Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI



Queen Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI is Alexandria's ruler and mother of Princess Garnet in Final Fantasy IX. Through the course of the game, she is the cause of much death and destruction, but Garnet often testifies that her mother had once been a kind and well-liked ruler of Alexandria and not the power-hungry villain she became when the King passed away, and the mysterious Kuja started to show his face within the castle walls.

Appearance
Queen Brahne is a large, 39-year-old woman with pale, blue skin, large lips, and a bulbous, purple nose. Some characters comment on her size, with Kuja calling her an "elephant-woman" and Baku referring to her as "fat-ass, butt-ugly Queen Brahne". Brahne wears a fair amount of makeup, including blush and lipstick, and her face is covered in freckles. Her eyes are blacked out under a large domed helmet made of gold, from which two blonde, bristly ponytails protrude from either side. Being a Queen, Brahne's clothing is extravagant, wearing a long red coat with a feathered trim, a striped blouse, a long skirt with a golden sash, and a lot of jewellery. She often carries a fan.

Personality
Although once a kind and benevolent ruler, when Brahne's husband died she became cruel and bitter. Kuja convinced her to wage war on the other continents, leading to Brahne's insatiable greed and subsequent lack of value for innocent lives. Brahne becomes blinded by her desire to rule and even puts her daughter Garnet's safety at risk in attempting to harness the power of the eidolons. After Brahne's defeat she realizes what a horrible ruler she had become and apologizes to her daughter, absolving herself from the greed that once possessed her.

Story
Brahne was born in October of 1760 and ruled Alexandria peacefully for many years until her husband died. In the year that followed the King's death, Garnet noticed changes in Brahne's behavior. Kuja had convinced Brahne to wage war against the neighboring countries of Lindblum and Burmecia, using an army of black mages created from the mist that covers the entire Mist Continent.

When Kuja told her that her (secretly) adopted daughter Garnet possessed the power to summon eidolons, her greed for power was fueled even more. It consumes her to the point that she orders her court jesters and mystics, Zorn and Thorn, to extract the eidolons from Garnet for her own use. Once this is done, Brahne decides that her daughter is no longer of any use to her and orders her execution.

Once Brahne has gained the ability to summon through the use of mystical stones extracted from Garnet, and has a large enough black mage army, she sets out to wage war on neighboring kingdoms. She successfully destroys both Burmecia and Cleyra (the latter through the eidolon Odin), and greatly damages Lindblum. Brahne's undoing would prove to be her pride and lust for power when she turns on the source of that power: Kuja. Unfortunately, when she summons Bahamut to attack Kuja, he takes control of the eidolon with the Invincible and proceeds to unleash Mega Flare, which destroys Brahne's fleet.

Her battered escape pod washes ashore on a nearby beach, where Garnet finds her. With her dying breath, Brahne asks for forgiveness from Garnet for the things she did and how she's relieved to be finally free from her terrible greed. She then passes away in her daughter's arms. Despite Brahne's campaign for power, the people still remember her fondly, and a peaceful tomb is constructed for her alongside Alexandria Castle.

Kuja later claims on Terra that it was Queen Brahne's soul, trapped in the Invincible and filled with greed, that let him enter Trance.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Brahne appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game with her Yoshitaka Amano artwork.

Etymology
Brahne's first name may be taken from the Greek word brachnos, meaning "hoarse".

Trivia

 * According to one of the Alexandrian castle cooks (Ovenmeister), Queen Brahne's favorite dish is deep-fried bat.
 * If the concept art is to be believed, Brahne may have originally had a giant pet cat that she would use as a couch. A smaller cat can be seen in the portrait of her found in Alexandria Castle.
 * Brahne snaps her fan in the FMV in which Garnet escapes Alexandria. Interestingly, when the game returns to normal gameplay, she is fanning herself. It is possible that she carries extra fans, a humorous element also used for Rude's sunglasses in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
 * Brahne's favorite flower is the red rose, hence the name of her airship, Red Rose. The people of Alexandria give Garnet a wreath of red roses for her mother's grave.

Brane Raza Alexandros XVI. Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI