LogFAQs > #895407524

24. Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)

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"...The man is still looking for his birthplace. But he already has a home."

Zidane is a much simpler Final Fantasy protagonist than most who came before or after him. Little of Zidane's conflict in Final Fantasy IX is internal. Outside of the You're Not Alone scene, he pretty much always knows how and what he wants to do. Zidane has a backstory of him being a manufactured existence destined to replace Kuja and whatever but that's not why anyone likes him, especially since the game makes sure he gets over that as quickly as possible. While Zidane has some amount growing up to do (mostly when it comes to romance) his personality is like 80% fully formed when the game starts. The Zidane you see at the start is more or less the Zidane you'll see at the end.

It's hard to put exactly into words why I like Zidane as much as I do. There are some surface-level reasons I can think of - I'm a fan of the trickster rogue archetype and daggers are my favorite fantasy weapon so I took to Zidane pretty quickly. His decisions throughout the story tended to be in line with what I wanted him to do, which let me get invested in the character even without a complex storyline to latch onto. But there's lots of characters I like in that surface level sort of way, and few of them are on this list.

When it comes down to it, I think the reason I like Zidane so much is because of the way he acts as a sort of rock for the rest of the cast. The party members in FF9 are - for lack of a better term - lost. Even the ones that technically have a place in the world feel as if they were adrift in a storm. Dagger has doubts about the royal family, Steiner has doubts about his duty as a knight, Vivi has doubts about his very existence...I could go on. The most blatant example is Eiko, who is literally alone when you find her (moogles don't count). Zidane is the only one who isn't 'lost' like they are. He might have some misgivings about his past, but for the most part, he's found his home. And through a combination of both intentional and unintentional efforts, Zidane helps everyone else find their own places to belong. He's an extremely positive influence on the people around him just by being Zidane. It's the main overarching theme of FF9, and it's why the You're Not Alone scene resonates so strongly with so many. It's the first time that Zidane's the one that needed helping, and everyone else shows up in force to return the favor. FF9 is a heartwarming game in many ways, and Zidane is a big part of why that is.
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Black Turtle did a pretty good job.