#i love freya. she's easily one of my favorite designs in all of ff

[somnimagus]

very cool rat from my sketchbook that i colored like a year ago and forgot about

[id in alt text]

[finalorangefanta]

Final Fantasy IX Party Members in Order of How Much I Adore Them (Most to Least)

Blank - Idc that he is merely a "guest" party member I just want to know what straight male producer at Square green-lit a zombie leather-brief-clad twink for this game. I wish I had the swag that Blank has. In addition to wearing the least clothes, he's also the sassiest one of the Tantalus Gay Polycule(TM), and therefore the most gay. Also claims to be lady's man but offers no evidence of this. (And apparently he was cool enough to be the only guest party member to be included in this concept art)

Beatrix - Also a guest party member, but an extremely rewarding one to finally play as after she kicks your ass so many times. The general of the all-female army of Alexandria serves so much cunt. Her sword is called Save the Queen which is arguably the most memorable and definitely cuntiest name of a minor weapon in any Final Fantasy game, my feelings about Her Majesty Lizzy aside. And her headgear is nonsensical except that it is hot

Freya Claybourne - Moving into the main playable characters, let me first acknowledge that dragoons are probably the hottest job in Final Fantasy, and Freya is one of the coolest. Freya is furry fodder as an anthropomorphic rat "Burmecian", but somehow maintains more poise and elegance than any other main cast member. Her musical theme alone could draw out some tears. Her devotion to Burmecia even after its destruction makes me almost think chivalry could be a good thing sometime, somewhere.

Vivi Ornitier - Pause: why does Vivi have a last name when no other black mage does? Regardless, everybody loves Vivi. How could you not? The odd black mage design from early Final Fantasy games becomes quite cute when characterized as a lost little boy that was created using arcane magic to take over the world. Vivi's character arc is perhaps most touching of all, moving from confusion to sadness to hope.

Garnet "Dagger" Til Alexandros XVII - In a kingdom dedicated to protecting a secret crystal, naming 17 princesses "Garnet" seems like a bad idea. Anyway, she's your typical tomboy deuteragonist found in oh so many JRPGs but Dagger might be a little better than others because she's not manic-pixie-dream-girling anybody (unlike, say, Rinoa from FFVIII); she doesn't change Zidane much and he doesn't really change her. Dagger grows wiser from exposure to the world and not from her monkey boyfriend. The plot is bigger than them both.

Zidane Tribal - Zidane is not the most remembered protagonist in Final Fantasy, definitely less remembered than Cloud or Squall from VII and VIII, but I think that's why he's one of my favorites. He's not as moody. In fact he's a relatively static character whose main change is being more serious by the end. He crushes hard on Dagger, but by the climax his involvement is more connected to Kuja, which I find more compelling, even if that also follows a well-established pattern in FF games.

Quina Quen - Quina, to me, is a strange experiment in gender fuckery that is mostly successful despite being used as comic relief; they do let Quina an Vivi get "married" without anyone treating it as an insane concept, and Quina has his own pronouns that everyone uses. S/he (maybe we can just use "they" now?) is simple, and simple is good. Cook food, catch frogs. Would that we could all be more like our genderqueer kuing Quina.

Adelbert Steiner - This is easily the best first name/surname combo in FFIX. If you do not love Steiner by the end of the game, you are without a soul. He's annoying at the premise, but by the end he is our collective babygirl. He tries so damn hard, and he is a certified lad with strong lawful-good allegiances that grow a little more chaotic over time.

Amarant Coral - Ah, the edgelord. If it wasn't going to be Zidane, someone had to be it. Amarant's look is not my favorite character design, but his arc is heartwarming. Unfortunately, we don't know enough about his past for it to be fully rewarding.

Eiko Carol - (Not related to Amarant of the very similar last name.) Eiko is a sweet but sassy little girl with magic powers and a tragic backstory, much like Rydia and Relm from earlier games. But this time she has a horn and a tiny moogle companion named Mog, and Mog is the best thing about Eiko.

Cid Fabool IX - I like Cid because he was a bug. As a human and a guest party member, he's not quite as cool. He's a bit of an adulterer, but he learns his lesson so I guess he's fine? Still, one of the more fun Cids in the series.

Cinna and Marcus - The last two guest party members. Marcus's love for his "bro" Blank is the only reason I remember him. (It could've been gayer but go off ig.) I'm not sure why I remember Cinna exists. He's comic relief, I think? Kind of frightening with his soulless eyes, honestly.