Zidane is a working thief, and a member of the Tantalus Performing Theatre Group. He seems to live his life with no regrets, and is very optimistic, which somewhat makes him symbolic of confidence. He cannot remember anything about his past, and does not know of any family, so he lives life like a game of chance, jumping from one thing to the next. He is sort of looked at as a veteran in Tantalus, and is the boss’s favorite over fellow members Blank, Cinna, and Marcus. Zidane holds a strong appeal towards girls, but most of the time the girls don’t feel the same. He sets his eyes on Garnet at the beginning of the game, and throughout the game those feelings don’t die down at all. Garnet is a key factor in Zidane finding out who he really is. Squaresoft made sure to make Zidane a bit more confident and outgoing in Final Fantasy IX, after Squall’s depressing behavior in Final Fantasy VIII. He can be equipped with both a Thief Dagger, and the dual-bladed Polearm. He can also use his MP towards non-physical Thief attacks, and the ultra-powerful Dyne attacks when in Trance. Zidane, from an overall standpoint is a very versatile fighter, and an emotional character.

Garnet is the Princess of the Royal House of Alexandria, and heir to the throne. Her mother is Queen Brahne, the Queen. Garnet is very fearful of tragedy, and does not want any danger or problems to overcome Alexandria. She even at times questions her mother’s intentions under certain circumstances. She, since a very young age, took interest in studying and learning about the legendary Eidolons. And, in her pre-teen years she learned that she had the ability to call upon a few of the most powerful Eidolons that lay sleeping within her. When Garnet is kidnapped by the band of thieves, Tantalus, she decides to disguise herself as a common villager to keep the attention down. She takes the opportunity to travel the world and visit people that she wouldn’t otherwise. She also is known to your party as “Dagger” which was an alias she adopted to keep a low profile while roaming around in urban cities. Garnet/Dagger uses rackets and rods for her offensive attacks and magic.

Vivi is a Black Mage, and is the second most important character in the game, following Zidane. Although he is feared and respected in the world of Gaea, like all mages, he is very warm and pure at heart. Vivi is very clumsy, and often ponders his existence, and the existence of everything. His history is a mystery to everyone, and this is a key reason for his curiosity about the nature of the world, and the existence of all living things. The only real thing that Vivi knows about himself is the fact that he is a Black Mage, and is the only one who is not powered and controlled by Queen Brahne. He will join up with Zidane in the midst of a battle with other possessed Black Mages. His appearance is sort of a throwback to the original Final Fantasy’s. Vivi can learn a lot of powerful black magic spells by equipping the right weapons, armor and items, and can supply magic for Steiner’s sword so he can use the Sword Magic ability. Therefore, when Steiner and Vivi are in your party at the same time, you can perform extra powerful attacks with Steiner. It will take some time to learn the spells, though, since Vivi starts as just a young Black Mage without too much experience.

Steiner is an extremely talented fighter physically, and is even more powerful when you combine his sword with Vivi’s magic. He is experienced, and serves as the Captain of the Knights of Pluto, a misfit group of Knights that serve Queen Brahne and the Royal family. His loyalty to the Royal family, and to protect the Princess is like no other. He has sworn that he will commit to his duties, and for his loyalty and commitment he was named the escort and bodyguard of the Princess. Steiner is very experienced with the use of weapons and armor, specifically his Sword and Knight Armor. You can’t equip him with the armor that most other characters use, you must find or buy Knight armor. Near the end of the game, you will have learned a lot of valuable skills and abilities with Steiner, which adds to his overall use and importance in battle. Along with that, when you add him and Vivi together into the same party, you can use powerful Sword Magic attacks using Vivi’s magic and Steiner’s sword.

Freya was once an honorable member of the Royal Dragon Knights of Burmecia. She left her home to search for her lost love, Sir Fratley, who left years in the past. She had never heard of his death, or where he went, so her journey brought her all over the world. After years of searching with no success, Freya finds Zidane and joins his party voluntarily after hearing of the horrible threat that may destroy her home and the world of Gaia. Despite her odd Burmecian characteristics, such as the tail, gray fur, and bat-like ears. She is a very strong and valiant fighter, yet the weight of her past seems to slow her down a bit. She can attack with spears and lances, and is important to healing your party with the abilities that you will learn throughout the game.

Quina is from the tribe of the Qu’s, and can be recruited at his/her home in Qu’s marsh on the Mist Continent. Squaresoft has made it perfectly clear that they will not reveal the true gender of Quina, if it even has a gender. Quina is a chef, and a gourmand, and therefore one of the main reasons s/he agreed to travel with Zidane was to travel the world and look for the best foods to eat. Quina’s goal was to increase the amount of foods that s/he had eaten to make her/him a master chef. Quina is always thinking of an appetite, and is at times difficult to understand. Quina’s constant drive to eat gives her the ability to munch on enemies, which may KO them, or it may teach Quina a Blue Magic spell. Quina has a very comical Qu appearance, and will come off to be the oddest character in the game. Her/His weapon is a massive fork, which counts for an unpredictable amount of damage. This unpredictability is why you need to teach Quina as many Blue Magic spells as possible. If you get enough of the spells, and in different types, you can even put Quina in the back row and treat her/him as a Mage.

Eiko is the last of the Summoners that once dwelt in the village of Madain Sari. She is living there alone, with a pack of moogles that she has crossed paths with at one time or another, at the mere age of 6. Although the area is in ruins, she still cherishes it because of her past and her ancestors. When Zidane and company cross paths with Eiko, she shows them her supreme use of eidolons while in battle. She will join your party to help Garnet understand her summoning powers, and to hook up with Zidane, who she’s in love with! Not only is she a summoner, she is a user of White Magic, the opposite of Vivi’s Black Magic.

Amarant or The Flaming Amarant, as he’s called, is a very laid back assassin that’s somewhat of a lone wolf. He is a bounty hunter, and is assigned to capture or stop big names from what they intend to do, and from what we hear of him in the game, he’s done it. When he meets Zidane, and sees the power within him, he agrees to join him temporarily on their mission to save the world. Although he is a very helpful character throughout the game, he seems to be very competitive with Zidane wherever you go. He believes that the key to life, and survival is power and strength in battle and proves that he cares by consistently challenging his strength and abilities. He doesn’t really care too much about your group members, and is an outcast to the group. He seems very disinterested in the group, but for some reason stays aligned with Zidane and company.

Kuja, the villain of FF9, initiates the wars between the kingdoms of Mist Continent by "brainwashing" Queen Brahne. Fueled by his need for destruction and death, Kuja brought about the unrest that is currently residing in the whole continent, riding on his silver dragon. It turns out that Kuja is also very similar to Zidane ......

Beatrice is the loyal general of Queen Brahne of Alexandria. Blindly following the queen's order, she seems to be also on the dark side. But fortunately, she saw the truth behind Queen Brahne's lust for war. In the end, it turns out that Beatrice will also have a romance with ......

Queen Brahne, the obese and power hungry ruler of Alexandria. She seems a changed person after meeting with Kuja and sets out for war with the neighboring kingdoms of the Mist Continent. She even tried to harm her own daughter, Garnet. However, like all evil-doers, she suffered a terrible death.