Cid Fabool IX

Cid Fabool IX is a temporary non-battle player character in Final Fantasy IX. He is the ruler and Regent of the Regency of Lindblum, successor of his father, Regent Cid Fabool VIII. Cid acts as an ally to the party aiding them to halt Queen Brahne's aggression against the Mist Continent. He serves as a temporarily playable character during a short sequence and as per tradition with Cids is the maker of several airships.

He was born in 1764, making him 36 years old in Final Fantasy IX.

Story
In 1780 Cid Fabool VIII collapsed due to an illness, passing the power to his son. In 1784 the king of Alexandria died, and when attending the funeral, Cid met Princess Garnet.

In January 1800, Cid ordered Tantalus to kidnap Garnet Til Alexandros XVII from Alexandria during their performance of I Want to Be Your Canary due to Queen Brahne's increasingly odd behavior. Cid is an old friend of Brahne and her husband, the late king, and Garnet calls him "uncle".

When Zidane and the party meet with him in Lindblum, Cid has been transformed into an oglop. His aide tells them it was done six months ago when an assailant snuck into the castle, transformed Cid and abducted his wife, Lady Hilda. Cid later admits the transformation was done by Hilda herself when she discovered Cid had a fling with a girl he'd met in a tavern, and she made off with the Hilda Garde. The Hilda Garde is the first airship to fly without Mist, and Cid has been trying to build the Hilda Garde II, but his mind as an oglop isn't the same.

When Alexandria invades Burmecia Cid pulls back the fourth division of Lindblum's airship fleet to fly to their aid, exposing their borders to Alexandria. This proves fatal when Brahne's fleet attacks the city, and Brahne summons the eidolon Atomos on the city. Cid surrenders and allows Alexandria to occupy the city, but continues to act against Brahne by informing Zidane and Garnet about Kuja, Brahne's weapons dealer, who is supplying her with her black mages, and provides them a way to the Outer Continent to track down Kuja and halt Brahne's supply of mages.

While the party participates in a Tetra Master tournament in Treno they find Cid is the current champion, but due to his condition Erin plays in his place while he advises her. When Alexandria is attacked by Kuja with Bahamut Cid takes the party to Alexandria in the Hilda Garde II, functional with limited efficiency due to being designed by Cid's oglop brain. After Alexandria is destroyed by the Invincible, Cid tells the party he witnessed Kuja in possession of the Hilda Garde I during the attack, and it was piloted by the talking black mages of the Black Mage Village. Unable to construct a new airship to track down Kuja in his current state, Cid has Doctor Tot confect a potion to reverse his transformation, but it turns Cid into a frog instead.

Cid accompanies the party on the Blue Narciss to search for Kuja, and is captured along with them at the Desert Palace. When Kuja attempts to dispatch the party Cid retrieves the key to their cells and reverses the hourglasses that will drop the party into lava when its sand runs out. He sneaks to the key guarded by a Hedgehog Pie, and positions weights on a scale to reach the hourglass and saves the group.

Kuja flees with Eiko to Mount Gulug, and Zidane and the party rescue her, also rescuing Lady Hilda, who has run off with Kuja. Hilda returns Cid into a human and he scraps the Blue Narciss to construct the Hilda Garde III for the party's use, while Hilda's information about Kuja aids in finding a path to Terra, Kuja's home world.

Cid pilots the Hilda Garde III to retrieve the party who return from Memoria after Kuja and Necron have been felled. He and Hilda adopt Eiko, and while he and his family are on their way to another performance by I Want to Be Your Canary by Tantalus, he boasts of a "new Hilda Garde" airship, though it is unknown if he means the Hilda Garde III, or if he has built a Hilda Garde IV.

Musical Themes
"Cid's Theme" plays in Lindblum Castle. It is a slowly paced majestic theme with a drum roll similar to ones announcing important figures.

Trivia

 * Being the ninth Cid Fabool is a reference to Final Fantasy IX being the ninth game in the main series.
 * His last name, Fabool, is a reference to Fabul, the kingdom in Final Fantasy IV.
 * The one feature of his which remains consistent throughout all three forms is his large mustache, which is how those familiar to him can attest to his true identity in spite of his current appearance.
 * A regent is defined as a 'person selected to act as head of state (ruling or not) because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated'. This may indicate Lindblum once had a royal family that was replaced by Cid Fabool I and those of his descent.
 * Cid Fabool IX might have been based on Ferdinand Von Zeppelin because both pioneered airship development and both share the same facial features including the mustache.
 * He is Cid.