Nine

Nine is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0. He represents the number 9 of Class Zero and wields a spear.

Appearance
Nine is a young man with messy blond hair, light blue eyes and a scarred face. As a member of Class Zero he wears their uniform, albeit his is disheveled with the black jacket with the gold-padded shoulders left unfastened, and his white trousers slouching over his shoes. He wears a black belt with a red belt buckle, a red cape and wields a spear. His summer uniform has a white jacket with a black print on the side, a black shirt, black trousers with white shoes, black gloves and a red cape. His dress uniform has a red jacket with black padded shoulders and cuffs, black shirt, white cape and gloves, black trousers with silver decoration at the bottoms and black shoes.

Personality
Nine is impulsive and straightforward, viewing the world in black and white and only feels satisfied when things are not complicated. Although he has a foul mouth and is considered stupid by fellow classmate Queen, his courage boosts Class Zero's morale on the battlefield. Though easily angered and quick to lash out at others, he bears love for Mother, respect for his classmates, and pride in his country.

Nine has been described by his English voice actor Orion Acaba thusly: "He is a tough guy with a little underbelly of sweetness. He tries to hide it, but is not that good at it because he wears his emotions on his face. He is loyal to a fault to his friends, and he is honorable and truthful, and even though it might not the smartest thing to say at the time, he doesn't pull his punches if it is speaking the truth. Nine is such a gruff that when he does [speak his mind despite social faux pas] it comes across as endearing."

Final Fantasy Agito
In Final Fantasy Agito, Nine is a member of Class Second and dons an indigo blue mantle.

He can be found in the Backyard during the morning, afternoon and evening.

Final Fantasy Type-0
Hoping to channel his abundant energy into something more productive, Dr. Arecia Al-Rashia moved Nine to a facility outside Akademeia at the age of eight, and offered him a rigorous training regimen. Nine joined Class Zero, a group of cadets from Akademeia, the magic academy of the nation of Rubrum, that fights the invasion by the Militesi Empire. As part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle," he and his comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Tempus Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.

When the empire invades Rubrum Nine is deployed to the battlefield to liberate the capital. Nine, like his fellow classmates, have been augmented by their "Mother" Arecia to use magic independent of the Vermilion Bird Crystal. When the empire deploys the crystal jammer to cut Rubrum's forces off their Crystal, Class Zero is their only hope. The cadets drive the imperial forces out of Akademeia, and are officially enrolled to Akademeia with two new cadets: Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya, to be deployed to the battlefield to help retake the areas conquered by the empire.

When Kurasame introduces himself to Class Zero as their commanding officer, Nine expresses his dislike of him and says they will only listen to their Mother, Arecia. Kurasame slaps Nine into a nearby wall, prompting him to rush forward and attack Kurasame a second time, but he again throws Nine aside. Cater and Ace rush to Nine's defense, but are overpowered.

During the Capture of Togoreth Stronghold, Nine helps defeat the imperial General Qator Bashtar and his flying magitek armor. When the Vermilion Bird l'Cie Zhuyu Voghfau Byot intercepts the White Tiger Crystal l'Cie Nimbus, Nine, Queen and Sice watch the showdown until being called to retreat.

Back in Akademeia Nine visits the library with Queen and marvels he would never have time to read all the books if he read for the rest of his life, and voices his dislike of reading. The two run into Quon Yobatz, a magic researcher and a fellow cadet, who berates Nine's ignorance, angering him. After the mission to liberate Iscah Ace has a chance to sleep in the back garden and relive some of his lost memories with the late Izana Kunagiri. Nine nearby states his theory that the Crystal doesn't remove the memories of the deceased from the minds of the living, but the memories with them, leaving behind phantom recollections and feelings that are difficult to place. However, he ponders memories are not much worth in the afterlife, anyway.

When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. Kurasame travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety, and afterward explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor.

They meet Queen Andoria, and the encounter shocks Nine who had thought she never left her castle. The queen explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis. Yet, the cadets struggle accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will. Afterward, Nine explores Ingram but gets lost and has to ask for instructions to get back to the hotel.

Queen Andoria is assassinated and Class Zero is blamed for it. The cadets are ambushed at the hotel and make a hasty escape from the city, realizing they are unable to contact Central Command, raising the possibility they have been abandoned to fend for themselves. They face off against Celestia, Queen Andoria's aide and a l'Cie, who, at first holds the cadets culpable for the queen's death and knocks down Rem and Machina. She is convinced otherwise and helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region, Nine carrying the unconscious Machina back.

After Machina comes to Nine tries to talk to him but is rebuffed. After an argument over Machina holding Class Zero culpable for his brother Izana's death, he marches off. Nine takes over the watch duty with Seven, although he considers himself better suited for face-to-face battles rather than for waiting around on guard. When Nine claims Machina thinks too much, Seven retorts Nine "doesn't think enough." Machina returns in the morning, and the cadets can move on as Deuce exclaims the COMM is working again and she has reached the dominion.

Kurasame organizes for the cadets to be rescued by airship and back in Akademeia tells them there will likely be an investigation, and implies the cadets switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous and Nine raises his voice in anger, but is held back by King. Nine and Queen meet Quon again at the library, and Nine is angered Quon ignores him when he tries to talk to him. Nine accuses Quon of having no friends, but Quon is bemused, as he finds the books to be all the friends he needs. During free time Nine hangs out with Sice at the ready room and runs into Carla, Sice warning Nine of her gil-grubbing ways.

After the cadets return from a mission to reclaim Eibon, they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest of the cadets the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces. Class Zero is to be sent with Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet, while Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon. Nine is shocked they would be aided by a l'Cie.

Nine confronts Kurasame over rumors the latter is being sent to the front lines as punishment for Class Zero's failings. Kurasame denies this and is bemused his cadets would worry over him as even if he did die the Crystal would remove all memories of him from the living. Nine doubts they could forget someone as annoying as Kurasame, and the latter takes it as a compliment. Afterward Nine laments Kurasame being an "upstanding guy" for taking the fall for his cadets.

The cadets help Rubrum secure victory on the eastern front by defeating Shinryu Celestia. The western front is falling back and thus Class Zero is recalled as reinforcements to destroy the empire's crystal jammer allowing for Lady Caetuna to begin summoning Alexander for which Kurasame and the other cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis. Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery. Nine cannot comprehend the losses as all memories of Kurasame as well as the others perished have been removed from them. He visits Kurasame's grave with Cater out of Queen's request, but only feels empty. Cater explains she had looked Kurasame up and deems him a jerk who had left them behind in Ingram when the cadets had been blamed for the regicide. Nine feels like he has forgotten something important that compels him to not badmouth a commander he cannot recall.

After the dominion invades the Kingdom of Concordia, Nine and Queen find Quon outside their classroom, eager to join Class Zero it is the only class in Akademeia privy to harvesting phantoma, the mystical life energy, or "souls" of all living beings. Nine and Queen are shocked Quon is privy to such confidential information, and Nine says he could get in trouble for that. Nine is shocked Queen lets Quon join the class anyway.

Nearing the ending, when Nine and his classmates were on the verge on dying, he seemed to be more calm about it, and is in fact not afraid of death as he felt that it was a manly act.

The actions of fellow classmates, Rem and Machina, would later result in Arecia removing the four crystals from Orience, allowing those who perished in war, including Nine, to live their lives peacefully. Like many of the male students, Nine has feelings for the female instructor Emina Hanaharu. But after what is speculated to be a confession to Emina is consequently turned down due to her having a boyfriend (revealed to be Izana Kunagiri), Nine is seen taking out his anger by throwing his spears while feeling dejected and upset.

Gameplay


Nine wields a lance in battle, and has an accessible close-range aggressive and powerful battle style resembling that of a Dragoon. His style is similar to that of Queen, but with more emphasis on strength. His basic attack is called Lance. He can spin it around to attack and is good with critical hits.

Nine has considerably high power and defense, although his power might be weaker than Sice's or Jack's yet he is rather more durable than Cinque. Nine possesses a Dragoon-like build. His HP pool, defense, and attack damage are high, making him an ideal tank during boss fights or a good partner for long-ranged characters, such as Ace, Deuce, Trey, and Cater, while they dish out damaging spells and attacks.

Nine's tank-like build is offset by his low MP pool and magic defense as well as speed. His attacks often have a delay, which means timing is crucial for him. As such, players should keep in mind to keep Nine safe when facing magic-based or quick enemies.

Abilities
Nine's normal attacks consist of striking and piercing his enemies with his lance with an average speed four hit combo. The last strike boasts high critical rate, and can knock away small enemies. His Clean Sweep allows him to swing his lance around to hit surrounding enemies. After the first spin, Nine may chain into another whirlwind spin while doing a somersault, then finishes it off with the last strike. His Mobile Attack allows him to slide forward while spinning his lance quickly, dealing many hits before finishing with the last strike.

Nine initially knows Jump, which allows him to leap in the air and land on the target dealing high damage within a small area. Tapping the input allows Nine to hit the target again with his last strike. Hitting the enemies with the last strike actually helps with accumulating AG.

The powerful Lance Throw ability allows Nine to throw his lance at his target and serves as his ranged attack. Nine will first try to track his target vertically and horizontally before tossing it, so its accuracy is slightly above average. It boasts a high critical rate, and may allow hit multiple enemies as the lance can pierce through them. When the lance hits an enemy or wall, or ground, it unleashes a blast than may damage other enemies around it. The ability has an infinite range as long as the target is locked-on.

Nine is a rambunctious and aggressive person, especially with his Roar ability that allows Nine to let out a thunderous roar that can inflict Stop to his target. Although the ability is sound-based, it actually targets one enemy only. It has a rather low chance of inflicting Stop.

Equipment
Nine's exclusive accessory is the "Meteor Buckle", which increases his HP by 60% and grants Auto Endure status.


 * Lance
 * Heavy Lance
 * Javelin
 * Shapeshifter
 * Knight's Lance
 * Harpoon
 * Wyvern Horn
 * Holy Lance
 * Mythril Lance
 * Wildfire Spear
 * Hoarfrost Spear
 * Voltaic Spear
 * Venus Gopel
 * Highwind
 * Kain's Lance
 * Lance of Longinus (ultimate weapon)

Support Personnel
Some Support Personnel characters in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD appear as Nine: Motoo Fujiwara (Vocalist and Guitarist for Bump of Chicken), Akio Ohfuji (Senior Publicity Producer), Yasuhiro Sato (Lead Level Designer), Kumiko Kaji (Character Modeler) and Hajime Tabata (Director).

Creation and Development
As seen in the, Nine had fair brown hair in the initial development as to oppose his current light blond color.

Voice
Nine is a "rude but funny tough guy" archetype and the only character who swears in the game.

Nine is voiced by in the Japanese version, who also voiced Snow Villiers from the Final Fantasy XIII series.

He is voiced by Orion Acaba in English, who has described Nine as his favorite character to have voiced during his career, and a big departure from his previous roles as a voice actor. Acaba had been a fan of the series since childhood, and when he heard Square Enix was taking auditions for Final Fantasy Type-0 he was thrilled and auditioned for most of the game's male lead roles. Acaba has stated that being a gamer himself influences his auditioning process, as he has his own idea on what would or would not sound good in a game from a player's perspective. When rehearsing for the audition for Nine Acaba did improv among himself to figure out the character and came up with the voice that led to him being booked for the role. One of the cues Acaba got was "think of [Nine] as a Canadian thug". Playing a tough guy who was also funny gave Acaba room to play around and ad lib.

Acaba's approach to the role was to mostly not plan out the sessions too much beforehand to keep his delivery for the more comedic scenes fresh. For the more emotional scenes he studied the script more before the recording. Acaba has said Nine was easy to connect with as he considers the character similar to himself as a person.

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle
Nine appears as a playable character in the Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle sponsored by Amazon. His attacks are Lance, Fire and Jump.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Nine appears on a few cards in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, featuring his CG renders.

Etymology
"Nine" is one of the trumps of a traditional set of playing cards.

The romaji pronunciation for Nine's name, Nain (ナイン), rhymes with that of Kain (カイン) (the lance-wielder of Final Fantasy IV), their names in katakana differing by a single character.