, light build, with a pale complexion. He has white sleeves, with a violet mantle around his shoulders. Kuja has a white robe he wears on the back of his legs that extends to his ankles. The robe is held up by four straps that act as a codpiece. His pants are a deeper purple than his shoulder-guards and his shoes are black with golden buckles.

Personality-wise, Kuja is somewhat different from many previous Final Fantasy villains: Kuja introduces poetic elegance to the antagonist role and his speech patterns are highly metaphorical and somewhat jovial; he refers to Garnet as a "canary", and Brahne as "the elephant-lady", for example. His refined nature stands in stark contrast to his role as a sadistic war-bringer.

This juxtaposition is characteristic of villains in fiction, particularly the evil genius archetype. Like other Final Fantasy antagonists such as Sephiroth and Ultimecia, he has a narcissistic and sophisticated personality, in contrast to Zidane's humility, friendliness and more relaxed nature. One of the few things he does share with a few other Final Fantasy villains is his seeming love of luxury, as evidenced by the Desert Palace.

Like any of the other villains in the series, Kuja has an ego to match his power. He lets his pride rule his head. While he could have killed Zidane prior to the game, he chose to let him live so he could prove himself superior to him. After discovering his destiny as a mortal, Kuja goes utterly insane. His former cultured personality is altered into insanity, and Kuja reiterates several times that he believes life should not be allowed to continue without him. After Zidane finds him in the bowels of the Iifa Tree at the end of the game, Kuja is seemingly repentant. He tells Zidane to leave him behind and escape, and mentions he is happy Zidane's friends managed to escape safely.

As a Genome, Kuja has a tail like Zidane's. However, in denial of his origins, he conceals it. It is revealed when he enters Trance.

In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy IX and Dissidia, Kuja refers to himself with the boyish pronoun boku and addresses others with the familiar/informal kimi.

Creation
Kuja is a Genome created by Garland in 1776, 24 years prior to the game's beginning. Garland's ultimate plan is to assimilate the planet of Gaia with the planet of Terra by gradually replacing the Gaian souls with Terran ones. To speed up the process, Garland created Kuja and sent him to Gaia to encourage war and destruction so that people would die quicker and the souls of Gaia could be replaced faster. Thus, it is Kuja's nature to cause death.

However, Garland initially deemed Kuja a failure. According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, Kuja was created as he is, and never got to experience childhood. As such, he never developed human emotions and so would never be able to attain Trance, the world's ultimate power.

A strong mind of his own with no feelings of remorse or conscience was a dangerous mix, perfect for inciting war, but ultimately difficult for Garland to harness to his own ends. Garland decided to create another Genome who would be different from Kuja from the outset, and thus Zidane was born. Zidane was created as a child, which meant he would be able to learn and grow and thus develop the ability for complex emotions needed to enter Trance, making him superior to Kuja.

While Garland never told him, Kuja was only a temporary Angel of Death, meant to kill people on Gaia until Garland could perfect the true Angel of Death, the perfect Genome: Zidane. Kuja felt threatened by the new Genome and so he kidnapped him and took him to Gaia where he abandoned him. Garland was thus forced to continue using Kuja while a third Angel of Death was created, but outraged at Kuja's behavior, Garland banished Kuja from returning to Terra, likely so Kuja wouldn't get his hands on Mikoto, the third Angel of Death. Kuja, defiant of his master, made his home in the Desert Palace instead.

Scheming Against Garland
According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, it was Kuja who destroyed Madain Sari ten years before the game's start on Garland's instructions. Garland, fearful that the summoners' power to call forth the magical eidolons would come between him and his plans, wanted to eradicate the practice from Gaia. Kuja, however, grew curious about these mythical beasts his master so feared, and came to pursue them himself.

The strongest eidolon in human memory, Alexander, which was summoned only once 500 years previously and, after being deemed so dangerous that its crystal was divided up in four fragments so that it may never be summoned again, sounded perfect to Kuja. At this time Kuja was already scheming towards his own goals and only appeared loyal to Garland on the surface. The truth was that Kuja knew if Garland's plan to fuse the planets together was to succeed, his role as the Angel of Death would end and his soul would no longer be his own, and instead, Garland would make him into a regular Genome made to serve others as a mere soul vessel.

The idea was unbearable to Kuja, who in his childish selfishness did not think the world deserved to exist without him. Kuja knew that it would be hard to breach Garland's defenses on his own. However, because Garland feared Gaia's eidolons, Kuja decided that he had found the perfect weapon to allow him to eventually overthrow Garland and become the master of both Terra and Gaia. With this idea in mind, Kuja began to pursue Alexander's crystal shards.

Fostering War


Kuja serves as a weapons supplier to Queen Brahne so that she can conquer the neighboring nations of Burmecia and Lindblum and capture the crystal shards. The weapons Kuja supplies are the Black Mages, soulless golems with the ability to use powerful magic. Later on in the game it is hinted Kuja knows how Genomes are manufactured and used his knowledge in making of the Black Mages. After Burmecia is conquered, Zidane, Vivi Orunitia, Freya Crescent, and (if the player has recruited him before this point) Quina Quen arrive too late to defend the kingdom.

After spying on Kuja, Brahne, and her general, Beatrix, at the Burmecian ruins, they attack, but are defeated by Beatrix. The three villains depart, but Kuja delays his departure and observes Zidane. It is unknown if he recognizes him or not, but it is unlikely, as Kuja boards his dragon and flies off, leaving Zidane alive. Meanwhile, Brahne, under Kuja's advice, extracts her daughter's eidolons from her, and uses one, Odin, to destroy the survivors of Burmecia at Cleyra and to capture Cleyra's crystal shard. Zidane and his allies sneak aboard Brahne's airship during the attack and teleport back to Alexandria.

Shortly after he rescues Garnet, Zidane and his allies undergo a series of events in which Garnet learns her roots as a summoner, and the group is overall split in two. Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi return to Lindblum, only to see Brahne use another eidolon, Atomos, to conquer it. At this time, Regent Cid tells them about Kuja's role as Brahne's weapons supplier. The three decide to turn their attention to defeating Kuja and cutting off Brahne's supply of Black Mages. Armed with the knowledge that Kuja came from the north, they set out to the Outer Continent.

On the Outer Continent, Zidane, Vivi, and Garnet track Kuja, following leads to the Black Mage Village and Madain Sari, recruiting (or re-recruiting, depending on whether or not the player took him to Burmecia and/or Cleyra) Quina, Eiko Carol, and Amarant Coral on the journey. The group continue on to the Iifa Tree, a gigantic tree that assists in filtering the Gaian and Terran souls - the mist that Kuja uses to create the Black Mages is a by-product of this process. The party kills SoulCage, stopping the flow of mist, but Kuja arrives on his dragon and tells them he no longer cares.

Brahne's fleet arrives, and Brahne, deeming she no longer needs him, attacks Kuja. Kuja survives Brahne's attacks and forces her to summon Bahamut to try and destroy him. However, Kuja enslaves Bahamut by using the Invincible and uses it to kill the Queen by destroying her fleet.

New Power


Garnet is crowned the new queen, and Kuja returns to Alexandria, intent on killing her as well. Kuja summons Bahamut and commands it to destroy the kingdom. Garnet and Eiko rush to Alexandria Castle's turrets, and call the eidolon guardian of Alexandria, Alexander, by bringing the four crystal fragments together. Alexander destroys Bahamut, much to Kuja's amazement. Kuja attempts to enslave Alexander and again calls the Invincible, however, Garland is at the controls, and has become aware of Kuja's desire to rebel. The Invincible destroys Alexander and Alexandria, frustrating Kuja and leaving him without an eidolon to manipulate. Kuja vows he will find an eidolon even stronger than Alexander and departs.

Zidane and his allies return to Lindblum, where Cid tells them Kuja has seized control of his airship and may have recruited the sentient Black Mages from the Black Mage Village. They use Cid's sailing ship, the Blue Narciss, to return to the Outer Continent and find Kuja's Desert Palace. Kuja quickly captures the group, and tells Zidane he will release his friends if he retrieves an artefact for him. As Kuja is unable to use his magic due to an anti-magic field around the place, he sends Zidane to Oeilvert with three of his friends.

While Zidane is at Oeilvert, Kuja betrays him and attempts to kill his companions who were left behind. They narrowly escape Kuja's trap, but Zidane returns before Kuja finds the escapees and hands over the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert. Kuja escapes with Eiko, and Zidane follows him to Mount Gulug. In Mount Gulug, Kuja commands Zorn and Thorn to extract Eiko's eidolons, but the attempt fails because she is too young.

At this time, Eiko's pet moogle Mog enters Trance, unleashing its true power as the eidolon Madeen. Kuja is surprised by this, and realizes that to enter Trance, one merely needs to experience a surge of powerful emotions. After witnessing the event Kuja formulates a new plan. He decides he doesn't need an eidolon to fight Garland after all, all he needs is to enter a Trance.

Return to Terra


With help from Cid's wife Hilda, Zidane and his companions find a path to Terra. On Terra, Zidane meets Garland, who reveals his and Kuja's past to him, claiming that Kuja is in denial of his own existence as a Genome, and hides his distinctive tail to conceal his identity. Although Garland attempts to take Zidane's soul and turn him into an ordinary Genome, he survives, and he and his allies attack Garland. Weakened but alive, Garland is usurped by Kuja, who has returned to Terra on his Silver Dragon and taken control of the Invincible.

Engaging Zidane and his friends, Kuja enters a Trance and crushes them with Ultima. Kuja reveals he has absorbed the captive souls on the Invincible, including the soul of Queen Brahne; her feelings of greed, hatred, and jealousy are the emotional surges Kuja needs to enter such a powerful Trance. Because Kuja is a Genome and originally constructed to be a vessel for souls, he is able to do this. Kuja kicks Garland off the precipice of Castle Pandemonium and declares that he will rule both Gaia and Terra.

As he taunts the defeated Zidane, Garland's spirit speaks to Kuja, telling him that he is not immortal, that he was created to last only until the real Angel of Death, Zidane, reached maturity. Horrified, Kuja comes to realize he is nothing more than a temporary pawn, much like the Black Mages he so despised. This revelation quickly drives Kuja mad, and he declares that he won't let the two worlds exist without him.

Mortality Realized
Enraged, Kuja destroys Terra and returns to Gaia. Zidane and his friends narrowly escape on Garland's airship along with the other Genomes they saved. They find Gaia covered in mist, and surmise that Kuja is at the Iifa Tree. With the help of Beatrix commanding an alliance of the survivors of the Mist Continent's kingdoms, Zidane and his friends penetrate the barrier into Memoria, a world of the souls' memories inside the Iifa Tree. Guided by Garland's spirit, they find the innermost realm of Memoria, the Crystal World.

In the Crystal World, they find Kuja at the Crystal, the source of all life. Still unwilling to allow life to continue without him, Kuja summons Deathguise, who is summarily destroyed. Upset, Kuja engages Zidane's allies himself, and upon his defeat casts Ultima again, defeating them. They appear in a mysterious area and encounter Necron, a being who has appeared to destroy all life. Necron is defeated, however, and life is allowed to continue.

After Necron's defeat, Kuja uses the last of his powers to teleport Zidane and his friends outside the Iifa Tree. Zidane decides to stay behind to rescue Kuja, and he barely makes into the Iifa Tree's core as the trunk and roots outside collapse. Kuja tells Zidane he is sorry for all that he did, but Zidane understands why he did it. Mikoto, the third Angel of Death Garland created, tells Kuja in spirit how he taught the Genomes that they can be more than just mindless vessels and has given them hope for the future. Suddenly, the tree's interior begins to collapse as well, and Zidane leaps on top of Kuja to protect him as flailing roots converge on them. It is unknown whether or not Kuja survives, as no mention of him is made in the ending.

Strength
As one would expect of the game's primary villain, Kuja is shown to be an exceptional mage. He can create Black Mages from mist using machinery and magic, and even with no outside help can summon Mistodons. He is capable of controlling monsters as well, and is shown to control an army of Silver Dragons led by the Nova Dragon, as well as the monster Deathguise that attacks Zidane's party in the Crystal World.

Kuja is also largely immune to injury - even the Dragon King Bahamut's attack only barely succeeds in drawing blood from him. It is also shown that even when not in Trance, Kuja is capable of casting the extremely powerful Flare Star. This makes him one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, Black Magic practitioners in FFIX, even before he gained the ultimate power of Trance.

After entering Trance, Kuja's power increases exponentially. He knows the strongest spells of the game including Curaga, Meteor, Holy and Flare, and his strongest spell Flare Star is potentially lethal to the entire party. He is able to completely destroy Terra with Ultima, and even defeats the party with it. When Kuja casts Ultima against the party, no damage is displayed as being taken but the battle instantly ends, so it is physically impossible to survive the spell.

In Battle
Kuja is fought as a boss in Pandemonium and in Trance form in Memoria. Both times he casts Ultima upon his defeat, so although the party technically wins the battle, for storyline purposes Kuja prevails.

Musical Themes
Kuja's main theme is simply titled "Kuja's Theme" (クジャのテーマ), a sinister piano theme accompanied by a heavy beat which plays during many of his appearances, most prominently during his first appearance in Burmecia.

The song was later re-released as "Kuja 5" on the Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS'', and has a longer piano section. On other occasions where he appears, the song "Immoral Melody" plays, a piece with an ominous beat using string instruments. "Kuja's Theme" and "Immoral Melody" are remixed and featured in the piece "Dark Messenger" that plays during the boss battle with Trance Kuja.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Kuja is one of these villains. He stands as the villain opposing Zidane.

As the youngest of the villains serving Chaos, Kuja is looked down on by his peers for his youth and inexperience. Determined to prove himself their superior, Kuja concocts several plans to trap the Warriors of Cosmos, particularly focusing on Zidane with the intent to break his spirit with isolation and feelings of powerlessness. To accomplish his goals, he works alongside Exdeath and Kefka. He initially plans to abduct Squall as bait, but when Squall defeats him he turns his attention to using a fake Crystal to kidnap Zidane directly. Bartz takes the Crystal instead, and Kuja thus uses him to unwittingly deliver another fake Crystal to Zidane, isolating him from his friends and leaving him to fight Kuja alone.

His alternate outfit is a light blue palette swap based on his artwork from Yoshitaka Amano.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Kuja reappears as a Warrior of Chaos in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy alongside the other characters. However, his story is heavily retconned. The two of them having recovered all his memories, Kuja and Zidane are on friendly terms, and Kuja plots to betray Chaos by leading Zidane, Squall and Bartz to the god so the four of them can defeat him and end the war. He also weakens Kefka's control of Terra.

Kefka finds out and appears along with the Emperor and Ultimecia when Kuja meets with Zidane, acting as though Kuja has lured them into a trap. Caught in his lie Kuja plays along to save face and attacks Zidane, Squall and Bartz, allowing them to escape. Kuja is later defeated by Lightning after being goaded to challenge her by Kefka.

Between cycles, Kefka interferes with Kuja's memories, twisting them so Kuja will be loyal to Chaos again and act as Zidane's enemy. Infuriated when he learns about his fake memories, Kuja vows to defeat Zidane to demonstrate that memories, true or false, are not needed to prove his worth.

Kuja's second alternate outfit is a monochrome palette swap, meant to reflect his position as an Angel of Death. As a bonus fourth outfit available for download, Kuja wears a gold and purple outfit meant to reflect his time as a noble of Treno.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Kuja makes appearance in the Japanese Final Fantasy trading card game published by Square Enix.

Lord of Vermillion Re:2
Kuja will appear as a card in Lord of Vermillion Re:2 as a new addition to the set of cards from the original Lord of Vermillion 2. His artwork for the game was drawn by Shukou Murase, character designer for Final Fantasy IX. His in-game appearance is identical to his appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy, and his special ability is his trademark ability, Flare Star.

Etymology
In Hindi, "kuj" or "kuja" means "born of the earth", symbolizing Kuja's birth on Terra ("terra" is Latin for earth). In Hindu cosmogony Kuja is the name of the planet Mars, which is also the name of the Roman God of War. This reflects Kuja's role to cause war and destruction on Gaia. Mars is known as the red planet, fitting with Terra being shown as a red planet to contrast Gaia's blue.

Kuja's name may also be derived from the Japanese word kujaku, which means "peacock", an animal befitting of Kuja's flamboyant and vain nature.