Kuja

Kuja is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy IX. He operates behind the scenes, at first working in Queen Brahne of Alexandria's shadow. He wishes to acquire the power of the eidolons to come to rule Gaia. He is a powerful sorcerer who rides a silver dragon.

Appearance
Kuja is a 24-year-old man with silver hair that falls halfway down his back. He wears a large feather in his hair, has light-blue eyes, and is of medium height, light build, with a pale complexion. He wears white sleeves with a violet mantle around his shoulders. Kuja wears a white robe that covers the back of his legs down to his ankles. The robe is held up by four straps that act as a codpiece. His pants are purple and his shoes are black with golden buckles.

When in Trance, Kuja becomes covered in red fur and his clothes, which turn white, become tattered. He has a long furred tail in this form.

Personality
Kuja's speech patterns are metaphorical and jovial; for example he refers to Garnet as a "canary", and Brahne as "the elephant-lady". His refined nature juxtaposes his role as a sadistic war-bringer. Kuja loves luxury, as evidenced by his home at Desert Palace.

Kuja is narcissistic in contrast to Zidane's humility. Kuja has an ego to match his power, and he lets his pride rule his head. Kuja once chose to let Zidane live even if he had a chance to kill him to prove himself superior. After discovering his destiny as a mortal, Kuja's cultured personality turns into insanity, believing life should not be allowed to continue without him.

Kuja uses his elegance to hide his insecurities, and deep down he is conflicted by his existence. Kuja scorns the black mages, but also finds himself identifying with them. As explained in Final Fantasy IX Ultimania Kuja never experienced childhood, and thus his emotional growth is stunted, being unable to empathize with others or feel remorse for his actions. It appears that learning of his fate as a mortal and rebelling against this destiny allows Kuja to grow, and he comes to see at least some of the repercussions of his actions.

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.

Abilities
Kuja is an exceptional mage. He knows the technology to manufacture black mages from Mist, and even with no outside help can summon Mistodons. He can control monsters and controls an army of Silver Dragons led by the Nova Dragon. He also commands the monster Deathguise that attacks Zidane's party in the Crystal World.

Kuja is largely immune to injury; even Bahamut's attack barely draws blood from him. Even when not in Trance, Kuja can cast the powerful Flare Star, making him one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, magic practitioners in Final Fantasy IX.

After entering Trance Kuja's power increases exponentially. He knows the strongest spells of the game including Curaga, Holy and Flare and Flare Star. He destroys Terra with Ultima, and uses it as a final attack when on the verge of defeat.

Creation
Kuja is a Genome created by the ruler of the dead planet of Terra, Garland, in 1776. Garland's ultimate plan is to assimilate the planet of Gaia with the planet of Terra by replacing the Gaian souls with Terran ones. To accelerate the process Garland created Kuja and sent him to Gaia to encourage war so the souls of Gaia would be replaced faster. Thus, it is Kuja's nature to incite death.

Garland initially deemed Kuja a failure. According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, Kuja was created as he is and never experienced a childhood. Thus he never developed full human emotions and would never be able to enter 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 difficult for Garland to harness to his own ends. Garland thus placed a limit on Kuja's lifespan and created another Genome who would be different from Kuja from the outset: Zidane was created as a child 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: Zidane. Kuja felt threatened by the new Genome and kidnapped him and abandoned him on Gaia. Garland continued using Kuja, while a third Angel of Death, Mikoto, was created, but outraged at Kuja's behavior, Garland banished Kuja from returning to Terra. Kuja, defiant of his master, made his home in the Desert Palace instead, though he frequents Treno and is known there as a nobleman.

Scheming against Garland
According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania Kuja destroyed Madain Sari 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 grew curious about these mythical beasts his master so feared, and came to pursue them himself.

The strongest eidolon in human memory, Alexander, was summoned only once 500 years ago. After being deemed dangerous its summoning crystal was divided up in four fragments so it may never be summoned again, the fragments divided between the kingdoms of the Mist Continent.

It sounded perfect to Kuja who was scheming towards his own goals and only appeared loyal to Garland on the surface. Kuja knew if Garland's plan to fuse the planets was to succeed his role as the Angel of Death would end, and his soul would no longer be his own, as Garland would turn him into a regular Genome, a mere soul vessel. The idea was unbearable to Kuja, who did not think the world deserved to exist without him. As Garland feared Gaia's eidolons, Kuja decided he had found the perfect weapon to 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 she can conquer the neighboring nations of Burmecia and Lindblum and capture their crystal shards. The weapons Kuja supplies are the black mages, soulless golems who wield powerful magic. It is hinted Kuja knows how Genomes are manufactured and used his knowledge in making of the black mages.

At some point Kuja kidnapped Hildagarde Fabool, a noblewoman from the nation of Lindblum, who has taken a prototype airship from Lindblum that flies on advanced technology named after her, the Hilda Garde. Kuja kept her captive and, in need of an audience to fuel his narcissism, told her of his plans to conquer Terra an Gaia while taking the airship for himself.

Burmecia is conquered, and Zidane—now a thief living in Gaia with no knowledge of his origins—sets out on a quest to find out what is happening alongside his friend, a Burmecian Freya Crescent, and a sentient black mage, Vivi Ornitier, as well as possibly a qu gourmand, Quina Quen. The four arrive too late to defend the kingdom and are defeated by General Beatrix of Alexandria. Kuja observes Zidane before boarding his dragon and departing the site.

Brahne, under Kuja's advice, extracts her daughter's eidolons and summons Odin to destroy the Burmecian survivors at Cleyra, and to capture Cleyra's crystal shard. Zidane and his allies sneak aboard Brahne's airship and teleport back to Alexandria Castle.

Zidane and his friends rescue Brahne's daughter Garnet, who learns of her roots as a summoner. The group splits with Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi returning to Lindblum, only to witness Brahne conquer it with Atomos and her army of black mages. The surrendered Regent Cid tells Zidane's party about Kuja's role as Brahne's weapons supplier, and the three 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.

Zidane, Vivi, and Garnet track Kuja, following leads to the Black Mage Village and the summoners' ruined village of Madain Sari, recruiting Quina, Eiko Carol, and Amarant Coral along the journey. The group continues 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 onslaught and she summons Bahamut. Kuja enslaves Bahamut by calling forth the Invincible, a Terran airship able to house souls, and kills the Queen by destroying her fleet.

New power


Garnet is crowned the new queen and Kuja returns to Alexandria intent on killing her with his new eidolon. Kuja summons Bahamut and commands it to destroy the kingdom. Garnet and Eiko rush to Alexandria Castle's turrets and call forth the eidolon guardian of Alexandria, Alexander, by bringing the four crystal fragments together.

Alexander destroys Bahamut, and Kuja attempts to enslave the former by calling the Invincible. Garland has learned of Kuja's rebellion and commands the Invincible to destroy both 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 been spotted in control of his Hilda Garde airship, and has 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 captures the group, and tells Zidane he will release his friends if he retrieves an artefact for him, sending Zidane to Oeilvert with three friends of his choosing.

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

Eiko's pet moogle Mog enters Trance, unleashing her true power as the eidolon Madeen. Kuja realizes that to enter Trance one needs to experience a surge of powerful emotions, and formulates a new plan. He decides he doesn't need an eidolon to fight Garland after all; he simply needs to enter Trance.

Return to Terra


Kuja loses all his allies when the black mages realize he had tricked them and return to their village. Zorn and Thorn were killed by Zidane's party, who have rescued Hilda and taken back the airship Hilda Garde. With help from Cid's wife, Hilda, Zidane and his companions find a path to Terra where Zidane meets Garland, who reveals his and Kuja's past, claiming Kuja is in denial of his existence as a Genome.

Although Garland attempts to take Zidane's soul and turn him into an ordinary Genome when Zidane defies his plans, he survives, and Zidane and his allies attack Garland. A weakened Garland is usurped by Kuja who has returned to Terra on his Silver Dragon and taken control of the Invincible.

Kuja enters a Trance and crushes Zidane and his friends with Ultima. Because Kuja is a Genome and originally constructed to be a vessel for souls, he can absorb souls into his being and has absorbed the captive souls on the Invincible, including the soul of Queen Brahne; her feelings of greed, hatred, and jealousy were the emotional surges Kuja needed to enter such a powerful Trance. Kuja kicks Garland off the precipice of Castle Pandemonium and declares he will rule both Gaia and Terra.

Garland's spirit lingers and speaks to Kuja, telling him he was created to last only until the real Angel of Death, Zidane, reached maturity. Kuja realizes he is but a temporary pawn, much like the black mages he so despises. The revelation of his impending death drives Kuja mad, and he declares he won't let the world exist without him.

Mortality realized
Kuja destroys Terra with a barrage of Ultima spells and returns to Gaia. Zidane and his friends escape on the Invincible along with the other Genomes they saved. They find Gaia covered in Mist and surmise 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 made manifest of the planet's memories. Guided by Garland's spirit, they travel deeper into Memoria and travel back in time to the origin of the universe, the Crystal World.

In the Crystal World they find Kuja at the Crystal, the source of all life. Kuja summons Deathguise who is summarily destroyed. Kuja engages Zidane's party himself, and upon his defeat casts Ultima, defeating them. Zidane and his friends appear in the Hill of Despair and encounter Necron, a being summoned by Kuja's fear of death to destroy all life and save it from the suffering of existence. Necron is defeated, and life is allowed to continue.

Kuja, who has lost his Trance, uses the last of his powers to teleport Zidane and his friends outside the Iifa Tree. Zidane stays behind to rescue Kuja, and barely makes his way to the Iifa Tree's core as its trunk and roots collapse. A weakened Kuja apologizes for his actions, but Zidane understands why he did it. As Kuja's body goes limp, the tree's interior collapses and Zidane protects the former as flailing roots converge on them. Mikoto, the third Angel of Death Garland had created, later tells Kuja in spirit how he taught the Genomes they can be more than mindless vessels and has given them hope for the future.

Gameplay
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 wins the battle, for storyline purposes Kuja prevails. At the end of his fight in Pandemonium, Kuja morphs into Trance form, but cannot be fought, and casts Ultima ending the fight.

Voice
In the Dissidia Final Fantasy series he is voiced by Akira Ishida in Japanese. In the English versions he is voiced by JD Cullum. Kuja speaks in an aristocratic manner with a narcissistic pitch.

Musical themes
"Kuja's Theme" is a sinister piano theme accompanied by a heavy beat which plays during many of his appearances, most prominently during his first appearance in Burmecia.

"Dark Messenger" plays during the fight against Trance Kuja in the Crystal World. It starts with the organ like the original Kuja theme, but turns into synthesized electric guitar accompanying the original theme.

Other appearances
Kuja has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
 * Final Fantasy Legends II as a phantom stone summon
 * Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008) as a playable character.
 * Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a playable character.
 * Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia.
 * Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
 * Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
 * Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
 * Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
 * Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
 * Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
 * Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
 * Triple Triad as a series of cards.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances
Kuja has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
 * Lord of Vermilion series.
 * Puzzle & Dragons as a playable character.

Games
A costume based on Kuja for  was released on November 2014.

Etymology
"Born of the earth" may symbolize Kuja's birth on Terra (terra is Latin for Earth), and reflect Kuja's role to incite war and destruction on Gaia. Mars is known as the red planet, fitting with Terra being the red planet to contrast Gaia's blue. Kuja could also be considered to be Zidane's brother.

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.

Trivia

 * After the first battle against him in Pandemonium, Kuja explains he had taken the souls absorbed by the Invincible, saying Queen Brahne's soul was among them. Even if Garnet is not in the party Kuja will still refer to Brahne as "your mother," which could hint that Garnet and the other members are present, but unseen.
 * Kuja is the only main antagonist in the series who defeats the player party every time he is battled.
 * In the GBA, PSP, and mobile remakes of the original Final Fantasy, there is a town in the Whisperwind Cove where a child asks the party if they have a "Trance Kuja action figure," because it's the only one missing from his collection.
 * Kuja is the youngest main antagonist in the Final Fantasy series.